A Modern Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery

Part II: A More Esoteric Consideration of the Hermetic Art and Its Mysteries

Chapter 1: The True Subject of the Hermetic Art, Part 5

Introduction: The esoteric heart of alchemy unveils wisdom as a divine force within the soul, guiding seekers to universal truth. Ancient sages like Solomon and Plato reveal how self-knowledge, awakened by sacred rites, connects us to the divine.

Wisdom as Divine Essence

Doubters may dismiss wisdom as an abstract fancy, but ancient tradition, echoed by Aristotle, declares it “the most essential of the essential,” an operative force informing and sustaining all. Solomon’s Wisdom of Solomon praises it: “Wisdom moves faster than any motion, passing through all by her pureness. She is God’s breath, a pure influence from His glory, undefiled, the brightness of everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of His power. One, yet all-powerful, she renews all while remaining herself, entering holy souls to make them friends of God and prophets. More beautiful than the sun, she outshines stars, untouched by vice, richer than all earthly treasures.”

This divine promise urges us to seek wisdom’s conditions, not through common sciences but through inner exploration. The outer man, bound by senses, calcines and measures surfaces, finding them wanting. True seekers turn inward, guided by ancient wisdom to uncover the true light of alchemy—not a dream, but a psychical reality, uniform across all life.

The Alchemical Method

Alchemists propose a reduction of nature that preserves its vital vehicle, transforming its form through rational conditions. Geber notes, “Men deem gold’s confection impossible, ignorant of nature’s artificial destruction.” Lacking the method to probe “altitude, latitude, and profundity,” they miss the causal truth. Plotinus explains, “The soul, encased in body, forgets self-contemplation, absorbed in external life. Purified, it recalls what this life obscures.” Plutarch adds, “Souls, bound by senses, glimpse divinity dimly, like a confused dream. Freed into purer realms, God leads them to behold His beauty, filling the universe with good.”

This beauty, pursued by Isis in mythology, is the divine truth alchemists seek through sacred rites. Psellus, commenting on the Chaldaic Oracles, declares, “Only material rites strengthen the soul’s vehicle, initiating it into divinity.” Plato calls Zoroaster’s magic “the service of gods,” perfecting the soul through earthly powers. Synesius and Emperor Julian confirm that divine union requires such arts, as seen in the Eleusinian Mysteries, where wisdom arose from vital experiments.

Archytas advises, “Investigate rightly, and discovery is easy; without knowledge, it’s impossible.” The ancients’ silence on these rites, guarding them from the unworthy, leaves modern seekers ignorant of the method. Yet, their scattered hints suggest a path to rediscover this ancient experiment, testing its merits through inquiry rather than blind faith or skepticism.

The Path to Self-Knowledge

We invite readers to consider this Hermetic mystery—not with pride or indifference, but with belief in our worthiness to explore the soul’s palaces. The ancients’ wisdom was no vain display but a real, attainable good, not spontaneously revealed but earned through disciplined art. As the Platonic successor notes, “Jupiter gave us sacred arts to commune with the divine, ensuring we’re not deprived.” These arts, veiled in mystery, offer a clue to unravel the path, leading toward the soul’s native truth.

Closing: This section unveils wisdom as the soul’s divine force, awakened through sacred rites to reveal universal truth. The journey into the Hermetic art’s method deepens, promising further revelations in our next post.

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A Modern Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery

Part II: A More Esoteric Consideration of the Hermetic Art and Its Mysteries

Chapter 1: The True Subject of the Hermetic Art, Part 4

Introduction: The esoteric heart of alchemy unveils the soul’s divine intellect as the key to universal wisdom. Ancient philosophers like Aristotle and Plato reveal how self-knowledge transcends sensory limits, guiding seekers toward the divine source of all existence.

The Intellectual Law and Divine Wisdom

The evidence of reason, even in everyday life, is undeniable—intuition confirms existence, eternity in time, infinity in space. John Locke declares, “Intuitive faith is certain beyond doubt, needing no proof.” Victor Cousin used this to challenge sensory philosophies, proving the mind holds universal truths beyond physical evidence. If we know anything through intellectual necessity, independent of senses, there must be a higher truth, a “superstantial nature” latent in us, first in thought and manifest through nature’s circular progression.

Aristotle compares universal truths in the mind to colors needing sunlight to shine, requiring divine illumination to reveal their beauty. He calls human reason “intellect in capacity,” awaiting divine recreation to achieve its full perfection in truth, goodness, and beauty. This marks a divergence: modern metaphysics sees reason as an abstract limit, tied to sensory objects, while ancients saw it as the essence of nature’s creative force, proven in a purified conscience.

Aristotle asserts, “Wisdom is the highest science, possessing knowledge of all things through intellect, not senses.” In his Nicomachean Ethics, he describes intellect as the soul’s power to know truth, with wisdom as its true being, surpassing human nature in energy and delight. In his Metaphysics, he explains that through mystical practices, the human mind connects with its divine cause, becoming a vibrant, discerning life, inexpressibly blessed for the initiated.

Plato declares, “To know oneself is wisdom, the soul’s highest virtue. By entering herself, the soul beholds all things, including Deity, ascending to the highest watch-tower of existence.” Socrates adds, “Wisdom generates truth and intellect, perfecting the imperfect, awakening the soul’s latent knowledge.” For Pythagoreans like Archytas, wisdom excels all faculties, like sight among senses, enabling man to contemplate universal reason and discover the principles of all being. By analyzing and uniting these principles, the wise reach a sublime vision of Divinity, connecting beginnings and ends in justice and reason.

The Kabalistic Vision

The Hebrew Kabalists view the world as an emanation of divine mind, with the Zohar illuminating humanity’s celestial prototype. Creation falls from its primal source for individual manifestation, but a principle of reunion persists, leading to higher perfection. Rabbi Ben Jochai explains, “The human form contains all in heaven and earth; without it, no world could exist. The celestial prototype in man supports faith in all things, as God’s image.” Philo adds, “God dwells in man’s rational part as in a palace, the soul an impression of the divine Logos, framing the world.”

Hermes echoes, “Wisdom is the good, the fair, the eternal. Through it, the world is seen; in men, it is God, uniting humanity with divinity.” This wisdom, the ancients’ central theme, is not learned through history or observation but through self-knowledge, revealing the standard of truth in a rectified intellect.

Challenges of Modern Understanding

Modern minds, rooted in sensory observation, struggle to grasp this universal consciousness. Most accept external evidence, but a few, like ancient metaphysicians, seek a higher reality, lamenting reason’s limits. The Kabalists’ doctrine, though vast, is not mere fancy—its earnest conviction challenges common sense’s objections. Self-knowledge, as the foundation of alchemy, invites us to reflect on our shared existence, revealing all within the soul’s all-containing essence.

Closing: This section unveils the soul’s divine intellect as alchemy’s true subject, capable of universal wisdom through self-knowledge. The journey into this sacred art deepens, promising further revelations of the Hermetic mystery in our next post.

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A Modern Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery

Part II: A More Esoteric Consideration of the Hermetic Art and Its Mysteries

Chapter 1: The True Subject of the Hermetic Art, Part 3

Introduction: The esoteric journey deepens, unveiling humanity’s soul as the key to alchemical wisdom. Adepts like Böhme and Agrippa reveal how self-knowledge unlocks the universal essence, guiding seekers toward divine truth.

The Soul’s Divine Potential

Basil Valentine promises, “Health, riches, and honor await those who master the golden seed, born between two mountains, hidden in you, me, and our kind.” This seed, the philosophical Mercury, resides in humanity’s soul, a treasure accessible through diligent inquiry. Böhme envisions a time when adepts, as true physicians of body and soul, will share this wisdom, but only if its sanctity is preserved, as the “Seal of God” guards it from misuse. Hermes and Arnold emphasize the work’s simplicity, yet its wisdom is the greatest mystery.

Böhme asserts, “Existence itself is the greatest mystery, as fire and light are one, perceived identically across all life.” Creation implies a necessary cause, not dependent on externals but rooted within. The apostle Paul declares, “God is not far from us; in Him we live, move, and exist.” To Athenians, he urges seeking God, “if haply we might feel after Him and find Him.” This promise of divine discovery drives alchemical inquiry, yet it remains hidden, requiring the “Protochemic Artifice” to reveal it.

Thomas Vaughan advises, “Don’t trouble with these mysteries without knowing the alchemical art, for only through it can the true foundation be found.” Like a jeweler unable to judge a gem locked in a cabinet, modern minds judge nature’s surface, missing its core. Vaughan urges, “Use your hands, not fancies, turning abstractions into extractions. A spirit in nature actuates all generation, residing most immediately in a passive principle, linking visibles and invisibles. This art unites a particular spirit to the universal, exalting and multiplying nature.”

Agrippa adds, “Through a mysterious recreation, the pure human mind can be converted from this life, awakened to divine light, and gifted with wondrous effects. In us lies the operator of miracles, not in stars or flames, but in the spirit dwelling within.” He cites Manilius: “Why marvel at knowing the world, when man contains it, a small image of God?”

Humanity as the Laboratory

Shall we conclude that man is the true laboratory of the Hermetic art, his life the subject, distiller, and distilled? Self-knowledge is the root of alchemical tradition, not a dangerous or impractical pursuit but a profound one, shunned by those seeking only gold. Modern discoveries, tracing light’s harmony in human and planetary systems, support this ancient wisdom, suggesting a conscious relationship with nature’s essence is within reach.

Yet, we lack proof that man is a perfect microcosm, mirroring all creation. Our affinities with nature are sensory, our knowledge limited by observation. Unlike animals or plants, man’s distinction lies in a divine reason, a hidden principle of causal power. This faculty, when awakened, reveals nature’s forms and springs intuitively, governing existence as a universal source. Adepts speak magisterially, as if allied with omniscience, knowing the universe through their illuminated minds.

This experience, if once real, is now lost or estranged. Modern thought, rooted in sensory observation, struggles to imagine universal consciousness. Most accept external evidence, but a few, like ancient metaphysicians, seek a higher reality, lamenting reason’s limits. Reason’s evidence is irresistible—intuition assures existence, eternity in time, infinity in bounds. John Locke affirms, “Intuitive faith is certain beyond doubt, needing no proof.” Victor Cousin used this to challenge sensory philosophies, proving the mind’s universal truths.

Closing: This section unveils the soul as alchemy’s laboratory, capable of revealing universal wisdom through self-knowledge. The path to this divine truth continues to unfold, promising deeper insights into the Hermetic art in our next post.

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A Modern Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery

Part II: A More Esoteric Consideration of the Hermetic Art and Its Mysteries

Chapter 1: The True Subject of the Hermetic Art, Part 1

Introduction: With the Golden Treatise behind us, we enter a deeper exploration of alchemy’s esoteric heart. This chapter unveils the hidden root of the art, a universal essence found within humanity, guiding seekers toward divine wisdom.

The Hidden Path of Alchemy

Hermes declared in the Golden Treatise, “The work is with you and around you, fixed in earth or sea.” Until now, we’ve viewed alchemy’s labyrinth from the outside, tracing its historical and theoretical outlines. Now, we venture inward, where the path grows dark, intricate, and solitary, far from ordinary understanding. Time has overgrown the way with doubt and prejudice, making it hard to reach the sanctuary of wisdom, where a sacred light burns eternally in the presence of truth.

Modern chemistry, despite borrowing alchemical terms like aqua fortis or aqua regia, has no true connection to the Hermetic art. It dissects and distills, breaking matter apart without touching its vital essence. Pseudo-alchemists, chasing gold, tortured substances with crude sulphur, mercury, and salt, misreading cryptic texts and lacking a guiding theory. Even those with glimpses of the universal essence tried to capture it in vessels, using magnets or attractions, but without the adepts’ secret fire and vessel, they failed to unlock nature’s true identity.

The Concealed Root

The ancient book of Tobit teaches it’s honorable to reveal God’s works but wise to guard a king’s secret. Alchemists followed this, celebrating nature’s grandeur while hiding its core—the “king” or universal essence. This secrecy caused many to perish in ignorance, unable to grasp the attainable truth. Yet, for the sake of truth-seekers, we now dare to unveil this essence, encouraging respectful inquiry without betraying its sacred trust.

Our earlier chapters identified this essence as a hypothetical universal matter, obscured by the adepts’ vague instructions. Modern skepticism, dismissing the improbable, blocks deeper inquiry, as humanity has lost touch with its own inner phenomena. The Hermetic art hinges on this essence, found within a unique vessel—humanity itself. As Hermes, Morien, and Albertus Magnus declare, this vessel is key to supernatural generation, but its nature remains veiled. Maria warns, “Philosophers reveal all but the vessel, a divine secret hidden from the unworthy.”

Humanity as the Vessel

Sendivogius, reflecting on Morien’s advice to King Calid—“This matter is extracted from thee”—veils this truth with distractions, like gold in a dead man’s teeth, to protect it from the reckless. Yet, when Jakob Böhme’s writings emerged, alchemists feared their secrets were exposed, as he applied alchemy to human life, much like Agrippa and Paracelsus’ disciples. They taught that the universal Mercury exists everywhere but is best drawn from humanity, the noblest vessel, containing all forms in a superior essence.

Böhme and Agrippa assert that the human soul, freed from bodily senses, connects to divine nature, comprehending all things. Agrippa writes, “Man, made in God’s image, contains the universal reason, symbolizing all—matter, elements, plants, animals, heavens, angels, and God. Through wisdom, he knows all, acting with all, even God, by knowing and loving Him.” Sendivogius adds, “Nature’s light is hidden by the body’s shadow. When enlightened, one sees the lodestone’s point, revealing all. Man’s body, like nature, holds a secret food of life, better than the world.”

This essence, the soul’s vital spirit in the purest blood, governs the mind and body. Outside the body, it reigns freely, unlike other creatures’ spirits, enabling man to unlock nature’s mysteries through self-knowledge.

Closing: This chapter introduces the esoteric heart of alchemy, revealing the universal essence within humanity as its true subject. The path to this hidden root begins to unfold, promising deeper insights into the sacred art. The journey continues in our next post, exploring further mysteries of the Hermetic vessel.

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