Index: The Fire of Philosophers: Prayer - Universal reintegration - V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
The Fire of Philosophers: Prayer
In the non-regenerated man the sense of divinity is mainly expressed through the religious emotion and rites, ceremonies and sacrifices. It is his highest expression of Prayer, which necessarily accompanies the whole. “When the Holy Men of God want to walk on the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom, start meditating on the holy verses and prepare properly with holy orations.” Prayer, though, is a spiritual phenomenon, like the sense of sacred that it expresses. The Spiritual world is exempt of the attack of any experimental technique, even when modern. The scientific domain happily includes the whole of observable things; with the help of physiology it can extend to the manifestations of the hyper-physical, but never to the metaphysical. How can we reach, then, a real knowledge of Prayer? We will be able understand what this phenomenon consists of, how to produce it and its effects through the systematic observation of the praying man.
Prayer has always represented the effort of man to communicate with incorporeal or metaphysical Entities, such as ancestors, guides, saints, archetypes, gods, the Prime Cause, the top of the Pyramid or even with himself. Far from being a vain and monotonous recitation of formulas, true Prayer represents a mystic status in man, where conscience gets closer to the Absolute. This status is not of an intellectual nature; therefore it can’t be understood by the rationalist philosopher and the ordinary scholar. In order to pray we must make the effort of constantly stretching out towards the Divinity: “Think about God more often than you breathe… some very short, but very frequent mental invocations keep man in the presence of God”.
“True prayer is a result of Love; it is the salt of the Science that blossoms in man’s heart as if it was its natural habitat. It changes all misfortunes because it is the result of Love; one must love to pray and be virtuous to love”.
“But can this effective prayer come from us? Isn’t it necessary for it to be inspired to us, leaving us to carefully execute it and exactly repeat it?... Who will allow us to be like children towards the Voice that inspires us?...” We will see later the meaning of this “voice” that by talking inspires us to reach … “the Fire introduced in a Form”…
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There is another role in the Prayer; it is to Build and Work in “spiritual regions” which are unknown and unexplored to the material world: “Ora et Labora” must be intended in its hermetic meaning. For the man who isn’t enlightened yet, it will be: “working is like praying”.
Therefore if in the profane world working is like praying, in the Spiritual world building, or working, is delegated to Prayer: “…Faith is the substance of the things we hope.” (St. Paul). |
The praying man is built on a different level, “another world”; it is the Glorious Form, the Body of Light shown by the Master and the Celestial Jerusalem, its “Celestial City”, originated by his Inner Temple, which was its initial Archetype. We then have a re-conversion from the primitive Celestial Energy to a projection of the earthly Work on the Celestial plane. We can say that the man who doesn’t pray doesn’t build his own immortality and denies himself a precious treasure. Each of us will find beyond death what he realized during his physical life. The atheist will go towards nothing, the Aspirant towards another life. Psychologically, the sense of divinity seems to be a drive born from our deepest nature, a fundamental activity existing both in the primitive and the civilized man; their differences concern other fundamental attributes such as sense of moral or aesthetic and personal will. History shows us how in different Countries the loss of sense of sacredness and sense of moral in man always leads to decadence and to his subjugation to peoples with stronger Spiritual Traditions. The dispersion of great peoples and civilizations, such as the Greeks and the Romans, are an example of this. On the other hand, the sense of Divinity taken to the extreme of intolerance, fanaticism and spiritual blindness has led to the same result. The reaching of a status of crisis in man and in all men is in the breaking of balances, the excess of absence or presence in the sense of faith for sacredness.
Man, made of liquid and organic tissues, is permeated by an element called “conscience”, concretely imponderable. Since the physical body – a whole of tissues and humors – enjoys throughout its life a regular relationship with the concrete world, we can assume that the conscience living in it extends beyond the physical continuum, up to its simile, the “spiritual universe”; so much that two different Worlds – different only for the limited human perceptions – can get in contact. The formal body needs the material universe, for its nourishment; here it gets its conservation elements (oxygen, azoth, hydrogen, metals and others such as carbon, proteins, amino acids and so on) through nutritive and respiratory activities. It is likewise for the spiritual universe, where our conscience gets the principles necessary for its conservation and “health”.
Why, then, can’t we see the seat of the Prime Cause that ordinary religions call God in the region called Spiritual Universe? If we can, though, Prayer can be considered the Agent for natural relations between our conscience and its environment, at the same level as breathing and eating for the physical body. Praying would then be like breathing, thinking, eating and drinking.
The contact with the spiritual aspect must be considered like a biological function, therefore normal and natural for a part of man. To neglect this activity means to atrophy our own Principle; the activation of the latter is independent from the System (of invocation) used. “… Many neuroses are caused by the fact that many people want to stay blind in front of their religious aspirations, because of a childish passion for the light of their reason.” (C. G. Jung).
We must distinguish the vague repetition of formulas told without the participation of our spirit, the Fire; only our lips will have a real activity. This is not praying. It is necessary that the Inner Man wants the Desire Man to be alert and to dynamize what lips and brain are emitting at the same time. Together with intuition, moral sense, aesthetic sense and intelligence, the sense of divine gives full vigor to our human Personality. The success in the commitment that our life is, expects the highest development and integration among our physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual activities. Spirit is reason and feelings at the same time; we must love beauty and knowledge as much as beauty in the Morale or in the pure Form and action.
“…In order for his name to be remembered, a man must have had a child, planted a tree and written a book” (Plato).
Prayer is therefore the essential complement and tool in the Work of Transmutation in man. It is its Fire and its Crucible; it is also its Heart, where austerity, solemnity and asceticism are the fuelling elements with initial purity. The Work is long on the “Humid Path” and it lasts, according to the Scriptures… “Until the day appears (The Light of the Soul) and the Morning Star rises in our hearts” (Peter, II Epistle, 1-10).
The Ritual of Eucharist represents in its Ceremonial, the Great Work with the elements that compose it: the cup, the Bread-Matter, the wine Water-Spirit, evocation, liturgical elevation, precipitation and Transmutation and Sanctification. These are some of the elements to consider; on this subject we’ll see what the experience of a Brother, Bishop of the Church, tells us.
«In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist there are many symbols that concern monad, ego and personality.
First of all, for the three elements of the Trinity, the Host represents Father God or else the unique and indivisible Divinity; the wine represents the Son God, whose Blood has been poured in the material Chalice; the Water represents the Holy Spirit, the Spirit present above the mirror of waters, which is also symbolized by water. If we consider man’s divinity, the Host means the Monad, the whole, the invisible cause of all things. The Paten represents the Triple spirit which the monad uses to act on the matter. The Wine represents the individuality poured in the Chalice of the casual body; the Water represents the personality so closely mixed to it. With regard to the effect of the Commùnion, the strength of the Host is essentially monadic; it acts with more power on all that in man depends on the direct action of the monad. The strength of the Chalice exceeds the ego’s, the Wine has a strong power on the higher astral levels and the Water emits ethereal vibrations.
When the officiant makes three signs of cross on the Chalice with the Host, he strongly wishes that the influence of the monadic level falls on the ego in its three-fold manifestation; later on, when he makes two crosses between the Chalice and his chest, he attracts this influence in his mental and emotional bodies, in order to irradiate it to the congregation. This symbolizes the first stages of evolution, when the monad is suspended in its lower manifestations, acting on them without ever touching them. Similarly, the priest holds the Host above the Chalice, avoiding that one touches the other before the right time. When the priest lets a fragment of the Host fall in the Chalice, it symbolizes the descent of a ray of the Monad in the ego (Soul). This is all we are allowed to write at the moment».
Universal reintegration
We know that the universal reintegration of the Cosmos and of all the spiritual and material Creatures is the ultimate goal of Spiritual Alchemy. According to the authentic Rosicrucian tradition the whole universe degraded with Man, which was its initial guardian. In Genesis there is a part that the exoterical church doesn’t consider as it should: “…by now the soil will not produce but thorn and bramble bushes and the Earth will be cursed because of you…” (Genesis 2, 17-18).
This statement inevitably reminds us of the Hilè of the Gnostics, which indicated the Prime Matter of the lower world of the Universe, and in ancient Greek it expressed what appeared wild and not farmed, lands and woods; the Hilè is opposed to the biblical idea of Eden which means, indeed, what appears groomed, the garden, therefore order, east, light.
Adam lived in the Garden of Eden until his descent into the world of Desire and after learning Good and Evil since he fed on them. (This drama represents the moment of individualization of the humankind represented as Adam Kadmon first and in a separated Adam after, like Adam-Evè in the separation of the sexes, the loss of group memory and the birth of the idea of original sin. The Eden had become Hilè).
He used to wear leaves as a symbol of his integration with the vegetable Kingdom; when he integrates with the animal Kingdom, he starts wearing animal skins (Genesis 2, 7-21); in the same way the Eden becomes crystallized and dark. To the Garden of Light, result of a higher plane, follows a physical Universe where the thickness of materiality, stopping the light, makes it dark and the Forms appear heavy and gloomy.
“…man, the evil is even bigger. Don’t say anymore that the Universe lies on its bed of sorrows; say that it lies on its death bed. It is up to you to give it its last duties, it is up to you to reconcile it with the pure Source where it descends from, the Source that is not God, but one of the eternal Organs of His Power and from which the Universe never had to be separated. It is up to you, I say, to reconcile it with the Source, cleansing it of all the substances of illusion and lie that it absorbs after the Descent, and to clear it of having spent all its days in vanity…”.
“…you learn here a big and terrible secret; Heart of Man, you are the only Way through which the River of Falsehood and Death enters the Earth every day. Heart of Man, how many centuries will it take to free you from the alien yeast that corrupts you? Can you feel the painful and excruciating effort that mortal people make to produce this seeds of death? Let’s cry, because in the heart of Man, which should have been the obstacle for Darkness and Evil, the kingdom of abomination and mistake rules. Let’s cry, so that the Evil finds all the Doors closed and is forced to travel blindly in the deep night of its gloomy Caves…”.
The Masters entrusted the First Elected with the Keys of Universal Reintegration and the second with the Keys of Individual Reconciliation. It is useless, though, to get involved in the action of Regeneration of the Universe, if we don’t carry out a simile and parallel action in ourselves. Nevertheless, we can already see how everything is harmoniously connected in the whole. Let’s go back to the venerable science that guided us to the regeneration of the metallic words in the previous pages. Alchemy tends to reproduce, in the reduced scale of the Universe that is the matrass, the action of the Universal Craftsman that works with disorganized and imperfect elements and harmonizes and amalgamates them in order to melt them in their final perfection. This teaching constitutes the Great Work, thanks to its extensive nature. This Art allows its disciple to surprise, follow and reproduce all the mysterious process through which the Divine Animator leads his “game of Love”.
This is the Philosophical Mastership par excellence, the Art that teaches man the probationary operations that will lead him to the absolute Certainty. It will also be the true Master that will give us Gnosis and Faith.
The Operations of the Elected-Cohen involve three distinct elements:
a) Exorcisms, destined to crush the demoniac action in the Universes, to avoid their effect on men, to break their power on the Operator and his disciples, to obtain the limitation or cessation of some scourges and to annul the Operation of Black Magic.
b) Evocation-Invocation, destined to establish the contact with the Angelic world and the Commùnion of Saints (the Hierarchy); in the latter the Operator will choose some particular Patrons and in the Angelic world some Guardians or Guides, depending on the service to give. Proceeding in his Ordinations, the Cohen gets in contact with higher and higher Hierarchies, since the preceding Bridges are an access to higher and higher Beings.
c) Prayers to God in the Three Manifestations of the Holy Trinity, destined to obtain His Grace and Mercy for the purpose of Reintegration. They integrate the Evocations and Invocations and they are destined to address them better and to widen them, elevating the Vibrating process in man.
The whole of this Cult as a Liturgy includes Ten quality of Operations contained in the Sephirothic Tree:
1) Cult of Expiation, where man expresses his repentance both for his mistakes and for the Fall of the initial prototype, the Adam Kadmon. The result is Ascetism and Penitential Ritual. Malkuth Sephirah.
2) Cult of the Particular and General Grace, where the Operator, replacing the whole of the earthly Humankind, participates to the Individual action on their behalf. Yesod Sephirah.
3) Cult against demons, defenders of the Darkness of Ignorance and slaves of degradation, since the beginning of the Times of the Work, which they keep in order to weigh down the yoke of the Dark Powers on Humanity. The Cohen fights to throw and keep them away from the Earthly Aura, through exorcisms, especially the Operations of Equinoxes. Hod Sephirah.
4) Cult of Prevarication and Conservation; this operation is the continuation of the previous one and it consists of fighting and eliminating the Adepts of Black Magic and Witchcraft and most of all to pursue all the Fallen Spirits that inspire it. Netsach Sephirah.
5) Cult against the war; Murder is the most serious Misdeed and collective murder is the most serious of Crimes. The Cohen fights against all the Powers of Hatred among the Nations and tries and diverts their Actions; if this is not possible, he brings the help of Theurgy to the victims of this unjust action or to the part that indubitably expresses and represents the highest Moral Right, beyond any political or material aspect. Tifereth Sephirah.
6) Cult of Opposition to the enemies of the Divine Law, as a Theurgic operation whose ultimate goal is to fight to annul or stop all human actions addressed to keep, spread and strengthen the domain of ignorance and selfishness, under any form: atheism, Satanism, negativism of any kind such as doctrines, scriptures, political or sectarian propaganda, distortion of the Truth. Geburah Sephirah.
7) Cult to obtain the descent of the Holy Spirit; Evocating operation whose purpose is the hint of the Holy Spirit, the Active Intelligence of the Logos and the infusion of its gifts. Specifically, it is the “Inner Way” which we refer to in this Essay and the ultimate goal of Spiritual Alchemy in Man. Chesed Sephirah.
8) Cult of Strengthening of the Faith and Perseverance in the Divine Spiritual Virtue, whose ultimate goal is the understanding of the Divine Mysteries; the latter allows the Emulator to strengthen his Faith in an absolute and definite Vision. Binah Sephirah.
9) Cult to “fix in Oneself” the Divine Conciliator Spirit; it is the unconditional welcoming of the Holy Spirit with a complete opening of Self, anywhere it leads us and whatever it gives us. This operation is symbolically represented by the descent of the “tongues of Fire” in the Pentecost, from the teaching of the final Illumination with the duties it involves towards the Blind Brothers and the Celestial Assembly. To this Action we can apply the words pronounced during the Consecration of the bishop: “Grant to him, O Lord, the ministry of reconciliation in word and in deed, in the power of signs and of wonders…” Chokmah Sephirah.
10) Cult that dedicates all the Operations of the Year to the Creator. This includes the whole of Consecrations, Blessings and Thanksgivings, which the Operating man uses to make Sacred all the human Actions that can be made as such. In Grace and Virtue of the Universal Reintegration every Deed or Word must be inserted in a “ritual picture” whose ultimate goal is the same Reintegration; Thanksgivings and Blessings of the Fruits of the Earth, fruit of Work and Family, religious and initiatory Rituals, the Constitution of the Sacraments and some others are parallel to the Religious Ceremonies, because they have the same purpose and they determine the same goals; they follow the words of the Apostle Paul, who says: “I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” – Paul, First letter to Timothy 2, 1-5.
The Ancient Alliance understood this as well: “Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive (*), and pray to Yahweh for it; for in the peace of it shall you have peace.” – Jeremiah, 29, 7.
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* in its esoterical meaning, this part refers to the physical Body. We can also draw a teaching of tolerance and love for it
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V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
Translation of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus..
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This is true, and far distant from a Lie; whatever is below, is like that which is above; and that which is above, is like that which is below: by this are acquired and perfected the Miracles of the One Thing. Also, as all things were made from One, by the help of One: So all things are made from One thing by Conjuction. The Father thereof is the Sun and the Mother thereof is the Moon, the Wind carries it in its Belly and the Nurse thereof is the Earth. This is the Mother or Fountain of all Perfection and its Power is Perfect and Intire, if it be changed into Earth. Separate the Earth from the Fire, and the Subtle and Thin from the Gross and Thick; but prudently with long Sufferance, Gentleness and Patience, and Wisdom, and Judgment. It Ascends from the Earth up to Heaven, and descends again from the Heaven to the Earth, and receives the Powers and Efficacy of the Superiors and Inferiors. In this Work, you acquire to your self the Wealth and Glory of the whole World: Drive therefore from you all Cloudiness or Obscurity, Darkness and Blindness. For the Work increasing or going on in Strength, adds Strength to Strength, forestalling and over-topping all other Fortitudes and Powers; and is able to Subjugate and Conquer all things, whether they be thing and Subtle, or thick and Solid Bodies. In this manner was the World made; and hence are all the wonderful Conjunctions or Joining together of the Matter and Parts thereof, and the Marvelous Effects, when in this way it is done, by which these Wonders are Effected. And for this cause I am called Hermes Trismegistus, for that I have the knowledge of understanding of the Philosophy of the three principles of the Universe.
My doctrine or discourse, which I have here delivered concerning this solar Work, is complete and perfect. 
