I. H. P. Blavatsky. "The Secret Doctrine."

20 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom,
NEOPLATONISTS.
Ammonius Saccas.
This philosopher, who lived about* 190 a.d., was the founder of the Neoplatonic School, He was the son of Christian parents, and received a Christian education, but departed from this system and became a " philosopher." He gained a living by carrying burdens for pay, and yet he was one of the greatest philosophers of that age, and well acquainted with the Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. His disciples were Erenmos, Ongenes^ Plotinus, and Longinus.
Plotinus.
Plotinus was born at Lykopolis in Egypt in the year 205 A.D. He received his education at Alexandria. He took part in the war of the Emperor Gordianus in Persia, and went afterwards to Rome, where he established his school of philosophy. Here he obtained great renown and was respected by all. It is said that during the 26 years he lived in Rome he did not have a single enemy. Even the Emperor GallienuSy one of the greatest villains, respected and honoured him.
Plotinus fell sick. As the physician Eustachius entered the room in which Platinus was dying, the latter exclaimed,, joyfully, " I am now going to unite the God that lives within myself with the God of the Universe."
The mind of Plotinus was continually directed towards the Divine genius who accompanied him, — his own higher self. . He cared little about his physical body, and having been asked about the day when the latter was born, he re- fused to tell it, saying that such, a trifling matter was of too little jitiportance to waste any words about.
Phenomenal existence was to him an error, a mistake, a low and undesirable condition, union with the Divine principle the highest aim of existence. He ate very little, took no meat, and lived a life of chastity. Porphyry^ another one of the disciple
NeoplatonisiSu 2 1
of Saccas, having become envious of the renown of Plotinus, attempted to use black magic against him, but without success ; and finally said that the soul of Plotinus was so strong that the most powerful Will directed against his soul could not penetrate it, and rebounded upon the sender. Plotinus, however, felt that magic influence, and expressed himself to that effect.
According to the philosophy of Plotinus, God is the foundation of all things. There is only one Substance; Matter and Form are merely illusions, or shadows of the Spirit. God is eternal and everywhere. He is pure light, a Unity, the basis of all existence and thought. The Mind {yov^ is the image of this Unity ; it is, so to say, the image created by the Eternal by looking within itself. Thus the Mind is the product or creation of God, and yet God itself, and receiving its power from the latter. The Mind is the eternal activity of the Eternal. It is Light, primordial and unchangeable. Thought and every thinkable object exists within the mind. The world of Mind is the internal world ; the external, sensual world is the external expression of the former. Mind being a Unity, and all beings and objects consisting of Mind substance, all are fundamentally identical, but they differ in form.
The activity by which the inner world of Mind came into existence is an interior power acting towards the centre. If an external world, corresponding to the inner world, is to come into existence, there must be another activity by which this internal activity is reversed, so as to be directed towards the periphery. This centrifugal activity is the Soulj a product or reaction of the centripetal activity of the Mind, in other words a product of Thought, entering within itself.
There is a universal law according to which something real may produce something approaching its own state of perfection, but not quite as perfect as itself, and therefore the activity of the soul resembles the activity of the mind, but is not as perfect as the latter.
The Soul, like the Mind, is living thought, but unlike
22 In the Pronaos, of the Temple of Wisdom,
the Mind, subject to continual change. The soul, un- like the mind, does not see things within her own self^ but sees them in the mind. The activity of the soul is directed outwardly, that of the mind inwardly ; the percep- tions of the soul are not so clear as those of the mind. The soul, like the mind, is a kind of light ; but while the light of the mind is self-luminous, that of the soul is a reflection of the former.
According to the eternal laws of order and harmony- existing in the whole organism of Nature, all souls become after a certain time separated from the mind, or — to express it more correctly — the distance between the soul and the centre of mind increases, and they assume a more material state. Moving away from the Divine intelligence they enter the state of matter, they descend into matter. At each step towards materialization their forms become more dense and material, the souls in the air have an airy, those upon the earth an earthly material form. The activity of the soul produces other and secondary activities. Some of the latter have an upward tendency, others follow lower attractions. The upward-tending activities are Faith, Aspiration, Veneration, Sublimity, etc. ; the downward tendencies produce reasoning, speculations, sophistry, etc. ; the lowest activity of the soul is the purely vegetative power, sensation, assimilation, instinct, etc.
The ultimate aim of the activity of Nature is the attainment of self-knowledge. Whatever Nature produces in a visible form, has also a supersensual form, giving shape to gross matter, so that the form may become an object for recognition. Nature is nothing but a living soiil, she is the product of a higher, interior activity, the Universal Mind. There is only one fundamental living power in Nature, the power to imagine; there is only one result of the activity of this ^ovftr J formation f or perception of form, and the same process which takes place in Nature, takes also place in the nature of man.
All formations of matter are produced by the soul residing
Neoplatonists, 23
therein. All forms are filled with an interior life, even if not manifested outwardly. The Earth is like the wood of a tree, wherein life exists ; the stones resemble twigs which have been cut oft from the tree. In the stars, as well as in the Earth, is Divine Life and Reason.
The sensual world and each existence therein has an interior soul, and this soul is all that is lasting about those forms; the external appearance is nothing more than an appearance.
The World of Intelligence f is an unchangeable living Unity wherein there is no separation by space or. change in time. In that world exists everything that tSy but there is neither production nor destruction, neither past nor future It is not in space, and requires no space. If we say the world of intelligence is everywhere, we mean to express the idea that it is in its own being, and, therefore, within itself.
The world of Intelligence is the world of Spirit. There is a supreme Intelligence, wherein are germinally (potentially) contained all objects and all intellects, and there are as many individual intellects as can possibly be contained in that world of intelligence. The same may be said about the SouL There is a supreme Over-Soul, and as many individual souls as can be contained therein ; and the latter stand in the same relationship to the former as a species to the one class to which it belongs. There are different kinds of species in a class, yet all originate in the latter. Each species has a character of its own. Likewise, in the intellectual world there must be some certain qualities to produce souls of various kinds, and the souls must be in possession of various degrees of thought-power, else they would all be identical in every detail.
There is nothing absolutely without Reason in Nature^ although the manifestations of the principle differ vastly in the various forms. Even animals, which seem to be unreasonable, possess a reason which guides their instincts. Everything that exists has its origin in Reason, and there
24 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdonu
can be nothing absolutely unreasonable in Nature ; but there are innumerable modes in which Reason becomes manifest, because these manifestations are modified by external and internal conditions and circumstances. The inner, spiritual man is far more reasonable than the external one. In the ex- ternal world Reason manifests itself as observation, logic and speculation ; but in the world of intelligence Reason is manifest in direct perception of the truth.
The aim of the internal action of reason is to produce an objective form. As differentiation proceeds and the various powers unfold, they continually lose some of their attributes, and the ultimate products are less perfect than the original power; but the circumstances in which they are placed give rise to the origin of new attributes, and thus a step is made towards rising again into a higher state.
Thus the world of intelligence is a radiation from the fundamental original centre, and the world which we perceive with our senses is a product of the world of intelligence. The state of imperfection and mutability of all things in the external world is caused by their remoteness from the great centre. The Universe is a product of three funda- mental principles of existence; it is a great living being or organism, in which all its constituent parts are intimately connected together, and no part in that universe can act without causing a certain reaction in all other, even distant parts ; because throughout the whole there is only one soul, whose activity, manifesting itself in all parts, constitutes the organism of the whole. All parts are connected together by that universal power which constitutes the One Life in the universe. All souls lead, so to say, amphibious existences. Sometimes they are attracted more to the sensual plane and become interwoven with the latter ; at other times they follow the attraction of Reason, from whence they originated, and may become united with it. The soul ultimately becomes divided ^ the higher elements rise to the higher, planes, the lower ones sink still lower when they are no more held up by their connection with the higher ones. Whenever the
Neopldtonists. 2$
incarnation of a human being takes place, the soul furnishes the mortal body with some of her own substance, but she does not, as a whole, belong to the body; and only that part of the soul which has become thoroughly amalgamated with the body takes part in the pains, and pleasures of the latter. Man's evil desires come only from that part of his soul, which is thus mixed with the body, and, therefore, the evil consequences of man's evil actions befall merely the animal man — that is to say, his living animal principle — but not the real man or the spirit, connected with the higher elements of the soul. The more the soul is attracted to the vulgar and low, the more grossly material will the organism with which she clothes herself become. After death the gross substances must be purified or destroyed, while the pure elements, rise up to the source from whence they came, until the time for a new incarnation in a form of flesh has arriVed'-v This process is repeated until the soul has attained sufficient knowledge to become inaccessible to the attraction of that whieh is4ow. In this sense man's terrestrial existence may well be looked upon as being a punishment for harbouring evil desires and inclinations. Intellectual labour is an activity belonging to a lower state of existence, and is necessary because the original faculty of the soul of directly perceiving the truth has been lost. If the soul desires to obtain this faculty again, she must free herself from all intellectual conceptions, and penetrate into the formless. If she desires to reach up to the original inconceivable fountain of all, she must leave her own conceptions behind, she must become free from all sensual perceptions and intellectual speculations, free of thought and speech, and live in a state of spiritual contemplation. ; That which is beyond intellectual conception can be seen, but can neither be conceived nor described in words. Seeing is better than believing, knowledge is better than logic ; spiritual knowledge is one, but human science is a multiplicity, and has nothing to do with the eternal Unity, from which all things take their origin.
26 In the Pronaos^ of the Temple of Wisdom^
It is of the utmost importance that men should be instructed about their own nature, their origin, and their ulti- mate destiny ; because an intellectual person is not inclined to undertake a labour, unless he is convinced about its useful- ness. Spiritual perception is a power, which cannot be imparted, but which must be gained by efEort.
If a person does not know that such a power exists, or if he cannot realize its usefulness, he will make no efforts to attain that state, his mind will remain without illumination, and he will not be able to see the truth. He may feel the existence of the truth, like a man may feel love for an unknown ideal, of which he does not know whether or not it exists ; but he whose mind is illumined sees the object of his love, the light which illumines the world. This light is present everywhere. But it exists relatively only for those who are able to see, perceive, feel, and embrace it, by reason of their own similarity to it. To make the matter still more comprehensible, let us say that if the soul throws off her impediments and enters that state again in which she originated from the Eternal, then will she be able to see and feel the Eternal. If, after having received these instructions, rf person is too indolent to follow them, he will have no one to blame but himself if he remains in darkness. Let all, therefore, try to tear themselves loose from that which is low and sensual, and become united with the supreme power of God.
If you desire to find the Supreme, you must free your thoughts of all impressions coming from the external world, purify your mind of all figures, forms, and shapes.
God is present in all, even in those who do not recognise Him ; but men flee from God, they step out of Him, or, to speak more correctly, out of themselves. They cannot grasp Him before whom they are thus fleeing, and, having lost themselves, they hunt after other gods. But if the soul progresses on the road to perfection, begins to realize her own higher state of existence, to know that the fountain of eternal life is within herself, and that she, therefore, has
Ncoplatonists, • ■ ■■ ' 27
no need to hunt after external things, but can find all that is desirable in the divine element within herself ; if she begins to understand that in" that Gbd within is her whole life and being, and that she must flee from the realm of illusions to live and exist in Him, then will the time come when she will be able to see Him, and to see herself as an ethereal beings illumined by a super-terrestrial light. She will see herself even as the pure Divine Light itself, as a God, radiant in beauty, but becoming dark again as her light is rendered heavy if it approaches the shadows of the material plane.
Why does not the soul remain in that state of light ? Merely because she has not yet freed herself fully from the attractions of matter. If she has become entirely free of these attractions, she will remain in that light, and know that she is one with it. In this state there is no perceiver and no object of perception, there is merely perception, and the soul is that which she perceives. She is, for the time being, identified with the object of her perception, and^ therefore, this state is something beyond the intellectual comprehension of man.
Having been united and identical with it, the soul carries its image within herself when she returns to herself. She then knows that during the time of her union with the Eternal she was the Eternal itself, and there was no difference between herself and the former. In herself there was no motion, no sensation, no desire after anything else^ . neither was there thought nor conception. She was exalted and resting in her own being, she was, so to say, rest itself^ in a state surpassing all conceptions of beauty or virtue. A soul entering into this sublime state, in which there is no form and no image, cannot be supposed to enter anything illusive. A soul which sinks into illusions degrades herself^ and enters the region of evil and darkness ; but the exalted soul enters into herself ; she is then neither in a state of being nor of non-being, but in one which is inconceivable and above all being*
28 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom.
MaLCHUS PORPHYRIUa*
This philosopher was a disciple of Phtinus, and was born in Batanea, in Syria, in the year 233 a.d. He died at Rome in the year 304 a.d. He says that only one single time during his life did he succeed in obtaining his union with God, while his teacher, Plotinus, wsLsfour times blessed in this manner.
Porphyry says, in regard to the Soul : — The embodied soul is like a traveller who has lived a long time among foreign nations, and has, therefore, not only forgotten the costumes of his own country, but also adopted those of the foreigners. When such a traveller returns from his voyage, and desires to be welcomed by his friends and relatives, he attempts to lay off his foreign manners, and to return again to his former way of acting and thinking. Likewise the soul, while banished from her celestial home, and being forced to inhabit a physical form, acquires certain habits from the latter, and if she desires to return to her former state, she must lay aside all she has adopted from her terrestrial form. She must try to put off not merely the gross .physical mask in which she is dressed, but also her more interior envelopes, so that she may enter, so to say, in a state of nudity into the realm of bliss.
There are two poisonous sources from which man drinks oblivion of his former condition, and which cause him to become forgetful of his future destiny, namely, sensual pain and sensual pleasure. By the action of these two, but especially by the action of the latter, desires and passions are created, and these attract the soul to matter and become the cause of her corporification. Thus the soul is, so to say nailed to the body^ and the ethereal vehicle of the soul is rendered heavy and dense. We should avoid everything which may excite sensuality, because wherever sensuality is active, reason and pure intelligence cease their activity. ' We should, therefore, never eat for the mere pleasure of eating, but only eat as much as is necessary to nourish the body. Super-
Neoplatonists, 29
fluous, and especially animal food, strengthens the bonds which bind the soul to matter, and withdraw her from the Divinity and from divine things. The wise, being a priest of God, should seek to remain free of all impurities while he is in the temple of Nature, and he should never so far forget his dignity as to approach the Source of all Life while he himself constitutes a grave for the dead bodies of animals. He should select for his nutriment only the pure gifts of his terrestrial mother. If we could avoid all kind of food, we should become still more spiritual.
In regard to the difference existing between corporeal and incorporeal things. Porphyry says : — " The Incorporeal . governs the Corporeal, and is, therefore, present everywhere, although not as space, but in power. The corporeal existence of things cannot hinder the Incorporeal from being present to such things as it desires to enter into relation with. The Soul has therefore the power to extend her activity to any locahty she may desire. She is a power which has no limits, and each part of her, being independent of special conditions, can be present everywhere, provided she is pure and unadulterated with matter. Things do not act upon each other merely by the contact of their corporeal forms, but also at a distance, provided they have a soul, because the higher elements of the soul are everywhere,, and cannot be enclosed in a body, like an animal in a cage,, or a liquid in a bottle. The universal soul, being essentially one and identical with the infinite supreme Spirit, may, by the infinite power of the latter, discover or produce every- thing, and an individual soul may do the same thing if she is purified and free from the body."
"The realm of the soul, being semi-material, has its nhabitants possessing semi-material (astral) forms. Some of them are good, others evil ; some are kindly disposed towards manj^^ others are malicious. Both classes have ethereal but changeable bodies ; the good ones are masters of their bodies and desires, the evil ones are governed by the desires of their bodies. They are all powers for good or
30 In the Pronaos of the TempU of Wisdom,
for evil, divine, animal, or diabolic invisible influences creating, by their interior activity, passions, desires, vices, and virtues in the soiils of beings. The more evil they are, xhe more do their forms approach the corporeal state. They then live on the exhalations of matter ; they induce men to murder and to kill animals, they enjoy the vapours arising from the victims, and grow fat by absorbing the ethereal substances of the dying. They are, therefore, always ready to incite men to wars and crimes, and they collect in great crowds in places where men or animals are killed."
Porphyry ridicules the idea that gods, being wiser, more powerful, and superior to man, could be coaxed, persuaded or forced to do the will of man or conform to his desires. He repudiates the theory that clairvoyance, prophecy, etc., were the results of the inspiration by external gods, but says that they are a function of the Divine Spirit within man ; and that the exercise of this function becomes possible when the soul is put into that condition which is necessary to exercise it. '' The consciousness of man may be centred within or beyond his physical form ; and according to conditions a man may be, so to say, out of himself or within himself, or in a state in which he is neither wholly without nor within, but enjoys both states at once." He also states that there are many invisible beings, which may take all possible forms and appear as gods, as men, or as demons, that they are fond of lying and masquerading, and of pretending to be the souls of departed men.
It is said that Porphyry was several times during his prayers levitated into the air, even to the height of ten yards or more, and that on such occasions his body appeared to be surrounded by a golden light. " THe gods are everywhere, and he whose soul is filled with such a divine influence to the exclusion of lower influences is, for the time being, the god which that influence represents, possessing his attributes and ideas. The nature of the union of the soul with God ■cannot be intellectually conceived or expressed in words; he who accomplishes it is identical with God, he is Divinity
Neoplaiottists, 3 1
itself, and there is no difference between him and the latter. The gods are not called down to us by our prayers ; but Ave rise up to them by our own holy aspirations and efforts ; we are connected with them by the all-embracing power of love."
Jamblichus,
This philosopher was a disciple of Porphyry, and died about 333 A.D. He says : —
" If the soul rises up to the gods, she becomes god-like and able to know the above and the below ; she then obtains the power to heal diseases, to make useful inventions, to institute wise laws. Man has no intuitive power of his own; his intuition is the result of the connection existing between his soul and the Divine Spirit ; the stronger this union grows, the greater will be his intuition or spiritual knowledge. Not all the perceptions of the soul are of a divine character ; there are also many images which are the products of the lower activity of the soul in her mixture with material elements. Divine Nature, being the eternal fountain of Life, produces no deceptive images ; but if her activity is perverted, such deceptive images may appear. If the mind of man is illumined by the Divine Light, the ethereal vehicle of his soul becomes filled with light and shining."
Proclus.
Proclus lived at By zany ^ 412 — 485. He was a hermetic philosopher and mystic, having often prophetical visions and dreams. It is said that he had the spiritual power of producing rain by his " prayer " and of preventing earth- quakes. He was very pious and self-denying, and on some .occasions his head seemed to be surrounded by a glory of light. . .
He says that the soul of nian consists of many coats ; some more dens^, and others of a more ethereal character, each one being a fundamental principle, changeable only in regard to its form. " The soul can only return to. her divine
32 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom.
state after having been purified of her earthly desires. Her reason and free will must take part in the sufferings belonging to the material state, until she attains knowledge and becomes free f rotn desires. For this purpose she clothes herself at certain periods in a physical form (reincarnates as a human being), until she has laid oft her desires. The more the soul frees herself fiom her gross external coats (principles) the higher can she rise."
HiEROCLES.
This philosopher says : — " The intelligent soul-substance received from the Demiurgos (Logos) an inseparable immaterial body, and entered thus into being. She is, therefore, neither corporeal nor incorporeal, but comparable to the sun and the stars, which are the product of an immaterial substance. This soul-body, which human beings as well as " spirits " possess, is of a shining nature. The vehicle of the soul is contained within the material body of man; it breathes Life into the lifeless and soulless physical organism, and contains the harmony of the latter. The Life Principle of man is the inner being which produces the activity of Life in the organism. The inner man consists of an intelligent substance and an immaterial (transcenden tally material) body. The visible material form is the production and image of the interior man. The external form consists of the animal, unintellectual, gross-material body. By the process of purification of the gross-material and ethereal bodies, a separation of living substance and dead matter is effected^ and thus man may render himself capable of having intercourse with pure spirits.
During the year 529, the imperial bigot Justinian closed the. schools of Philosophy at Athens^ and their last represen- tatives, IsodoruSy Damascius, and Simplicius went to Persia. They expected to find in the East freedom of thought, tolerance, and wisdom. It was said that Chosroes, the King of Persia, was a philosopher, and they hoped to obtain his protection. But they soon found that the philosophy of
Neoplatonists, 33
that King was very superficial, and that he was a cruel, passionate, and ignorant tyrant, varnished over with some superficial learning. Disappointed, they returned to Greece. This was the experience of the last of the Neoplatonic philosophers, such as were publicly known, and a .long obscuration of the sun of wisdom took place, until a ray of light broke again through the clouds during the 15 th century.
34 ^« ihe Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom,
MEDIAEVAL PHILOSOPHERS.
Centrum in Trigone Centri
The external world ^is an image of the interior world. The astronomy of the visible starry sky is an external reproduction of astrological processes taking place in the invisible heavens, and the revolutions of the planets which are within the reach of observation by our physical senses, are symbols by means of which the action of spiritual powers existing in the universe are represented. As the earth has her seasons of heat and cold, according to her position which she occupies in regard to the sun, and as she approaches the sun at certain times and recedes at others, likewise there are regular periods at which the human mind seems to come nearer to the spiritual sun of divine wisdom, and there are other times when a period of darkness and ma- terialism exists. During the times of perihelion, receptive minds will find it easier to rise up in their thoughts to the fountain of eternal [truth; while during the aphelion it requires greater efforts to approach the divine luminary. During the time of the Middle Ages there appears such a perihelion to have taken place, and a wave of spirituality was passing over the world, illuminating the minds of those who were receptive for wisdom ; while in the minds of the vulgar it merely aroused the emotional element, causing among them an epidemic of superstition, which manifested itself on the external [^plane as the development of witch- craft and sorcery. There were many hermetic philosophers of great prominence living during those times. Foremast
Mediceval Philosophers, 35
6f all must be mentioned Theophrastus Paracelsus, of Hohenheim; Jacob Boehme, Cornelius Agrippa, Basilius Valentinus, Robert Fludd, and many others too numerous to be named. As the lives and the philosoph}^ of the two former ones have already been explicitly dealt with in my other books, I will select from the rest the writings of Cornelius Agrippa as a type of what was taught by those mediaeval philosophers.
Magic, according to Cornelius Agrippa.
Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim was born of a noble family at Coeln (Cologne) on September 14, in the year i486. He was a philosopher, physician, lawyer, theologian, soldier, and also a statesman. He studied the Occult Sciences, and is said to have been a good Alchemist. He also organized at Paris a secret society for the purpose of studying the secret sciences. He drew upon himself the hatred and malice of the clergy, whose evil practices he desired to reform, and he was consequently denounced as a black magician and sorcerer, and there are even to-day nearly as many fabulous stories circulating about him as there are in regard to the reputed black magician. Doctor Faustus, He was an open enemy of the Holy Inquisition, continually persecuted by the latter, and therefore he had to change his place of residence very often. While only twenty-four years of age he wrote his celebrated work, " Occulta Philosophia," which in his riper age he greatly improved. His study of the occult side of nature led him to realize the fact that the truth cannot be found in illusions, even if they belong to the supersensual plane of existence, and he therefore says in his book, " De Vanitate Scientiarum " : ^' He who does not prophesy in the truth and power of God, but by means of daemons and evil spirits, errs. He who produces illusions by magic spells, exorcisms, citations, conjurations, philtres, and other daemoniacal methods deserves to be punished in hell *'
36 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom,
Cornelius Agrippa made great effort to restore the true meaning of the term " Magic " : a term which means the exercise of spiritual functions which are in possession of the wise; but the ignorant even to this day use the term " Magic," when they want to talk about Sorcery and Villainy^ which is not wisdom, but the very thing opposed to it. In. regard to his book he says : " I have written it in such a manner that those who are wise will find therein all the information they desire ; but to the evil disposed and the sceptic the door to the mysterious realm will remain closed, no matter how hard they may struggle to enter it. If you possess the power of seeing with the eye of reason, the whole sublime magic science will appear before your sight,, and you will know the powers which Hermes, Zoroaster,, and Apollonius knew."
" The Key to the highest and divine philosophy of the mysterious powers of nature is reason. The brighter the sun of reason shines, the more powerful will the intellect grow,, and the easier will it become for us to accomplish even the most wonderful things. But if the intellect is in the bonds of flesh, if it cannot overcome the errors received by inheritance and false education, it will be unable to penetrate into the divine mysteries of nature and God. He who wants to enter into the sanctuary must die. He must die to the world and to external sensual attractions, die to his animal instincts and desires. Not that by such a death the soul would become separated from the body ; but the soul must be able to step out of the latter. Therefore Paulus writes to the Colossians : ' You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God ' ; and at another place he says t * I know a man (but whether he was in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows it) he was exalted into the third heaven.' Such a death must he die who wishes to know God, and only few are privileged to do so."
" Whatever we read about the irresistible powers of the Magic Art, of the wonderful sights of the Astrologers, etc., will be found to be fables and lies as
MedicBVal Philosophers, 37
soon as wb take those things in their external and literal meaning. Their external forms cover internal truths, and he who desires to see those truths must be in possession of the divine light of reason, which is in possession of very few. Therefore those who attempt to solve the problems of the divine secrets of nature by the reading of books will remain in the dark ; they are led away from the light of reason by the illusive glare of their erring intellect ; they are misguided by the tricks of external astral influences and by erroneous imaginations. They fall continually into error by seeking beyond their own selves that which exists within themselves. You must know that the great cause of all magic effects is not external to ourselves, but operating within ourselves, and this cause can produce all that the Magicians, Astrologers, Alchemists, or Necromancers ever produced. Within ourselves is the power which produces all wonderful things.
Nos habitat^ non tartara^ sed nee sidera coeii Spiritus in nobis, qui vigeiy ilia facit
" Magic Science embraces a knowledge of the most sublime and exalted truths, the deepest mysteries in nature, the knowledge of the nature of matter and energy, of the attributes and qualities of all things. By uniting the powers of nature and combining the lower with its corre- sponding higher counterpart the most surprising effects may be produced. This science is therefore the highest and most perfect of all ; she is a sacred and exalted philosophy the culminating point of all."
Agrippa regards nature as being a trinity ; an elementary (corporeal) astral and spiritual world, and the lower principles are intimately connected with the higher ones, forming thus four more intermediary states ; that is to say, seven in all.
The cause of all activity in the universe is the omnipresent principle of Life (being identical with the Will), a. function of the universal, spirit. This life principle causes the ethereal Soul to act upon the gross element of Matter.
38 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom,
" The Spirit — the Primum mobile — is self-existent and is motion ; the body, or the element of matter, is in its essence without motion, and differs so much from the former that an intermediary substance is required by which the Spirit can be united with the body. This intermediary spiritual substance is the soul, or the fifth essence (quinta essentia) because it is not included in the four states of matter, which are called the four elements, but constitutes a fifth element, or a higher state of matter which is perceptible to the physical senses. This soul of the world is of the same form as the world ; because as the spirit in man acts upon all the members of his body by means of man's soul, likewise the universal spirit by means of the soul of the universe pervades and penetrates all parts of the latter. There is nothing in the world which does not contain a spark of this universal power ; but spirit is most active in those things or beings in whom the activity of soul is strongest.
This astral spirit can be rendered very useful to us if we know how to separate it from the other elements, or if we use such things as contain an abundance of it. There are certain things in which this principle is not so deeply sunk into or so strongly amalgamated with the body as it is in others, and such things act powerfully and may produce quickly their counterparts.
This is the great alchemical agent, and in it are contained all productive and generative powers. If this spirit is extracted from gold or silver and united with some other metal it transforms the latter into gold, respectively silver.
There is such a great harmony and unity in nature that every superior power sends its rays through intermediary links down to the lowest, and the most inferior thing may rise up through the scale to the highest. Thus the lowest is connected with the highest comparable to a string of a musical instrument, which vibrates in its whole length if touched at one end. If the lower is acted on it reacts upon the higher^ and the highest corresponds to the lowest.
A thing of very small size may produce a great effect (as
Mediceval Philosophers. 39
may be seen by the growth of a tree from a seed), but this cannot take place with an elementary quality (physical force). The hidden powers may accomplish a great deal, because they are the properties of the form to which they belong; but the elemetary (mechanical or physical) forces, being material, require a great deal of matter to* produce great effects upon matter. The powers belonging to the form are called occult powers, because their causes are hidden ; that is to say, even- the sharpest intellect cannot thoroughly conceive of their nature, and what the philosophers know about them they have learned rather by observation and experience, than by intellectual reasoning.
God created man in His own image. The universe is the image of God and man is the image of nature. Man is therefore, so to say, the image of the image; in other words a MicrocosmoSy or little world. The world is a reasonable, living, and immortal being ; man is equally reasonable, but he is mortal, or at least divisible. Hermes Trismegistus says that the world is immortal, because no part of it is ever annihilated. Nothing is ever annihilated, and if " to die " means to be annihilated, then is " dying " a term without any reason for its existence ; because there is ao death in nature. If we say that a man dies, we do not mean to imply that anything of that man perishes; we only mean to say that his body and soul become separated from each other. The true image of God is His Word, Wisdom, Life, Light, and Truth ; they exist through Him, and the (spiritual) soul is their image. This is the reason why it is said that we (man in its primitive purity as a spiritual being) have been created in the image of God, and not in the image of the world or its creatures. God can neither be touched with the hand, nor be heard with the external ear, nor be seen with the external eye, and likewise the spirit of man can neither be seen, heard, or touched in this manner. God is infinite and cannot be overpowered by anything, and likewise is man's spirit (spiritual soul) free and can neither be forced nor limited. In God is contained
40 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdant,
the whole world and everything existing therein, and likewise in the will of man is contained every part of his body. Man being thus stamped and sealed in the image of God as His counterpart, necessarily clothed himself in a form, representing the true image of nature. He is therefore called the second or little world ; he contains everything contained in the great world, and there is nothing existing in the latter which is not also truly existing within the organism of man. In him are contained all the elements (principles), each principle according to its own qualities; in him is the ethereal astral body, the vehicle of his soul, corresponding to the firmament of the world; in him is the vegetative power, of plants, the principle of sensation, manifest in the animal kingdom, the divine spirit, divine reason, and the divine mind. All this is contained in man, united to a unity and belonging to him by divine right. Man is therefore called by the Bible " the whole creation," and in his. aspect as the Microcosm he contains not only all parts of the world, but also contains and comprehends the divinity itself.
The natural Soul is the Medium by which the Spirit becomes united with the flesh and the body, thro igh which the latter lives and acts and exercises its functions. This Medium is intelligent, but also so to say corporeal ; or to express it perhaps more correctly, the soul takes part in the materiality of the physical body. This is the dootrine of all hermetic philosophers. Man consists of the higher, the intermediary, and the lower principles. The higher ones are called the illuminated spiritual soul, and Moses speaks of it figuratively as having been breathed by God into the nostrils of. man. The lowest is the animal soul (anima sensitiva). The apostle Paulus calls it the animal man. The intermediate part is the rational soul which connects the animal soul with the divine mind and takes part in the nature of the two extremes. This part, to become free, must be separated from the lower elements by the power of the Will of which the apostle says, that it is living and
Mediaeval Philosophers, 41
cutting like a sword. The divine principle never sins and never consents to sin; but the animal principle sinks continually lower in animal desires unless it is held up by the divine spirit. The highest part of ourselves is never subject to punishment, knows nothing of the sufferings of the lower principle ; but returns after being separated from the lower principles to its divine source ; but that part which is called the rational soul, and which being free, may choose between the higher or lower, will, if it continually clings to the highest, become united with God and immortal in him ; but if the intellectual principle clings to that which is evil, it will become ultimately evil, and grow to be a malicious demon.
God is the centre of the world and enters the heart of man, like a sun-ray. As the spirit of God descends, it sur- rounds itself with an ethereal substance, forming the Astral body J the vehicle of the soul (the fiery chariot of the soul). From the centre of the heat the spirit radiates into all parts of the body and pervades all its members, combining its own vehicle with the natural heart of the body and with the soul substance generated within the heart. By means of the soul it mixes with and amalgamates with the fluids (the blood, nerve currents, etc.), and with all organs of the body. The soul is therefore equally near to all organs, although she radiates from one organ into another in the same sense as the heat of a fire is intimately connected with air and water, if it is carried from fire to water by means of the air. In this way we may form a conception of the pro- cess, by which the immortal spirit by means of its immortal ethereal vehicle may be enabled to adhere to and mix with a dense, mortal, material body. If by disease or otherwise the connection between different parts of the same organism is interrupted, the spirit returns again to the heart. If the life- principle leaves the heart, the spirit departs with the ethereal vehicle and the physical organism dies.
The first Light in God is beyond intellectual conception, and can therefore not be called a conceivable light ; but as it enters the mind it becomes intellectual light and may be
42 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom^
intellectually conceived. Entering into the soul it may not only be conceived, but also understood. It is incorporeal. When it enters into the ethereal vehicle it takes form, invisible to the physical senses ; but when it penetrates the elementary (physical) organism, it becomes also visible to the external perception. By this gradual progression of this divine Light from Spirit into dense Matter our spirit may obtain great power. It is possible that if the thoughts of the wise are directed with great intensity upon God, the divine light illuminates the mind and radiates its rays through all the parts of the dark and gross body, causing even the latter to become illuminated like a luminous star, and to change its attraction to the earth, so that it may be raised up into the air, and thus it has happened that even the physical bodies of men have been carried away to some distant locality. So great is the interior power of the spirit over the external body that the former may lift the latter up and take him to that place where man's thought travels or where he desires or dreams to be.
Man's power to think increases in proportion as this ethereal and celestial power or light penetrates his mind, and strengthening his mental faculties, it may enable him to see and perceive that which he interiorly thinks, just as if it were objectively and eternal. Spirit being unity and independent of our ideas of space, and all men having therefore essentially the same spirit, the souls of men existing at places widely distant from each other may thus enter into communication and converse with each other exactly in the same manner as if they had met in their physical bodies. In this state man may perform a great many things in an exceedingly short period of time, so that it may seem to us as if he had required no time at all to perform it. But not everybody can do so; it can only be done by those whose imagination and power of thought is very strong. Such a man (an Adept) is able to comprehend and understand everything by the light of the universal power or guiding intelligence with which he is spiritually united.
Mediosval Philosophers, 43
But if imagination possesses such a power that it cannot be impeded or restrained by the obstacles presented by time or distance, if it can even communicate itself to the heavy physical body and carry the latter with it ; then it will be reasonable to believe that thought becomes still more power- ful if it becomes free and may follow its natural inclinations, instead of being held back by the attractions of the sensual plane. In each man there is such a power, which is the inherent property of his soul by right of the divine origin of the latter ; but this power is not equally developed in all men, but stronger in some, weaker in others, and according to the state of its development the possibility to use it differs in different individuals.
By this power two persons being bodily far distant from each other may exchange their thoughts, or one may impress his thoughts upon another, and such a power may be used for good or for evil purposes. Weak-minded persons may thus be fascinated by stronger minds, or be made to fall in love with the person by whom they are thus fascinated. The instrument of fascination is the spirit, and the organ by which it eminently expresses itself is the eye. Thus the spirit of one person may enter the heart of another by way of the eyes, and kindle a fire therein which may burn and com- municate itself to the whole body. If two persons look into the eyes of each other, their spirits come in contact, and mix and amalgamate with each other. Thus love may be caused by a look in a moment of time, like a wound caused suddenly by an arrow. The spirit and the blood of a person thus affected then turn towards him who fascinated it, like the avenging spirit and the blood of a murdered person turns against the murderer.
The passions of the soul which adhere to the imagination may, if they are sufficiently strong, not only produce changes in the organism to which they belong, but also be transferred upon another organism, and thus impressions may be made by the will of a person upon the elements and external things, and thus diseases of the soul or body may be caused or
44 I^ ih^ Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom.
cured. The state of the soul is the principal cause of the condition df the external body. A strong, exalted soul, stimu- lated by a strong and active imagination, may not merely cause health or disease in her own organism, but also in that of others with which she comes in contact. Evil disposed persons may exert a very evil influence upon others by their look. The invisible forces emmanating from the soul through the eye are much more powerful, stronger, hotter, and more active than the emanations of the physical body. The soul-force of a person entering within the soul sphere of another acts therein not less strong than it would act if it had originated in the latter. By such means one man may exert an influence upon the mind and character of another.
The spirit may accomplish a great deal by the power of Faith, This power is a firm confidence or conviction, based upon the knowledge that one can and will accomplish his purpose. It is a strong, unwavering attention which gives strength to the work, causing, so to say, an image in our mind of the power which is necessary to accomplish the work, and of the work which is to be accomplished in, by, and through ourselves. We must, therefore, in all magic operations, apply a strong will, a vivid imagination, a con- fident hope, and a firm faith ; all of which combined will assist in producing the desired result.
It is well known that if a rich person has confidence and faith in his physician, he is more liable to be benefited by the latter than if he mistrusts him, and often the presence of the physician in whom the patient has faith benefits, the latter more than the remedies which he uses. The presence of a spiritually-minded physician who possesses a strong soul, and who desires to help the patient, is a power which is often sufficiently strong to change the pathological activity of the spul-elements of the patient (of which the physical processes taking place in the organism are merely the external expression), and thus to restore the patient. Every physician ought therefore be a magician in a certain sense. He ought not to doubt in the least that he will be
Mediceval Philosophers. 45
successful in. that which he attempts to accomplish. He ought not even to permit a th^^ght of the possibility of a failure to enter -his mind; because as a firm faith may accomplish wonderful things, likewise doubt disperses the active power of the operator and renders it ineffective. In such a case the spiritual activity vibrates, so to say, between two extremes : it lacks the projecting impulse to enter the physical organism of the patient, it becomes diffused in space and is lost.
In this power of the spirit over the element of matter by jneans of the soul rests the power of certain signs, images^ formulas, incantations, words, etc., and many wonderful experiments may thus be produced. The activity of the spirit strengthens the soul ; by the will and imagination of the spirit the soul receives strength to act upon matter.
There is a spiritual power residing in the soul of man which enables the latter to attract, influence, and change things. If the power of the soul mounts to a certain height she may overpower the elements which hold her in bonds ; for that which is above attracts and subjects that which is below f and the latter partakes of the changes of the former. Therefore, a man who has rendered himself capable to receive celestial gifts, by making use of the aspirations (functions) of his soul and employing natural things, may influence another being who is less spiritually strong, and force him to obey.
He may cure another by the power of his will or cause him to be sick or kill him ; he may make him joyful or sad^ fill him with fear, admiration, respect, veneration, etc.
The root from which all such effects spring is a strong and decided will supported by the spiritual influence coming from and through the heart. An opposing spiritual activity will, if the latter surpasses the former in strength^ neutralize or repulse it, or weaken its influence.
If a man becomes subject to a fascination, it is not his intellectual principle, but his sensual (animal) soul which is thus affected. The intelligent and spiritual part in man cannot be thus magically influenced. If the organism of a
46 In the Pronaos of the Temple of IVisdom,
man is suffering it suffers according to its animal and terrestrial, and not in his spiritual or celestial aspect. The intelligent and spiritual part of man can merely know that such influences are acting upon the lower principles by a certain sensation which is communicated from the lower to the higher elements. Intelligent man feels the influence which is exercised by external conditions upon his animal constitution ; but he is not himself subject to their influences. Everything belonging to the above moves that which is next to it below according to its degree and order, not merely in the visible, but also in the invisible part of nature. Thus the Universal Soul moves the individual souls, the Mind acts upon the animal, and the animal upon the vege- tative principle. Each part of the world acts upon every other part, and each one is capable to be moved by another ; and upon each part of the lower world acts the higher world, according to the attributes and conditions of the former, just as one part of the animal organism acts upon another.
There is an art, knoivn only to few, by which the purified and faithful (intellectual) soul of man may be instructed and illuminated, so as to be raised at once from the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom and knowledge. There is also an art, by which the knowledge gained by the impure and unfaithful may be taken away from their mind and memory and they thus be reduced to their former state of ignorance.
Apuleius says that the human soul may be put into a state of sleep, so that she will forget her terrestrial condi- tions and turning her whole being towards her divine origin, she will become illuminated by the divine light, and not only be able to see the future and to prophesy it correctly, but also to receive certain spiritual powers. On such occasions the divine inspiration and illumination may be so great, as even to communicate itself to other persons near, and to in- fluence them in a similar manner.
Persons in a state of receptivity or passivity may become mediums through which divine demons (influences) may be
Mediceval Philosophers. 47
attracted within the body of man and cause men to perform wonderful things. If the soul of such a person breaks away from the bonds of the body and surrenders herself to the power of imagination, she may become the habitation of demons of a lower order, which may enable her to perform extraordinary things. Thus we may see that a person who has never had any instructions in painting may suddenly exercise that art and produce an artistic work, etc., etc. If the soul enters entirely the intellectual sphere, she may become the habitation of another class of demons and obtain great knowledge in regard to human and external things, and man may thus become suddenly a great philosopher, physician, orator, etc., without having learned those things; but if the soul rises up entirely to the region of divinity, she may become the habitation of divine spiritual influences, and obtain a knowledge of divine mysteries.
Only those who are pure-minded and spiritual can possess true magic powers. Thought is the supreme power in man, and pure spiritual thought is the miracle-worker within him. If the thought of man is bound to the flesh, deeply amalgamated with it and occupied with animal desires, it loses its power over the divine elements, and therefore among those who seek to exercise magic powers there are few who succeed. If we desire to become spiritually developed we must try to find out how we can free ourselves of our animal instincts and desires and become rid of our sensuality and passions, and we must, furthermore, attempt to rise up to a state of true spirituality. Without accomplishing these two propositions we will never rise up to that state which is necessary to obtain magic powers, which result from the spiritual elevation and dignity of man.
We should therefore attempt to remove all external impediments which are in the way of our spiritual development and live m a state of purity. Our thoughts should be continually directed inwardly and within ourselves ; for within ourselves is the element of conscious-
48 In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom,
ncss, knowledge, and power. Nothing hinders us to develop and exercise our own powers, except our misconceptions, imaginations, and external desires. Therefore the divine influences will only come to him who liberates his soul of all such hindrances, carnal desires, prejudices, and halluci- nations. A diseased eye cannot bear to look at the light ; an impure soul is repulsed by the divine light of truth.
Such a process of development and unfolding is not accomplished at once, but requires time and patience; a neophyte cannot immediately understand the mysteries of initiation when he enters the sacred precincts. The soul must be gradually accustomed to the light until the power of spiritual thought is unfolded, and the latter being, continually directed towards the divine light, becomes at last united with it. If the soul is perfectly purified and sanctified she becomes free in her movements ; she sees and recognizes the divine light and she instructs herself, while she seems to be instructed by another. In that state she requires no other admonition or instruction except her own thought, which is the head and guide of the soul. She is then no more subject to terrestrial conditions of time, but lives in the eternal, and for her to desire a thing is to possess it already.