ALCHEMY
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PERSONAL WRITINGS

Louis Cattiaux, Black Virgin

There is a curious recurrence of Black Virgin images in the Christian world... In Brazil the most important religious holiday is the one dedicated to Our Lady Aparecida (Our Lady "who has appeared"), a Black Virgin miraculously discovered by fishermen... This icon has a long history in the healing of paralytics... Fulcanelli wrote on these Virgins, symbols of the materia prima, and to the devout these Virgins are something terribly chtonic, pre-Christian, reminiscences of Isis perhaps...

Notwithstanding the date and probable place where the Corpus Hermeticum was written, it is an error to assign Alexandrine Gnosticism as the origin of Western alchemy. Alchemy is incompatible with a Gnostic worldview. Gnosticism (Marcion, Basilides, the Ophites, etc) was obviously not considered mainstream religious thought at their time, and seem to derive from heterogeneous sources in the mediterranean area, and not exclusively from orthodox or unorthodox Judaism of the time. Also, I think one commits an amphibology (erroneous mixing of semantic levels) when equating the Darkness/Light duad of alchemy with the Evil/Good duad of Gnosticism. This does not normally happen in traditional mystical discourse, e.g., The Cloud of Unknowing, and also Boehme's writings, among others.

Dualism, springing from the widespread influence of Plato's Timaeus, was instrumental in the Gnostic exegesis of Jewish and Christian Scripture. However it does not hold water, for between the Unmanifest (Absolute) and the created world there is of necessity a common grund, ontologically speaking, and this grund is again the Absolute, which is the ultimate Substance and Essence. Alchemy, if viewed as I think it should as a hieratic science, could not possibly share the erroneous dualistic (and rather neurotic) views of the Gnostics. Alchemy depends very much on Grace, le don de Dieu, and demands piety. This presupposes a benevolent (or at least appeasable) deity. We should not confuse childhood traumas, which are the consequence of fallen man's privatio boni, with the symbol of "God's darkness", for the first is a moral issue, the second a metaphysical symbol of another order.

Again, Darkness, in the image of "God's Darkness", does not mean Evil. We should never impute the horrors that we perpetrate ourselves (WWII, Holocaust, indeed practically our whole written History) to some divine origin; we should blame ourselves, for it is our own frailty and ignorance (and meanness) that made them happen. As to natural disasters, they only show how ignorant we are of God's intentions, so to speak. As Frater Albertus used to say, "God be praised, for He is so good to us, children".

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We have two distinct approaches towards Alchemy in the 20th century, one that views it as a self-sufficient Art with its own tradition, and another, probably of Rosicrucian influence, that inserts it within a magico-kabbalistical framework. One wonders if this framework is indeed relevant, if it in any way changes the way Alchemy has always been practiced, if it changes the aims of this Art. From a trans-historical and transcultural point of view, it seems that alchemical practice does not need this overarching system in the least, as the latter comes from a specifically post-Renaissance European origin.

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Some texts by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, such as Symbol and the Symbolic (Du symbole et de la symbolique), reminds one very much of the philosophy of Time elaborated by Dogen, the great Zen master of Medieval Japan. It is interesting to read Lubicz in order to understand how an Adept alchemist starts thinking, how the Elixir affects or clears his perception of reality... Lubicz only understood Egyptian esotericism after his adepthood, and he consequently read it with such a rejuvenated mind. He makes clear that our comprehension/communion with Egyptian thought will only be feasible if we effectuate a change in our mental paradigm... One perceives both in Lubicz and in Zen practice the importance of the reactivation of our ancestral central brain, as the latter was obnubilated by the hypertrophy of the peripheral cortex in the evolution of Homo Sapiens. In this sense, some texts by the late Zen Missionary Taisen Deshimaru strongly echo Lubicz's thought...

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One important caveat: beware of excessive bookish erudition. Of course one ends up reading a great quantity of books, both classic and contemporary. However, the more authors you read the more you're off track, since each author has done his particular Opus, with sometimes contradictory symbolism. So you have to choose your Way, find out the secrets that relate to it, and at the same time choose a few good books to thoroughly read and reread. That seems to be the only way to leave your scriptorium and to enter at last in the laboratorium...

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Against all common sense, which is one of the greatest enemies of the soul and of spirituality, Pointed Arch Architecture was not the sole legacy the East transmitted to Europe's Medieval masons... Alchemy is evident in the bas-reliefs of Notre-Dame de Paris, in Amiens Cathedral, in Saint Thomas Aquinas Chapel, in the Sainte-Chapelle, only to name a few of the churches described by Fulcanelli in his first work. It is an open question whether in fact Hermetical Tradition later passed from operative to speculative masons, but contrary to the opinions of profane historians it is impossible to deny in good faith the not only corporative but profoundly esoteric character of the old Cathedral builders... Verbum dimissum, Lost Word, Double Mercury.

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The writings of Coton-Alvart. It was a nice surprise to find all those Gnostic Christian reflections in the pen of a contemporary operative... Coton-Alvart expounded a true Mysticism of Light in the best Indo-European tradition. One can also draw a parallel with the Mysticism of Light present in Taoist thought... Besides that, his way of understanding Christian Revelation seemed to me as altogether close to the Alexandrine Gnosticism of a Basilides or a Marcion...

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Paris et l'Alchimie. Of all the Parisian alchemical itinerary described and proposed by Bernard Roger, I was particularly interested in the N. Dame des Blancs-Manteaux church, with its Axial symbolism, its Apocalyptic Virgin, its almost hidden and extremely discreet location... It left a strong impression. A wholly Initiatical church. Saint-Merry church interested me a great deal as well, because of its Baphomet of course, but above all because of the symbolism of its Northern rose window evoking again the Axial issue, the Polar North...

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René Schwaller, what can one say of you? A profound Intellective Intuition nested inside such a misanthropic personality! Your personality did not belong to our democratic times (in the depreciatory sense used by the Greeks), it rather belonged to the theocratic élite of the sunny land you studied. But what remained was your work, and it is greatly, profoundly interesting. In the quality of Hermetic Philosopher (or even Adept, we will not know) you succeeded to sense by intuition, to commune with and finally to transmit the majestic Initiatical legacy of Al-Kemit, the blessed Dark Land of Egypt. And by so doing you were able to reframe the alchemical endeavor, placing it in its original and wider Initiatical context... How little our efforts have in common with the simplistic and democratic later religions, of whom we had to nevertheless borrow the outer garments and piety for the sake of security...

René A. Schwaller de Lubicz 1887-1961

READING SUGGESTIONS

•Isha Schwaller de Lubicz, Her-Bak: The living face of Ancient Egypt. Rochester, Inner Traditions, 1980. An Initiatical novel that constitutes an excellent introduction to the work of her husband.
•Isha Schwaller de Lubicz, Her-Bak: Egyptian Initiate. Rochester, Inner Traditions, 1989. The same, being the sequence to the former.
•R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, Symbol and the symbolic. Rochester, Inner Traditions, 1988. Ideal to familiarize oneself with the author's thought.
•R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, The Egyptian Miracle. Rochester, Inner Traditions, 1985. Excellent summary of his work, without the mathematics and with clear alchemical references.
•R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, The Temple of Man: Apet of the south at Luxor. Rochester, Inner Traditions, 1998. Lubicz's masterpiece. A difficult read that amply rewards our efforts.

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Free Energy/Atlantean Science. Antigravity, ZPE (Zero Point Energy), Tesla, Keely, Reich, Shape Energy and related subjects are not only fascinating in themselves but are also an interesting link to both the varied contemporary Energy-based or Holistic therapies and to more traditional Esoteric themes such as Sacred Geometry, Alchemy and Magic. Their study and use may help us optimize the diverse procedures of these therapies and sciences.

Besides that, the convergence of these subjects with the Ley lines (Global Grid) of Megalithic Geomancy seem to point to the rediscovery of a sophisticated prehistorical Science, possibly 'Atlantean' in origin, a Unified and Energy-based Science from which Alchemy would be one of many applications.

SUGGESTIONS ON MEGALITHIC SCIENCE:

SUGGESTIONS ON FREE ENERGY:

•G. Harry Stine, Amazing and Wonderful Mind Machines You Can Build. Top of the Mountain Pub., 1994. Proposes many simple home experiments. Excellent.

•Dan A. Davidson, Shape Power. Rivas Pub., 1997. Excellent for the unified theoretical approach derived from extensive experimentation. Covers a broad range of topics.

•Dan A. Davidson, Energy: Breakthroughs to New Free Energy Devices - History and Current Status of Developed Free Energy Devices. Rivas Pub., 1989. An excellent introduction to this field of research.

•KeelyNet (important collective research site on Free Energy and its applications, directed by Jerry Decker - includes discussion lists)

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Adepthood. We might be excellent Chemists, however we will only arrive at the Sun through the refinement of our subtle or energy body, and this is accomplished through the refinement of our spirituality (and vice-versa). These two refinements are both facets or aspects of one same thing, of one same Regeneration. The Stone can be viewed as the diploma or certificate that this regeneration indeed took place in the operator, and this might be after all its principal virtue... Chemical technique is therefore necessary but by no means sufficient. Here lies the essential difference between Chemistry and Alchemy, and we can say that in the Opus Chemistry is Alchemy's subsidiary instrument. back

Opus of Kamala-Jnana, 38

Quantum Imagination. An extremely interesting work is currently being developed by F. A. Wolf, a theoretical Physicist who has spiritual/metaphysical interests and who is influenced by both Carlo Suarès' Qabala and the channelings of the entity known as Seth. This entity expounds a spiritual/metaphysical vision that has numberless contact points with present-day Quantum Physics. Obviously the value of Wolf and Seth's many insights will depend on their concrete applicability in our lives and our Art, and these authors' independence from Occult Tradition can be a highly positive and creative factor.

READING SUGGESTIONS

•Bob Toben and F. A. Wolf, Space-Time and Beyond. E. P. Dutton, 1975. Excellent.
•Fred Alan Wolf, Taking the Quantum Leap. New York, Harper & Row, 1981. Excellent.
•Fred Alan Wolf, Mind into Matter. Portsmouth, Moment Point Press, 2001. Interesting.
•Fred Alan Wolf, Matter into Feeling. Portsmouth, Moment Point Press, 2002. Interesting.
•Jane Roberts, The Seth Material. Prentice-Hall, 1970. Very interesting.
•Jane Roberts, Seth Speaks. Prentice-Hall, 1972. The first book "written" by Seth.
•Jane Roberts, The Nature of Personal Reality. Prentice-Hall, 1974. Seth's second book.
•Norman Friedman, Bridging Science and Spirit. Eugene, Woodbridge Group, 1997. An excellent analysis on the interface between Seth, David Bohm and Ken Wilber.
•Film : What the Bleep do We Know ? (USA, 2005)

SITES

•F.A.Wolf F. A. Wolf's personal page
•Spiritual-Endeavors/Seth A good introductory site on Seth
•Seth/Jane Roberts annotated bibliography
•What the Bleep site

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There is actually no dividing line between so-called Internal Alchemy and Lab Alchemy, as the main alchemical reactions in the Athanor only occur and in fact seem to feed on the Operator's personal energy. If the latter is energetically depleted it is unlikely that the Work will evolve. Hence the relevance (and urgency) for us of the internal practices taught by Esoteric Taoism.

READING SUGGESTIONS

•Eva Wong (trans.), Cultivating Stillness. Boston, Shambhala, 1992.
•Eva Wong (trans.), Harmonizing Yin and Yang. Boston, Shambhala, 1997.
•Eva Wong (trans.), Cultivating the Energy of Life. Boston, Shambhala, 1998.
•Eva Wong (trans.), The Tao of Health, Longevity and Immortality. Boston, Shambhala, 2003.
•Eva Wong (trans.), Nourishing the Essence of Life. Boston, Shambhala, 2004.
•Eva Wong (trans.), Holding Yin, Embracing Yang. Boston, Shambhala, 2005.

SITES

•The Golden Elixir An academic site on Chinese Alchemy, with much material
•Su Tzu's Chinese Philosophy Page General Chinese Philosophy links

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From an Esoteric and also from a Daoist point of view, Alchemy, be it Internal or External, Spiritual or Laboratory, Eastern or Western, is the only means for human beings to free themselves from the Wheel of Rebirth. All the other Spiritual Arts are preparations towards it. In countless lives, at some moment the occasion will present itself. Give the first step.

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