In the Papryi Graecae Magicae (P.G.M) we find a truly unique record into the ancient practices of Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, Gnostic and early Christian magic. Collectively, the P.G.M. refer to a cache of ancient papyri of spells and rituals dating between the 2nd Century B.C.E. and the 5th Century C.E. In them, we find a […]
Lexicon of Alchemical Symbols Pure Sulfur >>>>>>> This Sulfer – which shares its glyph with the constellation Aries -is not to be confused with the impure form of Sulfer () that is still attached to, and weighed down by, the elements. This “Sulfur of the Wise” is in a pure and incombustible state as the […]
I. Declining from the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths. By this it is to be understood that those who desire wisdom must seek it in solitude. The initiatic journey is one of isolation and exploration along paths taken by very few. II. Govern your tongue before all other things, following the gods. Here Pythagoras […]
In the abyss of limitless primordial potential any and all creation begins with the philosophic and principial One. This one action, one moment, or one qualitative thought vibrates in the most subtle fabric of pre-creation and is reflected and emanated to material existence. We can meditate upon this as how water ripples from a point; […]
Traditionally attributed to Moses, and with the earliest physical manuscripts dating to the 6th Century, the Sefer Yetzirah is without question one of the oldest and most arcane of all Kabbalistic texts. Unlike the more theoretical Kabbalah approach of the Zohar, the Sefer Yetzirah is considered a highly meditative and magical text. Aryeh Kaplin writes: Careful […]
Manly P. Hall writes that there are “two fundamental groups of human intellect- one philosophic, the other incapable of appreciating the deeper mysteries of life.” Hall is referring to the two basic paths of understanding the universe and consequently ourselves. There is the initiated and esoteric doctrine of union with the object of knowledge, the […]
The first Libellus of the Corpus Hermeticum, titled ‘Poimandres of Hermes Trismegistus’, recounts the conversation of the author with his higher self, the “Mind of Soverignty”. The majority of the text is concerned with explaining the Hermetic cosmogony while subtly introducing the sacred sciences of astronomy and alchemy. The account begins with the Primordial Darkness […]
As the Catholic Church became a political institution it simultaneously distanced itself from the Pythagorean sciences inherited by the early Christian initiates. Primarily threatening to the ecclesiastic spiritual hegemony was the doctrine of gnosis that taught that we are all “sons of God” and can all share intimate experiences with divinity without a mediating institution. […]
Ten Sefirot of Nothingness And 22 Foundation Letters Three Mothers Seven Doubles And twelve Elementals (Sefir Yetzirah, 1:2) These first words of the Sefer Yetzirah lay the foundation for the entire treatise as contemplation on the mathematical and symbolic relations between the ten Sefirot of creation and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Together […]
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9) The central Tree in Traditional thought is the axis-mundi […]
The importance of the crossed Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P) of the labarum were first introduced into the Western World through the Orphic-Pythagorean Mysteries. It came as the monogram for Aeon Chronos (Χρονος), a non-Greek divinity who was later syncretized with Greek agricultural god Kronos (i.e. Roman Saturn). Eternal and omnipresent, Chronos produced […]
