Theurgy, or the Hermetic Practice: A Treatise on Spiritual Alchemy

by E.J. Langford Garstin, Edward Dunning (Foreword by)

Overview

Theurgy means "the science or art of divine works." In alchemy, this process is called the "Great Work," which is the purification and exaltation of our "lower" nature by the proper application of esoteric principles, so that it may become united with its higher counterparts, whereby we may attain spiritual, and ultimately divine, consciousness.

Drawing on the teachings of the Egyptian, Greek, and Hebrew mystery schools and quoting extensively from important alchemical writers, Garstin details this process of purification. Students who are curious about alchemy but daunted by the body of its literature and its strange allegories will find this book to be an excellent introduction.

Garstin discusses source alchemical works and clearly explains what their esoteric symbolism means. With the information in this book, students of alchemy can then proceed to make a more informed exploration of the alchemical works and other writings of the Western Mystery Tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892545704
Publisher:	Nicolas-Hays, Inc
Publication date:	06/01/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	630 KB

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Theurgy or Hermetic Practice

A Treatise on Spiritual Alchemy

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By E. J. Langford Garstin

NICOLAS-HAYS, INC.

Copyright © 2004 Edward Dunning
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-89254-570-4

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CHAPTER 1

Theurgy, or the Telestic Work, was the very essence of the teaching of the Mystery Schools of Egypt, of Samothrace and of Eleusis; of Zoroaster, of Mithra and of Orpheus. And in Egypt, the cradle of them all, were initiated many of the outstanding men of their day, such as Pythagoras, Plato, Demokritos, Eudoxus, Archimedes, Chrysippos, Euripides, Proklos, Thales and many others.

In addition many of the Fathers of the Church, such as Clement of Alexandria, Cyrillus and Synesius, were also initiated into the Mysteries and regarded them as sacred and efficacious, transferring in part the very language, rites and disciplines of them to their own forms of worship, as is even to-day apparent.

Proklos tells us that "The Perfective Rite leads the way as the muesis or mystic initiation, and after that is the epopteia or beholding."

Plato calls Zoroastrian Magic "The Service of the Gods," and Psellus affirms that "Its function is to initiate or perfect the human soul by the power of materials here on earth, for the supreme faculty of the soul cannot by its own guidance aspire to the sublimest intuitions, and to the comprehension of Divinity."

Clement of Alexandria alludes to the Mysteries as Blessed and says: "O Mysteries truly Sacred ! O pure light! At the light of the torches the veil that covers Deity and Heaven falls off. I am Holy now that I am initiated." While Synesius, speaking in alchemical terms, declares that "the Quintessence is no other than our viscous, celestial and glorious soul, drawn from its minera by our magistery."

Nor are the later students and masters of the art less well known, for included among their number were such men as Appollonius of Tyana, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Paracelsus, Arnold de Villa Nova, Picus di Mirandola, Trithemius, Boehme, Cornelius Agrippa and many others.

But to leave the historical aspect, which, however interesting, is relatively unimportant, and to come to our subject, Theurgy is inextricably associated with Religion; is, in fact, its very kernel; for on investigation we find that beneath the exoteric and allegorical forms of all ancient doctrines, and hidden carefully within all their sacred writings, there is an underlying principle which is in every case the same, but is yet invariably concealed in one way or another.

This central teaching deals with rebirth, or birth from above, and, if we are to believe the records of antiquity, there is, and always has been, a definite body of scientific teaching on this subject, the knowledge of which, though jealously guarded, was never denied to the genuine and earnest seeker.

Unfortunately the mental and spiritual limitations of the vast bulk of mankind throughout the ages have always prevented the public teaching of this science, and necessitated the maintenance of the strictest secrecy, the knowledge being invariably given in the involved, complicated and envious language of symbol and allegory.

This is, of course, a constant source of annoyance to many people to-day, who declare themselves as being opposed on principle to what they term "artificial secrecy" in any shape or form; and to an even larger number, who, being without any particular principles, are decidedly averse from undertaking the necessary labour, but desire a clear exposition in "popular" form.

As Mrs. Atwood, in her Suggestive Enquiry, very succinctly puts it: "No such alluring baits to idleness are to be found on the title pages of the middle age school of philosophy; no such simplifications of science as we now hear of are belonging to Alchemy. It is true, there are Revelations, Open Entrances, New Lights and True Lights, Sunshine and Moonshine, with other Auroras and pictured Dawns; Manuals, Introductory Lexicons of obscure terms, with meanings no less obscured; Triumphal Chariots also, Banners, Gates, Keys and Guides, too, without number, all directing on the same Royal Road when this is found; but useless to most wayfarers; nothing that we observe at all suited to the means or taste of the millionaire class of readers, whose understanding, like that of pampered children, has grown flaccid; and by excess of object-teaching, has forgotten how to think."

As for the complaint of the others, it is difficult to understand what is meant by "artificial secrecy" unless it means making a secret out of nothing, or pretending to have some secret information, when in point of fact one has none—a charge which has for long been unjustly laid against the Alchemists. If this be the meaning of the phrase we cannot but be heartily in agreement with it, but if it means the deliberate withholding of certain knowledge from the masses, then it entirely depends on the reasons that can be given for the secrecy as to whether the term "artificial" is justifiable.

Now if the object of Theurgy and Spiritual Alchemy be solely the purification and exaltation of the Soul, it may be argued that such knowledge ought to be broadcasted and not obscured; that it is obviously for the good of mankind, and that to conceal it is virtually criminal.

But it must be remembered that what is proposed is a method of accelerated Soul development by a system of intensive culture, as is in many places asserted; and it would appear that there is every reason why those who were in possession of the requisite knowledge were chary of passing it on. And these reasons, when we examine them, must apply equally forcibly to-day for those, if such there be, who are the guardians of the secret.

For the practice of this art opens up very dangerous possibilities, involving, as it is said to do, an understanding of the working and application of certain arcane forces of nature, commonly called magic.

Now magic is a purely relative term, the magic of antiquity, or some of it, being the common knowledge of to-day. But knowledge is power, and power can always be used in two ways, for good or for evil. We have only to look around us to see the appalling results of an unwise dissemination of knowledge, seeing that man is almost invariably tempted, and almost as invariably succumbs to the temptation to use his knowledge for purely personal and material ends, and very often for destruction. For which reason it may well be submitted that there is at least an excellent prima facie case for secrecy.

This at any rate was the conviction of the Alchemists, as witness that saying of Raymund Lully, "I swear to thee upon my soul that thou art damned if thou shouldst reveal these things. For every good thing proceeds from God and to Him only is due. Wherefore thou shalt reserve and keep secret that which God only should reveal, and thou shalt affirm thou dost justly keep back those things whose revelation is to His honour. For if thou shouldst reveal that in a few words which God hath been forming a long time, thou shouldst be condemned in the great day of judgement as a traitor to the majesty of God, neither should thy treason be forgiven thee. For the revelation of such things belongs to God and not to man."

Justified or not, however, the secrecy exists, and it may well be asked where clues may best be sought, which may be followed in the search for this jealously guarded wisdom.

The answer would appear to be that such clues are to be found almost anywhere in the religious, philosophical and mystical writings of either the East or the West, but that it will probably come more easily to the majority of Westerners to take the Egyptian, Semitic and Greek and not the Eastern systems. For this reason, therefore, a study of certain books of the Bible, notably the Pentateuch, Solomon, Job, Ezekiel, the Gospels, the Epistles of St. Paul and the Revelation of St. John, will be found profitable, especially if the student be aided by some knowledge of the Qabalah, which is the great key to their understanding. Among the uncanonical books Enoch and Wisdom are helpful, and apart from these Semitic writings, the so-called Egyptian Book of the Dead, the works of many of the Greek Philosophers, the Gnostic and Hermetic fragments, expositions of the Mysteries, especially Iamblichos, and almost all the Alchemical writers, are full of illumination.

Of the three sources mentioned above, Egyptian, Semitic and Greek, the first is unquestionably the most ancient, but Egypt has left but few traces for us. The Jews derived their knowledge primarily from her through Moses, whatever they may have adopted subsequently from Chaldean, Babylonian and other sources, while even the Greeks obtained much of their inspiration and actual knowledge from her Mystery Schools.

Thus, therefore, is it that the Qabalah, the Jewish Mystical tradition, which was handed on orally for centuries, and was not written down till some as yet undetermined date in our era, forms one of the principal keys, not merely to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, but to all the other sources we have mentioned; for the language of symbol and allegory is an universal language, and the student will observe for himself that many of the Alchemical writers were avowed Qabalists.

As, however, the Qabalah is a highly technical subject, and as it is proposed to avoid technicalities as far as may be, direct allusions to it will be as few as possible in the pages which follow.

With all the mass of clues which surround us everywhere when we begin seriously to look for them, it is difficult to know where to make a start, for to review them all would take volumes. Still, as the science of the ancients was a causal science and reasoned from universals to particulars, it will be best to pick on some symbol of the Universe, and then to seek its counterpart in ourselves, whereby we may glean some idea of what was to be achieved, and afterwards to take some other clue, which may lead us to an understanding of how it was to be done.

Nevertheless, as our quest is concerned primarily with the Soul, we will first of all devote ourselves to a consideration of some of the views held by the ancients regarding it.

CHAPTER 2

Wherever we direct our attention in the physical or spiritual worlds, we are likely to encounter an apparent paradox, and it should, therefore, cause us no surprise that in considering the Soul we immediately find such a state of affairs existing.

We are accustomed to the idea that man is not a simple being; that he is composed of body and soul, or even of body, soul and spirit, though there appears to be considerable looseness in the way these two latter terms are used.

We also admit that the soul is the principal part of man; is, in fact, the man himself, leaving on one side for the moment the differentiation between soul and spirit. But we find it difficult to grasp that the soul is at once indivisible and divisible; that it is both one and yet possessing parts.

Nevertheless this hypothesis underlies the teaching of the Egyptians, Hebrews and Greeks, whom we are principally considering, and we are compelled to form some coherent view of the divisions of the soul if we are to follow the writings wherein we propose to look for our clues.

It will perhaps be simpler to consider first some of the Qabalistic ideas concerning the Soul, for they possess a quite definite terminology which is missing in many of the others. This will furnish us with a standard of comparison and of correspondence that should be distinctly useful.

According to the Zohar, the Soul was divided into three parts, of which the highest was termed Neshamah, corresponding to the intellectual world; the second Ruach, the seat of good and evil, corresponding to the moral world; and the third, Nephesch, the animal life and desires, corresponding to the material world of sense.

Now Neshamah was itself divided into three parts, for, as the highest part of the soul, it represented what was termed the Supernal Triad, composed of the first three Sephiroth or Emanations.

It is here necessary to digress for a moment to explain that the system of the Qabalah postulates the existence of ten Sephiroth—which may be regarded either as Emanations from, or the Highest Abstract Ideas of, God—conformed into four Worlds called Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiah, which are respectively Archetypal or pure Deity, Creative, Formative and Material. The first Sephira comprises the first World, that of Atziluth, the next two that of Briah, the next six that of Yetzirah, and the last that of Assiah.

The Supernal Triad, therefore, mentioned above, being composed of the first three Sephiroth, embraces the first two Worlds, and the three divisions of Neshamah, which are called Yechidah, Chiah and Neshamah respectively, are referred, the first to Atziluth and the next two to Briah.

The first of these conveys, therefore, the illimitable and transcendental idea of the Great Absolute and Incomprehensible One in the Soul. This is linked by Chiah, which suggests the idea of Essential Being, with Neshamah, and these two represent together Wisdom and Understanding, the higher governing, creative idea, the aspiration to the Ineffable One in the Soul.

Neshamah in turn links these Supernals with the Ruach, a word which means Spirit, and is here the Mind, the Reasoning Power, that which possesses the knowledge of good and of evil. It is to be noted carefully that this is the rational or discursive mind, and not the higher mind, which is represented by Neshamah.

Lastly we have the Nephesch, which is that power in the Soul which represents the passions and physical appetites.

The Zohar, Part II, fol. 946, tells us that at birth man receives the Animal Soul (Nephesch), and if he is worthy, the Ruach or Intellectual Spirit. Lastly, if he is still more worthy, Neshamah, the Soul emanating from the Celestial Throne (by which is meant the Briatic World). We need not, however, enter into a consideration of the possibility of man without the Ruach, or his nature, but will make the justifiable assumption that for all practical purposes man, according to the Qabalah, consists of Body, Nephesch and Ruach, that is Body, Soul and Spirit.

Among the Greeks Plato also makes a triple division, as does Plotinus, though others, as for example the Pythagorean Philolaus, give four.

We will take the Platonic system as being, probably, the most widely known and most often quoted. He gives the Nous or higher mind; the phren or thumos, the lower mind, including, according to some, the psychic nature; and the epithumia, comprising the emotional nature and the animal desires, appetites and passions. The faculties of the lower and higher minds he sub-divides into four, two to each. To the lower he allots Eikasia, the perception of images, and Pistis, faith and a sort of psychic groping after truth. To the higher he refers Dianoia, or philosophic reasoning, and Noesis, or direct cognition. The first two are amalgamated under the heading of Doxa, opinion or mostly illusory knowledge, while the other two are classed as Gnosis or Episteme, wisdom or true knowledge.

The first of the two sub-divisions of Doxa includes the whole of that body of knowledge which we term the inductive, physical sciences, these being concerned exclusively with the observation and investigation of the phenomena of the material universe. The second embraces the numerous forms of dogmatic creeds and beliefs summed up as a rule as exoteric religion.

Of the two grades of Gnosis, the first refers to those more speculative aspects of philosophy, wherein an attempt is made to arrive at a knowledge of first principles by means of pure reasoning, while the second grade implies the power of the mind directly to apprehend the truth without going through any intermediate process of reasoning.

Comparing this system with that of the Qabalah, we observe that the Nous corresponds with the Neshamah, the Phren with the Ruach and the Epithumia with the Nephesch.

Regarding the allocation of the four faculties of the lower and higher minds, the reader may feel a little doubtful as to the allocation of the philosophical reason to the higher mind or Nous, which, from its very name, is definitely associated with the noetic or epistemonic faculty of direct perception of the truth; but such questions are, after all, of relatively small importance.

Similar to the ideas we have outlined above are the following passages from Abammon's reply to Porphyry (Iamblichos de Mysteriis) when alluding to the Hermetic concepts. He says: "For man, as these writings affirm, has two souls. The one is from the First Intelligence, and is participant of the power of the Creator, but the other is given from the revolutions of the worlds of the sky, to which the God-beholding soul returns.... But the Soul that is in its higher mental quality from the world of Intelligence, is superior to the movement of the world of generated existence, and through this there takes place both the unbinding of fate and the upward progress to the gods of the World of Mind.
(Continues...)

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Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword          

Preface          

Chapter I          

Chapter II          

Chapter III          

Chapter IV          

Chapter V          

Chapter VI          

Chapter VII          

Chapter VIII          

Chapter IX          

Chapter X          

Chapter XI          

Chapter XII          

Chapter XIII          

Chapter XIV          

Index