Parabola Calendar for Week of Feb.7, 2010

February 7th, 2010

The following is excerpted from the Parabola calendar project.

dickens-writing

Sunday 7

- Mulk. Bahá’í – First day of the 18th month of the Bahá’í Calendar.

- 1812 – English novelist Charles Dickens is born (pictured right).

buberMonday 8

- Nirvana Day. Buddhist – Mahayana Buddhist day commemorating the Buddha’s death (also known as Parinirvana).

- 1878 – Birth of German philosopher Martin Buber. (Pictured left.)

Tuesday 9

- 1621 – Gregory XV becomes the last pope to be elected by acclamation.

250px-East_India_Company_PotC

Wednesday 10

- 1846 – The Sikh army is defeated by forces of the British East India Company in the Battle of Sobraon.

- 1898 – Birth of German author and playwright Bertolt Brecht

Thursday 11janeyolen_175pxw

- 1790 – The Quaker Church unsuccessfully petitions Congress for the abolition of slavery.

- 1939 – Birth of American author and folklorist Jane Yolen (pictured right).

Shiva

Friday 12

- Maha Shivaratri. Hindu – Festival to honor and make offerings to Shiva.

- 1809 – Birth of English naturalist Charles Darwin (pictured right).darwin_charles

Hadhrat_Mirza_Ghulam_Ahmad

Saturday 13

- 1835 – Birth of the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

The Importance of Living in the Present

February 5th, 2010

by Bro. Ben Williams

In our busy modern world it is often easy to forget about the present moment, that moment of the cycling of the breath.  Feeling each breath, focusing on the rollover from inhalation to exhalation, greatly reduces mental chatter and calms the spirit.  Instant stress release:  There is silence between the breaths.

But in the constant clutter of modern life we seem instead to spend our time living in the future or in the past.  We waste our present.  We don’t heed the rhythm of our breathing, the very tide of our lives passing beneath the Moon.  Instead we remain distracted, our minds clutched between an endless list of to-dos, or replaying past events over and over.  And over…  This obsession is almost like a mental screen-saver, an endless repetition patterning thought in fear of forgetting something, or letting some opportunity slide by un-worked, or worse, replaying potential outcomes and past scenarios if one had acted differently under a given duress….

This habitual anxiety (for that’s what this is, anxiety) even goes unnoticed – it’s that typical – so that we no longer realize the heightened state of forgetfulness we’re busy living in.  While we are obsessing about the day ahead, or the day behind, we are forgetting to experience the moment we are thinking in.  If we trust ourselves, if we let go, we discover we won’t forget the things needing our attention.  They will simply present themselves.  Solutions work themselves out.  And each day is its own reminder.  Letting go gets us out of the way.

When we stand in the way of the light, we just cast shadows.  Removing ourselves, and becoming the silent observer of our own minds, is akin to letting the sun break out from behind the clouds.  All things come into view, and we don’t have to hold them all in our mind’s eye.  Again, they simply present themselves.

This is the secret of the observer and the quiet mind.  Both are found between the breaths.

“Everywhere I look I see a man with a lump of brass.  He’s so busy polishing it, so intent upon his reflection, he has forgot the sun that makes it shine!”  Theophilus.

English Masonic Education

February 1st, 2010

by Daniel Lewis

Good news! I’m all done in my three craft degrees. I am now a very pleased Bristol Master Mason :-)

So I thought, why not celebrate by writing an article for my friends over at The Sanctum Sanctorum! This time I want to talk about my perspective of Masonic Education in England (specifically Bristol of course). I don’t speak with any authority from UGLE or the Province of Bristol, these are merely my observations and my opinions. Here we go.

What is Masonic Education?

I’ve been in the craft now for just over one year (my initiation was in January 2009), and I’ve contemplated about the definition of Masonic Education for quite a while. I don’t think it is an easy term to define really. Essentially it should be the official teachings of Grand Lodge, Provincial Grand Lodge and Lodge – what do I, as a Mason, need to officially learn in order to be a Mason – that is one definition anyway. Some lodges have leaflets and booklets which they give to new initiates, some lodges give lectures and some lodges even have CDs and DVDs. Another aspect of Masonic Education is Mentoring, which is becoming quite popular in England & Wales (under the UGLE) but more on this later. A final aspect of Masonic Education are the Questions and Answers (which are tests given to Freemasons as part of their ceremonies).

Masonic Education in England

The United Grand Lodge of England is promoting Education in two main forms. The first form is Mentoring, each lodge in England has (or should have) a designated Mentor who tends to be quite good in terms of researching Freemasonry and his lodge’s history. The other form is Orating; each Province in England has (or should have) a designated Orator, who will travel around the Province giving talks in lodges and in research circles. The Mentors and the Orators together provide solid foundations for all Freemasons to further their understanding of Freemasonry, and this is especially for new initiates but equally important for Past Masters also.

Two other forms of English Masonic Education

There are two other ways of Masonic Education which tend to be promoted under the United Grand Lodge of England. The first are Rehearsals, where ritual is performed and perfected prior to a meeting. The second are Research Circles, which are either lodges or informal gatherings where Masons discuss the history and philosophy of the Order.

Masonic Education in the Province of Bristol

As many know, we are a bit peculiar in Bristol… In my lodge, Saint Vincent Lodge 1404, we currently have one official Mentor. He once was the president of the Bristol Masonic Society, and so he is a marvellous person to have as a Mentor. However, we are a lot more relaxed about Mentoring and this is because there is a real urge by every single Bristol Mason to pass their knowledge across to other Masons (not just Bristol ones!). Essentially, I am saying that every Bristol Mason is in fact an unofficial Mentor to every other. This is a fantastic feeling. It is pervasive, ambient knowledge sharing which is unobtrusive yet friendly.

In Bristol we also have the Bristol Masonic Society (BMS), which is a Research Circle in the province specifically to talk about the history and philosophy of Bristol Masonry. I’m not yet a Member of the BMS, but I hope to be soon. The BMS has annual printed Transactions, and a few meetings per year.

Educating Myself in Freemasonry

As you found out in my previous article on the TSS Blog, I first started reading about Freemasonry years before I joined. I would read books, leaflets, web sites, and anything I could get my hands on. However, I always always avoided reading ritual, because in my heart I knew that one day I would join the fraternity. Before I joined I was interested in the history of Freemasonry and history of the philosophy of Freemasonry. After I joined I became incredibly interested in the differences between Bristol Ritual and elsewhere, in addition to the religious and spiritual relationships with Freemasonry. There is a lot of information out there about Freemasonry and much of it is pure rubbish! So we (as Masons and Non-Masons) must use reason and prior knowledge to work out what is right and what is wrong, even intuition can help with this if used correctly. It is our job to help and our job to find out!

Masonic Education for Non-Masons

British Masons seem to try their best to stay out of the limelight, it is rare to see Masonic bumper stickers or Masonic baseball caps or any other kind of prominent thing. This seems to make the non-Mason either think that the society is purely a “Gentlemens Club” with “funny handshakes”, or they try to find out stuff about Freemasonry on the web and find a load of Anti-Masonic rubbish and then hate us. Just as it is our job to educate our fellow Mason, we must spread the knowledge that the order isn’t bad, and we truly are a universal order. I would personally like to see more open days, and more interaction with families here in England.

In Conclusion

Freemasonry is a vast subject, we’re all constantly learning new stuff about it. Masons need to educate themselves, each other and non-masons. They also need to answer questions from both within and without of the order. Non-Masons need to make sure they’re reading rational and reasonable information about Freemasonry… I really did read a lot of nonsense before I joined, but ultimately deduced what Masonry really was about and it was actually for me.

Biography

Bro. Daniel John Lewis is currently a reasonably newly made Master Mason (Bristol Rite) in Saint Vincent Lodge 1404 in the Province of Bristol under the United Grand Lodge of England. His most interesting Masonic fact was that he was initiated on St Vincent Day 2009 (actual) and was raised on St Vincent Day 2010 (effective). His interests in Freemasonry vary, but are primarily within the interrelationships of Philosophy, History, Spirituality, Religion and Freemasonry. Outside of the Masonic world he is a professional Computer Scientist and Web Developer, his outside interests are within Artificial Intelligence (primarily logical and knowledge-based), Christianity (primarily Esoteric, Liberal and Ritual), Politics (primarily Liberalism & Democracy) and Music (primarily Classical, Rock and “World”).

Parabola Calendar for the week beginning January 24, 2010

January 24th, 2010

Excerpted from the Parabola calendar project.

ceresSunday 24

- Sementivae. Ancient Roman – Feast to honor Ceres (goddess of agriculture) and Tellus (Mother Earth). Begins the planting season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sementivae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Earth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Earth_(deity)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Earth_(Memphis_Slim_song)

http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627120865635546

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiLla2SIQ9E)

rbtburnsMonday 25

- 1759 – Scottish poet Robert Burns is born.

- 1882 – Birth of writer Virginia Woolf.

Tuesday 26

- 1802 – The U.S. Congress passes an act calling for a national library in the U.S. Capitol. This leads to the establishment of the Library of Congress.

Wednesday 27

- Holocaust Remembrance Day. International – Day established by the United Nations to commemorate the Holocaust.

Thursday 28

- Feast Day. Roman Catholic – Day to honor St. Thomas Aquinas.AQUINAS2

Friday 29

- Birth of Russian poet and writer Anton Chekhov.

Saturday 30

- Tu B’Shevat (15th day of the month Shavet). Jewish – One of four Jewish new years, Tu B’Shevat is called the “new year of the trees.”

Parabola Calendar for the week beginning January 17, 2010

January 21st, 2010

The following is excerpted from the Parabola calendar project

Sunday 17

- World Religion Day. Baha’i – Celebrates the teachings of unity found in all religions.

- 1789 – German theologian August Neander is born.

- 1820 – Birth of Anne Brontë, British author.

Monday 18

- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Christian ecumenical – Beginning of eight day observance focused on prayer for Christian unity.

- 1943 – The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto and a significant precursor to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

- 1882 – Birth of A. A. Milne, English author best known for his Winnie-the-Pooh books.

Tuesday 19

- Timkat. Ethiopian Orthodox Christian – The Ethiopian Orthodox Chruch celebrates the Epiphany of Christ on this day.

- Sultán. Baha’i – Feast day celebrating the first day of the 17th month of the Baha’i Calendar.

- 1809 – Birth of American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe.

- 1839 – French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne is born.

Wednesday 20

saraswati- Vasant Panchami. Hindu – Festival dedicated to Saraswati (depicted left), the goddess of learning and Brahma’s wife. The festival marks the beginning of Spring.

- 1925 – Birth of Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan liberation theologian and primitivist.

Thursday 21

- 1525 – Beginning of the Swiss Anabaptist Movement in Zürich.

Friday 22

- 1263 – Birth of Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiya.

byron- 1788 – Birth of poet George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron, pictured left).

Saturday 23

- 1888 – Birth of blues and folk musician Huddie William Ledbetter

The First and the Last – Azoth

January 10th, 2010

By Frater Thomas Rorbaek, Denmark, IV°, Met. Coll., 2009

An interpretation of the path of Azoth from Materia Prima to the Stone – the top stone Benben

The following will contain my thoughts and comparison on Azoth as the builder, on Alkahest as the dissolver, on the Materia Prima as the base and on the ancient pyramid top stone BenBen/Benu as the portal to the Philosopher’s stone. I will then try to link them together. Parts of the journey into the ancient Egyptian BenBen stone and manifestation of Materia Prima from the primeval sea has developed though talks with a Danish freemason and Egyptologist. But this paper is my personal attempt at showing that the beginning is not the end. The time is Zero – again.

The many definitions on the Philosopher’s stone and Alchemy.

1 M Maier P StoneThere are probably more ways of interpreting the Philosopher’s stone, or the Great Work, than stones on the sea bed. Doing the Great Work starts with an understanding of Alchemy. Fr. A.E. Waite stated in 1912 on his earlier recommended readings on Alchemy that “What I said of the Suggestive Enquiry in 1888 and 1893 was in the light of my knowledge at those dates; that which I have recorded since has been under a fuller and clearer light”. It lies implicit in the words “the Great Work” that this is not a static status, but a work that only time will reward you with. In “What is Alchemy” A.E. Waite makes it clear that the search for the Philosopher’s stone was an inner work; “Alchemy is a pretended science or art by which the metals ignorantly called base, such as lead and iron were supposed to be, but were never really, transmuted into the other metals as ignorantly called perfect, namely, gold and silver. The ignis fatuus of Alchemy was pursued by many persons – indeed, by thousand –- in the past, and though they did not succeed in making gold or silver, they yet chanced in their investigations upon so many useful facts that they actually laid the foundations of chemistry as it is. For this reason it would perhaps be unjust to dishonour them; no doubt many of them were rank imposters, but not all; some were the chemists of their period.” And “The question what is Alchemy is then easily answered from this standpoint – it is the dry bones of chemistry, as the Occult Sciences in general are the debris of ancient knowledge, and the dust from the ancient sanctuaries of long vanished religions – at which point these papers and The Unknown World itself; would perforce come to a conclusion”. The Alchemist sees it as the seal of Nature and Art – Sigillum Natura et artis simplicitas. The Alchemist is working with the lesser or lower for the better or higher. At the same time Alchemy is not only founded on hypothetical conditions. It is based on history and the capability of sight and inner development.

Originated from the third dynasty in Egypt, we have the papyrus of Leide, discovered at Thebes, where we are told of metallurgical formulae of alloys. For me it is clear that this was the first example of practical Alchemy. The men of ancient Egypt did not try to make detergent or balm, they used the alloy to improve (make better) a metal, for their work of art. Just like today when modern Alchemists grow herbs, and mix, boil, and extract from them the “higher.” The power of raising and transmutation though is not part of this paper, as I see practical Alchemy running side by side with speculative Alchemy, from the very beginnings of the Great Work.  But such a subject is just too complicated to include here.  Similarly, Jung did not see Alchemy as a scientific chemical experiment; and I will also focus on the inner mystic’s meditation and work in this paper.

If we take the Danish meaning of the word Philosopher’s stone (De vise sten) and translate it to English we get “The wise stone”. Here I see a very important difference, a difference that goes one of two ways – the practical or the speculative way. The practical way could lead to an almost legendary alchemical substance that could turn base metals into gold or an elixir of life. The other was reaching for a higher spiritual level, by self improvement in combining the four elements – as the Masonic mirror on the wall with the text “know yourself”. The Philosophic Mercury is seen as higher Mercury in Alchemy, and often with the phrase “a liquid which does not wet the hands.”  This sounds like inner work, but we find Philosophic Mercury both wet and dry.  It is practical Alchemy, with symbolic signs towards symbolic Alchemy.

2 Great workWhether you where working on the elixir of life, reaching for divine truth or building your own inner temple this work with the Philosopher’s Stone was called the Great Work (Royal work). One was not trying to out do The Great Architect of the Universe, but trying to reach for the truth in the Garden of Eden before the fall of Adam. “What are you seeking – Light” “What more are you seeking – more Light”

Let’s now try to decipher some of the practical elements of the Philosopher’s stone in a speculative way.

The breakdown of the Stone; Materia Prima, Azoth, Alkahest, Carmot

To illustrate is to believe, to believe is to understand. To understand the Great Work we need to break down the elements and this illustration is best shown with the words of Confucius: The Root part of “The Great Learning”;

The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.

Azoth is the fourth magical life principle that is added to the three symbolic principal substances (Mercury, Sulphur and Salt). Azoth was considered the Universal Medicine or Universal Solvent. It’s creation was the goal of the Alchemist, like the below-mentioned Alkahest, which was the dissolver. Again think of this as an inner process, not the transformation or raising as practised with herbs.

3 AzothAs one looks at the spelling of Azoth it is clear that we are still on the inner path, the path of Christ – the first and the last – the Alpha and the Omega.  The spelling consists of the initial letter of the English, Greek and Hebrew alphabets (A), followed by the final letters of the English alphabet (Z), the Greek alphabet (Omega) and the Hebrew alphabet (Tau). Herr von Welling has written: “There are three basic chemical substances which are called by the philosophers salt, sulphur, and mercury but which are not to be confounded in any way with the crude salt, sulphur and mercury taken from the earth or secured from the apothecary. Salt, sulphur, and mercury each has a triune nature, for each of these substances contains, in reality, also the other two substances, according to the secret arcanum of the wise. The body of Salt is, therefore, threefold, namely salt, sulphur, and mercury; but in the body of Salt one of the three (salt) predominates. Mercury is likewise composed of salt, sulphur, and mercury with the latter element predominating. Sulphur, similarly, is actually salt, sulphur, and mercury, with sulphur predominating. These nine divisions – 3 times 3 – plus Azoth (the mysterious universal life force) equals 10, the sacred Decad of Pythagoras. Concerning the nature of Azoth there is much controversy. Some view it as the invisible, eternal fire; others as electricity; still others as magnetism. Transcendalists refer to it as the astral light.”

Manly P. Hall in “The Secret Teachings of all Ages” goes all the way and states:

4 paracelsusIn 16th century portraits painted of Paracelsus, the pommel of his sword, upon which rests his hand, bears the inscription “Azoth.” From the poem set beneath a contemporary newspaper “broadside” published of Paracelsus, we may gather that Azoth was the name of a secret medicine, an elixir vitae, i.e. infallible remedy or alexipharmakon (counter poison), he kept hidden within his sword’s pommel. Azoth is also the secret name of Mercurius, extracted from cinnabar, the universal quicksilver medicine which comprised the virtues of all other medicines. Hence, it is also the name for the “philosophers’ stone.” It is spiritus animatus, the animated spirit. The name occurs in writings as early as those of the mysterious philosopher “Mary the Jewess” of fourth century Zosimos, also of Olympiodorus in the fifth century, and of Jabir ibn Hayyan, the Arab alchemist in the tenth, or the 4th Muslim century. Azoth also is interpreted as standing for alpha and omega, i.e., Zeus or Theos.”

We see here a similarity with the elixir of life and Azoth, showed speculatively verses von Welling’s more practical way. The illustrative or allegorical approach is to view Azoth as the builder – the craftsman of the inner temple. The craftsman that can not build unless he combines Azoth with the four elements as Sulphur corresponds to fire, Mercury to air and water, and salt to earth, and thereby improve himself.

• Alkahest is by modern encyclopaedias interpreted as:4 Alkahest

Alkahest (or alkahest) is a hypothetical universal solvent, having the power to dissolve every other substance, including gold. It was much sought after by alchemists for what they thought would be its invaluable medicinal qualities. The name is believed to have been invented by Paracelsus (1493-1541) from Switzerland, who modelled it on similar words taken from Arabic, such as “alkali”. Paracelsus’ own recipe was based on caustic lime, alcohol, and carbonate of potash. He believed that this element alkahest was, in fact, the Philosopher’s stone. A potential problem involving alkahest is that, if it dissolves everything, then it cannot be placed into a container, because it would dissolve the container. However, philosopher Philalethe specifies that Alkahest (that he also called “double mercury” sometimes) dissolves only composed material.

This is very interesting as we now have Azoth seen as elixir of life or a builder – spoken of as being The Philosopher’s stone, and we have Alkahest seen as a solvent, the principal of non-containment and also as the Philosopher’s Stone itself. In medieval times Christ and the Philosopher’s Stone were taken as identical allegories. Christ can not be contained, Christ is the builder, Christ can allegorically be seen as “Adam 2”, and “Adam 1”; as the Adam of the Garden of Eden and as the dissolver after his fall. Transformation, raising, universal medicine, 3 times 3, improve, etc. are all words that are not strangers to us when we talk about Christ. If we take a quote from Raymundus Lullius (Credited with discovering ether (later called “sweet vitriol”), a tertiary Franciscan who was interested in the fields of botany as well as alchemy), “Our mercury is a water that cannot be found on earth, because it does not have the ability to come into effect, without the help of the intellect and the hands of labour”. Alchemists are convinced that mercury transcended the solid and liquid states, earth and heaven, both life and death. Combine all the above and we may realise that a long, higher, better life with Christ as your partner is only possible due to hard work – there is no short cut!  Can this be why the young Paracelsus – as a wandering student – was quoted “The universities do not teach all things, so a doctor must seek out old wives, gipsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers, and such outlaws and take lessons from them. A doctor must be a traveller…Knowledge is experience.”

• Carmot is the dark red element (raised White Lion turned black then into Red Lion) believed to be another key component (with mercury and energy of the human soul/life) in the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone.

Once again we are back to the Great Work – or Magnum Opus which is an interpretation of three stages:

  1. Nigredo (putrefaction) or blackening: individuation, purification, burnout of impurity.
  2. Albedo, Whitening: spiritualisation, enlightenment.
  3. Rubedo, reddening: unification of man with God, unification of the limited with the unlimited.

Symbolically we are now close to the roadmap to the inner temple. We start in the dark and wander about, then we become enlightened by esoteric openness, to end up closer than before to the unification with the unlimited God.

Later on we will see other ways or other roadmaps in the shape of a bird, a capstone or from the Book of Light.

The Mercurial Bird6 LCS birdy 1

The Mercurial Birds, are said to represent the volatile nature of alchemical work – the wisdom of setting the spirit free. This is done by rising from the ashes, the rebirth. Or the regeneration from within through the purification with fire, the colour Red, and the element sulphur.  As mentioned earlier, Sulphur is one of the three prime elements of alchemy and is viewed as the multiplicity of human nature and the eternal aspiration to reach for higher enlightenment. Sulphur with a triangle in its sign, can be viewed as a holy trinity.

7 j fabricius birdy 2In the great name of selective research, and in this case trying to get closer to speculative Alchemy,  we here have the Hermes Mercurial Bird  from Johannes Fabricius’ collection with the following comment: “The deluge (cf. the Biblical Flood) leaves only a small patch of land, on which the Hermes bird descends (beneath the symbol of Mercury). The chaotic situation is emphasized by the emergence of the seven planets on the horizon, a symbol of universal disorder. As indicated by the sign of sulphur, the sinking island is set on fire by sulphurous flames from the hellish interior of the earth. Yet the alchemist’s sinking island is ‘supported’ by a sealed chest of drawers emerging from the sea and containing immense riches of silver and gold. Although the adept’s world has become a sinking island, it has been simultaneously transformed into a treasure island”. For reasons discussed later on in this essay, I would like to correct Fabricius when he writes “a small patch of land” and make it clear that I see it as a mound. For the speculative Alchemist we have a mound reaching up over the floods like a circle, and here an enlightened circle (treasure = gold = sun = light), where the bird descends on the top – seen as the point within the circle (the circumpunct). 8 Circle with a dotThis is emphasised by the chaos around and outside of the circle, the light from the above-as-below mercury star guiding as the compass lights (draws) the surface.  Everything within the circle is in sulphurous flames, where sulphur is seen as the spirit of life, and as the sun (light, gold). The illustration of the Hermes Bird is a great symbolic work, it tells us so much more, but it is still the point within the circle.

The ancient Egyptian Goddess Nun – The Benu bird, the Benben mound and the Benbenet capstone

In ancient Egypt the creation legend says that in the beginning, before any God or creature existed, there was only the primeval ocean Nun. The Sun created herself from Nun, appearing as the Primeval Mound (think now back to the landing spot of the Hermes bird). This mound or hilltop just emerging from the primeval water of Nun, was called the Benben Stone.  It was phallic-shaped and symbolically represents a vortex of energy, a circular matrix created from its own centre. Some traditions hold to the idea that the waters of Nun surrounded this hill or mound, being the first mountain of the world. However, it would be more correct to say that the waters, or energy of Nun, are at the very centre of the mound, being the centre of all creation. The world-mountain can be further explained analogically with the “liquid-fire” (lava) that rises up from the depths or centre of the earth and through a volcano so as to explode in all directions from the truncated summit – the Great Pyramid is also truncated. This mound in the water of Nun that created the Sun is allegorically contained within the Egyptian Sun symbol, which is equal to the circumpunt! Notice that we have a huge amount of phallus (volcano), primeval seeds (lava)  and duality symbols where fire and water (the opposite) meet.

9 Phoenix benu birdy 3Also seen in ancient Egypt is the hieroglyph of a bird landing on the mound; it was the Benu bird (a heron), the bird by means of which Atum (male) came into being in the primeval water of Nun (female). The Benu bird was the Egyptian Phoenix, and one could say a close relative to the Mercurial Bird above. The Benu bird descended at last on the Benben Mound and the world was filled with “that which should be known” and the Benu bird “decided what it should be and what it should not be”.

The top of the mound, just emerging over the waters of Nun, was called Benben.10 capstoneThat top is associated with the pyramidion which is the uppermost piece or capstone of an Egyptian pyramid. This capstone was called Benbenet in Ancient Egyptian. This Benbenet capstone is also on the top of the obelisk. But it is the capstone, the pyramidion, which is the most interesting part. According to the Egyptians, within the pyramidion the Gods reside.

From the Sub Rosa Magazine, December 2005, we further read that: “Both the Benbenet capstone and its related archetypal creature, the Benu bird which is often depicted perched on top of the capstone of an obelisk, also represented the soul, the divine spark or life force that is said to reside in every man and woman and inside the centre of the skull – hence the placement of the Benbenet on top of the column, obelisk or pyramid which represented the human spine and body. To the ancient Egyptians the soul was known as the “ba” – which they believed was one’s own link to the source or Godhead known as the “Akh”. We will recall that among the Pyramid texts are the “glorifications” – the Sabu associated with the star constellation of Orion – representing the soul of both Osiris and Horus which makes one into an Akh. The Akh is the ancient Egyptian term for the spiritual centre or source of creation – zero-point – Akh is the highest point or centre reached and it is reached via the ba – the soul.”

For the speculative Mason, the Benbenet capstone has much in common with the Cornerstone, the symbol of the Egyptian Sun can be likened to the point within the circle, and the healing or motherly nature of the Benu bird is close to the Rose Croix Pelican with the 7 young ones, and the Akh is the point (within the circle). For the practical Alchemist the list is just as long.

What is the hidden cipher code from the First to the Last, from Azoth to the Benben stone.

A hidden cipher code, and the conclusion of this paper, is wisely stated by Johannes Helmond in Alchemy Unveiled: “The Osiris myth serves as the prototype of initiation (also birth of Macrocosmos) for all human beings who endeavour to awaken the eternal within themselves. The human being himself must become an Osiris, experiencing the fate of God upon himself. He who descends from the father (ex Deo nascimur) should produce within himself the divine son. Human beings unknowingly carry within them this son of God as an archetype of the soul, concealed within themselves. However, the eternal should become alive in them and reveal itself. But for the time being this God, which is hidden in the Inner, is being suppressed in human beings through the demonic force of the earthly nature. This lower, earthly nature must be conquered and killed first (in Christo morimur) so that the higher divine nature can rise up (per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus).”

Care Fratres we are here talking about “That which is above is the same as that which is below.” Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God.

All of the above can be found in the Book of Light “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

Motive for comparison.

In A Commentary on The Chymical Wdding of Christian Rosenkreutz by Margaret Bennell and Isabel Wyatt, there is a fantastic note (note 2 on the Foreword, page6);

“It is important to know, concerning an individuality, not only who he was, but also to which stream of humanity be belongs. This is of especial import in the case of Christian Rosenkreutz. He is the guardian of the modern age of technics; as such he belongs to the Cain-Hiram stream. This is made clear through the Temple Legend, entrusted by Christian Rosenkreutz to the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross.

In this we are told that Cain was the son of Eve and one of the Elohim, while Jahve created Adam, whose sons by Eve were Abel and Seth. Jahve accepted the offering of Abel, but rejected that of Cain, because the latter had not been created at His command. Cain therefore slew Abel and was cast out from the company of Jahve.

From the race of Cain came all that had to do with the earth; he and his descendants originated Art and Science. One of his descendants, Tubal-Cain, was skilled in the handling and mixing of metals. From this same line came Hiram, the famous Master Builder, skilled in all the science and technics of his age.

Solomon was descended from the race of Seth, gifted in all that Jahve could bestow of tranquil wisdom. He conceived the magnificent idea and plan of the Temple, but his wisdom had nothing to do with technics or the creations of the human will; therefore he had to call in Hiram to aid him. The divine wisdom of Solomon was to be the heart of the Temple, clothed in earthly substance by the skill of Hiram.

But at this time Balkis, Queen of Sheba, bearer of the old clairvoyance, visited Solomon and was wooed by him. Having accepted the king, she met Hiram and straightway fell in love with him, thereby rousing bitter jealousy in her royal lover. Solomon’s enmity brought about Hiram’s death.

From this time on the two streams, Cain-Hiram, Abel-Seth-Solomon, pursued their way through the centuries, the rift unhealed; the sons of Cain still masters of art and science, the sons of Solomon pursuing philosophy and religion. It was the task of Christian Rosenkreutz to unite both streams in his own being, and thus begin the healing of the breach.”

With these final words the task of our work is laid out for us in a lifelong search for truth and wisdom.

Parabola Calendar for the week beginning January 3, 2010

January 4th, 2010

The following is from the Parabola Calendar project.

j__r__r__tolkienSunday 3

- 1892 – Birth of author J. R. R. Tolkien. (Pictured left)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien

Monday 4

- 1785 – Jakob Grimm, German folklorist of the “Brothers Grimm,” is born.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Grimm

Tuesday 5

- Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Sikh – Celebrates the birthday of the tenth and final Sikh Guru.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Gobind_Singh

- 1548 – Birth of Spanish theologian Francisco Suarez.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Su%C3%A1rez

- 1893 – Birth of Indian guru Paramahansa Yogananda.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramahansa_Yogananda

Wednesday 6

- Epiphany of the Lord. Christian – Feast day honoring Jesus as the Son of God, celebrated on the twelfth day of Christmas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday)

Thursday 7

- Nativity of Christ. Orthodox Christian – Day to celebrate the Nativity of Christ according to the Julian Calendar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar

- 1844 – French saint Bernadette Soubirous is born.

faizhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Soubirous

- 1910 – Birth of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani Urdu poet. (Pictured left.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmed_Faiz

Friday 8

- 1867 – Quaker pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Emily Greene Balch is born.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Greene_Balch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_International_League_for_Peace_and_Freedom

Saturday 9

- Feast Day. Eastern Orthodox – Celebrates Saint Theophan the Recluse (depicted left), a Russian Orthodox saint who focused on developing a life of continuous prayer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophan_the_Recluse

The Mystery of the Waterman

December 29th, 2009

By Bro. Ben Williams

Number 19   'Desert Wanderer'  61 x 51cmMany years ago, a man was lost in the desert. He walked without direction. Everything was shining in likeness, there was no differentiation, just the sky above and the earth below. Endless to all horizons, only the day surrounded him. But he was not without hope. “If I am alone in likeness, and unable to sense my way,” he said to himself, “then I will close my eyes and walk where my will takes me.” In the shining desert he walked, yet he carried himself in darkness.

After some time he became unsure how long he had been walking. Such darkness is almost without time. So he opened his eyes. His footprints were before him. Had he been walking in circles? As far as he could see, out beyond the horizon, his footprints lay.

“My future must be my past,” he mused, and he began following himself.

At length he discerned in the distance the form of a hill. Above it a few clouds had formed. “I will walk toward the clouds, for maybe they will bring rain,” he said.  And he turned from his path.

The sun went down, and he walked through the night toward the hill and the few clouds that traced out in the starlight.

By now his thirst was enormous. “I would drink the stars like droplets of dew!” He exclaimed. But there was nothing. Only the shape of the hill in the distance, bulging against the endlessness. On he walked, until the sun rose and he found he had come a long way. From up here he could see across the world. There was a breeze, and he could see ringlets of smoke from a distant village at the desert’s edge, thin wisps from beyond the horizon. “I have found my way home!” He exclaimed. “But I cannot return until I have found water. Without water I will not make it through another day!” He sat and wept what tears he could. There was only waiting, and the acceptance of it.

But then the breeze shifted, and he smelled the fresh scent of water.

He ran now, until he heard it. He followed the sound until, in a moment of sheer joy, he stumbled on the resurgence of a river. It poured out of the hill, shone in the sun like the myriad heavens, and then plunged into a deep cave. The whole of the desert is resting upon this fount, he thought, and he cupped his hands to drink of it.

His thirst now slaked, he sat to watch the rhythm of the water’s passage; its voice whispered secrets of the mountains, of the sky and the rain long forgotten, and he marveled at the forms it moved through his shadow.

“But what good is this water?” He said to himself. “Indeed, I have discovered it, here in the midst of emptiness. The whole world rests upon it. And yet I cannot drink enough for tomorrow, or carry it with me. It just runs through my hands.”

water jar 2But the water gave him time, he knew that. He sat and with his hands began digging into the sandy hillside, bringing up the darker earth from beneath. He wet it, and molded it, and let three jars bake in the sun. He washed in the water. The jars baked. He drank his fill, plunging his head into the stream. After perhaps seven days had passed he had made sixty-five good-sized jars. They were shaped such that their openings were almost closed, and still damp. He couldn’t fill them from the stream itself, because they began to crumble. So he filled his mouth, and then the first jar, closing off the moist top to preserve the waters from the heat of the day. Then he filled the rest, in the same manner.

The next day he took eight of the jars in his arms, as many as he could carry, stacked and uncomfortable, and walked down, out into the desert. After twelve hours difficult walking, he had drank one jar. When it was empty, he cast it aside. He stopped and left six of them between the footprints that marked his journey. As the sun set he returned the way he had come, finishing off another jar to sustain his travel.

The next day he took another eight jars, and walked twelve hours into the desert, drinking one, as before, until he had arrived where he’d been the day previous. He rose in the morning, and took eight jars another twelve hours into the desert. Again, he left six jars and returned by the same path, drinking one for the journey. He stopped again, at the same place as the day previous. He took one of the jars, and returned to the hillside.

In this way he built a river by which he could always return to the  source for replenishment, and yet extend further into the desert.  What if the village had moved, or been destroyed by bandits? He needed to be sure.  And so he repeated this process, until, by the aid of seven caches to sustain his foray and return, he could see the end of the desert.  And his village was there.

On the sixty-fourth day he returned.

“Where have you been?” His wife asked him. “Can’t you see the children need teaching? They are always disobeying. Why did you go into the desert? Have you forgotten your oath to me?”

He smiled at her, giving her the last jar he had assembled.

“My bride,” he said, “Drink. I have discovered the miracle of creation!”

Parabola Calendar for the week beginning December 27, 2009

December 28th, 2009

Sunday 27

Hagia Sophia

- Ashura. Muslim – Festival to mark the martyrdom of Muhammad’s

grandson, the day Noah left the ark, and the day Moses was saved from the Egyptians by God.

- 537 – The Hagia Sophia, a former Eastern Orthodox church, is completed in Turkey. The church was converted to a mosque in 1453 by the Turks, and then into a museum in 1935.

westminster-abbeyMonday 28

- Feast of the Holy Innocents. Christian – Commemorates the “Massacre of the Innocents

- 1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated in London, England.

Tuesday 29

- Al-Hijira. Muslim – Celebrated as the Islamic New Year. Marks the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina.

saint_thomas_becket4

- Feast Day. Roman Catholic – Day to honor the death of St Thomas Becket (1118-1170).

Wednesday 30

- 1865 – Birth of author Rudyard Kipling.

- 1924 – Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.

The Dance

Thursday 31

- New Year’s Eve – Sharaf. Baha’i – Celebrates the first day of the 16th month on the Baha’i calendar.

- 1869 -Henri Matisse, French painter, is born.

Friday 1

- New Year’s Day

- Gantan sai. Shinto – Beginning of a seven-day holiday to welcome the new year.

- 630 – The Prophet Muhammad sets out to conquer Mecca.

- 1908 – The ball is dropped for the first time in New York City’s Times Square to signify the start of the new year.

Saturday 2

- 1836 – Birth of the Jewish writer Mendele Moykher Sforim.

- 1873 – Birth of Thérèse de Lisieux, French Carmelite nun and saint.

Reflections in the Snow

December 22nd, 2009

By Bro. Ben Williams

I’m sitting here on a slow day in December. Outside the snow is falling. In a few days it will be Christmas. Already.

Still, while enduring the slow Christmas-week workday, while my co-workers chat and giggle outside, I can’t keep my mind from the wonderful symbolism all around us. It’s not just Christmas; not just the cards, the evergreen, the inevitable santa clauses. Every day is like this for me – a day decoding messages.

Even the tree outside my window whispers the secrets of the past. It has frozen its course to the sun in the twists of its boughs. It stands tall and happy – yes, the tree is actually happy – and seems to take great pleasure in letting the snow mark its curves, pitting its form in reverse chiaroscuro like an artist’s negative.

Certainly, I am guilty of not-quite anthropomorphizing this plant, instilling my own cartoon into its frame. Like the way a child’s truck is fabricated with bug eyes, a grinning bumper. To humanize it, make it impart a feeling, what some in the United States might call “cute.”

But I do believe that form does follow function, that the form itself bespeaks the invisible essence of a thing, and that this image itself is a type of communication, even if not deliberate. (But never accidental.) I’m not really anthropomorphizing the tree because to me it doesn’t appear human. That kids’ truck in the lobby, though, definitely anthropomorphized. (And grotesque!) What is human about me, about you – about us – is this ability to commune with nature readily. Nature is constantly revealing great secrets if we only drop our eyes a little, and throw out all preconceptions. This isn’t really surprising, all great science has been made (or at least confirmed) by observation. Ironically, that same science sometimes imparts its own image after the fact. It can hide the question (which is sometimes much more important) beneath the explanation, like the drawing of an atom with electrons flying around like small planets… Electrons don’t exist like that at all. But that’s how most of us see them.

It’s much easier to squander an inheritance than your own earnings, right? How much more liberal, then, are we with the ideas we inherit?

That’s why the idea of nature is so fascinating.

So this tree. What is its secret? Today, at least (for trees can be talkative – they have lots of secrets), it has reminded me that as the world turns away from the sun, so do the days get shorter as we approach the nadir of the year. (Astronomically speaking we’re actually closer to the sun, aphelion is in June.) But rounding that corner, or perhaps that shoulder, as we did yesterday morning, we begin to turn once more toward it. The buds of leaves form, leaves array themselves appropriately to distill the sunlight. The ghosts of this are everywhere, in each turn of this tree’s limbs and its reddened twigs. Life opens up in praise of this return, even as it slumbers. In my office, the mysterious orchid I bought a month ago has opened up a score of yellow flowers, enabling me at last to identify it (although, I still don’t know it’s name). Appropriate to the season, I hear the words of Jesus in my mind: there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 100 righteous men. The world seems to agree. As we turn toward G-d, and not away from Him, so do all things open up in praise. Among them all, it is a pleasure to hear this young tree’s chorus blend with the orchid on the file cabinet. Such harmony exists. Such harmony.

Merry Christmas!