Conversations with a Master Alchemist: On the Creation of the Solar Body of Light

o

The discussion regarding the Solar Body of Light, in the wake of Master R.C.:s announcements, has sparked some interesting responses which again has provoked the good Master to voice his erudite opinion. The initial response was that these notions wasn’t unique at all, that they may bee found in the writings ranging from Eastern Tantra, both Hindu and Buddhist, to the more modern western writers of Samael Aun Weor and Kenneth Grant!

Now, recently some anonymous detractor claims that there are absolutely no references at all to the creation of a solar body of light in any of the occidental alchemical writings and that the teachings of Master R.C. is simply a modern invention and deception. He holds that the Hermetic tradition doesn’t concern itself with the creation of a solar body of light, but instead the liberation of the Spirit from the physical body and the yoke of its passions, ideas which are quite reminecent of gnosticism rather than hermeticism in my opinion. He furthermore holds that even the Hindu and Tibetan Tantric traditions doesn’t try to create a solar body of light, but instead only to free the consciousness of the cycle of reincarnations and the ignorance resulting from incarnation and its sensual impressions upon the mind. This detractor even states that any belief in an immortality of some individuality is considered as erroneous for the Indian and Tibetan traditions.

The following response from Master R.C. has been faithfully translated and presented by Lux ex Septentrionis (David Griffin), Frater R+AC.

On the Creation of the Solar Body of Light
by Master R.C.

In response to my recent article, I have been forwarded several letters and comments. I am pleased to observe the interest aroused by the present discussion. This is a positive development, as not enough has yet been written about Hermetic alchemy from an initiatic perspective. Clearly, certain points need to be set forth at this juncture, in accordance with what my own Alchemical Master taught and transmitted to me over the course of decades – in the same fashion as initiatic, alchemical knowledge has been transmitted from alchemical Master to Disciple for Millennia.

My words here may displease certain readers, but I will not hold back the truth merely because others may find it distasteful. I ask you to set aside for a moment all of your preconceived ideas and to read these few lines in a state of serenity and peacefulness of soul, aspiring that the light of consciousness may illuminate our discourse.

Many people today delude themselves with the mistaken belief that all knowledge may be found either in books and publications or on the internet. In the case of Hermetic wisdom in general, and of Alchemy in particular, published works include only the most minimal part of the legitimate teachings. These are, I must once again repeat, transmitted only through true initiation or from an authentically realized Master – and not from a mere thinker – as true transmission is energetic, from Soul to Soul, and not verbal.

In regard to recent questions and comments about the Solar body:

Everything within creation – merely by virtue of being manifest – possesses a vehicle through which manifestation is possible. The existence of form and non-form is one single reality, which is the true nature of the universe and of creation.

The transition from form to non-form is instantaneous and we are never conscious of the passage because, these are two sides of the same coin. Thus, even talking about the change from form to non-form is inaccurate and incorrect – as such a notion imposes conditions appropriate for duality, whereas ultimately it is only unity that exists, which is instantaneously both existence and non-existence.

Consider a point in geometry. A point is indivisible and eternal yet non-existent at the same time. The same may be said about the true nature of the Mercury of the Philosophers.

Therefore, it is in reality not strictly correct to speak of the CREATION of the Solar Body because – since all is ONE – it already exists. Thus the real task is to bring to consciousness the ONE that is within us and that IS us. This is the true mission of Alchemy and ancient Hermetic sciences.

In the orient, this same notion is implied in the statement that MAYA is reality and illusion at the same time, and that these are two sides of the same coin. In fact, it is also written in the East that MAYA is the same as MOKSA – absolute freedom – but this mere affirmation does not equal the realization of this truth or the attainment of absolute freedom!

Such intellectual discourse does not even approach the living truth that all is ONE and that all is ipso facto real and unreal. The truth, the reality or unreality of things is created by our mind itself. This is the true meaning of the RAW MERCURY OF THE PHILOSOPHERS. This Mercury is “raw” in the sense that it is unprocessed. When processed by alchemical means, this Raw Mercury may be transmuted first into Silver, then into purest Gold.

I would like to stress that all that is said here about human beings can also be extended to materials of every nature and grade, and thus applies to physical transmutations as well. All of this – of course, observes the fundamental law of UNITY OF MATTER.

Thus we see that the mind, or the eternal capability of matter, has the power to render real or unreal every single thing – even itself. This – in high degree alchemy – is called SULFUR – the generative capacity of the mind – which uniquely and eternally exists.

When the mind, or Mercury, vibrates, creation IS – yet when it does not vibrate any longer...CREATION VANISHES. This is the power of the MERCURY OF THE PHILOSOPHERS – which can pigment all metals or states of matter.

Thus – when correctly understood – the creation of the Solar Body is the ability to cause your mind (or Mercury) to vibrate in such a way that, by creating waves of form, it generates a state of MATTER-SPIRIT-UNITY that is active in EVERY plane of creation itself. In other words, it is the capability of acting consciously on every gradation of the ONE that is EVERYTHING.

This is the Solar Body that indicates the LIGHT and wisdom of all things simultaneously that is eternal. Hence true Eternity and Immortality is the MIND’S CAPABILITY OF BEING AWARE OF ITSELF AND OF THE TRUE NATURE OF REALITY.

Therefore, every being creates, by its own will, its slavery or freedom. There are those who understand it early and put themselves on the path of wakefulness. There are others, however, who need a lot of time to acknowledge the subtle aspect of creation, in addition to its aspect of form.

Hence we can talk about TRUE IMMORTALITY only when it is CONSCIOUS and AWARE. Otherwise, despite the perpetual eternity of being, we cannot speak of true immortality, when consciousness, not being aware, sinks into the chasm of illusions that are real for us and envelope us by the great power of mind (or Mercury) itself.

Marrying Mercury with Sulphur, creating the double nature, thus may be understood as joining the mind with its own power, thus becoming conscious of who we really are and of our true potentialities. This state we call the creation of the Solar Body and it is represented as a symbol with an OPEN EYE OVER A FOUR STEPPED PYRAMID, which indicates the four states of matter: solid, fluid, subtle, and radiant, which joined together and merged in the state of the mind, that is the QUINTESSENCE or FIFTH ELEMENT, become the Solar Body of Light, which is eternal and indestructible.

The methods to reach this, which on metaphysical basis are in the strictest sense incorrectly called “the creation of the Solar Body of Light,” have never been revealed openly – And even had they been, they would not have been understood by those who are unprepared, living their reality as they want it to be, rather than how it is in truth instead.

I hope I have been clear and that I answered all of your questions and inquiries. All that remains for me to add is that everything I have written and every mental procedure here described may be perfectly reproduced even in a laboratory through alchemy, archemy, or spagery – In other words, by making use of substances that appear – I repeat - that APPEAR – to be outside of us as living beings alone in this actual life on planet Earth.

With love and respect for all living beings,
R.C.

So ends the words of a Master. The interesting thing which emediately pops up in my mind through a initial reading of his words regarding the “Raw Mercury” is that it very much confirms the alchemical teachings of Paul Foster Case in his various courses which he wrote for the Builders of the Adytum. Again I cannot stress enough the significance and importance of reading his works as a Golden Dawn student, which are now being readily available outside of the circles of B.O.T.A. through various publications.

My own thoughts on this matter which the anonymous detractor raises is the following. First of all he is mistaken that there are no references at all to the creation of subtle “bodies” through Internal Alchemy in older alchemical traditions, although they are scarce and highly incomplete; one simply has to look in the right direction. It is variously referred to as the “Secret of Secrets”, such as the “Arcana Arcanorum”, “Secretum Secretorum”, etc. I suggest the reader to look up these references through a search on Google, even on this blog.

Regarding the Eastern Tantric traditions not wanting to create “immortality” and “alchemical bodies”, I suggest the reader too look up David Gordon White’s excellently researched but arduous academic work The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India. This will dissipate any such erroneous notions. I was baffled and amazed by the many similarities between Hermetic Alchemy and the Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions, both in the general and particular levels of teachings.

Before reading this book I remember seeing a documentary on the Tantric Buddhist tradition in Tibet, how they projected their consciousness at the moment of death to a so-called “rainbow body”. When I saw this reference I understood that the Ageless Wisdom is truly universal. White’s book gives a solidly researched confirmation of this “body”, variosly referred to as “rainbow”, “diamond”, “sonic”, etc., the differences being only that of language and culture.

The Transfiguration of Christ

Having but learned miniscule portions of Hermetic Alchemy in my personal alchemical work, I have suddenly started so see references to it in all kinds of traditions, lately also in the Gospels and in particular in the Eastern Christian Orthodox Church regarding the doctrine of the transfiguration of Christ. It is easily overlooked if one hasn’t the eyes to spot it. Internal Alchemy, such as taught by Master R.C. and his contemporaries, is truly transformative not only in body but also in mind and the outlook on life and in particular on the different and apparently disparate esoteric and exoteric spiritual traditions.

S∴R∴

Conversations with a Master Alchemist: On the subject of the Solar Consciousness

o

One good thing about heated debates in the Golden Dawn community is that it sometimes draws out the Hermetic Masters from their hideouts in an attempt to set the record straight. Not that I believe that any words of wisdom from a Master will change the hearts of the majority. I’m not that naïve. But I do hope that at least some earnest students of the Royal Art will benefit from the following words – if their minds and hearts be sufficiently open and void of preconceptions.

During the last decade the Chiefs of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega has made several revelations as to the nature of the Great Work, as transmitted to them from the Third Order. The purpose has been twofold in this revelation. One has been to provide sincere students of the Hermetics some guidelines against the trappings of the maze or labyrinth which is the Alchemical Tradition. The other purpose has been to provide proof that the Third Order actually does exist and that the Hermetic Alchemical Tradition it teaches likewise is authentic. G.H. Fra. L.e.S. made a summary of these revelations just recently. I will quote it in full albeit in a slightly amended format:

1. The true nature of the Opus Magnum is ENERGETIC EVOLUTION. This is the actual purpose of life on Earth. Human beings are but larval forms of a higher, purely energetic form of life that human beings are evolving towards.
2. The Prima Materia of Internal Alchemy is actually the living matter of the HUMAN BODY.
3. The alchemical transmutation of Lead into Gold is actually an analogy for the transmutation of the Physical Body (Saturn = Lead) into a SOLAR BODY of LIGHT (Sun = Gold).
4. The ROYAL ART of Alchemy is the science of IMMORTALITY – the science of the cultivation of SOUL: a Solar Body of Light that can survive the death of the physical body – and even render us CONSCIOUSLY IMMORTAL.
5. The TRUE PURPOSE of all Hermetic arts, whether GOLDEN DAWN MAGICK, laboratory alchemy, or Hermetic Internal Alchemy is the ACCELERATION of this Energetic Evolution that otherwise would require many incarnations to complete.
6. The THIRD ORDER of the Alpha et Omega teaches HERMETIC INTERNAL ALCHEMY - the highest form of Hermetic Science – in the sense that it is the most powerful operative practice to ACCELERATE Energetic Evolution.
7. Hermetic Internal Alchemy is so powerful that – by using it – you can cultivate a Solar Body of Light in a single lifetime.
8. Hermetic Internal Alchemy uses a SECRET FIRE to “cook” and transmute the physical body into pure energy.
9. The true nature of this Secret Fire is the FIRES of the PHYSICAL BODY itself.
10. The most powerful and creative of these fires of the physical body are LOVE and SEXUALITY.
11. Hermetic Internal Alchemy thus cooks the Physical Body (Saturn = Lead) into a Solar Body of Light (Sun = Gold) by harnessing the fires of Love and Sexuality – and using them to accelerate Energetic Evolution.
12. The processes of Hermetic Internal Alchemy hold the secret keys to the true and correct preparation of the PHILOSOPHER’S STONE.
13. The Philosopher’s Stone is an incredibly powerful ELIXIR of LIFE that can be used, on the one hand, to increase longevity, and on the other hand, to dramatically accelerate the cultivation of a Solar Body of Light.
14. The opening phase of this Opus Magnum of Hermetic Internal Alchemy involves cultivation and separation of the ASTRAL BODY.
15. For the first alchemical SEPERATIO (in order to separate the Astral Body from the physical body) it is necessary to first liberate the Astral Body from the turbulence caused by its constant bombardment with physical sensations, thoughts, emotions, etc., coming from the physical body. This is the true reason why real initiatic traditions universally require initiatic SILENCE.
16. True ASTRAL PROJECTION is only possible AFTER an Adept has first fully cultivated his or her ASTRAL BODY and achieved the FIRST ALCHEMICAL SEPARATIO. (This can only be achieved by first liberating the Astral Body from the domination of the Physical Body as described above).
17. This has nothing to do with the sort of waking visions involved in “Skying in the Spirit Vision” or that is commonly understood as Astral Projection by the New Age community. Such waking, visionary states can only reach as far as the LOWER ASTRAL, the realm of illusion and self-deception.
18. True Astral Projection occurs in a completely DIFFERENT state of consciousness other than any sort of WAKING visionary or trance state. This state is known only to Adepts once they achieve the First Alchemical Separation. Only then, can we pierce through the LOWER ASTRAL with its deceptions and delusions – to achieve the TRUE spiritual vision on the HIGHER ASTRAL plane.
19. PROJECTING IN THE SPIRIT VISION is a higher and superior form of visionary experience available to Adepts of the THIRD ORDER of the Golden Dawn. Skrying in the Spirit Vision, as published by Crowley and Regardie, referred by analogy to this higher, THIRD ORDER technique all along.
20. This HIGHER visionary experience of the HIGHER ASTRAL PLANE opens only to the eyes of the Adept that has:

• Fully cultivated her or his Astral Body – and
• Liberated the Astral Body from the domination of the physical – and
• Achieved the alchemical SEPARATION of the ASTRAL body from the physical body and mastered its PROJECTION – and
• Awakened to full consciousness and awareness on the HIGHER ASTRAL.

In the latest round of discussions, as a response to this declaration, there has been suggested that all of this is either a rehash of old oriental Tantrik and Buddhist teachings, wrapped up in an occidental package, or that it has been extracted almost verbatim from the popular books of Kenneth Grant! It has even been suggested that this obsession with immortality and survival of the second death smells “Left Hand Path”; alchemical formulas of immortality are redundant as our souls all are already immortal anyway. Being obsessed with immortality is nothing but that fear of loosing the ego, according to the dectractors. The bottom line is that the points presented above is nothing new and quite common knowledge, and quite simple to discern after some study of basic occult symbology, and that initiates all over the world already practice the active cultivation of the solar body. Thus there is no need to uphold the mysterious cloak of secrecy and glamour of inaccessibility.

This of course provoked the good Alchemical Master, which my readers already have been thoroughly acquainted with here on my blog, to produce yet another statement to dispel all erroneous notions or strange suggestions once and for all. Thus what follows is “the words of alchemical Master, R.C., faithfully translated and transmitted by Lux ex Septentrionis, Frater R+AC.”

I certainly do not wish to deprive you of your cherished illusions. The actual creation of the Solar Body of Light, however, has never been published anywhere or at any time. In reality, the creation of the Solar Body of Light is the most carefully guarded secret of all the great initiatic traditions of the world, from the Pythagorean and Hermetic traditions in the West to the Taoist tradition in China, and the Tantric traditions in both India and Tibet. There do exist, however, documents where you might find vague indications, and in rare instances, perhaps even a pseudo instruction in the training of the Solar Body of Light.

But know this. All of the great traditions teach that the true creation of the Solar Body of Light CAN NOT even BE communicated in writing. In fact, the TRUE secret can’t even be communicated as oral tradition, but rather only energetically, from the Master having already achieved this development to the Disciple who receives this most sacred of initiations.

This transmission can only occur from SOUL to SOUL, and certainly not from a written page to a person. Read and study carefully the instructions that Christ gives to his disciples. Like Buddha, all true alchemical Masters have said over and over that you must have a particular YEAST to awaken gold, and that this yeast may be possessed only by one who has formed it by Divine grace or has received it from another son of Hermes. The former is extremely rare as we shall see.

This is because this formation can only be accomplished through a certain union of Souls and spiritual power passed to the Disciple from an alchemical Master who in turn received it from his own Master, etc. This, however, is TRUE initiation, and not that as understood today in this period of spiritual decadence wherein so many do not even understand the spiritual value of silence, puffing themselves up instead by pretending to publish secrets in books, on the internet, etc.

The true mystery can only be obtained from one who has it. The same is true for initiation. To open a book and consider yourself an initiate merely because you read dead words on paper made from dead wood is a dead end that leads only to delusion and spiritual bankruptcy. This is also the true meaning of initiatic lineage. As it is written that: “None may become Priests and Priestesses of the Eternal unless consecrated by the Eternal itself.”

Only the rarest of human beings, having received their mission on Earth from on high, have received that rare gift of a fully formed Solar Body of Light or the ability to cultivate it in a single lifetime on their own - the great Avatars like Christ, Buddha, Krisna, etc. All others must raise their Solar Bodies with the sacred YEAST - that only another who possesses it - a Solar Master - may transmit.

Can you not see and understand that those who seek, awaken precisely when they come into contact with someone who has precisely this YEAST for their spiritual awakening? Think for a moment. Investigate for yourself, but do not allow yourself to be misled by a delusion of simplicity of something that I can assure you is not a simple matter at all. Do not allow yourself, through mere vanity, to be misled by dead words written on dead wood made into paper.

I repeat: This is the most occulted SECRET of humanity, carefully concealed in all of the religions and alchemical traditions of the world.

However, if you truly believe that to cultivate a Solar Body of Light on your own is such a simple matter, requiring only time and discipline (very laudable as they are) as you each claim, I invite you to prove this to us.

I will then, together with countless others, bow before the first among you who accomplishes this “simple” task - recognizing you as our new teacher and Master at the level of another Christ or Buddha.

With respect,
Master R.C.

And regarding the accusations of “Left Hand Path” practices and “obsession with immortality”, and the futility of it all, Master R.C. has the following to say:

The Hermetic tradition does not say, nor has the Alpha et Omega ever said that the soul is NOT immortal. According to the Hermetic tradition, the natural state of the soul is, of course, immortality, at least in the sense that the energy of the Soul survives death. But do the memories, etc. of the incarnation?

Even the Judaic tradition, in its esoteric aspect, teaches even if the Soul is immortal, however, it requires a vast amount of time until the evolution of the individual, following the normal course of nature, is such that the individual is fully conscious and aware within this immortality.

The Hermetic tradition teaches that everything in nature is evolving towards perfection. Alchemy merely shortens the interval required to achieve attain perfection.

The same is true for the energetic evolution of the human Soul. Initiation within the great alchemical traditions of the Earth, including the Hermetic, is a means of abbreviating the necessary time, or of accelerating this process. In their essence, this is that same function that has yoga, Qabalah, or even the mystical aspect of Buddhism or any other religion. Study the classics of excellent authors like Mircae Eliade and you will be able to follow this ariadne’s thread throughout the spiritual history of mankind.

It is useless to address nonsense you raise about the left hand path, dark path, etc., except to say that such are comments one makes only when they to not know what else to say. I do not wish to be rude, but nor shall I remain silent in the face of nonsense like this, with its taste of Christian Integralism with its obscurantism of human reason and of the human Soul as it has been for Millennia.

Read the discourses of Buddha, of Zoroaster, the Sankara of Hermes Trismegistus, (the collection of hermetic authors called by this name), and other good authors – and you will see that it is not I who affirm these things, but that the tradition has always been on this solid ground. The TRUTH will set you free, not the obscurantism of misleading, sarcastic remarks.

The subject of the energetic evolution of the human Soul is quite complex and certainly can not be fully covered with these few lines. This, however, may be sufficient as a small note to clarify my thinking, which is, I repeat, not based on my own ideas, but reflects the inherited wisdom of Millennia.

Master R.C.

So ends the words of a Master. Personally I believe the issues raised regarding the “Left Hand Path” are quite interesting, but perhaps a bit unexpectedly. I have had a discussion before here on the blog (albeit in Swedish) with a Left Hand Path practitioner of Qlippotic Qabalah, which was quite a learning experience of me. In the wake of that discussion it has dawned upon me that dichotomies such as “Left Hand Path” and “Right Hand Path” are highly misleading. Out of spiritual ignorance I also used to do this separation between them two paths. But nowadays I find it way to limiting for my understanding. In my current opinion most genuine esoteric traditions, such as that of the Golden Dawn, has or should have aspects of both. Thus the Hermetic Tradition is better designated as a “Middle Path”.

Also, what is usually seen today as “Left Hand Path” in the occident (typically labeled as the “Qlippotic Qabalah”, “Chaos Magic”, or “Dark Magick”) isn’t necessarily the same as the “Left Hand Path” in the orient. They share the antinomian character though. But here I must again remind the reader of the quite obvious and strong origins of the Sabbatian Qabalah, through Jacob Frank and the Asiatic Brethren, in the modern Golden Dawn style “Hermetic Qabalah”. Thus in the Letters L.V.X. there is also the notion of Evil amongst the good (“which doth forward the good”), as well as an acknowledgement of a good and evil side of Godhead – Lord of the Universe, Lord of the Light and of the Darkness.

Thus is it fair to compare Kenneth Grant, and whatever Qlippotic that is associated with his teachings and practices, with that of the Nath or Rasa Siddhas? The Tantrik tradition is surely very similar or akin to the Hermetic Tradition, and it does follow a path which is regarded by many profane Hindu devotees as both frightening and rebellious, and blasphemous even to some of the faint hearted disposition. Still it is the path of the alchemical initiate of the orient. In the east “Right Hand Path” has more to do with organized and religious practices of the outer world or the profane, while “Left Hand” is associated with the initiated Tantrikas. Thus “Left Hand” might equally be regarded to be “esoteric” and “Right Hand” exoteric, although there do exist paths of the esoteric Yoga which is more rightly designated as Right Hand Path. At least this very general categorization seems to be useful according to my present limited understanding of the Eastern Tradition.

Furthermore, the Hermetic Masters are not addressing the “litte ego” here when they discuss the immortality of the soul. Instead they refer – to use a Qabalistic term – to the Ruach or the self-conscious mind. Following Golden Dawn qabalistic philosophy the goal is to make the Ruach or Self-consciousness a transparent vehicle for the Higher Self or Neschamah. In this the Ruach must be made to be the king of the Soul, seated firmly on the throne as the New Adam with his Iron Rod. Or, to use a slightly different terminology, to become anointed as the Christos. In my opinion, and obviously also according to the Master R.C., Jesus Christ is a prime example amongst others of one who in fact did attain a Solar Consciousness; it is followed by a illumination and full identification with the “Father” or True and Only Self.

The transfiguration into Solar Consciousness

In Internal Alchemy you aspire to separate the different “bodies” or “layers” in the human being to reunite them again into a new and glorious whole. At least this is how I perceive it reading the words of the Master. The end result is a full Cosmic Consciousness in which the radiant Solar power of the Spirit is transmitted inhibited through both the Soul and the Body. This is the transfiguration of the Christ.

S∴R∴

An apology of the internal path of Hermetic Alchemy

o

Someone recently challenged the view that the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega adheres to regarding Hermetic Alchemy. This person states that the claims about transmutation of base metals into gold in an actual physical laboratory never were meant to be metaphorical. In this instance the practice of modern day alchemists like David Hudson was considered to be a proof of the truth in laboratory or external alchemy. In Response, Master R., a Magister (8°=3°) of the Alpha et Omega's Third Order writes:

You are partially correct in that there is indeed a branch of alchemy that advances one spiritually through the external transmutation of metals, herbs, or minerals. Where you are mistaken, however, is that you do not understand that there also exists alchemy that effects physical transmutation by using internal fluids and energies. You demonstrate that you have not fully understood alchemy in that you are separating the ONE - and the first law of alchemy is that ”Everything is ONE”. Thus each operation referring to an external metal may also be referred to a metal - literally - INSIDE MAN. Thus you are only considering one aspect of alchemy and not ALL OF ALCHEMY - WHICH IS GLOBAL AND BASED ON UNITY.

Hudson is but a student who has remained only with the physical, external aspect of alchemy - and remains ignorant of the mysteries of Internal Alchemy. Yet for the complete Opus it is necessary that alchemy be complete. There are surely different branches of alchemy which should be studied separately and put into practice. Thus the external alchemy of Hudson is only a part of alchemy; ”chemical alchemy” whereas we study alchemy WITHIN THE HUMAN BODY.

There are diverse paths to attainment that may be followed all together or separately. This is a choice. We prefer working with the subtle fires of the body itself, such as love and sexuality, and the fluids of the human body, whereas you prefer chemical substances that exist in nature. Yet these alchemical paths are the same in the sense that we use the same elements arising from the same root. The difference is that we use elements within the human body, whereas you use those without.

You should, however, always remember that true alchemy should always tend to the liberation of the energy that is contained within matter. Thus the way of Hermetic Internal Alchemy is the most useful to man. Due to the processing practiced by Hudson and others like him – they have been called “Puffers” (Souffleurs) by the ancients. When alchemical texts speak of “puffers” this is exactly what they are referring to, as such ways of external processing are extremely long when contrasted with Hermetic Internal Alchemy - and thus best left to others.

Let there be no doubt about it. Hudson - and others like him - are “Puffers”. Hudson speaks not of “aLchemy” but rather of “aRchemy” - from which arises modern chemistry. Alchemy is something else.

You need consider only this one law:

”Use nothing external to the matter of the Opus itself - which is already complete as it is - and all you should do is - cook - cook - cook.”

How is it possible, therefore, that Puffers like Hudson seek to use things external to the human body or to the matter of the Opus, when everything you need to complete the Opus Magnum is contained within the human body itself?

Why do they not follow this most basic law of alchemy?

For only one reason: to sell their potions and products and to make money. This is a question of business for these individuals.

This is also why they are so upset with our order - because we reveal this truth about alchemy - and the truth is bad for their business!

- Master R.

To recapitulate the message of Master R, embellished (or rather tinted) by my own conclusions. There exist both an external and an internal path of Alchemy. The external works with outer substances and prima materials, such as Antimony (the Black Dragon) of the Dry Way and Cinnabar (the Red Dragon) of the Humid. Internal Alchemy works with the prima materia of the physical body. While the Dry Way of external alchemy works with vulgar fire in an athanor made of brick and clay (oven), and the Wet Way of external alchemy with the secret fire of an athanor made of glass (flask), the internal path of alchemy works with the athanor of the body and the secret fire that is contained within the organism. Both paths, the external and internal, are legitimate. But one is more Royal then the other. Internal alchemy is more direct while external is of a more analogical kind. Internal alchemy has greater potential and is shorter, while the external ways are harder to master correctly and takes longer. Both paths use the same symbology and terms. To master Inner Alchemy one usually are required to master the external way as a preparation for the internal. But to reach the true Opus Magnum or succeed in the Great Work one must master the internal path of Hermetic Alchemy.

S∴R∴

Conversations with a Master Alchemist: Regarding the two paths of Alchemy

o

Between november 15 and 16 there appeared an interesting exchange of discussion on the International Golden Dawn Forum between some students of alchemy, including yours truly, and a genuine Master Alchemist belonging to a secret fraternity continuing an unbroken link of succession counting back to the times which predates that of Master Jesus, and which preserves the ancient wisdom of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, today referred to as Hermetic Alchemy and Magic. I have been granted permission to publish these commentaries of the Master Alchemist on my blog by the G.H. Chiefs of the R.R. et A.C. I have edited the text somewhat, besides correcting typos, while in the process tried to preserve the words of the Master in their original form as much as possible. It is well worth its reading as it in a very erudite and candid manner explains the differences between the two paths of Alchemy, the Internal and External Ways. The original text is written in a unknown European language and was translated by David John Griffin into plain English. The words of the Master has been thought provoking and evoked some questions from several students of which I have inserted some below - S∴R∴

In alchemy there are actually two paths and ways of processing. One path is the “voie externe” or external way, which is the way of powders and filters, and the other way uses inner substances. Each initiate follows one path or the other and each arrives at the same goal, although the way of Inner Alchemy is faster and more effective.

It is not, however, true [...] that [in] acting symbolically upon symbols [...] analogical, outer, lunar alchemy arrives at the same result as the solar, direct way in virtue of the laws of Hermes that must be understood very differently and not so simplistically as [...] non-initiates understand them. The Hermetic maxim “As above, so below” is principally applied in the practice of the alchemical art and occults an important alchemical key, which can not be revealed to the profane and the uninitiated. It is a true operative key and thus there is little that I may reveal to you about this publicly. In any case, [...] alchemists [in general] ...spoke ENTIRELY IN CODE AND CIPHERS THE KEYS TO WHICH ARE HELD BY US AND FEW OTHER ORDERS. Thus you should also bear in mind the other alchemical maxim found so frequently in the works of... [alchemical] authors..., that “where we have spoken most clearly is exactly where we have misled you.”

Alchemy has nothing to do with chemistry and the alchemy... [one often] refer [to] ...is nothing but Spagery, which is something else and not to be confused with alchemy itself which is ENTIRELY DIFFERENT AND UNDER PERENNIALLY SEAL, WHICH MAY ONLY BE REVEALED UNTO THE MINDS OF THE ELECT. NOT EVEN AN ALCHEMICAL MASTER MAY TEACH UNLESS THE SOLAR INTELLIGENCES ILLUMINATE THE MIND OF THE DISCIPLE. Alchemy speaks of the union of nature and its processes give application to the HUMAN BEING and its nature and the PRODUCTION OF INTERNAL SUBSTANCES, THE NAMES OF WHICH HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM VULGAR CHEMISTRY. You should read the introduction of Dom Antonio Pernety to Greek and Egyptian myths and perhaps you shall find the correct road to begin to understand that true alchemy has nothing to do with tantric or sexual yoga or Crowleyan Sex Magick. A mere study of this one text should prove enough to dispel the theses of the head of an ass.

-R.C.

These somewhat ambiguous words from the Master prompted some questions on my behalf:

1. What is the difference between the “voie externe” of alchemy and the way of mineral spagery, both being outer experimental or laboratory paths?

2. Can outer ALCHEMY (as opposed to spagery) gain the same results as the way of Inner Alchemy? I.e. can the Philosophers Stone be produced in either of these two ways, the external and internal?

3. What is meant with “acting symbolically upon symbols in analogical, outer, lunar alchemy”? Does the Master refer here to “spiritual alchemy” or laboratory? I get the sense that he refers to using descriptions of analogical or outer processes in a symbolical way, i.e. not direct and operative - S∴R∴

(Translators note: Below please find the response from RC to Frater SR. I have attempted to render a faithful translation throughout, yet I have no doubt that certain subtleties of meaning may have been lost along the way. In those instances where I have been uncertain of the best translation of a certain word, I have provided alternatives following in parentheses.) - L.e.S.

Dear Sincerus Renatus,

I am pleased to answer your questions, albeit constrained by tradition to speak in cipher and in veiled terms as has always been the rule with the Sons of Hermes. I can assure you, nonetheless, that I speak the truth and I am not in any way misleading you down a false path.

The are two principle alchemical paths (ways), which follow two methods of alchemical action, active and passive (called Solar and Lunar by the ancients). These two principle paths may be practiced either in an “external” (outer) or “internal” (inner) manner. When I speak of “internal” or “Hermetic Inner Alchemy”, I do not make reference to so-called “Spiritual Alchemy” (as has been misunderstood or mistakenly implied by [...] others), which is but a form of mysticism and of little interest to the true alchemist.

In contradistinction to mysticism, including the mysticism mistakenly and confusingly called ‘Spiritual Alchemy’ in certain modern circles, Hermetic alchemy is an operative (practical, experimental) practice and a true technique that has no need of “morality” or “habits” (qualities, attributes) to be practiced or to reach the greatest of attainments. In fact, a disciple of the Royal Art can achieve alchemical attainment equally along a positive or a negative (black, sorcery) path, which is one important reason why true Hermetic alchemy, unlike magic, has been at all times guarded under a veil of strictest secrecy!

Magic functions according to the ability (quality) of the magician. In Hermetic alchemy, on the other hand, results are obtained independently of the skill of the alchemist, according to laws and principles as impersonal and inexorable as those of chemistry, whether for good (positive) or for evil (negative). Thus the ancients have called alchemy a precise practice (technique), which in modern terms one might call a science.

Hermetic alchemy is based entirely on physical principles and alchemical doctrine has nothing at all to do with spirituality in the mystical sense.

ALL IS ONE and thus neither ‘matter’ nor ‘spirit’ (energy) exist, but only one unique stuff (fabric, matter), which through alchemical elaborations in various stages be transmuted from gross to subtle and vice versa.

Hermetic alchemy does not only wash (purify) material substances rendering them subtle (spirits, alcohol), but may also by inverse process incorporate or densify spirits (alcoloids, subtle essences of plants, or oils of metals) so much as to produce a minimal particle (or “powder of projection”).

All of this may always be done, is repeatable, and may be accomplished either externally or internally. When I speak of “Externally”, I specifically mean spagerically or chemically in a properly equipped laboratory. When i speak of “Internally,” I also mean spagerically or chemically, yet entirely “within the human being.”

This yields the following formula:

The transmutation is possible of one’s own “inner” matter (“Inner” in the sense of the dense and material human body) to the point of reabsorbtion into its subtle principles in two manners:

1. either using external agents, spagerically or chemically elaborated in an external and well equipped laboratory and applying these to the human body, or

2. by using the precise correspondences of these external agents, but produced entirely within the internal laboratory of the human body, likewise transmuting the physical body using alchemical processing.

The end result is the same.

1. The first, “Hermetic Outer Alchemy” is the way of the external laboratory and uses filters and powders.

2. The other way, “Hermetic Inner Alchemy”, is completely corporeal, using the human body of the alchemist itself thorughout.

To avoid confusion and dispel the clouds of those who would deceive you as to the true nature of Hermetic Inner Alchemy, I must repeat that it has nothing to do with the mystical, so-called “Spiritual Alchemy” of Martinist and New Age derivation that has caused so much confusion regarding the true nature of alchemy in modern times.

Fulcanelli in his works speaks of the way of Hermetic Outer Alchemy, that is to say, the way of alchemical processing in an external, well equipped laboratory.

Philalethes, on the other hand, speaks, for example, in his works of the means of processing of Hermetic Inner Alchemy, which uses the human body itself exclusively throughout the processing.

I sincerely hope that I have shed light to further clarify this matter to the extent that it is to me permitted. Indeed, I have spoken here more clearly than most Hermetic philosophers who have spoken out before me.

Fraternally,
RC

Although the Master is much generous to honour us with this information, I still have some comments and questions yet to be answered:

The Master does clarify many issues that I have had regarding the differences between Outer and Inner Hermetic Alchemy, and the nature of each.

He speaks of two ways, i.e. of the Active and Passive or the Solar and Lunar paths respectively. He also confirms that BOTH paths can be practiced as an Internal OR as an External Way. But some of his comments raises further questions.

I have hierto come to understand the difference as:

Active and Solar = Inner, or direct

Passive and Lunar = Outer, analogical

But the Master says that the Solar way can be practiced as an Outer Alchemy and the Lunar as an Inner. As the Solar Outer Way is yet to be figured out my understanding of the Lunar Inner is that spagyrical and alchemical elixirs are supposed to be taken internally to provide and enhance an inner transmutation of the body of the alchemist, which will render it of a quality which can be compared to the production of the Internal Solar Body.

The Master also speaks of the Hermetic Alchemy as a “science,” i.e. that certain practices inevitably will have certain results, regardless of the purpose and the spiritual maturity of the Alchemist.

In my opinion this rule is more applicable to Inner Solar Alchemy in contradistinction to the Outer Lunar Path in virtue of the high innate potencies of the substances used with Inner Alchemy. Outer Alchemy, requiring much more manipulation on the subatomic levels for its substances and matters to be truly potent, in this respect is more similar to Theurgy or Magic, of which the Master speaks is dependable on the inner attitude and moral maturity of the Adept. Therefore Outer or Lunar Alchemy requires an inner spiritual development as well as a true understanding of the operations and processes for results to manifest in the Outer Laboratory. This notions are confirmed both by older and contemporary Masters such as Paul Foster Case, Frater Albertus and Jean Dubuis, of which I have great admiration, but also by my own personal teachers or mentors of which I have much respect.

I remember one of my early Alchemical teachers within my own school (R+C Order of the A+O) recalling a fascinating anecdote about the Nigredo state of Putrefaction. The Apprentice took the flask and showed the lack of result and asked the Master how he could acquire the Nigredo state. The Master then took the flask in his hand and the matter immediately started to putrefy. The Master said: “You have to experience Nigredo in your own life and being before you can expect it to happen in your flask”.

I strongly believe that my early teachers were correct and that there is truth to these kind of stories, i.e. that the Outer Alchemical Process actually requires a corresponding psycho-spiritual mental state within the Alchemist. So, in a sense there exists a true spiritual alchemy, as there exists a true spiritual Theurgy; the processes in the laboratory as in the oratory creates an environment for the spirit to gestate and cook within the bowels of the soul, or perhaps even the brain. There does not, as the Master R.C. has pointed out, exist a real diffusion between matter and spirit; everything is the All. I personally have experience of this kind of parallel processes between what is happening in the flask and what is happening within my soul. Outer Alchemy is the perfect form of meditation. And as Paul Foster Case has pointed out throughout many of his writings, meditation creates physical and real changes within the body and the brain. This makes the process of Lunar Alchemy both Internal as well as External, excluding the taking of Alchemically manufactured end results of these processes, i.e. the elixirs and stones.

One question that still lurks within my mind is if the administration (i.e. taking) of an Outer Alchemical Elixir or Stone is able to enhance the Inner Alchemical Process. Or should the two paths perhaps be kept strictly separate? Personally I don’t think they should be kept separate. In my own work I combine both paths (i.e. taking both external and internal elixirs) and to this day I haven't experienced anything that works contrary to this assumption.

Let us now turn our attention towards two very interesting questions (showing deep and initiated knowledge of the Royal Art) posed by “Ormus” which eagerly was answered by the Master R.C. of which I find interesting enough to reproduce here - S∴R∴

Ormus: What is Mercury in the Human Body, and where can we find it IN and where OUT?

RC: I may only point you towards the keys of the Mutus Liber in your quest to understand where the “raw Mercury of the Gods”, for the Opus may be found. Observe, however, that Mercury is the volatile part of the created composition; alcohol in the vegetable kingdom as oil in the mineral. Now what could this be in the animal kingdom and specifically in the human body?

Ormus: What is the secret of the Diamond of the Sun?

RC: I invite you to meditate upon the following words: from carbon the diamond arises as well as from carbon arises the skeletons of all things. There exists in the human being a part that is indestructible, which is the most noble part once transformed.

From black, white. From soft, hard. From carbon, diamond. From the Moon, the Sun. From Mercury, Sulphur. From the thin, thick.

Remember that in alchemy the Sun is always understood with duplicate meanings, be it as analogy to the Sun as well as to the light. It is symbolical as well as physical and therefore manipulatable by proper alchemical techniques. For alchemy the diamond is nothing else but the Sun on Earth, or “obdurate light;” in the human body as well as externally in minerals.

Please excuse me and grant understanding, as both vows and Hermetic tradition proscribe me from expressing myself more clearly on these matters in public.

And now I feel compelled to present some final words of wisdom and pertinent questions from the Master R.C. addressed to all students of Alchemy which may feel sceptical to his words or perhaps find them overly controversial - S∴R∴

In an attempt to avoid further misunderstanding, however, please excuse me for once again presuming to admonish you not to further conflate Hermetic Inner Alchemy with either Tantra or Crowleyan sexual magick.

Aleister Crowley was never a Hermetic alchemist and what is practiced by the OTO is not Hermetic alchemy, but rather something else.

The practices of the OTO comprise an Occidental interpretation certain Oriental Tantric notions filtered through a particularly Western filter. This is certainly not Hermetic alchemy, however, which is something else entirely.

Might I further presume to ask you a couple of elementary questions, on which subjects a well educated practitioner of the Hermetic arts [...] ought be pleased for the opportunity to expound upon for the edification of us all.

I therefore respectfully submit the following two lines of inquiry to you in aspiration of further illumination for us all.

To begin with, would you mind to please explain to us:

1. Where are the fires located inside the human being and what are the athanors, in both Internal and External Hermetic alchemy?

Also, please bear in mind, that it is written in the entire world that the mysteries are divided into Lunar, or external and analogical and Solar, internal, and direct.

To this, I would like to add that in the various temples everywhere of the Golden Dawn, all of the arrangements made for the various grades are made in such a way as to carry the symbols into the mind of the initiate so as to speak directly to the subconscious in “symbol” suggesting “immediately” the true meaning of the “internal” mysteries.

My second, directly relevant question [...] therefore... [pertains to one of the] ...Grade[s of] ... [the] Golden Dawn.

2. Would you therefore please illuminate us regarding the “true” meaning of the symbol presented [...] during... [the] Zelator grade advancement known as the “Hermetic Cross”? I am not referring to the “symbolical” meaning that has always been given in the lower, “Lunar,” “symbolical” grades [...] of our order but rather its “true,” higher, operative meaning as directly relevant to the practice of Hermetic alchemy?

I eagerly await your answer for our further edification as I am certain do many other of the readers of this... [blog].

Should you by chance, however, feel humbled by these sincere yet simple lines of inquiry, might I respectfully suggest that it would be most unwise for any of us to remain imprisoned in the prejudice of our preconceived notions about Hermetic alchemy and the Golden Dawn.

Would it not be far wiser to diligently continue with our studies and to aspire to Hermetic wisdom with genuine humility and a pure and noble heart, rather than to harshly judge the expositions of others based merely on an “as yet” incomplete and imperfect understanding of both Hermetic Alchemy and the Golden Dawn?

Respectfully,
RC

Conversations with a Master Alchemist: On Secrecy in the Hermetic Tradition

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This message was originally published in the International Golden Dawn Forum on November 19th, 2008. The original text is written in a unknown European language and was translated by David John Griffin into plain English. It is written by a genuine Master Alchemist of a secret fraternity continuing an unbroken link of succession counting back to the times which predates that of Master Jesus, and which preserves the ancient wisdom of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, today referred to as Hermetic Alchemy and Magic. I have been granted permission to publish this exposition on my blog by the G.H. Chiefs of the R.R. et A.C. I have preserved the text in its original format without any amandments. It is well worth its reading as it in a very erudite and candid manner explains the principles of secrecy from the traditional Hermetic perspective - S∴R∴

[Translators Note: The following exposition is delivered to our readers from RC, faithfully translated by your brother in the Great Work, Lux Ex Septentrionis (Light From the North)]

RC - On Secrecy in the Hermetic Tradition

Thank you for inviting me to comment on the role of secrecy in the Hermetic tradition.

The primary function of secrecy in esotericism is not to manipulate others, which has unfortunately been done and continues to be done in bad faith by persons who are not Hermetic Masters. A true Hermetic Master never causes his students to suffer, but maintains secrecy of the more advanced practices rather to protect the body, soul, and mind of the Apprenctice not yet prepared to assimilate these techniques, which when practiced by individuals not yet evolved enough would certainly destroy them.

Let us take a simple example. Let us say that one of my students tries to convince me to give him or her an advanced alchemical technique. I observe in the behavior of the student that they are not yet ready to have and practice this particular processing as they have not yet reached the necessary degree of spiritual maturity. Because the disciple is insistent, however, I allow myself to be convinced, give in, and give the technique to them anyway. The student diligently begins with the practice and as a consequence either goes mad or dies, which, by the way, are very real dangers with Hermetic alchemy.

Now why did this tragedy occur? It occurred for the simple reason that the Apprentice used an instrument much larger than themselves that requires a profound level of spiritual maturity for its use, for which the student was unprepared. No true Master Alchemist would, of course, ever give such a dangerous technique to an unprepared Disciple of the Art.

This same line of reasoning is followed today by more advanced nations in the sense of superior democracy in regard to, for example, smaller nations still ruled by dictators that, if were they to possess atomic weapons, would use them to destroy others and themselves. Can you imagine if Osama Bin Laden were in possession of the secrets of how to build atomic weapons? This is why nations like the USA protect the secret of the creation of atomic bombs...in order to protect an infantile humanity from self-destruction.

No Hermetic Master who is a true Master would ever give everything all at once to an Apprentice. It is the proper development and spiritual maturation of the Disciple over time that determines their capacity to assimilate more advanced spiritual techniques with their attendant higher states of awareness and realization.

If we plant an apple tree, we accept that five long years will pass before the tree will ever bear fruit. Why then should we expect it should be different with the Secret Hermetic Science?

Moreover, alchemical processes are not truly “secret.” On the contrary, all of the secrets of true alchemical processing are described in alchemical works very clearly. It is the infantility of or their laziness to study which prevents aspirants of alchemical wisdom from discovering for themselves the secrets of the Royal Art.

Aspirants today are unwilling to sweat on the books and in the laboratory as have done all true Children of Hermes and thus have discovered the true significance of every term and all of the sequences to put into operation the secrets of the Great Work.

But today, in the age of the Internet, aspirants want easy, immediate, and complete access to information. Above all, they do not want to sweat and work!

Of course not. They want to be able to go to a bookstore and buy a book like they do with Regardie's Golden Dawn, or even better yet, Google a website and voilà ... to become a Hermetic Alchemist reading in clear text all of the secrets of the Royal Art!

Such is the mentality of the 21st Century.

But with Hermetic Alchemy, alas, this is not possible.

To explain why, let me give you an example from modern physics. There exist in libraries books with the knowledge to build nearly anything, either good or evil, explaining all of the accumulated science of man.

But how many people dedicate themselves to a profound study of the matter?

Likewise many aspire to the light but only the fewest obtain it because it is “difficult” to study and to practice.

No...aspirants of today want to have everything clearly written and readily understandable.

And even the Hermetic Masters are accused today that “we keep secrets only to manipulate others,” merely because, as we have done for countless Centuries, we speak, write, and discourse with you using the very symbols of the Sacred Science itself.

But were I to reveal to you the deepest and most profound secrets of alchemical processing, how many of you would understand?

How many of you would have eyes to see?

How many, ears to hear?

How many would succeed to perceive the naked truth in itself?

Few.

In fact, only the fewest of the few.

I repeat to you once again, as has been written and said over and over by the Hermetic sages of all ages, in words that are as true today as they were in ancient times:

“Everything is clearly revealed, but not perceived.”
“Eyes behold but they do not see!”
“Ears listen but they do not hear!”

Therefore I repeat:

Just as there exist symbolical languages for physics, chemistry, and philosophy, without which you can not truly understand these sciences, so in alchemy there also exists a symbolical language that since millennia has been beneath the eyes of all in books, in cathedrals, and in every construction of the ancients. Even the fables of storybooks are full of these symbols!

Thus you can not accuse the Hermetic alchemists of hiding things from you or speaking in riddles. It is only that we are speak in a different language, known in alchemy as “The Language of the Birds.”

How can you expect to understand this language any more than Sanskrit unless you likewise learn its rules and symbols with great effort, and to study, study, and study more?

Thus it is not we, the Sons of Hermes that you should accuse of speaking in riddles and of keeping secrets from you!

No.

You should blame yourselves instead for not having studied enough and researched enough!

In fact, the alchemical maxim is quite clear and enough to come to an understanding of the entire Opus:

“Lege, lege, lege, et Inveniens.”

For those of you who have not applied yourself to understand Latin, this means in terms that even limited understanding might yet grasp:

“Read, read, reread, and you will find.”

Thus you may understand the truth that I speak to you as all of the Sons of Hermes who have come before me have also said, that everything is already written and it is only the ignorance and the intellectual laziness of those who approach the Sacred Sciences that serve as "natural selection” to screen out the undeserving by their own work from the truly deserving that are committed to and conquer the mysteries.

In the Sacred Science, not everything can be given to everyone even if it is revealed because:

the Science can not be given, but rather...it must be conquered.

It is not enough to have faith to become a true Initiate, but one must above all study, work, and engage oneself to the very depths.

How many are capable of this?

Few.

This is why true Initiates have “always” been few...

and today are even fewer.

And everything not successfully conquered on one’s own remains shrouded in mystery waiting to be discovered, and becomes “secret” only to the degree that it does not become conquered and discovered by hard work and research.

It is like as if I should enrolls to study Physics at the University. During my first year everything that the researchers of Theoretical Physics are doing will certainly remain “secret” to me. But if I apply myself I can unlock their secrets, as they are already revealed but in a language that I must first learn. Unless I learn this language, however, theoretical physics will always remain a mystery for me.

But to return once again to your original question:

You asked me:

“Why do you speak in a veiled manner, and why have the alchemists always spoken like this as well?”

I do not speak in a veiled manner. I have always spoken forthright and clearly with you.

The problem is rather with your understanding.

I speak with symbols that you do not understand only because you have not studied them.

Study the symbols of Hermetic Science and you will understand me completely.

Then you asked me: “Is this not only a manipulation?”

I have already explained to you that unfortunately there are others who do use this science to manipulate others.

I do not manipulate anyone, however. In fact, I am not even interested in having Disciples.

...and like me, there “are” others, even if they are few.

RC