In my recent research I have come across some amazing mind blowing material. As such, I've had to stop and do some written meditations. I'm always amazed that people think concepts like the Alchemy or Tarot or Kabbalah do not apply to the Christian ethos...that it's somehow blasphemy. Of course, we've traced this to the Catholic Church who clearly just wanted power and didn't want their populace to be critical or independent thinkers.
Yet, whenever I come across this information and it explains the bible better then any preacher...I take notice. In the end, Jesus was a Jew and probably well versed in the Kabbalah. I wish I could find the non-canonical bible where the disciples had terrible dreams of their children being offered up as sacrifices (marytrydom perhaps?) and Jesus told them that meant they would fail to properly teach the populace properly...because boy does that seem to be what happened. While I was reading this in Daniela Abravenel's book I was just floored and I had to go more deeply into it...was King Solomon an Alchemist? Is this the source that inspired Alchemy? I was doing my research on the very last of the Hebrew letters....Tav. Here is what she wrote and then we'll get into further reflections. I'm still reading Abravenel's book so I haven't written a review but it's fascinating! "In the book of Proverbs King Solmon tells us that the heart, which expresses itself most intensely in prayer, must be refined just like gold and silver: The refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold, but the lord tries hearts. The Hebrew word kesef (silver) also means desire." I looked up the word for gold and it is, "Enlighten, shine or admonish," according to Strong's Dictionary. She goes on later, "We must refine the quality of our desires and our requests...." Abravenel's Candle Metaphor I couldn't blend this with the above and adequately do it justice. Above is a picture I created for you so that you can relate to it as you read this insightful bit of information that I put into my own words while taking notes. She says that the word Tikun which starts with Tav also represents the Alchemical function. Tikun means reparation or transformation. Reparation is a word that means 'to repair.' The Flame is Neshamah- the Higher Self The Wick is Insight...or the Inner Path of the Seeker to put into terms more familiar in this blog. Nefesh "animal soul" is the Candle Wax. This is the part of us that is conditioned from Karma and Conditioning (by parents, environment, society, religion, school, friends, etc.) Now here is the beautiful little quote I wrote down in my journal, "Consumption of the candle wax into flame alludes to the alchemical transformation of matter and darkness into Spirit and Light." She goes on to explain that the wick is the catalyst. Then she explains that Fire requires oxygen to burn and that this refers to proper breathing. The Fire The Secret Fire of the Alchemist is one of the core teachings when studying Alchemy. As I read about Alchemy I remembered a lecture from a long time ago that I attended by a Hindu woman who's name I don't remember. She explained that there is this practice, which I can't recall the name of either, that the proper breathing stirs the fire at the base of the spine. Above that fire is the gastric system...intestines, stomach, etc. which she compares to a great bowl that is essentially over a flame like a cooking pot. If the fire is low at the base of the spine then the metabolism will not work properly. When thinking about the metabolic system we know that if the chemicals within the stomach and the bacteria in the intestines are not working properly it can have a major effect on the person's body. Here is a little picture I created that kind of creates this idea... What little I know of Kundalini (based on John Van Auken's side information and on some information Paul Foster Case speaks about...in both cases the subject was mentioned and not explored in depth so I don't feel that I comfortably understand it...that is a topic of research on the to-do-list. I've found it hard to research because there is a lot of frauds who talk about it and wrote e-books on the subject while the actual experts who practice it in Asia are surprisingly silent)...describes a fire at the base of the spine. Through meditation and practice that fire is raised up along the path of the spine, up the neck and into the brain to the Pineal and the Pituatary Glands. The result of a Kundalini Awakening is supposed to be A Golden Mind...or a mind of 'spiritual fire.' That isn't very far from what the Alchemists believed/achieved but they use different terminology and specific meditations/experiments to help plant the seeds of their ideas for the development of the Elixir in their minds. We see the same practice, described in a different way, when working with our chakras...as we clear the different blockages in the chakra's it's far easier to do meditations similar to my Heavenly Light Meditation (https://youtu.be/CHV9uDhiTWI). Here is the first in my series of videos on the Chakras (https://youtu.be/Zv8ymcJbHqk). The Mind and Heart Connection Now, having just finished writing my videos on Alchemy this metaphor really surprised me. Unlike what most people think Alchemists were not talking about literally transforming Lead into Gold. They were talking about a meditative practice of self-transformation. Typically the 'stone' that they worked with was their own minds. However, Buddhism has a fascinating concept about how the Mind and Heart need to be working together called the Jewel in the Lotus. Here is an article on that topic that I will be referring to throughout the rest of this blog: https://jackkornfield.com/mind-heart/. As Jack Kornfield explains, "In Buddhist psychology, mind and heart are often described by one word "citta." Here in the west we tend to 'live' in our intellect. That's our logical waking conscious A to C mind that dismisses everything we cannot physically hold, weigh, measure or add. Imagination has had very little value placed upon it in the United States and has been linked to insanity. The phrase," It's just your imagination," is poison to the soul. When someone imagine's something or associates particular feelings about a subject it needs to be discussed and explored. Even if the experience is not validated by a group of people it is nonetheless real for the individual experiencing the problem. This leads to a lot of psychological problems in the United States being hidden. Eventually, the Subconscious can no longer handle all of the information and the person either explodes in rage or depression...either of which can lead to a School murder spree or suicide. You can see the effect with the suicides and school murders as well as in Hollywood that can no longer create new material...those with the imaginations have died off or can't break into the industry (aside from Marvel movies). The Heart is the home of both the emotions which is closely linked to the imagination and it is the bridge to the Subconscious. Therefore, when an Alchemist is working with the structure of 'the mind' it does purify both the heart and the mind. The structures that the Alchemist turns into ashes during the Calcination period often involve the emotions and the ideas or images we have attached to them. The idea that in order to be strong we must not cry is a prime example of a belief structure that we need to put onto the pyre of our own internal fire. When we look at what Chakra's Paul Foster Case connects to the "planets" of the Sun and Moon we also see this connection between the heart and mind. The Sun belongs to the Heart chakra...and the Moon belongs to the Third Eye Chakra. We can go further into studying these two concepts when we know that the Hebrew Letter attached to the Tarot Card Key- The Moon- Is Kuf and that the Hebrew Letter attached to the Tarot Card Key- the Sun- is Reish. Here are the YouTube videos I made exploring: The Moon Tarot Card Key: The Sun Tarot Card Key: Reish, associated with the Sun and the Heart Chakra, is the Hebrew Letter that best represents Air...it is the letter that starts the word for Holy Spirit and Breath...but it is also the word for Noise and Evil. As they say, there is a thin line between Love and Hate. I call the letter Kuf, associated with the Moon and The Third Eye Chakra, the Hebrew letter of Paradox. Here are the YouTube videos I made exploring: Reish: Kuf: Now that you are a bit more familiar with the connections it becomes clear why you have to purify both of these....and it also connects with the Hopi Prophecy Rock discussing the Two Hearts...as long as our hearts our divided between good and evil we cannot think straight....and as long as we continue to see the Moon or Third Eye Chakra as a paradox we're going to have very confused lives. The reconciling and purification of these two centers it is what creates a person of One Heart and One mind...it allows us to cultivate the Jewel in the Lotus. Proverbs Now, that we have shown that the Heart and Mind are one in many ways we can take a look at the context of what Solomon was saying in Proverbs. I will not quote the entire song but here is a link to the lyrics/passage: (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+16&version=NIV). There are two points in this song that I want to point out because we're looking to see the references to Silver and Gold: Proverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! This goes exactly along with Alchemy. The Moon, or Silver, is the Subconscious. The Sun, or Gold, is the Waking Consciousness. Here, Solomon is pointing out that the True Silver of Insight and True Gold of Wisdom are valuable! Later in Proverbs 17: 3: The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. A crucible is what is used to calcinate an item and it looks like this: Of course, most of us know that a furnace for heating metal looks like this... This tells us a bit of how we purify the Mind and the Heart. To release the essence of the Heart we have to follow the Alchemical process of Calciniation, Dissolution, Separation, Conjunction, Putrefaction, Distillation, and Coagulation. A few of these steps require physical fire...Calcination, Dissolution, Separation....eventually, however, when we reach Putrefaction the process starts to work on it's own. I use the example of making a compost in another blog that I will be posting in a couple of weeks. Once you add the hot mess of stuff in a compost pile, provided you have created a nice place for it (some people use buckets, some people just cover it with cardboard and still others make more elaborate containers) it heats upon on it's own at this point...and aside from an occasional stirring to make that everything putrefies evenly...Mother Nature does the rest. Since the alchemists relate this process entirely to the mind...I think it does make sense that the 7 steps of the Alchemical process involves purifying both the heart and Mind. Conclusion There are many times that there is a hint of Alchemy in the the Visions of the Bible. In many cases it's in the visions such as Ezekial's vision and Revelations (which is one big vision). The only reason Alchemy continues to be cast in the light of being 'forbidden' and not based on religious pricinpal's that can be connected to the the Bible (and actually make sense of them) is because the Catholic Church saw the practice as competition. However, it seems that the Alchemists were in many ways emulating the teachings of the bible. There is one more insight that I want to add here that I found very interesting. Alchemy is connected to a few traditions. The First word is Al which Arabic meaning "The" and Chemy on the other hand might come from different sources. One is the Kemet connection I made in my Introduction to Alchemy video () and the another is a Chinese word meaning, "Golden Juice." Interestingly, the Hebrew word for prophet, Navi, also means, "To Pour." Hmmm...makes you wonder what the Prophet's were pouring. I found this very interesting.
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
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