LUDOVIC NICOLAS STUDIO
An original thesis on space-time.
A JOURNEY INTO THE UNIVERSAL MATRIX
” Those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries. “
Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
INTRODUCTION
Published October 28, 2021
Author’s note: this text was originally written in French.
Unfortunately, when it comes to semantics, etymology, and homophony, no
translation can effectively preserve the original meaning. To remedy this, and
to preserve the explicit content, I have decided to keep the original French
words in the text and underline them.
First of all, I would like to make it clear
that this thesis is not part of an academic work, as many might automatically
assume. If we follow the definition of the word “thesis” given by the Larousse
dictionary: “a theoretical proposition, an opinion, a position on something
whose veracity one strives to demonstrate,” my work can perfectly well bear
this title without receiving the recognition of the system or any ‘authority’.
It is therefore with limitless freedom of thought, without concession, and,
above all, without having to answer to anyone, that we will be able to study,
from any and all angles, the subjects that fuel to the enthusiasm of a polymath.
Thanks to this mindset, original ideas were able to flourish, thrive, and
reveal themselves outside of the plantation in which our curiosity is usually
confined. To be invigorated by such openness is a blessing, and I would like,
without any shame, to share with you the rose of its quintessence.
•••••
The genesis of this thesis dates back to the
day I turned my eyes to the sky, or rather to the night, when I became aware
that the starry vault revolved inexorably around a fixed point, like a wheel
around an axle. While contemplating this grand spectacle, I would never have
believed that my naive reflections on the workings of the cosmos would lead me
to study a plethora of disciplines, linking astronomy to the seemingly static spheres
of mineralogy.
I initially turned to academic science, and
despite compelling discoveries in certain fields like quantum physics, I found
within it many theories and very few theorems. Unlike a theorem, a theory is
based on speculations: it is a system formed by hypotheses that attempt to find
cohesion among established principles, be they philosophical or mathematical.
In other words, a theory does not define immutable rules and laws governing reality.
Indeed, contemporary scientific dogma relies on complex theories that cannot be
demonstrated outside a mathematical language teeming with equations. And since
these equations tend to feed into, intertwine with, and reflect each other in a
closed circle, this linguistic architecture is conducive to the wildest
abstractions. The lines of equations are certainly very impressive to the
average person, but, as René Guénon (1886-1951) pointed out, they drift away from the sensible
reality they claim to explain.
As ‘progress’ advances, these equations
inevitably form an artificial body upon which scientists continue to build
their work, without ever questioning the solidity of this foundational body.
Theoretical science thus can be compared to a Leaning Tower of Pisa – a
structure that holds up admirably well, yet with each new advancement,
threatens to collapse under the cumulative weight of its own aberrations. And
as surprising as it may seem, this explicit observation nonetheless escapes the
actors within the scientific community. Currently, the most revealing example
to contrast the synthetic complexity of mathematics with the rationality of the
biological environment is undoubtedly string theory. Confronted with these kinds
of absurdities, a question then arises: why do we continue to expend so much
time, energy, and money studying realms that have no reciprocity with the
measurable phenomena of terrestrial life?
Before turning its attention to realms
invisible to the naked eye – be they the infinitely large realm of astrophysics
or the infinitely small realm of particle physic – perhaps the
scientific elite would gain authenticity if it devoted more time to pondering
how nature’s laws manifest with the seriousness they deserve. It is
paradoxical, after all, that at the dawn of the 21st century, the nature of
life remains one of the deepest enigmas within a community that boasts of
understanding the origins of our cosmos and constantly pushing its boundaries.
Perhaps this ‘elite’ should lower its ambitions and focus more on the
essential: the cause (or causes?) of life deserve far more attention than its
effects. By seeking to impress us with conceptual abstractions that, in the
absolute, rest on nothing concrete, the prestidigitators of universities mask
their incompetence and their gaps in understanding the elementary principle(s)
of observable reality, dazzling their audience – their students and
science-fiction enthusiasts – with a sleight of hand that is undoubtedly
fascinating.
The day academics distance themselves from a
theoretical science that leads nowhere, perhaps the great enigmas of nature
will finally be reconsidered in their lecture halls. When that day comes,
science will once again be in symbiosis with the fundamentals of universal
physics. We could begin, for example, by taking an interest in the influence of
lunar radiation on the vertical growth of a plant, or the polarized and
analogous relationship between the bronchi of a lung and the branches of a
tree: the former is sheltered from sunlight, where oxygen is absorbed and
carbon dioxide is expelled, while the latter, under the direct influence of the
Sun, absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Nikola
Tesla (1856-1943) – the visionary of invisible physics – had already warned us about the
misleading tendencies he perceived in theoretical science (embodied in his time
by Albert Einstein) in the American newspaper The New York Times in 1931: “Einstein’s work on relativity is a
magnificent mathematical disguise which fascinates, dazzles, and makes people
blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple
whom the ignorant take for a king... Its exponents are brilliant men, but they
are metaphysicists rather than scientists.”
Indeed, the case of Albert Einstein is more than symptomatic in revealing the
intellectual stagnation in which we are immersed. By ‘borrowing’ the main
tenets of his theory of general relativity from the French physicist Henri
Poincaré (1854-1912), we take very little risk in asserting that
the renown of this transgenerational science icon stems more from social
engineering than from authentic genius. Having a plagiarist as an adored
reference point is a telling sign of the times, revealing the level of
respectability these institutions truly deserve.
The lies are not limited to the purported honesty
and morality of the pillars of our society; they also extend to the technology
we use daily. At a time when electromagnetic waves connect all the inhabitants
of the Earth, the disparity between the engineering of a mobile phone and that
of the internal combustion engine, whose basic technology is about one hundred
and seventy years old, is more than laughable. This raises a question to be
pondered in all sincerity: are the ‘scientific’ works raised to great heights
by the system the only ones that do not threaten its hegemony and the
prosperity of its economic model? The question at least deserves to be
explored...
So be warned: if you wish to obtain a degree
from a prestigious university and build a career, it is best to avoid certain
topics. Directing your research outside the framework imposed by
state-sanctioned conformity, especially when it challenges the theories of the
unassailable gods of the scientific pantheon, is a mistake to avoid. Despite
the evident dead ends, it is now unthinkable to question the structural beliefs
of the scientific Church. Refusing to bow before its idols would sign your
professional death warrant, ensuring your excommunication and the loss of your
credibility.
Since I have nothing to lose, to gain, or
even to prove, it is easier for me to highlight the frivolity of ‘extraterrestrial’
physics concerning the primary focus of this study: the revolutions of
celestial bodies above our heads. Although astrophysicists remain light-years
away from uncovering the underlying mechanics of these revolutions, they
stubbornly persist, anchored in the dogma of their education, in attempting to
explain this phenomenon through Isaac Newton’s (1642-1726) universal law of gravitation. While the
equation of this theory allows for the quantification of parameters for an
object’s fall on Earth and provides a mathematical solution to explain the
balance between two celestial bodies, it absolutely does not specify the cause
of their movement, let alone its regularity.
Since the former president of the Royal Society pronounced his law of
gravity, no member of the establishment has sought to expand – with the applied
seriousness worthy of the scientific method – upon the cause of the rotational
force (denoted by f in the illustration below, where the
moon’s orbital path around the earth’s center is taken as an example). This
force, to use common terminology, is never taken into account: that is
precisely where the problem lies.
If no element of explanation for the origin
of force f can be formulated, then gravity cannot be validated as it is
presented by contemporary cosmology. Furthermore, let us not forget that no
device can detect it and no scientist can reproduce its field in a laboratory.
Of all the fundamental interactions, and because it is the one that most eludes
our understanding, this so-called force of cohesion remains one of the most
profound mysteries in physics today. Consequently, we must not be afraid to
acknowledge that the lack of scientific rigor surrounding this concept is not
reassuring regarding the quality of the expertise and weakens the pillars upon
which its reputation rests. Nevertheless, speculations, each more implausible
than the last, continue to assert themselves on the scientific stage. But in
truth, from the theory of spacetime curvature to the hypothetical subatomic
particles of the quantum world called gravitons, we have not advanced
one iota. Why? Simply because the origin of this natural phenomenon remains
utterly inscrutable to the science of our peers. Physicists still content themselves
with explaining that the kinematics of celestial bodies is a remnant of a
hypothetical explosion at the origin of our universe – the dubious ‘Big Bang’–
presented to the world by the Jesuit Georges Lemaître
in the early 20th century.
Newtonian gravity poses another problem: the
unification of quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity. If
gravity cannot be removed from the equation, we must acknowledge that
theoretical physics is once again colliding with the boundaries of its own
extravagances.
Once we have accepted the fact that certain
theories are currently taught as truths, it becomes easier to admit that
science has lost the heart of its intrinsic beauty. Its glorious hours, which
built its reputation, are now behind it, and the torches that once
distinguished it from religion now emit a feeble light. Richard Feynman (1918-1988), who won
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his work on the development of quantum
electrodynamics, had no problem admitting that “Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”
Even if
the standard model of astrophysics appears self-satisfied, our understanding of
the universe remains juvenile, incorrect, and clumsily patched together.
Humanity will never emancipate itself from its cosmic Stone Age if we
stubbornly insist on building ever higher on the foundations of a ‘science’
that has demonstrated its limits and belongs more to the realm of fantasy than
to empirical theorem. It is a fact: science has sunk into doctrinal systems
from which it struggles to exorcise itself. And the academic gatekeepers,
haloed in their displayed vanity, never miss an opportunity to ridicule
anything that does not originate from their field of possibilities. Such a
mentality can never initiate the paradigm shift the scientific world needs to
evolve. The day our approach merges with the principles at the source of
creation, perhaps nature will once again reveal to us the inner workings used
by the regulator of its magnificent clock.
•••••
Despite
this consensus, as annoying as it may be, we must be careful not to fall into
the trap of extremism and dismiss all theories with a wave of the hand; because
some, stemming not from mathematics but from pure intelligence, are worthy of
interest. We are thinking particularly of the somewhat obscure notions of dark
energy and dark matter, which set the scientific community abuzz following
Edwin Hubble’s observations in 1929. Since then, many astrophysicists have come
to believe that the expansion of our universe is linked to a dynamic
phenomenon, invisible and intrinsic to space itself.
Considered to be 96% (6) empty, this space would not be empty at all; it would be filled with an
energetic essence, indescribable in our tangible world, that would nonetheless
interact with it. The void would thus be full of a kinetic essence, more or
less dense, that no one can, for the moment, explain, measure, or reproduce. It
is therefore not impossible that behind the world accessible to human senses
lies a continuum whose existence we are entirely unaware of. And it is not
David Bohm (1917-1992), one of the fathers of quantum physics, who
would contradict us, as he stated: “Space is not empty, it is full. The universe is not separate from this
cosmic sea of dark energy.”
Looking at mainstream cosmology, several
fundamental questions about celestial mechanics remain unanswered. Here, in my
opinion, are the most pertinent ones:
·
What causes the Earth to spin on its axis?
·
What causes the Earth to orbit the Sun?
·
What causes the solar system to orbit the center of the galaxy?
·
Why do the planets orbit the Sun on a common plane?
·
Why do the planets spin on their axes?
·
Why can we predict the movement and position of celestial bodies with
such great precision over time?
·
Why are the Earth, the Sun, and all the planets spherical in shape?
·
According to the law of action-reaction in physics, what type of energy
is consumed in the movement of celestial bodies?
·
Is it possible that the circular motion of our bright stars is a
reaction to the action of this mysterious dark energy?
·
Could the mysteries surrounding the mechanics of gravity be the
observable effects of an invisible cause within dark energy?
I believe the answers lie at the very heart
of this abstraction of the material world called “dark energy.” But, knowing
that this realm is invisible, unknown, and unexplored, how can we cross its
threshold and comprehend it? If modern science has reached its limits, where
should we turn?
•••••
At the age of 30 (3), I came
across a book titled The Mystery of the Cathedrals: The Esoteric
Interpretation of the Hermetic Symbols of the Great Work, written by
Fulcanelli, the famous French adept. This work, a classic and essential in the
field of alchemy, was the spark that lite the fuse of my research, because it
provides very valuable keys for unlocking the doors to the metaphysical kingdom
of dark energy.
However, access to these keys was concealed
behind the artistic smokescreen of a figurative, cryptographic, and cabalistic
language. Despite my inability to grasp the essence of this language, the
mysterious spirit of this Art permeated my mind from the very first paragraphs
written by the master. This vibration was not foreign to me; its aroma had
already resonated very significantly, naturally, and intuitively within my
inner self since my earliest childhood. I was far from imagining that this
linguistic axiom – the Cabale – truly existed outside the understanding
of my secret garden. So that you may understand what it is about, here is one
of the best definitions of the Cabale (from the Latin “cabbalus”): “It is a hieroglyphic-like language,
playing on all registers of expression: images, words, letters, numbers,
sounds, colors, shapes, weights, etc... as well as on secret conventions, of
which metaphor and emblematic rebuses are the most common type. It has no
proper or particular form and depends solely on the culture and imagination of
those who employ it.”
Today, unfortunately, the only “Kabbale” known by the atrophied Western culture and
speculative Freemasonry appeared in the Rabbinic tradition in 13th century
Spain with the Zohar – the Book of Splendors. Contrary to proselytizing
consensus, “Kabbale” or “Kabbalah,” or even “Qabbalah” – with the aim of serving a more effective
mystification – is not an original, isolated, and predominant current, but
merely the reflection given by Jewish mysticism to a tradition that preceded
it. Furthermore, the word “Kabbale” is not of Hebrew
origin, as its etymology derives from the Greek “kabbalès”.
This is why, in order to avoid the trap of homophony, to counter the nonsense
of popular culture, and to affirm the universality of its affiliation, scholars
prefer to use the term “Hermetic Cabale” (in honor of the Greek mythological
character Hermes).
In any case, whether it is “cabbalus” in Latin or “kabbalès”
in Greek, both terms define the emblematic animal of knowledge since the
highest antiquity: the horse. Consequently, the semantic relationship between “cabaliste” (cabalist – a person who uses the Cabale)
and “cavalier” (horseman) becomes utterly evident, coherent, and
justified in light of initiatory tales, which are very often chivalric, like
those written by Chrétien de Troyes since the first crusades and the discovery
of oriental folklore. Indeed, from the heights of the astronomical sympathies
we share here down to Earth how can we not contemplate the Knights of the Round
Table, King Arthur, and the quest for the Holy Grail – the chalice of chalices
– from a perspective different from that of the Hermetic prism? It is no hazard
(“hazard” is a term of Persian origin, translated as “the hand of God”) that
the hero’s journey, always embodied by the adventures of a valiant horseman
(the expression of the Donum Dei), is so emblematic for a tradition that
dates back to the dawn of time: the mount of Pegasus was already being ridden
under the starry dome of the Chaldean-Egyptian priesthood.
To understand how the spirit of Hermetic Cabale
functions, let us take a literary example with the word “occult” (this choice
is not insignificant, as it will distance your thoughts from the association
that vulgar culture makes with demonic practices). The structure of this word
breaks down into “o,” “c,” and “cult”. For a disciple of Hermes, the “o” is the
hieroglyphic sign of the Sun, and “c”, in its curvature, that of the Moon;
consequently, “occult” emphasizes the cult dedicated to these two luminaries.
From an operative standpoint, this reading resonates with the definition given
by the Larousse dictionary: “That which
acts or is done in a secret way, whose purposes remain unknown, hidden: an
occult influence”.
Before the universal principles of Hermetic Cabale
was led astray by the Qabbalah, and before the
École des Beaux-Arts feigned amnesia, all Artists (worthy of that
capital A) used it in their works to perfect beauty in its most arcane forms
until the end of the 19th century. When I fully realized that these aesthetes
used their creations as an initiatory canvas, my feet didn’t touch the ground
for several days. This epiphany bordered on enlightenment.
Indeed, the implications of such a practice
for my relationship with Art, both in interpreting its concepts and in the
exegesis of culture in general, constituted an unprecedented revelation in my
life. For I could never have imagined that my natural predisposition to finding
analogies between things which, a priori, had none, would one day reveal
itself to be one of my greatest assets in my quest for the absolute. What I had
always taken for a curse – a psychological pathology – now appeared to me as a
gift to be cultivated. A sign had been sent to me, and I received its message
with the utmost attention: Hermeticism dwelt within me.
The whims of fate are decidedly more than
just romantic; for this ancestral tradition held the potential to be an
inexhaustible source of inspiration and to channel my most metaphysical
musings. I knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, that the gates to the
mysterious kingdom of the invisible were no longer sealed.
At the dawn of my 33rd (6) year, from the sublunar world, I turned my
gaze toward the rising Sun.
•••••
Before continuing, it seems important to me
to briefly digress in order to explain why Hermetic philosophy and its
operative applications – alchemy, magic, and astrology – are no longer
respected and valued as they were in the science of our ancestors.
Indeed, the mere mention of any one of them
is enough to trigger the sneers of our contemporaries. This mentality, however
disdainful, was spearheaded by a school of thought born in the 18th century,
which dared to shamelessly distort the meaning and use of the word “philosophy”.
Let us be very clear on this subject: authentic philosophy has nothing in
common with the “philosophy” of the Age of Enlightenment; the sociological,
humanist, and naturalist speculations of the latter were never the focus of
interest of ancient philosophers such as Zarathoustra (6th century BC), Aristotle (384-322
BC), or Confucius (551-479 BC). Unlike
the editors of the Encyclopédie and their Germanic counterparts, true
philosophers were driven by a sincere quest for spirituality, wisdom, and
truth.
Furthermore, why
not call their intellectual movement “la philosophie de la Lumière”
(the philosophy of the Light)
instead of “la philosophie des Lumières”
(the philosophy of Lights), which is the true translation of “the
philosophy of enlightenment”)? Putting
the word “light” in the plural marks a diabolical intention to fragment what
cannot be fragmented. Through this manipulation, seemingly innocuous, truth no
longer exists as such but becomes falsely multiple and of variable geometry
depending on each individual’s orientation. Therefore, let us not allow
ourselves to be blinded by the worldly hypocrisies of a certain bourgeoisie, and let us not lose sight of the fact that the authentic definition
of philosophy is, in its etymological excellence, “the love of wisdom.” Pythagoras
(6th century BC) clarified: “I am a philosopher, not someone who claims to possess wisdom, but a
man who strives for it.” Attributing a revised architecture to words,
in order to divert the power of their egregore and destroy the traditional
heritage of our past, is one of the perversities that have been used and
financed by a dominant ‘elite’ to ensure the permanence of their power.
Driven by the revolutionary impulse of the
Age of Enlightenment, wrongly attributed to the people by our history books,
society plunged into a frantic and deadly obscurantism. Everything connected to
the beliefs of the preceding culture had to disappear, be erased, forgotten,
and, symbolically, our majestic cathedrals were vandalized.
The Jacobin mentality, perfected by
fallacious initiations into which all sorts of arrivistes rushed, ultimately
delivered the coup de grâce with the abject
idea that man could henceforth be considered the equal of God. This kind of
doctrine is a blasphemy in light of Chapter 6, Verse 19, of the First Epistle
to the Corinthians (a book of the New Testament), written by the Apostle Paul: “Do
you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you,
whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” From
then on, the Gnostic teaching of divine transcendence no longer had a place in
the temple. Thus, the operative was insidiously replaced by the speculative:
why bother to look at the sky and its starry planisphere, since in the eyes of
these merchants, who never truly left the temple, there is no longer any truth
outside of that of the all-seeing eye?
Since the advent of the Enlightenment –
materialist, naturalist, and nominalist – everything that cannot be
demonstrated, qualified, or measured no longer exists. Like Saint Thomas, the
science of the Encyclopédie now only believes what it sees, and Hermetic
doctrines were definitively shelved under the label of superstition. And let us
not mince words this triumphant rationalism is the source of the immobility,
conformism, and rationalism of today’s scientific community. René Guénon (1885-1951) specified:
“Rationalism is essentially defined by the belief in the supremacy of
reason, proclaimed as a true dogma, implying the denial of pure intellectual
intuition, which logically entails the exclusion of any true metaphysical
knowledge.”
Parenthesis closed, let us return to a more
vertical approach in our considerations.
•••••
Since societies have long been initiatory in
name only, the only way to find the long-sought grace is to follow a personal
path independently. To do this, it is essential to study the mysteries of
Hermetic philosophy through its texts.
For an occultist, this work is no small task,
for this literature is full of false appearances. If one does not know that
initiates always veiled their writings using the Hermetic Cabale to keep the
envious at bay, their grimoires are of no use. Many aspirants were thus misled.
Michel Sendivogius, the famous 17th century alchemist, better known as the
Cosmopolite, warned us: “If Hermes, the father of the Philosophers, were to
be resurrected today, along with the subtle Geber, and the profound Raymond
Lulle, they would not be regarded as Philosophers by our vulgar chemists, who
would scarcely deign to count them among their Disciples, because they would be
ignorant of how to proceed with all these distillations, circulations,
calcinations, and all these innumerable operations which our vulgar chemists
have invented from having misunderstood the allegorical writings of these Philosophers.”
To this, it must be added that after the
tsunami of the Enlightenment between the 18th and 19th centuries,
false prophets took it upon themselves, in order to captivate their audience,
to “enrich” the Hermetic legacy with texts straight from their own
imaginations. Therefore, knowing one must bypass these deceptions, the core of
our exegesis must focus on texts from the Oriental tradition that were
translated into Greek, presumably following the conquests of Alexander the
Great in the 4th century before the Christian era.
When the Macedonian seized Egypt and
installed one of his generals as the new pharaoh (“pharaoh” is a term of Greek
origin that translates to “he who carries the Sun”), the horizon of this
ancestral land was rekindled by the luminous flame of a new beacon. Most of the
time, the annexation of a land often signals the death knell for the local
culture, but with the line of Ptolemaic pharaohs, this was not the case. Rather
than destroying to impose their vision, the new legislators rebuilt the country
to restore its former splendor. Driven by Aristotelian philosophy,
Greco-Hellenistic culture blended with the millennia-old teachings of the
Egyptian mystery schools and the Mesopotamian world. Whether it came from
Persian sages, like Zarathoustra (whose name means “the golden star” or “the
splendor of the Sun”), or from the priestly caste officiating in the temples on
the banks of the Nile, the initiatory teaching received by the Greeks was
certainly not new, for it is often repeated that Thales of Miletus (625-585 BC),
Pythagoras (570-495 BC), and Plato (428-347
BC) had already
greatly benefited from it in their time. The city of Alexandria – renamed after
its conqueror – thus became a highly prized meeting place and exchange hub for
all the experts on Hermeticism and occultism in the Mediterranean basin. In
this prodigious and wonderful hub of scholars, scientists, and magi, gnosis (“gnosis”
translates from Greek as “knowledge” and stems from the desire to know God
and His secrets) was incredibly fruitful. Unfortunately for the salvation of humanity,
most of the manuscripts produced during this fervent period seem to have
perished in the flames of the great library. This ultimate barbarity against
the heritage of our peers was not only a witness to a change in mentality; it
also branded the entry of our civilization under the temporal yoke of the Roman
Empire for the millennia to come.
Even if, today, Rome’s power is no longer as
preponderant visibility, rest assured that its influence has managed to
traverse the ages: after having conquered lands by the sword, the Catholic
Church – the direct heir of the Empire – seized souls by the crucifix.
Fortunately for the tradition, 17 manuscripts
of Ptolemaic-era Egyptian Philosophy resurfaced thought the translations by
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) – the indispensable luminary of the Italian
Renaissance. Collected under the name of the Corpus Hermeticum,
these texts are considered the foundational texts of Hermeticism; on the path
of the wises, their radiant philosophy acts as a natural prism, refracting the
light of divine revelation into the following themes:
·
The order of the cosmos
·
Unity (the omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of God)
·
The Sun
·
The Demiurge
·
The cohesion of the spheres
·
The fusion of opposites and polarity
·
The visible and the invisible
·
Truth and the illusion of our reality
·
Creation through the circular setting in motion of unity
·
Noos and
creative will
·
Time, space, and matter
·
Body, soul, and spirit
·
The good, the beautiful, the right, and the just
·
Vices and virtues
·
Creation as an Art and the notion of harmony
·
The Ogdoad
·
Intelligence and its relationship to the god-man
·
The 12/10 (or 6/5) ratio
·
The zodiac and astrology
Obviously, the mention of astrology in this
list may seem utterly surprising, but you should know that, despite the fate
reserved for it today, the initiated magi of antiquity always considered it the
cornerstone of all their sciences. Along with magic and alchemy, this
esotericism brings together, under the term theurgy, the 3 operative paths of Hermetic philosophy. They
form a harmonious and inseparable whole. It is therefore unlikely alchemists
could define themselves as such without having been initiated into the magestria of the other two disciplines.
The importance of this trinity was well
understood by the Greeks, as it is suggested in the name of the god associated
with the father of philosophers, the aptly named Hermes Trismegistus. Indeed,
alongside the commonly accepted translation of “Trismegistus” as “3 times the greatest,” one can quite easily,
through phonetics, propose another level of interpretation: “the 3 magestria”,
in reference to the 3 kingdoms (mineral, vegetable, and animal),
the 3 planes of existence (material, spiritual,
and divine), or the 3 ontological principles (body, soul, and
spirit), or alchemical (salt, sulfur and mercure).
Even though the trinitarian doctrine of unity
has traversed time through the pantheon of the Greek world, its historical
origin is indeed Egyptian. The splendor of this testament is found on the Giza
plateau, where the 3 pyramids remind the intellect of the
contemplative observer that the divine trinity is timeless, immortal, and
indestructible. How can one not be captivated by the majesty, grandeur, and
genius of the civilization that built them? The geometric, astronomical, and
energetic properties implicit in these volumes reveal to all eyes, but
especially to those who know how to see beyond appearances, the beauty of a
thought that our own civilization has never matched.
Emerging from the dawn of time, the legacy of
this intelligence is also personified in the attributes of the messenger of the
Egyptian gods, Djehuty-Thot (tradition has always
delighted in comparing him to Hermes Trismegistus). The pen of the late Jean Phaure (1928-2002) described Djehuty-Thot
as follows: “He is the scribe of the divine Ennead, the brush with which the god of
the universe writes, the creator of languages, the great magician of the
spheres who presides over the original creation to call the world into
existence by the word, alongside Ptah. Above all, he is the one who presides
over the order of the world, the great calculator, the master of the cycles of
time.”
It is important to specify that in the
theogony of the Egyptians, Djehuty-Thot was not
considered a god in the literal sense of the term, but rather as a neter (phonetically very close to “nature”); that
is, the anthropomorphic representation of a Force, an action of the divine
immanence in the manifested world, a kind of hypostasis or an aeon, as the Gnostics liked to define it. One could not
be more charitable than by offering you the key that opens access to the 12 (3) verses of the
Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina in Latin or Lawḥ al-zumurrudh
in Arabic), upon which the entire firmament of Hermetic philosophy is
synthesized. All occultists versed in the history of religions have developed a
passion for these writings engraved on an emerald – a green precious stone.
Depending on their culture and era, the most learned among them have produced a
slew of translations, more or less representative of the oldest recorded
version, written in Arabic in the 9th century: the appendix of the Book of
the Secret of Creation (Kitâb sirr al-Halîqa). From the
viewpoint of tradition, the Arabic affiliation is not without meaning, since
the descendants of the Persians dislodged the Byzantines from Alexandria in the
7th century and became, by force of circumstance, the active vectors of the
transmission of initiation.
Personally, I prefer Hortulain’s
14th century translation of the Latin Vulgate:
I.
It is true without lying, certain and very true
II.
What is below, is what is above: and what is above, is what is below, to
work the miracles of one thing.
III.
And as all things have been, and have come from one, through the mediation of one: so, all things
have been born of this one thing, by
adaptation.
IV.
The Sun is its father, the Moon is its mother, the wind carries it in
its womb; The earth is his nurse.
V.
The father of all the Telesme of everyone is here. His Force
or Power is whole,
VI.
If it is converted to land.
VII.
Thou shalt separate the earth from the Fire, the subtle from the thick
gently, with great industry.
VIII.
He ascends from earth to heaven, and again he descends to earth, and he
receives the Force of higher and
lower things. Thou shalt have by this means the glory of all; and for this all
darkness will flee from you.
IX.
It is the strong Force of all force:
for it will overcome every subtle thing, and penetrate every solid thing.
X.
Thus, the world was created.
XI.
From this will come admirable adaptations, the means of which is here.
XII.
That’s why I was called Hermes-Trismegistus, having the 3 parts of everyone’s Philosophy. What I have
said of the operation of the Sun is
accomplished, & completed.
These verses have a curious resonance with
the prologue to St. John’s Gospel, which is quoted below:
I. In the beginning was the Word (the Logos),
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
II. The Word was with God in the beginning.
III. All things were created by him, and apart
from him not one thing was created that has been created.
IV. In him was life, and the life was the light
of humanity;
V. And The Light shines on in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overcome it.
VI. A man came, sent from God, whose name was
John.
VII. This one came for a witness, in order that he
could testify about The Light, so that all would believe through him.
VIII.
hat one was not the light, but came in order that he could testify about
the light.
IX. The Word was the true Light, which enlightens every man by coming into
the world.
X. He was in the world, through whom the world
was made, but the world did not recognize him.
Indeed, the similarities between the two
texts are more than striking. Consequently, the scribes of the Catholic Church
were likely inspired by the wisdom contained within the breath of the Hermetic
texts. In the creation of the “Holy Scriptures,” the plagiarism of earlier
manuscripts by the Church Fathers is confirmed on two occasions. On the one
hand, the Gospel of John bears a striking resemblance to the Gnostic Gospels of
Cerinthus dating from the first century of the Christian era. On the other
hand, the Revelation, written by Saint John, is an assemblage of a series of
sacred texts, such as the Book of Enoch or the Book of Ezekiel.
In a sense, the desire to incorporate
ancestral knowledge into the message of Christ’s favorite apostle (always
depicted wearing a green cloak in iconography) indicates that Catholicism was
shaped by pre-existing doctrines. Furthermore, let us not forget that before
the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, falsifying a
manuscript was child’s play; those thirsty for religious supremacy wielded this
practice with the success we know. For example, regarding the scriptures of the
Old Testament, all exegetes know that the Ten Commandments, supposedly
delivered to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, are merely a blatant plagiarism of spell
125 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Like it or not, Hebrew theology, and
Christian theology as well, are but a pale copy of the Gnostic precepts of the
neter with the single green eye: Hor or
Horus – the Egyptian light-bearer. There is nothing new under the Sun; the
Egyptians had also recycled earlier knowledge. This is why the various biblical
texts, the Pentateuch, and the canonical Gospels can never be considered
historical truths or indisputable theological references.
Nevertheless, even in its altered state,
sacred literature still holds many initiatory treasures worth examining
closely, for the theosophical syncretism found in all texts of a given culture
or civilization inevitably suggests a common origin, a kind of primordial
tradition as René Guénon (1886-1951) liked to define it.
That said, let us return to the verses of the
Emerald Tablet.
•••••
In these
verses, what initially strikes our attention is the entirely novel principle
that a force (“the Word” in the prologue of John) would be linked to the
creation of the world, the action of the Sun (the symbol of light), and the
mediation of unity. This ancestral conception of the origin of matter is
remarkably close to the statement made by Max Planck (1858-1947), who won
the Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1919: “All matter originates and exists
only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration
and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume
behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind
is the matrix of all matter.” Realizing that the initiates of antiquity had
already understood what 20th century men are only just beginning to discover is
nothing short of staggering. And let us not be mistaken, it is indeed: the
existence of God that is suggested by this luminary of the scientific
community.
The
reality of fields that are inaccessible, indescribable, and immeasurable can no
longer be viewed as a science-fiction movie artifice or the ramblings of wisdom
masters from the Orient. By automatically referencing George Lucas (1944-…)’s films
whenever the idea of a “Force” is mentioned, our generation’s culture does not
suspect that the description of the Force given by Master Yoda to his young
apprentice and future Jedi Knight, Luke, is in every way similar to that of the
tradition of the magi: “For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.
Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous
beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here,
between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere.” To master the Force is to attain, as you
have guessed, the rank of knight... After long centuries of religious
ineptitude, adogmatic science and popular culture can
finally reconcile on the fertile ground of Gnostic clairvoyance.
Before we
continue, it is always good to know that the authors of Star Wars were
erudite Artists, from “Luke” or “Luc” comes from the Latin root “lucere” and the Proto-Indo-European “leuk”, meaning “light,” “clarity,” or “radiant energy,”
and “Jedi” is a phonetic borrowing from the first syllable of... Djehuty-Thot.
Thanks to these revelations about the Force,
which liken creation to the will of an intelligent consciousness or a demiurge,
the 12 (3) verses of the
Emerald Tablet guide each person’s consciousness toward the primacy and
accuracy of the vision of Hermes’ disciples. Where our peers limit themselves
to a science of effects – the material – our ancestors had already transcended
the intelligible world and focused directly on the cause of manifestation – the
spiritual, beyond time and space.
The adepts of Hermetic philosophy have always
compared the properties of the spiritual essence preceding matter to that of an
ocean, for its water fills the “void” (“vidyā”
translates to “knowledge” in Sanskrit) as it would in any container. This ocean
echoes the cosmic sea of dark energy to which David Bohm alluded. Since the
homophone of “mer” (sea), “mère”
(mother), comes from “mater” in Latin, we can weave interesting semantic
links between “mer,” “mère,”
“mercure,” (Mercury – the avatar
of Hermes Trismegistus among the Latins), “matière”
(matter), “matrice” (matrix/ womb), and
“Marie” (Mary), which is an anagram of “aimer,” “to
love” in english.
If this invisible matrix is the origin of all
manifestation, the assumption that it is a virgin follows logically, and the
emblem of the Black Virgin (black, as opposed to the synthesis of the 6 colors of the visible spectrum, expresses
the absence of light), like that of the Virgin Mary, then becomes more explicit
from the angle of Theosophy, for the Holy Virgin, the Queen Mother, “la
mère divine” (the divine sea), is the ordinary figuration of the
philosophers’ mercury. Curiously, the anagram of “énergie
noire” (dark energy) is “reine ignorée” (ignored queen), which reminds us of the
parable from verse 1:5 of the Song of Songs, likely inspired by the love
between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba: “I am black, but I am
beautiful (...).”
In the 12th century, in his work The
Secret Book dealing with the hidden art and the Philosopher’s Stone, the
alchemist Artephius presented “l’eau des sages” (the water of the wise) in this way: “Oh,
how precious and magnificent is this water! For without it, the work could not
be perfected: thus, it is named the vessel of nature, the belly, the matrix,
the receptacle of the tincture, the earth and its nurse, it is the fountain in
which the King and the Queen are washed, and the mother who must be placed and
sealed upon the belly of her child, who is the Sun.”
Do you begin to understand how the cabalists
deliberately obscured the trails leading back to the primordial ocean by using
a deliberately convoluted lexicon to define a single thing, namely, the unity
of matter – the materia prima ?
In the Corpus Hermeticum,
verse 16 of an excerpt from a discourse between Hermes Trismegistus and Tat
states: “All that exists is in motion; non-being alone is immobile.” The
unity, the preliminary state to the divine manifestation, could thus be
imagined as energy in the form of standing waves, and when this energy is
vectorized, the whole is set in motion to create space, time, and,
consequently, matter. The universal matrix would be born from the rupture of
the spatial equilibrium of unity: this first impulse would be the strong Force
of all forces, its Spiritus Mundi and its Holy Spirit (“Saint-Esprit”
in French). This would be the passage from Ain Soph to Ain Soph Aur
in the Tree of Life of the Hebrew Qabbalah.
An experienced cabalist would break down the
word “Saint” from “Saint-Esprit” (Holy Spirit) into
3 parts: “s,” “ain,”
and “t”. The silent “t” is the tracing of a cross, signifying the center. “Ain”,
or “Ayn” in Hebrew, is the principle preceding matter, which defines the
“abyss” and “non-existence”, and is heard as “un” (one), the
number of unity, and the “s” is the letter of
manifestation, because it undulates like the graphic representation of a
pulsation. In other words, a Saint is a person whose vibratory signature
resonates with the first impulse emanating from the center of unity. This is
why the soul of a Saint – his spirit – will always be closest to the divine and
creative resonance of God.
The different states of matter could then be
compared to the rungs of a ladder, where the matrix Force crystallizes, or
gradually condenses, into more or less regular forms. This state of affairs is
supported by the best definition of alchemy you will find, that of Fulcanelli: “Alchemy is the permutation of form by
light, fire, or spirit.”
Even though, according to the testimony of Eirenaeus Philalethes (1628-1665),
metallic transmutation is a reality, it is important to emphasize that making
gold to enrich oneself was never the ultimate goal of alchemy. Here again, many
have gone astray by failing to understand the cabalistic writings of our
elders. To separate the pure from the impure is to move from a base matter to a
rectified matter. The simpler and more ordered the molecular arrangements
become, the more matter and the matrix source gradually tend toward
reunification, toward unity. Matter purifies itself in a revolution inverse to
the Luciferian fall (Lucifer is “the light-bearer” in Latin, and he first
appears in classical mythology as a Greco-Roman figure – the guardian of the
horses of the sun god Apollo), hence the Nietzschean concept of the
eternal return. The famous immortality, which dreamers fantasize about so much,
may ultimately be nothing more than the search for eternity, for absolute
stillness, where the eternal rests, closest to unity.
The kingdom of the adepts’ science is, by
definition, outside time and space. Furthermore, unlike modern science, which
is exclusively concerned with matter, alchemy, magic, and astrology focus
directly on the matrix and the invisible laws that animate it.
·
Astrology gauges the energetic variations of the celestial fire by
observing the influences of the stars and planets on the terrestrial world.
·
Alchemy represents the manifestation of this fire in ostensibly inanimate
organisms (minerals and plants).
·
Magic directly channels this fire into the body of the adept. The
latter, as a mage in the noble sense of the term, possesses perfect mastery of
the cosmic fire. They manage to transit this Force through the chakras of their
body in order to modulate and redirect it according to the use they wish to
make of it. If divine love fills their heart, they will practice white magic,
aiming to create harmony and well-being. Conversely, if they allow themselves
to be seduced by the dark side, they will sink into black magic, using this Force
to sow division and destruction.
On the horizon of our reflections, it appears
that the driving principle of all existence – the Force underlying life – is
generated by a matrix that finds its origin beyond the boundaries of our
reality. A deduction shared by Niels Bohr (1885-1962), who won the Nobel Prize winner in physics,
stated in 1922: “Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as
real.”
Therefore, if this creative Force resides
beyond the sensible and measurable field, how is it possible to perceive its essence
in the world accessible to humankind?
•••••
In my view, if this creative Force is the
cause of tangible effects, its signature must necessarily be observable in
nature. It should therefore be possible to glimpse the mechanisms of this
matrix by adopting the mentality of an insatiably curious person, that is, by
opening one’s eyes wide. To satisfy this will, specializing in one field or
another would be a grave error: the natural philosopher must open the field of
possibilities to all scientific domains, from astronomy to mineralogy – in
other words, to all phenomena visible between the heavens and the earth. The
imprint of the Force must be present everywhere, and as the Emerald Tablet
suggests, in the infinitely large as well as the infinitely small. The work
consists of identifying its traces and then finding the analogies that link
them.
It was while working on this task in the 13th
century of the Christian era that the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci (1170-1245) noticed
an arithmetic sequence linked to generation in the biological world. In the
progression of this sequence, each new number is the sum of the two preceding
it: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21(3), 34, 55, 89, 144 (9)… and so on. The higher the numbers become,
the more the ratio between a number and the one preceding it tends toward a
mathematical constant with a value of 1.618. This ratio of proportion was
defined by the father of Greek geometry, Euclid, as the division of a segment
in extreme and mean ratio. This proportion, found in the phyllotaxis of the
plant world, appears to be a universal model, repeating invariably in all
creations of nature.
Thus, we observe spiral arrangements of this
numerical matrix in flowers, the Romanesco cauliflower, and the pine cone, but
also in the shells of nautiluses and gastropods. These analogies are utterly
astonishing because they are not limited to these few examples; they find a
universal echo in the 3 kingdoms of
the living world: the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal. Nature does
geometry, automatically, without a square or a compass. Nature does not need a
blueprint; it is the blueprint. Its architecture, especially when expressed in
a helical (“helical” and “helix” share the same etymological root as Helios,
the Sun god of the Greeks) and logarithmic manner, is simply dazzling. I will
never understand why most of us remain stoic in the face of so much beauty and
elegance. Do they not have eyes to see?
Since the 20th century and the work of Matila
Ghyka (1881-1965), the ratio equal to 1.618 has been known as
the “nombre d’or” (golden number).
Using this designation would, however, be a gross error, for a proportion is
not a number but a relationship between two numbers, in their arithmetic or
geometric expression. It is therefore preferable to use “golden ratio” instead
of “golden number”.
The etymology of “or” (gold)
comes from “aor,” “aour,”
“aur,” or “our” in Semitic languages, all of which translate to “light.”
Recalling the prologue of the Gospel of Saint John, where it is written: “The
Word was God (...) The Word was the true light”, the correlation
between God, the Word, light, and the golden ratio becomes more than evident
for one of the modes of thinking among the magi: synonymic reasoning. If you
were looking for concrete proof of God’s existence, the golden ratio would give
your argument a factual dimension that would be difficult to refute. Especially
since the Greek symbol for the golden ratio, Φ, defined for the early worshippers of Christ
as “the Force of God,” “the Will” (“the Telesme” of the Emerald Tablet), or the
principle of the concentration of spirit in matter.
The signature of Φ is also manifested in human anatomy. Among
the multitude of examples, we could cite the case of the navel is the most
significant. Indeed, knowing that the word “nombril” (the navel)
is the phonetic equivalent of “nombreel”, cabalists
would break it down into “nombre” (number)
and “el” to find its substantive marrow. Since
El is the name of God in the origins of humanity, this point, so special
in the context of the Vitruvian Man, is the physical revelation of the divine
signature in the proportions of the human body. On the one hand, it is from
here that the nourishing energy of the mother was instilled in us; on the other
hand, and this is what interests us here, it on average divides the distance
between the feet and the head according the golden ratio. The verse 1:27 of
Genesis which states: “man was built in the image of God,” is
therefore not a parable; it must be understood literally, at face value.
The Larousse dictionary explains that: “Φ is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet
corresponding in ancient Greek to an aspirated [ p ]
and in modern Greek to an [ f ]. It is transliterated
as [ ph ]
in French words derived from Greek.” The first syllable of the words “philosophy,”
“physics,” “phyllotaxis,” “firmament,” “force,” and “fire” underscores the
intimate relationship these words have with the golden ratio. Etymology is a
science to be handled with the utmost seriousness because, as you have
previously observed, the investigative keys offered by this tool are
unparalleled.
Faced with all these sympathies, it seems to
me not overly presumptuous to assert that Φ, the true swirling pivot of universal
harmony (to be heard as “uni vers El” (united toward El) or “uni ver sel,” meaning “united green salt” in a
right-to-left reading, is the organic imprint of a creative matrix, whose
structure is subject to the laws of geometry and arithmetic. Plato (428-347 BC) understood this very well, as he declared: “God always geometrizes.” and “Geometry draws the soul toward truth and
creates the spirit of philosophy, forcing the soul to turn its gaze upward
instead of downward.”
For their part, historians recount that the
golden ratio was named “phi” to honor the sculptor Phidias (480-430 BC), famous
for his participation in the construction of the Parthenon in Athens, where the
precious ratio is exalted in the proportions of the facade. Should we be
astounded by the fact that the golden ratio was already used five centuries
before the Christian era by Greek architects, and also, according to the work
of René Adolphe Schwaller de Lubicz (1887-1961), by
their Egyptian counterparts? Absolutely not, because all Artists, worthy of the
capital A, have always tried to make their works resonate with this particular
signature. In their desire to mimic (“singer”
in French, to be heard “saint G”
(Holy G), where G is a graphical representation of the spiral) they
attributed to Φ the ultimate
canon of beauty. Every time Φ is used, it is a syncretic tribute to nature and the creator that is
celebrated. From the grandiose pyramids of the Giza plateau to the abstract
paintings of Kandinsky (1866-1944), Φ has always been the prerogative of Artistic genius and the mark of a
symbiotic relationship with the universe. This form of expression was
undoubtedly born from a necessity: to reveal and glorify the invisible
intelligence of divine creation in the material world.
No offense to our contemporaries, the Art
before the 20th century had nothing in common with the “works” of today. The
word “art” has unwittingly become a catch-all term into which any kind of
creation can find its place. One only needs to frequent art galleries to
realize that “art” has become an intellectual masquerade and a visual pollution
on which ill-intentioned people or charlatans try to make their fortune. In
1973, Jean Phaure (1928-2002) already described this trend with the
objectivity it deserved: “Modern art is a
black magic, sometimes in the most operative sense of the term, and has the
eschatological function, like psychoanalysis, of placing back into the field of
our consciousness our infra-psychism, populated by all the psychic and demonic
residues that in the previous phases of the cycle had been contained in those
cellars by sacred art, religions, and initiatory knowledge.”
No need to hold a doctorate in art history to
realize that creativity is, compared to the achievements of our past, the
victim of a deliberate process of destruction. Indeed, how can one place the
paintings of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) on the same pedestal as those of
Michelangelo (1475-1564), Raphael (1483-1520), or Botticelli (1445-1510)? Unfortunately for humankind, this enforced
form of intellectual terrorism is not confined to the realm of art, but
corrupts all the pillars upon which the liberation of a healthy and balanced
society rests.
To this, it must be added that a person’s
creativity does not automatically make them an Artist. The masters are clear
and are always there to testify: one does not become an Artist overnight;
perfecting one’s Art requires a great deal of work and constant spiritual
asceticism. Without having undergone the purification and rectification of one’s
soul – demonstrating holiness – it is practically impossible to receive divine
inspiration, to resonate with the Force, and to become one with the grace of
its quintessence to produce anything. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) drives
the nail even deeper into the flesh of the aspirants, who are often untalented,
by suggesting that the qualification of Artist is indeed only earned in high
places: “The artist, constantly occupied
with contemplating creation, renders a perpetual homage to the creator. Our so
patient study of the divine work demands more effort than singing matins.”
Art thus implies a fusion relationship with
the sacred, and in this sense, it must be a reflection of the matrix space. To
achieve this, every detail must be thoroughly considered, measured, and
weighed. Absolutely no element can be the product of chance. And as Jean Phaure pointed out, this type of work is the antithesis of
spontaneous art: arithmetic proportions and regulating geometric lines organize
a harmonious and resonant composition, the choice of colors aligns with the
symbolism of the figures and volumes, and mythological and religious archetypes
blend with all kinds of cabalistic references. And of course, never forget the
hermetic character of the form, that is, as the tradition’s adage stipulates: “to show, to signify, and to hide... all at
once.” The divine does not show... it suggests!
In the supreme magma of the creative spirit,
and since it is often considered the cornerstone of all Arts, architecture
occupies a privileged place in the relationship it maintains with the natural
elements. The synchronization between a temple’s properties and temporal cycles
has always been one of the best-kept secrets of initiatory higher spheres of
the priestly castes. It is in the resolution of the squaring of the circle that
the edifice is elevated toward the sacred, thus asserting its operative
function by conjugating celestial and terrestrial energies within itself. When
a temple is built according to the rules of Art, its geometric shape gives the
space its orientation, and, like a needle on a sundial, it also gives the
measure of time. In this, the scientific knowledge of cosmic cycles elevates
the Architect to the rank of initiates, and, for this purpose, it cannot be
otherwise.
Unfortunately for humanity, few people truly
understand the encoding systems used in the Artworks of our ancestors. And even
if their attempts are successful, the academic doxa automatically labels them
as gentle visionaries. This label further justifies the modern approach to the
Arts through the prism of psychology, for one must attempt to provide an
explanation, even a fantastical one, for the allegories, metaphors, and
parables of the traditional culture of our masters. Be that as it may, we will
try to decipher a few works for what they really are throughout this thesis.
With this in mind, the best way to tackle this is to use the tools that have
been bequeathed to us, and in this endeavor, the measure of the Liberal Arts is
essential.
The Liberal Arts number 7 and are divided
into two paths: the Trivium and the Quadrivium.
·
The Trivium is defined by the expression of the Word (the Light)
through words. It is divided into 3 subjects: grammar, dialectics, and rhetoric.
·
The Quadrivium relates to the powers of numbers, that is, the
expression of the Word through mathematics, and is divided into 4 subjects:
arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy.
Alongside these 7 paths, a linguistic axiom
from the Hermetic Cabale, called the Language of the Birds (also called the
Green Language), completes the already well-stocked palette of the Artist. This
argot, described as solar, whose principles are sanctified in the appearance of
its initiator with the head of an ibis, Djehuty-Thot,
is based exclusively on the assonance of words, without ever taking into
account the rules of spelling and grammar. Richard Khaitzine (1947-2013) spoke of
it thus: “This language of the birds is the one revealed by Jesus to the apostles
through his spirit, the Holy Spirit. Remember that episode from the Gospels. It
is the period of Pentecost and the apostles receive the gift of tongues in the
form of tongues of fire, fire being a synonym for spirit. But in that case, you
might ask, why is it called the language of the birds? Because the Holy Spirit,
of a volatile nature, is frequently symbolized by a bird, often a dove.”
In order to compensate for the weaknesses of
language and to provide the final keys essential for opening the closed kingdom
of the magi, the disciple of Hermes will use another vector of transmission,
still poorly understood today: the symbol.
•••••
correct and highlight all the mistakes
(grammar, orthography, etc...) and correct them in this text:
The symbol plays a role far beyond the
singular: by stimulating the psyche, this figurative sign connects a person to
their imagination and links their thought to spheres indescribable in words.
Indeed, the sound of a word is a vibration that the ear can hear, and, in this
state, it already possesses a material manifestation. The word therefore
clumsily constrains the dynamics of the idea it wishes to define; it is
precisely to remedy this weakness that the use of the symbol demonstrates its
full effectiveness. By creating a bridge between the created and the uncreated,
this mode of reading gives the mind the possibility of traversing the mirror of
appearances, of glimpsing the other side of the set, outside of space and time.
Ferdinand Brunetière (1849–1906) stated:
“The symbol is an image, it is
thought... It allows us to grasp between the world and ourselves some of those
secret affinities and obscure laws which may well exceed the reach of science,
but which are no less certain for that, every symbol is in this sense a kind of
revelation.”
We could not continue
this introduction without honouring the sharp prose of René Guénon
(1886–1951), for his life and work alone crystallize a
spiritual search without concession. He wrote in his book Symbols of Sacred
Science: “We have already had occasion to speak of the importance of the
symbolic form in the transmission of doctrinal teachings of a traditional order
(...)
Why does one
encounter so much more or less avowed hostility towards symbolism? Assuredly,
because it is a mode of expression that has become entirely foreign to the
modern mentality, and because man is naturally inclined to distrust what he
does not understand. Symbolism is the means best adapted to the teaching of
truths of a superior order, religious and metaphysical, that is to say, of all
that the modern spirit rejects or neglects; it is the very opposite of what
suits rationalism, and all its adversaries behave, some without knowing it, as
true rationalists (...)
It is thus that the
highest truths, which would not be communicable or transmissible by any other
means, become so to a certain point when they are, so to speak, incorporated
into symbols which will doubtless conceal them for many, but which will manifest
them in all their brilliance to the eyes of those who know how to see (...)
If the Word is
thought within and speech without, if the world is the effect of the divine
Word uttered at the origin of time, the whole of nature can be taken as a
symbol of the supernatural reality. Everything that is, in whatever mode,
having its principle in the divine intellect, translates or represents this
principle in its own way and according to its order of existence; and, thus,
from one order to another, all things are linked and correspond to contribute
to the universal and total harmony, which is, as it were, a reflection of the
divine Unity itself. This correspondence is the true foundation of symbol, and
that is why the laws of an inferior domain can always be taken to symbolize the
realities of a superior order, where they have their profound reason, which is
at once their principle and their end.”
In its common
figuration, the “saint bol” (holy cup)
takes the form of a cup or a chalice. During the magical ritual of the Mass, at
the moment of the Eucharistic sacrament, it collects the Christic
blood – the metaphorical liquid of the cosmic fluid. The evocation of an
aqueous essence inevitably recalls the way the disciple of Hermes associated
the behaviour of the mercurial spirit with a primordial ocean. Following
analogical reasoning, the symbol fulfills exactly the same function as its
homophone, revealed by the language of the birds, namely that the “saint bol” (holy cup) is the receptacle and the revealer
in the tangible world of the ineffable principles of the universal matrix.
I understand that for most of you, the
Hermetic tradition seems quite mysterious, even chimerical, especially since
this philosophical current proposes historical and scientific perspectives that
the mainstream thinking qualifies as irrational. I can already hear the
rhetoric of the most indoctrinated: “How
could ancient people have known what modern science is only beginning to
glimpse? Are we not superior to those hicks of the past?”
Indeed, and whatever he may think, modern man
is unaware of his own ignorance. But we must not cast the first stone, for from
the benches of kindergarten to the lecture halls of universities, he is
encouraged to naïvely repeat what he is taught. And since the majority has
grown up in the same system, it is logical that ‘normal’ people are all molded
in the same way. In his defense, it must be recognized that the pursuit of
knowledge, intellectual and cultural enrichment, are activities that are no
longer valued. Absolutely nothing is organized to encourage us to read the
works in libraries and to multiply our general knowledge. This sad observation
is the inexorable consequence of a state-controlled education constantly
leveled downward, the propagation and normalization of a culture of the
artificial (to the detriment of the natural), the promotion and standardization
of mediocrity by the dominant media, and the stupefaction and hypnotic
manipulation of the masses by television. And above all, the ever-growing
denial of a transcendent and salvific spiritual kingdom. It is a fact; we can
no longer count the friends who are so proud of their agnosticism... How sad!
At the dawn of the
21st century, the collapse of thought mirrors the decadence, degeneration, and
decline of our civilization. This intellectual sclerosis has become an
increasingly thorny obstacle for those who take the paths of spiritual
evolution, personal emancipation, or the Gnostic path. Social conditioning is
so powerful that the intrepid – those who still dare to think for themselves –
are often ostracized and unfortunately subjected to mockery. It takes
tremendous strength of character to free oneself from public condemnation and
the judgment of others. This work requires a deep and delicate introspection;
very few people are prepared to suffer in order to dissolve the illusions of
daily life and be completely freed from them. To be able to empty ones chalice of all dross, and then refill it with a more
radiant light, is an achievement inaccessible to most of us.
Prudence, temperance,
fortitude, and justice are the cardinal virtues necessary for the opening of
the kingdom of God. If perseverance is our loyal servant on the path of truth,
the vertical essence of the solar fire will illuminate our hearts, and the work
undertaken will always be crowned with success. Without this spiritual quest, I
probably would never have found the courage to share these few lines with you,
because the metaphysical currents upon which the winds of this demonstration
will carry us are ridiculed by the orthodoxy of the educational system and are
very poorly understood by today’s globalized culture. This thesis could never
have become an original stone added to the edifice if our usual prejudices had
not been overcome, if the uncharted lands had not been pushed back, and if our
reality had not been transcended.
To achieve this, the scientific and syncretic
study of the principal religious symbols is the main axis – its axis mundi
– around which this thesis will evolve. Like a modern Jason in search of the
Golden Fleece, guided by the clarity of the pole star, we will navigate the
most mystical and unimaginable vibratory oceans. I therefore invite you to
explore sacred science aboard my vessel, to lift the veil on the nature of the
Holy Spirit, and to cast off towards the most absolute mystery of all: the
creation of space-time.
Ludovic Nicolas
