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.Now without doubt itSection III.The Royal Art.309is good and joyful tidings to hear of a possibility of drawing outand putting off this body of sins; and in truth the prophet whohas arisen in me has prophesied that such a day was at hand.Be dismayed at it, ye that are the wounders and despisers of [407]this grace; which I see is now near being revealed, for the bridalgarments are being prepared.[Cf.the end of the parable.] OWisdom, the preparation and ordering of the bridal garments isgiven in charge to you alone, which shall be of divers colors,with which the king's daughter, [Analogue of the king's son, theimproved son figure of the parable.] who is entrusted to thyteaching and instruction, may be distinguished from all others,and known [as redeemed]. (L.G.B., I, pp.51 ff., wherewith themagic journey is ended.)Thus there is a confident tone, a hope in that which losesitself in the infinite.But Leade suspects that it is an unattainableideal and knows what regulative import it has:  Ah, who up tothis hour has traveled so far, and what are all our realized giftsuntil we have reached this goal [union with the Divinity].Canour plummet even sound it and explore in the deep abyss, thematchless wonder of the immeasurable being? And because therevolving wheel of my spirit has found no rest in all that it hasseen, known, possessed and enjoyed, it stretched its errant sensescontinuously towards what was still held back, and kept, by thestrong rock of omnipotence; to struggle towards which with afresh attack I resolutely determined, and would be sent awaywith nothing less than the kingdom and the ruling power of theHoly Ghost. (L.G.B., I, p.87.)In a parallel between the old and new royal art, I cannotoverlook the French masonic writer Oswald Wirth, who has [408]worked in the same province.I agree with him in general;although much of his method of interpretation seems to me tooarbitrary.I have already called attention to several passages fromW.S.H.on the preparation of the subject [i.e., the uninitiated].I will endeavor to outline the contents of the rest of the work310 Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Artsaccording to the ideas of Wirth.Having given up himself, the Subjectum is overcome in thephilosophic egg [preparation chamber, i.e., sch.K.] by sadnessand suffering.His strength ebbs away, the decomposition begins;the subtle is separated from the coarse.[Smaragdine tablet.] Thatis the first phase of the air test.After descending to the centerof the earth [Visita interiora terrae, etc. Smaragdine tablet, 6,8.] where the roots of all individuality meet, the spirit rises upagain [Smaragdine tablet, 10.] released from the caput mortuum,which is blacked on the floor of the hermetic receptacle.Theresiduum is represented by the cast-off raiment of the novice.Laboriously now, he toils forward in the darkness; the heightsdraw him on; escaping hell he will attain to heaven.His ascentup the holy mountain is hindered by a violent storm; he is throwninto the depths by the tempest: a symbol of circulation in theclosed vessel of the alchemists, which vessel corresponds to theprotected lodge.During the circulation the volatile parts rise andfall again like rain, which is symbolized by the tears upon thewalls.To be sure, it is not here that the neophyte is subjected[409] to the water test, and if a confusion is possible on this point itcomes from the fact that all the operations of the great work goon in one vessel, while the masonic initiation is completed in asuite of different rooms, so that the symbolic series here suffersdisintegration.The circulating water, which soaks into the poresof the earthly parts of the subject, purifies it more and more, sothat it goes from gray through a series of colors (peacock's tail) towhite.In this stage the material corresponds to the wise man whoknows how to resist all seduction.Yet we are not to be satisfiedwith this negative virtue; the fire test (we should remember thatthe four tests by the elements were to be found in the parablealso) is still to be gone through, the calcination, which burnseverything combustible.After the calcination there is a perfectlypurified salt [Symbol: Salt] of absolute transparence.So long asthe novice has not attained this moral clearness, the light cannotSection III.The Royal Art.311be vouchsafed to him.In brief, in the first degree, the main thingis the comprehensive purification.The salt layers must be madecrystal clear, that surround the inner sulphur [Symbol: Sulphur]like a crust and hinder it from its free radiation.Sulphur is tobe regarded as a symbol of the expansive power, as individualinitiative, as will.Mercury stands opposite to it as woman doesto man, as that which goes to the subject from without, or asabsolute receptivity [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]