"Christ the eternal Tao shows Lao Tzu's Tao Teh Ching as a foreshadowing of what would be revealed by Christ, and Lao Tzu himself as a Far-Eastern prophet of the Incarnate God."-- Back cover.
What did it mean to believe in alchemy in early modern England? In this book, Bruce Janacek considers alchemical beliefs in the context of the writings of Thomas Tymme, Robert Fludd, Francis Bacon, Sir Kenelm Digby, and Elias Ashmole. Rather than examine alchemy from a scientific or medical perspective, Janacek presents it as integrated into the broader political, philosophical, and religious upheavals of the first half of the seventeenth century, arguing that the interest of these elite figures in alchemy was part of an understanding that supported their national—and in some cases royalist—loyalty and theological orthodoxy. Janacek investigates how and why individuals who supported or were actually placed at the traditional center of power in England’s church and state believed in the relevance of alchemy at a time when their society, their government, their careers, and, in some cases, their very lives were at stake.
In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Franciscan friar John of Rupescissa sent a dramatic warning to his followers: the last days were coming; the apocalypse was near. Deemed insane by the Christian church, Rupescissa had spent more than a decade confined to prisons in one case wrapped in chains and locked under a staircase yet ill treatment could not silence the friar's apocalyptic message. Religious figures who preached the end times were hardly rare in the late Middle Ages, but Rupescissa's teachings were unique. He claimed that knowledge of the natural world, and alchemy in particular, could act as a defense against the plagues and wars of the last days. His melding of apocalyptic prophecy and quasi-scientific inquiry gave rise to a new genre of alchemical writing and a novel cosmology of heaven and earth. Most important, the friar's research represented a remarkable convergence between science and religion. In order to understand scientific knowledge today, Leah DeVun asks that we revisit Rupescissa's life and the critical events of his age the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, the Avignon Papacy through his eyes. Rupescissa treated alchemy as medicine (his work was the conceptual forerunner of pharmacology) and represented the emerging technologies and views that sought to combat famine, plague, religious persecution, and war. The advances he pioneered, along with the exciting strides made by his contemporaries, shed critical light on later developments in medicine, pharmacology, and chemistry.
Few fields of academic research are surrounded by so many misunderstandings and misconceptions as the study of Western esotericism. For twenty years now, the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (University of Amsterdam) has been at the forefront of international scholarship in this domain. This anniversary volume seeks to make the modern study of Western esotericism more widely known beyond specialist circles, while addressing a range of misconceptions, biases, and prejudices that still tend to surround it. Thirty major scholars in the field respond to questions about a wide range of unfamiliar ideas, traditions, practices, problems, and personalities that are central to the field. By challenging many taken-for-granted assumptions about religion, science, philosophy, and the arts, this volume demonstrates why the modern study of esotericism leads us to reconsider much that we thought we knew about the story of Western culture.
Renowned channeler Paul Selig shares the wisdom of The Guides "The gift of the times you sit in, humanity at a crossroads, is the gift of the unknown, the unseen, the unprepared for. “How can I prepare for a future, when all I have trusted and believed in seems to be falling away?”...You say yes to the uncertain moment. You agree that the path before you will be lit as you walk it, and not a moment before. " In Alchemy: A Channeled Text, The Guides offer us a way to engage the transformational process of moving beyond a limited interpretation of the self and into a place of true manifestation. As humanity stands at a crossroads, the voices of The Guides offer insight and a path forward. Paul Selig, the author of Beyond the Known: Realization, is one of the foremost spiritual channels in the world. Alchemy is composed of the pure, unedited words of The Guides as they have been channeled through Paul. Their message is poignant and beautifully written, humming with wisdom and insight for all who are ready and willing to receive their words.
This fascinating book follows Jenny Tyson's yearlong training that culminated in an intense, three-day initiation through which her minimal psychic abilities became full-blown clairvoyance and clairaudience. Providing detailed accounts of Jenny's experiences and the tools she used to contact the other side, Spiritual Alchemy also teaches you how to undertake your own spirit communication. Meet your own spirit guide, develop your psychic abilities, and learn the spirit world's greatest secrets. With powerful new training methods, a rare interview with Edward Kelley himself, and more, this book revolutionizes the interactions between humans and spirits.
The early Christian Gnosis did not spring up in isolation, but drew upon earlier sources. In this book, many of these sources are revealed for the first time. Special emphasis is placed on the Hellenistic doctrine of the "Solar Logos" and the early Christian symbolism which depicted Christ as the Spiritual Sun, the illumination source of order, harmony, and spiritual insight. Based on 15 years of research, this is a unique book which throws a penetrating light on the secret traditions of early Christianity. It clearly demonstrates that number is at the heart of being. Jesus Christ, Sun of God, illustrates how the Christian symbolism of the Spiritual Sun is derived from numerical symbolism of the "ancient divinities."
Alchemy is the last and highest knowledge which can be committed to paper in the form of letters. Beyond that, another language is required, one which cannot be committed to paper. Most people confuse iatrochemistry with Alchemy. When an Alchemist speaks of Mercury, Sulphur and Salt, he speaks of his spiritual, astral and physical bodies, not of the elements. Alchemy Unveiled describes the tribulations that a human being has to pass through in order to purify these three bodies. However, to achieve the level of an Alchemist requires daily study and strict daily mental, astral and physical exercises for many lifetimes. Many individuals have already achieved this goal. The purpose is not to convert a lower metal into gold, but to change an impure body into a pure body, namely the spirit, soul and physical bodies. An Alchemist is one who has passed the levels of a magician, spheric magician and Kabbalist. All these levels can be achieved without the help of a teacher! . These Western writings are by those who have reached levels higher than an Alchemist. They have given us these writings, philosophically and practically. These sciences cannot be learned intellectually, but have to be approached with a clean heart. One's character has to be completely free of all negative characteristics. And for the one who embarks on this journey, the first thing to be learned is what a positive characteristic is and what a negative characteristic is. And the reader will be surprised what negative characteristics are, because many of these characteristics are considered by most as positive. Alchemy Unveiled will lead the reader on a journey of a complete purification of the body, soul and spirit, and for the first time the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone is openly explained. Much has been written about this subject, most of which is and remains incomprehensible for most. Many of the alchemical writings available were and are based on error and point the way to the wrong path. This is mainly due to the fact that many individuals do this for personal, material gain. Alchemy Unveiled begins with an explicit explanation of the symbolic language of Alchemy, which is a must for any further clear understanding of the entire text of this book. It explains the errors of many who were not in possession of the true knowledge regarding this art. It takes the reader on a journey through the ancient mysteries of Initiation, the Osiris mysteries, the Eleusian Mysteries, the Mysteries of Israel, the Christ-Mysterium and the Mystery of Alchemy.
A classic text on alchemy by the leading scholar of Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem, is presented here for the first time in English translation. Scholem looks critically at the century-old connections between alchemy, the Jewish Kabbalah; its Christianized varieties, such as the gold- and rosicrucian mysticisms, and the myth-based psychology of C. G. Jung, and uncovers forgotten alchemical roots of embedded in the Kabbalah.