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Photo of the Eel River captured near the census-designated place of Redcrest alongside Avenue of the Giants. Humboldt County. Mid July 2013.
Photo of Lagoon Creek captured via Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D AF Nikkor lens off U.S. Highway 101, the Redwood Highway, in the town of Klamath. Del Norte County. Redwood National Park. "State of Jefferson." Late October 2013.
For FGR - Self Reflection
I believe we all have gifts we were born with. My gift is my hands. I am a massage therapist and can do wonders because of this gift.
This isn't really the shot I wanted, but I couldn't get my desired results, so I just threw this one together.
P.S. There is a cool little (accidental) image in the background that represents us, can you find it?
The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in Hermeticism, Alchemy Rhenish mysticism, Rosicrucianism,and for The The Great WorkOrder of the Gnostics. It is simple to define, but very difficult to complete. The work is considered “Great” because it is one of our main purposes in this lifetime, and how we evolve our souls through each successive life.
Many of us are like an undisciplined child whose souls have just began our journeys on the path of the Great Work, and some souls are old wise beings that just need to ‘remember’ the Great Work in order to evolve. To remember is to become a Gnostic that taps the ancient Gnosis encoded within your very own DNA.
This is the Great Work of Human Evolution. To evolve by the “opening out” and “unfolding,” of our soul’s development to a higher plane of consciousness, and living. In human alchemy, we seek to control and speed up this natural process of soul perfection by resurrecting the spiritual essence in each one us us that has become trapped in matter. This is the purification process of the human being to the purest of its essences which is the light. The spiritual transformation of the human in which we shed our impurities of toxic eating, thoughts and living. It is the joining of opposites being that of our souls and body in which refine by the Great Work.
Jesus had said about the Great Work, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
By doing so, we become illuminated and enlightened to the Truth of who we are and where we are going. That is to say, to the light while we live through love. The ancient philosopher Plontius had written, “If we speak and write, it is but as guides to those who long to see: we send them to the place itself, bidding them from words to the Vision: the teaching is of the Path and the Plan, seeing is the work of each Soul for itself.” In order to truly partake in the Great Work, the goal for each one of us is to perfect ourselves the best we can through right thinking, actions and living. To take the higher path of the soul being that of our Lord into a more spiritual way of life while we live and operate in the material world. We do this by taking reasonable control of all aspects of our lives to become one with our soul as we try to make ourselves, our loved ones and the world a better place than we found it. Eliphas Levi says, “The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.” It is the Great Work of both spiritual and material worlds. Manly P. Hall had written, “Having become a citizen of two worlds, the individual must act accordingly. There can be no backsliding, because the individual must reach a state of certainty before this enlightenment is given that makes it utterly and completely impossible to backslide. He cannot ‘get it’ and then fail and turn from it. If he turns from it, it means he never had it. If he fails, he fails himself. He cannot fail the infinite.” This is the science of being a true human, and the Great Work of the soul. The art of living in the light through our hearts, and the music of the soul that operates through love, reason, and empathy for all God’s creatures. You are the conductor of this Great Work. Work that must be done on your own path down the road of evolution, or devolution. Therefor, you need to choose your thoughts, actions and life work wisely.
This is the decree of the Rosicrucians, “I do further most solemnly promise that (should I accomplish the Great Work) I will not abuse the great power entrusted to me by appearinggreat and exalted, or seeking to appear in public character in the world by hunting after vain titles of nobility and vain glory, which are all fleeting and vain, but will endeavor to live a sober and orderly life, as becomes every Christian, though not possessed of so great a temporal blessing; I will devote a considerable part of my abundance and superfluity (multipliable infinitely to work of private charity), to aged and deeply-afflicted people, to poor children, and, above all, to such as love God and act uprightly, and I will avoid encouraging laziness and the profession of public beggars.”
www.gnosticwarrior.com/great-work.html
The Magnus Opus or Great Work
The “Thread of Ariadne”, Arcanum 15, and the Roots of the Great Work: The Magnus Opus or Great Work
The “Thread of Ariadne”, Arcanum 15, and the Roots of the Great Work “Beloved brethren: today we meet here reunited in order to investigate, to study and to define the path that will lead us to final Liberation. The old medieval alchemists spoke of the ‘Great Work’, and this is quite interesting… In the ground, in the floor of the old Gothic cathedrals, a multitude of concentric circles can be seen, forming a true labyrinth that traveled or went from the center to the periphery and from the periphery to the center.
Much has been said about labyrinths; tradition also speaks about the labyrinth of Crete and the famous Cretan Minotaur. Certainly, in Crete a labyrinth was recently found (it was called “ABSOLUM”; as if saying: “ABSOLUTE”). “ABSOLUTE” is the term that was used by the medieval alchemists to designate the Philosopher’s Stone. Behold, then, a great mystery. We need the THREAD OF ARIADNE, like Theseus, to get out of that mysterious labyrinth. Obviously, one has to enter into and get out of the labyrinth. In the center there was always the Minotaur. Theseus managed to overcome it (and here is the Greek tradition). We also need to overcome him, we need to destroy the animal Ego. So as to arrive at the center of the labyrinth, where the Minotaur is, and in order to do so it is necessary to fight a lot. There are innumerable theories, schools of all species, organizations of all types. One says that the way is over here, others that it is over that way, others that it is over there, and we must orient ourselves in the middle of that great labyrinth of theories and antithetical concepts, if we truly want to arrive at the living center of ourselves, because it is precisely in the center where we can find the Minotaur. When one has managed to arrive at the center of the labyrinth, one must use one’s wits to get out of it. Theseus managed to leave the strange labyrinth by means of a mysterious thread (the “Thread of Ariadne”). This thread of “Ariadne” appears to us to be HIRAM, the Secret Master that occult masonry speaks of and that we all must resurrect within ourselves, here and now. “Ariadne ” also indicates to us the “Spider”, symbol of the Soul that incessantly weaves the loom of destiny. Therefore, brethren, the hour to reflect has arrived… But, what in fact is that “Thread of Ariadne”?, what is that thread which saves the Soul, which allows one to leave that mysterious labyrinth in order to arrive at one’s Real Inner Being? Much has been said about the subject; the great alchemists thought that it was the Philosopher’s Stone. We are in agreement with that, but we go just a little bit further, and in agreement with our discourse, then, we can say that in truth the Philosopher’s Stone is symbolized in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris by Lucifer (now we will comprehend why the Philosopher’s Stone is found in sex itself). Thus, we discover Lucifer in the sexual organs. Lucifer is, then, the “Thread of Ariadne” which leads us to final Liberation. This seems rather paradoxical, because everyone has the concept that Lucifer (the Devil, Satan) is evil. We need evident self-reflection, if we want to penetrate deeply into the Great Arcanum. This Lucifer that we find in sex, is the Living Stone, the “head of the corner”, the Master Stone, the Cornerstone (in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris), the Stone of Truth. To penetrate a little deeper, then, into these mysteries, is indispensable when one is trying to know what the “Thread of Ariadne” is… Once again I remind you, of the famous initiation rites in the Sacred Sanctuaries of the authentic Gnostic-Rosicrucians (the esotericists of the Middle Ages): when the neophyte was led to the center of the Lumisial, he was wearing a blindfold over his eyes. Somebody pulled off the blindfold and then the astonished and perplexed neophyte contemplated an unusual figure. There he was, before its presence, the MALE GOAT of Mendez (that strange figure of the Devil). Horns shined upon its forehead, and on its head was a torch of fire (however, something indicates that this figure should be treated as a symbol). In the Lumisial of Initiation, the neophyte was before the figure of TYPHON BAPHOMET, the terrible figure of Arcanum 15 of the Kabbalah (the torch, burning on his head, shinning brightly). Additionally, the Blazing Star of five points, with the superior angle upwards and both inferior angles downwards, indicates to us that this is not a tenebrous figure.
The neophyte was ordered to kiss the Devil’s backside. If the neophyte disobeyed, the blindfold was put on him again and he was taken out through a secret door (all this was happening in the middle of the night; the neophyte never knew from where he had entered nor from where he had left, because the Initiates always met in the middle of the night, having taken extreme care in order to not be victims of the Inquisition). But if the neophyte obeyed, then a door opened on that cube (upon which the figure of the Baphomet was seated). From there an Isis came out who received the Initiate with open arms, immediately giving him a holy kiss on the forehead. From that moment on, that neophyte was a new brother, an Initiate of the Order. That Male Goat, that Typhon Baphomet, that Lucifer, is quite interesting, because it is the sexual energy, the energy that one has to know how to use, if we want to realize the Great Work. Now you will understand why Typhon Baphomet, the Male Goat of Mendez, represents the Philosopher’s Stone, sex. It is with that tremendous force that one must work. Let’s remember that, in ancient times, the “Ark of the Covenant” had four horns of a Male Goat in the four corners (corresponding to the four cardinal points of the Earth) and when it was transported, one always took hold of it or grasped it by those four horns). Moses transformed himself (on Mount Sinai). When he came down, the clairvoyants saw two rays of light on his forehead, resembling those of the Male Goat of Mendez. It is for this reason that Michael Angelo put those symbolic horns on the head of his sculpture of Moses when chiseling the living stone. This is because the Male Goat represents the sexual force, but also the Devil; but that Devil or Lucifer is the same virile potency which, properly transmuted, allows us the intimate Self-Realization of the Being. For this reason it has been said that “Lucifer is the Prince of Heaven, the Earth and the Infernos”. In the old gothic cathedrals, all of this was foreseen. As far as the plan of the temples was concerned it was organized in the form of a cross, and this reminds us of “crucis”, “crux”, “crucible”, etc. We already know that the vertical piece of wood of the cross is masculine and that the horizontal piece is feminine. The key of all the mysteries is found in their intersection. Their intersection is the “crucible” of the medieval alchemists, in which one “cooks” and “recooks” and then returns to “cook again” the materia prima of the Great Work. That “materia prima” is the Sacred Seed, which is converted into energy when it is transformed. It is with this most subtle energy that we can open a “Chakra”, awaken all the occult (magical) powers, and create the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, etc. This is quite important, quite interesting… The cross, in itself, is a sexual symbol. In the cross is the Lingam-Yoni of the Great Arcanum. On the two crossed pieces of wood of the cross, are the imprints of the three nails. Those three nails, although it is certain that they allow the opening of the stigmata of the Initiate (that is, the “Chakras” of the palms of the hands and the feet, etc.), also symbolize, in themselves, the THREE PURIFICATIONS of the Christ in substance (there is another transcendental mystery here).
In any case, my dear brethren, to realize the Great Work is only possible through a unique path which is worth all the living pain that one experiences upon it. Peter, the beloved disciple of our Lord the Christ, has as his Gospel the Great Arcanum, the Mysteries of Sex. It is for this reason that Jesus called him “Petrus” (STONE/ROCK): “You are a Rock [Petros ] and on that Rock [Petram ] I will build my Church”. Sex is, therefore, the Basic Stone, the Cubic Stone, the Philosopher’s Stone that we must chisel, with the chisel and the hammer, in order to transform it into the perfect Cubic Stone. That Stone (the brute Stone, in itself) without any chiseling, is Lucifer. When it is already chiseled, it is our INNER LOGOI, the “Arche” of the Greeks. The important thing is, then, to chisel it, to work with it, to craft it, and to give it a perfect cubical form… Among the disciples of the Christ there were true prodigies and wonders. Let us remember that great Master James for a moment. They say that he is the one that looked the most like the Great Kabir Jesus; they called him the “brother of the Lord”, and it is obvious that he had great psychic and magical powers. After the death of the Great Kabir, James was the first who officiated at the Gnostic Mass in Jerusalem. The ancient traditions relate to us that he had to confront a black magician named Hermogenes, in Judea. Since he knew high magic, James fought wisely with the tenebrous one. If he used a “shroud” of wonders, for example, then he used it in order to resist him, and if Hermogenes used the magical staff, then James used another similar one, and in the end defeated the tenebrous one in the land of Judea. Nevertheless, he was considered a “Magician” (and he was one, beyond all doubt) and he was even condemned to death. But something unusual happened: the case of the sarcophagus of James which was suspended in the air, as it is said, and was transported to ancient Spain. Certainly, there is talk of (James or) Santiago de Compostela, and it is said of him that “he resurrected among the dead and that in that land he was attacked by demons (with the figure of a bull), and that he was attacked by living fire”. In short, many things are said about James.” -Paraphrase from ‘LUCIFERIC ROOTS OF THE GREAT WORK’ Lecture #98 by Samael Aun Weor, available in Ch. 13 of The Gnostic and Esoteric Mysteries of Alchemy, Lucifer and the Great Work.
The Great Work and St. James (Santiago)
“The great medieval alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, had James or Santiago de Compostela as Patron Saint of the Great Work.
On ‘the Way of Saint James’ (“el camino de Santiago de Compostela”), there is a street that is called “de Santiago” (“from/of James”), and there is also a cavern called “the cave of healing”. At the time when people started making pilgrimages towards where the city of Santiago de Compostela is now located, was the same time the alchemists were meeting (in that cave), those who were working in the Great Work; those who not only admired (James or) Santiago de Compostela (whom they have as their Blessed Patron Saint), but also Jacques de Molay. They always meet there at the time of the pilgrimage. Therefore, while the people were rendering a cult (an exoteric cult or worship, we could say) to James (Santiago de Compostela), the alchemists and kabbalists reunited in mystical assembly in order to study Kabbalah, Alchemy and all the mysteries of the Great Work. Here you can see both aspects of Christianism (the exoteric and the esoteric). Undoubtedly, all this invites us to reflection. Jacques de Molay, who was burned alive during the Inquisition, is held (by those alchemists and kabbalists that met in the “cave of the healing”) in the same regard that is given to Hiram Abiff as the Secret Master, which is that he must be resurrected in each one of us, and the same regard is given to James as the Blessed Patron Saint of the Great Work, and this is quite interesting… What interests us is to realize the Great Work in ourselves, and it is (I think, and with complete certainty, I affirm) the only thing that makes life worth living. The other reasons for living, do not even have the least bit of importance. In Compostela, they say that the Patron Saint James appears to the pilgrims with the brim of his hat turned upwards, in his hand is the staff (upon which shines the Caduceus of Mercury), and on his chest is a sea shell, as if to symbolize to the Blazing Star. I advise you to study the “Universal Epistle of James”, in the Bible. Certainly, it is marvelous. It is directed to all those who are working in the Great Work. James says that “faith without works is dead in itself” [Jas 2:17] (meaning it is worth nothing). You can listen here, from my lips, to all the doctrine of the Great Arcanum, all the explanations that we give about the alchemists and the Great Work, but if you do not realize that Great Work, if you do not work in the Great Work, if you only have faith, but nothing else, and you do not work, then you appear (as James says, and I repeat) “like a man who looks at a mirror, who sees his face in the glass, and then turns around and walks away”, forgetting the incident [Jas. 1:22-24]. If you listen to all the explanations that we give and then you do not work in the “Forge of the Cyclops”, if you do not make the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, then you look like that man who “sees himself in the mirror, turns around and walks away”, because faith without works are not worth mentioning. It is necessary for Work to be supported by faith; and faith must speak through works. James says that “we need to be merciful”. This is clear, because if we are merciful, the Lords of Karma will judge us with mercy; but if we are ruthless, the Lords of Karma will judge us in a ruthless way. And since mercy has more power than justice, it is certain that if we are merciful, we will be able to eliminate a lot of karma (all this invites us to reflection). James says that we “must control the tongue” (that one who knows how to control the tongue, can control the whole body), and uses as an example the case of the horse (the horse has the bridle put in its mouth as a brake, and this is just like how we are able to dominate it, to handle it) [see Jas. 3:1-3]. James says: “Also look at the ships; although they are so great in size and are carried by violent winds, they are steered with a very small rudder” (which is truly small in comparison with the enormous size that the ships have) [see Jas. 3:4]. The tongue is little, yes, but what great fires it starts! [see Jas. 3:5] We are taught, in that epistle, that we should never boast about anything. That one who is boasting about themselves, about their works, about what they have done, is undoubtedly arrogant, pompous, and fails in the Great Work. If we want to work in the Great Work, then we need to humble ourselves before the Divinity, to be more and more humble every day; never to assume anything, instead we should always be simple. The same thing would happen if we checked the tongue; we would become owners of our whole body. This is vital when one wants to triumph in the Great Work, in the MAGNUS OPUS.
That Epistle is written with a double meaning. If read you it literally, then you would not understand it. Thus the protestants, the adventists, the catholics, etc., have read it, and they have not understood it. That Epistle has a double meaning and is directed, exclusively, to those who work in the Great Work. As far as faith is concerned, it is (of course) necessary to have it. All alchemists must have faith, all kabbalists must have faith, but faith is not something empirical, it is not something that we are given for free. Faith must create more faith; we cannot demand faith from someone who does not have it. It must be created, it must be developed. How does one make it? On the basis of study and of experience. Could someone have faith, the kind which we are speaking of here, if they do not study and they don’t experiment for themselves? Obviously not!, right? But, as we are studying and experimenting, we are also comprehending, and true faith comes from that creative comprehension. Therefore, faith is not something empirical. No: we need to create it. Later, yes, much later, the Holy Spirit, the Third Logos, can consolidate it, fortify it and strengthen it within us; but we have to create it…” -Paraphrase from ‘LUCIFERIC ROOTS OF THE GREAT WORK’ Lecture #98 by Samael Aun Weor, available in Ch. 13 of The Gnostic and Esoteric Mysteries of Freemasonry, Lucifer and the Great Work. St. Andrew and St. John in the Alchemical Work “Another quite interesting apostle (who tells us of this narrow, straight and difficult path that we must take), is Andrew. It is said that he conjured up seven perverse demons in Nicea and that he made them appear (before the multitudes) in the form of seven dogs that fled terrified. Much has been said about Andrew, and there is no doubt that he was extraordinary, that he was full of a great power. The reality is that Andrew, the great Master, and disciple of Christ, was condemned to death and was tortured. The cross of Saint Andrew invites us to reflection: it is an “X” (yes, an “X”). Its two arms, extended to the right and the left, and its two legs open on both sides, forming an “X”, and on that “X” Saint Andrew was crucified. That “X” is very symbolic. In Greek it is equivalent to a “K”, let us remember the CHRESTOS [ χρηστός ]. Unquestionably, the magnificent drama of Andrew was symbolized by the great Initiate monk BACON. In his book (the most extraordinary one that he wrote), named “The Waterwheel”, he has a plate in which a dead man is clearly seen. Nevertheless, it is as if he tries to raise his head, as if he is stretching, as if he is resurrecting, while two black crows are picking his flesh with their sharp beaks. The Soul and the Spirit raise themselves from the cadaver, and this reminds us of the phrase of all Initiates, which says:
“THE FLESH COMES AWAY FROM THE BONES…”
Saint Andrew, dying on a cross in the form of an “X”, speaks to us precisely of the disintegration of the Ego: that we should reduce it to a cosmic cloud of dust, that we should carve it up. “THE FLESH COMES AWAY FROM THE BONES…” Only thus it is possible for the Secret Master (Hiram Abiff) to resurrect within ourselves, here and now. Otherwise, resurrection would be impossible (in the Great Work we must die from instant to instant, from moment to moment). And what could we say about John? He is, beyond all doubt, the Patron Saint of Gold manufacturers. Is there someone who has made gold? Yes; let’s remember Raymond Lull. He did it: he enriched the coffers of Phillip the Fair, of France; and those of the King of England. Still one is reminded of Raymond Lull’s letters. One of them speaks of “a beautiful diamond”, which was given to none other than to the King of England (dissolving a crystal, between the “crucible”, and then, putting water and mercury on that crystal, it transformed into a gigantic, extraordinarily fine diamond, which was given to the King of England). And as far as the transmutation of lead into gold, he did this thanks to the Philosophical Mercury. Raymond Lull enriched all of Europe with his metalworking, and nevertheless he remained poor. He was an extraordinary traveler of all the countries of the world, who died in the end by being stoned to death in one of those lands (you should reflect on this). Therefore John, the apostle of Jesus, is the Patron Saint of Gold manufacturers. It is said that on some occasion, he found on his path (in a town along the way, in the East) a philosopher who tried to convince the people, to demonstrate to them what he could do with the word, with the verb. Two young people, who had listened to his teachings, abandoned their wealth, they sold it all, and with that they bought a great diamond. In the presence of the honorable public, they put the diamond into the hands of the philosopher; this he returned to them and they destroyed the gem with a stone. John protested saying: “With such gem, it would be possible to give the poor something to eat…” It is said that (before the multitudes) he then reconstructed the gem and that they soon sold it, in order to give the multitudes something to eat. But the young people, regretted their decision and said to themselves: “What fools we were to have left all our riches in order to buy a great diamond that has become pieces and then was reconstructed in order to distribute it among the people!”. But John, who saw all the things of heaven and earth (and who knew how to transmute lead into gold), brought from the shores of the sea (there close by), some stones and reeds (the stone, symbol of the Philosopher’s Stone of sex, and the reed, symbol of the spine, because there we have the power to transmute lead into gold), and after converting those reeds and those stones into gold, he gave the wealth back to the young people; but he said to them: “You have lost the best [thing]. I give back to you what you gave, but you lost what you had obtained in the superior worlds”. Afterwards, he approached a woman who was dead, and he revived her. She then told him what she had seen outside the body and also went to those young people, saying that “she had seen their guardian angels crying with great bitterness, because they had lost the best thing for worthless and perishable things…” It is clear that the young people repented, and they gave the gold back to John, and John returned that gold into what it was (into reeds and stones), and they converted themselves into his disciples. Therefore, John and the “Order of Saint John” invite us to think. John is the Patron Saint of those who make Gold; we need to transmute the lead of the personality into the living gold of the Spirit. It is for this reason that the great Masters of the White Lodge are often called, “Brothers of the Order of Saint John”. Many believe that John, the apostle of the Master Jesus, disincarnated; but he did not disincarnate. Old traditions say that he dug his grave, that he lay down in it, and that a light shined brightly and then disappeared (then the grave was empty). We know that John, the apostle of the Christ, lives with the same body that he had in the Holy Earth and that he lives precisely in Agartha, in the subterranean kingdom, there where the ORDER OF MELCHEZEDEC is located, and where he accompanies the King of the World (you can see how interesting this is).”
-Paraphrase from ‘LUCIFERIC ROOTS OF THE GREAT WORK’ Lecture #98 by Samael Aun Weor, available in
Ch. 13 of The Gnostic and Esoteric Mysteries of Freemasonry, Lucifer and the Great Work. Lucifer and the Degrees of Perfection
“Entering then into the magistery of the fire, we must define something (so as to clarify): it becomes necessary, as I have said to you already, to transmute the Sacred Seed into energy. When this is obtained, the fire then arrives which climbs up the dorsal spine, and the Great Work begins to be realized.
We need to create the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, but this is not sufficient. It is necessary, it is indispensable, it is urgent to cover those vehicles (later) with the different parts of the Being; but, in order to cover them it is necessary to perfect them, to turn them into pure gold, into real Spiritual gold.
So we are not surprised, then, that John or James has an Astral Body of pure gold, a Mental Body or a Causal or Buddhic or Atmic Body of the same metal, because they managed to realize the Great Work.
If somehow Count Saint Germain could transmute lead into gold, it is because he himself was gold. The “Aura” of Count Saint Germain is of pure gold; the atoms that form that “Aura”, are of gold, and his Superior Existential Bodies, are from gold of the best quality.
Under these conditions, he can throw a coin into the “crucible”, yes, and melt it, and then, with the same power that he carries inside, he can transmute it into pure gold, because he is gold (this is what it is called “to realize the Great Work”). In this there are degrees and degrees.
First it is necessary to reach Mastery, later we must convert ourselves into Perfect Masters and much later we must reach the degree of “Grand Elect”. The so-called “Grand Elect” and “Perfect Master” are all those who have realized the Great Work.
Really, the way we are, we are evil. We need to pass through a radical transformation and, in truth, this is only possible by destroying the “inhuman elements” and by creating the human elements. Only thus we will march towards final Liberation…
In the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, as it is called, in a corner there is the Master Stone, or the Cornerstone (that the “builders” of all the sects, schools, religions and others rejected), the Elect, and Precious Stone, but which has the figure of Lucifer on it, and this scares the profane. Unquestionably, my dear brothers, only there (in sex) can we find that LUCIFERIAN PRINCIPLE that is the very foundation for Self-Realization. But, why is Lucifer the “Thread of Ariadne”?, why is it precisely he who leads us to final Liberation, when in truth he has practiced evil? I have often said, I have affirmed and I emphatically affirm in this chair, that Lucifer is the reflection of the INNER LOGOI (within ourselves), the shadow of our intimate God in us and this is for our own good, since he is the trainer. God cannot tempt us; we have our own lusts (so taught James, the Patriarch of Alchemy, the Patriarch of the Great Work). Then, what is it that Lucifer does? He uses our own lusts, he makes them move across the screen of our understanding, in order to train us psychologically, to make us strong; the more we fail his tests, the more we fail in the Great Work. Nevertheless, we can fail and we can rectify. If we rectify ourselves, then we triumph in the Great Work. Anyone can fail and by their faults they know that they have crimes which must be corrected, which must be eliminated. Thus Lucifer trains us, he educates us, he forms us, and through all this training he liberates us, he directs us (from sphere to sphere) until we reach our Hiram Abiff. Lucifer is, then, the “Thread of Ariadne” who takes us towards our inner God, who removes us from this painful labyrinth of life, by means of the esoteric work. He, time and time again, makes our own lusts pass before the screen of our understanding. He points them out to us, indicating that we need to overcome them, to eliminate them, to disintegrate them, to return them to dust. Thus, continuing step by step each time advancing a little bit more, we are dividing up the center of the labyrinth from the periphery, in order to one day arrive at our own God. This is the work of Lucifer. He is the Thread of Ariadne, he is the Philosopher’s Stone. It is for this reason that the pilgrims of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, extinguish their lamps in the stony jaws of Lucifer, in the “Little Corner Stone”, as they say over there… Much has been said about “magical powers”. Yes, we can have them, but unquestionably we need to create a lot within ourselves, and to destroy a lot more (there is a lot we have in excess and a lot that we lack). Everybody thinks that they possess the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, and this is not so. It is necessary to create them, and it is only possible to create them in the “Forge of the Cyclops”, that is to say, by means of the sexual work They will tell us that we are “fanatics of sex”. They are mistaken. What happens is that we have a “laboratory”, which is our own body, and a “small furnace” in the “laboratory” (the fire of the alchemists), and a “crucible” (which is in the sexual organs) and there we have the “Materia Prima” or “Raw Material” of the Great Work. To transmute it is indispensable, to convert it into energy, in order to then (with that energy, and with that which it contains) create the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being. This is the vital thing, the indispensable thing. A day will arrive in which we will pass beyond sex. The absurd thing would be to want to pass beyond sex without having arrived at the goal. That would be as if we wanted to lower ourselves off of the train, before arriving at the station or like wanting to lower ourselves off of the bus or truck (wherever we are going), before arriving at the goal that we have decided upon. During sex it is necessary to create and it is necessary to destroy. To create the SOLAR VEHICLES is necessary so that our interior God can resurrect in us, and it is also necessary to eliminate the “inhuman elements” that we have inside… Everything is reunited here, we must comprehend this. It is not enough for you to listen to what I am saying; it is necessary for you to realize this, because “faith without works is dead faith”. It is necessary that faith be accompanied by Work. It is necessary to realize the Great Work, but it is not enough to just have faith in the Great Work. It is necessary to realize the Great Work. And what will the final result of the Great Work be? That each one of us is converted into a great God, with power over the Heavens, the Earth and over the Infernos. This is the end, the result of the Great Work: that each one of us will be converted into a Majesty, into a terribly Divine creature. But, at the present time, we must recognize that we are not even humans; we are only “humanoids” (in a very crude form one could say that we are “mammalian intellectuals”, and nothing else); but we can leave this state in which we find ourselves through the Great Work… Hiram Abiff is the “Secret Master”, the Third Logos (Shiva), the “First-born of Creation”, our Real divine inner Being, our true and individual “Monad”. We need to resurrect him, because he is dead within ourselves, although he is alive in the ineffable worlds. Raymond Lull realized the Great Work: he received the Great Arcanum in the Astral World, and it was with that “Master Key” that he was able to work in the Great Work. Raymond Lull, undoubtedly, knew outside the physical body what the Sacred Conception of the Divine Mother, Kundalini Shakti is. To know how to realize that Sacred Conception, is to know how to materialize (from on high) the Sacred Conception in itself, until it is achieved. Undoubtedly, the Divine Mother must conceive the Son (by work and grace of the Third Logos). She remains a Virgin before the birth, during the birth and after the birth. This Child that she conceives, must materialize itself, crystallize itself in us from above, from on high, to be completely covered by our physical body, by our “planetary body”. When arriving at this degree one can say that the Great Work has been realized. In other words: we must resurrect Hiram Abiff within ourselves (as has been said).” -Paraphrase from ‘LUCIFERIC ROOTS OF THE GREAT WORK’ Lecture #98 by Samael Aun Weor, available in Ch. 13 of The Gnostic and Esoteric Mysteries of Freemasonry, Lucifer and the Great Work
gnosticstudies.org/index.php/alchemy/hermetic-masonry/the...
Photo of Luffenholtz Beach, looking toward Trinidad and Trinidad Head, captured in the census-designated place of Westhaven-Moonstone via Scenic Drive, County Road 4M310. Humboldt County. Mid August 2013.
Stadhuis Haarlem
Fotografie: Sitan van Sluis
Model: Hiske Eriks
Licht: Martijn Laarhoven
Make-up: Susan
Photo captured at the site of where the Little Sur River drains into the Pacific Ocean on the El Sur Ranch property in Big Sur. Monterey County. Late January 2013.
The veranda/terrace (beach towels and all) that was part of our apartment in Elounda as reflected through the glass light covering :o)
Photo captured while driving towards U.S. Highway 101, past post-mile marker 95.50 on Highway 1, the Shoreline Highway, near Leggett. Mendocino County. Late March 2013.
Black and White photo of Big Lagoon, looking east, captured on the Big Lagoon Bridge on U.S. Highway 101, the Redwood Highway, in the census-designated place of Big Lagoon. Humboldt County. Early September 2013.
A little bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone. If you can't tell, Subject A is playing against no one other than Subject A himself! Guillermo Novella. Greenwich, Connecticut.
Photo captured off Interstate 5 south of Yreka. Siskiyou County. Northern California. Early January 2013.
Photo looking towards Cape Mendocino captured along the Lost Coast via Mattole Road. Humboldt County. Late May 2013.
Photo of Indian Tom Lake captured off Highway 161 near the Oregon State Line near Dorris in Far Northern California. Siskiyou County. Late February 2013.
There is a feeling here, in this image. Just saying that spoils it a little for me, like telling someone a joke and then having to explain it. But I have been misunderstood too many times and maybe my risk-taking self, who only tries to appeal to those that don’t need the explanation, has become shy. Or maybe I should be brave and accept the position of being misunderstood with grace. Or maybe the best solution is a little of both, which I suspect is the truth, but it always feels like having one foot in this world and one foot out. But then again, I have come to identify that I enjoy that, dancing on the magical line between two worlds, but of course you see it, don’t you? You see it, because that is what this image is all about.
Often, for me, capturing images with my camera is like treasure hunting. Sometimes it is about documenting and that is fun too and has a valuable place, like history, but how much history can one generation hold? I think of that when I go to an old graveyard outside a little church, like the ones I grew up around back east. The tombstones are thin and weathered and the people buried there died in the late 1700′s and everyone who ever loved them has died too and everyone who has ever loved a person that loved them is also gone. Now, the best it can hope for, is to be a tomb of some historical interest, maybe to some descendents, who maybe wish they could crack open the secrets of the person gone, what they were like, who they were, or maybe it is just too much information in a world already bursting at the seams with information. But still, I think photographs that document have great value, only, with an expiration date.
When I treasure hunt, my eye does not see something just as it is, but as it could be if you sprinkle in a little imagination. This is not just a path in the forest. It is a pact made between the trees to grow together to form a tunnel, spawned by some sort of mysterious intelligence that only trees understand. As you walk down the path, the light becomes dark, the air cool, which causes you to notice your surroundings. Not just notice, but it infiltrates nearly every corner of your awareness, so that your separateness from the world, in the world, vanishes and all melds into One. Then you emerge from the tunnel into the sunlight and what awaits you there is so magnificent and magical that it has never before been able to be imagined. The feeling here is wonderment, one foot in this world and one foot out.
Do you see it too?
To see the original blog post: kneverkneverland.com/2013/02/22/one-foot-in-one-foot-out/
Photo of Luffenholtz Beach, looking toward Trinidad and Trinidad Head captured via Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D AF Nikkor lens and in the census-designated place of Westhaven-Moonstone via Scenic Drive, County Road 4M310. Humboldt County. Mid October 2013.
A wonderful day to not only enjoy the scenery before your very eyes and soul, but also to dial the necessary parameters on your camera and forever treasure that particular moment in time. Photo of False Klamath Cove captured off U.S. Highway 101, the Redwood Highway, in the town of Klamath. Del Norte County. "State of Jefferson." Early August 2013.
Photo of the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains and a barn captured in Big Sur at Garrapata State Park. Monterey County. Late February 2013.
Photo captured via Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D AF Nikkor lens near a cattle ranch and alongside Old Samoa Road in the city of Arcata. Humboldt County. Late September 2013.
Photo captured near the Big Valley Summit, with a hint of Majestic Mount Shasta, on Highway 299 near Post-Mile marker 5.31 in Lassen County. Late February 2013.
Photo of the Northern California coastline captured via Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D AF Nikkor lens and from the city of Trinidad near Trinidad State Beach. Humboldt County. Mid September 2013.
I graduated from high school 21 years ago today. June 8, 1989. Seems like a lifetime. Seems like yesterday.
Twenty years now, where’d they go?
Twenty years, I don’t know
I sit and I wonder sometimes
where they’ve gone
And sometimes late at night, oohhh when I’m bathed in the firelight
the moon comes callin’ a ghostly white, and I recall
I recall
Bob Segar
The pond in the background isn't a pond. There isn't supposed to be any water there. That is how much freakin' rain we have gotten lately.
Photo captured from Trinidad State Beach in the city of Trinidad. Humboldt County. Early October 2013.
Ah the first day of June. I have come to realize I am much more a Fall person, not a huge fan of heat. But summer does make it nice to go to the beach.
Multi textures in this shot, one from Image After the other from Louise
Photo looking towards Trinidad Head captured from the Vista Point on U.S. Highway 101, the Redwood Highway, in McKinleyville. Humboldt County. Mid July 2013.
Photo of Steamboat Rock captured along the Lost Coast via Mattole Road. Humboldt County. Late May 2013.