The Philosopher’s Stone: Spiritual Alchemy, Psychology, and Ritual Magic - Israel Regardie 2013

The Magical View
Book Two Magnetism and Magic

We have so far considered the most important theories concerning the non-metallurgical aspect of Alchemy. It must be admitted that the psychological and the magnetic theories are the most important and yield the most significant material. Yet there is a third viewpoint which is worth consideration here—I refer to the magical theory. It touches so closely on the alchemical practice that to ignore it would be to neglect a highly informative branch of research. In other of my works I have dealt fully, more or less, with the objects and nature of magical practices. It may be remarked that from the widest point of view the psychological approach borders very closely on the magical one. As Jung remarks in his commentary to The Secret of the Golden Flower:

Magical practices are the projections of psychic events which, in cases like these, exert a counter influence on the soul and act like a kind of enchantment of one’s own personality. That is to say, by means of these concrete performances the attention, or, better said, the interest, is brought back to an inner sacred domain which is the source and goal of the soul. This inner domain contains the unity of life and consciousness which, though once possessed, has been lost and must now be found again.¹⁶²

Thus the objects of Magic are to bring the student to an awareness of his own divine nature, to enable him consciously to integrate and unite the several constituents of his own psyche. It is to effect psychological integration, to bring about a psychic release from bondage to unconscious projection, and to produce an exaltation of consciousness to the Light, that any legitimate magical initiating system owes its existence. The function of every phase of its routine, the avowed intention of its principal rituals, and the explicit statement of its teachings is to assist the candidate by his aspiration to find that unity of being which is the Inner Self, the pure essence of Mind, the Buddha-nature. Thus the entire object of Magic and all mystical training “is, by the intervention of the symbol, ceremonial and sacrament, so to lead the soul that it may be withdrawn from the attraction of matter and delivered from the absorption therein, whereby it walks in somnambulism, knowing not whence it cometh nor whither it goeth.”¹⁶³

All magical initiations require the presence of initiating officers. From one point of view such officers represent just such psychic projections as Jung refers to. They represent, even as figures in dreams do, different aspects of man himself, personifications of psychological principles active within the psyche. Through the admittedly artificial or conventional means of a dramatic projection of these psychic principles in a well-ordered ceremony a reaction is induced in consciousness. This reaction is calculated to arouse from their dormant condition those hitherto latent faculties represented objectively by the officers. Without the least conscious effort on the part of the candidate an involuntary current of sympathy is produced by the external delineation of psychic faculties which may be sufficient to accomplish the purpose of the ceremony. The aesthetic appeal to the imagination, quite apart from what I would call the intrinsic magical virtue of the ceremonial, stirs to renewed activity the life of the inner domain. And the entire action of this type of dramatic initiatory ritual is that the soul may discover itself whirled in exaltation to the heights, and during that mystical elevation receive the influx of the Light.

Thus, to refer to one practical magical scheme practised in the Order of the Golden Dawn, and described at length in my book My Rosicrucian Adventure,¹⁶⁴ there is a preliminary ritual called the Neophyte Grade. To operate this properly, several officers are required. The Kerux personifies the reasoning faculties. He is the intelligent part of the mind, functioning in obedience to the Will; the Qabalistic Ruach, in a word. The higher part of that mind, the aspiring, sensitive, and the intuitive consciousness, the Neschamah, is represented by the Hegemon, who ever seeks the rising of the Light. The active will of man is signified by the Hiereus, the guardian against evil. In this initial ceremony of Neophyte the Hierophant acts on behalf of the higher spiritual soul of man himself, that divine self of which but too rarely, if ever at all, we become aware. “The essence of mind is intrinsically pure” is a definition of one Buddhist sutra, and it is this essential state of enlightenment, this interior Self, Osiris glorified through trial and perfected by suffering, which is represented by the Hierophant on the dais. He is seated on the throne of the East in the place of the rising Sun, and with but two or three exceptions never moves from that station in the Temple. He represents that innermost core of the psyche which, itself; moves not, though it directs the other officers and initiates, and commands movement and activity. From his aloof spiritual stronghold this higher Genius gazes down upon its alter-ego, terrestrial man, evolved for the object of providing it with experience. Seldom does that Genius leave its palace of the stars except when, voluntarily, the lower self opens itself to the higher by an act of sincerest aspiration or self-sacrifice, which alone makes possible the descent of the Light within the heart and mind.

Now, it is upon the Hierophant and his activity that the efficacy of initiation depends. Without an understanding of the magnetic theory, no likelihood of realizing the rationale of initiation is possible. The central factor of initiation consists in the communication of spiritual power from the Hierophant to the candidate by a physical and magnetic contact. There is one point in the ceremony when the Hierophant leaves the Throne of the East, representing the Higher Self in action. As Osiris he marks the active descent of the supernal splendour. While leaving the dais, with wand uplifted, he utters: “I come in the power of the Light. I come in the Light of Wisdom. I come in the Mercy of the Light. The Light hath Healing in its Wings.”¹⁶⁵ And having brought the Light symbolically to the aspirant, he retires to his throne, as though that divine Genius of whom he is the Temple surrogate and representative awaits the deliberate willing return of the aspirant himself to the everlasting abode of the Light.

In actual practice, in modern times, most Hierophants have contented themselves solely with the symbolic gesture and speeches. The real significance of the movement, as a practical magnetic technique, has not suggested itself to them. In point of fact, whilst moving from the dais towards the candidate at the altar, the Hierophant should be stirring up within himself the magical or spiritual power to such an extent that it emanates powerfully from him. There are means and techniques by which this is possible. Such are the Middle Pillar technique, the assumption of God-forms, rhythmic breathing, simple but sincere aspiration, prayer, and many another method. The emanation of the spirit entering the sphere of the candidate produces, should the charge be strong enough, a powerful effect.

There is another point, just previous to the one mentioned above, when the Hierophant stands at the altar facing the kneeling Neophyte. Whilst the latter aspires strongly by the recitation of an obligation defining his purpose and intention, the Hierophant takes hold of his left hand. It is this action which, in my estimation, constitutes the principal gesture of successful initiation. For it is then that the Hierophant is able, if he knows his business, to transfer a vital stream of spiritual energy from himself along a physical line of conduction to the candidate.

Now, it is here that we have an analogy to the Atwood conception of alchemical practice. We have seen that the primary operation in Alchemy, regardless of the mode of interpretation, is the solution. According to the Atwood theory, such a solution was accomplished by means of the transference of magnetism or spiritual energy from operator to subject. This transference induced a trance state in the subject. That is, by this means a specific change is induced in consciousness. The resemblance of this theory to the action of the Hierophant in magical initiation is at once striking. There is one marked difference however; no trance state is produced by the ceremony itself. On the other hand, quite frequently the candidate at such initiations confesses afterwards to a sense of confusion or “muzziness,” as though some degree of separation, or inhibition of consciousness, had been induced.

Moreover, the action of this Neophyte ceremony is intended—so runs the rubric attached to the ritual—deliberately to produce a species of schizophrenia. It is believed that the various principles comprising man become temporarily dissociated. A highly intricate account of the condition of these dissociated psychic functions may be found in Volume III of my work The Golden Dawn, section Z.3.¹⁶⁶

So striking is the resemblance of the Atwood technique to the magical one that I am profoundly convinced that the magnetic interpretation, when raised to a higher level and developed to its highest magnitude, is at the basis of ceremonial initiation. Thus the preliminary Neophyte ritual has a definite connection with the Alchemical dissolution. And like that operation of dissolution, upon the efficacy of that Neophyte initiation ceremony does the success of the remaining initiations depend. Should the Hierophant be successful in communicating, with the help of his fellow officers, a magnetic or spiritual charge to the candidate, that charge acts as a ferment. Slowly but surely in the months ensuing after the ceremony the vital ferment stirs up the psyche of the aspirant, unconsciously breaking down resistances and crystallizations, to the end that Light may enter his mind.

The five grades that follow have as their object the awakening of the elemental bases of what must develop into the instrument of the higher. Awakened and purified, they may be consecrated to the Great Work that they may become worthy vehicles for the indwelling of the Light. First, however, it is necessary that they be awakened. For, psychological truism that it is, until their presence is divined their transmutation cannot be accomplished. We have here, again, a definite point of contact with the hermetic technique. For after the dissolution of the inner psychic vehicle into its own homogeneous base there must follow the conversion of the elements. This process, as we assumed before, implies a process of becoming aware of them. The importance and significance of this step becomes imperious if we define the elements as fundamental levels of the Unconscious aspect of the psyche, the broadest divisions of its structure. Once more the magical technique links up with the psychological method. For both aim, though by different methods, at eliminating resistance, and in making conscious the vast inspiration, dynamic energy, and memory concealed in the deeper portions of man’s psyche. In symbolic form and pageantry, therefore, the initiation ceremony of each grade calls forth the spirits of a particular element. And as a steel placed in close proximity to a magnet receives some degree of its magnetism, and comparable to the electrical phenomenon of induction, so the presence of power induces power. Contact with the appropriate type of elemental force produces an identical type of reaction within the sphere of the Neophyte, and it is thus that growth and advancement proceeds.

The element offered for the work of transmutation in the grade of Zelator is the earthy part of the Candidate. Here is the beginning of the alchemical conversion of the elements. The ritual symbolically admits him to the first rung of that mighty ladder whose heights are lost in the Light above. The first rung is the lowest sphere of the conventional Tree of Life, Malkuth. To it is ascribed the first grade and the element of Earth. After the Earth elementals are invoked the Candidate is ceremonially conducted to three stations, the first two being those of evil and the higher divine presence. At each of these Stations the Guardians reject him at the point of the sword, strongly urging him in his unprepared state to return whence he came. His third attempt to go forward places him in a balanced position, the path of equilibrium, the Middle Way, where he is received. And a way is cleared for him by the Hierophant who again represents the celestial soul of things. During his stay in the Temple the stability of the element is established within his consciousness, that eventually it may prove an enduring temple of the Holy Spirit.

The grade after the Earth Ceremony is that of Theoricus. It is referred to the ninth Sephirah on the Tree, Yesod, the foundation, and to it are attributed the sphere of the operation of Luna and the reflection of the element Air. Here the candidate is conducted to the stations of the four Kerubim, the Angelic choir of Yesod. The Kerubim are defined by MacGregor Mathers in his Qabalah Unveiled¹⁶⁷ as the presidents of the elemental forces, the vivified powers of the letters of Tetragrammaton operating in and through the four elements. Each element is by this system of attributions ruled by a Kerub under the aegis of one of the letters of YHVH, the Ineffable Name. It is always through the power and authority and zodiacal symbol of the Kerub that the elemental spirits and their rulers are invoked. At this juncture of the ceremony with the Airy elements vibrating about and through him, the Zelator is urged to be:

prompt and active as the Sylphs, but avoid frivolity and caprice. Be energetic and strong as the Salamanders, but avoid irritability and ferocity. Be flexible and attentive to images, like the Undines, but avoid idleness and changeability. Be laborious and patient like the Gnomes, but avoid grossness and avarice. So shalt thou gradually develop the powers of thy soul, and fit thyself to command the spirits of the elements.¹⁶⁸

The third grade is that of Practicus referred to the Sephirah Hod, Splendour, the lowest of the left-hand Sephiroth on the Tree, the so-called Pillar of Severity. Its attributions refer to the sphere of the operation of the Planet Mercury, but more especially to the element of Water which is invoked to power and presence. Two paths lead to this sphere of Splendour—the path of Fire from Malkuth and the reflection of the sphere of the Sun from Yesod. (For clarification of the idea of the Paths between the Sephiroth, the reader must be referred to my book A Garden of Pomegranates.)¹⁶⁹ Water is germinative and maternal, whilst fire is paternal and fructifying; from their interior stimulation and union is the higher life born even as has been said, “Except ye be baptised with water and the Spirit ye cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”¹⁷⁰ Therefore in this grade the Candidate’s sphere, symbolized by stagnant water, is by the presence of solar and fiery elements vitalized and rendered a perfect creative base. The emotional life, through the impact of the elemental initiations and contacts, thus becomes enormously stimulated, and a terrific impetus is communicated to the Unconscious psyche.

The fourth grade of Philosophus carries the candidate another step forward. The Sephirah involved is Netzach, Victory, to which is referred the operation of the Planet Venus and the element of Fire, while the paths that connect to the lower rungs of the ladder are principally of a watery nature. Thus the elements ceremonially encountered are of an identical nature with those of the preceding grade. Here, however, their order and power is totally reversed. Previously the Water was predominant. Now the Fire rages and whirls in lurid storm, with Water only as the complementary element whereon, or through which, it may reveal itself, and in order that due equilibrium may be maintained. These two are the primary terrestrial elements which, intelligently controlled and creatively employed, may lead eventually to the restoration of the Golden Age. And by their transmutation a new paradise may be recreated from the darkness and chaos into which it formerly had fallen. For the Light may not legitimately be called forth upon man nor dwell within him until chaos has been turned into equilibrium or complete realization and enlightenment. And until order has been restored to the lower elements of his earthly kingdom neither peace nor inner security may be his rightful lot.

Though Fire and Water, warmth and moisture, feeling and emotion raised to their maximum intensity are essentially creative, their stimulation within the being of the Neophyte draws his attention, perhaps for the first time, to the chaotic condition of his natural existence, and the complete psychic muddle into which his ignorance and spiritual impotence have stranded him. Evocative of the highest within his soul, equally these elements call forth that which is base and low, those parts of himself which because of undue repression have grown revengeful and cruel. The first steps in the magical work, as in alchemy, are analytical—the leveling down of all that man formerly held true and holy. An unhappy state but a very necessary one if progress is to be made and if the chaos is to be transcended. From these ruins may be erected the new temple of Light; it is always from the rubbish heap that are selected the materials for the manifestation of god-head. These symbols have a dual application. Not only do they refer to the epochs of creative evolution whose memory has long since faded even from the visible memory of Nature, but also to the recapitulation of those periods within consciousness itself. And it is in connection with these recapitulations that “the aspirant on the threshold of Initiation”, observes Aleister Crowley, “find himself assailed by the ’complexes’ which have corrupted him, their externalization excruciating him, and his agonized reluctance to their elimination plunging him into such ordeals that he seems (both to himself and to others) to have turned from a noble and upright man into an unutterable scoundrel.”¹⁷¹ These are the experiences and events which occur to every aspirant when initiation forces the realization upon him that “all is sorrow.” In fact, the hallmark of successful initiation and alchemical practice would seem to lie in the occurrence of these or similar experiences—the increased awareness of conflict. The whole universe under the stimulation of the magical elements and inward analysis seems to tumble like a pack of cards crazily about one’s feet. This is the first half of the alchemical solvé et coagula formula. Analysis or dissolution must precede synthesis. Corruption is the primitive base from which the pure gold of the spirit is drawn. So far as the nature of the environment and personal understanding and creative capacity permit, the task implied by the coagula formula is to assemble them and remould them nearer to the heart’s desire.

The Philosophus grade completes the four elemental initiations. In the candidate’s consciousness have been implanted the seeds of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, and thus the alchemical conversion of the elements has been accomplished. As explained on a former page, the magical philosophy postulates a fifth element which acts as the Quintessence or synthesis of the other four. Following the Fire grade, therefore, comes the Grade of the Portal. This conferred upon the candidate the title of the Lord of the Paths of the Portal of the Vault of the Adepti, and is not referred to any Sephirah as such. Its technical attribution is the element of Akasa, Spirit or Ether. It is intermediate between the elemental grades and the higher spiritual attainments beyond. A crown to the four lower elements, the Rite formulates above Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, the uppermost point of the Pentagram, revealing the administration of the Light over and through the kingdom of the natural world. It concerns itself with a recapitulation of the former grades, coordinating and equilibrating the elemental self which, symbolically sacrificed upon the mystic altar, is offered to the service of the higher Genius. Not only does this Grade concern itself with the Quintessence or the Mercury of the Philosophers, but it carries the alchemical procedure a step further, providing another definite similarity to the hermetic technique. The Second and Third Adepts, two of the initiating officers, bear in their hands wands which are surmounted by alchemical symbols. The former represents the principle of Sulphur, whilst the latter represents Salt. The Hierophant, or Chief Adept as he is named at this stage, bears a wand marked to represent all three principles of Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt. The grade then clearly corresponds to a stage in the alchemical Art. Not only is the concept of the Quintessence developed insofar as it is the synthesis of the four elements, but it is taught that within it are concealed the Three Alchemical Principles. The functions of the higher grades must be then to develop these principles, to separate them from their base, and to become fully and consciously aware of their implicits.

A gestation period of at least nine months elapsed prior to initiation to the Adeptus Minor grade, a grade which is excessively difficult to describe except by quotation from the Ritual concerned. Its function explains itself in these terms:

“Buried with that Light in a mystical death, rising again in a mystical resurrection, cleansed and purified through him our Master, O brother of the Cross of the Rose. Like him, O Adepts of all ages, have ye toiled; like him have ye suffered tribulation. Poverty, torture, and death have ye passed through. They have been but the purification of the Gold. In the alembic of thine heart, through the athanor of affliction, seek thou the true stone of the wise.”¹⁷²

The chief characteristic of this grade is that it marks at least symbolically the attainment of a distinct phase of spiritual realization. In a fascinating and extremely brilliant way, the entire structure of the ritual emphasizes and connives to induce this phenomenon. At one juncture of the ceremony, the candidate is affixed to a large upstanding Cross. Thereon under the most solemn circumstances he is obliged to assume a sacred vow. The officiating adept reads several phrases first, and the candidate repeats them. It is not difficult to realize that this is a difficult and important phase of the ceremony. During this obligation because of the symbolism attached to it, and because of the active aspiration which is induced at this stage, illumination may quite easily occur, and very often does. Provided, naturally, that the officers fulfill their part. The object of the ceremony as a whole “is especially intended to effect the change of the consciousness into the Neschamah, and there are three places where this can take place. The first is when the aspirant is on the Cross, because he is so exactly fulfilling the symbol of the abnegation of the lower self and the Union with the Higher Self”. Suffice to mention that he is now entitled to undertake a definite magical training after this grade, a training which comprises instruction in the art of meditation, visualization, assumption of God-forms, awakening of the inner psycho-physical centres or chakras, etc. It is unnecessary here to give further details of the magical rituals; interested readers will discover full details in My Rosicrucian Adventure and The Golden Dawn.

Thus, the entire direction of Magic is more than comparable to Alchemy. Both lead from a dissolution of the psychic crystallizations by the light and power of the spirit towards a free and active manifestation of the spiritual self. Being “brought to the Light” is a very apposite description of the great Work. This experience of the rising of the Light is common to mystics of every age and of every people. It is an experience of the greatest significance, a goal marking an attainment, the achievement of a distinct evolution. It is an ineffable experience, however, which defies definition, as well in its elementary flashes as in its most advanced transports. No code of thought, philosophy, or religion, no logical process can bind or limit it. Always does it represent, spiritually, a marked attainment, a liberation from the perplexing turmoil of life, from conflict, and from every psychic complication. As Jung has expressed it, it “thereby frees the inner personality from emotional and imaginary entanglements, creating thus a unity of being which is universally felt as a release.”¹⁷³ It is the attainment of spiritual puberty, a significant stage in spiritual growth, marking the proper concoction of that precious gem, the Stone of the Wise, and fulfilling the complete transmutation of the bodily lead into the gold of full soul-realization in consciousness.

162. Jung’s Commentary to Wilhelm, The Secret of the Golden Flower (Orlando: Harvest, 1962). Originally published in 1931.

163. From the “Ceremony of the Equinox,” Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 255.

164. Originally published in 1936. Reprinted as What You Should Know About the Golden Dawn (Las Vegas, NV: New Falcon Publications, 2010).

165. From the Neophyte Ceremony, Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 125.

166. See Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 363—375.

167. See Mathers, The Kabbalah Unveiled (York Beach, ME, Samuel Weiser, Inc.,1983), 32—34.

168. From the Theoricus Ceremony, Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 160.

169. See Regardie, A Garden of Pomegranates: Skrying on the Tree of Life (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1999).

170. See John 3:4—5. See also the Adeptus Minor Ceremony in Regardie’s The Golden Dawn, 230.

171. Crowley, “Chapter XX: Of The Eucharist and of The Art Of Alchemy,” Magick in Theory and Practice, 188.

172. From the Adeptus Minor Ceremony. See Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 236.

173. Jung’s Commentary to Wilhelm, The Secret of the Golden Flower (Orlando: Harvest, 1962) 107. Originally published in 1931.