Gnostic Chemistry & Cosmology – Part 1A (Introduction)
Gnosis and Esoteric Knowledge
Gnosis is a Greek word which implies knowledge and wisdom. In our teaching, we use it to describe the Esoteric or Hidden Wisdom which is found in all Authentic Religions.
One of the core principles of Gnosis is that all religions teach the same thing. Understand that what we mean by this is that all religions teach fundamentally the same principles. These Religious Principles are also called “Eternal Values” and they are accessible in any Religious Form. We must distinguish between Religious Forms and Religious Principles.
Religious Forms come and go, they actually pass through different stages in their cycle of existence:
• They are born
• They grow
• They multiply and divide
• Then they die.
When a Religious Form dies, the Eternal Values do not die, they just dress up again in a new Religious Form.
Each Religious Form comes specific to the culture and the time period in which it emerges, so that it can make sense to that group. But fundamentally, the same principles are taught in all Religious Forms through various methods, sometimes symbolically, sometimes allegorically, sometimes literally, etc.
[Read more about Religious Forms and Religious Principles]
But often not everything is public or given to the public openly – all religions have their Esoteric and Exoteric aspect. There is the Public aspect of the Religion (which is the one we often are most familiar with) and there is the Private aspect of the Religion (which usually involves the those who are dedicated to the Religion, the Monks and Nuns, Priests and Priestesses, etc.)
One of the themes that is present in Esoteric side of Religions and was taught in the Ancient Mystery Schools was the explanation of the Creation of the Universe through Speaking. It is often told as a story about how Speech or Sound is used to create or manifest the Will of the Divine. We discussed this in the Series called “The Mystery Religions of the Ancients” in the section ‘The Mysteries of Creation’. In the past, this teaching of ‘Creation through Speech’ was often not emphasized in the Public aspect of Religious Forms as much as it was on the Private side.
We are going to look at how this theme appears in different Religious traditions, but first: let’s look at what existed prior to what we know as ‘existence’ or creation…
The First Cause
“The First Cause or “Causa Causorum” of everything is called “the Absolute” in Gnosis or “The Absolute Abstract Space”. It is the origin of Spirit and Matter, but is neither Spirit nor Matter. It existed before anything else. Everything comes from it and everything will return to it…
THE ABSOLUTE, the Unmanifested, is uncreated light.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 1 (The Seven Eternities)
in Cosmic Teachings of a Lama (aka My Return to Tibet)
“It is the Divine Essence abiding in the simplicity and un-differentiation of perfect unity.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 3 (The Majesty of God in Kabalism)
in The secret doctrine in Israel; a study of the Zohar and its connections
“Before there was existence, the Divine Essence, the Raw Matter or “Materia Prima” of the Great Work was resting within the bosom of the Absolute Abstract Space.
The “materia prima”, the primordial matter, is like the soul of the Unique Being, it is undifferentiated cosmic matter.
It was the Cosmic Night (the Pralaya), when everything was submerged within the Absolute Abstract Space.
Then the dawning of the Cosmic Day arrived and the first differentiation of the Absolute, emerged from the ocean of life…”
-paraphrase from Ch. 1 (The Seven Eternities)
in Cosmic Teachings of a Lama (aka My Return to Tibet)
The Absolute
In Hebrew Kabalah, the Absolute is divided into 3 parts:
1. the “Ain” or ‘Not’ (that is “Not [Being]”, “No-thing” or Beyond Existence)
2. the “Ain Soph” or ‘Not Ending’ (No End or Unending, No Limit or Limitless, Infinite)
3. the “Ain Soph Aur” or ‘Non-Ending Light’ (Endless Light, Limitless Light, Infinite Light)
They are sometimes drawn as 3 concentric circles. These 3 aspects of the Absolute are very difficult for us to understand…
The Ain might be understood as ‘Non-Being’ or ‘Unmanifested’ in contrast to the Ain Soph, which is closer to ‘Being’ or ‘Manifestation’
“The Ain Soph is understood (in the Zohar) as the limitless mystery of Divine Thought, the center of all and the secret of all secrets: God unknown and unknowable in respect to His Essence.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 3 (The Majesty of God in Kabalism)
in The secret doctrine in Israel; a study of the Zohar and its connections
Finally the Ain Soph Aur is the ‘Light’ which comes from this ‘Being’ and which ends up manifesting as existence through the Word of God or Divine Logos…
Vessels of Light
From the Ain Soph Aur emerge the Sephira or Emanations of God. It is said (by some Kabbalists) that the Sephiroth are ‘vessels of light’ or lights “invested in vessels”, similar to water poured into a glass.”
These vessels or Sephiroth are differentiated vehicles for creation, and the light is the undifferentiated Light of the Absolute. While taking on the shape of the glass, the water retains its original properties.
There are 10 Sephiroth of light, although the 10th, Malkuth, can be considered a fallen Sephira. These 10 Sephiroth make up the Universe or Cosmos of the external world as well as the interior world of the human being. The human being is in the Universe and the Universe is in the human being
“In this world of cosmic manifestation, there is no higher glory than that of becoming one of those crucibles, one of those vessels, within the created light of the Universe, where the whole enchantment of the soul of the Unique Being is condensed like the Fire of the Ether within the Suns of every Solar System.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 7 (The Seven Eternities)
in Cosmic Teachings of a Lama (aka My Return to Tibet)
To be connected to that Unity, to have the universal spirit of life, BRAHMA, the Father, Kether, within ourselves is the ultimate purpose of becoming a Kosmic Human Being.
The Cosmos, Kosmos or Kosmic Human Being
“The fundamental aim of every Gnostic student is to become a K-H, a Kosmic Human Being. All of us human beings live in a Kosmos. The word Kosmos means order and this is something that we should never forget.
The Kosmic Human Being is a being who has perfect order in the five centers or cylinders of their organism, in their mind and in their essence.
In order to get to be a Kosmos Human Being, it is necessary to learn to know how the Three Primary Forces of the Universe -positive, negative and neutral- manifest themselves.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 1.03 (The K-H) in The Revolution of the Dialectic
Before we study the 3 Primary Forces, we need to understand the Process of Creation and how God creates…
Now, let’s look at the examples of ‘Creation through Speech’ in various religious traditions.
Gnostic Chemistry & Cosmology – Part 1B (Creation and the Logos)
The Mesoamerican Tradition:
“There was nothing –they say– except Chaos, although this was majestically covered by an eternal heaven.
Only God existed, TEPIU K’OCUMATZ , in an androgynous form. That is to say, simultaneously Male and Female at the same time, Father and Mother, Creator and Creation.
From HIM the Hurricane emerged (a Mayan word which was later taken to the Caribbean Seas) and which signified, for the ancient Indians, Wind, Breath and Word…
HURRICANE, as a Deity, also formed part of TEPIU K’OCUMATZ, who they say, utilized this Breath or Word to create the World.
And he simply said “EARTH!!” And the Earth was created, being in the first term a cloud, then a gelatinous slime and, finally, the solid and concrete mass of the Earth…”
-‘The Mexican Story of Creation’ from Section Two of “Logos, Mantram, Magic” (1930)
by Arnoldo Krumm-Heller
Creation in the Egyptian Tradition
“I am he who came into being in the form of the god Khepera, and I am the creator of that which came into being, that is to say, I am the creator of everything which came into being: now the things which I created, and which came forth out of my mouth after I had come into being myself were exceedingly many…”
-“THE HISTORY OF CREATION A” from ‘The Book of Knowing the Evolutions of RA’
“I formed myself out of the primeval matter, and I made and formed myself out of the substance which existed in primeval time… I brought my own name into my mouth as a word of power, and I forthwith came into being… I was ONE: by myself, and there was no other being who worked with me in that place.”
-“THE HISTORY OF CREATION B” from ‘The Book of Knowing the Evolutions of RA’
In the Introduction to the English translation of these Egyptian texts it states the following:
“The story of the Creation is supposed to be told by the god Neb-er-tcher, this name means the “Lord to the uttermost limit”, and the character of the god suggests that the word “limit” refers to time and space, and that he was, in fact, the Everlasting God of the Universe. … It seems also that a desire arose in him to create the world, and in order to do this he took upon himself the form of the god Khepera, who from first to last was regarded as the Creator, par excellence , among all the gods known to the Egyptians.
When this transformation of Neb-er-tcher into Khepera took place the heavens and the earth had not been created, but there seems to have existed a vast mass of water, or world-ocean, called Nu, and it must have been in this that the transformation took place.
… The second version of the legend says that Khepera gave being to himself by uttering his own name, and the first version states that he made use of words in providing himself with a place on which to stand. In other words, when Khepera was still a portion of the being of Neb-er-tcher, he spake the word “Khepera”, and Khepera came into being.
Similarly, when he needed a place whereon to stand, he uttered the name of the thing, or place, on which he wanted to stand, and that thing, or place, came into being. … by uttering its name [he] caused his thought to take concrete form. This process of thinking out the existence of things is expressed in Egyptian by words which mean “laying the foundation in the heart”.”
[See the from “Legends of the Gods – The Egyptian Texts” (1921) by E. A. Wallis Budge]
This has given us plenty of interesting information about Creation in the Egyptian tradition, so now lets look at Creation in another Religious Form.
Creation in the Hebrew Tradition
Genesis Ch.1 v1-4:
“1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;
1:2 and the earth being without form and empty, and darkness on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moving gently on the face of the waters,
1:3 then God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.
1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.”
Like many verses in the Bible, within these simple words are hidden deep esoteric wisdom. But without looking at these words too in-depth (although if you want to, a program like e-sword is very good for this purpose), we can already see some similarities with the Egyptian creation stories.
Note that the word for God in Hebrew is “Elohim”. Dion Fortune, in her book Mystical Qabalah, Ch. 17, #35 says:
“In the word Elohim we find the true key. Elohim is translated “God” in both Authorized and Revised Versions of the Holy Scriptures. It really ought to be translated “God and Goddess”, for it is a feminine noun with a masculine plural termination affixed. This is an incontrovertible fact, in its linguistic aspect at any rate, and it is to be presumed that the various authors of the books of the Bible knew what they meant, and did not use this peculiar and unique form without good reason.”
So lets see if we can understand what is being said in these verses:
The earth was without form (or chaos) and empty (or desolation) … and the Spirit of God (Hebrew: Ruach Elohim) was over ‘the waters’ and then God (Hebrew: Elohim) says ‘let there be light’ (Latin: Fiat Lux) and the light comes into form.
Remember that E.A. Budge says:
“…when Khepera was still a portion of the being of Neb-er-tcher, he spoke the word “Khepera”, and Khepera came into being. … When this transformation of Neb-er-tcher into Khepera took place the heavens and the earth had not been created, but there seems to have existed a vast mass of water, or world-ocean, called Nu, and it must have been in this that the transformation took place.”
So we have 2 interesting similarities between these two traditions. Lets look at the first of these 2 (creation through speech), because this is a theme that will provide us with much insight into the act of Creation.
Sound, Geometry and the Verb
Something we must remember is that when a sound is made it produces waves. These waves can be seen with software when analyzing audio files. These waves are shapes and their shape reflects the type of sound produced. These shapes are Geometric Figures.
Understanding this concept, we can now see why Music and Geometry were studied in the Ancient Mystery Schools. And this is one of the meanings of the ‘G’ in the center of the famous Masonic square and compass.
“The Verb always crystallizes into geometric lines.
… Each letter crystallizes into geometrical figures.
… God geometrizes. The word is shaped with geometric forms.”
– From Ch. 30 of The Perfect Matrimony
God creates through the crystallization of sound.
Creation and the Logos
In the book of John Ch.1 verse 1, it says:
“In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
Lets understand what this means because it was written in Greek many years ago and so our modern English may have ‘lost something in translation’.
In the Beginning (Greek: archē [where our word Archetype comes from])
was the Word (Greek: logos [something said, the Divine Expression])
But the term ‘Beginning’ doesn’t really express the big-picture meaning of an all encompassing Archetype, ‘Principle’ is a better approximation of this meaning. And the term ‘Word’ doesn’t convey the implications of this Speech, so we prefer the term ‘Verb’ (a word that implies action).
In Principle [archē ] was the Verb [logos ] and the Verb was with God and the Verb was God.
Or in other words: In Principle (Arche) God is the Verb (Logos).
This is one of the fundamental Religious Principles or Eternal Values taught in all Religious Forms. And is one of the Foundational principles for Gnostic Kabbalah.
So what is this Verb or Logos?
The Logos or Verb
In our way of looking at the world, we could say that this Verb is the unification of 3 things:
1. Thought
2. Feeling
3. Action
Or the unification of one’s Thinking, Feeling and Acting in such a way that they are the same or achieve the same goal. And do not conflict with each other whatsoever. When we have this capacity: our mind, our emotions and our actions are consistent and without division then it could be said that we have ‘incarnated the Verb’ in ourselves.
Our speech or Word is what is used to symbolize this: either we keep our Word or we don’t. We all know people who say things, but don’t do them. This often happens with idle treats, but when an evil person, a gangster or mafia type person says they are going to harm us: we often become sacred. Why? Because if they keep their word, then we are going to be harmed.
What our world needs is the opposite, when someone says they are going to help us: they do.
In the past people would make verbal contracts and would keep them. But nowadays, most people do not keep their word for 2 main reasons:
1) They do not remember or do not care to keep the promises they make
2) They do not consider the difficulty in doing what they promise
Thanks to Gnostic Psychology, we know why we do not remember or care to keep the promises we make (because of all the Egos, all the “I’s” we have within). But the second reason we don’t keep our promises is often because we do not realize what we have committed ourselves to.
These are 2 very important aspects which we must consider when we make agreements with others and with ourselves. Because if our goal is to unify ourselves, then we need to become capable of doing what we say. In this way, we will incarnate one of the Principles of God or Divinity within ourselves: the Verb. If our goal is to unite ourselves with Divinity, then we can do this by manifesting the principles of the Divine within ourselves.
Note: The above example is a simplified way to understand the concept of ‘incarnating the Verb’, since the Divine Verb is actually beyond the Mind, inferior emotions, etc.
The Divine Being and Creation
“Those ineffable Beings, the intelligent fires of the dawn of all creation, are saturated with happiness. Those Beings of gold, those ineffable ones, are not the suffering shadows of the mind, because wisdom, love, and power are shining within them. They are the mysterious and terribly divine AH-HI, who dwell beyond the mind and beyond those weeping shadows.
In the profound cosmic night, before the heart of this solar system started to palpitate intensely, the universal mind did not exist, because AH-HI did not exist in order to contain it. Those mysterious and terribly divine AH-HI constitute the Army of the Voice, the VERB, THE GREAT WORD, the hosts of spiritual Beings who are so different, so distinct from the shadows of the mind…
These joyful Beings, these blessed Flames, emerge in the dawn of life from the bosom of the ABSOLUTE in order to give and establish laws within the living laboratory of Nature.
The GODS know very well that within the bosom of the uncreated light the mind is dissolved like a soap bubble. The existence of the mind is impossible within that which has no name…
During the nightfall of the universe that sparkles within the infinite, the Elohim must break every shackle that in one way or another binds them to existence, thus become radically liberated from all that is called mind, willpower, and consciousness.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 7 (The Seven Eternities) in Cosmic Teachings of a Lama (aka My Return to Tibet)
The Logos and the Three Primary Forces
In the Superior Worlds, the Verb or Logos is the unification of the 3 Primary Forces, which are called:
• the Holy Affirming
• the Holy Denying
• and the Holy Reconciling
These have other names as well:
• Active, Passive, Neutral;
• Formation, Reformation, Transformation;
• Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva;
• Father, Son, Holy Spirit; etc.
– = Read the NEXT PART = –