The alchemical process of kindling and elevating it is accomplished in the spinal cord where the SALT, SULPHUR, MERCURY and AZOTH are found. It is raised to incandescence by high and noble thought, by meditation upon spiritual subjects, and by altruism expressed in the daily life. The second half of the creative energy thus drawn upward through the spinal canal is a SPINAL SPIRIT-FIRE, the serpent of wisdom. Gradually it is raised higher and higher and when it reaches the pituitary body and the pineal gland in the brain, it sets them to vibrating, opening up the spiritual worlds and enabling man to commune with the gods. Then this fire radiates in all directions and permeates the whole body and its auric atmosphere, and man has become a LIVING STONE, whose luster surpasses that of the diamond or the ruby. HE IS THEN THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE.
“The coiled creative life force at the base of the astral spine, kundalini, has always been symbolized as a serpent. When this creative force is “asleep” in delusion, it flows down and outward and feeds all the senses; uncontrolled, its stinging venom causes insatiable lusts. But when the pure kundalini force is “awakened” by the yogi, it rises to the brain and is transformed into the bliss of Spirit. This uplifting serpentine current is Vasuki, the supreme force for human liberation which begets the offspring of divine realization.”
“The sushumna located in the spinal column is considered the trunk of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, and its subsequent pathways or the energy nadis of the body are considered the branches. The lower part of the Tree, near the genital organs, leads one to the underworld of sexual lusts and depravity and this place brings about spiritual death within the lands known as Hell or the worlds of the qlippoth. The upper branches of the Tree of Life lead one to the Heavens above in the mind and beyond and these realms lead to spiritual life, back to the Garden of Eden.
There are 33 degrees of the spinal column, or the Tree Trunk, which must be climbed with the Sacred Seed of Alchemy and each ‘step’ or each ‘degree’ leads to higher states of illumination.”
“As Moses raised the Serpent in the desert so shall the Son of Man be lifted.”
“The ascent of the Kundalini through the medullar canal is a very slow and difficult process. The path of the igneous serpent, from one vertebra to another, signifies terrible ordeals, trials, frightful sacrifices and supreme purification. We must not only kill desire, but moreover, we must kill the very shadow of desire.”
“Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
The soul can only return to her divine state after having been purified of her earthly desires. Her reason and free will must take part in the sufferings belonging to the material state, until she attains knowledge and becomes free from desires. For this purpose she clothes herself at certain periods in a physical form (reincarnates as a human being), until she has laid off her desires. The more the soul frees herself from her gross external coats the higher can she rise.
“And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
(Here the word Nachash is translated in two ways, a fiery serpent and a serpent of brass. This is because Nachash is translated as “a shining one”, referring to the shining light of illumination. The people of Israel had turned away from God, because of this they were “bitten” by the fiery serpent.)
“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
“The Kundalini serpent actually dissolves into light.”
—Carl Jung, Letters Vol. 1, Pages 95-97
The secret vessels of the alchemist are the organs of his own body, together with their etheric and astral counterparts.
The operation is in fact a chemical one, under the direction of man’s self-conscious intelligence, which begins in Divine Mind, but is realized by means of changes effected in his physical body. In consequence of these changes, he becomes a new creature, able to exercise powers which are unknown to the average being – He attains Self-Mastery.
The basis of alchemy, like the basis of yoga, is the idea that man is a direct consequence of the perfectly free, unmodified Spirit whence all things proceed. This is the true essence of his being. The Great Work is the direction of energy derived from that essence according to the perceptions of an awakened intelligence – Divine Mind.
The preliminary in alchemy is the same as the preliminary step in yoga – that is, to eradicate all impurities and transmute the body into a holy temple of God, purged from all uncleanness.
The fire of alchemy is said to be a secret fire, often compared to a serpent or dragon – a fiery force which yogis say is coiled in the Saturn center at the base of the spine. It is named Kundalini.
Yoga practice raises this “serpent” power stage by stage, through the seven chakras which alchemy identifies with metals.
Paracelsus, like other sages, declares the Great Work to be performed by the aid of Mercury, and that the only other agencies of the art are the powers of the sun and moon. We recognize the importance of the power personified by Mercury; the object of yoga is something which is to be grasped by the mind alone. “Yoga chitta vritti nirodha.” (Patanjali, Yoga Sutra 1.2)
They also recognize the other two agencies, one hot and fiery called Prana or Surya (Surya meaning “sun”); the other agency cold and moist, named Rayi, the lunar current. In the Daoist system it’s called Kan and Li, Fire and Water.
The mind of man, his Mercury, is able to discover principles, and to control by suggestion the forces of the subconscious life. It is able to invent and execute new application of methods not provided by nature, thus bringing about a finer adjustment and organization of both environment and organism.
The result is the new kind of being, able to receive the influx of energies which would harm an ordinary human body, fraught with impurities.
When he becomes illumined, he perceives directly the Truth that he is living the eternal life of the One Power which brings all things into manifestation, and sustains and governs everything in the universe.
At the completion of this Work, his transmuted personality expresses nothing but the inwardly perceived impulses of the One Power. He knows, not merely believes, that all his thoughts, acts, and words are direct expressions of God, the One Will.
“The old Adamical flesh of death cometh not to the heavenly flesh: No, it belongeth to the earth, to death; but the eternal flesh is hidden in the old earthly man, and it is in the old man, as the fire in iron, or as the gold in the dark stone.
This is the noble stone (Lapis Philosophorum), the Philosopher’s Stone, which the Magi find, which tinctureth nature, and generateth a new son in the old. He who findeth that esteemeth more highly of it than of this outward world.
He who hath it, and knoweth it, if he seeketh, he may find all things whatsoever are in heaven and earth. It is the Stone which is rejected of the builders, and is the chief corner stone; upon whatsoever it falleth, it grindeth to powder, and kindleth a fire therein.”
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