Just Another Day of Masonic Alchemy

The Lunar phase on 25 November 2012 is Waxing Gibbous, a time I'm using to whip up a medicinal tincture. The waxing gibbous moon appears high in the east at sunset, it's more than half-lighted, but less than full, yet still workable. The moon is in the zodiac sign of Aries, typical characteristics of this sign are initiative and self-independence, nice...lets cook.
And so why is that important? All of that will certainly effect the tincture I am about to create, something alchemists of old realized.

Today I have been practicing a little of what I call Masonic 'kitchen alchemy', cooking up a concoction that is surely influenced by the sun, moon, and on this day the constellation of Aries, that will hopefully aid me in harmonizing my body (mind and soul).
For those that enjoy the mystery lets enter the rabbit hole (Freemasonry), and my kitchen (my real kitchen).

First lets take a look at alchemy, a science understood by few who enter Freemasonry, but in fact a forgotten science that just may be the key to understanding its underlying secret (trust me, there is one).
As to why I call this 'Masonic Alchemy', read carefully and a couple secrets may present themselves (yes, I will provide a little help).
First things first, a little clarification, alchemy got a bad rap. Many believe that alchemy was all about the pursuit of gold through the transmutation of metals, and for many charlatans it was. But for many this precursor to chemistry was actually a spiritual science, hidden under the disguise of early chemistry? (not something the suppressive and dogmatic church wanted you to study).

"The purpose of alchemy was not to make something out of nothing but rather to fertilize and nurture that which was already present. Its processes did not actually create gold but rather make the ever-present seed of gold grow and flourish. Everything which exists has a spirit, the seed of Divinity within itself and regeneration is not the process of attempting to place something where it previously had not existed. Regeneration actually means the unfoldment of the omnipresent Divinity in man, that this Divinity may shine forth as a sun and illumine all with whom it comes in contact."...Brother Manly P. Hall (the purpose of Freemasonry in a nutshell)

Although Brother Hall is referring to alchemy as a spiritual process (which it is), a progression where the initiate travels from "ego to unity" by realizing our true divinity within (not up there), this is the same process at play when we practice plant alchemy (in my kitchen) known as spagyric, where we are going to tap into essence of the plant (my purpose being medicinal).

Above we see the herbs (and mushrooms) I will be using, and of the vodka (spiritus).

I personally prefer 100 proof, the stronger the spirit the more the gain.

Spagyric is a name given to the production of herbal medicines using the alchemical process, similar to the steps you will find hidden and alluded to in the rituals of Freemasonry (where we are attempting to make a man a better man) . In plant alchemy (as in what we could call psychological alchemy) the procedures involve fermentation, distillation and the extraction.

I never said it was going to be easy, but please continue, it just may change your life! (If you get it)

The concept of the spagyric alchemy in turn relies upon the three cardinal principles of alchemy, termed as salt, sulphur and mercury, all familiar symbols to the students of Freemasonry (at least before WW2, after that Freemasonry sadly begins to forget its roots, but we esoterics are making a comeback).

"The basis of matter was the alchemical trinity of principles – salt, sulfur and mercury. Salt was the principle of fixity (non-action) and in-combustibility; mercury was the principle of fusibility (ability to melt and flow) and volatility; and sulfur was the principle of inflammability."...Paracelsus (water, air, fire)

The intuitive brother should be associating the three degrees with the three principles right about now. Salt, refers to the first degree, where the tide ebbs and flows, salt water, mercury, refers to the second degree, the beasts of the field and fouls in the air, Mercury was the god that could descend to the earth (the field) and as send to to the heavens (fowls of the air), and sulfur, symbolic the third degree, have my body burned to ash, fire (or spirit) and he would be right (except for English brothers who unknowly and wrongly have removed the penalties not knowing what they really meant).
So here's whats going on in my kitchen. I'm about to release the essence of a couple herbs for medicinal purposes, what the alchemist would call the sulphur element (within the human some would call this the divine, hoped for during the third degree of Freemasonry).
In the picture above you see three different plants, one is hawthorn, a medicinal herb known to decrease hypertension, turmeric root, a great antioxidant (to clean out the impurities in the body), and chaga mushroom, the king of shrooms, anti-viral, anti-cancer, known as the "Mushroom of Immortality", three I've randomly picked for there medicinal properties . All three of these represent salt, the earth element (they are all matter). This is the beginning of the process (the entered apprentice) matter (the rough ashlar).

In the Plant Kingdom, the physical body of the plant itself is the Salt, its essential oil is the Sulphur, and alcohol (and occasionally water), is the Mercury.
If we use the vernacular of today we have (simplified) body (salt or matter), mind (mercury or air), and spirit of soul (sulfur or fire).

In a nutshell (on a very basic level): first we started with a plant (and a mushroom) which at its core contains a spark of the divine.
For those that would like to make their own tincture fill a mason jar half full with your herb of choice. Next add equal amounts of 100 proof vodka, which will become the carrier (just like the god Mercury who had the ability to descend to the world of matter and ascend to the heavenly realm).

Now comes patience as we let the vodka extract the essence of the plant, in this case it's attributes (it's medicinal components).
Six or seven weeks (I prefer seven for occult reasons) later the the mixture will be ready to be transferred to smaller bottles. But first we have to remove the herb the has given up its essence. This is done with a funnel and coffee filter.
Without getting to technical in the alchemical department, next we can take the refuse (sound familiar brother) and boil it in water and create a double extraction. This is done by boiling the soaked herb (or mushroom) mash in water until you have reduced the liquid by half. Strain the reduced liquid and add it to your single extraction. This yields a stronger, more robust medicinal tincture (all from the refuse of the temple, the plant).
Myself, personally, prefer to bottle my tinctures in a 4oz. eye dropper bottle, taking the medical tincture subliminally where it enters the bloodstream directly avoiding the gastric juices (more bang for the buck).

Plant alchemy (just like Freemasonry) is all about getting in touch with the divine within.

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Three Lesser Lights - Enlighten Your Path

My wife says my blogs are to long, and nobody can understand them…Ouch.

Oh well, here is a short one, although it is Masonic in nature, an intuitive individual might find it enlightening.

Allow me to introduce to the three Lesser Lights of Freemasonry, the triad, or triangle of the Sun, Moon, and Mercury.

No I haven't forgotten what the ritual told me, that the Lesser Lights represent the Sun, Moon, and Master of the Lodge, I tend to agree with Brother Pike, “The Temple of Eleusis was lighted by a window in the roof. The sanctuary so lighted, Dion compares to the Universe, from which he says it differed in size alone; and in it the great lights of nature played a great part and were mystically represented. The images of the Sun, Moon, and Mercury were represented there and they are still the three lights of a Masonic Lodge; except that for Mercury, the Master of the Lodge has been absurdly substituted.” When one begins to look at the bigger picture you will plainly see that Mercury, symbolic of wisdom should be returned to its rightful place in the triad known as the Lesser Lights.

Freemasonry is old, as a matter of fact no one really knows how old, but that's not my field of interest, we'll leave that to the historians. The problem with being old is that many assume wrongly that because a tradition is old it must be out of touch with many of the advances made in philosophical thought and spiritual sciences, which couldn't be further from the truth. By its nature symbolic thought is progressive, in order to understand the veiled symbolism one must first attempt to find the universal meaning of a symbol, then the cultural as to how it is being used, and then to the personal, the level in which the symbol speaks to the individual. Think of it as learning a new language, a language made up of beautiful pictures.

Now let's get back on track. What we are discussing here is the triad of the Sun, Moon, and Mercury, although called the Lesser Lights, these three make up the highest level of spiritual enlightenment symbolized in the Masonic Temple, not in position, but in consciousness.

In position, the three Lesser Lights are symbolized by the Senior Deacon symbolic of Sun, the Junior Deacon symbolic of the Moon, and the Marshall symbolic of the messenger Mercury.

Now when we look at consciousness, and how the symbols allude to states of mind, the Sun is symbolic of divine Unity, called by many names, Divine Union, Self Realization, Nirvana, Samadhi, the end of the subject object dichotomy, the end of opposites.

Simplified, it’s the pinnacle of our journey, immortality can only happen when one reaches this level.

Please allow me before we continue to show you how symbolism progresses. The symbol of the Sun, which is also the symbol of gold, is the “point within a circle”. In today's modern psychology many symbolize the conscious mind as the tip of an iceberg, the ever so small pinnacle that is visible above the water line, with the largest portion unseen and below the water, a “point within a circle”. It's only when the above and the below become one do we become whole, “and the two shall become one flesh: so that they are no more two, but one flesh.” Mark 10:8.

So here we have this triad with the Sun at the apex, the highest level of consciousness, below it is the Moon and Mercury, both separate levels of consciousness that must be harmonized in order for one to progress to “Unity” consciousness, the Sun.

The Moon is symbolic of intuition, a necessary component to the spiritual path, insight in the sixth sense that must be tempered by Mercury, wisdom.

This is a state of consciousness that is a little hard to explain, how does one describe light to a blind man?

According to the dictionary intuition is defined as a "quick and ready insight;" and "the act or process of coming to direct knowledge without reasoning or inferring." It is derived from the Latin word "intueri" which means "to see within." It is a way of knowing, of sensing the truth without explanations. Someone my not consider themselves to be particularly spiritual or metaphysically adept yet may be quite good at following their gut instincts.

According to many Freemasonry a bye product of the “Enlightenment” is a “reason” based philosophical path with in roots in moral philosophy, a presumption that many within Freemasonry hold true today. Yet only intuition will assist those hoodwinked individuals go inside and uncover the true meaning. I promise you may know the rituals backward and forward, control your passions, practice charity, and read everything written about Freemasonry but without intuition you'll be stuck on a level that may have a few rungs above it.

Before we explore the level of Mercury, wisdom, allow me to share a very unscientific observation, believe it or not, but at least consider it.

Freemasonry itself mirrors society, the majority of Freemasons see Masonry as a Moral path, a kind of adult self help group that practices charity and makes good men better men. It has been my personal observation only about ten percent sees it as a spiritual tradition, not religious, spiritual in the sense that the initiate has a goal, in the western esoteric tradition we may call this Divine Union or Christ Consciousness. It has also been my observation that only about ten percent of all Freemasons in a Lodge actually attend meetings and ritual work within the Temple, another proof that most understand little of what they have started. It's kind of scary when we do the math, if only ten percent show up, and only ten percent of those get it, you may think we have a problem. But I don't think that's the case, I have the feeling Freemasonry has always functioned that way. As one who loves to read the old titles from learned brothers I have found this situation discussed by the best of them, here Brother Albert Pike tells it like it is; “Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it.”, the fact is you need intuition to progress, reason and logic will only cause you to see one side of the coin.

I'm not really sure what the percentage of the population is what we call intuitive, some believe as little as twenty five percent, or how many left handed individuals with right intuitive brain dominance compare to the right handed logical dominant left brain individuals, but fear not with a little bit of insight and understanding a new world is there for those that are willing to think outside the bun and step into the world of intuition.

Enough of the respectful critiquing I don't want the wrath of the Apollo to comes down upon me.

In order to progress to the level of intuition we need wisdom, not to be confused with knowledge which can actually be an impediment on our path. The more you think you know the more you judge, the more open you are the more you perceive, dump those judgments and see things as they actually are. When you get to the level of Mercury your ego is on its way out, wisdom keeps intuition from becoming fanciful imagination. Only until wisdom and intuition become one does our consciousness advance to the Sun, a task rarely accomplished, yet possible.

What you have read will not be understood by ninety percent of the population, the other ten will say “I knew that”. Where percentage are you?

How About an Alchemical Riddle

How about an alchemical riddle, could you recognize the true Prima Materia?

Hint: It is to be found everywhere; but if you do not find it in your own house, you will find it nowhere. It is a living substance that can be discovered only in places inhabited by man. It is the only substance from which the Philosopher's Stone can be prepared, and without that substance no genuine silver or gold can be made. In thirty pounds of ordinary mercury, there is usually not more than one pound of the true substance; and a hundred pounds of ordinary sulphur usually contain not more than one pound of that which is useful. It can only be found above the earth, but not below it. It is before everybody's eyes; no one can live without it; everybody uses it; the poor usually possess more of it than the rich; the ignorant esteem it highly, but the learned ones often throw it away. The children play with it in the street, and yet it is invisible. It can be perceived by the sense of feeling, but it cannot be seen with the material eye.