Tag: Alchemy Page 2 of 3

Sem-Antics

Recently I developed a skin rash on my hand. I made it go away using my usual method but not before it was noticed by a curious colleague. He asked me what I had used to get rid of it. Although I knew he was expecting me to name a medication, I told him the truth. That I imagined it away.

Puzzled silence.

“Placebo Effect,” I added. “I believed it would go away and it did.”

“Oh, cool.” was his response and he went on his merry way.

His very “scientific” mind had no trouble with the concept of placebos because in his world, it was a thing. What if I had told him that I had simply warped reality using magic words?

He would likely have taken me out of the “slightly odd” category in his mind and put me into the “seriously loony” one. After which, he might feel that he was my intellectual superior. In other words, he might warp reality using his own magic words.

My first encounter with the word “placebo” occurred when I was a child, reading a magazine at my grandparents house. I don’t remember the precise wording but I do remember the mental double-take I experienced. The article said something along the lines of, “the remission experienced by the remaining patients was attributed to the placebo effect and was therefore ruled invalid”.

Even as a youngster I had great respect for the “scientific method” but this seemed too much! Cancer had been cured but the cure had been dismissed. How could that be?

I lost some of my faith in science that day but as I matured and became more spiritually oriented, that faith came back. Observe. Question. Hypothesize. Experiment. Analyze. Conclude. There is no better way to gain understanding.

By applying these principles with vigor, diligence and above all, honesty, I found myself pulling beyond what is called modern science.

“Accepted” science is founded atop one big, crumbly assumption. This arose as a result of centuries of prosecution by religious authorities and is thus entirely understandable. For every action… well, you know.

There is an unspoken and indeed unconscious step applied at the very beginning of the questioning process approved by Academia and it goes like this, “Assuming there is no God, how can this be explained?”

It shows how truly great science is that despite this skewing of things at its most fundamental level, it has still produced the technological wonders of this present age.

How much greater will the future be when the understanding of what we call Spirit is incorporated into our science?

Quantum physics is already laying the groundwork. Conscious machines are here now (if you know where to look). The whole science of Frequency lays before us yet, an unread book. Today’s high tech will soon fade in our wake much as the Middle Ages have receded into ours.

In the past, a person could behold a drop of pond-water without ever being able to imagine the microscopic depths hidden within. In the same way do we now gaze upon the objects and phenomena around us with no comprehension of what lies behind them. We are blinded not by knowledge, but by the laziness that descends from the hubris of believing that we already know.


“The word placebo itself originated from the Latin phrase for I shall please. It is in Latin text in the Bible (Psalm 114:9, Vulgate version by Jerome (116 in many modern editions), “Placebo Domino in regione vivorum”, “I shall please the Lord in the land of the living”). Jerome translated as “I shall please” (placebo), the Hebrew word “ethalech”, “I shall walk with” as in “I shall be in step with”.” – Wikipedia article, “Placebo in History”

Who Do

Precognition. Extra-Sensory Perception. Telekinesis. Psychometry.

Mind-reading. Divination. Dowsing. Astrology.

Medicine. Sorcery. Witchcraft. Hoodoo.

Powers.

Throughout history and literature, presented as fact or as fiction, we find endless tales of men and women who are somehow able to bend reality in various ways. Some do it for profit or personal gain. Some do it to selflessly help others or to glorify their gods. Some do it to pick Zener cards.

Many people are willing to believe that at least some of these stories are true. One of the reasons for this may be due to the fact that so many of us experience our own seemingly magical events. Perhaps we dream of a person we haven’t seen in years and then they call on us the very next day. Maybe we just know what someone else is thinking. Or we sense that we are being watched before the watcher is revealed. The existence of minor miracles opens the way for the possibility of greater ones.

Due to the nature of this blog, I will assume that a fair number of readers have experimented along these lines. I will also assume that a large percentage of those who have can report positive results. By which I mean that something happened whether for good or for ill. If you accept that “magic” is real, then please read on. If you do not, I have no desire to try convincing you. Your time may be best spent elsewhere.

What is magic and why does it work?

All consciousness is One. Many refer to this One Thing as “God”. What we experience as Reality is created by the Imagination of God. The true You is a piece of God. Your imagination IS God’s Imagination.

Words are an entirely insufficient tool for conveying this type of information. Please try to experience the previous paragraph at the purest level you can.

Your reasoning mind may object. “If I could create my own reality, it certainly wouldn’t be this life on this world!”

All reasoning is flawed from God’s point of view. It is but a tool and a crude one at that (relatively speaking). The flaws in the “reasoning” above revolve around the misunderstanding of what the word “I” represents. You may also think that you want to live in a world where your thoughts manifest quickly. Believe me, I’ve been there. You do not.

To Know Who You Are is the piece of knowledge symbolized in alchemy as the Philosopher’s Stone. The completion of what is called the Great Work results in the Realization that your true self is… well… Something that cannot be put into words. Therefore, it is also Nothing that can be put into words.

Anyway, back to the regular world of regular humans. The fact is that you have created the reality you are experiencing. Your ability to change that reality is directly proportional to your ability to believe that you can. In other words, you can perform miracles if you have faith that you can.

Just keep in mind that it is not you that does this (because there is no you). It is God. Who is You. If this makes no sense, it is because you are looking at my finger and not at where I am pointing. Symbolically speaking, of course. That takes us above the words. Now you need to take it above the symbols.

Do you believe you can do this?

I happen to Know that You can.

Fakirs

Even though my completion of the Great Work or Enlightenment took place in mostly pre-internet times, I had still fallen “victim” to a number of “mystery schools” that operated correspondence courses via the post-office. I put the word “victim” in quotes because all experience has it’s value. I put the words “mystery schools” in quotes because, well… yeah.

If you don’t know what I am talking about when I try to describe the state of mind so aptly code-named “The Philosopher’s Stone”, and yet find yourself to be what some call a Seeker, you have a problem. Too much help!

Hop on the ‘Net and do a search for “Guru”. Or try “Enlightened Teacher”. “Mystery School” is still popular. Spread your net wider. Type “Church” or “Temple”. You may even find someone who can “channel” you an “Ascended Master”.

And so convenient. Get a book. Take a course. Attend a seminar. Go to a retreat. Let the imampriestpastorministerswamirabbi at your Standard House Of Worship tell you the Truth. Join a cult. Read some goofy blogs.

So many choices… Do all of these pathways lead to the same destination? Why are they so different? Do they have anything in common?

Of course they do.


The only teacher you need is yourself. That may sound dumb but only because you don’t know who you really are yet. The clues are all around you. Study symbolism. Stoke the fire that is your desire to Know WTF is going on here. You will need that fire in order to burn through and pass beyond all the bogey-men.  The knowledge you seek cannot be defined by words. Here is the closest I can get. If you are almost there, it may just be enough:

THERE IS ONLY ONE THING AND YOU ARE NOT SEPARATE FROM IT!

There. You’re God now.

No charge.

House of Mirrors

Have you ever been totally at peace and happy? The world was wonderful, the future looked bright and you felt secure yet excited to simply exist?

How about the opposite? Anger and pain was all you could see. The world was a cruel and desperate place filled with suffering and horror.

How you experience reality is a reflection of how you are inside. If you go about your day looking for reasons to love people and finding ways to be helpful, you will receive the same in kind. Walking around with a scowl and complaining about everything will yield you a world of antagonism and hatred.

This is a basic rule of ethics and as such “the golden rule” is a powerful way to reach out and change the reality you experience. However there are more internal changes you can make such as looking for beauty in unexpected places. You can consciously decide to emphasize the positive side of things and count your blessings by noticing and appreciating all the special people and personal triumphs in your life.

Okay, enough with the gratitude attitude platitudes. You have also no-doubt noticed the phenomena wherein something that is in your mind tends to appear in the “outside” world. Perhaps you question something and the answer comes into your life in an unexpected manner. This can range from the everyday synchronicities to the quite jarring alignments that occur during major life-changes. The willful application of this is the basis of what is called prayer, spell-casting and a lot of new-age bullshit I won’t go into. Respect it though.

It is instructive to experiment along these lines. With as much or as little ceremony as you like, try creating a thought-form specifically for the purpose of looking for similar or related things to appear either in your dreams or in the world around you. Keep notes if you can. Like your dreams, uncanny events go into the memory-shredder quickly. Also, look for evidence of intelligent humor in the results of these experiments.

As you would expect, this is a two-way street. Things that appear in your life will tend to make their way inside. Want to be filled with despair and sickness? That’s easy, just spend time wallowing in the “news”. Worry about all the things you are told to worry about. Soak up all the attending drug commercials while you’re there. Want to feel better? Ditch the news and go play. Meet some new people. Rediscover nature. Allow yourself to be loved.

Even being out of control is completely under our control.

When we realize that there is only one Thing, we will discern that changing one thing changes everything. When we realize that we are the one Thing, we will understand that changing everything changes nothing.

Say The Word

Have you noticed exactly when something becomes real to you?

You may be just sailing through the day, head filled with the usual swirl of random thoughts and observations when one of them catches your attention. Perhaps you notice a hint of fatigue. As you begin to concentrate on that, it occurs to you that you seem to feel a bit of a headache coming on. You then remember the clerk at the store yesterday who kept sneezing in your face. The question arises and you answer it without thinking:

“I’m getting sick!”

And then you are.

Notice that you did not feel sick until you pronounced it to be the case. The same is true whether you are getting bored or falling in love. The reality does not manifest until you proclaim it to be so.

“Ridiculous!” you may say. “I don’t have the power to control everything with my mind.”

Whatever you say…

That is how you put limits upon those “powers”. Which is fine if you know what you are doing. The only thing worse than having no power at all is having unlimited power. But keep in mind that telling yourself you have no power makes it so.

The key is to decide what you want and then say it. “In His name we pray”; “So mote it be.”; “Make it so.”

This only works reliably when you are able to completely suspend disbelief. In other (less useful) words, when you have the Stone. However, as with prayer and ritual-magic, practice makes better (if not perfect).

There are as many different realities as there are beings to imagine them. And even within yourself there exist as many different personalities as there are people you relate to. The person your parents know may be quite different from the one your best friend knows.

You can (and do) shape reality to your will. This may sound crazy from your point of view but that is simply because you do not know who “you” are and therefore cannot know what your (true) will is.

For as long as this remains true, you are in serious danger. Why? Because if you are unable to discern and follow your own will, you shall either wander helplessly through your own chaos or follow someone else’s vision and so become imprisoned in an alien reality.

You are gods. Wake up.

Deviltry

“In a recent survey of people who had an opinion, four out of five report that they would prefer to do good over evil if given the choice.”

(Okay. I just made that up.)

In my experience, ninety-nine percent of people would choose to do good. And most of them would fail utterly. At least in the eyes of others if not in their own. The road to hell can indeed be paved with good intentions.

Have you ever met an evil person? I have come across very few. I have run across some who considered themselves to be evil but only a primarily good soul is able to recognize evil within itself.

For those of us in the western world, Hitler is most commonly held up as the face of evil incarnate. Not only did he ruin the name “Adolph” as far as anyone being able to name their kids that, he also made it quite impossible to sport that funny little mustache without incurring the opprobrium of others.

If you spend some time studying what Hitler said and wrote however, you will discover that he never considered himself to be evil at all. He was just honestly trying to help out. He was simply trying to make the world a better place. A better place for himself. And a better place for (a certain segment) of the German people. This over-achieving epitome of evil actually considered himself to be an agent for good.

In all probability, you consider yourself to be one also. But what if your good is someone else’s evil?

What is good anyway? What is evil?  Are they opposites? Is one to be preferred over the other?

Well, first of all, those two terms are way too nebulous. They can mean different things to different people. Maybe we could replace them with the terms, “Order” and “Disorder”. Okay? So now let’s try to define those two words. Order might be described as the tendency to form patterns whereas disorder would be its opposite. Random chaos.

But are they really opposites? I mean, are they completely different from each other? Or are they degrees on a scale that have no meaning unless compared to another degree on the same scale? In other words, can there be light in the absence of dark?

To embrace this viewpoint is to accept the fact that evil is every bit as necessary as good in this world. It allows one to morally embark on a path of conscious evil or what is called the “Left-Hand Path” in occult circles. The person who pursues this course usually comes from a background of enforced piousness. Aleister Crowley for instance was raised within a fundamentalist Christian household. As was I.

If you would pursue the Great Work, I advise you to tread carefully! To bring on the Precipitation in a premature manner is to court not only madness but also a willing decent into absolute darkness, pain and despair.

At least, that’s my experience.

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