ernobe

When I'm not playing, this is what I'm doing, that's how seriously I take it. I have lake in Chokmah, counting the binary digits as representing earth, man and heaven, not heaven, man, and earth. The water trigram, 010, is assigned Malkuth, but may also be thought as assigned to Yesod, because both the 17th and 18th paths (and Tarot trumps) belong to it. This is significant considering that Lurias' Tree has Malkuth at the bottom without any paths extending from it anywhere except to Yesod. Anyway to answer your question, this is my assignment and you may find out more about it at my website: https://archive.org/services/purl/ernobe

This diagram assigns the trigrams to the sephiroph on the Tree of Life. A Tarot trump may be assigned to each trigram as follows: 111 = The Chariot 000 = Death 011 = The World 100 = The Hermit 010 = The Star 101 = Strength 001 = The Sun 110 = The Devil

Rubaphilos makes the case for practical, laboratory alchemy, against those who might think there could never be anything of spiritual significance to it: His videos are pretty cool for the format: music and nature scenes at the beginning and end, so even if you don't agree with everything he says, you can't fail to get in the mood. EDITT: Oops I got the videos mixed up. The one in which he makes the apology for practical alchemy is No. 18:

@FraterUFA I'm asking why you think we have drifted away from the original subject, or have steered off course from its object. Your exact words were that we have "drifted a long way from the original subject of the thread", and have "steered far from it", which certainly seems to imply that we have drifted or steered away from our original objective.

I did a little research and found that the Chinese word for "planet" can be broken down into two parts: "moving" and "star". The "moving" part is the same that is used in the "phase" part of the "five phases". The names of the five visible planets have each of the phases (water, wood, etc.) conjoined with "star".

Thanks Harmen. On page 215, note 58, it says: To this can be added that the names of the planets themselves are identical with that of the elemental phases. And if they were worshipped as gods, that itself could account for their correlations with the seasons and directions. Elsewhere (p. 212) there is evidence for these correlations from the Bronze Age (circa 5000 B.C.).

@FraterUFA Have we strayed because of the misdirection of Rubas' videos, or is it something to do with our interpretation of them?

@FraterUFA I'd say the thread is about the reasons for engaging in practical alchemy. Now if you are of the opinion that they can only be given you by your personal instructor in alchemy, then I guess that would rule out having any sort of exposition or discussion in a forum like this.

I added a pdf of a previous version of Baha'u'llahs' alchemy tablet at my previous post where I quoted it (see the post for details). EDIT: I've found a link to another version, at the same site, which seems to be more recent: https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/node/287/ .

Here are the four elements derived from the Yin-Yang binary system: Fire: Yang (4) + Yin (0) + Yin (0) = 4 Air: Yin (0) + Yang (2) + Yang (1) = 3 Water: Yin (0) + Yang (2) + Yin (0) = 2 Earth: Yin (0) + Yin (0) + Yang (1) = 1

Yet, without our mercury, nothing gets done. Concerning this Baha'u'llah says (as translated from the Arabic by Stephen Lambden, with his notes in brackets and parenthesis): ( from https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/node/721/ ) EDIT: I'm attaching a pdf of a previous version of this translation, which includes items 8-10 in section II (omitted in the version at the above link). The reason it was removed probably has to do with the opening sentence of section III, which is derived from a different mss. (see the introduction for details, though no reason is given for preferring one mss. to the other): TB-MCOPT.pdf FURTHER EDIT: I've found a link to another version, at the same site, which does include the missing items: https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/node/287/ .

Just for the sake of completeness, I'm posting some diagrams from the work of Oswald Wirth mentioned previously: Their relationship on the Tree is clearer here: Here are the six Partzufim: The first is called the Realizer, corresponding to Nachash: Opposite to it is the Dreamer, corresponding to Yechida: Then comes the Pacifist, corresponding to Neshamah: Opposite to it is the Conqueror, corresponding to Ruach: Next comes the Egotist, corresponding to Chia: Opposite to it, the Altruist, corresponding to Nefesh: EDIT: correspondences with the Partzufim are my own.

What isn't Jewish about Spirit, Soul, Body?

You can do so yourself. Did you not say previously that you prefer the Hermetic concepts in their pure, neo-platonic form, as presented in the CH and ET? In their Sumerian form these concepts appeared as the Tree of Life, and have been transmitted to us by the Jews. They had no need to graft anything onto the Tree, because all they had to do was become re-acquainted with the teachings that had already been given them by Abraham. This is according to traditional accounts among the Arabs, that Abraham was acquainted with and transmitted the Sumerian lore, such as alchemy and astrology. I think there has been some confusion generated over these concepts, particularly in presentations like that of Rubaphilos, in which initiation is presented as something in which the initiated has no way of knowing what it is that he or she is being initiated into beforehand. As a workaround, even Rubaphilos finds himself recommending that candidates familiarize themselves with the degree system of the Order of the Golden Dawn before initiation. The true doctrine is even clearer in the work of Oswald Wirth expounding the Hermetic symbols of alchemy in Freemasonry (which he derives from the Rosicrucians). Particularly his exposition of the psychological archetypes related to the planets has much in it to link it with Rubas' presentation of the Partzufim. Unfortunately the work exists only in the original French (and the Spanish translation I own), as far as I can tell.

@noonespecial The "Jewish stuff" (including much stuff in the Zohar) includes, according to traditional histories among the Arabs, the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, whom they regard as having obtained their ideas from the Jews. The Corpus Hermeticum is chock full of it. As for the Emerald Tablet, the Yetzirah, and older parts of the Zohar, there is evidence to suggest that they are indeed part of the older, authentic Tradition.

I see no reason to focus on a specific branch of the "Qabalah practiced by the R+C" (the German), to the exclusion of the more original, and consequently broader, Latin tradition, as the GD seems to. It could be due to a language barrier, and consequently to their having to rely on secondary material, rather than the original tradition. As for the CH and the ET, considering their relatively late dating, it is likely that they are an expression of Hermetic material with, as you say, "Jewish stuff grafted onto it". The more original Hermetic material can be traced to the Sumerian religion, and its diagramatic expression in the Tree of Life ( see for example the study of Simo Parpola called The Assyrian Tree Of Life ).

Here is a link to a discussion about this we had at the Newcomer corner. In the last few decades, the trend has been to focus on the original Chinese rather than in the commentary traditions. Which is not to say that some commentaries are not better than others at expressing the full range of meanings in the original. It is just a question of balance.

That is a familiar concept in the circle of Rubaphilos and I'm sure you'll fit right in. You can apply to his Yahoo group at the link I posted previously on this thread. Their basic idea is that the secrets should not be revealed because it would be like setting the pressure in your kitchen faucet too high. High pressure faucets have their own proper place, which only your assigned teacher can reveal to you. I think the true reason for not revealing the secrets is more akin to not overloading a donkey with more books than he can carry. However, the revealer is not to be held responsible for unloading the books which prospective students are carrying. He is responsible for providing the books to those who have freed themselves from their own baggage, and have asked for them.

@Stinky I think you would agree that there would be no secrecy if the original Qabala, as distinct from the traditional orthodox Jewish Kabbalah, were known to us. The secret has to some extent been unveiled by the Golden Dawns' assigning of planets to the Sephirot, relating them to astrology and alchemy. These subjects are at the foundation of Hermetism as expressed in the Tree of Life, which is what those in the tradition of Rubaphilos are attempting to elucidate for us. In the video posted above, at minute 28, Rubaphilos says that in the next podcasts he will elucidate the spiritual significance of the alchemical processes. Yet, 8 videos later, he has yet to correlate any of the physical processes mentioned with anything spiritual. I don't think we can expect much more from him, seeing that he himself expresses his own ignorance in one of his essays:

Good video on the current controversy over the current U.S. Dietary Guidelines, in place since 2015. For the first time, the National Academy of Medicine will review the process by which they are elaborated, for the upcoming 2020 guidelines. If successful, fortified, refined grain cereals will be recognized as part of problem rather than solution, because the vitamins and minerals they contain require saturated fat in order to be properly absorbed. If they will, for the first time, include the scientific evidence for saturated fats, they will also have to admit that the case against polyunsaturated fats has been pretty strong all along.

The experiences of today become the memories of tomorrow. Stories that we tell ourselves become the stories we are told. The moon as it tries to, but cannot, outdo the sun.

Yep, breath is the natural way to go, but all the things you say you can do with chi are due to more than just breath. My suggestion would be for you to adopt a practice in which you can observe the more immediate benefits to be derived from breath work.

Good to see you decided to join. A little belated, but then TTC 64 says,

Books like those you mention have become so well known because they succeeded so well at the transmission. Would you want to go through all the trouble of finding a teacher only to find he was weak on transmission? Smoke some weed together and call it a successful transmission? The goal is not some experience instead of the words of the Tao, but the application of the words in action. Anyway, you've come to the right place if you want to sort out reliable sources of information and the proper orientation of your studies before any actual practice.

Just being here and sharing with others what you've learned by meditating is part of your practice, it's a real result. So far, you have not specified what you've found objectionable in here. No doubt, as we become more familiar with your practice, this will be cleared up.