A Search for the Philosopher
A Search for the
Philosopher’s Stone, Between a Rock and a Heart Place
By Stephen M.
Osborn, 32°, SRRS, MPS
First of
all, I would like to apologize for this paper. It is assembled from notes for a
series of papers on the ancient
mysteries and the philosophical origins of Freemasonry and has been written
under a great deal of time pressure. The subject matter has a great deal of
history and may be closely related to both the Grail Quest and the Ancient
Mysteries.
To introduce this paper, I would like to read a short piece I wrote almost
twenty years ago as an introduction to a Masonic study group.
Some
Reflections Upon Beginning the Quest
We are
members of an ancient brotherhood, dedicated to seeking the light and
illuminating the darkness. This is a noble goal, perhaps transcending the more
obvious one of social good fellowship as valuable as that is in itself. In a
serious search, some guidelines are necessary:
1. No idea is erroneous or absurd, no line of investigation ridiculous. Our
current reference points are not necessarily correct, they are merely a
construct suitable to our present level of development
2. Because we do not understand something does not make it false. If you
were to bring, say, a stone age Philippine tribesman [1] to lodge and light the
lodge room by throwing the wall switch, you would have presented to him an act
of magic. An explanation of the theory of electricity would be incomprehensible
and probably considered in the light of an incantation. Showing him the wires,
switch and fixtures would leave him in awe, that you could control such tiny and
invisible demons and make them do your bidding. Should he touch the wires, the
shock would teach him that the gods or devils swiftly punish those who trifle
with their power. History is replete with acts of "magic" and various
unexplained phenomena. Modern science, discounting old explanations and unable
to duplicate or explain many of them simply writes it all off as fraud,
superstition or fantasy; yet modern science has lately found great value in the
herbs and simples that were branded superstitious quackery by the scientists of
a generation ago. The expanding and contracting Universe may be found
beautifully expounded in the Vedic and pre-Vedic literature of India. The
Dogon tribesmen in Africa worship, or seek to propitiate, a dark star orbiting
Sirius. Modern astronomers have only recently been able to detect it, yet the
Dogon have kept track of its orbit for generations. Science has no explanation,
hence it is an interesting coincidence. Is it not possible that, as we have
become an increasingly materialistic society, we may have lost more than we have
gained ? As Shakespeare makes Hamlet say,
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of
in your philosophy."
We should explore what our brotherhood is, and means, delving deeply into its
history and symbolism. Whence sprang our roots? Do we go back as an organization
only to the Charter of 1717, or back to the Temple in an unbroken line? May we
perhaps be traced back through time in a different form or forms? Is there an
ancient body of secret masters or teachers guiding our destiny?
Our path may lead back through other religions, ancient mystery schools, touch
upon "magic," alchemy and astrology. We may find ourselves studying
history, prehistory or archeology. We must seek out each glimmer of light,
whether found in the Zend-Avesta, Qabbala, Holy Bible, Veda or Book of the Dead.
Our track may lead from the African desert to the plateau of the high Himalayas
and may span millennia. We may find six dead ends for every flicker of light,
but so it has been for every worthwhile quest.
An historian once remarked; "Those who do not know history are doomed to
repeat it."
We have a wealth of symbolism in Freemasonry, much of which can be traced
throughout the world and ages of man. The more we can learn of the meaning of
these symbols, the ideas they preserve and protect, the better idea we may have
of our role today and in the future, and how our great international brotherhood
can lead this troubled planet to a better life.
Great Architect of the Universe, We are gathered
here as members of an ancient and noble fraternity, seeking always
the light of knowledge. Grant us wisdom to recognize the light, even
though it may be enveloped in the mists of time or obscured by the murk and
gloom of ignorance and prejudice. Open our eyes and hearts that we may receive
ever more light, that we may someday, by our own illumination, help to light the
darkness for other night-bound travelers.
AMEN. So mote it be.
When you think of Alchemy and the philosopher’s stone, what image comes to
mind? For most people, it is of an old Gandalfian sage wearing a peaked hat
covered with zodiacal signs, crouched over a bubbling retort, a la Mickey
Mouse’s Sorcerer, mumbling incantations. In fact, many of the world’s most
famous people, philosophers, sages, scientists, were Alchemists. Isaac Newton
was an Alchemist, as was Paracelsus, and Roger Bacon. A number of the famous
chemists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries began their studies as
Alchemists. What was the fascination of Alchemy? It dealt in various ways with
salt, sulfur, mercury and was said to be able to transmute base metals into pure
gold. Many people, procuring alchemical texts, poured their entire fortunes into
following the directions, that they might produce for themselves vast quantities
of wealth. Invariably, they failed.
The chemicals and the methods of combination listed in the
books were allegories, perhaps going back to the ancient mysteries. At the time
Alchemy was practiced, the Church held total sway over the minds and bodies of
men. The church doctrines were correct and absolute. Deviation from those
beliefs was heresy and subject to anything from torture and excommunication to
death by fire at the stake. Galileo found this out when he observed the planets
and put forward the heliocentric system.
He was forced to recant and his books were burnt. A few years ago, he was
retried by the church. The verdict was that, though he was correct in his
theory, he was wrong to have challenged the church which held to the geocentric
system at the time. (That is an attitude which seems to have
great and growing currency in the modern age.)
Albert Pike says, “The Hermetic philosophers also drew
their doctrines from the Kabalah and more
particularly from the Treatise Beth Alohim or Domus Dei, known as
the Pneumatica Kabalistica, of Rabbi Abraham Cohen Irira, and the
Treatise De Revolutionibus Animarum of Rabbi Jitz-chak Lorja....
This philosophy was concealed by the Alchemists under their Symbols and in the
jargon of a rude Chemistry, — a jargon incomprehensible and absurd except to
the initiates; but the key to which
is within your reach; and the philosophy, it may be, worth studying....Like all
the Mysteries of Magism, the Secrets of “the Great Work” have a threefold
signification; they are religious, philosophical and natural. The philosophical
gold, in religion, is the Absolute and Supreme Reason. In philosophy, it is the
Truth, invisible nature, the Sun. In the subterranean and mineral world, the
most perfect and pure gold....” [2]
Written over the gate of the Temple of the Eleusinian
Mysteries at Athens were the words Know Thyself. There were
two Mysteries, the lesser and the greater. The lesser were a preparation for the
greater and everyone could be admitted to them. The novice desiring entrance
into the mysteries had to spend three or four years preparing himself, clearing
his mind, purifying his body and
learning mental and physical discipline. The teachings of the lesser Mysteries
were probably basically moral teachings, similar to that received in Blue Lodge
Freemasonry. The great Mysteries, according to Clemens of Alexandria, concerned
the Universe and was the completion and perfection of all Instruction, wherein
things were seen as they were and nature and her works were made known.
The Mysteries were widely spread and known by various
names, that of Isis and Osiris in Egypt, Orpheus, or the Orphic mysteries, which
were the fountain of Grecian Civiliztion. The Celtic Druids celebrated the
Mystery of Dionusos, Ceres and Mithras and the list
goes on. The basic lessons taught
was the perfectibility of man and his place in the cosmos. Much of this teaching
was subsumed by the Church and twisted to conform to its doctrines. The true
doctrines of the Mysteries were condemned as heresy and expunged by the Church.
As with most truths, they were hidden in allegories and passed along, kept alive
by the descendants of the initiates until better, freer times should come along.
One of the forms chosen was that of Alchemy. The Alchemical texts
were written with several layers of meaning. Much of it relates to the
Kabbala. The recipes in the texts refer
to purification of the mind and soul and its preparation for the next stage of
its evolution.
Illustrious Brother Manly Palmer Hall,33°, a neoplatonist
philosopher, wrote extensively on Alchemy and translated many of the texts, some
purported to have been written by C.R.C. himself. His work, An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic,
Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Philosophy [3]
well deserves
study. In his Preface, Hall says, “To live in the world without becoming aware
of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without
touching the books. It has always seemed to me that symbolism should be restored
to the structure of world education. The young are
no longer invited to seek the hidden truths, dynamic and eternal, locked
within the shapes and behaviours of living beings.”
Henry L. Drake, in the forward to the second edition
writes, “Those who do not understand the spiritual sciences question their use
of unusual symbols, myths, and figures employed to conceal the essential
teaching. Let it be remembered that these ‘clouds’ were no part of the
original doctrine, but were made necessary by intolerance and bigotry. The use
of indirect communication was based entirely upon practical considerations. To
remain unknown was the best way to prevent a repetition of the disaster which
occurred to the Knights Templars. The ‘veils’ which concealed the arcana of
the Mysteries were not employed to cover ignorance, but to protect wisdom, and
in Europe it was protected for a thousand years...The science of life is,
therefore, the supreme science and the art of living, the finest of the arts.
There have always been truth-seekers willing to acknowledge the sovereignty of
the eternal over the temporal. These have dedicated themselves to the mastery of
life and have perpetuated from
generation to generation the knowledge and skill, they have accumulated. This
body of essential knowledge is the esoteric tradition. The institutions which
perpetuated this tradition are the Mystery Schools and the graduates of these
schools are the adepts.”
The Great Work is, above all things, the creation of man by
himself; that is to say the full and entire conquest, which he effects of his
faculties and his future There are two Hermetic operations, one spiritual and
the other material, each dependent upon the other. The whole Hermetic Science is
contained in the dogma of Hermes, originally engraved on a tablet of emerald.
The sentences that relate to operating the Great Work are as follows. “Thou
shalt separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, gently, with
much industry.. . . .It ascends from earth to Heaven, and again descends to
earth and receives the force of things above and below….. ..Thou shalt by this
means possess the glory of the whole world and therefore all obscurity shall
flee away from thee.. . …This is the potent force of all force, for it
will overcome everything subtle and
penetrate anything solid”…. “So the world was created.”
[4]
As I have run out of preparation time, I must make only a
brief summation hereafter
The Hermetic philosophers felt that, before one could
perform any acts of transmutation or produce the elixir vitae, they must seek
for the Philosopher’s Stone, the foundation of the Absolute philosophy, the
Supreme and unalterable Reason. “Before we can even think of the metallic
work, we must be firmly fixed on the Absolute principles of Wisdom. We must be
in possession of this Reason, which is the touchstone of Truth. A man who is the
slave of prejudice will never become the King of Nature and the Master of transmutations. The Philosopher’s
Stone, therefore, is necessary above all things.” In essence then, the
Philosopher’s Stone can only be made, or found, by perfection of the
heart, divesting ourselves of all the dross of prejudice, greed, hatred,
and lust which are accumulated in our contact with the outer world.” [5]
I submit that, once one has found the Philosopher’s
Stone, one will no longer have the need for power and wealth. Once you have
found it, you will not need to use it, for you will understand, what is truly
valuable and will cherish it for what it is.
Bibliography
[1] At the time this was written, anthropologists discovered what was
believed to be the last, untouched, tribe of people living in the stone age, the
Tasaday, located in the Philippine highlands. I believe this was later found to
be a hoax, however at the time it was a world’s wonder.
[2] Morals and Dogma, compiled by Albert
Pike, Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, A. A. S. R., U.S.A., 1871 pp
774 et seq. The chapter on the XXVIII degree, Knight of the Sun or Prince Adept,
has an extensive lecture on Alchemy and the Philosophy behind it.
[3] An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic,
Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Philosophy, by Manly Palmer Hall, 1928,( 2
ed.1975). He devotes several chapters to the Alchemical texts with translation
and commentaries. A brother who was initiated in Europe told me he was made to
sit and meditate for a time in a dark room which contained a chair and a small
table on which was a candle and containers of Salt, Sulfur and Mercury. He was
not aware of the meaning of the materials before him, but in actuality he had an
entire Alchemical text set before him in those three dishes and the lone light.
The Sulfur corresponds with the elementary form of the Fire. Mercury with the
Air and Water and Salt with the Earth.
[4] Morals and
Dogma page 774.This and the
next three pages translate from the Great Work and discuss the origin and use of
the philosopher’s stone.
[5] Ibid
page 775-76.
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