Hermetic Alchemy Essays Vol: II

146 Pages·2015·1.21 MB·English

Page 2

Intellectual copyright
© rubaphilos salfluĕre 2015

Second Edition
(The first being the original email essays)

This document is provided for general cost-
free circulation, under the condition it is not
sold or edited in any way at all, and that any
and all quotes made from this document are
accurately and adequately referenced.

email: [email protected]
My website: www.rubaphilos.com
Page 3

Other Digital Publications by rubaphilos:

The Yahoo Lectures vol I (2014)
Hermes Paradigm - Book III - Metallic Oils of the First Order (2014)
The Hermét Vol I (2012)
The Hermét Vol II (2012)
Page 4

Foreword

In early April of 2013 I had resigned my role as moderator of the
International Alchemy Guild’s email forum. A role I never really
wanted, but which I seemed to inherit by default when the previous
moderator, come to the end of his patience, grabbed a parachute
when nobody was paying attention and leapt into the cyber void ...
leaving me a hastily scribbled note to the effect that ... it is all yours
now.

In the absence of any real effort by other forum subscribers to
encourage or maintain discussion, I found myself posting an
irregular dialogue of my personal views on and experiences with lab
alchemy. The delivery of which was not unlike standing in a
darkened football stadium speaking over the public address system
to an unknown number of spectators silently observing from the
shadowed cheap seats.

So my resignation had been a long time coming. It had been
obvious to many of the forum subscribers that the time of
constructive discussion had run its course. In two or three years
only a handful of the forum members had made any effort to talk,
and then, rarely. It wasn't that those who were paying attention
didn't appreciate the things I was talking about ... they obviously did
... but it was also obvious that the bulk of the subscribers had no
interest in speaking themselves. They were simply there hoping
someone else would, and that the content would be worth paying
attention to.
Page 5

As soon as I resigned my role as moderator I was contacted by one
of the e-list subscribers, who was an active student of the lab work,
asking me to please consider setting up my own forum, where I
could continue the dialogue I had previously started. He was
particularly interested in having some means through which to be
involved in further discussion with me concerning my own personal
knowledge of alchemy. So, I agreed to consider his request on the
proviso that if he could round up enough interest from other like-
minded individuals, I would create a new forum.

Enough interested individuals were rounded up, a new forum was
st
created, and I made the first post on March the 31 , 2013. Presently
(just over one year later) there are over 100 subscribers to the
forum.

I had decided from the outset that instead of the usual format of a
prayed-for impromptu and unguided discussion between members
of the forum, (an approach that had proved to have outworn its
usefulness elsewhere), I would deliver an indefinite series of essay
lectures on the subject of my knowledge of Hermetism generally
and alchemy specifically, and leave the other subscribers open to
chime in as the whim took them.

I have tentatively titled this collection ‘Hermetic Alchemy - The
Essays’, since the name of the forum the original essays were
delivered on is called 'Hermetic-Alchemy'. This document
(numbered volume 2), is a compilation of the essays 22 to 42. There
are still further essays to document, so those remaining will fill
future volumes.
Page 6

(https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hermetic-alchemy/info)

Together these lectures contain thus far the most comprehensive
(but certainly not exhaustive), description of my personal view of
alchemy and Hermetism developed over the past 25 years.
Therefore it is also a reasonable peek into the style of alchemy
practiced, researched and taught in the small private tuition and
research group I have maintained for roughly 20 of those years.
Anyone who is familiar with my views on the subject of
Hermetism, and alchemy in particular, knows that my opinions are
often not at all mainstream. Some of the concepts I present are
challenging and some are extreme. So the picture these essays paint
is in many places not the common picture most students of alchemy
are familiar with. In particular I have a very advanced view and
experience of the inner or spiritual alchemical tradition, one which
is unique in this day and age. This, it should be understood, is the
real reason for delivering this informative in the first instance.

For anyone who finds themselves reading these documents and is
unfamiliar with who I am, some background. I have studied
alchemy for over 25 years. I was originally trained by one of Frater
Albertus' graduate students. I also have a background in
psychotherapy, at one time running my own private practice. I also
studied for a degree in enology (wine science). I have been involved
in a number of well known Western esoteric organisations,
including The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Stella Matutina
in New Zealand), and Builders of the Adytum. Having held office
in both organisations. I was involved in Craft Freemasonry, and still
hold rank in some of the Masonic higher degrees, as well as having
been involved with the S.R.I.A. in New Zealand. My primary focus
Page 7

in advanced lab alchemy is the so-called acetate path, and other
aspects of the Llullian tradition it stems from. I oversee a small
alchemical research and development organisation known as The
Heredom Group, which has also been offering training to a limited
number of select students each year since 1990. I am obviously a
writer, am a published author and a lecturer.

A small amount of re-editing has been done on this version of the
essays, since the originals were typed rather hastily, ad lib, just
before posting them, almost without any previous planning. In this
way the original essays represent a somewhat impromptu dialogue,
over an extended period of time, in a rough draft condition.

The only real plan I began with was to simply begin writing and to
see how long it took me to cover a full range of my understanding
of the subject of Hermetism and alchemy. At the same time I
wanted to focus on discussing concepts which I knew many of my
own students had struggled with understanding, or that they were
for the most part unfamiliar with, or unaware of. Also, generally, to
demonstrate the concept of a comprehensive and holistic Hermetic
world-view.

Among this collection of essays are also a few examples of emails
which had been posted to the forum by myself in reply to questions
raised. Although these replies (on my part) were not intentionally
'essays' they tended to end up being categorised as such. So I have
included them here simply for their informative nature. Where I
have quoted from subscribers emails I have changed (or removed)
any names for the purposes of maintaining privacy.
Page 8

Any re-editing of the essays (or emails) has been done mostly for
the purpose of tidying up grammar and spelling, to help with the
flow of dialogue and for the clearer elucidation of the ideas
presented. Some of the editing did involve correcting technical
errors on my part that had crept in either through too hastily
composing the original essays, or because I had later recognised an
error in my understanding. I have maintained the original order,
here, in which I delivered the essays, even though it is somewhat
rough and was not based too much on any overall plan.

Each individual essay is numbered, and I sometimes included a
secondary number for essays that together composed a specific sub-
set of lectures on one subject. It will also be noticed that in the
middle of a flow of essays on one particular subject I would
occasionally throw-in a random essay on an unrelated issue, often in
reply to questions from subscribers.

Many of the essays also contain graphics which were attached to the
original posts, and now are inserted into the essay bodies
themselves. In one or two instances I have re-edited graphics to tidy
them up or simply so they will fit into this publication more neatly.
Since I have been asked about it, it might be noted that I produced
all of these graphics myself, from scratch, often while in the process
of typing the related essay. Most of them are completely original,
and contain very unique concepts.

Rubaphilos Salfluěre
Mataruahoe Island,
June 2015
Page 9

22
Some Essential Reading

I have been discussing the subject of good reading material,
recently, with one of my students. So I thought it might be
worthwhile providing a list, here, of texts I have found helpful to
read. Amongst all of the works I believe are useful, for background
information to alchemy, I have included here those which I believe
are worth buying, for good reading material.

A.E.Waite - The Hermetic Museum
The Hermetic Museum is a collection of various classic alchemical
texts that belong largely to the esoteric tradition. That is, these texts
are not simply descriptions of recipes for making the philosopher's
stone, but they include detailed and lengthy explanations of
Hermetic philosophy in general, and the philosophy of alchemy
specifically. Most of the texts comprising the Hermetic Museum
also contain allusions to the tradition of spiritual alchemy. In this
way the texts which make up the Hermetic Museum compose one
of the most complete views of alchemy available and easily
accessible to the modern reader.

Dion Fortune - The Training and Work of an Initiate
For anyone who is unfamiliar with the initiatory side of Hermetism,
there are not many books which explain the serious side of that
work. While, as of yet, there is no work which accurately explains
the alchemical side of the initiatory tradition, there are a few good
texts describing the magical initiatory tradition. Dion Fortune is an
author who is often overlooked as a reliable source of information
Page 10

on this subject. But in my opinion she did a great job of writing
books which plainly and clearly describe the magical side of the
Western Hermetic tradition. Her book 'The Training and Work of an
Initiate' describes much that is applicable to the alchemical initiate
as well as the Hermetic mage.

J.F.C.Fuller - Secret Wisdom of the Kabbalah
An understanding of Qabala is very helpful to anyone who has an
interest in esoteric alchemy. There are many very helpful books on
the subject, but I have found that the style of Qabala that has grown
out of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is the most
productive presentation of Qabala. Fuller's book 'Secret Wisdom of
Kabbalah' is a synopsis of the Golden Dawn Qabalistic system, with
some very helpful additional insights added.

The important thing, when it comes to understanding the value in
Qabala, from an alchemical point of view, is that the task is much
easier if you have access to a version of Qabala that is as secular as
possible. Traditional Qabala is heavily loaded with Hebrew
religious and political overtones. But the original proto-Qabala,
which the Hebrews inherited, was an esoteric discipline, not a
religious one. Underneath all that surface pseudo-religious rubbish
is a very serious, deep, esoteric knowledge ... which is Hermetic in
character, and is therefore based on an alchemical understanding of
the nature of reality. One of the benefits of the Golden Dawn
Qabala is that it has stripped away much of the traditional Hebrew
religio-political flotsem from orthodox Qabala. The Golden Dawn
system has focused on pointing out the Hermetic nature of Qabala,
and that system is described in Fuller's book.