Mystical Melting Pot

After Rome had conquered most of the known world and had ceased their own internal squabbles, the Emperor Octavian (later Augustus) began what was to be known as the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). During this time period, trade between previously unconnected areas began booming, and with the movement of goods also came the movement of mystical practices. Greek philosophy intermingled with Chaldean Astrology and Egyptian Ritual Magic. Persian dieties migrated to temples in Rome and Gaul. This massive melting pot brought forth what would later be called the Hermetic movement. The term Hermetic came from Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes the Thrice-Greatest), the name attributed to a character in mystical, philosophical, and Alchemical writings found in Egypt and dating back to the times of the early Roman Empire. Some identified the Thrice Greatest as the Egyptian God of magic, writing and wisdom, Thoth (Hermes to the Greeks), whilst others believed him to be a person (or group of people) who taught the secrets of magic to those worthy. The Western Roman Empire eventually succumbed to barbarian invasion by the end of the Fifth Century C.E., and the Muslim Empire eventually swallowed what was once Roman territory. Many Muslims, however, were fascinated by philosophy, astrology, magic and alchemy. Due to this fascination, many magical and alchemical texts once thought lost to the Western World eventually reappeared as they slowly filtered their way back into Europe by way of both Muslim-controlled Spain, and Italian merchant ships travelling to and from parts of the Southeastern Mediterranean. By the time of the Renaissance, Hermeticism and Alchemy were both widespread and rapidly evolving.

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An Introduction To Taoist Alchemy

In China as elsewhere, alchemy is a doctrine aiming to afford an Understanding of the principles underlying the formation and functioning of the cosmos. The adept rises through the hierarchy of the constituents of being by "fulfilling" (Chin. jin or liao, two words also denoting "thorough knowledge") the nature and properties of each stage. He overcomes the limits of individual existence, and ascends to higher states of being; he becomes, in Chinese terms, a zhenren or True Man. Historical and literary sources (including poetry) provide many important details, but the majority of Chinese alchemical sources is found in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts. One fifth of its about 1,500 texts are closely related to the various alchemical traditions that developed until the fifteenth century, when the extant Canon was compiled and printed. Later texts are included in the Daozang jiyao (Essentials of the Taoist Canon) and other smaller collections. Modern study of the Chinese alchemical literature began in the twentieth century, after the Canon was reprinted and made widely available in several reprints. Among the most important contributions in Western languages are those of Joseph Needham, Nathan Sivin, Ho Peng Yoke, Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein, and Isabelle Robinet. Although the underlying doctrines remained unchanged, Chinese alchemy went through a complex and not yet entirely understood development along its twenty centuries of documented history. The two main traditions are conventionally known as waidan or "external alchemy" and neidan or "internal alchemy." The former, which arose earlier, is based on the compounding of elixirs through the Manipulation of natural substances. Its texts consist of recipes, along with descriptions of ingredients, ritual rules, and passages concerned with the cosmological associations of minerals and metals, instruments, and operations. Internal alchemy -- which is often referred to as the " Way of the Golden Elixir" (jindan zhi dao) -- developed as an independent discipline around the end of the Six Dynasties (third-sixth centuries). It borrows part of its vocabulary from its earlier counterpart, but aims to produce the elixir within the alchemist's person. Chinese alchemy has always been closely related to the teachings that find their main expression in the early doctrinal texts of Taoism, especially the Laozi and the Zhuangzi. The cosmos as we know it is conceived of as the final stage in a series of spontaneous transmutations stemming from original Non-being. This process entails the apparent separation of primeval Oneness into the two complementary principles, Yin and Yang. Their re-union gives birth to the cosmos. When the process is completed, the cosmos is subject to the laws of cosmology. The adept's task is to retrace this process backwards. Alchemy, whether "external" or "inner," provides a support to do this, leading one to the point when, as some texts put it, "Heaven spontaneously reveals its secrets." Its practice must be performed under the close supervision of a master, who provides the "oral instructions" (koujue) necessary to an Understanding of the processes that the adept performs with minerals and metals, or undergoes within himself.

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The Alchemy Of Abundance Practical Money Magic

Book: The Alchemy Of Abundance Practical Money Magic by Lisa Mcsherry

Lisa McSherry is the author of Magickal Connections and The Virtual Pagan. The owner of Facing North. Actively explore your feelings about, and history with, money, finances and abundance. You can do this utilizing lucid dreaming, or by creating guided visualizations that reveal unconscious attitudes. The technique that helped me most has been Writing a money autobiography. I spent three months writing about all of my dealings with money, from childhood until the present. From childhood gifts (given and received) to being the “poor girl” in young adulthood, right up to my current spending habits, I documented everything I could remember about how I interact with money. This exercise taught me that money was a key element in my habitual self-depreciation — and, further, that this attitude literally kept me poor. Spending the time to journal it all and then reading over the narrative was a painful shock, but it forced me to start making changes in those negative attitudes. One of the most important things I did was evaluate my real worth to my employer and ask for a huge raise — which I got! I taught myself to eliminate negative self-talk like, “I’ll never make more than X dollars a year” or “I’ll never have enough money to go to Europe.” Instead of visualizing what I couldn’t have, I began to spend time visualizing what I would do with all of the Abundance that was going to manifest. My journals detailed my “perfect” house and “dream” trips to far-away places. Many of those items I’ve already crossed off, because it turns out that the universe can provide you with what you ask even when it looks impossible. (It doesn’t always offer up cash!)

Download Lisa Mcsherry's eBook: The Alchemy Of Abundance Practical Money Magic

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Alchemical Poetry Soul

The Soul, secure in her existence, smiles at the drawn dagger and defies its point. The stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim with age and nature sink in years, but thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, unhurt amid the wars of elements, the wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds. (From "Cato" by Joseph Addison 1713. This was the passage Edgar Allen Poe encrypted and challenged his readers to decipher in 1841. It was not until 1992 that a Duke University doctoral student succeeded.)

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