THE GREAT WORK
- The Labyrinth. Ariadne's Thread. The Goat of Mendes. The Mysteries of the Cross. Santiago de Compostela. Jacques de Molai. The Cross of Saint Andrew. The Patron Saint of Goldsmiths. Perfect Master and Great Elect. Lucifer. The Philosopher's Stone. The Resurrection of Hiram Abiff.-
The ancient medieval alchemists spoke of the Great Work, and that is quite important.
On the floor of the old Gothic cathedrals, one could see a multitude of concentric circles forming a true labyrinth that extended from the center to the periphery and from the periphery to the center; much has been said about labyrinths. Tradition also speaks of the Labyrinth of Crete and the famous Cretan Minotaur. Certainly, a labyrinth was recently discovered in Crete; they called it Absolin, Absolum, meaning "Absolute." Absolute is the term medieval alchemists used to designate the Philosopher's Stone. Here, then, is a great mystery.
Like Theseus, we need Ariadne's thread to escape that labyrinth; at its center always stood the Minotaur. Theseus managed to defeat it; therein lies the Greek tradition. We too need to defeat it, we need to destroy the animal ego; to reach the center of the labyrinth where the Minotaur dwells, we must struggle immensely. There are countless theories, schools of all kinds, organizations of every kind; that the path is over there, others that it's this way, others that it's over there, and we must find our way through this great labyrinth of theories and antithetical concepts if we truly want to reach its living center, because it is precisely at the center where we can find the Minotaur.
When one has managed to reach the center of the labyrinth, one must find a way out. Theseus, through a mysterious thread, the Thread of Ariadne, resembles Hiram, the Secret Master spoken of by occult Freemasonry, whom we must all resurrect within ourselves here and now. Ariadne also points us to the spider, symbol of the Soul that incessantly weaves the loom of destiny.
So, beloved ones, the time has come to reflect. But what, in reality, is this Thread of Ariadne? What is that Thread that saves the Soul, that allows it to escape that mysterious labyrinth, to reach its True Inner Being. Much has been said on this subject; the great Alchemists thought it was the Philosopher's Stone. We agree with that, but we go a little further according to our disquisitions.
For it is true that the Philosopher's Stone is symbolized in the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris by Lucifer; now we will understand that the Philosopher's Stone is in sex itself, so we discover Lucifer in sex.
Lucifer, then, is the Thread of Ariadne that must lead us to liberation. This seems, so to speak, antithetical or paradoxical, because everyone has conceived that Lucifer, the Devil, Satan, is evil. We need evident self-reflection if we want to delve into the Great Arcanum. That Lucifer we find in sex is the living cornerstone, the Master Stone, the Corner Stone in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Stone of Truth. Descending a little into these mysteries is indispensable when it comes to knowing Ariadne's Thread.
I remind you again of the famous Sacred Sanctuaries of the authentic Gnostic Rosicrucian esotericists In the middle age, when the neophyte was led to the center of the Lumisial, he was blindfolded; someone would suddenly tear off the blindfold, and then, astonished and perplexed, he would contemplate an unusual figure. There before him stood the Goat of Mendes, a strange figure, the devil; horns shone on his forehead, and above his head a torch of fire; however, something indicated that it was a symbol. In the Lumisial of Initiation, he stood before the figure of Typhon Baphomet, the shadowy figure of Arcanum 15 of the Kabbalah. The burning torch above his head shone, and also above his forehead was the flaming five-pointed star, with the upper point upward and the two lower points downward. This indicated that it was not a shadowy figure. The neophyte was ordered to kiss the Devil's buttocks; If the neophyte disobeyed, the blindfold was placed back on his eyes, and he was led out through a secret door. All of this happened at midnight. The neophyte would never know where he had entered or where he had left, because the initiates always met at midnight, taking great care not to fall victim to the Inquisition. But if the neophyte obeyed, then a door opened from the cube upon which the figure of Baphomet sat, and an Isis emerged, receiving the initiate with open arms and immediately bestowing the holy kiss upon his forehead. From that moment, that neophyte was a new Initiated Brother of the Order.
That Male-Goat, that Typhon Baphomet, that Lucifer, is quite interesting, for he represents Sexual energy, an energy that must be used wisely if we wish to accomplish the Great Work. Now you will know why Typhon Baphomet, the Goat of Mendes, represents the Philosopher's Stone, Sex; it is with this tremendous force that we must work.
Remember that the Ark of the Covenant in ancient times had four goat horns at the four corners corresponding to the four cardinal points of the Earth, and when it was transported, it was always grasped by these four horns.
Moses was transformed on Sinai; when he descended, the clairvoyants saw him with two rays of light on his forehead, similar to those of the Goat of Mendes. That is why Michelangelo, when chiseling him from the living stone, placed those symbolic horns on his head. The Goat, the Philosopher's Stone, represents sexual force, but also the Devil. However, this Devil or Lucifer is the same life force that, when properly transformed, allows us the Intimate Self-Realization of the Being. That is why it has been said that Lucifer is the Prince of Heaven, Earth, and Hell.
In the old Gothic cathedrals, everything was planned; even the floor plan of the temples was organized in the shape of a cross, and this reminds us of the crucis, crux, crucible, etc.
We already know that the vertical beam is masculine and the horizontal beam is feminine; in the intersection of both lies the key to all mysteries. The intersection of both is the Crucible of the medieval alchemists, in which the Raw Material of the Great Work must be cooked, recooked, and cooked again. This Raw Material is the Sacred Sperm, which, when transformed, becomes energy. It is with this very subtle energy that we can open a chakra, awaken all the hidden magical powers, create the Higher Existential Bodies of the Being, etc., etc. This is quite important, quite interesting.
The cross itself is a sexual symbol; in the cross is the Lingam-Yoni of the Great Arcanum. On the two crossed beams of the cross are the marks of the three nails. These three nails, while it is true that they allow the opening of the stigmata of the Initiate, that is, the chakras of the palms of the hands and feet, etc., also symbolize in themselves the Three Purifications of Christ in substance; therein lies another transcendental mystery. In any case, my dear beloved ones, accomplishing the Great Work is the only thing worth living for.
Peter, the beloved disciple of Our Lord Christ, has as his gospel the Great Arcanum, the mysteries of sex; that is why Jesus called him Petrus, Rock, "You are Rock, and on this Rock I will build my Church." Sex is therefore the Basic Stone, the Cubic Stone, the Philosopher's Stone that we must chisel using chisel and hammer to transform it into the perfect Cubic Stone. That unchiseled stone, the Rough Stone itself, is Lucifer; once chiseled, it is our Inner Logos, the Arche of the Greeks. The important thing is to chisel it, to work with it, to shape it, to give it the perfect cubic form.
Among the disciples of Christ there are true prodigies and wonders. Let us remember for a moment James, that great Master. They say that he was the one who most resembled the Great Kabir Jesus; they called him the brother of the Lord, and it is obvious that he possessed great magical psychic powers. James was the first who, after the death of the Great Kabir, officiated the Gnostic Mass in Jerusalem. Tradition tells that he had to confront the black magician Hermogenes in Judea. James, knowing High Magic, wisely fought the dark one: so that Hermogenes used a shroud, for example, for miracles, James used it to counteract it.
And if Hermogenes used the magic staff, James used a similar one, and in the end, he defeated the dark one in the lands of Judea. However, he was considered a magician (and he undoubtedly was) and was condemned to death. But something unusual happened, according to the legends: It so happened that James's sarcophagus was suspended in the air, as they say, and transported to ancient Spain; it is true that there they speak of Santiago de Compostela and say that he rose from the dead and that in that land he was attacked by demons in the form of a bull, by living fire, in short, many things are said about James.
Nicolas Flamel, the great medieval alchemist, considered Saint James of Compostela the patron saint of the Great Work. On the Way of Saint James, there is a street called Santiago Street, and there is a cave there called the Cave of Health. Around the time people make their pilgrimage to James of Compostela, the alchemists gather in this cave—those working on the Great Work, those who admire not only Saint James of Compostela, whom they consider their blessed patron. They always meet there during the pilgrimage season. Thus, while people are paying homage, let's say to an exoteric form of worship, to Saint James of Compostela, the alchemists and Kabbalists are gathered in mystical assembly to study Kabbalah, alchemy, and all the mysteries of the Great Work. Consider the two exoteric and esoteric aspects of Christianity; undoubtedly, all of this invites us to reflect.
Jacques de Molai, who was burned alive during the Inquisition, is regarded among those Alchemists and Kabbalists who gather in the Cave of Health, in the same way that Hiram Abiff, the Secret Master that has to resurrected in each of us, is regarded, and Saint James as the true patron of the Great Work. This is quite interesting because it is the Great Work that interests us, and it is, I believe and affirm with complete certainty, the only thing worth living for; everything else is of no importance whatsoever.
Nicolas Flamel undoubtedly achieved the Inner Self-Realization of Being. They say that Saint James of Compostela appears to pilgrims: his hat tilted upwards, his staff bearing the Caduceus of Mercury, and a tortoise shell on his chest as if to symbolize the Blazing Star. I advise you to study the Epistle of Saint James in the Bible; it is undoubtedly marvelous, addressed to all of us who work on the Great Work. Saint James says that faith without works is worthless. You can hear here, from my lips, the entire doctrine of the Great Arcanum, all the explanations we give about the Alchemists and about the Great Work, but if you do not perform that Great Work, if you do not work on the Great Work, if you only have faith and nothing more and do not work, you would be like—says James, and I repeat—"like the man who looks in a mirror, sees his face in the glass, turns his back, and leaves," forgetting the incident. If you listen to all the explanations we give and do not work in the Forge of the Cyclopes, do not fabricate the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, you are like that man who looks in the mirror, turns around, and leaves; because faith without works is worthless, work must support faith, faith must speak through works.
James says that we need to be merciful, that is clear.
Because if we are merciful, the Lords of Karma will judge us with mercy; but if we are merciless, the Lords of Karma will judge us mercilessly, and since mercy has more power than justice, it is certain that if we are merciful we can eliminate much Karma. All this invites us to reflect.
James says that we must learn to bridle our tongues; he who knows how to bridle his tongue can bridle his whole body, and he gives us the example of the horse: the horse is given a bridle in its mouth, in its muzzle, and that is how we manage to control it; the same happens if we bridle our tongues, we become masters of our whole bodies.
James says: “Let us look at the ships, how large they are, and yet what governs them, the rudder, is truly small in comparison to the enormous size of the vessels; the tongue is very small, yes, but what great fires it creates!”
We are taught in that epistle never to boast of anything. He who boasts of himself or his works, of what he has done, is undoubtedly arrogant, pedantic, and fails in the Great Work. We need to humble ourselves before the Divine, to be more and more humble each day if we want to work successfully in the Great Work, never to presume of anything, always to be simple; this is vital when one wants to triumph in the Great Work, in the Magnus Opus. That epistle is written with a double meaning; if you read it literally, you would not understand it. Protestants, Adventists, and Catholics, etc. have read it that way and have not understood it. That epistle has a double meaning and is addressed exclusively to those who work in the Great Work.
Regarding faith, it is necessary to have it, of course; every alchemist must have faith, every Kabbalist must have faith. But faith is not something empirical, something given to us as a gift. No, faith must be crafted. We cannot demand that anyone have faith; it must be crafted, developed. How is it crafted? Based on study and experience. Could anyone have faith in what we are saying here if they do not study and experience it for themselves? Obviously not, right? But as we study and experience, we come to understand, and from that creative understanding comes true faith. Thus, faith is not something empirical; we need to craft it. Later, yes, much later, the Holy Spirit, the Third Logos, could consolidate it within us, strengthen and reinforce us, but we must craft it ourselves.
Another quite interesting apostle who is relevant to us on this narrow, difficult path we are on is Andrew. It is said that in Nicaea he conjured seven evil demons and made them appear before the crowds in the form of seven dogs, and they fled in terror. Much has been said about Andrew, and there is no doubt that he was extraordinary, imbued with great power. The reality is that Andrew, the Great Master and disciple of Christ, was condemned to death and tortured. The Cross of Saint Andrew invites us to reflect: it is an X, yes, an X, with his two arms extended to the right and left and his two legs spread to the side, forming an X, and upon this X he was crucified. This X is highly symbolic; in Greek it is equivalent to a K, which reminds us of the Krestos. Undoubtedly, the drama of Andrew was magnificently symbolized by the great initiated monk Bacon. In his most extraordinary book, entitled "The Azoth," he includes an illustration in which a dead man is clearly visible. However, he tries to lift his head, to hope, to resurrect, while two black ravens tear at his flesh on the steel floor; the Soul and the Spirit rise from the corpse.
This reminds us of the phrase used by all Initiates: "The flesh leaves the bones." This, Saint Andrew dying on an X-shaped cross, speaks precisely of the disintegration of the Ego, which must be reduced to cosmic dust, which must be dismembered. "The flesh leaves the bones"—only in this way is it possible for the Secret Master Hiram Abiff, resurrect within ourselves, here and now, otherwise it would be completely impossible. In the Great Work we must die from instant to instant, from moment to moment.
And what would we say of John? He is beyond all doubt the patron saint of gold manufactures . Is there anyone who makes gold? Yes, let us remember Raimundo Lulio; he did, enriching the coffers of Philip the Fair of France and the King of England. Letters from Raimundo Lulio are still remembered; one of them speaks of a beautiful diamond, with which he presented none other than the King of England; he dissolved a crystal in the crucible, and then, by placing mercury water in that crystal, transformed it into a gigantic, extraordinarily fine diamond, with which he presented the King of England. As for the transmutation of lead into gold, he did it thanks to the philosopher's mercury. He enriched all of Europe with his foundries, and yet he remained poor. An extraordinary traveler throughout the world, he finally died stoned to death in one of those lands. Reflect on this.
Thus, John, the apostle of Jesus, is the patron saint of the Gold manufactures. It is said that on one occasion, on his way to a town somewhere in the East, he encountered a philosopher who was trying to convince people and demonstrate what he could do with Word. Two young men who had listened to his teachings were abandoning their riches, selling them, and with the proceeds had bought a large diamond. They placed the diamond before the honorable public and into the hands of the philosopher, who returned it to them. Then, with a stone, they destroyed the gem. John protested, saying, "With such a gem, the poor could be fed." They say that in front of the crowds he rebuilt the gem, then sold it to feed the crowds; But the repentant young men protested and said to themselves, “How foolish we were to have spent all our riches to buy a diamond that now falls to pieces and then is put back together to be distributed among the people!” But John, who saw all things in heaven and on earth and knew how to transmute lead into gold, had some stones and reeds brought from the seashore nearby (the stone symbolizing the Philosopher’s Stone, sex, and the reed symbolizing the Spinal Cord, for therein lies the power to transmute lead into gold), and after turning those reeds and stones into gold, he returned the riches to the young men, but said to them, “You have lost the best; I return to you what you gave, but you have lost what you had achieved in the higher worlds.” Then, approaching a woman who had died, he resurrected her. She then recounted what she had seen out of her body and also addressed those young men, saying that she had seen her guardian angels weeping in great bitterness because they had lost what was best for vain and perishable things. Clearly, the young men repented, returned the gold to John, and John transformed that gold back into what it was: reeds and stones. They became his disciples.
Thus, John and the Order of Saint John invite us to reflect: John is the patron saint of those who work with gold. We need to transmute the lead of the personality into the living gold of the Spirit. This is why the great Masters of the White Lodge are called "Brothers of the Order of Saint John."
Many believe that John, the apostle of the Master Jesus, died, but he did not die. Ancient traditions say that he had his burial pit dug, lay down in it, shone, and disappeared; the pit remained empty. We know that John, the apostle of Christ, lives with the same body he had in the Holy Land and that he lives precisely in Agartha, in the subterranean kingdom, where the Order of Melchizedek resides, and accompanies the King of the World.
You see how interesting this is. Entering, then, into the Mastery of Fire, we must define something to clarify: it is necessary, as I tell you, to transmute the sacred sperm into energy; when this is achieved, the fire arises that rises through the spine and the Great Work begins.
We need to create the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, but that is not enough; it is necessary, indispensable, urgent to then cover these vehicles with the different parts of the Being; but to cover them, they must be perfected, transformed into Gold.
Pure, true spiritual gold. Don't be surprised, then, that John or James have an Astral Body of pure gold, a Mental Body of the same metal, or the Causal, Buddhic, or Atmic Body. They accomplished the Great Work.
If Count Saint Germain could transmute lead into gold, it's because he himself was gold. Count Saint Germain's aura is pure gold; the atoms that form that aura are gold; the Higher Existential Bodies are of the finest quality gold. Under these conditions, he can place a coin in the crucible, yes, melt it, and then, with the very power he carries within, transmute it into pure gold, because he is gold. That is what is called accomplishing the Great Work. In this, there are degrees and degrees. First, one must attain Mastery; then, one must become a Perfect Master; and much later, reach the degree of Great Elect. A Great Elect and Perfect Master is anyone who has accomplished the Great Work. As we truly are, we are in a bad state. We need to undergo Radical Transformation, and this is only truly possible by destroying the inhuman elements and creating the human ones. Only in this way will we march toward final liberation.
In the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as I tell you, in a small corner is the Master Stone or the Cornerstone, which the builders of all sects, schools, religions, and so on, rejected. A chosen, precious stone, but it bears the figure of Lucifer; this would frighten the uninitiated. Undoubtedly, my dear ones, only there, in sex, will we be able to find that Luciferian principle that will be the very basis for Self-realization. But why is Lucifer the Thread of Ariadne? Why is he precisely the one who must lead us to final liberation, when in truth he has been considered the enemy? I have said many times, and I have emphatically affirmed it in this lecture, that it is the reflection of the Inner Logos within ourselves, the shadow of our Intimate God within us and for our good, for it is the trainer. God cannot tempt us; our own concupiscence tempt us, as James, the patron of Alchemy, the patron of the Great Work, teaches.
So what does Lucifer do? He makes use of our own concupiscence, he puts them through the screen of understanding, with the purpose of training us psychologically, of making us strong; but if we fail, we fail in the Great Work; however, we can fail and rectify, if we rectify we triumph in the Great Work; anyone can fail, and through their failures they know they have transgressions to correct, to eliminate; thus Lucifer trains us, educates us, forms us, and through so much training he liberates us, leading us from sphere to sphere until we reach our Hiram Abiff.
Lucifer is thus the Thread of Ariadne that leads us to our Inner God, that takes us out of this painful labyrinth of life through esoteric work. Again and again, he passes our own concupiscence—which is none other than our own—through the screen of our understanding; to conquer them, eliminate them, disintegrate them, turn them to dust, is the proper course. Thus, he takes ever greater steps forward, thus we move from the center of the labyrinth to the periphery to one day reach our God. That is the work of Lucifer; he is the Thread of Ariadne, he is the Philosopher's Stone. It is for this reason that pilgrims to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris extinguish their votive candles in the stony jaws of Lucifer, on the Stone of the Little Corner, as it is called there.
Magical powers have been discussed, yes, we can attain them, but we unquestionably need to create much within ourselves and destroy much as well; there is much that we have in excess and much that we lack. Everyone believes that we possess the Superior Existential Bodies of Being, and that is not so. It is necessary to create them, and it is not possible to create them except in the Forge of the Cyclopes, that is, through sexual work.
They'll tell us we're sex fanatics, they're wrong, What happens is that we have a laboratory, and it is our own body, and a furnace in the laboratory, the Alchemist's fire, and a crucible that is in sex. Therein lies the Raw Material of the Great Work, the sacred sperm; transmuting it is indispensable, converting it into energy, and then, with that energy and what it contains, creating the Superior Existential Bodies of Being, that is what is vital, what is indispensable.
A day will come when we must go beyond sex; without having reached the goal, that would be like wanting to get off the train before arriving at the station, like wanting to get off the bus or truck we are traveling on before reaching the destination we have set for ourselves. In sex, we must create and we must destroy. Creating the Solar Vehicles is necessary so that our inner God can be resurrected within us and eliminate the inhuman elements we carry inside. All of us gathered here must understand; it is not enough for you to hear what I am saying, it is necessary that you put it into practice, because faith without works is dead faith; faith must be accompanied by action.
We must carry out the Great Work, but it is not enough to have faith in the Great Work; we must carry out the Great Work. And what will be the final result of the Great Work? That each of us becomes a great God with power over the heavens, over the earth, and over the infernal realms—that is the ultimate result of the Great Work, each of us transformed into a majesty, a terrifically Divine creature.
But today we must recognize that we are not even human; we are merely Humanoids. In a more crude way, I would say we are intellectual mammals and nothing more. But we can emerge from this state in which we find ourselves through the Great Work. Hiram Abiff is the Secret Master, the Third Logos, Shiva, the Firstborn of Creation, our Real Inner Divine Being, our true and individual Monad. We need to resurrect it because it is dead within us, even though it is alive to the ineffable Worlds. Raimundo Lulio accomplished the Great Work; he received the Great Arcanum in the Astral World, and it was with this master key that he was able to work on the Great Work. He undoubtedly knew outside the physical body what the Sacred Conception of the Divine Mother Kundalini Shakti is; upon learning how this Sacred Conception was realized, he resolved to materialize the Sacred Conception within himself from above, until he succeeded.
Undoubtedly, the Divine Mother must conceive the Son by the work and grace of the Third Logos. She remains a virgin before, during, and after childbirth. This child whom She conceives must materialize, crystallize within us from above, from on high, until it is completely clothed with our physical body, with our planetary body. Upon reaching this stage, it can be said that the Great Work has been accomplished; in other words, we must resurrect Hiram Abiff within ourselves. I have spoken.
GENESIS AND HOLY WEEK
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