XVI - THE "VOLITIVE I"

We have already explained how the "Volitive I" is created, but we have not indicated the means of giving it strength and power, which are in general as follows:

• Domination and sublimation of one's desires
• Charging one's psychic battery
• Economizing one's energy
• Action directed by will

Desires are one of the principal sources of energy (or energetic loss) in sapiens. If we listen to our internal world we will realize that desire forms an integral part of our lives and that desire acts with an astounding potency and persistence. This implies that a great quantity of energy is lost, since desire uses up time and energy when our magnetic strength is projected elsewhere.

Nevertheless, if we control and guide our desires, they can be converted into a source of extraordinary potency. Desire must never be a crazy or fleeting whim for the Hermeticist, but an act of intelligence and method. When a desire is not satisfied, a powerful force vibrates within the individual, but as soon as he obtains what he wants, this power is extinguished and a vacuum is produced.

There are those who pursue a desire intensely for a long time, and finally attain fulfillment, but far from making them happy, this fulfillment of the desire causes a state of deep emptiness, laxness, and disappointment. This occurs when the fuel which motivated the individual runs out, as desire provides the power which carries us toward fulfillment.

We have already said that each person has "x" amount of energy at his disposal during his life, and can distribute it among many things or concentrate it on a few. Applying this concept to the subject we are addressing, it does not mean repressing or frustrating desires, but permitting their existence only if reason considers them just and convenient, and allowing them to materialize when, how, and where the "Volitive 1" dictates.

We could also apply this to the principle of penitence, but from a different point of view. For example, we could sacrifice one thing we greatly desire in order to obtain another of greater spiritual or moral value. This could also be applied to vices, denying satisfaction of them through will power in order to obtain what we want. For example, a person may say, "I will not smoke because ... (stating what he desires to obtain)." This affirmation should be mentally repeated every time the individual desires to smoke.

One of the desires it is necessary to suppress in order to channel this force toward higher purposes is that of telling others certain things we have learned exclusively or in secret, in order to impress them or to raise our self-esteem. This does not mean that we should not tell anything, but do so only after a time, only if in truth we want to, and not in order to make ourselves important. It should also be stated that it is more difficult to accomplish projects that become publicly known than when we endeavor to keep them secret.

The "psychic battery's" charge is the nervous and psychological tone produced by the magnetism which people accumulate and project; some in very small doses, and others with great potency. Magnetism is accumulated through conscious breathing and all practices of self-control. In fact, the more magnetic an individual is, the more possibility he has of being a success in life.

At the same time, it must be understood that the "Volitive I" concretely exists in the form of a strong magnetic field which must be constantly revitalized, as all action absorbs energy.

It is necessary to remember that it is indispensable to economize the energy that has been concentrated, as the "Volitive I" requires fuel; it is continuously expending strength just like any other living being.

A series of bad habits and conflicts brings about a great expenditure of energy within the human being. Impatience, emotional conflict, unnecessary haste, mental rumination, the sense of guilt, anger, unnecessary or exaggerated laments, different kinds of frustrations, fear, disorder, and indolence all rob energy from the "Volitive I." The Hermeticist must establish discipline and internal order at all costs in order to match his conduct with the purposes he wishes to achieve.

In relation to "action directed by will," the difference between "to desire" and "to want" should be very clear. The worn out axiom "to want is power" has fallen into disrepute, not because it is false or exaggerated, but because no one has ever been able to explain how one has to want in order to obtain that which is desired. Jesus taught his disciples that "if you have the faith of a mustard seed you will move mountains."

On the surface this has nothing to do with will, but deeper analysis will show that Jesus was not talking of ordinary faith, as ordinary faith is not enough to move mountains.

In truth, he referred to Hermetic faith, which consists of two basic forces:

1. To want
2. Reasoned belief

To want is the masculine power of the "Volitive I," and reasoned belief is the feminine energy of feelings. In order to want intelligently, the word "want" must be joined to the rest of the words which form the magicians' acrostic, that is to know, to dare, to want, and to keep silent, with which the following combinations may be formed:

• To know how to want - To want to know - To dare to know

• To know how to dare - To want to dare - To dare to want

• To know how to keep silent - To want to be silent - To dare to be silent

• To know how to know - To want to want - To dare to dare

In order to know how to want, a person must be very clear as to what he desires to obtain, and must give the objective a high place in his scale of values in order to obtain adequate motivation from where the power to want is acquired.

One must also practice the four Hermetic "commandments," which are:

• Love

• Hope

• Knowledge

• Peace

 

LOVE

By means of love, God, the Supreme Intelligence, transmits his creative essence to us. It is not only the attraction between the sexes; it is a power born from the spirit which is directed toward all that carries the divine essence. Love that is passional is not love but only a selfish possessive force, which fights to retain an instrument of pleasure. To clarify the true meaning of love, it is necessary to meditate on the axiom, "love, and do what you want."

HOPE

Hope is the womb which collects the seed, which it develops and gives form to. It is the counterpart of sex. It is the feminine soul in man and masculine soul in woman. Through it we conceive and create. It is the etheric double which has an opposite gender from that of the physical body; man's double is feminine, and woman's is masculine. This is where the feminine part of man and the masculine part of woman is found, and from which it is necessary to detach oneself, changing its polarity.

KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge for the Hermeticist is like the compass for the navigator, for Hermetic science is the knowledge of the laws of Nature. The possession of knowledge places the student on a higher step than one who lacks such knowledge. One must know Nature thoroughly, and thereby control all. One should meditate on the axiom which says "the magician reigns in heaven and rules in hell" (to rule in hell means having sufficient power to avoid being destroyed by satanic forces).

PEACE

The student must fight to establish harmony between the brain, heart, and sex, and thus attain the union of the "Superior I" with the soul. This is the only way to end the internal conflicts which develop within the human being. When the individual's will grants or denies his body the satisfaction of desires or needs in a completely conscious manner, he will become the king of his physical body and will live in deep peace; and with the power of peace, everything will be harmonious and happy. He will be king of the Universe, as he will be in harmony with the laws of Nature.

The power of peace is acquired only by the will to maintain control of the imagination. Impure and uncontrolled imagination is the primary source of restlessness and anxiety. One can only enjoy peace and serenity by controlling the imagination, but nevertheless, there is no peace without love. It is for this reason that it is necessary to overcome egotism, which is the opposite vibration of love.

REASONED BELIEF

Reasoned belief comes from applying Hermetic theory to vital situations. Observation of the action of natural laws and practical verification of the Teaching, confers on the disciple blind belief in himself and in Hermeticism. This is not done through faith, but through absolute certainty of the logical and material verification of everything that he has learned in the Hermetic School.

MIND
We have already pointed out that Homo sapiens lacks mind, merely possessing a brain and intelligence. We could state that cerebral intelligence is unconscious intelligence without any internal sense, while mental intelligence has the character of being conscious. The former is oneiric, and the latter awakened.

In order to give an elementary idea of the basic material the individual possesses in a latent state, which can form his mind, we refer to the three vital sources:

1. Brain: Intelligence
2. Heart: Feelings
3. Sex: Instinct

Normally the individual works with one of these centers predominating, or with a mixture of two of them. For proper Hermetic effects to be realized, the individual must learn to function in the following way:

Example No. 1:

1. Brain: Intelligence
We may distinguish three possibilities, or three different vibratory forces.

 

These are:

• The intelligence of the intelligence
• The feeling of the intelligence
• The instinct of the intelligence

2. Heart: Feelings
There are also three possibilities:

• The feeling of the feelings
• The intelligence of the feelings
• The instinct of the feelings

3. Sex: Instinct

Also as above, there are three possibilities:

• The instinct of the instinct
• The feelings of the instinct
• The intelligence of the instinct

These nine possibilities form the number of man, and as man is triple, we may state this in the following manner:

Man: 999
Beast: 666 (the nine inverted)

It is thus that the number of the beast is manifested in sapiens in the following manner:

Example No. 2:

1. Brain: Intelligence

• The dream of intelligence (brain)
• The fanaticism of intelligence (heart)
• The bestiality of the intelligence (sex)

2. Heart: Feelings

• The fanaticism of feelings (heart)
• The dream of feelings (brain)
• The bestiality of feelings (sex)

3. Sex: Instinct

• The bestiality of instinct (sex)
• The fanaticism of instinct (heart)
• The dream of instinct (brain)

When the human being "thinks with the number 666" there is no possibility of reaching the knowledge of truth. He is, however, able to perfectly execute marvelous works of good and evil. Furthermore, the works will be programmed and therefore can be tremendously dangerous for the human species and the individual himself. People always believe that good brings forth goodness, and vice versa, but in practice this is not always true.

In Example No. 1, it is hoped that the student should reach integral thought in which there is a perfect equilibrium between intelligence, feelings, and instinct. The formation of the "Volitive I," in addition to the different disciplines the student must accomplish, will gradually lead to the formation of a magnetic bipolar spheroid which extends from the head to the sex, the center point being the spinal column.

This magnetic field is actually present in the Hermeticist and is the seat of his higher awareness; it is a force which resists dissolution by death, and it is through this magnetic field that the individual exists and thinks, even without a physical body. Observe the similarity between this and our planet Earth.

Summarizing the concept of what mind is, we can affirm that:

1. Mind is the "Volitive I"

2. Mind is a magnetic bipolar spheroid, which is formed within the Hermeticist

3. Mind is the "philosopher's stone"

4. Mind is the whole body

5. Mind is the superbrain

6. Mind is celestial intelligence

7. Mind is the integration of the superior faculties latent in the human being

The naive reader will probably ask how it is possible that mind is a magnetic sphere, if in point (d) it is said that "it is the whole body." The answer is simple as the one does not contradict the other.

The mind or superbrain is what permits the Stellar Man to reach true wisdom; that which within the individual is "beyond good or evil"; the part of man which reaches eternity. The semisage, on the contrary, only accumulates knowledge {dead or unconscious knowledge, which is only useful for recognition in the world of sapiens) and uses his intelligence for temporal and limited aims. When common men think, they do so with their brain; the Hermeticist thinks with the mind.

THREE BASIC OBJECTIVES
As we have already pointed out, these three objectives are awakening, mental digestion, and the formation of the "Volitive I." We have already spoken sufficiently on these points, but must again emphasize mental digestion as the most important part of processing the information we acquire through study.

When we learn perfect mental digestion, a new world is opened before our astonished eyes, as we thus discover the real sense of written or verbal information, and the genuine meaning of art, music, and other forms of human expression. This capacity of penetration which is reached through the mind is so extensive, that no matter what book we read, no matter what we do at a given moment, we will always extract wise and beneficial lessons from our situations, as we will have learned to read the open book of Nature.

Animals, plants, birds, and even stones will speak to us in silent language, but we will understand perfectly. Further, through the process of understanding, we will be in a permanent transformation into beings who are wiser and more conscious.

This will enable us to help our fellow men, not by charity, donation, or politics, but in a superior way, teaching them to live wisely, teaching them to think and decide for themselves, showing them the advantage of taking their lives in their hands and being saved by their own efforts. Because the age of the Messiah has passed, the one who does not save himself condemns himself. Only the individual who is able to form his mind can appreciate the transcendental importance of this fact.

THREE SUPERIOR OBJECTIVES
We have pointed out three superior objectives:

1. deprogramming

2. initiatory death

3. rebirth

The three form part of one process and represent different degrees of it. Programming is the assembly of mechanical and automatic circuits, which rule the biological and psychological side of sapiens.

Naturally, we do not wish to interfere with biological functions except as an effort to correct some anomaly; we only seek the individual's psychological liberation, and for this it is necessary to reeducate the motor capacity.

We will explain very generally and simply what constitutes the basis of deprogramming: to exchange automatic circuits for conscious circuits. The individual is deprogrammed by submitting to the relearning of what it means to be awake. To understand this, it is necessary to bear in mind that mechanical circuits are also formed within the human being thanks to learning.

It is thus that at a given moment the child starts to walk without any effort, due to the automation of the circuit, which has been formed by the repetition of voluntary movement. However, we maintain that the low level of alertness in which sapiens lives gives all learning an oneiric character; that is, he does not incorporate a superior state of awareness within himself.

Therefore, the learning is generally of a mechanical character and reinforces the individual's program, progressively reducing his level of awareness and making the possibility of his awakening to greater alertness even more remote. Paradoxically, the more a human being learns, the "less human" he will become, as the potency and reach of his mechanical circuits will increase, making him more and more like a robot. This, as we have already stated, invariably annuls genuine intelligence and leads to absolute slavery or dependence on the program.

IQ tests only determine how well trained the individual's intelligence is, along with the agility, coordination, and speed by which the neuronal information is synthesized. Such qualities bring to mind the general characteristics of a computer. If perfect robots existed which could both design and apply intelligence tests, they would certainly obtain outstanding performance, but they would only measure mechanical intelligence. Nevertheless, these robots could apply their extraordinary "intellectual" capacity to accomplish functions much more rapidly and efficiently than sapiens.

Hermetically, we consider the human being a perfect robot. Therefore, we deny that his intelligence genuinely corresponds to what should be the superior intellect of a truly awakened and conscious human being.

The deprogramming of the individual is obtained gradually by means of an apprenticeship in a state of superior alertness, and gives birth to true intelligence, which leads to "living knowledge," as opposed to the "dead knowledge" of sapiens.

Hermetic observations from the most remote ages have established that sapiens does not necessarily die when his spirit leaves his body as is the usual process, but in many cases the body continues to live as a veritable zombie, in spite of the fact that the spirit has moved on to a better life. A person can live 30 or 40 years under these conditions, leading an apparently normal life.

The terrifying thing is that no one realizes this; no one knows that he is greeting, speaking to, or living with an authentic living cadaver. From the Hermetic point of view, a cadaver is not a physical body in which the biological life has ended, but is the body without a spirit, as this spirit is the individual himself, the true "I," the real individual behind the person. If people cannot recognize a cadaver, it is not at all surprising that they are not aware that they themselves and their fellow men do not truly think but that something thinks for them.

This something, which is the source of their ideas, is also converted into the rudder and compass of their existence. We already know that this something that thinks is the central computer of the species and the individual is freed from it when he becomes deprogrammed.

Returning to eternal paradoxes, let us consider the enormous contradiction of the fact that an individual's professional preparation limits him intellectually. Instead of expanding the scope of his intelligence, only his cultural, technical, or professional program is furthered.

No university student is prepared to withdraw from the power of suggestion imposed by the prestige and authority of professors, enhanced by the university's imposing image. Thus the student blindly accepts all he is taught, and imitates the behavioral model of the prestigious professors.

On the other hand, something absolutely different occurs with the self-taught, who, intellectually speaking, are generally on a much higher level than those who graduate from a university, as their programming is weaker. From the Hermetic point of view we should always prefer self-taught knowledge to that acquired from professors, at least until present educational systems are modified.

Referring once again to deprogramming, we must point out that there is one stage which the disciple is able to cover by himself, and another more advanced and rapidly progressing stage which can only be passed through with the help of a Master or instructor. The disciple's part refers basically to reeducation of motor skills, an effort to give awareness to movements. This can be practiced in ten-minute intervals and repeated as many times a day as desired. It is necessary to move slowly, thinking about and feeling each of the movements being made.

Moving slowly should be understood as "moving a little slower than is habitual." This means practicing a deliberate motor action. The consequence of this is an immediate elevation in the level of awareness, placing the student in the "present moment." It is necessary to reflect on the fact that there is nothing which gives a stronger sensation of existing than the act of moving within a space. Walking should be done consciously, moving the hands, arms, head, trunk, and eyes while thinking and feeling.

Together with this exercise, one should meditate daily on the difference between the "I" and "John Doe." That is, person X should think that he is not X, and look at X only as a puppet or vehicle of the "I." It must be observed how X has feelings, ideas, impulses, and fears, which in reality "are not his," but in fact are absolutely foreign to his "I." This practice must be perfected until two absolutely separate beings with perfectly defined boundaries appear, until the practitioner is able to state with complete certainty: "I am not X," and be absolutely convinced of this.

Another discipline that may be practiced by the student consists of controlling the five senses until he is able to see or not see at will, hear or not hear at will, thus successively placing his senses under the control of his will. This exercise is extremely important but we will not elaborate on its benefits, since only those who assiduously practice will learn the secret.

Regarding the part which must be accomplished with the help of a Master, we will only state that the Master can progressively annul the disciple's circuits so that the disciple may rise above all that is mechanical. This is however, a long and delicate task, which may only be known to the person who has arrived at such an experience.

The culmination of this stage is initiatic death. This is the dissolution of the personality in the Hermetic sense, where personality is a synonym for the program. During this period, and until the rebirth is complete, the disciple really ceases to exist, psychologically speaking, living during the time it takes for rebirth with very basic elemental circuits which will not form an obstacle to his evolution.

After his rebirth he will be called the "twice born," and in this manner we understand the esoteric symbol of the birth of Jesus, as it is said that his mother was a virgin. Likewise, we may say that the reborn "is not born of woman."

Once Hermetic rebirth has occurred, the individual starts to live an absolutely new existence, that is of an individual who has been deprogrammed and freed from the central computer of the species. For the first time, he has genuine self-determination and autonomy; his thoughts belong to himself; his intelligence has risen to a higher level, and he has been freed from the cosmic-oneiric influence.

Likewise, his soul has been cleansed, becoming again as pure and innocent as a child's. This, and only this, is true heaven, which can be found within the individual. God, who is supposed to be in heaven, and into whose lap it is believed that those of faith will arrive, is in truth the "Superior I" or Divine Spark, before whose luminosity the individual feels intimidated and at the same time transported to a condition of supreme peace and love.

The angels in their heavenly choir raise paeans in honor of one who died in the world of the beast to be reborn into the world of men. One cycle has ended and another begun: the ascension of man to semiGod.

THREE SUPREME OBJECTIVES
We have pointed out three supreme objectives: evolution, conversion into a Stellar Man, and transcending Maya.

As we already know, evolution means the growth of our spiritual essence, freeing it from the tyranny of the beast. Our spirit should grow in size and quality. We will illustrate an evolutionary process in this simple diagram.

In the first figure of Diagram 10, the spiritual essence is represented by the small dark point in the center, and the large circle represents the rest. In the second figure, we see the growth of the center point in relation to the rest, which symbolizes an evolutionary process.

Here we wish to point out a profound difference between the Western Hermetic path and the goals sought by Yoga, where it is intended that the individual should be integrated into Nirvana, that is, reintegrated into the cosmic egg. As a matter of fact, we could call Yoga the path of the egg, and Hermeticism the path of the spermatozoid. Through an enormous effort, the yogi reaches dissolution of his essential individuality which has taken so long to form.

It is thus that he never reincarnates and joins the cosmic egg, awaiting a new wave of life. It is appropriate to ask what happens when this new wave of life arrives after eons of time. Nothing is eternal, and when one who has been freed from reincarnation awakens from his eternal sleep, he is obliged to reincarnate. Thus everything begins again.

On the other hand, the Hermetic path is the conscious evolution of the spiritual individuality. It pursues the indefinite growth of the individual's spiritual essence, so that always conscious of his own identity, the individual evolves until his body as we know it is not sufficient to contain his enormous spiritual power.

At this point, his evolution continues in celestial bodies, such as the planet Earth or others. It is completely impossible to conceive of the life of one of these beings and to imagine how they think, talk, feel, and move. In any event, it is useful to observe that a celestial sphere possesses a body basically the same as represented in the two figures, that is, the essence corresponds to the nucleus and the rest to the physical body. Likewise, we can surmise the important difference which may exist, for example, between the sun and a planet of the solar system.

To clarify what a Stellar Man is, it should be said that he is an individual who was a sapiens in the near or remote past. Through his own effort he was able to provoke a genetic and functional psychological mutation in himself, which established the basis for his transition to the other extreme of the evolutionary spectrum.

One of the poles of this spectrum is represented by Homo sapiens and the other by the Stellar Man, the name given to Hermeticists who have reached a high level of consciousness. A Stellar Man is not necessarily a Hermetic Master of wisdom, as this is a difficult specialty; but he is a man who, having surpassed his terraqueous condition, is fit to continue the study of the great mysteries of the Universe and to choose his future destiny.

There are many "masters" who have accomplished great things and have outstanding knowledge, but who are not Stellar Men. On the contrary, when a Stellar Man reaches Hermetic mastery he will always be a "Master of Masters."

With respect to the specialization a Hermeticist may follow when he is advanced along his path, only two of the most important possibilities will be mentioned, following the theme of Zanoni. These refer precisely to the path of Zanoni and to the path of Mejnour. The path of Zanoni is that of high politics, of those leaders who march at the head of the history of mankind; or better stated, are the creators of history and leaders of civilization.

The path of Mejnour is that of a Master of wisdom, which is the best known. It needs to be said that these individuals are very scarce, and there are but few in the world, as the extreme difficulty of their task permits only a few with the necessary spiritual strength to choose this path. Even though gullible people see "masters" everywhere, they are very scarce and are more carefully hidden than is believed. Those who show themselves do so only for purposes of initiation.

Some of these Masters, but certainly not all, transcend Maya, or the universal principle of illusion. This means that they live above the disguised appearance of reality and that the most important events for the human race mean no more to them than the ebb and flow of Maya, an illusion created only to be destroyed and infinitely and repeatedly reformed, as the tide which incessantly fluctuates, always repeating the same cycle with practically imperceptible change. With the supreme calm of absolute reality, they imperturbably contemplate the circus of human life, as Mejnour did in the novel Zanoni.

It is fitting to meditate on the controversy which arose between two mythological Masters, Cagliostro and the Count of Saint Germain. As is well known, Cagliostro was one of the fomenters of the French Revolution, and the celebrated episode of Marie Antoinette's necklace was directly provoked by Cagliostro through Madame de la Motte to unleash the revolutionary process.

The Count of Saint Germain, on the contrary, was in favor of maintaining the royalty, and believed that the revolution was not necessary. What is interesting is the philosophical stand taken by each of them. Cagliostro maintained that the revolution would bring about an extraordinary evolutionary advance in the world. Saint Germain argued that there was no hurry for the evolution of the human masses, and that it would be the same if this evolution were slow or fast, as evolution is always cyclical; one cycle ends and another commences.

In order to understand what it means to transcend Maya, we must recall the Principle of Mentalism:

"The Universe is mental; the only essential reality is mind: the Universe is a mental creation and we live in the mind of God.. . . All is infinite, eternal, immutable, and unknowable; all that which is finite, movable, and transformable cannot be the All, and as nothing exists beyond this, all that is finite must in reality be nothing."

To transcend Maya means being fully and totally conscious that all that is finite, movable, and transformable is illusory. It means to be able, in time, to project our consciousness toward the infinite, immutable, and eternal, that is to say, toward God.

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XVII - THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN

If we had the opportunity to meet and speak to a Stellar Man, we probably would not find him appreciably different from any other man. There is nothing more laughable than the physical appearance that some mystics pretend to find in the great initiates. Looking at pictures of legendary Masters such as Jesus, Koot Humi, Morya, Serapis Bey, or others, some people expect to see extraordinary physical beauty as if the Masters were angels incarnate.

This shows exactly how people idealize these men whose physical appearance is in reality no different from any other man. The only things which expose them to the eyes of those who can see is the aura of strength and power which surrounds them, their brilliant eyes, their shining faces, and the harmonious vibration they project. There is an interesting description of the Rosicrucians by Henri Durville in his book History of Secret Science, which demonstrates this point.

In their era the Rosicrucians were the most important Hermetic Order, the seedbed of the Stellar Man. Nevertheless, true Rosicrucians do not easily reveal themselves, and those who identify themselves as such and endeavor to demonstrate so by touch or passwords are generally only vulgar imitators who have usurped the sacred name. There are Rosicrucians and "rosicrucians," and the initiate or student can only recognize the authentic members through internal and not external signs. Here are the comments by Durville on Rosicrucians:

Their existence, although historically uncertain, is surrounded by prestige that forces acceptance and wins admiration. They speak of mankind as infinitely beneath them; their pride is great although their exterior may be humble.

They love poverty and declare that for them this is obligatory, although they may possess great wealth. They keep themselves apart from human affection and do not submit to it except as a convenient obligation which is imposed by their living in the world. They are very courteous to women, although incapable of affection and they consider women to be inferior beings.

Externally they are unaffected and deferential, but the confidence in themselves which fills their hearts is not radiated except before the infinity of the heavens. They are the sincerest people in the world but granite is soft in comparison with their impenetrability. Compared to these adepts, kings are poor, at their side the wisest are stupid; they never take a step toward fame, which they despise, and if they should become famous, it is in spite of themselves; they seek no honors as no human glory attracts them.

Their great desire is to walk unrecognized through the world; due to this, they are impassive in the face of mankind and responsive to whatever befalls them; self impelled, self enlightened by themselves in everything; but willing to do good as their strength permits. What measure can be applied to this immense exaltation? Critical concepts vanish before this. The state of these occult philosophies is the sublime or the absurd. Not being able to understand their souls or their objective, the world declares that one and the other are futile.

This portrait is far from being attractive or agreeable, but it shows the idea that sapiens has of Stellar Man. Hermeticism of which we speak in this book, sustains that the Hermetic initiate can acquire the following privileges along his or her path of initiation:

1. Freedom from complexes and base passions

2. Freedom from the central computer of the species and be coming a truly awakened man

3. Absolute mental clarity and emotional equilibrium

4. Knowledge of the occult forces of Nature (the nature which is unknown)

5. Entrance into the elite of the truly wise; the true sage is a sage of the mind and not of the intellect

6. Victory over the eventualities of life

7. To know and to find oneself

8. To grasp the secret of happiness and love

9. Emotional, instinctive, and cerebral deprogramming

10. Freedom from the collective unconscious or animal soul

11. Union with one's inner divinity

12. Knowledge of transcendental truth and the only truth, be coming converted into a sage of the mind

13. Freedom from futile pain and suffering

14. Conscious reincarnation by means of an avatar

15. Knowledge of the occult causes of all that exists

16. Power over vibrations and the secret of transmutations

17. To achieve the status of Stellar Man or Stellar Woman by means of genetic and psychological mutation

18. Freedom from Maya

These powers place the Hermeticist on a much higher level than the ordinary and common man, and for this reason it is hard to really know a Hermetic Master, even though we may be his close friend and he tells us his most secret thoughts and feelings. From our position, it will be impossible to adequately interpret or evaluate these Masters, and probably we will arrive at conclusions absolutely opposite to the truth.

One must take into account the purely spiritual condition of the Stellar Man. All his higher faculties are of a spiritual nature, and are the opposite of the worshippers or practitioners of astral magic who need not have awakened, nor least of all become deprogrammed, in order to carry out their spells.

It is necessary to issue a warning that a great percentage of those practicing magic fall completely into black magic, which we can define in one of its aspects as the use and projection of the body's mass energy without having previously been deprogrammed. All sorcerers' apprentices are generally men who are asleep and programmed. These are people who in their oneiric state have had the opportunity, for whatever reason, to gain access to Hermetic theory.

This theory is generally then used to satisfy their base passions or to live the agreeable fiction of passing for extremely evolved and powerful beings. At times, behind these personages, there is the sincerity of one who deceives himself and lives in the illusion of a subjective world created especially for him.

"Black magic" is usually not that which kills and destroys, but rather that which causes chaos and anarchy. Its worshipers are used by the beast, from which they have not been freed, and they are used for its own dark designs.

It is easy to understand that magical and spiritual are two absolutely different things, and one never reaches the spiritual by way of the magical. On the other hand, there is no individual who is truly spiritual who has no access to the magical. Magic without spirituality is always black magic. To understand this, we must remember that spirituality does not mean adopting a spiritual attitude of purity, meekness, and love; it means, as we have already stated, succeeding in having the spirit manifest through one's own brain.

For this reason, we must necessarily consider parapsychology as the joining of phenomena involving the projection of energy, and which have absolutely nothing to do with spirituality. It is not necessary to be spiritual to become a medium or to have premonitions. On the contrary, these phenomena take place in the lower astral realm and are related to the animal and passional part of the human being.

Returning to the spiritual powers of the Hermeticist, we must state that his higher qualities do not let him escape or elude material reality; on the contrary, he must respect the laws of the All, as no one can go against the laws. From the moment he takes life in a material body, he must feed, sleep, rest, and entertain himself the same as any other person; he must suffer the same problems as any biological organism in a hostile environment.

Books on pseudo occultism have given the wrong impression because they depict the initiate as a fabulous being who needs no food or sleep and who spends most of his time on the astral plane.

Spiritual perfection is confused with the material, forgetting that perfection in matter does not exist, since matter is subject to constant transformation. Nevertheless, the Hermetic initiate possesses the secret of transmutation, and can, under certain circumstances, create or transform vital situations in order to alleviate problems which afflict him, or to help other people with their difficulties.

The Stellar Man is the possessor of truth. Many people are irritated when someone claims to possess absolute truth, deeming this an act of egocentrism and profound arrogance. Imagine for a moment that someone could actually have access to absolute truth. Should this man keep silent forever and hide his knowledge? Or would it be his duty to help those who also desire to attain knowledge of the truth?

With full knowledge of the truth, we affirm that the Stellar Man possesses absolute truth and that no one can reach the absolute without first being converted into a Stellar Man. Therefore, only Stellar Men know absolute truth.

This occurs not because a special person, human or divine, has revealed the truth to them, but because the special cerebral and intellectual forms they have attained through genetic and psychological mutation have enabled them to become aware of the naked truth which under the trancelike conditions in which sapiens lives, cannot be seen. It is necessary to understand that sapiens does not possess the organ of truth, but rather the organ of illusion and lies.

Some great Masters affirm that when man lived in Paradise, he knew the truth, although he could not take advantage of this knowledge since he did not evolve. When God punished man by driving him out of Eden, he injected into him the organ of illusion so that he could reach the truth only by means of a titanic effort of will and intelligence and not by divine grace. This means that man can reach knowledge of truth and further evolve as he now has a physical body subject to transformation.

Now, the fact that Stellar Man possesses absolute truth does not remotely mean he knows everything. In fact, he is aware of all that he does not know. But he has the fundamental science, which makes it possible to reach the knowledge of all he desires, if he dedicates sufficient time to this effort.

To possess absolute truth means to have risen above the universal plan, reaching union with the All who creates and sustains the universal illusion. The absolute is that which never changes and always remains identical in its intrinsic nature. Specifically, Hermetic truths do not change in themselves; it is only necessary to know how to apply them differently in situations which are always changing.

There are three types of truth:

• Absolute cosmic truth: knowledge of the mysteries of Nature; knowledge of the seven Hermetic Principles

• Specific absolute truth: absolute truth relative to a specific problem or situation

• Relative truth: truth in the illusory world and a lie in relation to absolute truth

It is from the point of view of relative truth that the well-known aphorism arose which says that "nothing is truth or a lie; all is according to the color of the glass through which it is viewed."

The Stellar Man is happy. His happiness, however, is not based on material things, although he makes use of all that Nature offers. His happiness is based on the perfection, beauty, harmony, and stability of his internal world. The world is full of unhappy people, who seek to satisfy their internal hunger but do not know how to attain it.

Each individual requires special food for his spirit, which is the only thing that will truly satisfy him; but generally his ignorance leads him to seek one of the following paths:

1. Those who constantly satisfy their beast without feeding the spirit

2. The ascetics who renounce worldly pleasures moved by internal convictions or impelled by their complexes, they devote themselves to a spiritual search but do not obtain the happiness yearned for

3. Those who try to maintain a balance between the above two points, but who end up enslaved to the Law of the Pendulum, which forces them alternatively from one path to another

The Stellar Man reaches a perfect internal equilibrium and equally satisfies his spiritual and bestial hunger; he feeds his beast and his spirit, thus maintaining perfect stability. His beast is not perverse as mentioned in other chapters, but is a pure and natural beast.

The Stellar Man is humble. He is perfectly aware of the enormous magnitude of his ignorance, and when he compares himself with the immensity that surrounds him, he is awed by his own smallness.

The Stellar Man loves all living creatures. His consciousness is in everything and everything is within him. This feeling of total unity makes him deeply aware of human nature, and when he learns the deepest motives of men, he finds it difficult to blame them for their mistakes. No one is capable of giving more love than he is, for loving is giving, and the Stellar Man is like a radiant sun. Like a giant star, he manufactures energy in himself via the transformation of matter. This is an extension of the Hermetic concept of "as above, so below."

The Stellar Man is just and impartial. He possesses internal judgment, which enables him to always think impersonally, to judge without any personal bias, and without considering his personal convenience. A true sage is always just.

The Stellar Man lacks passions. All his instinctive, emotional, and intellectual manifestations are active, that is, genuinely self generated. He receives stimuli and makes use of them, but this does not oblige him to feel certain things or to become enslaved. He takes pleasure from what he enjoys.

The Stellar Man is above death. If his physical body dies, the same does not happen to his spiritual individuality which survives this destruction and takes possession of another physical body, either returning to the material womb or taking charge of an already grown body. This permits him to consciously reincarnate, becoming an avatar.

The Stellar Man constantly renews himself. Every so often he modifies his standards of behavior to the point that someone observing him could state that "he has no standards of behavior." He knows the mystery of the Phoenix which is reborn from its own ashes, and when the time comes, kills itself, then being luminously reborn. This mysterious process occurs several times in the life of a Stellar Man within the same physical body.

The Stellar Man is absolutely indifferent to the opinions of others. He is not at all concerned about the image he projects. Furthermore, he knows that under certain circumstances it is preferable to show a bad image as there will then be no possibility of being idolized; in this way, he comes to know who his most sincere friends really are. He is friendly, but only with those who possess internal substance; he will not tolerate superficiality, except if there are special qualities in a latent state.

The Stellar Man is beyond good and evil, and therefore his opinion of the events in the world and its people differs considerably from the usual ones. At times he is very hard on those who have committed an error, which may appear insignificant, and on other occasions treats with kindness those who in our opinion deserve the worst punishment. No one knows his reasons, but his attitude is certainly never the result of a whim.

The Stellar Man lives in the world of causes. By being in contact with the higher plane of causes, he himself places the causes he desires into motion in order to manifest concrete effects in his own life or in the lives of others. The common man must wait for things to happen, for the thing he calls chance to favor him. When this does not happen, he must be resigned to live with the effects of causes he is completely unaware of.

The Stellar Man is truly human. His spiritual powers do not make him shun life, and he generally complies with his civil duties and earns his living as does any other person. If he marries, he always tries to raise his companion to his level, but if this is not possible, is able to live in peace, harmony, and love.

The Stellar Man has no political ideology. He is a humanist whose desire is for all human beings to attain spiritual evolution. Observe the difference between revolution and evolution. Revolution indicates rotation, a cyclical repetition. Everything changes, but with the passage of time, everything returns to what it was in the beginning. Evolution, on the other hand, means an ascending spiral, where a profound transformation that is not superficial takes place.

The Stellar Man rejects all that impedes the individual's freedom, but does not condone the irresponsible use of freedom. He believes that the individual himself must deserve to be free, and should not expect it as a gift from society or God.

The Stellar Man may become ill and die like any other person, as his physical body is also subject to the law of material transformation. Nevertheless, if he so desires, in the majority of cases, he can transmute illness into health in a progressive and gradual manner.

The greatest danger for him lies in the negative attitudes taken by other people he has helped at some time, and whose Karma he has absorbed, as this provokes a real illness of mental origin, which is extremely difficult to cure. Recall that Jesus could not heal himself in spite of being the savior of mankind.

The Stellar Man is not a hermit who keeps himself apart from the ups and downs of life. Far from being insensitive, he lives more intensely than most people. Nevertheless, he can choose to be harder than a rock or a diamond, or on the contrary, love with all his being. Emotionally speaking, he has exquisite sensitivity because his awareness encompasses a range of vibrations infinitely wider than that of the ordinary man. It is as if he could play a piano with an immense keyboard with thousands of different notes.

The Stellar Man is introverted, but not selfishly so; his introversion is due to the extraordinary richness of his internal world. His consciousness is so rich that it is painful for him to leave that veritable heaven to perform in this material world. This is especially painful for the Master of Hermetic wisdom, or for the one who has assumed the responsibility of transmitting knowledge, for every authentic Master is, in a certain manner, crucified, symbolic of Christ.

There is a Hermetic-Rosicrucian axiom which says that "it is necessary to decrucify Christ (the 'Superior I') to crucify the heart (emotional egotism)." No one knows the sacrifice it entails for an individual who has reached heaven to descend once again into the dark world of mud. However, this action obeys the true wisdom of the Polarity Principle, for if the individual were to be permanently in heaven, he would eventually degenerate as his virtue would encounter no obstacle.

It is for this reason that the Stellar Man lives in heaven but has his feet on the earth. As we have already stated, he is an inhabitant of two worlds; he lives simultaneously in heaven and on earth; he is human and divine.

The Stellar Man knows the secrets of universal magnetism, and this permits him to vitalize himself and project his consciousness to his surroundings.

Every highly developed Hermetic initiate has a tremendous magnetic irradiation which surrounds his body like a sphere of energy, and is the extension of his mental power.

This sphere of magnetic energy occupies a space and corresponds in size to the initiate's spiritual development. It is said that Jesus Christ possessed a powerful magnetic sphere that engulfed the entire Earth, and that this had an enormous influence on the human race.

This teaching makes it possible to understand why "God is everywhere," as his irradiation fills the entire universe.

The Stellar Man practices the secret of the evolutionary circle. We have already referred to the circle of the ass, the long road walked by the human beast who always remains in the same place. This circuit gives him no benefit or evolution. On the contrary, the "evolutionary circle" consists of the wise handling of the Polarity Principle, where the initiate oscillates between Earth and heaven, alternately polarizing and depolarizing himself.

In this way, a perfect equilibrium is maintained, achieving the wisdom of one who accustoms himself neither to the light nor darkness. His long journeys always take him to the starting point, but with considerable evolution. As an example of this, we will cite the process so beautifully described by Herman Hesse in Siddhartha, where the protagonist fights tirelessly for a long time in order to become separated from the human horde and attain his own individuality.

But once he does this, he must suffer all kinds of trials and diverse experiences to finally reach a union with the whole. But what a difference, what an infinite abyss separates the Siddhartha in the beginning from the sage at the end: evolution had been completed. If we had to put this in a single aphorism, we would say that the sincerest desire of one who has fallen is to reach heaven, and naturally, the strongest impulse of one who has reached heaven is to descend to earth. Again we must meditate on the Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France.

The Stellar Man has his own morals. Celestial morals are different from the morals of terrestrial man. Celestial morals are absolute and invariable within the flexibility of internal judgment, while terrestrial morals accommodate themselves to the customs of the dominant culture. If one day a cannibalistic culture should be dominant, cannibalism would be considered perfectly moral and correct, and, furthermore, perhaps those who did not conform to it would be punished.

When we state that the morals of the Stellar Man do not vary, we do not mean they are rigid. In spite of constant transformation they remain intact in their essential nature. On the other hand, the Hermeticist considers many of sapiens' attitudes as immoral. Irresponsibility, abuse of power, emotional blackmail, apathy, hypocrisy, blind conformism, self-pity, cerebral programming through the media, and glorification and applause are only a few of the immoral attitudes and customs of sapiens. Hermetic ethics are on an infinitely higher level than the accommodating rules of conduct of the common man.

The power of the Stellar Man does not emanate from his third eye, nor from chakras or the Kundalini. Nor does he possess parapsychological abilities. As we have already stated, Hermeticism maintains that parapsychological qualities merely represent the displacement and projection of mass energy; therefore, the more bestial the individual, the better chance of success he has.

For this reason parapsychological qualities work better when the individual is experiencing strong instinctive or emotionally passionate states, which intensify or multiply the radiation of mass energy. There is no spiritual merit in this; it is only unconscious sorcery. The power of the Hermeticist emanates from a spiritual force, from purity, the domination of his passions, from the sublimation of his animal energy, and from the rectitude of his intentions.

The Stellar Man may have great material problems in his earthly life, as his enormous difference in level from other people makes them instinctively look at him with a lack of confidence and fear upon perceiving a strange power they cannot classify. Persecution and economic failure may turn into serious obstacles for the Hermeticist, whose "kingdom is not of this world" and whose skills are not outstanding on this earth where social and economic success are for those who possess a specific psychological makeup. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the Hermeticist can fail in some things, this experience will never oppress him, and if he strives sufficiently, he will always end up as a conqueror.

The Stellar Man does good works, but "is careful to whom." He helps to the limit of his strength, but only for those who, in his estimation, truly merit help. He believes that helping those who lack merit means to truly harm them. If the support offered is wasted or not fully utilized, he helps two or three more times, but then no more.

The Stellar Man can be a difficult person to understand, or the most agreeable person in the world. As he is used to living in a world of lies, hypocrisy, cheating, and falseness, it is a shock to some individuals who are friendly with a Stellar Man, that he is absolutely genuine, natural, and authentic, without hidden corners or attitudes of any kind. His sincerity may be unbearable for those who hide beneath the countless masks of the personality. The following phrase explains the natural simplicity of the actions of the Stellar Man, "when he eats, he eats; when he thinks, he thinks; when he speaks, he speaks; and when he rests, he rests."

He is not a perfect being and does not aspire to be one; as we have already explained, he endeavors to reach only relative perfection, as absolute perfection does not exist.

However, after his mutation into a Stellar Man is accomplished, he has ended his ascension to Mount Olympus, and is one more inhabitant of the sacred mountain, a semi-God who does not as yet desire absolute divinity. Nevertheless, his studies of the mysteries of the Universe never cease, for they can never be completely known.

It may be thought that this path is much too individualistic for an era in which the world is moving faster each day toward collective structures. For those with this view, it needs to be pointed out that if a person does not first acquire his own individuality, he is really only an appendage of the masses; he is nothing more than one of the elements forming a circuit which in turn is part of the great machine.

We understand that there are individuals who have personally failed, and endeavor to fuse their undesirable "I" with that of the collective of the mass. But there is also an opportunity to emancipate and develop a "Superior I" to reach complete fulfillment and maturity.

To understand this, it is necessary to differentiate between an individual whose egotism leads him to blind individualism that is dangerous to society, and one who has become an individual and has a very clear sense of his duty toward mankind. Only one who has reached freedom can have a true collective consciousness, while at the same time retaining full freedom and autonomy without handing over his brain to any conqueror. What a difference there is between being incorporated into mankind because of an inability to be free, and joining up with humanity after having attained freedom!

It is interesting to consider that sapiens fears freedom, since this involves the only thing an animal within a flock cannot possess: intelligent individuality. For this same reason sapiens endeavors to join movements which do not demand any thinking or decision-making. Conversely, the Hermetic path obliges the individual to take the responsibility of his life into his own hands, instead of transferring it to social groups.

From the philosophical point of view, one who has not first achieved his own individual existence can do nothing for the world and its people. One who is not, has nothing to give. On the contrary, when the Hermeticist has reached his complete individual stature, he is in condition to help others in the only truly efficient way: teaching them to live wisely.

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XVIII - GENERAL OVERVIEW

Through the study of Hermeticism we can see how sapiens loses the best in his life by not being able to obtain really lasting values for himself. The happiness he seeks slips from his hands and only the passing joy of a moment of pleasure remains. Understanding of this phenomenon generally converts the individual into a materialistic cynic whose main belief is that "things must be enjoyed while it is possible as after this life there is no other."

This really is the goal most sought after by people: "to have a good time." Nevertheless, little by little, with experience and as the years go by, the individual realizes that he has not attained happiness, for even if he has had a good time, those moments have been followed by others of pain, suffering, and internal emptiness.

Generally, people think they are lacking something specific in their lives which will make them happy, and that when they obtain it, they will be happy. When they obtain their desires and continue to be as unhappy as before, they become more materialistic and unfeeling every day, or deliver themselves over to an unreal philosophical or religious mysticism.

There is nothing more daunting than taking stock of what has been gained in life, beyond subsistence, suffering, enjoyment, or what one has done for his fellow men. The naive person can easily fill the credit column with his professional titles, his material possessions, wealth, family, or knowledge obtained. Nevertheless, the cold reality is that the individual is not the owner of anything, unless he is certain that what he possesses will endure. Under ordinary circumstances he can only make a list of the things life has given him to handle, and even in this case he does not know when this mandate will expire.

In truth, the individual only gets out of life, for himself, what he can keep indefinitely, beyond death. Obtaining something for oneself means having a purpose in life; it means taking possession of something intimate and personal, which is, after all, the fruit of life.

Everyone should ask himself,

"What have I obtained from life? Is it sufficient just to go along with what life brings? Do I really possess what I believe I have obtained, or will it vanish tomorrow like a soap bubble?"

Many may think that this kind of reasoning is very selfish, but we must consider that gaining nothing for oneself is just as foolish, or more so, than excessive selfishness. To give everything away for the air we breathe and for the food and wellbeing necessary to keep the body alive may be very romantic and poetic, but is extremely inconvenient, as this represents eternal slavery.

Eternal in this case is meant in the cosmic sense of time, which compared to the terrestrial, is really unending. This can be verified from dreams, for during an instant of time, the individual has access to cosmic time, and it is for this reason that in thirty terrestrial seconds one may dream the summary of a whole lifetime, from birth to death. This same concept can also be applied to the "eternal torment of the fires of hell."

Many people laugh at Hermeticism, occultism, and all things esoteric, but generally none of them have had any direct experience in the matter, and only speak from hearsay or prejudice. Some are intellectually proud and use their reasoning to discredit Hermeticism.

It is hoped that those who reason that way are absolutely and completely certain of their reasoning, and do not fall into any of the following categories of flawed critical thinking:

• Those who believe themselves awake, but are really dreaming

• Those who blindly imitate, placing implicit faith in other people, systems, or institutions to avoid thinking for themselves

• Those whose passions take the place of reason; they draw a line in advance, and will accept no reason of their own or of others that is not within this line, but leaning towards what flatters their state of mind, vanity, or interest

• Those that adore their own ideas as sacred images; our ideas have belonged to us from time immemorial and we are un aware of how these ideas are subtly insinuated into our brain. They never allow anyone to contradict or discredit them.

We must not forget that the main part of the individual's reasoning generally consists of finding a reason to continue believing what he already believes.

Others will blindly deny their possible dependence on a central computer, arguing that they do as they please. They do not realize that they desire what the central computer makes them desire. It is sufficient to analyze individual motivation in depth to understand that everything takes place under internal or external pressure. Ideas, feelings, impulses, or actions are always compulsive; they are never born from an act of superior and free reasoning.

The usual reason for upholding the idea of one's own freedom consists in the argument of showing a long list of all things accomplished in life. Nevertheless, it should be asked, were these things done by our own desires, or were we obliged to do them in spite of ourselves? Did we desire a certain thing, or were we obliged to desire it?

There are a few very simple reflections, which should lead any individual who meditates on them to reach the conclusion that sapiens' scale of values is tremendously distorted.

Here are some of these reflections:

• Science does not bring true happiness to the human being; it only provides comfort, pleasure, and technology.

• Intelligence does not develop or form content in a person.

• The internal nature of the human being has not appreciably evolved during the course of history.

• Man has no knowledge of the greater portion of his internal nature.

• The human species has no one with whom to compare it self, only animals; therefore, they have no point of reference for their own worth or their real position in the cosmic scale.

Each person must reach his own conclusions on these thoughts.

It is necessary to consider that Hermeticism is not solely dedicated to showing how bad sapiens is, or how insignificant he is, but that it has a well-defined plan for the human race. Pointing out the real position of sapiens as a small animal of little importance in the face of universal grandeur, and whose only value is that he possesses the divine spark, has a creative and not a destructive objective.

We attempt to encourage a person, through reflection, to see the unbarred cell in which he lives, as this is the only way that the desire to escape will be born in him. While an individual believes that all is well and that he himself is very well, there will be no possibility of real evolution.

This is the reason why many mystics suddenly feel spiritual restlessness after having gone through tremendously painful experiences which came as a positive shock, awakening them from their somnambulistic lethargy. The object of suffering is to awaken the individual's consciousness. Nevertheless, there are many so deeply asleep that suffering only further brutalizes them, and is absolutely unproductive.

There are many who have a purely devotional attitude toward Hermeticism, thinking that it is sufficient to be very spiritual to progress along the path, and that these spiritual individuals (according to their own opinion) will be the best prepared to ascend to higher levels. They believe that progress is attained by a kind of contact with heaven or with the occult powers, and that it is sufficient to sacrifice oneself by serving mankind in order to obtain everything.

In truth, the great disadvantage of Hermeticism lies in the fact that it is the path of pure intelligence, and if the student does not develop his intelligence and awareness to the required levels, no evolution is possible. Another enormous obstacle for people is that it is necessary to work very hard as Hermeticism is the path of self salvation, and out of laziness and indolence, one does not wish to save himself.

People prefer to be saved by Christ even if this should only be a figment of their deluded brains; or to be saved by magic or by the crew of flying saucers. One of the reasons people do not make a decision to save themselves is because they have no idea what they have to be saved from, believing that on earth, everything is just as it seems.

Professional occultists or eternal students of esotericism live in the hopes of one day finding someone who will open their third eye, for example, in the belief that therein resides all magical secrets. For them we would say that the third eye only gives them a vision of the human being's energy projections without even remotely offering them any spiritual progress or advancement.

Furthermore, we must mention the purely symbolic nature of the supposed operation of the opening of the third eye, under which Lobsang Rampa hid the true mystery of what the Hindus call Maya Virrupa, whose most approximate translation is the path of illusion.

The fabulous unicorn, the mythical animal with a horn on its forehead, represents what we are referring to. One who wants to act with his third eye must develop a horn in the middle of his forehead.

Much has been made of unfolding in the belief that control of this indicates a higher degree of spiritual evolution. Nothing is farther from the truth; it is easy to unfold with an extract of cannabis indica without any spiritual merit whatsoever. Unfolding is no more than a dangerous exercise and is extremely fatiguing. We must add that it has never been known if the visions that the operator sees when unfolded, or with his third eye, are really true or only mirages of cosmic ether.

The eternal aphorism "as above, so below" confirms this fact. If we can so frequently deceive ourselves in the physical world using the senses we freely control, there is even more likelihood to deceive ourselves upon using such difficult and restricted faculties.

The real importance of unfolding is something we have spoken little about, and which could be called Hermetic unfolding. This consists of being conscious simultaneously on two planes: physical and spiritual, in heaven and on earth. It is thus that the Hermeticist rises above himself upon becoming divided into two persons, both of which simultaneously have "their eyes open." It is said that in this way the Hermeticist obtains the power of powers, which is uniting earth with heaven.

Of this state we will describe just one phenomenon which is very curious and incomprehensible to the ordinary individual, and that is to simultaneously perceive two extremes. If this can be understood, the individual will be sad and happy at the same time, simultaneously. Pleasure and pain, serenity and agitation, attraction and repulsion, and life and death are experienced at the same time.

It must not be believed that this experience produces an average without differentiation. On the contrary, this gives absolute understanding and experience of each of these states without the negative repercussions which good or evil extremes may produce.

When we mention this, it is not with the intention that this should be easily understood, but rather "sensed."

Admirers of Yoga give tremendous importance to Kundalini and the Chakras, believing them to be the fundamental pillar of spiritual fulfillment. The truth is that no benefit would be gained by a person through this touted awakening of Kundalini, except perhaps an intense creative euphoria that has nothing to do with spiritual progress.

We must understand that true evolution cannot be improvised in any way, and that no one in the Universe can attain it without a slow, sustained, and vigorous process of self-fulfillment.

There are those who pursue magical powers such as clairvoyance with tremendous perseverance, without stopping to think whether it is really beneficial to them or not. As an example, one of the easiest things to attain is what is commonly called second sight. For this we will give the method, although we honestly trust that no one will use it. To attain second sight it is sufficient to become a medium and endeavor to develop mediumistic faculties, easily done by means of the collective suggestion which takes place during seances.

Upon becoming a medium, the individual becomes clairvoyant very rapidly, as he is possessed by what we may call controlling spirits of a lower nature. Traditionally, in classic occultism these are called astral shells; they are the bestial principles of individuals which survive for some time after death, and which need to absorb and feed on magnetic energy from living beings, producing a type of vampirism.

The medium is taken over by these "astral shells" and they project into his imagination all that they themselves have seen in the "world of the dead." However, they charge a high price for their work, as they absorb the energy of the medium who is left exhausted, generally ending up contracting leukemia or some other ailment which science cannot cure.

There was an interesting case of an ex-medium who managed to infiltrate a new group of people who did not believe in spiritualism. He related to them his spectacular visions during which there appeared prehistoric beings who spoke to him. In a short while, five or six of the group were seeing things similar to this, for the first time in their lives. This is an example of magnetic contagion.

Many who have attained power or great riches scoff at spiritual things, alleging that there is nothing their money cannot buy, despising the philosopher, believing he has something to sell. Protected by their wealth, they believe they have attained the pinnacle of their ambitions. Unfortunately, they do not understand that beyond a certain limit there is nothing their money can buy, not even material pleasures, and that the effort of retaining their possessions consumes all their energy.

How many modern Croesus types are unable to acquire a new stomach at any price, one that will enable them to again enjoy gastronomic pleasures; or perhaps are unable to restore their worn out sexual energy in order to possess the woman they desire? It is ironic that they cannot enjoy what the most humble laborer is able to have.

One of the comforting things in life is to contemplate the exceptions to this rule, as in the case of those who use their wealth for truly significant social work, and for which they will most certainly receive a prize from the Lords of Destiny in a future reincarnation.

It is true that by means of good works the sins of the individual are forgiven. It is necessary to clarify that, for the Hermeticist, sin as it is commonly known does not exist; there is the Law of Cause and Effect, and the occult judges who judge and punish people according to their individual responsibility, group them into four categories:

• The illiterate human masses

• The middle class

• The great scientists, outstanding professionals, philosophers, and leaders

• The initiates

The occult judges punish the individual according to his responsibility. They consider the responsibility of the first category to be practically nil; that of the second category slightly higher; the third has a lot of responsibility; and the fourth, the initiates, are considered absolutely responsible.

Therefore, should they stray from the correct path, they receive the worst possible punishment, as they have acted with their eyes open. This penalty may even be the violent physical elimination of the individual or being demoted in future incarnations.

It is necessary to point out that Hermetic science, like all that exists, may be used for good or evil. In itself it is neutral, as it is beyond good or evil, but some of its rules may become known and used erroneously. It is for this reason that white magic and black magic are always differentiated as we have already mentioned in previous pages, and that in their manifestations, one is constructive and the other destructive.

Speaking of black magicians reminds one of a tale like A Thousand and One Nights. The truth is that there are black magicians in the worst sense of the word, who are in reality the most ferocious enemies of the Stellar Men, moving all kinds of forces and people in order to attack them. In contrast to stellar, we could perhaps correctly call them abysmal.

Many of these black magicians know the strangest secrets to resist death. Alexandra David-Neel relates in one of her books on Tibet the horrible case of some indescribably ancient priests who stayed alive by feeding on live men who had to die slowly in a special sarcophagus, on top of the remains of others who had died before in that same place. In reality, they had to slowly rot to death, but for the spell to be successful, this had to be done willingly, being convinced by the priests of the extraordinary and decisive spiritual merit of a supreme confrontation with death.

Count Dracula is not a simple fantasy. Hermetic tradition maintains that these beings really exist and that many of them live hundreds of years by drinking fresh blood extracted from humans, obtaining the vitality necessary to restore their own system. It is a fact that many people practice unconscious vampirism at another level and absorb the energy of others. It is thus that "machismo" and "matriarchy" are merely forms of unconscious emotional vampirism.

Within the realm of this subject it is interesting to consider certain businessmen, who, guided by animal instinct, vampirize their competitors whom they gradually absorb until they are ruined and destroyed. Vampirism is such an extensive subject that we expect to cover it more in detail in a future book.

The world is unaware of the terrible battles waged between stellar and abysmal men. Just as with most truly important things, they remain hidden beneath absolutely different appearances.

With respect to the future of mankind, we maintain that the best hope of salvation lies in the possibility of scientifically establishing our theory of people's levels of consciousness. Perhaps in the near future important advances and discoveries will occur in the field of measurement of yet undiscovered cerebral rhythms. The most important of these is the rhythm of superior awareness, which appears in people possessing a high level of awareness, the result of Hermetic work upon themselves.

The day this discovery becomes a scientific reality, human beings must undoubtedly be grouped according to "levels of consciousness." Social and intellectual classes will disappear to give way to degrees of awareness. It is probable that in this way a scale of one to ten will be established in which 1 would represent the highest state of awareness among people, and 10, the lowest. It is understood that those possessing the higher levels would be the group which would guide mankind.

They would absolutely guarantee a world free from wars, delinquency, and poverty, with an equal opportunity for all, as everyone would be able to climb the scale of awareness and some day reach level one. Nevertheless, for this system to be justified and accepted by people, it would necessarily have to carry much more weight and scientific authority than the current system of measuring human intelligence.

It would have to be the obvious result of an absolutely clear scientific verification of the theory of levels of awareness, and the basis of it would have to be made known in simple language so that the entire world could understand it.

We guarantee that this discovery would be the greatest that man has ever invented during his existence on earth, the only discovery capable of guaranteeing the future and happiness of the human race to a certain extent.

However, at first this would cause tremendous problems among the disqualified people. We would be very surprised to find that the majority of individuals who previously were known as superior beings due to their great intelligence would be classified under number 5 after measuring their level of awareness. Men who previously were great leaders might be relegated to the lowest categories upon verifying, without any doubt, their absolute lack of a state of superior alertness and internal judgment, which is the very condition from which a high level of consciousness is derived.

On the other hand, simple men, with minimal culture and a very elemental intelligence would possibly occupy the highest positions. In the last instance, this cerebral examination to determine the level of awareness would establish the degree of the individual's spiritual age, translated into concepts of evolution, wisdom, and spiritual perfection.

It is thus that the world could be governed by an Advisory Committee of Spiritual Ancients, true sages, possessors of a high level of awareness and very clear internal judgment.

Many people believe, based on ancient prophecies or interpretation of supposed messages contained in the pyramids or ancient documents, that the world will come to an end in the near future, as a result of a great catastrophe, possibly of stellar origin. Disregarding the truth or error of these prophecies, we consider the human being as the great determining factor of these phenomena.

Thus, as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of the extreme perversion of their inhabitants, the planet Earth is influenced in its interstellar relations by mankind's mental, emotional, instinctive, and psychological states. The behavior and character of people influence, to a very important extent, the climate, vegetable and animal life, and telluric phenomena.

Any catastrophe predicted for the near future could be annulled by a decisive or important upheaval in the behavior and spiritual life of the human being.

In this respect, as in any circumstance which pretends to predict the future, the Hermeticist is more interested in creating the future than in predicting it.

We hope that in the nearest possible future, the scientific measurement of "levels of consciousness" will become a reality for humanity, thus signifying a new dawn for Mankind.

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