Metals As Symbols of Physical And Superphysical Bodies

According to occult philosophy the whole Universe with all its parts, from the highest plane of Adi (the first field of manifestation) to physical Nature, is interlocked, interwoven, to make a single whole, one body, one organism, one life, one consciousness, cyclically evolving under one law. All the “organs” or parts of the Macrocosm, though apparently separated in space and in plane of manifestation, are in fact harmoniously interrelated and interacting. The wole Cosmos, for example, which includes the Zodiac, many Solar System, Planets, Kingdoms of Nature, Planes of Nature, elements and Orders of Beings, is a co-ordinated whole. This is because all these parts of the Cosmos, and also their constituents, are in “correspondence”, harmonious interaction or mutual resonance with each other. Kabbalistically stated, what is below is above, what is inside is outside, and everything interacts with everything else.

Certain “organs” or parts are more intimately grouped together than others. They resonate harmoniously with each other like the notes of a chord, sharing a common basic frequency of oscillation. In Occultism they are said to “correspond”. For example, a particular Zodiacal Sign, one planet, an element, a metal, a colour, a principle of man, a chakra- a funnel shaped energy centres, and a part of the physical body of man will all vibrate on a common frequency. Knowledge of these correspondences provides a key to the understanding of the Universe, of man’s place therein and relationship therewith, and of human development. It is therefore also the key to the solution of many human development. It is therefore also the key to the solution of many human problems, including those of happiness and unhappiness, health and disease.

A profound, fundamental truth concerning man is that in his spiritual, psychical and physical natures he is microcosm, a miniature replica or epitome of the whole order of created beings and things, the Macrocosm. Man is thus a model of the totality of Nature. He contains within himself as a potentiality the collective aggregate of all that has ever existed, does at any time exist, and will ever exist throughout the eternity of eternities.

Metals as Symbols of parts of human nature. Thus pricious metals such as gold and silver are used as emblems of the more spiritual parts of man, whilst brass and iron refer to the material and mortal vehicles of human consciousness. In chinese symbology, as also in medieval alchemy, the process of refining and transmuting metals in a furnace represents humanity undergoing the purifying trials of life for the purpose of aiding its evolution. Gold, for example, particularly as the product of transmution, is generally regarded as a symbol of the Divine nature in man, the divine wisdom in him from which arises his faculty of spiritual intuitiveness. Silver is also a symbol of the natural or mortal man, whilst steel or specially hardened metal, as in spears and swords, refers to the spiritual will, a manifestation of the purest divine Essence (Atma) in him. Copper corresponds to the capacity for abstract thought, a faculty of the synthesising, prophetic intellect. Brass, being an alloy, refers to the blended abstract and concrete minds, whilst iron refers to his emotional nature. Tubal-cain (Brass and Iron) are personifies the Inner Self at work on the development and structure of man’s mental and emotional natures. As an instructor of artificers in these two metals, he will also be concerned with the force centres (chakras) and other channels whereby spiritual attributes and activities reach the physical body and are manifested in it, both consciously and subconsciously. 

“The World is Built Upon the Power of Numbers”- PYTHAGORAS

The several numbers such as 7, 6, 10 and 20 which are introduced into the narrative may admittedly be merely historical. Since, however, they posses distinct symbolical meanings, particularly those concerning the involution and evolution of life, first from spiritual levels into the mineral and later through the plant, animal and human kingdoms and thence on to superhumanity.

The number 7, for example, represents not final perfection but the completion of a phase of development, followed by temporary cessation. The number 6, thus regarded, refers to a stage in which a cycle is not yet completed, but nearly so. The number 10 is a combination of the vertical line of self-consciousness and the ellipse or circle of super-consciousness. It is the number of perfection and suggests the completion of the out-pouring of the life-forces through a directive Logos. The number 20, or 2, stands for the dualism of manifested life, the Divine on the one hand and Nature on the other, Spirit and matter and their inter-relationships.

Number can be used as symbols, because the Universe is establised upona co-ordinated plan in which quatitaive relations are repeated through different states and planes. Number is common to all planes of Nature, and thus unites them. By the study of numbers, therefore, one may learn the fundamental laws of the creation, constitution and progressive events in the lives of both Universes and men; for man is a modification of cosmic elements,  a concentration of cosmic forces.

Every number has a certain power which is not expressed by the figure or symbol employed to denote quantity only. This power rests in an occult connection existing between the relations of things and the principles in Nature of which they are the expression.

All numbers are represented by ten symbols, beginning with 0 (zero) and ending with 9. In this series:

0 stands for infinity; the Infinite, Boundless Being, the egg of the Universe, and the Solar System in its entirety.Universality, cosmopolitanism, circumambulation, voyaging, the cycles, negation, circumference and limitation are implied. 0 (zero) also denotes the infinitely great and the point at the centre, the atom, the absence of quality, absolute freedom, and the infinite and eternal Absolute which can only be described as No-Thing, because it is nothing that man can name. Zero also indicates boundless, infinitely potential, living light, the Rootless Root, the Sourceless Source.

1 Symbolises manifestation, assertion, the positive and active principle. It is 0 (zero) made manifest, and so is the symbol of the Infinite and Unmanifest. It represents the Ego, self-assertion, positivism, egotism, separateness, selfhood, isolation, self-reliance, dignity and rulership. In a religious sense it symbolises the Lord. In a philosophical and scientific sense it is the synthesis and fundamental unity of all things, and in a material sense it is the unit of life, the individual. In man it is the Monad and Spirit-Self manifesting as individuality; the unfolding unit or immortal, reincarnating Ego.

2 expresses antithesis; all opposing polarities including active and passive, male female, positive and negative, profit and loss. In the Universe it stands for the dualism of manifested life – God and Nature, Spirit and matter, and their relationships. Duplication, reflection, alternation, sympathy and antagonism; pure wisdom, as the mirror in which the Divine in both Universe and man sees Itself; these are also implied in the number 2. In man it is the spiritual intuitiveness which illuminates the mind and manifests in the personality as grasp of inner principles, abstract ideas and basic formulae, as also of the fact of the inevitable duality of being on all planes of manifestation.

3 Signifies the trilogy; the trinity of life, substance and intelligence, of force, matter and consciousness. Creation, preservation, transformation, multiplication, development, growth, and therefore expression, are all implied.

3-denotes the outworking of the principles reflected from1 by 2. This suggests sanctifying intelligence, understanding in contrast to wisdom, which reflects knowledge of the inmost Self. The family –father, mother and child; the tree dimensions-length, breadth and height; the three postulates-the thinker, the thought and the the thing; are also represented by the number-3.

4 is the number of reality concretion, order, measurement, classification, recording, tabulation and memory, the measuring intelligence. 4-typifies the material Universe, pysical laws, physiognomy; also logic, reason, discernment, discrimination, discretion and relativity; cognition by perception, experience, knowledge and science. The cross, segmentation, partition, order, classification, the swastika, the wheel of the law, sequence, enumeration, are denoted by-4. Applied to man it symbolises the personal nature-the lower quaternary.

5 being the middle number between 1 (beginning) and 9 (completion), implies mediation; as also adptation, process and methods. Law is seen by the wise as the manifestation of perfect justice, and they adapt natural conditions to the end of progressive liberation from all bondage. Expansion, inclusiveness, comprehension, understanding, judgement, increase, propagation, justice, reaping, harvesting, reproduction of oneself in the material world, fatherhood, rewards and punishments under the law, are all represented by this number. The unchanging aspects, the strength and apparent severity of the operations of law, inspire fear in the uninstructed. Actually this law is the impersonal root of all operations of the life-force.

6 is the symbol of balance, equillibrium, symmetry, harmony of opposites, reciprocity, complementary activities and intelligent mediation. 6-represents co-operation, marriage, connubiality, the relations of the sexes, a link, counterpoise, the interaction of the spiritual and the material, the mental and the physical, in man. The psyche, psychology, divination, psychism and psychometry are symbolised by the number-6.

7 represents temporary cessation, but not final perfection, which is reserved for the number-9. Number-7 stands for the logical consequence of the ideas symbolised by the preceding numbers. This includes rest, safety, security, victory, but not final cessation or completion. It also implies time and space, duration, distance, old age, decadence, death, endurance, stability, immotality. The seven ages days of the week, seals, principles in man (the triad and quaternary), notes and colours, are also referred to by the number 7.

8 is the digit with the meaning of ebb and flow, alternate cycles, involution and evolution, the emergence of opposite forms of expression from a single cause, rhythm, and dissolution at the end of cycles. 8-also denotes reaction, revolution, fracture, rupture, disintegration, seggregation, decomposition, anarchism, seperation, divorce, expiration following inspiration, afflatus, genius, invention, deflection, eccentricity, aberration and madness. The process of balancing accounts with Nature, receiving payment and paying debts, karmic adjustment in which, for example, both benefices and adversities may be received in preparation for advancement intoa new cycle-all this is indicated by the number-8. It is the number of magic and occult science.

9 is the number of completion, but not absolute cessation, attainment, fulfillment, the end of one cycle merging into the beginning of its successor which will lead to greater attainment, since every end is the seed of a new beginning. 9-is thus the number of regeneration, spirituality, sense-extension, premonition, going forth, voyaging, reformation, nebulosity, pulsation, rhythm, reaching out, extension, archery, prediction, revelation and mystery. 

10 is a combination of the vertical line of self-consciousness and the ellipse or circle of superconsciousness. It is the number of perfection and dominion, and suggests the outpouring of the limitless life-force through a directive Logos. 10-indicates the resplendent intelligence, full of life and power, and consciousness of mastery founded upon the perfecting and organising power of understanding.

Zodiacal Symbology

In occult philosophy a Solar system is said to consist of ten Planetary Schemes. Each Scheme, Each Scheme, generally named according to its physically visible representative, consists of seven Chains of Globes. In terms of time a chain consists of the passage of the life-wave seven times around its seven Globes. Each such passage is called a Round, the completion of the seventh ending the life of the Chain. The Globes of a Round are both superphysical and physical and are arranged in a cyclic pattern, three being on a descending are, three on an ascending arc and the middle, the fourth Globe, being the densest of all and the turning poin. The active period of each of these units, from Solar System to Globe, called Manvantara, is succeed by a passive period of equal duration, called Pralaya. The completion of the activity of the seventh Globe of the seventh Round of the seventh Chain brings to an end the activity of a Planetary Scheme. Our Earth’s Scheme is now in its fourth Round of the fourth Chain, and the life-wave is half-way through its period of activity on the fourth Globe, the physical Earth. Thus the densest possible condition of substance is now occupied by Spirit, and so by the Monads or Spirits of men. The resistance of matter is at its greatest in this epoch, and this offers an explanation of the difficulties of human life at this period. The occupation of a physical planet by man consists of seven racial epochs and phases of evolutionary development. Throughout this work these are reffered to as Root Races.

The Chaldeans were the specialists amongst the Initiates of the planet in the twin sciencesof Astronomy and Astrology, the latter being regarded as the “soul” of the former. Since the Hebrew Patriarchs derived their esoteric wisdom largely from the chaldean Mysteries, the authors of the Pentateuch (The first five books of the Old Testament.) were informed of, but dare not directly reveal, the essential elements of the two sciences, as well as their mutual relationship. In their allegories, however, they disclose a great deal of information and in the strange and apparently repugnant stories of Jacob’s polygamy and concubinage, resulting in the birth of twelve children, certain elements of both Astronomy and Astrology are indirectly indicated.

In this sense Jacob is the Sun itself, Leah is the psycho-spiritual Solar System, and Rachel is its etheric-physical aspect. Their handmaidens are merely attributes and aspects of themselves, being personifications of gunas (The three qualities inherent in matter: Rajas, Sattva, and Tamas. These correspond to the three aspects of the Trinity –Father, Son and Holy Ghost), planes and sub-planes. The products of the effect fructifying solar rays upon the different types of matter are symbolised by the offspring, their natures being portrayed kabbalistically by their names and their Zodiacal correspondences by their characters and ways of life.

In this reading Jacob represents the sun, physical and superphysical, source of the fohatic energy of the Solar System. The women with whom he associates stand for the planes of Nature with their subdivisions and attributes. The children, in their turn, are the products of the interplay between solar energy or Fahat and tattvas and sub-tattvas of which, in both its superphysical and physical aspects, Prakriti consists.

In another possible interpretation Leah represents the combined Dhyan Chohans of the formless or arupa and Rachel those of the form or rupa planes, whilst their handmaidens represent the shaktis therefore, the auric forces and substances or free matter of the planes; for during Cosmogenesis and throghout cosmic evolution- in this case applying especially to our Solar System-the primary Dhyan Chohans are in the highest spiritual sense “married” to the First Logos and fructified by its outpoured fohatic energy.

Jacob, who became the Patriarch of Israel, and his eleven sons and one daughter whose names were applied to the twelve Tribes, macro-cosmicale represent the whole of creation. This includes the totality of all beings resulting from all possible combinations of the One, the Three and the Seven Cosmocratores (“World Architects”), the Dhyan Chohanic (Lords of Contemplation) creative principles, Rays, Powers and Intelligences.

Twelve, in the deepest occult sense, is the true whole number, the totality of the Orders of creative “seeds” or potential powers and attributes  resident in the First Emanation from Parabrahman (Beyond Brahman). Ten is the number of evolutionary culmination and indicates the about-to-be-reborn Crown or Kether at the close of the cycle when all sinks back into the primary Pair, primordial Spirit and Matter, making in all twelve Principles.

Oriental Astrology

“Know thyself”, the motto of the ancients, is the simplest but the grandest sermon that can ring within our ears. By the knowledge of nature do we honour nature; let us then consider the study that can give such knowledge; for by the knowledge of self may we master self, and by the improvement of self may we also improve mankind-to the advancement of the Race, to the honour of the world, and to the glory of those who, in the march of time, will fill life’s broken ranks, and some day take our place.

To consider the origin of this science, we must take our thoughts back to the earliest days of the world’s history, and furthermore to the consideration of a people the oldest of all, yet one that has survived the fall of empires, nations, and dynasties, and who are to-today as characteristic and as full of individuality as they were when thousands of years ago the first records of history were written. The Hindus, a people whose philosophy and wisdom are every day being more and more revived. Loking back to earliest days of the history of the known world, we find that the first linguistic records belong to the people under consideration, and date back to that far-distant cycle of time known as the Aryan civilization. Beyond history we cannot go; but the monuments and cave temples of India, according to the testimony of archaeologists, all point to a time so far beyond the scant history at our disposal, that in the examination of such matters our greatest knowledge is dwarfed into infantile nothingness – our age and era are but the swaddling-clothes of child; our manhood that of the infant in the arms of the eternity of time.

In endeavouring to trace the origin of Astrology, we are carried back to the confines of a prehistoric age. History tells us that in the remotest period of the Aryan civilazation it had even a literature are even now extant, we must therefore conclude that it had a still more remote infancy; but into that night of antiquity we dare not venture.

As regards the people who first understood and practised this study of the astrology, we find undisputed proofs of their learning and knowledge. Long before Rome or Greece or Israel was even heard of, the monuments of India point back to an age of learning beyond, and still beyond. From the astronomical calculations that the figures in their temples represent, it has been estimated that the Hindus understood the precession of the equinoxes centuries before the Christian era. In some of the ancient cave temples, the mystic figures of the Sphinx silently tell that such knowledge had been possessed and used in advance of all those nations afterward so celebrated for their learning. It has been demonstrated that to make a change from one sign to another in the zodiacal course of the sun must have occupied at the least 2,140 years, and how many centuries elapsed before such changes came to be observed and noticed it is impossible even to estimate.

The Greek civilazation has in many ways been considered the highest and most intellectual in the world, and here it was that astrology – from the Greek –grew, flourished, and found favour in the sight of those of those whose names are as stars of honour in the firmament of knowledge. We find that Anaxagoras taught and practised it in 423 B.C. We find that Hispanus discovered, on an altar dedicated to Hermes, a book on astrology written in gold letters, which he sent as a present to Alexander the Great, as “a study worthy the attention of an elevated and inquiring mind.” We find it also sanctioned by such men of learning as Aristotle, Plato, Paracelsus, Cardamis, Albertus Magnus, the Emperor Augustus, and many others of note.