The Spiritus Mundi A few glimpses
THE SPIRITUS MUNDI A few glimpses...
The Spiritus Mundi, or Spirit of the World, this "universal fluid" associated with the color green, celestial dew, linked to the notions of Akasha and Prâna of the Hindu Tradition or to Ki of the Chinese Tradition, whether , during the Great Work , to capture... sort of astral essence... remains, under various names (Ether, Azoth, Astral Light, Universal Dissolvent, Mercury of the Sages, Green Serpent, etc.) which never cease to confuse the tracks, one of the major mysteries of our Art. The alchemical mirror that is the Moon washes it on us, restores it to us, reflects it to us...
"Stealing fire from heaven and fixing it," Magophon tells us...
I thought it useful, in this article, to bring together various extracts from various authors, all relating to this famous Spiritus Mundi. We would thus get a clearer picture of it, thanks to the concordances of opinions which, it goes without saying, are singularly explicit...
Explicit?
As soon as we stop imagining that symbols are sorts of Spanish inns where we bring everything and anything, as soon as we admit that Alchemy is something else - or even more – than a series of philosophical or intellectual reflections, once we understand that Mother Nature is both spirit and… body, we can conceive that “astral influences” are not just a figure of speech! So much the worse for the theoreticians, so much the worse for the lovers of “logos” without form or consistency.
Make no mistake! Alchemy is not only a matter of waves - even if it is too -, and is certainly not limited to some exchange of molecules... But, whether we like it or not, the spirit and the body – and some will add the soul – participate in the same project…
LAT
Notre-Dame de Paris - Portal of the Virgin
The Bath of the Stars - Condensation of the Universal Spirit
Plate 18 from "Mystery of the Cathedrals" by Fulcanelli
Drawing by Julien Champagne
EUGENE CANSELIET
"The Alchemists and the Universal Fluid"
Article published in number 2 of the magazine "Atlantis" (1946)
1 st excerpt : "The alchemist - and by this term we understand the philosopher who stands rigorously in the way of the Great Work - the alchemist, we say, directs all his efforts towards capturing the universal spirit, of which he will make, in his microcosmic creation, the source of life and the factor of perfection. The persevering and unfortunate adept, known by the pseudonym of Cyliani (Silene), personifies the spiritus mundi of the old texts in the nymph of great beauty who is the maker of his laborious success, and who speaks to him, in a dream, at the foot of a big oak tree:
My essence is celestial, you can even consider me as an excretion from the pole star. My power is such that I animate everything: I am the astral spirit, I give life to everything that breathes and vegetates, I know everything. Speak: what can I do for you ”…
2nd excerpt : "Perhaps this titanic device (the cyclotron) will explain the miracle that the alchemist provokes without understanding it, and which simply amounts to capturing, with the appropriate mirror, this universal fluid, called, in modern scientific terminology, cosmic radiation . »
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VAN HELPEN
The Staircase of the Elders
(Book 4th - Chapter 1 - Of the Element of Air and the Air of the Philosophers)
It is the Air in which the spirit of God was poured out on the waters before the creation of the World, and it is the light and the Air in which this same Spirit is still poured out at present, and by which and with which it penetrates all things, and that it is everywhere present.
Air is the matrix of the light and the influences of the stars, which it attracts to itself by an amorous inclination, and carries them (as on a cart) to the places where the creator and director of the universe has ordered them.
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MAGOPHON
Hypotyposis of the Mutus Liber (Plate 3)
(...) Some authors, and not the least, have claimed that the greatest operative artifice consists in capturing a ray of sunshine, and imprisoning it in a bottle closed with the seal of Hermès. This crude image caused the operation to be dismissed as something ridiculous and impossible. And yet, it is true to the letter, so much so that the image becomes one with reality. It's rather incredible that we haven't noticed that yet. This miracle, the photographer accomplishes it in a way by using a sensitive plate that is prepared in different ways. In the Typus Mundi, published in the 17th century by Frs. of the Society of Jesus, we see an apparatus, described again by Tiphaigne de Laroche, by means of which one can steal fire from Heaven and fix it.The process could not be more scientific,
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PIERRE VICOT
The Key to the Secrets of Philosophy
(Book One - Chapter IV)
77.
The stone is nothing but a quintessence descended from heaven to earth which gives life to all things in the world: therefore its first origin is in heaven, and secondarily and according to art in gold and silver, of which it is necessary to marry, by means of raw natures with corporate influences, but the way is unknown to many although it is common and before the eyes of each one.
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LIMOJON DE SAINT-DIDIER
Interview of Eudoxus and Pyrophile
EUDOXUS.
It's a lot, however, that you already know for yourself that this passage has some connection with the one I have just explained to you; that is to say, you judge well that the woman who is proper to stone and who must be united to it, is this fountain of living water, whose entirely celestial source, which has its center particularly in the Sun, and in the Moon, produces that clear and precious stream of the Sages, which flows into the sea of the Philosophers, which surrounds everyone; it is not without foundation that this divine fountain is called by this Author the woman of the stone; some have represented her in the form of a celestial nymph;some others give it the name of the chaste Diana, whose purity and virginity is not sullied by the spiritual bond which unites her to the stone; in a word,
PYROPHILE.
I feel with indescribable satisfaction all the effect of the lights, which you tell me about; and since we are on this point, please allow me to ask you a question, which, although outside the text of this Author, is nevertheless essential on this subject. I beg you to tell me if the magical marriage of Heaven with Earth can be done at any time; or if there are seasons in the year which are more suitable than others to celebrate these Philosophical Weddings.
EUDOXUS.
I have come too early to refuse you an explanation so necessary, and so reasonable. Several Philosophers have marked the season of the year, which is most proper to this operation. Some have made no mystery of it; others, more reserved, explained themselves on this point only by parables. The first named the month of March, and spring. Zachaire and some other Philosophers say, that they began their work at Easter, and that they ended it happily in the course of the year. The others content themselves with representing the garden of the Hesperides enamelled with flowers, and particularly with violets and hyacinths, which are the first productions of Spring.The Cosmopolitan more ingenious than the others, to indicate that the season most suitable for Philosophical work,
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ANONYMOUS
The Banquet of the Elders
1 st excerpt : When they got out of there, the geniuses wanted to be paid. Not knowing how to satisfy them, they told me that it was philosophers' money that they needed and that this money was a breath of wind. So I whispered thirty or forty times in their face, and they were happy. They told me that gold or silver, however material they may be, are made of the essence of the wind.
2nd exception : "You do not now doubt the reality of the work, although there are scholars who doubt it and because they have not seen the fountain and the origin of nature and that 'they don't know that the wind is the first principle of things , because these ignoramuses, when they want to make fun of the sciences and despise them, say that we only make wind, not believing so well to say since finally this matter does not it's just wind. But this wind is a greasy wind which blows from the south side, which charges the trees with manna, the flowers with honey and the herbs with dew which the dawn pours on them in the morning like a rain of molten diamonds and sparkling rubies. ”
3rd extract : It is the wind or the air of the heavens which carries in its womb the fecundity of the sun, it is the vapor of the elements of nature of the superior waters which naturally carry within it the spirit of light and the true fire of nature.
4th excerpt_ _: Now, it is certain that the soul aspires to rejoin its body by means of the spirit. Also in the work this soul, which is only a celestial vapor and the vehicle of the tinctures and of the astral fire, condenses in the form of brilliant tears which roll over the body. The elementary spirit, inferior to the soul, and from a lower region, also does the same thing, and by pressing the body on their wings, rise in the air, mingle with it, rarefy it, subtilize it. , dilate it into vapours, make it spiritual and inspire it with life. Which is sufficiently expressed by the tears of Hebe and Iris, by the kisses they gave you, even trying to take you to heaven. This heroic Hercules whom Hébé calls killer of monsters, as with contempt, testifying that he is a burden to him,in the heartof her dear lover, that is to say in the body which she does not visit without bringing him new favors every day, as Hebe has promised you, not to come to see you without bringing you new presents from heaven . "But why," I said to her, "is Hebe employed here rather than another goddess?" “It is, he told me, in relation to the renovation that is one of the most admirable effects of our work. For this renovating virtue is not in the elements dilated and rarefied in vapour, subtle as the sky itself. This virtue infused from heaven itself, and united with the soul, is our Hebe and our very pure and very subtle elements which make their purity shine in the colors of the rainbow, which elemental purity,
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EUGENE CANSELIET
Alchemy explained on its classical texts
"The solar radiation dissipates it, the heat volatilizes it, the clouds intercept it, the wind disperses it and prevents it from settling, but, on the other hand, the lunar radiation favors it and exalts it. On the surface of the earth, it units with the pure water of the dew which serves as its vehicle for the vegetable kingdom.
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EUGENE CANSELIET
Alchemy explained on its classical texts
There is no need to have acquired great knowledge of alchemy to realize that the engravings of the Silent Book reflect operations during which the energy of the cosmos intervenes decisively. The source is immense and the all-powerful contribution, as engravings 4, 9 and 12 easily suggest, which show us the gigantic beam of the aqueous fluid projected on the earth, from the height of the sky, between the two large luminaries, the sun and the moon.
Without fearing that certain frivolous minds will treat us as an aged dotard, we will once again underline the undeniable evidence that these three images offer us a couple of alchemists, especially happy; the man and the woman who are busy collecting the dew, provided abundant and better by the spring, from the ram to the bull.
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EUGENE CANSELIET
Alchemy explained on its classical texts
(Conjunction and Separation)
Each of the phases of the physical Great Work, whether principal or intermediate, has its well-marked limits, and this is why the purification should not be pursued beyond the moment when the stellated image appears strongly imprinted in the upper side of the longot brilliant , both flat and circular.
In these moments, the alchemist strengthens his accession; he has entered into the transcendent domain, of which no one ordinarily cares. Not only does he now know that the spirit of the cosmos is green in color , but he has also verified that the elusive agent of life nevertheless shows itself to be ponderous and, consequently, of material gravity.
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MATHURIN EYQUEM
The Pilot of the Living Wave
Of all the influences which fall here below, there are only those which are made at the time when the Planets have glances between them, with each change of quarter of the Moon, which are brought to the center, because they fall on the Moon, which has the property of reflecting them, as the rays of the Sun are reflected when they fall on a mirror, on the objects which are opposed to it, and communicate their qualities to them...
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GRIMALDY
Posthumous works
While agreeing that all that the Philosophers say of sublime about Nitre is true, it is necessary at the same time to agree that they hear speak of an aerial Nitre, which is attracted in salt whiter than snow, by the force rays of the Sun, & of the moon by a magnet which attracts the invisible spirit, this is the magnesia of the Philosophers, & the agent of which they compose their solvent, or philosophical mercury, which opens the mixture right to its center to have this pure fire which is the soul & the principle of life, & of the actions of all things, which is in some way the key which opens the secret doors to decompose the mixture & reduce it to its first principle.
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FULCANELLI
The Mystery of the Cathedrals (Amiens)
It is therefore important to remember that the sun is the destroyer par excellence of all substances that are too young, too weak to resist its igneous power. And this is so real that a therapeutic method has been based on this special action for the healing of external ailments, the rapid healing of wounds and wounds. It is the deadly power of the star on the microbial cells first, and then the organic cells, which made it possible to institute the phototherapeutic treatment.
And now work the day if you like; but don't accuse us if your efforts only end in failure. We know, as for us, that the goddess Isis is the mother of all things, that she carries them all in her womb, and that she alone is the dispenser of Revelation and Initiation. Profans who have eyes not to see and ears not to hear, to whom then will you address your prayers?
Are you unaware that Jesus can only be reached through the intercession of his Mother, sancta Maria ora pro nobis? And the Virgin is represented, for your instruction, with her feet resting on the lunar crescent, always dressed in blue, the symbolic color of the night star. We could say a lot more, but we think we've said enough."
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ANONYMOUS
Hermetic Recreations
Rest assured, therefore, that without the igneous water composed of the pure light of the Sun and the moon, it will be impossible for you to overcome the many obstacles which will multiply again before your eyes, when you attempt to cross this famous Strait which leads to the Sea of the Sages, that water which some rightly call the universal spirit and which the Englishman Dickinson has sufficiently made known, is of such great virtue and penetration, that all the bodies which are touched by it easily return to their first being.
I have already made it known that it was not rainwater or dew water which was suitable for this operation, I will add here that it is not either the water of a species of fungus commonly called Flos Coeli or Fleur du Ciel and which is very improperly taken for the Nostoch of the ancients, but an admirable water drawn by artifice from the rays of the sun and the moon. I would also say that the salts and other magnets that we use to draw moisture from the air are good for nothing in this circumstance and that there is only the only fire of Nature that we can rely on here. usefully serve. This fire enclosed in the center of all bodies needs a certain movement to acquire this attractive and universal property which is so necessary to you, and there is only one body in the world where it is with this condition. ,but it is so common that it is found wherever man can go; that is why I think it will not be difficult for you to meet him.
(We will derive great benefit from comparing this passage where this famous nostoc is highlighted, with the lines devoted to it by Fulcanelli in his "Mystery of the Cathedrals"; or even Eugène Canseliet in his "Alchemy explained on his classical texts" and his "Two Alchemical Logis"; or also Grassot, in his "Lumière drawn from chaos"; or Pierre Dujols, alias Magophon, in his "Hypotypose du Mutus Liber"; and finally Pernety, in various places. - LAT)
M. Bruno de Lansac, author of the commentary on the work entitled The light coming out of darkness, says wisely that fire lives on air and that it is in the places where the air abounds the most that one must seek the Sulfur of the Wise ; for he calls this water indifferently sulfur or mercury, especially since it contains both and enjoys their properties. However, these words are not to be taken quite literally. I recommend only to follow this author attentively when reviewing the Kingdoms of Nature, he gives a precise demonstration of the use and usefulness of this element for the maintenance of each of them. This well-thought-out chapter will be of great help to amateurs of science, and I cannot strongly urge them to make it the object of a particular study.
I said that light was the common source, not only of the Elements, but also of all that exists, and that it is to it, as to its principle, that everything must relate. The Sun and the fixed Stars which send it to us in such profusion are like its generators; but the Moon placed intermediately, tempering it with its humidity, communicates to it a generative virtue by means of which everything is regenerated here below.
Everyone knows today that the light that the moon sends us, is only a borrowing from that of the Sun, to which the light of the other stars comes to mingle. The Moon is therefore the common receptacle or focus of which all philosophers have heard: it is the source of their living water. If therefore you want to reduce the sun's rays to water, choose the moment when the moon transmits them to us with abundance, that is to say when it is full, or when it is approaching its full: you will have by this medium the igneous water of the rays of the Sun and the Moon in its greatest strength.
But there are still certain essential provisions to fulfill, without which you would only produce clear and useless water.
There is only a proper time to make this harvest of astral spirits. It is the one where Nature regenerates; for at this time the atmosphere is completely filled with the universal spirit. Trees and Plants which grow green again, and Animals which give themselves up to the pressing need of generation, make us particularly aware of its benign influence. Spring and autumn are therefore the seasons you should choose for this work; but, spring especially is preferable. Summer, because of the excessive heat which dilates and drives out this spirit, and winter because of the cold which retains it and prevents it from exhaling, are hors d'oeuvres. In the south of France the work can be started in March and resumed in September;but in Paris and in the rest of the kingdom,
It should now be known that the astral influence is preferably felt towards the North; that it is towards the North that the magnetic needle constantly turns, and that it is also towards the North that the Electric, Galvanic and Magnetic fluids carry all their efforts, it is therefore also towards this region that you will turn your apparatus, for experience has proved that on any other side you would not find this spirit.
It is also necessary that the sky be clear and that there should be no wind, other than the restless coolness of the night, for without that one would only obtain a very weak spirit and incapable of action.
One can begin the work as soon as the sun has set, and continue it all night; but, it must be stopped when it rises, because its light disperses the spirit, and one collects nothing more than a useless and harmful phlegm.
The Philosophers have hitherto kept these things very secret; they spoke of it only very obscurely, and always under the veil of allegory. D'Espagnet, the Cosmopolite and a few others have made ingenious descriptions of the season of spring.
Nicolas Flamel, to designate the northern region, feigned a trip to Santiago de Compostela, whence he returned with a converted Jewish doctor who, after teaching him the greatest peculiarities of the work, died in Orleans where he had him buried at Sainte-Croix.
We see in the sky the Milky Way which runs from noon to the North where it forms two branches whose direction is variable due to the movement of the earth, and whose variation the Compass follows. This Milky Way is vulgarly called the Way of Saint James, because the pilgrims designate it thus, and because it serves them as a guide during the Night for their great journey; it is also the guide of the Hermetic philosopher who recognizes it in the south where it takes its source, and follows it towards the North where its Mouth is. The converted Jewish physician is the Mercury he finds on his way, and which, as we know, reveals all the secrets of the Art, when one is its possessor.Flamel designates him as a doctor, because he purges the metals from their leprosy and is truly a medicine. He makes him a converted Jew, because the Light takes its source in the East and he uses it justly. Finally, he had him die in Orléans and buried in Sainte-Croix to announce his fixation: what the Cross marking the four cardinal points of the atmosphere shows more positively. It is thus a lie of the author of the book having for title Hermippus Redivivus tending to accredit his imbecile system, that the quotation which he made of the alleged voyage of N. Flamel and which he dares to support from the relation which he was made of it by two Adepts calling themselves his friends and affirming his long existence.
BV makes Adolf say, coming out of an underground passage in Rome, and holding in his hand the little lead box containing the parabolic figure of old Adam: "In my extreme delight, I looked to the south where the warm lions are, and then He turned to the North where the Bears are. ”
Saint Didier, author of the Hermetic Triumph , in his Letter to the Disciples of Hermes , says that “the study of this science is like a path in the sands where one must lead oneself by the North Star”.
This Star has always been considered the sure guide of our philosophy, and it is she who led the shepherds to the Crib where the Savior of the world rested. There are works entitled The Star or Philosopher of the North, but the abuse that is made of this emblem by too many pseudonymous authors, to give themselves relief and to be sought after, have covered it with so much of disfavors that it has lost much of its price.
Be aware, however, that the astral spirit being the foster father of the stone, it is necessary to collect a large quantity of it. This harvest cannot be done all at once, which is why we will employ all the time that the work lasts, which is at least three years; for we must not confine ourselves to what the authors say about the times, their speeches being only fabrics of enigmas or allegories of which I will give the explanation elsewhere. Let us return to the main Subject of Philosophy.
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ANONYMOUS
Scholies
15th
Clay is the natural and primary matrix of the whole world: the Astral Spirit is its seed.
16th
The Astral Spirit is unequivocally the light of the Sun and of the stars with which the air and both are filled.
17th
In our earth system, the sun is the father of this spirit, the moon is the mother.
18th
The Moon is said to be the mother of the Astral Spirit, because its vivifying Light draws its source from the Sun.
19th
However, all the stars joining their light to it, its true name is the Universal Spirit.
20th
This spirit, which is a fire, must be dissolved by another fire, and become Water.
21st
This Spirit is collected in the great sea of sages which is the air, by means of a magic steel which is of the same nature.
22nd
The central fire contained in all bodies is magic steel.
23rd
This magic word makes you see that it is not real steel, but that it is only called that by comparison.
24th
All living bodies draw air for their nourishment. The animal kingdom is where this attraction takes place most visibly.
25th
As soon as the astral spirit is attracted, it is reduced to water which the sages make their secret fire.
26th
Although all times are specific to this attraction, spring is the most suitable season, then autumn.
27th
At these two epochs, Nature is regenerated, and the air is more charged with this vital spirit.
28th
The Moon being the mother of this spirit, it is only when she shines that she gives it to us.
29th
Therefore, the greater its light, the more abundant that spirit.
30th
The Earth is round, and its motion is from west to east.
31st
The spirit pushed back towards the Poles by this movement, and finding its rest only towards the North, it takes refuge there.
32nd
The North being its homeland, it is in this region of the atmosphere that we must harvest it.
33rd
As soon as the Sun appears on the horizon, it drives out the spirit, one must cease work.
34th
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of lentils, so divide his land.
35th
It is necessary to make rain on this earth the dew of the sky, that is to say the spirit, and that it is soaked with it.
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CYALINI
Hermes unveiled
My essence is celestial, you can even consider me as an excretion from the pole star.
My power is such that I animate everything: I am the astral spirit, I give life to everything that breathes and vegetates, I know everything. Speak: what can I do for you?
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GOBINEAU OF MONTLUISANT
Very curious explanation of the enigmas and hieroglyphic, physical figures, which are at the great portal of the cathedral and Metropolitan church of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Consult the text...
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PATRICK RIVER
Of the influence of cosmic radiation
In the abundant alchemical literature, it is clear the importance given to stellar cosmic rays (essentially soli-lunar), as reflected for example by plates 4, 9 and 12 of the Mutus Liber of Altus, as well as that of the Hermetic Triumph, of L. de St Didier. Could this be solely due to the presence of ultraviolet rays (UV)? Although these are indeed filtered by the ozone layer, the cosmic rays striking the atmosphere and the earth's surface regularly generate a certain number of elements - radioactive or not - and in particular transmute nitrogen 14 carbon 12 or carbon 14 radioactive, with production of protons and electrons.
Strengthened by the interest that hermetic-alchemical literature has for the Sun: "The Sun does everything" says Hermes Trismegistus, who adds further: "Exposes to the Sun and thins out the vapor in the Sun..." Zozime the Panapolitan affirms that "The time to undertake the Great Work is that of summer, when the Sun has a favorable nature for the operation." In a treatise published in 1724, the anonymous author writes in Chapter IX, entitled "On the Sun, the true center and the heart of the world": "But who would know how to concentrate the influences of the Sun... would have found the secret of Nature for health and wealth. (...)