“Those who seek spiritual knowledge with much labor, but do not succeed in finding it, fail either through lack of faith or perhaps because in their stupidity and jealousy they have in mind to attack those who possess knowledge, just as the people of old once attacked Moses. … He who pursues spiritual knowledge for the sake of display and fails to attain it should not envy his neighbor or be cast down. On the contrary, … through the practice of the virtues, by working hard with his body, he will prepare his soul for that knowledge.

“Those who truly and devoutly aspire to an understanding of created beings, and have no thoughts of self-display, will find that they are granted lucid insight into such beings, and that through the insight they attain the knowledge they seek.” ~The Philokalia

Hard Work and Progress

Hard work is necessary for progress on our spiritual journey, as with most any journey or task. But hard work doesn’t necessarily mean you are making progress.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on FEBRUARY 12, 2018

“Another system that should perhaps be fitted into the Gnostic framework is Hermeticism. It is very diverse and it draws its material from many sources within the Western Mystery traditions; it considers that the whole of mankind is on a spiritual journey that is designed to return to a state of unity with the mind of God and this state of unity is its prime purpose; and it holds that spiritual growth cannot be achieved without human effort. If humanity is to reach the Divine therefore, we must aspire to the Divine.” ~Bernard Simon

Hermeticism is Gnosticism

There is really no doubt that Hermeticism is a school of Gnosticism. While some specific details vary from other schools, the primary tenets are the same. Most experts agree that the writing attributed to Hermes were probably written by several individual and collected together over a period of time.

Spiritual Journey

That mankind is on a spiritual journey is one of the beliefs of Hermeticism that it shares with many other schools. Some schools teach that we were sent here intentionally to learn before we become fully spiritual. Most Gnostic schools, however, do not consider the Great Fall into matter to be something God intended. It is instead the result of the errors made by the fallen angels.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 2, 2018

“That power of making ‘swift and loving ascents’ to the plane of onwise to which man attained t the end of the Interior Life, that conscious harmony with the Divine Will which then became the controlling factor of his active career, cannot be the end of the process of transcendence. The soul now hungers for a more intense Reality, a closer contact with ‘Him who is measureless; a deeper and deeper penetration into the burning heart of the universe. … Beyond both the conditioned and unconditioned world, beyond the Trinity itself that love discerns its ultimate objective—the very Godhead, the Divine Unity.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Plane of Onwise

“I don’t know what ‘onwise’ meant to ancient mystics. The only references I find online are to a modern corporation using that name. I believe that it means those who have raised their frequencies high enough to be in regular contact with the fifth dimension. That is the lowest of the nine dimensions considered to be part of the spiritual realms. It is the place where angels and Being of Light dwell. This is usually the highest level spiritual people become a part of while still living in the third dimension of matter. Quoting and interpreting from the writings of John of Ruysbroeck, Underhill says that this cannot be the end of our spiritual life, or the end of our spiritual growth. She is correct. If the fifth dimension were the highest level we could ever reach, it would be pointless to even bother. Fortunately, it isn’t.”

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 23, 2018

“It was taught in Manicheism that from our age onwards the souls of men would began to transmute into good and evil which will manifest in full force in the sixth epoch. In other words: human souls must strong enough to bring good out of evil by a process of spiritual alchemy.

“When the Earth begins to recapitulate the previous phases of its evolution, there will first be a reunion with the Moon, and then of this Earth-Moon with he Sun. The reunion with the Moon will mark the culminating point of evil on earth; the reunion with the Sun will signify, on the other hand, the advent of happiness, the reign of the ‘elect.’” ~Rudolf Steiner

Good and Evil Souls

“It is unfortunate that the word “soul” is used to mean several things. It can refer to the mundane soul that every animal including man has. Also it can refer to the Divine Soul. Or it can refer simply to the mind of man.

“The Divine Soul can never become evil. If it did, it would cease to be divine and immortal. Do is become dormant, like a person in a coma. That is what happened with the great fall and it still happens every time a person is born on the physical level of reality.

“So it is the mind that is really becoming good or evil, not the soul. Not if by “soul” you mean the Divine Soul from God. The mind, and the Ego in the mind become evil. That mind must be overcome by awakening the soul so that it can take control and make us into the good beings God meant us to be.”

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on FEBRUARY 2, 2018

“It was taught in Manichism that from our age onward the souls of men would begin to transmute into good the evil which will manifest in full force in the sixth epoch. In other words: human souls must be strong enough to bring good out of evil by a process of spiritual alchemy.
“When the Earth begins to recapitulate the previous phases of its evolution, there will first be a reunion with the Moon, and then of this Earth with the Sun. The reunion with the Moon will mark the culminating point of evil on the Earth; the reunion with the sun will signify, on the other hand, the advent of happiness the reign of the ‘elect.’” ~Rudolf Steiner

“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child . . . .” — Revelation 12:1-2

Transmute Evil

Manichism is one of many mystery schools and spiritual schools that teach that we must “transmute” into good the evil within us and around us. It is not an easy task, but it is doable and worth doing. But transmuting is changing the thing, not destroying it.

We often see pictures of the war between dark and light with angels killing demons of darkness. This might be an acceptable allegory, but is far from the truth. Angels and beings of light will not kill devils and demons. They will transmute them as Steiner says. Or more accurately, they will help them to transmute themselves. We all must do the same within ourselves.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on DECEMBER 30, 2017

“If a man thinks murder, he actually puts out an element of murder in the air. He sends from him a plan of murder as real as if drawn on paper; its thought is absorbed by others; so is this element and unseen plan of murder absorbed by other minds; it inclines them toward violence if not murder. If a person is ever thinking of sickness, he sends from him the element of sickness; if he thinks of health, strength, and cheerfulness he sends from him constructions of thought affecting others to health and strength as well as himself. … When thought is sent out to anything, you send out your force. When it is centered in a single thing, and so drawn in and kept from straying every moment, you are drawing in force.” ~Prentice Mulford

Thought Power

Thoughts are real things. They give off an energy that can be measured. And energy, as you learned in grade school science class, does work. The energy sent out by a radio station transmission puts music in our radio. The microwaves transmitted by our cell phones send energy to a cell phone antenna and into the phone network. No energy just floats around doing nothing. All energy does work. Thought energy perhaps most of all since the whole universe is nothing but light controlled by thought.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 3, 2018

“This higher perceptive faculty can prove a blessing only if the opened soul-senses are in perfect order, just as the ordinary senses can only be used for a true observation of the world if their equipment is regular and normal. Now man himself forms these higher senses through the exercises indicated by spiritual science. The latter include concentrations, in which the attention is directed to certain definite ideas and concepts connected with the secrets of the universe; and meditation, which is a life in such ideas, a complete submersion in them, in the right way. … The student works upon his soul and develops within it the soul-organs or perception. … The effort required for concentration and meditation must therefore must therefore be carefully and accurately maintained.” ~Rudolf Steiner

Higher Perception Faculties

We all want to have higher perception, but what does Steiner mean by “higher perception faculties”? He is talking about the spirit and soul, of course. And not the mundane soul, which even animals have, but the Divine Soul that links us to God.

We need such faculties for the simple reason that our physical senses cannot sense the spiritual. Likewise, our brain-mind cannot understand the spiritual. Only the awakens Soul, the divine mind of the spirit, can comprehend the realm of spirit.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 5, 2018

“The ‘Absolute Consciousness,’ they tell us, ‘behind’ phenomena, which is only termed unconsciousness in the absence of any element of personality, transcends human conception. Man, unable to form one concept except in terms of empirical phenomena, is from the very constitution of his being to raise the veil that shrouds the majesty of the Absolute. Only the liberated Spirit is able to faintly realize the nature of the source whence it sprang and whither it must eventually return. … The Finite cannot conceive the Infinite, nor can it apply to it its own standard of mental experiences.” ~H. P. Blavatsky

Ultimate Consciousness

The first sentence in the quote is difficult to follow, so lets simplify it. Absolute Consciousness transcends human conception. That is really all it says. Absolute Consciousness, or Ultimate Consciousness being another name for the All Being, or God. It would be more accurate, however, to say that the Ultimate Consciousness is beyond the understanding of the human brain-mind.

Our brain-mind exists to help us function in the world of matter. It was not meant to function in the realms of spirit and therefore cannot understand spiritual things except in a very abstract way. It can accept the existence of spiritual worlds, but is not very useful for operating in those worlds. And since Ultimate Consciousness is pure spirit, the brain-mind cannot understand it.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 9, 2018

“God, it is said, is the Sun of Righteousness (cf. Mat. 4:2), and the rays of His supernal goodness shine down on all men alike. The soul is wax if it cleaves to God, but clay if it cleaves to matter. … Clay hardens in the sun, while wax grows soft. Similarly, every soul that, despite God’s admonitions, deliberately cleaves to the material world, hardens like clay and drives itself to destruction. … But every soul that cleaves to God s softened like the wax and, receiving the impress and stamp of divine realities, it becomes ‘in spirit the dwelling-place of God’ (Eph. 2:22).” ~The Philokalia

Sun of Righteousness

While it is reasonable to say that God is the Sun of Righteousness, it isn’t accurate, and may be misleading. Many Christians interpret that as saying that the title “Sun of Righteousness” is just another name for Jesus. It isn’t. The Sun of righteousness is also not the big ball of fire in the sky. The Sun of Righteousness is spiritual, not physical.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 10, 2018

“For by the great Longing of the Darkness after the Light and Virtue of God, this world has been generated out of the Darkness, where the holy Virtue of God beheld itself  in the Darkness, and therefore this great Desiring and Longing after the Divine Virtue continues in the Spirit of the Sun, Stars, and Elements, and in all things. All groan and pant after the divine Virtue, and would fain be delivered from the Vanity of the Devil: But seeing that cannot be, therefore all creatures must wait till their dissolution when they shall go into the Ether, and get a place in Paradise.” ~Jacob Boehme

Longing After Light

It is not only the spiritual people and those who have turned to God who seek the Light of Enlightenment. Like a moth that cannot help but be drawn into the fire, the demons are also drawn to it. You would think these creatures of Darkness are repelled by the Light, but they are not. While they dislike it for being an enemy of Darkness, they are nonetheless drawn to it. It is not simply a matter of opposites attracting. The demons feel the longing after Light because like all others they are destined to be saved by it.

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Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on JANUARY 17, 2018