The Hermetic Current

                            The 64th verse of the I-Ching reads:                             A tree as wide as a man's embrace grew from a tiny seed.                             A tower nine stories high rose from a small heap of earth.                             A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step.                                                                                                                   " The Great Work "              Human civilization along with the Earth that it inhabits, like The Fool in the Tarot, is on a precipice. We are currently facing two possible broad paths of unfoldment. The path which is currently dominant is one that leads to ever increasing pain, environmental toxicity, exploitation, with overall destruction and degradation being its inevitable destiny. This path can be described in many ways, but primarily is the result of underlying assumptions about what is technically possible. It can

Opus Medico Chymicum        Across the span of cultures and continents, the ancient story of the creation of " Heaven " and " Earth " is as ubiquitous as the idea of a Living Tree. In my previous post on the Tree of Life , I explored permutations of the story of the Tree that is found throughout the world. I established that the Tree mythology is deeply connected with the creation of the Universe and the bridge between the "Above" and "Below" that we find in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes. Of course, the Above is associated with what we traditionally call Heaven and the Below is what we call Earth, the Tree being the symbol that links the two. It must be kept in mind at all times that the programming and widely spread notions of these mythologies and religious traditions must be put aside if we are to come to the original intention that these stories share. Symbols and stories have a tremendous power over the human being, espe

    One of the oldest cross cultural symbols of antiquity is that of the Tree. A Tree is a perfect symbol to connect the Earth with Heaven because its roots branch out into the earth and likewise its body reaches into the sky. In this way it connects the below with the above and comes to represent the perfect distribution and growth of the universal force which spreads out from its seed, to create its trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit. It simultaneously has come represent the descent of spirit into matter and its ascent back to spirit while conferring the quality of immortality. There is a vast range of myths that circle around the Tree yet generally the deeper allegory remains hidden. A cross-cultural analysis of this symbol reveals some very startling insights. Its universality contributes to my ongoing thesis which is that of an underlying unity or Perennial Tradition that weaves all cultures together.                                     Many suggest that the Tree as a sym

        Many people consider Alchemy a pseudo-science of the Middle Ages. The word alone raises images of wild eyed hermits with complicated systems of apparatuses and obscure formulas toiling in a laboratory in hopes of performing a metallic transmutation. It is widely believed that chemistry is the result of having done away with the superfluous eccentricities of Alchemy in favor of the purely objective and empirical. There are many good reasons for this kind of belief, but it is the purpose of this series to bring Alchemy out of obscurity into the true light which Schwaller De Lubicz called the "Sacred Science".     This is a very long and deep story so for the purpose of brevity this blog may appear more general than some people may want. This is meant to be an introduction to spark interest into to a vast subject which comprises years of contemplation and study.     Many people attribute the name "Alchemy" to the original name of Egypt which is "Kh