Part 2 - AMORC

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y Paul Goodall, FRCThe alchemical Mercurius.The movement of the spirit islike that of the flame..., it rises.[Louis Claude de Saint Martin (1743-1803)]here is a hidden and symbolicfire within each of us that burnsinexorably throughout the process ofthe evolution of the soul. This fire cannever be extinguished because it is a divine andphilosophic fire, creative and dynamic, assistingand directing our spiritual progress, our inneralchemy, toward harmonious unity and ultimateassimilation with God.On the physical plane alchemists of oldcontained their material fire within an apparatusknown as an athanor, a slow burning furnace wheremetals were incinerated back to their base natureand transmuted to evolve into a purer substance,gold: a metal, by its very nature, considered perfectand able to withstand the test of the fire. In themundane world it was and still is prized above allothers and symbolises power and wealth. And tothose that owned it, changes on the physical planewere effected in differing degrees, wryly aping thealchemical process itself.But this drive toward physical perfection26The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2008
and its more immediate benefits in life can’t simplybe equated with its counterpart in the spiritualdimension. While much may be made to align thevarious stages of alchemical work with spiritualprogress, if there is not a sincere and genuinepurpose on the part of the operator to correspondand integrate these physical processes with theirinner life, then the whole merely amounts to curiosityand a pandering to the outer self. In short, thealchemist must work in parallel with his innerconvictions and spiritual tendencies to make hisalchemy worth the effort.This article seeks, albeit briefly, to explorethe allegorical nature of fire in its role as a catalystin the work of inner alchemy and the spiritualdevelopment of the soul and how one can embodyin ordinary life an awareness of this process.An Element of ExtremesFire is, of course, only one of the four so calledelements identified by the Greeks; the philosopher,Empedocles (490-430 BCE), to be precise. Thesearchetypal qualities, if you like, are used todescribe the world and the universe in a ratherdifferent way to the modern chemical elements.The classical elements of earth, water, air andfire are employed to distinguish states or phasesof matter and generally are as such, intangibleproperties existing in and through space andmatter.But by the very fact of our close involvementwith it, fire appears to be set apart from the rest.We understand that it is an element of extremes:on the one hand it can be most destructive andThe elements represented by Mylius in his PhilosophiaReformata (1622).end life prematurely, while on the other, it bringsus warmth and comfort, gives us protection andallows us to heat our food, thereby preventingdisease and, most importantly, it brings illumination;not just by expelling darkness, but also in theepistemological sense of the word and by stimulatingour imagination.In its esoteric aspect fire is the purifier, theIn its esoteric aspect fire is the purifier,the cleanser.cleanser. It is used in ritual and sacrificial roles andremains as a central symbol on the altar where itrepresents illumination and knowledge, and thepureness of the soul, ever alight and burning brightly.In this way, for some cultures, cremation is often thepreferred manner, over that of physical burial, toceremonially dispatch the remains of the dead.MercuriusThe idea that each stage in the alchemical processis identified with a corresponding level in theindividual’s spiritual path has, over the centuries,developed into a spiritual alchemy existingalongside that of physical alchemy. Fire is a keyelement in this schema because of its role asthe initiator of change, along with its purifyingproperties.Closely associated with fire, and being theactive component of its work, is the alchemicalMercury or Mercurius. This central symbol inalchemy, also known by the equivalent Greek nameHermes, also represents the agent of transmutation.It was often pictured as aerial spirit or soul, symbolisedby clouds or fumes, redolent of fire, although itadopts many guises throughout the different stagesof the alchemical process. Mercurius therefore,stands for the whole process of purification wherespirit is sublimated or raised to perfection andessentially, among the many diverse descriptionsof its role, represents the divine essence at work.As with fire, the volatile Mercurius is dual-naturedand ambivalent, and can be both destructive andcreative.Toward the Fifth ElementWhen you have made the quadrangleround, then is all the secret found.[George Ripley (d. 1490)]When working with inner spiritual alchemy,a reconciling of the four elements is put intoThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200827
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Part 2 - AMORC

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