Kindle Notes & Highlights
from the Hermetic viewpoint health is considered to be a complete harmony of the energies that work in the body in respect of the fundamental attributes of the elements.
True health is a prerequisite for spiritual ascent. Should we wish to live in beautiful surroundings, then we must arrange our apartment, our house, or in this instance our body, beautifully and harmoniously.
Therefore, to the Fiery principle in its active form with its electric fluid is assigned the active, constructive and expansive activity, and the opposite is assigned to its negative form. The Watery principle in its active form influences the constructive activities and in its negative form the decomposing activities of all the liquids in the body.
The Air principle is given the task of regulating the electric fluid of the Fire and the magnetic fluid of the Water in the body and keeping them in equilibrium. It is therefore denoted as the neutral or mediating element.
the Earth principle has the task of keeping the effects or activities of all three elements together in the body. The Earth element principle in its active form is stimulating, strengthening, constructive, preserving etc.; in its negative form it is the opposite. The development as well as the aging of the body is subject to the Earth principle.
The astral matrix or the electromagnetic fluid is the bonding agent between body and soul.
choleric temperament originates from the Fire element, the sanguine temperament originates from the Air element, the melancholic temperament originates from the Water element, and the phlegmatic temperament originates from the Earth element.
The complete influence of the effect of the temperaments has an emanation as a consequence, which is properly called the aura.
Therefore, a human being is not the originator of his own thoughts; instead the source of every thought is to be found in the highest spheres in the Akasha or mental sphere. The spirit of a human being is, so to speak, the receiver; he is the antenna for the thoughts that come from the world of ideas in accordance with the position and situation in which he finds himself.
On the basis of this knowledge you can gather that there are pure electric, pure magnetic, indifferent, and neutral thoughts as far as their effects are concerned in existence.
There are three kinds of asceticism: (1) Spiritual or mental asceticism; (2) Psychic or astral asceticism; (3) Corporeal or material asceticism. Discipline of thought is incumbent upon the first kind; ennobling the soul by controlling passions and urges is incumbent upon the second kind; harmonizing the body by a moderate and natural lifestyle is incumbent upon the third kind of asceticism.
Never condemn or criticize anyone and first put your own house in order.
Silence contains the greatest might, and the more this commandment is obeyed, the more accessible and easier to reach are these energies.
Relax your entire body, close your eyes and observe your train of thought for five minutes, and make an attempt to remember these thoughts.
Above all you must become accustomed to performing all tasks with complete awareness, whether it be in your profession or in your private life, regardless of whether you are dealing with something major or not.
Retain one single thought or idea for a longer period of time while you steadfastly suppress all other thoughts which obtrusively try to join it.
Nothing must be permitted to appear in your spirit or mind; only complete mental vacancy should prevail.
Wash your soul completely clean and sweep out all the filth.
Devote a few minutes to self-criticism every morning and every evening.
For example, the following are negative characteristics: Fire element: quick temper, jealousy, hate, vengefulness, anger. Air element: thoughtlessness, boastfulness, self-conceit, gossip, wastefulness. Water element: indifference, apathy, cold-heartedness, acquiescence, carelessness, shyness, defiance, inconsistency.
Fire element: activity, enthusiasm, determination, daring, courage. Air element: diligence, joy, proficiency, kindheartedness, propensity to work, optimism. Water element: humbleness, modesty, abstinence, ardency, compassion, tranquility, peace (contentment), forgiveness, tenderness. Earth element: respect, perseverance, conscientiousness, thoroughness, circumspection, soberness, prudence, punctuality, sense of responsibility.
stretching exercises every morning to keep your body supple.
becomes a different matter when you begin to breathe consciously. When you transfer a thought, idea or concept, whether abstract or concrete, into the air you are about to inhale, the Akasha principle of that particular air will accept that thought or idea and pass it on to the air substance through the electric and magnetic fluids.
Imagine that, with the air, you inhale health, tranquility (calmness), inner peace (contentment), success [2] or whatever you are trying to achieve first, [3] and that it passes through your lungs and through your blood over into your body.
Whenever you have a meal, place the food which you are about to eat directly in front of you and, with the most intense imagination of which you are capable, concentrate on the idea that your wish be embodied in the food and that it is as effective in this manner as if it were already a reality.
Never read while you eat.
you should not speak or carry on a conversation during your meal.
From now on, whenever you wash your hands, concentrate intensively on the fact that you no longer simply remove the dirt from your body by washing it, but you also remove the filth from your soul.
The key to the practical application of auto-suggestion is the sudden disengagement of the subconscious.
Should we, however, withdraw the notion of time and space when we impregnate the subconscious with a wish, then we will find that only the positive part of the subconscious is effective within us, that the upper or normal consciousness is coordinated with it, and hence our wish-impregnation should bring the expected success.
When you select the formula or formulate the words necessary for auto-suggestion, the phrase or formula must always be in the form of an order and in the present tense.
Therefore the most receptive time for the acceptance of an auto-suggestive formula is when you lie in bed tired and are ready to fall asleep,
Knowing this, a magician will never allow himself to fall asleep with thoughts of grief, sorrow and distress and influence his subconscious unfavorably in this manner, because your subconscious continues to work with the sequence of ideas with which you fall asleep.
Always fall asleep with peaceful and harmonious thoughts or with thoughts of success, health and inner peacefulness.
This exercise is complete when you can visualize an object suspended in the air plastically for five minutes without the slightest interference.
The student has three ways in which he may master or control his passions: (1) Systematic employment or utilization of auto-suggestion, as mentioned in the beginning of Step II. (2) Transmutation of passions into their opposite good characteristics or attributes, which can either be achieved through auto-suggestion or through frequent meditation, continuous self-assurance of one’s good characteristics. (3) Attentiveness, circumspection and will-power.
Knowledge, Courage, Volition and Silence
Silence: Whosoever praises and boasts about himself and parades his wisdom can never become a true magician. It is not necessary for a magician to be considered an authority; on the contrary, he will do everything in his power not to be recognized as such. Silence is might!
The more you keep silent about your experiences and knowledge without separating yourself from humanity, the more you will receive a fountain of knowledge from this source.
Once you are capable of maintaining two or three sense concentrations simultaneously for at least five minutes, then this exercise is complete.
Fire = Red Air = Blue Water = Greenish-blue Earth = Yellow, gray or black
Furthermore, the magician can impregnate his room with the wish for proper inspiration, success and so forth in all his undertakings.
Through this exercise the magician attains the power to bond with any human being. He will know the feelings and thoughts that arise in the consciousness of the person he has envisioned and will know his past and present, how he acts.
If a conscious cause such as a wish, a thought, or an imagination is called forth in this sphere with the appropriate dynamic will-concentration, with firm belief and complete conviction, it must realize itself through the elements regardless of the plane or sphere upon which such realization is required.
Should the magician, during his development, not gain the ability to have his thoughts under his will, he could unknowingly create larvae which might sooner or later cause his doom.
