With the Kabbalists, Fire and Motion were instrumental in the formation of the world out of pre-existing Matter. Aditi, the primordial Water of Space, is the original of Sephirah, and crown of the Sephiroth. The AUM of the Hindus had become the Aion with the Greeks, and the Ævum with the Romans — the Pan or All. With Moses, Elohim and Jehovah were numerical indices of geometrical relations, and stood for a diameter and a circumference value, respectively. When Shimon ben-Yohai’s heavenly light gave place to the darkness of the gloomy cave, then only the disciples of Israel perceived that the lamp of Israel was extinguished. The key of things concealed is the key of the sanctuary. Mount Sumeru is the father of the Greek Parnassos and Tomaros. The Hindu Kailasa (Heaven), too, is the father of the Greek Heaven (Koilon). Even the German Heaven (Himmel) was inspired by the Heavenly Himalaya. From where the Greeks obtained their Parnassos, thence proceeded most of the biblical personages. Abram was one of them, a Chaldæan Brahman, transformed later into A-brahm (A-braham), i.e., no-Brahman, who emigrated westward and became the “father of many nations.” Every God and hero in ancient Pantheons, including those of the Bible, has three biographies in the narrative, running parallel with each other, and each connected with one of three aspects of the hero — historical, astronomical, and perfectly mythical — the last serving to link the other two together and smooth away the asperities and discordances in the narrative, and gathering into one or more symbols the verities of the first two. Moreover, localities are made to correspond with astronomical and even with psychic events. History was thus made captive by ancient Mystery, to become later on the great Sphinx of the age we live in. Not only is everything in Western religion is related to measures, geometrical figures, and time calculations, the principal periods being founded on historical personages, but the latter are also connected with heaven and earth truly, but only with the Indo-Aryan heaven and earth, not with those of Palestine. The Old Testament was milked out of the most ingenious brains of Hebrew Kabbalists, partly in Egypt and partly in Babylonia. Astronomically, Abraham is the sun-measure and a portion of the sun, while Enoch is the solar year, as much as is Thoth-Hermes. Equally Thoth, numerically, is the equivalent of Moses and Hermes, Lord of the lower realms and a teacher of wisdom. More! Abram and Brahmā are equivalent in numerical value! Neither the Book of Enoch, nor the Zohar, nor any other kabbalistic volume, contains merely Jewish wisdom. It was only in the Third Root-Race that the “wheel” of Enoch was invented as a first attempt at symbology, though Enoch No. 1 had naught to do with it.

The chief agency in the formation of our sun and solar system is the metaphysical paradox that as “cooling causes contraction, and contraction causes heat, cooling causes heat.” The Parabrahman and Mulaprakriti of the Vedantins are the prototypes of the Ain-Soph and Shekhinah of the Kabbalists. Aditi is the original of Sephirah, and the Prajāpatis are the elder brothers of the Sephirah. The Aum of the Hindus had become Aιών with the Greeks, and Aevum with the Romans — the Pan or All. There is but one Law, one Principle, one Agent, one Truth, one Word. Athenians, the real barbarians of Hellas, charged Æschylus with sacrilege and condemned him to be stoned to death because, they claimed, having been uninitiated, he had profaned the Mysteries by exposing them in his trilogies on a public stage. But he would have incurred the same condemnation, had he been initiated. Anointed by the Great Breath, Higher Manas is crucified between two thieves: the lower (Chrēstos), i.e., impure tendencies that after death dissipate in Kama-Loka, and the highest and noblest elements of our spiritual soul (Christos). After the supreme Initiation, Christos is released from his mortal counterpart (Chrēstos), and the two merge into one — the glorified Elect of the Sun. The Rota of Enoch is now called the Taro of Enoch. The Taro, denounced by a Papal Bull as “an invention of Hell,” contains the mystery of all transmutations of “historical personages” into sidereal bodies and vice versa. Even Marquis de Mirville is bent upon finding a Satanic origin even for the innocent Taro! Abrahm (no-Brahman), was Brahmā, the Chaldaean Father of ancient nations. Abram and Brahmā are equivalent in numerical value. More! The English system of measurement is the same as that used by the ancient Egyptians in the construction of their Pyramids. Every god and hero in ancient Pantheons has three biographies, running parallel with each other, and each connected with one of the aspects of the hero — historical, astronomical, and mythical. Localities are also made to correspond with astronomical and even with psychic events. History was thus made captive by ancient Mystery, to become later the great Sphinx of our times. The prototypes of nearly all the biblical personages can be found in the Ancient Pantheon of India. It is the “Sons of Light,” who gave birth to the “Sons of Earth,” the Patriarchs. The Old Testament was milked out of the most ingenious brains of Hebrew Kabbalists, partly in Egypt and partly in Babylonia. The connecting link between Abraham and Enoch’s Taro. Astronomically, Abraham is the sun-measure and a portion of the sun, while Enoch is the solar year, as much as are Hermes or Thoth. Numerically, Thoth is the equivalent of Moses or Hermes, the lord of the lower realms, also esteemed as a teacher of wisdom. The Zohar teaches practical Occultism more than any other work on that subject, not as it is translated and commented upon by its various critics, but with the secret signs on its margins. The “Wheel” of Enoch was the first attempt at symbology, invented in humanity’s Third Root-Race (Lemurian). There are two taros: the “Wheel” of Enoch, purely Esoteric, and the Western Kabbalistical tarot remodelled by Semites, a branch so much younger than the Aryans and even the Hamites.

Materialism is moral and spiritual blindness. Shall we let the blind lead the blind? Before Alchemy existed as a Science, its quintessence alone acted in Nature’s correlations. The virtuous man can produce external, perceptible, phenomenal results by invoking Kriyashakti, his own inherent power of creative thought, and become a co-worker with Nature in her higher departments. Like the lightning conductor that directs the electric fluid, the force of Kriyashakti conducts the quintessence of life and gives it direction; led haphazardly, it can kill; directed by the potency of human will and magnetic force, it can create according to a predetermined plan. Poor alchemy! Star of the morning, daughter of the dawn, how fallen from thine high estate! That which once was, still is and forever shall be, even to the end of time. Words change and their meaning becomes quickly disfigured. But eternal ideas remain, and shall not pass away. The ass’ skin is congenial to the tastes of today’s philosophicules and materialistic alchemists, who sacrifice the living soul for the dead form, than revering Princess-Nature in all her nakedness. With so many would-be alchemists around, even Hermes himself would lose his way. Only High Initiates are able to unravel the jargon of Hermetic philosophers and divulge their secrets pertaining to all seven realms of nature. To the practical alchemist, whose object is the production of wealth by the special rules of his art, studying their metaphysical basis was a secondary consideration; while the Sage, who had ascended to the plane of metaphysical contemplation, would reject the material objectives of these studies as unworthy of any further consideration. The origin of alchemy is lost in the remotest antiquity of the Far East. The Chaldeans were only the heirs, first to antediluvian and later to the alchemy of the Egyptians. The Wisdom of the East no longer exists in the West; it died with the three Magi. Hermes never was the name of a man, but a generic title, just as the term Neo-Platonist was used in former times, and Theosophist is being used in the present. Even in the time of Plato, Hermes was already identified with the Thoth of the Egyptians. Thoth-Hermes is simply the personification of the Voice of the sacerdotal caste of Egypt, the Voice of the Great Hierophants. Alchemy is as old as tradition itself. The Golden Fleece was a treatise written on animal skin, explaining how gold could be made by alchemical means. There still remain underground a large number of such alchemical works, written on papyrus and buried with mummies, ten millennia old. The whole secret lies in the ability to recognise in such works what appears to be only a fairy tale, as in the golden fleece and the “romances” of the earlier Pharaohs. Explicit instructions do not come from the sanctuaries of Egypt. Most are fractionally correct interpretations of the allegorical stories of the alchemical green, blue, and yellow dragons, and the rose tigers of the Chinese. Alchemy was imported to Europe from China, transformed into Hermetic writings which were then fabricated by the old Greeks and the Arabs, and refabricated in the Middle Ages — now jumbled up and distorted beyond recognition. The two objects of the Chinese system and the Hermetic Sciences, in making gold and prolonging life, are identical. But the Eastern Adept-Initiates, despising gold and having a profound indifference for life, care very little about such selfish pursuits which, in most cases, are acts black art. The third object of alchemy, i.e., transmutation, has been wholly neglected by Christian adepts who, being satisfied with their belief in the immortality of the soul, they never properly understood the meaning of this object. The transmutation of the real alchemist is the occult process by which his debased nature and brute energy are conquered; and thus, ennobled by his highest intellectual faculties, his soul is infused into the spiritual dynamics of the Divine Will. Woe to those who seek to obtain magical powers for selfish ends and money-making under the cloak of alchemy. Alchemy is a noble philosophy, purely metaphysical. The transmutation of base metals into gold was merely an allegory for freeing man of his ancestral evils and infirmities, by redeeming the flesh below and regenerating the soul above. It is incorrect to think that there exists any special “powder of projection,” or “philosopher’s stone,” or “elixir of life.” The latter lurks in every flower, in every stone and mineral throughout the globe: it is the ultimate essence of everything on its way to higher and higher evolution. And as there is no good or evil, so there is neither “elixir of life” nor “elixir of death,” nor poison as such, but all this is contained in one and the same Universal Essence, this or the other effect, or result, depending on the degree of its differentiations and various correlations. The light side of that Essence produces life, health, bliss, divine peace, and so forth; the dark side brings death, disease, sorrow, and strife. This is demonstrated by knowing the nature of the most deadly poisons; of some of them, even a large quantity will produce no ill effect, whereas a grain of the same poison will kill with the rapidity of lightning; yet, exactly the same grain, when altered by a certain combination, will heal. Seek not the secrets of nature in nature. Know your self, first and foremost. The treasure of treasures lies in the innermost chamber of your heart, where the sunlight of truth shines with unfading glory. How can those who are fools in nature, hope to profit from alchemical works — the timeless testimonies to creative powers of Nature? Let the seeker of Truth be wary of things that are readily understood, especially mystical names and secret operations, for Truth lies hid in obscurity. Pearls of Truth cannot be given to the profane; less so today than when the Apostles were advised not to cast pearls before swine. The chemist imitates nature, the alchemist surpasses nature herself. Chemistry decomposes and recombines material substances, it purifies simple substances of foreign elements, but leaves the primitive elements unchanged. Alchemy changes the character of things, and raises them up into higher states of existence. As all the powers of the universe are potentially contained in us, our body and its organs are the representatives of the powers of nature and a constellation of the same powers that formed the stars in the sky. The physician who knows nothing of alchemy can only be a servant of nature, but the alchemist is her lord.

Key second-temple texts with introductions and notes by an international team of scholars--now available in affordable softcover bindings. The writers of the Bible lived in a world filled with many writings. Some of these documents are lost forever, but many have been preserved. Part of these extant sources are the Pseudepigrapha. This collection of Jewish and Christian writings shed light on early Judaism and Christianity and their doctrines. This landmark set includes all 65 Pseudepigraphical documents from the intertestamental period that reveal the ongoing development of Judaism and the roots from which the Christian religion took its beliefs. A scholarly authority on each text contributes a translation, introduction, and critical notes for each text. Volume 2 includes expansions of the "Old Testament" legends, wisdom, and philosophical literature; prayers, psalms, and odes; and fragments of lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works. Contributors include E. Isaac, B.M. Metzger, J.R. Mueller, S.E. Robinson, D.J. Harrington, G.T. Zervos, and many others. Of enormous value to scholars and students, religious professionals and interested laypeople. Part of Anchor Yale Reference Library.

A non-fictional account explaining why the author believes Moses was a prince of Thebes called Ramose. Born c.1500 BC, Prince Ramose was heir to Pharaoh Thutmose III, being his ""Great Army Commander"" - both roles ascribed to Moses by Hebrew tradition. Moreover, Ramose & Moses both led victorious military campaigns against Ethiopia (Cush), then married the king's daughter, becoming Egypt's Viceroy there. A short time later, Prince Ramose was mysteriously struck out of Egyptian records, while the Bible hints Moses was cast into exile. Exploring some of the more esoteric aspects of the prophet's life, this book finds threads firmly connecting him to Egypt's 18th Dynasty 3500 years ago... The book uncovers the Hermetic star knowledge (Astrology) which Moses gleaned from the White Brotherhood, a secretive Egyptian mystery school who met in the halls of Karnak. This knowledge was cryptically infused into the early Biblical scriptures, revealing the Israelite ancestors were once devoted Astrologers.

In The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus, Christian H. Bull argues that the treatises attributed to Hermes Trismegistus reflect the spiritual exercises and ritual practices of loosely organized brotherhoods in Egypt. These small groups were directed by Egyptian priests educated in the traditional lore of the temples, but also conversant with Greek philosophy. Such priests, who were increasingly dispossessed with the gradual demise of the Egyptian temples, could find eager adherents among a Greek-speaking audience seeking for the wisdom of the Egyptian Hermes, who was widely considered to be an important source for the philosophies of Pythagoras and Plato. The volume contains a comprehensive analysis of the myths of Hermes Trismegistus, a reevaluation of the Way of Hermes, and a contextualization of this ritual tradition.

This book presents a selection of William Horbury's recent essays. Those collected in Part I seek to trace the profile of Herodian Jewish piety, its Greek and Roman setting, and its reflection in Christianity. Monotheism, mysticism, perceptions of Moses and the Temple are all considered in this way, and a Jewish context for the term 'gospel' and the institution of 'the Lord's Supper' is suggested. Part II treats modern New Testament study, with special attention to its links with study of the classical and Jewish traditions, and a survey on British study in its international setting.