Bibliotherapy

Karl von Eckartshausen – Catechism Of The Higher Chimia

Sep 22, 2023 | Nicolas for Hygeia | No Comments

‘What i desire is not mortal‘ (perishable),

engraving from ‘Ein Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum’, vol. I-1728.

Today’s sharing from the Blue House ov Via-HYGEIA, is another rarely seen text by Karl von Eckartshausen, found in his papers after his death by his publisher Joseph Lindauer, and published posthumously by him in 1819, as the appendice of the ‘Über die Zauberkräfte der Natur’, from page 70 to 96. Our Via-HYGEIA English translation based upon Paul Kessler’s French version of the German original. Professor Antoine Faivre, in his magistral ‘Eckartshausen et la Théosophie Chrétienne’, Klincksiek, Paris-1969, says: ‘There is absolutely no doubt about Eckartshausen being the author of this treatise.‘(page 721).

Catechism of the Higher Chimia,

to prove the analogy of the natural truths with the truths of faith

by a worshiper of Religion and Nature, whose number is 15.

For all those who are able of light. A translation from magical characters. Heliopolis.

Question: Who are you?

Answer: I am a man who knows light and joins it.

Q: Who is such a man?

R: He is he, who after recognizing light, is illuminated by it and joins it fully; who knows and practice all what the old and authentic community of light has always knew and practiced, may it be written in the book of Light or not.

Q: By which sign can we recognize a follower of the Light?

R: By the fact that he knows the sign of the cross in nature, the great symbol of the force of dissociation, of the separation of the pure with the impure, of the perfect with the un-perfect; that he avoids all un-authentic works and the mistakes that unanimously reject the real masters of the authentic community of light.

Q: How does the follower of the light identify himself?

R: He identifies himself by the big sign of the cross of nature (+), by the sign of the great force of dissociation; he says and undertake all in the name or according to the attributes of fire, of the light and of the spirit, and like that he conducts all towards its Amen, or towards it achievement.

Q: How many chapters (in the creed) of the authentic community of light does any follower must know?

R: There are five; The first one is about true conviction and faith, or joining to light; the second one is about the seven means to obtain light; the third one is about the 10 commandments of the light; the fourth one is about the knowledge of the creative force that acts, and the pure form that receives; the fifth one is about the science of dissociation of light.

Engraving from ‘Über die Zauberkräfte der Natur’, 1819.

Chapter One

Of the joining of the light

Q: what is the first chapter in the authentic doctrine of the light?

R: Joining light and the knowledge of it; because without the joining and this knowledge, it is not possible to activate a force, to realize and achieve anything.

Q: To what must believe and join every son of the light?

R: To all that the men of light have taught and wrote in the 12 articles (in the creed) of the authentic community of light.

Q: What are these 12 articles (in the creed ) of the authentic community of light?

R: 1. I join and believe to a fire creative force, which gave birth to the sky and the earth, or to the Extensum and the Concretum that is to that which is volatile ad that which is fixed. 2. I join and i believe also to a light produced by this fire force, light that is the master of the universe or the all mighty force in nature. 3. This pure light emanating from the fire is received by the purest spirit and is born from the purest form. 4.However, it had to suffer in the realm of the un-pure; it had been dissociated, mortified and buried under ground. 5. Then the light descends to the most deep of the matter; and after 3 epochs, that means after 3 gathering of 3 spiritual forces with 3 purified forms, it stretches, alive again. 6. It elevates itself until supreme perfection, as all mighty fire’s shining light force. 7. And after reaching this supreme perfection, it is able to bring alive every thing that is dead, and perfect what is un-perfect. 8. I believe in the spirit of light emanating from the fire and the heat, and I know it. 9. The holy, universal and true community of light, joining and union of those who are able of light. 10. Abolition of diseases and misery. 11. Regeneration of our being. 12. And life’s supreme bliss.

Q: What is the main content of these 12 articles?

R: It is, for the one who is able of light, to follow the laws of the light, that he recognizes by reason, and he practices by his will; that is, there exist only one universal force, in substance and essence, and that at the same time it is triple in its evolution: Fire force as creative force, light force as union force and spirit force, emanating from fire and light, as formatory force of all things. This emanating spirit leads everything to perfection, and with structured means to the supreme achievement.

Chapter Two

Of the seven means to produce light

Q: What is the second chapter in the doctrine of the authentic community of light?

R: It is the seven means to produce light, means that the community holds for eminent and holy.

Q: What is such a mean?

R: It is a visible action by which an invisible force produces an interior perfection.

Q: How many are those means?

R: Seven, and they are in analogy with the seven holy sacraments: 1. The baptism, by the water and light. 2. The confirmation of matter through water and light. 3. Purification. 4.The reception of the light from above in essence and substance. 5. The sanctification and perfection of every thing. 6. The oil from above. 7. The joining of fire and light in a perfect body.

Q: What is the baptism by the light?

R: It is the first and most necessary of the joining means; thanks to it, matter is purified by water and the word acting in the water, and is re-produced again as a new perfectible body in the being of light.

Q: What is the confirmation?

R: The confirmation by the light is a joining mean by which matter, prepared as said above is strengthened by the oil of light and by the spirit that dwells in it, and is rendered more able of perfection.

Q: What is the third joining mean?

R: It is the one by which the light and the fire, under the formal expressions of the principles of bread and wine, receive their essence, as soon as a priest of nature knows how to transform these principles on the altar.

Q: What is the fourth mean of joining?

R: It is the mean by which the priest of nature, who is able of light, purifies the matter receptive to light, and has himself all the effects of un-perfection.

Q: What is the fifth?

R: It is the joining mean by which the pure force of light, in the form of oil, is upgraded until perfection of the healing forms.

Q: What is the sixth?

R: The sixth one is the one by which matter is sanctified and rendered able of light by seven acting forces.

Q: What is the seventh?

R: It is the perfect joining of the light and the fire through an intermediate being that emanates from them, and achieves like that the most perfect joining of all the joining.

Detail from the frontispiece of the ‘Thesaurus Armamentarium’, 1675.

Chapter Three

Of the 10 commandments of the light

Q: What is the third chapter in the doctrine of the community of light?

R: The 10 commandments of the light, of which it has been written: If you want to achieve anything, you must achieve it through the carrying out of the commandments or of the law.

Q: What are the 10 commandments of the light?

R: They are as follow:

1. There is no more than one matter. 2. The properties of this matter must be used in order. 3. In six actions matters achieves its daily work, because 3 forces produces 3 beings and that it rests in the seventh force, as a fullness of its actions; this seventh force must be holy for you, as rest (Sabbath) of the light. 4. The light and the fire, as passive and active elements must inspire you respect ; because fire is the male element and light is the female element- They are the father and the mother of all things. 5. Don’t steal from the light what brings to life, so that matter, that must be up-graded, won’t die. 6. Don’t mix your work out of the established order. Every thing has its time and rotation. It is your duty to unite the scattered forces. 7. Don’t subtract their properties to the light and to the fire; it is the duty of the wise to activate them fully. He lets each keep what belongs to them. 8. Don’t take for true a fake apparition, and don’t accept anything un-pure or foreign which would not be able to absorb the light, so that the display won’t give you a fake image. 9. The spirit emanating from the light and from the fire doesn’t desire any-thing else that has been bound with other things, and that hasn’t been severed. 10. Also, this spirit doesn’t desire any matter that is foreign to it self and un-like.

Q: What is the main content of these laws of the light?

R: It is that the light must fully penetrate your matter or substance, so that the fire is fully united by the light and that the emanating spirit of the light vivifies fully your matter. This is the first law. The second is similar to this one, in that you must treat like wise the matter that you work on, and any other essences that you want to bring towards perfection. The whole science of the light is connected to these two conditions and all it’s followers are bound to them.

Q: What are the commandments of the laboring community of the light?

R: They are five: The first one is that you must respect, as sacred, the time of rest in your work; because the light has its Sabbaths (rests) and that the laborer must celebrate them. The second one is that while these light celebrations, consecrate the substance of the holy sacrifice; let, by the water of the light, the pure separates it self from the un-pure, the active from the inactive. The third one is that in your labor, you shall abstain from every thing that is against the law of the light, either in its forces and actions, either in the forms and essences of things; they are the 4 ‘ resting seasons’ (‘quatember’, ember days, recurrent special fasting and resting days) of the school of the light. The fourth one is that you must try, even one a year, to discuss with a reasonable friend about the progress you are making, and to discover what impedes you, so that you may have a support on your path that leads you to perfection. The fifth one is that at the times that reason tells you, abstain from opening your heart to others and to prematurely tie your self.

Q: Why one must respect these commandments of the community of the light of the true knower of nature?

R: Because the laws of the light, or conditions of the light, command that man not only obey to what is necessary inside nature to achieve the given aim, but also to what is needed outside for that purpose; therefore, the fourth commandment of the light requisites these demands and anybody that doesn’t respect its good prescriptions and precepts will be seen as a profane and a man of flesh, ignorant of the laws of the spirit.

Chapter Four

Q: What is the fourth chapter in the creed of the community of the internal light of the true knower of nature?

R: It is the knowledge of the analogy of the holy Lord’s Prayer and of the holy angelical Ave Maria joining with the purest natural force and form.

Q: What is the analogy?

R: 1. Supreme force of the light, thee that is the divine in nature and that dwells in the inmost of it like in the heaven, may thy attributes and precepts be sanctified. 2. Where you are all is perfect; may the rule of your knowledge come among your people. 3. May that in all labor, our unique will is you, light force that acts by itself ! And likewise that you achieve all in the entire nature, achieve it also in our labor. 4. Give us some dew from heaven and fat from the earth, fruits of the sun and moon, coming from the tree of life. 5. And forgive us all our mistakes that we have committed in our labor, not knowing you, like wise we want to un-mistake those that have offended our principles; don’t abandon us to our presumption and to our own science, but deliver us from all evil by the completion of your work. Amen.

Analogy of the Ave (Hail Thee)

Hail thee, pure source of movement, proper pure form able to receive the strength of the light! To thee unites the force of the light of all things. Of all receptive forms, thou are the most blessed, and holy is the fruit that you receive, the essence of the light and substance of the heat unified. Pure form that has engendered the most perfect being, raise so to become strength of light among us, while we labor and at the time when we complete our work !

Q: What is the main content of the whole Lord’s Prayer of the children of the light and its analogy within nature?

R: They pray for the sum of all spiritual and temporal goods, for the salvation of the soul and of life, so to obtain from He who is the supreme force of the light- the divine in nature- the great working of the nature; they pray so that God guides them towards wisdom, hold them away from mistakes in their labors, and teach them to be benevolent towards men, their brothers, so that may be accomplished what God has promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that the covenant between God and Man is achieved.

Q: Why do the children of the light have also an analogy of the angelical salute (Ave Maria)?

R: So that not only they admire your divine greatness in your all mighty strength of nature (to which Christ is an analogy), but also that they recognize the splendor of the purest virginal form, that which the Virgin Mary is the analogy and to which has united the superior strength so to produce the most perfect being. Because, likewise the holy Ghost has united its self to the Virgin Mary to produce the most perfect spiritual man, likewise the most pure spirit of nature has united it self to the most pure matter to produce the most physical perfect form, the physical redeemer of nature that leads all the others physical objects to perfection, which stand for the wise men’s secret. This is why this art can be comprehended only by a follower of Christ; and only the analogies of religion lead us towards the supreme knowledge; like wise, the experience acquired by the children of the light leads them, also by the analogy, towards the knowledge of the most high mysteries of faith.

Q: Is it not enough that a child of the light knows all that is prescribed to him?

R: No! It is not enough, he must also practice and demonstrate his knowledge by his works; it is on this that is based the children of the light’s science of dissociation, science that is in analogy with Christian justice.

Engraving from ‘Ein Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum’, vol. I-1728.

Chapter Five

Q: What is the chapter five in the creed of the children of the light?

R: They are based in two parts, that is that a joiner of the light must, by the grace of above that is our dew, our +, everywhere purify the un-pure, and achieve good; because the knowledge has to be in accordance with the execution: this means that theory and practice must concord; it is not enough, for a knower of the light to know the art, he must also know how to practice it; knowledge only cannot justify it self, one needs also practice.

Q: what is the evil one must flee the most in our science of the light?

R: What may deprive man of this supreme natural good which is the highest perfection of nature.

Q: What are the main sins or mistakes that on can commit in the labor?

R: They are the actions that- as much regarding to the labor that to the application of this treasure after labor- are contrary to God’s means; more precisely, they are the following: Excessive rising by the fire, over concentration, waste, excessive parsimony of matter. Overweight, inflammation, cooling. About the subject of these main and deadly sins it is written: Those who committed them will not be granted the supreme perfection in the physical nature.

Q: How many offenses, or chemical sins, are against the spirit of nature?

R: 1. To build all on that spirit, presumptuously, without any indulgence and without any reason, sin against its mercy. 2. To despair anytime soon that one doesn’t see its effect. 3. To oppose one self to the knowledge of the chemical truths. 4. To be jealous of the brethren of which one is benefiting. 5. To harden one’s heart against the most salutary exhortations. 6. To remain in ignorance. These offences are unforgivable, because they will never be compensated in the labor.

Q: What offenses make a cry to heaven?

R: 1. To willingly destroy one’s work. 2. To desecrate the work. 3. To abuse it so to oppress men. 4. To suppress from your co-laborer(s), his/their deserved salary.

Q: What are the outward chemical sins?

R: 1. To advise someone into the chemical mistake. 2. To encourage others to sin. 3. To agree to someone else’s mistake. 4. To praise someone else’s mistake. 5. To remain silent in the presence of someone else’s mistake. 6. To close the eyes one someone else’s mistake. 7. To join in to someone else’s mistakes. 8. To defend these mistakes. This is how we participate to someone else’s mistakes, as if we have committed them our selves.

Q: Is it enough when one is in possession of the work, to leave evil and avoid sin?

R: No! One must also do good; because God grant this gift only so that man, like this gratified, may bring the mature fruits of perfection. He must also live a just and pious life in front of God and men and like that, by his good deeds, honor his high vocation.

Q: How many good deeds are they?

R: Tree. 1. The wise must have his soul always bent towards God and wisdom. 2. He must abstain from all that is not divine and wise. 3. He need to attend everywhere to the needs of men, his brothers.

Q: What are the use of good deeds?

R: Good deeds are used to make not only the individual happy but also the whole universe.

Q: What are mercy’s corporeal labors that the wise may achieve, when he has reached the supreme prefection of physical nature?

R: He may: 1. feed those who are hungry. 2. Quench the thirsty. 3. Clothe the naked. 4. Host the strangers. 5. Heal the sick. 6. Awaken the dead matter.

Q: What spiritual labors this same wise man may practice?

R: He may: 1. Punish sin. 2. Teach the ignorant. 3. Give his advices to those who doubt. 4. Comfort the afflicted. 5. Bear injustice with patience.

Q: What are the eight chemical bliss?

R: Those obtained by the enjoyment and possession of the highest perfection of nature as supreme natural good, and that are taught by saint John in the Apocalypse, after God’s revelation: 1. To who will win, I will give him to eat the fruit of the tree of life, which stands in the paradise of my God. 2. He who will win will not be offended by the second death. 3. To who will win I will give to eat the hidden heavenly bread and I will give him a white stone on which will be written a new name that no one will understand but only he who will possess the stone. 4. To who will win and that will keep my work until the end, I will give him power over the nations and he will the people with an iron stack and he will break them like the vase of a potter; he will have what I have inherited from the father and I will give him a morning star. 5. He, who will win will be dressed in white and I will not erase his name from the book of life and I will confess him publically in front of my father and the angels. 6. The one who will win, will be a column in the temple of my God, and I will write the name of my God on him, and the name of the holy city that is the new Jerusalem descending from heaven and he will know my new name. 7. He who will win I will let him sit on my throne alike I am sitting on my father’s throne because I did win. 8. He who will be the winner will receive by succession right, all what he desires and wishes from me; I’ll be God and he will be his son.

Q: What are in this art, the evangelical or celestial advices?

R: They are three in number: 1. Stay poor in the middle of richness. 2. Stay abstinent when we can enjoy all. 3. Stay obedient, when we can command.

Q: What are the 4 last things?

R: 1. Death, as matter of mortification of the matter. 2. Judgment or dissociation. 3. Between all that is alive and celestial. 4. And all that is terrestrial and dead. Think, O man, while you are laboring, to those four last things and you will never fail in your work !