Chili

Alchemy is spiritual like this:
From here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy

It is in evidence of heaven on earth, where 'tall mountiantop stories' are no longer needed. It is the Church Triumphant stuff that is conceiled without boasting about it. Mythmakers are alchemist without the squaking like evangelists.

For them earth is crammed with heaven and every bush is a burning bush and they do not take their shoes off anymore to call it holy ground.

Consider the three modals known in the Catholic church:

Church Millitant is for believers in the pew and they just do the thing that Catholics do. These are cold.

Church Suffering is for purgatorians who not longer belong in church. They are "running the race" that Paul talks about, and are usually fed by wolves. Protestants we call them because that is where the bible studies are. They love to feed them there as a credit to their own righteousness. This is where they will write their own Gospels, and in the end these same prots will crucify him 'haply,' eagerly! even without knowing what the hell they really are doing, but only that they are doing 'Jesus stuff', . . . as if they are feeding a cuckoo bird in their own nest, until it flies away and then they say 'fuck!' for the first time in their life. These are lukewarm, getting hot.

The Church Triumphant is where they desing this stuff with simple words. These guys are hot.

It is based on the last line of John 21:18, "Another will tie you fast and carry you off against yoru will.

This was the purpose of the Chism that released the filioque among 'men of good will' in the iota argument, and so then, the wolves are needed even if they come in all colors, as only their 'hunger to feed' is what they need.

Horatio Parker

It was a personal theurgy as opposed to the collective of the mass or service. Matter was believed to contain spirit, therefore one could transform oneself through chemistry.


I'm not sure how different church suffering is from other suffering, but everybody suffers. Without suffering, in Jung's system, there is no self.

BTW Newton, that god of empiricists, was an alchemist.

Chili

Of course he was. Of Newton it was said: All was dark and hid by night until God said: 'Let Newton be' and all was light. Einstein was too, but would never tell you either. All the greats in history were alchemists, and those who tried to actually make gold out of base metal were just decieved and thought to try it too.

The Church Suffering here is Galilee, but in essence it is purgatory, from where the believer is to go to heaven in 40 months instead of go back to Galilee again for another 40 years and die there nonetheless.

Noetic vision belongs to the alchemist.

Chili

Siberia was where the Russian Greats were placed to suffer as their Galilee. They all, as far as I can tell, were dragged before the Magistrate who send them there as punishment that took them away from the familiar and were set free again, there in isolation, but now among the wolves to do their thing on them (and they loved them for it).

mountainman

Hey HP,

I have some notes on two books ...

The Gnostic Discoveries: The Impact of the Nag Hammadi Library : Marvin Meyer (2005)


The Essence of the Gnostics: Bernard Simon (2004)



Emerald Tablet

Chili

It is just "to be" or "not to be" of which "I Am" is at the centre of the universe wherein the trinity collapsed. And so: what else is new? with Jesus crucified to make Christ the three omnies put in one.

Grog

I don't have a particular book to recommend, but this paper is enlightening:

MacRae, G. (1970). The jewish background of the gnostic sophia myth. Novum Testamentum, 12, 86-101.

MacRae was Elaine Pagels mentor, I believe.