Category Archives: Alchemy

Alchemy

THE ALCHEMICAL STORY OF THE RED AND THE WHITE ROSES (Dennings and Phillips)

THE STORY OF THE RED AND THE WHITE ROSES

Black Dragon was of the lower Earth. Among the harsh rocks which were his dwelling he had gathered great treasures of precious metals and of gems: jasper and turquoise. emerald and chalcedony, amethyst, sapphire, opal, citrine and many others. There were no pearls, however. Those gleaming sea-jewels are the very token and symbol of water, and water, except as it might be found mixed into mire, was a thing which Black Dragon feared and hated greatly. The land in which he dwelt was hot, stony and barren, so that any water which was not hidden was quickly scorched away by the sun; usually, therefore, Black Dragon could live as if water did not exist. He delighted in adding to his hoard of gems and loved to range them in heaps upon the sill of his lair so that the fierce light danced and leaped among their myriad colors, but he had another ambition, too, an ambition which increased with his store.


What he truly wanted was to deck himself in those rich jewels and to be seen by the people of the surrounding country, so that they should be amazed and should revere him as their god or at least as their king. He knew himself to be hideous to look upon, however, and perceived that, decked with jewels, he would provoke only disgust or derision, not admiration or worship. He therefore formed another plan and resolved to bide his time. He lay in wait, and in due course took captive the maiden known as Soul of the Earth, whom he carried off to the wilderness where he dwelt. Trapped and terrified, she speedily learned that help was not at hand and that no course was now open to her, save submission.

Then Black Dragon caused her to be clothed in gorgeous raiment. A jeweled crown was set upon her head, jewels were placed upon her brow and her neck and her bosom, her arms, hands, waist, ankles and feet. She was enthroned upon a throne of gold on a high dais, and heralds were sent forth to sound their trumpets and to cry aloud: COME, BEHOLD AND WORSHIP THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD! Travelers from all regions came and marveled at the great beauty of Soul of the Earth, and at the richness of her attire, and at the high golden throne whereon she was seated. Then when they were assembled, another herald cried: BEHOLD THE BEAUTY AND RICHES OF THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD, AND BOW DOWN BEFORE BLACK DRAGON, WHOM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD OWNS TO BE HER LORD! Many there were who worshiped, but many also there were who bowed down only in fear of Black Dragon; and a murmur began to go forth against Soul of the Earth, so that she was called harlot and traitress for the part she played.


Now it happened that the King’s Son was journeying through that land. He was a valiant young man, whose badge and ensign was a red rose; so he himself had come to be known among the people b= the name of Red Rose. As he rode, he heard the trumpets of the heralds and the words which followed: “Come, behold and worship the Queen of the World!”—”I shall not worship, but I will behold,” declared Red Rose, and he joined in the troop which was going to gaze at Soul of the Earth.


The riches with which she was surrounded did not dazzle him, for he had seen such things before, but her beauty of face and form moved him to wonder, and to more than wonder. He beheld, too, the hideous bulk of Black Dragon upon the dais, and he became the more perplexed .
Then, looking more attentively at Soul of the Earth, he perceived that the golden chains upon her wrists and ankles were not harmless adornments, but were fetters indeed.


Likewise the thin veil which covered the lower part of her face was not intended merely to give mystery to the luster of her eyes, although with deep mystery they shone, but it served to disguise the seal which had been set upon her lips.


And then he saw that there were no pearls among her jewels. As he moved away through the crowd, he asked a bystander, “Why does your Queen wear no pearls?” “Black Dragon forbids even the name of the oceanstones,” muttered the inhabitant, and Red Rose understood what was to be done. He went to the jewelers of the place and sought to buy a pearl, but they had none to offer him. “I am the King’s Son, and I am called Red Rose,” he said: “_ ask not the price, but I would buy one single pearl.” “Sir, you need not to tell us your name, since its high fame is well known to us. We are yours to command, but there is not one pearl in all these lands, for fear of Black Dragon.” Then Red Rose left their company and went out into the wilderness, and under the heavens he cried aloud, “By the Splendor of the Sun I swear, I would give all I possess for one pearl, that with it _ might win Soul of the Earth from bondage!” And 10, a Shining One stood in the sunlight with a glorious smile, replying to Red Rose, “Will you give all that you have? The time is not yet: but come, I will show you the pearl.” He led Red Rose to a fair garden, where no water was to be seen, but it was led cunningly through channels in the rocks underground so that the roots of the plants were fed thereby; and in the midst of the garden was a bush upon which grew one white rose. Red Rose put out his hand to the blossom, and with a further word of encouragement the Shining One left him. In the center of the flower, sheltered by the petals, gleamed a single drop of dew.


The Prince gathered the rose and carried t carefully back to where Soul of the Earth sat enthroned. “I bring a gift to your Queen, richer than anything she yet has,” he told the crowd: and as they made way for him they murmured, “He brings a rose of alabaster, he brings a rose of ivory, he brings a rose of whitest jade!” So he approached the dais; and when he had come near, he threw the rose so that the drop of dew fell upon Soul of the Earth. Instantly the seal was gone from her lips, and the fetters shriveled like burnt grass away from her wrists and ankles. “ give you freedom, and a new name, O White Rose!” cried Red Rose: “now begone, begone to safety!” So she flung the gems and adornments from her, and fled. When Black Dragon saw what had happened, and knew himself powerless to prevent it, he called out to her, “Soul of the Earth, do not go from me! Is it not enough that I have given you jewels and gold, a crown and a seat of honor?” “It is not enough,” she replied, “for because of these things I am scorned and miscalled before the world.” And ever since that time, let no man intending evil put his trust in any woman whatsoever, for in an instant she mXy clothe herself in the strong innocence of Soul of the Earth, and spurn him.

THE STORY OF THE RED AND THE WHITE ROSES

Black Dragon was of the lower Earth. Among the harsh rocks which were his dwelling he had gathered great treasures of precious metals and of gems: jasper and turquoise. emerald and chalcedony, amethyst, sapphire, opal, citrine and many others. There were no pearls, however. Those gleaming sea-jewels are the very token and symbol of water, and water, except as it might be found mixed into mire, was a thing which Black Dragon feared and hated greatly. The land in which he dwelt was hot, stony and barren, so that any water which was not hidden was quickly scorched away by the sun; usually, therefore, Black Dragon could live as if water did not exist. He delighted in adding to his hoard of gems and loved to range them in heaps upon the sill of his lair so that the fierce light danced and leaped among their myriad colors, but he had another ambition, too, an ambition which increased with his store.

What he truly wanted was to deck himself in those rich jewels and to be seen by the people of the surrounding country, so that they should be amazed and should revere him as their god or at least as their king. He knew himself to be hideous to look upon, however, and perceived that, decked with jewels, he would provoke only disgust or derision, not admiration or worship. He therefore formed another plan and resolved to bide his time. He lay in wait, and in due course took captive the maiden known as Soul of the Earth, whom he carried off to the wilderness where he dwelt. Trapped and terrified, she speedily learned that help was not at hand and that no course was now open to her, save submission.

Then Black Dragon caused her to be clothed in gorgeous raiment. A jeweled crown was set upon her head, jewels were placed upon her brow and her neck and her bosom, her arms, hands, waist, ankles and feet. She was enthroned  upon a throne of gold on a high dais, and heralds were sent forth to sound their trumpets and to cry aloud: COME, BEHOLD AND WORSHIP THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD! Travelers from all regions came and marveled at the great beauty of Soul of the Earth, and at the richness of her attire, and at the high golden throne whereon she was seated. Then when they were assembled, another herald cried: BEHOLD THE BEAUTY AND RICHES OF THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD, AND BOW DOWN BEFORE BLACK DRAGON, WHOM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD OWNS TO BE HER LORD! Many there were who worshiped, but many also there were who bowed down only in fear of Black Dragon; and a murmur began to go forth against Soul of the Earth, so that she was called harlot and traitress for the part she played.

Now it happened that the King’s Son was journeying through that land. He was a valiant young man, whose badge and ensign was a red rose; so he himself had come to be known among the people b= the name of Red Rose. As he rode, he heard the trumpets of the heralds and the words which followed: “Come, behold and worship the Queen of the World!”—”I shall not worship, but I will behold,” declared Red Rose, and he joined in the troop which was going to gaze at Soul of the Earth.

The riches with which she was surrounded did not dazzle him, for he had seen such things before, but her beauty of face and form moved him to wonder, and to more than wonder. He beheld, too, the hideous bulk of Black Dragon upon the dais, and he became the more perplexed.

Then, looking more attentively at Soul of the Earth, he perceived that the golden chains upon her wrists and ankles were not harmless adornments, but were fetters indeed.

Likewise the thin veil which covered the lower part of her face was not intended merely to give mystery to the luster of her eyes, although with deep mystery they shone, but it served to disguise the seal which had been set upon her lips.

And then he saw that there were no pearls among her jewels. As he moved away through the crowd, he asked a bystander, “Why does your Queen wear no pearls?” “Black Dragon forbids even the name of the oceanstones,” muttered the inhabitant, and Red Rose understood what was to be done. He went to the jewelers of the place and sought to buy a pearl, but they had none to offer him. “I am the King’s Son, and I am called Red Rose,” he said: “_ ask not the price, but I would buy one single pearl.” “Sir, you need not to tell us your name, since its high fame is well known to us. We are yours to command, but there is not one pearl in all these lands, for fear of Black Dragon.” Then Red Rose left their company and went out into the wilderness, and under the heavens he cried aloud, “By the Splendor of the Sun I swear, I would give all I possess for one pearl, that with it _ might win Soul of the Earth from bondage!” And 10, a Shining One stood in the sunlight with a glorious smile, replying to Red Rose, “Will you give all that you have? The time is not yet: but come, I will show you the pearl.” He led Red Rose to a fair garden, where no water was to be seen, but it was led cunningly through channels in the rocks underground so that the roots of the plants were fed thereby; and in the midst of the garden was a bush upon which grew one white rose. Red Rose put out his hand to the blossom, and with a further word of encouragement the Shining One left him. In the center of the flower, sheltered by the petals, gleamed a single drop of dew.

The Prince gathered the rose and carried _t carefully back to where Soul of the Earth sat enthroned. “I bring a gift to your Queen, richer than anything she yet has,” he told the crowd: and as they made way for him they murmured, “He brings a rose of alabaster, he brings a rose of ivory, he brings a rose of whitest jade!” So he approached the dais; and when he had come near, he threw the rose so that the drop of dew fell upon Soul of the Earth. Instantly the seal was gone from her lips, and the fetters shriveled like burnt grass away from her wrists and ankles. “_ give you freedom, and a new name, O White Rose!” cried Red Rose: “now begone, begone to safety!” So she flung the gems and adornments from her, and fled. When Black Dragon saw what had happened, and knew himself powerless to prevent it, he called out to her, “Soul of the Earth, do not go from me! Is it not enough that I have given you jewels and gold, a crown and a seat of honor?” “It is not enough,” she replied, “for because of these things I am scorned and miscalled before the world.” And ever since that time, let no man intending evil put his trust in any woman whatsoever, for in an instant she mXy clothe herself in the strong innocence of Soul of the Earth, and spurn him.

But White Rose, as she was now named, when she had left Black Dragon, fled away with the swiftness of fleeing Atalanta. She sped through the air over the Mountains of the Moon, until she came to the ocean of silvery water. Into that ocean she plunged; she washed away the last stains of her sojourn with Black Dragon, and then she swam on through the sea until she came to the shore of a most green land. The people of that country were amazed as she came from the sea, for she shone like the stars, and the queen of that country welcomed her as a sister. That region abounded in every kind of herb, and there were gentle lone giving m*lk and curd; there was also music and rejoicing continually. There. secretly, White Rose abode for a while.

Black Dragon, when his captive fled, pursued her for a short distance, but being of the lower earth he could not follow when she sped through the air. He therefore returned full of fury to seek for Red Rose, but the King’s Son, having made sure that White Rose had escaped in truth, had withdrawn to his own place. And both Red Rose and Black Dragon, each in his own way, sent forth for tidings of White Rose, but none could tell what had become of her.

Then Black Dragon cared no longer for his treasures and his lair in the wilderness, but began to roam through the land, breaking and destroying, and saying again all the evil that had been said of White Rose in the time of her captivity.

At last, therefore, Red Rose saw that an end must be made to this, so he took a strong lance and rode forth to do battle to the death with Black Dragon.

When they met, Black Dragon roared and snorted and lowered his head to charge, but he was heavy and at first moved slowly. Red Rose had leveled his lance, and upon his swift horse dashed in as thinking to slX= his adversary with a single blow, but Black Dragon’s hide was tough as leather and hard as iron. The lance was stopped as if Red Rose had charged against a granite cliff, and he was flung from the saddle by the shock. He sprang to his feet and drew his sword, barely in time before Black Dragon was upon him.

Now followed a long, close and deadly contest between the two. Those who had gathered to watch perceived that Red Rose was by far the more nimble but, being unable to pierce Black Dragon’s hide, could do no more than defend himself. This he did bravely with sword and shield, but not always successfully, since Black Dragon could attack with his claws and with his terrible fangs at the same time. Thus Red Rose had several great wounds, so that the blood flowed. and the bystanders for pity called out to him to flee.

“NXb, now I have earned my ensign and my name,” he said, “now am I Red Rose in truth.” But just then the monster swerved in upon him again, and with great fangs ripped his thigh, and so departed, leaving Red Rose lying in his own blood upon the rocky ground.

Although nobody had news of White Rose, however, she had continual tidings of the land which she had left. She had heard of Red Rose’s setting forth against Black Dragon, and at once, full of fear for the outcome, with two ladies of the green land, she took ship across the ocean and arrived at the place of conflict with what speed she might. There she was told that Red Rose was slain, and Black Dragon was for the time being departed into the wilderness. You may think how she and her companions lamented over Red Rose, but she would not linger there to be retaken by Black Dragon; so they carried Red Rose gently on to the ship, uncertain as they were whether he was in fact quite dead, and thus White Rose brought him with her to the green country.

They bathed and tended him, and knew that they could do nU more, yet still White Rose would not give up hope; so they set up four posts, and a canopy over them, and in this shelter they covered him with sweet herbs and left him.

As he lay there, his spirit hovering uncertain whether to tarry or to depart, there came to him suddenly that Shining One who had shown him how to save White Rose.

“Remember now your oath,” said the Shining One, “when you sware by Sol’s Splendor to g\ve all you possessed if a certain thing were done, and that th*ng was done. Now therefore in the name of my master the All-victorious Sun, I am come to claim your pledge. You challenged Black Dragon to combat, and if you were your own man he has slain you, you must confess it. By your oath however, your limbs and your body, your flesh and your blood belong to the Sun, and I say Black Dragon shall not rob him of what is his. Up, then; be whole and stand!” With these words, the Shining One took Red Rose’s hand and drew him to his feet, and, marvel of marvels, he was all whole, and stood firmly.

When he had thanked the other for his healing, Red Rose asked, “What should I do?” “Go against Black Dragon again if that is your will, but know that cold steel shall never prevail against him. What has gone before has been all child’s play, and women’s work, for women’s work is done by water, all washing and cleansing and scouring as this has been. Now, that white work is done. The red work is commenced, which you began by shedding yUur blood, but this is man’s work, and only by fire can it be completed. You have pledged yourself to the Sun, and to the Sun entirely you now belong; by the fire of the Sun therefore shall come the victory.” Thus saying, the Shining One departed.

Red Rose remained alone, pondering these words until their meaning was all clear to him. Then, his meditations at an end, he went to the queen of the country, and to White Rose and the other ladies. and thanked them for their care of him. Also he had them make for him a little pennant, with the sign of the Sun upon it. This done, he made ready to do battle again with Black Dragon. White Rose would have set out with him, but he forbade her, remembering the words of the Shining One, and bade her remain in that land to await his return. All being in readiness, he crossed again to the region which Black Dragon had laid waste.

Now, the shield which Red Rose carried was of bright steel, polished so that it shone like glass. When he had come close to Black Dragon’s lair, therefore, he gathered some dead leaves and twigs in an open place which was hidden from the cavern. Then he set his shield in such a way that, as the sun rose hot and bright, the shield gathered the fierce rays and flung them again upon the leaves and twigs.

Presently a little smoke coiled up from the heap, then more smoke, and at last a pallid wisp of flame. Red Rose brought more wood, and carefully fed it to the fire. When the fire which he had thus drawn from the sun’s rays was built great and strong, he brought his lance that was of hard ash-wood and began to heat the lance-head in the fire. All being ready at last. he mounted his horse, beat loudly upon his shield, and called Black Dragon forth to battle. Black Dragon came out with a loud roar; Red Rose took the lance, which was now a shaft of the sun’s fire, and leveled it for the charge. This time, the conflict was indeed settled at one blow: the sun-fire lance pierced clean through Black Dragon’s hard, tough hide, so that with one last roar he rolled over dead. The people who had stood to watch, and more who had been in hiding, gave a great cheer, for they had lived in dread of Black Dragon. Then they banked up the sun-fire into a large mound of burning logs. and dragged the unwieldy body onto this pyre that it might be destroyed utterly. And now a marvel occurred, for the sunfire had so penetrated and transmuted that bulk, that at once, released from the shape of Black Dragon, the elements thereof returned to their place in nature; and, with a sweet fiery odor as of frankincense and cinnamon they vanished.

Now, matters stood that Red Rose had saved White Rose from Black Dragon, and White Rose had saved Red Rose, and there was great love between them. So he was resolved to marry her, and declared their betrothal, and there was much rejoicing. Yet not everyone was content.

Some there were who said that the marriage would not be fitting, since he was the King’s Son and she was but Soul of the Earth; and others recalled the evil things that had been spoken of her, and said Red Rose ought not to marry one who had been so accused, albeit falsely. There was much debate therefore, until all parties agreed to refer the question for decision to the King’s Mother.

The King’s Mother was a gray woman who dwelt apart and in silence, but high dignity was hers and great honor.

Her father had been a powerful king in the elder times; much of sorrow she had known, and much of wisdom. She listened to the history of White Rose, and looked upon her; then she drew the young betrothed bride to her and set her at her side upon the huge, dark throne. Then there was nothing more at all for anyone to say upon this matter, and the marriage of Red Rose and White Rose was solemnized forthwith.

Nevertheless, it is not chiefly because of them that this story is told, but because of their son. For they had a son, who so much resembled his father, and so much his mother, that none could tell which he was more like. So people came to call him the Androgyne, although his true name was Splendor Solis. You may sometimes see a symbolic picture of him, showing him half in the likeness of his father and half of his mother; and he has wings, because he and they are of the spiritual world; and he bears crowns of peaceful dominion, but also a mighty sword and upon it a crown which is the prize of victory. Beneath his feet lie the misshapen and chaotic clan of Black Dragon, whose lawless remnants it was his task to quell. And another of his names is Lapis Ph*losophorum, the Philosophers’ Stone; for know you that that Stone is not an inert thing, but living.

Yet some say that this picture does not represent a son of Red Rose, but Red Rose himself after the Shining One raised him from the bier; and they say White Rose was in truth, as Red Rose often called her, his other self. These are mysteries, yet they make no difference to our story or to its telling. With many variations it is told, and must be so, since it is the inner story of each one who wins through to Adepthood.

Let the new adept beware, however, when he is released from his tomb, how he acts towards those around him.

When the Philosophers’ Stone is “projected” upon any material, a ferment occurs (we are told), after which the new material must be submitted to the furnace and will emerge transmuted into gold, or into whatever may be the highest development of its own kind. This is truly a wonderful power, but not all are ready for the furnace.

Certa*nly this is infallibly true, and the alchemists deserve all honor for perceiving it—that which has been transformed will itself cause transformation. The man or woman who has passed through the philosophical alchemy and has emerged with integrated personality bears ambiguous gifts to the world of which he or she is no longer fully native: in one hand a crown of peace, in the other a sword.


When he had thanked the other for his healing, Red Rose asked, “What should I do?” “Go against Black Dragon again if that is your will, but know that cold steel shall never prevail against him. What has gone before has been all child’s play, and women’s work, for women’s work is done by water, all washing and cleansing and scouring as this has been. Now, that white work is done. The red work is commenced, which you began by shedding yUur blood, but this is man’s work, and only by fire can it be completed. You have pledged yourself to the Sun, and to the Sun entirely you now belong; by the fire of the Sun therefore shall come the victory.” Thus saying, the Shining One departed .
Red Rose remained alone, pondering these words until their meaning was all clear to him. Then, his meditations at an end, he went to the queen of the country, and to White Rose and the other ladies. and thanked them for their care of him. Also he had them make for him a little pennant, with the sign of the Sun upon it. This done, he made ready to do battle again with Black Dragon. White Rose would have set out with him, but he forbade her, remembering the words of the Shining One, and bade her remain in that land to await his return. All being in readiness, he crossed again to the region which Black Dragon had laid waste .
Now, the shield which Red Rose carried was of bright steel, polished so that it shone like glass. When he had come close to Black Dragon’s lair, therefore, he gathered some dead leaves and twigs in an open place which was hidden from the cavern. Then he set his shield in such a way that, as the sun rose hot and bright, the shield gathered the fierce rays and flung them again upon the leaves and twigs .
Presently a little smoke coiled up from the heap, then more smoke, and at last a pallid wisp of flame. Red Rose brought more wood, and carefully fed it to the fire. When the fire which he had thus drawn from the sun’s rays was built great and strong, he brought his lance that was of hard ash-wood and began to heat the lance-head in the fire. All being ready at last. he mounted his horse, beat loudly upon his shield, and called Black Dragon forth to battle. Black Dragon came out with a loud roar; Red Rose took the lance, which was now a shaft of the sun’s fire, and leveled it for the charge. This time, the conflict was indeed settled at one blow: the sun-fire lance pierced clean through Black Dragon’s hard, tough hide, so that with one last roar he rolled over dead. The people who had stood to watch, and more who had been in hiding, gave a great cheer, for they had lived in dread of Black Dragon. Then they banked up the sun-fire into a large mound of burning logs. and dragged the unwieldy body onto this pyre that it might be destroyed utterly. And now a marvel occurred, for the sunfire had so penetrated and transmuted that bulk, that at once, released from the shape of Black Dragon, the elements thereof returned to their place in nature; and, with a sweet fiery odor as of frankincense and cinnamon they vanished .
Now, matters stood that Red Rose had saved White Rose from Black Dragon, and White Rose had saved Red Rose, and there was great love between them. So he was resolved to marry her, and declared their betrothal, and there was much rejoicing. Yet not everyone was content .
Some there were who said that the marriage would not be fitting, since he was the King’s Son and she was but Soul of the Earth; and others recalled the evil things that had been spoken of her, and said Red Rose ought not to marry one who had been so accused, albeit falsely. There was much debate therefore, until all parties agreed to refer the question for decision to the King’s Mother .
The King’s Mother was a gray woman who dwelt apart and in silence, but high dignity was hers and great honor .
Her father had been a powerful king in the elder times; much of sorrow she had known, and much of wisdom. She listened to the history of White Rose, and looked upon her; then she drew the young betrothed bride to her and set her at her side upon the huge, dark throne. Then there was nothing more at all for anyone to say upon this matter, and the marriage of Red Rose and White Rose was solemnized forthwith .
Nevertheless, it is not chiefly because of them that this story is told, but because of their son. For they had a son, who so much resembled his father, and so much his mother, that none could tell which he was more like. So people came to call him the Androgyne, although his true name was Splendor Solis. You may sometimes see a symbolic picture of him, showing him half in the likeness of his father and half of his mother; and he has wings, because he and they are of the spiritual world; and he bears crowns of peaceful dominion, but also a mighty sword and upon it a crown which is the prize of victory. Beneath his feet lie the misshapen and chaotic clan of Black Dragon, whose lawless remnants it was his task to quell. And another of his names is Lapis Phlosophorum, the Philosophers’ Stone; for know you that that Stone is not an inert thing, but living . Yet some say that this picture does not represent a son of Red Rose, but Red Rose himself after the Shining One raised him from the bier; and they say White Rose was in truth, as Red Rose often called her, his other self. These are mysteries, yet they make no difference to our story or to its telling. With many variations it is told, and must be so, since it is the inner story of each one who wins through to Adepthood . Let the new adept beware, however, when he is released from his tomb, how he acts towards those around him . When the Philosophers’ Stone is “projected” upon any material, a ferment occurs (we are told), after which the new material must be submitted to the furnace and will emerge transmuted into gold, or into whatever may be the highest development of its own kind. This is truly a wonderful power, but not all are ready for the furnace . Certanly this is infallibly true, and the alchemists deserve all honor for perceiving it—that which has been transformed will itself cause transformation. The man or woman who has passed through the philosophical alchemy and has emerged with integrated personality bears ambiguous gifts to the world of which he or she is no longer fully native: in one hand a crown of peace, in the other a sword .

Alchemy, Tarot

The Seven Stages of Spiritual Unfoldment by Damian Sebouhian

The Seven Stages of Spiritual Unfoldment

The map to Cosmic Consciousness can be found in this Major Arcana spread

A Note on My Sources

The following information comes primarily from the teachings of my first occult teacher J. Owen Swift who was largely informed by Paul Foster Case and Ann Davies. Case founded the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.) and Davies took over where Case left off as an extraordinary adept in the school of Ageless Wisdom.

This essay is far from comprehensive and is closer to a summary of the Seven Stages. I am currently writing a more detailed series of essays dedicated to each one of the stages. Stay tuned for the first installment to be posted in the near future.

How to Navigate the Tableau

The Fool is placed atop the three-tiered rows because the Fool is the Zero Key and does not represent a single number or step along the path. Rather, the Fool represents the Life-Power, or the “Spiritus” (in Latin), the “Ruach” (in Hebrew), the “Pneuma” (in Greek), the “Prana” (in Sanskrit), the “Qi” (in Mandarin/Chinese).

In other words, the Fool is unformed, raw, energy that is given specific expression within the archetypal avatars of the other twenty-one Major Arcana figures. In this regard, the Fool is like Christ Consciousness or Buddhahood: The alpha and the omega. The first and the last. God awakened to the Truth of the Self.

Moreover, the Fool is what we are striving to realize when we embark upon the Seven Stages of Spiritual Unfoldment — consciousness free from all the limitations of delusion.

The rest of the Tableau represents the map or grid or matrix that our conscious selves must navigate through in order to realize, among other wonderous things, our soul’s purpose.

The first (top) row represents what Paul Foster Case calls the “seven dominant mental states or principles.”

The second (middle) row represents the “intermediary activities, laws, or agencies” that the conscious states act through.

And the third (bottom) row represents the “conditions or phenomena resulting from the expression of the principles of the upper row through the agencies of the second row.”

Don’t get too hung up on the erudite language here, for I shall explain it in more practical terms, I promise.

So, those are what the rows indicate. What about the columns? There are seven columns and these seven columns represent the Seven Stages. We begin with Stage One, which Case titles: Bondage.

Stage One: Bondage

The Keys (cards) involved: The far left column of Key 1 (the Magician); Key 8 (Strength); and Key 15 (the Devil).

The Goal: To mentally free ourselves from the illusion of separateness and dualism which is created and perpetuated when we limit our perspective to the realm of the five senses.

Once mentally/intellectually freed from this fundamental lie of separateness, we begin the journey to awakening with the first truth of stage one: Our mind (the Magician) creates our reality. So, pay attention to your mind and use it wisely!

As the Magician, you must master the use of your tools as symbolized by the staff, cup, sword, and coin and the fundamental principles of creation described in this context by Case as representing the “Four Admonitions: To Will; To Know; To Dare; To Be Silent.

The last “admonition” he explains as being “the most important. Occult means ‘hidden’, and one of the first duties of a practical occultist is the practice of silence.”

The extent that you create a reality of free soul expression and healthy enjoyment of the material world (the Devil card in its upright position) versus bondage to the material world (The Devil card in its inverted, reversed position) is based on the purity of your creative capacities (as symbolized by the Strength card).

If you create solely from selfish, egotistical intentions (Strength reversed), you risk bondage to the material world.

If we create from a place of pure intentions and for the benefit of the highest good (as symbolized by the Lady in White in the Strength card) then we have achieved the appropriate yin/yang relationship between our creative force (the red lion) and our higher self, or soul-self (the Lady).

You’ve most likely heard the phrase: Be in the world, not of it. Or, “I’m not a human having a spiritual experience; I’m a spiritual being having a human experience.” That is the truth we are learning to embody in the First Stage.

Example of Bondage: “I don’t have any artistic talent and I only have a high school diploma, so I guess I’ll just work retail my whole life or marry someone rich so I don’t have to work.”

Example of Freedom from Bondage: “I will discover what it is I love to do that makes my heart sing and I will create (from my imagination) the circumstances that allow optimum expression of that love.”

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

The Magician (as the principal mode of consciousness): Mental concentration. Single-pointed consciousness. What you plant so shall you harvest. As above, so below; as within so without — and vice-versa.

Strength (as the mediator): Creative force guided and influenced by pure intentions, the soul.

The Devil (as the conditioned phenomena): The material world as it is experienced through the five senses. The result of the creative process as it is conducted by the Magician via Strength. Upright: fertility and mirth, the God Pan; Inverted: fear and bondage, the Devil as described by Christianity.

Affirmations:

“My mind is focused on creating what my soul most needs and desires.”

“I am a center of expression for the Primal Will-To-Good which eternally creates and sustains the universe.”

Quote:

“You must mentally identify yourself with the Magician. Every day you must take time to remember who and what you really are.” Paul Foster Case, Occult Fundamentals and Spiritual Unfoldment

Stage Two: Awakening

The Keys (cards) involved: High Priestess (Key 2); The Hermit (Key 9); The Tower (Key 16).

Goal: Once we have mentally freed ourselves from bondage and accepted our roles as the Magicians of our own lives, we have essentially created fertile spiritual ground conducive to increased “samadhi” experiences, or flashes of insights into the true nature of reality.

Stage one and two, as with all the stages, are not separate from each other; nor must they necessarily be experienced in a strictly linear fashion indicated by the spread. For example, one could have an awakening experience long before one has realized the illusion of separateness. Nevertheless…

The High Priestess is the yin to the yang of the Magician. The Magician is concentrated aware consciousness. The High Priestess is our subconscious, or, as Case liked to call it, the “transliminal consciousness” (transliminal means “across the threshold”).

To revisit the garden analogy, the Magician represents the gardener planting his seeds. The High Priestess represents the soil. As such, she is designed to grow whatever the Magician plants.

But this analogy is limited because the High Priestess isn’t just there to carry out the directives of the Magician. She represents the memory of everything that’s ever been planted within her “soil”.

This is why it’s so challenging at first to manifest and to create like a practiced, adept Magician. Most of us have so much programming to unplug from because we hadn’t realized that our thoughts were creating our reality. And so much of what we think about ourselves and about reality doesn’t come from us. It comes from our culture, other people, social media, etc.

This is where the Hermit enters the picture.

The Hermit takes over where the Magician left off. He tends the garden. He weeds out the unhealthy thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and monitors the light (as symbolized by his lantern), and waters and fertilizes the soil. (Note: The astrological correspondence to The Hermit is Virgo).

Another analogy for the Hermit as it relates to Virgo energy: The Hermit digests the thoughts, ideas, and emotions produced by the Magician and grown by the High Priestess, and he absorbs the healthy, nutritious ones and eliminates the waste (Virgo rules the digestive organs in case you were wondering).

All this “gardening” results ultimately in creating the circumstances for samadhi flashes, symbolized by The Tower card. The Tower looks like it’s depicting a catastrophe, but if you think of the Tower of Babble from the Bible, you’ll know that its destruction is positive and necessary for enlightenment.

The tower in The Tower card represents everything that was created when we believed in the world of illusion. The flash of lightning is coming from the sun in the card and that sun is the same as the lantern light wielded by the Hermit.

To put it another way: When we shed light on our past and evaluate it honestly and with the intention of creating a beautiful and healthy “garden” (or mind), our insights into who we are and the nature of reality deepens and we become more efficient at deciphering lies from truth, illusion from reality, healthy from unhealthy, etc.

Essentially, we become better Magicians, better at manifesting our soul’s deepest desires.

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

The High Priestess (as the principle): Universal Consciousness, Subconsciousness, Transliminal Consciousness, Memory; the soil that grows the seeds planted by the Magician.

The Hermit (as the mediator): The knowing light within; the watcher; discernment; wisdom that comes from experience.

The Tower (as the conditioned phenomena): Samadhi flashes; insight; destroyer of lies and illusions.

Affirmations:

“I gently release all toxic, unhealthy thoughts, emotions, and ideas.”

“I easily and effortlessly realize the truth of every situation.”

Quote:

“…Suddenly to see that one is immortal, suddenly to perceive that all other human beings and all the conditions of personal existence are working together to bring about the perfect realization of a cosmic plan which, in essence, is the outworking of the inmost reality of one’s own being is a reversal of personal and human consciousness which temporarily knocks one flat.” P.F.C., Occult Fundamentals, and Spiritual Unfoldment

Stage Three: Revelation

The Keys (cards) involved: The Empress (Key 3); The Wheel of Fortune (Key 10); The Star (Key 17)

Goal: After freeing ourselves from bondage (stage one) and after the lightning flash of awareness (stage two), there comes a period of calm and gradual growth.

As described by Case, “In the second stage, there is an uncomfortable overthrow of the false belief of the world, a momentary, but a never-to-be-forgotten glimpse of reality, of the absolute unity of life.

“In the third stage, this new conception of the Oneness of All begins gradually to unfold.”

Essentially the Seven Stages are about the process of enlightenment, which results in an ultimate shift of consciousness from separation/materialism perception to unity and oneness perception. From that fundamental base, we can supercharge our consciousness into higher, wider, deeper capacities.

When this happens we begin forming a brand new body, both at the physical level (all the way down to the trillions of cells in our body) and at the energetic level (which includes our chakras, our aura, and our torus field).

This rebirth and reforming of our body happen naturally, organically, and over time, and requires from us the unconditional love and nurturing symbolized by The Empress.

Through self-love and through showing appreciation and acceptance of others (no matter their stage of development), we open a portal to the karmic realms via the Wheel of Fortune.

The more self-care, nurturing, peace, and calm we cultivate at this stage, the more negative karma we purify, the more opportunity for awakening insights we create.

This brings us to cosmic consciousness awareness as symbolized by the Star card. As such, the most profound activities we can conduct to further our ripening process are all the traditional ones: yoga, meditation, qigong, massage, acupuncture, therapy, right diet, exercise, moderate (or no) use of drugs and alcohol.

The growth we want will happen very naturally at this stage as long as we help foster an atmosphere where growth can happen at all. If we are not moved to change any of our negative toxic behaviors, then we are unlikely to continue to have awakenings or progress along the path.

An example of this from my life: I had a powerful spiritual awakening in 2004 as described in the first two stages. However, soon after this awakening, my wife took our two daughters and left me for another life. This triggered in me a decade’s long depressive slump and I became an alcoholic, turning away from my spiritual path altogether.

But I never forgot that flash of awakening wherein my personality completely dissolved and I became one with Soul Consciousness.

Today, I’m back on the path and although I have yet to have an awakening as powerful as that first one in 2004, I’m much more mature in my process of taking it easy and letting things come to me as they will. In the meantime, I meditate, listen to binaural beats, and practice qigong and yoga every day.

I also eat well, exercise, and I completely removed alcohol from my diet.

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

The Empress: Nurture & Nature, Gestation, Beauty & Love, Lushness & Fecundity.

Wheel of Fortune: Opportunity, What goes around comes around, karmic laws, rotation, cyclic nature, fate, destiny, chance, probability, the cycle of cosmic expression.

The Star: Cosmic Consciousness, Meditation, Insights from above and beyond, towards a human utopia.

Affirmations:

“I love and nurture myself for the benefit of all.”

“The universe provides me with opportunities for love and mature evolution.”

“I am receptive to cosmic consciousness.”

Quote:

“When you can see that all your mental states are phases in the manifestation of the One Consciousness which directs the growth of trees and grasses, the flight of birds and insects, the flow of streams and the sweep of ocean currents; when you begin to feel that through your mind and body flows the power that holds the stars in their courses, the power that flames in countless suns, you are beginning to exchange mere intellectual assent for that true knowledge which has been called the doctrine of the heart.” — P.F.C.

Stage Four: Organization

The Keys (cards) involved: The Emperor (Key 4); Justice (Key11); The Moon (Key 18)

Goal: Stage four is remarkably similar to stage three in that it involves a further ripening of our receptive faculties, but instead of an overall meditation meant to nurture our energetic and physical bodies, in stage four we are actively focusing on two specific aspects of our consciousness: clear sight and right action.

The Emperor as the guiding principle rules the head (like Aries in the Zodiac), and, more specifically the brain. More specifically still, the Emperor is all about Clear Sight/Vision. In order to “rule”, the Emperor must see clearly.

As such, Case suggests that we direct our meditation practice towards the part of our brain that governs sight, esoterically (and physiologically) speaking. The Hindus call it the “Cave of Brahma” in the center of the brain. Case identifies that area as the section from the medulla up to the pituitary gland.

Moreover, Case says that the meditation practices we employ should act as directives to the cells in our brain — our literal cells — which he insists are “living beings” and “centers of consciousness” that are “always amenable to the control of your objective mind.”

He suggests the type of meditation one should use here is auto-suggestion and is most optimally practiced right before one falls asleep at night (or during a nap) during what is called the hypnogogic state. To increase your receptivity here, I suggest finding a binaural beats track on YouTube or (what I use) an app called Sacred Acoustics.

This type of yogic meditation is practiced widely now and it’s called Yoga Nidra.

Along with focusing on increasing one’s Clear Sight faculties, this stage is about cultivating what the Buddhists call “Right Action”.

Case describes it this way: “The riper we become, the better we understand that the secret of right action is the giving up of all attachment to results. Attachment is the desire to see a particular manifestation of name and form. It is a phase of the delusion of separateness.

“Do whatever comes to hand with no thought but that the doing shall be your very best. That is the secret of right action.”

To sum up Stage Four, we direct our meditations (The Emperor) by carefully and intuitively weighing what processes work best for us (Justice), and in doing so we will create a state of consciousness that taps into ancestral and past-life knowledge that makes our physical and energetic bodies conducive to “obeying” our directives (The Moon).

After we finish this organization meditation, we “let it go” by releasing all attachments to results. (Think of the phrase: “Let go, and let God”)

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

The Emperor: Clear Sight/Vision, motivated towards a bright future, Directives, Orders, Organizing principle, Inspired, Leading the way.

Justice: Balance, Weighing the options judiciously, mental clarity.

The Moon: Psychic phenomena, past lives, the house of the soul.

Affirmations:

“My vision is pure and true and reaches far and wide.”

“I am able to recall all of my past lives as easily as I can recall the events and lessons of my current life.”

“Thank you beautiful brain cells for all that you do! I send you love and light and ask that you help support optimum sight/vision health and function.”

Quote: “[Through meditation, the Life-Power] shows us, step by step, what lies ahead of us on the journey along the path which leads upwards from the plain of sense-life and third-dimensional consciousness to the height beyond.

“On those heights, as one who looks down from a mountain-peak sees in one glance a hundred separate forms of life below him on the plain, we shall see as a whole what now we see only in part.” — P.F.C

Stage Five: Regeneration

The Keys (cards) involved: Hierophant (Key 5); Hanged Man (Key 12); The Sun (Key 19)

Goal: Like with all the stages, your goal here is to embody the energies of the first Key of the stage, in this case, the Hierophant.

The Hierophant is the ultimate Knower of Truth and Spiritual Teacher. He has expanded his vision as the Emperor-consciousness in stage four. Now, in Stage Five, he has ripened his understanding.

But before he can Know and Speak the Truth, he must go through another test. The essence of this test has been described in many religious and mythological traditions, from the tale of Osiris and Horus, Jesus in the desert, Buddha under the bodhi tree, and Odin hanging from Yggdrasil (the World Tree).

A sacrifice must be made, and it’s the ultimate sacrifice known today as Ego Death. All your needs, fears, ideas, assumptions that come from years of personality formation, must be surrendered and replaced with the pure knowledge of the Life-Force energy.

Jesus went to the desert for forty days and forty nights, fasted and endured temptations; Buddha (as Siddhartha Gautama) sat beneath a bodhi tree for 49 days (seven weeks); Horus and Odin both lost an eye in their respective sacrifices, the symbology being that in order to gain inner wisdom, they had to sacrifice their attachment to outer sight.

This sacrifice is symbolized by the Hanged Man in the fifth stage. Now, am I suggesting that you have to go to the desert or sit under a tree for an extended period of time? Certainly not.

It really comes down to creating your own ritual and being clear with your intentions.

When I had my awakening experience in 2004, the ritual I participated in was a combination five-day liquid fast, followed by a “seven door” sweat lodge, followed by a breathing meditation that triggered an intensely amazing kundalini rising experience. My ego was sucked from the top of my head, replaced by my soul or higher self.

I knew the Truth of reality in a way I never had before. It was more than conceptual knowing. It was experienced knowing.

However, since I hadn’t properly prepared myself with the prior four steps, my awakening didn’t fully “take”. A week after my awakening, some minor conflict occurred that triggered me out of soul awareness and back into my ego perspective.

Today, I have more patience and therefore I interact with the stages, including stage five, in a plodding, day-to-day manner. My ego is strong and does not like to surrender power so easily. So my way is to slowly integrate my ego into my higher self, such that now, my ego rather enjoys it when he gets to sit back and let my higher self “take the wheel”.

Whatever methods you employ, the goal is to surrender the ego for the wisdom of the higher self (whether at an ultimate level or at a measured step-by-step level).

Once this is accomplished, the Sun (as the card of the same name) of enlightenment will shine through you from deep within your soul and you will, as Jesus said, “receive the kingdom of God like a child…”

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

Hierophant: Channeler of the Life-Force; Teacher; Knower; Higher Self.

Hanged Man: Sacrifice; New Perspective; Ego-Death; Reflection; Contemplation.

The Sun: Illumination; Innocence Reborn; the Soul shining from within.

Affirmations:

“I let go of my personal desires and listen to the Teacher Within.”

“My Inner Child is healed of all its wounds and awakens within me refreshed and renewed.”

“I am an unobstructed channel for my higher self’s expression.”

Quote: “Submit yourself wholly to the guidance which comes, not from above and without, but from within, at the very center of your being. The law you must obey is not that of an alien sovereign, usurping the direction of your life. It is your own law, the perfect method of the Eternal One expressing itself through you. Know it, open yourself to it, live it moment by moment and day by day. This is to begin the life of conscious liberation.” — P.F.C.

Stage Six: Realization

The Keys (cards) involved: The Lovers (Key 6); Death (Key 13); Judgement (Key 20)

Goal: The sacrifice we made of our constructed personality/ego in Stage Five leads to a new re-integration between our subconscious mind and conscious mind (The Lovers); this results in a Realization that death is not an end, but a new beginning (Judgement), a true transformation of our mind such that it may escape the confines of the third dimension (the material world) and fully access the fourth dimension known as the Astral Realm.

In essence, Stage Six is about dying without dying and being reborn with an expanded consciousness that can now perceive and interact with the fourth dimension of time and space!

We’ve all experienced the astral realm, most often in our dreams.

Dreams are a perfect representation of what the fourth dimension is like. The boundaries in a dream of time and space don’t really exist. Phenomena occur that could never take place in “real life”. Yet, often, we don’t realize we are dreaming, so we still perceive ourselves as being limited, and sometimes even as victims in a nightmare.

Unless, of course, we are lucid dreaming.

In Stage Six of Spiritual Unfoldment, a person has gone from being a dreamer in a dream she didn’t know she was in, to a dreamer who realizes that all this firm “reality” is no more than a dream.

From this place of awareness, all your affirmation and manifestation practices are highly accelerated, often at an instantaneous clip.

This is an actual theory that’s been tossed around in certain scientific circles. You might know it as “Simulation Theory”.

One of my favorite comedians Bill Hicks sums up what this stage is like in one of his brilliant “jokes” about what it would look like if a newscaster reported on a positive “drug” story :

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively; there is no such thing as death; life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the Weather.”

As a child, I had multiple “astral” experiences (including being able to see the faces of my past lives in the mirror when I’d wake up in the middle of the night), so I was fascinated to read that this is common among children, according to Case.

“The spinal cord is a tube. In young children, it is open at the lower end, so that the serpent-power coiled in the sacral plexus can rise through it. That is why little children [frequently] have astral vision, and why they sometimes have animal and human invisible playmates.

“As they grow older this tube is closed at the lower end, in order that the greatly increased activity of the Mars-force in the sacral plexus at the time of puberty may not cause the serpent force to rise prematurely and destroy the brain.

“When the practical occultist seeks to gain astral vision again, he must apply the Marse-force to the destruction of the cells that close the lower end of the tube. But opening it again, he becomes ‘as a little child.’”

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

The Lovers: Integration of the masculine & feminine principles (or consciousness and subconsciousness); communication from the higher self, duality transformed into trinity consciousness.

Death: The forces of change; Transformation; the last “enemy” to be overcome by “overcoming evil with good” and “Love your enemies”; physical dissolution.

Judgment: Rebirth; entering the astral realm; the fourth dimension.

Affirmations:

“I transcend the boundaries of time and space with love and understanding.”

Practice chanting using words syllables like “OM, or AUM”. Here are some more suggestions.

Quote:

“All practice of this kind has just one object, and that is to get the inadequate personality out of the way, so that the true Self, which knows just what to do and how to do it, may find no resistance to the free expression of its perfect mastery of mind and body.” — P.F.C.

Stage Seven: Cosmic Consciousness

The Keys (cards) involved: The Chariot (Key 7); Temperance (Key 14); The World (Key 21)

Goal: Through successful integration of all the dualities of our existence — primarily the energetic and the physical, the subconscious and the conscious, the yin and the yang (as indicated in the symbology of the Temperance card) — we “build” our body anew (The Chariot) and enter the “Kingdom of Heaven” (The World).

And what is the “Kingdom of Heaven”? It is the ultimate reality of the physical world of existence stripped of all illusion embodied in our flesh.

A famous quote by the Sufi mystic Rumi sums it up perfectly: “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop”.

It is one thing to grasp this fractal nature of reality intellectually — the entire ocean in a drop, just as we have the entire human in a single cell — it is another thing altogether to live this truth as a real conscious experience.

Cosmic Consciousness (the title of this stage) is the ultimate goal and as the ultimate goal, it far surpasses anything we can compare it to.

In Stage Six we can move our consciousness like a lucid dreamer in a dream, navigating the fourth dimension of the Astral realm at will. While this is amazing in and of itself, it’s describable; it is something we can visualize and conceptualize and communicate to others.

With Cosmic Consciousness, there are no words to describe it, because it is a place beyond words, beyond thought. As a matter of fact, it is the mind devoid of all thought, all concepts, all ideas. It is the I Am at blissful oneness with all existence.

Many Near-death experiencers have claimed that they entered a realm that sounds a lot like Cosmic Consciousness, and they all expressed how impossible it is to put that experience into words. One such person is Dr. Eben Alexander.

There has been a lot of talk in New Age circles lately about the Cosmic or Galactic Federation of Light beings. Supposedly, these are beings who have realized and exist in Cosmic Consciousness and have been aiding humanity during these times in our collective evolution towards reaching that same destination.

I like to think that this is the case and that we are nearly there, but we still have to “do the work” as individuals. It’s not about waiting to be saved, and it certainly is NOT about transcending the physical world and escaping the third dimension.

This idea of “escape” and transcendence has long been misunderstood. There is nothing to transcend except for our misconceptions, there is nothing to escape except our own prison of delusions.

The emphasis, therefore, should not be on transcendence, but rather on realizing the power of our own mind and integrating our consciousness with the consciousness of the One Power — that which is the creator of all reality and IS all of reality, which ultimately is…drum roll, please…us.

You are the One Power. You are God manifested in a body.

And here’s the real kicker. Your body has the entire body of the universe — all of time and space and everything else — inside of it.

It only seems like you are separate. Once you realize — experientially — that you are not separate from the One, the mind becomes empty of all defilements and you experience the universe as you really are.

Your body becomes like the Chariot, a perfect vehicle of light and consciousness, a Merkaba field of pure awareness capable of traveling anywhere in time and space, to interact with all the vast beings of light and love that fill the universe.

Key Words/Phrases for the Three Cards:

The Chariot: The Merkaba; Vehicle of light embodied in the flesh; Vehicle that “carries us from thought to the consciousness beyond it.” NOTE: here is some more information about the Merkaba

Temperance: Alchemy’s conclusion; IHVH (Yod He Vau He), the syllables of creation; The Builder; The transmutation of the corruptible body into one that is incorruptible.

The World: Consciousness beyond thought; the Plan of Creation Revealed and Experienced; the Kingdom of the Life-Power. Freedom from delusion.

Affirmations:

“The Kingdom of Spirit is embodied in my flesh.”

“In thought and word and deed, I rest my life from day to day upon the sure Foundation of Eternal Being.”

“I am that I Am.”

Quote: “No one who has eaten of the fruit of this tree may describe it as it really is. [She] will understand the meaning of all descriptions of this experience. [She] will know how hopeless are all attempts to define it. [She] will know, too, that the vagueness of the various accounts arises from no vagueness in the experience.

“The consciousness beyond thought is crystal-clear, sharply defined, free from the least suspicion of haziness. Its very clearness is what makes it ineffable. We have no words to convey such a fullness of meaning. our language is built to describe piece-meal no experience. How can it express what one has recorded as ‘being everywhere, and all at once.’?” — P.F.C.

SOURCE: https://medium.com/mystic-minds/the-seven-stages-of-spiritual-unfoldment-61c17927f4b

NOTES:

1. Bondage, free yourself from limitation, restriction and illusion
2. Awakening, awareness of what is important, making choices
3. Revelation, understanding of Oneness and the All
4. Organization, establishing clear sight and right action
5. Regeneration, release and moving to the next level of your personal work and unfoldment
6. Realization, a new re-integration between our subconscious mind and conscious mind
7. Cosmic Consciousness, integration of all dualities to a state of mind, of Oneness