FREEMASONRY AND THE HERMETIC DOCTRINE, PART 3

≥CONCLUSIONS≤

By: Carlos Antonio Martinez, Jr.

According to the first principle, everything that exists is Mental. But, Mental, is just a name, Hermes could have stated that everything is Energy, for example, and that would not change anything. Now, then, the fact that everything has the same nature permits the Hermetist or Free-Mason to work with these laws regardless of whether it be with an atom or with a galaxy, keeping always into account that we live in a Holographic Universe, and that every act and action does not succumb in itself, but, it brings repercussions that reach the very boundaries of said universe.

The concept of Mental Transmutation proposed by Hermetic Philosophy is a Transmutation of Conscience in the human being, a Transmutation of Negative into Positive, of Evil into Good, of ≥Lead≤ into ≥Gold≤, of Ignorance into Knowledge, of Hate into Loveä The gradual change of everything that we dislike about ourselves, which is determined solely through Knowledge, Self-Awareness, and Openness of Mind.

Working with the seven hermetic principles, we can change our personal circumstances, and those which surround us. We can attract to ourselves what we need, by the principle of correspondence, grouping the similar with the similar. We can situate ourselves in the adequate vibration to transmute, for example, Poverty into Wealth or Illness into Health, by the principle of vibration. We can transmute the negative into positive by the principle of polarity. We can consciously create the adequate rhythm to break a pernicious habit. We can inundate our lives with favorable effects if we plant good causes, by the principle of cause and effect. And, in short, we can engender all the projects we wish, by the principle of generation.

The Hermetic and/or Masonic Adept must labor earnestly, in order to achieve the expected results with the aid of these principles. Utilizing these laws in the appropriate manner, while working on a superior evolutionary project, the student may also be attaining better changes in his livelihood, his health, his relation with a significant other, his patrimony, and his general success in life, for the adequate use of The Kybalion has no limits. For every person who has a genuine spiritual yearning and dramatic questions concerning the meaning of life, the Kybalion of Hermes Trismegistus can point the right way, a safe and objective path that counters the spiritual fantasies of the Pseudo-Esoterism in which the semi-hypnotized individual dreams of evolving, without actually transmuting his/her animal nature.

Hermeticism, therefore, is not a methodical philosophy, but, the Magisterial Science of

the Universe, the science of all sciences, the science that awakens in man his latent mental capacities, and teaches him to live wisely by means of the correct employment of the Laws of Nature.

Hermetic Philosophy is a Vivid Philosophy, not a mere cognition. Aside from being a sublime teaching, it constitutes a cosmic system of evolution, an escape door which permits the human being to transcend his/her animal condition to become a different species known as The Stellar Man, a superior creature that represents the Evolutive Summit of the homo sapiens, and, at the same time, the beginning of a New Evolutionary Cycle at a higher level.

The Kybalion tells us that ≥to destroy an undesired degree of vibration, one must place in operation the principle of polarity and concentrate oneπs attention on the opposing extreme which we desire to suppress. The undesired is then eliminated by changing its polarity≤.

This operation is one of the principal hermetic axioms, a timeless teaching, of course mastered and explicated by Hermes Trismegistus over five thousand years ago, it indicates to us that we must pay attention to that which we desire to eliminate, by simply applying it to any realm or circumstance of our lives, be it internal and/or external.

We must also ≥maintain the rhythm≤ and not arrive to the completely opposite extreme, to amount to hatred, for if we hate, we will never let loose of that which we hate; Hatred impairs Reason, it turns into an obsession, becoming part of ourselves, of our lives, and will always inhabit our mind and thoughtsä we must seek equilibrium.

Another way, is by changing our interior vision of living things, for example, trees, recognizing the mission they have accomplished by feeding the bonfires of our ancestors, without which we would never be where we are. Time is way past due for us to give them a ≥breather≤, for, after all, they supply oursä It is not the same to observe a tree as a piece of wood rather than as a living being.

To escape inferior causes and effects, to respect our surroundings and harmonize ourselves with ≥the doctrine of no harm≤, we must strive not to cause harm to any sensible or pain sufferable being. This is a way to polarize toward a respect for that which surrounds us; that which hurts me hurts others; that which hurts others hurts me; that which benefits me benefits others; that which benefits others benefits me; However, just like I stated before, this does not only include people, but, all ≥sensible beings≤ä Hippocrates told us: ≥ä make a habit out of two things, help, or, at least, do no harm ä≤. Therefore, just like he suggested, we should all endeavor to cause the least possible damage.

If we control the causes, starting with those minor ones, we shall cease suffering unwanted and/or uncontrollable effects at will; we shall pass from ≥effects≤ to ≥causes≤ escaping from one inferior plane to a superior, we will rule in the inferior, but, being already subject to other superior effects.

Remember the adage: ≥The masses allow themselves to be dragged obeying their ambience, succumbing to the will and desires of men stronger than them, yielding to the effects of inherited tendencies, insinuations, temptations and other foreign causes, thus becoming nothing more than pawns in the chess game of life≤.

He who practices Mental Transmutation works an another state of conscience or plane, transforming conditions and mental states into others in accordance with formulas more or less efficacious.

Even modern Schools of Psychology implement various ≥treatments≤, ≥affirmations≤, and/or ≥autosuggestions≤ which, are nothing more than these same Hermetic Principles, frequently utilized unconsciously and, therefore, imperfect.

With Knowledge, Self-Awareness and Will Power, a human being can pass from one state of conscience to another, from effect to cause, from being destructive to constructive, from apathetic and motionless to one eager to live, respectful, participant and ≥harmonized≤ with his/her surroundings. The Kybalion encourages us to ≥avoid all mental avarice and express into practice all that which we have learned≤, and, again, this can only be attained through study, knowledge, attention and much strength of will.

My Brothers, Hermeticism does not only pursue the possession of theoretical knowledge, but, it engages in it through practice, showing us, at the same time, how we are formed. Carpenters give shape to wood; Iron Forgers give shape to steel; Sculptors give shape to stone; And the Wise give shape to themselves.

The possession of knowledge which is not accompanied by a manifestation and expression in Practice and Deed, is the same as burying precious minerals and metals, an useless and futile thing.

Let us, therefore, ever remember the admonition of The Thrice Great Master of Masters: ≥Knowledge, just like Fortune, must be employed. The Law of Use is Universal, and he who violates it shall suffer for having set himself in conflict with the Forces of Nature≤.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PARTS 1, 2 & 3

The Kybalion, by Hermes Trismegistus.

Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic & Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, by Manly P. Hall.

The Adepts in the Western Esoteric Tradition, by Manly Palmer Hall

The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, by Arthur Edward Waite.

History of Philosophy, by Martyn Oliver.

Freemasonry and The Ancient Gods, by H.S.M. Ward.

The Ancient Wisdom, by Geoffrey Ashe.

Giordano Bruno and The Hermetic Tradition, by Frances A. Yates.

The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, by Frances A. Yates.

Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance, by Brian Vickers.

The Land of Osiris, by Stephen Mehler.

Psychology and Alchemy, by Carl Gustav Jung.

Freemasonry from the Great Pyramid of Ancient Times, by Thomas Holland.

John Dee: The World of an Elizabethan Magus, by Peter French.

The Secret Doctrine, by Helena Petrona Blavastky.

Isis Unveiled, by Helena Petrona Blavastky.

Magick, by Aleister Crowley.

More About Masonry, by H.L. Haywood.