Alchemy Air Symbol Theoricus

October 28, 2021 taughtbydegree Uncategorized

Contents

1. About the Second Grade Theoricus

2. The Composition of Man

3. Macrocosm vs Microcosm

4. Ancient Philosophy on Immortal Soul Teaching

5. Vedic Philosophy on the Journey of the Soul based on Nakshatras

6. Knight of the Brazen Serpent – Twenty-Fifth Degree of the Morals and Dogma by Illus Albert Pike

7. Immortality of the Soul Concept

8. Understanding F I A T

9. Understanding the Divine Spirit of God that dwells in the body of Man. The meaning of the Cross of the Four Elements and its corresponding colors.

10. Analyzing the Elements and the Soul Path on the Birth Chart

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1. About the Second Grade Theoricus

What is Theoricus?

The Latin word Theoricus means observing, considering, relating to observation in English.

What is the object of the Second Grade of Theoricus?

To study the constitution of the Universe, and the structure of the World. To seek to understand the relations which exist between the soul of man and his body, and to investigate the sources and effects of the elemental forces known as heat, light, sound, and electricity as they act upon the gaseous, liquid, and solid matter of the earth.

To understand that Man is a complex being and even his body is formed of many elements and is exposed to many forces. The body of man is but a coat of skin, enveloping the sentient, thinking, acting being, who may rise or fall according to his birthright, his surrounding,s and the use he makes of his will and conscience.

To understand the constitution of Man, Macrocosm vs Microcosm, the hidden influences of the Sun, Moon, the 12 Zodiacs, and the Stars upon the soul.

To understand the meaning of the Cross of the Four Elements and its corresponding colors, to understand the Divine Spirit of God that dwells in the body of Man.

What is the significance of the air element in the east?

Wisdom Strength and Beauty.. is the power of the air element in the east because we are taught that there should be Wisdom to contrive, Strength to support, and Beauty to Adorn every great and important undertaking in Freemasonry.

2. The Composition of Man

Man is composed of Body, Soul, and Spirit

The Body is formed from the material world ..Earth, Air, Water and Fire.

Some 60 chemical elements are found in the body, but what all of them are doing there is still unknown. Roughly 96 percent of the mass of the human body is made up of just four elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, with a lot of that in the form of water. The remaining 4 percent is composed of other chemical elements.

The alchemical elements of the human body can be determined based on calculations of the time, location, day, and year of birth.

The Soul of Man from the celestial world dwells in the body and is illuminated by the Divine Spirit

The Spirit of Man is a Ray from the Divine Word of God

Man is a Trinitarian creation composed of the Spirit of God, the Male and Female Principle, or in Alchemy as mercury, sulfur, and salt. The three philosophical principles of alchemy are considered the working units of this system. It is the holy trinity of the universe. They are primary organic functions that exist within all of manifest creation- be it material or non-material.

A soulmate theory..The notion of “soulmate,” implies that there is but one person in the universe who is your match, one person in creation who completes you – whom you will recognize in a flash of lightning.

According to the esoteric religious movement Theosophy, whose claims were modified by Edgar Cayce, God created androgynous souls—equally male and female. Later theories postulate that the souls split into separate genders, perhaps because they incurred karma while playing around on the Earth, or “separation from God.” Over a number of reincarnations, each half seeks the other. When all karmic debt is purged, the two will fuse back together and return to the ultimate.

Aristophanes places demands and expectations on the love that is quite extreme.

“[When] a person meets the half that is his very own,” he exclaims, “something wonderful happens: the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one another, and by desire, and they don’t want to be separated from one another, not even for a moment. These are people who finish out their lives together and still cannot say what it is they want from one another.”

Trinity, in Christian doctrine, is the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine of the Trinity is considered to be one of the central Christian affirmations about God. The Trinity is a controversial doctrine; many Christians admit they don’t understand it, while many more Christians don’t understand it but think they do.

THE NATURE OF MAN

At the death of Man, the Spirit returns to God who gave it, the Soul passes to the Judgement Hall, and the Body returns to the dust from which it was formed.

In Hinduism, all life goes through birth, life, death, and rebirth and this is known as the cycle of samsara . According to this belief, all living things have an atman , which is a piece of Brahman, or a spirit or soul. It is the atman that moves on into a new body after death.

Once a living being dies, its atman will be reborn or reincarnated into a different body depending on its karma from its previous life. For example, if a person has good karma in a previous life, then their atman will be reborn or reincarnated into something better than they were previously. A person gains good karma for doing good things in life, such as helping others through following their dharma.

A Hindu’s ultimate goal in life is to reach moksha. Moksha means liberation or freedom from samsara and it can only happen after a Hindu has been reborn many times. If a Hindu gains good karma from many lifetimes, they will have gained ultimate knowledge and have freed themselves from the constraints of the material world. Once this happens, a Hindu’s atman no longer needs to be reborn into another being and is ready to be free from samsara. As a result, the atman will achieve moksha and will be re-joined with Brahman.

3. Macrocosm vs Microcosm

The ancient Philosophers spoke of the Macrocosm and of a Microcosm.

The Macrocosm was the created Universe, the Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars.; the Microcosm was the Soul of Man. And so intimate relations between the stars and man character and capabilities were influenced.

Man is composed of Body, Soul and Spirit. The body is formed from the material world, the spirit from the Divine World of God, and Soul from Celestial World that dwells in the body.

To further explained the mystery, the ancient philosophers spoke of the Macrocosm consists of the created Universe, the Sun, Moon, Planets & Stars, while Microcosm was the soul of man influenced by the heavenly bodies.

4. Ancient Philosophy on the Immortal Soul Teaching

Ancient Egyptians, like other pagan peoples, observed the unending cycles of nature: in the heavens, the sun seemed to be reborn each morning and die each night; spring was a time of birth, growth, and youth; autumn was a time of decline and old age; in winter plants died and even the sun seemed to fight for its existence; and the following spring the cycle began anew. Historians record that Egyptians interpreted these patterns of life, death, and renewed life as applying to humans as well.

The concept of the immortality soul teaching came from the Egyptians which civilizations lasted for more than 3,000 years. The countless tombs unearthed by archaeologists along the Nile provide eloquent testimony to the Egyptian belief that man possessed a spiritual aspect extending beyond his physical life.

Passed on to the Greeks

Plato (428-348 B.C.)

The Greeks got the concept of an immortal soul from the Egyptians. Plato, the Athenian Philosopher (428-348 B.C.), like his teacher, Socrates was initiated into the Greater Mysteries at the age of 49. The initiation took place in one of the subterranean halls of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Plato was the founder of the Academy, an institute for philosophical and scientific research just outside of Athens.

It was Plato who popularized the immortal soul concept throughout the Greek world. In the Phaedo, one of Plato’s most famous works, he recounts Socrates’ final conversation with his friends on the last day of Socrates’ life. Socrates declared to them:

“The soul whose inseparable attitude is life will never admit of life’s opposite, death. Thus the soul is shown to be immortal and since immortal, indestructible… Do we believe there is such a thing as’ death? To be sure. And is this anything but the separation of the soul and body? And being dead is the attainment of this separation when the soul exists in herself and separate from the body, and the body is parted from the soul. That is death… Death is merely the separation of the soul and body.”

Plato’s Myth of Er.

The Myth of Er is a legend that concludes Plato‘s Republic (10.614–10.621). The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that greatly influenced religious, philosophical, and scientific thought for many centuries.

The story begins as a man named Er (/ɜːr/; Greek: Ἤρ, gen.: Ἠρός), son of Armenios (Ἀρμένιος), of Pamphylia dies in battle. When the bodies of those who died in the battle are collected, ten days after his death, Er remains undecomposed. Two days later he revives on his funeral-pyre and tells others of his journey in the afterlife, including an account of reincarnation and the celestial spheres of the astral plane. The tale includes the idea that moral people are rewarded and immoral people punished after death.

Although called the Myth of Er, the word “myth” means “word, speech, account”, rather than the modern meaning. The word is used at the end when Socrates explains that because Er did not drink the waters of Lethe, the account (mythos in Greek) was preserved for us.

With many other souls as his companions, Er had come across an awe-inspiring place with four openings – two into and out of the sky and two into and out of the ground. Judges sat between these openings and ordered the souls which path to follow: the good were guided into the path into the sky, the immoral were directed below. But when Er approached the judges, he was told to remain, listening and observing in order to report his experience to humankind.

Meanwhile from the other opening in the sky, clean souls floated down, recounting beautiful sights and wondrous feelings. Those returning from underground appeared dirty, haggard, and tired, crying in despair when recounting their awful experiences, as each was required to pay a tenfold penalty for all the wicked deeds committed when alive. There were some, however, who could not be released from underground. Murderers, tyrants and other non-political criminals were doomed to remain by the exit of the underground, unable to escape.

After seven days in the meadow, the souls and Er were required to travel farther. After four days they reached a place where they could see a shaft of rainbow light brighter than any they had seen before. After another day’s travel they reached it. This was the Spindle of Necessity. Several women, including Lady Necessity, her daughters, and the Sirens were present. The souls – except for Er – were then organized into rows and were each given a lottery token.

Then, in the order in which their lottery tokens were chosen, each soul was required to come forward to choose his or her next life. Er recalled the first one to choose a new life: a man who had not known the terrors of the underground but had been rewarded in the sky, hastily chose a powerful dictatorship. Upon further inspection he realized that, among other atrocities, he was destined to eat his own children. Er observed that this was often the case of those who had been through the path in the sky, whereas those who had been punished often chose a better life. Many preferred a life different from their previous experience. Animals chose human lives while humans often chose the apparently easier lives of animals.

After this, each soul was assigned a guardian spirit to help him or her through their life. They passed under the throne of Lady Necessity, then traveled to the Plane of Oblivion, where the River of Forgetfulness (River Lethe) flowed. Each soul was required to drink some of the water, in varying quantities; again, Er only watched. As they drank, each soul forgot everything. As they lay down at night to sleep each soul was lifted up into the night in various directions for rebirth, completing their journey. Er remembered nothing of the journey back to his body. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on the funeral pyre early in the morning, able to recall his journey through the afterlife.[1]

The moral

In the dialogue Plato introduces the story by having Socrates explain to Glaucon that the soul must be immortal, and cannot be destroyed. Socrates tells Glaucon the “Myth of Er” to explain that the choices we make and the character we develop will have consequences after death. Earlier in Book II of the Republic, Socrates points out that even the gods can be tricked by a clever charlatan who appears just while unjust in his psyche, in that they would welcome the pious but false “man of the people” and would reject and punish the truly just but falsely accused man. In the Myth of Er the true characters of the falsely-pious and those who are immodest in some way are revealed when they are asked to choose another life and pick the lives of tyrants. Those who lived happy but middling lives in their previous life are most likely to choose the same for their future life, not necessarily because they are wise, but out of habit. Those who were treated with infinite injustice, despairing of the possibility of a good human life, choose the souls of animals for their future incarnation. The philosophic life — which identifies the types of lives that emerge from experience, character, and fate — allow men to make good choices when presented with options for a new life. Whereas success, fame, and power may provide temporary heavenly rewards or hellish punishments, philosophic virtues always work to one’s advantage.

The Spindle of Necessity

The myth mentions “The Spindle of Necessity”, in that the cosmos is represented by the Spindle attended by sirens and the three daughters of the Goddess Necessity known collectively as The Fates, whose duty is to keep the rims of the spindle revolving. The Fates, Sirens, and Spindle are used in the Republic, partly to help explain how known celestial bodies revolved around the Earth according to the cosmology in the Republic.

The “Spindle of Necessity”, according to Plato, is “shaped… like the ones we know”—the standard Greek spindle, consisting of a hook, shaft, and whorl. The hook was fixed near the top of the shaft on its long side. On the other end resided the whorl. The hook was used to spin the shaft, which in turn spun the whorl on the other end.The classical heavens

Placed on the whorl of his celestial spindle were 8 “orbits”, whereof each created a perfect circle. Each “orbit” is given different descriptions by Plato.

Based on Plato’s descriptions within the passage, the orbits can be identified as those of the classical planets, corresponding to the Aristotelian planetary spheres:

Orbit 1 – Stars
Orbit 2 – Saturn
Orbit 3 – Jupiter
Orbit 4 – Mars
Orbit 5 – Mercury
Orbit 6 – Venus
Orbit 7 – Sun
Orbit 8 – Moon

The descriptions of the rims accurately fit the relative distance and revolution speed of the respective bodies as would appear to an observer from Earth (aside from the Moon, which revolves around the Earth slightly more slowly than the sun).

Comparative Mythology[edit]

Some scholars have connected the Myth of Er to the Armenian legend of Ara the Handsome (Armenian: Արա Գեղեցիկ Ara Gełec‘ik).[2] In the Armenian story, the king Ara was so handsome that the Assyrian queen Semiramis waged war against Armenia to capture him and bring him back to her, alive, so she could marry him. During the battle, Semiramis was victorious, but Ara was slain despite her orders to capture him alive. To avoid continuous warfare with the Armenians, Semiramis, reputed to be a sorceress, took Ara’s body and prayed to the gods to raise him from the dead. When the Armenians advanced to avenge their leader, Semiramis disguised one of her lovers as Ara and spread the rumor that the gods had brought Ara back to life, convincing the Armenians not to continue the war.[3][4] In one tradition, Semiramis’ prayers are successful and Ara returns to life.[5]

Armen Petrosyan suggests that Plato’s version reflects an earlier form of the story where Er (Ara) rises from the grave.[6]

5. Vedic Philosophy on the Journey of the Soul based on Nakshatra

Vedas existed since time immemorial. Many believe that Sage Veda Vyasa wrote them around 3100 BCE, but the fact is that he just divided the complete vedas into four parts. Earlier to him, all 4 of them existed together.
Vyasa categorised the primordial single Veda into four. Hence he was called Veda Vyasa, or “Splitter of the Vedas,” the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda.
The word Vyasa means split, differentiate, or describe.
Although Veda Vyasa did his work around 5000 years ago, the rig veda leads to a date much beyond human imagination.
Rigveda 1-161-13 states, “ Who awakened Rubhus ? ” (Rubhus means clouds)
The Sun replied, ” The dog, because today is the end of the year. ” . The dog means the Canis Major or the Mrigasira Nakshatra.
End of year can be considered as end of a tough summer season and time for agriculture (rainy season).
Clouds were awakened by the Dog. It means that the clouds began rainy season when sun enters Mrigasira Nakshatra.
In present era, rains start in india when sun enters Canis Major (Mrigasira Nakshatra) in Niryanaya method.

Age and Time of Rig Veda

Vedas are not composed in present era, so at least one cycle of the precession of equinoxes must have been completed.
There are 27 Nakshatras in Indian Astrology. The rate of the precession is 960 years per Nakshatra.
Thus precession through 27 Nakshatras must have taken place in 25920 years. So the Rigveda is at least 25920 years old (if we assume only one precession has passed since then).
Subtracting present 2000 years AD will lead the date to 25720 BCE.

In another verse, Rigveda 4-57-5 requests Shunasirau to shower water made in the heavens on the Earth.
Shuna means dog. Sirau means two heads. The two heads of dogs means the two stars Canis major and minor. i.e. the Mrigasira Nakshatra.
This shows the beginning of the rainy season on the Mrigasira Nakshatra, the period being 23720 years BCE.

The oral tradition continued for many generations, so the exact date cannot be reached.
Ofcourse, if many precessions passed since that hymn was composed, then the age of Rig Veda will be multiples of 25920 years.

Nakshatra: (Sanskrit) “Star cluster.” Central to astrological determinations, the nakshatras are 27 star-clusters, constellations, which lie along the ecliptic, or path of the sun. An individual’s nakshatra, or birth star, is the constellation the moon was aligned with at the time of birth. See: jyotisha.

The ecliptic is divided into 27 nakshatras, which are variously called lunar houses or asterisms. These reflect the moon’s cycle against the fixed stars, 27 days and 7¾ hours, the fractional part being compensated by an intercalary 28th nakshatra. Nakshatra computation appears to have been well known at the time of the Rig Veda.

The ecliptic is divided into the nakshatras eastwards starting from a reference point which is traditionally a point on the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica called Chitrā in Sanskrit. (Other slightly-different definitions exist.) It is called Meshādi or the “start of Aries”; this is when the equinox — where the ecliptic meets the equator — was in Aries (today it is in Pisces, 28 degrees before Aries starts). The difference between Meshādi and the present equinox is known as ayanāngsha or fraction of ecliptic. Given the 25,800 year cycle for the precession of the equinoxes, the equinox was directly opposite Spica in 285 CE, around the date of the Surya Siddhanta.

The nakshatras with their corresponding regions of sky are given below, following Basham. As always, there are many versions with minor differences. The names on the right-hand column give roughly the correspondence of the nakshatras to modern names of stars. Note that nakshatras are (in this context) not just single stars but are segments on the ecliptic characterized by one or more stars. Hence there are more than one star mentioned for each nakshatra.

https://arvind-bhagwath.medium.com/mythology-of-nakshatras-ccac027e24c9

As per Vedic astrology, the 12 Adityas(Sun Gods) are the energies of the Sun placed in various zodiac signs that forms 12 months of a year.

Moksha

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidiki, in the north of Classical Greece. Along with Plato, Aristotle is considered the “Father of Western Philosophy”, and is known for the Chaldean order of the astrological principles of the journey of the soul by alighting at each of the planets spheres descending from Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. With the pure essence of each planet collected in its downward movement, the soul arrived at the moon where it waited for the correct moment of the native’s birth where physical manifestation took place and soul joined with the body.

Ascending of the Soul

Soul ascends to Heaven cardinal earth Capricorn as depicted by Winding Stair’s representation in the Fellowcraft Degree Tracing Board

Depicted on the tracing board is St John the Baptist at the foot of the winding stair and St John the Evangelist at the entry of the Middle Chamber

On its return, it restores to each sphere through which it ascends, the passions and earthly faculties received from them: to the Moon, the faculty of increase and diminution of the body; to Mercury, fraud, the architect of evils; to Venus, the seductive love of pleasure; to the Sun, the passion for greatness and empire; to Mars, audacity and temerity; to Jupiter, avarice; and to Saturn, falsehood and deceit: and at last, relieved of all, it enters naked and pure into the eighth sphere or highest Heaven.. from Morals and Dogma

The ascending pattern is the reverse of the descent which starts from the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, then Saturn until enters the eight sphere of the highest Heaven,

All this agrees with the doctrine of Plato, that the soul cannot re-enter into Heaven until the revolutions of the Universe shall have restored it to its primitive condition, and purified it from the effects of its contact with the four elements.” …From Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike.

A CAPRICORN incarnation is one of initiation—the “gateway through which the Accepted Disciple, having walked the Path of life through nine tests (or zodiac signs), is now ready to culminate her journey and ascend to the Mountaintop.” (Oken) Whereas Cancer is the “gate in,” CAPRICORN is the “gate out” where freedom from the personality, by successfully passing the initiatory tests, is granted.

From the Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and the Romans, Freemasons learned from them the writings the philosophies and rituals which became the main principles of Masonic teachings.

The soul descends in Cancer as depicted in the Masonic Tracing Board of Entered Apprentice Masons Degree

Soul descends from Heaven by way of Jacobs Ladder allegory through the tropical point cardinal water Cancer, the Gate of Men. The canopy of heaven with the hottest time of the year in the Fire Leo Sun combines the two other luminaries, the Moon ruled by Cancer with cluster stars of the Pleiades in Taurus and the Blazing Star Sirius properly illustrated by Masonic Philosophers, a belief emanated from Ancient Egypt passed on to the Greeks and Romans Philosophers.

Roman Writer Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius (390-430 CE) is famous for his classical Seven Books on Saturnalia.

According to Macrobius, the galaxy crosses the Zodiac in two opposite points, Cancer and Capricorn, the tropical points in the sun’s course, ordinarily called the Gates of the Sun. Through these gates, souls descend to earth and re-ascend to Heaven. In Cicero’s Dream of Scipio, a discourse on the nature of the cosmos, the Gate of Men; and the other, the Gate of the Gods. Cancer was the former because souls descended by it to the earth, and Capricorn the latter, because by it they re-ascended to their seats of immortality and became Gods.

According to Macrobius, the soul descended through the spheres of the seven planets as it descends from the highest heavens to manifest as a physical matter on earth. When the soul encounters Saturn’s heaven, the seventh sphere, it gains the power of reasoning and theorizing.

In the next sphere, the sixth level closer to earth, the soul alights on Jupiter where it showed the Saturn’s gift of reason and critical analysis that can be put into practice so that the soul can direct the earthly body towards success or spiritual enlightenment.

In the 5th heaven Mars, the soul obtains the passion, courage and zealous qualities to the soul.

Below Mars, the soul encounters the Sun in the 4th level, where it meets glorious light in the purest form and envisages the potential for its own illumination or enlightenment. It absorbs the Sun’s spirit and brings with it the soul potential during the lifetime.

In the third heaven Venus, the soul inherits the motion of desires, beauty, and balance.

At the second level from earth, Mercury bestows the power of language and communication in order for it to be capable of interpreting human feelings and giving expression to its emotions.

When the soul enters the Moon’ realm the sphere nearest to Earth, the soul absorbs the Moon’s essence which includes the awareness that it will soon experience the changes of physical movement, growth, and eventual decay.

When the soul is drawn towards the body, it begins to experience a material agitation, matter flowing into it and likens to the human experience of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol as Plato’s remarked in the Phaedo.

The Seven Ages of Man

Moon 0 – 4 years old

Mercury 4 – 14 years old

Venus 14 – 22 years old

Sun 22 – 41 years old

Mars 41 – 56 years old

Jupiter 56 – 68 years old

Saturn 68 – 98 years old

Moon 98 – 102 years old

Ascending of the Soul

Soul ascends to Heaven cardinal earth Capricorn as depicted by Winding Stair’s representation in the Fellowcraft Degree Tracing Board

Depicted on the tracing board is St John the Baptist at the foot of the winding stair and St John the Evangelist at the entry of the Middle Chamber

The ascending pattern is the reverse of the descent which starts from the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, then Saturn until enters the eight sphere of the highest Heaven,

33 Degree Scottish Rite Freemason Albert Pike’ summarized in his book Morals and Dogma the journey of the soul from heaven to earth;

“The ancient Philosophers regarded the soul of man as having had its origin in Heaven. That was, Macrobius says, a settled opinion among them all; and they held it to be the only true wisdom, for the soul, while united with the body, to look ever toward its source, and strive to return to the place whence it came. Among the fixed stars it dwelt, until, seduced by the desire of animating a body, it descended to be imprisoned in matter.

Let us, in order to understand this old Thought, first follow the soul in its descent. The sphere or Heaven of the fixed stars was that Holy Region, and those Elysian Fields, that were the native domicile of souls, and the place to which they re-ascended when they had recovered their primitive purity and simplicity. From that luminous region the soul set forth, when it journeyed toward the body; a destination which it did not reach until it had undergone three degradations, designated by the name of Deaths; and until it had passed through the several spheres and the elements.

All souls remained in possession of Heaven and of happiness, so long as they were wise enough to avoid the contagion of the body and to keep themselves from any contact with matter. But those who, from that lofty abode, where they were lapped in eternal light, have looked longingly toward the body, and toward that which we here below call life, but which is to the soul a real death; and who have conceived for it a secret desire,–those souls, victims of their concupiscence, are attracted by degrees toward the inferior regions of the world, by the mere weight of thought and of that terrestrial desire.

The soul, perfectly incorporeal, does not at once invest itself with the gross envelope of the body, but little by little, by successive and insensible alterations, and in proportion as it removes further and further from the simple and perfect substance in which it dwelt at first. It first surrounds itself with a body composed of the substance of the stars; and afterward, as it descends through the several spheres, with ethereal matter more and grosser, thus by degrees descending to an earthly body; and its number of degradations or deaths being the same as that of the spheres which it traverses.

This fiction is also found in Virgil. “If souls,” says Macrobius, “carried with them into the bodies they occupy all the knowledge which they had acquired of divine things, during their sojourn in the Heavens, men would not differ in opinion as to the Deity; but some of them forget more, and some less, of that which they had learned.”

“The ancients counted seven planets, thus arranged: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There were seven heavens and seven spheres of these planets; on all the monuments of Mithras are seven altars or pyres, consecrated to the seven planets, as were the seven lamps of the golden candelabrum in the Temple. That these represented the planets, we are assured by Clemens of Alexandria, in his Stromata, and by Philo Judaeus.

To return to its source in the Infinite, the human soul, the ancients held, had to ascend, as it had descended, through the seven spheres. The Ladder by which it re-ascends has, according to Marsilius Ficinus in his commentary on the Ennead of Plotinus, seven degrees or steps; and in the Mysteries of Mithras, carried to Rome under the Emperors, the ladder, with its seven rounds, was a symbol referring to this ascent through the spheres of the seven planets. Jacob saw the Spirits of God ascending and descending on it; and above it the Deity Himself.

The Mithraic Mysteries were celebrated in caves, where gates were marked at the four equinoctial and solstitial points of the Zodiac; and the seven planetary spheres were represented, which souls must traverse in descending from the heaven of the fixed stars to the elements that envelop the earth; and seven gates were marked, one for each planet, through which they pass, in descending or returning.

We learn this from Celsus in Origen who says that the symbolic image of this passage among the stars, used in the Mithraic Mysteries, was a ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven, divided into seven steps or stages, to each of which was a gate, and at the summit an eighth one, that of the fixed stars.

The symbol was the same as that of the seven stages of Borsippa, the Pyramid of vitrified brick, near Babylon, built of seven stages, and each of a different colour. In the Mithraic ceremonies, the candidate went through seven stages of initiation, passing through many fearful trials–and of these the high ladder with seven rounds or steps was the symbol.”

The celestial bodies, Heaven, the Stars, and the other Divine elements, ever aspire to rise. The soul reaching the region which mortality inhabits tends toward terrestrial bodies and is deemed to die. Let no one, says Macrobius, be surprised that we so frequently speak of the death of this soul, which yet we call immortal. It is neither annulled nor destroyed by such death: but merely enfeebled for a time; and does not thereby forfeit its prerogative of immortality; for afterward, freed from the body, when it has been purified from the vice-stains contracted during that connection, it is re-established in all its privileges, and returns to the luminous abode of its immortality.

THE CONSTELLATIONS IN GREEK’S NAME

CONSTELLATIONS IN ( VEDIC ASTROLOGY) COMPOSED OF 27 NAKSATHRAS

THE FOUR ELEMENTS AND THE THREE MODALITIES

EXAMPLE OF THE MACROCOSM OF GABRIEL COOMIA, JR. BIRTH CHART SHOWING THE CONSTELLATIONS LOCATIONS, PLANETS ON THE HOUSES, THE FOUR ELEMENTS AND THE 3 MODALITIES in WESTERN ASTROLOGY

GABRIEL COMIA, JR VEDIC CHART SHOWING MOON’S NAKSATHRA (Lunar Mansion)

THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL

After a lifetime on earth, the human soul exits thru the gate of the sun in Capricorn and to begin its journey after death. which the soul ascends into the spiritual ether of the successive planetary spheres of Moon-Mercury-Venus-Sun-Mars-Jupiter-Saturn- {Neptune-Uranus-Pluto} on its outward journey. During this ascending stage, the soul reflected on and paid penance for the sins of the past life. This ascending stage ended with what was called “cosmic midnight.”

In Western philosophy, beginning with Pythagoras , there is an esoteric tradition about the journey of the soul- the divine purposes of the winter and summer solstices. The Greeks described the “descent into generation” into re-birth, by the tropical gate of Cancer and the “ascent to god” of the soul after death, by the tropical gate of Capricorn, in which the soul ascends into the spiritual ether of the planetary spheres.

All souls remained in possession of Heaven and of happiness, so long as they were wise enough to avoid the contagion of the body, and to keep themselves from any contact with matter. But those who, from that lofty abode, where they were lapped in eternal light, have looked longingly toward the body, and toward that which we here below call life, but which is to the soul a real death; and who have conceived for it a secret desire,–those souls, victims of their concupiscence, are attracted by degrees toward the inferior regions of the world, by the mere weight of thought and of that terrestrial desire. {Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike}

Thereafter, the second half of the souls journey began wherein the soul descended thru the same spheres again on its downward path into incarnation on earth and passing thru the Gate of Man to enter the moon sphere to await rebirth with millions of other souls. While during the first half of the journey, the soul reflected upon and suffered for the sins of its past life, during the second half, the soul takes in those forces necessary to build up his future astral, etheric and physical bodies. These forces include both preparing its future karma and learning the wisdom taught by the spirits residing in the different planetary spheres.

After its return from the celestial spheres, the human soul will then re-enter the earth sphere for re-birth thru the gate of man in the sign of Cancer where the soul, before birth and intended for incarnation on earth, would descend into the moon sphere waiting for re-birth.

The Gate of the Sun was that zodiacal house Capricorn wherein the human soul, after death, would ascend into the planetary spheres beyond the moon sphere, for its sojourn thru the spiritual worlds, to meet God.

The Ancient Wisdom taught that the soul after death, traveled first, to the successive spheres of moon-mercury-venus-sun on its outward journey. During this ascending stage, the soul reflected on and paid penance for the sins of the past life. This ascending stage ended with what was called “cosmic midnight.”

These forces include both preparing its future karma and learning the wisdom taught by the spirits residing in the different planetary spheres. For example, if one’s future karma demanded a person to become a physician, he must learn medicine and spend time within the sphere of Mercury. The Galaxy, Macrobius says, crosses the Zodiac in two opposite points, Cancer and Capricorn, the tropical points in the sun’s course, ordinarily called the Gates of the Sun.

Through these gates souls were supposed to descend to earth and re-ascend to Heaven. One, Macrobius says, in his dream of Scipio, was styled the Gate of Men; and the other, the Gate of the Gods. Cancer was the former, because souls descended by it to the earth; and Capricorn the latter, because by it they re-ascended to their seats of immortality, and became Gods. From the. Milky Way, according to Pythagoras, diverged the route to the dominions of Pluto. Until they left the Galaxy, they were not deemed to have commenced to descend toward the terrestrial bodies. From that they departed, and to that they returned. Until they reached the sign Cancer, they had not left it, and were still Gods. When they reached Leo, they commenced their apprenticeship for their future condition; and when they were at Aquarius, the sign opposite Leo, they were furthest removed from human life. .. 25th Degree Morals and Dogma , Albert Pike

Gates of the Sun or Gates of the Soul

The soul, descending from the celestial limits, where the Zodiac and Galaxy unite, loses its spherical shape, the shape of all Divine Nature, and is lengthened into a cone, as a point is lengthened into a line; and then, an indivisible monad before, it divides itself and becomes a dead–that is, unity becomes division, disturbance, and conflict. Then it begins to experience the disorder which reigns in matter, to which it unites itself, becoming, as it were, intoxicated by draughts of grosser matter: of which inebriation the cup of Bakchos, between Cancer and Leo, is a symbol. It is for them the cup of forgetfulness. They assemble, says Plato, in the fields of oblivion, to drink there the water of the river Ameles, which causes men to forget everything. This fiction is also found in Virgil. “If souls,” says Macrobius, “carried with them into the bodies they occupy all the knowledge which they had acquired of divine things, during their sojourn in the Heavens, men would not differ in opinion as to the Deity; but some of them forget more, and some less, of that which they had learned.”

We smile at these notions of the ancients; but we must learn to look through these material images and allegories, to the ideas, struggling for utterance, the great speechless thoughts which they envelop: and it is well for us to consider whether we ourselves have yet found out any better way of representing to ourselves the soul’s origin and its advent into this body, so entirely foreign to it; if, indeed, we have ever thought about it at all; or have not ceased to think, in despair.

The highest and purest portion of matter, which nourishes and constitutes divine existences, is what the poets term nectar, the beverage of the Gods. The lower, more disturbed and grosser portion, is what intoxicates souls. The ancients symbolized it as the River Lethe, dark stream of oblivion. How do we explain the soul’s forgetfulness of its antecedents, or reconcile that utter absence of remembrance of its former condition, with its essential immortality? In truth, we for the most part dread and shrink from any attempt at explanation of it to ourselves.

Dragged down by the heaviness produced by this inebriating draught, the soul falls along the zodiac and the milky way to the lower spheres, and in its descent not only takes, in each sphere, a new envelope of the material composing the luminous bodies of the planets, but receives there the different faculties which it is to exercise while it inhabits the body.

In Saturn, it acquires the power of reasoning and intelligence, or what is termed the logical and contemplative faculty. From Jupiter it receives the power of action. Mars gives it valor, enterprise, and impetuosity. From the Sun it receives the senses and imagination, which produce sensation, perception, and thought. Venus inspires it with desires. Mercury gives it the faculty of expressing and enunciating what it thinks and feels. And, on entering the sphere of the Moon, it acquires the force of generation and growth. This lunary sphere, lowest and basest to divine bodies, is first and highest to terrestrial bodies. And the lunary body there assumed by the soul, while, as it were, the sediment of celestial matter, is also the first substance of animal matter.

The celestial bodies, Heaven, the Stars, and the other Divine elements, ever aspire to rise. The soul reaching the region which mortality inhabits, tends toward terrestrial bodies, and is deemed to die. Let no one, says Macrobius, be surprised that we so frequently speak of the death of this soul, which yet we call immortal. It is neither annulled nor destroyed by such death: but merely enfeebled for a time; and does not thereby forfeit its prerogative of immortality; for afterward, freed from the body, when it has been purified from the vice-stains contracted during that connection, it is re-established in all its privileges, and returns to the luminous abode of its immortality.

All this agrees with the doctrine of Plato, that the soul cannot re-enter into Heaven, until the revolutions of the Universe shall have restored it to its primitive condition, and purified it from the effects of its contact with the four elements.

–25th Degree , Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike

Why Theoricus is Air Element. its meaning

Air is the element of the mind, which is why these signs always have the most brilliant ideas of all. They are very curious and super intelligent. They have great communication skills, they are able to express their ideas with an extraordinary gab and a unique savoir faire. They are social animals, they love to surround themselves with people and to discuss, exchange opinions and learn new things. By nature they are very talkative and friendly, they really are the perfect friends. Also because one of their most beautiful qualities is loyalty and a feeling of justice, characteristics that help building a long lasting relationship.
A flaw that we can find in these three signs, however, is being fickle. They change ideas, places and feelings, boredom just doesn’t exist here. Surely having a sign of this element near you will bring a fantastic burst of fresh air into your life!

Air is one of the four classical elements, along with earth, water, and fire. It is sometimes called the Eastern Element. This element is often associated with breath, life, communication, and the holy spirit. In astrology, air rules the signs Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra. The alchemical symbol for air is an upward pointing triangle with a line going through the point of it.

Why air is located in the east. its significance

We begin in the East, toward the rising sun. The element of the east is air, represented on our altar by a feather. Air and breath give us life. It is the direction of inspiration – the word that literally means to take in air. The east is associated with the mind, with knowledge and learning and intellectual curiosity. Imagine the birds, turning and wheeling in the air, imagine the breeze blowing through your hair. Turning toward the east, we look for a fresh start, an invigorating breath, a new idea. When you are feeling stuck in a rut, beholden to a routine, or if the wind has gone out of your sails, look eastward.

Absolutely crucial to our minute-by-minute existence, Air is the ever-present Element that is all around us, yet impossible to see. Indeed, it is only visible through the interactions it has with the other Elements: Earth, Water, and Fire. The Air Element is represented by the sky, wind, birds, and mountaintops, and is associated with the mind, the intellect, communication and divination.

Like Water, Air is an Element of movement. It is not fixed to the ground, but instead can rise up and travel around the globe. Air’s energies can cause rapid change, such as shifts in the wind’s direction and fluctuations in temperature. Air is essential to life because it contains oxygen, but also because it scatters seeds across the ground so that new plant life can take root in the Earth.

The destructive attributes of Air come in the form of storms—especially tornadoes—as well as dangerously cold or hot temperatures. When sufficiently energetic, Air can move Water and extinguish Fire. Air can both move Earth—in the form of blowing soil—and be obstructed by it, such as when wind is blocked by the shelter of a cave. In the form of a soft breeze, however, Air can be experienced as the gentle, reassuring whisper of the God and Goddess.

To understand the doctrines on the Elements

To understand the relations which exist between the soul of man and his body, the Zodiac, the Hebrew Divine Name IHVH and the four worlds of the Kabbalistic Philosophy, the Yesod in the Tree of Life.

Analyzing the Elements and Soul Path of a Birth Chart

The Macrocosm, the created universe that dwells in the body, the Microcosm

References:

https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/birth-chart-horoscope-onli

https://www.vedicastrology.us.com/index.php/about-mickey

https://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/md/md26.htm

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-myth-of-er-120332

https://www.astroyogi.com/kundli/dasha/mahadasha/ketu

Theoricus SRICFMonitor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_Er

https://www.astro.com/horoscope

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