Symbols ana a

^ Corpus Hermetic tun, 10.17-18.

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^The hermetic symbols for birth out of fire and ability to prevail within it without changing are the Phoenix and the Salamander Cf. Ffcrnety (Dicrionnairc, 434, 446), where for the term "residence” this explanation is given, "Mastery of the Redness, that with the Mercury, comprises a whole capable of remaining eternally within the Fire and of resisting its violent attacks." For rhc stare ot union with the "poison,'¹ cf. also Flamel, (Desir desire, 315): "The Fire is bom out of and feeds itself on the Fire and is the son of the Fire, which is why it returns to the Fire and does not tear the Fire.

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^Corpus Hermeticum, 16.9: cf. with the passage of the Virgin ui che World (213): "Between an immortal body and a mortal body there is but one ditterence . . . one is active, and the other passive . . one is tree and governs . . the other enslaved and subject to impulse."

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^ Cf. the Upanishadic "to triumph over the second death,’’ because "death has no further hold on him, death has become part of his being and he has been transformed into one of these divinities" (Brihadaranyaka.'Upanisbad. 1.2. B). For tire, same idea, extended to every partial form of negativity, cf. Metaphysic of Sorrow and Sickness, in Introduzione alia magia, 2:182ff.; and Vic dc Milarcpa, (277): "The world and liberation are visible in plain lighr. My hands are tied to their deed by che seal of che Great Seal . . , my daring knows no obstacle. Disease, evil spirits, sins and miseries adorn the ascetic that I am—in me they are arteries, seeds and fluids. " "Seal" and "daring" here are related to the spiritual characteristics of the Red Work. Cf. also Boehtne (Aurora, 10, §50): "If every fountain still has its sap when you separate from this world [that is, at the transference into the incorporeal of the different roots of vital force], rhen the fire char blazes in rhe Final judgment does not damage us; it will have no power over che spirits that serve the organs of your lifeblood, and after this terrible tempest you will be, in your resurrection, an angel and one who has triumphed.” We may also recall the most ancient teachings of the Qabala h (Book of the Hekhaloth) that speak of the passage through the seven celestial palaces, in each one ot which we meet the adverse powers against which we must defend ourselves hy means of a magical seal created by a secret name; with this the initiate seals himself as well. It is said that little hy little the difficulties increase and "a fire that proceeds from his body threatens to devour him." It is the same transformation "of the flesh in the burning torches” chat Enoch is subjected to; but he who is not as worthy as that prophet runs the danger of being destroyed by the flambeaux. According to one fragment of this literature, one must be capable of remaining standing upright "without hands or teec.” Cf. G, Scholeni, Mystique Juive, 63-65.

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^ Cf. Guenon, Man and His Becoming; Evola. The Doctrine of the Awakening. The approximate equivalent of the "Grand Dissolution’’ in the ancient Western traditions is the "cosmic burning"— i'Kmjpomg— returning here to the idea of Fire, the element that is Death and Life in the Red Work.

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" Likewise, in Catholicism the supreme chief of the hierarchy is dressed in white, while the red is worn by rhe "Princes of the Church,” who are subordinate to him.

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^Expressions of the Dhammapada, §§d8d, 417, 420.

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