Historical Veritas / V-Society Magick Articles archive
Article metadataArchival notice: This is an archival republication of a historical forum article. The text is preserved for research, citation, and continuity; authorship remains with the original forum author where identifiable, and dates/replies/views reflect the surviving capture or Wayback-era ledger where available.
- Author: Prophecy
- Original post date: September 13, 2006, 08:26:30 AM
- Author quote / captured profile/signature line: Hermetic Magician / Veritas Teacher / Posts By Osmosis
- Article title: The Archeus and Occult Virtues
- Length: 2586 words (~12 min read)
- Replies / views: 9 / 928
- Last visible board activity: October 08, 2006, 02:45:18 AM
- Source archive: Forum topic archive
- Local capture source: res/The Archeus and Occult Virtues.rtfd
- Archival flag/tag: historical archive; Veritas Society; Magick Articles; preserved forum post
Additional archival context
- Archivist abstract: Lecture-style article on the Archeus / Anima Mundi, the mediation between physical and metaphysical properties, and the use of occult virtues in magical theory.
_________________________________________________
The Archeus
Its nature, and how magicians use it to manipulate occult virtues
This lecture was given in #Vmeta on September 12th, 2006. Thank you all who attended.
The subject of tonight's lecture, which we can thank Crowley for organizing, is that of Occult Virtues. During it will shall consider principally a subject named the Archeus, or Anima Mundi/Soul of the World, and the implications of several statements by Agrippa and Eliphas Levi. Amongst these in particular is Agrippa's proposition:
"The magicians use the inferior natural things to call down the superior supernatural things."
From Levi we shall consider principally his statement presented in Transcendental Magic book one:
"By the careful observation of things found in nature the magician is able to understand things found above nature."
Both of these comments are linked by a single idea: that through the properties of physical things we may affect or observe metaphysical things.This uniting proposition shall be the philosophical core of our discussion, and we must first begin it by a full consideration of the Archeus.
To define it, the Archeus is the segment of the closest quadrant of the astral sphere which resonates with some similarity to the highest vibrations of our physical world. In essence it is the "gray area" wherein matter, speaking parallel and not laterally, begins to transmute into spiritual energies. In affect it is the glue which binds the heavens to the material, and so allows the maxim "As above so below."
Apart from the Archeus, which is primarily a Platonic name for the subject, this sphere is also called the Anima Mundi, Soul of the World, Spirit of the World, The Transitive LVX, The Path of Saturn (connecting Malkuth and Yesod on the Tree of Life), the Earth Sphere and the Cradle of the Earth. It is also sometimes simply called the lower astral sphere, or the "geographic" region of it, as while you are in the Archeus everything parallels physical manifestation. It is into this substrata of existence that we project when we step out of our bodies and find ourselves still in our homes as opposed to some strange and distant atmosphere. In many cases the Archeus is as far as many people go with astral projection: it is in fact simply the easiest to access, as it is the closest to our present physical existences, and is the world wherein our spirits "move and live and have their being."
It is worth mentioning that the Archeus can be broken down into four different ethers: Chemical, Life, Light, and Reflective. To discuss them briefly, as their consideration is not wholly necessary yet you should not be ignorant of them, the Chemical Ether composes the substances within which energies responsible for the perpetuation of chemical actions in the world exist.
The Life Ether composes the substances through which the Vital Force exists and is transmitted, and which forms a matrix to hold in the Life Spark of a living thing. All living things contain both a chemical and life aura to them; the former, to the clairvoyant, is usually a subtle light-red flame. The latter is usually a static streaming of blue and white light.
The Light Ether is the highest ether at play in the physical world, and is the actual medium by which means the programmed virtues of objects travel down from the higher spheres of existence and impregnate their appropriate physical vessels. It is with the property of this ether that we are most concerned, for some of the greatest miracles in magic are accomplished by manipulating the virtues which objects and circumstances recieve. It bears mentioning that it is through this Life Ether that the soul of a living thing is given unto a body.
The Reflective Ether does not so much importantly act upon the physical world, but does in occasion anyways. If the Akashic Library is to be seen as the Memory of God, then the Reflective Ether would be the memory of Earth. It is through the replay of such memories that so-called hauntings are often created. But the ethers may be reserved for a later lecture: in the mean time let us refer to the matter at hand.
I mentioned when discussing the Light Ether that it brings virtues from higher spheres down into this one, and this requires elaboration. There is a chain of decent from the First Cause, which some call God, all the way to our physical world. In the First Cause all things are one, combined: the Big Bang theory reflects this. As they emanate outwards from this First Cause they begin to divide according to Intelligent Design. Like begins to attract like, opposites begin to repel one another, and in a short time there is a vast array of different combinations of energies which may be called their own units.
This process is first reflected by the creation of Gender, male and female, reflected in the Qaballah by the decent of Kether into Chokmah and Binah; The Egyptians see this as the creation of avatars of Thoth and Nuit. After gender the qualities of active and passive are created, allowing four qualities: active male, passive male, active female, passive female. These are not the same thing, as many wrongly suppose. Once these four qualities have been created a vast array derive from them, falling into increasingly specific categories until eventually "God" becomes "rock," "tree," "anger," etc.
In the words of Agrippa "All the ideas in God are indeed by one form: but in the Soul of the World they are many." This is where our Archeus comes into play. The Archeus is the tool by which means the astral matrix of thoughts and energies which constitute the spiritual DNA of "oak tree" are transmuted into the physical world and impressed upon the proper subject. For this reason if the original occult properties of an oak tree reflect wisdom, longevity, height and grayness of color, then the common Oak Tree shall instill an idea of wisdom, posess the ability to live long, grow tall and posess a gray shade of color on its outer wall. This Archeus is woven ever so carefully into all things in our world, running through everything and connecting everything. It reaches out to each thing on the physical plane and instills it with the properties which design has alotted it.
Now there has been a reverse impression made as well, not by the minds of gods but by the minds of men. So it is that fire no longer represents heat, expansion and light, but is also symbolic of passion, aggression, and war. In the same way a Dove is a symbol of love, a flower a symbol of peace, and so forth.
These properties, though not all of them have been derived from the First Cause, are still just as real and just as potent as the original properties of that thing, and these gather together to create what are called "occult virtues": the virtues which are not literally expressed, but instead exist in an intelligible world.
Questions:
Q: Are virtues from god impressed upon us?
A: That depends how far you trace the line upwards. Essentially it can be said that God impresses all things with virtue, but none of it is done directly: it is all the result of a long decending process.
Q: Does this Archeus connect mutually the worlds of Formation and Concept?
A: The worlds of Idea, Creation and Formation are technically above the Archeus, which connects the World of Formation with the World of Manifestation
Q: If men create a new substance -- a new plant that wasn't really created naturally -- does it still contain the virtues from God?
A: It would contain the combined virtues of the original components, much like alchemy.
Q: If the Archeus is the inbetween, does that make it the element of air?
A: It corresponds metaphorically to the properties of Air, yes. It also corresponds to Vau in the formula Yod Heh Vau Heh.
Q: "For this reason if the original occult properties of an oak tree reflect wisdom, longevity, height and grayness of color" -- So wisdom is a property impressed by God, or does that come from the mind of men?
A: Wisdom would come from the mind of men.
_______
Now I shall continue to the next part of the lecture:
The oldest forms of magic operated on the knowledge of the Archeus, and unfortunately much of this wisdom has been lost, or rather ignored, by today's mainstream "softcore" magicians. It has been thought to be mere superstition, for example, that leaving a ring in the same nest as a pair of Doves will instill that ring with the power to attract love. Likewise it has been thought simply folklore that salt repels evil things, etc. The scholarly magician knows that this is no superstition at all, and understands quite perfectly the laws upon which such operations are based. The doves hold the occult virtue of love and the attraction of love. Keeping in mind that one thing exposed to another thing will eventually cause similarity, particularly amongst intelligent things (and these virtues act on the intelligent world), it becomes apparent that leaving a ring in such a nest will eventually allow the rings to become impregnated through convection with the quality of love, and that this quality may later be activated quite simply by the learned, or if brought out properly, may even be made use of by the uninitiated.
Now this is one form of magic, most often exercised in enchantment and bewitchment, and if its manners are known by the learned magician then it can be quite powerful. There is a much more awesome affect that can be operated, however, by the understanding of how to actually detach the Archeus from a subject and directly instill it with your own desired occult virtue, in effect "reprogramming" its spiritual and intelligent DNA. The results of this can be quite "miraculous," though the learned magician knows perfectly well that his operations depend on natural laws and not divine intervention. A cat may be raised to think itself a pig. A rock may go from hot to cold as if of its own accord. An entire house may instantly scare those who enter it. Looking at a particular magic ring may strike terror or peace into those who gaze upon it; the prospects of such manipulation are many.
Questions:
Q: There are a lot of mundane symbols around us with occult virtue. To what magnitudes do those mundane objects affect us by themselves (without additional charging)? (Rings of marrige, a shirt with a heart on, etc.)
A: They affect us quite dramatically without our realization, both psychologically and metaphysically. I have experimented to a great extent with this, and the results are often astonishing.
Q: What is the mechanism by which this sphere works? How does it work to bring the virtues of an object from the abstract to the mundane?
A: The Archeus operates via something entitled the LVX, which is sometimes called the Astral Light. Unlike the Archeus, which retains and expresses only the virtues of the lower astral sphere, the LVX travels through all levels of existence. The property of this LVX is the outgoing property of Light, the radiation of fire, which expands consistently outwards and onwards. The fire in this case is the First Cause, called the Celestial Fire by the hermetic magicians. This LXV is the mechanism of the ideas present in this First Cause, in this Celestial Fire, and allows them to leave their shell within that Divine Flame.
The properties of all things, from the flow of a river to the archangel Michael, may be found within this Light. The Christians call it the Logos. This LVX passes through the Archeus, bringing with it the qualities retained by the Archeus, and in its path through the physical layer of existence passes on these qualities into our world.
______
With that I shall continue on to the last short bit of the lecture:
There is a third manner in which the magicians use the Archeus to their advantage, and it is through the accumulation and projection of occult virtues. That is to say, the occult virtues present in an item are, through various means, extracted in an alchemical manner from that item and taken into the being of the magician. Once said virtue has been consumed it may be expressed at the whim of the magician.
Let us take for example the instance of the Hyena: The eyes of the Hyena, also called the Civet cat, posess particularly potently the occult quality of instilling fear into those who look into them. This is seen naturally amongst other animals, but may also be called up by a magician at whim if he posesses the eyes of a hyena.
Using the mentioned manner of accumulation the magician would take into his own being the qualities of these eyes and impress them upon his own genetic make up. Once done, activating this occult virtue is similar to activating the occult virtue of any item: it need simply be brought up and expressed. Using the example of the Hyena, the magician would now be able to stike fear into any animal, including humans, simply by activating that quality and looking into their eyes.
Many "miracles" are worked in this manner, such as the projection of death upon a thing (such as a fig tree, to use a well known instance), to bring something back to life, to ruin someone's luck, to restore health, to levitate one's self, and many other such things.
That concludes by introductory lecture to the Archeus and its role in magic.
Questions:
Q: " but may also be called up by a magician at whim if he posesses the eyes of a hyena." --- Does the magician necessarily have to have the eye, or can he just deeply think about the object then absorb it that way?
A: The magician need not have the object in question to absorb its virtue and then express it. If he is simply activating the virtue already in the item, then yes, he requires it.
Q: If the virtues of an object all came from the 'god' virtue, and where divided into other virtues, than would that mean one has the 'god' virtue if all the virtues are consumed?
A: Unfortunately, no. There are certain qualities which only the God concept posess, such as Divine Authority and the ability to create worlds.
Q: So thats what the big bang theory is missing?
A: The Big Bang theory is missing several things, but if true it is best observed merely as a physical expression of a spiritual event.
I hope the lecture was enjoyed by everyone who was able to attend it: thank you all for coming. Namaste, and goodnight.
*Special thanks to Elduril for quickly presenting me with a fully editted version of the log, to Forg for quickly making a well editted log available as an article, and to Crowley for asking me to give this lecture, thus making it effectively happen.
Logged
The magician becomes filled with God, fed upon God, intoxicated with God. Little by little his body will become purified by the internal lustration of God; day by day his mortal frame, shedding its earthly elements, will become in very truth the Temple of the Holy Ghost. Day by day matter is replace
_________________________________________________
Archivist note: Preserve corrections as appended notes where possible. Avoid silently modernizing terminology, spelling, or claims unless a moderator intentionally creates a separate edited edition.