Symbolism Segment 33.2

The herbs of the fields were sacred to the early pagans, who believed that the gods had made plants for the cure of human ills. When properly prepared and applied, each root and shrub could be used for the alleviation of suffering, or for the development of spiritual, mental, moral, or physical powers. In The Mistletoe and Its Philosophy, P. Davidson pays the following beautiful tribute to the plants: "Books have been written on the language of flowers and herbs, the poet from the earliest ages has held the sweetest and most loving converse with them, kings are even glad to obtain their essences at second hand to perfume themselves; but to the true physician--Nature's High-Priest--they speak in a far higher and more exalted strain. There is not a plant or mineral which has disclosed the last of its properties to the scientists. How can they feel confident that for every one of the discovered properties there may not be many powers concealed in the inner nature of the plant? Well have flowers been called the 'Stars of Earth,' and why should they not be beautiful? Have they not from the time of their birth smiled in the splendor of the sun by day, and slumbered under the brightness of the stars by night? Have they not come from another and more spiritual world to our earth, seeing that God made 'every plant of the field BEFORE it was in the earth, and every herb of the field BEFORE IT GREW'?"

Many primitive peoples used herbal remedies, with many remarkable cures. The Chinese, Egyptians, and American Indians cured with herbs diseases for which modern science knows no remedy. Doctor Nicholas Culpeper, whose useful life ended in 1654, was probably the most famous of herbalists. Finding that the medical systems of his day were unsatisfactory in the extreme, Culpeper turned his attention to the plants of the fields, and discovered a medium of healing which gained for him national renown.

In Doctor Culpeper's correlation of astrology and herbalism, each plant was under the jurisdiction of one of the planets or luminaries. He believed that disease was also controlled by celestial configurations. He summed up his system of treatment as follows: "You may oppose diseases by Herbs of the planet opposite to the planet that causes them: as diseases of Jupiter by Herbs of Mercury, and the contrary; diseases of the Luminaries by the Herbs of Saturn, and the contrary; diseases of Mars by Herbs of Venus and the contrary. * * * There is a way to cure diseases sometimes by Sympathy, and so every planet cures his own disease; as the Sun and Moon by their Herbs cure the Eyes, Saturn the Spleen, Jupiter the Liver, Mars the Gall and diseases of choler, and Venus diseases in the Instruments of Generation." (The Complete Herbal.)

Mediæval European herbalists rediscovered only in part the ancient Hermetic secrets of Egypt and Greece. These earlier nations evolved the fundamentals of nearly all modern arcs and sciences.

At that time the methods used in healing were among the secrets imparted to initiates of the Mysteries. Unctions, collyria, philters, and potions were concocted to the accompaniment of strange rites. The effectiveness of these medicines is a matter of historical record. Incenses and perfumes were also much used.

This famous physician, herbalist, and astrologer spent the greater part of his useful life ranging the hills and forests of England and cataloguing literally hundreds of medicinal herbs. Condemning the unnatural methods of contemporaneous medicos, Culpeper wrote: "This not being pleasing, and less profitable tome, I consulted with my two brothers, DR. REASON and DR. EXPERIENCE, and took a voyage to visit my mother NATURE, by whose advice, together with the help of Dr. DILIGENCE, I at last obtained my desire; and, being warned by MR. HONESTY, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it." (From the Introduction to the 1835 Edition of The Complete Herbal.) Doctor Johnson said of Culpeper that he merited the gratitude of posterity.

Barrett in his Magus describes the theory on which they worked, as follows: "For, because our spirit is the pure, subtil, lucid, airy and unctuous vapour of the blood, nothing, therefore, is better adapted for collyriums than the like vapours which are more suitable to our spirit in substance; for then, by reason of their likeness, they do more stir up, attract and transform the spirit."

Poisons were thoroughly studied, and in some communities extracts of deadly herbs were administered to persons sentenced to death--as in the case of Socrates. The infamous Borgias of Italy developed the art of poisoning to its highest degree. Unnumbered brilliant men and women were quietly and efficiently disposed of by the almost superhuman knowledge of chemistry which for many centuries was preserved in the Borgia family.

Egyptian priests discovered herb extracts by means of which temporary clairvoyance could be induced, and they made use of these during the initiatory rituals of their Mysteries. The drugs were sometimes mixed with the food given to candidates, and at other times were presented in the form of sacred potions, the nature of which was explained. Shortly after the drugs were administered to him, the neophyte was attacked by a spell of dizziness. He found himself floating through space, and while his physical body was absolutely insensible (being guarded by priests that no ill should befall it) the candidate passed through a number of weird experiences, which he was able to relate after regaining consciousness. In the light of present-day knowledge, it is difficult to appreciate an art so highly developed that by means of draughts, perfumes, and incenses any mental attitude desired could be induced almost instantaneously, yet such an art actually existed among the priestcraft of the early pagan world.

Concerning this subject, H. P. Blavatsky, the foremost occultist of the nineteenth century, has written: 'Plants also have like mystical properties in a most wonderful degree, and the secrets of the herbs of dreams and enchantments are only lost to European science, and useless to say, too, are unknown to it, except in a few marked instances, such as opium and hashish. Yet, the psychical effects of even these few upon the human system are regarded as evidences of a temporary mental disorder. The women of Thessaly and Epirus, the female hierophants of the rites of Sabazius, did not carry their secrets away with the downfall of their sanctuaries. They are still preserved, and those who are aware of the nature of Soma, know the properties of other plants as well." (Isis Unveiled.)

Herbal compounds were used to cause temporary clairvoyance in connection with the oracles, especially the one at Delphi. Words spoken while in these imposed trances were regarded as prophetic. Modem mediums, while under control as the result of partly self-imposed catalepsy, give messages somewhat similar to those of the ancient prophets, but in the majority of cases their results are far less accurate, for the soothsayers of today lack the knowledge of Nature's hidden forces.

The Mysteries taught that during the higher degrees of initiation the gods themselves took part in the instruction of candidates or at least were present, which was in itself a benediction. As the deities dwelt in the invisible worlds and came only in their spiritual bodies, it was impossible for the neophyte to cognize them without the assistance of drugs which stimulated the clairvoyant center of his consciousness (probably the pineal gland). Many initiates in the ancient Mysteries stated emphatically that they had conversed with the immortals, and had beheld the gods.

When the standards of the pagans became corrupted, a division took place in the Mysteries. The band of truly enlightened ones separated themselves from the rest and, preserving the most important of their secrets, vanished without leaving a trace. The rest slowly drifted, like rudderless ships, on the rocks of degeneracy and disintegration. Some of the less important of the secret formulæ fell into the hands of the profane, who perverted them--as in the case of the Bacchanalia, during which drugs were mixed with wine and became the real cause of the orgies.

In certain parts of the earth it was maintained that there were natural wells, springs, or fountains, in which the water (because of the minerals through which it coursed) was tinctured with sacred properties. Temples were often built near these spots, and in some cases natural caves which chanced to be in the vicinity were sanctified to some deity.

"The aspirants to initiation, and those who came to request prophetic dreams of the Gods, were prepared by a fast, more or less prolonged, after which they partook of meals expressly prepared; and also of mysterious drinks, such as the water of Lethe, and the water of Mnemosyne in the grotto of Trophonius; or of the Ciceion in the mysteries of the Eleusinia. Different drugs were easily mixed up with the meats or introduced into the drinks, according to the state of mind or body into which it was necessary to throw the recipient, and the nature of the visions he was desirous of procuring.'' (Salverte's The Occult Sciences.) The same author states that certain sects of early Christianity were accused of using drugs for the same general purposes as the pagans.

The sect of the Assassins, or the Yezidees as they are more generally known, demonstrated a rather interesting aspect of the drug problem. In the eleventh century this order, by capturing the fortress of Mount Alamont, established itself at Irak. Hassan Sabbah, the founder of the order, known as the "Old Man of the Mountain, " is suspected of having controlled his followers by the use of narcotics. Hassan made his followers believe that they were in Paradise, where they would be forever if they implicitly obeyed him while they were alive. De Quincey, in his Confessions of an Opium Eater, describes the peculiar psychological effects produced by this product of the poppy, and the use of a similar drug may have given rise to the idea of Paradise which filled the minds of the Yezidees.

The philosophers of all ages have taught that the visible universe was but a fractional part of the whole, and that by analogy the physical body of man is in reality the least important part of his composite constitution. Most of the medical systems of today almost entirely ignore the superphysical man. They pay but scant attention to causes, and concentrate their efforts on ameliorating effects. Paracelsus, noting the same proclivity on the part of physicians during his day, aptly remarked: "There is a great difference between the power that removes the invisible causes of disease, and which is Magic, and that which causes merely external effects [to] disappear, and which is Physic, Sorcery, and Quackery." (Translated by Franz Hartmann.)

Disease is unnatural, and is evidence that there is a maladjustment within or between organs or tissues. Permanent health cannot be regained until harmony is restored. The outstanding virtue of Hermetic medicine was its recognition of spiritual and psychophysical derangements as being largely responsible for the condition which is called physical disease. Suggestive therapy was used with marked success by the priest-physicians of the ancient world. Among the-American Indians, the Shamans--or "Medicine Men"--dispelled sickness with the aid of mysterious dances, invocations, and charms. The fact that in spite of their ignorance of modern methods of medical treatment these sorcerers effected innumerable cures, is well worthy of consideration.

The magic rituals used by the Egyptian priests for the curing of disease were based upon a highly developed comprehension of the complex workings of the human mind and its reactions upon the physical constitution. The Egyptian and Brahmin worlds undoubtedly understood the fundamental principle of vibrotherapeutics. By means of chants and mantras, which emphasized certain vowel and consonant sounds, they set up vibratory reactions which dispelled congestions and assisted Nature in reconstructing broken members and depleted organisms. They also applied their knowledge of the laws governing vibration to the spiritual constitution of man; by their intonings, they stimulated latent centers of consciousness and thereby vastly increased the sensitiveness of the subjective nature.

In the Book of Coming Forth by Day, many of the Egyptian secrets have been preserved to this generation. While this ancient scroll has been well translated, only a few understand the secret: significance of its magical passages. Oriental races have a keen realization of the dynamics of sound. They know that every spoken word has tremendous power and that by certain arrangements of words they can create vortices of force in the invisible universe about them and thereby profoundly influence physical substance. The Sacred Word by which the world was established, the Lost Word which Masonry is still seeking, and the threefold Divine Name symbolized by A. U. M.--the creative tone of the Hindus--all are indicative of the veneration accorded the principle of sound.

The so-called "new discoveries" of modern science are often only rediscoveries of secrets well known to the priests and philosophers of ancient pagandom. Man's inhumanity to man has resulted in the loss of records and formula: which, had they been preserved, would have solved many of the greatest problems of this civilization. With sword and firebrand, races obliterate the records of their predecessors, and then inevitably meet with an untimely fate for need of the very wisdom they have destroyed.

De Monte-Snyders declares that each of the above characters forms one syllables of a word having seven syllables, the word itself representing the materia prima, or first substance of the universe. As all substance is composed of seven powers combined according to certain cosmic laws, a great mystery is concealed within the sevenfold constitution of man, and the universe. Of the above seven characters, De Monte-Snyder writes:

Whoever wants to know the true name and character of the materia prima shall know that out of the combination of the above figures syllables are produced, and out of these the verbum significativum."

Prima materia, prime matter, like the goal of the alchemical process has various definitions, with no one definition considered prominent. This is because alchemists had personal definitions of prima materia. Many definitions even contradicted one another. They range from lead, iron, gold, quicksilver, salt, sulphur, vinegar, water, fire, earth, water of life, blood, poison, spirit, clouds, sky, dew, shadow, sea, mother, moon, dragon, Venus, microcosm, and so on. It is not surprising that Ruland's Lexicon gives fifty synonyms and more could be included.

Besides these definitions, which are partly chemical and mythological, there are the philosophical ones which have deeper meanings. For instance, in the treatise of Komarios one finds the definition of "Hades." In Olympiodorus the black earth contained the "accursed of God." The Consilium consigii says the father of gold and silver, their prima materia, is "the animal of earth and sea," or "man," or "part of man," that is his hair, blood, and so on. Dorn, student of Paracelsus, said prima materia was "Adamica," which coincides with Paracelsus' limbus microcosmicus. The materials of the stone are none other than sulphur and Mercuricus. Alchemists assumed man could complete the work of the prima materia because he possessed a soul. Not so stated, but assumed believed, the soul came from God, therefore, man was capable of doing God's work--alchemists function as God. Further works testify that the prima materia may be anything and may become anything. Mylius described prima materia as the elementium primordiale, the "pure subject and unity of forms." Prima materia is further described in the Rosarium as the "root of itself." Therefore, because it roots in itself it is autonomous and dependent on nothing.

Paracelsus, in his Philosophia ad Atheninses, declared this unique materia a secret having absolutely nothing to do with the elements. It fills the entire regio aetherea, and is the mother of the elements and every created thing. Paracelsus' definition is strictly scripturally based. He described it mysterious, prepared by God in such a way that there will be nothing like it again. It was corrupted beyond reparation, presumably by the Fall of Adam, and cannot be returned to.

The description which Jung gives to the works of Paracelsus and Dorn clearly identifies the reason or reasons why Middle Age alchemy took on a religious atmosphere. Not only did Paracelsus reconcile his professional views with his own Christianity, but he instilled them in alchemical thought. Using the Bible, Paracelsus and others, connected prima materia to God; "before Abraham was made, I am." (John 8:58) Since prima materia is supposedly the stone, also, this also demonstrated the stone is without beginning or end. Jung noted many Christians hearing this would not believe their ears, but it was plainly stated in the Liber Platonis quartorum, "That from which things arise is the invisible and immovable God." It must be admitted that probably just a few philosophers pressed to this extreme conclusion, but even its aspect makes their veiled allusions more transparent. Even though most of alchemical thought seems absurd in comparison to modern scientific thinking, it should not be forgotten that the Middle Ages greatly influenced present culture.

One should remember that the important difference between the alchemists and chemists was that the former looked back while the latter looked forward. The alchemists thought those before them, the ancients, had the secrets of the art; all they had to do was discover these secrets, which, perhaps, was part of their goal or quest. For the future chemists, as well as other scientists, their goal lied in discovering secrets of the future. When examining this difference and comparison one readily sees that most of the world population is still on the alchemical path. Most people cling to religious beliefs which at best give them superficial comfort just as the stone did for the alchemists. Most people are Paracelsan, they pray to God to heal them when sick but go to the physician to prescribe medicine to cure them. Paracelsus sought to keep his religious beliefs but was intelligent enough to initiate modern medicine.

One could say that current thinking that we are all gods because we have the spirit of God within us held by some, especially nature worshippers, possibly originated from alchemical thought. The English alchemist Sir George Ripley (c. 1415-1490) wrote, "The philosophers tell the inquirer that the birds bring us the lipas, every man has it, it is in every place, in you, in me, in everything, in time and space." "It offers itself in lowly form [vili figura]. From it springs our eternal water [aqua permanens]." Ripley said prima materia is water, the material principle of all bodies, including mercury. It is the hyle, stuff, mater, which God brought from the chaos. It is the black earth which Adam was made of and which he took with him from Paradise. Since this prima material contained water it also contained fire, as both were said to be within the philosopher's stone; therefore, it is believe the stone always existed coming from Paradise too.

This is why, this author thinks, that Jung said the Middle Ages influenced modern society. Perhaps not in the alchemical sense because modern chemistry and other sciences have proven to be more effective, but in the social-religious sense, it must be reiterated that Western culture is still on an alchemical path. Most Western societies seek to perfect themselves through a religion which has failed for thousands of years. Religious leaders resemble the alchemists in thinking those before them had the answers when religious history is lavished with stories of thieves, liars, murderers, those committing adultery, and so on. Religion has not changed human behavior, and thanks to the Devil it does not have to.

Even though, allegorically speaking, most if the world is on the alchemical path it is still not too late to follow the lead of Paracelsus; he recognized both good and bad in nature and used it to promote good. He acknowledged this when his critics said his medicines were poisonous. His response was that all things are poisonous; it's the dosage that matters. Although Jung demonstrated the similarities between alchemy and psychology, he never denied the pitfalls of each, the bad points that must be confronted and worked out. In this confrontation there is no easy answer or magic bullet, no prima materia or philosopher's stone. It is time to recognize the world is the hermaphrodite stone which man lives on. The world is both good and evil, both life and death; how man uses the world will determine the outcome of both the world and man. Man can continue seeking the stone in eternal heavenly salvation for himself, or he can, like the chemist, discover new ways in which everyone can live peacefully. The dosage or stone lies in the actions of humankind. (Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy. 2nd. ed. (Transl. by R. F. C. Hull). "The Collected Works of Jung" Vol. 12. Bollingen Series XX. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press. 1970. pp. 317-327.)