Sebastian Gardner, Sartre's Being And Nothingness

The Arbatel De Magia Veterum (Arbatel: On the Magic of the Ancients) is a grimoire of ceremonial magic that was published in 1575 in Switzerland. It was likely edited by Theodor Zwinger, and published by Pietro Perna. The actual author of the text remains unknown, but scholars suggest Jacques Gohory as a possible candidate.

The Arbatel mainly focuses on the relationship between humanity, celestial hierarchies, and the positive relationship between the two. The Olympian spirits featured in it are entirely unique to this grimoire. Unlike other grimoires, the Arbatel exhorts the magus to remain active in their community (instead of isolating themselves), favoring kindness, charity, and honesty over remote and obscure rituals. The teachings of Swiss alchemist Paracelsus greatly influenced the writing of this work, though it is also deeply rooted in classical culture, Ancient Greek philosophy, the Sibylline oracles and the philosophy of Plotinus.

Originally written in Latin, these selected ten pages come from a later German translation of the work, dated to 1686.

from Bhanu Kapil’s The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers

biblically accurate angels • tip jar

Rudy Rucker, Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite

A transpersonal psyche with a collective unconscious composed of the sum of all of the archetypes as Jung’s model proposed would have features of a scale-free network structure. His methodology for approaching the unconscious, especially amplification, similarly can be seen to map and understand the psyche as such a network.

—Joseph Cambray, Synchronicity: Nature & Psyche in an Interconnected Universe

Jakob Böhme. Mystical Heart Diagram. 1647.

The basic tenets of alchemy:

1. The universe has a divine origin. The cosmos is an emanation of One God. Therefore All is One.

2. Everything in the physical world exists by virtue of the Law of Polarity or Duality. Any idea can be defined in relation to its opposite, such as: male-female, light-dark, sun-moon, spirit-body, and so on.

3. Everything in the physical world is composed of Spirit, Soul, and Body: the Three Alchemic Principles. (In alchemy, these are called Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt.)

4. All alchemical work, whether practical laboratory work or spiritual alchemy, consists of three basic evolutionary processes: separation, purification, and recombination.

5. All matter is composed of four archetypal energies—the four elements of Fire (thermal energy), Water (liquid), Air (gas), and Earth (solid). The knowledge and skillful use of these four energy types is an essential part of alchemical work.

6. The Quintessence, or “Fifth essence,” is contained within the four elements but is not one of them. It is one of the three essential Principles, also called the Philosophic Mercury.

7. Everything moves toward its preordained state of perfection.

Israel Regardie, The Philosopher’s Stone: Spiritual Alchemy, Psychology, and Ritual Magic

Theories can be crudely organized into a family tree where each might, at least in principle, be derivable from more fundamental ones above it

Bernard Carr, Universe or Multiverse?

Roberto Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis Star Diagram