The Golden Book Of Wisdom 4, en
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Contents of
The Golden Book of Wisdom
I The Hermetic View of Religion
II Magic and Mysticism
III Mysteries of Hermetic Anatomy
IV Concentration
V Meditation
VI Magical and Mystical Faculties
VII Dangers of Unbalanced Development
VIII The Hermetic Way
IX Universal Laws – Harmony
X The Key to the Highest Wisdom
Introduction
The fourth page in the Book of Wisdom is the fourth Tarot card, which depicts a
wise man or, sometimes, an emperor. The description of the fourth Tarot card is
of very great assistance to magicians, spheric magicians and Kabbalists, for it
allows them to penetrate more deeply into the secrets of wisdom and thereby
enables them to solve the greatest problems. This is true not only from the point
of view of knowledge but, more importantly, from the point of view of cognition,
and thereby from the point of view of wisdom.
An initiate must be able to answer any question he may be asked at any time. If
he has followed his path correctly, he must be capable of immediately solving any
problem with which he may be faced regarding the universal laws. The theorist
will also derive much from this book to enrich his theoretical knowledge, because
he will be able to answer for himself many questions concerning those universal
laws.
Logically, it is impossible to accommodate and explain wisdom in its entirety in a
single book. A part of the universal wisdom, however, is contained in this work.
Above all, the subject matter of my three preceding books
will be illuminated
from many aspects. This book will help anyone who is seriously studying and
practicing its contents to become more acquainted with the universal laws and
their effects, whereby he will expand his consciousness and increase his
knowledge. The more he identifies himself with the comprehensive subject
matter, the more will he be fascinated by the greatness and power and these laws;
and he will be filled with boundless awe, and will look up to Divine Providence
with humility.
In the secret schools for prophets and priests of all ages, the fourth Tarot card, the
Book of Wisdom, served as the fundamental subject matter which prepared the
initiates for their high offices as instructors, initiators, and teachers (gurus). This
book has thus been a work of initiation, revealing the deepest mysteries. The
neophytes considered the Golden Book of Wisdom as an examination paper on
their spiritual paths. Therefore, this fourth scientific work can, with good reason,
be regarded as the foundation of esoteric Hermetics.
Thus far, the high mysteries symbolized by the fourth Tarot card have been
passed on only in the language of symbols, and consequently they have usually
remained obscure to the intellectual. The reader will no doubt appreciate the fact
that, with the permission of Divine Providence, I have made an effort to translate
the fourth book into the language of the intellect, in order to make it intelligible
not only to the initiate but to the non-initiate, i.e. the philosopher and the theorist,
as well.
Anyone who completely masters the Book of Wisdom will have a thorough
knowledge of the foundations of the Hermetic philosophy, and may be considered
a Hermetic philosopher from the standpoint of the universal laws. Also, the
Hermetic brotherhoods and orders that teach the true Hermetic knowledge will
class such a person with the philosophical practitioners.
If this fourth work is accepted with the same enthusiasm that greeted my three
preceding books, then the description of the fourth Tarot card, which
symbolically represents the Book of Wisdom, will also have done its job.
Therefore, may this book too be an inexhaustible, ever-flowing source of
knowledge and wisdom to the interested reader. May the blessing of Divine
Providence accompany you all, to a high degree, on your path to perfection.
The Author
Chapter I
The Hermetic View of Religion
There are two basic philosophies of religion: the first is the relative and the
second is the absolute or universal. From the beginning of humankind to the
present day, all those religions which belong to the relative philosophy of religion
have gone through their initial stages, have reached their peaks and, during the
course of the ages, have come to their end. Each relative religion has its own
founder. I refrain from citing all the systems of relative religion; anyone who has
studied religious philosophy will have become acquainted with a number of
religious systems of the relative type. They are all subject to the same law of
transitoriness, regardless of whether they have lasted for hundreds or thousands of
years. The length of time a religion may exist always depends upon its founders
and teachers. The more universal laws a religion contains, the more universal
truth it represents and preaches, the longer it lasts.
Its existence will be shorter the more one-sided, fanatical, dictatorial, and
authoritarian its doctrines are. However, each religious system has thus far had its
good purposes and its special mission. Each has always contained certain partial
aspects, however concealed, of a portion of universal truth and lawfulness,
whether symbolically or as an abstract idea.
A true adept will see in each relative religion, regardless of the historical era in
which it may have existed, fragments of some basic ideas that had their origin in
the universal religion and which point to universal law. Therefore, the adept
appreciates each religion equally, without paying any attention to whether it is a
religion of the past or whether it still exists today or whether it will exist in the
future, because he is aware of the fact that each religious system has followers
whose maturity suits that of the religion.
From the Hermetic point of view, even materialism is a kind of religious system,
one who representatives may believe in God but not in anything supernatural, and
who adhere only to that of which they are able to convince themselves – in other
words, to them it is matter which prevails. Since the initiate knows that matter is
the symbolic representation of the divine appearance reflected in the laws of
nature, he will not judge anyone who believes merely in matter. The more mature
a man has become during the course of his incarnations and evolution, the closer
will he come to the universal laws, and the more deeply will he be able to
penetrate into them, until finally no relative religious concept will satisfy him. A
person like this has become mature for the universal religion and is capable of
approaching the universal laws in the microcosm and the macrocosm.
This is to say that any religion that does not represent the universal laws
completely is relative and transitory. The universal laws have been unchangeable
from the beginning of the world and will continue thus until the end.
The mature Hermetic may officially belong to any religion, depending on whether
he really wants to do so and whether he considers it preferable in his dealings
with people – perhaps to avoid drawing the attention of immature individuals to
himself. However, in the innermost of his spirit and his entire being he will
profess the universal religion, by which the universal lawfulness is to be
understood. An initiate does not believe anything unless he can convince himself
of its validity; neither does he believe in any personified divinity nor any kind of
idol. Rather, he worships the universal law and harmony in all forms of existence.
These few words should suffice to demonstrate the difference between relative
and absolute philosophies of religion.
Chapter II
Magic and Mysticism
Throughout the ages, magic and mysticism have been taught simultaneously and
with equal emphasis in the secret schools for the priests, for these two basic
philosophical outlooks have always been extremely important in Hermetic
science and will continue to be so in the future. Magic was once an integral part
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