From nv91-asa@hei.nada.kth.se Mon Apr 18 17:28:29 1994 Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 17:04:25 +0200 (MET DST) From: Anders Sandberg Subject: The Spheres To: mage-l@wizards.com Message-ID: The Spheres according to the Order of Hermes -------------------------------------------- (By Frater IAM, Magister Templi of Ordo Rosae Crucis) Everything in the universe is connected by unseen forces and correspondences. When a leaf falls from a tree, it is ordained by the cosmic forces which bind everything together in a cosmic unity. The leaf can no more resist these forces than a planet can change its orbit. Our goal as mages is to understand and balance these forces into a perfect harmony. The four elements are the primal forces on the material plane. They balance each other perfectly. creating everything together. The higher, more etheric elements Fire and Water balance the lower and material elements Air and Earth. The heavy, stable elements Water and Earth balance the changeability of Fire and Air. When the fifth element animates them, they become alive and real. In nature, no element is pure and all existing objects are mixtures of the elements in different compositions. For example, to achive a physical nature, Earth is required, while for transformations Fire is required. The same is true of the spheres: Correspondence: Space is created out of the interplay of the stability and spatial nature of Earth and the clear mobility of Air. Without the stability of Earth, distances would change and the ordering of places would be random, without the mobility and affinity for light which fills Air, movement and vision would be impossible. Entropy: Entropy is the chaotic and destructive union of Fire and Water, destruction and changeability. On one hand Fire destroys the old and damages the new, on the other hand it gives place for the creation of new possibilities. Water flows turbulently, washing the ashes away and nourishes the new. But their interplay is often violent and unpredictable. Purify with Water, consecrate with Fire. Forces: When the power of the Fire mixes with Air, the forces of nature are formed. Both elements are mercurial, powerful but lacking stability. The lightening bolt radiates the light of Air and the heat of Fire, transforming and disrupting anything it touches. Matter Matter is the domain of Earth in all its manifestations. It is heavy, sluggish and stable, forming the base on which to built the temple of creation. Mind Mind is almost pure Air, animated by the Fifth element. It is quick, changeable, filled with the light of reason but also capricious and the sphere of illusion. It is through this element the other elements are made visible when the clear light of reason illuminates them, giving them form and meaning. Life Life is the physical manifestation of Water animated by the Fifth element. Water nurtures and grows forms and life, whose essence is that of change and the ability to take on a manifold shapes. Most living beings have a physical manifestation made out of matter used to interact with the world, but that is just a shell hiding the true patterns underneath. Prime Prime is the sphere of the Fifth Element, that essence which animates the other elements and gives them life and physical existence. The term quintessence describes its nature quite aptly, but its real nature cannot be comprehended by any uninitiated into the highest mysteries. Spirit Spirit is the manifestation of Fire, the most etheric element. The spiritual world is the purest and least material of all aspects of physical reality. However, Fire is a flickering and changing element, and the beings and general nature of this plane are no less capricious. It is also the element of transformation, the purifying flame which burns away the impure shells and leaves the perfected nature purified. Time Time is the union of the changeable Air and Water. The gradual flow of Water, mixed with the whirling light of Air create the flow of casuality. Like in Water, a disturbance will create waves which travel into infinity, but like Air, the flow of history will simply flow around any obstracle to its course. However, to try to change the flow is hard and dangerous, as the whirpools of paradox are strong and treacherous. Another interesting way of seeing the nine spheres is as the interplay of the three alchemical elements, Salt, Sulphur and Mercury. Each element mixes with another, creating the sphere: Mercury Sulphur Salt Mercury Prime Spirit Correspondence Sulphur Mind Forces Life Salt Time Entropy Matter Note the duality around the central diagonal: Time and Space, Life and Entropy, Mind and Spirit. Along the main diagonal we see the progression from pure Prime, through the Forces of the Universe to the manifestation of Matter. Note also that there are nine spheres, the number of Yesod, the Foundation, and that the square is 3x3, 3 being the number of Binah, Understanding. Konx om pax Khabs am pehkt Light in extension