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The Hermetic Journal and Magnum Opus Publishing Business There Issue Number 28 - Summer 1985 Edited by Adam McLean 12 ANTIGUA STREET EDINBURGH EH1 3NH SCOTLAND Tel: 031 556 8240 CONTENTS ISSUE NUMBER 28 Editorial News and Information Obituary - Israel Regardie Hermetic Art : Gnostic Alchemy of the Imagination A.C. Evans (B Meditations on the Name of God Gavin S. Bennett O Through a Glass, Darkly Pete Ludbey O The Wroclaw Codex of the Magical Calendar Rafal T. Prinke O Emblematic Meditation Adam McLean O Reviews and Book Notices of development is often naturally EDITORIAL rejected by a normal healthy fertile woman. Add to this the fact that the In recent months here in Britain development of twins seems to occur great controversy has arisen over after this point, and one can see human embryo research, and legis- that many doctors interested in lation designed to stop research on working with human embryos of up to human embryos is currently before eight or so days of age, feel Parliament. Various groups have seen justified in their stance that early this as a deeply religious and moral embryos should not be seen as unborn issue using emotive phrases like human beings, and thus they believe "protecting the right to life of the that the simplistic moral position unborn child". The doctors involved advanced by some critics does not in this research, however, say that address the facts. they find it difficult to draw any Many important questions are raised sharp line between the point when by this moral issue that challenge they merely have egg and sperm cells us as esotericists. How do we relate taken from their patients and an the soul to the body? The embryo is embryo that could develop into a initially merely an aggregation of fetus and thus become a new human cells that may in certain circum- being. A fertilised human egg, some stances develop into an individual eight or so days old, consisting of human being. At what point does the a sphere of cells, can only be embryo acquire a soul? Earlier this viable if it implants into the wall century esotericists such as theo- of the womb, and even at this stage sophists and anthroposophists did 79.- 1 not hold back from trying to find dualism. But perhaps in so doing we solutions to this riddle. (For fail to take on board some of the example, Rudolf Steiner suggested most profound ideas in the history that the 'ego' or spirit of a human of human thought that are found in being incarnated in the developing Quantum Theory, particularly in the embryo around the 21st day when the realisation that consciousness is neural tube, the basis for the implicit in observation and that the spinal cord and the central nervous 19th century ideal of the objective system, forms itself through a observer remotely observing events migration of cells across the is no longer possible in Quantum embryonic disc). Science. In the new philosophy of I wonder, however, whether these science that is emerging, conscious- earlier attempts of esotericists to ness arises out of quantum probabil- see physical developments in the ity, and these are surely the ideas embryo as the work of the incarnat- we must absorb if as esotericists we ing spirit building its physical are to evolve and remain in touch vehicle for this life, remains a with the currents of thought that valid viewpoint in the present will work in the next millenium. current of philosophical thought. It may be no accident that the For they retain a certain dualism hermetic alchemical tradition cen- between spirit and body that may not turies ago looked closely at the map onto reality. possibilty of creating or manipulat- Many parallels exist with other ing life in a test tube or flask. domains of human knowledge being Thus their concern with the homunc- explored at present. For example, ulus and the sowing of 'the seed of just how is our consciousness bound the red man and his white wife' in a up in our brain? The naive esoteric retort to give birth to the view that the brain is merely a Philosophic Child. The hermetic machine through which our spirit philosophy may indeed be capable of gains a precarious hold upon an bridging this seeming gulf between outer material plane of existence, spirit and body. There is a profound although comforting and valid in a message in the Hermetic maxim "that certain way, presents some diffic- which is above is as that which is ulties when examined in the light of below", which can conquer the new discoveries in neuro-physiology simplistic dualism that I believe and contemporary philosophy. holds us back from a true rapproach- Likewise, recent theories of cosmol- ement with new philosophical ideas ogy presents us with certain struggling to be reborn in current problems if we try to hold to naive human thought, but only when we dualism. A cosmological picture is remember to complete the phrase "and emerging at present which radically that which is below is as that which explains the creation and evolution is above, to accomplish the miracle of the Universe as a result of the of the one thingt1. pre-geometry of higher dimensional Perhaps this realisation that the space-time. But how do we account spiritual and the material are not for the existence of intelligence, separate realms, fundamentally sev- the sense of 'being1, and our ered one from another, but as the creative human consciousness within ancient hermeticists knew only too this model of cosmic evolution. well, interpenetrate one another so Simplistically, we can argue for the profoundly that they cannot be teas- existence of a spiritual plane which ed apart, might help us address lies above or beyond the material these deep problems posed us by the universe and yet somehow directs its far rea hing discoveries of our age. evolution. This was the path taken 'i\ by the theosophists in their picture of 'spiritual evolution', but this ultimately is a return to a kind of 9R- 2 *** NEWS AND INFORMATION ** * In July this year I will be moving to Lampeter in Wales, and relocating the Hermetic Journal and Magnum Opus publishing business there. There should be little visible impact on subscribers to the Journal or book purchasers, as I have been able to arrange things well in advance to enable a smooth transition over this period. The Journal and book publishing will continue as usual. I will have the post office automatically redirect mail with minimal delay from the Edinburgh address for the next three years at least, so people shouldn't worry about mail going astray if addressed to 12 Antigua Street, Edinburgh. I will send out my new address and telephone number, with the next issue of the Journal which will be issued in August from Lampeter. Deirdre and I will be living in a large cottage near Lampeter in rural mid-Wales. The peaceful atmosphere and slower pace of life in that environment should have some positive effect on my work and I am looking forward to the change as I have lived in the same flat above a noisy main road in Edinburgh for nearly 14 years. In addition I will be much nearer to the centre of population of Britain and only a few hours drive from the Midlands or Avon-Bristol area, so I expect to be able in 1986 to undertake a number of conferences and weekend workshops without the difficulties of extensive travelling I have had in organising such events from Scotland. Visiting me will prove a bit more difficult, and as we are quite remote and there is only a poor public transport system in that region of Wales, it would be best if any colleagues wish to visit for them to make a definite arrangement well in advance. I have never before made any direct request to my subscribers for articles for the Hermetic Journal, as I do get quite a lot of material sent to me unsolicited, but as I know there are many talented and deeply studied readers of this Journal, I would just like to say that I am always open to considering additional articles for publication. I cannot pay, of course, for these, the Journal cannot be a profit making venture at the price I charge for subscriptions, but copyright remains with the authors and I never edit articles but include them in their entirety provided they meet a certain scholarly standard and are within the broad context of hermeticism embraced by the Journal. Anyone who wants to write something could if they wish send a synopsis for consdideration. PLEASE NOTE :- I have now purchased an optical text reader which reads your typescript (provided it is in a standard format) directly into my word processor, and this saves me time in preparing work for publication. If you want to write something for me, please, before typing up the final draft, send for my 'notes for contributors to the Hermetic Journal' which outlines this standard format I would prefer my writers to use. A Cohction ofSacred~ayick.Com 4 he Esoteric ~ibrary 28- 3 Dr Francis Israel Regardie died in March 1985. It appears that though he had not been well for some time he had remained actively working. Regardie's contribution to western occultism was considerable and indeed he influenced two or three generations of occultists. Although he wrote many books out of his own inspiration, the major event in his creative life was the compilation and publication of the Golden Dawn material (the first edition of which was issued in 1937).
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