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THE PRACTICE OF THE ANCIENT TURKISH FREEMASONS: THE KEY TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF ALCHEMY

III. THEORY AND PRACTICE

In what has already been written I have provided proof that the system of the Rosicrucians and alchemists can only be understood when signs, grips and words are used. We are now going to go through the whole system in light of the Science of the Key. Please allow me to give a few additional examples of proof from Rosicrucian writings here. The system according to which Westerners work is not completely perfect, as the Middle-grip, the Closing-grip and a series of the formulas were not known to the west. All systems which were exercised, however, dovetail into the system of the Beni el Mim without contradiction.

The wish, and the hope, of those who assigned me the task of writing this book is that a great number of individuals will want to undertake these exercises, thus building an unbreakable chain which is the best defence against all the powers of the shadow. To avoid any misunderstandings, I would like to stress that I reject the formation of any lodge, and I request also that I not be bothered by letters. I will not answer, as those who know me from my astrological writings can attest. What I have to say is so clear that a child can grasp it. Whoever can't understand it cannot be helped. It is written: "Seek and ye shall find," but this does not mean that everything should be handed out on a silver platter.

The exercises can harm no one. But one condition must be met -- they cannot be interrupted. Missing one day will cause a setback of weeks and calls the whole endeavor into question. And the most important thing is the prayer -- the prayer for admission.

The exercises, especially in the beginning, should not be overdone, otherwise a few complaints might arise. These would not be dangerous, but they would be uncomfortable. I will provide further explanations of these. You should practice when you are alone and undisturbed. Anyone can sequester himself ten minutes a day for this. You should keep quiet about your exercises and only speak about them, once your goal is met, to someone you recognize as an equal brother -- for then it is easy.

"What mode of life must I maintain?" I hear people ask. I would like to answer this as well. Whoever studies the lives of the alchemists and Rosicrucians will find that they were married and that they lived as every other person lived. True wisdom automatically avoids any excess. The Oriental generally lives modestly. A sheep is only slaughtered on festival days, otherwise he consumes milk, cheese, bread and fruit. This is perhaps not possible in the colder latitudes, but the consumption of meat should be limited in a reasonable way. Alcohol in every form is forbidden to the Muslim. Now a glass of wine or beer when you are in a happy mood won't hurt anything, but distilled liquors are strenuously warned against. Whoever gets to the end of the exercises will know precisely what is to be given up.

It is best to undertake the exercises early in the morning right after rising -- they will not take any more than ten minutes a day. During the day, when you are alone, you can do a short repetition, and in the evening as well.

I will not give a prescription concerning this prayer. Each individual will have to settle that for himself. Whosoever asks, to him shall be given -- according to the measure he has. Whoever understands this idea correctly knows what is meant by it. We read that finer forces can be attracted by the index finger held vertically and by thinking of the letter I. The body of the ordinary human is an inert mass, which, left to itself will become increasingly more material. In order to be able to absorb the spiritual water a breach must first be opened and the matter has to be stimulated. This happens by means of the letter I, by which the element of fire is stimulated. As I discussed in Geschichte der Astrologie (vol. I) I is the isrune, which is associated with Mars (fire); the rune ar or as belongs to Jupiter (water) and the othal-rune to Mercury (air).

In order to animate the I correctly one places one's self in an erect position so that the whole body is given the form of the I. One stretches one's arm straight up to the sky and makes a fist. Then the index finger is extended upward. It should rise up next to the closed fist like a slender minaret beside the dome of a mosque, as sheikh Jachya remarks in his small book Charam el din. By thinking the vowel I the finger is animated. Some old instructions say: Take the philosophical steel (Chalyb's index finger) and strike the scintilla (sparks). Then take the second steel (the thumb) and put the magnet (the A-sign) into action, which attracts the elements and conducts to you the water for which you thirst.

It will soon be found that the finger will start to become warm, and then by an act of will, this current can be conducted throughout the whole body, as can the current stimulated by the A. This can be done without injury, but care should be taken not to influence the head -- it must remain free, otherwise a dangerous state of intoxication could ensue. During the gradual course of the work the current would automatically make its way into the head, we consciously block entrance to the head by means of the neck-grip. If we form the A-sign and animate it, we will first take in spiritual fire, but also some of the spiritual element of earth, which can be noticed by a certain dryness at the base of the thumb. If the angled hand has been sufficiently prepared it will begin to absorb the spiritual water.

We supply spiritual air to the solar plexus by means of the O-sign. Here I would like to mention an experiment which my teacher conducted. He ordered a student to form the A and to think of the O. After a while he cried out: "O, sheikh, look, it's impossible, they are warping automatically." "My son, Mehemed Rafi said, "you see that it is impossible to mix up the signs and the words. You can only think of the A in the A-sign and not the O, if you think of O, your fingers will automatically try to close up. You see that the signs are not chosen arbitrarily, but rather lie founded in nature. It is our assignment in life to seek the spirit, but we always work in harmony with nature. You also see, however, my son, that spirit acts acutely in our bodies as it forms the body according to its image. It is not only the I, the A and the O which animate the body, all vowels and consonants have this ability. The I-spirit provides the breadth, dignity, and resilience, the O-spirit imparts life and movement."

It was at the beginning of my study when I heard these words which sheikh Mehemed Rafi spoke to the Baktashidervish, whom he was introducing to the Ilm el miftach. I was very impressed -- no astrologer could have defined the effects of the planetary forces more simply.

Approximately ten days are necessary for the preparatory work. Nothing will be harmed if the simple vowels and syllables are exercised longer -- development will take place faster that way. When the preparation is over, transition is made into the main work, which is the actual chemical process. In the preparatory work the spirit is held in the fetters of matter and is stimulated, or as the alchemists express it, the materials are made ready, the soil, the earth is tilled, in order to be able to receive the seed. By means of the limited spiritual animation of the finger, aether is absorbed and conducted to the body. The manifestations we observe are: the body breaths really freely, and the body seems to become lighter.

As we go further in the work we will become aware that an increasing warmth is developing in the index finger. Because of its form, this pointed member attracts more of the fire element -- which should also be brought about by means of the vowel i. Finally the warmth becomes so strong that fire flames forth from the point of the finger and creates a sulphurous acridity with the air which we can clearly perceive when we hold our finger to our nose. Most old writings remark first of all on the preparation of the sulfur. Flamel writes about this: At last I found what I was looking for, which I recognized at once by its strong smell. When I had that, I easily perfected my mastery. [i]

This sulfurous smell is the fist milestone on the path. Only he who perceives it can go further. He will then have the experience of a current flowing into the angled hand, a flow that the ancients very pointedly compared to water. This is the water of life our folktales are so enthusiastic about, the aqua vitae of the alchemists. With the sulfurous smell the dissolution has begun, the putrefactio of alchemy. The ancient writings, in agreement with oriental texts, fix a minimal length of 40 days in which a certain result must be obtained. A few other Freemasonic texts declare, however, that it would take 70 or even 90 days to complete the first degree.

The petrefactio, or decay, comes to an end when the disciple of the art glimpses a blackish shadow, the raven's head of the alchemists.

During this time we are conducting the water of life into the body by means of the neck-grip. This water has the characteristic of dissolving and disintegrating anything coarse. Hand in hand with this disintegrating effect goes another one which builds things up. The finer forces in the person are conditioned in such a way that they can be awakened. Ancient Freemasons very often compared the birth of the spiritual man to physical birth. The blackish shadow the disciple sees with his spiritual eye is the evolving spiritual man. Now with the application of the neck-grip, the one the ancients called the Balneum Mariae, care should be given to making this sign precisely. "Cut off the neck of the beast," says an old text. The grip should not be overdone, however, so that a slow annealing results. It can happen, and the ancient Freemasons describe this process often, that the fire element breaks out and anneals the vertebra. If this occurs do not be afraid, just bow your head and wait for the affliction to be over -- the terrible flame will go out after a few minutes. If you are prepared for the manifestation you have nothing to fear. As a rule, however, this annealing occurs slowly and gradually without being noticed. If the flame breaks out, it is as if a terrible demon is grabbing the person by the scruff of the neck and taking him down to the ground.

After approximately two weeks of this exercise no one will be able to doubt any longer that the neck-grip has caused chemical changes in the neck. Now the time has come when the poisonous taste of mercury is perceived on the tongue when the tongue is touched with the index finger of the angled hand. Then later the taste of salt is developed. About this Seton says: "Therefore, the fire began to affect the air and generated sulfur. For its part the air began to affect the water and generated quicksilver, also the water began to affect the earth and generated salt." This process is described and concealed by alchemists in the most manifold ways. I do not wish to speak about the basis of the usage of the consonants, and why the vowels work in this way, that would lead us astray and make this book too bulky. If you want to be informed on this further, see my Geschichte der Astrologie. So The formulas should be understood as they are intended: means to develop the spiritual body.

When our spiritual eye glimpses the blackish shadow the purification is concluded, and now the main point becomes the unfolding of the evolving spiritual body -- a work that takes varying lengths of time. The neck grip, or the Bath of Mary, only works from the lower stratum out of which the spiritual person, free of the fetters of the body, should lift himself. The earthly body must be mortified so that the spiritual body can rise up. Here a note needs to be added. This mortification has been much misunderstood. It was believed that the body had to be killed by means of asceticism and withdrawal from the world. This is naturally only one possible path if the pilgrim has also completed a whole change in consciousness. Without this a false mortification ensues. Asceticism and withdrawal from the world leads, in most cases, to a dissolution in which the pilgrim becomes easy prey for every type of evil influence. More than a few black magicians have in this way become the victims of the Prince of the Shadow.

True mortification lies in sublimation, in unification, in the unio mystica, in becoming one with God. The unification begins with the change in consciousness wherein the mortification of the small ego is completed and the resurrection of the divine ego takes place. That is, however, the goal we wish to achieve -- which we must and can achieve.

Once we have arrived at the end of our exercise we will feel that our earthly bodies are becoming more and more strange, we are growing beyond it, we clearly feel it has become dust and ashes. This is the deepest point which is reached when we are surrounded by the terrors of darkness and death. For this reason the ancient Freemasons only took courageous men into their community, and the tests the candidate had to undergo were very severe. Courage and perseverance were the most noble virtues he had to have.

Our work is aimed at anticipating and overcoming death. Usually the human soul parts from its body only upon death. We do not want such a conclusion to our lives. We want to undergo a voluntary death in the middle of our lives. The weakling will be terrified by the boldness of our undertaking. We can only conquer nature by means of nature -- the lower by means of the higher, spiritual nature. We remain strictly in conformity with the spiritual/natural universe.

A person of little faith could accuse me of tempting God, of lacking necessary humility, which he voluntarily submits to in the natural course of affairs, as we are used to it. I answer him by saying that I am pointing to a path of life which lies in the essence of every true religion and that this way is also clearly recognizable in the New Testament. Most modern people, unfortunately, have not read the holy scriptures of their religion. Those who have followed me to this point, but who now recoil, are advised to read no further -- for what I bring is not milk for the weak, but food for the strong.

All religions teach the sevenfold constitution of the body. Precise knowledge can best be obtained on this by studying the Rosicrucian lessons of Heindel, I can only offer a brief sketch here. The designations are of archaic origin, the translations render the approximate meanings:

Apparently this table of correspondences is at variance with the version generally used in Theosophy. However, those who have worked intensively with planetary forces will recognize that this difference is not an essential one. With the addition of Uranus and Neptune these two higher octaves of Mercury and Venus are assigned to a second principle -- but here we are not looking at the more developed person, rather we are only concerned with one who is just beginning to evolve. Saturn stands there at the threshold, it is assigned to the Kama-Manas, for us it is the representative of the most dense form of matter.

The last quadrad is called "the animal in us" by Paracelsus. The Science of the Key gives us the way to conquer this animal in us and to ascend to the causal plane. This is all the more necessary as the powers of darkness are already working to make a noose out of the person who is making such progress. I can only allude to things here, but some will understand what I mean.

Many of our brothers have advanced so far that they have ascended from stage seven to the sixth stage and they are in a position to project the fluid-body, whose vessel is the life-force, thus splitting themselves in two. The phenomenon of the double (Doppelganger) can be traced back to this ability -- as can many other spiritualistic phenomena and occult experiences. Now during the projection of the fluid body this body remains connected to the earthly body by means of a cord. However, this connection is very loose. This is the point of attack where the powers of the shadow will strike, where they must strike.

For this reason it is most important that the possibility of leaving the plane of effects to gaze upon the causal plane is provided -- this is what my teachers desire. Every danger looses its terror as soon as it is understood. But we will not cease our work. We press forward through death toward true life. The body will also appear to us as dust and ashes when we are finished with the work of the neckgrip. Thus the writings of the ancient Freemasons warn us: cinerem ne vilipendas. (12) We regard the ashes, the body, with great care, for we need it for the construction of the new, spiritual body. It is not enough that we have developed the shadow of the spiritual body -- we must give it color, form and thus an independent life.

After Death -- Life

For the development of the spiritual body we employ the other grips and in addition use the formulas of the Prophet. Before I go on I would like to quote a passage from the previously cited Flamel: "And truly, I say to you once more, even if you work with the correct materials, if, at the beginning, after you have put the mixtures into the philosophical egg -- that is a while after the fire has acted upon it -- you do not see this raven's head, this deep-black blackness, you must start all over again." The philosophical egg is the body, the mixtures are the fine mixtures of the elements which we conducted to the body by means of the neck-grip. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance that this shadow is seen. If it appears, you are on the right track. This raven's head is mentioned by all alchemists and writers, and the colors which start to appear are correspondingly described by all. The main colors are: black, white, red. Between white and red there are a number of other colors -- especially a citrine color. The spiritual body is developed in these colors, the natural order of which can be disturbed by a fire that is too strong -- or as we like to express it -- by an excessive frequency in the use of the chest-grip. This grip should not be made more than five times a day. Even if the old texts say "Boil, boil unceasingly," they mean by this that one should not loose patience. Here I will collate the table of Rosarius minor and the table of the Prophet so that the apprentice will have reference points for the time periods for the exercises. But first the translation of this old text that demonstrates the process of the work most clearly.

And this alone I reveal: Through such a regime you will have completed the Purification in 124 days. Blackness is, however, the recognized sign of Purification. Furthermore, you will, by means of the aforesaid regime, have a second sign, which will be a redness that abides for 30 days and develops completely in these days. The third sign is, however, a green that is completed in 70 days by means of warmth. Between the third and fourth signs all colors that can be conceived of will appear. Then the marriage will be consummated --  the union and blending of spirit and soul, for then the two will rule together, while previously each ruled for itself under its own sign. Actually in the first sign the body ruled, in the second the spirit and in the third the soul. The time of blending will be completed during a regularly increasing regime of 70 days. Now the fourth sign will appear, which is the profitable Azymation -- 140 days will go by and then the sign of whiteness will be seen.

It can be seen that the differences are considerable, and they are even greater in reality, because it depends entirely upon the talent of the individual -- what one accomplishes in a week will take another a month, or several months. There are disciples graced by god who have completed the path in three months.

Ancient Freemasons called the chest-grip the "cooking." While the neck-grip develops a gentle warmth, the chest-grip causes the unfolding of a powerful fire. With this grip the following will be experienced: After the angled hand is animated by the formula, the spiritual water is absorbed, a fist is made and the thumb of the closed hand is placed upon the left side of the chest. Now the hand is angled and opened and the chest-grip is done and drawn off. The colors that show themselves during this operation develop from a light blue, through red to green. This red was called by the alchemists the false red, the false redness in contrast to the purple color during the closing work. If they saw the green they would cry: "O benedicta viriditas."(13)

As melted gold appears to have a green shimmer, the opinion of people who see the alchemical process as the art of making gold was once more led astray by this. The joyous cry had nothing to do with gold, but rather the Freemason was happy to have glimpsed the sign that proved to him that he was on the right-path.

The green color becomes fresher day by day, and when it has become like the green of a meadow in spring this part of the work can be broken off and the rest of the work continued with.

You are now to make the transition to the Middle-grip with its corresponding formulas. The procedure is the same as with the chest-grip. The colors which develop present a true symphony of colors. Blue, yellow, red are represented in every shade. The ancients characterized this play of color as a peacock's tail. By and by the colors fade and by the end of the work a yellowish white remains.

The grip should not be done more than five times a day. It is better to do it only three times, as too much can endanger the whole work. It should be repeated that it is impossible to speed things up with more intensive work.

Patience is desirable at work
A quiet spirit is busy for years,
Only time makes the fine bevel strong.

At this point I would like to discuss the chakras briefly. The word comes from Sanskrit and means "wheel" (chakram, plural chakrani). Jung Stilling characterizes them as small flames because they are in constant flaming motion. The ancient Freemasons called them by the names of the seven planets. If they used this terminology for other things as well this only seems to be a contradiction. As I indicated for the constitution of mankind, so too can individual constitutions be accordingly designated by the planets. Their relationship to each other is described by Abbot Johannes Tritheim. [ii] In the texts we usually find the following schema, which is inscribed in concentric circles. I am representing it in another form, because I wish to avoid symbols.

The Sun is in the middle of the concentric circles. Saturn above, the Moon below.

These chakras, or little flames, are nothing other than the organs of the spiritual body. The Benedictine Basilius Valentinus speaks of them in the following words: "the king wandered through six cities in the heavenly firmament, but in the seventh he beheld his seat." Here too the investigations of Staudenmayer should be mentioned. In his book, Die Magie als experimentale Wissenschaft, he proves that various nerve bundles can be specially stimulated and special effects produced. We conduct spiritual forces to these easily stimulated places and thus build the spiritual body.

Once the yellowish white is obtained, you transform this into a brilliant white by means of the master-grip and the correct formulas.

I close with the words of Heinrich Khunrath: "With my own eyes I saw the gold -- not the common kind but that of the philosophers -- with my hands I touched it, with my tongue I tasted it, with my nose I smelled it. How wondrous is God in his works."

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Notes:

i. Albert Poisson, Nikolas Flamel: Sa vie, ses fondations, ses oeuvres, suivi de la reimpression du livre des figures. Paris (1893), p. 173.

ii. Tractatus chemicus in volume IV of the Theatrum chemicum.

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