The Immortal or Illuminatus:
Grade of Heaven: Rite of Emanation
Hymn of the Sun
I am the star
And the snake
And the swordsman of the sun.
I am the supreme deity,
Represented on earth
By the sole giver of life, the phallus.
I am the fiery lion of life that roars
Throughout eternity,
My breath giving life to these little piles of dry dust
In the celestial city, the hearts of the saints.
I am the light of the Father,
I am the golden dawn.
The Immortal or Illuminatus
Grade of Heaven: Rite of Emanation Part I (Distillation)
Winter Solstice or December 25; or the Sunday between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1, Eleven O’clock to Midnight
The Alchemist is brought to the center of a pitch black chamber, wearing a dark, hooded cloak, hood up. The Alchemist sits on the ground or at a desk or table with a lit, white candle, a pencil, the Third Degree Confession, the memento mori and the alchemical motto “V.I.T.R.I.O.L.” before him or her. An outline of deities, Hexagrams, Hebrew letters, Runes, and the Tarot is provided. MC unstops the vial of oil.
MC: We consecrate this time and place to the Great Work with the presence of this oil. Let not profane, mundane things enter herein until after the vial is stopped. With this bell we begin the operation.
MC sounds the bell.
MC: Let us begin the Rite of Emanation. Follow the direction of the Third Degree Confession, if you Will. When you are directed to vocalize, please do so with enough volume to alert the Officers waiting outside the Chamber.
MC leaves room. Refer to the Third Degree Confession for role of Alchemist, here.
MC must listen for the voice of the Alchemist. As the Alchemist chants, “And led to the Feast,” the Officers enter the Chamber single-file, led by the MC. They are each wearing the same robe as the Alchemist, hoods up, carrying a single, lit, white candle, and chanting with the Alchemist, “It is here that All returns to One.”
All present continue the hymn once through, as the Officers walk in a circle slowly once around the Chamber counter-clockwise, and leave the Chamber, closing the door on “And led to the Feast,” so the Alchemist is alone chanting, “It is here that All returns to One.” The Alchemist recites the entire piece once more, and then the MC comes into the Chamber on, “And led to the Feast,” and stands silently before the Alchemist until the song is finished. When the mantra is ended, the MC sits down before the Alchemist.
MC: The chant is finished. Let us meditate; emptying our minds; forgetting all opposites; all things.
After five minutes an Officer knocks four times on the door.
MC: Please continue meditating until you hear me knock, then you may slowly rise and come to the door. When I sound the bell, you must close the rite by saying, “Here ends the Rite of Emanation.”
The MC takes the Third Degree Confession and leaves the Chamber. Five minutes later the MC knocks four times on the door, and opens the door.
Third Degree Confession
Alchemist, visualize a brilliant auric shield protecting you in all directions and dimensions. Visualize yourself as an invisible body duplicate of your physical body that resides in your physical body. Imagine your invisible (imaginary, or psychic) body opening its eyes, standing up, and walking to the door.
Be in this body, not behind your own eyes. Imagine walking once around the room, clockwise. Look at the floor, the ceiling, and the walls as you do this, then sit down across from your actual body and watch yourself. Finally, return the invisible body to its place in the actual body. When ready, please choose one of each of the following and write your choice in the space provided.
Deity:
Hexagram:
Hebrew Letter:
Rune:
Tarot:
Now, after a brief meditation, with your list out before you, close your eyes and invoke your inner guide; Spirit Guide, Guardian Angel, personal Supreme God, or Secret Master. Please do so in this manner: In your invisible body, imagine yourself transported to the world described by the Alchemist’s Laboratory. You lie before the tombstone, and your inner guide sits with you. Please ask your inner guide its name, and ask it to tell you about itself. When it answers, hear its voice in your mind and open to it, remaining in a lucid state.
Ask your inner guide to give you an answer to the first question. The answer may not make sense, or it may seem to contradict your own ideas, or it may reflect your own ideas. It may not be a final answer, but just one that will lead you to a new question or quest.
The point of the exercise is to begin a positive inner dialogue wherein one can begin to solve the riddles of the cosmos. Whatever the answer is, write it down immediately. Do this with each question. Do not worry about where the answers are coming from, just be sure that you are open enough to receive them, and do it in the name of the Way, the Truth, and Life.
The questions for which you have no answers will be addressed in your research. The answers to all questions may be challenged during the course of your study with the Royal Art Society. Each alchemist will come to his or her own conclusions. However, there is and does need to be a central teaching, a compass, so to speak, that ought to give everyone a common ground. Initially the central truth is in meditation or ritual for the mystic union.
Action in the world, like business or politics, stems from this process of cultivation of spirit. To do this as a group is a powerful suggestion, for it entails power as a group, not just as individuals. Organization is the cultivation of power and the promotion of a way of life. The Royal Art Society has organized to accomplish these goals.
Please discover your astral attributes. Meditate on your personal prepossessions, and write your answers in the space provided. Take your time.
Astral Color:
Astral Being (Real or Imaginary Creature):
Astral Name:
Astral Sigil (draw a shape or symbol that somehow represents your personal soul):
Take your time, and when the inner guide indicates, a servant wakens you and leads you physically to the East. You are here directed to chant aloud with enough volume to alert the Officers waiting outside the Chamber. (Chant on the pitch of “D”- use pitch pipe.)
Royal Art Society Martial Hymn
“O One, O Law, You made all Opposites:
Negative and Positive, Darkness and Light, Evil and Good,
From eternal rest the Good awakens and challenges the Evil.
Each Opposite is given his Strength.
I am prepared at the right hand of the Lord,
Facing the Evil at the left hand of the Lord.
In the center are the Sacred Fire and the Holy Grail,
About us is a circle of stone below, and heaven above.
My Opposite teaches me the revelation;
I am presented before the Lord,
Stripped of my adornments, and given a new robe.
I am presented with the Book of Life
And led to the Feast.
It is here that All returns to One.”
Please remain where you are and continue the chant until the Master of Ceremonies comes into the room alone, to retrieve you, and indicates that the chant is finished.
End of Third Degree Confession
Grade of Heaven: Rite of Emanation Part II (Distillation)
The Lesson of the “I Am”
We are each of us that One, the “I Am” of the whole of existence, the bornless one that originates in nothing. There is no difference between things, and all mortal beings live within the eternal, as the eternal lives within all. Only a few awaken to the perspective of the eternal, becoming spiritual guides, themselves. These must strive to understand one’s own mortality, to overcome the temptation to declare oneself the Savior, for Savior each one is.
With this mortal shell, understand that even you must die, immortal one, returning to the source, and also you must live. As enlightened mortal beings, we live in a kingdom, as it were, together, as equals. Do not stray from the Way, but be moderate in all things, and your joy will be in serving without recognition. You are an Anonymous, and as the title indicates, nameless, unknown, you mirror the eternal.
The Lesson in Humility; Crossing the Abyss
Our mystical fathers the Magi have described knowledge as ‘the Abyss’ of illusion, for only the unnamable and unknowable is absolute reality. All observed changes are but the result of perception and are ultimately but subjective realities. Thus concentration on absolute reality is said to be the only real knowledge. However, how can we concentrate on a thing which we cannot actually perceive or know? We cannot.
- A man (Homo sapiens) who claims to concentrate on the entirety of Absolute Reality
Is concentrating only on an image of his own imagination;
The human mind can imagine a number of eternal things at once,
But has not the capacity to visualize all eternal things at once,
Nor to know even half of the quantity of actual eternal things
(Such as mathematic or physical laws),
Nor to perceive more than a little of the vast existence of the universe.
- A man who claims to concentrate on a fraction of the Absolute Reality
May be actually visualizing subjective absolute truth or truths,
But this is a different thing than the Absolute Reality, itself,
Which can only be conceived of as a singular thing or process,
Indivisible and unique. Absolute Reality cannot be known thus as a whole or in part.
Therefore the argument stands, those who meditate upon the Absolute Reality are not concentrating on Absolute Reality, itself, but on their own idea or image of it, and this is a meditation on knowledge of the same sort as all subjectively observed absolute truths. It is the second most perfect of ideas, second only to ‘Nothing’ or ‘Absence,’ and the third most perfect idea is the “soul” that meditates on perfect ideas, the Primordial Human or Immortal Emperor/Empress.
The fourth most perfect idea is the alchemical laboratory with its seven officers. The fifth most perfect idea is the Invisible Empire, the Heavenly Kingdom or eternal City of Peace ruled by the Immortal Emperor/Empress.
Only in purifying the mind of all ideas do we cross the Abyss of Knowledge and Illusion, and experience the present moment. Beware purification become a preoccupation. Form your own world-view from your knowledge. Write your alchemical journal, your magnum opus, your signature in the Book of Life. No one need ever see it or, to the contrary, it may be published if you will.
In drawing inspiration for the contents of this essay, ask this single question: What kind of book do I really wish I had? It must explain your deepest questions and guide you through your spiritual journey. Formulate an idea in your mind what subjects this book would contain. Write these subjects down in the form of questions, you will find there are not too many.
The answers to those questions that you receive from your inner guide are the topic headings. Be honest. Be thorough. You may use this book later in life, change it, add to it. Write your signature upon this book of life. Philosophy and literature are the foundations of civilization. Join a civilized global society. Together we are strong.
This is the Art of doing nothing.
S.o.t.A.o.t.S. (Interview of the Alchemist to Pass to the Grade of Heaven)
All are dressed formally. The officers have invited the Alchemist to a special meeting within the Inner Temple of the Alchemist’s Laboratory. No others may be present. Five officers form a circle or pentagon facing the Alchemist in the center. The MC stands within the pentagon of officers directly behind the Alchemist.
The MC addresses the Alchemist thusly, “We have asked you here to this special meeting for a very serious reason. Each of us, individually, and after much meditation and discussion as a body, has come to the undeniable conclusion that you are the prophesied Master spoken of in our most secret Book.
You shall be given the Key of the Royal Art Society, and your title shall be ‘Babe of the Abyss.’ This means that you know yourself as the Lord incarnate, the Avatar of the Age, the Christ of Mankind. If you proclaim now that no other might attain to your lofty position, or that all others might attain heaven only through yourself, we will offer you this Key. Is this your Will, worthy Master?”
Affirmative
If the Alchemist answers in the affirmative, the Alchemist will be admonished thus, by the MC, “Master, you are the prophesied Master of our most secret Book, which predicted that such a Master, or a number of such Masters, should find their way into our Order. You have deceived yourself, but we are no liars, so we shall now fulfill what we have spoken. You have declared it your Will that you rule others with the vanity of the charismatic cult leader, and you shall now be given, as indicated, the title “Babe of the Abyss,” which means that you are lost in the Abyss of Illusion.
As you were told, and I quote, “This means that you know yourself as the Lord incarnate, the Avatar of the Age, the Christ of Mankind.” You may know yourself as such, but you are deceived. The Key to the Royal Art Society is this, that All is One, and One is All, and all else is illusion.
As a mortal, your highest goal is to attain Oneness, mystical union, which all mortals may do, as all is One. There is no higher than the Absolute, and as mortals we can never attain the awareness of the whole, but only of its very existence, and the Law, and the Good. Such is the equality of beings, and the vastness of eternity. Finally, even nonexistence does not negate the One.
Strive now to pass through the Abyss of the Sages, which has confused even the wisest adepts. We shall meet again next month, on or about the Chinese New Year, and you shall once again be put into this situation. At that time, if it is your Will, you shall indicate that you have passed through the Abyss of the Sages, and you shall be passed through the Rite of Emanation.
And now we ask that you promise and swear on your soul and your honor that you will never reveal to anyone in any manner the situation or substance of this most essential secret of the Society, and never discuss what has transpired in this meeting with anyone except a Royal Art Society Immortal. Breaking this oath will result in the immediate and irreversible expulsion from the Order. ________, (first and last name) do you so swear?”
MC waits for affirmative answer, then proceeds, “We offer you our most sincere love and support, and wish that you consider yourself not an outcast by any means, but as always, an Initiate of life, and we congratulate you on coming to this crucial point in the spiritual path. We have finished for the evening.”
Negative
If the Alchemist answers in the negative, the MC responds thusly, “Very well. I shall now recite to you what you would have been told had you answered in the affirmative.” The MC proceeds to recite his “Affirmative” speech, and then continues, “Hence you have escaped the Abyss of the Sages.
Let this not inspire pride within you, but humility, lest the Abyss take you from henceforth. Remember, the Key to the Royal Art Society is this, that All is One, and One is All, and all else is illusion. As a mortal, your highest goal is to attain Oneness, mystical union, which all mortals may do, as all is One.
There is no higher than the Absolute, and as mortals we can never attain the awareness of the whole, but only of its very existence, and the Law, and the Good. Such is the equality of beings, and the vastness of eternity. Finally, even nonexistence does not negate the One.
Now, you shall be passed through the Rite of Emanation. And now, we ask that you promise and swear on your soul and your honor, that you will never reveal to anyone in any manner the situation or substance of this most essential secret of the Society, and never discuss what has transpired in this meeting with anyone except an Royal Art Society Immortal. Breaking this oath will result in the immediate and irreversible expulsion from the Society. ________, (first and last name) do you so swear?”
MC waits for affirmative answer, then proceeds, “We offer you our most sincere love and support, and wish that you consider yourself not spiritually superior by any means, but as always, an Initiate of life, and we congratulate you on coming to this crucial point in the spiritual path.”
The Alchemist who is to be recognized as an Immortal of the Royal Art Society changes his or her formal gear to wear old clothes, plain colors, no prints. He is placed on the ground before a tombstone. Lying there, the Immortal is blindfolded.
MC: This is your grave. You are to lie here for ten minutes. Do not sleep. Do not allow your mind to stray, even for one moment. You are to consistently repeat to yourself this mantra: “What is death?” At midnight, you must have an answer. This answer shall be your motto, so do not take this task lightly. Do you understand?
IMMORTAL: Yes, I understand.
MC silently leaves. At midnight the MC is to retrieve the Immortal. Standing at the foot of the grave, the MC demands,
MC: It is midnight. What is your motto? What is death? Give answer, or be expelled!
Immortal must give an answer, and the MC will record this on the Alchemical Motto Certificate.
MC: So mote it be.
The MT lifts the Immortal Emperor out of the grave with a one-handed grip and the left hand on his shoulder. The MC takes the Immortal’s right hand in his own right hand, holding it firmly and steadily with no motion, then extends the index and middle fingers, and nods once, keeping eye contact. He takes one step backward, and bows.
The bow: bow at the waist to a sixty degree angle; feet together; right fist cupped in left hand, held at the center of gravity, the pads of the thumbs touching; mouth closed, tongue touching roof of mouth behind front teeth; eyes must remain on the Immortal’s eyes; bow is on exhale.
The Officers form two rows facing the center of the temple as the MC and the new Immortal move to the West. The MC takes the right arm of the Immortal and they proceed between the two rows of Officers to the East as the Officers intone the Royal Art Society Martial Hymn. The MC stands before the Throne, facing the Officers. The Immortal kneels before him, not in supplication, but as a sign of virtue and honor.
MC: You have attained the mystical communion, crossed the Abyss of the Sages, and discovered your motto. There is no higher attainment. You are now an Immortal, self-governed, and of heaven and earth. You are the Fountain of Honor from which all Candidates to the Royal Art Society are made. Your oath is simple yet sublime. Will you promise and swear to govern yourself and your dominions according to your true discernment of the One, the Law, and the Good?
IMMORTAL: I solemnly promise so to do.
MC: Will you cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?
IMMORTAL: I will.
MC: Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the spirit of the Royal Art Society, and its forms and customs, and will you preserve unto the Immortals of this Order, and to the jurisdictions committed to their charge, all such responsibilities, rights and privileges as by Natural Law do or shall appertain unto them, or any of them?
IMMORTAL: All this I promise to do.
The Immortal lays his hands upon the Book of Life.
IMMORTAL: The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. I also swear to unite all peoples under heaven under the One, the Law and the Good at the sacrifice of my own personal gain, though I be falsely reviled, even slandered as “the wickedest man in the world.”
That all war may be the nurse of a more solid peace, that all argument may lead to a better understanding, that all division may lead to a higher union. That lower interests be subdued by the higher and that I always put compassion first.
Then the Immortal shall kiss the air above the book. The MC takes his right hand to show him to the Throne. When the Immortal is seated, the MC gives him the completed Alchemical Motto Certificate. A few moments of silence are observed, then the Royal Art Society Martial Hymn is intoned thrice.
MC: Son (or Daughter) of Heaven, continue in the Great Work, the Way, and may peace be with you. Let us Go. We stop the vial of oil and with this bell we close the operation in the name of the Great Work.
MC stops the vial of oil and sounds the bell.
MC: Here ends the Rite of Emanation.
Royal Art Society
Alchemical Motto
This is to certify that ______________________________________________________
(First, Middle, Last Name)
Has attained to the Motto:
________________________________________________________________________
Signed This __________th Day of ___________, Year ___________.
________________________________________________________________________
(First, Middle, Last Name)
Primary Witness
________________________________________________________________________
(First, Middle, Last Name)
Second Witness
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