The Soul And The Word

Important information on the nature of the divine-spark and its function ~ g

[QUOTING]

"The Word is the image and the Soul of God, the Idea is the image of the Soul, and the Body is the image of the Idea" Corpus Hermeticum, Book Thirteen

In these words of Hermes, and all that follows in the thirteenth book, lies the key to Transfiguration, which has to be brought about  by the candidate in the gnostic mysteries himself with the aid of his two immortal faculties, the Soul and the Word.

We have discussed these two divine faculties and pointed out the way they can be awakened and unleashed. There is not a single entity who could walk the path of true liberation without them. To gain a clear understanding of the significance of these two faculties, you should begin by investigating the microcosm.

The mighty ideation-power of the Logos, the omnipresent and all-pervading One, projects itself into what we call "space". Space, as the true classical Rosicrucians state, is not empty: 'There is no empty space'. Space is filled with primordial substance. When the divine idea relating to God's plan for his creature, man, is radiated into space, the microcosm comes into being. You could think of a concentration of primordial substance, of atoms. Initially, the microcosm is the not-yet-embodied monad, a concentration of primordial substance formed as a result of a magnetic principle. The classical Rosicrucians sometimes called such a light-emitting principle a spark, the divine-spark. This spark is the nucleus of the monad, and from it a radiation emanates, which gives rise to a sevenfold rotation, a sevenfold magnetic field. With the radiation of this spark as its centre, the surrounding magnetic field then becomes a microcosmic field of creation. It is within this field that the great process of self-realization has to take place.

The time comes when a manifestation, a form, a body develops in the microcosmic field of creation. This manifestation is, to put it in hermetic language, the image, the sculpture, the expression of the vivifying radiation of the microcosmic nucleus (the divine-spark). This radiation is in keeping with the idea of the Logos. Hence the words of verse 26: The body is the image of the idea. The idea is manifested via the Soul, the Soul is manifested through the nuclear principle (the divine-spark), while the nucleus in turn is an image of the Godhead. And in verse 27 Hermes says:

"So the most subtle part of matter is the air or primordial substance, the most subtle part of the Soul is the Spirit, and the most subtle part of Spirit is God"

So, in the primordial past, millions and millions of years ago, man was a self-manifesting entity in the absolute sense of the word. Through the radiation of the nucleus of the monad, a glorious Personality was manifested in the creation-field of the monad as a pure image, a pure idea of the Godhead. This entity was equipped with mighty talents that enabled it to act and fulfill a task within the All.

But a group of these entities became involved in a process known as 'the Fall', a process we would like to discuss with you in more detail later. One of the results was that the bodies, the images of the divine idea, crystallized. The bodies became increasingly dense until finally the moment came when an incident occurred, involving the radiation of the divine-spark on the one hand and the crystallizing bodies on the other. In the end, it was no longer possible for this radiation to provide these bodies with sufficient energy. It was then that the process we know as death first appeared. The discarded crystallization were replaced by new manifestations, for the radiation of the divine-spark went on performing its task. Time and time again, a new form appeared in the microcosm. That is why there are myths which state that in the beginning, man was an androgynous being, a male-female being, a hermaphrodite.

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them. Male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27

(g: and now you have the true meaning of the above verse from Genesis)

This condition could not last, however. A human projection that constantly functions in opposition to its nature will ultimately give rise to an intense conflict, and in this instance it could not be withstood by the radiation of the microcosmic nucleus. Thus it could no longer express itself in the personality, which, at that time lived much longer than it does now, and was almost entirely of an astral-etheric nature. When this incident between the radiation of the divine-spark and the increasingly solidifying personality reached its culmination, the separation of the sexes occurred, so that the personality could be maintained by means of sexual intercourse. From then on, the process of birth was necessary, and the relationships were reversed: disembodied, emptied microcosms were given the opportunity, through the birth of new personalities, to envelop the latter during their birth in nature so that, if at all possible, the age-old process could be restored and death could be abolished. So when a personality is born, it is simultaneously brought into contact with a microcosm. The aim of re-establishing this connection between the personality and microcosm is to restore the Original condition and to bring the Original, Immortal Human Being back into manifestation, in keeping with the idea of the microcosmic radiation.

End Part I

From "The Two Immortal Faculties" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis IV - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

Man was once able to self-generate his form, via the agency of the divine-spark. As long as the body, the form, the image of the idea, remained aligned with the will of the Spirit, this self-generative process stayed in place and death, as we know it, was unknown.

When man became self-willed, and began to reject the promptings of the Spirit, the body, the image-bearer, began to interfere with the ability of the divine-spark to do its job. Eventually the divine-spark lost its effectiveness, which is what happens when any mechanism falls into disuse.

We are here today as personalities in yet another attempt by our microcosm to re-establish the original order of things. To do so, the divine-spark must be re-awakened. It is like a rusted generator in need of a little oil, or a burning ember in need of kindling and nurturing. To be successful in our appointed task, we must follow the appropriate steps of the Fivefold Universal Gnosis:

liberating insight,
yearning for salvation,
self-surrender, 
a new attitude of life and
resurrection in the New Field of Life

Only then will we be able to restore our microcosm to its former pristine Glory and once again consciously share in its Eternal Life. If we fail, the physical death process will be our only reward. This means another trip to the reflection-sphere where the present personality will be gradually dissolved and a new one inserted in its place to take up where we left off. The nature-born personalities may change, but the Tasks will remain the same:

Awakening of the divine-spark.
Transmutation of the personality.
Transfiguration of the body.
Final Liberation of the Spirit-Soul-Body tri-unity from its prison of Matter.

~ g
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