Through the imagination man has access to the Gods: through the memoria the Gods enter our lives (James Hillman, Myth Of Analysis, page 180). Imaginatio is the Star in Man, the Celestial or Supercelestial Body (A Lexicon of Alchemy, by Martin Rulandus). Living with the images from a vast storehouse seems god-like. When we access the imaginal realm and its treasure of images, we have scaled Mount Olympus and are communing with the Gods. One of the most significant characteristics…
There seem to be two types of imagination. One is called daydreaming, where one intentionally forms a mental image of something. The other, however, brings forth images spontaneously. This type of imagining seems to be similar to what Jung called active imagination. This is what occurs in dreams and when we enter dreams, allowing them to take whatever shape they want. Soul is imagination. Soul is vulnerable and suffers; it is passive and remembers. It is water to the spirit’s…
Solve et Coagula is the alchemical process of “dissolve and congeal.” This is a very interesting metaphor for me, since I’ve been discussing the Metaxy, this idea of a middle-region between opposites. I came across this alchemical notion again in the past few days and really connected with it. Some alchemists believe that Soul can become disconnected and lost. It can either be trapped in matter or it can be so high in the ethereal that it is totally ineffectual….
Marsilio Ficino’s idea of Soul includes this thought from his commentary on Plato’s Phaedrus: The soul is self-moving; so it is the principle of motion; so it is always being moved; so it is immortal. Thus begins his commentary on Socrates’ argument of the immortality of the soul in the Phaedrus 245c-246a. The syllogism is easily understood and works fine if the basic premise is accepted. That is not, however, what I want to deal with. I want to…
The door swung open noisily, as if the answers were riding on molten wings. In the cold blackness within, I saw the key to the abyss lying on a golden nous. When I exhaled, it vibrated eerily, its voice loud and strong. It glowed a brilliant emerald green, indicating the time was at hand. The dawn was coming, but I dared not speak the words I knew should be spoken. I merely listened to the colors which emanated from…