Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Collective Unconscious

Conceptually distinguishing between the various planes of the personal unconscious:

"The experience of the archetype is frequently guarded as the closest personal secret, because it is felt to strike into the very core of one's being . . . . (These experiences) demand to be individually shaped in and by each man's life and work. They are images sprung from the life, the joys and sorrows, of our ancestors; and to life they seek to return, not in experience only, but in deed. Because of their opposition to the conscious mind they cannot be translated straight into our world; hence a way must be found that can mediate between conscious and unconscious reality."

Excerpted from Dr. Carl Gustav Jung's (1875-1961) The Personal and Collective Unconscious (c. 1969).

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 09.16.06

From the immortal words of Atum (Atum-Re, Tem, Temu, Tum, et cetera) the Patron God of the Sun, Creation, and ruler-ship of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt:

I made my body evolve through my effectiveness.
I am the one who made me.
I build myself as I wanted, according to my heart.

Saturday, September 9, 2006

Moh's Scale of Mineral Hardness

Circa 1812, German mineralogist Frederich Mohs (1773-1839) chose ten (10) commonly available minerals as the basis for his Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness. Mineral hardness is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "the cohesion of the particles on the surface of a mineral as determined by its capacity to scratch another or be itself scratched." Some scientists and historians believe that the minerals selected by Moh were arbitrarily based.

Mohs Hardness Scale

1. Talc (Talcum Powder)

2. Gypsum (Plaster of Paris)

3. Calcite (Limestone and Sea Shells)

4. Fluorite (Fluorine)

5. Apatite (Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates)

6. Orthoclase (Feldspar)

7. Quartz (Silicon Dioxide or Silica)

8. Topaz (Emerald and Aquamarine)


9. Corundum (Sapphire and Ruby)

10. Diamond (Carbon, Native Element)

Also note that these minerals can be used in your daily magickal and energy workings.

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 09.02.06

Now I walk by myself whenever I wish,

I ask the price of vegetables and meal.

I often wander in the evening

through the Circus with its shops of tricky tradesmen

and through the Forum,

and visit the booths of the fortune-tellers.

~ Horace ~

Friday, September 1, 2006

Tincture and Oil of Antimony

Tract on the Tincture and Oil of Antimony
by
Roger Bacon

Preface


"Dear reader, at the end of his Tract on Vitriol, Roger Bacon mentions that because of the multiplication of the Tincture that is made from Vitriol, the lover of Art should acquaint himself with the Tract De Oleo Stibii. Therefore I considered that it would be good and useful that the Tract De Oleo Stibii follows next. And if one thoroughly ponders and compares these tinctures with one another, then I have no doubt that one will not finish without exceptional profit. Yet, every lover of Art, should mind always to keep one eye on Nature and the other on Art and manual labour. For, when these two do not stand together, then it is a lame work, as when someone thinks he can walk a long path on one leg only, which is easily seen to be impossible,Vale.

Joachim Tanckivs
De Oleo Antimonii Tractatus.
ROGERII BACONIS ANGLI
Summi Philosophi & Chemici.

Stibium, as the Philosophers say, is composed from the noble mineral Sulphur, and they have praised it as the black lead of the Wise. The Arabs in their language, have called it Asinat vel Azinat, the alchemists retain the name Antimonium. It will however lead to the consideration of high Secrets, if we seek and recognize the nature in which the Sun is exalted, as the Magi found that this mineral was attributed by God to the Constellation Aries, which is the first heavenly sign in which the Sun takes its exaltation or elevation to itself. Although such things are thrown to the winds by common people, intelligent people ought to know and pay more attention to the fact that exactly at this point the infinitude of secrets may be partly contemplated with great profit and in part also explored. Many, but these are ignorant and unintelligent, are of the opinion that if they only had Stibium, they would get to it by Calcination, others by Sublimation, several by Reverberation and Extraction, and obtain its great Secret, Oil, and Perfectum Medicinam. But I tell you, that here in this place nothing will help, whether Calcination, Sublimation, Reverberation nor Extraction, so that subsequently a perfect Extraction of metallic virtue that translates the inferior into the superior, may profitably come to pass or be accomplished. For such shall be impossible for you. Do not let yourselves be confused by several of the philosophers who have written of such things, i.e., Geber, Albertus Magnus, Rhasis, Rupecilla, Aristoteles and many more of that kind. And this you should note. Yes, many say, that when one prepares Stibium to a glass, then the evil volatile Sulphur will be gone, and the Oil, which may be prepared from the glass, would be a very fixed oil, and would then truly give an ingress and Medicine of imperfect metals to perfection. These words and opinions are perhaps good and right, but that it should be thus in fact and prove itself, this will not be. For I say to you truly, without any hidden speech; if you were to lose some of the above mentioned Sulphur by the preparation and the burning, as a small fire may easily damage it, so that you have lost the right penetrating spirit, which should make our whole Antimonii corpus into a perfect red oil, so that it also can ascend over the helm with a sweet smell and very beautiful colors and the whole body of this mineral with all its members, without loss of any weight, except for the foecum, shall be an oil and go over the helm. And note also this: How would it be possible for the body to go into an oil, or give off its sweet oil, if it is put into the last essence and degree? For glass is in all things the outermost and least essence. For you shall know that all creatures at the end of the world, or on the last and coming judgement of the last day, shall become glass or a lovely amethyst and this according to the families of the twelve Patriarchs, as in the families of jewels which Hermes the Great describes in his book: As we have elaborately reported and taught in our book de Cabala . . ."

Source & Complete Text:
www.sacred-texts.com/alc/rbacon2.htm