Westcott W.W. - Hermetic Notes

THE title Magus was in common use among the Rosicrucians of Germany, and has been adopted by almost all Hermetic societies and fraternities of students of the schools of Western Occultism, to denote one who has achieved a notable success in the doctrine and art of the Higher Magic. The word appears to have been originally an Asiatic one, and has been most distinctly traced to the Medes; it is related to the Sanscrit mahat – great, and Pehlevi magh – a priest. In Greek, we find the word Magos – a wise man, related to the verb mageuo to enchant. In the book of Matthew chap. ii. v. 7, the word Magoi occurs, and is translated “wise men”.

In modern times the title Magus is given to the leaders of those Rosicrucian Colleges which have been affiliated to the Masonic system: and it is also the title of a high, but not the highest grade of the still surviving non-Masonic Rosicrucian Order. Several years ago some French MSS. came into my hands from a correspondent; they had been in the possession of the late Eliphaz Lévi, and I believe were in his handwriting; there was no claim from him to their authorship, and it is supposed that the assertions and dogmas which they reveal are derived from the Count of St. Germain. I translated the MSS., which was written in very terse and somewhat enigmatic language, and I have altered the phraseology to make the clauses more comprehensible. The student of the Eastern Esoteric Wisdom Religion will detect the analogies with that system, and will be able to set aside what he deems to be exaggeration or distortion, and yet will find much to interest him in this manifesto of a metaphysical and psychic institution running on lines parallel to his own. There are twenty-two clauses, numbered by the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet from Aleph 276to Tau, and distributed into three groups of Privileges, Greater powers, and Lesser powers of the Magi.

THE PRIVILEGES.

1. Aleph. He perceives Deity, and is able to communicate with the Seven Spirits.

2. Beth. He is beyond all suffering, and above all fear.

3. Gimel. He can influence celestial powers, and can govern infernal ones.

4. Daleth. He is the master of his life and future, and obtains power over the lives of others.

5. Hé. He cannot be overcome nor weakened by any ordinary human being.

6. Vau. He knows the causes of events now present, of those that have past, and can foresee what shall be in the future.

7. Zain. He knows the secret hidden from man by death, his next state, and of his future existence.

THE SEVEN GREATER POWERS.

8. Heth. He knows the secret formation of the Stone of the Philosophers.

9. Teth. He knows the secret of the Universal medicine.

10. Yod. He knows the laws which control the problem of perpetual motion; and the mystery of the quadrature of the circle.

11. Kaph. He knows how nature converts dross into gold.

12. Lamed. He can control ferocious animals, and charm the serpent.

13. Mem. He possesses the Notary art, and the key to Universal Science.

14. Nun. He can speak on any subject with learning and wisdom, without previous study and research into it.

THE SEVEN LESSER POWERS.

15. Samech. He can at a glance discover the secret thoughts in the heart and mind of any man or woman.

16. Ain. He can compel a man or woman to be sincere with him.

17. Pé. He can foresee such future events, as are not dominated by a higher adept than he himself is.

18. Tzaddi. He can give at will wise counsel, and efficacious aid to one deserving this assistance.

19. Qoph. He is never miserable even in adversity.

20. Resh. He never loves nor hates immoderately.

21. Shin. He possesses the secret of wealth, yet is never lavish nor impoverished.

277

These three series of Sevens are fitly completed by the Tau – final letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

22. Tau. He can influence the elements of nature, cure maladies, and arrest dissolution.

Additional Notes.

The Western School of Occult Knowledge has many points of agreement with the Wisdom Religion. A very curious old Rosicrucian MS. passed through my hands a few years ago: it gave a new rendering to the initials I. N. R. I. the Christian meaning of which is known to all, and which has also several Alchemic significations, such as: –

Igne Nitrum Roris Invenitur (“By Fire the Nitre of the Dew is discovered”).

Iammim Nour Ruach Iabeshah; the Hebrew for (“Water”, “Fire”, “Air”, “Earth”).

Igne Natura Regenerando Integrat (“Nature renews, in Regenerating by Fire”).

Igne Natura Renovatur Integra (“By fire Nature is renewed in its entirety”).

The rendering I now for the first time publish is not a simple use of initials, but the straining of the symbol shows the greater desire of denoting the doctrine: –

I Ntra vos est Regum De I (“The Kingdom of God is within you”).

This seems to me a clear acknowledgment of the Higher Self within a man, which, if the Man render himself sufficiently pure and spiritual, can communicate with Powers above him, and to him Divine.

The same MS. also gave this reading: –

In Nobis Regnum Intelligentiæ (“The Kingdom of the Intelligence is in Us)”.

From the same source comes also the following epigram: –

“Force arising in the North passes to the South.

Intelligence arising in the South passes to the North.

Initiation arising in the East passes to the West.”

Footnotes