A reader at this blog wrote me a letter recently asking about The Operation of the Sun. Here is the most explicit description of it as it comes down to us from antiquity.
The Emerald Tablet of Hermes
“True, without falsehood, certain and most true, that which is above is as that which is below and that which is below is as that which is above, for the performance of the miracles of the One Thing. And as all things are from One, by the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation. The Sun is its father, the Moon its mother. The Wind carries it in its belly, the Earth is it’s nurse. This is the father of all perfection, or the consummation of the whole world. Its power is integrating, if it be turned into earth.
Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, suavely, and with great ingenuity. It ascends from earth into heaven and descends again into earth and receives the power of the superiors and of the inferiors. So thou hast the glory of the whole world; therefore let all obscurity flee before thee. This is the strong force of all forces, overcoming every subtle and penetrating every solid thing. So the world was created. So were all wonderful adaptations, of which this is the manner. Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. What I have to say is completed, concerning the Operation of the Sun.”
Let’s understand a few basic points. We live in a world of night and day. We are composed of and respond to the movements and relationships of the planets as they aspect each other according to our time of birth and our location. You could say that this is the essence of our particular life karma. This blueprints our tendencies and the conditions in which we will find ourselves at different periods of any given life.
The major influences are The Sun and The Moon which rule over the interaction between what is visible and invisible in us. We have our day side and our night side and the harmonization of these could be considered our real life’s work. Various other stars play into our circumstances. I have mentioned how we are like a house with three floors. The basement is the subconscious. The main floor is the self-conscious and the top floor is the super-conscious. The basement is the point at which we access a great ocean of being shared by us all. Though it is the same ocean for all, the point at which we access it is unique to our individual self. The super-conscious can be called God. To the degree that we can allow the top floor to control what emerges from the basement into the main floor, to that degree we are aligned with the best of what is possible for us.
What I am saying here is simplistic and could benefit by a more exhaustive presentation but we don’t have that time and space available here. We have around 1500 words. You have to consider and expand upon what is said here. You can easily find more about all of this. You can easily find much more by using your intuition. Your degree of intuition is relative to your capacity to allow the top floor to flow into the main floor. Most people block this out because it interferes with the self-interest of the main floor. The more one lets go of self interest and allows their interests to be managed from the upper floor... the more intuition becomes the guiding light. In times of greater materialism... or where one’s nature is more materialistic... the capacity to get useful, divine input is severely curtailed.
In these materialistic times, the main focus of the individual is the construction and maintenance of their material state; acquiring status and wealth, protecting and growing status and wealth, engaging in and having a primary focus on sense experience and all of what you see when you look around you and see the mad fire in the eyes of the world; ubiquitous cellphone masturbators, pornographic culture, quick and immediate food for each sensory port, made from quick and immediate compounds composed of elements lacking in vitality and nutrition. This is what you see at the movies; hear in the music, consume in The Food Court, hear on the news and which compose all of the temporary lap dances of each diminishing day. The purpose of these lap dances is to distract the heart and the mind from deeper considerations.
Why would ‘the world’ want to distract you from deeper considerations? It is because you are food. The world eats you. You are no different than livestock in this regard and the world has conscious agents who have opted for service on this plane. You could think of it as a game. You could imagine you were walking through a red light district where shills stand outside of every strip club and regale you with the possibility of pleasures within. Once inside, you are stripped of your resources and once you leave you are missing something. Something is missing but you don’t know what it is. Heaven and Earth compete for your attention. Though Heaven surrounds you, it is not easy to see. The world is very easy to see.
The work of the world is to keep your attention on it; on what is outside of you. The work of Heaven is to draw your attention within. It is no more complex than this. It is you who decide what shall have the stronger influence upon your consciousness and thereby shape you into what you will be... or... reveal what you already are.
Some have the capacity to see what it happening here. Some have the capacity to suspect- or even to know- that there is more than meets the eye and ear. This is what The Operation of the Sun is all about. From the Emerald Tablet we learn, “As above, so below.” Everything you see here has a counterpart in the unseen worlds above and below the bandwidth of your senses. Upward/inward... the spaces are increasingly more open, more rarefied, more tranquil and cooler. Downward/outward, the spaces are increasingly denser, less rarefied, less tranquil and hotter. Upward/inward comes ever greater freedom, even though it comes through ever greater surrender, which self-interest regards as bondage. Downward and outward comes ever greater confinement through license which self interest considers freedom.
Through the stages of the Operation of the Sun, which are carried out by The Holy Guardian Angel, you enter new worlds, as you are transformed in ways that allows you to see them. You do nothing in this process but endure the transformations. Think of a department store with many floors reached by an elevator. Whenever the elevator opens on a particular floor you step into an entire world. Though we all seem to be moving through the same world here, this is not the case. Here in this world at this very moment people are experiencing Heaven and Hell. Though there may be some subterranean Hell it is also very much present here as well and so is Heaven. Everyone here is moving at this very moment toward another world and another set of clothes for another segment of greater suffering or lesser suffering.
The most important thing we can achieve here is an alteration in our consciousness. The thing that screws up most people is that they need to be able to ‘see’ and ‘touch’ things for them to be real. This is why they will accept a physical tour guide but deny the presence of non-physical guides. The physical tour guide knows only the physical level. The non-physical guide knows the other levels as well. We are talking here about a legitimate invisible guide... there are all sorts of misleading guides seen and unseen; “as above, so below.”
It is possible to precipitate upward through the planes of existence and we achieve this through a changing consciousness. People use prayer, chants, visualizations and various disciplines to assist this. They do the same thing going down as well. At the moment, an aperture is opening that only comes around every 25,000 years. This is why there are so many people here and why the material pull is so great. There is a war on for your attention. You should be able to see this... see it blatantly right in front of you but... it all looks like normal life. It has routine and hard surfaces. It takes a fierce attentiveness and certitude to focus on what you cannot see but believe (or know) to be true. The world is composed of lies. This should be readily apparent from observation and experience but... self interest intrudes. One might well ask if self interest is in your best interest.
We’re going to go over 1500 words today due to the inclusion of The Emerald Tablet and this following piece which might be a good project for repetition and memorization. I memorized both of these long ago and repeated them for years. This one is called,
The Pattern on the Trestleboard
“This Is Truth about the Self
All the Power that ever was or will be is here now.
I am a center of expression for the Primal Will-to-Good which eternally creates and sustains the Universe.
Through me its unfailing Wisdom takes form in thought and word.
Filled with Understanding of its perfect law, I am guided, moment by moment, along the path of liberation.
From the exhaustless riches of its Limitless Substance, I draw all things needful, both spiritual and material.
I recognize the manifestation of the Undeviating Justice in all the circumstances of my life.
In all things, great and small, I see the Beauty of the Divine Expression.
Living from that Will, supported by its unfailing Wisdom and Understanding, mine is the Victorious Life.
I look forward with confidence to the perfect realization of the Eternal Splendor of the Limitless Light.
In thought and word and deed, I rest my life, from day to day, upon the sure Foundation of Eternal Being.
The Kingdom of Spirit is embodied in my flesh.”
These sayings relate to the stations of the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life and could be considered as stages in The Operation of the Sun, just as The Stations of the Cross and many another practice all relate to the same process of self discovery, self realization, transfiguration, transubstantiation, divine sublimation or a host of terms. Everything cross-references the way the seven chakras turn out to be the seven planets and the way Mercury, Sulphur and Salt turn out to be the 3 Gunas of action. One mountain... many ways up. Once up you can see all of the ways down.
I’ll leave you with a little reading list that can prove very useful in respect of what has been said here. There is a fellow called Joseph Brenner who wrote a book called “The Way to the Kingdom”. He didn’t put his name on his books so... often the author is given as ‘anonymous’. He also wrote, “The Impersonal Life” and several curious little pamphlets. I can send some of the pamphlets out in PDF to anyone who asks. You might also consider “The Door to Everything” by Ruby Nelson as well as The Kybalion. These are out of the Western Tradition but West and East are the same except for appearance. If you do not practice spiritual discipline you will make no progress in the same way you will not wake up as a piano player if you haven’t applied yourself to the craft. That’s enough for now.
'Spread Your Wings' is track no. 1 of 11 on Visible's 2001 album 'God in Country'
Lyrics (pops up)
