A B I T A L OR
Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew in vij Chapters. A short work most profitable to students of Natural Philosophy, recently transcribed from the manuscript of P.L. TO WHICH IS ADDED
A tract on three marvellous glasses: an optical vade mecum.
L E E D S, Printed by Mr. Legard, at the Larkfall Press, for Mr. Todd, of Memoirs of an Aesthete. To accompany a musical performance by the former, entitled The Pyrognomic Glass, 2 0 0 9.
The fields were green as green could be, When from his heavenly seat Our mighty Lord he watered us With his heavenly dew so sweet.
- Traditional
Mercury is our doorkeeper, our balm, our honey, oil, urine, may-dew, mother, egg, secret furnace, oven, true fire, venomous Dragon, Theriac, ardent wine, Green Lion, Bird of Hermes, Goose of Hermogenes, two-edged sword in the hand of the Cherub that guards the Tree of Life; it is our true, secret vessel, and the Garden of the Sages, in which our Sun rises and sets. - Philalethes And indeed the philosophers have a garden, where the sun as well morning as evening remains with a moist sweet dew, without ceasing, with which it is sprinkled and moistened; - whose earth brings forth trees and fruits, which are transplanted thither, which also receive descent and nourishment from the pleasant meadows. - Nicolas Flamel
To a most accomplished philosopher and learned Secretary of Nature upon the printing of his Treatise ABITAL. Gentle Reader, hearken! The Gods grant unto thee This Treatise 'pon Aurora’s tears that thou dost see. When thou shalt find them hid'n in the Grass, The Rain shall not that Day be seen to pass. Let not sages of grave mien dispute and confound Those whom gracious ABITAL hath found. Let the goodly Folk of Den and Dell regard With awe and wonder wise LEGARD! Let no maid weep on battlefield, O'er fallen men who to him yield. Let angels praise in heav'nly chorus His genius, and let sharp-beaked Horus His praises sing 'pon bark of Nile, And may he ne'er grout bathroom tile. To him, Muses, give a jubilant shout! May laurels from his temples sprout! D. M. H. Cortlandiae.
In Commendation of his Friend’s Studies in Natural Philosophy. Beyond Empyrean bestarred Comes treasure borne by good LEGARD Who brings to earth the Dewy fire Cascading from Apollo’s lyre. As gold limn’d dawn shines through the gloom The magus from his city room And wise men from their country cots Converge upon sparse rural plots. As Manna falls upon the rye They’ll raise a Gamahue and cry: “O praise this treasure, heaven-born, That falls upon the cloudless morn!” I.M. Cambriae.
To His special Friend on the Unveiling of this Treatise concerning the Celestial Waters. Lo! Sol traverses Aries’ house once more And bids his heralds melt the frosty hoar, Who are by astral virtue stirred to sing Of Dewy showers that the cause the earth to spring. “O! Bless’d RORASA!”” comes their noble call, Which ’cross the moor resounds from heaven’s hall, “May your white brilliance divine descend: Regenerate Chaos! Sans start. Sans end.”” Let things this day shine bright, bedropp’d with Dew Whose vital force cheers e’en the deathly Yew. And may each crystal bead send forth a ray Illuming what LEGARD does here display. B.C. Florentiae.
AN
EPISTLE To the Courteous and Well minded READER. Reader,
I
T has been the opinion of the Astrologers that each light in heaven does, by virtue of some subtle element, cast its own ray of influence, by which marvellous effects, benevolent, malevolent or mixed in nature, may be studied by the keen observer who has placed himself in such a position as to observe the confluence of rays. Therefore planet Mars in its aspect may make a man mighty who is so disposed to his influence by virtue of his nativity, or else may depose kings when conjunct with certain stars. Furthermore our doctors have declared that this subtle part, known in the stars as ĂŚther, is called the soul in man, or the genius in other things, can cast rays of their own accord. Thus the soul of a witch may cast its rays to the purpose of harming her fellows, known vulgarly as the Evil Eye. It has been suggested, though only subtly, by Dr. Dee in his Mathematicall Preface to Euclid that certain optical arts may render such rays perceptible, and further that their influence might be focussed with glasses to a certain point at which may be set a stone or gamahue to absorb the astral nature. If the rays in question flow from an intelligence then the optical art may help us focus and confer with that which casts them, if one is so inclined to such arts. In addition to the science of astrology, the ancients also recognised another branch of learning that dealt with invisible forces: that of music. As the visible bodies of the stars produce rays that in an invisible or occult manner affect mundane things, so sound flows from the visible body of the musical instrument and also has its own hidden influences on the world and the souls of that which it touches. Mr. Gibbs in his preface to the poem of Dr. Smith has noted that in like action to the stars, music may actuate the spirit of a man: thus repelling the poison of the Tarantula, causing rage in a king, and bringing down the walls of a city, all done by a magic that is audible, yet invisible. The author of that which follows has put among his visions much that appertains to the visible and invisible parts of astrology and music, to which it has been seen fit, in the light of what has been said above, to append an ancient treatise on the optical arts by which the light of the luminaries may be focussed and employed in diverse works by the wise, and like the wise I say to you: do well, and Farewell.
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
ABITAL CHAP. I. The Motion of the Sun and His Genius
T
He Sun is of a fiery quality, which is to say that he is hot and dry by virtue of his Elemental nature. In the course of his Diurnal passage from East to West he imparts the influence of his quality by the casting of his Rays, or Beams across the heavens. That is to say that he first imparts his influence on those heavenly bodies either Combust or in powerful aspect with his rays which then, extending to infinity, by necessity fall upon the other celestial bodies and finally upon the nested spheres of the Earth, illuminating and heating the upper and lower atmospheres, after which the rays fall upon the waters and finally upon the ground itself. The Genius of the Sun is most exalted of the Celestials, held in the highest esteem by all men of philosophy and dignified as the noble king amongst stars by the Ancients. His rays are the most readily perceptible amongst the Astrals, the influence of which the science of Astrology pretends to explicate, and indeed every man may discern that the heat and light that flow from the Sun are the vivifying powers that cause all living things to thrive. In his circuit over and under the Earth he daily makes darkness into light, night into day, the invisible visible, black into white and lead into gold, as the Poet sings of Helios as the Greeks called this particular star, later known to them as Apollo: Dexter genitor aurorae, sinister noctis.
Orpheus
Ficinus has written that the Sun consists of a natural fecundity, corresponding to the Father; a light, which represents the Son; and a heat that is akin to the Spirit. Furthermore he is surrounded by Nine Muses, patrons of the arts, while he himself is the lord of Celestial Harmony, as the author of Musica Incantans has sung:
Ficinus. De Sole.
And having seen the God of Harmony Each Ev’ning safely plunge the willing Sea. 1
Mus. Inc. p.14
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Gregory, Dionsyus, Fludd.
Heptam. & Man. Ast. Mag.
Ramsey, Ast. Rest. 69.
He is the God of Harmony, and where there is Harmony there is proportion and sound. Those who have taken it upon themselves to measure the heavenly spheres, and thus determine their proportions as they lie betwixt Earth and the Empyrean variously declare the interval of the Sun to be of that of an octave, fourth or fifth when considered in this relation. The passage of time is also marked by the Sun and therefore where he is exalted in his influence there is a Harmony and even a music, which some have supposed to be in Dorian mode, being by its nature calm, tamed of the passions and yet active in itself, by analogy to these natures the Hindus accord this to be a raga of the dusk, suitable to all seasons and named Raga Kafi. The passage of the Sun through the Zodiac moves our earthly seasons, this being on account of the nature of particular Sign through which he travels and his distance from our immobile sphere. Thus farmers and husbandmen reckon by the Sun when it is right to sew, reap and so on, and it is due to the tangible difference of his light and position above the Horizon throughout the year that differing names have been given to Him depending upon his particular season, thus: In the Spring In the Summer In the Autumn In the Winter
Abraym or Abaryn Athemay or Acamon Abragini or Abragon Comutaff or Rifar
Furthermore they call the hour of sunrise Yayn, and the hour of sunset Beron, or Leron. But it should not be considered that such names, nor any other so-called magical words or signs possess any occult virtue within their forms, rather that their purpose is Symbolical, which is to say, in regard to the above, that each name symbolises the changing nature of the Sun in its Time and Season. Of his particular seasons the Astrologers say that he is most powerful in Aries, being the Cardinal sign of his Element, and they call him Exalted when in the 19th Degree of the same: he being then in the highest Northern point of the Ecliptick, by which all things are made to spring and flourish, the heat of weather and the length of days being increased. Thus that spirit of fecundity, light and heat is at its most potent, as any man may behold if he look outside his window in this season wherein the trees regain their colour, vegetation thrives, ewes are about their lambing and the whole of creation is stirred into life once more.
2
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
CHAP. II. The Virtues of Dew and when it is most Potent according to Spagyrics, Alchemists, Astrologers &c.
W
Hat, some men may ask, has Dew to do with those elevated celestial speculations upon the role of the Sun in the World that preceded this present chapter? Such a man may suppose dabbling in Dew to be the practice of maids, old wives and ignorant rustics, but I say heed the precept of Paracelsus who declared that many a truth can be found in the lore of country folk. It is tradition in many parts of this land to gather Dew upon the first day of May. Maidens go amongst the fields, or else to high places, to wash their eyes and faces with it in the belief that it will beautify them. Oftentimes those afflicted with diseases such as complaints of the back, feet or lesions of the skin, may be seen walking barefoot or rolling amidst dewy grasses. In these customs the attentive reader of the first chapter of this work will perceive an Astral truth. That is to say that the maids gather their Dew when the Sun is dignified, although the date which they have set to gather it refers to a forgotten Celestial significance since the way we number days has changed and this certain day is now not the time in which the Sun is within his most powerful exaltation. Therefore, although the rustics have dimly perceived that the Dew is most potent in the Spring months, nowadays they misguidedly gather it under the sign of Taurus, by which time the vivifying power of the Solar Exaltation has since peaked. That admirable author of the Golden Chain of Homer has explained the virtue that lies within the vapours of the atmosphere in terms of circulations and condensations occurring between the elementary and heavenly vapours. The heavenly and aerial atmospheres incline toward earth, while water and earth aspire to ascend and meet them by way of vaporous exhalations: They mix thus in the state of vapours in order to fabricate the Chaotic regenerated, and impregnated water or the Universal, Semi-material Sperma Mundi. As soon as the air is impregnated and animated with Heaven, it communicates immediately with water and earth to impregnate them also. […] You will see a continual transmutation of Matter, that is a conditional change or modification, whilst the inward central fire of Nature remains always the same, as it was in the beginning.
3
Paracelsus May Dew.
Gold. Ch. Hom. vi.
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Hermes. Tabula. Smarag.
Exaltations
Dr. Dee
Such fiery, Heavenly-infused vapours later descend to earth variously as Dew, Rain, Hail and Snow. This bearer of Regenerated Chaos, also Hermetically known as Fire, or Prima Materia imparts its vivifying nature (the fecund principle previously spoken of) to the earth, animals, vegetables and minerals, nourishing them, before once more ascending as earth and air and, inclining toward Heaven, exhale it. On this subject, Hermes tells us that it ascends gently from Earth to Heaven and again it does descend to Earth - this is why it is called Regenerated. Our author of the Golden Chain further provides a Chemical experiment to prove that such waters contain that First Thing that was generated within the Primal Chaos, and further how, by extracting the essential salt it may be the father of minerals within the alembic, and many more extraordinary things too numerous to detail here, and such mysteries of generation of animals from Dew have also been recently observed by a Mr. Thos. Henshaw. However, we are here concerned only with the fact that that benevolent, lifegiving virtue of Dew, prized by maidens, gardeners and other rustics is also the most esteemed and fecund, material of the Alchemists; any man that looks out of his window at sunrise, to see a clear sky after a cloudy night and beholds Dew, whether he be Alchemist or a butcher, whether his mind inclines to Celestial things or base things, will, upon seeing the radiant beauty of each drop, easily perceive the Universal Fire that shines within it. Whether he knows its name or not, instinct will tell him that some vital and refined element has condensed with the coming of dawn or dusk. As the Heart of the World the Sun is the agent for this circulation: his heat causes water to incline toward the Heavens through evaporation, and the earth to do so by exhaling its vapours when heated or cooled in the morning or evening. It is due to the role of the Sun in these matters that the Hermetic philosophers believe the Dew collected during the Solar Exaltation in Aries to be most potent. This potency may, however, be augmented by observing the rules of the Heavens, insofar as if the Moon is also full at that time then She will reflect the Solar rays through the atmosphere during the night, and Her rays are further augmented in their power if She is Exalted in her House, being that of Taurus, in particular the 3 rd degree of the sign. Dr. Dee has indicated this by the sign of his Monas Hieroglyphica and discusses the Exaltations of the Luminaries in the xv Theorem of the work bearing that name, from which the following illustration has been extracted.
4
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Taurus
Lunae Exaltatio
Dee. Mon. H. xv.
Elementa Aries
Solis Exaltatio
The wise Doctor has also hinted at the Mysteries here under discussion by including certain devices on the first and final pages of his work, the former quoting from the Book of Genesis, xxvii: May God give thee the dew of heaven and of the fat of the earth.
Gen. xxvii.
On the final page he shows a fecund Goddess, bearing a sheaf of wheat in her left hand and a seven-rayed star in her right, above which is written: Let the Supercelestial Waters fall as Dew: And the Earth will yield Her fruit. These Supercelestial Waters are none than the source of that Fire or Regenerated Chaos to which we have elsewhere referred, for it is held that there are waters beyond the heavens, which existed before all created things, being the Chaos upon which the Spirit of God moved, and which He separated into the upper and lower firmaments upon the Second Day. Paracelsus enumerates three heavens: that which is above the clouds and known as Sublunary, that of the Planets and Fixed Stars and that of the Supercelestial Waters beyond them, while Mirandolus tells us the waters of these heavens descend upon the earth: that of the Sublunar heaven purifies, the middle illuminates and the Supercelestial perfects with a fiery and life-giving Dew. Amongst the planets the magician Honorious said that dew is made under the power of the Sun and also under Jupiter. The Sun because of his part in its production by heating and cooling and Jupiter because his is counted among Astrologers as the greater fortune, responsible for all works of increase, to which the light, hot and fecund parts of dew contribute.
5
Paracelsus. Cata. Alch. Picus M. Hept-plus.v.
Liber Juratus ii.
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
CHAP. III. The Appearance of Dew, its Diverse Virtues and Lore
B Picatrix. Ii.xiii.
The Baltics.
England.
Jerusalem.
Efore treating of the diverse lore that has been attached the dew, let us first consider those conditions in which it most abundantly manifests. It has been observed that if a glass or globe of water is set out upon a clear night then a great quantity of dew will gather upon its surface. In this one may perceive a microcosm of the matter at hand, for the glass is like the Earth, inert and cold, upon which the celestial fire naturally condenses, possessing heat by virtue of its motion which is inherited from its passage through the primium mobile. As the sage Picatrix tells us, the motion of the heavens causes heat, whereas coldness is generated at the centre. We have previously explained why dew has been held in high esteem by both rustics and philosophers, containing as it does some fiery, celestial part congealed with an atmospheric, watery part, but I will now present some particular instances of its use by diverse cultures, a discussion which will be of necessity brief, for there is much here that would need its own volume to explain. First, to touch upon the question of divination by dew, for all farmers’ almanacs declare that morning dew on the grass indicates fine weather for the rest of that day. Further to this, the Balts declare that the size of the dewfall upon the summer solstice foretells the size of the coming harvest; in accord with the traditions of Europe they hold the dew in high regard as a beautifying and healing balm, as well as believing that it confers the power to for one to discern witches among the general populace. They hold a feast upon this solstice, which they call the festival of Rasa. On this subject of dew-feasts, in Yorkshire it is held that good dew is to be had on St. Bartholomew’s day, the 24th of August, upon which date the men of West Witton burn a curious effigy that they call Owd Bartle, who some claim to be the last surviving trace of a solar god or giant that they call Bel or Baal. In this season as part of their Passover liturgy, Jews pray for nocturnal dews to restore the fields and restore Jerusalem, concluding their prayer in a threefold manner: For blessing and not for curse. Amen. For life and not for death. Amen. For plenty and not for lack. Amen. To remain within the festive calendar some simple peasants among Christians put out cloths upon hedges on Christmas, New Year’s Day or Epiphany by which they hope to gather a beneficial dew with which to wash their livestock. The same peasants also make a ritual of imitating the fall of dew with a wet branch in the hope they may artificially create conditions for fecundity. 6
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Aside from Bartle there are other ancient gods and heroes in these lands with stronger connection to dew, among them Len of the Many Hammers, goldsmith to the king of the Danaan and genius of the Lakes of Killarney, who worked by a forge surrounded by rainbows and showers of fiery dew. Farther a field, the Norsemen claimed that dew descended from their celestial Ash, Yggdrasil, while the Greeks have a myth of Προκρις and Κεφαλος, concerning which they say: The sun loves the dew, the morning loves the sun, the sun kills the dew, for their myth, by the language of imagery, demonstrates the magnetism that exists between Sun and dew, and the temporality of the matter, by which the celestial fire is again loosed into the upper atmosphere as dawn becomes morning. Moving further into the East, the Japanese sages relate a peculiar natural alchemy by which the dew of the Moon falls into the mouth of the oyster, being formed into a lunar stone, or pearl, and it is this from this congealed dew that they claim the Moon herself is composed. Having made this Oriental observation we must conclude our brief survey, yet it should be apparent that, in the light of what we have discussed in earlier chapters, there is in this imagery something that greatly accords with the notion of dew as the bearer of some fiery, fecund and marvellous celestial force.
I
CHAP. IV. The Solar Aspects and the Genii Temporum
T has already been mentioned that the Sun is the Lord of Time. We reckon seasons, days, nights, hours, minutes and seconds by his place in the Heavens. We have also shown that the Magicians give different names to the Sun in accordance with his place among the stars, Abaryn during the Spring and so on, by which it is indicated that the nature of the Sun is not constant, but changes during his Zodiacal course. Even in the passage of a day the Sun takes on many secondary aspects, and therefore that the magicians call him Yayn at sunrise, Thamur at his apex, Beron at sunset and Rana at his nadir. Both his seasonal and temporal aspects may be easily grasped by comparing the nature of a Winter sunrise to a Spring sunrise, and so on, most readily at his equinoxes and solstices which mark the seasons and his primary aspects. Of the primary aspects we are chiefly concerned with the Sun in Springtime, during his exaltation in Aries, in which place his rays are multiplied, agitating the 7
Ireland. Germanics. Greeks.
Japan.
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Occ. Phil. Iii.xxvi.
Occ. Phil. Iii.xxiii. & De. Opt. Daemonum
Supercelestial Waters, in such a way as heat may cause oil to circulate within the vessel called the pelican, and its concentration is thus greater when condensed in these times than in others. Dew is also to be found in the Autumnal season, although its nature is not as potent as that which we have just described. Two secondary aspects are of chief importance to us in this matter of dew, being sunrise and sunset, although the mechanism by which these produce dew we have earlier discussed, we did not touch on that which the Sun conveys to us more subtly by his ascending or descending rays. That is to say that these times between day and night might be called liminal, in that they are the threshold between two temporal poles, viz. night and day; day and night. Profound feelings are impressed upon the open mind at these stations, which accord broadly to the natures of the house which the Sun traverses, that is to say, ascending in the first, and descending in the sixth, respectively marking life & birth and corruption & death. Note also that by consulting the Lord of the House in which the Sun resides one may also confer the tertiary aspect of his influence. A further, fourth aspect, may be divined from the particular hour of the day in which the Sun rises or sets, according to the order of the planets, as ably set down the Astrologers. Brief mention has been made of the influence of light and rays upon the disposition of a man’s soul, and it has been the opinion of countless philosophers that a celestial spirit, or genius, descends into things upon their birth or creation, whose name may be reckoned from the study of a horoscope. When bound to a man they are designated a personal genius, or when to a place the genius loci. Ultimately this starry genius as it exists within the heavens may be termed a celestial spirit, or, since its virtue depends on the constellation of the heavens which change in time, the genius temporum. Those peculiar passions roused in the breast of he who beholds sunrise or sunset may therefore be accorded to the influence of the genius temporum, boldly singing among the rays in that silent language, that which Psellos calls the language of the daemons, and Agrippa the tongue of angels. Do not be content to simply gaze upon the meteorological phenomena of the Sun, but listen therefore to His ascending and cadent songs, pay heed to their tenor and to their words, and also to those things they convey directly to the soul in a better manner than by words, to wit by images, strong impressions, dreams and ecstasies. I will presently sing two such songs that may also be called meetings or convocations with those Solar genii that govern the liminal hours and dictate the action of dew.
8
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
These things that we have spoken of in our last four chapters may be seen clearly in this following figure of the heavens. The Lord of the Ascendant is Mars, who is good for works of fire and therefore the art of alchemy is called Pyrognomic. This is shown by his hieroglyph, which depicts the Solar sphere and Aries with the aerial elements (that is, fire and air) intervening between the two. The second face of Aries is also ascending, being of the Solar nature and that same God of gold and perfection is also rising in his exaltation. The Moon has her exalted station in the mansion of Azoraya, in which place Picatrix says is good for works of alchemy and all works done by fire. He that is so disposed may also figure the symbolic name of the temporal, or celestial, genius of this chart, taking the letters from those degrees in which the planets reside by order of their dignities, for example hairgxd whose name suggests Ζαγρευς. Note also in regard to the symbolism of this figure the year, which is that number of Αβραξας whose form (that is, a man with the head of a cock and snakes in place of his legs) may also be discerned in our Monad when it is translated to show the hieroglyph α+ω, as illustrated below.
CHAP. V. An Encounter with Abital, Genius of Nocturnal Dew
U
Pon one of my Autumnal walks in a valley of Wharfedale, my curiosity led me from the well-worn path and through the mouth of a long since abandoned mine. When I had wandered as far as I dared through that dusty and dim-lit place I found myself by a pool, whose still waters must have exerted a strange magnetic influence upon my very soul, for, after gazing upon it for what I thought were mere minutes, I found that the sky, whose light was previously visible through crack in the ceiling of the chamber, had darkened and I had presumably passed several hours of stillness in this underground domain. I panicked and made my way through the semi-darkness, groping my way toward 9
Mon. H. xix.
Picatrix i.iv.
Mon. H. xxii.
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Splendidior Vitro
the dim twilit space that was the entrance and, after some minutes of fearful stumbling, eventually emerged into the cool dusky air. Desperate to complete the circuit of my walk before total darkness fell I continued my way along the path, occasionally tripping upon loose stones, but not actually losing my footing until I reached the stream, a tributary of the great Wharfe, which ran along the floor of the valley. It was by this stream, near a twisted and venerable old tree that the sly genius loci sent me sprawling upon the ground. While sitting upon the damp grass, regaining my composure and preparing to set off on my course once more, I noticed for the first time that dewdrops hung from each verdant blade, and even in semi-darkness they reflected the moonlight in curious ways, each one more brilliant than crystal. Like the still pool in that mine, which, I now supposed, must have condensed as the product of decades of atmospheric circulation, this dew transfixed me with a magnetic virtue and I sat, wonderstruck beneath the crooked tree. After some minutes a fear once again overtook me, and as I started to my feet, suddenly desperate to return home, I could do nought but remain rooted to the spot as a sound began to well up from the four corners of the world. The Magicians have often spoken of profound disturbances that accompany the visitation of their spirits, likening them to drums, trumpets, and the sound of an army massing in its ranks, and such were the sounds that I heard, although they were but a brief and chaotic fanfare, which died away, to be followed by a confusion of voices, singing an unknown language in strange and close intervals, whose tones gradually moved farther and farther apart until a pleasing harmony sounded from beyond each horizon, still singing in a peculiar dialect that at once reminded me of both pure, unstopped vowels and the strange barbarous phrases that one oftentimes hears on the edge of sleep. I have here tried to set forth these harmonies in our crude musical language. East North West South
10
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
&c. &c. &c. &c. After some time these voices all became as one, echoing over the craggy walls of the valley and appearing to converge on a point above me, each voice having its own colour and dancing about the others. A light breeze blew over a weathered outcrop, sounding as if it were a flute, joining with the harmony, before an owl called, causing the music to abruptly stop and returning me to silent darkness. I discovered that I was not, however, alone, when after some minutes I heard the rustle of leaves and the creaking of an aged bough. A moment later this was followed by the sound of a voice that was so old and cracked I assumed it to be that of the tree itself. It uttered a gnomic phrase: Amo Beatum justum. Taceo apud lucem. I turned so that I might perceive this hidden speaker and, after not a little time, was able to discern the shape of a thin and extremely ancient woman within the tree, naked and almost indistinguishable from the bare branches amongst which she squatted. Being shocked at the sudden appearance of this phantasm, I could do nothing but stand awestruck beneath her bough, as she hopped from her perch and descended the trunk with all the agility of a schoolboy. Her steps did not disturb the evening dew as she came toward me, one hand outstretched, the other covering her sex, and for the first time I noticed the luminous depth of her eyes: they shone with anancient light. I kept my silence before this light, although that part of man which philosophers call Rational revolted at the idea and preferred the notion of flight from the place, assigning these sights to the category of pitiful delusion; its sensibility offended by the very presence of the spectre. I found myself inexplicably touching her outstretched hand and at once both the spirit and myself were translated by her power to a hill above the valley, looking down from which I spied the tree that I stood by just a moment before. 11
Visio Saturni
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Further examining this place I noted that, immediately between the spirit and I, there was a cairn of a modest size, perhaps three foot in both height and diameter. Here too I noticed that the dew had condensed upon its cold stones and was slowly dripping into the cracks between them. The spirit spoke: Here lies the body of a Saint, blackened with the labours of mortification. The dew shall penetrate his cist, his impurities shall be washed away, and, at the turning of his age, only his Divine Chaos remain. Visio Jovis
Visio Lunae
I nodded, feigning that I understood, whereupon she fixed me with her stare and, extending her brown and withered arm, pointed westward, across the valley to the another hill upon which I could see forms that were at first indistinct, but as the clouds unveiled the shining Moon I saw clearly two figures sitting before a table, engaged in a game of wits. With not a little astonishment I discerned that one of the figures was myself and the other a fair lady, who I then understood to be this Autumnal spirit in her youth. My astonishment was compounded when, as I looked upon this scene, variously glancing between the cairn, the spirit and the figures on the faraway mount, a distant shower, still some way beyond the valley, apparently drew closer, within whose vapours, which caught the moonlight in some miraculous way, there appeared to be a faint rainbow, a phenomena that some call the moonbow, which appeared to span the opposing hills. As the rain drew close and its first drops fell upon the cairn the vision faded. I found myself alone upon a dark, cold hillside. Storm clouds now obscured the Moon and stars and, not knowing the way to my lodgings from this vantage point, descend into the valley from whence I came by the most direct route I could find. I slipped and skidded to the foot of the hill, and, after clambering over a dilapidated stone wall found myself with one foot in the river and one on the sodden bank. Though the cold water stung, the stream was shallow at this place and, removing my shoes, I walked to the other side, to that tree where I had first encountered the spirit. Sheltering beneath it, drying my feet I heard something amidst the patter of the rain and hiss of the stream: a loud slapping noise occurring at regular intervals, as though a wet cloth was being beaten against a rock. I assumed it to be a large fish in the waters, but, as the clouds once more let the lunar light penetrate the scene, I beheld that ancient crone stood further upstream, waist deep in the flowing waters, washing a jaundiced length of linen, which the would at times smash and rub against a large, polished rock near the river’s edge. With some revulsion I realised what this material was – it must be the shroud of the saint interred above the valley, and the spirit was cleansing those black impurities that 12
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
leached from his corpse from its funereal garb. Finding my voice, for I had not spoken since I set out upon my journey, I called out to her: O Spirit, will you not tell me your name? Your Denomination or Star? To which she replied: My name I have to you spoken upon meeting. My natures you will discover upon waking. At which juncture the Moon again became clouded and brought this visionary masque to its conclusion. Having retraced my route to the main road I proceeded barefoot, sodden shoes in hand, to a nearby hamlet where I had arranged to stay at the local inn. My attempts to sleep were troubled by recurring visions of the spectre in the stream, purging the ancient shroud. When sleep finally took me I found myself dreaming of the valley and the tree, to which was nailed a square of parchment upon which the signs below were drawn in blue ink, such signs indicating the natures of the spirit in its allegorical language as it had promised.
CHAP. VI. Likewise with Rorasa , Genius of Diurnal Dew
I
T was not until the new year that I found myself drawn toward that ultimately
Solar intelligence that is the Springtime reflection of the Autumnal spirit. Intent on spending the night upon a local moor, noted for its sites of great antiquity, I spent some portion of the day rambling with an eye for an inconspicuous place to pitch my tent. It was on a site of medium elevation surrounded by patches of overgrown flora that I decided to make my camp, resolved that the grasses and bushes would afford enough cover so as to evade the notice of a casual passer by. Having erected my tent I noticed that, amidst these bushes grew a citroncoloured plant, whose open flowers struck me as having an uncanny similarity with the traditional form of the horoscope, that is, a square figure dividing the sky into twelve houses. Taking this as a benevolent celestial augur I undertook my evening ramble in high spirits and returned at a little past midnight. 13
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
Visio Martis
I believe my sleep to have been relatively good thanks to the night air, although something woke me in the dark hours of the morning – a distant sound, which, as I rolled over to try and get back to sleep, I presumed to be that of some nocturnal bird. Each time I was to upon the threshold of slumber the noise would start again, growing louder each time so that there was nothing to do but lie in my liminal state and fix my attention upon it. It sounded like a thin, shrill wind or reed instrument: there was something undoubtedly masculine in its tone, evoking the quality of a Martial pipe, and indeed it was joined at intervals by another instrument or war – a horn sounding at regular intervals some distance beyond it. With a start I realised that there must be a hunt in the area, and I bolted from my tent lest any horses that rode through the area would trample my concealed den. Once outside the tent I surveyed the horizon and could see no indication of a hunting party. The sky was dull gray, the air moderately cold and the grass felt damp with dew against my ankles. The phantom call began again and, as I turned to face it, the Eastern clouds were suddenly illuminated with a golden glow, in the midst of which I perceived that there was indeed a hunt, for in the corona of the Sun four horsemen rode abreast and as they came nearer so their horns and pipes grew louder, the rise and fall of their notes seeming to scale the height and depth of the world, inducing a sense of vertigo that caused me to crouch upon the damp grass as though humbling myself for their immanent arrival. It was while in this position that I heard the swift steps of a man approaching on foot, running across the moorland, together with the rattle of a coins or chain-mail and the jostling of other sundry other metal objects gaining with his approach, although at first I presumed these sounds to be tinnitus brought on by the horsemen’s continuing din. Though dizzied I stood up and espied, beyond the foliage which hid my camp, that there was indeed a man a short distance from me running from his pursuers, the horsemen, who were still many miles distant. There was something roguish about this man, for he was covered in mud and had about his shoulders a tattered habergeon, while he carried upon his back a heavy sack. He noticed me and grinned before putting down his sack and opening it to reveal a horde of treasure: the sort that might have been plundered from an ancient hill, wherein was interred one of the semi-divine kings of prehistory. Having come upon the scrub by which I had pitched my tent he was now digging as well as his bare hands would allow, obviously trying to hide his shining trinkets and make a quick escape on foot before his pursuers arrived. His grin was an invitation to join him and perhaps take whatever payment I considered fitting from his cache. Wanting neither to get involved with this character nor stir up the wrath of the huntsmen I elected to stand by and watch and it was well that I did so, for, just as he had removed a shining cauldron from his sack a golden arrow penetrated his 14
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
body, passing clean through his coat of mail, through his heart and thence seeming to continue its journey uninterrupted beyond the Western horizon. The horns became mute as the startled rogue fell and the cauldron rang like a dull bell as his skull cracked upon it while, during his fall, one jet of his dying blood arced from his breast landed therein. In an instant, as if magically transported, the horsemen had drawn closer and it was easy to discern their particulars. It was a surprise that only one of the riders had a male countenance. He rode ahead of the other three and appeared to be a soldier in fine armour, his sword sheathed and a quiver of arrows upon his back. Beyond him there was a noble woman, dressed in green, and I noticed that she seemed to lack her left leg, although this presented her with no difficulty in controlling her steed, while two young maids dressed simply in white flanked her upon their mounts. The group continued riding, the lady and her maids taking the lead, while the soldier fell behind. In a short time they stood before me. The noble lady silently surveyed the bedewed grasses, her presence so penetrating all things in the place that even the trees on a faraway hill seemed to bow their branches in reverence. I was also so moved by her otherworldly dignity that, against all usual instincts, I too found myself kneeling before her. Approaching me upon her steed, she held out a white rose, upon whose petals dewdrops shone in the morning light, and she made her utterance:
Visio Solis
Ros est oraculum religiosum. Accipias signum amantis. These words I understood as a direction to take the rose from her hand, and this I did, although with some hesitation as I caught sight of the soldier and thought about the fate that befell the vagabond, but taking it I noticed that mingled with the dew was another material which was white like unto tears of myrrh upon the petals. However, I had no time to examine this flower further since my attention was attracted toward the two maids who, having dismounted from their horses, walked past me toward where the corpse of the rogue lay. They emerged from behind the bush, one carrying the cauldron, the other with a length of canvas, which she proceeded to drag across the dewy grass until such a time as it was sodden with dew, whereupon she wrung it into the cauldron. After six or seven gatherings of the dew the maids gingerly carried the cauldron over to where I stood and placed it between the noble lady and I. The sun was now at a curious angle in the sky and shone upon the water in the bowl. The reflected light was neither blindingly bright nor dull, but pleasurable to behold as the moorland breeze gently stirred upon the surface. After observing this for a short time, the breeze dropped, and yet the water continued in its agitation, causing me to apprehend that it was not a terrestrial breeze that animated the collected dew, but 15
Visio Veneris
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
a celestial one: this water moved in sympathy with the flow of its Supercelestial progenitor as it whirled upon the outer surface of the primium mobile. Some hours must have passed since this vision began, for I beheld that the Sun was approaching its apex, and as it approached that node the agitation in the water became more profound until I beheld, turning in clockwise manner upon its surface, tinted red with rogue’s blood, the simulacrum of a rose with six petals. Having contemplated this vision, my mind particularly dwelling upon the similarities of the Latin of ros and rosa, I turned to question the noble woman and her companions to find that they had vanished, along with the dew that brought them, and also along with the rose I held in my hand, along with the cauldron, and – having looked behind the hedges – along with the corpse of the rogue and his golden spoils. Sitting in the mouth of my tent I silently bemoaned that, aside from this vision, I had been left nought by the spirits, but consoled myself in the thought that perhaps these preceding scenes may contain the kernel of some profound philosophy. While immersed in these melancholic thoughts the solar rays happened to catch upon those plants whose forms I had, the previous night, considered auspicious, and upon this event I noticed that, suspended from one of their curious flowers was a jewel of similar form to one which the noble lady wore about her neck. This was its form, showing forth her mysteries in what the Hermeticists call their green language:
16
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
CHAP. VII. The Conclusion of the Work
T
His short work has gestated four years. Since the first meeting with the genius of Autumnal dews I had hoped to set these visions forth in some sensible manner. Initially I presented it as music, for music deals better than words with those things intangible, yet the urge to codify these things persisted. I had approached these visions from different angles, to no avail, until that Autumnal spirit became dignified for a fourth time, whereupon this present work came into being. As a peculiar meteorological omen I beheld a double rainbow upon the commencement of this work and a second one upon its conclusion. There will be some who claim that in putting these words down I stretch the bounds of credulity, or write only for Fools, the mad and poetic souls and if this is so then I shall happily scribble ten-thousand more words for the edification of Fools, gladly counting myself among their number, for who but a Fool would forsake the daily affairs of men in favour of a lonely life haunted by subtle visions? In setting down such visions I have confirmed to myself that they possess an inner logic, Hermetically inspired. To wit, that the vision of Abital visits the houses of the Lunar planets, descending from superior to inferior: from Saturn (the crone, a dead body), through Jove (the fair lady) and thence to the Moon herself (the moonbow). Likewise the vision of Rorasa touches upon the Martial, Solar and Venereal in turn. Such visions, therefore, possess a meaning and structure in harmony with the celestials, and there is more that is not so apparent, for example the one-legged noblewoman upon her steed I interpret as meaning that there is one thing that is borne by four things – which Hermes says in another way: The father thereof is the Sun, the mother the Moon, the Wind carried it in its womb, the Earth is the nurse thereof. Furthermore Madathanus corroborates the vision of the corpse, saying that the aerial vapours gathered into a lovely and fertile dew, descending very early in the morning, enriching the earth and washing the corpses of our dead, so that from day to day, the longer such bathing and washing continued, they became even whiter and more beautiful. There are undoubtedly other Arcana within these visions, which those versed in the Hermetic sciences may interpret, and to the end of deciphering them I have made these Tables following, drawing from out of these visions and the works of the Hermetic philosophers that which may be pertinent to he that wishes to pursue such things, and presenting you with these two Tables for safekeeping I now bid you Farewell. 17
Hermes. Tabula. Smarag. Madath. Parabola.
ABITAL, or Conferences with the Genij of Nocturnal and Diurnal Dew &c.
In the Zodiac In the Horoscope The Luminaries The Wandering Stars both Fortunate and Infortunate In Motion In Quality In the Seasons Liminal Hours Genij Temporum Sounds Divisions of the Self Divisions of the Horizon In Musical Modes
In the Trinity The Heavens Their Virtues Solar Virtues Three Amens Watery Meteors Three Colours Stars Qualities in Time Proportions
Aries Ascendant Sun Venus Mars Movable Hot Spring Dawn Rorasa Reeds Plucked Organ strings Right East Dorian Raga Kafi
Spirit Sublunary Purifying Heat Life Dew Black Moon End Diatessaron
18
Son Celestial Illuminating Light Blessing Honey White Sun Middle Diapason
Taurus Cadent Moon Jupiter Saturn Stationary Cold Autumn Dusk Abital Flute Bowed Choir strings Left West Lydian Raga Yaman
Father Supercelestial Perfecting Fecundity Plenty Manna Red Supercelestial Waters Beginning Diapas. et Diapen.
A Short Tract Concerning Three Glasses
A Short Tract Concerning
THREE GLASSES CHAP. I. Concerning Optic and Catoptric Art
T
He optical sciences are divided into two categories. First is simple optics, which is the study of direct rays, their propagation and perception by the human organism. Under the second head is the science of catoptrics, which investigates the effect of lenses and mirrors upon rays – it is, therefore, a study of refraction and reflection. The student of our Monad will readily perceive in its form a multitude of lenses, and in addition to these three mirrors: planar, concave and convex.
} }
Positive and negative meniscus lenses
Bi-concave and bi-convex lenses
Sphere
}
Plano-convex lenses
To the science of optics the Magicians have made their own innovations, often proclaiming the wonderful virtues of catroptromancy and its sister crystallomancy, although many of their tracts contain dangerous superstitions, fit only for conjuring up the basest aerial devils, and, lest the reader be tempted to experiment in this field, we will close this, our brief optical survey, with a true and tested formula for divinely guided catoptromancy using the Prism. 19
A Short Tract Concerning Three Glasses
CHAP. II. Of Selenographic Lenses
Occ. Phil. I.vi.
Heliography Nat. Mag. Xvii.i.
Aristarchus.
T
Here are three glasses designated Selenographic, that is to say that they exist for the propagation of writing by virtue of the Moon. The great Agrippa has written concerning glasses of the second order, which we shall treat of presently. The first of these lenses is a simple glass, which is to say that it is planar in its form, upon the superficies of which the experimenter may write his message. This lens is then exposed upon a high place, the Moon in Her ascent on an unclouded night so that her beams pass through it and so multiply with the air the form of the figure upon the superficies that this may be beheld on a far off chamber wall. The erudite reader will recognise that this lens represents a variation upon the Solar lens which Porta recommends for the transmission of secret messages. All of these glasses work by virtue of the celestial light that flows from the luminaries, which is to say that since their rays extend to an infinite distance they have more virtue in these operations than a simple, or elemental, light. Such sages as the famed Scotch Rhymer often hung lenses from a tree or lintel and, observing the rays of the Sun or Moon when rising or setting passing through it and setting upon some surface claimed that spirits or little folk wrote intelligible things upon the superficies in a certain type of Dew, the significance of which only the wise could divine by observing the rays of the luminaries as they penetrated it. The second order of Selenographic glass is similar in form to the aforementioned lens, although polished in the manner of a looking glass, and some also make it concave in shape. Once more the image is painted upon the superficies of the glass and this time the Lunar rays are reflected back upon the surface of that issuing body so that any man, should he know which part of Her face to observe, may perceive a message at once hidden and yet in plain sight. In the third order are is a convex lens by which a rare experiment may be made at such a time as the Sun and Moon oppose each other, and the angle of said lens must be calculated with account of the distance of the Moon from the Earth, figured by Aristarchus to be 240,000 miles, which being placed between the luminaries, any figures made upon the superficies will be gathered in the Solar rays and propagated through the air unto the surface of the Moon, and this method is infallible partaking as it does in the incorruptible rays of the Sun. 20
A Short Tract Concerning Three Glasses
CHAP. III. The Pyrognomic Glass
T
He second glass of which we treat here is called Pyrognomic, which is to say that it reveals things by way of fire: by celestial fire are things reduced to their Mon. essential, corporeal Salt, while the other H. xix. humours – volatile Sulphur and aqueous Mercury – return to their places. This glass is a particularly fine type of parabolic mirror similar to that of the second order Selenographic lens, but constructed upon the rare proportions revealed by our Nat. Mag. Monad, the scheme of which is reproduced here and which Porta has admirably Xvii.xvii. described in his XVII book of Natural Magick. CHAP. III. A Marvellous Prism
W
Hen the learned debate as to whether the rainbow is formed by some process within the eye or whether it is truly an atmospheric phenomenon, they too debate the action of the Prism, viz. whether the colours seen when a ray of white light passes through the Prism are inherent within the ray or are created by some quality of colour that the glass itself possesses. I say that since all glasses work upon light by division, multiplication and refraction of rays that these colours exist within the rays themselves and in their spectrum confirm what the philosophers have written about certain colours belonging to the Celestials. The Magicians observe the constellation of the heavens in their conjurations of the astral spirits, suggesting that the intelligence of these spirits is congruent with the rays of the celestial bodies over which they are set, thus providing the mechanism for the use of catroptric and crystallomantic methods in conferences with the spirits. In this experiment a triangular Prism should be procured, which should be taken, along with the figure that follows, to some lonely place such as a moor, seashore, hill, castle or cave – any place far from the dwellings of men, and if it is a place reputed to be haunted by some spirit then this is a great advantage. 21
A Short Tract Concerning Three Glasses
With the time being before sunrise, turn to east by north or east by south, and place the Prism upon the paper, at which point the operator will still his mind until such a time seems appropriate whereupon he will begin his prayer to the Solar Angel, Michael, humbly beseeching that he casts his ray upon the glass. Should the operator be blessed with the vision of a halo about the glass then he should then ask of the angel that he descends to some deep place and brings forth one of the three spirits named within the triangle upon which the Prism stands, for it is they who preside over treasures buried under hills and otherwise under the earth, which amongst them is counted a magical Cauldron, and he should tell the angel also to bind them with an oath that they shall not deceive, always give true answers, come when called and forever be affable companions. This being said, if His angle, aspects and dignifications are fortunate among the celestials then all these things will be achieved in a moment.
FIN.
22
Originally published in an edition of 250 copies. This edition published to accompany the re-release of The Pyrognomic Glass, see: xetb.bandcamp.com