esotericism

edition

coming live right this minute from the Esotericism and Freemasonry Conference.

We're getting ready to get going here.

And so next week's episode will be a compilation of some of our best moments of the last few months.

And of course, that's not to mention that many of these texts are filled with long, complicated, and obscure mythologies, words that are incredibly unusual, long strings of vowels for some reason, and many texts are sadly mere fragments.

It's honestly overwhelming, and it's very natural to ask, where in the world do I begin studying this vast corpus that we now call Gnostic literature? In this episode of Esoterica, I want to offer an answer to just that question.

In my opinion, the best place to start studying Gnostic literature is a text called the Secret Book of John, or sometimes referred to as the Apocryphon of John.

Now, while the Apocryphon of John is, at least in my opinion, one of the best places to start studying Gnostic literature, that doesn't at all indicate that it's going to be a walk in the park.

Also, I think what's interesting about the Apocryphon of John is that it disrupts some of the stereotypes often grouped with the idea of Gnosticism.

So, I hope you'll join me as we explore the Secret Book of John, or the Apocryphon of John, a foundational text of what scholars now refer to as Gnosticism.

I'm Dr. Justin Sledge and welcome to Esoterica, where we explore the arcane side of history, philosophy, and religion.

As you may know, Gnosticism is a bit of a fraught category in the academic study of religion these days.

Everyone, I'm really happy to be joined with my good friend and colleague, Dr. David Litwa.

David, really great to have you back on Esoterica.

I'm always happy to be able to sit down.

It's not every day that you get to sit down with a world class expert and something like Gnosticism, Hermeticism and just get to pick their brain and ask them questions.

So I'm really excited to be able to do just that.

So welcome back to Esoterica.

Pleasure to be here always, Justin.

Really appreciate the opportunity.

I was chairman of that society that looked after that René Chateau study, the study of the mystery.

And I'd come across Patrice Chaplin and through Patrice Chaplin and my travels with her in Girona, Spain, I came across this Kabbalist who had mentored, mentored Saltbird Alley, John Cotto, and, and, um, it was the weirdest day, I met her, and within seconds of, you know, not even, hi, hello, nice to meet you, totally out of character, I'm asking her really specific, detailed questions about, uh, Esoteria.

I was asking her about why there's two styles of inks and just really going deep on stuff without any kind of warm-up to get to know her.

So we connected really rapidly and she invited me to study with her.

Depending upon her level of initiation, the virgin... she is able to access higher and higher seeds and souls that are ready to come into this planet.

In the past many videos, going back to when I did a series called The Feminine Esoteric Code, I talk about my experience and how I was groomed spiritually, not in this lifetime, in many others, because we're on a continual trajectory and projection into the physical world.

And those mysteries were part of what launched me into the next stage of my work and allowed me to give birth within that container of those mysteries and to really understand by a physical and spiritual and divine experience what that means and what it will mean for the coming years.

age and the coming, what we call the sixth race of humanity, which is the number six is connected to Venus and it's connected to the sun.

This week, I'm joined once again by author, magician, Freemason, and one of my own longtime teachers, Brother Lon Milo Duquette.

Lon is coming to Seattle for Esotericism and Freemasonry Conference, where he'll explore what he calls the three working tools of the Kabbalist from his book, The Tarot Architect.

Our conversation ranges from the rough and perfect Ashlers to tarot as the flashcards of Kabbalah, and from the esoteric possibilities of Freemasonry to Lon's wonderfully Duquettian idea of Kabbalistic study as a kind of cosmic lube job.

We also talk about his new novel, Young Aleister Crowley, forthcoming expanded editions of Homemade Magic and the Chicken Kabbalah, and why, at 78, Lon thinks you really ought to come see him in Seattle.

place.

It's a joy and a pleasure to see you, brother.

I've been working like crazy over here to get the Esotericism and Freemasonry Conference put together such as it does.

And you have agreed to come in person and we're over the moon excited that you're coming.

But if one were to turn back the clock, before the days of Boyle and Newton, before the days of Paracelsus, and even prior to the very earliest alchemical textbooks of something like the Semiprofectiones, what would the very seed of alchemy look like in the European context? What was the very earliest text to enter Europe? What might be the very first alchemical text to be found in Europe? What was the seed of alchemy as we know it? We actually may know the answer to that question.

In this episode of Esoterica, we're going to be exploring the earliest known alchemical text to enter into Europe.

The Book of the Composition of Alchemy, translated on February the 11th, 1144, by Robert of Chester.

In this brief text, we'll discover so much that will go on to become a commonplace in the European alchemical tradition, from romantic tales of hidden and holy masters, to obscure chemical processes, to theories of the fundamental substance of reality itself, and many of the most obscure but famous alchemical processes in the literature, such as the famous Green Lion.

So I hope you'll join me as we explore the seed of European alchemy itself in the book of The Composition of Alchemy.

I'm Dr. Justin Sledge, and welcome to Esoterica, where we explore the arcane side of history, philosophy, and religion.

While the Book of the Composition of Alchemy is the oldest text to enter into Europe, it is by no means the oldest alchemical text.

Alchemy as we know it stretches back to the turn of the Common Era in the Graeco-Egyptian world, and many texts from that period actually survive.

All three Rosicrucians would also be early members of Blavatsky's Theosophists prior to creating the Golden Dawn.

And in Westcott's official biography, we find that, quote, "He was soon admitted to the nucleus of the Theosophical Society, the Esoteric Section, and became close friends with Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland, who, who were proponents of Christian esotericism," basically Gnosticism.

When the members of the Esoteric Section broke away from the Theosophical Society, they formed the Hermetic Society, and Westcott was invited to join as an honorary member.

Now, the Hermetic Society had their head- headquarters in something known as the Isis-Urania Lodge in London.

That, I think, flows from the idea of ushering the, or awakening the age of Isis, the sacred fe- the divine feminine that Isis represents as sort of a, uh, there's a certain idea of Isis in Egypt as well as in Rome that, uh, they, they've really wanted to bring back in force.

That involves sacred prostitution, uh, human sacrifice as part of the ritual, um, a mystery cult operation too.

So they were, they were really big in this idea.

Now, both cults, Hermetic and, uh, the, the Her- Hermetic Order and the Theosophy, especially the, the Esoteric Section, but both had common, common themes.

The axiom, As above, so below, will be found to work out well in this connection.

Why the Esoteric Teaching is Kept Secret It is difficult to convey to the average European or American the true reasons underlying the secrecy which invariably surrounds the esoteric teachings of all the great schools of occult thought.

Such a person is inclined to think that the only reason therefor is the delight in "mystery mongering" which he thinks he finds among all occult teachers.

But to one who penetrates even but a short distance on the path, the true reasons are perceived.

It would be as reasonable to say of any great patriot of military history that his object in becoming a soldier has been to wear a gay uniform and impress the imagination of the nursemaids.

The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians.

What is known as the Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians is an extensive body of esoteric teaching and occult lore which has been transmitted from master to student, from hierophant to the new initiate, for countless generations.

Seldom has any part of the secret doctrine been committed to writing or exposed to public view on the printed page until the present generation.