Secret knowledge of secret societies ~ Mark Passio - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaPecokz5us Transcript: (00:06) let's look at the tradition of alchemy the occult tradition known as Alchemy again this came out of the Egyptian tradition so it's going to have a lot of similar teachings regarding morality and ultimately that's what again to re-emphasize it's what all these Traditions were about teaching morality to their adherence teaching the difference between right and wrong and teaching how natural law operates so we could transform from a being that is in ignorance of that knowledge to a being that is actually enlightened to that (00:39) knowledge and then could practically put that knowledge into work in real life so I call this section Alchemy out of darkness and into light Alchemy literally means from chem Al is a prefix that means from or related to or out of and then chem of course meant black in uh ancient Egyptian and was often the name used for Egypt so it was from Darkness out of Darkness Alchemy is an occult tradition taught through allegories an allegory again is a cryptic story poem or picture that can be interpreted or decoded in order to (01:24) reveal a hidden meaning meaning typically a moral lesson again as we were breaking down those statues in the comedian tradition allegorically what lesson were they trying to communicate to People by building statues and you'd have to know the background of the story of these Gods to really be able to decode uh you know what the allegory is you know showing that statue to somebody who's never heard of Horus Osiris or Isis wouldn't really do much but if you understand the verbal traditions and the (01:54) written stories about those Gods then you understand what they represented and the allegory can be decoded that's how occultism works it works through relational and correlate correlative thinking so the Alchemy is taught through allegory through symbols and allegory as many occult Traditions are in the tradition of alchemy it is asserted that all base modes of human consciousness which are called base Metals in alchemy again in alchemy you're dealing with the transmutation of metals from one form into another form but (02:30) they're not really talking about Metals okay they're talking about qualities of human consciousness that's what these metals are they're modalities of consciousness so it's taught that the base modalities of human consciousness or base metals are actually imperfections of pure Consciousness or what the Alchemists symbolically called gold gold consciousness and that all metals are ordained by nature to become the perfect quote gold of the Sun or in other words enlightened Consciousness or enlightened beings (03:04) The Alchemist then seeks to remove from his or her thoughts emotions and actions their disorderly imperfections or base characteristics in order to bring them to their true state of natural order in other words harmony with natural law and to transmute them into quote alchemical gold which again represented the purification of mind body and spirit now notice this is again an apophatic tradition it works through a negative pathway you're starting with something and you are breaking it down and removing the impurities you're not (03:44) adding something to it you're taking away something that is already there and this is representative of we are polluted with so much bad information with bad programming with beliefs that don't serve who we really are with beliefs that don't give us an accurate understanding about how nature and the laws of Consciousness work so we need to get rid of those impurities to get to take them away from ourselves to break them down and to decalcify that which has become rigid and hardened and it's it's like ossified like bone and that's (04:18) what the heart and ego is like and it's to break that down and to carry it away to dissolve it and remove those impurities some of the symbols in the uh symbolic tradition of allegory very simple basic rudimentary ones there's so many of them you can get lost in the ball but there were Elemental forces that the Alchemists wanted to convey information about and basically Define and they had a symbol for them and then they interpreted that allegorically and here's some basic ones the symbol of Earth um an inverted equilateral triangle with (05:02) a line going through about the uh two-thirds point if you take the measure from the base to the to the Apex um the symbol of Earth represented inherent characteristics of the being uh their talents and resources that they may have developed or that they had a a proclivity to or an inclination toward perhaps something that was um inherent that they maybe came in with a tendency for so air represented the intellect and that is the pure intellect meaning the left brain modality our ability to compute our ability to (05:46) um Define things logically our ability to break things down analyze Etc water the um inverted triangle represented emotion intuition and creativity again that sacred feminine Essence dealing with largely emotion and the sacred feminine qualities and then fire an upward pointing triangle again we've seen that inverted triangle in water representing the Chalice called The Chalice in many older symbolic traditions and the element of fire in alchemy was the upright pointing triangle which represented the blade or (06:25) again a rudimentary masculine phallic symbol represented representing action willpower and courage okay the actual ability to create change within oneself and to go out and create change in the world then there was a Fifth Element so you have earth air water and fire and then you had the quintessence meaning the fifth Essence The Fifth Element was Spirit represented by a solar wheel with eight spokes a circle and then an eight eight spoke cross in the middle of it this represented the Divine spark or the Divine Essence within all of us (07:05) you know the essence of the source or the Creator the underlying intelligence and nature which is ultimately present in everything within nature including us Alchemists speak of something called Prima Materia or starting matter starting substance is what Prima Materia was again the starting substance is the human being that needs to be purified that needs the impurities removed from them so that they can come to a more clear and accurate and de-occulted understanding of the laws of nature the starting substance or Prima Materia (07:46) is used at the Inception of the alchemical work the beginning silver is considered to be one of the starting substances there are others but silver is one of the main sources of Prima Materia in Alchemy the alchemical symbol for silver is the Moon or is associated with the Moon because silver represented in alchemy the feminine aspects of the human psyche including the attributes of intuition inner wisdom compassion open-mindedness and contemplation and that's what you need to begin you need that sense of open-mindedness of (08:27) Desire of willing to learn willing to open yourself up and receive okay the truth is always out there but we have to be open to receive it that's a feminine quality it's it's uh absolutely essential and Central to the tradition of Kabbalah which we're going to talk about momentarily which means reception so Alchemists also referred to an all-important agent which is necessary for the transmutation of quote-based metals into quote gold or in other words base modes of Consciousness into higher forms of consciousness (09:08) this agent has been referred to as the elixir of life philosophical powder and the quintessence but by far the most well-known name for this agent of transformation was the Philosopher's Stone the Philosopher's Stone represented man himself at the beginning of the process of self-mastery it also represented the universal spark the Divine spark or Divine Essence which is present in everything that has been created and thus also in The Alchemist himself the great work of alchemical transmutation is accomplished in three (09:52) phases which I'm going to cover briefly here they are these three phases of transformation and Alchemy are all explained allegorically first phase was called negrado nigrato means blackening in Latin this is a state of putrefaction of breaking something down corruption dissolution individuation to sent into matter descent into the undifferentiated and into chaos it represents the Soul's descent into the material plane and the suffering experienced in the physical world Alchemists often represented the Soul at (10:41) this stage as the element of salt because salt is crystallized it's hardened it's fixed just like an ego that is resistant to change and I would suggest this is the state the world is in we are in the state of nigrato of blackening of Corruption of putrefaction and believe me the vast vast vast majority of the people on this world are the salt and I don't mean salt of the earth in the good way they're crystallized they're hardened they're resistant to change and they need to be dissolved and broken down mentally (11:25) emotionally spiritually second phase of alchemical transformation is Albedo which means whitening Albedo represents the process of spiritual purification the burning out of impurities from the salt or hardened ego salt in this step is reduced into Quicksilver or Mercury which represents fluidity and the process of Rapid mental emotional and spiritual change and the strengthening of the Sacred feminine Essence leading to the engagement of the imagination the only substance the only Essence from which the elixir of life or the awakened (12:14) or enlightened mind can then be made this is why the dark occult want to Stamp Out the human imagination because they don't want the process of transformation to happen in our species you know this step is about when people start to learn the truth and are accepting of it they have the mindset of openness and reception again the date today is no accident highly Synchro Mystic 10-4 reception I got it I get it I've heard it 10-4 okay no accident no such thing as soon as art suggested the date I said I love it it's all about reception (13:07) you know so this step is the Awakening process The Awakening step it's when we recognize the world isn't what we thought it was and we start developing a desire for more than the base things in life we start developing a desire to know the truth the desire to reach higher Realms of Consciousness the desire to better ourselves and be better than we were the day before when we're going to start working upon ourselves by taking in the truth and letting go of beliefs and letting go of impurities in our thought processes and (13:44) bringing our Consciousness into alignment with truth and with morality that's this step of the process whitening purification the burning out of impurities it's a beautiful allegory if it's properly understood the third and final phase of the alchemical quote great work is rubedo rubedo means reddening the transmutation into gold or sulfur uh alchemical substances gold or sulfur and they represented fight and enlightened consciousness the elemental fire of the Philosopher's Stone again that's why it was symbolized (14:26) by a red Elixir often the Philosopher's Stone often the Philosopher's Stone was depicted as a red stone itself and that represented the unification of man which was The Limited being with the divine Divine will often represented by a red color as well the unlimited so it's a paradox in terms it's the microcosm joining with the macrocosm it's man as The Limited being in the physical domain having a spiritual learning experience here in the physical world coming into Union with the Divine spark or Essence the unlimited force in (15:09) inherent in nature that's Alchemy in a nutshell very simple explanation of the allegorical tradition again this is rudimentary work meant to wet the appetite of the student let's briefly look at the Hermetic tradition a quote uh which is an Inception uh and I'm sorry an inscription from the uh ruins at the delphic Oracle in Greece Heed These words ye who wish to probe the depths of nature if you do not find within yourself that which you seek neither will you find it outside of yourself wonders of your own house how do you (15:55) expect to find other wonders in you is hidden The Treasure of treasures know thyself and you will know the universe and the gods again it's an understanding that if you really deeply explore either of the Realms of the occult the microcosmic realm or the macro Cosmic realm they are reflections of each other this is the correspondence principle at work to know the self is to know the universe to know the universe is to know the self to understand the dynamic interplay between Free Will and natural law a theme that comes up over and over and (16:35) over again in occult traditions and teachings again the Hermetic tradition was also a um a growing out of a continuation of the commission tradition that was practiced in um again later Egypt and then was passed into Greece I'm gonna read some uh hermetic philosophy from a book known as the kybalion I know a lot of people debate that pronunciation like to call it the cabalian but I see that as far too like modern english-sized and uh I like to pronounce it how it probably would have been pronounced in the ancient Greek language in which there (17:20) was no like short y sounds you know it would have been a long I sound Kai ba Leon and every syllable would have been pronounced again people can debate that it you know it's kind of a splitting of hairs but I prefer uh what would have been closer to the ancient pronunciation uh the kybalion states there is no portion of the occult teachings possessed by the world which have been so closely guarded as the fragments of the Hermetic teachings which have come down to us over the tens of centuries which have elapsed since the lifetime of (17:59) its great founder Hermes trismogistis the quote scribe of the Gods again both in the Egyptian tradition Hermes in the Greek tradition um hermetic tradition you know he was known as Hermes trismogistis the Thrice great one Tris majestis means uh great three times over where Thrice great he was great in his thoughts and his emotions and in his actions his his aspects of his Consciousness were unified you know some people look at he was the original Alchemist in the comedian tradition the Creator God Pata okay so Hermes Charisma Justice the quote (18:41) scribe of the Gods who dwelt in Old Egypt in the days when the present race of men was in its infancy and I would agree with that Hermes was and is the Great Central son of occultism whose Rays have served to illumine the countless teachings which have been promulgated since his time all the fundamental and basic teachings embedded in the esoteric teachings of every race may be traced back to Hermes trismogistus even the most ancient teachings of India he's referring to The Vedas here undoubtedly have their roots (19:18) in the ancient hermetic teachings so the person who wrote the kibalyan or the group of people who wrote the kibalyon are stating that it is their belief that the Hermetic teachings are the roots of modern occultism you know I tend to look at um ancient commission philosophy as being even older than even the Hermetic tradition and perhaps Shamanism being even more than that more from the kybalion the life work of Hermes seems to have been in the direction of planting the great seed truth which has grown and blossomed in (19:54) so many strange forms rather than to establish a school of philosophy which would dominate the world's thought again he's trying to make it clear that the Hermetic tradition was a collection of teachings a body of knowledge not one specific dogmatic religion or one set of teaching but nevertheless the original truths taught by Hermes have been kept intact in their original Purity by a few men in each age who refusing great numbers of half-developed students and followers followed the Hermetic custom and (20:30) reserved their Truth for the few who were ready to comprehend and master it they're describing occultism they hid the truth from those who did not really want it or they knew would not [Music] um use it wisely in other words there modem motto or their dictate was no Pearls Before Swine okay I see it as kind of an elitist ideology and I'll tell you why I don't agree necessarily agree with it they're gonna you know talk about the people who didn't agree with this approach in the modern day I'm certainly one of them now (21:09) perhaps in those times things would have been different but I'll tell you what what the world on the brink of collapse and Chaos the way it is now the likes of which Humanity may may never have seen the likes of the kind of chaos we're likely to see in our lifetimes possibly I don't even think some of the old hermetic teachers would have advocated secrecy in today's world they would have advocated taking this knowledge and propagating it as widely and as freely as possible at least I hope so I hope (21:40) they would have taken that position but that's the position I take anyway um they followed the Hermetic custom and reserved their truths their Truth for the few who were ready to comprehend and master it from lip to ear the truth has been handed down among the few there have always been a few initiates in each generation in the various lands of the earth who kept alive the sacred flame of the Hermetic teachings and such have always been willing to use their lamps to relight the Lesser lamps of the outside world when the light of Truth (22:12) grew dim and became clouded by a reason of neglect and when the Wicks became clogged with foreign matter there were always a few to tend Faithfully to the altar of Truth upon which was kept a light the Perpetual lamp of wisdom the men have never sought popular approval nor numbers of followers they are indifferent to these things for they know how few there are in each generation who are ready for the truth or who would recognize it if it were presented to them now I don't make any bones about that yeah there's a few (22:49) people who are very prepared and ready to receive truth and if it's presented to them they're going to accept it readily few people are already prepared through knowledge and open-mindedness and humbleness enough to Simply open up their mind and heart and receive truth not in this world I know that's not how it happened for me I suffered like you know I mean like uh you know beating the red hot sword with the iron hammer in a forge of suffering that's what what got me to finally wake up and break my ego down (23:26) you know hardcore fire of purification did it for me but you know I I speak this information to try to explain to people you don't have to go through that process if you will listen to wisdom and truth then you don't have to go through that deep level of suffering but most people seem to want it um to go back to this quote these teachers reserved the quote strong meat for men While others furnished the quote milk for babes they Reserve their Pearls of Wisdom for the few elect who recognize their value (24:08) and who wear them in their crowns instead of casting them before the materialistic vulgar swine who would trample those teachings in the mud and mix them with their disgusting mental food but these men but still these men have never forgotten or overlooked the original teachings of Hermes regarding the passing on of the words of truth to those ready to receive it their customary attitude has always been strictly in accordance with the other hermetic aphorism quote the lips of wisdom are closed except to the ears of (24:45) understanding now people could say well I have stated in the past I'm putting out my work for the people who are ready to become teachers themselves and they are ready to receive it I've made no bones about the fact I can't make anybody take this information if they don't want to hear it or if they're not interested if that desire you know that I symbolically represent by this orange color throughout this presentation that that sacred desire force that that operates to take the person up out of the base (25:18) instincts and just living you know for this see the world you know what you see is what you get type thing never penetrating the surface never looking any deeper never going into the deeper Realms of the human subconscious and the human mind then I can't make them look at that you know there's no way to make somebody do that work because that's internal work that has to be done upon themselves I can only act as an assistant to that process of transformation through providing some information and some support but I don't agree with (25:50) this elitist attitude of don't put the information out there because these people don't want to hear it which seems to be the spirit in which this is said okay um I take the approach again of egalitarian uh aspect regalitarian mentality on two fronts one when it comes to all of our natural rights we are equal under that law under that natural law and two I believe in egalitarianism when it comes to information being presented information which we need Vital Information which we need to make truly informed decisions in (26:24) life that information should be provided freely and openly so I don't agree with this hermitist's attitude of don't cast Pearls Before Swine I'm going to speak information to everybody who's ready to take it we'll take it and that will be their karmic uh choice and consequence and who ignores it will do so at their own peril there are those who have criticized this attitude of the hermitists and who have claimed that they did not manifest the proper Spirit In Their policy of seclusion and reticence and I would be (26:56) one of those and still am regardless of the statement that comes after it I still say I criticize that attitude and spirit but a moment's glance back over the pages of History will show the wisdom of the quote Masters who knew the Folly of attempting to teach the world that which it was neither ready or willing to receive I don't think we have a choice now folks we're on the precipice of Ruin and it needs to be taught now regardless of who wants to hear it or receive it at least all we could do is put it out (27:26) there again it's someone else's Karma you know it's Humanity's Karma whether they will receive it or not the hermitists have never sought to be martyrs and have instead sat silently aside with a pitying smile on their closed lips while the quote Heathen raged noisily about them in their customary Amusement of putting to death and torture the honest but misguided Enthusiast to imagine that they could force upon a race of Barbarians the truth capable of being understood only by the elect who had Advanced along the (28:02) path okay I think you could hear the kind of elitist uh attitude or Spirit embedded in this but I do also understand what they're saying at certain times in history you would have been tortured for presenting some of these truths about the reality of our world and so then some uh hermeticists took this approach of just keep your mouth closed and let the people who don't want to receive this suffer again I personally do criticize that attitude particularly in the world today maybe if more people would have stepped (28:37) up taught this to more people and they would have gained the courage to teach it to a wider audience we wouldn't have gone down the path we did as a species namely into slavery another big aspect of the Hermetic principles again taught in this great little book The kibalian which I highly recommend everybody to read about the hermetic philosophy of ancient Egypt and Greece what time do we have how much time do we have about seven minutes okay thank you uh the hermeticist taught seven basic uh overarching operating principles in (29:14) nature the principle of mentalism which essentially I've already covered that it states anything that is going to be manifested in reality must first exist in the realm of mine as a matter of fact all of nature is ultimately a mental construct at the deepest level and matter is a construct for experience and growth in Consciousness as such is solidity is matter truly physically real it is a vibrant Quantum fluctuation in the vacuum it's a holographic Quantum experience that is necessary for growth and development of consciousness (29:50) so you know that doesn't mean I go into the full right brain imbalance mode that many new agers and religionists take that this is all an inferior realm matter is and we don't we shouldn't try to act and create any real world change here no that's not a state of balance that's right brain imbalance balance means you have your head in the cosmos meaning you are at a higher level of Consciousness in how you're operating and you understand that matter may be a constructural thing to prevent uh to uh (30:24) provide learning for the soul but you have your feet firmly planted on the ground anchored in the real world taking real world action to better yourself and to help better others so um that's the principle of mentalism Correspondence is the uh the aphorism of As Above So Below or as within so without the microcosm reflects the macrocosm and the macrocosm reflects the microcosm uh that which we do at an individual scale will become our aggregate quality of behavior at a larger scale and will become our macroscopic experience That's the Law of (31:03) Correspondence the law of vibration again at a very low undifferentiated level everything is simply a fluctuation or a vibration vibratory energy existing in uh you know the vacuum and nothing is truly at rest everything ultimately isn't a state of vibration there is no such thing as the cessation of motion or the cessation of vibration or sound um the principle of polarity everything has poles to it everything has opposites everything has a um kind of a spectrum of extremes a spectrum of uh of polarities that uh (31:43) result in two opposite extremes ultimately operating uh through the same thing through the same medium but seeming to have different Extremes in their polarities um the principle of Rhythm uh everything moves in cycles and has a rhythm to it has an up and down quality in ebb and flow quality through time the principle of cause and effect essentially is almost equivalent with natural law principles that which we cause and put out into effect in the universe is then demonstrated back to us by the universe like a mirror okay so we reap what we (32:23) sow that which we put out into the universe we receive back from the universe there is no effects that manifest without causal factors that precede them and finally the principle of gender which states that there is a masculine and feminine quality a blending between those two polarities in everything in nature these principles operate in everything in the natural world and they are always operating as such they were called the Hermetic principles and the word hermetic uh comes down to us in Modern English through the word (33:00) hermetically sealed it means that it's fixed it's operating inherently in nature and nothing we do is going to change those principles at work in nature all we can do is align our Consciousness to them by understanding that they do exist that they are operating in nature and then we can learn to live in harmony with them and not create self-inflicted suffering just like the physical laws of Dynamics they are fixed they are set in stone while you are on Earth you are operating in a 1G gravitational field if you step off (33:31) of a large building gravity will have an effect upon the man mass of your body and you will go Splat that's a fixed law and if you all you can really do is understand that it doesn't matter if you like it or not but you can understand it and therefore align your behavior not to do such a stupid thing by walking off a building in a 1G field okay so the laws of nature expressed by the Hermetic tradition are set in stone and hermetically sealed and this tradition does a really good job of explaining the underlying principles of (34:04) natural law [Music]
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PART 1: HIERARCHICAL OUTLINE
I. Introduction
- Alchemy: Out of darkness and into light
- Transformation from ignorance to enlightenment
- Allegories and symbols in occult traditions
- Purification of mind, body, and spirit
II. Alchemy Symbols and Allegories
Elemental Forces
- Earth: Inherent characteristics and talents
- Air: Intellect and logic
- Water: Emotion, intuition, and creativity
- Fire: Action, willpower, and courage
- Quintessence (Spirit): Divine spark within all
Prima Materia (Starting Matter)
- The human being in need of purification
- Silver: Feminine aspects of the psyche (open-mindedness, intuition)
The Philosopher's Stone
- Agent of transformation (elixir of life)
- Man at the beginning of self-mastery
- Universal spark present in all creation
III. Phases of Alchemical Transformation
Nigredo (Blackening)
- Putrefaction, corruption, dissolution
- Descent into the material plane and suffering
- The Soul represented by salt (crystallized, hardened ego)
Albedo (Whitening)
- Spiritual purification, burning out impurities
- Salt reduced to Quicksilver (fluidity, rapid change)
- Strengthening of the Sacred feminine Essence, imagination
- The Awakening process, desire for truth and self-improvement
Rubedo (Reddening)
- Transmutation into gold or sulfur (enlightened consciousness)
- Unification of man (limited being) with Divine will (unlimited)
- Microcosm joining with the macrocosm
IV. Hermetic Tradition
Know Thyself
- Inscription from the Delphic Oracle
- Microcosm and macrocosm reflect each other
- Understanding the interplay of Free Will and natural law
Hermes Trismegistus
- Scribe of the Gods, Thrice Great One
- Central figure in occultism
- Hermetic teachings as the roots of modern occultism
Secrecy and Elitism
- Hermetic custom of reserving truth for the few
- Criticism of this attitude, especially in today's world
- Egalitarianism in natural rights and access to information
V. Hermetic Principles
- Mentalism: All is a mental construct, matter is for experience
- Correspondence: As Above, So Below; as within, so without
- Vibration: Everything is vibratory energy
- Polarity: Everything has opposites and extremes
- Rhythm: Everything moves in cycles
- Cause and Effect: We reap what we sow
- Gender: Masculine and feminine qualities in everything
PART 2: APPENDIX OF OBSCURE AND ABSTRACT FACTS
- Alchemists were not literally transmuting metals but rather qualities of human consciousness
- The inverted triangle symbolizes the Chalice (feminine) while the upright triangle symbolizes the blade (masculine)
- Salt represents the crystallized ego resistant to change
- Quicksilver or Mercury represents fluidity and rapid change
- The Philosopher's Stone was often depicted as a red stone
- The Hermetic principles are considered fixed laws of nature, like physical laws
PART 3: TOP 10 POINTS OF INTEREST
- Alchemy is about transforming human consciousness from ignorance to enlightenment
- The Philosopher's Stone represents both the starting point of self-mastery and the universal spark within all
- The three phases of alchemical transformation are Nigredo (blackening), Albedo (whitening), and Rubedo (reddening)
- The Hermetic tradition emphasizes the importance of knowing oneself to understand the universe
- Hermes Trismegistus is considered the central figure in occultism, with his teachings forming the basis of modern occult practices
- The Hermetic custom of reserving truth for the few is criticized, especially in today's world on the brink of chaos
- Egalitarianism is advocated in terms of natural rights and access to vital information
- The Hermetic principles describe the underlying laws of nature, operating in everything
- Mentalism states that all of reality is ultimately a mental construct
- Correspondence highlights the interconnectedness of the microcosm and macrocosm
PART 4: CONCLUSION
The extensive summary explores the secret knowledge of secret societies, primarily focusing on Alchemy and the Hermetic tradition. These ancient teachings emphasize the transformation of human consciousness through self-mastery and understanding the underlying laws of nature. Symbols, allegories, and phases of transformation are used to illustrate this journey. While the Hermetic tradition historically advocated secrecy, the modern perspective leans towards open access to information, especially in today's challenging times. The Hermetic principles, considered fixed laws of nature, offer a framework for understanding the interconnectedness of all things and the importance of aligning oneself with these principles for personal and collective growth.
