Divine Science and True Magic

[Guest tamu]

What is known of the Pythagorean school is from a book written by the Pythagorean, Philolaus of Tarentum. From this book Plato learned the philosophy of Pythagoras.

 

The dictum of the Pythagorean school was All is number.

 

What this meant was that all things of the universe had a numerical attribute that uniquely described them. For example,

 

* The number one : the number of reason.

* The number two: the first even or female number, the number of opinion.

* The number three: the first true male number, the number of harmony.

* The number four: the number of justice or retribution.

* The number five: marriage.

* The number six: creation

* The number ten: the tetractys, the number of the universe.

 

Pythagorean Mathematics

 

One point: generator of dimensions.

Two points: generator of a line of dimension one

Three points: generator of a triangle of dimension two

Four points: generator of a tetrahedron, of dimension three.

 

[Guest Widow's Son]

A discourse on the aspect of Sacred Geometry known as Metatron's Cube by Charles Gilchrist.

 

[Guest Spirit Talker]

Tirokudda Kanda: Hungry Shades Outside the Walls

 

Outside the walls they stand,

& at crossroads.

At door posts they stand,

returning to their old homes.

But when a meal with plentiful food & drink is served,

no one remembers them:

Such is the kamma of living beings.

 

Thus those who feel sympathy for their dead relatives

give timely donations of proper food & drink

— exquisite, clean —

[thinking:] "May this be for our relatives.

May our relatives be happy!"

 

And those who have gathered there,

the assembled shades of the relatives,

with appreciation give their blessing

for the plentiful food & drink:

"May our relatives live long

because of whom we have gained [this gift].

We have been honored,

and the donors are not without reward!"

 

For there [in their realm] there's

no farming,

no herding of cattle,

no commerce,

no trading with money.

They live on what is given here,

hungry shades

whose time here is done.

 

As water raining on a hill

flows down to the valley,

even so does what is given here

benefit the dead.

As rivers full of water

fill the ocean full,

even so does what is given here

benefit the dead.

 

"He gave to me, she acted on my behalf,

they were my relatives, companions, friends":

Offerings should be given for the dead

when one reflects thus

on things done in the past.

For no weeping,

no sorrowing

no other lamentation

benefits the dead

whose relatives persist in that way.

But when this offering is given, well-placed in the Sangha,

it works for their long-term benefit

and they profit immediately.

 

In this way

the proper duty to relatives has been shown,

great honor has been done to the dead,

and monks have been given strength:

The merit you've acquired

isn't small.

[Guest Hippasus]

The reductio ad absurdum proof of the irrationality of √2 is as follows:^[22]

 

1. Take a right triangle whose sides are 1 unit in length
2. By the Pythagorean theorem, the diagonal is √2
3. Suppose that √2 is a natural number, or that it is the ratio of two natural numbers. In both cases, it can be represented as theratio of two natural numbers, √2=m/n
4. Suppose that m/n has been reduced to its lowest common form by division
5. It follows that either m and n are both odd, or that m is odd and n is even, or that m is even and n is odd (if not, we could reduce m/n even further by dividing both numbers by 2)
6. Square both sides of √2=m/n, so that2=m²/n²
7. Then 2n²=m², so that m² is even, and therefore m is even
8. If m is even, then m=2x, where x is some other natural number
9. Squaring this, it follows thatm²=4x²=2n²
10. It follows that n²=2x², and thereforen² is even, which means that n, being a natural number,must be even
11. So we've reached a contradiction: although we assumed thatm and n cannot both be even, it now turns out they both are. It therefore follows that √2 cannot be expressed as the ratio of two natural numbers, and must therefore be in another class of numbers.

[Guest Soldier of God]

We must rely upon God alone, and put all our confidence in Him.

[Guest TruthSeeker]

Surrender your soul to the Holy Spirit.

[Guest 7]

Revelation 10:7

[Guest B]

Gematria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase.

 

1= a, j, s, t; 2= b, k; 3= c, l, u; 4= d, m, v; 5= e, n, w; 6= f, o, x; 7= g, p, y; 8= h, q, z; 9= i, r

 

Gematria is used by the Torah commentator Baal ha-Turim as well as many after him (the Keli Yakar, the Chassidic giants).

[Guest Blue Knight]

Ahura Mazda (Ahura Mazdā) is the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator.

 

Just as is the will of the Lord God, so too is that of the will of the spiritual leader, owing to his righteousness.

 

The gifts of good mind are for those who work in this world and wield in accord with the will of the uncreated God.

 

The kingdom of the Lord God's heaven, for him who give to the poor.

[Guest Funkadelic]

Free your mind. And your ass will follow.

[Guest Ephrata]

To achieve a direct communion with the Divine Intelligence within is the first step toward self mastery.

[Guest JOHN157]

33 miracles

33 A.D.

 

There are three witnesses, the Spirit, water and blood; and the three of them coincide.

 

 

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.

[Guest Isilai]

The Jewish Holy anointing oil of the Tanakh, which is described in the Book of Exodus attributed to Moses.

 

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, 23 saying: Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh five hundred sicles, and of cinnamon half so much; that is, two hundred and fifty sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty, 24 and of cassia five hundred sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin: 25 And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer, 26 and therewith you shall anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament, 27 and the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and furniture thereof, the altars of incense, 28 and of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongs to the service of them. 29 And you shall sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he that shall touch them shall be sanctified. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and shall sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me. 31 And you shall say to the children of Israel: This oil of unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations. 32 The flesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you shall make none other of the same composition, because it is sanctified, and shall be holy unto you. 33 What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof to a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people. 34 And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto you spices, stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all shall be of equal weight. 35 And you shall make incense compounded by the work of the perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification. 36 And when you have beaten all into very small powder, you shall set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to you. Most holy shall this incense be unto you. 37 You shall not make such a composition for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord. 38 What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell thereof, he shall perish out of his people.

[Guest 1 Peter 1]

 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: 4 Unto an inheritance, incorruptible, and undefiled and that cannot fade, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who, by the power of God, are kept by faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein you shall greatly rejoice, if now you must be for a little time made sorrowful in divers temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith (much more precious than gold which is tried by the fire) may be found unto praise and glory and honour at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 8 Whom having not seen, you love: in whom also now though you see him not, you believe and, believing, shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified; 9 receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and diligently searched, who prophesied of the grace to come in you. 11 Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them did signify, when it foretold those sufferings that are in Christ and the glories that should follow. 12 To whom it was revealed that, not to themselves but to you, they ministered those things which are now declared to you by them that have preached the gospel to you: the Holy Ghost being sent down from heaven, on whom the angels desire to look.

 

3 Wherefore, having the loins of your mind girt up, being sober, trust perfectly in the grace which is offered you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As children of obedience, not fashioned according to the former desires of your ignorance, 15 but according to him that has called you, who is holy, be you also in all manner of conversation holy: 16 Because it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy. 17 And if you invoke as Father him who, without respect of persons, judges according to every one's work: converse in fear during the time of your sojourning here. 18 Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers: 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled. 20 Foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but manifested in the last times for you: 21 Who through him are faithful in God who raised him up from the dead and has given him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Purifying your souls in the obedience of charity, with a brotherly love, from a sincere heart love one another earnestly: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God who lives and remains for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass is withered and the flower thereof is fallen away. 25 But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel has been preached unto you.

[Guest Matthew 6:4]

6:4 that thy charitable deed may be in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee.

 

5 And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say to you: They have their reward in full.

 

6 But thou, when thou prayest, go into thy closet; and having closed thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee.

 

7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathens; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

 

8 Be not therefore like them; for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask him.

 

9 In this way therefore pray you: Our Father who art in the heavens: hallowed be thy name.

 

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as in heaven also on earth.

 

11 Give us this day our needful bread.

 

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors;

 

13 and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

 

14 For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

 

15 but if you for give not men, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.

 

16 And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Verily I say to you, They have their reward in full.

 

17 But do thou, when fasting, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,

 

18 that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee.

 

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;

 

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

 

21 For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

 

22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If thy eye be simple thy whole body shall be full of light;

 

23 but if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If then the light that is in thee is darkness, how great that darkness.

 

24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.

 

25 For this reason I say to you: Be not anxious for your life what you shall eat, nor for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the clothing?

 

26 Look at the birds of heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into granaries; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them: are you not much better than they?

 

27 But which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to his age?

 

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, nor do they spin.

 

29 But I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as one of these.

 

30 Now if God so clothes the herb of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

 

31 Then, be not anxious, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or with what shall we be clothed?

 

32 For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these.

 

http://www.codexsinaiticus.com/en/manuscript.aspx?book=33&chapter=6&lid=en&side=r&verse=9&zoomSlider=0

[Guest Ecclesiastes 3:19]

19

For the lot of man and of beast is one lot; the one dies as well as the other. Both have the same life-breath, and man has no advantage over the beast; but all is vanity.

20

Both go to the same place; both were made from the dust, and to the dust they both return.

21

Who knows if the life-breath of the children of men goes upward and the life-breath of beasts goes earthward?

22

And I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to rejoice in his work; for this is his lot. Who will let him see what is to come after him?

[Guest G. Gurdjieff]

Any prayer may be heard by the Higher Powers and a corresponding answer obtained only if it is uttered thrice:

 

Firstly – for the welfare or the peace of the souls of one's parents.

 

Secondly – for the welfare of one's neighbor.

 

And only thirdly – for oneself personally.

 

[Guest Psalm 10:4]

Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done. – Sir Isaac Newton

[Guest Morbonzi]

Many supposedly "ancient" occult or neo-pagan traditions in fact originated with Eliphas Levi. He fused the Qabala, alchemy, Hermetism, astrology, magnetism and even a little black magic from the grimoires into what is seen in the occult today.

 

Eliphas Levi's Tetragrammaton pentagram

 

 

From: Eliphas Levi, Transcendental Magic, A.E.Waite, Chicago, 1910:

 

BOAZ and JAKIN are the names of the two symbolical Pillars before the principal entrance of Solomon's Kabalistic Temple. In the Kabalah these Pillars explain all mysteries of antagonism, whether natural, political or religious… The active principle seeks the passive principle, the plenum desires the void, the serpent's jaw attracts the serpent's tail… The monad can manifest only by the duad; unity itself and the notion of unity at once constitute two. The unity of the Macrocosm reveals itself by the two opposite points of two triangles… To make light visible God had only to postulate shadow. To manifest the truth He permitted the possibility of doubt. The shadow bodies forth the light, and the possibility of error is essential for the temporal manifestation of truth.

 

Eliphas Levi's Great Symbol of Solomon

 

 

The Double Triangle of Solomon, represented by the two Ancients of the Kabalah; the Macroprosopus and the Microprosopus; the God of Light and the God of Reflections; of mercy and vengeance; the white Jehovah and the black Jehovah."

[Guest Morbonzi]

Siphra Dtzenioutha: The Book of Concealed Mystery

Greater Holy Assembly

 

CONCERNING THE ANCIENT ONE, OR MACROPROSOPUS, AND CONCERNING HIS PARTS, AND ESPECIALLY CONCERNING HIS SKULL.

 

34. AND after a certain time was that veil entirely disunited in formless separation, and recomposed according to its conformation.

 

35. And this is the tradition: The Absolute desired within Himself to create the essence of light (the law--that is, the letters of the alphabet, from whose transpositions the law was formed), hidden for two thousand years, and produced Her. And She answered thus unto Him: "He who wisheth to dispose and to constitute other things, let Him first be disposed according unto a proper conformation."

 

36. This is the tradition described in the "Concealed Book of the King," 1 that the Ancient of the Ancient Ones, the Concealed of the Concealed Ones, hath been constituted and prepared as in various members (for future knowledge).

 

37. Like as if it were said, "He is found (that is, He may in some way to a certain extent be known), and He is not found;" for He cannot be clearly comprehended; but He hath as it were been formed; neither yet is He to be known of any, since He is the Ancient of the Ancient Ones.

 

38. But in his conformation is He known; as also He is the Eternal of the Eternal Ones, the Ancient of the Ancient Ones, the Concealed of the Concealed Ones; and in His symbols is He knowable and unknowable.

 

39. White are His garments, and His appearance is the likeness of a Face vast and terrible.

 

40. Upon the throne of flaming, light is He seated, so that He may direct its (flashes).

 

41. Into forty thousand superior worlds the brightness of the skull of His head is extended, and from the light of this brightness the just shall receive four hundred worlds in the world to come.

 

42. This is that which is written, Gen. xxiii. 16. "Four hundred skekels of silver, current money with the merchant."

 

43. Within His skull exist daily thirteen thousand myriads of worlds, which draw their existence from Him, and by Him are upheld.

 

Nazca geoglyph in Peru

 

[Guest Morbonzi]

The greatest triad of the Sephiroth. the Crown, King, and Queen; which finds a parallel in the Osiris, Isis, and Horus; the Axieros, Axiochersos, and Axiochersa of Lemnos and Samothrace,

[Guest Morbonzi]

Sephirot or Sephiroth, the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah through which God created the world and/or manifests.

 

 

Keter-"Crown": Divine Will to create/Infinite Light of the Creator/the Hebrew name of God "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh-I Am that I Am"

 

Binah-"Understanding": the infinite flash of Chochmah brought into the vessel of understanding to give it grasp of breadth and depth/feminine vessel that gives birth to the emotions/reason/understanding brings teshuva return to God

 

Chochmah-"Wisdom": First unbounded flash of an idea before it takes on limitations/male light/Divine Reality/first revelation/creation from nothingness

 

Daat-"Knowledge": Central state of unity of the 10 Sephirot, also called the Tree of Life.

 

Chesed-"Kindness": Loving grace of free giving/love of God/inspiring vision

 

Gevurah-"Severity": Strength/judgment/intention/withholding/awe of God

 

Tiferet-"Beauty": Symmetry/balance between Chesed and Gevurah in compassion

 

Netzach-"Victory"

 

Hod-"Splendor": Withdrawal/Surrender/sincerity

 

Yesod-"Foundation": Connecting to the task to accomplish/wholly remembering/coherent knowledge

 

Malchut-"Kingship": Female vessel for the pregnant nurturing of the male lights of the emotional sephirot into action/becomes the Keter Will source for any subsequent lower level in Creation/accomplishment/realization of the Divine Plan.

[Guest Morbonzi]

Ze`ir Anpin (Aramaic: זְעֵיר אַנפִּין meaning "Lesser Countenance/Small Face", called Microprosopus in the Kabbala Denudata) is a revealed aspect of God in Kabbalah, comprising the emotional sephirot attributes: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod.

 

Enigma - Aleister Crowley The Beast 666

 

http://youtu.be/XSD4QChEgjI

[Guest Morbonzi]

Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie

Part I: The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic

By Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant)

Translated by A. E. Waite.

 

BEHIND the veil of all the hieratic and mystical allegories of ancient doctrines,

behind the darkness and strange ordeals of all initiations, under the seal of all

sacred writings, in the ruins of Nineveh or Thebes, on the crumbling stones of old

temples and on the blackened visage of the Assyrian or Egyptian sphinx, in the

monstrous or marvellous paintings which interpret to the faithful of India the

inspired pages of the Vedas, in the cryptic emblems of our old books on alchemy,

in the ceremonies practised at reception by all secret societies, there are found

indications of a doctrine which is everywhere the same and everywhere carefully

concealed. Occult philosophy seems to have been the nurse or god-mother of all

intellectual forces, the key of all divine obscurities and the absolute queen of society

in those ages – when it was reserved exclusively for the education of priests

and of kings.

 

It reigned in Persia with the Magi, who perished in the end, as perish

all masters of the world, because they abused their power; it endowed India with

the most wonderful traditions and with an incredible wealth of poesy, grace and

terror in its emblems; it civilized Greece to the music of the lyre of Orpheus; it

concealed the principles of all sciences, all progress of the human mind, in the

daring calculations of Pythagoras; fable abounded in its miracles, and history,

attempting to estimate this unknown power, became confused with fable; it

undermined or consolidated empires by its oracles, caused tyrants to tremble on

their thrones and governed all minds, either by curiosity or by fear. For this science,

said the crowd, there is nothing impossible, it commands the elements,

knows the language of the stars and directs the planetary courses; when it speaks,

the moon falls blood-red from heaven; the dead rise in their graves and mutter

ominous words, as the night wind blows through their skulls.

 

Mistress of love or of hate, occult science can dispense paradise or hell at its pleasure to

human hearts; it disposes of all forms and confers beauty or ugliness; with the wand of Circe it

changes men into brutes and animals alternately into men; it disposes even of life

and death, can confer wealth on its adepts by the transmutation of metals and

immortality by its quintessence or elixir, compounded of gold and light.

 

Such was Magic from Zoroaster to Manes, from Orpheus to Apollonius of

Tyana, when positive Christianity, victorious at length over the brilliant dreams

and titanic aspirations of the Alexandrian school, dared to launch its anathemas

publicly against this philosophy, and thus forced it to become more occult and

mysterious than ever. Moreover, strange and alarming rumors began to circulate

concerning initiates or adepts; they were surrounded every where by an ominous

influence, and they destroyed or distracted those who allowed themselves to be

beguiled by their honeyed eloquence or by the sorcery of their learning.

 

The women whom they loved became Stryges and their children vanished at nocturnal

meetings, while men whispered shiveringly and in secret of bloodstained orgies

and abominable banquets. Bones had been found in the crypts of ancient temples,

shrieks had been heard in the night, harvests withered and herds sickened when

the magician passed by. Diseases which defied medical skill appeared at times in

the world, and always, it was said, beneath the envenomed glance of the adepts.

 

At length a universal cry of execration went up against Magic, the mere name

became a crime and the common hatred was formulated in this sentence: “Magicians

to the flames!” – as it was shouted some centuries earlier: “To the lions with

the Christians!” Now the multitude never conspires except against real powers; it

does not know what is true, but it has the instinct of what is strong. It remained

for the eighteenth century to deride both Christians and Magic, while infatuated

with the disquisitions of Rousseau and the illusions of Cagliostro.

 

Science, notwithstanding, is at the basis of Magic, as at the root of Christianity

there is love, and in the Gospel symbols we find the Word Incarnate adored in His

cradle by Three Magi, led thither by a star – the triad and the sign of the microcosm

– and receiving their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, a second mysterious

triplicity, under which emblem the highest secrets of the Kabalah are

allegorically contained. Christianity owes therefore no hatred to Magic, but

human ignorance has ever stood in fear of the unknown. The science was driven

into hiding to escape the impassioned assaults of blind desire: it clothed itself with

new hieroglyphics, falsified its intentions, denied its hopes. Then it was that the

jargon of alchemy was created, an impenetrable illusion for the vulgar in their

greed of gold, a living language only for the true disciple of Hermes.

 

Extraordinary fact! Among the sacred records of the Christians there are two

texts which the infallible Church makes no claim to understand and has never

attempted to expound: these are the Prophecy of Ezekiel and the Apocalypse, two

Kabalistic Keys reserved assuredly in heaven for the commentaries of Magian

Kings, books sealed as with seven seals for faithful believers, yet perfectly plain to

an initiated infidel of the occult sciences. There is also another work, but,

although it is popular in a sense and may be found everywhere, this is of all most

occult and unknown, because it is the key of the rest. It is in public evidence without

being known to the public; no one suspects its existence and no one dreams of

seeking it where it actually is. This book, which may be older than that of Enoch,

actually has never been translated, but is still preserved unmutilated in primeval

characters, on detached leaves, like the tablets of the ancients. The fact has

eluded notice, though a distinguished scholar has revealed, not indeed its secret,

but its antiquity and singular preservation.

 

The original alliance between Christianity and the Science of the Magi, once

demonstrated fully, will be a discovery of no second-rate importance, and we do

not doubt that the serious study of Magic and the Kabalah will lead earnest minds

to a reconciliation of science and dogma, of reason and faith, heretofore regarded

as impossible.

 

We have said that the Church, whose special office is the custody of the Keys,

does not pretend to possess those of the Apocalypse or of Ezekiel. In the opinion of

Christians the scientific and magical Clavicles of Solomon are lost, which notwithstanding,

it is certain that, in the domain of intelligence, ruled by the Word nothing

that has been written can perish. Whatsoever men cease to understand exists

for them no longer, at least in the order of the Word, and it passes then into the

domain of enigma and mystery. Furthermore, the antipathy and even open war of

the Official Church against all that belongs to the realm of Magic, which is a kind

of personal and emancipated priesthood, is allied with necessary and even with

inherent causes in the social and hierarchic constitution of Christian sacerdotalism.

 

The Church ignores Magic – for she must either ignore it or perish, as we

shall prove later on; yet she does not recognize the less that her mysterious

Founder was saluted in His cradle by Three Magi – that is to say, by the hieratic

ambassadors of the three parts of the known world and the three analogical

worlds of occult philosophy. In the School of Alexandria, Magic and Christianity

almost joined hands under the auspices of Ammonius Saccas and of Plato; the

doctrine of Hermes is found almost in its entirety in the writings attributed to

Dionysius the Areopagite; Synesius outlined the plan of a treatise on dreams,

which was annotated subsequently by Cardan, and composed hymns that might

have served for the liturgy of the Church of Swedenborg, could a church of the

illuminated possess a liturgy.

[Guest 18]

Bdellium (dĕl'ē-əm) (Hebrew bedolach), also bdellion, is an aromatic gum like myrrh that is exuded from a tree. A medieval Arab writer first made the identification with gum guggul, the species Commiphora wightii, although "bdellium" has also been used to identify the African species Commiphora africana and at least one other Indian species, C. stocksiana. Bdellium was an adulterant of the more costly myrrh (Commiphora myrrha); guggul is still used as a binder in perfumes.

 

The word bedolach occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible. The first is in Genesis 2:12, where it is described as a product of the land of Havilah; the context has led some readers to link bedolach with pearls or other precious stones. Bdellium is mentioned once again, as something familiar, in Numbers 11:7, where manna is compared to it in color:

 

"Now the manna was like zera gad [coriander seed], and its appearance as the appearance of bedolach."

 

 

Commiphora wightii

 

 

Commiphora africana

 

 

Consolida stocksiana