MODERN ESOTERIC SPIRITUALITY
Antoine Faivre and Jacob Needleman, editors
Volume 21 of 'World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest'. Topics discussed include: Renaissance Kabbalah, Paracelsus and his followers, Freemasonry, and C. G. Jung in the context of Christian esotericism and cultural history.
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"Nemesius, bishop of Emese, in his treatise 'De natura hominis' (400?) is one of the first basic Christian writings to view the human being as a microcosm, that is, as a miniature universe, a link between the material and spiritual worlds." Antoine Faivre
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"Anyone who finds in infinite nature nothing but one whole, one complete poem, in whose every word, every syllable, the harmony of the whole rings out…has won the highest prize of all." J. W. Ritter, 'Fragmente aus dem Nachlasse eines jungen Physikers', 2:205
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"Nature and matter, understood alchemically, can only be one and animated. Any demonstrative process that seeks to prove the opposite is mistaken not only in its manner but also in its mode of observation." Francoise Bonardel, 'Alchemical Esotericism and the Hermeneutics of Culture'
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"Wisdom is God's design. It is the plan of his works. It will be their completion as well. The cycle of eternal nature is related at once to the plan and its realization. It is Wisdom that instigates it." Pierre Deghaye, 'Jacob Boehme and His Followers'
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"In the structure of the world and in nature generally,…purpose and unconscious teleology can be recognized….The universe is a kind of organism." Dietrich vonEngelhardt, 'Natural Science in the Age of Romanticism'
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"The doctrine of the microcosm – the human as the universe in miniature – is a common theme among the esoteric teachings, and among its other qualities, this idea has the virtue of theoretically joining the inner life in all its possible levels to the world of nature and beyond, even up to the Creator." Antoine Faivre
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"The history of nature has to do not just with individual, finite, imminently perishable being, but with an imperishable basis of all that can be seen, which unites it all and gives it soul. It teaches a love which loves in all things, a universal soul which sets everything, even that which is most remote and apart, in a living interplay that gives to all that can be seen, from the firmament of heaven to the ephemeral insect, one rhythm of time and law of life." G. H. Schubert, 'Allgemeine Naturegeschichte', 4
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"Each level of the universal hierarchy of beings contains all possible reality, in each case from a different aspect."
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"A potential immensity of love and wisdom is inherent in the structure of the human self." Antoine Faivre
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"Throughout nature the formal principle of thesis-antithesis or dualism and the overcoming of it is observed." Dietrich vonEngelhardt, 'Natural Science in the Age of Romanticism'
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"Imagination is a kind of 'organ of the soul' by means of which a person can establish cognitive and visionary rapport with an intermediary world, with a mesocosm – with the world which Henry Corbin proposed to call the 'mundus imaginalis'."
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"Do you want to investigate nature? Then cast a glance inwards and in the stages of spiritual formation it may be granted to you to see the stages of natural development. Do you want to know yourself? Investigate nature and your actions are those of the Spirit there." H. Steffens, 'Alt und Neu'
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"The Intellect (Intellectus) sees opposites unified."
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"The human form is the symbol of all symbols." Pierre Deghaye, 'Jacob Boehme and His Followers'
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"Evolution does not cease with achievement of the human condition, but becomes internalized as the search for union with the true, spiritual Self. The goal of evolution, which is self-development, self-realization, and self-transcendence, is therefore inherent in its processes." Emily B. Sellon and Renee Weber, 'Theosophy and The Theosophical Society'
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"The creation of our world contributes to the purpose of the divine economy, which is the visibility of God….Contemplation of our own nature shows the way." Pierre Deghaye, 'Jacob Boehme and His Followers'
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"The fundamental unity and coherence of the universe are displayed most impressively in the order that pervades all of nature, not only in the uniformity of physical laws but also in the musical and mathematical proportions of all natural forms, from crystals and plants to spiral galaxies. This Pythagorean/Platonic conception of an underlying harmonic order is revealed in the persistent geometry of dynamic form." Emily B. Sellon and Renee Weber, 'Theosophy and The Theosophical Society'
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"Paracelsus…teaches that the perceptible universe looks toward a divine reality that it strives to imitate."
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"Imagination (imaginatio is related to 'magnet', magia, imago) is a tool for the knowledge of the self, of the world, of myth; it is the eye of fire penetrating the surface of appearances in order to make meanings, connections, burst forth, to render the invisible visible…and to forge a link with a treasure that contributes to the enlargement of our prosaic vision."
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"Eternal nature is the kernel hidden within our apparent nature." Pierre Deghaey, 'Jacob Boehme and His Followers'
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"Christianity, Hinduism, Kabbalah, alchemy…all admitted the existence of a unique 'ubiquitous agent', flowing through everything and from which everything issued. In other words, they already knew that matter was one and living." Francoise Bonardel, 'Alchemical Esotericism and the Hermeneutics of Culture'
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"Ideas are the original forms (formae principales), the stable and immutable ground of things….They are a part of divine intelligence."
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"In equal respect for nature and the spirit lies the key to every true art of living." C. G. Carus, 'Lebenserinnerungen und Denkwurdigkeiten'
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"St. Augustine taught that once the soul is noble, harmonious, and ordered, it is capable of seeing the source from which all truth flows." Antoine Faivre
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"Wisdom is the love of God. It is the desire of love that aspires only to give itself, to communicate itself." Pierre Deghaye, 'Jacob Boehme and His Followers'
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