It Is Said As Above So Below
This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet (Thoth & Hermes) and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern alchemy and metaphysics which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all inner mysteries. All systems of metaphysics are claimed to function by this formula. “‘That which is above is the same as that which is below’… the Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as … and so on, ad infinitum.”
This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth (matter); as God is man’s counterpart in heaven (Spirit). Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man’s actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that “all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation.” Same origin, same Source.
To the metaphysician, the magical act, that of causing a transformation in a thing or things without any physical contact, is accomplished by an imaginative act accompanied by the will that the wanted change will occur. The act and imaginative act become one and the same. The metaphysician knows with certainty that for the change to occur he must will it to happen and firmly believe it will happen. Here it may be noted that a concrete and solid belief and knowingness in the the fact that a miraculous event will occur is paramount.
To bring about such a change the metaphysician uses the conception of dynamic interconnectedness to describe the physical world as the sort of thing that imagination and desire can effect. The world is an independent whole, a web of which no strand is autonomous. Mind and body, galaxy and atom, sensation and stimulus, are intimately bound. Metaphysics strongly imbues the view that all things are independent and interrelated.“ These concepts pivot on the belief that all things come from the One Thing, or First Cause, and ”Its power is integrating, if it be turned into earth (matter)." From the void, comes form and boundless potentiality. All is one and one is all.
The purpose is to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm … to join God/Source, with the human Divine Christ-consciousness within and beyond the ego. When such a supreme union is achieved the subject and object become one. It may be said, the metaphysician feels connected with the universe. This feeling intensifies the more he successfully practices his skills.
When feeling unison with the universe the metaphysician knows he has reached his Higher or True Self because he has attained mastery of himself and the universe. Thus he feels his “skillful work ascends from earth to heaven and descends to earth again, and receives the power of the superiors and of the inferiors.” Therefore, he “hast the glory of the whole world therefore let all obscurity flee from thee.” Now the miracles are possible. The extreme goal becomes the direct union with the God within. To bring heaven on earth … Spirit in Matter.
Just a thought …
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
