CONCENTRATION is the essential and the next most important faculty after

OPUS MAG1CUM: CONCENTRATION AND SILENCE

Let us remember: "Aurum igitur aurificandi verum, unum, solum principium esto. " (Gold is the one, true, and only principle of gold-making.) The principle of perfectibility, dignification, and sublimation of the spirit is in the spirit itself and it creates (or determines, if you prefer) within itself the conditions of the ascent. Do not think that this is an easy operation, especially in its initial, double phase. This phase teaches how to first isolate the spirit, making it unassailable from any external influence, until, having perfected this state, it eventually acquires a new self-consciousness with completely new ways of perceiving.

CONCENTRATION is the essential and the next most important faculty after

the willful determination appropriate to the purpose. For those who are

used to studying, it will be easy to concentrate, as they reconstruct the

psychological process of attention that, in our case, is at first free from any

object. In this as well as in every other phase, they observe the general

principle of applying themselves for longer periods of time and with increasing

intensity.

We should note here that concentration can be practiced in two ways:

the first, which we may call "external," has a purely cerebral and mental

character; the second is essentially an act of the spirit.

One begins by finding a quiet and silent place, trying to eliminate any

external obstacle to concentration, and assumes the most comfortable and

fitting position, so that the body will experience the least discomfort and

not exercise any muscular effort. Then, totally abandoning yourself, relax

in a position of absolute rest. We recommend the use of an armchair with

a high back and armrests capable of sustaining the full length of the forearms.

One can even lie down, with the head at the same level as the body,

facing eastward. In the case of several people practicing together, special

guidelines must be observed.

The initial theme of concentration is to become free from the habitual

way of thinking and to feel one's thought as something real, fixed, material,

massive, located in the mind, in the brain, as something condensed

and gathered in its proper seat. Thought should be imagined to acquire

such a density and consistency as to be grasped, completely dominated,

and maintained outside the body. In this act, what occurs is a gradual separation between the conscious spirit, which is purely aware of what it is

doing, and the act itself, which is something performed by the spirit, outside

of the spirit, on another plane of "density," endowed with another,

different nature. The spirit, by concentrating, in the tension of determining

and feeling thought in such a concrete way, gradually detaches itself

from it as a conscious act.

For this purpose many devices can be employed, such as mirrors. It is

generally helpful to place one's thought at a certain distance away. The

concentration of thought in the area between the eyes is the object of special

practices aimed at specific purposes.

Another method of concentration, more perfect but also more difficult,

consists in not paying attention to one's thought, abandoning it to itself, until,

being deprived of the vitality that it derives from attention, it remains inert,

no longer capable of disturbing the pure act of spiritual consciousness.

In this state is found Silence.

The double function, active and passive, of the spirit in this phase was

aptly described by Philalethes: "Est autem aurum nostrum duplex, quod ad

opus nostrum expetimus, maturum puta,fixum, Latonemflavum cuius cor sive

centrum est ignis purus. Quare corpus suum in igne dejendit, in quo depurationem

recipit, ut nihil eius tyrannidi cedat, aut ab eo patitur. Hoc in opere

nostro vices maris gerit, quare auro nostro albo crudiori, spermati foemineo,

conjungitur, etc."7 (Our gold that we use for our work is double, namely a

ripe, fixed, yellow Latona whose heart or center is pure fire. Hence it defends

its body in the fire, in which it receives its purification, such that it

surrenders nothing to its tyranny, nor does it suffer from it. This acts the

part of the male in our work, by which it is joined to our white, cruder

gold, as to the female seed, etc.)

The nature of the fire, as animating spirit (and not as a particular element

to be experienced) was thus described by Agrippa: "Fire appears in all things,

and through all things, and at the same time is nothing, for it illuminates all,

yet remains hidden and invisible when it is by itself and unaccompanied by

matter in which to manifest its proper action and thereby reveal itself. It is

boundless, and invisible, sufficient in itself for every action that is proper to it

. . . it comprehends the other elements while remaining incomprehensible,

having no need for any of them, able to grow through its own virtue and to

communicate its greatness to the things that receive it, etc."8

In Silence, the spirit, free from every bond, precipitated within itself, sees

and knows itself. This happens through a succession of conscious perceptions

that can be differentiated into three successive phases.

At first, one has a clear feeling of isolation and solitude, in which the

spirit floats, just as an inconsistent and airy mass floats inside a light, luminous

medium. Gradually, one has the feeling of being submerged, sinking,

and descending into something that, instead of being more substantial,

becomes increasingly tenuous; at the same time one experiences a

sense of dilating, as if one's surroundings slowly dilate, expanding to the

infinite recesses of space. This is the first perception of the infinite.

Deeper down, deeper still, the slightly luminous impression becomes

feeble and eventually disappears. A thick darkness sets in and also, at the

same time, a vague and more defined awareness of the greater density of

the dark region into which one is sinking. Then it seems that being, having

become solid black, expands beyond its limits into the universe. This

is the second perception of the infinite.

The consistency becomes denser, more massive, and darkness almost

becomes total blackness, up to a total opacity: the spirit sinks even more.

At a certain point it stops, and the solidity is absolute. All of a sudden, it

seems as if the enormous stony mass disintegrates (an instantaneous impression),

and after that, a new abyss opens up underneath, the mass dissolves

and the spirit sinks. This is an absolute vertigo in the spirit, which

is vanquished only by the awareness of the self as an intangible, indestructible,

tenacious, and victorious reality. Beyond this, the impression of darkness

is one of a loose darkness: air-darkness. The spirit still endures, focused,

resolved to overcome the abysmal depths; it remains immobile. From

the bottom, a new light shines forth, which, at first tenuous, becomes increasingly

intense, until it is perceived in a watery consistency that melts

and transforms the infinity of things into a milky ocean.

Having reached this point, the sense of the spirit's infinity and unconditional

freedom is absolute, and there is no better state to be enjoyed.

Requiem adeptus es. (You have attained rest.) But do not think that one

must remain in this way in a state of absolute immobility, because, although

the first prerequisite and the most difficult operation has been performed,

what still lies ahead is the constructive phase of the ritual, which

is just as important and which leads to the knowledge and to the experience

of purely spiritual ways of communication. The ritual teaches one to perceive

the essence of things in their immediate reality, beyond formal appearance,

by inwardly realizing the Names of power and the Signatures of things.

Thus, the spirit will be perfect not only in potency, but in action as well.

For a brief comparison with the alchemical tradition, we should note

that in the texts, the above-mentioned phases of darkness are correlated to

other symbols referring to the color black. Philalethes has beautifully described

the above-mentioned phase in the seventh chapter of his Introitus,

after exhaustively outlining all the properties of the active spirit and its

determinations, its whence and wherefore. The reader who is particularly

interested in this subject should refer to that text and try to understand the

symbols in the spirit.