THE STELLAR MAN

Hermetic Philosophy, Book Two

By John Baines
SECOND EDITION
Edited by the Editorial Staff of the John Baines Institute, Inc.
2002 Published by JOHN BAINES INSTITUTE, INC. Box 8556 â ¢ F.D.R. Station â ¢ New York, New
York â ¢ 10150
THE STELLAR MAN (Originally published as "El Hombre Estelar") By John Baines Tra
nslated from Spanish by Margaret L. Nunez. Formerly Edited by Judith Hipskind (F
irst Edition published by Llewellyn Publications, formerly ISBN 087542-026-5) Co
pyright 1985 by John Baines All rights reserved. No part of this book, either in
part or in whole, may be reproduced, transmitted or utilized in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or other means of ph
otographic reproduction, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief quota
tions embodied in critical articles and reviews. ISBN 1-882692-04-7 Library of C
ongress Control Number: 00-093458 First Edition, 1985 Second Edition, 2002
CONTENTS
Notes from the Author ..........................................................
.vii I Message from ISIS .......................................................
1 II The Antichrist ...........................................................
..... 5 III Dissection of Sapiens ..............................................
..... 25 IV The Collective Soul of the Species ............................ 41 V
To Be or Not to Be?...................................................... 67 VI
The Illusion of True Knowledge ............................... 87 VII The Illus
ion of Freedom ............................................ 107 VIII Hermeticism
.............................................................. 121 IX The Seeke
rs .................................................................. 131 The Ro
ad to Olympus X The Seven Keys of Wisdom...................................... 1
47 XI The Disciples.............................................................
.. 193 XII True Initiation .....................................................
........ 207 XIII The Ordeals ..................................................
.............. 237 XIV The Obstacles ...........................................
............... 247 XV Initiatic Practices .....................................
................... 251 XVI The "Volitive I" ...................................
................... 257 XVII The Life and Powers of the Stellar Man ............
.... 279 XVIII General Overview ................................................
..... 297
NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR
Whoever reads this book expecting to find an informative essay on "sugar-coated"
commercial esotericism will be greatly disappointed. The Stellar Man is about a
science more elevated than any now known, and what it can do for mankind. This
wisdom, the true origin of all knowledge, represents the highest treasure that t
he human being can ever succeed in possessing in this or any other century, on t
he planet Earth or anywhere else in the far reaches of the Universe. It is the a
rte magnum, the perfect vision of the essential reality of Nature, which encompa
sses developing the capacity to see oneself objectively, and evaluating the true
level of development of one's own instrument of knowledge, the mind. All knowle
dge, in order to be true, has to be based on man's internal reality, and has to
be integrated into a wise, just, omnipresent, immortal, and eternal nature. The
ability to see reality is not a congenital capacity. The human being is only abl
e to observe the map that he himself created from a subjective, limited, and rat
ionalized interpretation. This process creates a personalized pseudo-reality, of
which there are as many as there are inhabitants of this planet. I call this im
aginative creation "social reality," since in practice, the individual is a mere
cultural resonator and an appendage of the collective psyche of humanity. This
is
vii
viii
THE STELLAR MAN
why people live "half-way" and are a mixture of good and bad; why they are a lit
tle asleep and a little awake; why they are insignificant even with all their de
lusions of grandeur. In other words, they do not live profoundly and cannot even
grasp the overwhelming significance of this fact. They just graze the surface o
f the planet and the epidermis of knowledge. According to tradition, more than t
wenty centuries ago, the greatest sage of all lived on our planet; Hermes Trisme
gistus, the three times great. His Teaching, being of extraterrestrial origin, w
as called Hermeticism. Its objective is the profound knowledge of oneself and of
the Universe. According to Hermes, the microcosmos and the macrocosmos are anal
ogous, which is why the conscious penetration into one's own Universe will also
lead the student to universal wisdom. The characteristic of this knowledge is th
at it transcends time and space, and corresponds to the secret anatomy of Nature
, which like God, has neither beginning nor end. When Hermes wanted to transmit
his teachings to a chosen few, he found himself faced with the problem of the li
mitations of language, which is descriptive and informationally based. This inhe
rent disability made human language inadequate to meet the desired end, since al
l authentic wisdom is "meaningful" and not "informational." It can only be compr
ehended at the level of BEING, and not through merely intellectual faculties. Fo
r this reason, an unknown language had to be used, different from the language o
f people and nations. It is a "language of meaning," that emanates exclusively f
rom a potent mind at the level of
NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR
ix
higher consciousness, and which far exceeds the habitual condition of man. The "
language of the gods" was the only means that could assure the comprehension of
that sublime teaching. Hermes started to transmit his Teaching in great secrecy,
choosing only the most prepared as his students, due to the great difficulty th
at such a magnum opus entailed. In time, he succeeded in forming a few inheritor
s and continuers, Masters who formed an Initiatic School. They formed an occult
fraternity that fulfilled its work behind the scenes and in silence. They knew t
hat there were many neophytes who were guided by greed and ambition to obtain un
limited personal power to satisfy sordid passions, rather than a genuine spiritu
al or philosophical restlessness. Many of those who gained admission into this S
chool failed in their tests and their twisted intention and absolute lack of eth
ics became evident over time. The possession of ethics was an indispensable cond
ition to be chosen to receive the highest level of instruction. The limited and
superficial information that these pretenders thus obtained became the basis for
the birth of a false and spurious esotericism. It was based on speculation and
superstition, and its dissemination is the foundation of the immense majority of
what today is erroneously known as "magic," "occultism," and so forth. True and
sacred occultism was the knowledge of Hermes, hidden from those who have not su
cceeded in mastering the language of the gods, and from those who, owing to thei
r own limitations, pride, and pettiness, were not concerned with developing thei
r higher consciousness.
x
THE STELLAR MAN
What is certain is that despite the time and difficulties, a few Masters with th
e necessary power and wisdom to confer Hermetic initiation have existed in every
epoch. This initiation is a mystical and transcendental event that offers the i
ndividual a certain opportunity to cross the threshold that leads to the path to
wards spiritual perfection and cosmic wisdom. If the individual triumphs in such
an undertaking, he becomes a Stellar Man. This represents the highest goal that
Homo sapiens can aspire to, and which corresponds to the culmination of the evo
lutionary process, but which the species would reach only after many thousands o
f years of successful development. Making this ascending leap leads the individu
al to completely overcome his animal condition, thereby moving him up one step o
n the evolutionary scale in the Universe. The path of self-perfection is long an
d arduous. There can be no other way than to pursue the attainment of authentic
power over oneself and one's own existence, and to pursue the possession of a st
ate of consciousness in which disharmony, destructiveness, ugliness, aggression,
and unhappiness no longer exist. The real Hermetic Initiate acquires the capaci
ty to transcend such petty realities, to instead place himself in the unlimited
and infinite context of absolute reality; that which transcends time and space.
From that moment on, he will never again be defeated by hesitation, loneliness,
or doubt. He will have united himself harmoniously with that unique and powerful
force which is a creator and maintainer of life, what Hermes called "MIND." The
Hermetic Principle says: "The ALL is MIND; The Universe is Mental." This means
that only one class of essen-
N OTES FROM THE A UTHOR
xi
tial energy exists in the cosmos. This energy, this higher conscious and intelli
gent force, is divided, and projects itself into infinite vibrations and forms o
f life, thus maintaining the balance of creation and life of all animate and ina
nimate species. The occult anatomy of the cosmos is the mechanics of Nature, who
se forces reciprocally feed from and nourish man, influencing everything in his
life. Knowledge, and the use of these forces, is what permits the genuine Hermet
icist to act with his mind in different vital situations in order to ensure the
achievement of his goals. Fate does not exist; everything has a cause and effect
; nothing happens by chance. True magic bears no resemblance whatsoever to super
stition and witchcraft. The true magus, is a KING of his internal world which by
analogy can influence the external world. "As it is above, so it is below." "As
it is within, so it is without." Guided by voraciousness and greed, there are m
any who believe that it is possible to steal the secret and usurp the magic powe
r, supposing that it is based on the development of parapsychological faculties.
Nothing is further from reality. Magic is the path of the mutant. It is the sup
reme art, which leads to one's own liberation and spiritual perfection. It is th
e ascending evolutionary spiral that leads the individual to the only true heave
nâ the one gained through one's own merit and through internal disciplineâ it is the lega
y of Hermes. It is not possible to reach this goal without having first dominate
d oneself. Nature makes the candidate for immortality undergo various tests. The
will and character of the candidate have to be tempered silently in the forge o
f
xii
THE STELLAR MAN
daily experience, until he cleanses his heart of all impurities. It is not possi
ble to approach Isis, the mistress of the mysteries of Nature, without having fi
rst achieved a state of inner transparency. If this were not so, the candidate w
ould end as the butterfly burned by the flame of a candle, for supreme truth bli
nds or burns the evildoer and the impure as much as it elevates the just and per
fect. The noble figure of Hermes, the envoy of the gods, rises out of the remote
past showing us the correct path. You who read this book are free to make your
own decision. THE AUTHOR Written for the
2nd edition
NOTE: The use of the masculine pronoun "he" is used throughout this book, (other
than in cases that specifically refer to the masculine gender) to refer to both
men and women. This was done with the aim of simplifying the sentence structure
.
I
MESSAGE FROM ISIS
"I, ISIS, mistress of the mysteries of Nature, speak to you.
Y
ou, novice who seeks to go through the gates of initiation, and you, layman who
will read with idle curiosity, calm your spirit, clear your mind, calm your emot
ions. Get away from worldly noises, and look for shelter under the mantle of you
r own SELF so you may cross the threshold that leads to the abode of the magicia
ns with no danger. Cast away your prejudices; shed your egotism; flee from perso
nalism and rashness for an instant; analyze with serene eyes. Do not fear aught
but yourself; do not doubt but that which you analyze superficially; do not deny
before meditating. Separate yourself from the multitude that obscures your idea
s; be yourself and think for yourself; do not limit yourself. You, seeker of won
der, you, candidate for initiation, do not look into the distance. Gather all yo
ur energy within yourself. Forget about India and Tibet. Do not cry out for God,
Allah, or Jesus.
1
2
THE STELLAR MAN
What you look for is right where you are at this moment. Yes, stop looking towar
d the outside and bury your sight deeply within yourself. Tune your perceptions,
sharpen your senses, and there in the center of your being are you, your "I," y
our real essence, the truth behind lies, the immortal energy that gives life to
the clay that is you. Look with devotion and reverence because there is light .
. . and the light that blinds you is God. Listen to how it decrees: 7 am the roa
d and the life.' But. . . beware! You cannot contemplate God face to face withou
t dying. Are you willing to continue? I can grant you a great gift. I offer you
. . . death! Do not tremble, this death is the gift of the immortals; it is the
gift of the phoenix that is gloriously reborn from its own ashes. To be, one mus
t not be; to be born and to be, one must first die. If you achieve this, you wil
l be called the twice born. Do not scorn my offer; consider it carefully. It is
better to die now than to live awaiting death. Do not believe that if you reject
me you will be able to continue your path unharmed. On the contrary, all paths
lead to me; ignore me and you will be like an orphan who does not know its paren
ts. You only have two paths; either I devour you or you unite with me. Yours, an
d only yours, is the choice. If you decide to be devoured, fully dedicate your l
ife to enjoyment; drink the last drop from the cup of pleasure. Close your mind
to the voice of your spirit, abandon yourself to the beast and enjoy the sensual
pleasure of matter. Thus, when you are least aware, the moment of final canniba
lism will arrive. Do you really believe 1 will take pity on you? You deceive you
rself; I have no feelings. I am beyond pleasure and pain, beyond right and wrong
. I am like the sun that rises in the morning to light everything
M ESSAGE FROM ISIS 3
equally. After your death, you will become only remains and a relic. Afterwards
. . . not even that. If you desire to marry me, you must be ready to suffer the
death of initiation. You must pass the trials the terrible Sphinx will send to y
ou without mercy in order to judge your spiritual courage and the quality of you
r nature. I surrender myself only to he who has reached the stage of crucifixion
, resisting the attacks of the four elements. I love only those who have drunk f
rom the cup of bitterness, of betrayal, of ridicule and mockery, of persecutions
, of slander, and of defamation. I love the initiates who have persisted with co
urage, suffering the loneliness of the spirit in the midst of a world of animals
. You come to me after experiencing slander and defamation, which are the specif
ic trials of the element of air; after blows and persecution, the trials of the
element of earth; after sensual temptations and vices, which are trials of the e
lement of water; and after dominating uncontrolled ambitions, which are the tria
ls of fire. This quaternary corresponds to each of the ends of the cross to whic
h one who came to me was nailed . . . Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, others even gr
eater have lived and live in secret; no one knows of their existence because it
is better for their work. Do not believe that in the world there exist only the
once born and the twice born; unfortunately the once-and-a-half born and the abo
rted ones also exist. Beware not to be taken in by their convincing lies and mac
hiavellian language. These beings live neither in this world nor the next. They
are neither initiates nor laymen, but imitators of Masters, semi-sages, sowers w
ith unclean hands, the followers of dead scrolls, and black magicians who covet
me and boast of my love when they are not even worthy of my smile. Some may wear
saris or tunics; others, collars and aprons; others, the
4
THE STELLAR MAN
Rosicrucian attire; some proclaim themselves the only possessors of the truth, b
elieving that they actually possess this monopoly. All of them claim my friendsh
ip, but are only beggars who plead to me for crumbs of wisdom. You do not achiev
e second birth by standing on your head or meditating, nor in the coffin of pure
ly symbolic ceremonies, nor by good works or the grace of the Holy Spirit. If yo
u disdain me, receive my blessings and continue on your road, destined to be foo
d for the gods. Not all can be men; some can only be animals, or worse, vegetabl
es. If you come to me through curiosity, think twice. It is easy to be rash with
what one does not know. If you are not brave enough, turn back; shield yourself
with your vanity and your pride, content yourself to look down at the ground li
ke your kin. If you are not prepared, do not aspire to see my face; unfortunate
is he who, possessed by animal greed or misguided curiosity, contemplates only m
y reflection, as he will never forget me, and will die tormented by the desire t
o possess me. If you are prepared, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear, if
your intention is pure and noble, proceed without discouragement and know that f
rom the moment yon cross the threshold of the occult abode, 1 will be anxiously
awaiting you like the young bride for her first love. This book can help you; it
can be the guide that will take you to the hidden door, which so many seek and
so few find. Seek and you will find; do not pray to the gods, fight for me. You
will conquer me with the strength of your decision, not by praying."
II
THE ANTICHRIST
I
t is surprising how the human being knows so many things and understands so litt
le. Just as in homeopathy, the noble product (knowledge) is infinitesimally dilu
ted by man's inability to understand. Homo sapiens dedicates his most important
efforts to increasing his knowledge, but it is precisely in this persistence tha
t he begins to lose himself more and more in a haze of uncertainty and disorient
ation. Afire with the thirst for knowledge, he tirelessly pursues any new thesis
or theory that may beckon, but, like that of the mythological Tantalus, his thi
rst, far from being satiated, only increases. A paradoxical destiny surrounds th
is deluded creature: to know more each day but to understand less. Inevitably, h
e extends himself daily up to the point of losing his own identity, constrained
to draw away from himself to merge with the external. Homo sapiens has advanced
with extraordinary speed in the conquest of science, and with the same momen-
5
6
THE STELLAR MAN
turn, he has lost himself in a world of phantoms born from the collective halluc
inations of a world becoming daily more artificial, stereotyped, and programmed.
In this world, the one who triumphs is usually the man of the masses who demons
trates perfect submission to the norms of the multitude, and who decides at an e
arly age not to think for himself, but to act instead with the multitude's colle
ctive mind. This is an unfailing passport to material success, but the price pai
d is so much higher than the reward. The price is one's own individuality, the m
uch-prized goal of the Delphic command, "know thyself." As it happens, one who k
nows himself well and therefore understands others is often harassed, disregarde
d, and ostracized. This is due to the fact that leadership usually belongs to th
e mediocre who glorify the golden calf and celebrate the empty stereotype of the
programmed individual. The temple of Delphi and its ideals no longer exist. The
y have been replaced by the temple of the university, the temple of the law, the
temple of religions, and the temple of political ideologies and economic system
s, along with all their slogans and phrases. All these are united by a common de
nominator: "Do not recognize yourself; surrender yourself to the multitude and o
bey its designs." Very few people are aware of this situation, but some feel it
instinctively and try to rebel against the system, without knowing what really l
eads them to this reaction. Young people, for example, intuitively resist, altho
ugh sometimes by mistaken paths, only to be absorbed by the collective entity. L
ater, as the years go by and their cerebral programming is
THE ANTICHRIST
7
strengthened, youth also yields to the strong influence of the collective mind.
A person who does not rapidly integrate collectively is believed to be antisocia
l, but he who merges easily and completely with the masses and loses his individ
uality is considered very valuable. This willingness to merge is considered the
correct way to be and is seen as the mark of a social conscience. Here again sap
iens has missed the point, for it is not possible to help or love others without
first knowing oneself. Two thousand years ago, sapiens basically had the same p
roblems he does now; the same fears, desires, anxieties, ambitions, greed, lies,
cowardice, complexes, internal conflicts, and confusions. His norms of behavior
were no different in essence than those at present. On the other hand, his mate
rial conditions were dramatically different from today's circumstances, consider
ing the astounding progress that can be observed up until the present day. The q
uestion arises whether this same progress has also occurred in the internal natu
re of sapiens. That is to say, is he a better human being today; does he have mo
re quality as a person than in earlier times? The reply is clearly no. No apprec
iable change has taken place in the human quality of sapiens in two thousand yea
rs, nor even in five thousand years. He has only increased his intellectual capa
city, due to the powerful and ever increasing demands of civilization. Although
the world has progressed from a barbaric state to civilization in the course of
history, the savage sapiens is today basically as primitive as in the distant pa
st, except that
8
THE STELLAR MAN
he is now covered with dozens of layers of cultural and educational varnish. To
break through the spiritual isolation of humanity, a superior being full of love
and compassion came to the world one day: Christ. He wanted to give sapiens an
opportunity to know a different world, a world without violence, hate, slavery,
or contradiction, to show sapiens what he could achieve. The collective mind of
the multitude, programmed according to the dictum "an eye for an eye, a tooth fo
r a tooth," violently rejected the Christian message and destroyed the Messiah,
as had happened on other occasions when Christ had come to earth, manifested thr
ough other superior men. This is how the multitudes serve as an instrument for t
he Antichrist, the blind monster, the headless beast that lies in wait for all t
hose who want to achieve the conscious individuality which would allow them to s
top being sapiens and convert them into Stellar Men. To be Stellar Men is the pi
nnacle of the evolution of Homo sapiens. At some time, no one knows when, the fa
lse legend of the Antichrist was born. The legend is erroneous in imagining that
a mythological being would be born into the world in order to destroy it throug
h the perversion of Christian values, and that this being would incarnate into a
man to undertake this ominous work. The legend as it exists now might be a dist
ortion of the original Hermetic term Antechrist. In Hermetic circles, the term A
ntechrist designated one who would act as announcer of Christ, preparing the way
. In these terms, the only Antechrist was John the Baptist. Thus, we use the wor
d
THE ANTICHRIST
9
Antichrist to mean contrary to Christ and Antechrist to mean before Christ.
Unfortunately, today we cannot count on the spiritual impulse of Christ incarnat
ed in a human body. Christ as a divine force, omnipresent in religious temples,
is but a symbolic allegory that invites believers to follow a comforting example
. No known individual currently possesses a real spiritual force which could be
called Christic. The priests of different religions only try to imitate Christ,
but unfortunately they do it with external and prefabricated spirituality, in ac
cordance to the stereotypes established by the patriarchs of the church. However
, ignorance does not necessarily mean nonexistence. The truth is that the torch
of spirituality is presently carried by only a few individuals who are unknown t
o the masses. Let us call them the magicians, in the dignified sense of this exp
ression, which is usually employed in a vulgar manner. We are referring to the g
reat initiates, Masters, unknown superior beings, or occult sages of humanity.
Why use the term "magicians?" Simply because the ignorant masses have always thu
s described those who possess strange qualities or powers unknown to them. Also,
there was the Inquisition, which labeled these wise men as such in order to dis
parage and annul their unusual ideas. For this reason, it is time to adopt this
term with pride, with the intention of eventually washing away its negative and
superstitious stigma. Witchcraft, ignorance, and superstition belong exclusively
to sapiens, and not to the magicians. Unfortunately, in the past, popular opini
on has described
10
THE STELLAR MAN
magicians as those simple sorcerers who travel to "sabbaths," using low-class so
rcery to satisfy their base passions. Why do we designate Christ as the symbol o
f spirituality? Because Jesus was the most distinguished member of the Magician'
s Fraternity, prepared specifically for his mission to make Christ incarnate in
himself. Jesus and Christ were two different persons; one human, the other, divi
ne. Christ is a superior being who is on an advanced level on the scale of evolu
tion, which a human being could reach in perhaps millions of years of evolution.
Let us conceive of him as an extraterrestrial spiritual power, which we could c
all an Archangel. This Archangel, due to his very lengthy evolution, possessed p
erfect and powerful spirituality. This is why Jesus went through a long preparat
ion for this role, for he had to be able to withstand an extremely high vibratio
n in his physical body. This vibration could only manifest itself for brief mome
nts, as its intensity could destroy the nervous and cellular system of Jesus' bo
dy. Christ was the one who performed miracles through Jesus, who provided the ma
tter for his manifestation. The Magician's Fraternity remains well hidden, as it
has a right to its own privacy, but some of its members have intermingled with
ordinary people, motivated by the wish to show sapiens the road to a higher life
. The magicians know, however, that knowledge of The Hermetic Art as an instrume
nt to reach spiritual heights, is only for the "elite" and is not to be divulged
. Nevertheless, the fraternity of initiates provides the opportunity for any per
son with sufficient merit to join the Hermetic elite of Magicians or Stellar Men
, if the scope and intelligence of his efforts permits him to do so.
THE ANTICHRIST
11
The science of the Magicians is called Hermetic Art in honor of Hermes Trismegis
tus. According to tradition, he arrived on earth from outer space approximately
thirty thousand years ago, anointed as Supreme Grand Master of the Initiatic Fra
ternity. Inspired by his light, Egypt became great and wise, and the sacred scie
nce of its priests was called Hermeticism. In those days, only by means of huge
sacrifices and trials was it possible to belong to a Hermetic Initiatic School.
The great majority who succeeded in entering such a school faltered along the wa
y, lacking the moral and spiritual courage to overcome the multiple obstacles, t
emptations, and trials by which ISIS, mistress of the mysteries of Nature, evalu
ated the true worth of those who aspired to the supreme knowledge of the absolut
e truth. It was in one of those schools that Jesus himself became a Hermeticist
and reached the highest degrees of initiation. Because the time is right, we wil
l divulge the mystery of Jesus the Christ and the causes for the moral suffering
of humanity, according to the teachings of the Magician's Fraternity. This mora
l mystery stems from the adoration of the golden calf; from the submission of th
e human being to the god of money In honor of this god, he must give up or sacri
fice his spiritual possibilities in order to be able to subsist. Those who posse
ss adequate means of subsistence generally pervert their potential spiritual val
ues in the foolish game of gaining social position on the consumer market. The s
piritual or moral quality of an individual is worth very little, as the need for
money leads him to lower and prostitute himself for the vile metal, which buys
honor, respect, love, fame,
12
H
THE STELLAR MAN
and power. The money god is sitting above the world, and whoever wishes to enjoy
his gifts must adore him. The real power of money is not only material, but it
is principally a hidden force, as the coin is not worth anything in itself; it i
s only symbolic for human effort or work. By a strange paradox, although work is
intrinsically noble, money, the result of this effort, is under the control or
influence of a satanic or diabolic power. We invite the reader to meditate on wh
at he could do to corrupt human beings if he was Satan; what means or tools woul
d he use to instigate crime, greed, war, fratricide, and decay of moral values?
It would be difficult to imagine anything more perfectly suited for this than go
ld; neutral in its own condition, but diabolical when handled perversely. Does S
atan really exist, or is he only a myth created by the masses to explain certain
things? If a person believes in the existence of God, then he must believe ther
e is a devil or Satan as a counterpart of the Supreme Creator. Because absolute
unity does not exist in life, the mere existence of something leads us to the af
firmation that its opposite is also real. There is no light without darkness, no
good without evil, no truth without falsehood. Death follows life, and life fol
lows death. God would thus be the supreme creative intelligence, and the "devil,
" the destructive intelligence. In the ancient Kabbalah, the devil has been symb
olized as the shadow of God. Therefore, just as the Great Creator has his angeli
c hosts, the devil also has his infernal legion. William Blatty, in his book The
Exorcist, refers to this legion when he presents
THE A NTICHRIST
13
the phenomenon of "demonic possession." After the following explanation we can c
ontinue our story. The tradition transmitted by the great Hermetic Masters affir
ms that at a crucial moment in the history of humanity, a powerful diabolic Arch
angel, if we are allowed to call him thus, succeeded in penetrating the earth's
occult defenses and entered its atmosphere, provoking extreme disturbances. To b
e able to imagine such a being, we suggest reading the book The Lurker at the Th
reshold by H. P. Lovecraft. According to Hermetic tradition, the direct, albeit
unwilling cause of this catastrophe which affects us to this day, was Moses. Eve
rybody knows that Moses appeared floating in a basket down a river and was subse
quently adopted, deceiving the Egyptian priests of the time. They took him for a
n Egyptian and initiated him into the mysteries of ritual magic, which is a meth
od for making the key notes of Nature vibrate, and thus produce certain phenomen
a which the operator wishes to achieve. The study of atomic physics shows us tha
t it is theoretically possible to produce changes or transmutations in matter; t
herefore, there is nothing miraculous about these mutations being achieved by me
ans of secret procedures. In spite of his esoteric identification with Egyptian
magic, Moses was always loyal to his ancestral blood. Thus, his most powerful wi
sh was to make himself the leader who would free his people from enslavement, le
ading them to the promised land. Guided by this desire, and conscious of the pow
erful forces he had learned to control, Moses had a daring idea: to make a magic
pact or alliance with an angel, a divine creature charged with the
14
THE STELLAR MAN
task of providing him with power and assistance from heaven to save his people.
After lengthy preparations done in deep solitude, he performed the ritual ceremo
ny with magic words and corresponding invocations. In the midst of amazing atmos
pheric and terrestrial phenomena, an impressive being appeared, making Moses tre
mble with fear and panic, due to the tremendous force it projected. It will neve
r be possible to know or even imagine the conditions under which the pact betwee
n man and heaven was made. The angel agreed to everything Moses requested and pr
omised his help, demanding the strictest obedience in return. He revealed his na
me as Y., and requested that as a sign of union, all his followers should underg
o a small ritual surgical operation, with a light discharge of blood. Every man
who underwent this would come to be a son of Y. The blood that was shed sealed t
he pact. From that day forward, Moses was invested with superhuman powers and st
arted doing all kinds of magical feats, converting the Ark of the Covenant into
the center of his power. Plagues and calamities fell over Egypt, and non-believe
rs and rebels were struck down by the wrath of Y In this manner, Moses' people s
tarted the Exodus that would last forty years. Later, Y., the occult power behin
d the leader, suddenly started to change his procedures by formulating strange d
emands, all of which had the shedding of blood as the common denominator. Moses
was overcome with fear and started to become aware of the magnitude of the error
he committed. He then
THE ANTICHRIST
15
understood that the divine angel was in truth an angel of darkness, the complete
opposite of the luminous power he had intended to invoke. This infernal angel w
as a member of the host of shadows. In order to maintain its power and strength,
this vampire needed to feed on human blood, an essence charged with the vitalit
y conferred by the divine spark. This is why all through the Exodus, so many blo
od-shedding incidents occurred, provoked by the occult dictator. In reality, who
was Y.? One could say he was a very ancient being whose evolutionary origin is
unknown. Through long periods of cosmic time, this being kept his individuality,
but unfortunately his evolution was directed toward negative, dark, and destruc
tive aspects; much like a human being who grows bitter with the passing of time
and adopts a negative and destructive concept of life. Many beings similar to Y.
exist in the Universe. Fortunately, the magnetic defenses of the planet constit
ute an impenetrable barrier against those beings. However, Moses' magic ritual o
pened a door and cleared a pathway through which Y. was able to penetrate into t
he Earth. It is possible to see this as the most transcendental, but unfortunate
ly harmful event in the occult history of humanity. To justify this statement, i
t is necessary to digress in order to clarify exactly what the planet Earth real
ly is. One can affirm, without fearing any sarcastic mockery from the ignorant o
r the semi-wise, that the planet Earth is a human being. It is not something equ
ivalent to a human being, but a man in all aspects of the word. Hermetic philoso
phy upholds the truth of reincarnation,
16
THE STELLAR MAN
but affirms that this takes place only with some people who possess, or have dev
eloped within themselves some qualities or characteristics apart from the physic
al body, which are capable of resisting death. The term "people" refers to human
beings, even if these beings may present physical characteristics different fro
m terrestrial man. Regarding reincarnation, Hermeticism teaches that a Hermetic
initiate of a high degree can achieve the power to reincarnate consciously, that
is, changing physical bodies while maintaining his individuality and a certain
degree of memory. Gradually, in the course of successive lives, the initiate gro
ws in spiritual power. His essence or divine spark grows successively more power
ful. In this way, the moment will come when the body of man, in the dimension an
d shape we are familiar with, is no longer capable of containing or supporting s
uch a vast and powerful essence. For this reason, such a spirit or super-develop
ed essence must seek an adequate physical body that corresponds to his tremendou
s energetic force. Thus he reincarnates in the body of a new or young planet, an
d continues his development there, in ways and conditions that are difficult for
us to conceive. This is how an extraordinarily evolved human being took the bod
y of the planet Earth and made it his own, in the most perfect shape in the Univ
erse: the sphere. This sphere is formed by the same basic materials as the human
body, which are, in brief, the materials of the Universe. This sphere breathes,
moves, thinks, and feels. It has a circulatory, digestive, procreative, and res
piratory system. Petroleum is its blood, and it feeds on vegetable, animal, and
THE ANTICHRIST
17
mineral matter. Sexually, it is hermaphroditic, with a masculine and a feminine
hemisphere. It breathes through plant life, and receives its etheric or magnetic
nourishment through emitting and receiving antenna, that is, through
Homo sapiens.
Once this clarification has been made, and in order to grasp the magnitude of th
e catastrophe accidentally brought about by Moses with the arrival of Y., we can
reveal that this ancient, vengeful, and malicious being expelled the young spir
it from the Earth, incarnating in his place. With this act, a dark and bloody er
a commenced for humanity. A period of suffering, torment, and pain started for t
he Jewish people as they were converted into the innocent victims of the negativ
e forces of Y. This is the explanation for the great afflictions which the Jews
have had to suffer. Imagine Moses' despair when he realized the calamity which h
ad occurred and the suffering created for those he had wanted to help. As time p
assed, Moses understood that nothing had power over Y., as he possessed incalcul
able malignity. Convinced of this, Moses brought together the wise men of his pe
ople and instructed them in the great mystery of the Messiah. These men, using m
agical rituals, could create a god and fulfill the mystery of theurgy, in the ho
pe that this god could liberate them and save the world from the destructive inf
luence of Y. Once his instruction was given, Moses climbed Mount Nebo and was ne
ver seen alive again. The wise men who inherited the patriarch's instructions fo
llowed them faithfully, carrying out the Messianic ritual according to the insti
tuted rules. As a result, hundreds of
18
THE STELLAR MAN
years later, Jesus appeared. He was the "Son of Man" (consider this expression c
arefully) and the Savior expected by the wise men initiated by Moses. This is ho
w Jesus was born, under the circumstances that are familiar to all. Hermetic tea
ching maintains he was the son of a Jewish woman and a Roman father, his progeni
tor being a Roman soldier and merely an instrument of higher occult forces. Why
is it said that Mary remained a virgin? This mystery really does not refer to ph
ysiological virginity, but to the fact that actually there was no physical conta
ct between Jesus' real father and Mary. In effect, his spiritual father was a gr
eat Hermetic initiate who etherically used the physical body of the Roman soldie
r to procreate a son. The spiritual seed was transmitted by the occult Master; t
he physical sperm by the Roman. In this manner, Mary conceived "without losing h
er virginity." In those times the term "virginity" was not used to designate mai
denhood; it was used to distinguish those women initiated in the secret of the "
virgule" as Mary was. The magic rod used by Moses was known as the "virgule." Th
ose who have "eyes to see and ears to hear" will understand this. For others, it
will produce a dismal silence in their interior, and they will remain in the re
alm of ignorant sarcasm, suffering the mental emptiness of those who do not want
to understand, or worse, the unconscious blindness of those who do not want to
see. Jesus, the god created by man and incarnated in the body of man, was consec
rated by the great initiate John the Baptist, otherwise known as the Antechrist.
Jesus' baptism in the river was the means that permitted the first manifestatio
n of
THE ANTICHRIST
19
Christ in Jesus, the man-god, whose mission was destined since his birth. From t
he time of Moses, the Fraternity of Magicians had been attentively observing the
se events without being able to alter them. The magicians were connoisseurs of t
he Messianic mystery and had the knowledge that certain wise men were working on
this. They decided to help the wise men try to correct the serious anomalies ex
plained before. They were awaiting Jesus' birth, and they were his occult godfat
hers who protected and educated him so he could fulfill his double mission. His
first mission was to liberate the chosen people from their occult killer. His se
cond mission was to save the world in general from the invisible vampire who cal
led himself Y. in order to begin a new era on Earth under the Christian motto "l
ove one another," replacing the dictum of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a t
ooth." At the same time, Jesus was an active member of the Fraternity of Magicia
ns, receiving support and inspiration from all of them. However, the great Maste
rs maintain that Jesus failed in his mission, or more accurately, that he only a
chieved partial success, since he did not reach his goal. This refers only to Je
sus, however, and not to Christ. In order to truly understand Jesus, it is neces
sary to consider his triple personality: 1. Jesus the man 2. Jesus the God (crea
ted by man) 3. Christ (who manifested himself through Jesus)
20
THE STELLAR MAN
Christ was an angel, a solar spirit who descended from Heaven to manifest himsel
f as the supreme power of the Father on earth. Jesus and his twelve disciples ar
e the symbol of a solar and cosmic mystery. Hermetic science teaches that our so
lar system is composed of twelve planets plus the sun, an analogy for the twelve
apostles and Christ, and that the unknown planets will be discovered in time. W
e will speak no more of Jesus; we have perhaps already said too much. We will on
ly add that the crucifixion was an expected drama in which Jesus' blood had to b
e shed so that Christ could in turn incarnate in the planet Earth and displace Y
., definitively casting him out of our atmosphere. However, as we have already m
entioned, this mission had only a relative success. Christ incarnated in the pla
net Earth, but Y. could not be expelled. Since then, both govern the planet. Chr
ist's force acts in the world through the representatives of the Fraternity of M
agicians. These men direct Hermetic schools in which the student can develop his
spiritual force to the point of disintegration of his animal soul and liberatio
n from the influence of Y., who can only act through primitive and animal instin
cts such as hate, envy, lust, greed, pride, and vanity. In this way, the Spiritu
al Beacon is kept alight to illuminate the select spirits who are potentially ca
pable of converting themselves into fully developed human beings and abandoning
their sapiens condition. Every person who reaches this condition is converted in
to a center of Christic irradiation and is therefore another
THE ANTICHRIST
21
obstacle for Y.'s influence. The naive say that Christ will return to the planet
Earth. But Christ is on Earth! He needs only to be removed from the cross by th
e same humanity who nailed him to it. Until that time, wars will continue. Great
numbers of people will die and their vitality will be absorbed by Y., the great
occult force behind these conflicts. None of this will end until this being is
conquered. The real Antichrist is Y., and he has spread his negative influence t
hroughout his followers, those of bestial instincts, who in turn have incorporat
ed this vibration into the multitude. The multitude is composed of amorphous and
blind entities, receptors of any force of sufficient power. In this way, Y.'s p
rinciples incorporated in the collective unconscious of humanity motivate the ph
ilosophy of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Trapped by this malign
ant force, people live diabolically: hating, destroying, stealing, killing their
brothers, returning evil with more evil, selling out their honesty and honor, e
nslaving the weak, exploiting the unprotected, and denigrating the just. Luckily
, there are many who act contrary to all this. If this were not so, life would b
e unbearable. They are the ones who somehow have received a true Christian influ
ence (not necessarily religious) and have higher values than usual. Religions ha
ve a positive family and social influence, but unfortunately on solely spiritual
grounds they do not have much to offer, and generally they try to check this de
ficiency with the indiscriminate use of the banner of Christ. The Fraternity of
Magicians does not derive its power from Christ, nor speak in his name. The Frat
ernity only exalts his
22
THE STELLAR MAN
values and shows or narrates events which the world should know, so that the cho
sen (the true humans) can reaffirm their conviction and loyalty to a superior sp
iritual life. The power of these Magicians comes from their harmony with, respec
t for, and obedience to cosmic laws, and the profound and serene spiritual condi
tion they have reached. Their spirituality places them in a magical relationship
with God, the Great Universal Father, who is recognized by the Hermeticists as
the first cause of the origin of all and the great force of order and creation.
To speak about Christ is to explain the esoteric side of the psycho-social pheno
menology of the world today. In its innocence, sapiens believes that everything
in life is as it appears on the surface, and that things must surely be as the v
ast majority say they are. When some people hear of the esoteric side of events
or the occult causes of different phenomena, they smile unbelievingly, arguing w
ith infantile logic that "if that were true, it would be made known by the press
" or, "it would have been taught at school or in the university" or, "well docum
ented books would exist on the subject." That way of thinking nullifies all prog
ress, because if everyone's belief was the same, no one would bother to study or
investigate little-known phenomena. Despite obstacles already mentioned, sapien
s in his individual manifestation (not as a species) can have latent superior qu
alities and characteristics, which may lead him to partially understand Hermetic
truths. Motivated by this knowledge, sapiens can awaken to a superior reality.
The sapiens individual can save himself from the lethargic des-
THE ANTICHRIST
23
tiny of humanity and eventually reach the world of the Hermeticists, magicians,
or awakened men.
Moses, a man of strength and wisdom, was driven by his yearning for freedom to c
ommit an error of cosmic magnitude. According to the great Hermetic wise men, th
is error nearly destroyed the solar system. To clarify this statement, the solar
system can be compared to the composition of an atom, borrowing on the Hermetic
theme of "as above, so below." In this case, Y.'s rise to power could be seen a
s an arbitrary substitution of an electron, which changed the spiritual nucleus
of the Earth. This is one of the many lessons, which oblige the Fraternity of Ma
gicians to strictly guard Hermetic secrets. The Fraternity will only give instru
ction in higher knowledge to those who have demonstrated their strength, their m
oral and spiritual purity, and the rectitude of their intentions.
III
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
H
omo sapiens is a living paradox. One cannot say whether Homo sapiens is the grea
test or the most insignificant of creatures that inhabit the Earth. The most sub
lime qualities and the most vile and perverse passions are combined within him.
There are many good people, but the evil ones are more numerous. The person who
complies with the law, respects his neighbor, does good in general, and helps ot
hers according to his strength, is called good. The amoral and destructive perso
n who enjoys hurting people in one way or another is called evil. Unfortunately,
both the good and the evil person are this way unconsciously, beyond their own
volition. The good are kind in spite of themselves. The evil cannot avoid being
so. Furthermore, they justify and accept it. The situation grows more complex wi
th the observation that there are good men who are stupid, and many evil men who
are intelligent. How should we choose our friends? How can we tell
25
26
THE STELLAR MAN
who should be the recipients of our affection? In what manner can we assess ours
elves in order to evaluate our own position as living beings? We cannot divide t
he world into people who are good or evil, rich or poor, intelligent or stupid,
important or insignificant. Generally, sapiens forms groups according to instinc
tive congeniality that is beyond all analysis. This alignment is usually establi
shed by qualities or defects. Like seeks like, except in amorous relations where
the opposite more frequently occurs. Scientists constantly study the psychology
of sapiens, trying to somehow justify his infinite contradictions. Innumerable
treatises and essays on morality, love, ethics, life, death, the finite, and inf
inite have been written. Nevertheless, very little light has been shed on the tr
ue nature of sapiens. This is not because science lacks knowledge. Rather, this
knowledge is rendered useless due to the human being's inability to measure the
true significance of recognized concepts. For example, a student can understand
perfectly well the statement that human beings live in a permanent somnambulisti
c state, especially since this fact is well documented, but the student will be
absolutely incapable of projecting this concept to the general context of life.
The student will not even remotely grasp all the horror this statement entails.
This is how the most arresting realities go unnoticed even though they are publi
c knowledge. One of the most striking facts is that we are animals. In order not
to think of this as an abstraction, let us repeat several times, "I am an anima
l, I am an animal, I am an animal." Think about what
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
27
this really means and all it entails. The majority of people will say they under
stand perfectly that they are animals, but it is certain that it will be absolut
ely impossible for them to visualize the amazing implications of this statement.
Thus "science knows much but is ignorant of almost everything." In this case we
can well recall Desmond Morris's The Naked Ape, a study of the human animal. Hi
s book had a great impact on the public. The crude examination of the animal cha
racteristics of sapiens made a true zoological portrait. What happened before th
is? Didn't people know that Homo sapiens was a monkey? Of course they did, but n
o one truly evaluated the significance of it. Yet sapiens feels very proud of hi
s talent, his creative genius, his capacity for reasoning, his capacity for affe
ction and creative power, calling himself the "highest living manifestation of i
ntelligence," or the "most perfect living creature." Sapiens is particularly sat
isfied with his culture, and presumes that his ability to transmit it to future
generations makes him enormously different from other animal species who apparen
tly lack this ability. Likewise, sapiens affirms that he possesses the highest p
rivileges inherent in the degree of "civilization" obtained by his species. Stat
ements such as, "all human beings have the right to happiness" and "all human be
ings are free in nature," illustrate this. In other words, this is equal to main
taining that the mere fact of having been born gives a sapiens creature the righ
t to liberty, happiness, love, and well-being. In fact, Homo sapiens not only do
es not have any right to
28
THE STELLAR MAN
liberty, happiness, or any well-being that he has not earned for himself, but fu
rthermore, he is not even remotely as intelligent, rational, and superior as he
believes himself to be. On the contrary, sapiens is virtually insignificant in t
he total context of nature, and this work will endeavor to reveal his intellectu
al mediocrity, his somnambulistic state, and his unreal existence. Sapiens is a
functionally deficient and anthropologically immature creature who, for reasons
of his own self-esteem, prefers to bury this fact in the deepest recesses of his
subconscious, and instead dreams about his own illusory intelligence and power.
It would be absurd to think that in a world inhabited by rational, conscious, a
nd intelligent beings, the latent danger of total destruction by a nuclear war c
ould exist. The very fact that punitive laws exist shows that people do not cond
uct themselves in a manner guided by reason, justice, tolerance, duty, and corre
ct action. Insanity, psychological complexes and disturbances, suicide, crimes o
f passion, anguish, uncontrollable ambition, and assassinations are proof of peo
ple's irrational conduct. Thus, sapiens claims to have a series of qualities, po
wers, and privileges that only exist in his imagination. When Calderon de la Bar
ca said that "life is but a dream," he was more correct than anyone could ever i
magine. The sapiens species provides material in sufficient quantity and numbers
for Nature so that, according to her own laws, a few beings are produced who ca
n finally fulfill an evolutionary goal. These few can truly reach a human condit
ion and enjoy all the privileges this involves, such as liberty, happiness, well
-being, and love. The masses simply provide
DISSECTION or SAPIENS S
29
the raw material for the social experiment of Nature and History. Nature is cold
and has neither preferences nor biases for anyone in particular. This is no rea
son for people to despise themselves, wrongly believing themselves to be inferio
r creatures. The fact is simply that Homo sapiens' age in evolutionary terms is
barely that of a child. In this condition, he cannot be ashamed of not acting li
ke an adult. In fact, the relatively conscious behavior of the human being barel
y extends over a few thousand years. If we had to compare sapiens' age as a spec
ies with that of an actual sapiens person, the conscious age of the species is b
arely eight or ten years old. It is hoped that once sapiens comes of age, in cos
mic time, not terrestrial time, he will attain a degree of maturity. Humanity ac
cepts as normal all individuals whose biological and psychological behavior adju
sts to collective rules. The one who separates himself from these norms is consi
dered abnormal. However, we never question how close normal is to the optimum. I
t could be that normal is much nearer to deficiency or imperfection than it is t
o optimum. Is it not possible, for example, that geniuses are not so extraordina
rily intelligent, but the other way around; that the rest of humanity is extraor
dinarily stupid? We must accept the idea that this is perfectly possible since w
e lack markers or reference points to compare the human race with other races. S
uppose that all the inhabitants of the planet were actually insane, how would we
ever become aware of this? An individual can only become aware of these phenome
na by virtue of a mystical experience, transcending his
30
THE STELLAR MAN
sapiens condition and elevating himself to a state of deep consciousness and abs
olute awakeness. Under these conditions, his great mental clarity will make him
understand absolute or eternal truths, in juxtaposition to the small, temporal,
and relative truths he habitually handles. During this period of elevated consci
ousness, a person can see that the normal human being is really abnormal; that h
e is, in a sense, a living creature deficiently created. He will observe sapiens
as mentally but not intellectually retarded, as irresponsible, and behaving lik
e a hypnotized person. This particular process of knowledge which has been calle
d revelation or illumination in some men who are saints, is later verified when
the individual steps out of his state of superior consciousness and descends to
an ordinary level, and observes the behavior of people who prove and demonstrate
in daily life the truth of the knowledge the initiate acquired. It will be argu
ed that civilization and the extraordinary advances of science prove the intelli
gence and capabilities of the human being. However, this argument is only a refl
ection of the fact that Homo sapiens holds his intelligence in high regard, cons
idering it as the highest human manifestation. It can thus be understood that th
e actions and memory of great intellectuals are venerated, exceeded in power and
prestige only by that of great millionaires. A genius will be long remembered i
n history, even if he was the inventor of a lethal weapon capable of destroying
half of humanity. Hermeticism rejects the assertion that intelligence is the mos
t valuable element of the human individual, and instead maintains that humanity'
s most precious and priceless ele-
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
31
ment is consciousness, in the sense of being more aware, more awakened, more ale
rt, judicious, and wiser. This faculty of consciousness, which most people lack,
is only born in persons who, for a variety of reasons, have reached a higher th
an normal level of awakeness in life; who in a certain sense have awakened, libe
rating themselves from the somnambulistic hypnosis which afflicts the masses. Ho
mo sapiens is in general an integrally programmed being at the cerebral, emotion
al, instinctive, and physical levels. What psychology calls personality can also
be defined as an individual program. Each individual possesses an intricate and
extensive cerebral program due to the effects of heredity, education, culture,
imitation, learning, conditioned reflexes, and so on. So when a person thinks, h
e can only do so within the basic context of his cerebral program from
which he cannot deviate for any reason, even if he tries to do so.
Each person must necessarily keep to his cerebral script and cannot do anything
other than manifest himself in it and through it. In order to understand this, o
ne can think of program and consciousness as absolutely contradictory elements.
Consciousness implies the capacity for change, choice, and self-determination, w
hich obviously is not possible in a being who is the visible manifestation of a
program. The Great Programmer can be called God, Universal Father, Cosmic Intell
igence, or any other name, but the reference is always clear. Due to his cerebra
l program and other little-known phenomena, the human being lives in a permanent
somnambulistic state. What is a somnambulist? The dictionary
32
SB
THE STELLAR MAN
defines somnambulism as an "abnormal sleep state during which the person gets up
, walks, and sometimes talks." Expanding this definition, somnambulism could be
described as "sleep that affects all humanity during which people get up, walk,
fight, love, hate, enjoy, suffer, think, procreate, live, grow old, and die with
out ever being aware of their hypnotic condition." Knowledge of hypnosis origina
ted in esoteric schools, and science, in spite of having adopted it, is very far
from understanding it. The individual sleeps by night, but is awake by day. Wha
t is not considered is that sleep and wakefulness represent two extremes of psyc
hological awareness, and between these two poles there are many degrees. Thus, d
uring the night a person may sleep either lightly or extremely deeply. The same
occurs with wakefulness, in which a person can be barely awake or extremely aler
t. Due to this, sapiens gradually came to believe that his usual state of awaren
ess during the day is being awake. In reality, this awareness is a state of hypn
otic or somnambulistic sleep in which a person can be dispersed while still havi
ng the appearance of being awake. Programmed intelligence apparently cannot perc
eive itself as being affected by hypnosis, especially when there is no one suffi
ciently awake to point it out. Nevertheless, history relates episodes in the liv
es of some philosophers who, because they became awakened men, understood the tr
uth, had access to a profound and substantial reality, and tried to communicate
their knowledge to others to help them awaken. Some people awakened, but the vas
t majority remained deaf, dumb, and blind. The majority of philosophers have bee
n merely great
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
33
thinkers, but not awakened men; giants of intellect, but not of consciousness. T
his is why traditional philosophy has always been so arid, cold, abstract, and i
mpractical. Philosophers were only "in love with the truth," but in the form of
an image or symbol, and not as a living reality. In this way, the intelligence s
apiens possesses, even when brilliant, is a mechanical, dead, and programmed int
elligence. What about our creative capacity, it can be objected, when man proves
his creative genius all the time? The reply to this is that the cerebral and cu
ltural programming of the learned and wise man grows constantly, but always foll
owing the already established patterns. A person can constantly study or investi
gate, but always within the limits of the basic content of his intellect. Thus,
he accumulates thousands of heterogeneous and homogeneous elements, which in his
daily intellectual work can produce infinite combinations by the mechanics of t
hought, but not by an authentic process of creation. In this world governed by m
echanical intelligence, the one who has the most information in his program and
is capable of handling it as skillfully as possible, will be deemed the most int
elligent. The Hermetic philosopher who has truly converted himself into an awake
ned man has a living, awake, creative, and unprogrammed intelligence. This is th
e exact opposite of the vast majority of humanity. This intelligence manifests i
tself far beyond the merely intellectual, reaching the peak of integral concepti
on where intelligence must surpass intellectual boundaries in order to become th
at which is mind. In effect, Hermetic philosophers have given the word mind a me
aning
34 S THE STELLAR MAN
it does not commonly have, defining it as "intelligence and
consciousness born from apprenticeship in an intensified state of awakeness."
The common man lacks mind and must resign himself to handling his limited intell
igence and knowledge, which have been developed through somnambulistic apprentic
eship in a state of hypnosis or sleep. With his mind, the Hermeticist can reach
the knowledge of absolute and eternal truths, as opposed to the relative and tem
poral truths of sapiens. The aims of the Hermeticist are eternal; the aims of th
e profane are temporal and finite. Deprived of the mind's superior possibilities
, sapiens obscurely senses his own weakness and vulnerability in the face of des
tiny, death, illness, war, poverty, and dangerous changes. This is why sapiens h
as always looked for leaders and chiefs whose strength will compensate for his o
wn weakness. Guided by this same desire, he has invented gods to which he prays
for the power and strength he lacks. The entire structure of our civilized world
is based on the absolute weakness, cowardice, impotency, ignorance, and vulnera
bility of the human individual who constructs collective systems of protection,
support, and control to externally compensate for his internal weakness. Human b
eings prefabricate culture, morality, religious creeds, laws, and police systems
to stop those who go against the common interests for that moment in history. T
hey plan and program community life and the future of their children. Internally
, however, the spiritual spark grows ever weaker in the face of the progressive
dehumanization of a world which in truth was never human to begin with,
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
35
but only animal-intelligent. The world has glorified science and forgotten human
nature. The center of gravity of a person's psychological awareness is projecte
d more and more toward the external world, progressively abandoning itself to in
carnate in the monstrous sons of civilization: consumer products, machines, cine
ma, and television. Advertising and the press are the two super monsters of our
times, tools by which man is skillfully manipulated and converted into a perfect
automaton. He becomes an obedient consumer of certain products, a respectful se
rver of ideologies and systems, which in turn provide small groups with power. I
f it is true that we live in the era of multitudes, and that their voices have t
aken over for the authority of kings and princes of the past, it is no less true
that history is the conflict of minorities, that is to say, of the leaders who
direct the masses. On this point the words of Professor Ludwig Von Bertalanffy o
f the University of Alberta are interesting:
Behavior is a response to stimuli coming from the outside . . . So far as it is
not innate or instinctive, behavior is shaped by outside influences that have me
t the organism in the past: classical conditioning after Pavlov, instrumental co
nditioning after Skinner, early childhood experience after Freud, secondary rein
forcements after more recent theories. Hence training, education, and human life
in general are essentially responses to outside conditions: beginning in early
childhood with toilet training and other manipulations whereby socially acceptab
le behavior is gratified and undesirable behavior blocked; continuing with educa
tion, which is best carried through according to
36 S THE STELLAR MAN
Skinnerian principles of reinforcement of correct responses and by means of teac
hing machines and ending in adult man in an affluent society which makes everybo
dy happy, conditioning him, in a strictly scientific manner, by the mass media t
o be a perfect consumerâ that is, an automaton properly answering in the ways prescri
bed by the industrial-military-political establishment. . . . Man as a machine t
hat can be programmed; all those machines identical to automobiles coming off th
e assembly line; equilibrium or comfort as the ultimate value; behavior as a bus
iness transaction with minimum expense and maximum gainâ this is a perfect expression
of the philosophy of commercial society. Stimulus-response, input-output, produ
cer-consumer are all the same concepts, only expressed in different terms. Profe
ssor Bertalanffy continues: I don't care a jot whether and to what extent profes
sors A, B, or C have modified Watson, Hull, and Freud, and have replaced their b
lunt statements by more qualified and sophisticated circumlocutions. I do care a
lot that the spirit still is all-pervading in our society and, even more, seems
necessary to keep it going: reducing man to the lower levels of his animal natu
re, manipulating him into becoming a feeble-minded and consumeristic automaton,
or a marionette of political power, systematically dulling his brain through a p
erverse system of education; in short, dehumanizing him ever further by means of
a sophisticated psychological technology. The effects of this manipulation we s
ee everywhere: in the unspeakable vulgarity of popular culture; in the unbearabl
e children and teenagers who do not know their mother tongue when entering colle
ge
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
37
but are glued to the television screen for five hours a day and find no better o
utlet than drug addiction, premature pregnancies, or delinquency; in a drab soci
ety . . . in which, through its meaningless rat race, fills thousands of mental
hospitals; in politics which has converted Jeffersonian democracy into a manipul
ated herd of cattle. . . . Mass persuasion is, of course, one of the oldest huma
n arts, from the sophists of Athens, the rhetoric of Aristotle, and the medieval
trivium to Hitler's famous manual. But, so long as it was art, its effects rema
ined capricious and unpredictable, as well as limited in space and time. Rebelli
on was possible even against the most powerful dictator; as a matter of historic
al fact, dictators usually came to a bad end. This was basically changed when ma
ss persuasion became scientific, using psychological mechanisms and techniques.
Then its power, because it was not imposed from outside but was internalized, be
came unlimited and nearly impregnable; aided by mass media whose barrage has no
limits in space and is nearly continuous in time. Thisâ besides nuclear weaponsâ is the g
eat discovery of our age: the power of modeling men into automata 'buying' every
thing from toothpaste and the Beatles to presidents, atomic war, and self-destru
ction.
Homo sapiens, alienated by these powerful forces, is simply a puppet who has no
other alternative but to live his life and play the role he has been assigned in
the drama of creation. Could this be a gigantic and horrendous conspiracy plann
ed by anonymous powers, or is it only a pastime of the gods?
38
THE STELLAR MAN
The constant bombardment through audiovisual means, which powerfully impact the
psyche, the numerous requirements of society, and the increasing complexity of c
ivilized life, all keep the individual fascinated and suspended in a veritable s
omnambulistic trance from which he will awaken with difficulty. This is due to t
he fact that the relationship between the person and the environment is a consta
nt process of feedback, which acts as an element for maintaining and reinforcing
the hypnosis. Hermeticists can isolate themselves psychologically from this neg
ative influence and remain awake, but are forced to share with people the materi
al circumstances derived from this situation of mass hypnosis. Society does not
cause the somnambulistic sleep of Homo sapiens; it only acts in maintaining and
reinforcing it. Sleep is a universal force, which is present throughout the cosm
os, and is manifested in several ways. According to Hermetic tradition, when the
Supreme Creator expelled man from Paradise, he punished him by embedding a mech
anism for hypnotic sleep in his brain in order to make him an obedient servant i
n the vineyards of the Lord. The Hermetic Masters, wishing to share the joy of a
state of superior awakeness with those who are prepared for it, maintain Hermet
ic schools where the person is given an opportunity to liberate himself from the
slavery of sleep which turns man into an animated malleable instrument, the def
inition of a slave according to Aristotle. The Magician's Fraternity invites eve
ryone who has suffi-
DISSECTION OF SAPIENS
39
cient ability to accomplish this magic work to join their spiritual movement. Ma
n can recover the lost Paradise and even gain an advantage, as he can live there
again "after having eaten the forbidden fruit," which according to the Bible, w
ould make man like unto God. However, this invitation is only for those who have
"eyes to see and ears to hear, as the lips of wisdom remain closed to those who
do not know how to listen." Let it not be thought that everyone can cross the t
hreshold that leads to supreme joy and immortality. On the contrary, "many are c
alled but few are chosen." Each person has a personal level and if that level is
too low, conceptually and culturally speaking, the space he has to cross to rea
ch the level of a true school of initiation is insurmountable. On the other hand
, he can prepare himself for initiation by leading a virtuous and disciplined li
fe, seeking to attain moral and spiritual advancement. Many times life itself wi
ll have sufficiently prepared a person. There are no rigid rules in this; in cer
tain cases, an individual will require higher education as a basic requirement t
o enter the school, since without a cultural foundation it would be impossible f
or him to understand the Teachings, and his path would be an act of faith, which
is insufficient. In spite of the fact that sapiens is integrally programmed, an
d that this does indeed harm him, he also possesses the divine spark, and this s
ingle fact immediately gives him the greatest possibilities for redemption and a
scent. This can be seen in those people who, for some reason, have an extraordin
arily powerful divine spark, and who
40
THE STELLAR MAN
show this by doing all kinds of good deeds and who face life with superior crite
ria. If we dissect man, it is only to show him the possibilities of evolution, a
nd not as a cruel or destructive criticism.
IV
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
A
ristotle defined a slave as an "animated malleable instrument." This terrifying
description has never been more true than it is today, if applied to human being
s in general. The individual is merely an appendage and a sounding board for the
species. Homo sapiens is the same as other animal species: he has a collective
soul which regulates and directs the evolution of the human race. The collective
soul produces the migration of the birds, regulates reproduction, directs diffe
rent changes and adaptations, brings about periods of mating, and in general, di
rects the instinctive behavior of the beasts. As he belongs to the animal kingdo
m, sapiens is not free from this directing force which in effect controls, direc
ts, supervises, and regulates the species, acting as a common brain, which stifl
es individual thought. This common soul has been called the "collective unconsci
ous" by Jung. He did not talk of an "animal soul" but he
41
42
THE STELLAR MAN
certainly possessed this knowledge. This collective unconscious is in truth the
animal soul of sapiens. The mere fact of understanding, accepting, and comprehen
ding the significance of this subject means visualizing the most important found
ation of sapiens' life, because the bestial impulse acts as the basic motive of
its actions. Personality is merely a reflection of the common soul, which shapes
the subject's psyche with unsuspected power. It is no more than an emanation fr
om the common deposit, which is incorporated and personalized in an individual w
ho thus acquires, if it is possible to use this expression, "an animal soul of h
is own" in miniature and distinguished from the great collective soul. In this w
ay, the individual receives from his parents a physical and genetic inheritance,
and from humanity, the legacy of power and animal intelligence. Under these cir
cumstances, it is very difficult for the individual to overcome this overwhelmin
g compulsion and shape his own individual personality. He must resign himself to
sharing the common fate of his fellow men, unless he is "lucky" enough to reach
a Hermetic school. Hermetic philosophy maintains that there can be no true spir
itual and moral progress if man does not cut the umbilical cord which ties him t
o the central computer of the species, which nourishes "bestial" characteristics
. This notable and unique event is far-reaching and irreversible, and it takes p
lace in the heart of true Hermetic schools. Other schools do not in any way deal
with the animal soul of the student, and are limited to only transmitting
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
43
certain teachings, which doubtlessly, will be used to further bestialize his int
elligence. The bestialization of intelligence is a common phenomenon in this age
. The more intelligent an individual is, the more powerful his beast will be, an
d the beast will use this intellect to satisfy its own instincts, without any co
ncern for anything else. The collective program (of the collective soul) based o
n fierce and inhuman rivalry, obliges the individual to kill in order to eat. De
ath has many degrees, and physical destruction is the last of them, but before t
his, there is the slow decline that is a result of the destruction of one's inne
r longings. We may kill by annihilating the will of others or pitilessly exploit
ing them; returning evil for evil; destroying their love, sanity, happiness, and
peace; or slandering, insulting, or being icily hardhearted toward others' prob
lems. The future of the human race does not look promising: the accelerated deve
lopment of a cold and inhuman intelligence without love or spiritual content. Pr
ogress is creating intelligent giants, but spiritual pygmies, with conscience an
d human sensitivity atrophied by a vast cerebral and cultural program designed u
ltimately to serve the central computer of the species. The only possibility for
salvation is in the hands of the isolated individual, that is, in the one who b
y means of Hermeticism attains vital autonomy, disentangling himself from the ce
ntral brain. Unfortunately, not everyone can be saved, since along with the exti
nction of the sapiens species and the cessation of the operation of the central
computer, there would arise a
44
THE STELLAR MAN
cosmic imbalance, as the central computer fulfills the functions necessary for t
he planetary harmony of our system. What is the future of those who cannot save
themselves? Nothing dramatic or spectacular; some could reincarnate and then slo
wly evolve through many lives, and others would disintegrate; that is, they woul
d have the kind of death which awaits the majority of materialistic people who b
elieve that all comes to an end in the grave. The oneiric web, which imprisons m
an, is tremendously subtle and complex, but at the same time brutally evident on
ce one learns to observe specific phenomena of social psychology. Even when sear
ching for something superior, people go around in a vicious circle of behavioral
standards dictated by culture. The more they study, the less they know, and the
less they understand. All their efforts are capitalized on by the central compu
ter, which channels them into a community cultural fund. How did this central co
mputer originate? It was formed gradually, ever since the first existence of man
on Earth, by the action of the environment on his psyche. It is the offspring o
f the emanations of God and the emanations of man. It will continue growing and
perfecting itself by virtue of the life of man himself, but will survive man, as
this force which
we call the collective unconscious or central computer does not
need material or biological support to continue its existence once it has been c
reated. Ideologically or mentally speaking the individual does not exist as he i
s inseparable from culture. He is governed by the behavioral standards accepted
by society, which ultimately are controlled by the central computer. Thus cultur
e,
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
45
which in some ways can do so much good for man, in other ways can be considered
as the veritable murderer of the divine spark, of freedom, and of awareness. Cul
ture encages, limits, obliges, impels, hypnotizes, and possesses the individual
with irresistible power, shaping him in accordance with one single pattern. This
pattern is established as a prototype for the production of robot-men who are t
he slaves the central computer needs to keep the spectacle of life moving. In a
sick society such as ours, we will undoubtedly have a sick culture, one alienate
d by collective stereotypes. Our society is truly sick, and within this society
we live out satanic dreams worthy of the Divine Comedy. Each being contains a wo
rld of problems and conflicts. Fortunately, or unfortunately, man blunts his hig
her faculties and is not aware of all the horror of his existence in a mad world
. A popular aphorism says, "in the land of the blind, the oneeyed man is king."
Something similar is happening to our civilization where the higher forms of gov
ernment and community guidance are not submitted to any type of sane control. We
are guided to a greater or lesser extent by individuals, about whose degree of
sanity or mental illness we are totally unaware. It is sufficient that an indivi
dual should appear to be normal and he will be accepted as such. We are all awar
e that mental disturbances are some of the most difficult phenomena to discover
and evaluate, even by specialized professionals. It is impossible for the ordina
ry man in the street to perceive this madness. It seems incredible that in a civ
ilization said to be advanced, such an important subject has been neglected. As
we
46
THE STELLAR MAN
know, it is a small group of men who govern the great masses. How many of those
forming part of this group of leaders are disturbed with serious problems? Thirt
y percent or perhaps fifty percent, or maybe the great majority? How does one ev
aluate the damage this implies for humanity? It would not be of great significan
ce if serious mental disturbances occurred in those people not holding public of
fice or important positions. On the other hand, for those whose range of social
action is very wide, it seems absurd and irrational that they should not be obli
ged to undergo a periodic evaluation of their mental and psychological health. A
t this time, it is perfectly possible that the judge who administers justice in
one's local area could be mentally disturbed. This possibility cannot be dispute
d by any psychiatrist, as mental illness is rarely blatant or spectacular, but i
nstead is rather sly, hidden, and insidious. In fact, it is well known that ther
e is scarcely anyone who does not have pathological traits in the way their mind
s work. The gravity of these factors is overlooked. The case of the aforemention
ed judge, if he indeed had truly serious mental problems, would represent a horr
ifying example of someone who was mentally ill authorized by society to manipula
te people, administering justice in accordance with his complexes, frustrations,
manias, and traumas. One can object that a judge only follows the letter of the
law, but perceptive analysis will show that codes of law can be interpreted in
many different personal ways. At this point we should ask ourselves how many par
anoid judges there are in the world who totally ignore the sacred impartiality o
f the law; how many important public
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
47
officials are victims of hysteria, megalomania, egocentrism, unbridled yearning
for power, sadism, or a total lack of selfcriticism? There is no provision for s
creening those who, by virtue of their position, are affected by the phenomenon
of psychological inflation due to the prestige that their position confers upon
them. The term "psychological inflation," coined by Jung, describes the disorien
tation experienced by a person when he identifies himself with the position he o
ccupies and is led astray in his self-evaluation. In this way, a physician could
inflate or raise himself to the high level of importance and dignity which soci
ety confers on a doctor due to his professional title. But a person is not what
his title or position represents; he is merely a person who cannot claim for him
self the importance and grandeur granted to the medical profession in general, b
ecause thousands of people belong to this profession. Without realizing this, th
e person subject to inflation tries to usurp or attribute to himself alone, the
force, power, and importance which does not belong to him, but which is actually
granted by society. We know there is no psychological control, that inevitably
thousands of innocent victims pay in different ways for the insanity of those in
charge of administering our civilization. Legal errors, abuse of power, fatal p
olitical mistakes which degenerate into armed conflict, the usurping of power by
financial mafias, obsolete or erroneous educational systems; all of this is in
some way provoked by the mentally disturbed. Included among these cases are the
"sick" humans who sell their honor, dignity, decency, and their person for monet
ary rewards.
48
THE STELLAR MAN
It is also true that there are successes, beneficial discoveries and very positi
ve works, but unfortunately, for one reason or another, these works rarely produ
ce results that are decisively positive for the world. This process is analogous
to healing the branches of a tree while the trunk and roots are rotting. Theref
ore, no scientific event or discovery will be far-reaching in importance until h
uman nature is changed and raised to a higher level. On the other hand, even sma
ll pebbles make a mountain after eons of time. In order to understand this, it m
ust be accepted that there will be no real progress and evolution until human na
ture changes. It is precisely this grand work to which the great Hermetic Initia
tes are pledged, and it is for this reason that there are true Hermetic schools
where people are given an opportunity to elevate themselves. To have a wider und
erstanding of the functional mechanism of the collective soul or central compute
r, it is necessary to analyze the psychological action of the masses. This will
enable us to verify the hidden action of a certain type of force, which takes po
ssession of people under certain circumstances. In the following relevant extrac
ts from Gustav Le Bon's work, The Crowd, he states:
In its ordinary sense, the word "crowd" represents a gathering of individuals of
whatever nationality, profession, or sex, and whatever may be the chances that
have brought them together. From the psychological point of view, the expression
"crowd" assumes quite a different meaning. Given certain
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
49
circumstances, and only under those circumstances, an agglomeration of men prese
nts characteristics very different from those of the individuals composing it. T
he sentiments and ideas of all the persons in the gathering take one and the sam
e direction, and their conscious personality vanishes. A collective soul is form
ed, without a doubt, but displays very clearly defined characteristics. The gath
ering has thus become what, in the absence of a better expression, I will call a
n organized crowd, or, if the term is considered preferable, a psychological cro
wd. It forms a single being, and is subjected to the law of mental unity of crow
ds. In this description by Le Bon it can be seen how the central computer acts w
ith force in grouping people into psychological crowds or masses. Nevertheless,
a mass may be composed of two, three, five, or forty people, as the psychologica
l meaning of crowds or masses is different from the common one. When a person ha
s developed a strong individuality, he is less sensitive to this coercion of the
masses. Le Bon continues: . . . In the case of everything that belongs to the r
ealm of sentimentâ religion, politics, morality, affection and antipathies, etc.â the mos
eminent men seldom surpass the standard of the most ordinary individuals. From
the intellectual point of view an abyss may exist between a great mathematician
and his boot-maker, but from the point of view of character the difference is mo
st often slight or nonexistent . . . In the collective mind the intellectual apt
itudes of the individuals, and as a consequence their individuality, are weakene
d. The heterogeneous is swamped by the
50
THE STELLAR MAN
homogeneous, and the unconscious qualities obtain the upper hand. The very fact
that crowds possess common ordinary qualities explains why they can never accomp
lish acts demanding a high degree of intelligence. The decisions affecting matte
rs of general interest come to by an assembly of men of distinction, but special
ists in different walks of life, are not sensibly superior to the decisions that
would be adopted by a gathering of imbeciles. The truth is, they can only bring
to bear in common on the work at hand those mediocre qualities which are the bi
rthright of every average individual. In crowds, it is stupidity and not mother-
wit that is accumulated. We see, then, that the disappearance of the conscious p
ersonality, the predominance of the unconscious personality, the turning by mean
s of suggestion and contagion of feelings and ideas in an identical direction, t
he tendency immediately to transform the suggested ideas into acts; these we see
, are the principle characteristics of the individual forming part of a crowd. H
e is no longer himself, but has become an automaton who has ceased to be guided
by his will. Moreover, by the mere fact that he forms part of an organized crowd
, a man descends several rungs on the ladder of civilization.
He further states:
Crowds exhibit a docile respect for force, and are but slightly impressed by kin
dness, which for them is scarcely other than a form of weakness. Their sympathie
s have never been bestowed on easy-going masters, but on tyrants who vigorously
oppressed them. It is to these latter
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES 51
that they always erect the loftiest statues. It is true that they willingly tram
ple on the despot whom they have stripped of his power, but it is because, havin
g lost his strength, he has resumed his place among the people, who are to be de
spised because they are not to be feared . . . A crowd is always ready to revolt
against a weak authority and bow down servilely before a strong one. Should the
strength of an authority be intermittent, the crowd, always obedient to its ext
reme sentiments, passes alternately from anarchy to servitude, and from servitud
e to anarchy. However, to believe in the predominance among crowds of revolution
ary instincts would be to entirely misconstrue their psychology. It is merely th
eir tendency to violence that deceives us on this point. Their rebellious and de
structive outbursts are always very transitory. Crowds are governed too much by
unconscious considerations, and as a consequence subject too much to secular her
editary influences to not be extremely conservative. Abandoned to themselves, th
ey soon weary of disorder, and instinctively turn to servitude. From Le Bon's sk
illful description, we can see how the central computer manipulates people, conv
erting them into puppets in the service of an established plan. What plan? The e
volutionary plan for sapiens, which must adjust to certain rules of the game. Th
e general rules are as follows: 1. Considered collectively as a species, sapiens
is not and can not be free. 2. Sapiens must be born, suffer, love, become sick
and die, re produce, build up civilizations and destroy them, only for
52
THE STELLAR MAN
the benefit of invisible superior powers who capitalize on his vital product. Do
esn't sapiens profit from other animal species? Are there not animals which exis
t exclusively to feed sapiens? Minerals feed upon cosmic rays; plants on mineral
s; animals on plants; man feeds on all these, and the gods feed on man. 3. Sapie
ns is, therefore, a slave in perpetuity; nevertheless, in dividual or isolated b
eings separated from the group may become free. 4. The only possible freedom is
liberation from the central com puter and the only way to attain this is by conq
uering and surpassing oneself. 5. Sapiens is obliged to comply with the rules of
the game in the system to which he has been assigned. 6. The evolution of sapie
ns comes inevitably with time, but measured in cosmic, not terrestrial time. Per
haps he may have to wait millions of terrestrial years in order to reach perfect
ion. 7. There is no evolution of the sapiens individual; only that of the specie
s as stated above. If a sapiens individual desires to evolve, he must convert hi
mself into a mutant human for whom evolution exists. 8. There are other rules of
the game, but only those already in dicated can be revealed at this time.
In order to explain the modus operandi of the sapiens plan, the hierarchy of the
operating forces will be explained. The diagram that follows endeavors only to
briefly describe the basic forces which act in the Universe: God, the Creator, i
n his double manifestation of life and death, light and darkness, of the sleep s
tate and the state of vigilance, abases his power until able to act concretely t
hrough certain
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
53
"angels" who direct the evolutionary plan. Hermetic tradition calls them the Arc
hons or Lords of Destiny.
With reference to sapiens, this plan is maintained by virtue of dream energy, as
can be seen in diagram 1. Nevertheless, the divine irradiation of luminous ener
gy, which we call Vigilance, reaches the planet Earth but is not manifested in s
apiens. Sleep energy, directed or manipulated by the Archons, maintains the prog
ramming of the system even down to the smallest group, the family. Those who "ha
ve eyes to see and ears to hear" will draw incalculable advantage from the compr
ehension of this system. To give a concrete example, this master key can be used
to explain certain strange events in the life of Jesus which in this light, app
ear rational and crystal clear. Why did Jesus appear to be so tremendously antag
onistic toward the family? Recall his words: "I have come to set a man against h
is father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law. And the enemies of man should be their own families. He who l
oves his father or mother more than he loves me, is not worthy of me; and he who
loves his son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." When Jesus was to
ld that his mother and brothers were outside and wished to speak to him, he repl
ied: "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" and he stretched out his hand towa
rds his disciples saying: "Here are my mother and my brothers." When one of his
disciples asked him for leave to bury his father, Jesus said, "follow me and let
the dead bury their dead."
54
THE STELLAR MAN
Strange words for one who preached of love! Nevertheless, the explanation is sim
ple. Looking at diagram 1, it can be seen that the family is the ultimate nucleu
s that maintains dream or hypnotic energy: the instrument of sapiens' slavery to
animal unconsciousness. Thus, if Jesus wished his disciples to see the light, t
o awaken and evolve, by necessity they had to break the chains of sleep. Of cour
se, it is understood that this example can be applied solely to those who wish t
o forever follow a path toward spiritual advancement, leaving the world aside an
d foregoing human affection, as must have been the case with the twelve apostles
. It is also necessary to understand that two families may exist: the animal fam
ily of sapiens and the divine family (human). Needless to say, any family, which
by virtue of the spiritual advancement of its members becomes free from the act
ion of sleep, is in truth converted into a divine family. The family nucleus sho
uld be solidly united, not by oneiric force or blood ties, but by an authentic s
piritual communion. Regarding material freedom, sapiens will greatly progress an
d, without doubt, will someday free himself from the Biblical saying: "you will
earn your bread by the sweat of your brow." The advance of science and its techn
iques allows us to surmise or foresee that the working day will shorten in propo
rtion to the degree of automation achieved by specialized machines (robots) whic
h undertake the heavy work previously accomplished by man. Also foreseeable are
extraordinary medical advances and the appearance of new inventions, which will
make life on earth more pleasant and
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
55
56
THE STELLAR MAN
more agreeable. If these advances are not parallel to an increase in the level o
f awareness of humanity, they will lead to a state of civilized barbarism. Our d
escendants will be extraordinarily intelligent barbarians, possessors of advance
d technology, but with a progressive atrophying of their muscles and spiritual c
onsciousness. The phenomenon of psychological inflation made known by Jung, to w
hom we have already referred, strongly affects common man. He identifies with sc
ience, arts, culture, technological progress, and civilization and absorbs them,
confusing them with himself. Thus he loses sight of himself and lives on a leve
l of importance and qualifications entirely beyond him, and which in truth corre
spond to the sum total of the efforts of man since his existence upon Earth. By
means of a psychological trick, he multiplies his own worth by millions, and the
result is a deep satisfaction with his selfesteem. In order to analyze a person
and judge his individual value, we must always divest him of all the honors, di
gnities, inheritances, authority, and privileges which society has conferred on
him. Unfortunately, our analysis will be very discouraging, for in the majority
of cases, within this inflated being we will not find the human being which this
covering hides; he has died, devoured by life itself; or perhaps he never exist
ed in the first place. It is for this reason that a human being always hides beh
ind numerous masks and disguises, for in this way his absolute insignificance go
es unnoticed. The smaller an individual is, the more he endeavors to inflate him
self to appear important in the eyes of others and thus raise his self-esteem.
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
57
Psychology asserts that the most profound principle of human nature is the desir
e to be appreciated, and therefore there exists a demand for self-exaltation. It
is said that the experience most sought after by man is the increase of his sel
f-esteem, and the trait most difficult to eradicate is vanity.
In Personality: A Psychological Interpretation, Doctor Gor-
don Allport states the following regarding self-esteem:
Whatever the ultimate character of this principle, its cruder forms of expressio
n result in extraordinary strategies of conduct. It alone is responsible for a g
reat superstructure of masquerade built up in every life. All in the interests o
f self-esteem one may cover one's true emotions, put on a front, and at consider
able cost avoid exposing one's weaknesses. The persona that develops protects on
e from unwelcome narcissistic wounds. What is even more spectacular, likewise in
the interest of self-esteem, is the capacity men have for deceiving themselves
. . .
The techniques of self-deception are numerous. Psychological usage, groups them
all under the single title of rationalization, a term signifying, of course, pre
cisely the opposite of reason . . . Reason fits one's impulses and beliefs to th
e world of reality; rationalization fits one's conception of reality to one's im
pulses and beliefs. Or, as the aphorism has it, reasoning discovers real reasons
, and rationalization, good reasons, for what we do.
We can observe how an individual regards his own "I" or ego and tries by all mea
ns to put the greatest possible distance between that "I" and the surrounding re
ality. The more buffers which exist between the person and the world, the
58
THE STELLAR MAN
more peacefully he will sleep. He will then withdraw substantially from reality,
seeing it from afar as a vague inkling through the veil of his protective mecha
nisms, otherwise known as personality and its function. The personality is in th
e service of the individual's program. Furthermore, it forms part of this progra
m and is the psychological mechanism destined to maintain and reinforce it. The
study of the mechanisms of the personality is invaluable in understanding the op
erating system of the central computer.
The collective soul or central computer, personality, culture,
society, mass movements, education, publicity, television, and the press; all th
ese are powerful tools in the service of
Hypnos.
There are a select minority of beings who, by their personal efforts, are able t
o stand out from the mass and excel for different reasons. They may belong to an
intellectual, hereditary, or financial aristocracy, but in the final analysis,
they serve the central computer with the same docility as the masses, the only d
ifference being that they are better rewarded for their service. Great human dif
ferences are essentially very superficial, as people react in more or less the s
ame way internally. Of course the chosen also exist. They are privileged men who
se intellectual depth enables them, to a certain extent, to surpass the barriers
of what is superficial and apparent. They are individuals who, for one reason o
r another, better resist the hypnotic influence of dream energy. Nevertheless, t
heir writings, words, and speeches are lost in the vacuum of a deluded multitude
. The difficulty in fathoming and understanding concepts
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
59
which are not habitually used makes it practically impossible for a person to ev
aluate the tremendous importance that the collective soul has in the life of a h
uman being. In order to truly comprehend the significance of this fact, it is su
fficient to consider that we are only a vital emanation of the collective soul,
a structure without any autonomy or a life of our own. In the light of this trut
h, we can understand many psychological phenomena which are not very clear, but
which are decisively important in human life. Take for example anxiety, which is
the hidden reason for many of man's acts. In The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm mai
ntained that: The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the
source of all anxiety. Being separate means being cut off, without any capacity
to use my human powers . . .
The awareness of human separation, without reunion by loveâ is the source of shame.
It is at the same time the source of guilt and anxiety.
The deepest need of man, then, is the need to overcome his separateness, to leav
e the prison of his aloneness. We must ask ourselves: why is there such a fear o
f isolation? Isolation from what? Obviously that necessity of union corresponds
to the tie with the collective soul or central computer. All attempts or possibi
lity of separation, by virtue of an external or internal influence, produces pan
ic, and this panic is experienced by the human animal when threatened with separ
ation from the flock. Reflecting on this we can understand the scope of the ailm
ent which affects sapiens; not only does he not want to be human, but he senses
profound anguish when threatened
60
THE STELLAR MAN
with the abandonment of his animal condition. For this reason, anguished sapiens
has invented certain tricks or flawed and artificial solutions, which enable hi
m to temporarily placate his deep fear. Fromm speaks of the following attempts t
o escape the state of separation: 1. ORGIASTIC STATES:
One way of achieving this aim lies in all kinds of orgiastic states. These may h
ave the form of an auto-induced trance, sometimes with the help of drugs. Many r
ituals of primitive tribes offer a vivid picture of this type of solution. In a
transitory state of exaltation the world outside disappears, and with it the fee
ling of separateness from it. Inasmuch as these rituals are practiced in common,
an experience of fusion with the group is added which makes this solution all t
he more effective.
Such orgiastic states may be brought about with drugs, certain rituals, by alcoh
ol, and by sexual experience. Although the rituals of primitive tribes offer thi
s kind of solution, this same solution is also present in more civilized society
in religious rituals which produce an experience of fusion with the group and w
ith a divinity who forgives the sin and rewards the believer, granting him a sta
te of grace. Fromm continues:
Alcoholism and drug addiction are the forms which the individual chooses in non-
orgiastic culture. In contrast to those participating in the socially patterned
solution, such individuals suffer from guilt feelings and remorse. While they tr
y to escape from separateness by taking refuge in alcohol or drugs, they feel al
l the more separate after the
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
61
orgiastic experience is over, and thus are driven to take recourse to it with in
creasing frequency and intensity.
2. CONFORMITY WITH THE GROUP:
Also in contemporary Western society, union with the group is the prevalent way
of overcoming separateness. It is a union in which the individual self disappear
s to a large extent, and where the aim is to belong to the herd. If I am like ev
erybody else, if I have no feelings or thoughts which make me different, if I co
nform in custom, dress, and ideas, to the pattern of the group, I am saved from
the frightening experience of aloneness. Nevertheless, the price to be paid is v
ery high, as it involves freedom and individuality. Furthermore, as stated by Fr
omm, union by conformity is not intense or violent; it is serenity dictated by r
outine, and due to this, at times is insufficient to alleviate the anguish of se
paration, and then comes the need to indulge in orgiastic practices. Fromm is of
the opinion that flock-like conformity only offers the advantage of being perma
nent and not spasmodic, as the individual is introduced to the conformity patter
n at three to four years of age, and from that moment never loses contact with t
he flock. He even anticipates his funeral as the last event of social importance
, remaining strictly within the pattern. 3. CREATIVE ACTIVITY:
In any kind of creative work the person creating unites himself with his materia
l, which represents the world outside himself. Whether a carpenter makes a table
, or a
62
THE STELLAR MAN
goldsmith a piece of jewelry, whether the peasant grows his corn or the painter
paints a picture, in all types of creative work the worker and his object become
one, man unites himself with the world in the process of creation. . . . The un
ity achieved in productive work is not interpersonal; the unity achieved in orgi
astic fusion is transitory; the unity achieved by conformity is only pseudo-unit
y. Hence, they are only partial answers to the problem of existence. The full an
swer lies in the achievement of interpersonal union, of fusion with another pers
on, in love.
4. UNION BY LOVE: This complete solution can only be reached when there is genui
ne love and not just a passional or symbiotic union. A passional union is one in
which a person is a slave to passion and in reality his activity is a passivene
ss, because he is impelled, and it is he who undergoes the act and not he who ac
complishes it. A symbiotic union is produced when there is a dependence in which
both need each other mutually and absorb each other reciprocally. It is a form
of vampirism or parasitism. Fromm describes genuine love very clearly:
Union by love is only valid when there is mature love, that is, a union that all
ows and maintains individualism. In contrast to symbiotic union, mature love is
union under
the condition of preserving one's integrity, one's individuality. Love is an act
ive power in man; a power which breaks
through the walls which separate man from his fellow men, which unites him with
others; love makes him overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet it
permits him to be himself, to retain his integrity. In love,
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
63
the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two. From this prof
ound description by Fromm, we see sapiens' main motivation in life, his deep ang
uish, is based on the fear of freedom with respect to the central computer. Usin
g the master key of knowledge of the collective soul of sapiens, the reader coul
d well analyze any aspect of social psychology. Whether it be love, politics, wa
r, art, morals, justice, or injustice, everything can be understood through prio
r knowledge of the mystery of the central computer. After reading this far, many
readers may be puzzled, as perhaps they expected more magic, mystery, and occul
tism. Perhaps they desired the revelation of fantastic secrets, which would enab
le them to unfold with a simple abracadabra or attain clairvoyance with the open
ing of a third eye. Patience! The most impatient and superficial person is the o
ne who sees least. Only the one who senses that great truth is found in that whi
ch is simple will be able to see beneath the surface of appearances. People alwa
ys seek that which is complicated, believing there is an equivalence between com
plexity and truth. If we meditate deeply, we will find it is much more difficult
to notice the simple than the complex. That which is simple appears so unattrac
tive that no one bothers to study it or make an effort to delve beneath its surf
ace. Nevertheless, truth is in that which is simple, and for this reason it is s
aid that "truth is written in the open book of Nature." Truth is strewn everywhe
re and no one notices it. It is more difficult to "know what is already known" t
han to learn about something of which one is ignorant. The
64
THE STELLAR MAN
already-known merits no attention and in any event is tainted with prejudices. I
t is for this reason that true intellect is hidden away in the attic of the insi
gnificant and useless, scorning the profound treasure it may contain. The myster
y of occultism and magic is based on understanding what is already known to ever
yone, but which no one understands. For this reason, the common man wanders abou
t lost and disoriented, endeavoring to find mysterious masters in India, to acqu
ire strange parapsychological qualities, or to find curious and hidden manuscrip
ts with magic secrets. The word "occultism" does not define unknown knowledge, b
ut a teaching, which is hidden due to human stupidity, snobbery, superficiality,
fantasy, and the lack of a state of higher awareness. It is due to this that at
many times, lacking the abracadabra, the student feels cheated as he expected m
agic. But, what is the general concept of magic? Magic is the food of hope for l
azy people who believe it is sufficient to learn tricks or attain certain powers
to be able to reach the fulfillment of all their desires through magic, without
any effort whatsoever. That is to say, they visualize the magic art as an arbit
rary exercise, a procedure in which the world and Nature would be subject to the
whims and desires of the magician. We must now disillusion them, as that which
is arbitrary does not exist in the Universe, and should it exist, it would bring
about the destruction of the Cosmos. People are horrified by effort, and theref
ore, easy magic has an extraordinary attraction for the unwary. Paraphrasing the
concept of Hermes Trismegistus of "as above, so below,"
THE COLLECTIVE SOUL OF THE SPECIES
65
the attainment of something physical or material entails work, time, and effort.
This is also true for Hermeticism, an art in which only after a long process of
initiation is it possible to take the first steps. Nevertheless, we must not fo
rget that the effort required is always relative to the importance of the goal b
eing pursued, and we know of no higher or more noble goal than to be converted i
nto a true human being with higher spiritual qualities. Many people identify mag
ic with parapsychological ability, believing that the highest goal of occultism
consists in developing PSI powers. They are misguided by virtue of their complet
e lack of knowledge about true occultism, whose spiritual goals are neither temp
oral nor relative, but rather are infinite, eternal, and absolute, transcending
matter, historical eras, life, and death.
V
To BE OR NOT TO BE?
T
his traditional question posed by Shakespeare is also one of the basic elements
on which the student of Hermeticism must work. At first glance, the question see
ms to be the framework for a decision to live or die; no one thinks that he is n
ot from the moment he has evidence of existence, sees himself, and realizes he p
ossesses a material body which occupies space. Any normal human being who asks h
imself, "am I or am I not?" must reply affirmatively. Nevertheless, Hermeticism
affirms that sapiens is not. How can this be understood? ... Only through greate
r precision and depth in the comprehension of related concepts. For this it is n
ecessary to work with two philosophical triangles, which follow. Sapiens has a p
hysical body, with a divine spark or spirit, and a "psychological I" or personal
ity. If we ask if so-and-so is, and we refer to the body and the "psychological
I," we
68
THE STELLAR MAN
must reply in the affirmative. On the other hand, if we refer to the spirit or "
Superior I," our reply will be no. In order to understand this, we must realize
that we are speaking of a person, and that this person lives in the material wor
ld in a material body. This body is clearly seen and cannot be denied as it occu
pies space. The "psychological I" of this body also constantly manifests itself
(perhaps it is never otherwise) and we have evidence of this. Nevertheless, the
"Superior I" or the spirit, in spite of being incarnated in matter, lives its ow
n life in its own related
world. This "Superior I" is not manifested in the body or the real
world, and therefore, it is not in the material reality of the present time. It
is certain that for those people who do not believe that the spirit or the spiri
t in sapiens exists, this explanation has absolutely no value. Those individuals
must ask themselves the following question: "Who am I? Surely I am not the body
, nor am I so-and-so. Could I be the thinker? Who am I?" Continuing along this l
ine, we maintain that the spirit or immortal essence, the "Superior I," lives in
a mysterious limbo to which we have no access. From that limbo a fine thread
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
69
reaches to the psychological awareness, giving the individual a sense of spiritu
ality. Nevertheless, the spirit is never manifested in the individual's brain, a
nd as a result, is never manifested in the concrete reality of the material worl
d. Therefore, if I ask myself, "am I or am I not?" this question refers to the e
ssential being and I must reply: "I am in the limbo where I exist
as a spiritual being, but I am not in the material world where my physical body
lives in the reality of the present time. And as it is of no use to me to
be in limbo, I must accept that 7 am not. On the other hand, so-and-so (my 'psyc
hological I') is, and exists to a certain extent in material reality." This brin
gs us to the basic objective of true occultism (the esoteric and not the exoteri
c) which is: 1. That sapiens be transformed into man 2. That this man be spiritu
al The main goal of Hermeticism is spirituality, about which there are many mist
aken ideas. For the majority of people, spirituality is a mysterious mystical st
ate in which the individual reaches absolute purity, abstention from meat and al
cohol, sexual chastity, and a life apart from material existence, living in an o
cean of kindness, love, and renunciation. Painters frequently depict saints as s
keletal men, thin-faced, with sunken eyes and an appearance of gentleness. Nearl
y all the pictures of Christ depict him as very weak and undernourished, without
strength or vigor. This false image of spirituality is what all those who have
spiritual inquietude try to adopt. To become spiritual in truth means only one t
hing: "that the
spirit manifests itself through one's own brain." Thus, the in-
70
THE STELLAR MAN
dividual is spiritual because his spirit has access to material, concrete, and t
emporal reality. If, however, as a consequence of this fact certain superior qua
lities are awakened in the individual, that is another matter. Adding the concep
t of time to the subject we are studying enables us to visualize the phenomenon
of being in a much more luminous form. In relation to time, we are not intereste
d in any of the complicated Einsteinian equations, but only in the concepts of p
ast, present, and future. In fact, only the present is of positive interest; the
past and the future represent only negative concepts in this analysis. Let us r
ecapitulate and add time to our reflective process: sapiens possesses a physical
body which has a "psychological I" and a "Superior I" or spirit. This body, whi
ch is material, occupies a location in space and a position in time. Let us now
place these constituent parts in time and space:
Present 1. Physical body Without any doubt it is
(that which is concrete) located in the present, that is, it exists in the prese
nt reality. It has a correct space-time location according to our earthly realit
y. Past, Present, 2. "Psychological I " and Future (that which is mental) Space:
Indeterminate Time: Fluctuates between past, present, and future. Space: Infini
te Time: Cosmic
That which is, 3. Spirit has been, and (pure energy)
will be
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
71
In the Cosmos, there are infinite forms of life which are governed by the absolu
te realities of the Universe. Nevertheless, within these absolute realities ther
e are temporal or relative truths, which are degrees of the absolute on an infin
ite scale of levels, each one having absolute and relative laws. In our conditio
n as Homo sapiens, we live in the reality of the world which we know, that is, m
aterial body and terrestrial time. If we were to live on a distant planet, we mi
ght perhaps have an etheric or gaseous body, and a time adequate for the planet
on which we would live. Therefore, our fundamental reality as sapiens is the mat
erial world of the planet Earth, governed by terrestrial time, measured by terre
strial clocks. This is our concrete reality, as
concerns our life in a biological body. Carefully following the development of t
his subject, we will reach the following conclusions: 1. Our physical body lives
adjusted to the absolute reality of the vital conditions which govern our exist
ence. Terrestrial time passes with respect to our body, according to the hands o
n the clock. 2. Our "psychological I" is a fan opened towards the past, present,
and future. It is never completely in the present, in the past, or in the futur
e. With respect to time, it is different from the physical body; it has a differ
ent location in time. 3. Our spirit lives in cosmic time, but in itself is beyon
d time. It is what is, what has been, and what will eternally be. Our inability
to be spiritual resides in the fact that our spirit and our body do not coincide
in time; therefore there can
72
THE STELLAR MAN
be no communication between them. To make our spirit and body coincide, there ar
e two basic methods:
A - Chaos B - Order
Both systems require a mediator or intermediary as the contact between body and
spirit. In the case of Aâ Chaos, the individual uses his subconscious (in which the p
ast, present, and future coexist) to unite with the spiritual. It is called chao
s because it produces disorientation in time and space, which may affect the mat
erial conditions of an individual's life, but increases his spiritual illuminati
on. In Bâ Order, an artificial mediator is created by means of theurgy; but it is sup
erconscious, not subconscious. Further on, this will be explained in more detail
. Each method attempts to bring the spirit to the temporal reality of the physic
al body, because the reverse cannot be done. In order to explain the mystery of
being, the student must zealously study the concepts of being and not being. The
student must identify himself with these states. Being, naturally, corresponds
to reality, and not being corresponds to fantasy. Stated in another way, all tha
t is fantastic, in the sense of illusory fantasy, is not, as this corresponds so
lely to a subjective vision of the individual. On the other hand, reality IS, as
it is equivalent to the objective contemplation of a phenomenon, which exists e
ither externally, apart from the individual, or as an internal phenomenon, but w
hich is perfectly studied, verified, and delineated.
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
73
It is humbling to observe how much the human being lives in a purely fantastic o
r illusory subjective personal world, without ever encountering concrete and obj
ective reality. This is explained by sapiens' dream-like state, as each person h
as a world of dreams or personal fantasies corresponding to his desires or fears
. Thus, to a certain extent, each person lives in his own fantasy world imaginat
ively created according to his unconscious needs. There is an absolute key which
gives us a reference point for understanding the mystery of being, and this key
is expressed in the following Hermetic concept: "the only reality is
the present moment; there is no past or future; both are illusory."
The past existed and the future will exist. What is the present? The present is
the exact point of union between the past and the future. If we are able to unde
rstand that the only reality is the present moment, we will reach the foundation
of the mystery of to be and not to be. Life is composed of real, absolute, and
implacable nature, by dreams and time. In this life we are faced with fantasy mo
dules and reality modules. Each module is always made up of three elements: time
, space, and the individual. As these three elements are combined, the person ei
ther is or is not. In order to understand this, we will construct the following
image of the world: 1. A space apparently immutable and immobile. 2. A tape like
that of a computer. This tape is divided into spaces, marked like a measuring t
ape. Each degree corre sponds to a second, and this system moves along the
74
THE STELLAR MAN
immobile space at the speed of one degree per second. (In this case, it does not
matter whether the space or the time moves, all that matters is that one of the
m moves.) 3. Man standing upon the Earth (part of space), along the time band. W
e must realize that there are many time bands in the Universe, one for man, anot
her for minerals, animals, planets, galaxies, etc. For our purposes, we are only
interested in one, the time band for man. Suppose that this human time band is
moving at the rate of one degree per second, and that man is standing alongside
this measure and must walk in step with it. Let us stop the system for a moment
and make a red mark on the tape, exactly in front of the man, and then start the
system up
again. To the extent that the man remains on the red mark, he will live in reali
ty, that is, the man IS. On the other hand, upon leaving the mark, either by goi
ng backward or forward with respect to it, the man IS NOT.
Coincidence with time takes us toward the reality of our existence; a lack of th
is coincidence takes us toward an existence of fantasy. Furthermore, it is neces
sary to add a missing element to complete this module. The missing element is th
e physical and psychological activity of the individual at a given moment. The f
ollowing example illustrates this: So-and-so, knowing the secret of time as expl
ained here, reaches complete coincidence with time at this moment. What would hi
s situation be? Let us suppose that his location would be at the second
To BE OR NOT TO BE? 5
degree of time (this is an imaginary division). At this degree, it is 3:42 p.m.,
and our experimental subject is in his downtown office. What is real for this i
ndividual? Only the space-time with which he is physically connected at that mom
ent. This is his prime realityâ his office with all that it contains and the work he
is doing at that moment. His house, his car, his family, and all that is apart f
rom him at that moment exist only as a secondary reality. These are elements wit
h which the individual will make contact in the near future, but which for the s
ame reason, do not exist at that
moment, as the only reality is the present moment.
Now, to the extent that the subject psychologically projects his awareness towar
d a secondary reality or toward a fantasy (to what is not involved in his space-
time at that moment), the individual will no longer coincide with time, and will
unfailingly fall into the power of dreams, fantasy, and unreality. It is for th
is reason that it is dimly recognized that mental concentration is a powerful we
apon for obtaining something of value. It is obvious that a person can only rema
in in coincidence with time in direct relation to his selfdiscipline.
76
THE STELLAR MAN
If we could in some way enter into coincidence with cosmic time, we would surely
live thousands or millions of years; our age would be planetary, not human. The
individual's great enemy is his "psychological I" which, as stated before, is l
ike a fan opened to the past, present, and future, thus making it impossible to
achieve actual temporal coincidence. The subject's imagination makes him project
his awareness beyond the present moment, living thus an unreal and fantastic ex
istence: not existing. We must understand that if a man lives in another time, h
e is not in relation to the present time. It is necessary to add something treme
ndously important and this is the fact that when one exists in coincidence with
time, located in the reality of the present moment, one obtains the manifestatio
n of the spirit in the brain, thus succeeding in becoming spiritual. Therefore,
the secret of spirituality is the mystery of time and its influence on the human
being. For the Hermeticist, people have two ages: 1. Chronological age 2. Real
age Chronological age is that which we all know. Real age is the sum total of al
l those tiny moments in which the spirit is manifested through the brain, and th
erefore has access to concrete material reality. For different reasons, some acc
idental and others that can be attributed to the individual himself, the spirit
has some corporeal manifestations. Nevertheless,
To BE OR NOT TO BE?
77
these are so rare and brief in most people, that the real age of a forty-year-ol
d person may only be six months, weeks, days, and at times, only hours. This rea
l age is obtained by adding the spaces of time during which the spirit was manif
ested, moments in which the person acquires, in spite of their brevity, an incre
ase and elevation of his awareness. This reveals to us part of the methods emplo
yed by Hermeticists in the spiritual development of students, because obtaining
the manifestation of the spirit and maintaining this condition is inevitably a p
rocess of authentic evolution. Nevertheless, this is a long and painful process,
as it involves the "transubstantiation of the verb," that is, the verb or
spirit should be converted into flesh and blood. This is what Jesus taught his d
isciples during the Last Supper when he gave them bread and wine saying: "drink,
for this is my blood, eat, for this is my body." Very few accept that this stat
ement is literal and not symbolic. The majority will not understand what has bee
n said here in spite of the simplicity of the language. We write for a minority,
but with the language of the majority, in order that everyone may have the same
opportunity. A reality module is composed of the following elements:
1. The subject in the correct space-time 2. What is contained in the space indic
ated above (material and psychological things) A fantasy module contains: 1. The
subject in the incorrect space-time 2. The material and non-material things con
tained in that space
78
THE STELLAR MAN
It is unnecessary to add that reality modules are rare exceptions. The majority
of people live almost permanently entangled in the web of fantasy and dreams, wh
ich rob them of their best possibility for achieving true consciousness and happ
iness. Although this phenomenon is stated clearly and people are warned of this
danger, only a small minority understand their precarious situation. Let us reca
ll the wise words of Jose Ortega y Gasset in one of the paragraphs from his book
The Revolt of the Masses, when he says:
All the matters about which science speaks, whatever the science be, are abstrac
t, and abstract things are always clear. So that the clarity of science is not s
o much in the heads of scientists as in the matters of which they speak. What is
really confused, entangled, is the concrete vital reality, always a unique thin
g. The man who is capable of steering a clear course through it, who can perceiv
e under the chaos presented by every vital situation the hidden anatomy of the m
ovement, the man, in a word, who does not lose himself in life, that is the man
with the really clear head. Take stock of those around you and you will see them
wandering about lost through life, like sleepwalkers in the midst of their good
or bad luck, without the slightest suspicion of what is happening to them. You
will hear them talk in precise terms about themselves and their surroundings, wh
ich would seem to point to them having ideas on the matter. But start to analyze
those ideas and you will find that they hardly reflect in any way the reality t
o which they appear to refer, and if you go deeper you will discover that there
is not even an attempt to adjust the ideas to this reality. Quite the contrary:
through these no-
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
79
tions the individual is trying to cut off any personal vision of reality, of his
very own life. For life is from the start a chaos in which one is lost. The ind
ividual suspects this, but he is frightened at finding himself face to face with
this terrible reality, and tries to cover it over with a curtain of fantasy, wh
ere everything is clear. It does not worry him that his "ideas" are not true, he
uses them as trenches for the defense of his existence, as scarecrows to fright
en away reality. The man with the clear head is the man who frees himself from t
hose fantastic "ideas" and looks life in the face, realizes that everything in i
t is problematic, and feels himself lost. As this is the simple truthâ that to live i
s to feel oneself lostâ he who accepts it has already begun to find himself; to be on
firm ground. Instinctively, as do the shipwrecked, he will look around for some
thing to cling to, and that tragic, ruthless glance, absolutely sincere, because
it is a question of his salvation, will cause him to bring order into the chaos
of his life. These are the only genuine ideas; the ideas of the shipwrecked. Al
l the rest is rhetoric, posturing, farce. He who does not really feel himself lo
st, is inexorably lost; that is to say, he never finds himself, never comes up a
gainst his own reality. This is true in every order, even in science, in spite o
f science being in its nature an escape from life. (The majority of men of scien
ce have given themselves to it through fear of facing life. They are not clear h
eads; hence their notorious ineptitude in the presence of any concrete situation
.) Our scientific ideas are of value to the degree in which we have felt ourselv
es lost before a question; have seen its problematic nature, and have realized t
hat we cannot find support in accepted notions, in prescriptions, in proverbs, n
or in mere words. The man who discovers a new scientific truth has previously ha
d to smash to atoms almost everything he had learned,
80
THE STELLAR MAN
and arrives at the new truth with hands stained with blood from the slaughter of
a thousand platitudes.
In a brilliant manner, although profane and not Hermetic, Ortega y Gasset elucid
ates the difficulty of finding clear heads as he called them, for man is lost be
neath the superficiality of his own thoughts and fantasies, and never reaches th
e reality of life. Common man has never suspected the magnitude of his going ast
ray in the world which surrounds him, as his fellow man lacks orientation as muc
h or more than he himself does. Unfortunately, schools and universities offer no
guidance in this respect, least of all regarding ethical and moral codes, or th
rough laws or rules instituted by society. To be guides, they would have to be d
esigned by clear heads, which are certainly not abundant. Nevertheless, and this
has been seen repeatedly in history, clear heads occasionally will suddenly app
ear and point out the road to be followed with a modicum of clarity. In general,
people scorn such intelligence, as this is always the case with the ignorant wh
o face something they do not understand, as a defense against showing their inte
llectual weakness. Our world is, at least for the moment, a planet of cripples w
ho believe themselves to be perfectly healthy because they are unaware of any ot
her condition. Nevertheless, the damage is not in their bodies or intelligence,
but in their lack of consciousness. But what is this consciousness we are referr
ing to? Is it perhaps the difference between man and animals? Certainly not, alt
hough logically a sapiens is much more con-
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
81
scious than an animal which does not possess the divine spark. The awareness or
consciousness to which we refer originates with the exercise of an intelligence
separated from dream-like states. On the other hand, unconsciousness or lack of
awareness pervades the intelligence of a dormant subject and does not impede mec
hanical thought or the functioning of dead intelligence. The ideas we are endeav
oring to explain are summarized in the following chart:
1. Unconsciousness: Intelligence born from an apprenticeship of dreams. The indi
vidual's level of awareness is very low, even though his intellect may be brilli
ant, since this acuteness only reflects great dexterity in arranging combination
s of cerebral information. This is called dead or programmed in telligence. 2. C
onsciousness: Intelligence arising from and developed on the basis of an apprent
iceship of awakeness. The individ ual's level of awareness is constantly high. W
e call this
living or unprogrammed intelligence.
Man might well be called a mental cripple. The term mental is only figurative, a
s sapiens has no mind, which we will explain later. Nevertheless, with the expre
ssion mental cripple, we wish to point out the weakness and inoperative state of
the mind which, Hermetically speaking, is considered to be the highest faculty
of the human being, but which he possesses only in a dormant state. Due to the l
ack of a state of higher awareness, the planet Earth is a small hell, where by d
ivine grace or infernal evil, the individual neither notices nor evaluates his p
recarious
82
THE STELLAR MAN
condition or the cloudiness of his awareness. Like true madmen, each sapiens, li
ke Don Quixote, the Castilian nobleman, strikes out against his own windmill. Th
us, battle after battle, youth is lost, illusions die, purity withers, and the l
ast glimmers of lucidity gradually disappear. If we were perverse gods or immora
l despoilers, we could not invent a better method to make a group of slaves work
peacefully than to make them believe, by means of collective hypnosis, that the
y are happy and important. We would then have perfect robots who would work unti
ringly, producing what we desire. In addition, these robots would make and maint
ain themselves. It could be argued that sapiens, unlike other species, sows, pro
duces, and labors only for himself and not for other beings. This is true for th
e products and material sapiens uses for his own maintenance. No non-human speci
es steals the material product of sapiens' efforts. On the other hand, this is n
ot the case with the subtle fruit produced by the human nervous system in everyd
ay life. This fruit is rapidly reaped by certain beings who are much higher on t
he evolutionary scale than the human being; veritable gods of space, who profit
from human efforts, but in turn fulfill certain cosmic functions and occupy an i
mportant position in the universal economy. These beings have been mentioned pre
viously: they are the Archons of Destiny. We could also refer to them as Gods of
the Zodiac, as they direct and govern human existence on this planet. When we s
peak of true astrology, we do not refer to radiations from a specific planet, bu
t to the influence of the Zodiacal Gods, each one of which (there are 72 in all)
has personal and defined
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
83
characteristics, influencing the people they control in a strange way. All of Ea
rth's inhabitants are under the sway of one or more of these gods, who regulate,
shape, and direct the destiny of humanity. But this is not so for the destiny o
f the Hermeticist, who attains his vital autonomy at a certain moment, releasing
himself from the mandate of the Archons. The Archons of Destiny are terrifying
beings, not because they are evil, but due to their cold and inexorable severity
in the manipulation of sapiens. If we were to establish a symbol for these bein
gs, no doubt they would be depicted with a whip in their hands, a girdle of bris
tles or netted wire with which they chastise humanity in order to ensure their p
rogress, although this evolution may be imperceptible during our earthly time. F
or example these occult judges pitilessly provoke a world war in which millions
of people die. For them, these dead are of no more importance than that assigned
by sapiens to the thousands of animals they sacrifice daily in order to feed. S
apiens, in his extreme fight for existence and in his various relations with the
natural and social environments surrounding him, inevitably experiences all kin
ds of tribulations, suffering, deceptions, and other experiences, both pleasant
and unpleasant. As a consequence, his emotional and nervous systems develop cert
ain embodied elements, that are extremely powerful, and which abandon the human
body in the form of vibrations (everything vibrates; matter is only vibratory en
ergy). These vibrations are transmitted through antennae incorporated in the bio
logical unit which are tuned to the frequency of the Archons, who then reap this
84
THE STELLAR MAN
power and use it for purposes we cannot divulge, again stating that they accompl
ish a cosmic function. It is thus that sapiens is unwittingly stripped of the mo
st noble product he has produced; the final distillate of human experience, the
broth in which lies the blood, the soul, and the very life of the individual. Th
e individual lived for this, suffered, loved, enjoyed, worked, built things, wen
t to war, studied, investigated, only to prepare the golden broth of his life. W
e must understand that the central computer only exists in relation to the Archo
ns of Destiny as an instrument to
control sapiens.
The object of life, the reason for which sapiens was created, is not for him to
enjoy life in the garden of the Lord, but rather to be a pawn in his vineyards,
a worker so perfect he can act as cultivator and food at the same time. If man c
ould prevent his golden broth from being stolen, with this vital product he coul
d become equal to the gods, rapidly evolving by integrating within himself the p
roducts from the chemical laboratory of his physical body. This is exactly what
is done by the student of Hermeticism, who is temporarily freed by the Archons o
f Destiny. This individual, by virtue of his understanding and responsibility, h
as no need for an overseer with whip in hand to oblige him to evolve through suf
fering, as he takes responsibility for his evolution into his own hands, and if
he deems it necessary, submits himself to the same temporary suffering in order
to attain eternal happiness. This is in contrast to the profane or worldly perso
n who chooses fleeting pleasure at the expense of eternal suffering. If the stud
ent fails or turns aside from his path, abusing
To B E OR N OT TO B E ?
85
his temporary freedom, the Archons again take him under their control, punishing
him very severely. From another point of view, we can see how certain countries
are chosen by the Archons for veritable martyrdom. Furthermore, one should not
believe that this suffering is futile, as such a sacrifice generally brings abou
t a moral, material, spiritual, and intellectual revival of the population by vi
rtue of the law of suffering. So it is that after wars we notice a rapid rebirth
toward a higher state. This is a high price to pay for evolution. These wars co
uld have been avoided had there been sufficient clear-headed people in the world
who the masses would have been willing to follow. Enough revealing of secrets w
hich are hidden from sapiens\ Let us spread a cloak of silence on this subject i
n order to comply with the mandate of the esoteric Sphinx who demands silence. S
peech and silence are two swords, which must be handled with sublime skill in or
der not to disrupt universal harmony. Those who have "eyes to see" will understa
nd everything not stated in the written word, but in the cryptic language of the
initiate. For those not in this state, it is best that they understand nothing
and continue to sleep tranquilly. Ultimately, the Archons run no risk of a bad h
arvest from a possible rebellion of sapiens. Sapiens is too blind to see where t
he danger is really found. It is sad to observe the tremendous limitation of sap
iens, who shuts himself up in the small world of stereotypical concepts, of memo
rized knowledge, of imitation, and mechanisms of compensation and defense. His m
ental disability prevents him from realizing just
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THE STELLAR MAN
how small the cubicle is which imprisons him. And, thus, with a mind made up in
advance, he accepts, condemns, or tolerates without bothering to intelligently a
nalyze the situations with which he is confronted.
VI
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
A
ll true knowledge arises in the mind and not in the intelligence. Having a mind
distinguishes the Hermeticist from the layman who, as we have seen in the last c
hapter, is a
mental cripple.
The Hermeticist has a mind he himself has formed and developed, and this enables
him to reach states of higher consciousness in which he has access to absolute
truth. Physically, mind is a magnetic orb established between two poles: the bra
in (negative pole in man) and the sex (positive pole in man). In women, the brai
n is the positive pole and the sex the negative. This orb is formed exclusively
by the Hermetic student's work on himself, and is the result of lengthy efforts.
From a higher spiritual point of view, the mind is the philosopher's stone thro
ugh which the initiate attains a continuous transformation of base metals (igno8
7
88
THE STELLAR MAN
rance, lies) into gold (true knowledge) and the immortality of his own individua
lity. The mind is the stomach of intelligence. Lacking this, sapiens never diges
ts the information he possesses, which develops into undigested intelligence. A
glutton for knowledge, he devours information about many things, which is incorp
orated into the cerebral archive without ever releasing the quintessence of its
secret. This immense mass of information possessed by a moderately cultured indi
vidual is precisely what gives him the false sensation of "knowing many things."
He feels morally empowered to give all kinds of opinions, while remaining in ig
norance of his mental disability, which in the end, is a lack of intelligence. T
he more fame or prestige an author has, or the more lessons studied by the indiv
idual, the greater will be his intellectual blindness. If the individual has a p
rofessional title gained from long studies in university classrooms, it is pract
ically guaranteed that his intelligence has been totally and incurably damaged b
y becoming stratified, or even petrified, at very low levels. The student does n
ot assimilate his education due to an insufficient state of awareness. The stude
nt limits himself to memorizing and juggling infinite combinations of the data h
e possesses with acrobatics, which give him extraordinary intellectual agility,
and absolute certainty of being very intelligent and extraordinarily capable in
his profession. Nevertheless, this treadmill of knowledge fails him lamentably w
hen he is faced with practical situations in real life, except the application o
f mathematical concepts. It is thus that in spite of all that sapiens knows, the
re has been no evolution in his internal nature throughout history; nor is
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
89
there any real indication that such evolution is approaching. Man has been conve
rted into the carrier of innumerable concepts which each day are more numerous a
nd complex; but in the individual himself there is no change. From this we can r
ecognize sapiens' ultimate vulnerabilityâ his inability to apply the information he c
arries to his own transformation and evolution. This impossibility is so vast th
at the knowledge possessed does not allow him to see himself and evaluate himsel
f impartially, effectively, objectively, and in a higher manner. It is a fact th
at the individual cannot see himself and, therefore, is full of false concepts a
bout his own importance, value, and capability. The most he can aspire to is to
better the material conditions in which he lives, and guided by a subconscious i
mpulse, endeavor to reach the stars with the secret hope of finding a superior g
alactic race which would teach him to live as a human being and enable him to le
ave his animal state. So it is that many people live with the hope that flying s
aucers are real, longing to meet extraterrestrial beings who can in some way hel
p them to better themselves. As with all things in life, sapiens clings to far o
ff hopes or illusions created to elude the real possibilities within his reach.
It is much easier to dream of flying saucers or explore any kind of religious do
gma than to dedicate oneself to the work of one's spiritual advancement. Sapiens
is basically a loafer and as such, always seeks the easiest path and the least
effort possible. He is fascinated by simple belief and ignorant faith, bedazzled
by anything that can be acquired without effort, either by act and grace of the
Holy Spirit or by chance. Thus, sapiens creates all kinds of absurd, subjective
, illogical,
90
THE STELLAR MAN
and arbitrary dreams. The content of the dreams is not important if he can cling
to convenient illusions, just as the shipwrecked person clings to a board in or
der to save himself. In search of this handhold, the frustrated person is conver
ted to a religious faith and is able to thus free himself from an undesirable "I
." This satisfies a passion for individual renunciation and allows him to disapp
ear in the mass movement which he has entered. Eric Hoffer, the great philosophe
r and thinker, refers to this when he says: "faith in a holy cause is to a consi
derable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves." With this strategy
, the individual fully develops into a loafer, as he need not even think. He onl
y needs to accept the religious dogma with which he has become affiliated withou
t judgment or analysis. Only those who make efforts beyond duty and necessity ar
e NOT loafers. People generally live dreaming of some future event which will ra
dically change their lives. It may be the expectancy of a stroke of luck which w
ill make them millionaires, finding a great love, or the arrival of superior for
ces or causes which will mold their destiny into a happier state. Needless to sa
y, this future illusion ruins or annuls all real and present intentions of attai
ning, by methodical and sustained efforts, whatever the individual desires. Sapi
ens is in truth a professional loafer, mainly because in his cerebral activity a
nd in his conduct, he assiduously dopes himself with a dream drug. This drug exi
sts, chemically speaking, but only within the human organism, where it induces s
omnambulistic sleep. Undoubtedly, this laziness also extends to the boundaries o
f intelligence, and people do not wish to complicate their
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
91
lives thinking about difficult things. It is much easier to follow those ideas w
hich best justify the individual's temperament or way of life. For example, if a
person is irresponsible, he will enthusiastically enter a religious or politica
l movement which will free him from all responsibility through his unconditional
surrender to a superior divine power; to a psychological oneness with a group i
n which no one is responsible for anything because it is anonymous. A cowardly p
erson will choose a movement, which will deprive him of the largest possible qua
ntity of vital experiences, which are a threat to his mental or physical tranqui
lity. Under the impulse of intellectual laziness, sapiens rapidly fills his brai
n with as much information as he is capable of absorbing and which he endeavors
to memorize as exactly as possible. In this way, he hopes to have prefabricated
solutions for every situation that arises in his life, which he falls back on wi
th lightning speed, without making any effort to analyze the particular problem
or conflict he is facing. With this in mind, he rapidly and superficially absorb
s all his studies, carrying out the process we call a dream apprenticeship (an a
pprenticeship in a low state of awareness; zero . . . from the point of view of
essential truth). In this condition the individual gives great importance to the
prestige of the source of his information. The higher the source of this presti
ge, whether a professor, an author, or an institution, the more blindly the stud
ent will accept the concepts poured into him without taking the trouble to deepl
y analyze them. Also, following the same standards, he will imitate the behavior
of famous
92
THE STELLAR MAN
people he admires and take on the ideologies of those individuals as his own. In
time, this person reaches a complete intellectual programming, which entails th
e death of his intellect, which is converted into mechanical or dead intelligenc
e. No matter how brilliant the individual may be, we can be certain that if he i
s in this condition, he will be a mental cripple. Due to his cerebral myopia, he
will be incapable of visualizing the enormous magnitude of his ignorance and be
limited to living within the "egg" of his own knowledge. Within his "mental egg
" the individual is warm and comfortable, completely free from danger of argumen
ts and facts, which may oblige him to think, and perhaps reach a complete revisi
on of his intellectual baggage. This man has already formed his mechanism of ada
ptation and defense and clings blindly to the concepts he knows and understands,
which constitute his cultural lineage. At all times during his life when this i
ndividual is faced with phenomena, theories, or knowledge which are not filed in
his cultural depository, he will vehemently reject them if they contradict his
knowledge, or simply discredit them if they are unknown to him. If at any time h
e becomes aware of new or surprising topics, he will feel psychologically threat
ened, especially if they are in conflict with his interests and principles. We k
now that the psychological personality is integrated more substantially when it
starts from separate behavioral units. In practice, all experiences lived by an
individual should be duly integrated into his personality. Nevertheless, the phe
nomenon already described in reference to intelligence also occurs with the pers
onality. There is
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
93
a very important difference between integrated experience and assimilated experi
ence. People learn very much less than they believe from their experiences, as t
hese are very frequently integrated into the personality in the form of cliches
and empty stereotyped symbols which do not contribute beneficially to the indivi
dual's awareness. They become fixed, empty rules for conduct, which the individu
al blindly follows without real discernment. The person seeks refuge in these pr
ogrammed directives and hides behind them for protection, remaining comfortable
and inert in reference to anything that involves real intelligence. We call this
assembly of protection and maintenance circuits the "egg." Within this, man kee
ps his infantilism and lack of maturity intact, avoiding any traumatic shocks, w
hich might result from facing new realities and life-challenging demands. It is
for this reason that people automatically reject any new idea, which is not part
of their cerebral program, no matter how valuable, or noble it may be. On the o
ther hand, they accept, a priori, any suggestion which is apparently in agreemen
t with their beliefs, no matter how precarious this may be in the light of a dee
per analysis. In truth, we must conclude that the art of thinking has been lost
to humanity (if humanity ever possessed it) and has been supplanted by the art o
f
imitation and informative memorization.
It is due to this that the wisest and most illustrious men, clever at solving pr
ofound scientific problems, completely fail in their attempt to solve difficulti
es of a vital and practical nature such as personal conflicts of an emotional na
ture, or understanding and wisely counseling their children. The organization of
society into institutions created for
94
THE STELLAR MAN
control and aid makes a civilized world where all is foreseen. The state has a s
olution for everyone, and even if no one is satisfied with government help, ther
e is at least a solution, whether for medical, educational, or legal problems, e
tc. Everything is organized in such a way that it is difficult for an individual
to have to face serious problems, or to go out and hunt for food as prehistoric
man did. There are typical solutions for all. Man today knows that he may face
hunger, but it is improbable he will die of starvation, which was a mass phenome
non in other ages. This relative security is precisely that which encourages int
ellectual laziness, as the person is not pressured in any truly threatening mann
er. He never really needs to use his brain, and is content with placid mediocrit
y, free from intellectual conflict. There are very few individuals who seek tota
l truth or the essential keys to all that has existed, exists, and will exist. W
ise men are content to be semi-wise, reaching only the knowledge of some of the
scientific disciplines, arts, or letters, remaining in total and absolute ignora
nce of their own human nature and the occult laws which govern life in the Unive
rse. These men never become aware of the secret of life, limiting themselves to
describing different phenomena, without ever explaining what a thing is, only st
ating how it is, which is not difficult to discern. The Hermeticist proceeds inv
ersely; he starts by studying and coming to know the vital keys of the Universe
with which he then takes possession of the golden thread, which is the common ne
xus of all vital phenomena. It is as if in endeavoring to learn what a peach is,
science proceeded to study the skin and the flesh without ever penetrating to t
he
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
95
pit. The Hermeticist does not bother about either the skin or the flesh, as once
the seed is planted it will multiply its fruits. The Hermeticist studies the re
st of the books written by the semi-wise. The true sage, aware of absolute truth
s, has access to any of the relative truths when he so desires. Similar to the a
gnostics, Hermeticists maintain that genuine knowledge cannot be manufactured. T
hey add something more important which is the intrinsic principle of Hermetic ph
ilosophy; the fact that the impossibility for the existence of genuine knowledge
is maintained only by special conditions in the consciousness of sapiens. Howev
er, if these conditions are altered and modified by Hermetic techniques, underst
anding will occur in the individual. This will gradually enable him to reach tru
e knowledge. Thus the Fraternity of Magicians has been formed, possessors of kno
wledge and beyond good and evil; of knowledge which transcends all polarity or p
artiality. Of necessity, this science must be absolutely impartial and impersona
l. The conceptual perspective of sapiens is built up to a great extent by his be
liefs, for when man believes something with sufficient certainty, he confers on
these beliefs the category of knowledge, which in the majority of cases are only
a reflection of his opinions, hopes, likes, or dislikes. Naively, many thinkers
and men of science base all their hopes for the betterment of the human race on
a major and massive development of sapiens' intelligence, believing in this way
a certain kind of Paradise on Earth can be reached. These people, unaware of He
rmetic science, do not realize that an intelligence which serves the beast canno
t contribute anything which will ultimately be really beneficial for man.
96
THE STELLAR MAN
Actually, between two beasts, one stupid and the other intelligent, which one is
more dangerous? Naturally, the more intelligent one is. Intelligence without co
nsciousness inevitably leads man to chaos, but with the difference that this cha
os is more complete, sophisticated, greater, and improved in relation to the uph
eaval provoked by mediocre brains. Each individual develops inside the web of hi
s own blindness, eagerly seeking to reinforce his position and discredit that of
others. With horrible frequency, we find persons who take positions which are a
bsolutely foolish, irrational, and spurious, but who are completely and sincerel
y convinced that they are right, they possess the truth, and they believe that e
veryone else is mistaken. Furthermore, they suffer tremendously from the lack of
understanding they receive from people. Basically, what these people wish to ob
tain is license and acknowledgement for their ideas, and to achieve the recognit
ion or importance in life which Nature has denied them. Some may say that Hermet
icists believe themselves to be owners of the truth. From this point forward, we
declare that no one has a monopoly on truth, but that we are the real possessor
s of Hermetic Art as this is ours by spiritual aristocracy and not by blood. Spi
ritual aristocracy begins and ends with the individual, and is inherited only fr
om oneself, from the person one has been in previous incarnations. There are tho
se who do not believe in reincarnation. To them we would say that surely they wi
ll not reincarnate, as they have nothing within them which would survive death.
Only Karma will have the last word, because even if they do not
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
97
reincarnate, they must, in one way or another, pay their pending debts to Nature
. For a loafer it is very simple to discredit Hermeticism without taking the tro
uble to study and practice it. To deny Hermeticism without knowing its true dime
nsions is simply criticizing something unknown. Reproaching those who accept a c
ertain idea in blind faith is justified, but at the same time it is correct to c
ondemn those who reject an idea without rational analysis. To illustrate this pr
ocedure so common among people, we will use the word anti-faith to describe an i
rrational belief in the opposite of what is being examined. This phenomenon cert
ainly prevents all impartiality, which is the basis of deep and true reflection.
It is harmful to have blind faith, but it is just as bad to have blind anti-fai
th. It is true that many men are champions of faith or antifaith, but absolutely
lack true intelligence (awareness). We maintain that only a brain in a complete
state of alertness can gradually establish the basis from which a conscious, aw
akened, and unprogrammed intelligence can be born. This intelligence, due to its
acuteness, can have access to genuine knowledge. Knowledge has many degrees, an
d to reach the highest degree requires a mystical process, but one which is in n
o way miraculous, but rather is logical and natural. This justifies the use of t
he term illumination, as referring to full clarification of a spiritualized inte
lligence. We can state in good conscience that genuine knowledge is something pr
ohibited to sapiens, and it can only be attained when the individual achieves mu
tation from sapiens to Stellar Man thus acquiring the full right to knowledge.
98
THE STELLAR MAN
Sapiens must be content with the relative knowledge of the semi-wise which light
s up the material world and obscures the internal panorama, thus making the know
ledge of scientists useless; matter is meant to serve man, not the other way aro
und. Nevertheless, actual reality shows us a dehumanized world with imitations o
f men who unconditionally serve matter, which mercilessly absorbs their vital en
ergy. There is a strange symbiosis between matter and sapiens, in the sense that
matter needs sapiens as sapiens needs matter. Thus, sapiens has, in spite of al
l we have said, a great difference from the all-animal; he possesses the divine
spark, placing him at a higher level than the animal. Although the strength of t
he divine spark may be dim in an individual, the spark provokes in him an import
ant phenomenon: the radiation of higher awareness, although in a microscopic deg
ree. Consciousness is the radiant energy of the divine spark or essence, and is
a force which constantly surrounds and is irradiated by man, in the same way tha
t light and heat are given off by the sun. In this way, any person will give off
an energy similar to that of animal magnetism, but of a divine nature, or in ot
her terms, this magnetism possesses a high vibration. The Hermeticist works on t
his small divine spark to make it grow in strength and power through the differe
nt phases of initiation. The uninitiated is similar to the light of a candle in
his awareness. On the other hand, the initiate, according to his degree of devel
opment, can reach a likeness to the sun. This illustrates the profound secret of
the "Children of the Sun." By virtue of his awareness, the individual projects
this
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
99
energy toward all he can touch with his hands or toward all that comes within hi
s field of influence. An artist concentrates his awareness on his work, and this
force is that which brings about a special experience and transmits an energy w
hich impresses our psyche favorably or negatively. A master carpenter or cabinet
maker puts his soul into his work whether he wishes to do so or not, as this is
inevitable. Thus sapiens works giving consciousness to matter; that is, spiritua
lizing or giving subtlety to denseness. Consider who might capitalize on this fo
rce and profit from this phenomenon. Still, as sapiens accomplishes this entirel
y unconsciously, it cannot be said that this is an independent voluntary act; it
is more something which happens because it is thus decreed or programmed. Due t
o this ignorance, instead of man being owner and master of matter, matter subjug
ates man, extracting his conscious energy, which by impregnating the elemental b
odies becomes incorporated into them. Conscious energy has some intrinsic proper
ties, and others that are contingent on the result of fusion with a specific per
son. This is explained in the following examples:
1. Conscious Energy: Is pure and chaste in itself. It constitutes the body of Go
d. An infinitesimal fraction of this emanated from the Supreme Creator and took
a body in a specific person. 2. Incarnated Awareness: Being incarnated in a cert
ain individ ual, this energy, which is pure and chaste in itself, is modified ac
cording to the individual's basic vibratory tone, culture, self-control, discipl
ine, and behavior. On becoming incarnated, the conscious energy in Example 2 can
follow two paths:
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THE STELLAR MAN
A. Superior Incarnated Awareness: This exists in an infinitesimal
portion of the human race. Pure spiritual and chaste con scious energy acquires,
through the intelligent experience of the individual, the notion of good and ev
ilâ the human knowledge, which exists only in a material body. This
essence, therefore, reaches the human intelligence, preserving di vine intellige
nce. In this case the higher purpose in the life of man is accomplished. B. Infe
rior Incarnated Awareness: This exists in the great human
mass. Conscious energy is blemished and degraded as its superior nature is corru
pted by slavery to a perverted beast, due to the deviated intelligence of sapien
s who is blind and ignorant, and who lives only to satisfy his own
instincts. This awareness, still high in itself, becomes "inferior" in its manif
estation, radiating an energy "stained" by the indi vidual's base passions, impu
lses, and tendencies.
In his day-to-day existence, the individual imbues his material possessions with
his conscious energy. When that energy inadvertently separates from him, it act
s independently with its own intelligence, which has been taken from the individ
ual. This intelligence gives tone and color to pure awareness. Since each person
has impulses, fears, desires, ambitions, and sentiments which manifest themselv
es as uncontrolled passions, this force imprints a directive onto the conscious
energy and becomes an absolutely uncontrollable path for the individual from the
moment this force leaves him to become incorporated into any material structure
. This is the reason why a person can become completely enslaved by his material
possessions, which make use of him, absorbing more and more of his awareness. T
here are many science fiction stories, which cover the
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
101
subject of machines, robots, or other objects, which suddenly acquire their own
intelligence and consequent autonomy in their actions. Actually, these books hav
e endeavored to hint at certain ideas in order to make their readers think and v
ery gradually prepare them for more complex designs. At times, reality is disgui
sed as fiction in order that there should be no opposition from the masses, who
obstinately refute all things not forming part of the orthodox cultural records
of humanity. The truth is that this phenomenon exists and no one is free from it
. The machine has turned into a monster that is not going to devour man, because
it is already doing so. For example, the automobile is of great use to its owne
r, but we must ask ourselves who drives who, who is the owner and who is the ser
vant? Is it the automobile who carries its owner as an obedient slave, or is it
the owner who must work long hours to feed and maintain his car and drive it in
order to fulfill the reason for its existence: driving over the roads at great s
peed devouring the Earth's blood, petroleum? As another example, let us observe
those who have pets, such as a dog, and how people work to maintain and keep the
m like their own children. Many times a sapiens can be seen pulling a dog tied t
o a chain, and we can ask ourselves who is leading whom. With domestic animals,
conscious energy explains the mysterious affinity between a dog and his master a
nd how they, due to unexplainable circumstances, acquire an amazing likeness whi
ch at times is limited only to rules of conduct, but at other times goes as far
as physical likeness. The explanation is simple: the animal, just as the automob
ile or other objects of personal use, absorbs the conscious energy of its master
which is, as we have already
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THE STELLAR MAN
explained, stained or impregnated with the person's individual characteristics,
and in this way shapes the animal's appearance. On some occasions the conscious
energy displaced by the individual takes body in a machine which belongs to him,
and then reacts destructively against its owner because his passions are indisc
riminately destructive. The story of Dr. Frankenstein is symbolic of this explan
ation and it must be noted that emanated awareness is a virtual child of the man
from which it originated. Many times there are persons who are destroyed by the
ir own works and not by any karmic reaction of their acts. The passionate or des
tructive force they generated endeavors, in its unconscious manifestation, to de
stroy its own father. Something very similar occurs with children of the flesh w
ho, from the earliest age, develop all kinds of bad habits, tantrums, whims, or
hysterical crying bouts when their wishes are not immediately gratified. We cann
ot blame these creatures as they are only giving way to the defects incorporated
in them by their sires through incarnation of their consciousness. All the defe
cts not controlled by their parents, all hidden tendencies of an instinctive typ
e, take form in the children. It is due to this that the Bible says: "the sins o
f the fathers will be visited upon the children." Subsequently, the parents find
that they cannot control or guide their children, but on the contrary, many tim
es it is the children who exercise veritable tyranny on the authors of their day
s. This situation is no more than a repetition of past conditions, the impossibi
lity of controlling internal energy, which bursts forth in the form of passion.
The same then occurs with chil-
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
103
dren, and in this case energy rebels against the parents from another physical b
ody. Continuing the commentary on machines, we can point out the extraordinary i
nfluence the operator has over a computer, which becomes very sensitive to the v
ital state and conditions of the operator. This occurs because the machine becom
es impregnated with the conscious energy of the operator, which then acts indepe
ndently, but following the basic directives of the operator's vibratory states.
We can also point out a phenomenon affecting all drivers and truck owners that i
s based on their close identification with the vehicle, which is a source of wor
k and subsistence. I refer to the strange reactions these machines may have unde
r certain circumstances, producing all kinds of absolutely illogical and incredi
ble mechanical defects. In some cases, this reaction reaches the point where the
owner of the machine is ruined. There is also the case of machines that have ha
d an accident or collision, and when the owner or driver is changed, the acciden
t is repeated with practically the same characteristics. The case of doomed jewe
ls that bring bad luck to their owners, to the extent that they inexorably suffe
r violent death, is well known. All this can be explained by the "invisible chil
d" (consciousness) which inhabits material objects, and which was created by one
of the owners of the object, or perhaps by the one who made it. The same thing
happens with firearms, which, after having caused death, become dangerous as the
y are impregnated with the vibrations of the tragedy and of the person who cause
d it. From this comes the saying "firearms are loaded by the devil,"
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THE STELLAR MAN
because a revolver, which has death vibrations, awakens similar vibrations in it
s owner through a process of magnetic induction. Thus, this person, without real
izing it, makes use of the firearm at the least provocation or emotional disturb
ance. We will conclude this subject by citing the case of plants and flowers, as
it has been proven that they are extremely sensitive to the influence of their
owners consciousness, caretakers, or whoever is frequently near them. Any person
with love for a plant or a tree, and who talks to them as if speaking to a pers
on, will be able to witness the extraordinary increase in the beauty, health, an
d vitality of the specimen. Since this entire subject has been elaborated to exp
lain the impossibility of real knowledge under the condition of ordinary awarene
ss, we wish to point out the enormous power of matter upon sapiens. He cannot em
ancipate his intelligence from the hypnotic influence of matter, which doubly af
fects him: 1. By the projection of mass energy on the individual 2. By the proje
ction of previously absorbed conscious energy on the individual Matter has an en
ergy of its own which strongly radiates and affects man in a certain manner. Tie
d to his material possessions, he becomes unable to visualize any way of being,
other than the conservation and multiplication of the property or assets he poss
esses. On the other hand, corporeal matter has a decisive influence on intellige
nce, either mak-
THE ILLUSION OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
105
ing it acute or clouding it. If the body's matter maintains a low and dense vibr
ation, the intelligence inexorably declines. This is the hidden reason why Moses
, possessor of certain Hermetic secrets, forbade his followers to eat pork, as t
his animal has a particularly dense and low vibratory state which would therefor
e produce a deterioration in intellectual capacity. This is also the basis for t
he vegetarian system, and although there is much to be said about this, anyone w
ho has abstained from meat for some time will prove that his thoughts have becom
e noticeably clearer. The conscious energy radiated by the masses affects the in
dividual in a hypnotic manner, since this imposes the influence of a different v
ibration on him, which then impels him to act according to its particular vibrat
ion. A gift given to us due to a social obligation by someone with evil intentio
ns can negatively influence our health, intelligence, and destiny. Summing up, s
apiens permanently lives in a somnambulistic condition which keeps him dormant,
making it impossible for him to attain real knowledge, and seriously damaging hi
s awareness and intelligence. Each day what he knows increases at the cost of hi
s human essence, which is reduced in direct relationship to the extent and poten
cy of his cerebral programming. This programming converts him into a veritable b
iological robot with automatic physiological, instinctive, emotional, and intell
ectual reactions. The individual's ideas, opinions, or sentiments lose all human
validity, and he is converted into a mere circuit acti-
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THE STELLAR MAN
vated by external influences. These external influences are thus converted into
disconnected elements of the individual's internal reactions, a mere echo of the
cultural concert and the emotional and instinctive tide of humanity.
VII
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
O
ne of the most powerful illusions of Homo sapiens is that of free will. As an ar
gument against what has been stated in the previous pages, it could be said that
"come what may, the individual does as he pleases" and that this freedom really
proves he is not under control of any kind by forces outside himself. Precisely
, one of the things that gives sapiens a sensation of power is the illusion of f
reedom. To prove this freedom, the adolescent rebels against the rules of behavi
or imposed by society, believing that he is proving his independence, when reall
y the only thing he accomplishes is submission to his own unconscious impulses.
Freedom has many aspects, and we speak therefore of private or personal freedom,
public freedom, social freedom, freedom of action, words, and ideas, moral free
dom, and economic freedom. In everyday life we speak of economic slavery, of the
emancipation of women, of oppression of the
107
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THE STELLAR MAN
lower classes by the upper classes, of subjugation by fear and anguish, dependen
ce on higher authorities, subordination of youth in a world created by their eld
ers, and many other concepts which would be too lengthy to enumerate. We are not
interested in fashioning an orthodox philosophical analysis, dwelling on what h
as been said by so many thinkers in the past. Instead, we wish to reflect upon t
he vital reality of sapiens. Sapiens believes in his personal independence due t
o the fact that at any moment he may, if he so desires, violently break any of t
he bonds which imprison him without any impediments. It is possible for him, if
he so desires, to leave the work which imprisons him and live as a vagabond on o
ther people's charity. Or, he can abandon those studies which are so arduous and
look for a job or live as he can. If he undertakes any of these measures of "fr
eedom," he knows he will have to pay for them, but considers the price cheap for
doing as he pleases. The best proof of this apparent independence can be inferr
ed by the reader, who imagines that at any time he can, by a voluntary act, quit
reading this book once and for all. All these reflections suggest the possessio
n of a force we could call "power for doing things," something of which sapiens
feels extremely proud. Consciousness, intelligence, will power, and freedom cons
titute the mythological quaternary of the human race, which considers these tale
nts as equal to the holy teaching that designates them as human beings. Not for
a moment do people have any doubt that they really are the possessors of these g
ifts. In order to duly illustrate this chapter on freedom, we will
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
109
form a ternary with the words freedom, will power and desire, as these are intim
ately related to the subject of our interest. Before continuing, it is necessary
to clarify the objective of this work. In its attempt to enlighten in a clear a
nd open manner, it could rightly be called anti-Hermetic. It was written for all
those who aspire to accomplish something in a real and effective way on the pat
h of their own spiritual development. For this goal to be realized, it is vitall
y important that the individual should know, in depth, his true internal nature
and his real position on the vital scale of values. To the degree that sapiens i
s full of illusions about himself and his life, his spiritual fulfillment become
s impossible, becoming only the beautiful dream of a well-meaning person. The wo
rld is full of mirages of this nature which end up being nothing more than devic
es used by people to avoid the reality that troubles them. There is no field mor
e likely than esotericism to generate all kinds of fantasies by intellects anxio
us to avoid crude reality. In facing reality, there is the great disadvantage th
at the individual must suffer all kinds of sacrifices and make efforts in order
to attain his purpose, and this is certainly arduous and difficult. It is much e
asier for the loafer to stay dreaming without making any effort or taking a risk
of any kind, because in dreams everything is possible and there is no danger of
facing arduous, conflicting, or traumatic situations. For these people, occulti
sm is the real "open sesame" which enables them to drug themselves with the illu
sion of perfection and spiritual progress, which only exists in their imaginatio
n, stimulated by unconscious desires and fears. Generally, the seeker of esoteri
c doctrines only wishes to
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THE STELLAR MAN
find an ideological system which justifies his own defects and stimulates his hi
dden dreams, although this system may be absurd and patently subjective or child
ish. We can assert that sapiens only understands what he wishes to understand, o
r more accurately, that which is convenient. He absolutely discredits everything
that affronts his cerebral guidelines or his habits of life and conduct. This i
s perhaps one of the greatest obstacles facing the student of Hermeticism or the
neophyte who aspires to be a disciple. To analyze objectively and without preju
dice requires a flexible and open disposition so as not to limit oneself and dis
credit what is being studied, without a prior alert and deep reflective process.
Still, however much an individual strives, he will not be successful if he has
too high an opinion of himself or his own intelligence and knowledge. It is suff
icient for someone to believe he is very intelligent, cultured, or wise, to refr
ain from thinking impartially, limiting himself to a superficial examination of
concepts and very frequently taking from these only the emotional or symbolic co
ntent. Vanity and pride are two bandages which blind sapiens, preventing him fro
m seeing what would be evident to an awakened, impartial, or impersonal observer
. Symbolically, we could visualize sapiens as a personage who has inflated himse
lf, and this condition impels him to float in the air toward higher regions, but
only in relation to the distance from the ground. From the clouds he contemplat
es the world and believes himself to be the most wise and perfect being in creat
ion. Unfortunately, while he remains in this limbo, he will also be far removed
from vital
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
111
and everyday reality. The first step taken by the student of Hermeticism, or of
esotericism in general, is to really put his feet on the ground and proceed, des
pite the pain, with his own deflation until he reaches his real level. He will h
opefully reach the lowest point possible, as there is no other starting point ex
cept from zero. If one has not started from zero, it is a false start and theref
ore, corrupt. The student must live the experience of entirely understanding his
own insignificance and incredible smallness in face of the immensity of the Uni
verse. As we have already stated in previous pages, the individual must "appreci
ate the magnitude of his ignorance," as only the immense humility caused by this
experience can lead the individual, along with powerful reasoning and adequate
alertness, to the psychological conditions which are necessary for him to unders
tand what Hermeticism is and the far-reaching truths involved. If this state of
humility has not been reached and there is still pride and strong self-esteem, t
ogether with a destructive internal nature, it is improbable that an individual
will ever gain any spiritual benefit from Hermetic science. It is for this reaso
n that we are endeavoring in this book to have the individual see himself as he
really is and not as he believes himself to be. The student must not accept thes
e concepts with the blind faith of a believer or a convert. On the contrary, suc
h concepts must be shaken countless times in the sieve of serene and unprejudice
d meditation during a state of intensified alertness. Afterwards, one must not b
e content with this procedure, but prove this teaching in everyday life, observi
ng his own experience and that of others.
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THE STELLAR MAN
In the practice and study of Hermeticism there is a necessary order which must b
e complied with for the student to reach his goal. Regarding this process, we ur
ge the reader to make the greatest effort to understand this book. There are thr
ee basic stages to be fulfilled in order to be successful: 1. Motivation 2. Unde
rstanding 3. Practice The result is evolution. These are the three indispensable
steps for the student to attain his goal. His motivation must be powerful; his
understanding, deep; and his practice, intense. The result of all this is the ev
olution of the student. Yet what at first sight seems so simple is arduous and c
omplex to accomplish. The student generally fails at one of the stages and evolu
tion does not take place. Many times the student reaches the following result: 1
. Motivation 2.________ 3. Practice The result is stimulation of mass energy and
there is no
evolution.
In this case, the individual is carried away by his enthusiasm and skips over th
e second point, directly proceeding to practice. It is also possible, and this i
s very common, that his own inability to understand impels him to evade this sta
ge. The result will then be a "stimulation of mass en-
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
113
ergy," that is, corporeal euphoria, but without the desired result, evolution. W
e must realize the fundamental importance of profound understanding on the path
of Hermeticism, as this is not a footpath of faith and self-conviction. Without
authentic understanding, nothing real is gained, only subjective illusions. Freq
uently the following situation occurs: 1. Motivation: poor 2. Understanding: ins
ufficient 3. Practice: scant
The result is insignificant evolution.
Occasionally a person's understanding and practice reach acceptable levels but m
otivation is deficient. In this case the individual lacks the fuel necessary to
successfully reach his spiritual goal. Having understood this, let us analyze th
e triangle of the
words Freedom, Will Power, and Desire.
In the first place, sapiens is ambivalent in relation to freedom; he desires and
fears it simultaneously. Generally, he desires it physically and fears it psych
ologically. Sapiens wants his physical, political, and economic freedom and he d
esires total freedom of action to accomplish his personal aims. In the end, this
longing represents an immeasurable yearning for power, in that he wishes to be
free enough to be able to exercise his power over people and within his environm
ent. Following his desire for freedom, he endeavors by all means within his reac
h to attain physical, ideological, and
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THE STELLAR MAN
economic independence. In opposition to this, however, and obeying his ancestral
fear of individual responsibility, he merges into religious, cultural, and poli
tical systems within which he dissolves his own "I," thus becoming free from the
responsibility of his own decisions and actions. From another point of view, fr
eedom is understood as a lack of opposition to individual actions or tendencies,
thus making it possible for the individual to accomplish his purposes, whatever
these may be. It is for this reason that many individuals seek their freedom by
means of successful economic negotiations, alleging that money makes them free
and powerful. Yet, sapiens' approach leaves out one truly important consideratio
n in this aspect, a factor which in practice acts as a veritable jailer, and at
times as the executioner of the individual. We refer to the internal nature of m
an; to his emotions, instincts, and passions, which are really his masters. The
only possible freedom in this life is freedom from one's own passions, because a
s long as they dominate us, we will be mere puppets who obey the ebb and flow of
the passionate states of the masses. All independence is impossible while think
ing and feeling according to the influence of the environment on our internal na
ture. Whatever experience of freedom we may have had will disappear in the face
of the primitive force of our animal soul which dominates us. Freedom does not d
epend on the individual's physical conditions; the prisoner in his cell can be m
ore autonomous than a person who is very rich and has freedom of movement. The o
nly true freedom is liberation of one's self and
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
115
liberation from the central computer of the species. As long as this
has not taken place, it is possible to be a great politician, a famous multimill
ionaire, have glory, honor, and power, but still be as much or more of a slave t
han the poorest man. We invite the astute reader to analyze himself and establis
h what decisions he has made absolutely freely in his life, without being compel
led by either external or internal pressures which oblige him to act in a certai
n way, or not solely because he had no other alternative, or not merely followin
g the line of least resistance. Of course, these are not decisions made freely,
independently, and voluntarily, but are instead equivalent to things, which happ
en to the individual independently of his wishes. From the time we reach the age
when we can make decisions, it will be noted that one decides to follow a certa
in career through imitation, qualification, or ambition. One marries due to lone
liness, sexual desire, lack of love, or personal convenience, but not free will.
To choose freely implies a decision independent from internal and external pres
sure, behaving impartially and objectively, carefully weighing the pros and cons
, then deciding what it is we really want and to what extent this may be favorab
le or harmful, and what degree of compatibility there is between our plan and fa
mily and social interests. We have now arrived at the second word of our triangl
e: Will Power, which is ultimately the key that may shed more light on the probl
em under discussion. The capacity to choose and make decisions involves the poss
ession of mature judgment manifested through will power, and this quality must b
e central to our lives. To be free we must be
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THE STELLAR MAN
capable of voluntarily deciding our existence. Nevertheless, it is here that wil
l power is confused with desire, the third word of our triangle. It is necessary
to recognize that the human being does not move by the impulse of his will powe
r, but by the strength of his desire, which is in turn motivated and conceived b
y prevailing instincts or emotions. To have Will Power implies the possession of
a powerful, stable, and mature "Superior I." The will permits maintaining a
constant line of action, which does not occur in practice, as the individual con
stantly changes his center of gravity or his "directing I." As Gurdjieff so aptl
y states, "Man has no
"I," but many "I's" which, in reality, possess him, instinctively and anarchical
ly, in a passionate manner." For this reason sapi-
ens rapidly changes his mind as well as his way of thinking and feeling. From th
is is born enormous internal contradictions, disorientation, doubt, and instabil
ity. What stability can there be if we change every minute? As sapiens unconscio
usly realizes this phenomenon, he creates the most rigid intellectual plans poss
ible in order to cling to them, thus obtaining the semblance of stability. It do
es not matter that the "directing I" is acting as the master of our "biological
house" (the physical body); the intellectual plan will tell us what we must do.
This is one of the reasons why sapiens petrifies his intelligence, limiting hims
elf to an assembly of fixed, stable, and permanent circuits. This has some advan
tages, but they are insignificant in the face of the negative factors this impli
es. It may be true that petrification is useful to the individual in attaining g
reater emotional or intellectual stability, or adjustment to the group to which
he belongs. On the other hand, petrification converts the indi-
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
117
vidual, metaphorically speaking, into a "tree of stone," rigid, inflexible, and
static, depriving him of the dynamics of transformation. While the world changes
, this individual clings to his worn out plan, refusing to consider the importan
ce and farreaching effects of these transformations. Without a grown-up and matu
re "Superior I," man has no real will; the force of the unknown and unexpected i
mpels him towards a completely unknown goal which was not chosen by him. Sapiens
is an eternal wanderer toward the unknown and completely ignores the happiness
or tragedy of his future. A premonition of this impels him to "enjoy life" in a
compulsive manner, systematically searching for today's pleasures as he is unsur
e about tomorrow; he is a being without a future, at least in his choices. Under
these conditions the materialistic and purely selfish attitude of sapiens is, t
o a certain extent, understood and forgiven. Sapiens tries by all means within h
is reach to make his empty and inert internal world vibrate. In this pursuit he
often prefers useless suffering to internal peace. Lacking a "Superior I," sapie
ns tenaciously takes refuge in a "Collective I," which is projected into the ind
ividual, directing his life. In previous chapters, we have referred to this "I"
as the Collective Soul or Central Computer of the species. It is thus that custo
ms, norms, and the collective approval or rejection of certain guidelines for co
nduct masters the individual, and in the end alienates him completely. All men w
ho seem to have an original and successful attitude toward life are rapidly imit
ated by the masses who, without further thought, superficially adopt their ways
without
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THE STELLAR MAN
looking beneath the surface. Movie stars and singers bring about an imitative ma
nia as they project a grand image, while the "gray men" endeavor to possess that
image in order to become outstanding. There are few people who act authenticall
y, following their own internal impulses, appearing as they really are; the majo
rity constantly seek the approval of others to justify and reinforce their way o
f being. A characteristic custom of nearly everyone is to frequently observe the
facial expression of people with whom they come into contact in order to verify
whether their faces show approval or rejection, and to modify their attitude ac
cordingly. The masses, in turn, constantly seek leaders to follow. This is the r
eal recognition of the fact that their volition is void; they need someone to fo
llow as they lack the will power to direct themselves. The leader is always a sy
mbol of the man who is strong, daring, free, and has the determination, which is
lacking in the common man. We definitely deny the concept of sapiens' free will
, and maintain that in truth and according to the oriental concept, "all is writ
ten." Sapiens occupies a specific level within the cosmic order, and for him all
is predetermined and foreseen. Nevertheless, we must not take this concept in a
n absolute, blind, and definitive manner. It is indispensable to interpret the c
oncept in the sense that a person is limited to the possibilities offered by the
Lords of Destiny or Zodiacal Gods. However, these beings do not impel the indiv
idual along a one-way path, but instead there are detours on the path which pres
ent a choice, but always within the structure imposed on him.
THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM
119
Though it may be true that for sapiens "all is written," this is not true for th
e wise man who has freed himself from the collective animal soul and has been co
nverted into a stellar man. For this individual, nothing is written, and he has
in his hands the book of destiny and the pen with which he may write as he pleas
es, but always within the laws that govern the Universe. Sapiens cannot direct h
is life to whatever he really wants; he has to limit himself to being carried aw
ay on the ocean of collective "progress" whose ebb and flow is determined by
the Lords of Destiny.
So the greatest civilizations are born through much blood, sweat, and tears, jus
t so one day the pendulum will swing to the other extreme and rapidly destroy ev
erything, leaving only ruins, traces, and memories. The pendulum of life crushes
and overcomes human creations, no matter how powerful and important; they are s
cattered to the winds with the passing of time, thus removing any transcendence
they may have had. Only the immortal Gods survive the terrible Cronos.
VIII
HERMETICISM
H
ermeticism is the Masterly Science of the Universe, which came to the planet Ear
th in the times of Lemuria. According to tradition, Hermeticism was brought by e
xtraterrestrial Masters, who by this transcendental act tried to give sapiens th
e possibility of higher evolution, which until that time had been denied to them
. We do not know the deepest motives of these visitors. We only know that they c
ame to this place and stayed for a long time. The physical facts of their arriva
l and in what vessels they may have arrived is what least interests us. Let's sa
y that a space vehicle is not the only way of traveling in the Universe. It is p
ossible that human beings or humanoids, as they may be called, can under certain
circumstances, and even without a material body, fly through the Universe at sp
eeds faster than light. It is not light that flies fastest in the Cosmos, but th
ought, and we truly believe that it is possible to fly on the wings of thought a
s symbolized by the god Mercury.
121
122
THE STELLAR MAN
From the Hermetic point of view, we are not interested in the scientific and tec
hnical advances of the visitors from space; we are only interested in the scienc
e of the internal nature of the human being, the absolute key to all sciences. F
or this reason we can correctly call Hermeticism the Science
of all Sciences.
From ancient times until now, Hermetic science has not been lost or weakened, bu
t remains in all its purity, although many pseudo-philosophical mystifications h
ave arisen which have been transformed into systems based on Hermeticism, but wh
ich lack true knowledge. In our age, Hermeticism is fully active and continues t
o give man the opportunity to escape from his cosmic classification and to rise
to an infinitely higher level: the level of man, that is, of the creature in who
m the highest human qualities are manifested, which sapiens definitely lacks. Th
is prodigious passage requires the authentic mutation of sapiens who, if success
ful in the process, will forever abandon his terrestrial condition to convert hi
mself into a Stellar Man. This is not an abstraction or a symbol, but an absolut
ely real, true, concrete, and tangible possibility. However much we study the ma
rvels of Nature, or the wonders of science and technology, there does not exist,
nor will there ever exist, a marvel such as what we are pointing out: the metam
orphosis of the human larva into a Stellar Man. This occurs at present in our ag
e, in this world, and it is not something that people are completely ignorant of
, since much has been written regarding Esoteric Initiatic tradition. However, s
apiens prefers to be involved in studies which are absolutely unimportant, unpro
ductive, and temporal,
HERMETICISM
123
and which do not produce any benefit that will withstand the passing of time. In
Santiago, Buenos Aires, Paris, Peking, New York, Moscow, or Cairo, mutants are
being formed, Stellar Men who will forever abandon their terraqueous beings, alt
hough they may physically live on this planet and collaborate more than anyone e
lse toward real progress. It is possible to be a stranger on your own planet, bu
t as superior beings, living a simple and anonymous life. Insignificant men cont
inually strive to call attention to themselves; the truly important endeavor to
pass unnoticed. The "invaders" or "aliens," as the hypothetical visitors from th
e stars have been called, are not about to arrive; they have been here since the
remote era of Lemuria, anonymous and entirely mixed with the crowd. These men h
ave always been the light of humanity. Like Prometheus, they carry the divine fl
ame in their hands, lighting, inspiring, and helping terrestrial men who are in
a mere larval state of evolution. What do these Stellar Men do? To what do they
dedicate their time? They do the same work as ordinary men, since they must earn
their daily bread, because their superior condition does not free them from the
responsibility of labor. On the contrary, the more aware a man is, the greater
his responsibilities will be. Apart from their struggle to survive, they underta
ke intensive Hermetic activities; that is, their existence, actions, thoughts, a
nd ideas have a transcendental superior purpose. Do not think that these beings
live attempting to teach Hermeticism to terrestrial beings. On the contrary, Her
metic science is stellar knowledge prohibited to terrestrials, to whom this teac
hing may be transmitted only when they successfully comply with the formalities
of a
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THE STELLAR MAN
process which we call Initiation. Those who do not fulfill these requirements ha
ve no right out of mere curiosity to know what is veiled by the laws of the Supr
eme Creator or Great Orderer of the Universe. Do not believe either that all the
se Stellar Men live making the process of initiation known. Only a very few of t
hem have taken on this serious responsibility. The rest labor in other works, wh
ich in this case cannot be divulged. Continuing this explanation, there are two
kinds of Stellar Men: those who originally arrived from outer space and continue
d their evolution on this planet, and those who by Initiation were transformed i
nto mutants and reached the qualification of Stellar Man due to the elevation of
their awareness. The most recent manifestation of Hermeticism in the past occur
red in Egypt with the "Master of Masters," Hermes Trismegistus (the three times
great), in an era not able to be determined historically. Tradition tells us tha
t this Master reached our planet Earth thirty thousand years ago. Hermetic philo
sophy derived its name from the teachings of Hermes, who was a perfect heir and
follower of the early Masters. We must understand that before Hermes, Hermetic s
cience must have been called by another name, but this is not important as words
are only symbols which can change many times while the designated object remain
s the same in its own nature. During the course of history, Hermetic science ado
pted many names but remained constant in its internal nature. The most known Her
meticists were the early Rosicrucians (not those who currently carry this name)
who
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125
adopted a series of explanatory symbols in order to facilitate the transmission
of the teaching to students. It must be said that if in fact a few true Rosicruc
ians exist today, no one knows about them. The Hermeticists, whether they be Ros
icrucians, magicians, initiates, Masters, wizards, etc., are not grouped into on
e "Hermetic Order" or "Rosicrucian Order," but they are scattered throughout the
world, each one independent, in spite of working within a common plan. A Stella
r Man may be an eminent politician, a priest, a schoolmaster, an author, a scree
n star, a soldier, an artisan, or any thinker. Each one of these knows exactly w
hat he is doing in his job. These men do not act as master instructors. The Mast
ers of wisdom are generally in charge of a school for Hermetic instruction, but
as stated before, there are few of these men. When we speak of Hermetic philosop
hy, many people believe that it is an abstract and theoretical discipline, a mer
e exercise of thought, which gives nothing practical to the individual. Traditio
nal philosophy offers an immense range of reflections on innumerable problems wh
ich concern sapiens. The great philosophers who existed in the history of humani
ty are today the pillars of civilized thinking. Apparently, there is little more
to be added to what has already been stated in this respect. For this reason, s
peaking of Hermetic philosophy does not disturb or stir anyone. We must state th
at we do not endeavor in any way to call attention to ourselves, cause sensation
alism, or to proselytize; we only wish to tell something to the world so that ac
cording to its inhabitants ability to think, they may understand the rudiments o
f Hermetic Art,
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THE STELLAR MAN
or deny them, make fun of them, or merely shrug their shoulders. The great Herme
tic sages are not interested in convincing anyone; they only fulfill their work
of spiritually enlightening humanity. If their message is heard, they rejoice wi
th the promise of a new dawn for sapiens; if they are not understood or apprecia
ted, they will lament for those who will be deprived of such a beautiful and rem
arkable opportunity. Stellar Men are not very concerned with the passage of time
, as they are immortal in their intrinsic nature. They may be transformed many t
imes, suffering the process we call death, but beyond this they retain their con
scious identity and the memory of their knowledge, returning each time to physic
al existence as one who awakens from a healthgiving sleep. It is sapiens who sho
uld be concerned about time, as the brevity of his existence as a thinking ident
ity obliges him to work rapidly if he wishes to be converted into a Stellar Man
and attain immortality. Many ask how it is that Hermeticism remains so unknown i
f it is really so important. Others will identify Hermetic philosophy with yoga,
occultism, mentalism, parapsychology, spiritualism, demonology, or black magic,
etc., believing that there is no Hermetic secret, despite the abundant literatu
re which exists on this subject. It should be known that Hermeticism has not spr
ead beyond the true schools, as it is an art whose knowledge can only be attaine
d in a special state of consciousness which, if not reached, makes all study in
this respect hollow and empty talk. The wisdom of awakened men cannot be underst
ood by sleeping beings however intelligent they may be. It could be believed tha
t Hermetic philosophy is some-
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127
thing that must be studied constantly in spiritual retirement, sharpening the in
tellect to the maximum in order to fulfill the "instructional plan" as soon as p
ossible. Conversely and distinct from traditional philosophy, Hermeticism is som
ething deeply vital. The individual must face the different transformations thro
ugh which man passes during his earthly existence in order to take advantage of
the teaching in a practical manner, as Hermetic philosophy is the art of living,
not taught in any university or school. The student must take possession of Her
metic wisdom by the sweat of his brow, getting to know life at its roots, passin
g through as many experiences as possible, enlightened by what he has truly lear
ned, enabling him to develop himself into a true Hermetic sage and a Stellar Man
. Hermeticism is the only living philosophy, the only knowledge which is idea, c
oncept, flesh, blood, and spirit. As it is flesh and blood (recall Jesus at the
Last Supper), it constantly renews itself; it is dynamic, flexible, and eternall
y young. Hermeticism is the achievement of wisdom as a living philosophy. It is
the universal and divine spirit, transubstantiated into a body of living matter.
There is no "Hermetic mold," die, or matrix which could serve as a model to pro
duce Stellar Men according to an established pattern. On the contrary, each one
of these men is truly unique. It is for this reason that Hermetic philosophy is
not taught in the traditional manner which sapiens is accustomed to, for in trad
itional study success is guaranteed to the most studious or intelligent. If Herm
eticism was taught according to a program of subjects the student had to master,
we would be creating
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THE STELLAR MAN
brainwashed men; men programmed according to a plan. It would be a violation of
this science itself, which simply stated, seeks freedom, independence, and the f
ree will of man. It is difficult for a person to understand how it is possible t
o "teach without teaching," how to convey knowledge without a programmed and met
hodical instructional process. The answer is simple. In the initiatic process th
e student is placed before very peculiar, vital conditions in order that he may,
with a self-taught criteria, "create his own knowledge," the basis of which is
given to him in oral instructions of a very special nature, and in a mystic proc
ess
we could call mental osmosis.
To tell the truth, Hermeticism recognizes no other possibility of real learning
aside from self-taught knowledge in which it is the subject himself who is teach
ing himself, having received basic information from a teacher or simply from the
written word. The educational system used in schools and universities suffers f
rom a serious defect: it programs the student according to rigid plans engraved
in his brain by force of the prestige and authority of these establishments. The
intelligence of the pupil is seriously damaged and transformed into a static ca
pacity, focused solely on the subject learned, making it practically impossible
for him to take on the profound analysis of really new and different things. At
a professional level, it is regrettable to observe specialists who have been mod
eled after a basic stereotype as if they were manufactured on an assembly line.
Hermetic science is the only science which does not cerebrally program an indivi
dual, and it frees his intelligence
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129
from established mechanical circuits. The intelligence of the Stellar Man is fre
e and unprogrammed. The explanation of how this is achieved is beyond the reach
of a programmed intellect and therefore is not a subject to be explained in this
book. As a general orientation only, the reader should reflect upon the relatio
nship between the specific and the general, and on the popular saying that "noth
ing is true or untrue, all is according to the color of the glass through which
it is seen." Truly, only by rising above the many facets of truth is it possible
to know absolute truth, which summarizes in itself what is and what is not, tru
th and falsehood, good and evil, ignorance and wisdom, life and death. We also w
ish to refer to the koans used in Zen Buddhism as an example of what we are sayi
ng. The koan is a type of symbolic dialogue between a Master and his disciple. T
he Master sets up a question which cannot be solved intellectually because it is
beyond reason. This method is an attempt to destroy and surpass conceptual thou
ght in order to reach the essential and unique nature of all things. Hermeticism
says "all is mind" (the word mind has been chosen to designate the unique energ
y of the Universe, but another could be used, such as spirit) and that the natur
e of the Universe is mental. In this way, the profound nature of all that exists
would be comprised of mind energy. The atom
is mind; man is mind; God is mind.
Herein lies the maximum interest of Hermetic philosophy: taking possession of th
e knowledge of the unique essence of all things, and this essence, being everywh
ere, is the master key to wisdom. Life itself is contradictory and paradoxical;
no one can
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THE STELLAR MAN
explain to themselves why there is so much injustice in the world if there is a
Supreme Being. In the light of Hermetic wisdom all contradictions disappear and
paradoxes are reconciled, and the hidden cause of all things is thus understood.
Truth is an exaggeration of the simple, and to reach what is simple, no great w
isdom or instruction in traditional matters is necessary. But, it is essential t
o have a minimal degree of culture, because without this, our intelligence would
lack the data and material to work with in order to reach a synthesis, a state
in which the individual needs no culture, at least not of the usual sort.
IX
THE SEEKERS
T
he abundant esoteric mythology does not reveal the occult, but instead veils it,
causing profound concern among those who seek, whether sincerely or falsely, th
e light of Hermetic truth. There are many schools, centers, and movements, each
one with its own philosophy. Each of these currents apparently flows against the
others and there is a great lack of agreement and coincidence in their teaching
s. Naturally, each school proclaims that its truth is correct, and that those si
milar to it are imperfect or spurious. It is not our intention to criticize the
different schools, but rather to guide seekers so they may find what they seek a
nd at the same time obtain more insight into their personal motives. Each seeker
has a special concept of what he desires to find, and although he may indeed fi
nd what he is seeking, he will later realize that his discovery is not leading h
im to anything superior, real, or positive. Under the general context of "occult
sciences" there are
131
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THE STELLAR MAN
those who feel attracted to spiritualism, yoga, rosicrucianism, parapsychology,
or mentalism. In turn, within each of these currents there are numerous schools
and "pseudoschools." The candidate for initiation finds it difficult to choose a
ppropriately. In the first place, we may say that each individual has his own le
vel within the general average of humanity. It is as if we all lived in a water
tank, similar to an aquarium, and each person found his own level of flotation a
ccording to the density of his body. There are many kinds of sapiens; there are
those who are very low and others who are very high for their species. Under the
se conditions, it is natural that each person should seek an adequate movement o
r school appropriate to his own level; otherwise he would find it impossible to
gain any benefit. In this case, it is understood that "like attracts like." As a
n example, let us suppose a very low or dense individual arrives at a high level
school, attracted by the goal he seeks. With absolute certainty, this individua
l will consider this institution bad or deficient as his concept of badness will
be all that is beneath or above his own level. For him, "good" will be that whi
ch is suitable to his own vibration. Following this analogy of a level of flotat
ion, those of dense vibration find it practically impossible to remain in high l
evel initiatic groups, and must resign themselves to others of a lower category.
It must be stated that all schools are of use, even those of a low level, for i
f it were not for them, there would be none which could cope with individuals of
inferior quality, who also need a light equal to their capabilities in order to
see. On
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the other hand, if a man of high vibration enters a movement of low category, he
will find it easy and comfortable to remain there, but his spiritual developmen
t will be scarce or nil. To be a disciple of Jesus, it was necessary to attain t
he level of an Apostle; it was not possible any other way. It is most important
to state that true schools are very scarce, and the majority of these are only c
enters of study and practice of elementary principles. As an explanation we will
divide these schools into three groups:
1. Study centers. These comprise the great majority. 2. Schools connected to a s
uperior occult force. These are ex tremely scarce. 3. Schools of initiation. The
se schools teach the mystical process of initiation in a real, and not symbolic,
manner. They are extremely scarce and virtually unknown.
In practice, any person can enter the study centers as mentioned in the first po
int. It is sufficient to pay the dues and to attend regularly, or maintain const
ant communication in the case of instructions by correspondence. It is useful fo
r a person to belong to one of these study centers as they prepare the individua
l for higher things, and at the same time awaken in him greater spiritual restle
ssness. We could say that these groups represent the exoteric or external side o
f Hermetic doctrine. Under the second point, we find the schools which are actua
lly linked to a higher power, that is, in some manner they are connected with th
e Stellar Men. The student can get a lot of benefit from these schools.
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THE STELLAR MAN
Under the third point, we have the initiatic schools which are the only ones tha
t can truly lead the student through the process of initiation in a real and not
symbolic manner. These schools are characterized by a leading Master, and are t
he bearers of the celestial fire, which is transmitted to the student during ini
tiation. It is essential to establish that initiation is not, as some naive peop
le believe, a ritual ceremony practiced in a temple. The word initiation designa
tes the entire process of mutation of the human larva into a Stellar Man,
which is brought about and directed by the Masters of these schools. Physically,
where are these schools of initiation located? Their location is not important,
because in spite of the fact that their number is very small, all candidates wh
o truly and powerfully yearn for spiritual superiority and have the capacity for
it will surely find someone to guide them to one of these "workshops." We must
now speak of candidates for wisdom. We know there are individuals who have gone
through every existing school searching for what they desire, but have never fou
nd it, probably because they do not know what they really want. They generally h
ave the most fantastic ideas in this respect and honestly believe that the only
true Masters are in India or in some mysterious and inaccessible place in the Ea
st. Others believe that it is necessary to communicate with flying saucers by te
lepathy in order to receive instructions from their hypothetical crews, who are
assumed to be possessors of esoteric knowledge. There are also those who believe
only in spiritualism, parapsychology, or the teachings of Freemasonry. The more
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135
naive demand all types of credentials, secret scrolls, or material proof which a
ttest to and establish the authority of the school. There are also those who, in
fluenced by the publicity, fame, or prestige of some institution, believe it the
best to be found. The reality is that the candidate is not capable of choosing,
and even less capable of effectively judging the goodness or defects of the ins
titute he enters. If he was able to choose, it would be because his spiritual vi
sion surpasses that of the instructors he is seeking, in which case there would
be nothing they could teach him. Only the illumination of his own spirit would g
uide the candidate in this case. Far back in antiquity, the candidates for initi
ation into certain esoteric brotherhoods were given two glasses of wine or liquo
r, and were warned that one contained a deadly poison, leaving the neophyte to c
hoose one and drink all its contents. If he did not accept this, he was immediat
ely rejected. We know that sometimes it was only a trick to weigh the courage an
d decision of the individual, but in other cases the contents were truly toxic.
The premise was that if the individual drank the toxic drink, he would have alre
ady failed, because he was not illuminated by his divine spark in the search he
had embarked upon. It is very important that the seeker should analyze the motiv
es guiding him, for in this way he will avoid much unpleasantness and loss of ti
me. We know that one of the most unpleasant aspects of human behavior is the fac
t that sapiens lies to himself with astounding frequency. His lies are so astute
, subtle, and perfect, that he may waste many years of his life, only to discove
r that he was being cheated and he himself was the charlatan. The object of this
self-deception
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THE STELLAR MAN
has been very precisely identified by psychology, and generally refers to the in
dividual's need for a high level of selfesteem. There are many techniques for se
lf-deception and these are grouped under the general category of "rationalizatio
n." Professor Gordon Allport gives this definition: "Reason fits
one's impulses and beliefs to the world of reality; rationalization fits one's c
oncept of reality to one's impulses and beliefs. Reasoning reveals the real caus
es of our actions, and rationalization finds good reasons, to justify them." Her
e we have a treasure of psy-
chological wisdom in a few words! Unfortunately no one makes use of this, in spi
te of the fact that it may give many people the key to the tragic events of thei
r lives. The individual lies to himself in order to avoid facing his internal co
nflicts, and thereby attains a momentary relief, but never a solution. This is w
hy it is vital that anyone interested in Hermeticism or various esoteric movemen
ts should examine his motives. Is there an authentic and true desire for spiritu
al superiority within him? Does he feel true spiritual thirst? Or is he only gui
ded by the selfish desire to attain power, which will give him prestige, popular
ity, and recognition? It may be that the individual is a potential convert for a
ny collective movement, and who (as is frequently the case) seeks only to rid hi
mself of his insignificant or undesirable "I," by merging with some mass movemen
t. The individual may be paranoid, an extremely neurotic personality, a failure,
a vain individual who requires an audience, or an intellectual impelled solely
by curiosity. It is possible that he is fleeing from himself or from the world,
or that a great
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137
amorous disillusionment, or his terrible loneliness, may lead him to seek any co
mpany whatsoever. Others may claim magic powers or secrets in order to obtain mo
ney or to attract the opposite sex, or they may simply wish to open their "third
eye" without really having the least idea what it means. In any of these or sim
ilar cases, it is easily inferred that the individual is not led by a genuine de
sire for spiritual superiority, and therefore it is preferable that he should re
frain from requesting Hermetic light, as he is not prepared for it, and is not r
eally interested in it. This does not mean that a person in any of the above cas
es does not possess, in direct proportion to the problem afflicting him, a real
desire for spiritual advancement. Many times the most spiritual persons are thos
e who encounter more than the usual amount of problems in their terrestrial life
; they have more difficulty adapting their psychic vehicles, which are more subt
le than usual, to the vicissitudes of our civilization. In many cases it occurs
that a student enters a Hermetic brotherhood and cannot remain there because of
the enormous difficulties that arise along the way. For this reason, the majorit
y of the candidates may be lost, as it is very simple to become part of a study
group or contemplative school where there is no real initiation. If the student
enters an initiatic school, he must face and overcome the phantom of himself if
he desires to reach the light. Nature will test him without mercy in order to es
tablish his true spiritual quality. In Hermetic alchemy it is said that "to make
gold there must be gold, even an infinitesimal fraction of it." So, through the
tests it will be known with absolute certainty how much spiritual gold the cand
idate has. If he does not
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THE STELLAR MAN
have this golden seed, all mutation will be impossible and the individual must b
e prepared to fight during this life in order to create his tiny portion of spir
itual gold, which will enable him to go forward in his next incarnation. It also
happens that once within a Hermetic brotherhood, the student may remain there f
or several years, blind and deaf to the teaching he receives, without being able
to weigh the immense value of the school and the knowledge he is receiving. Thi
s situation may last forever or be overcome one day by an illuminating experienc
e that opens the individual's eyes forever. The lack of progress or success is g
enerally due to the fact that the individual does not make sufficient effort, li
miting the work he does. In order not to deceive anyone, it must be stated that
Hermeticism is not in any way for those who are lazy or cherish their comfort. O
n the contrary, it is for those who are willing to make titanic efforts toward e
volution. Here we have touched a point which we have already spoken of, but it i
s necessary to analyze this point many times in order to understand it. We refer
to the fact that the layman always thinks of occultism, magic, or Hermeticism a
s a system which will permit him, by the use of magic formulae, to obtain more r
apidly and without any significant effort, that which would normally be attained
only after much perseverance, for example that wealth, love, work, or special f
avors will be gained through the intervention of higher powers. As already state
d, people always believe what they want to believe; what is convenient for their
purposes. In this case, all that entails avoiding effort and obtaining things b
y miraculous procedures will be immediately accepted by
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139
the populace. Without doubt, the tale of Aladdin and his
Magic Lamp and A Thousand and One Arabian Nights were
written by a loafer, unconsciously projecting his occult dreams. This does not m
ean that these marvels are not possible, but they can in no way be an "abracadab
ra" for obtaining things with little work or effort. One of the Hermetic Princip
les states that "every cause produces an effect," which would be potentially equ
ivalent to the action that gave it origin, and will have a period of gestation o
r realization according to the importance of what is sought. There is no miracle
for obtaining things without effort, as if they could fall from heaven. This wo
uld be an arbitrary alienation of the cosmic order, and if this capricious act w
ere possible, the matter integrating the Universe would break up. In the Cosmos
there are neither miracles nor chance, only the Law of Cause and Effect, and the
natural phenomena produced by the laws of Nature which are little known. What i
s called a miracle is only a natural occurrence, but of an unknown nature. There
are also those who do not find because they do not wish to find, for if they we
re to do so, they would be obliged to face the arduous problem of overcoming the
mselves in order to evolve. They know this beforehand, and it frightens them. On
the other hand, to turn into an eternal seeker requires no great effort; just t
he opposite, it enables the individual to give free rein to his most audacious d
reams without any danger of misfortune. By surrendering himself to dreamlike fan
tasies, the perpetual explorer avoids facing the real opportunity of fulfilling
himself in a genuine manner. It is very easy to dream for thirty years or more t
hat one
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THE STELLAR MAN
is becoming more perfect as the days go by, and that one is on the road to spiri
tual perfection. Naturally this fantasy, according to the degree of self-decepti
on, makes life easier and more bearable for the individual, but one day he must
face the cruel truth. Without wishing to offend anyone and only to make known wh
at is true, it is necessary to consider that there are as many types of schools
as there are types of individuals. There are schools for those who arrive into t
he light of Hermetic teaching for the first time in their chain of incarnations.
There are schools for the greatly evolved, for people who are very intelligent,
stupid, simple, for those who have failed in their initiation in their past liv
es, for masters punished by the occult judges. There are schools of white magic
and also of black magic. We have already mentioned the danger of those who are p
sychologically sick taking refuge in Hermeticism as a means of escaping their in
ternal problems, or using Hermeticism as an incentive for their most exalted dre
ams. Much more dangerous is the lamentable case of becoming a disciple of a sick
master. Are there sick masters? Certainly there are, and this is explained by t
he ambiguity of the word "Master" and the fact that the human brain has a ceilin
g of resistance, and beyond that limit it may become unbalanced. Let us take the
case of an individual who has gathered much esoteric knowledge, but who has not
evolved spiritually as a real Stellar Man due to insufficient internal cleanlin
ess and not having been able to overcome his mental disturbances arising from fr
ustrations or diverse complexes (remember that mental disturbance is not a synon
ym for in-
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sanity). This individual, at any given time, for reasons not necessary to analyz
e, may found a school and transmit teachings which naturally will be distorted b
y this master's psychological disturbances. This does not mean that the teaching
s transmitted by this man will be false; on the contrary, they could be entirely
true in theory. Here we must cite an aphorism of great esoteric significance wh
ich says, "correct methods in the hands of incorrect men function incorrectly; i
ncorrect methods used by correct men function correctly." This refers to the fac
t that true knowledge in the hands of an individual who has morally, emotionally
, or mentally gone astray will act deviously, and the one who receives this teac
hing will experience a negative reaction as a result. On the other hand, it coul
d happen that a man of integrity and purity could be mistaken in some of the kno
wledge he possesses. In this case, we have not the least doubt that magically th
e final result will be adequate and correct. Naturally, the ideal would be an in
dividual of integrity with accurate knowledge. This explains why the black magic
ians may possess great esoteric knowledge, but their goal and true purposes are
never known, as their object is always to deceive the student in their schools,
to make use of him in a covert manner for their own ends. It is thus they always
exploit the weaknesses of their followers, making them conceive all kinds of gr
eat illusions for the future. Returning to the case we pointed out regarding a s
ick master, this individual is generally completely sincere and is convinced tha
t he is the sole possessor of the truth and knowledge. One of the most outstandi
ng characteristics of these disturbed individuals is their self-worship, which i
s so
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THE STELLAR MAN
overwhelming that they are completely convinced they are GOD himself incarnated
on Earth, and naturally are infallible and omniscient. They are never mistaken,
because they are always right. The loss of a sense of self-criticism and their s
elf-glorification is easily recognized by the language they use in referring to
themselves, as all their tales are always directed toward showing how they are p
owerful, wise, intelligent, and infallible. Any psychiatrist would find any of t
hese men to be classic case studies. We must realize that it is easy for a paran
oid person and even a schizophrenic to have access to esoteric knowledge and ado
pt the role of Master. Nevertheless, it is relatively easy to recognize them: se
lf-worship, insane infallibility, self-deification, self-glorification, and a su
pposed monopoly on the truth will generally be the most outstanding characterist
ics of these men. Summarizing, initiation may derail an individual from his purp
ose of spiritual perfection and lead him to a delirium of greatness and megaloma
nia, within which he confuses the truth he has been exposed to with the dreams a
nd illusions knit together in his unconscious state. That is, there is an "initi
atic abortion." For example, consider the case of an individual who was not able
to cleanse his soul, but who attained knowledge of certain things and was conve
rted into the shadow of light. The devil always uses inverted truth to confuse p
eople. That which is demonic is only the divine inverted. There are also schools
whose real purpose is not initiation, but politics, and they use the organizati
on as a screen to re-
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143
cruit followers. Their real purpose is not to form Stellar Men, but to enlarge t
he battalions of certain ideological systems. One last warning with regard to th
e schools: always distrust those which praise the individual's self-esteem with
repeated assurances that "he is a very evolved person," "very spiritual," or "ve
ry intelligent and prepared." In some centers this system of flattery is used, e
ither brazenly or subtly, as a method of using the student for purposes of which
he is unaware. Lies, skillfully dosed and directed, are used there as a weapon
for handling the student, exploiting his base passions with a promise that he wi
ll unfailingly attain his desires. In the same way, we must distrust those who t
each without asking anything in return, like a romantic Jesus Christ. If teachin
gs are given gratis, it is because they are of no value. That which is valuable
to possess always requires something of equivalent value in return. Many pseudo-
masters say that "Teachings must be free." We state something absolutely differe
nt: true Teachings cannot be bought, as they are not for sale. But it is necessa
ry that the student contribute something of value to those who instruct himâ either t
o the school, or to the physical Master. This is an occult law which cannot be v
iolated. In conclusion, we insist that a school must always have a Master, becau
se without one, being limited to just transmitting a legacy of the past, there c
an be no disciples, since in order to have students, there must be a Master. It
does not matter if the instructor at the head of an esoteric brotherhood has not
reached the stature of a "great Master," because not everyone can reach this. W
hat is important is that this individual be effectively well-oriented and be a p
erson who is
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THE STELLAR MAN
straight, healthy, and pure. The seeker has no other manner of finding the Maste
r other than by his own internal aspiration. The stronger his desire for truth a
nd freedom, the more certain it is that he will find what he is seeking.
THE ROAD TO OLYMPUS
X
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
THE PRINCIPLE OF MENTALISM The Principle of Mentalism states: "The All is Mind;
The Universe is Mental." In this, the first of the seven Hermetic Principles, it
is stated that "the Universe is mental" and that the only essential reality of
all things is mind, for the Universe in itself is a mental creation. We live wit
hin the mind of God, who maintains the Cosmos in the same way someone sustains a
thought by mental concentration. The Kybalion, a compendium of Hermetic Princip
les, gives us two aphorisms, which illustrate our knowledge. 1. The infinite min
d of The All is the womb of the Universe. 2. The All creates in its Infinite Min
d countless Universes, which exist for eons of Timeâ and yet, to The All, the creatio
n, development, decline, and death of a million Universes is as the time of the
blinking of an eye.
147
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THE STELLAR MAN
It is thus that God, or the All Mental, creates life through thought, just as ma
n can create a Universe within his own mind. The Great Creator visualizes creati
on and projects this toward the cosmic egg, giving origin to life in its infinit
e manifestations. In this way, the Hermeticist is not greatly concerned with stu
dying the chemical composition of the elements, but prefers to study the Princip
le of Mind, the essential composition of all that exists. Animals, minerals, veg
etables, men, gods, planets, galaxies, universes, matter, and energy: all is min
d, the Universe is mental. For this reason, in the entire Cosmos there are the s
ame laws, those of the
mind.
Mental energy is manifested on an infinite scale of vibrations, from the densest
to the most subtle. The combination of these vibrations, similar to the mixture
of musical notes from a piano, produces the different elements or material of t
he Universe, with different characteristics between them, but with their intrins
ic nature formed by mind. It is due to this that the ancient alchemists believed
in the transmutation of lead or any other metal into gold, as the intrinsic com
position of all metals is exactly the same: mind. In particular, our physical bo
dy is mind; our bones, blood, nervous system, intelligence, spirit, and our thou
ghts: all is
mind.
The All Mind (God) is infinite, eternal, immutable, and unknowable. The All Mind
is neither energy nor matter, it is something superior to this; it is a living
and infinite mind, which can also be called Spirit, or real essence. The All Min
d has always existed and will always exist; it is the absolute, which is beyond
all understanding.
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All that is finite, mutable, and transformable cannot be The All. Since nothing
exists beyond this, in reality all which is finite must really be nothing. The K
ybalion places before us the following Hermetic question: What is the Universe?
If nothing can exist beyond The All, then is the Universe all? No, this cannot b
e so, as the Universe seems to be made of multiple units and constantly changes.
Then, if the Universe is not all, it must be nothing. We still have senses and
feel the existence of the Universe. And if the Universe is something and is not
The AH, what can it be? Simply stated, it is a mental creation of The All. This
is the origin of the well-known Hindu principle of "Maya." The Hindus say that "
All is Maya." Translated, this means All is illusion. Certainly a thought of our
s is illusion. If we have imaginatively created the personage of a small, green-
eyed old man with a walking stick made from a branch of a tree, this personage i
s a fantasy and an illusion from our material point of view, but absolutely tang
ible, concrete, and real for the matter, elements, or personages of our imaginat
ive dream. A ghost is a ghost for the physical man, but a material being for ano
ther ghost. It will pass through wooden doors but not through "doors for ghosts"
made of "ghost wood." An automobile manufactured by thoughts (imaginary) cannot
collide with a material vehicle, but it can collide with another imaginary car,
as it is on the same vibration, or within the same density of matter. We must u
nderstand that as sapiens, creatures of flesh and blood, we are located on a spe
cific vibratory level and we occupy a space in the order of the Universe. We sho
uld
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reflect on the fact that for us, matter is only that energy with vibratory chara
cteristics similar or identical to our own, and that energy will be the opposite
pole. On the other hand, for a man whose body is made up of energy of a differe
nt vibratory state, matter for him will be the energy similar to that constituti
ng his body. Therefore, neither matter nor energy exist; there exists only one p
rimordial energy, matter, or essence which comprises everything. If we could esc
ape from our classification in the Universe and join the All Mind, participating
in its nature, the Universe would instantly disintegrate (only for us) as we wo
uld have changed the observer's situation or position. It is not difficult to un
derstand that if from the point of view of the absolute "all is illusion," then
from our mortal situation "nothing is illusion" because all that occurs affects
what we can see and feel. Now, as sapiens, we have been made in the image of God
and have within us the divine spark. If the corporal part of us is finite, rela
tive, and mutable, the divine spark or spiritual essence is the absolute. Reflec
ting on this will lead us to a transcendental discovery:
sapiens is the only being in the Universe who participates both in the nature of
the thinker (Godâ divine spark), as well as in the structure of that imagined by the
thinker (material worldâ
physical body). By understanding this Principle, it is possible to get an idea o
f the reason why man was created; he is the instrument used by God to create the
material of the Universe with his thoughts. The Supreme Creator uses man's brai
n to
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151
create life. Within this process of creation we can distinguish two stages: 1. M
an, god of his own Universe 2. Man, the organ of the creation of life (the sexua
lity of God?) In the first stage, sapiens imagines an entire Universe within his
thoughts, a process astonishingly similar to creation by divinity. It should be
asked if in this Universe imagined by sapiens, there are not also planets, gala
xies, vegetables, minerals, and even ourselves on another dimensional scale. In
reality, that which is infinitely great becomes confused with the infinitely sma
ll. We cannot say when something will become so small as to disappear or so larg
e as to disintegrate. We truly believe there is an entire Universe in the though
t of each man, and for him this passes within a second; for those who live in hi
s imagination, millions of years could have passed. In the second stage, life cr
eated by man within his imagination and existing within his mental Universe pass
es from this world to the Universe of God, where man himself lives; that is, his
material density is similar to that of his creator. It is possible that the sam
e may happen to man, and that at a given moment he may pass to another Universe
higher than the one we know. The understanding that all is illusion ("all is May
a"), can perturb one who is not prepared for this truth, for in his own vulgar i
nterpretation he would have us believe that if all is illusion, it is not worthw
hile doing anything, because ultimately nothing has any value if "all is nothing
." This
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error should not be committed. It stems from placing oneself on the level of an
observer existing outside of this Universe. The spiritual betterment promised by
Hermeticism consists of the development, strengthening, growth, and evolution o
f the divine part of sapiensâ what is usually called the Spirit. This essential part
is developed at the expense of the oneiric (illusory) and thus sapiens can be co
nverted into a mutant; an individual whose center of gravity shifts from the ill
usory to the absolute existing within himself (his own spirit, which is an emana
tion of God). This very profound change enables the individual to gradually begi
n to understand the truth and finally reach the knowledge of absolute truth, whi
ch is immutable, immortal, and eternal, and which does not suffer change as time
goes by because it is beyond time. In the end, only absolute truth is completel
y truthful, as relativity can only encircle a small section of the absolute. It
is due to this that Hermeticism, as proclaimed by the Kybalion, speaks of the wi
se and the semiwise. These latter are those who are limited to having knowledge
of the illusory world of Maya, the world imagined by the Great Creator, without
ever ascending to the original source of all that exists. They are a species of
sages from the world of phantoms, the oneiric world. The true Hermetic sage beco
mes polarized within the essential part of himself, and then his spirit manifest
s through his own brain. He avoids the world of oneiric fantasy in order to pene
trate into the level of the Great Thinker, where the absolute resides. This expl
ains why personality, the means of adapting to the illusory in order to become b
lind in reference to its inherent nature, impedes the individual's higher spirit
ual
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153
development by blocking his contact with reality. Generally, the more programmed
a person is, the more difficult it will be for him to elevate himself to the kn
owledge of the world of the absolute.
THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCE
The Principle of Correspondence states: "As above, so below;
as below, so above."
This Hermetic Principle refers to the similarity between the various vibratory p
lanes or classifications that exist within the arrangement of the Universe. The
great scale of life runs from matter to spirit, existing in the midst of an infi
nite vibratory scale. Within this range, the same laws acting on density, for ex
ample, also act on that which is spiritual or subtle. There is a correspondence
or similarity among all cosmic phenomena, and the study of this analogy enables
one to reach the unknown commencing from what is known. For example, astrology i
s based on the supposition that man is a microcosm and he has inside himself an
analogous replica of the Universe, and that by means of this basic outline, we a
re joined to the planets of our solar system and are influenced by them. The cha
rt of the horoscope endeavors to reach the design of our internal vital structur
e by means of the Law of Correspondence. The planets manifest their influence th
rough the different parts of our body with which they correspond. We know that A
ries corresponds to the head and Pisces to the feet, and there is a sympathetic
connection between the zodiacal sign, its ruling planet, and the area of the bod
y dominated by it. A talisman is an object through which a magnetic relationship
can be established between
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THE STELLAR MAN
the individual to be protected and the corresponding cosmic force. The Cosmos in
fluences man with its energy, but at the same time, is also influenced by man. H
ere is a principle of feedback, whose exact dimensions we cannot visualize. It i
s said that if a person throws a pebble into a lake, this simple act will some d
ay influence the boundaries of the Universe in some way. Universal unity exists
in the sense that all is united to all; we cannot separate ourselves from people
or from our environment. You, the reader, are joined by an invisible thread to
each inhabitant of our planet and to all beings that exist in the Cosmos. If you
hate someone, you are destroying yourself. If you wish to wreak revenge on some
one, that force you set in motion will eventually fall upon you. Let us remember
the Christian principles based on pure Hermeticism: "Do unto others what you wo
uld have them do unto you" or, "Love one another." This Principle of Corresponde
nce is explained by the fact that "All is Mind; The Universe is Mental." Mind en
ergy is the common nexus of all that exists. As there is external correspondence
(with that which is external), this also exists within our body, and also in re
lation to the opposite sex. Let us observe the likeness between the tonsils and
testicles or ovaries, between the spermatozoon and the medulla oblongata in the
brain, or the relation between this latter and the sex. In this case, the loss o
f sexual sensitivity is often derived from increased intellectual sensitivity an
d vice versa. This is shown by an insatiable sexual appetite or lechery, which g
enerally leads to a deterioration of intelligence. With respect to the opposite
sex, we can see that the penis corresponds to the clitoris and the uterus to the
prostate.
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155
Sympathetic magic is the art of establishing artificial correspondence between a
person and a wax figure, talisman, plant, or any other object. In this way, the
influence received by the wax doll will finally be directed toward the individu
al who has served as the model. Based on the same principle, an individual can e
nter into correspondence with a tree or a plant, and transfer his own illness to
them, being thus equivalently healed. Acupuncture shows us a case of the advant
ageous use of corporeal equivalences, where through stimulation on the lobe of t
he ear, a headache may be cured. At first, it is very difficult to believe that
there can be any relationship between the lobe of the ear and the head, but conc
rete experience has proven that there is. It is possible by means of the needles
used in acupuncture to cure many ailments or to lessen painâ all this by corresponde
nce. The study of the Hermetic aphorism "As above, so below; as below, so above"
is of extreme interest, as this explains the bonds of reciprocal influence whic
h exist between an individual and terrestrial and celestial Nature. The environm
ent, radiating its forces upon us, brings about changes inside us and in the eve
nts which occur to us daily. On the other hand, our psychological condition and
our mental state are projected toward Nature, and as a consequence of this, fort
unate or tragic events may occur in our lives. This Hermetic aphorism has great
practical value, which will be revealed only to the zealous student. We will giv
e some examples:
1. An individual keeps his room untidy and in complete disorder. This material f
act of a physical nature immediately
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THE STELLAR MAN
reflects upon the individual's psyche, and he is intellectually and emotionally
converted into a replica of the physical conditions he maintains. His psyche wil
l be the likeness of his room and vice versa. 2. The same individual from the ab
ove example spends a whole day scrupulously cleaning and tidying his room. As a
consequence of this, he experiences a careful cleaning of his psyche and feels e
xtraordinarily happy, "light," and comfortable. 3. An individual who is bitter a
nd negative habitually meets people who instinctively reject him, and without an
y rea son whatsoever they may end up hating him. 4. A woman believes she is ugly
and feels unattractive. Al though she is really "fascinating," her mental attit
ude repels the opposite sex.
Further explanation of these cases is not necessary. Within the context of this
important theme of the Principle of Correspondence, we will take a close look at
the relationship between legal acts to which the individual is subject and the
concomitant dependence and lack of freedom, which takes place on the plane of en
ergy. To illustrate this, let us suppose that a wife is not in harmony with her
husband and they separate, but are not divorced. Thus she is still firmly joined
to her husband, and if he is a negative individual who wishes evil to befall he
r, this woman cannot become detached from these forces; she will continue to rec
eive them and they will surely continue to harm her even after ten years apart f
rom her mate. What is the reason for this? The cause resides in the aphorism "As
above, so below; as below, so above," because while there is a legal contract b
e-
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
157
tween both spouses, they still are in reality indissolubly joined so long as the
contract is legally binding. The laws of men project their influence into the w
orld of energy which we shall call the "astral plane," "mental plane," or "fourt
h dimension" in order to designate a place where the vibrations are much more su
btle than the material ones. What occurred in the previous example also happens
to ordinary people who are joined by a contract forming a legal entity, as in th
e case of a corporation. While the articles of incorporation are in force, the p
artners will remain united and each one will have some effect on the life of the
rest, either positively or negatively, and in turn will also receive from them
a force which will determine the important events in their lives. Thus there is
danger in uniting our lives with those persons affected by heavy or negative Kar
ma, which, in the case of a legal tie, will inevitably fall upon us. Through thi
s Principle of Correspondence it is possible to understand how immensely cruel i
t is to condemn a felon to life imprisonment. As a result of a law of sapiens, t
his individual will remain a prisoner indefinitely or permanently even after his
death. Life imprisonment basically means prison after death. Those in this situ
ation should not despair, and I wish to counsel them to practice a kind of menta
l defense to attain freedom upon death. This "way out" as we could call it, cons
ists of repeating the following prayer every day: "I free myself from the laws o
f man and deliver myself into the hands of divine justice." In order for this fo
rmula to be effective and for the individual to truly become free, it is importa
nt that he should deeply feel what he is saying. If
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THE STELLAR MAN
this is repeated mechanically, it will surely fail. It is different when a priso
ner is condemned to capital punishment, as in this case death frees him. We must
also mention the enormous importance of astronomical discoveries or observation
s for sapiens. If any individual should discover a new star through his telescop
e and this star emits subtle energy of a destructive nature (all bodies emit ene
rgy which might be called "mass energy"), these forces will reach our planet in
a very intense form, as a mental channel has been created for them. The temples
of ancient Egypt were constructed so that during certain times of the year a per
son, looking toward the sky through a precisely situated opening, would see a sp
ecific star known to the constructors, with which the subject would try to estab
lish mental contact in order to receive a positive influence from it. It is also
necessary to mention that this teaching of the seven Hermetic Keys is basic, so
that the student will discover himself what remains hidden or what may be read
between the lines. I wish to conclude this commentary on the Principle of Corres
pondence by honoring the memory of the extraordinary Egyptians, who possessed gr
eat Hermetic knowledge before their decline. Both laymen and ignorant archeologi
sts have always commented that in ancient Egypt people were so backward that the
y worshipped animal gods, which was considered the height of moral decadence. As
far as we are concerned, this was the manifestation of ancient Hermetic wisdom.
To explain: the Egyptians had animal gods, not to be worshipped by them, but by
the ordinary animals (those
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159
not set up as gods). The object of creating animal gods was to maintain the puri
ty and elevation of the human race. These "magical" methods were used to prevent
animals from penetrating into the human scale, from being incarnated as sapiens
. In the chapter "The Illusion of True Knowledge," we dealt with the incarnation
of consciousness which relates to this subject. Upon receiving the irradiation
of man's consciousness, animals partly assimilate the energy of the divine spark
or magical fire, which then enables them to enter into the human scale for the
first time after they die as animals. This occurs primarily with domestic animal
s or those which for any special reason are constantly in contact with man, such
as a circus dog, for example, as he is exposed closely to human vibrations. I m
ust pause for a moment to imagine the ironic smiles of those who believe that ce
rtainly the writer of this book suffers from some mental disorder. I think I und
erstand them perfectly well, because if I had not had the opportunity of verifyi
ng the absolute truth of Hermetic science to my satisfaction, or if I was a neop
hyte in these matters and was reading this book, I would think as they do. On th
e other hand, if unbelieving readers could change places with me for a few minut
es by means of a magical transmigration, they would completely agree with me. It
is necessary to live the Hermetic experience to confirm what has been learned i
ntellectually. I also feel obliged to state that in Hermeticism
one does not believe or disbelieve; one simply understands or does not understan
d.
We continue with the explanation of the animal gods. When an animal incarnates a
s a human being for the first
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THE STELLAR MAN
time, it will be like an individual on a very inferior level, with very strong a
nimal instincts, and will certainly cause great harm to society. It will either
become a delinquent or an immoral pervert as it lacks adequate restraints on its
instincts. This animal-individual must very gradually rise in level throughout
many reincarnations. It must be understood that if many animals are converted in
to the sapiens species, humanity will face a serious crisis, and this is precise
ly what is occurring now. By means of ritual magic, the Egyptian priests sacrifi
ced and mummified a dog, for example, and buried it in a secret place. This dog
received a name and was anointed as "god of the dogs" at the moment of its death
. Thus, this animal was converted into the occult guardian, which prevented dogs
from entering into the human scale, and it had been specially prepared for this
. We reserve the complete and profound explanation of this magical operation, wh
ich would only serve to satisfy the curiosity of the unversed. We must add that
man can never reincarnate as an animal, and that not everyone reincarnates, but
this is a separate subject.
THE PRINCIPLE OF VIBRATION The Principle of Vibration states: "Nothing rests; ev
erything moves; everything vibrates."
This law indicates that everything in the Universe vibrates and that nothing rem
ains stationary. Matter, energy, and spirit are only the result of different vib
ratory states. The spirit represents the extreme pole of the fastest vibrations
whose frequency is so high that it appears to be
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161
absolutely still. The other pole is formed by extremely dense matter. Hermeticis
m states that between both poles there are millions and millions of different in
tensities and modes of vibration. We know that the molecules comprising matter a
re in constant vibration, and that in turn, the atoms forming them are also in c
onstant motion and vibration. In their turn, the electrons and protons are also
vibrating rapidly. Without any fear of error, we can affirm that there is nothin
g in the Universe that is not "mental matter vibrating at different frequencies.
" Light, heat, magnetism, and electricity are only different vibratory modes. Th
at mysterious plane known as the "fourth dimension" is only a vibratory state of
high frequency. If a person could make his physical body vibrate at a very high
frequencyâ let us call this frequency Xâ he would physically penetrate into the world of
the fourth dimension. Nevertheless, it is not any such remote possibility that i
nterests us, but only the control of our own vibrations. Our thoughts, emotions,
desires, or impulses are only vibratory states. Our physical body is an assembl
y of systems, which vibrate at the same frequency, and health is only the harmon
ious vibration of the body. Illness is disharmony, and death is the rupture of t
he vibratory cohesion of the biological systems. In our personal life, everythin
g revolves around vibration; if we are happy it is due to a positive vibration,
sadness is due to a negative vibration. Our thoughts will make us more or less i
ntelligent according to our mental vibration. Each person has a mental wavelengt
h of his own, according to the vibratory frequency of his intelligence; the shor
ter the mental wave, the more intelligent the individual and vice versa.
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The difficulty some people have in communicating comes from their different ment
al wavelengths. When their vibratory frequencies do not coincide, mutual underst
anding is impeded. If we wish to communicate with an individual and have him rea
lly understand us, we must make an effort to adapt our mental wave to his vibrat
ory state in order to establish perfect affinity. This explains the surprising d
ifferences between two persons who normally understand each other well; one of t
hem will have notably varied his mental wavelength, either by lengthening or sho
rtening it, leaving the other person "out of frequency," just as if he tried to
tune in to a certain radio station on a wrong frequency. There are different rea
sons for vibratory drops in people. Health problems, depressive states, inertia,
internal conflicts, and intellectual apathy are some of the principal causes. I
n the case of those individuals who permanently have a very long wavelength (of
low frequency), this is caused by the individual's lack of intellectual preparat
ion. The environment is also a very powerful influence on people's vibrations, a
s we live within an ocean of vibrations that constantly have an impact upon us,
awakening similar forces within us. The cosmic and terrestrial space which surro
unds us is saturated with vibrations, and they have an important influence on pe
ople. One can sense in the inhabitants of a city, for example, either a positive
or negative vibratory atmosphere, and the same thing can occur with a visit to
a family home where we will immediately feel a warm and positive atmosphere or a
force which repels us. What takes place in our homes is that the vibratory radi
ation
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163
of those who live there penetrates the physical structure, impregnating it with
positive or negative energy easily sensed by the visitors. Thus, there are homes
, which awaken in visitors an intolerable sadness, or in some cases, visitors fe
el a profound depression or even suicidal tendencies. We receive the psychic sta
tes of those who live or work in these places. The behavioral habits, the emotio
nal states, the habitual thoughts, and the moral and spiritual standards of the
individual determine the goodness or unsuitability of his vibratory state, which
in turn decisively influences his daily life. Family and human groups in genera
l are made up of whirlpools of energy which are felt by those coming into contac
t with them. Vibrations accumulate within the individual, that is, he collects g
ood or evil vibrations, and there are times when he is a veritable time bomb due
to the latent forces within him. These forces are either destructive or creativ
e, and under the influence of an adequate detonator, will violently explode, pro
ducing either favorable or negative events. This force has the characteristic of
greatly affecting anyone who comes into contact with a person whose vibrations
are intense, the result being that one can be contaminated by what the "sender"
feels. This is especially true when a "sender" shares his troubles with another
and then feels great relief while the listener becomes depressed. Perhaps the mo
st vulnerable persons are those in professions such as psychiatry, who are damag
ed or tainted by contact with their patients' mental scars. Those places where b
ase passions are let loose, such as
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THE STELLAR MAN
bars or brothels, are the center of base and negative vibrations, which noticeab
ly harm those who frequent them. Any man who wishes to be successful in his pers
onal objectives or who wishes to increase his capacity to accomplish things, eit
her spiritually or materially must, through self-discipline, raise his vibration
s in order not to be affected by what is called "bad luck" or misfortune. It is
necessary to practice strict mental hygiene in order not to be affected by eleme
nts in the atmosphere surrounding us. There are strong negative forces actually
capable of killing a person because their tone or basic note is destructive and
capable of causing disintegration. We know there are sounds (vibrations) which c
an destroy the cohesion of matter (infrasonic) or which can produce medicinal he
aling (ultrasonic). The power of the laser is well known (vibration), its light
can pierce the hardest material. Sapiens unconsciously seeks a remedy for his vi
bratory disharmony and resorts to good music, which reestablishes his internal e
quilibrium. Nevertheless, there are musical rhythms so inharmonious that they cr
eate negative states within people. The sound of certain instruments have cadenc
es that under certain conditions cause deep sadness, as is the case of the "quen
a," a type of indigenous flute. We also know the pernicious effect of sounds whi
ch exceed certain decibel levels and which provoke considerable nervous fatigue
causing loss of both manual and intellectual efficiency. The vibration of the sp
oken word also has a powerful effect on listeners, either beneficial or harmful.
There are those with great personal charm, but whose voices, although not disag
reeable, are repellent. This depends on the result of the
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
165
impact of sonic oscillations. If this impact is harmonious with ours, we will fe
el affection and liking, and vice versa. People are not aware that they are rece
ived either well or badly according to their vibrations. It is easy to verify th
e influence of an individual's oscillatory energy. There is a very simple experi
ment, which consists of having two groups of indoor plants which must be put in
separate places. One group of plants should be spoken to every day as if they we
re human beings and given thoughts of love, friendship, and fortitude. The other
group should be abandoned to chance. As the days go by, it will be seen that th
e plants spoken to and given positive attention become very beautiful and grow f
aster, although they have the same earth, light, and water as the others. Anothe
r very simple experiment is to test the inductive power of our vibrations on peo
ple. For this, it is necessary to contact someone who does not like us. After ov
ercoming the feeling of repulsion this person provokes in us, we must make an ef
fort to feel deep sympathy and cordiality for him. After a short time we will se
e a radical change in him and he will come to feel very friendly toward us. Many
times it is we ourselves who cause rejection due to our hostility toward others
. Through the Principle of Vibration, it is possible to understand that curses r
eally exist but have nothing supernatural about them; they are only the condensa
tion and projection of powerfully destructive vibrations. The same phenomenon ex
ists with blessings, but acts inversely. When a couple who are lovers speak word
s of love, the pleasure experienced is not only due to the knowledge that
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they are loved, but also to the vibratory influence of the words. If we reflect
on this, it is possible to conceive of the existence of magical words, which are
only the combination of letters that produce oscillatory phenomena. The traditi
onal karate shout (kiai), for example, was originally conceived in order to effe
ctively paralyze the adversary. It had to be emitted in a certain tone and frequ
ency, because if it was not, it would have no effect. The attentive student who
meditates on the Principle of Vibration will be able to understand things of gre
at importance; the one without eyes to see or ears to hear will remain on the th
reshold of the mystery. THE PRINCIPLE OF POLARITY The Principle of Polarity stat
es: "Everything is dual; everything
has two poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the sam
e; opposites are identical in nature but different in degree; extremes meet; all
truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled."
This principle involves the teaching that unity as such does not exist in the Un
iverse because everything is dual; everything has two faces or opposite poles. T
he most profound secrets of life are hidden behind this simple fact, as it is po
larity which maintains the rhythm of life. If there were no opposite poles, life
would not be possible. The basic point to be understood in the study of polarit
y is the fact that opposites are always present in the same element; this law ca
n never be applied to different elements. Temperature has two extremes, cold and
heat, but one cannot speak of the positive
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
167
pole of temperature in relation to the negative pole of electricity. The Princip
le of Polarity works along a vibratory scale of degrees in which a strength is m
anifested, a gradation which goes from the positive to the negative. Thus, light
and darkness represent two extremes of the same thing; in one case there is the
presence of light and in the other, the lack of it. Love and hate are opposite
poles of the same thing, that is, the human feeling of attraction and repulsion.
Spirit and matter are the same thing, but are manifested in opposite vibrations
. The same is true with life and death and good and evil. It is necessary to not
e that in these terms there is no absolute, as no one can state what is absolute
cold or heat, for example. We simply speak of more or less of a quantity of som
ething at a given moment. Thus, undoubtedly, we could say that "love is less hat
e than no love." And "fear is less bravery than pure bravery." The two poles can
always be classified as positive and negative, and their difference is just a q
uestion of degree. This is why Hermeticism upholds the feasibility of mental tra
nsmutation, that is, of transforming something into its opposite. Hate may be tr
ansmuted into love, poverty into riches, cowardice into bravery, and ignorance i
nto wisdom, by means of sliding along the scale of polarity. There is always an
extreme positive and an extreme negative, the positive pole being of a higher na
ture than the negative. Courage is positive with respect to fear; light with res
pect to darkness; love with respect to hate. The Hermeticist, acting as a true s
cientist of the mind, can raise his internal vibrations at will and transmute ne
gative into positive.
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According to The Kybalion, "the undesirable is slain by changing its polarity."
Illness can be converted to health by changing its polarity through the power of
the mind, which polarizes at the extreme opposite of what it is trying to overc
ome. Logically, it is only possible to transmute opposites of the same thing, as
it would not be possible, in any way, to transmute a pear into a peach. On the
other hand, it is possible to transform a green pear into a ripe pear. In occult
ism there is a well-known symbol found in ancient esoteric booksâ the snake biting it
s own tail. Specifically, this represents polarity, in which the two extremes ar
e perpetually attracted and seek to devour each other, although this never occur
s. Vacuum attracts plenitude, innocence and experience are mutually absorbed. Un
der this principle the existence of an accessible truth to sapiens in his habitu
al condition of life is denied, and we maintain that all truth is semi-truth, an
d it is only possible to reach absolute truth by raising oneself above the Princ
iple of Polarity, beyond opposites, to reach the world of causes. Naive people b
elieve that the time will come when good will triumph over evil in the world in
a definite manner. According to this principle, the victory of either good or ev
il is impossible. Good and evil represent the two extremes of something and are
therefore absolutely relative. If a fox enters a chicken coop and devours a chic
ken, it is very bad for the hen, but very good for the fox that is only followin
g the natural principle of staying alive. In reality, evil works for good and go
od for evil. Life works for death, for from the moment one is born, one starts t
o die. Death works for life, as all destruction is a transformation, which creat
es a new form of life. What
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169
would happen to the light if there was no darkness? Does not light owe its exist
ence to the fact that darkness exists? Solely from the evidence that something e
xists, we must immediately know that the opposite is also a reality. Due to pola
rity man and woman are attracted and try to fuse. This is the law of the eternal
serpent who constantly bites its own tail. It is very interesting to analyze th
e aphorism that "extremes meet." If we apply this to love, for example, we can v
erify that it is easier to transform hate into love than to convert indifference
into love. As opposites meet, the distance is shorter from one extreme to anoth
er than from the middle of the scale to an extreme pole. Hermetically
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THE STELLAR MAN
speaking, we may say that the shortest distance from one point to another is not
a straight line, but a circle. This circle represents the gradual scale which r
uns between two poles, the positive represented by number one hundred and the ne
gative by zero. These figures are entirely arbitrary and for demonstration purpo
ses only. We maintain that it is easier to cross the bridge from zero to one hun
dred than to go from fifty to one hundred. The drawing shows this, as the distan
ce is much shorter than if we lay out the circumference of the circle as a strai
ght line. In our example, number fifty is the symbol of eternal indecision and a
pathy, representing those who are lukewarm who have no place in the kingdom of G
od. This explains the phenomenon of conversion, when one individual changes his
ideology for a diametrically opposite one. This secret may act as consolation to
those with serious problems; they are closer to success than they may think, on
ly mediocrity has no remedy. Hermeticism maintains that indecision is more fatal
than error; the reason for this is clear. Those who are able to read between th
e lines and digest this knowledge will derive great wisdom. The ancient alchemis
ts held that it is possible to transmute lead into gold. In some cases this refe
rred to a material act, and in others it was symbolic. Gold is only one end of t
he scale of metals; therefore, the alchemist changed the vibration and the polar
ization of the lead until it was transformed into gold. When this refers to the
transformation of the internal metals into spiritual gold, the example is equall
y valid. Following the Principle of Mental Transmutation em-
T HE S EVEN K EYS OF W ISDOM
171
ployed by advanced Hermeticists, we will make a brief sketch of the mechanism th
at must be employed, although this will be useless in the hands of those who hav
e not first reached internal unification under the command of a "Superior I." Th
is subject will be covered in subsequent pages. We have already explained that t
here are many planes of vibration. As regards the Principle of Mental Transmutat
ion, for the sake of simplicity we will speak of two basic planes: the superior
world of causes, and the lower world of effects, as shown in diagram 5. The lowe
r world of effects is the physical plane; the superior world of causes is the pl
ane of the emanation of life. The Hermeticist, in order to accomplish a process
of transmutation, rises to the world of his "Superior I" and polarizes himself t
hrough his mind in the pole opposite to the vibration he wishes to destroy. Reca
ll that "the undesirable is slain by changing its polarity." This is equivalent
to rising above the effects or phenomena which the individual may
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THE STELLAR MAN
be suffering at a certain time. By this process, a vibration is changed degree b
y degree until one reaches what is desired. Even though this might seem easy in
theory, in order to achieve this in practice, a rigid discipline and the prior c
reation of a "Superior I" is required; otherwise, this will never be more than j
ust theory. Recall the aphorism from The Kybalion which says, "Mind (as well as
metals and elements) may be transmuted from state to state, degree to degree, co
ndition to condition, pole to pole, vibration to vibration." In order to put men
tal or alchemical transmutation into practice, it is first necessary to learn to
change the polarity of our own mind, as otherwise we will not be able to influe
nce our environment. All processes of transmutation, whether it is an attempt to
change our internal world or the material world, is always a mental operation,
as All is Mind. It is very interesting for the student to be able not only to ch
ange his own mental state, but also that of other people who are suffering from
negative or destructive vibrations of any kind. From the point of view of the an
alysis of daily problems, polarity is a very useful key, as it enables people to
appreciate the true value of their conflicts or obstacles, without magnifying o
r underestimating them. The Hermeticist will know, for example, that if he finds
himself temporarily in a distressing situation, it is possible to change this g
radually, polarizing toward the opposite, until the other extreme is effectively
reached. The time required for this operation will depend on the importance of
what is desired, as everything has its gestation time in Nature. Something of li
ttle impor-
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173
tance will be accomplished very quickly; a much larger project will take a longe
r time to bear fruit. Let us keep before us the great Hermetic lesson that "the
undesirable is slain by changing its polarity." Meditating on this will enable t
he student to reach great knowledge.
THE PRINCIPLE OF RHYTHM
The Principle of Rhythm states: "Everything flows out and in;
everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulumswing manifests
in everything; the measure of the swing to the right, is the measure of the swin
g to the left; rhythm compensates."
This principle teaches us that everything is subject to rhythmic oscillation, wh
ich is manifested between two poles. There is action and reaction, an ebb and fl
ow, an advance and retreat, a rise and fall, and this is applicable to absolutel
y everything. The Universe, the planets, Nature, man, nations, and civilizations
, all are born to reach the heights and then to decline and be destroyed, thus f
ulfilling the cycle of life. This ebb and flow is manifested in our physical bod
y, in our emotions, feelings, instincts, intelligence, and even in the different
vital situations in which we live. It refers to our personal projects, our rela
tionships with other people, our contact with Nature, and in general, everything
that forms a part of our lives. The symbol of the Principle of Rhythm is the pe
ndulum. Its oscillation explains the action of rhythm, whose measurement toward
the left is the same as that toward the right. On a practical note, we could eve
n call this law, "the Law of the Pendulum." Creation occurs according to the pen
dulum; there is an emanation of The All, and an absorption follows.
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Emanation is the time of creation and absorption is the stage in which The All r
eintegrates its energy in itself. We can compare this to the cycle of human resp
iration. The Supreme Being radiates his energy until it materializes into a phys
ical creation, and when this reaches the summit, its maximum degree of materiali
zation, it then starts the opposite oscillation of the pendulum until it again r
eaches dematerialization or death, and the divine creative energy is reintegrate
d into its original source. In the same way, nations reach the summit of their p
ower and then gradually decline. Nothing escapes this law; it is an absolutely i
nevitable process. It is not easy, however, to determine when a human being, a c
ivilization, or a strength has reached its zenith. What we do know with certaint
y is that decay inevitably takes place. The Principle of Rhythm together with th
at of Polarity, previously mentioned, are the forces which maintain the process
of life, as life is always a force which moves alternatively and rhythmically be
tween two poles. If we had to define life and death, we would say that life is t
he oscillation between two poles, and death the polarization of the force at one
extreme for a time which surpasses the equilibrium of Nature. This polarization
can be negative or positive. It is negative when both poles are too close toget
her, each one of them losing a great part of its intrinsic qualities. It is posi
tive when it is possible to consciously destroy an undesirable vibration and the
polarity is changed, polarizing in the extreme opposite direction. In the case
of negative polarization due to a weakening of the opposite poles, a decay of vi
tal forces is produced
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
175
which may end in the fusion of the poles; this is equivalent to death. The secre
t of life is thus revealed in a simple manner: it is the constant maintenance of
the tension between two poles. Truthfully, we could say that when a child is bo
rn, the opposite poles of his life are very far apart and therefore the tension
between them is great. But as the child grows older, the opposites begin to join
, and life declines. In this case, the two poles are the conscious and the subco
nscious, or we may also speak of the individual himself and his environment. The
constant impact between man and environment (stimulus) slowly depolarizes him,
draining his vital force. By examining man's vital functions, we can verify that
polarity and rhythm control the organism in its most delicate processes, and th
at illness is always a disturbance of the rhythm or polarity. The body needs to
maintain a constant state of equilibrium, and the loss of this implies an abnorm
al condition. Science calls this equilibrium homeostasis. Homeostasis has not be
en sufficiently studied, and it is certain that if scientists would use the Prin
ciples of Rhythm and Polarity, they would discover many new things. The function
s of the heart, breathing, sleeping, and alertness are all governed by the law o
f the pendulum. Sleep, for example, provides us with the necessary alternation i
n order to maintain our equilibrium. We know that the lack of sleep provokes ser
ious disorders, as it destroys organic equilibrium. For a long time the knowledg
e of "biorhythms" remained in the heart of esoteric schools. This consists of th
e vital cycles which affect the human being with a positive or negative alternat
ion. Today this knowledge has become
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popular and there are even pocket calculators for determining this action. Never
theless, only three rhythms have been revealed.
â ¢ The 24-day masculine rhythm, with 12 positive days and 12 negative days â ¢ The 28-day
eminine rhythm, with 14 positive days and 14 negative days â ¢ The 33-day intellectual
rhythm, with 16½ positive days and 16½ negative days
The rhythms of 40-day, 56-day, 92-day, and 276-day cycles have not yet been reve
aled to the masses. The object of this book is not to supply instructions on bio
rhythms which would require a separate volume. Therefore, we will only give an e
xtremely important tip for those who follow the indications of biorhythms in the
ir daily life. These people should keep a diary in which they note all happy or
unfortunate occurrences, in order to determine which of the rhythms has a greate
r influence in their lives, as this is something that is entirely personal. Some
individuals will be very affected by the negative in the 24-day rhythm, while o
thers will feel the negative cycle of the 33-day rhythm. One of the most importa
nt aspects of the Principle of Rhythm is the fact that each person creates his o
wn rhythmic state according to the nature of his acts, which take on a rhythm of
their own when repeated several times. By virtue of these events being repeated
periodically in an individual's life, these events or acts occur without his wi
ll. That is,
T HE S EVEN K EYS OF W ISDOM
177
events do not happen because the individual wants them to, but on the contrary,
he will be incapable of neutralizing negative events. We will briefly illustrate
how a negative rhythm is born: a person becomes the victim of a theft for examp
le, and as it is not a very large theft, he does not bother to file a followup c
omplaint with the authorities. As a consequence of this, a negative rhythm is fo
rmed and this individual periodically suffers losses of an economic nature, whic
h doubtlessly will occur during planetary positions similar to those that existe
d on the day the first theft took place. Another easily verifiable example conce
rns marital fights, which end by creating a rhythm of disharmony that will provo
ke the arising of new and more serious problems. It is thus that rhythms of weal
th or poverty are created, happiness or misfortune, harmony or disharmony, and o
nce they are in motion, it is very difficult to neutralize them. It is well know
n that misfortunes come in "waves" as the flowing of the tide; that is, they occ
ur rapidly without the individual having time to react. On the other hand, there
are also streaks of "good luck" during which a person experiences a series of p
ositive occurrences. From this it is deduced that the individual takes on a rhyt
hm at a certain moment for reasons not always easy to establish, and as long as
that rhythm does not change, the positive or negative tone will be maintained. U
nfortunately, there are individuals who take on a rhythm of different calamities
from an early age which are then repeated at each oscillation of the pendulum.
This is generally very difficult to neutralize, as the longer it lasts, its powe
r of fluctuation strengthens. Those marriages that live with the result of negat
ive rhythms
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THE STELLAR MAN
would do well to abstain from having children until the pendulum moves to the ot
her extreme, as the child would be born with an unfortunate rhythmic vibration,
fulfilling the biblical aphorism that the children will pay for the sins of thei
r parents. Habits are formed by a rhythm and when they are pernicious, they can
only be destroyed by the creation of a new rhythmic state of an opposite nature.
The Law of the Pendulum completes the knowledge of mental transmutation, as it
teaches us that it is possible to rise above rhythmic oscillation by becoming po
larized in the pole where one desires to remain, thus avoiding being carried by
the ebb and flow. Sapiens is a slave to the oscillatory movement of the pendulum
, and if he is successful in anything, it is because his actions happen to coinc
ide with the movement of the pendulum purely by chance. People are absolutely su
bjected to the Law of the Pendulum, whether it be regarding their finances, heal
th, work, vitality, or love, and are like leaves in a storm, blown here and ther
e without having any idea of where the tide of life is taking them. On the other
hand, the Hermeticist can surmount this Principle of Rhythm, even though he can
not annul it. With his will power he can rise to the superior plane of causes an
d let the rhythmic oscillation flow beneath him. What is called the "Law of Comp
ensation" has much in common with the Principle of Rhythm. Compensation means eq
uilibrium or balancing, which occurs when "the measure of the swing to the left
determines the measure of the swing to the right." This determines the amount of
things a person can possess, as the individual has, in quantity, the exact prop
ortion of what he is lacking. It is thus that
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
179
a man who is rich lacks other advantages given to the poor. We all know the sayi
ng, "lucky in cards, unlucky in love" or vice versa. This aphorism indicates som
ething about the idea we are discussing. As we have already covered this point,
it is therefore interesting to state that absolutely all human beings are born w
ith the same quantity or margin of things they may have; the only variation is t
heir distribution. Thus, let us say that we all have one hundred vital units (th
at which we can in time possess) and one hundred negative units (that which we l
ack). A rich man is one who has nullified the greater part of his possibilities
in order to concentrate his one hundred vital units on making money. Love, spiri
tual sensitivity, family happiness, or other things will certainly be among the
things lacking, or negative units. Expressed in a different way, a man may never
have more than the symbolic one hundred, but this quantity can be distributed a
mong many things or concentrated on only two or three. An even distribution resu
lts in a more balanced life, but a life that will probably not be outstanding in
any special way. Concentration implies the sacrifice of many things. Example 1:
Distribution of Vital Units
Riches: 45 units Power: 20 units Moral Nobility: 5 units Love: 5 units Intellige
nce: 10 units Health: 10 units Happiness: 5 units Result: An individual who is r
ich and powerful, but very unhappy.
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THE STELLAR MAN
Example 2: Distribution of Vital Units Riches: 10 units Power: 10 units Love: 15
units Friendship: 10 units Moral Nobility: 15 units Intelligence: 15 units Heal
th: 10 units Happiness: 15 units Result: A more balanced individual, with a rich
er life, filled with different elements.
These examples are absolutely arbitrary, and their only point is to illustrate w
hat occurs with the distribution or concentration of vital units. The reader who
is aware of this theory can set up examples for different cases. For example, w
e could map out the distribution of our muscular capacity which we could entirel
y use up just by walking. Or, we could walk, chop wood, swim, climb, and box, di
stributing our vital energy into various areas. Similarly, we can use a fixed el
ectrical potential to supply one source of great power consumption, or divide it
among hundreds of ordinary bulbs. According to the law of vital units, it is ve
ry interesting to analyze what occurs when two people wed, thus sharing their vi
tal units. Or, in the case of a child's birth, this baby arrives with its own on
e hundred vital units, which while under the parents' care, increases "the famil
y estate of vital units." In conclusion, we would say that only those who are ab
le
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
181
to rise above the Principle of Rhythm can consider themselves truly free.
THE PRINCIPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
The Principle of Cause and Effect states: "Every Cause has its
Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to the Law; Cha
nce is only a name for a Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation,
but nothing escapes the Law."
This law teaches us that nothing in the Universe happens by chance; everything h
as a specific cause. What we call chance is only something where its causes rema
in unknown. It is not possible that something should exist apart from and beyond
the laws, as this force would be independent and superior to the Universe. Appl
ying the Law of Rhythm to the Law of Cause and Effect, we could state that the m
agnitude of an effect is always equivalent to the importance of the cause which
generated it. As we explained when discussing the Principle of Polarity, there a
re two basic planes: that of causes (superior) and that of effects (lower), and
man in his daily life is aware only of the latter. We live in the world of effec
ts, and only the Hermeticist has knowledge of the occult causes of events. The m
ost well-known manifestation of chance is what Hindus call Karma, a word which w
e will use because it is the most adequate. Karma endeavors to explain the relat
ionship existing between events currently happening to an individual and his act
ions in the past, either in this life or in a previous one. Contrary to what is
believed, Karma is not always negative; there is also a positive side of Karma,
which is equivalent to our good deeds in the past. The Law
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THE STELLAR MAN
of Karma is intimately bound to reincarnation, a truth we will leave aside for n
ow. Reincarnation is a very personal matter in which the individual "feels" with
in him that it exists, and if he does not feel it, then no argument will convinc
e him. Furthermore, if it were possible to produce proof, it would detract from
the freedom of choice, as it would pressure the individual; if an individual was
convinced of the truth of some occult phenomenon, he might enter an esoteric sc
hool without genuine spiritual concern. Nevertheless, in previous pages, we sugg
ested a method of intellectually conceiving what reincarnation is: "a power whic
h takes possession of matter." With the experiment on indoor plants, we might re
alize that what we really did was to "incarnate" a force in the vegetable matter
which survives the life of the plant and continues evolution indefinitely. This
is an analogy of what happens when "spiritual" energy incarnates in an animal b
ody, for when the animal dies, the spirit continues incarnating in new bodies un
til completing an evolutionary cycle in matter. The Law of Cause and Effect give
s us a rational explanation of the apparent injustices in the world; we can unde
rstand why a child is born crippled or dies at an early age; it is possible to r
ealize why some people with exquisite spiritual sensitivity live in poverty and
other true beasts swim in riches. This law clarifies the phenomenon of child pro
digies who show extraordinary musical potential from a very young age, or the ex
traordinary possession of sudden wealth due to a "stroke of luck." We will shed
further light on the reason why an individual who works himself to
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
183
death never attains economic success and why, on the other hand, fortune smiles
on another who is habitually lazy. New light is thus shed on historical events;
we can understand how certain relevant historical figures reached great power ar
ising from nothing, as in the case of Hitler. Certainly we do not know what caus
e placed him in the position of power he occupied, for life is like an enormous
tapestry upon which history is woven stitch by stitch, and on which all events a
re interwoven. This is the veil of Maya, which cannot be penetrated by common mo
rtals. The action of Karma is one of the reasons why we maintain that "all is wr
itten," as the present is always determined by our past acts. Each person has a
certain quantity of causes, which are held in check for a period of time during
his life, which forge the individual's destiny as they materialize into effects.
Only the truly wise man can partially neutralize the effects of undesirable cau
ses. We have already spoken of the Lords of Destiny or Archons who govern the de
stiny of sapiens. In reality, they work with the Karma of individuals, but from
a collective point of view. It is the Karma of humanity that they control and ma
nage, and within this general context they act as occult judges who reward or pe
nalize the actions of the human being. The Principle of Cause and Effect acts pa
rallel to this, that is, the human being "punishes himself" with his own Karma;
the Archons plan and "stage" the action so the individual receives beneficial le
ssons and can undergo important experiences. There are people who in their past
lives were extremely
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THE STELLAR MAN
rich and took advantage of the power of their money, and who in their present li
ves are practically beggars in order that they may themselves suffer the experie
nces of extreme poverty. He who had murdered a fellow man will in turn die due t
o the direct or indirect influence of his past action. The one who took advantag
e of love or passion to enslave a woman will in this life be under the dominatio
n of the female sex. Occasionally a beggar will display terrible arrogance and s
eem to despise the entire world, and this attitude is not just simple psychologi
cal compensation, but has deeper roots. Certainly this individual occupied a hig
h position in his past life, and as a result, his excessive pride survived the d
eath of his physical body. It can be debated that if we had lived previously in
other bodies, we would surely remember this, but this reasoning is infantile; wh
en the brain is destroyed, memory is erased. Nevertheless, instinctive impulses
derived from past experiences survive. For example, if an individual had been co
ndemned for theft in his previous incarnation, he would in his present life be e
xtremely honest, but compulsively so. In the case of gambling we can see a direc
t action of the Archons of Destiny, who choose which individuals will win the gr
eatest prizes and who will then have their lives entirely changed. In the case o
f those who are already millionaires who win a substantial prize, this will only
increase or reinforce the events previously decreed by the Lords of Destiny. Ch
ance is only the visible effect of a cause unknown to us. Generally, it is not p
ossible to establish all the causes which have provoked a certain effect, as the
se are entwined one with
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
185
another, and we can only observe the most recent, as the present is based on the
past. But with a little meditation we can, as a philosophical exercise, visuali
ze a chain of causes which disappears into the past. It is for this reason that
the Hermeticist gives great importance to small details, as these can be convert
ed into decisive factors in a person's life. One small cause can unleash great e
ffects. One of the most dangerous characteristics of the Principle of Cause and
Effect is the fact that Karma can project itself and affect people who are not t
o blame in any way for the causes set in motion by the "emitter." It is thus tha
t an inescapable law exists in the sense that if we help a person affected by ne
gative Karma, we will have to bear this destructive force which will cause us se
rious problems. It is for this reason that the Hermeticist cannot give help indi
scriminately to all, as he would dissipate his strength without any benefit, and
in exchange would be filled with negative vibrations, which would destroy him.
Those individuals who constantly seek an audience in whom to confide the calamit
ies they fave suffered, unconsciously seek to rid themselves of the poison withi
n them, to inject this into the ones who listen their woes, who in turn end up i
n a very bad condition due to having been burdened with another's troubles. The
image of the "good samaritan" is moving in its kindness, but this individual wil
l always be sacrificing his existence for others' benefit, while he takes on the
misfortunes of those he helps. This would not be that pernicious if those who p
rofit from this help would perhaps tomorrow turn into valuable people in aid of
humanity, but the "samaritans's" help is in vane if the recipients use what they
get in an
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THE STELLAR MAN
absolutely selfish manner. To help deceitful louts or ruffians could eventually
cause the destruction of a man who is valuable and spiritually elevated. There i
s another aspect of great interest in what we are covering, and this refers to t
he individual who commits a concealed theft, enjoying ill-gotten gains or proper
ty he has not earned. This man enters into a contract with Nature; someday he mu
st return or pay for what he stole. Therefore, if we are imprudent enough to hel
p this person, we will to a great extent be responsible for the development of h
is life, and Nature will demand that we pay the pending debt. All that we need o
r desire belongs to the common pool of Nature, which gives nothing, but sells us
what we require, and it must always be paid for. Nothing is gratis; we even hav
e to pay for our lives, for the moments of pleasure, for love, for serenity, for
knowledge, for power, and even for the air we breathe. We do not notice this, a
s we consider money as the only viable instrument of payment. We are not aware t
hat in cosmic commerce money has no value, and other things are required, such a
s the "golden broth" which we mentioned in previous chapters. To the "devil," fo
r example, one soul is more valuable than all the gold in the world. The most im
portant thing about the Law of Cause and Effect is that the advanced Hermeticist
can raise himself to the higher world of causes by a prodigious effort of will.
By polarizing himself on this plane, he converts himself into a cause, and thus
stops living the effects which emanate from the higher plane. From the world of
causes, the Hermeticist can channel his life according to his own planning, as
he has the certainty that the causes placed into movement by his
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
187
spiritual power will sooner or later materialize into concrete material effects.
THE PRINCIPLE OF GENDER The Principle of Gender states: "Gender is in everything
; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all
planes."
The seventh Hermetic Principle completes the knowledge of the laws of Nature, sh
owing us that gender is manifested in everything and that the masculine and femi
nine forces are present in everything. We must not make the mistake of confusing
gender with sex, as sex refers only to the structure of the genital organs and
the difference in adaptation between male and female. Sex is one of the many man
ifestations of the Principle of Gender and corresponds to the physical plane, bu
t as we are aware, there are many planes where the Mind Principle exists, as doe
s gender. Hermeticism maintains that gender has an impelling nature, and that th
is nature acts even in the atom, in which we find both the positive and the nega
tive, whose mutual influence creates energy. Instead of referring to positive an
d negative poles, we can speak more appropriately of the masculine and feminine,
the generator and the conceiver. The positive element of electricity is masculi
ne, and the negative element is feminine. The feminine or negative is the womb o
f all electrical and magnetic phenomena. The feminine energy seeks union with th
e masculine, and absorbs from it that which is active, thus producing a new forc
e. Hermetic teaching also affirms that gravity is produced
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THE STELLAR MAN
by the attraction and repulsion of masculine and feminine principles. As stated
in previous pages, analyzing our physical body, we will discover that it possess
es bipolarity. Thus, man is masculine from the solar plexus down and feminine fr
om this zone up to and including the head, while with woman, the opposite is tru
e. In this manner we can observe that woman is cerebrally masculine, and man cer
ebrally feminine. The principle of conception in man is in his imagination, and
in woman is in her uterus. Within our bodies, the right side is masculine or pos
itive and the left side, negative; the right cerebral hemisphere is positive and
the left, negative. It is possible, by means of the Principle of Gender, to und
erstand the hidden significance of the mystic or religious act of joining the pa
lms of the hands in prayer, which involves a process of generation upon opposing
positive and negative. It is through the occult law that the student of Hermeti
cism can create a new being, a mutant who will be conceived with superior qualit
ies of an acutely human being. There is no other real path for spiritual evoluti
on; all that does not involve using this secret is pure fantasy, and from it onl
y purely subjective results will be attained. From understanding this Law of Gen
der we can also realize how deceptive it is to evade problems, difficulties, and
obstacles, considering them merely as hurdles, a waste of time, or irritating s
ituations. The Hermeticist must visualize problems as the negative pole of life,
that is, the force against which he must oppose his positive generative energy
in order to create what he desires. If we understand this phenomenon we will ach
ieve a completely new and different
THE SEVEN KEYS OF WISDOM
189
vision of the hurdles in our life, which will be nothing more than the complemen
t needed to develop our consciousness. Consciousness, the precise quality we wis
h to attain, is the result of the collision between inertia and our will power,
directed by an awakened intelligence. If this struggle between opposing forces d
id not exist, Hermetic progress would not be possible, and neither would evoluti
on. At this point we will reveal the great magic secret of mutation of sapiens,
or man of clay, into a Stellar Man. This transformation is only possible if the
subject enters into contact with a flesh and blood Master who will be his spirit
ual Father. And who will the mother be? The mother is the beast in the individua
l, that is, the side of himself that is of a feminine or negative polarity, spir
itually speaking. It is thus that the initiate is a child of the beast and the s
piritual Master. The student who is facing a real process of initiation (not sym
bolic) will find himself strongly dragged by the pendulum in an oscillation whic
h will suddenly bring him closer to the Master, or to the beast. There will be m
oments when he will sense the overwhelming evidence of Hermeticism deep within h
imself, feeling himself raised to high planes of awareness. At other times, all
will be darkness; the initiation will lose all sense and purpose, and the studen
t will believe himself submitted to a cruel joke. Only the gradual stopping of t
his pendular movement will enable him to reach the stability of conscious knowle
dge. The Principle of Gender shows us that it is not possible for a creation to
exist without the presence of the father and mother elements, and this is valid
throughout the entire Universe, including the process of initiation. This is the
reason
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THE STELLAR MAN
why a solitary man, no matter how much theoretical knowledge he may possess, can
only reach subjective results because he lacks the other generative pole. This
is why it is necessary to find a Master, and the significance of this fact was s
tated previously. If a Master is not a mutant, he is then a false master, but th
is term is relative. Although he may be false in relation to that which is super
ior and optimum, he can also be very true in relation to that which is inferior.
Therefore, it is necessary to clarify that although a Master is not a mutant, h
e can be of great help for a student. What he will not be able to offer, in this
case, will be knowledge of the absolute, nor could he transmit the sacred flame
, which according to fables was stolen from heaven by Prometheus. This sacred fl
ame is not an abstraction or a symbol. It is a fact, and is the spiritual power
symbolized in the acronym INRI which appears over the head of Jesus Christ. Its
true Hermetic meaning is: Inge Natura Renovatur Integral, but can also be read a
s Jesus Nascente Renovatur Iao, or Igni Nitrus Roris Invenitur. All these formul
as were used by the early Rosicrucians (unknown today) and they referred precise
ly to the divine fire, the magic ferment of alchemists, which as we have already
stated, "renews everything." Nevertheless, one must not assume that it is suffi
cient to find a Master in order to evolve. On the contrary, the disciple will pr
ogress only to the extent that he himself handles the Principle of Gender in a s
uperior manner, because even though a positive or active spiritual ferment is ne
cessary, it is also nonetheless indispensable that the student himself create a
mental and etheric being with the character and
T HE S EVEN K EYS OF W ISDOM
191
qualities of the initiate. This is known as Theurgy, a secret teaching we will s
tudy further on. Continuing with the Principle of Gender, it is necessary to con
sider the tremendous positive or negative influence that marriage can have in a
person's life. The influence is injurious when the union is so inharmonious that
it becomes dangerously destructive, and favorable when there is true love and h
armony. The Hermetic concept of marriage is quite different from the common one.
It is not necessary for there to be a marriage contract to give this union its
name. We will explain this proceeding from the opposite angle: there may be a co
uple (and this, unfortunately, is frequent) who have entered into a legal and la
wful marriage, but who absolutely lack the aptitude for achieving what we could
call a matrimonial aura, and therefore they can be married for twenty years with
out forming this aura. The matrimonial aura is a hidden offspring, a mental chil
d of both mates; it is a closed positive magnetic field which joins, harmonizes,
and protects the couple, making the marriage truly "established" or really form
ed, according to the laws of Nature. It is not the laws of man which wed two peo
ple; it is only Nature which joins or separates them, according to prevailing co
nditions. The matrimonial aura is the true secret of conjugal happiness and unio
n. When this does not exist, there is nothing, no matter how many certificates h
ave been issued by competent authorities. Hermetically, only that which is joine
d by the occult bond of the bipolar orb is a marriage, which is formed solely by
true and genuine love. Couples who lack this oc-
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THE STELLAR MAN
cult child of love are not married, they are joined solely by passion, personal
convenience, loneliness, or habit. Religions which consider marriage something i
ndestructible and irreversible, binding the parties for life under the penalty o
f serious sin, urgently need to modify that commandment, for this approach means
proceeding inversely, as the sapiens beast generally does. This approach means
trying to maintain the artificial union of the family by an unnatural imposition
instead of a clear and beautiful manifestation of love. Is it not preferable to
teach people to truly love? In truth, if a family is not joined by genuine love
, it is only a group of beasts who live together under obligation or for conveni
ence, a situation that relates to more people than we would like. It is superflu
ous to say that happiness is only possible in homes where there is a real marria
ge, for otherwise there is only a poor imitation of an ideal situation, as there
is only one tie which will keep man and wife united in a true wayâ love. The lack of
it is the only thing that conspires against the stability of the family. We wis
h to conclude this brief study of gender, suggesting that the reader try to disc
over for himself all that lies between the lines and meditate deeply on this sub
ject, as the most profound secrets are revealed with this key. For our part, we
are not interested in revealing too much; only enough to provide the tools for t
he growth and development of the initiate.
XI
THE DISCIPLES
T
o bring about Hermetic realization, it is not enough to find a Master, but it is
necessary to have a disciple, a candidate who is converted into a true student
of the mysteries of life. It is not that easy to find as people are used to the
traditional concept of education or learning which maintains that all the studen
t needs to do is study with perseverance to become a savant in a subject. It is
also believed that greater or lesser advancement depends on the quantity of know
ledge that the individual receives from his teacher or from the school to which
he belongs. In this way, if an institution exhibits an inflated "program of Herm
etic studies" or "esoteric studies," the individual would feel very inclined to
believe he has found the right path. Again, it is necessary to underline the eno
rmous difference which exists between a study program and an initiatic school. I
n a study program the individual is there only to learn things, which may or may
not be useful, which may be real or subjective.
193
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THE STELLAR MAN
In any case, the individual will not obtain salvation (will not be freed from th
e collective soul of the species), but in any event will advance along his path
of development, attaining the necessary merit to continue his progress and perha
ps become free in a future incarnation. In an initiatic school the disciple has
an opportunity to reach true evolution, to free himself from the collective soul
of sapiens and convert himself into an authentic mutant or Stellar Man. A perso
n who has been able to enter an initiatic school will need a series of indicator
s or points of reference to become oriented in the work accomplished there. Othe
rwise, he will become prematurely disillusioned when he cannot understand the se
nse or contents of the disciplines and instructions. Perhaps the greatest obstac
le a student may encounter is the fact that it is useless to study Hermetic theo
ry, since his intellect is not sufficiently advanced to unveil the mysteries pre
sented to him. However intelligent an individual may be, he will find that reaso
n and logic are not sufficient to understand the profound truth necessary to rea
ch a very high state of awareness in which his intellectual powers attain optimu
m efficiency. We have already mentioned that a human being lives in a permanent
dream-like state, interrupted only by slight sparks of awareness, and although h
e appears to be awake during the day, he is in reality a somnambulist with a ver
y low state of alertness. Thus, sapiens' reason and logic are intellectual instr
uments of oneiric fantasy. This is very difficult to become aware of, because of
natural obstacles to self-observation presented by the subtleties of human cons
ciousness. For this reason, intelligence alone is not enough to become aware of
THE DISCIPLES
195
events which take place in the world of waking reality. Thus, the student cannot
at first rely on the strength of his reasoning. The student must learn to think
with "another brain" so that "another reasoning,"superior to the ordinary, can
be born within him. This can only be attained through true and not symbolic init
iation. True initiation induces profound and concrete changes in the student's p
sychological structure. Initiation, however, is a painful and difficult process,
and will be successful only with the neophyte's superhuman effort. This will be
explained in more detail in subsequent chapters. For the moment, we will limit
ourselves to describing the conditions which a disciple must possess, and the in
ternal and external obstacles he must overcome. In general terms, the schools do
not choose their disciples from among the most intelligent candidates, but rath
er from those who have characteristics which make them especially fit to face th
e specter of their own bestiality, as in truth they must. A good guide for selec
tion would be more or less the following:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. To possess spiritual gold (internal content) To be fr
ee from prejudices or be capable of overcoming them To have consciousness of one
's own insignificance To ardently yearn for initiation (the complete process) as
the most important thing in life To practice loyalty, dedication, constancy, an
d faithfulness toward the School To possess a flexible and agile intelligence To
harmonize oneself with the fundamental keynote of the School To willingly compl
y with the instructions received To be free from mental disturbances of a certai
n nature
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THE STELLAR MAN
We can appreciate how purity, the intellectual factor, professional titles, or s
ocial position do not count for much. What is basically sought is the individual
's inner nature, and his capacity to dedicate himself to a Hermetic task which l
asts not only for all this terrestrial life, but will furthermore determine his
future existence. No true School wishes to waste its time with individuals who "
cheat," that is, who delude themselves in their yearning for spiritual excellenc
e and their firm determination to become converted into superior beings. The Sch
ools prefer to dedicate their efforts to those who effectively maintain a consta
nt line of action in their work toward initiation. It is necessary to clarify th
at it is only possible to become a disciple after a period of trial in the Schoo
l. An individual, however, may remain forever as a simple student without ever b
ecoming a disciple, because he does not have the required aptitude for it. There
is an "easy path" and a "difficult path" which are the paths of the student and
of the disciple. Each has disadvantages and privileges, and therefore no one, w
ithout an exhaustive analysis of the matter, can state that "he will never be sa
tisfied" until he becomes a disciple. To explain these differences, we will comp
are both options:
THE EASY PATH OF THE STUDENT
Obligations: Very few. These specifically refer to living a life following high
moral and spiritual principles, and to practicing kindness and brotherhood. Logi
cally, the student must also comply with the rules of the institution.
THE DISCIPLES
197
Tests to be passed: These are relatively simple, and do not demand great effort
to be passed successfully. Attainments: Dominating and channeling of one's chara
cter, overcoming complexes, inhibitions, and frustrations. Learning to handle me
ntal power in order to channel it toward the goal of overcoming oneself or helpi
ng others. Knowledge of the mysteries of life and the fundamental causes of all
that exists. Preparation for complete fulfillment in a future incarnation. In su
mmary, the student evolves to a great extent, but does not achieve Hermetic deat
h; he is not completely freed from the collective soul of sapiens.
THE DIFFICULT PATH OF THE DISCIPLE
Obligations: Tremendous and difficult to accomplish. The disciple must be willin
g to renounce his self during a certain period and take an oath of absolute obed
ience to his instructor. He must be willing to renounce everything, if this is r
equired. Tests to be passed: Very few individuals can endure them. In the novel
Zanoni, one of these tests is described: the meeting with the specter on the thr
eshold. Nevertheless, in real life this experience is less spectacular than the
description in Edward Bulwer Lytton's novel, but more difficult due to its subtl
ety. The negative part of Nature (which could be called Satan) reacts against th
e disciple, who is faced with all kinds of negative reactions, as the powers of
darkness attempt to prevent his arrival at Olympus.
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THE STELLAR MAN
Attainments reached in the case of triumph in the tests: After
Hermetic death, the disciple is converted into a mutant or Stellar Man, an indiv
idual who has reached the peak of evolution as a terrestrial man, and who must s
tart his evolution on a higher level. He reaches the immortality of his essence
through the practice of conscious reincarnation, and crosses the veil of the May
a, reaching absolute truth. He is beyond good and evil, beyond opposites, beyond
pleasure and pain; beyond happiness and misfortune; beyond life and death. Thes
e are not symbolic achievements, but are absolutely real and true. However, at t
his point the neophyte is impelled to ask a series of questions. The neophyte wi
ll wonder if there is an attempt to convert the initiate into a "Superman," an i
nvincible and indestructible being who cannot become ill or die, and who does no
t need to eat or carry out normal biological functions. Many ask themselves, for
example, why Cagliostro died in prison, deducing from this and from the countle
ss hazards in his life that he was not a true initiate. For our part, we accept
Cagliostro and the Count of Saint Germain as two of the greatest Hermetic Master
s who have ever existed, and deny, at the same time, the alleged death of Caglio
stro in prison. Even if this had occurred, it would not in any way make this gre
at man any less brilliant. Appearances are generally deceptive, and Masters of t
he stature of a Cagliostro take great care when they reveal their true purposes
in order not to suffer negative reactions from the human beast. In this case we
can apply the popular saying that "those who dine with the Devil should use a lo
ng spoon." That is, those who intervene in worldly matters in order to save sapi
ens from inconvenient situations or to ease
THE DISCIPLES
199
or improve their life conditions, end up being crucified by those they have trie
d to help. Continuing with the false concept of "Superman," we wish to ask the r
eader to imagine how he would feel if he was Clark Kent, Superman of American co
mics, the man who arrived from the planet Krypton. At first this may seem very d
esirable, but after reflecting a while, it is easy to understand what a terrible
punishment it would be, to be physically immortal and indestructible, illness-p
roof, danger-proof, immune to any attack, able to resist desires of the heart or
sex, to be constantly and inflexibly virtuous and perfect. If such a being exis
ted, he would truly be a creation of the devil, a mechanical robot, a being abso
lutely inhuman and unhappy, and deserving of great pity. We must remember that w
e learn from our failures and not from our successes, and that we appreciate thi
ngs only when we are in danger of losing them. The spice of life is the lack of
knowledge about what the future holds for us, constantly facing the danger of lo
sing all we have or of failing to reach our desires. Having everything and never
losing anything would be unbearable and inhuman. The great Hermetic Masters are
not free from danger, illness, or death, and this is precisely what is most bea
utiful, sublime, and human about their existenceâ the fact that being so powerful in
their fight for others, they are so reluctant to use their spiritual strength fo
r their own benefit. We know that Jesus refused to save himself when faced with
the threat of crucifixion, but this does not mean that he was an impostor. On th
e contrary, it means that he accepted with
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THE STELLAR MAN
resignation and meekness the terrible ordeal imposed on him by his Universal Fat
her. The great Kabbalist Eliphas Levi said that "those men (the great initiates)
found it preferable to govern kings than to be kings themselves." Is it possibl
e to understand this? It is not difficult to understand that a truly important m
an should prefer to pass through life unnoticed, occupying a second-rate or thir
d-rate position, fleeing from the fame, riches, and honors which mortalize human
genius. The candidate for initiation must choose the easy or difficult path, bu
t it should be done impartially and consciously, considering that if he chooses
the path of the student, in the future he may become a disciple. If he endeavors
to turn himself prematurely into a disciple, his failure may be so crushing and
painful that he will become irreversibly traumatized, and in this case must awa
it another opportunity in a future incarnation. Whatever the choice, the student
is faced with internal barriers that he must be aware of in order to have a cle
ar idea of what is happening to him at a given moment. These
barriers, among others, are: vanity, pride, egotism, and selfsufficiency.
When the individual has a very high degree of self-importance, this becomes the
main barrier against facing Hermetic truth without prejudice; he believes he kno
ws everything and "is above these tricks." Of course, he uses this or some simil
ar rationalization out of ignorance of the subject, as without doubt he has neve
r before been to a Hermetic School of Initiation, and without having lived throu
gh this experience, he can have no opinion. There are others
THE DISCIPLES
201
whose contact with a school has not been felicitous, and whose pride has been se
riously wounded as they were not able to overcome the ordeals they faced. Torn a
part by this feeling, and in order to save their precious pride, they discredit
the Teachings and the School, alleging for some reason (which they always find)
that the School is deficient, useless, or dangerous. Returning to the four main
obstacles which face the candidate for initiation, it is necessary to state that
vanity is not only the narcissism of the individual, but also refers to his hol
low knowledgeâ that knowledge which has neither content nor any truly essential, prof
ound, or transcendental significance. Vanity and pride require that a person sho
uld constantly appear before others as having power, importance, or intelligence
, which without doubt he does not possess. Pride is an infantile endeavor to fig
ht against one's own weakness, assuming a strength one lacks. Egotism leads the
individual to believe that he is the center of the Universe, and that all revolv
es around him. On the other hand, selfsufficiency is only ignorance of what one
does not know. In summary, these defects make man exaggerate his own importance
and believe himself to be superior to common mortals, looking down on all those
who don't have his same educational level, social standing, or economic status.
Only the experience of day-to-day living will eventually convince him that he is
not as privileged as he had thought. The real harm that this situation creates
regarding an individual's possibility of Hermetic evolution consists in his unco
nscious rejection of all he hears, except when it comes from people with an imag
e, prestige, or fame superior to his own.
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THE STELLAR MAN
In reality there is no possibility that the candidate will authentically face He
rmeticism with his intelligence until he lives the esoteric experience which Gur
djieff described as "the experience of his own nothingness/' which is basically
becoming aware of his own impotence to escape from the general conditions which
guide one's life. This means realizing that it is not possible to attain what on
e desires, because things turn out differently than we expect, or simply do not
occur, and moreover, undesirable events also happen. It would be more to the poi
nt to state that what Gurdjieff called "our own nothingness" is, in truth, the p
ractical realization that one is absolutely programmed physically, instinctively
, emotionally, and intellectually; that it is impossible to disrupt the program,
as this cannot be destroyed or modified in its fundamental and profound structu
res. Thus, the more important and inflated image a man has of himself, the less
likely it is that he will be able to understand Hermetic philosophy. The program
rejects Hermeticism, as it is not incorporated in cultural community values, an
d if it were, people would blindly accept it. But such acceptance would have no
value, as people would not go beyond imitation and superstition. In other words,
it is important to genuinely and intrinsically recognize one's own smallness an
d insignificance in order to take the first steps to initiation, otherwise, it w
ould not be the individual himself who would be a student or disciple, but the "
false being," the "mask," or the "person," that is to say, the personality. Herm
etically, we maintain that personality and the program are very similar, and as
long as the student is not able to raise himself above his own personality, he w
ill not come into
THE DISCIPLES
203
contact with his true being, let alone attain knowledge of the truth. For the He
rmeticist, "personality" has a "diabolic" sense, as it is the mechanism which ke
eps the "essential I" dormant and a prisoner. At the beginning of his initiation
, the student must endeavor to transcend his cerebral programming, even for a fe
w minutes, for it will permit him to "see himself" to a certain extent. In order
to transcend his program, he must force himself to be as impersonal as possible
, leaving all previous concepts or ideas aside, as if he was a living intelligen
ce flying through the Universe, but without a physical body. To be impersonal in
volves impartiality, peace, freedom from fear, and a lack of faith and "anti-fai
th." There is nothing more dangerous than those neophytes who are possessed with
a "holy faith" or those who are dominated by blind "antifaith." Neither can eve
r approach Hermeticism in a truly intelligent way. It is necessary to insist tha
t the neophyte must clearly understand that if he approaches a school, it is not
to be taught,
since this is not the function of initiatic schools; Hermeticism is a science pr
ohibited to Homo sapiens. He is admitted to the
School only to give him an opportunity to demonstrate the value of his internal
content, that is, the power of his latent spiritual force. If this force does no
t exist, or is too scant, the individual is closer to the animal. This would mak
e the leap he is trying to take completely impossible, due to the immensity of t
he abyss between the opposite poles: animal and man. The degree of spiritual for
ce required indicates the magnitude of the distance an individual is from the an
imal condition. The neophyte is placed under very special vital
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THE STELLAR MAN
conditions, and is given the tools necessary to enable him to raise his state of
consciousness and have access to knowledge. The knowledge is in the School, but
is not made available in the same manner as a science, a discipline, or any tec
hnique is taught; it is the disciple who must grasp this basic knowledge, which
is always veiled. Thus it is necessary to "have eyes to see and ears to hear." T
his grasping of knowledge will only be possible if the student, with a supreme e
ffort of consciousness, is able to penetrate the veil of allegories, parables, c
omparisons, and similes. Only those who are guided by their spirit or "essential
I" will learn the truth. Those who are motivated solely by curiosity, egotism,
or purely passional interests cannot reach the light of truth. This is fortunate
, as there could be no greater curse than a Stellar Man or Stellar Woman who is
villainous, immoral, or irresponsible; it is certain this cannot come to pass. W
hen sapiens shows his internal value, he is worthy of being helped and prepared
for his subsequent and planned mutation. Gradually, Hermetic science will cease
being a prohibited knowledge for him, as he will be found worthy of the high hon
or of knowing the Universal science. Summarizing, Hermetic knowledge is only for
a small elite, but anyone who is deeply moved by an authentic spiritual restles
sness, may form part of this elite. Furthermore, the populace does not desire th
is knowledge; on the contrary, they despise it, confirming Jesus' words, "do not
throw pearls before swine." There are many who were born swine, are happy in th
at state, and will die swine. It is practically certain that this Hermetic secre
t will
THE DISCIPLES
205
shock many people who would wish this knowledge to be freely given, and who will
see in its prohibition a sign of egotism or weakness. Those who think this, sho
uld observe Nature, where abundance and mediocrity are synonymous, as superior o
rganisms are scarce and appear only rarely and after a rigorous process of selec
tion, as they form the elite of the species. Although the neophyte does not arri
ve at an initiatic school "to be taught" as we have already stated, he must atte
nd lectures or instructional classes. How is one to understand this paradox? It
is very simple: instruction is not for teaching, but rather to destroy the disci
ple's cerebral program to a certain extent, so he will gather his own knowledge
through a process of interior illumination. The lectures are not to be memorized
or "learned," but they are the spiritual and intellectual ferment for the profo
und transformations which must be produced within the student. Nevertheless, for
these changes to be effective, it is necessary to know how to listen so that ev
erything received during instruction reaches one's reasoning faculty in an integ
ral form, as sapiens usually understands only what he wishes to, and rejects wha
tever conflicts with his selfesteem, inferior passions, or personal interests.
XII
TRUE INITIATION
T
rue and authentic initiation is always a profound, concrete, objective, and mate
rial process. It is the barrier that can never be crossed by those who flit arou
nd from school to school, and who do not want to become free of their animal ind
ividuality; it is the path which can never be traversed by theoretical initiates
, masters of symbolism, desk magicians, library rats, intellectual and rhetorica
l crusaders, the self-satisfied, cowards, worshipers of oneiric culture, or defe
nders of human mediocrity. Many famous men have used the title of initiate, but
only a small minority have reached initiatic fulfillment, rising above the limit
s of what is generally spurious or mistaken theory. It is thus that we recognize
in Gurdjieff one of the great Masters of this century, who unfortunately did no
t leave a Hermetic heir, perhaps because he did not consider anyone duly capable
of it. The same occurred with Madame Blavatsky whose death signaled the beginni
ng of the dissolution of the Theosophical Society.
207
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THE STELLAR MAN
One of the great errors committed by followers of occult and esoteric matters is
to consider initiation as only an assembly of practices, knowledge, or ceremoni
es, ignoring the transcendental, cosmic, mystic, divine, and eternal nature of i
nitiation. Initiation truly represents a tremendously significant act from the p
oint of view of universal truth, as it is the transformation of animal sapiens i
nto Stellar Man. Such an immense achievement, surpassing the highest dreams of s
apiens, cannot be faced in the festive or frivolous spirit of an interesting adv
enture. This achievement should be evaluated in all its enormous dimensions as t
he most noble and sublime undertaking human courage can aspire to; it is the con
scious abandonment of the Homo sapiens species to join an immensely superior spe
cies: Stellar Man. In the history of mankind there has never been, nor will ther
e ever be, a feat comparable in importance to the epic of the spiritual elevatio
n of Homo sapiens. However, many people talk of becoming an "initiate," the same
way one becomes a physician, engineer, electronic technician, member of the Rot
ary Club, or a follower of the study of yoga or parapsychology. It is necessary
to state that however much the student learns about esoteric theories or doctrin
es, if he has not passed through Hermetic death in a real way and not merely sym
bolically, he will never be a true initiate. In truth, initiation is an act of r
enunciation and also a surgery of the soul. One should not believe that such ren
unciation refers only to abstaining from certain things. What it implies is the
absolute sacrifice of the animal individuality. Animal egotism must disappear in
order to let in spiritual impersonality. It is necessary to renounce the pleas-
TRUE INITIATION
209
ures of the human beast, replacing them with the pleasures of the initiate, who,
after attaining a perfect equilibrium, satisfies the animal and spiritual hunge
r in equal proportion. Ignorant people have the satisfaction of their animal app
etites as their only goal, and their productive efforts are intended mainly to g
ather the gold which will enable them to obtain pleasure and material benefits.
Their center of gravity is located in the corporeal mass. It is the body which u
ses the brain, inspires emotions, and arouses passion. The body is the master, a
nd the individual himself is the slave. When the corporeal matter decays and die
s, the individual suddenly finds himself freed from his slavery. At that moment,
he understands for the first time, and without any benefit, that he never had l
ife, thoughts, feelings, or experiences of his own, and that he was only a serva
nt who had to toil to feed and satisfy the needs of a mass of protoplasm. That l
ife, which should have been used to evolve, to be happy, and to progress, was in
stead converted into the mere memory of those things he did or could not do. In
truth, the body is not the individual; the individual takes a physical body in o
rder to acquire experience, which permits him to perfect himself and evolve. Thi
s purpose is generally frustrated or is terribly insufficient and petty. In the
final inventory of his life, the individual will realize how little he gained fo
r himself during his existence, and how much he was obliged to give, just so the
sapiens circus could continue operating. The initiate changes this situation co
mpletely, but far from despising the body as some pseudo-mystics do, he strength
ens it, giving it further awareness and intelligence in
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order to humanize the beast. This spiritualized and humanized animal no longer e
xperiences passional states, as it is subject to the individual's higher conscio
usness. Nevertheless, it is necessary to understand that the body itself has not
hing evil or dirty about it; on the contrary, it is a perfect biological structu
re reflecting the master hand of the Great Creator. It is the individual himself
who perverts the body and leads it to corruption. It is thus that the animals w
e see in a savage state are completely pure in their animal nature, and have no
knowledge of perversity. If they kill, it is because of fright or the need for f
ood, but not for the love of killing. Sapiens is the only bloodthirsty and impur
e animal, as he is neither animal nor human, but a hybrid. We could summarize th
e purpose of initiation in a short
sentence: "initiation is the conversion of a programmed animal into an unprogram
med and free Stellar Man." There is only one
way to accomplish this: the destruction of the personality, since this is the in
dividual's program. Hermetically speaking, we may consider that sapiens is compo
sed of two basic forces: his cerebral biological program (personality) and his s
pirit or divine spark, which could be called the "Superior I." The program conta
ins all the individual's robot-like elements, which connect him to the central c
omputer of the species. The spirit is the emanation of God, or the primordial ca
use of life; it incarnates in a physical body to acquire experience in matter. D
uring the initiatic process, the student must experience the death of the progra
m, which naturally is a gradual process. Nevertheless, it should not be thought
that this is merely destruction, but rather that the program dissolves upon bein
g absorbed and trans-
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211
formed by the "Superior I." During this stage, the program loses its inherent qu
ality, and is converted into only an assembly of data and information, which mus
t pass through the filter of internal judgment. It is here that it loses its com
pulsive and dreamlike power and where it experiences a deep "pruning" and transf
ormation. All this is possible only if certain requirements are complied with, w
hich refer basically to the disciple's dedication and perseverance, together wit
h a deep understanding and close union with the School and the instructor. In or
der to understand this, it is necessary to have an idea of the constitution of t
he human beingâ of his spirit, body, and soul. The soul has always been an abstractio
n and a mystery, and all attempts to define or explain it have been distinguishe
d by their vagueness and lack of content. Hermetic tradition tells us that the s
oul of sapiens is composed of four major systems: the procreative, digestive, ci
rculatory, and respiratory systems, and that each one of these is in charge of a
n elemental intelligence which corresponds to one of the four elements.
Procreative system: Digestive system: Circulatory system: Respiratory system: Fi
re Earth Water Air
The great Hermes Trismegistus, Master of Masters, would be horrified to see the
mysteries of the sphinx unveiled. In his times, this knowledge was given only to
those who had undergone many ordeals and reached certain degrees. The
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THE STELLAR MAN
ancient alchemists maintained that everything in the Universe was essentially co
mposed of four elements. This is one of the great Hermetic truths. God too is ma
de up of the four elements, and so through his feminine aspect (Nature) he grant
s four virginal intelligences to sapiens at birth which correspond to the four e
lements. It must be understood that the "intelligences" we refer to are "element
al beings" with their own intelligence and consciousness according to their nati
ve element. A fire being takes charge of our procreative system; an earth being
takes charge of our digestive system; a water being takes charge of our circulat
ory system; and an air being takes charge of our respiratory system. The initiat
e can put himself in mental contact with these intelligences in order to reinfor
ce, support, or modify his work. To avoid the reader from forming fantastic idea
s regarding the intelligences of our four systems, we must clarify that they sho
uld not be imagined as human figures, but as the abstract concept of "intelligen
t emanations of the soul of each element." Just as God unfolds in man through th
e emanation of his divine spark, Nature, in its feminine side, projects itself b
y incorporating the elemental spark of its four "kingdoms" in man. Thus man is m
ade up of a visible and an invisible side. The visible side corresponds to the f
eminine side of God; the soul, and the invisible, to the masculine side of God,
that is the spirit. The Universe is similar to the example we have given, as eve
rything that we can see, the form, structure and body of the Cosmos, is the femi
nine side of the Great Creator (the Universal Mother). On the other hand, the Gr
eat Father is the masculine essence that constitutes the vital nucleus, and this
side remains invisible.
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213
The innocence of a young baby is due not only to the fact that he does not yet h
ave any knowledge of the reality of the world, but specifically to the virginal
purity of his soul, that is, the ensemble of his four elements. When the infant
grows, he himself will corrupt his elemental intelligences by trying, through im
itation and contagion, to practice the same vices and bad habits he sees around
him. Freud, by claiming that the libido is the origin of all the individual's pr
oblems, covered only the fire aspect of the soul (very cleverly, we might add, s
ince fire is the origin of life), but he left the other three vital sources unto
uched. When a child smokes for the first time, he will find the taste of the cig
arette very unpleasant and the smoke produces coughing, dizziness, and headaches
. This is due to the fact that the intelligence of the respiratory apparatus rea
cts against this "aggression" and thus shows its rejection. Nevertheless, its mi
ssion is to serve the individual, and if, through an effort of his will, he cont
inues smoking, there will come a time when the air intelligence yields and accep
ts the tobacco. This is its own ruination. Just like a person, it becomes corrup
ted and is converted into a nicotine addict. Hysteria, self-pity, depressive sta
tes, and emotional problems in general, are located in the circulatory system. R
apacity, egotism, violence, hate, envy, and jealousy reside in the digestive sys
tem, and complexes in general reside in the procreative system. The individual's
behavior soils and corrupts his four intelligences, degrading his own soul and
distancing him from the possibilities of spiritual evolution. Analyzing the symb
olism of the four great systems, we will discover the clear relationship that ex
ists between the image of the crucified Christ and the "Superior I" enchained
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THE STELLAR MAN
to the four intelligences, each one representing an extremity of the cross. The
words "I am the way" which must be understood literally, refer precisely to the
"Superior I." To describe initiation through a parable, we would say that it is
an endeavor to "decrucify Christ." For this, there is only one path, because if
one meditates on the situation of the individual, one will reach the conclusion
that there is little the individual can do, as he is programmed according to the
interests of the central computer. He cannot struggle against what is inside hi
m and which forms part of his instincts, emotions, and thoughts. His only possib
ility lies in the sparks of awareness generated, for some reason, when the progr
am becomes weak. In that instant, the individual can clearly understand that the
re is a life superior to his own, and that when he follows the path pointed out
by his teacher, he can evolve. Due to this, the student, upon starting along the
path, must limit himself to fulfilling ascetic practices, which entail sacrific
e and considerable effort. A sixth "I" is added to the assembly of systems, tran
sforming it into a septenary. For this, we will call the sixth "I" the "Volitive
I," and our chart of the constitution of the individual will be as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Procreative System Digestive System Circulatory System Resp
iratory System Cerebral-spinal System Volitive System Individual Himself Fire Ea
rth Water Air Ether Astral Spirit "Igneous I" "Terrestrial I" "Aqueous I" "Aereo
us I" "Etheric I" "Volitive I" "Superior I"
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215
The majority of people "function" only with the first four systems, which combin
e to form an "infrabrain" through which the individual ordinarily develops. Peop
le of a higher caliber of conceptual or intellectual capacity act partly with nu
mber five, but only with a fraction of its capacity. The capacity and power of t
he spinal medulla are not used or known by the common man. It should be noted th
at the sixth system or the "Volitive I" is completely unknown to sapiens who abs
olutely lacks it. On the other hand, all people have number seven, but this "Sup
erior I" neither manifests itself nor intervenes in the individual's life in any
way; it lives in "limbo" and is only connected to the corporeal structure by a
thin thread. It is very important to consider the fact that the "Volitive I" is
created exclusively by man when he is converted into a true initiate, as all the
other systems are the work of God, the Great Creator. Illustrated below are the
different ways the human being may be manifested. Figure 4 of diagram 6 represe
nts the initiate, who, upon creating his "Volitive I" by means of arcane theurgy
, is converted into a divine being with the attributes he himself wishes to tran
smit to it. The "Volitive I," therefore, is truly the initiate, who is converted
into a mediator between the spirit and the "Psychological I." Under normal cond
itions, the individual cannot raise himself to divinity, nor cause divinity to d
escend to him. Through his "Volitive I," however, (which participates in both wo
rlds, physical and spiritual) he is able to connect, when he so desires, with hi
s spirit, divine spark, or "Superior I." For this to take place, the disciple mu
st have
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THE STELLAR MAN
dominated and educated his four intelligences, placing them under the absolute c
ontrol of the "Volitive I." Naturally, this must be preceded by the birth, growt
h, and maturity of the
"Volitive I."
The first steps for the formation of the "Volitive I" must be along the path of
sacrifice. The individual must make intense efforts and special sacrifices, beyo
nd the usual level, which will have as their goal the formation of a volitive fo
rce and his own spiritual supremacy. The reason or purpose behind this disciplin
e is important. If a person acted because he was impelled by ambition or obligat
ion, this would in no way lead to the formation of his "Volitive I," as he would
have acted under strong compulsion, a force beyond himself (necessity or passio
n). In addition, the student must be perfectly clear as to what he is doing and
why he is doing it, so that the being in formation will have a high degree of aw
areness and intelligence. For this, it is most useful to look into a mirror spec
ially dedicated to this purpose, looking directly at the space between the eyebr
ows, and after a short while quietly repeat several times: "I am will power." Th
e success of this exercise depends exclusively on the individual's emotional sta
te during its execution, as well as the manner in which he pronounces and emotio
nally vibrates when saying the words: "I am." While emphatically saying these wo
rds, the student should internally feel "something" in the form of a strange emo
tion as he encounters or contemplates a sublime interior presence. If these cond
itions are not manifested or if the exercise is done mechanically, there will be
no effect whatsoever. After the individual has been forming his "Volitive I" fo
r
TRUE INITIATION
217
218
THE STELLAR MAN
some time, he will begin to note interesting changes, observing that a centripet
al force has started to become a part of the directing force of the human comple
x. What is really occurring is that the "Volitive I" is converted into the supre
me king of the microcosm, having above him only the "Superior I." When it is obs
erved that the "Volitive I" has acquired certain power, the student can take the
next step, which consists of trying to awaken himself, freeing himself from the
universal oneiric force. In this, as in everything that refers to Hermeticism,
it is necessary to reach profound understanding in order to be absolutely certai
n and clear as to the reason or purpose for doing certain things. We recommend t
he study of a good scientific book on hypnosis in order to understand the simila
rity between hypnotic and somnambular sleep, which is the normal state of sapien
s. The works of professor Anatol Milechnin are extremely useful for getting a gl
impse of the mystery of sleep as it relates to what is being presented in this b
ook. There are five basic points that the disciple must keep before him in order
to "break" the phenomenon of hypnotic sleep. These do not consist of an awakeni
ng technique, but are rather adopted methods of behavior that will promote awake
ning. These points are as follows:
1. To stop lying 2. To stop dreaming 3. To learn how to think 4. To live in the
present moment 5. To activate the physical body
TRUE INITIATION
219
Point 1: TO STOP LYING
Points 1 and 2 are closely related, as we will now see. Starting with the proble
m of lying, it is necessary for the student to realize that he constantly lies w
ithout realizing it. When a person has lied for a long time, the time comes when
he can no longer distinguish between what is false and what is true. People con
vince themselves of their own lies, becoming victims of their own inventions as
they begin to direct their lives by standards of behavior, ideas, feelings, or i
nstincts which do not correspond to their inner reality. What is truly serious i
n this matter is that the individual loses all points of reference regarding wha
t comprises truth, and what comprises lies. He becomes used to considering as tr
ue only that which is convenient for his personal interests; everything that is
in opposition to his self-esteem or in conflict with already established prejudi
ces, he considers false. A person lies in order to avoid difficult problems, to
evade responsibility, or to avoid damage to his self-esteem. So the individual c
onstantly lies to himself and to others, and becomes entangled in an illusory wo
rld born out of his personal fantasy. He forms concepts, ideas, judgments, avers
ions, and attachments that have no relation to actual events, but are only the r
eflection of a life full of lies and listening to lies, since everyone lies. One
of the most powerful reasons for lying is to create a good image of oneself, an
d to prevent others from seeing us as we really are beneath the mask of appearan
ces. Each mask is a lie, and there are thousands in each individual's collection
of disguises. It is necessary to be conscious of this phenomenon of lying, and
to realize its magnitude and fre-
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THE STELLAR MAN
quency, as well as the enormous damage it causes. One should have the goal of ne
ither lying to oneself nor to others, and in the case of a "white lie," to be aw
are of telling it, and judging the need for such a lie with one's own conscience
. Point 2: TO STOP DREAMING People are always infused with all kinds of fantasti
c ideas about themselves, the world, people, love, idealism, society, etc. Led b
y his eagerness to evade a disagreeable reality, man gives free rein to his imag
ination and is inclined to believe the first agreeable lie he encounters along t
he way. The individual projects his personal illusions onto a cold and immutable
reality, and thus deceiving himself, he endeavors to contemplate reality throug
h rose-colored glasses. "Disillusion" is a painful process and can be prolonged,
depending on how much time the individual takes to realize he is living artific
ially and that this condition is a product of his internal dreams. Great courage
is required to face reality and to destroy the mirage of a pleasant dream. On t
he other hand, we must consider that sooner or later dreams fade. What is danger
ous for the human being is that these dreams are substituted by others, which in
due course also fade. This is the life history of the human being: a succession
of oneiric dreams. It is a vicious circle which is extremely difficult to break
. Awakening from a broken dream, and the frustration this causes, incites a pers
on to fabricate new and moreagreeable dreams in order to combat disillusion, lon
eliness, and disappointment. The lack of communication between human beings aris
es from the fact that all their dreams are
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221
different, and therefore, psychologically speaking, they live in different world
s. If a person decides to seriously investigate the reason for his various acts
and reactions, he will realize how his behavior is directed toward maintaining h
is personal fantasies. Great courage, discipline, and determination are necessar
y to face the truth, without any kind of adornment. Such courage is lacking in t
he immense majority of human beings. It is pathetic to see how people cling to t
heir petty illusions, generally a result of their oneiric fantasies, while disda
ining all that is truly valuable. Society is organized in this manner; its scale
of values is so disturbed that it considers everything that enables the individ
ual to enjoy passing pleasures as most desirable, and then condemns its members
to suffer "eternally" for the price of a fleeting pleasure. The Hermeticist proc
eeds to the contrary: he submits himself voluntarily to suffering, self-discipli
ne, and privation in order to attain eternal peace and happiness. Each individua
l should consciously judge what could be most desirable, and on the other hand,
determine if the one who seeks passing pleasure is really happy, or if he is in
truth profoundly unhappy in his eternal vacuum. The majority of people have a ph
ilosophy that tells them "after this life there is no other; let us take advanta
ge of this and enjoy ourselves as much as possible." Those who have converted th
is thought into their personal credo should ask themselves if they are truly sat
isfied and if the innumerable playthings society offers them are sufficient to q
uench their eternal thirst and alleviate the anguish of their loneliness. The wo
rld of today is perfectly organized, but for what?
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THE STELLAR MAN
By observing and meditating, we will discover that everything is perfectly synch
ronized to maintain and feed the "dream," and the "dreams" of sapiens. An indivi
dual will cease dreaming only when he has understood and lived what we are expla
ining: when he proves to his amazement that each person lives drugged by his per
sonal dreams, which are transformed into the rudder which directs his life. It i
s useful to analyze all the projects one has had in life, everything that one ha
s desired and planned to accomplish, but which in retrospect appear as a phantas
mal unreality.
Point 3: TO LEARN HOW TO THINK
It is important to completely reeducate the thinking process in order to make it
really creative, because only when this function is accomplished can the indivi
dual think clearly. Creative thinking is not the act of "inventing" something, b
ut rather consists of thinking in an unprogrammed way. One's intelligence should
be used to face each event as if it were really new, casting prejudices to the
side. This will enable the individual to create a result or form a judgment that
is truly impartial, as he has given up his habitual sources and does not consid
er anything as a known fact. Described symbolically, creative thought consists o
f dispensing with the program in order to form a high level of judgment, which i
s not affected in its genesis by the compulsive force of the information stored
in the cerebral computer. When people think, they do so compulsively and in spit
e of themselves. This is as evident as the fact that thought is not voluntary, f
or an individual cannot cease thinking when he so desires. On the contrary, it i
s impossible for him to oust
TRUE INITIATION
223
ideas from his imagination or prevent unpleasant ideas from arising. The organiz
ation and security of the modern world has created conditions of life in which t
he individual has no need to make a great effort in order to survive. He can sub
sist with little effort, and in some cases practically none at all, especially w
hen compared to the harsh struggle for life in Nature's wilderness. There is not
hing which really obliges an individual to use his basic intelligence; on the co
ntrary, he has been converted into an expert in evading or dodging all truly try
ing points presented to him which question his intelligence. It is much safer an
d more comfortable to not venture along the path of free thought, but to instead
accept or adopt already established and approved systems of thought and behavio
r. Imitation and blind acceptance have become the easiest road to satisfy sapien
s' ever-diminishing intellectual curiosity. Hermetically, on this subject, we sp
eak of "dead" and "living" knowledge. "Dead" knowledge is that which is known by
its specific meaning, but whose interrelation with the whole is ignored. It is
a single part of knowledge and it is not known how, when, or where it fits in re
lation to the remaining pieces of the overall plan. In contrast, "living" knowle
dge is obtained in a state of superior awareness, and is always the product of p
erfect "mental digestion." "Dead" knowledge is born solely from the intellect, w
hile "living" knowledge originates in the mind. Because "living" knowledge is es
sentially understood by the awakened thinker, he is therefore conscious of the p
osition which this knowledge occupies in the general context of the Universe. He
re we approach one of the most important points
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THE STELLAR MAN
which separate sapiens and Stellar Man. Sapiens thinks only with his brain and h
is intelligence is therefore limited to the intellectual-cerebral source. Furthe
r, the average person uses only a small portion of his brain for his intellectua
l functioning, which is furthermore located in a sort of "pre-brain" composed of
the four intelligences and the unconscious, which is the ancestral soul of the
animal of the species. For this reason, even on high intellectual planes, sapien
s obeys the mandate of his animal soul, the beast. In the Bible reference is mad
e to the number 666 as the number of the beast. Upon inverting this figure we fi
nd the number of man: 999. The Hermeticist, however, through his initiatic work,
reaches the formation of the "spiritual system," the mind, which is lacking in
the average person, who usually refers to it therefore, as a symbolic abstractio
n of the psyche. In reality, the mind is the superior integration of the human f
aculties into a whole, directed by the "Volitive I," and manifesting the "Superi
or I," which is the spirit or the individual himself. Sapiens, making use of his
rudimentary "pre-brain," (the union of one part of his brain with the four inte
lligences and the unconscious) is able to make scientific discoveries thanks to
the transmission of culture from generation to generation and by taking advantag
e of an assembly of collective experiences and knowledge. Thus, a long list of g
eniuses have contributed with their discoveries and investigations to raising th
e level of our civilization. Without discrediting the extraordinary talent of th
ese men in any way, it must be stated that they have been only "intellectual gen
iuses" and as such have worked on the smaller picture. They have totally overloo
ked any relation to the whole, having no knowledge
TRUE INITIATION
225
of the effect or reaction their work would subsequently have
on everything.
We must necessarily classify these intellectual geniuses as "semi-sages" as they
are monoconceptual, visualizing everything through the prism of their specialty
. It is interesting to meditate on what would be the behavior, reactions, apprec
iation, and scale of values possessed by individuals of great intelligence who d
o not belong to human terrestrial culture. It would be interesting to also know
the thought process of superior beings who are high above pettiness, egotism, pr
ejudice, and sapiens' moral, cultural, and spiritual superstitions. The true sag
es are the "geniuses of the mind"â those who are able to generate everything with the
ir mind, those who can raise themselves over opposite poles and reconcile all th
at is not reconcilable, understand all paradoxes, penetrate into the essence of
everything, and be aware of the hidden cause of all that is manifested as an eff
ect. These sages are the possessors of true wisdom, the kind given to King Solom
on; they are the ones who exist beyond good and evil, who know the hidden thread
s which connect all things. These sages demonstrate their knowledge in themselve
s, applying it to the control and evolution of their internal nature. They posse
ss the "philosopher's stone" with which they produce spiritual, not physical gol
d; with this noble project they help sublimate the animal in sapiens. Could it b
e possible that a group of men possess the secret of converting the entire body
into a brain? Would it be possible to think with a foot, a hand, the stomach, or
the lungs? The mind is something very much like this: a kind of
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THE STELLAR MAN
super-brain which gathers the intellectual, emotional, instinctive, and physical
into itself. One might ask where the discoveries of these great brains are? To
answer this, the reader needs to meditate on what he would do if he were a super
-brain. Would his interests be the same as before? Would he persist in his egoti
sm and anthropocentrism? Would he continue being interested in temporal things o
r would he feel more attracted to the eternal? In answering this, it is sufficie
nt to consider the position and importance of the planet Earth in relation to th
e rest of the Universe. Consider that the dead intelligence of the common man is
the intelligence of the Earth, while the mind or super-brain is celestial intel
ligence. If one were an ant and suddenly changed into a human being, would one r
etain the interests of an ant? (Be it known however, that from the viewpoint of
universal economics, the ant is just as important as man). Perhaps the highest i
nterest of the geniuses of the mind does not reside in great scientific discover
ies, or could it be that once aware of the "universal plan," these geniuses are
not permitted to interfere with the natural development of events within an alre
ady determined span of time? To illustrate this, we recognize in Leonardo Da Vin
ci a great genius of the mind. We cannot comment on his intentions, which belong
to the secret of his particular initiatic work. Without being aware of his moti
ves, we cannot judge them. In summary, sapiens possesses a dead intelligence whi
ch only permits him to be "specialized" and always within the human cultural sch
eme. The Stellar Man has a live intelli-
TRUE INITIATION
227
gence; he can transcend the terrestrial level and evolve his "Superior I." It is
thus that there exists dead knowledge (orthodox wisdom) and a living knowledge
(Hermetic science). One is a product of the brain; the other, a product of the s
uperbrain. Further on, we will give instructions for the development of the supe
r-brain.
Point 4: TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT
To apply this point, it is indispensable to clearly understand the previous chap
ter entitled "To Be or Not to Be?" where we explain the absolute key which, toge
ther with unveiling the mystery of being, illustrates the methods for overcoming
sleep. That key is expressed as follows: "The only reality is the present momen
t; there is no past or future, both are illusory" (in the present moment there i
s no past or future, the past existed and the future will exist). We also said t
hat "the present is the exact point of union between the past and the future." T
here is a dividing line which separates fantasy or unreality from truth or reali
ty. This line is time. Reality is the coincidence between the steps of the human
being and his companion time. It is thus that our physical body is constantly i
n reality; it is objective and occupies space. On the other hand, the occupant o
f the vehicle (the "Superior I") habitually lives in unreality, that is, beyond
the wall that separates reality from fantasy. The unreal is something belonging
to a natural reality X, which finds itself projected into a different time from
where it belongs. For example, if a human being belongs to the reality classifie
d as "Delta-15," which has a time similar to an X clock,
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THE STELLAR MAN
but is then projected into X2 time, he evades reality, living in a world which e
xists only in dimension B, which naturally his physical body has no access to, a
s he cannot raise his body to X2 time. Therefore, if there are so many different
velocities of time, we must ask ourselves how many realities exist? The logical
reply is that there are as many realities as there are velocities of time. Neve
rtheless, as we are physically constrained to Delta-15 time, we must adapt ourse
lves to this reality. If one lives in an unreal world with respect to Delta-15 t
ime, that is, with respect to human reality, it is the same as not existing at a
ll, for the body would be that of a somnambulist, an empty shell without an occu
pying spirit or "Superior I," an entity, a mere spectator of a fantastic kaleido
scope. For example, what is the fourth dimension? It is a world that actually ex
ists, but only for those who possess a vehicle which can manifest itself in the
temporal vibration of the fourth dimension. The aphorism which says "everything
is illusion" refers to this problem, which should be interpreted
as follows: "Nothing is real for the one who is in absolute reality, as all that
exists has reality only for those who are on the same vibration or time, since
time is velocity and velocity is vibration." It
is due to this principle that a "ghost" for us is just an illusion, and not a ph
ysical being. By "ghosts" I mean the energy remaining after a person's death. A
thought has no concrete and physical reality: we cannot weigh or see or bump int
o a thought. Nevertheless, for a man composed of thought-matter, thoughts would
be visible and tangible. Why is it that our body cannot collide with a thought?
Because it has a different speed and, therefore, a different reality.
TRUE INITIATION
229
As human beings we are the union of two forces of very different vibrations: â ¢ Mass
energy or physical body â ¢ Mind energy or spirit This union has only one objective: e
volution. Evolution is cosmic for the great human mass, and personal for the ind
ividual. The object of having a physical body is to evolve. When the individual
does not evolve due to indolence, disinterest, or personal incompetence, he does
not fulfill the prime objective of his individual life, and is only open to the
possibility of becoming the "sexual part" of God, being converted into an anima
ted instrument of physical creation. He suffers greatly in this process: he has
a physical body, but
pays the penalty of losing the only personal justification for having itâ individual
evolution.
The body and spirit belong to very different realities, to two times which are d
istant or apart from each other. As a consequence, the spirit is not manifested
on Earth, but remains in slavery or chained to the physical body, and must suffe
r the fantasies and dreams experienced by the "Psychological I." Not being able
to become located in the Delta-15 reality, the spirit lives constantly out of th
e present (outside of Delta-15). It is thus that the body loses its function as
a vehicle of the spirit, remaining only an instrument of the Archons of Destiny,
with the object of becoming one more worker at the orders of his owner. It shou
ld be explained that creation is accomplished in the Universe by means of the im
agination of sapiens, which shapes all emotional, in-
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THE STELLAR MAN
stinctive, and intellectual states. This energy condenses in a remote future, be
coming transformed into matter. This is why we can state that God is the Great A
rchitect of the Universe and that the human mass forms his laborers' army who, a
s payment, receives the gift of existence. This would not be such a terrible thi
ng if sapiens had access to reality, although some think that the fact of being
conscious of it and of not being able to change it, increases suffering. The onl
y way to reach absolute reality, to destroy dreams, and earn the right to one's
own evolution is to make
the body and the spirit coincide at the same doorway or temporal communication s
o that together they may face reality. Upon ac-
complishing this, the individual lives in two worlds as he has attained knowledg
e of two opposite realities: that of matter and that of spirit. Both are reconci
led in a third reality, the one sought by the Hermeticist: the absolute reality,
which although still material, is part of that which is divine, and being divin
e, forms part of that which is material. This is what we
call being on this side of the dividing line (which separates reality and fantas
y), to have one's feet on the ground and one's head in the
heavens. This is very different from profane men, with their feet on nothing and
their head in oneiric fantasy. In order to live in the present moment, the indi
vidual must have reached not only the creation of his "Volitive I," but also its
complete strengthening, as the "Volitive I" can be weak or strong. The "Volitiv
e I" must oblige the "Psychological I" to concentrate on the present moment. Thi
s is done with adequate discipline of the imagination, a state of relaxation, an
d with the perfect integration of our microcosm in an internal hierarchy under t
he guidance of the "Volitive I."
TRUE INITIATION
231
It is important that our imagination should not wander, that we should overcome
nervous tension, and that our entire being is under the control of the "Volitive
I." Further on we will summarize the practical application of this, as everythi
ng is related, and if this were done in each chapter, we would have to digress m
any times.
Point 5: TO ACTIVATE THE PHYSICAL BODY
As the physical body represents the opposite pole from the spirit, it is obvious
that it represents an "obstacle" for communication with our "Superior I." Never
theless, at the same time it is necessary to "raise the vibration of our corpore
al matter," which is done by making the body obey our will. To this end, let us
briefly consider three principal elements: â ¢ Food â ¢ Breathing â ¢ Physical Exercise We
t discuss these points in detail, as they are not part of this chapter. We will
only speak of them as some of the methods for destroying dreams. Our recommendat
ions will be very brief, because in this case the only objective is to "activate
the physical body." Regarding food, we will only recommend abstaining from cons
uming dense meats "of a low vibration" such as pork, as well as practicing veget
arianism when the student must give special attention to his ascetic side in ord
er to purify his state of consciousness. With respect to alcohol, it is necessar
y to be very prudent in its use, as it is a considerable
232
THE STELLAR MAN
organic depressor, and its effect is only noticed after some time. It acts as "s
uper fuel" which unnecessarily wears out the organism with no advantage whatsoev
er. If alcohol consumption turns into a vice, it is a very dangerous element, as
it breaks the individual's etheric protection or "aura." This exposes the indiv
idual to contact with demonic creations which exist on the lower astral plane (o
ne of the vibratory planes; the lowest after the material) which is clinically k
nown as "delirium tremens." Breathing should be considered in relation to absorb
ing more oxygen, that is, by practicing complete breathing. Begin by expanding t
he diaphragm until completely filling the upper part of the lungs and expanding
the thorax. Inhale by expanding the abdomen, projecting it forward with some for
ce until it is slightly bulged. Continue to inhale until the lungs are filled, e
xpanding the thorax and filling it while the abdomen is naturally flattened. Upo
n exhaling, the abdomen must be gently contracted to facilitate the elimination
of residual air. Ten minutes of morning breathing contributes much energy toward
activating the physical body. Physical exercise is indispensable for the reacti
vation of our body, but it is necessary to do those exercises which make our car
diovascular system work, such as the various forms of aerobic exercises. Added t
o this, each person can practice calisthenics according to his age. Also, it is
necessary to practice an exercise of complete immobility every morning, which sh
ould be done as follows: seated very straight on a chair, remain absolutely moti
onless for three minutes. Once this is perfectly carried out, continue to the se
cond stage, which is similar to the first but starts by tens-
TRUE INITIATION
233
ing all the muscles strongly, clenching the fists and thinking "I am awake," let
ting this idea fill the organism. The muscular tension must last one minute afte
r which the muscles are completely relaxed and loose, and then complete immobili
ty is maintained for five minutes, always with the fixed idea, "I am awake." For
this exercise to be completely effective, immobility must be absolute, without
moving the muscles even one millimeter. The eyes should remain open throughout t
he exercise. During the process of true initiation, we have already referred to
two very important stages, which are the creation of the "Volitive I" and the de
struction of dreams. For the latter we pointed out that it is necessary to fulfi
ll five basic disciplines:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To stop lying To stop dreaming To learn how to think To live in t
he present moment To activate the physical body
We will now approach the third stage, which is "mental
digestion." Common man lacks a mental stomach (mind) and
therefore cannot effectively "digest" acquired knowledge. In spite of the fact t
hat we are speaking figuratively and symbolically, this simile closely reflects
the ideal work of the intelligence, as it is equivalent to that of the stomach:
to transform basic elements into "nutritional essence." No matter how much a per
son eats, if he does not assimilate it, the food eaten is of no use whatsoever.
The same occurs with the
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THE STELLAR MAN
intelligence of sapiens, who has become an intellectual glutton, devouring knowl
edge, which becomes integrated into the cerebral neurons without having been tru
ly assimilated. In short, he is a hoarder of mental food which he never uses. Ph
ysically speaking, this is equivalent to an individual who stores food he will n
ever eat. There is not only corporeal obesity but also intellectual obesity, and
it is curious that there are those who are proud of this expansion of their int
ellect. Man is convinced that the more he studies, the more prepared he will be
to learn the truth. It has never occurred to him that perhaps the opposite is tr
ue. If we think about this just a little, having understood the concept of progr
amming, we will realize that to study more means more program; the greater the p
rogram the less the capacity for alertness; and less alertness means more automa
tism, less humanity, more unreality and fantasy. When an individual who lacks a
"mental stomach" begins to study, the result is always the same: intellectual in
flation and reinforcement and growth of programming. On the other hand, when the
individual who has a mind studies, he genuinely digests his intellectual food a
nd therefore a real change and evolution is produced inside him. We have already
addressed stages 1 and 2, which refer precisely to the formation of the mind; t
herefore, if the student carefully fulfills these, he will be in a condition to
study and really assimilate knowledge. The philosopher's stone has traditionally
been the symbol of mind, and as such always appears as the key element for tran
smutation. When a student has perfectly formed his mind, not only will he be in
a condition to transmute him-
TRUE INITIATION
235
self, but he will also be able to accomplish many other tasks of great Hermetic
value. We must point out that orthodox science has completely failed to address
or even recognize the effects produced in a person who has achieved a perfect pr
ocess of understanding. Psychology knows something about understanding, but is i
ncapable of evaluating its importance. This process, when perfectly accomplished
, constitutes a magical-alchemical operation which produces a certain element in
the body which is missing in sapiens, and which could be called consciousness.
It is necessary to point out that in this stage of birth, conscious awareness is
a material element which is present chemically in the bloodstream, and from its
combustion spiritual gold originates, which feeds and enables our essence to gr
ow. Alchemy represents an entirely corporeal work in which the crucible is the b
ody itself, the fire is passion, and the lead is the raw material. Alchemical "s
ublimation" is the lengthy work of transmutation of sapiens into a Stellar Man.
There is no prayer, no breathing exercise, no mantra, no magic formula, and no m
ythological Master who can offer shortcuts or a substitution for this process.
XIII
THE ORDEALS
O
ne of the most frequent criticisms of the famous Hermetic novel Zanoni concerns
the terrifying nature of its theme, which vividly describes the ordeals endured
by Clarence Glyndon, one of the main characters. It is thought that the author,
Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, exaggerated or over-dramatized the difficulties which
the neophyte encounters on the path. The fearful "specter on the threshold" is n
o more for the reader than the fictional symbol of abstract or subjective intern
al difficulties. For others, the specter is a malevolent being which actually ap
pears before the student, submitting him to all kinds of torture. The truth is t
hat there are very few who understand that the terrible specter is just one of t
he problems the disciple encounters on the path, and that the others do not refe
r to situations so spectacular as those presented in Zanoni. Neither adepts nor
Masters are represented by Zanoni and Mejnour, who were instead chosen by Lytton
as prototypes
237
238
THE STELLAR MAN
to illustrate the two different paths the initiate may take upon attaining maste
rship. The ordeals are mostly those of daily life rather than fantastic appariti
ons or magical rites. For this reason, they are even more transcendental and dif
ficult than if they were unusual or spectacular situations. The ordeals exist an
d are terribly hard, and this is something that candidates for initiation must n
ot forget. Naturally we are speaking of "true initiates" and not of those who ex
pect to reach high degrees within the peaceful tranquility of an existence far f
rom threatening, dangerous, or inconvenient realities. The sooner the neophyte u
nderstands that it is necessary to overcome tremendous obstacles and destroy pow
erful internal barriers, the easier it will be for him to recognize the importan
ce of the initiatic process. As we have already stated, sapiens is programmed an
d depends on the central computer of the species and on the collective animal so
ul. It is not difficult to understand that if an individual tries to free himsel
f from this bondage, he will face strong opposition manifested through Nature it
self, which will react with great energy to bar the path of the candidate advanc
ing toward wisdom. Thus, from the moment the individual starts on a true path fr
ee from fraud or self-deception, and when he carries out true Hermetic work on h
imself, all kinds of temptations, doubts, difficulties, and problems will appear
in his life in order to dissuade him from persevering. This is not strange, as
he is attempting to overcome his internal nature which, like all savage forces i
n Nature, responds with extraordinary vigor to all intent to control or dominate
. To tame a savage beast is strenuous work. There is a savage beast in everyone,
and no one knows how far the savagery may es-
THE ORDEALS
239
calate at a given moment, in spite of culture and education. The traditional Egy
ptian Sphinx, which has the head, neck, and bosom of a woman and body and paws o
f a lion, is a symbol of the animal nature of the human being. It is she who blo
cks the way to the intrepid seeker of Hermetic light. Nevertheless, the Sphinx h
as wings to symbolize the fact that it is necessary to raise oneself through one
's animal nature, and not through the strength of the spirit as many people beli
eve. Furthermore, this corresponds exactly to the image of Jesus Christ mounted
on an ass, which represents the beast that must be
tamed by the "Superior I."
In truth, if we feel an impulse inside us to soar toward higher planes, it is no
t due to the spirit, but rather the beast. The beast is not bad in itself, but i
s only perverse in the measure in which it has taken into itself this characteri
stic from the common pool of human bestiality (collective unconsciousness) which
forms part of the central computer of the species. To understand this, we show
the spirit and the beast depicted by two triangles, one descending and the other
ascending.
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THE STELLAR MAN
The spirit is the celestial power, which radiates toward the Earth. It is the po
sitive pole of life, and is attracted by the passive pole, which in this case is
material terrestrial existence. The spirit is pure in itself and therefore seek
s that which is unknown, the only thing which can offer an experience different
to its own vibration, which is material sensations. The beast, on the contrary,
looks toward the heavens because, knowing it is impure, it struggles to reach th
e purity that only the divine can give it. This is why the six-pointed star call
ed the "symbol of Solomon" is not a positive image, since it represents petrific
ation or detention of the movement of life. It is very different when the ankh,
or "symbol of life," appears in its center, for it then represents the "vital eq
uilibrium" of creation, thus being transformed into a highly positive figure. Th
e fallen angels represent "spirits" or virginal divine sparks who descend to ful
fill or perfect themselves through experience in matter. We recommend to the rea
der the inter-
THE ORDEALS
241
esting book, The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France, in which the author hum
orously and poetically exposes the mystery of the double triangle. The existence
of these two forces, one ascending and the other descending, allows us to under
stand in a deeper manner the superior role which the "Volitive I" must perform i
n managing spiritual energy, as well as the material force identified as the bea
st. Usually, those who arrive at an initiatic school make fun of the ordeals, ch
aracterizing them as mere barriers. Nevertheless, as time passes, they are rudel
y shown their different faults. In spite of this, failure in some ordeals does n
ot mean defeat, but rather a lesson that the individual must learn; and until he
does so, he will remain blocked by the obstacle. The extreme difficulty of the
ordeals lies in their tremendous subtlety. These ordeals are generally based on
the individual's internal failures which are beneath the threshold of his awaren
ess, and which remain unknown to him. This is similar to what occurs with a pers
on's defects; generally, he is completely incapable of observing them. The first
steps taken by an individual who enters a Hermetic school are decisive, as he i
s prone to be guided by false and capricious impressions, arising primarily from
a projection of his internal problems. Many times, the individual looks upon th
e school as an entity which is trying to use or pressure him in order to obtain
something from him. He craves salvation or a guide to success, but at the same t
ime he does not want to let himself be saved easily, and he wishes to show that
he is not easy to convince or handle. The individual does not realize that he hi
mself is the only one interested in his own salvation (freedom from being used b
y Nature)
242
THE STELLAR MAN
and if he does not free himself, no one will come to his rescue. Until he unders
tands his real situation in the world, he will lack the necessary motivation to
fight for his own existence, as this is what he is striving for after all. The o
nly possibility of success resides in being able to visualize his true position
in life before Nature and destiny, and in his ultimate use of the "Volitive I" a
s an instrument for fulfillment. We have seen the most incredible things happen
to sincere students. Sudden riches or love are often sufficient to make him stra
y from his path. Other times, his loved ones turn into his worst enemies as far
as initiation is concerned; these loved ones are undoubtedly controlled by the c
entral computer of the species. This is very much like some apprentices of sorce
ry who try to dominate Nature, but end up as its slaves. The difficulties which
the student must face just to reach the meeting place of the brotherhood on time
, sometimes take on tragicomic overtones. The oddest things occur solely to prev
ent him from reaching the meeting, and the problem is that it is the individual
who is "sabotaging" himself. The ass is a symbolic animal in Hermetic Art. It re
presents the negative animal nature of the individual; its basic keynote is stup
idity, inertia, laziness, negligence, and irresponsibility. It is due to this th
at when an individual makes a harmful mistake, it is said figuratively that he s
hould not "think as an ass" or rather that "the ass should not be allowed to thi
nk for him." Hermeticism also speaks of the "path of the ass" to describe those
who, after so much effort and hardship, and after covering so much ground, alway
s remain in the same place. In ancient times, asses were used to bring up water
for irrigation from springs or wells,
THE ORDEALS
243
and the animal walked many miles per day, but because this was in a circle, he a
lways remained in the same place. Hermetic teaching states that only after conqu
ering the ass is it possible to conquer the Sphinx and soar on its wings to cosm
ic space. The Sphinx is the vehicle of the Stellar Man. Regarding the candidate'
s gender, it is necessary to state that for men the ordeals are mainly expressed
through instinct, along with all the related psychological and material situati
ons and conditions. On the other hand, the women's weak point is situated in the
ir emotional nature. It is due to this that the admission of women into "initiat
ic schools" has been traditionally prohibited, and this is the reason why the Fr
eemasons only admit women on "ladies' nights." In ancient times when women belon
ged to initiatic orders, many brotherhoods were destroyed when one of the female
members, under the influence of passionate love, revealed the secrets of the or
der to enemy organizations. The Freemasons were originally a Hermetic brotherhoo
d formed by high initiates as a preparatory school for other higher-level work.
Nevertheless, with the symbolic death of Hiram, Freemasonry lost the secret of t
he rites and symbols such as the true meaning of the passwords. Hermetic traditi
on was extinguished and there remains only the unknown language of the symbols.
The light that existed has lost its Hermetic meaning, and only the philosophical
significance remains. The brothers have fallen "asleep" with the passage of tim
e, perhaps sung to sleep by their pride in having thirty-three degrees of Masoni
c splendor. However, their symbols, inspired from ancient rites, are truly beaut
iful. Without a doubt, entering into Freemasonry will morally,
244
THE STELLAR MAN
culturally, and philosophically benefit any clear-minded person. But between ent
ering Freemasonry and becoming truly twice born, there is a world of difference.
It must be pointed out that true Schools of Initiation have never banned the en
try of women into their ranks, and that women may also work in the Temple. The o
rdeals the candidate for initiation faces may be internal or material. Material
ordeals concern concrete situations, which arise from the reactions of Nature. R
emember that Nature is internal as well as external, and tremendous internal con
flicts are therefore produced. Two interesting events make a profound impression
on the disciple during the process of initiation. One is the gradual vision the
candidate acquires of himself, seeing himself as he really is without subterfug
e, idealization, or hypocrisy. Another is the gradual contemplation of the truth
, the world, and its people. In the first case, the student suffers a profound s
hock upon seeing himself as he really is for the first time. This vision opens t
wo paths to him: he can either accept or reject his true nature. If he rejects h
is true nature, instead of breaking through the shell of his isolation from real
ity, the individual, terrorized by the naked truth, builds up an impenetrable an
d indestructible shell of iron. There are many illusions (in the sense of that w
hich is illusory) that the individual must overcome in order to evolve. This is
carefully stated in the well-known and beautiful book Light on the Path by Mabel
Collins:
Before the eyes can see, they must be incapable of tears. Before the ear can hea
r, it must have lost its sensitiveness. Before the voice can speak in the presen
ce of the Masters, it
THE ORDEALS
245
must have lost the power to wound. Before the soul can stand in the presence of
the Masters, its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart.
Life's truths are so terrible in their nakedness, that for a disciple to endure
them in a well-balanced manner, he must have adequately prepared himself. It mus
t be realized that Nature is completely cold and could not care less about the k
indness of a monk or the perversions of an assassin. Within her bosom Nature con
ceives equally wheat and hemlock, healing herbs and poisonous plants. Neither th
e greatest idealism nor the most despicable evil alter the immutability of the l
aws of Nature. There are truths that are so dangerous, they are truly like "a ra
zor's edge," for if the student still retains the seed of egotism or evil, the v
ision of these mysteries will traumatize him to such an extent that he will neve
r return to normality. Herein lies a great similarity with the case of our neoph
yte in Zanoni, although reality is always more deadly and less spectacular than
the theme of a novel. Many have gone insane upon glimpsing a truth which was too
unbearable for those who have not been able to overcome their baser passions. T
ruth is only attained by the absolute nakedness of the innocent purity of those
who "become little children." Truth is a double-edged sword: it raises up the pu
re and destroys the passional. In an Initiatic School, hundreds of different sit
uations arise which test the integrity, purity, and decisions of the student. Th
ese tests range from loss of confidence in the School and the Master to a feelin
g of being used or cheated in one manner or another. Each individual reveals his
internal fail-
246
THE STELLAR MAN
ings through his doubts and conflicts. Thus, the one who has no honor firmly bel
ieves that they will oblige him to lose his honor; the one who is not free belie
ves he will lose his freedom of choice; an immoral individual believes he would
be obliged to violate moral rules; and a thief would complain of "losing his int
egrity." Many feel they are passed over and believe there is favoritism and prej
udice, or believe they are not being taught enough. Others, especially the unfee
ling egoists, accuse their companions of "having lost all sensitivity." In brief
, in a School, a series of vital situations is reproduced, much like in a labora
tory, so the student can consciously observe the behavior of others and also tak
e note of his own. In this setting it is also possible for the School to profoun
dly understand the student in order to better help him. Naturally, for this work
to bear fruit it must be authentic, that is, the student must not pretend at an
y time, but must be honest and sincere, and his reactions must be absolutely aut
hentic. It must be pointed out that each ordeal that is successfully overcome ra
ises the disciple to higher states of awareness, allowing him to understand that
which was previously incomprehensible.
XIV
THE OBSTACLES
I
n contrast to the ordeals, obstacles are not Nature's reactions but ordinary bar
riers, which all people have to face in order to evolve. The absolute rule of dr
eams over sapiens must be understood, and that if sapiens wants to evolve, he mu
st necessarily awaken. If he does not awaken, he will remain static. To awaken i
s difficult to do, as sapiens is submitted to a cosmic hypnotic influence which
is the universal energy of creation; and if this were not enough, each individua
l, when he does not like the reality of life or is not satisfied with himself, d
reams of himself and the world in a manner ideal for himself.
Hermetically, we call this foolish romanticism, to differentiate it from the ide
alism of the poets. Romanticism is the ingredient which enables the human being
to accept his dreams as an expression of reality, and his life is limited to att
empting to satisfy his own fantasies. Let it be understood that we refer to an i
nferior and destructive type of romanti247
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THE STELLAR MAN
cism, although people cannot differentiate this from its higher counterpart. In
general the individual has the following obstacles along the way: AN ERRONEOUS C
ONCEPT OF HERMETICISM OR ESOTERICISM AS A WHOLE People's beliefs in this area sw
ing between two extremes: those who consider esotericism as something superstiti
ous, evil, or diabolical, and those who blindly believe. The latter speak occult
jargon and say that "it is necessary to unfold on
the astral plane, to open the third eye, or awaken the Kundalini,"
and due to their tremendous naivete are sincerely convinced of the truth of thei
r own words. THE DIFFICULTY OF SEEING ONESELF OBJECTIVELY Each person wears the
banner of the qualities he most appreciates in himself. A person cannot avoid pr
ojecting his own image to others, and judging everything according to his own co
ncepts rather than in a free and experiential manner. It is as if each day a per
son digested part of the world, only to afterwards vomit all that did not corres
pond to his image of what is pleasant, true, or positive. In his self-projection
, man has created a God in his image and likeness, one he imagines as a
kindly old man with a white beard.
DISINTEREST IN LEARNING THE TRUTH People do not want the truth because they are
not interested in it. They prefer to sleep peacefully, even if it means tomor-
THE OBSTACLES
249
row they will be devoured by Nature, a presentiment which exists in all human be
ings from childhood.
CONFORMING WITH THE "FLOCK"
This conduct gives the individual the false sensation that all
is well simply because he is doing what everyone else does and
accepts. For the same reason, he does not dare to decide anything for himself, l
east of all to study or accomplish something not approved by "official science."
In this respect it would be interesting to verify whether hypnotism was any les
s effective before being accepted by science, and whether its acceptance, in tru
th, made it more respectable and effective. Following along this line, we see th
at in most cases respectability and morals only reflect the degree of conformity
with the flock.
BEING DEPENDENT ON THE PASSIONS
Passions express the individual's baser animal tendencies, which exist alongside
superior animal tendencies. The baser tendencies are manifested in the appetite
of the corporeal mass, which seeks its own satisfaction without considering the
higher interests of the individual whatsoever. Indolence, inertia, laziness, ap
athy, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, envy, and lust, to name a few, manipulat
e man as a puppet, and he will be unable to free himself from this situation. Ea
ch state of passion takes control of the body including its psychological compon
ents at a given moment, and the individual completely forgets his previous resol
utions.
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THE STELLAR MAN
PROJECTION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ONTO THE TEACHINGS
It often happens that people seek Hermetic Teaching not to evolve spiritually, b
ut to compensate for their yearning for power or their inferiority complexes. Pe
ople frequently project their unconscious traumas, fears, ambitions, and desires
onto the Teaching in order to extract from it the same "food" they derive from
these problems. They in turn use the new knowledge they receive in order to fort
ify their process of psychological rationalization.
FEAR OF FREEDOM
We know that sapiens fears freedom with the force of an irrational anguish. Deep
down inside himself he knows that the Hermetic path will inexorably lead him to
ward freedom or salvation. But, does the individual really wish to be free? Gene
rally, the greater percentage of the sapiens species prefers mediocre slavery to
the most glorious and brilliant freedom. It is for this reason that people sear
ch in life for something to become enslaved to, as they cannot stand the sensati
on of liberty. There are those who "chain themselves to a stone" even if they kn
ow that this rock will drag them into the abyss of the sea. What has been discus
sed here is a brief summary of the obstacles to advancement encountered along th
e path to spiritual supremacy.
XV
INITIATIC PRACTICES
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUPER-BRAIN
Our brain alone is not equal to the task of discovering the truth and attaining
spiritual evolution; it is necessary to form the mind, a super-brain which will
enable us to reach the condition of a Stellar Man. The following is a brief summ
ary of the elements needed to form a super-brain:
1. The four intelligences (the soul of man): water, air, earth, and fire 2. The
"Volitive I" 3. The Mind 4. Three basic objectives: a) The forming of the "Volit
ive I" b) Awakening c) Mental digestion 5. Three superior objectives: a) Deprogr
amming b) Initiatory death c) Rebirth
251
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THE STELLAR MAN
6. Three supreme objectives: a) Evolution b) To be converted into a Stellar Man
c) To transcend Maya (cosmic illusion) It is not possible to insist enough on th
e fundamental requirement that the student must have a Hermetic Master who has a
lready traveled the path the disciple wishes to follow. Only those who have cons
ciously reincarnated are able to do without a Master, or, if possible, have many
Masters who will refresh the memory of the reincarnated. The one who has consci
ously reincarnated certainly knows this, but this happens infrequently. The indi
cations given here are of an elemental character, and their object is to shed li
ght on the path of the student toward the truth, to guide him in his goals. Only
a genuine Master is able to transmit to the disciple the spiritual flame, the m
agical ferment which becomes his occult power as an initiate. This is not a poet
ic abstraction, but something material, a concrete process which takes place bet
ween the Master and the disciple. Naturally this power does not free the student
from his ascetic disciplines; on the contrary, it obliges him to undertake them
with greater perseverance. EDUCATION OF THE FOUR INTELLIGENCES To educate the f
our intelligences, the student must consider them to be the seat of his bad habi
ts and vices, and he must proceed to cleanse them of all that is negative, givin
g them awareness and intelligence, according to the model of desired behavior.
INITIATIC PRACTICES
253
INTELLIGENCE OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
(Earth Element) The earth element encompasses all corporeal matter, but its seat
is in the stomach. Its key word is absorption. To educate this intelligence it
is necessary to submit its functions, to a certain extent, to the control of wil
l, the "Volitive I." The digestive system must be thought of as an intelligent b
eing with which we can communicate, to which we can speak, and control. For this
the following formula is used:
"You, intelligence of my digestive system, I order you to blindly obey me in all
I say. I give you awareness and intelligence so you may perfectly fulfill your
biological functions. From this moment, my will shall be your will, as I am your
god, master, and owner whom you must respect and obey. When you are fed, it wil
l be because it is my will and when you fast, it will be because I want no food.
"
This formula must be repeated several times, endeavoring to penetrate into the h
idden forces of the digestive system. Periodically it is necessary to fast for a
n entire day, and upon initiating this one must say:
"You, intelligence of my digestive system, will abstain from all food for 'x' am
ount of hours, as this is my will and I order you to blindly obey this mandate."
If the student suffers from any hepatic ailment or any type of digestive disorde
r, he must try to cure it by reinforcing the intelligence of his digestive syste
m with all his will power. The reader will need to try to discover the cryptic
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THE STELLAR MAN
sense of these instructions, as occult laws prohibit saying more than necessary.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
(Fire Element) The fire element is located in the sex, which is the seat of the
instinctive center. Its key word is irradiation. For the education of this intel
ligence, the previous formula should be used. This formula does not vary for any
of the other systems. Only the name and function of the corresponding element i
s changed. It is necessary to regulate the sexual function, submitting it to one
's will power in order to have sexual relations only when the "Volitive I" permi
ts it, and at no other time. We must remember that this system is the seat of th
e libido, a fact we can make use of to extricate all the complexes we may have b
y working on this center of activity. For this it is necessary to make the respe
ctive intelligence reason, so that it may abandon its infantile activity and pro
ceed in a more mature manner. This should be complemented by the practice of con
trolling the imagination, which we will refer to under the respiratory system.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
(Water Element) The water element resides in our circulatory system, the seat of
the emotions. Its key word is unification. As in the above cases, the formula a
lready described for educating this intelligence is also used. Together with thi
s formula, it is necessary to practice rigorous emotional hygiene to prevent the
heart from receiving harmful or destructive emotions.
INITIATIC PRACTICES
255
This is achieved gradually, through the "Volitive I." Furthermore, daily concent
ration on the heart (the brain of this system) should be practiced in order to c
reate a state of profound peace and perfect submission of the emotions to the wi
ll.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
(Air Element) The air element resides in our respiratory system, the seat of the
imagination. Its key word is vitalization. We must work with the known formula
and further establish an adequate control of the imagination. It is necessary, a
t all costs, to suppress any morbid imagination, only letting positive, harmonio
us, balanced, and higher thoughts enter. The spoken word must be educated, clean
sing the language and always accomplishing that which is affirmed out loud. The
student who affirms something verbally and does not keep his word is converted i
nto a plaything of Nature, and it will be very difficult for him to accomplish h
is personal projects. Through breathing, we have access to the world of vibratio
ns and by sharpening our sense of smell, it is possible to capture any kind of v
ibration through the inhalation and retention of breath. We must insist on the f
act that there are many secret keys in these instructions, but whether or not th
ey are discovered is left to the interest and discernment of the reader. For ins
tance, and as an exercise, think about what occurs with the union of the element
s of air (respiratory system) and fire (reproductive system) or, water (circulat
ory system) and earth (digestive system).
XVI
THE "VOLITIVE I"
W
â ¢ â ¢ â ¢ â ¢
e have already explained how the "Volitive I" is created, but we have not indica
ted the means of giving it strength and power, which are in general as follows:
Domination and sublimation of one's desires Charging one's psychic battery Econo
mizing one's energy Action directed by will
Desires are one of the principal sources of energy (or energetic loss) in sapien
s. If we listen to our internal world we will realize that desire forms an integ
ral part of our lives and that desire acts with an astounding potency and persis
tence. This implies that a great quantity of energy is lost, since desire uses u
p time and energy when our magnetic strength is projected elsewhere. Nevertheles
s, if we control and guide our desires, they can be converted into a source of e
xtraordinary potency. Desire must never be a crazy or fleeting whim
257
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THE STELLAR MAN
for the Hermeticist, but an act of intelligence and method. When a desire is not
satisfied, a powerful force vibrates within the individual, but as soon as he o
btains what he wants, this power is extinguished and a vacuum is produced. There
are those who pursue a desire intensely for a long time, and finally attain ful
fillment, but far from making them happy, this fulfillment of the desire causes
a state of deep emptiness, laxness, and disappointment. This occurs when the fue
l which motivated the individual runs out, as desire provides the power which ca
rries us toward fulfillment. We have already said that each person has "x" amoun
t of energy at his disposal during his life, and can distribute it among many th
ings or concentrate it on a few. Applying this concept to the subject we are add
ressing, it does not mean repressing or frustrating desires, but permitting thei
r existence only if reason considers them just and convenient, and allowing them
to materialize when, how, and where the "Volitive 1" dictates. We could also ap
ply this to the principle of penitence, but from a different point of view. For
example, we could sacrifice one thing we greatly desire in order to obtain anoth
er of greater spiritual or moral value. This could also be applied to vices, den
ying satisfaction of them through will power in order to obtain what we want. Fo
r example, a person may say, "I will not smoke because ... (stating what he desi
res to obtain)." This affirmation should be mentally repeated every time the ind
ividual desires to smoke. One of the desires it is necessary to suppress in orde
r to channel this force toward higher purposes is that of telling others certain
things we have learned exclusively or in secret,
THE "VOLITIVE I"
259
in order to impress them or to raise our self-esteem. This does not mean that we
should not tell anything, but do so only after a time, only if in truth we want
to, and not in order to make ourselves important. It should also be stated that
it is more difficult to accomplish projects that become publicly known than whe
n we endeavor to keep them secret. The "psychic battery's" charge is the nervous
and psychological tone produced by the magnetism which people accumulate and pr
oject; some in very small doses, and others with great potency. Magnetism is acc
umulated through conscious breathing and all practices of self-control. In fact,
the more magnetic an individual is, the more possibility he has of being a succ
ess in life. At the same time, it must be understood that the "Volitive I" concr
etely exists in the form of a strong magnetic field which must be constantly rev
italized, as all action absorbs energy. It is necessary to remember that it is i
ndispensable to economize the energy that has been concentrated, as the "Volitiv
e I" requires fuel; it is continuously expending strength just like any other li
ving being. A series of bad habits and conflicts brings about a great expenditur
e of energy within the human being. Impatience, emotional conflict, unnecessary
haste, mental rumination, the sense of guilt, anger, unnecessary or exaggerated
laments, different kinds of frustrations, fear, disorder, and indolence all rob
energy from the "Volitive I." The Hermeticist must establish discipline and inte
rnal order at all costs in order to match his conduct with the purposes he wishe
s to achieve.
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THE STELLAR MAN
In relation to "action directed by will," the difference between "to desire" and
"to want" should be very clear. The worn out axiom "to want is power" has falle
n into disrepute, not because it is false or exaggerated, but because no one has
ever been able to explain how one has to want in order to obtain that which is
desired. Jesus taught his disciples that "if you have the faith of a mustard see
d you will move mountains." On the surface this has nothing to do with will, but
deeper analysis will show that Jesus was not talking of ordinary faith, as ordi
nary faith is not enough to move mountains. In truth, he referred to Hermetic fa
ith, which consists of two basic forces: 1. To want 2. Reasoned belief To want i
s the masculine power of the "Volitive I," and reasoned belief is the feminine e
nergy of feelings. In order to want intelligently, the word "want" must be joine
d to the rest of the words which form the magicians' acrostic, that is to know,
to dare, to want, and to keep silent, with which the following combinations may
be formed:
To know how to want To know how to dare To know how to keep silent To know how t
o know To want to know To want to dare To want to be silent To want to want To d
are to know To dare to want To dare to be silent To dare to dare
In order to know how to want, a person must be very clear as to what he desires
to obtain, and must give the objective a high place in his scale of values in or
der to obtain
T HE "V OLITIVE I"
261
adequate motivation from where the power to want is acquired. One must also prac
tice the four Hermetic "commandments," which are: â ¢ â ¢ â ¢ â ¢
LOVE
Love Hope Knowledge Peace
By means of love, God, the Supreme Intelligence, transmits his creative essence
to us. It is not only the attraction between the sexes; it is a power born from
the spirit which is directed toward all that carries the divine essence. Love th
at is passional is not love but only a selfish possessive force, which fights to
retain an instrument of pleasure. To clarify the true meaning of love, it is ne
cessary to meditate on the axiom, "love, and do what you want."
HOPE
Hope is the womb which collects the seed, which it develops and gives form to. I
t is the counterpart of sex. It is the feminine soul in man and masculine soul i
n woman. Through it we conceive and create. It is the etheric double which has a
n opposite gender from that of the physical body; man's double is feminine, and
woman's is masculine. This is where the feminine part of man and the masculine p
art of woman is found, and from which it is necessary to detach oneself, changin
g its polarity.
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THE STELLAR MAN
KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge for the Hermeticist is like the compass for the navigator, for Hermeti
c science is the knowledge of the laws of Nature. The possession of knowledge pl
aces the student on a higher step than one who lacks such knowledge. One must kn
ow Nature thoroughly, and thereby control all. One should meditate on the axiom
which says "the magician
reigns in heaven and rules in hell" (to rule in hell means having
sufficient power to avoid being destroyed by satanic forces).
PEACE
The student must fight to establish harmony between the brain, heart, and sex, a
nd thus attain the union of the "Superior I" with the soul. This is the only way
to end the internal conflicts which develop within the human being. When the in
dividual's will grants or denies his body the satisfaction of desires or needs i
n a completely conscious manner, he will become the king of his physical body an
d will live in deep peace; and with the power of peace, everything will be harmo
nious and happy. He will be king of the Universe, as he will be in harmony with
the laws of Nature.
The power of peace is acquired only by the will to maintain control of the imagi
nation. Impure and uncontrolled imagination is the primary source of restlessnes
s and anxiety. One can only enjoy peace and serenity by controlling the imaginat
ion, but nevertheless, there is no peace without love. It is for this reason tha
t it is necessary to overcome egotism, which is the opposite vibration of love.
THE "VOLITIVE I"
263
REASONED BELIEF
Reasoned belief comes from applying Hermetic theory to vital situations. Observa
tion of the action of natural laws and practical verification of the Teaching, c
onfers on the disciple blind belief in himself and in Hermeticism. This is not d
one through faith, but through absolute certainty of the logical and material ve
rification of everything that he has learned in the Hermetic School. MIND We hav
e already pointed out that Homo sapiens lacks mind, merely possessing a brain an
d intelligence. We could state that cerebral intelligence is unconscious intelli
gence without any internal sense, while mental intelligence has the character of
being conscious. The former is oneiric, and the latter awakened. In order to gi
ve an elementary idea of the basic material the individual possesses in a latent
state, which can form his mind, we refer to the three vital sources: 1. Brain:
Intelligence 2. Heart: Feelings 3. Sex: Instinct Normally the individual works w
ith one of these centers predominating, or with a mixture of two of them. For pr
oper Hermetic effects to be realized, the individual must learn to function in t
he following way:
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THE STELLAR MAN
Example No. 1:
1. Brain: Intelligence We may distinguish three possibilities, or three differen
t vibratory forces. These are: â ¢ The intelligence of the intelligence â ¢ The feeling of
he intelligence â ¢ The instinct of the intelligence 2. Heart: Feelings There are also
three possibilities: â ¢ The feeling of the feelings â ¢ The intelligence of the feelings
instinct of the feelings 3. Sex: Instinct Also as above, there are three possib
ilities: â ¢ The instinct of the instinct â ¢ The feelings of the instinct â ¢ The intellig
the instinct These nine possibilities form the number of man, and as man is tri
ple, we may state this in the following manner: Man: 999 Beast: 666 (the nine in
verted) It is thus that the number of the beast is manifested in sapiens in the
following manner: Example No. 2: 1. Brain: Intelligence â ¢ The dream of intelligence
(brain) â ¢ The fanaticism of intelligence (heart) â ¢ The bestiality of the intelligence (
ex) 2. Heart: Feelings â ¢ The fanaticism of feelings (heart) â ¢ The dream of feelings (br
in) â ¢ The bestiality of feelings (sex)
THE "VOLITIVE I"
265
3. Sex: Instinct â ¢ The bestiality of instinct (sex) â ¢ The fanaticism of instinct (heart
â ¢ The dream of instinct (brain)
When the human being "thinks with the number 666" there is no possibility of rea
ching the knowledge of truth. He is, however, able to perfectly execute marvelou
s works of good and evil. Furthermore, the works will be programmed and therefor
e can be tremendously dangerous for the human species and the individual himself
. People always believe that good brings forth goodness, and vice versa, but in
practice this is not always true. In Example No. 1, it is hoped that the student
should reach integral thought in which there is a perfect equilibrium between i
ntelligence, feelings, and instinct. The formation of the "Volitive I," in addit
ion to the different disciplines the student must accomplish, will gradually lea
d to the formation of a magnetic bipolar spheroid which extends from the head to
the sex, the center point being the spinal column. This magnetic field is actua
lly present in the Hermeticist and is the seat of his higher awareness; it is a
force which resists dissolution by death, and it is through this magnetic field
that the individual exists and thinks, even without a physical body. Observe the
similarity between this and our planet Earth. Summarizing the concept of what m
ind is, we can affirm that:
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THE STELLAR MAN
(a) Mind is the "Volitive I. " (b) Mind is a magnetic bipolar spheroid, which is
formed within the Hermeticist. (c) Mind is the "philosopher's stone." (d) Mind
is the whole body. (e) Mind is the super-brain. (f) Mind is celestial intelligen
ce. (g) Mind is the integration of the superior faculties latent in the human be
ing.
The naive reader will probably ask how it is possible that mind is a magnetic sp
here, if in point (d) it is said that "it is the whole body." The answer is simp
le as the one does not contradict the other. The mind or super-brain is what per
mits the Stellar Man to reach true wisdom; that which within the individual is "
beyond good or evil"; the part of man which reaches eternity. The semi-sage, on
the contrary, only accumulates knowledge {dead or unconscious knowledge, which i
s only useful for recognition in the world of sapiens) and uses his intelligence
for temporal and limited aims. When common men think, they do so with their bra
in; the Hermeticist thinks with the mind.
THREE BASIC OBJECTIVES
As we have already pointed out, these three objectives are awakening, mental dig
estion, and the formation of the "Volitive I." We have already spoken sufficient
ly on these points, but must again emphasize mental digestion as the most import
ant part of processing the information we acquire through study. When we learn p
erfect mental digestion, a
THE "VOLITIVE I"
267
new world is opened before our astonished eyes, as we thus discover the real sen
se of written or verbal information, and the genuine meaning of art, music, and
other forms of human expression. This capacity of penetration which is reached t
hrough the mind is so extensive, that no matter what book we read, no matter wha
t we do at a given moment, we will always extract wise and beneficial lessons fr
om our situations, as we will have learned to read the open book of Nature. Anim
als, plants, birds, and even stones will speak to us in silent language, but we
will understand perfectly. Further, through the process of understanding, we wil
l be in a permanent transformation into beings who are wiser and more conscious.
This will enable us to help our fellow men, not by charity, donation, or politi
cs, but in a superior way, teaching them to live wisely, teaching them to think
and decide for themselves, showing them the advantage of taking their lives in t
heir hands and being saved by
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THE STELLAR MAN
their own efforts. Because the age of the Messiah has passed, the one who does n
ot save himself condemns himself. Only the individual who is able to form his mi
nd can appreciate the transcendental importance of this fact.
THREE SUPERIOR OBJECTIVES
We have pointed out three superior objectives: deprogramming, initiatory death,
and rebirth. The three form part of one process and represent different degrees
of it. Programming is the assembly of mechanical and automatic circuits, which r
ule the biological and psychological side of sapiens. Naturally, we do not wish
to interfere with biological functions except as an effort to correct some anoma
ly; we only seek the individual's psychological liberation, and for this it is n
ecessary to reeducate the motor capacity. We will explain very generally and sim
ply what constitutes the basis of deprogramming: to exchange automatic circuits
for conscious circuits. The individual is deprogrammed
by submitting to the relearning of what it means to be awake. To
understand this, it is necessary to bear in mind that mechanical circuits are al
so formed within the human being thanks to learning. It is thus that at a given
moment the child starts to walk without any effort, due to the automation of the
circuit, which has been formed by the repetition of voluntary movement. However
, we maintain that the low level of alertness in which sapiens lives gives all l
earning an oneiric character; that is, he does not incorporate a superior state
of awareness within himself. Therefore, the learning is generally of a mechanica
l character and reinforces the individual's program, progressively reducing his
level of awareness and
THE "VOLITIVE I"
269
making the possibility of his awakening to greater alertness even more remote. P
aradoxically, the more a human being learns, the "less human" he will become, as
the potency and reach of his mechanical circuits will increase, making him more
and more like a robot. This, as we have already stated, invariably annuls genui
ne intelligence and leads to absolute slavery or dependence on the program. IQ t
ests only determine how well trained the individual's intelligence is, along wit
h
the agility, coordination, and speed by which the neuronal information is synthe
sized. Such qualities bring to mind the general characteristics of a computer. I
f perfect robots existed which could both design and apply intelligence tests, t
hey would certainly obtain outstanding performance, but they would only measure
mechanical intelligence. Nevertheless, these robots could apply their extraordin
ary "intellectual" capacity to accomplish functions much more rapidly and effici
ently than sapiens. Hermetically, we consider the human being a perfect robot. T
herefore, we deny that his intelligence genuinely corresponds to what should be
the superior intellect of a truly awakened and conscious human being. The deprog
ramming of the individual is obtained gradually by means of an apprenticeship in
a state of superior alertness, and gives birth to true intelligence, which lead
s to "living knowledge," as opposed to the "dead knowledge" of
sapiens.
Hermetic observations from the most remote ages have established that sapiens do
es not necessarily die when his spirit leaves his body as is the usual process,
but in many cases the body continues to live as a veritable zombie, in spite
270
THE STELLAR MAN
of the fact that the spirit has moved on to a better life. A person can live 30
or 40 years under these conditions, leading an apparently normal life. The terri
fying thing is that no one realizes this; no one knows that he is greeting, spea
king to, or living with an authentic living cadaver. From the Hermetic point of
view, a cadaver is not a physical body in which the biological life has ended, b
ut is the body without a spirit, as this spirit is the individual himself, the t
rue "I," the real individual behind the person. If people cannot recognize a cad
aver, it is not at all surprising that they are not aware that they themselves a
nd their fellow men do not truly think but
that something thinks for them. This something, which is the
source of their ideas, is also converted into the rudder and compass of their ex
istence. We already know that this something that thinks is the central computer
of the species and the individual is freed from it when he becomes deprogrammed
. Returning to eternal paradoxes, let us consider the enormous contradiction of
the fact that an individual's professional preparation limits him intellectually
. Instead of expanding the scope of his intelligence, only his cultural, technic
al, or professional program is furthered. No university student is prepared to w
ithdraw from the power of suggestion imposed by the prestige and authority of pr
ofessors, enhanced by the university's imposing image. Thus the student blindly
accepts all he is taught, and imitates the behavioral model of the prestigious p
rofessors. On the other hand, something absolutely different occurs with the sel
f-taught, who, intellectually speaking, are generally on a much higher level tha
n those who graduate from a university, as their programming is weaker. From the
Hermetic
THE "VOLITIVE I"
271
point of view we should always prefer self-taught knowledge to that acquired fro
m professors, at least until present educational systems are modified. Referring
once again to deprogramming, we must point out that there is one stage which th
e disciple is able to cover by himself, and another more advanced and rapidly pr
ogressing stage which can only be passed through with the help of a Master or in
structor. The disciple's part refers basically to reeducation of motor skills, a
n effort to give awareness to movements. This can be practiced in tenminute inte
rvals and repeated as many times a day as desired. It is necessary to move slowl
y, thinking about and feeling each of the movements being made. Moving slowly sh
ould be understood as "moving a little slower than is habitual." This means prac
ticing a deliberate motor action. The consequence of this is an immediate elevat
ion in the level of awareness, placing the student in the "present moment." It i
s necessary to reflect on the fact that there is nothing which gives a stronger
sensation of existing than the act of moving within a space. Walking should be d
one consciously, moving the hands, arms, head, trunk, and eyes while thinking an
d feeling. Together with this exercise, one should meditate daily on the differe
nce between the "I" and "John Doe." That is, person X should think that he is no
t X, and look at X only as a puppet or vehicle of the "I." It must be observed h
ow X has feelings, ideas, impulses, and fears, which in reality "are not his," b
ut in fact are absolutely foreign to his "I." This practice must be perfected un
til two absolutely separate beings with perfectly defined boundaries appear, unt
il the practi-
272
THE STELLAR MAN
tioner is able to state with complete certainty: "I am not X," and be absolutely
convinced of this. Another discipline that may be practiced by the student cons
ists of controlling the five senses until he is able to see or not see at will,
hear or not hear at will, thus successively placing his senses under the control
of his will. This exercise is extremely important but we will not elaborate on
its benefits, since only those who assiduously practice will learn the secret. R
egarding the part which must be accomplished with the help of a Master, we will
only state that the Master can progressively annul the disciple's circuits so th
at the disciple may rise above all that is mechanical. This is however, a long a
nd delicate task, which may only be known to the person who has arrived at such
an experience. The culmination of this stage is initiatic death. This is the dis
solution of the personality in the Hermetic sense, where personality is a synony
m for the program. During this period, and until the rebirth is complete, the di
sciple really ceases to exist, psychologically speaking, living during the time
it takes for rebirth with very basic elemental circuits which will not form an o
bstacle to his evolution. After his rebirth he will be called the "twice born,"
and in this manner we understand the esoteric symbol of the birth of Jesus, as i
t is said that his mother was a virgin. Likewise, we may say that the reborn "is
not born of woman." Once Hermetic rebirth has occurred, the individual starts t
o live an absolutely new existence, that is of an individual who has been deprog
rammed and freed from the central computer of the species. For the first time, h
e has genuine
THE "VOLITIVE I"
273
self-determination and autonomy; his thoughts belong to himself; his intelligenc
e has risen to a higher level, and he has been freed from the cosmic-oneiric inf
luence. Likewise, his soul has been cleansed, becoming again as pure and innocen
t as a child's. This, and only this, is true heaven, which can be found within t
he individual. God, who is supposed to be in heaven, and into whose lap it is be
lieved that those of faith will arrive, is in truth the "Superior I" or Divine S
park, before whose luminosity the individual feels intimidated and at the same t
ime transported to a condition of supreme peace and love. The angels in their he
avenly choir raise paeans in honor of one who died in the world of the beast to
be reborn into the world of men. One cycle has ended and another begun: the asce
nsion of man to semigod.
THREE SUPREME OBJECTIVES
We have pointed out three supreme objectives: evolution, conversion into a Stell
ar Man, and transcending Maya. As we already know, evolution means the growth of
our spiritual essence, freeing it from the tyranny of the beast. Our spirit sho
uld grow in size and quality. We will illustrate an evolutionary process in this
simple diagram. In the first figure of Diagram 10, the spiritual essence is rep
resented by the small dark point in the center, and the large circle represents
the rest. In the second figure, we see the growth of the center point in relatio
n to the rest, which symbolizes an evolutionary process. Here we wish to point o
ut a profound difference between the Western Hermetic path and the goals sought
by Yoga,
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THE STELLAR MAN
where it is intended that the individual should be integrated into Nirvana, that
is, reintegrated into the cosmic egg. As a matter of fact, we could call Yoga t
he path of the egg, and Hermeticism the path of the spermatozoid. Through an eno
rmous effort, the yogi reaches dissolution of his essential individuality which
has taken so long to form. It is thus that he never reincarnates and joins the c
osmic egg, awaiting a new wave of life. It is appropriate to ask what happens wh
en this new wave of life arrives after eons of time. Nothing is eternal, and whe
n one who has been freed from reincarnation awakens from his eternal sleep, he i
s obliged to reincarnate. Thus everything begins again. On the other hand, the H
ermetic path is the conscious evolution of the spiritual individuality. It pursu
es the indefinite growth of the individual's spiritual essence, so that always c
onscious of his own identity, the individual evolves until his body as we know i
t is not sufficient to contain his enormous spiritual power. At this point, his
evolution continues in celestial bodies, such as the planet Earth or others. It
is completely impossible to conceive of the life of one of these beings and to i
magine how they think, talk, feel, and move. In any event, it is useful to obser
ve that a celestial sphere possesses a body basically the same as represented in
the two figures, that is, the essence corresponds to the nu-
THE "VOLITIVE I"
275
cleus and the rest to the physical body. Likewise, we can surmise the important
difference which may exist, for example, between the sun and a planet of the sol
ar system. To clarify what a Stellar Man is, it should be said that he is an ind
ividual who was a sapiens in the near or remote past. Through his own effort he
was able to provoke a genetic and functional-psychological mutation in himself,
which established the basis for his transition to the other extreme of the evolu
tionary spectrum. One of the poles of this spectrum is represented by Homo sapie
ns and the other by the Stellar Man, the name given to Hermeticists who have rea
ched a high level of consciousness. A Stellar Man is not necessarily a Hermetic
Master of wisdom, as this is a difficult specialty; but he is a man who, having
surpassed his terraqueous condition, is fit to continue the study of the great m
ysteries of the Universe and to choose his future destiny. There are many "maste
rs" who have accomplished great things and have outstanding knowledge, but who a
re not Stellar Men. On the contrary, when a Stellar Man reaches Hermetic mastery
he will always be a "Master of Masters." With respect to the specialization a H
ermeticist may follow when he is advanced along his path, only two of the most i
mportant possibilities will be mentioned, following the theme of Zanoni. These r
efer precisely to the path of Zanoni and to the path of Mejnour. The path of Zan
oni is that of high politics, of those leaders who march at the head of the hist
ory of mankind; or better stated, are the creators of history and leaders of civ
ilization. The path of Mejnour is that of a Master of wisdom, which is the best
known. It needs to be said that these individuals are very scarce, and there
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THE STELLAR MAN
are but few in the world, as the extreme difficulty of their task permits only a
few with the necessary spiritual strength to choose this path. Even though gull
ible people see "masters" everywhere, they are very scarce and are more carefull
y hidden than is believed. Those who show themselves do so only for purposes of
initiation. Some of these Masters, but certainly not all, transcend Maya, or the
universal principle of illusion. This means that they live above the disguised
appearance of reality and that the most important events for the human race mean
no more to them than the ebb and flow of Maya, an illusion created only to be d
estroyed and infinitely and repeatedly reformed, as the tide which incessantly f
luctuates, always repeating the same cycle with practically imperceptible change
. With the supreme calm of absolute reality, they imperturbably contemplate the
circus of human life, as Mejnour did in the novel Zanoni. It is fitting to medit
ate on the controversy which arose between two mythological Masters, Cagliostro
and the Count of Saint Germain. As is well known, Cagliostro was one of the fome
nters of the French Revolution, and the celebrated episode of Marie Antoinette's
necklace was directly provoked by Cagliostro through Madame de la Motte to unle
ash the revolutionary process. The Count of Saint Germain, on the contrary, was
in favor of maintaining the royalty, and believed that the revolution was not ne
cessary. What is interesting is the philosophical stand taken by each of them. C
agliostro maintained that the revolution would bring about an extraordinary evol
utionary advance in the world. Saint Germain argued that there was no hurry for
the
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277
evolution of the human masses, and that it would be the same if this evolution w
ere slow or fast, as evolution is always cyclical; one cycle ends and another co
mmences. In order to understand what it means to transcend Maya, we must recall
the Principle of Mentalism: "The Universe is mental; the only essential reality
is mind: the Universe is a mental creation and we live in the mind of God.. . .
All is infinite, eternal, immutable, and unknowable; all that which is finite, m
ovable, and transformable cannot be the All, and as nothing exists beyond this,
all that is finite must in reality be nothing." To transcend Maya means being fu
lly and totally conscious that all that is finite, movable, and transformable is
illusory. It means to be able, in time, to project our consciousness toward the
infinite, immutable, and eternal, that is to say, toward God.
XVII
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
I
f we had the opportunity to meet and speak to a Stellar Man, we probably would n
ot find him appreciably different from any other man. There is nothing more laug
hable than the physical appearance that some mystics pretend to find in the grea
t initiates. Looking at pictures of legendary Masters such as Jesus, Koot Humi,
Morya, Serapis Bey, or others, some people expect to see extraordinary physical
beauty as if the Masters were angels incarnate. This shows exactly how people id
ealize these men whose physical appearance is in reality no different from any o
ther man. The only things which expose them to the eyes of those who can see is
the aura of strength and power which surrounds them, their brilliant eyes, their
shining faces, and the harmonious vibration they project. There is an interesti
ng description of the Rosicrucians by Henri Durville in his book History of Secr
et Science, which demonstrates this point. In their era the
279
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THE STELLAR MAN
Rosicrucians were the most important Hermetic Order, the seedbed of the Stellar
Man. Nevertheless, true Rosicrucians do not easily reveal themselves, and those
who identify themselves as such and endeavor to demonstrate so by touch or passw
ords are generally only vulgar imitators who have usurped the sacred name. There
are Rosicrucians and "rosicrucians," and the initiate or student can only recog
nize the authentic members through internal and not external signs. Here are the
comments by Durville on Rosicrucians:
Their existence, although historically uncertain, is surrounded by prestige that
forces acceptance and wins admiration. They speak of mankind as infinitely bene
ath them; their pride is great although their exterior may be humble. They love
poverty and declare that for them this is obligatory, although they may possess
great wealth. They keep themselves apart from human affection and do not submit
to it except as a convenient obligation which is imposed by their living in the
world. They are very courteous to women, although incapable of affection and the
y consider women to be inferior beings. Externally they are unaffected and defer
ential, but the confidence in themselves which fills their hearts is not radiate
d except before the infinity of the heavens. They are the sincerest people in th
e world but granite is soft in comparison with their impenetrability. Compared t
o these adepts, kings are poor, at their side the wisest are stupid; they never
take a step toward fame, which they despise, and if they should become famous, i
t is in spite of themselves; they seek no honors as no human glory attracts them
. Their great desire is to walk unrecognized through the world; due to this, the
y are impassive in the face of mankind and responsive to whatever befalls them;
self-impelled, self-enlightened by themselves
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
281
in everything; but willing to do good as their strength permits. What measure ca
n be applied to this immense exaltation? Critical concepts vanish before this. T
he state of these occult philosophies is the sublime or the absurd. Not being ab
le to understand their souls or their objective, the world declares that one and
the other are futile.
This portrait is far from being attractive or agreeable, but it shows the idea t
hat sapiens has of Stellar Man. Hermeticism of which we speak in this book, sust
ains that the Hermetic initiate can acquire the following privileges along his o
r her path of initiation:
1. Freedom from complexes and base passions 2. Freedom from the central computer
of the species and be coming a truly awakened man 3. Absolute mental clarity an
d emotional equilibrium 4. Knowledge of the occult forces of Nature (the nature
which is unknown) 5. Entrance into the elite of the truly wise; the true sage is
a sage of the mind and not of the intellect 6. Victory over the eventualities o
f life 7. To know and to find oneself 8. To grasp the secret of happiness and lo
ve 9. Emotional, instinctive, and cerebral deprogramming 10. Freedom from the co
llective unconscious or animal soul 11. Union with one's inner divinity 12. Know
ledge of transcendental truth and the only truth, be coming converted into a sag
e of the mind 13. Freedom from futile pain and suffering 14. Conscious reincarna
tion by means of an avatar 15. Knowledge of the occult causes of all that exists
16. Power over vibrations and the secret of transmutations
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THE STELLAR MAN
17. To achieve the status of Stellar Man or Stellar Woman by means of genetic an
d psychological mutation 18. Freedom from Maya
These powers place the Hermeticist on a much higher level than the ordinary and
common man, and for this reason it is hard to really know a Hermetic Master, eve
n though we may be his close friend and he tells us his most secret thoughts and
feelings. From our position, it will be impossible to adequately interpret or e
valuate these Masters, and probably we will arrive at conclusions absolutely opp
osite to the truth. One must take into account the purely spiritual condition of
the Stellar Man. All his higher faculties are of a spiritual nature, and are th
e opposite of the worshippers or practitioners of astral magic who need not have
awakened, nor least of all become deprogrammed, in order to carry out their spe
lls. It is necessary to issue a warning that a great percentage of those practic
ing magic fall completely into black magic, which we can define in one of its as
pects as the use and
projection of the body's mass energy without having previously
been deprogrammed. All sorcerers' apprentices are generally men who are asleep a
nd programmed. These are people who in their oneiric state have had the opportun
ity, for whatever reason, to gain access to Hermetic theory. This theory is gene
rally then used to satisfy their base passions or to live the agreeable fiction
of passing for extremely evolved and powerful beings. At times, behind these per
sonages, there is the sincerity of one who deceives himself and lives in the ill
usion of a subjective world created especially for him.
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
283
"Black magic" is usually not that which kills and destroys, but rather that whic
h causes chaos and anarchy. Its worshipers are used by the beast, from which the
y have not been freed, and they are used for its own dark designs. It is easy to
understand that magical and spiritual are two absolutely different things, and
one never reaches the spiritual by way of the magical. On the other hand, there
is no individual who is truly spiritual who has no access to the
magical. Magic without spirituality is always black magic. To un-
derstand this, we must remember that spirituality does not mean adopting a spiri
tual attitude of purity, meekness, and love; it means, as we have already stated
, succeeding in having
the spirit manifest through one's own brain.
For this reason, we must necessarily consider parapsychology as the joining of p
henomena involving the projection of energy, and which have absolutely nothing t
o do with spirituality. It is not necessary to be spiritual to become a medium o
r to have premonitions. On the contrary, these phenomena take place in the lower
astral realm and are related to the animal and passional part of the human bein
g. Returning to the spiritual powers of the Hermeticist, we must state that his
higher qualities do not let him escape or elude material reality; on the contrar
y, he must respect the laws of the All, as no one can go against the laws. From
the moment he takes life in a material body, he must feed, sleep, rest, and ente
rtain himself the same as any other person; he must suffer the same problems as
any biological organism in a hostile environment. Books on pseudo-occultism have
given the wrong impression because they depict the initiate
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THE STELLAR MAN
as a fabulous being who needs no food or sleep and who spends most of his time o
n the astral plane. Spiritual perfection is confused with the material, forgetti
ng that perfection in matter does not exist, since matter is subject to constant
transformation. Nevertheless, the Hermetic initiate possesses the secret of tra
nsmutation, and can, under certain circumstances, create or transform vital situ
ations in order to alleviate problems which afflict him, or to help other people
with their difficulties. The Stellar Man is the possessor of truth. Many people
are irritated when someone claims to possess absolute truth, deeming this an ac
t of egocentrism and profound arrogance. Imagine for a moment that someone could
actually have access to absolute truth. Should this man keep silent forever and
hide his knowledge? Or would it be his duty to help those who also desire to at
tain knowledge of the truth?
With full knowledge of the truth, we affirm that the Stellar Man possesses absol
ute truth and that no one can reach the absolute without first being converted i
nto a Stellar Man.
Therefore, only Stellar Men know absolute truth. This occurs not because a speci
al person, human or divine, has revealed the truth to them, but because the spec
ial cerebral and intellectual forms they have attained through genetic and psych
ological mutation have enabled them to become aware of the naked truth which und
er the trance-like conditions in which sapiens lives, cannot be seen. It is nece
ssary to understand that sapiens does not possess the organ of truth, but rather
the organ of illusion and lies. Some great Masters affirm that when man lived i
n Paradise, he knew the truth, although he could not take advantage of this know
ledge since
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
285
he did not evolve. When God punished man by driving him out of Eden, he injected
into him the organ of illusion so that he could reach the truth only by means o
f a titanic effort of will and intelligence and not by divine grace. This means
that man can reach knowledge of truth and further evolve as he now has a physica
l body subject to transformation. Now, the fact that Stellar Man possesses absol
ute truth does not remotely mean he knows everything. In fact, he is aware of al
l that he does not know. But he has the fundamental science, which makes it poss
ible to reach the knowledge of all he desires, if he dedicates sufficient time t
o this effort. To possess absolute truth means to have risen above the universal
plan, reaching union with the All who creates and sustains the universal illusi
on. The absolute is that which never
changes and always remains identical in its intrinsic nature.
Specifically, Hermetic truths do not change in themselves; it is only necessary
to know how to apply them differently in situations which are always changing. T
here are three types of truth:
â ¢ Absolute cosmic truth: knowledge of the mysteries of Na ture; knowledge of the sev
en Hermetic Principles â ¢ Specific absolute truth: absolute truth relative to a speci
fic problem or situation â ¢ Relative truth: truth in the illusory world and a lie in
rela tion to absolute truth
It is from the point of view of relative truth that the wellknown aphorism arose
which says that "nothing is truth or a lie; all is according to the color of th
e glass through which it is viewed."
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THE STELLAR MAN
The Stellar Man is happy. His happiness, however, is not based on material thing
s, although he makes use of all that Nature offers. His happiness is based on th
e perfection, beauty, harmony, and stability of his internal world. The world is
full of unhappy people, who seek to satisfy their internal hunger but do not kn
ow how to attain it. Each individual requires special food for his spirit, which
is the only thing that will truly satisfy him; but generally his ignorance lead
s him to seek one of the following paths: 1. Those who constantly satisfy their
beast without feeding the spirit 2. The ascetics who renounce worldly pleasures
moved by in ternal convictions or impelled by their complexes, they devote thems
elves to a spiritual search but do not obtain the happiness yearned for 3. Those
who try to maintain a balance between the above two points, but who end up ensl
aved to the Law of the Pen dulum, which forces them alternatively from one path
to another The Stellar Man reaches a perfect internal equilibrium and equally sa
tisfies his spiritual and bestial hunger; he feeds his beast and his spirit, thu
s maintaining perfect stability. His beast is not perverse as mentioned in other
chapters, but is a pure and natural beast. The Stellar Man is humble. He is per
fectly aware of the enormous magnitude of his ignorance, and when he compares hi
mself with the immensity that surrounds him, he is awed by his own smallness. Th
e Stellar Man loves all living creatures. His conscious-
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
287
ness is in everything and everything is within him. This feeling of total unity
makes him deeply aware of human nature, and when he learns the deepest motives o
f men, he finds it difficult to blame them for their mistakes. No one is capable
of giving more love than he is, for loving is giving, and the Stellar Man is li
ke a radiant sun. Like a giant star, he manufactures energy in himself via the t
ransformation of matter. This is an extension of the Hermetic concept of "as abo
ve, so below." The Stellar Man is just and impartial. He possesses internal judg
ment, which enables him to always think impersonally, to judge without any perso
nal bias, and without considering his personal convenience. A true sage is alway
s just. The Stellar Man lacks passions. All his instinctive, emotional, and inte
llectual manifestations are active, that is, genuinely self-generated. He receiv
es stimuli and makes use of them, but this does not oblige him to feel certain t
hings or to become enslaved. He takes pleasure from what he enjoys. The Stellar
Man is above death. If his physical body dies, the same does not happen to his s
piritual individuality which survives this destruction and takes possession of a
nother physical body, either returning to the material womb or taking charge of
an already grown body. This permits him to consciously reincarnate, becoming an
avatar. The Stellar Man constantly renews himself. Every so often he modifies hi
s standards of behavior to the point that someone observing him could state that
"he has no standards of behavior." He knows the mystery of the Phoenix which is
reborn from its own ashes, and when the time comes, kills itself, then being lu
minously reborn. This mysterious
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THE STELLAR MAN
process occurs several times in the life of a Stellar Man within the same physic
al body. The Stellar Man is absolutely indifferent to the opinions of others. He
is not at all concerned about the image he projects. Furthermore, he knows that
under certain circumstances it is preferable to show a bad image as there will
then be no possibility of being idolized; in this way, he comes to know who his
most sincere friends really are. He is friendly, but only with those who possess
internal substance; he will not tolerate superficiality, except if there are sp
ecial qualities in a latent state. The Stellar Man is beyond good and evil, and
therefore his opinion of the events in the world and its people differs consider
ably from the usual ones. At times he is very hard on those who have committed a
n error, which may appear insignificant, and on other occasions treats with kind
ness those who in our opinion deserve the worst punishment. No one knows his rea
sons, but his attitude is certainly never the result of a whim. The Stellar Man
lives in the world of causes. By being in contact with the higher plane of cause
s, he himself places the causes he desires into motion in order to manifest conc
rete effects in his own life or in the lives of others. The common man must wait
for things to happen, for the thing he calls chance to favor him. When this doe
s not happen, he must be resigned to live with the effects of causes he is compl
etely unaware of. The Stellar Man is truly human. His spiritual powers do not ma
ke him shun life, and he generally complies with his civil duties and earns his
living as does any other person. If
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
289
he marries, he always tries to raise his companion to his level, but if this is
not possible, is able to live in peace, harmony, and love. The Stellar Man has n
o political ideology. He is a humanist whose desire is for all human beings to a
ttain spiritual evolution. Observe the difference between revolution and evoluti
on. Revolution indicates rotation, a cyclical repetition. Everything changes, bu
t with the passage of time, everything returns to what it was in the beginning.
Evolution, on the other hand, means an ascending spiral, where a profound transf
ormation that is not superficial takes place. The Stellar Man rejects all that i
mpedes the individual's freedom, but does not condone the irresponsible use of f
reedom. He believes that the individual himself must deserve to be free, and sho
uld not expect it as a gift from society or God. The Stellar Man may become ill
and die like any other person, as his physical body is also subject to the law o
f material transformation. Nevertheless, if he so desires, in the majority of ca
ses, he can transmute illness into health in a progressive and gradual manner. T
he greatest danger for him lies in the negative attitudes taken by other people
he has helped at some time, and whose Karma he has absorbed, as this provokes a
real illness of mental origin, which is extremely difficult to cure. Recall that
Jesus could not heal himself in spite of being the savior of mankind. The Stell
ar Man is not a hermit who keeps himself apart from the ups and downs of life. F
ar from being insensitive, he lives more intensely than most people. Nevertheles
s, he can choose to be harder than a rock or a diamond, or on the contrary, love
with all his being. Emotionally speaking, he
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THE STELLAR MAN
has exquisite sensitivity because his awareness encompasses a range of vibration
s infinitely wider than that of the ordinary man. It is as if he could play a pi
ano with an immense keyboard with thousands of different notes. The Stellar Man
is introverted, but not selfishly so; his introversion is due to the extraordina
ry richness of his internal world. His consciousness is so rich that it is painf
ul for him to leave that veritable heaven to perform in this material world. Thi
s is especially painful for the Master of Hermetic wisdom, or for the one who ha
s assumed the responsibility of transmitting knowledge, for every authentic Mast
er is, in a certain manner, crucified, symbolic of Christ. There is a Hermetic-R
osicrucian axiom which says that "it is necessary to decrucify Christ (the 'Supe
rior I') to crucify the heart (emotional egotism)." No one knows the sacrifice i
t entails for an individual who has reached heaven to descend once again into th
e dark world of mud. However, this action obeys the true wisdom of the Polarity
Principle, for if the individual were to be permanently in heaven, he would even
tually degenerate as his virtue would encounter no obstacle. It is for this reas
on that the Stellar Man lives in heaven but has his feet on the earth. As we hav
e already stated, he is an inhabitant of two worlds; he lives simultaneously in
heaven and on earth; he is human and divine. The Stellar Man knows the secrets o
f universal magnetism, and this permits him to vitalize himself and project his
consciousness to his surroundings. Every highly developed Hermetic initiate has
a tremendous magnetic irradiation which surrounds his body like a sphere of ener
gy, and is the extension of his mental power.
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
291
This sphere of magnetic energy occupies a space and corresponds in size to the i
nitiate's spiritual development. It is said that Jesus Christ possessed a powerf
ul magnetic sphere that engulfed the entire Earth, and that this had an enormous
influence on the human race. This teaching makes it possible to understand why
"God is everywhere," as his irradiation fills the entire universe. The Stellar M
an practices the secret of the evolutionary circle. We have already referred to
the circle of the ass, the long road walked by the human beast who always remain
s in the same place. This circuit gives him no benefit or evolution. On the cont
rary, the "evolutionary circle" consists of the wise handling of the Polarity Pr
inciple, where the initiate oscillates between Earth and heaven, alternately pol
arizing and depolarizing himself. In this way, a perfect equilibrium is maintain
ed, achieving the wisdom of one who accustoms himself neither to the light nor d
arkness. His long journeys always take him to the starting point, but with consi
derable evolution. As an example of this, we will cite the process so beautifull
y described by Herman Hesse in Siddhartha, where the protagonist fights tireless
ly for a long time in order to become separated from the human horde and attain
his own individuality. But once he does this, he must suffer all kinds of trials
and diverse experiences to finally reach a union with the whole. But what a dif
ference, what an infinite abyss separates the Siddhartha in the beginning from t
he sage at the end: evolution had been completed. If we had to put this in a sin
gle aphorism, we would say that the sincerest desire of one who has fallen is to
reach heaven, and naturally, the strongest impulse of one who has reached heave
n is to de-
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THE STELLAR MAN
scend to earth. Again we must meditate on the Revolt of the Angels by Anatole Fr
ance. The Stellar Man has his own morals. Celestial morals are different from th
e morals of terrestrial man. Celestial morals are absolute and invariable within
the flexibility of internal judgment, while terrestrial morals accommodate them
selves to the customs of the dominant culture. If one day a cannibalistic cultur
e should be dominant, cannibalism would be considered perfectly moral and correc
t, and, furthermore, perhaps those who did not conform to it would be punished.
When we state that the morals of the Stellar Man do not vary, we do not mean the
y are rigid. In spite of constant transformation they remain intact in their ess
ential nature. On the other hand, the Hermeticist considers many of sapiens' att
itudes as immoral. Irresponsibility, abuse of power, emotional blackmail, apathy
, hypocrisy, blind conformism, self-pity, cerebral programming through the media
, and glorification and applause are only a few of the immoral attitudes and cus
toms of sapiens. Hermetic ethics are on an infinitely higher level than the acco
mmodating rules of conduct of the common man. The power of the Stellar Man does
not emanate from his
third eye, nor from chakras or the Kundalini. Nor does he pos-
sess parapsychological abilities. As we have already stated, Hermeticism maintai
ns that parapsychological qualities
merely represent the displacement and projection of mass en-
ergy; therefore, the more bestial the individual, the better chance of success h
e has. For this reason parapsychological qualities work better when the individu
al is experiencing strong instinctive or emotionally passionate states, which in
-
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
293
tensify or multiply the radiation of mass energy. There is no spiritual merit in
this; it is only unconscious sorcery. The power of the Hermeticist emanates fro
m a spiritual force, from purity, the domination of his passions, from the subli
mation of his animal energy, and from the rectitude of his intentions. The Stell
ar Man may have great material problems in his earthly life, as his enormous dif
ference in level from other people makes them instinctively look at him with a l
ack of confidence and fear upon perceiving a strange power they cannot classify.
Persecution and economic failure may turn into serious obstacles for the Hermet
icist, whose "kingdom is not of this world" and whose skills are not outstanding
on this earth where social and economic success are for those who possess a spe
cific psychological makeup. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the Hermetic
ist can fail in some things, this experience will never oppress him, and if he s
trives sufficiently, he will always end up as a conqueror. The Stellar Man does
good works, but "is careful to whom." He helps to the limit of his strength, but
only for those who, in his estimation, truly merit help. He believes that helpi
ng those who lack merit means to truly harm them. If the support offered is wast
ed or not fully utilized, he helps two or three more times, but then no more. Th
e Stellar Man can be a difficult person to understand, or the most agreeable per
son in the world. As he is used to living in a world of lies, hypocrisy, cheatin
g, and falseness, it is a shock to some individuals who are friendly with a Stel
lar Man, that he is absolutely genuine, natural, and authentic, without hidden c
orners or attitudes of any kind. His sincer-
294
THE STELLAR MAN
ity may be unbearable for those who hide beneath the countless masks of the pers
onality. The following phrase explains the natural simplicity of the actions of
the Stellar Man, "when
he eats, he eats; when he thinks, he thinks; when he speaks, he speaks; and when
he rests, he rests."
He is not a perfect being and does not aspire to be one; as we have already expl
ained, he endeavors to reach only relative perfection, as absolute perfection do
es not exist. However, after his mutation into a Stellar Man is accomplished, he
has ended his ascension to Mount Olympus, and is one more inhabitant of the sac
red mountain, a semigod who does not as yet desire absolute divinity. Neverthele
ss, his studies of the mysteries of the Universe never cease, for they can never
be completely known. It may be thought that this path is much too individualist
ic for an era in which the world is moving faster each day toward collective str
uctures. For those with this view, it needs to be pointed out that if a person d
oes not first acquire his own individuality, he is really only an appendage of t
he masses; he is nothing more than one of the elements forming a circuit which i
n turn is part of the great machine. We understand that there are individuals wh
o have personally failed, and endeavor to fuse their undesirable "I" with that o
f the collective of the mass. But there is also an opportunity to emancipate and
develop a "Superior I" to reach complete fulfillment and maturity. To understan
d this, it is necessary to differentiate between an individual whose egotism lea
ds him to blind individualism that is dangerous to society, and one who has beco
me an individual and has a very clear sense of his duty toward mankind. Only one
who
THE LIFE AND POWERS OF THE STELLAR MAN
295
has reached freedom can have a true collective consciousness, while at the same
time retaining full freedom and autonomy without handing over his brain to any c
onqueror. What a difference there is between being incorporated into mankind bec
ause of an inability to be free, and joining up with humanity after having attai
ned freedom! It is interesting to consider that sapiens fears freedom, since thi
s involves the only thing an animal within a flock cannot possess: intelligent i
ndividuality. For this same reason sapiens endeavors to join movements which do
not demand any thinking or decision-making. Conversely, the Hermetic path oblige
s the individual to take the responsibility of his life into his own hands, inst
ead of transferring it to social groups. From the philosophical point of view, o
ne who has not first
achieved his own individual existence can do nothing for the world
and its people. One who is not, has nothing to give. On the contrary, when the H
ermeticist has reached his complete individual stature, he is in condition to he
lp others in the only truly efficient way: teaching them to live wisely.
XVIII
GENERAL OVERVIEW
T
hrough the study of Hermeticism we can see how sapiens loses the best in his lif
e by not being able to obtain really lasting values for himself. The happiness h
e seeks slips from his hands and only the passing joy of a moment of pleasure re
mains. Understanding of this phenomenon generally converts the individual into a
materialistic cynic whose main belief is that "things must be enjoyed while it
is possible as after this life there is no other." This really is the goal most
sought after by people: "to have a good time." Nevertheless, little by little, w
ith experience and as the years go by, the individual realizes that he has not a
ttained happiness, for even if he has had a good time, those moments have been f
ollowed by others of pain, suffering, and internal emptiness. Generally, people
think they are lacking something specific in their lives which will make them ha
ppy, and that when they obtain it, they will be happy. When they obtain their de
sires and continue to be as unhappy as before, they become
297
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THE STELLAR MAN
more materialistic and unfeeling every day, or deliver themselves over to an unr
eal philosophical or religious mysticism. There is nothing more daunting than ta
king stock of what has been gained in life, beyond subsistence, suffering, enjoy
ment, or what one has done for his fellow men. The naive person can easily fill
the credit column with his professional titles, his material possessions, wealth
, family, or knowledge obtained. Nevertheless, the cold reality is that the
individual is not the owner of anything, unless he is certain that
what he possesses will endure. Under ordinary circumstances he can only make a l
ist of the things life has given him to handle, and even in this case he does no
t know when this mandate will expire. In truth, the individual only gets out of
life, for himself, what he can keep indefinitely, beyond death. Obtaining someth
ing for oneself means having a purpose in life; it means taking possession of so
mething intimate and personal, which is, after all, the fruit of life. Everyone
should ask himself, "What have I obtained from life? Is it sufficient just to go
along with what life brings? Do I really possess what I believe I have obtained
, or will it vanish tomorrow like a soap bubble?" Many may think that this kind
of reasoning is very selfish, but we must consider that gaining nothing for ones
elf is just as foolish, or more so, than excessive selfishness. To give everythi
ng away for the air we breathe and for the food and well-being necessary to keep
the body alive may be very romantic and poetic, but is extremely inconvenient,
as this represents eternal slavery. Eternal in this case is meant in the
GENERAL OVERVIEW
299
cosmic sense of time, which compared to the terrestrial, is really unending. Thi
s can be verified from dreams, for during an instant of time, the individual has
access to cosmic time, and it is for this reason that in thirty terrestrial sec
onds one may dream the summary of a whole lifetime, from birth to death. This sa
me concept can also be applied to the "eternal torment of the fires of hell." Ma
ny people laugh at Hermeticism, occultism, and all things esoteric, but generall
y none of them have had any direct experience in the matter, and only speak from
hearsay or prejudice. Some are intellectually proud and use their reasoning to
discredit Hermeticism. It is hoped that those who reason that way are absolutely
and completely certain of their reasoning, and do not fall into any of the foll
owing categories of flawed critical thinking:
â ¢ Those who believe themselves awake, but are really dreaming â ¢ Those who blindly imita
e, placing implicit faith in other peo ple, systems, or institutions to avoid th
inking for themselves â ¢ Those whose passions take the place of reason; they draw a l
ine in advance, and will accept no reason of their own or of others that is not
within this line, but leaning towards what flatters their state of mind, vanity,
or interest â ¢ Those that adore their own ideas as sacred images; our ideas have bel
onged to us from time immemorial and we are un aware of how these ideas are subt
ly insinuated into our brain. They never allow anyone to contradict or discredit
them.
We must not forget that the main part of the individual's reasoning generally co
nsists of finding a reason to continue believing what he already believes.
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Others will blindly deny their possible dependence on a
central computer, arguing that they do as they please. They do
not realize that they desire what the central computer makes them desire. It is
sufficient to analyze individual motivation in depth to understand that everythi
ng takes place under internal or external pressure. Ideas, feelings, impulses, o
r actions are always compulsive; they are never born from an act of superior and
free reasoning. The usual reason for upholding the idea of one's own freedom co
nsists in the argument of showing a long list of all things accomplished in life
. Nevertheless, it should be asked, were these things done by our own desires, o
r were we obliged to do them in spite of ourselves? Did we desire a certain thin
g, or were we obliged to desire it? There are a few very simple reflections, whi
ch should lead any individual who meditates on them to reach the conclusion that
sapiens' scale of values is tremendously distorted. Here are some of these refl
ections:
â ¢ Science does not bring true happiness to the human being; it only provides comfort
, pleasure, and technology. â ¢ Intelligence does not develop or form content in a per
son. â ¢ The internal nature of the human being has not appreciably evolved during the
course of history. â ¢ Man has no knowledge of the greater portion of his internal na
ture. â ¢ The human species has no one with whom to compare it self, only animals; the
refore, they have no point of reference for their own worth or their real positi
on in the cosmic scale.
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301
Each person must reach his own conclusions on these thoughts. It is necessary to
consider that Hermeticism is not solely
dedicated to showing how bad sapiens is, or how insignificant
he is, but that it has a well-defined plan for the human race. Pointing out the
real position of sapiens as a small animal of little importance in the face of u
niversal grandeur, and whose only value is that he possesses the divine spark, h
as a creative and not a destructive objective. We attempt to encourage a person,
through reflection, to see the unbarred cell in which he lives, as this is the
only way that the desire to escape will be born in him. While an individual beli
eves that all is well and that he himself is very well, there will be no possibi
lity of real evolution. This is the reason why many mystics suddenly feel spirit
ual restlessness after having gone through tremendously painful experiences whic
h came as a positive shock, awakening them from their somnambulistic lethargy. T
he object of suffering is to awaken the individual's consciousness. Nevertheless
, there are many so deeply asleep that suffering only further brutalizes them, a
nd is absolutely unproductive. There are many who have a purely devotional attit
ude toward Hermeticism, thinking that it is sufficient to be very spiritual to p
rogress along the path, and that these spiritual individuals (according to their
own opinion) will be the best prepared to ascend to higher levels. They believe
that progress is attained by a kind of contact with heaven or with the occult p
owers, and that it is sufficient to sacrifice oneself by serving mankind in orde
r to obtain everything. In truth, the great disadvantage of Hermeticism lies in
the
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THE STELLAR MAN
fact that it is the path of pure intelligence, and if the student does not devel
op his intelligence and awareness to the required levels, no evolution is possib
le. Another enormous obstacle for people is that it is necessary to work very ha
rd as Hermeticism is the path of self-salvation, and out of laziness and indolen
ce, one does not wish to save himself. People prefer to be saved by Christ even
if this should only be a figment of their deluded brains; or to be saved by magi
c or by the crew of flying saucers. One of the reasons people do not make a deci
sion to save themselves is because they have no idea what they have to be saved
from, believing that on earth, everything is just as it seems. Professional occu
ltists or eternal students of esotericism live in the hopes of one day finding s
omeone who will open their third eye, for example, in the belief that therein re
sides all magical secrets. For them we would say that the third eye only gives t
hem a vision of the human being's energy projections without even remotely offer
ing them any spiritual progress or advancement. Furthermore, we must mention the
purely symbolic nature of the supposed operation of the opening of the third ey
e, under which Lobsang Rampa hid the true mystery of what the Hindus call Maya V
irrupa, whose most approximate translation is the path of illusion. The fabulous
unicorn, the mythical animal with a horn on its forehead, represents what we ar
e referring to. One who wants to act with his third eye must develop a horn in t
he middle of his forehead. Much has been made of unfolding in the belief that co
ntrol of this indicates a higher degree of spiritual evolution. Nothing is farth
er from the truth; it is easy to unfold with an
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303
extract of cannabis indica without any spiritual merit whatsoever. Unfolding is
no more than a dangerous exercise and is extremely fatiguing. We must add that i
t has never been known if the visions that the operator sees when unfolded, or w
ith his third eye, are really true or only mirages of cosmic ether. The eternal
aphorism "as above, so below" confirms this fact. If we can so frequently deceiv
e ourselves in the physical world using the senses we freely control, there is e
ven more likelihood to deceive ourselves upon using such difficult and restricte
d faculties. The real importance of unfolding is something we have spoken little
about, and which could be called Hermetic unfolding. This consists of being con
scious simultaneously on two
planes: physical and spiritual, in heaven and on earth. It is thus that the Herm
eticist rises above himself upon becoming divided into two persons, both of whic
h simultaneously have "their eyes open." It is said that in this way the Hermeti
cist obtains the power of powers, which is uniting earth with heaven. Of this st
ate we will describe just one phenomenon which is very curious and incomprehensi
ble to the ordinary individual, and that is to simultaneously perceive two extre
mes. If this can be understood, the individual will
be sad and happy at the same time, simultaneously. Pleasure and pain, serenity a
nd agitation, attraction and repulsion, and life and death are experienced at th
e same time. It must not be believed
that this experience produces an average without differentiation. On the contrar
y, this gives absolute understanding and experience of each of these states with
out the negative repercussions which good or evil extremes may produce.
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When we mention this, it is not with the intention that this should be easily un
derstood, but rather "sensed." Admirers of Yoga give tremendous importance to Ku
ndalini and the Chakras, believing them to be the fundamental pillar of spiritua
l fulfillment. The truth is that no benefit would be gained by a person through
this touted awakening of Kundalini, except perhaps an intense creative euphoria
that has nothing to do with spiritual progress. We must understand that true evo
lution cannot be improvised in any way, and that no one in the Universe can atta
in it without a slow, sustained, and vigorous process of self-fulfillment. There
are those who pursue magical powers such as clairvoyance with tremendous persev
erance, without stopping to think whether it is really beneficial to them or not
. As an example, one of the easiest things to attain is what is commonly called
second sight. For this we will give the method, although we honestly trust that
no one will use it. To attain second sight it is sufficient to become a medium a
nd endeavor to develop mediumistic faculties, easily done by means of the collec
tive suggestion which takes place during seances. Upon becoming a medium, the in
dividual becomes clairvoyant very rapidly, as he is possessed by what we may cal
l controlling spirits of a lower nature. Traditionally, in classic occultism the
se are called astral shells; they are the bestial principles of individuals whic
h survive for some time after death, and which need to absorb and feed on magnet
ic energy from living beings, producing a type of vampirism. The medium is taken
over by these "astral shells" and they project into his imagination all that th
ey themselves have seen in
GENERAL OVERVIEW
305
the "world of the dead." However, they charge a high price for their work, as th
ey absorb the energy of the medium who is left exhausted, generally ending up co
ntracting leukemia or some other ailment which science cannot cure. There was an
interesting case of an ex-medium who managed to infiltrate a new group of peopl
e who did not believe in spiritualism. He related to them his spectacular vision
s during which there appeared prehistoric beings who spoke to him. In a short wh
ile, five or six of the group were seeing things similar to this, for the first
time in their lives.
This is an example of magnetic contagion.
Many who have attained power or great riches scoff at spiritual things, alleging
that there is nothing their money cannot buy, despising the philosopher, believ
ing he has something to sell. Protected by their wealth, they believe they have
attained the pinnacle of their ambitions. Unfortunately, they do not understand
that beyond a certain limit there is nothing their money can buy, not even mater
ial pleasures, and that the effort of retaining their possessions consumes all t
heir energy. How many modern Croesus types are unable to acquire a new stomach a
t any price, one that will enable them to again enjoy gastronomic pleasures; or
perhaps are unable to restore their worn out sexual energy in order to possess t
he woman they desire? It is ironic that they cannot enjoy what the most humble l
aborer is able to have. One of the comforting things in life is to contemplate t
he exceptions to this rule, as in the case of those who use their wealth for tru
ly significant social work, and for which they will most certainly receive a pri
ze from the Lords of Destiny
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THE STELLAR MAN
in a future reincarnation. It is true that by means of good works the sins of th
e individual are forgiven. It is necessary to clarify that, for the Hermeticist,
sin as it is commonly known does not exist; there is the Law of Cause and Effec
t, and the occult judges who judge and punish people according to their individu
al responsibility, group them into four categories:
â ¢ The illiterate human masses â ¢ The middle class â ¢ The great scientists, outstanding
ionals, philoso phers, and leaders â ¢ The initiates
The occult judges punish the individual according to his responsibility. They co
nsider the responsibility of the first category to be practically nil; that of t
he second category slightly higher; the third has a lot of responsibility; and t
he fourth, the initiates, are considered absolutely responsible. Therefore, shou
ld they stray from the correct path, they receive the worst possible punishment,
as they have acted with their eyes open. This penalty may even be the violent p
hysical elimination of the individual or being demoted in future incarnations. I
t is necessary to point out that Hermetic science, like all that exists, may be
used for good or evil. In itself it is neutral, as it is beyond good or evil, bu
t some of its rules may become known and used erroneously. It is for this reason
that white magic and black magic are always differentiated as we have already m
entioned in previous pages, and that in their
GENERAL OVERVIEW
307
manifestations, one is constructive and the other destructive. Speaking of black
magicians reminds one of a tale like A Thousand and One Nights. The truth is th
at there are black magicians
in the worst sense of the word, who are in reality the most ferocious enemies of
the Stellar Men, moving all kinds of forces and people in order to attack them.
In contrast to stellar, we could perhaps correctly call them abysmal. Many of t
hese black magicians know the strangest secrets to resist death. Alexandra David
-Neel relates in one of her books on Tibet the horrible case of some indescribab
ly ancient priests who stayed alive by feeding on live men who had to die slowly
in a special sarcophagus, on top of the remains of others who had died before i
n that same place. In reality, they had to slowly rot to death, but for the spel
l to be successful, this had to be done willingly, being convinced by the priest
s of the extraordinary and decisive spiritual merit of a supreme confrontation w
ith death. Count Dracula is not a simple fantasy. Hermetic tradition maintains t
hat these beings really exist and that many of them live hundreds of years by dr
inking fresh blood extracted from humans, obtaining the vitality necessary to re
store their own system. It is a fact that many people practice unconscious vampi
rism at another level and absorb the energy of others. It is thus that "machismo
" and "matriarchy" are merely forms of unconscious emotional vampirism. Within t
he realm of this subject it is interesting to consider certain businessmen, who,
guided by animal instinct, vampirize their competitors whom they gradually abso
rb until they are ruined and destroyed. Vampirism is such an
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THE STELLAR MAN
extensive subject that we expect to cover it more in detail in a future book. Th
e world is unaware of the terrible battles waged between stellar and abysmal men
. Just as with most truly important things, they remain hidden beneath absolutel
y different appearances. With respect to the future of mankind, we maintain that
the best hope of salvation lies in the possibility of scientifically establishi
ng our theory of people's levels of consciousness.
Perhaps in the near future important advances and discoveries will occur in the
field of measurement of yet undiscovered cerebral rhythms. The most important of
these
is the rhythm of superior awareness, which appears in people
possessing a high level of awareness, the result of Hermetic work upon themselve
s. The day this discovery becomes a scientific reality, human beings must undoub
tedly be grouped according to "levels of consciousness." Social and intellectual
classes will disappear to give way to degrees of awareness. It is probable that
in this way a scale of one to ten will be established in which 1 would represen
t the highest state of awareness among people, and 10, the lowest. It is underst
ood that those possessing the higher levels would be the group which would guide
mankind. They would absolutely guarantee a world free from wars, delinquency, a
nd poverty, with an equal opportunity for all, as everyone would be able to clim
b the scale of awareness and some day reach level one. Nevertheless, for this sy
stem to be justified and accepted by people, it would necessarily have to carry
much more weight and scientific authority than the current system of measuring h
uman intelligence. It would have to
GENERAL OVERVIEW
309
be the obvious result of an absolutely clear scientific verification of the theo
ry of levels of awareness, and the basis of it would have to be made known in si
mple language so that the entire world could understand it. We guarantee that th
is discovery would be the greatest that man has ever invented during his existen
ce on earth, the only discovery capable of guaranteeing the future and happiness
of the human race to a certain extent. However, at first this would cause treme
ndous problems among the disqualified people. We would be very surprised to find
that the majority of individuals who previously were known as superior beings d
ue to their great intelligence would be classified under number 5 after measurin
g their level of awareness. Men who previously were great leaders might be releg
ated to the lowest categories upon verifying, without any doubt, their absolute
lack of a state of superior alertness and internal judgment, which is the very c
ondition from which a high level of consciousness is derived. On the other hand,
simple men, with minimal culture and a very elemental intelligence would possib
ly occupy the highest positions. In the last instance, this cerebral examination
to determine the level of awareness would establish the degree of the individua
l's spiritual age, translated into concepts of evolution, wisdom, and spiritual
perfection.
It is thus that the world could be governed by an Advisory Committee of Spiritua
l Ancients, true sages, possessors of a high level of awareness and very clear i
nternal judgment. Many people believe, based on ancient prophecies or interpreta
tion of supposed messages contained in the pyramids or ancient documents, that t
he world will come to
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THE STELLAR MAN
an end in the near future, as a result of a great catastrophe, possibly of stell
ar origin. Disregarding the truth or error of these prophecies, we consider the
human being as the great determining factor of these phenomena. Thus, as Sodom a
nd Gomorrah were destroyed because of the extreme perversion of their inhabitant
s, the planet Earth is influenced in its interstellar relations by mankind's men
tal, emotional, instinctive, and psychological states. The behavior and characte
r of people influence, to a very important extent, the climate, vegetable and an
imal life, and telluric phenomena. Any catastrophe predicted for the near future
could be annulled by a decisive or important upheaval in the behavior and spiri
tual life of the human being. In this respect, as in any circumstance which pret
ends to predict the future, the Hermeticist is more interested in creating the f
uture than in predicting it. We hope that in the nearest possible future, the sc
ientific measurement of "levels of consciousness" will become a reality for huma
nity, thus signifying a new dawn for Mankind.
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