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The word Alchemy, the name of the Hermetic work, is derived from the words Al and chemia. Al is an ancient word meaning ‘God’ in the sense of the ‘All’, the ‘Absolute’. As part of the word Alchemy it means ‘divine’ or ‘universal’. The word was used in many ancient languages and cultures, including the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew and Celtic. Later, the Hebrew form of the word came to be written as El, which in the Christian Bible is translated as ‘God’. In Islam the word appears as Allah. Chemia is from the Greek word khemia, which itself is derived from the Ancient Egyptian word kemit, meaning ‘black earth’. This referred to the dark fertile silt deposited in the Nile valley after each annual inundation of the river, which made possible the whole cultivation and civilisation of that otherwise desert area of north Africa. The word also referred to the prima materia or ‘first matter’ – the dark, formless ether (chaos), in which and out of which all form (cosmos) is born by means of the Word of God. Our word chemistry is derived from chemia. Alchemy thus means ‘the universal or divine chemistry’, or ‘the chemistry of the universe’, or ‘the chemistry of God’. It refers to the fundamental process of life and all its sub-processes. Solomon, in his second proverb, says: ‘Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a finer vessel.’[1] This is an extremely succinct summary of what is known as the alchemical process, whereby by purifying ourselves (i.e. our psyche, symbolised by silver and the moon) we may acquire the capacity to see, understand and know the wisdom (symbolised by gold and the sun), and hence be illumined by it. There are laws governing this process that are, naturally, useful to know. Francis Bacon was called ‘Apollo’ by his peers and ‘Solomon’ by King James, whom Bacon served. Whilst always having Christ as his ultimate exemplar, Bacon patterned himself on Solomon, in the sense of what Solomon ideally did, or is reputed to have done, which was to ask God for wisdom and with that wisdom to write ‘excellent parables or aphorisms concerning divine and moral philosophy’ (e.g. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Wisdom), allegorical and mystical poetry (e.g. The Song of Songs), a Natural History, and Mysteries (i.e. sacred drama) for the purposes of initiation (e.g. Freemasonic ritual drama) and temple worship in the temple that he designed and caused to be built (Solomon's Temple). Solomon was a philosopher, writer, poet and alchemist, endowed with great wisdom. He was also a cabalist, initiated into the profoundest secrets of the Cabala (Kabbalah) as handed down from Moses, and before Moses from Thoth/Hermes, and before Hermes from Enoch, king of Atlantis. Bacon summarises his utopian vision for the future in his New Atlantis, in which his New Atlantean Society of Solomon’s House is presided over by Solomona, or Solomon II. But his vision of how we might achieve such a Utopia, or an even better one than he could perceive 400 years ago, is embodied in his example of the Great Instauration. This FBRT website is designed to introduce you to this Great Instauration and the wisdom upon which it is based. To discover more, continue to follow the links provided in the text or which are hidden in the pictures:-
© Peter Dawkins, FBRT, 2006 The Francis Bacon Research Trust |