Hermetic teachings for the Seeker: Chapter 6: The Ascent of the Soul
The evening sky deepened, and the courtyard’s shadows stretched long. The mystic and seeker sat on a low stone bench, their conversation soft but penetrating.
“Seeker,” said the mystic, “once the soul recognizes the spark within, the journey turns upward. The ascent is a return to unity, an awakening to divine Mind. Hermes teaches: ‘Know that the All is in you, and you in the All; and by knowing yourself, you know God’ (CH XII, Mind unto Hermes, XII.21–23).”
Seeker: “I understand the words, but I feel small. How can I contain the All within me?”
“You do not contain it,” the mystic replied. “You recognize it. The All is already within and around you. Your task is awareness — to live in harmony with what is present. The ascent is the cultivation of perception and understanding, allowing the spark to guide thought, emotion, and action.”
The mystic paused, tracing a finger through the dust on the bench. “Notice how your attention shifts when you watch a bird, the clouds, or the wind. That observation is a miniature ascent. Each recognition of unity in the world mirrors the ascent within. Every act of reflection and awareness aligns the soul with the divine Mind.”
Seeker: “And when I falter, or get lost in old habits?”
“Then return,” the mystic said. “The ascent is patient. Mistakes are not failures; they are lessons. Awareness is strengthened through repeated attention. Hermes tells us: ‘The mind of the soul is divine, and through knowledge it returns to its source’ (CH I, Poimandres, I.18–20). Every reflection is a step upward.”
The mystic leaned forward, voice lowered reverently. “There is also a deeper stage, Seeker — the passage through the Seven Spheres, described in Poimandres §§25–26 (CH I, Poimandres, 25–26). As the soul rises, it sheds the influences of each sphere:
- The First Sphere — The Moon: the power of growth and decay. The soul relinquishes attachment to the rhythms of birth and death.
- The Second — Mercury: evil cunning or deceit. Trickery of mind is surrendered.
- The Third — Venus: illusion of desire. Sensual longing is purified.
- The Fourth — The Sun: arrogance of command. Pride and dominion fall away.
- The Fifth — Mars: audacity and rashness. Violence and blind courage dissolve.
- The Sixth — Jupiter: greed and attachment to wealth. Impulses born of desire for gain are relinquished.
- The Seventh — Saturn: falsehood and deceit. The final veil of illusion falls, and the soul realizes its true unity with the divine.
“Beyond the seventh, the soul enters the Eighth Nature, the Ogdoad, singing hymns with the cosmic powers and uniting fully with God.”
The ascent is not dramatic or sudden. It is gradual, like the rising of the sun behind clouds, illuminating a world that seemed shadowed. Each observation, reflection, and moment of awareness nourishes the spark within. The seeker begins to feel a gentle warmth — a sense of connection that had always been there, but had lain dormant.
Seeker: “So I ascend not by striving, but by noticing?”
“Exactly,” said the mystic. “The ascent is lived, not forced. Awareness and reflection are your tools. The spark will lead, gently, like a current guiding a leaf on the water.”
The Witch's and Druids Den 