"One could say that current thinking that we are all gods because we
have the spirit of God within us held by some, especially nature
worshippers, possibly originated from alchemical thought. The English
alchemist Sir George Ripley (c. 1415-1490) wrote, "The philosophers tell
the inquirer that the birds bring us the lipas, every man has it, it is
in every place, in you, in me, in everything, in time and space." "It
offers itself in lowly form [vili figura]. From it springs our eternal
water [aqua permanens]." Ripley said prima materia is water, the
material principle of all bodies, including mercury. It is the hyle,
stuff, mater, which God brought from the chaos. It is the black earth
which Adam was made of and which he took with him from Paradise. Since
this prima material contained water it also contained fire, as both were
said to be within the philosopher's stone; therefore, it is believe the
stone always existed coming from Paradise too."
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According to this perspective the first matter is not a material
substance in the ordinary sense of the word at all. So what can we say
about the nature of the prima materia according to the tradition of
spiritual alchemy? The first thing to say is that unlike scientific
materialism we accept the self-evident existence of consciousness. This
is a crucial point, because the first matter, as the origin of all
things which exist, must be found prior to the division of the universe
into the duality of mind and matter.
The answer is perception, or knowledge. What is the mind but that which
perceives – and what is matter but that which is perceived. They are,
respectively, the subject and the object of knowledge. As Schopenhauer
said: We do not know a sun, only an eye which sees the sun, and we do
not know an earth, only a hand which feels the earth. As far as humanity
is aware, or ever could be aware, matter exists only as the object of
conscious awareness.
Knowledge, or perception, therefore partakes equally of the nature of
both mind and matter. It is the substance upon which the alchemist must
work, and in its purified and perfected state it is the fulfilment of
all the promises of the Magnus Opus.
Through knowledge and the clarity of enlightened consciousness all kinds of miracles can be accomplished.
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