The Star in the West

THE CUP 173 represented by the two pillars of the temple , Yakheen and Boaz , the two forces , the white and the black ; separate and contrary , yet in their polarity they are uniform , equilibrating their unity . The philosopher's stone , as Hermes declared , consisted in separating the ethereal from that which was gross. Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire , the ethereal from the gross , gently , but with great industry . It ascends from earth to heaven , and again it comes down from heaven to earth , and it is invested with the potency of superior and inferior things . Thou wilt possess by this means the glory of the whole world , and all darkness will depart from thee . It is the strong power of every power , for it will over come all things subtle and penetrate all things solid . It is thus that the world was created .1 Tannhäuser also separated the higher from the lower self , the good from the evil . Christ also at tempted the same course , not living alone for either good or bad , but for the whole , as Jeláládeen sang , “ I am the song and singer ,” etc. , the surest centre of immortality lying in the whole , and not in the part . The Qabalist compared the wicked with the excrement of the great human body , a necessary vivific secretion , and not a poison to the living organism . Waite tells us : “ These excretions also serve as a manure to the earth , which brings forth fruits to nourish the body ; thus death reverts always to life , and evil itself serves for the renewal and nourishment of good .” ? The most important of all the arcana of the Magnum opus was the transformation of darkness into light . Again , we have the white and black triangles , the unique Athanor of moral alchemy , the transmutation of i Hermes . ? The Mysteries of Magic , p . 150 .