Translator's Note: The following is the first part--to be more precise, the first "notebook"--of four, written by Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, the famous disciple of Martines de Pasqually, Elus Coen initiate, friend of Saint-Martin, principal organizer of the Rectified Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (R.E.R), and consummate man of desire. The contents of these notebooks (Ms 5476 in the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon) carry the title of "Mes Pensées & Celles des Autres" ("My Thoughts and Those of Others"). These all appear to date from 1788. They comprise occasional "thoughts," initiatic exhortations and prayers written by Willermoz, dealing with mystical or theosophic doctrines that will doubtless be familiar to readers of Saint-Martin and Pasqually. Specifically, we recognize here, as in the writings of the other initiates of this school, the voice of God's fallen agent (man), exiled from Heaven and yet yearning for return. This is especially evident in the beautiful "Prayer of the Initiate" in Section 8. Translations of the other three notebooks, Lord willing, will be forthcoming in the near future, as separate posts.
My
Thoughts & Those of Others
by Jean-Baptiste Willermoz
[Notebook 1]
[1.]
Man
does not do the impossible, but he can realize possible things; and from this
point of view, who could set limits to his power, without first knowing the
possibilities and all those which he can realize?
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2. After the power to
create, which belongs exclusively to the supreme Being, the power to realize
possible things is the most sublime of prerogatives.
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3. It is from the Creator
that beings have existence; it is also in Him and through Him that the
possibility of being exists. Thus, the man who realizes the possible
contributes in some way to the creation.
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4. The telescope of
Herschel, which magnifies 8 thousand times in his eyes the image of the star
that he observes, did not exist before him in nature, it was only possible.
Herschel, guided by the force of his genius, has thus realized that which did
not exist. (March 20, 1788).
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5. Initiate, take a
useful similitude from the earth: You are the king of the animals, since you can
make them submit to your authority; but see some of these beasts yielded up to their instinct,
wandering in the fields and forests in order there to seek their nourishment.
Savage and fleeing your presence, they live wretchedly and expect nothing from
you. See others, close to your domicile, and submissive to your orders, because
of the sense that they have, not only of your power and superiority, but also of
the good that you do for them. It is to you that they have recourse if they are
hungry; it is from your hand that they receive their subsistence; they cherish
you and caress your feet; they lift their eyes up to you; you are their only
God.
The first are independent, but who will
defend them, who will protect them from the chains of the king of the earth and
from his anger? The others are submitted to him, but they ask and obtain.
Obedient and docile, they are relieved of their needs and protected in danger
against ravenous tigers and wolves. They submit to the hand which strikes them,
but, every day, they receive from it the help which conserves their existence
and life.
True
image of the unhappy state of men who do not recognize divine providence, and
of the happy state which those can obtain who place their trust in it and
submit themselves without reserve to its laws. (12 April 1788).
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6. Initiate, in order to
address your prayer to the Sovereign Master of the Universe, in order to
implore His mercy, you naturally raise your eyes and your hands towards the
sky. You are the only terrestrial being who thus directs its eyes and its heart
towards the superior region, because man is the only one who conceives there an
infinite power, a Creator, a Father. And even though he prostrates himself
face-down upon the earth in His presence, does he address his prayer to the
lower region, does he place the God of the Universe there? No, his thought, his will, his intention and his desires are
directed on high, although his body is bent towards the earth. It is high above
him, in the superior region, that he perceives the divine Being in the presence of
which he lowers himself. No people, no individual has needed to be instructed
to act in this way. Ah! If man was not made to act [thus] with God, why would
this sentiment be universal among all peoples? Why are all those who pray,
without exception, made as by a sort of instinct to place the object of their
cult in the heavens? Why do they raise even their idols upon an altar, and
their sovereigns and chiefs upon a throne?
Supreme Principle of all
that exists, Thy holy temple is not in this inferior region, material and
defiled; Thy throne is above even the celestial regions, and Thou hast
imprinted the intimate sentiment of this in the heart of man! (15 April 17880.
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7. Initiated man, you are
a being who is an agent in your essence; it is through your actions of life
that you will succeed in developing the degree of power that is in you. It is
through your courage and the constancy of your efforts and will that you will
recover the sublime faculties of your being. Beware of sabotaging yourself
through useless efforts. Is it not through the works and the exercise of your
body that, directed by skilled masters, you develop all the strength of which
it is susceptible? Is it not in trying your skill that you give suppleness and
agility to your limbs? Is it not through reiterated efforts that your industry
succeeds in carrying out the most astonishing things? Likewise, it will only be
through the constant and energetic acts of your will and your intelligence, and
in following the most reliable guides, that you shall acquire the habit of
willing with vigor, that this habit will increase the natural power of your
action, and that you will succeed in giving this action more efficacy. (20
April 1788).
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8. The prayer of the
Initiate. - Eternal Truth, Thou hast surrounded me with Thy rays, but tenebrous
shadows rise up ceaselessly from my soul and prevent me from raising my eyes to
Thee. Every day, at evening and in the middle of the night, in the morning and
at noon, I invoke Thee with ardor. My efforts are vain and useless. The thick
veil of my material affections takes from me the vision of Thy light. The
images of objects to which I have yielded my senses, place themselves in droves
between Thy beneficent action and the feeble efforts of my will; they lead me
astray and drag me along with their deceptive illusions. Thou dost elude me and
I lose hope of attaining Thee. O Truth without Whom my being is only a
nothingness, I shall not cease to invoke Thee! Until Thou hast fulfilled my
desire, my only existence will be my aspiration. Hear my voice, come and activate
the one who calls Thee with so much ardor! I renounce the love of sensible
objects; it is Thee alone that I wish to love and contemplate forever as my
only Life. For it is Thou Who art the Life of man, and it is evident to me that
my destiny is to live always in Thee and with Thee. (april [sic] 1788).
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9. Initiates, raise
yourselves to the Light, it is Its power which fixes the will. (Agent).
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10. The cherubim have
eyes everywhere, they shed light everywhere; they have the abundance of
science. They are sight and light--this is what is expressed by the word “cherub.”
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11. Initiated men, the
time of life is that of work; make haste! The night which must end all works is
advancing, and the Master awaits you so that He may give to each his wages. (29
april [sic] 1788).
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12. Temperance will make
you master of your body and soon, a new Joseph, you will govern Egypt.
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13. Mercy envelops the
sinner who, in his sufferings, praises justice and blesses his Judge.
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