Tree of Life Library #2 - THE RED LION
Well, with all the recommendations following the first book in the library we got a good stack of authors in our HOD bookshelf: Hermann Hesse, Jorge Luis Borges and Douglas R. Hofstadter to name a few. A big Thanks goes to Hilbert - for sure the most literate blogger I am humbly following... Time to explore another shelf! What about going back to square one and putting a recommendation on the shelf for Malkuth? I.e. a finding a good starting point for adventures and explorations into the realm of the elementary world. I guess any book on fundamental concentration, visualization, and meditation exercises could go here? But really I would love to explore the story-side of the Tree of Life in the library first. So which great stories come to your mind that introduce the secrets of Malkuth to Neophytes or Adepts alike? The one that jumps to mine immediately is this one... A book that has opened a lot of doors for me and reveals a glimpse from where we stand in Malkuth at the dark light of the 32nd Path...
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Maria Szepes (December 14, 1908 – September 3 2007) was a Hungarian author and adept. Her explorations into Hermetic philosophy and practice are unique and highly remarkable. Given the difficult period during which she started out as a hermetic writer - the post WWII and communist area in the 1940s - the comparison to Franz Bardon comes to mind immediately. During their lifetimes both undertook daring projects to publish full study and training programs into Hermetic Adepthood at a time when most of Europe lay in ruins and activity of most lodges had come to a stall... Wether Bardon and Szepes personally knew each other remains unconfirmed yet is highly likely. Maria Szepes most famous novel next to her Raguel saga is The Red Lion
. Maria Szepes wrote the entire book in a secret hiding place during WWII. The struggle of the book coming to life continued when it was first published in 1946 under pseudonym and was immediately banned by the communist government. However, over time it saw reprints and translations into many languages and ultimately became a worldwide bestseller as a seminal novel on occult initiation. The plot-line of the book is straight forward: in the 16th century the feeble sun of a miller, Hans Burger kills to get hold of the elixir of life. He drinks from it and his consciousness becomes immortal - spanning a bridge over the many times his body dies and is reborn thereafter. Thus the book follows Burger on his journey through many incarnations - each one being the direct effect of his previous actions and the next small ascent on the long and thorny ladder to awakening. Never before has the slow development of human qualities, consciousness and occult ascent been described so vividly and clear. Reading this book is the closest thing to doing your own reincarnation therapy - and a wonderful story to be reminded of what it means if the serpent bites its tail.
. Maria Szepes wrote the entire book in a secret hiding place during WWII. The struggle of the book coming to life continued when it was first published in 1946 under pseudonym and was immediately banned by the communist government. However, over time it saw reprints and translations into many languages and ultimately became a worldwide bestseller as a seminal novel on occult initiation. The plot-line of the book is straight forward: in the 16th century the feeble sun of a miller, Hans Burger kills to get hold of the elixir of life. He drinks from it and his consciousness becomes immortal - spanning a bridge over the many times his body dies and is reborn thereafter. Thus the book follows Burger on his journey through many incarnations - each one being the direct effect of his previous actions and the next small ascent on the long and thorny ladder to awakening. Never before has the slow development of human qualities, consciousness and occult ascent been described so vividly and clear. Reading this book is the closest thing to doing your own reincarnation therapy - and a wonderful story to be reminded of what it means if the serpent bites its tail.::
