Before we proceed along the Arcana of the Meditations, it might be helpful to point out a link between “gnosis” and the “arcana”. In the very first chapter of his Meditations Tomberg highlights the truth that arcana represent “enzymes” or “ferment” which make the soul fruitful by awakening the deeper, … Continue reading
Category Archives: Valentin Tomberg
Freedom and Destiny
Freedom is the opposite of compulsion. A serious man takes his life seriously. Continue reading
The Syllables of the Gods
I want to call attention to an aspect of Tomberg’s work that is perhaps unnoticed. He writes so straightforwardly, so poetically, so lucidly, that one can obtain an illusion (particularly if you are only reading with your discursive intellect) that you are understanding him without, in fact, catching on. I … Continue reading
The High Priestess
The yoke is easy, the burden is light. There are more dangers ahead, but to learn the lesson of the One is to pass into abundant Life. Continue reading
Le Bateleur, or Thus Endeth the Lesson
I will assume, for this, a basic familiarity with the text, as well as perhaps some of the items and discussions on the mailing list. Rather, we will look at several prisms or aphorisms or anecdotes from this chapter, to help elucidate in precise detail what quarry Tomberg is hunting. … Continue reading
Tomberg’s Labor
Valentin Tomberg (as any reader of this blog by now knows) plays a not insignificant role in linking Christianity with esotericism, even paganism (of the older kind). It would be easy to just go through and cherry pick random quotes from Tomberg: this would actually turn out much better than … Continue reading
The Seven Miracles as an Esoteric School
The mission of Christ and Mary is to reverse the effects of the Fall and restore the creation to its original perfect state when the Logos and Sophia brought it forth (Proverbs 8 22:31). Each of the seven miracles of St. John’s Gospel corresponds to the reverse day of Genesis … Continue reading
The Metalogikon
The Medieval period represents, for Western man, a kind of germinal gestation of the Spirit in the form of an actualized Christian civilization, one which was fully in accord with Tradition, as far as it was able to go. We know this because, for the neo-pagans, it is too “Christian” … Continue reading
Western Social Order – Part 3
In the Philobiblon, Richard de Bury (Bishop of Durham) justifies his love of books in a Christian framework by pointing out that Plato is said to have paid 10000 dinars for a rare scroll of Philolaus. Philolaus‘ work was most likely a transmission of the teachings of Pythagoras, who had … Continue reading
The Essence of the Traditions
The New Age view of the various traditions run along the lines that “all religions teach the same thing”, “all paths are valid”, “great teachers adapted religion for specific people”, and similar platitudes along the same lines of thought. From that, they seem to arrive at the illogical conclusion that … Continue reading