Homo Nosce Te Ipsum is a famous Latin phrase found written in many different ancient philosophical books. This phrase was written above the threshold, forecourt or doorway of one of the temples of Delphi, a temple in Greece. The phrase is Latin but this Delphic maxim in Greek is - γνῶθι σεαυτόν gnōthi seauton.
As you know the Latins (Romans) and Greeks always associated with each other, sharing knowledge amongst themselves. This is why when we talk about classical mythology in relation with the Greeks and Romans, we always say Greco-Roman mythology. We find that the different gods from the Greek pantheon are also found in the Roman pantheon but with Latin names. For instance the Latin Jupiter is Zeus among the Greeks, etc. So both Greek initiates and initiates from Italy nourished themselves from the same philosophical source, this is why we say that the Latin phrase “Homo Nosce Te Ipsum” was written in a threshold, forecourt or doorway of a Greek temple.
Homo Nosce Te Ipsum is translated in English as “Man know thyself.” As you see, it is clear there that the word ‘Nosce’ is a Latin word for knowledge. The Latin nosce, noscer, nocerae is similar to Gnosis which is Greek. The phrase “Nosce Te,” is akin to saying, “you know.” Ipsum means “itself” or “thy self.” So Nosce Te Ipsum is “You know yourself!” Homo, of course, is a Latin word for “man.” So, in the axiom or phrase “Homo Nosce Te Ipsum” we find the Latin word noscer, which is gnosis in Greek. Yes, as you know, Gnosis is a Greek word which means knowledge. This is why the phrase is very fundamental to the gnostic teachings, because it is directly related with “Ipsum,” which is to know our self, to develop self-knowledge. So we are going to inquire about, to investigate this phrase from the gnostic point of view, in order for us to understand its meaning.
To begin, the word homo in Latin is translated as man – hominis is plural. There are different derivations of this word which, I repeat, is translated as man. But let us remember that the word man in English derives from the Sanskrit word Manas, which, as we have very often stated, means mind.
We have to state that the word homo is translated as homme in different languages, yet, in Spanish homo is ‘hombre,” and is also related to the mind. Likewise, let us point out another Latin word related to homo which is humus. Humus in Latin is related to soil – a substance like clay that is moldable. So you find a relationship of the word humus with homo.
In the book of Genesis it is written that Adam was made from the dust of the Earth and humus is also related with the dust of the earth – the soil, the land. So, of course, when we investigate the word humus, as it relates with the word homo, we find another word which is homunculus. Homunculus is translated as ‘little man’. The plural of homunculus is homunculi, which is a word very often used among the alchemist-philosophers in order to designate a creature made from humus in the laboratory of alchemy. Homunculus is a creature that is similar to a human. For instance, as you see, the Spanish “Hombre” in French is “Homme” from “Homo.” Homo is the “Hum” found in the word human, and in the Sanskrit mantra (which, by the way, stems from the words “Manas,” meaning man, and “Tra,” vehicle) “Om Mani Padme Hum.”
As we have said many times, the mantra “Hum” is the vehicle of the spirit, the monad. As we know, the spirit the monad is not a person but an entity, an intelligence, which abides in the 6th dimension, that contains what we call manas, “mind.” From that point of view, if we apply Latin to the word human we find the word ‘humus,’ which is that element, as we said, which is dirt, the dust of the Earth from which the man is made – Hum-man, Hum-manas. Do you see the similarity? Indeed, Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Chinese, Hebrew are, in their depth, rooted in the ancient Atlantean language, Watan. Watan is the language from which all of these ancient languages spring. That is why, gnostically speaking, we find similarities and roots in different languages, which always point to the same thing.
So, as we said the word Man is Homo, Human; that is, Humus and mind (manas). The mind is in a chaotic state. When you find an artisan that wants to make something with clay he of course puts the clay on the counter or wherever he is going to use to mold the clay. He starts molding it with water and with his hands, shaping it little by little, utilizing his intelligence to make of it a pot, a bowl, or whatever is in his mind. So likewise this humus in Latin is that element, that matter, that is molded by the monad, by the intelligence of the Innermost, within the laboratory of nature.
"The one that thinks is the mind, not the Innermost. The human mind in its current state of evolution is the animal that we carry within." - Samael Aun Weor
As we have stated in many lectures, the monad which is what molds the mind, is the intelligence that descends from the sixth dimension, into the world of Samsara. In Kabbalah we call this, Olam Assiah עולם עשיה, the world of matter and action. So in order for Olam Assiah עולם עשיה, the world of matter and action, to do what has to be done in the mind by the intelligence of a monad that has to effect the different kingdoms of nature, as we have already stated. It starts working with the humus of the earth, with the matter, the chaotic matter, the mineral kingdom, in order to form vehicles that will express its own intelligence, because that matter is, in the long run, an element that the intelligence, the monad, uses in order to manifest itself into the universe. Without matter God cannot exist. As the Master Samael stated “not even God can exist without the help of matter.” You have to understand that God is the monad that we always state comes from the unknowable divine.
Anything that exists has a beginning and an end, and everything that exists is nothing but matter in different levels of density. That is the humus that the intelligence molded from the very lowest level of manifestation: the mineral kingdom. When we say “mineral” we can understand that there is matter there, but not in the shape of plants, nor the shape of animals; rather, in a very unformed, simple manner, though it of course it can take on beautiful forms, physically speaking. Let us not go into the physical plane of the tridimensional matter yet because we are talking about the humus, which is also physical; but, this matter that begins being molded by the intelligence is protoplasmic matter that we always state is the first type of matter that the intelligence starts to mold, in order to manifest itself through it. The intelligence of the monad wants to manifest through that matter, in order to express itself or to develop its own qualities. Without the matter, God cannot express his own qualities. God needs matter in order to express his qualities. God is the monad, whose intelligence has no form.
This is something very important to understand because we always state that God has no shape, but takes shape with the help of matter. The protoplasmic matter is mental matter; it is mind. It is very important to understand that mind and matter are the same. This is why everything we perform first exists in the mind; the mind itself is matter, but more moldable than physical matter. So, this protoplasmic matter that we talk about as the “humus of the earth” is mental. In other words, as it is written in other Gnostics books, the intelligence of the monad uses the mind in order to manifest itself in the universe.
Behold here, the main point, that mind is matter. And, from that mind and that matter, humus in Latin— emerges the homo. Humus is pronounced “u’mus” and homo "o'mo", because in Latin the ‘H’ is not pronounced. Thus, from humus and homo—comes the homunculus, which in different gnostic books, traditions, and by philosophers, and many masters is defined as “small man.” So, Homunculi are small creatures made of humus, mental matter, which is that matter that animates the mineral kingdom. So, when you utilize your clairvoyance, that spiritual sight that grants you the power to see beyond the tridimensional world, or in other words, gives you the power to penetrate into the mental world: that is clairvoyance. Unfortunately this sense is atrophied among us. However, we can put that sense into activity, then we can see the protoplasmic matter that we are talking about, which is mind and all the forms and shapes that this matter takes in the unknown dimension .
So as we said, many books have been written that talk about these homunculi or little men that abide in the mineral kingdom. They are called gnomes and pygmies. These little dwarves are made of that mental matter, that protoplasmic matter; they are little intelligences that animate the humus, the matter. That is why they are called homunculi or homunculus. So, every single gnome or pygmy from the mineral kingdom is an intelligence that utilizes the protoplasmic matter and when you see them, they take the shape of little humans.
From this point of view we are stating that the homunculi, the homunculus, or the human shape that we have in this physical world, existed millions of years ago within the laboratory of nature, formed by the Cosmo-Creator intelligence. The objective of these monads, which abide within these protoplasmic homunculi, is to make physical that human shape, in order to, from that physical form, work on themselves and to make something superior.
That superior thing is what in Latin is called Vir. Vir, in Latin is translated as man, a hero, in different books. Homo is also translated as man, but they are not synonymous. Why? Because Vir is related to virilis, vigor, that entity or spirit, (h)ero-tic which is in sex, the sexual force which is divine. Vir is not synonymous with homo, but it abides within the humus, within the matter. Vir is precisely what the alchemists called the ens virtutis. There is another Latin phrase that we often utilize, which is ens seminis. Ens means entity, Seminis means seed, thus ens seminis is the entity of the seed or the entity of the semen. The seed itself is sexual matter, that obviously has to be utilized by the monad; the monad utilizes the ens seminis in order to mold the humus, the matter.
So, within the ens seminis is the ens virtutis. The ens virtutis is the very entity or intelligence of God, the Holy Spirit, that molds the ens seminis. Without the ens virtutis, the ens seminis cannot develop into what we know as human beings. But this ens seminis or entity of the seed is not only found in humans but also plants, animals, minerals. Ens virtutis is precisely the creative energy; it is the intelligence that works through matter.
Vir is Virach (विरच्) in Sanskrit, that shining element that acts in the matter, what we call the intelligence beyond matter. From this vir comes the word virility which is obviously associated with the sexual energy. From virility or vir, virtutis comes the word virgin, Virgo, from Latin, which literally means "ear of grain." Now we are descending into the depth of the matter: as we said, vir, like homo, means ‘man,’ but it is translated as the male gender, however, gnostically speaking, this vir is in fact the Will of God. It is the potency of that intelligence of the Holy Spirit that acts in matter. That is why, from the word vir- virgo, are derived many words. Virginia for instance is a feminine name, however, originally this name was not pronounced Virginia, but Virgina, and of course from that comes the word vagina. Vide – life, vino – wine. So as you see, we are showing here that, that word which in Latin means man, has a different meaning than that which is commonly; remember in Gnosis, when we say “man” we are not pointing at the male gender, but at the mind. The word man comes from the Sanskrit “manas” which means mind; the mind is the man, manas in Sanskrit, Latin homus-homunculus, which is created before the physical, tri-dimensional matter was manifested. If you investigate, with your clairvoyance, the mineral kingdom, you discover the gnomes and pygmies which are animated with the beautiful stones and rocks of the earth; they are of course depicted in many tales, always working with gold, with jewels, mineral treasures, within the mines of the earth.
Indeed those intelligences are the base for the things we call gold, iron, lead, copper, diamonds, emeralds, etc. Every single mineral is the physical vehicle of those intelligences. In those metals, those minerals, rocks and jewels, the protoplasmic bodies of the homunculus/homunculi, the matter that forms the bodies in the internal dimensions, is what evolves; it is those bodies belonging to the elementals of nature which are submitted to evolution. The protoplasmic bodies evolve and grow under the intelligence, the monad which is inside, shaping them and developing them according to the forces of nature, and in accordance with the rays of the cosmos. The physical matter that also evolves does so from that same intelligence. So the physical matter evolves because of the ens virtutis.
When we talk about evolution, we explain that evolution exists in this three dimensional world, because of the evolution of the protoplasmic matter. The protoplasmic matter evolves because of the intelligence that is behind it, which is the monad, the spirit. The spirit has no form but takes form in the matter.
In the plant kingdom the homunculi enter and take different shapes, different forms, in order to animate the physical matter of the plant kingdom. This is why, in the physical plane, we have trees, flowers, beautiful plants; it is because of those homunculi. They also abide in the internal dimensions and utilize the plants as physical bodies. Anyone that concentrates and develops clairvoyance can verify this. Let me give you an example in relation with my own experience: when I was in San Antonio, Texas I became very familiar, and good friends with the elemental of an Agave Americana. This is a beautiful plant, it is a type of cactus. This cactus is related with the planet Jupiter, in other words, it transforms the rays of the planet Jupiter, the cosmic rays. The plant is the physical vehicle of an elemental. We, Gnostics, utilize very often this plant for magical works, better said, for mental works, because we know how to utilize the intelligence of the Agave.
So, I wanted to perform some work with this elemental, and I concentrated on the plant in order to work with it from afar. I remember one day that the homunculus, the creature from that plant appeared as a gnome but, as he belonged to the plant kingdom, he was more evolved than the gnomes of the mineal kingdom. That homunculus appeared with the appearance of a twelve year old boy: white, pink cheeks like fire, a beautiful twelve year old homunculus, wearing only a loincloth. While I was meditating, he was singing his name in order to help me. “If want to work very often with me, just pronounce my name.” I have the name, here in my head, but I don’t tell you the name because this is something very personal, this is my friend and I don’t know if he would like to hear his name here.
So, I saw him in his beautiful protoplasmic, internal bodies. However, in the physical plane, the shape of his physical body was an Agave Americana – that Agave Americana cactus existed because of him. He enters and leaves the plant at his will. Indeed, we find that every single plant is a physical vehicle of any of these homunculi, these intelligences which we also call elementals, and that can also be called homo or mind. These homos (manas, minds, human souls) evolve within the internal dimensions, in order to animate the physical matter and to impel the evolution of the physical world; without them the physical matter in this physical world would not exist, it would be impossible.
Everything has its causes in the internal dimensions. So, through evolution, those homunculi enter from the plant kingdom into the animal kingdom. Those that have entered into that superior kingdom, their protoplasmic body, their mind is more evolved. Their mind is the vehicle that these creatures use in order to act, in order to express, along with the forces of nature, their own intelligence. In the animal kingdom we have also had many experiences with this homunculi or creatures, elementals from nature. Related with that loin cloth I remember another experience but this time with animals.
As you know, we Gnostics like to be involved with and work magic with animals but in the positive way. When I was in Toronto, Canada forming another Gnostic group, one of the students gave me two little kittens. One was like a tiger and the other was black, pitch black. Very beautiful cats. This is when you have to get them if you want to be friends with them, when they’re little. So they were of course playing there in the physical world, in the Gnostic school. At that time it was winter, and winter in Canada is very cold. So, that day we went to buy some chicken in order to make chicken soup for the next day. The kitchen was near the backyard where it’s very cold, so we didn’t need to put the chicken into the fridge because the whole kitchen was a real fridge itself. We put that chicken above certain plates in the upper cabinet of the kitchen in order to keep my little friends from eating it. The cabinet was maybe a foot high from the counter. So I said, “No problem leaving it here; these little monsters won’t take anything.” So we went to sleep and the next day when I awoke I found the chicken on the counter but to my surprise not even a single dish was broken. “What’s going on here? Did someone put the chicken on the counter for the cats in order to make me angry?”
So I was wondering who did this, and I talked with other tenants and they all said. “No, I didn’t do that, I didn’t put it on the counter.” Obviously it had been eaten by the cats. I decided that I would punish these little brats, in order to inquire and to know why they did that, because they should not do that. So I resolved not to feed them that day. Of course, when we were talking about that in the kitchen they disappeared, like magic, because they were guilty. They were hungry of course, because little kittens are always hungry, but I didn’t feed them, until they told me who did it and how they did it. I was more curious about how they did it you know, because they did not break any dishes.
I know they can communicate in the internal planes, in the astral plane. Physically you only hear “meow meow meow,” but in the internal planes you can talk to them, to these homunculi, these protoplasmic creatures; in the internal planes, they can understand and communicate with you.
So, the next night in the astral plane they came to me, the two little ones and they had the appearance exactly as we were describing the creature of the Agave Americana. They were different though, the little kittens in the physical plane were like boys eleven/twelve years old with the same loincloth covering their sexual organs, but with a human shape. I was talking to them, but the one that was addressing me was the black cat, the other tiger-looking one was not addressing me, he was silent.
Then the black one asked, “Why are you not feeding us? We are hungry.” “You know why,” I said; “Only when you tell me how you did it will I feed you.” Then he said, “Well my brother went inside the cabinet and pushed the chicken and I received the chicken on the counter and we didn’t break anything.” I said “Good, so, this is how you did it.” Of course he explained immediately the way he did it, because they are very intelligent. The black cat is more intelligent because the other one was always quiet. That day I went to the corner to KFC, and I bought two legs for them already fried and I put them on the floor. I said, “Ok, you are done with the punishment: eat them.” And they were looking at the chicken and looking at me like “Is this true or is this a test or something?” And I said “Go, go, don’t be afraid, eat it.”
After that hesitation, they finally were engorging themselves in the legs of that chicken. Funny, right? But it is true. Later on in time of course, the black cat became one of my best friends. The tiger type was always in the streets. Like an alley cat, he didn’t care. The black one was a very good friend and was close to me and helped me in many things related with astral projection. Then I discovered that Master Samael spoke about this in his book Gazing at the Mystery about how the homunculus of the black cat is very powerful.
Unfortunately, those homunculi can also be used by certain sorcerers in order to do evil things. The animal always obeys when it is punished, as you see. We must use them for good, because if you use them for evil, then we gain karma. So, here you see that in different times I have had experiences with elementals: animals, plants, etc. So, when we practice this becomes something not unusual.You too can have an experience like this.
When I experiment with these elementals, I discover that they always take a human shape in the internal planes and from that point of view, in my own experience I know that the human shape exists, before the physical plane; that is, the human form existed before it materialized in the three-dimensional world. It is not like the conventional science in this day in age asservates, the materialist anthropologists who think that the human shape comes from the ape; that a certain monkey transformed in time and became a human being. No, that shape is in the internal planes, inwards and upwards of its manifestation here, physically. It is in the protoplasmic form, it is a force related to evolution
That homo, or homunculus, the homunculi once it reaches a certain stage of development enters into the humanoid level. When they enter into the humanoid level, then they start giving to the physical matter a human shape. But, before they can get to that stage, they need the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, and mineral kingdom in order to mold that matter into the human in the physical plane. This is an ability that the monad acquires little by little, as it develops through the kingdoms of nature, in order to build a Homo Sapiens. This is another Latin phrase which means a ‘mind that thinks.’ In other words, a mind that has sapience, intelligence. We are Homo Sapiens. A mind with intelligence, a mind that reasons through intellect. That is the goal of evolution, of nature, to make Homo Sapiens.
In the time of Lemuria, when this planet was starting to crystallize in the three-dimensional world, the human physical shape, as we have it right now, had not yet appeared. The human shape was intermingled with the animal shape, because the protoplasmic form of the homunculi was developing into the human form, little by little. Finally, with the passing of time, and the mechanical evolution of nature, the human physical shape began appearing and it was different from the animal shape.
There is something about these matters that we have to understand: homo sapiens, you and I, that are developed as a consequence of the mechanical evolution of nature are not the human being, rather, we are just intellectual animals. We are a mind, manas (homo), human soul that, through evolution, acquires intellect. That is why the Greeks and Romans and many other ancient cultures knew about this, because they could see, just as I saw the plant and animals and other creatures, that the elementals had human shape in the internal planes. They knew it not because they read it, or because they had libraries, or scientists or anthropologists telling them it was this way. They were not blind as we are blind. They had the capacity to see into the internal dimensions. That is why they understood. That is why those initiates that saw those things and understood that the homo sapiens was the final level of evolution of this homunculi. It needed something else in order to go ahead in development. In regard to this, something came into my mind, which is a very important statement, it is mentioned in “Homo Nosce Te Ipsum,” as the following:
“I warn you, whoever you are, Oh! You who want to probe the arcana of nature, that if you do not find within yourself that which you are looking for, you shall not find it outside either! If you ignore the excellences of your own house, how do you pretend to find other excellences? Within you is hidden the treasure of treasures! Know thyself and you will know the Universe and the Gods.”
Similar to that passage of Jesus of Nazareth and Nicodemus in the gospel of John, which in Latin states:
“Erat autem homo ex Pharisaeis Nicodemus nomine princeps Iudaeorum” - John 3: 1
There was a man (homo) of the Jews (Iudaeorum) whose name was Nicodemus that came at night to talk to Jesus. And said: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a minister come from God: for no one can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”
Then Master Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say unto thee, except a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
In Delphic words, we will say, except a man is born again, he cannot know the Universe and the Gods.
Nicodemus was a homo sapiens in Malkuth, but he had to be born again, to know himself, to become a Filius Dei, in order to exit the wheel of Samsara, Malkuth, that is, in order to enter into the higher realms of the Tree of Life, into the higher Sephiroth which Kabbalah talks about. In other words: In order to be born again, first, one has to accomplish the phrase on the temple of Delphi “Homo Nosce Te Ipsum.”
“Nosce Te Ipsum” is a phrase that is directed to the mind, to the homo. So, utilize your ens virtutis, your intelligence, as I utilize it in the practical way in order to investigate these things that I am telling you about. You can do it too, because the same ens virtutis that I have inside in order to do it is also within you. Everyone has ens virtutis inside. So when we connet to our own virtutis, then we enter into the homo, into the mind, our mind.
Buddhism is the science that studies the homo, the manas, the mind. When we study our mind we then can go back into our past lives. Why? Because this homunculus, this mind of ours, that is a homo sapiens, has acquired different physical vehicles before this present one that we are using. In the internal dimensions, the homunculus is submitted to other laws and is given the opportunity to animate the physical matter through different lives. This is why Solomon said: “One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but (terra) earth (akash, matter) abides for ever”; this is called return, many people mistake the law of return for the law of reincarnation, and although similar, reincarnation relates to other laws.
So, “homo nosce te” is knowledge linked directly to our mind, because in our mind is the history of our own existence. If we are here, taking this human shape, it is because our intelligence—our monad, our spirit—shaped that through time; the humus of the earth, the soil, the clay that was shaped through evolution until now. Now that we have the shape of the humus of the homo sapiens we have the opportunity to work on ourselves in order to become a Vir, a true man. And this Vir is different from homo, because to become that, you have to work with the ens virtutis which is within our ens seminis, our own humus, our sexual seed.
“Nature, contains nature: Nature overcomes nature: and Nature meeting with her nature, exceedingly rejoices, and is changed into other natures.” - Roger Bacon
To transform nature into another nature: that is precisely the Greek mystery of Gnosis, the mystery of “Nosce Te," knowing oneself. We have to state if we want to know ourselves, then we have to go into our protoplasmic matter, into our mind and when we awake our mental senses then we discover our previous existences, not only at the humanoid level but at the animal, plant, and mineral levels.
This, however can only occur if we come into contact with our ens virtutis, that intelligence that exists within; but if we forget our intelligence, if we fall into the mistake of thinking that matter takes shapes and evolves without intelligence as the anthropologist or the materialistic science state, then we turn into ignoramuses. Remember: intelligence exists in everything.
When we awake, we then realize that we were blind, because we could not see beyond the three dimensional world. We were only using our five senses. If we use only the five senses we cannot go and prove what I am talking about. So then, we awaken our consciousness through different techniques, like meditation which is the main one. Then we go inwards, inside ourselves and we discover that because of our mistakes, because of our forgetfulness of our inner intelligence, we were acting mechanically and shaping that homus, that matter, into a troll within our inner world, creating what in Tibet are called psychological aggregates-skandas. Elements which are animal that took horrible shapes. These skandas (psychological aggregates, egos) are the protoplasmic bodies that of course, when you do not know how to control your intelligence, then with your false reasoning, you start creating mental trolls with your own sexual force, with the sexual energy that you have in your physical body. In this way, we form an ominous creature that the Scandinavian folklore portrayed as a mischieveous dwarf or giant that lives in Klipoth (hell), in caves, made of protoplasmic matter related to those elements that we call: anger, pride, self-esteem, greed, lust, gluttony, laziness, fear. Those elements that are in the protoplasmic bodies and are protoplasmic as well but in a devolving way.
Let me tell you another experience I had, related with this subject, in order to help explain to you what I’m talking about, and to show that I am not merely repeating what I have read in a book. One day, using one of the techniques that Master Samael Aun Weor gave us in many books, I went out of my body consciously; but, I was having a lot of problems, troubles with my lust as many of you may have. Obviously the animal, the homunculus is always related with animal behavior. So, I wanted to investigate and to see that homunculus element within me. I went out of my physicality and then I prayed to my own particular monad, my own spirit, my intelligence, “Please show me my own lust, I want to see it because I want to transform myself, I want to change.”
I wanted to talk with myself, or with that protoplasmic part of myself, that mental element that is within me. So, I did it and using certain clues and invocations that we know. Then that troll appeared in front of me, that part of my mind (I was the consciousness united with my own ens virtutis, of course). So, I saw my own mental projection before me. When I saw that troll, that creature or homunculus, in front of me, I saw somebody who looked exactly like me, as if I was looking at myself in a mirror. He had the same body shape, same face, same everything. With only one small difference: the eyes of that homunculus were red like fire. Then I understood this is my own lust. Of course, that experience continued—it was very long—but, with only this experience I proved that the protoplasmic body within me also had the shape of a human being. All of the elements that we call lust, anger, pride, vanity etc. also have the human shape within us. What the master Samael states, that each ego has a human shape, each psychological aggregate, each protoplasmic element, is true!
Unfortunately, however, we don’t have only one troll: we have many and these protoplasmic matters take the shape of homunculus within us. That is why in Gnosis we state that, if we take all the defects and vices that we have within, we form a neighborhood of people that are alive within us.
It is indeed unfortunately the case that the protoplasmic bodies within us are many and varied; they are devolving and that is why we are full of contradictions; one moment we say something then the next moment we deny what we said. Different protoplasmic elements within us have their own mind, their own reasoning, their own whim. So, the phrase Homo Nosce Te Ipsum points directly to the mind, but also beyond because it is stated in the temple of Delphi Nosce Te Ipsum: know yourself and you will know the universe and its Elohim (Gods), or in other words its intelligences, since Elohim means Gods and Goddesses, plural; we know that the unity is a multiplicity.
So, the Elohim, the gods, the intelligences of the universe exist inside of us, not outside. Intelligence resides beyond the protoplasmic matter. We find that intelligence, the monad, is in every single atom of the kingdoms of nature. So, those people that think that which we call God or Gods is something found in this three dimensional world, in the sky or in space are delusional. Such people are not serious in themselves; they are not investigating their own nature.
When we investigate our own nature and nature outside of us, we discover that intelligence is within matter, not outside. God is within each one of us and within everything we see in the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms. Not only on this planet Earth, but everywhere in the universe. If we want to discover the gods then we have to go inside, because if we don’t discover our own God within, then we cannot discover the gods without. When I say ‘discover the Gods without,’ this does not mean that they are external of matter, that is, found in the three-dimensional world, but rather, if you want to discover the great masters, angels, archangels, which are precisely outside of you, then you have to go inwards, into the internal dimensions, not the physical plane. In the physical plane you only discover the four kingdoms, whether on this planet or on other planets.
The intelligences that helps animate matter, as we have stated many times, are the monads; they have their own superior hierarchies that teach them and control them in the internal planes. There is one hierarchy in particular that I want to talk about because it is the hierarchy responsible for these Gnostic teachings, for this knowledge that we are giving now.
Who is Samael? He is the 5th of the 7 Spirits or superior hierarchies in this solar system. Samael has been studied in different levels by ancient esotericists. He is the archangel or intelligence that is behind the ens virtutis of the ens seminis, the sexual force in all the kingdoms. The name of the master or his complete name is Samael Aun Weor, which in the Hebrew language is translated as follows: Aun-און, meaning virility or sexual potency = vir. Weor ואור means ‘and light’. So Samael is Aun Weor, meaning, the virility of the light – light and fire. The Zohar states:
"Now the Serpent..." (Genesis 3:1). Rabbi Isaac said: The Serpent is the evil inclination (or instinctual sexual creative fire that induces animals to the orgasm). Rabbi Judah said, It is a real Serpent (or instinctual animal sexual creative fire in humans). They approached Rabbi Shimon, who said: Both interpretations are correct. It was (the creative cosmic fire of) Samael (from Geburah) and he was seen (as the ens virtutis or intelligence) on the Serpent (or instinctual animal sexual fire). The image of the Serpent (or instinctual animal creative sexual fire in fornicators) is Satan (or the kundabuffer organ that in our physicality incites the genitalia (Eve) and brain (Adam) to fornicate like the beasts. (Since) they are both (ens seminis, or habitats of) the same (ens virtutis in humans and animals).
"We have learned that Samael (the cosmic intelligence or ens virtutis of fire), descended from the heavens (of Geburah) riding on this Serpent (or cosmic creative fire) at that time (in Lemuria). All the creatures (within themselves) saw his (fiery) image and (through the orgasm) fled from him. Then approached the woman (the genitalia or creative feminine force in humans) with words (through the brain), and (because brain and sex in humans fornicated, they) brought death upon the world. So Samael cleverly (taught them how to control the creative fire, but they could not control their animal instincts, so they fornicated and thus, through the orgasm of the beast, they) brought curses upon the world, and brought damage to the first tree (or their central nervous system), which the Holy One (Binah), blessed be He, created in the world (of Eden).
"This sin (of fornication) rested with (the instinctual animal fire from) Samael, until (through sexual alchemy) another holy tree (or central nervous system) appeared, who is Jacob (Tiphereth, the heart), and took back the (fiery) blessings from (Geburah) to prevent (the instinctual animal creative fire from) Samael from being blessed above (in the brain) and Esau below (in sex). Jacob (the heart) resembled Adam and his beauty (Tiphereth) was like that of Adam. So, just as (through the orgasm, the instinctual animal fire from) Samael prevented the blessings from reaching the first tree (or central nervous system) so Jacob, who is a tree that resembled Adam (the brain or central nervous system), prevented the blessings from reaching Samael above (in the brain-Aries) and Esau below (in sex-Scorpio). Everything Jacob took (in the heart) belonged to him. Therefore, it is written: "And there (in Yesod) wrestled a (איש Eish, male fire, or) man with him" (Genesis 32:24).
"Now the Serpent was craftier" is the evil inclination (or instinctual animal sexual fire), the Angel of Death. As a result, the Serpent (or instinctual animal sexual fire) brought death upon the whole world (through Chavah-Eve, the sexual organ). This is the secret of the verse: "The end of all (fornicator) flesh is come before me" (Genesis 6:13), an end to all flesh by taking the soul (or archetypes) away from all the (protoplasmic) flesh. It is thus called (second death).” - Zohar
In the beginning of the crystallization of this three dimensional matter, which as you know happened in Eden-Lemuria, of this it is written:
“And Jehovah Elohim took Adam, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And Jehovah Elohim commanded Adam, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” - Genesis 2: 15-17
Then, it is stated that the sexes were separated in Eden. As it is written:
“And Jehovah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which Jehovah Elohim had taken from Adam, made he a woman, and brought her unto Adam. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” - Genesis 2: 21- 24
Then, when the sexes were separated, the woman or genitalia said to the serpentine instinctual creative fire:
“But of the fruit (the ens seminis) of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, You shall not eat of it (as the beasts), neither shall ye touch it (as the beasts), lest ye die (meaning, lest your ens virtutis die within you).” - Genesis 3: 3
“You shall not eat from the tree of knowledge—gnosis, scientiae—of good and evil” does not mean that you should not acquire knowledge or that you should be always stupid, to not investigate with your mind about things; the Tree of Knowledge in this case is the ens virtutis of your very sexual energy that creates or that molds the sexual matter or ens seminis.
This is why it is stated that the fifth of the seven archangels is the one whose wisdom is the Tree of Knowledge and he creates and forms the homo sapiens, whether in the physical plane or in the internal planes; in other words, in one of two ways.
When the manas, mind, man, homo has reached, according to evolution, the level of homo sapiens then he receives that statement from Jesus to Nicodemus “You have to be born again,” in order to enter into other realms. For that you need to activate the ens virtutis which is in your ens seminis in order to acquire knowledge; in other words, in order to develop vehicles which are not the lunar protoplasmic vehicles given by nature, but the solar vehicles of the monad, that will develop other senses in order for you to penetrate the higher realms of the universe, the higher sephiroth of the Tree of Life.
If you study the bible, you will see how gnosis, knowledge or daath דעת as it is written in Hebrew, is always associated with the sexual act. Let us read:
“And Adam knew (דעת daath) Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Kain, and said, I have gotten a (איש eish – male fire) man from יהוה Jehovah.”
And Adam knew (דעת daath) his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For Elohim said she (the genitalia), has appointed me another (sexual) seed instead of Abel, whom Kain slew.- Genesis 4: 1
So, the word for knowledge in Hebrew is Daath דעת, thus, “to know” is associated with the sexual act.
Indeed, if we want to know or to inquire about this then you’ll need the sexual energy. Your senses, for instance, in this physical plane—the five senses that allow you to hear, to see, to smell, to feel, to taste and thus know this physical world—were created within the sexual organ of your mother. Remember that you were in her womb, evolving for nine months, and the sexual energy, the ens virtutis, of your mother was creating your sight, nose, ears, and all of those senses in order for you to have cognizance of the physical world! So everything comes from the sex, because that seed, that sperm that was placed in the womb of our mother was before that found in the sexual organs of our father, in his own virility.
This is why it is written that the new man, the super man, the son of God, has to be born from a vir- gin. This Latin word virgin, derives from the Vir from virility or ens virtutis and Gin, djinn or the genie, the genes within our sexual force. So, it is in Genesis that we see how we have to be born again.
“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I ‘know’ not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost (Binah) shall come upon thee, and the power (the ens virtutis) of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” - Luke 1: 34, 35
Remember, I repeat, the superman who is made into the image of God is always born from a virgin, which is a Latin word – virgo, a maiden. When we look at the root of the word virgin, we go to the sexual organ, because that is the virility, the ens virtutis in the sexual organ. We have to create with the ens virtutits. We have to learn how to take that ens virtutis in order to acquire superior knowledge and that is always given by Samael because he is the one who rules the Tree of Knowledge. It is written in the Zohar and Kabbalah that this Jacob was the opposite of Adam, the sinner. Adam broke the commandment, you should not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil, and Jacob did the opposite.
“Just as Adam (the brain) was tempted by the serpent (or instinctual sexual creative fire that induce to orgasm in animals), Jacob (the heart) had to "bring a gift to the other side"; that is, he had to survive a similar trial of darkness and desire.” - Zohar
Jacob is the image of the good will, the other Adam that did not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. It is written that he learned chastity by fighting with an angel. Jacob fought with an angel, and the Zohar states that the angel was Samael.
They say that Samael—the cosmic intelligence of the ens virtutis of the sexual fire—when the two polarities of sexual fire were separated, descended from the heavens of Geburah riding the serpentine cosmic creative fire into the Tree of Knowledge, and Samael was the one who placed the ens virtutis in the fruit or ens seminis of Eve (genitalia) of that humanity.
The angel of virility is Samael Aun Weor. Aun און, as we said, means sexual potency, virility. He was riding a serpent like the rooster of the Abraxas, because those serpents are the symbol of the two polarities of the sexual energy. In other words, if you don’t control your own Samael, your own sexual potency the Virach, the shiny one, who is the superior man or the celestial heavenly man within you, will not appear within you. That is why it is written that Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a (איש, eish, fiery) man with him until the breaking of the day, and that after a long period of time of fighting with the fire of Samael. Samael told Jacob:
“Let me go, for the day breaks. And Jacob said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with Elohim and with אנשים Enoshim, and hast prevailed.” - Genesis 32: 26-28
Thus Samael blessed him and from that moment on “his name is no longer Jacob but Israel.” Which means the one who triumphed. That developed his own fire, Elohim, within. So, of course, that fight is the fight we always have in our sex.
Samael Aun Weor, the Bodhisattva of that cosmic force, stated: “No one is closer to Self-Realization than the one who is near to the 5th of the Seven... And no one is closer to the Abyss than the one who is near to the fifth of the seven... "
The sexual energy is the force that determines whether we go up or we go down. It is with, through the sexual energy that we can know ourselves, because that is the way to know our own monad, our own divinity, our spirit, by going within, by developing the Vir, varone as it is called in Spanish, the Superior Being.
So, homo sapiens are the outcome of evolution. All the mineral, plants, and animals will eventually become homo sapiens, as we are, having a mind to think, to reason. And when they arise to this level then they will receive the same opportunity that we are receiving: the opportunity of developing the Virach, the Vir, the superior man. We are not trying to develop the homo sapiens, we are already that, and moreover, the homo sapien eventually degenerates into homo ergaster or erectus, and homo habilis.
Most of the homo sapiens in this day and age are becoming homosexuals and that is not evolution but devolution. Homo in Greek is Andros. The superior man is precisely what we want to create within, and for that we have to take care of our sexual energy of our own en seminis, because in it is the entity of the seed or the ens virtuitis that creates, the divine potency that will create the superior mind within.
Through the mechanical, evolutionary processes of nature, the monad had the power to mold the humus, the matter and to have this protoplasmic body that we have mechanically. Now, the monad has to build with the superior type of matter, the solar matter, the superior bodies! We have to be born again! That is why we always state that we have to create the astral body, the mental body; but the astral body belongs to solar prana in the internal dimensions. We have to discard the protoplasmic bodies that belong to nature, to the mechanicity of nature, and create superior bodies in order to enter into higher realms. We always state that we have to begin with the creation of the astral body, in order to create the Vir, the Virach which is a shiny element that is called Jesus Christ in Christianity, the son of man within, the solar astral body. This is not a matter of believing, because all beliefs are within the homunculus. The homo sapiens who utilizes his mind has many beliefs, many dogmas, many theories. You can fill your mind will theories in the library, and in the church with dogmas, and beliefs but that does not change anything, that mind is just protoplasmic matter.
So, Homo Nosce Te Ipsum is fulfilled when your ens virtutis starts applying the knowledge (daath) within yourself; then, you discover that through it you become in contact with the Vir, with the virtutis of the Gods, of the angels, because they are not made of humus, they are made of another type of matter that is superior. Then you discover that what the ancients called gods, devas, angels, exist but in the superior dimensions, and they created immortal bodies with the science of the Tree of Good and Evil, the Tree of Knowledge, with the science of Gnosis. Thus, γνῶθι σεαυτόν gnōthi seauton is precisely what we point out here.
So, γνῶθι σεαυτόν gnōthi seauton, Homo Nosce Te Ipsum, and discover that you are homo sapiens; know you homo sapiens are submitted to the law of evolution and devolution. "Nosce Te!" If you go beyond and apply to yourself, the "Ipsum," the superior science, then you will be born again in the internal planes and you will be in contact with the gods. You will know the universe and the Gods. It is not that for instance, as people think, that you will read this phrase in Gnostic books and because you read a hundred Gnostic books you know what the gods are. No! You might know them in theory, intellectually speaking, but in order to know with your consciousness, in order to come into direct, conscious contact with the superior beings, with the elementals, with that homunculi, we need to know ourselves, to work with our ens virtuitis. We have had many experiences in the internal plane, since we are practical Gnostics. I have had many experiences with many beings that exist in the superior worlds, which are often called angels or devas or Gods, which are also called Jehovah, Allah and many other names.
We also know that the homunculi that do not follow the secret doctrine, in order to create internally superior beings, will eventually become demons. And they exist. I also have had many experiences with them, those who the are devolving homunculi that abide in Klipoth. Everything is internal you see. Of course we don’t want to know ourselves in order to know the demons, no! But in the beginning you know your own demons when you are applying Homo Nosce Te Ipsum. You discover them, and say to yourself, “Now that I’m applying Homo nosce te ipsum, knowing myself, I’m discovering that I have lots of demons within. That I’m a demon, I have to transform in order to become an angel.”
What is an angel but a creature that has been born from a different type of matter, a superior matter? That superior matter contains the ens virtuitis, the vir in Latin.
Do you have questions?
Audience: [Inaudible] How dangerous is when we lose the sexual energy in the orgasm?
Instructor: Well, the danger when you follow the animal way, that is, the orgasm, is that we lose the ens virtutis. The ens virtutis, which is the Virach, is the divine element from which God creates the human being through his own image; it is found within the seed, which is the ens seminis, the entity of the seed or the entity of the semen. That is why, in this this day and age, you find only the homo sapiens or the intellectual animals.
It is rare to find someone with superior bodies, and that is because they follow animal generation. With animal generation you sink into devolution. In other words you have to defeat temptation; you have to not eat the fruit. You have to fight with Samael, with the virility in order to receive his blessing. People that obey their animal instincts end up sinking into devolution, because that is the mechanicity of nature, the way the animal acts with orgasms. That’s the main point here that we are trying to state.
In order to know yourself you have to apply the knowledge, you have to apply the force of the Tree of Knowledge which is sex. Wisdom is related with Samael because the whole mystery of the Tree of Knowledge belongs to the fifth angel, Samael. That’s why in the Zohar it is stated that he is the one who gave the apple to eve while riding the serpent.
"And the fifth angel sounded (spoke), and I saw a star fall from heaven (Geburah) unto the earth (Malkuth our physicality): and to him was given the key of (Yesod) the bottomless pit." - Revelation 9: 1
Samael always appears with the key of the bottomless pit-Yesod, because the key relates to sexual alchemy, the superior aspect of our own sexuality. Samael is the angel who has the key of the abyss in his hands. The key, of course, is the mystery of Daath.
So the danger of reaching the orgasm is in losing your opportunity of becoming a Virach, a superior man.
Audience: The bible states to be fruitful and multiply. To me it sounds like…
Answer: Yes, it state: be fruitful and multiply. But, it doesn’t not say be fruitful and fornicate. Right? You don’t need to fornicate like animals in order to multiply yourself. There is two ways to multiply: the human (superior) way and the animal (inferior) way.
Audience: You have to have the orgasm to multiply.
Instructor: In the animal way yes, but in the human way no.
Audience: Then how are you going to have children?
Instructor: You can multiply without the orgasm there is a way.
Audience: How?
Instuctor: There is a particular technique, a particular practice for this: the way is by releasing one sperm, only one, and that is that the bible calls the children of God. Such a child is born without sin (in the act), animal generation in other words. The children of men according to the Bible are born with animal generation. In other words there are two generations. When you say the generation of the virgin, remember the virgin is the one that gives birth to the superman. Jesus of Nazareth was born of a virgin. That means the virility, the ens virtutis, of his own gens, of his own matter, because when you point for instance to the virgin, whether to a man or to a woman, it is understood as a person that never experiences sex in an animal way. That is virgin, right? That is in the common way. But apply that in the superior way so the virgin is the one that gives birth to the son of man. What is this telling you? You have to keep your virginity, your ens virtutis, in order to create within you the superior man.
Audience: Where is that written?
Instructor: Well in the bible. The virgin gave birth to the Logos, Jesus, who was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1: 13).
Audience: In what book?
Instructor: In the beginning of the gospel of John. Also the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke, but I don’t know the chapter or which verse because I don’t memorize the bible but I know it is written there in those gospels of John, Luke and Matthew. It is also written in the old testament.
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” - Isaiah 7: 14
The messiah always comes from a virgin, but people only think in the physical sense, in the female sex; a virgin is someone who still has a hymen in the vagina. In a man, a virgin is someone who never had sex. So in both sexes virginity means not to have an experience of the sexual act in the animal way. Virginity does not mean you should not have the sexual act. No. The sexual act is necessary but you should learn how to do it as human. In other words as written in Genesis you should not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. That is the meaning of it. The sexual act is necessary but you have to learn how to do it in the virginal way, through the ens virtutis.
Audience: So how is the man supposed to release one sperm?
Instructor: Well, you have to learn because that ability was lost millions of years ago with the fall into sin. Man does not have that power anymore; he has to develop it. The woman still has it because she releases one egg every month, the ovaries alternate. She has that ability. Man has lost that ability because of falling into animal generation. The man has to acquire that ability that the woman has, to release one sperm as she releases one egg. It will not come by dint of magic or because you believe in this or believe in that. You have to teach your body. You have to Homo Nosce Te Ipsum. Your mind has to learn how to know itself. To apply that and to develop it in a superior sense, in order to acquire that. The man of course is the one that needs to learn this, because the female already has the ability of releasing the one egg, but not the male. The man releases millions of seeds and you need only one.
Audience: [paraphrased] Talk about work with elementals and if there are any benefits to working with an animal that is fixed?
Instructor: The question is “Can you benefit from a cat that is neutered?” Yes, of course, but not in the same way, to the same degree with a cat that is not neutered, because the power of any animal, of any human, of any plant is that power in the seed, in the ens virtutis.
When you castrate an animal you take away from that animal the power through which they manifest. In order to explain this further, let me tell you of another experience that I had with another cat which was also black. I do not remember now in which city I was, but I remember I was working with that cat because I had lost the one who was a good friend of mine. So I acquired another black cat but this one was like the tiger one that I had, always in the streets, but very intelligent. I asked him to take me out of my body, pull me out. I remember that finally when I was falling asleep I was communicating with the homunculus, the elemental, the soul of the animal. Then he says “Just one time” and I said “Why?” He replied, “Because all the power I utilize in order to do that comes from my sex and I have many girlfriends in the street.” I said “Ok, do it”, but he would do it very fast then release me and said “I want to do it but I’m not interested” and I understood there that the power that the elemental utilizes is in his own seed. The power of any elemental is in the seed. When you want to utilize any plant remember that the power is in the seed. You plant that seed in the ground and another tree comes; without the seed, the ens virtutis, there is no development. It is the same with us, the power is in the seed.
And the elemental of the cat, in order to have animal sex, they need the power of the sex. But if the testicles are cut from the animal, then he cannot have sex anymore. He loses that ability. They can help you, but not in the same way, not to the same level.
In other words what the cat was telling me was this “If I help you to go in to astral plane anytime you want, the next time I’m with my girlfriend I won’t have any sexual potency because I will utilize that in order to help you.” That is what he was telling me. The sexual energy, the sexual force, is what they utilize in order to help. The one my friend had in Canada, really he was very isolated, he never wanted to come out, he wanted to be close to me and I appreciated it. But other cats like to go out. The ones that are neutered they can talk with you and maybe help you but I never really experienced that with a neutered cat. The powers in the sex: remember, without the power of the sex you cannot multiply. Life comes from it. We were created in the sexual organ of our mother, there we evolved. And before we were gestated in the womb of our mother, we came from the sexual organs of our father, in the animal way; but, here, in these teachings, we want to learn create in the elevated, human way.
