As we have already discussed, the Myth we are considering describes the “real” world as a field of manifestation and actualization of consciousness, in which, however, this process does not occur “smoothly,” not optimally, not with maximum efficiency.
The cause and mechanism of this “non-optimality” the Myth calls the “spoiled,” “obscured” nature of the world, which can be viewed from two positions — as a distortion of the subject component, the obscuration of the surface of consciousness interacting with reality, and as “object” imperfection — the unsuitability of phenomena and processes to serve as “ideal objects,” interaction with which could ensure their perfect reflection in mind, and consequently its actualization.
In other words, both the cognitive gaze directed at describing and knowing reality and the “picture” itself, “reality” itself, the domain of cognition are “spoiled,” “distorted.”
At the same time, the Myth calls the “distorted” component of mind, the forces of obscuration within it, “demons” and considers them as beings and matrices that distort desires, while the “obscuring” component of the object field it calls “archons,” describing them as distortions of the forces of realization.
The Hermetic tradition uses to describe the entire totality of creative forces present in the universe, the vivid image of the “Chariot of God,” the “Merkabah,” described in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel.
This synthetic image, perfectly reflecting the general “skeleton” of any creative act, includes both “illuminated” activities expressed in cherubic and ophanic figures and “obscured” components symbolized by the surrounding shells, the “qlippoth”: anan gadol — “great cloud,” esh mitlakaḥat — “flashing fire,” ruaḥ se‘arah — “raging wind,” to which the “Book of the Prophet Elijah” adds qol demamah daqqah — “voice of subtle silence,” as well as the surrounding “radiance” (nogah, נוגה), corresponding to the Limit, the Choros, between the obscured and the pure components of the world and mind.
Thus, a scheme arises of four “impure” and one “radiant” “shell,” which has several levels of understanding and interpretations.
The “great cloud” is a counterweight to the “Cloud of Glory” (“Anan Kavod”), a distortion of the “concealment” of the Godhead, the transformation of the world’s “not-yet-known state” into a refusal to know: instead of unfolding the filling of the world with Light, gradually “opening” it, the “cloud” separates Heaven and earth with an insurmountable barrier. Similarly, “ruaḥ se‘arah,” the destructive hurricane, is a distortion of Ruaḥ ha-Qodesh — the Spirit of the living; it is the destruction of the principle of vitality; and esh mitlakaḥat, the “scorching fire,” is a distortion of Shamaim — the heavenly Fire of creation.
At the same time, the properly “impure” shells seen by Ezekiel can be considered:
as three levels of the “spoiled” nature of the universe — respectively at the Creative (Briah), Formative (Yetzirah), and Manifest (Assiah) levels;
as three forms of the corrupted nature of mind — at the levels of ruaḥ, nefesh, and guf;
as three kinds of “impure” elements arising as a result of the distortion of water, fire, and air respectively.
If we expand this scheme including Elijah’s vision, then we can obtain the image of a “destructive quaternary” underlying all “spoiled,” demonic vortices; and if we add to it also the “radiant” image, then the concept of the “five impure,” accepted by the Manichaeans and the Mandaeans, arises. In addition, one can consider Ezekiel’s “three shells” as three demonic worlds, a destructive psychocosmos, and the “voice of silence” as the numbing influence of heimarmene — an imperfect creation of the Blind God.
The concept of “impure elements,” as forces of “resistance” of the material to the spiritual, is examined in greatest detail in Manichaean writings.
According to these ideas, the history of the world begins from the moment when Matter — an active principle of Darkness — attempted to seize the Light on its own, to possess it.
As a result, the five elements of Darkness arose, which are also called the five “seeds” of the flesh (the Kabbalistic “koah ha-guf” (כוח הגוף) — literally “power of the body”): in opposition to the “pure” elements of air, fire, water, breath and light, Matter created the “impure” smoke, conflagration, poison, hurricane and darkness. “Smoke” is spoiled air and, at the same time, polluted thoughts; “conflagration” is destructive fire and uncontrolled desires; “poison” is “rotten” water and destructive emotions; “hurricane” is the destruction of vitality; and “darkness” is ignorance. Thus, impurity is described as a simultaneous distortion of the world (the three Kabbalistic primary elements) and the mind (the duality of life and cognition).
Then Matter began to grow from these elements five kinds of trees — its embodiments — which later ripened and bore their fruits of obscuration. From the fruits of the five trees grown from Matter, five archons were born — demons of Darkness. The demons of Darkness are described as two-legged, four-legged, winged, swimming and crawling, depending on the world from which they originated. Each world has its supreme archon, who is the king of that element: the king of the world of fire is a frenzied lion; the king of the world of wind is an evil eagle; the king of the world of water is a poisonous fish; the king of the world of darkness is a dragon. The strongest of them is the king of the world of smoke — a five-headed demon, who led the forces of darkness raised by Matter in an attack on the Light. In the course of this war the forces of matter seized part of the Light and mixed with it.
In response, the Mother of Light and the bright gods sent the Primal Man into battle. Having clothed himself in the bright elements, he descended into the zone of mixture and entered into combat. However, as his victories in battle accumulated, he gradually surrendered his elements, binding and limiting the elements of Darkness so that they would not spread. Thus, air bound smoke; fire bound fire; water bound dark water; and light bound darkness.
This picture not only emphasizes the “obscuring,” capturing and enslaving-the-mind aspect of the material world, but also lays paths toward overcoming this obscuration. Each aspect of mind, each of its enlightened activities, must “penetrate” into the obscured region of being that corresponds to it, correcting and purifying it. Such a concept has much in common with Buddhist ideas of the five Illuminated families of Buddhas and their transformation of the poisons of mind into corresponding wisdoms.
In any case, an important point is the idea of the necessity of a complex, two-sided transformation of obscurations: correction must be undergone not only by mind, but also by the environment, and the purification of view, the cultivation of gnosis, is interrelated and interdependent with the correction of the support, the transformation of the objective sphere.
That is precisely why the Hermetic tradition is a path of integral development, for which not only “inner work” is important, not only the purification and development of mind, but also “external” manifestations, active practice directed toward the “cultivation of the garden,” the ordering and harmonization of matter.
If the environment in which consciousness exists is distorted, is enlightenment possible within this world, or is a fundamental transformation, a ‘correction’ of reality itself required? And if the purification of consciousness and the rectification of matter are interconnected processes, how can a practitioner balance work on both levels to avoid leaning either towards isolated inner development or utopian attempts to ‘change the world’ without inner realization?
The Hermetic tradition asserts that consciousness and the environment are two sides of one reality, and their development must always be balanced. If a mage concentrates solely on inner transformation without engaging with the surrounding world, they risk retreating into isolation, creating mere self-deception that finds no real manifestation. Conversely, if they strive solely to change the external environment without working on themselves, their actions will inevitably be superficial, as they will act from a distorted state. Thus, the primary challenge is to align internal and external transformation while avoiding a one-sided bias that could lead either to illusory enlightenment or a utopian struggle with the world. It is clear that the correction of the world can occur from two sides: through consciousness (purifying perception, eliminating demonic distortions within, developing true knowledge), and through matter (working with the object-world, transforming surrounding reality, alchemical and magical work). A classical example of such balance is alchemy, which sought simultaneous transformation of matter and consciousness: alchemical sulfur embodies the activity of spirit, its penetrating, transformative power; alchemical mercury represents the inertness of the environment, its propensity for chaos and disintegration; and alchemical salt symbolizes their imperfect union, the material world. The task of alchemy lies in the proper integration of sulfur and mercury, creating the ‘philosopher’s stone’ – a perfect object, simultaneously a perfect state of consciousness. If a mage focuses solely on internal work (contemplation, meditations, visualizations) but ignores the object world, the risk of passive mysticism arises. Therefore, practices must include active work with matter, whether it be alchemy, craftsmanship, constructing harmonious systems, or organizing space. If the mage seeks to change the world but does not transform their consciousness, they fall into the trap of fighting against a distorted reality, being a product of it themselves. Hence, any work with the objectual sphere must incorporate self-development, purification of outlook, and liberation from illusions. In other words, matter must be rectified not just externally but also through the realization of its connection to spirit. Another example of balancing work on consciousness and the environment could be called ‘symbolic architecture’ – the construction of temples, altars, artifacts that are reflections of the spiritual path, as well as the creation of magical items, talismans, amulets that reflect the inner process of change. The same goes for organizing one’s physical space, following principles of harmony (feng shui, hermetic geometry), creating ‘places of power’, energetic points that not only improve subjective states but also enhance the environment itself. It is vital to continuously generate the consciousness that the external environment is not merely ‘the world’ but a reflection of consciousness that can and should be meaningfully corrected. The Hermetic tradition suggests that a perfect being is born not merely through the rectification of consciousness but also through the rectification of matter. Exit from duality involves not rejection of matter but its elevation and harmonization through conscious action. This approach creates balance between Spirit and the World, which is the goal of the Hermetic tradition and the Great Work.
If the environment in which consciousness exists is distorted, is enlightenment possible within this world, or is a fundamental transformation, a ‘correction’ of reality itself required? And if the purification of consciousness and the rectification of matter are interconnected processes, how can a practitioner balance work on both levels to avoid leaning either towards isolated inner development or utopian attempts to ‘change the world’ without inner realization?
The Hermetic tradition asserts that consciousness and the environment are two sides of one reality, and their development must always be balanced. If a mage concentrates solely on inner transformation without engaging with the surrounding world, they risk retreating into isolation, creating mere self-deception that finds no real manifestation. Conversely, if they strive solely to change the external environment without working on themselves, their actions will inevitably be superficial, as they will act from a distorted state. Thus, the primary challenge is to align internal and external transformation while avoiding a one-sided bias that could lead either to illusory enlightenment or a utopian struggle with the world. It is clear that the correction of the world can occur from two sides: through consciousness (purifying perception, eliminating demonic distortions within, developing true knowledge), and through matter (working with the object-world, transforming surrounding reality, alchemical and magical work). A classical example of such balance is alchemy, which sought simultaneous transformation of matter and consciousness: alchemical sulfur embodies the activity of spirit, its penetrating, transformative power; alchemical mercury represents the inertness of the environment, its propensity for chaos and disintegration; and alchemical salt symbolizes their imperfect union, the material world. The task of alchemy lies in the proper integration of sulfur and mercury, creating the ‘philosopher’s stone’ – a perfect object, simultaneously a perfect state of consciousness. If a mage focuses solely on internal work (contemplation, meditations, visualizations) but ignores the object world, the risk of passive mysticism arises. Therefore, practices must include active work with matter, whether it be alchemy, craftsmanship, constructing harmonious systems, or organizing space. If the mage seeks to change the world but does not transform their consciousness, they fall into the trap of fighting against a distorted reality, being a product of it themselves. Hence, any work with the objectual sphere must incorporate self-development, purification of outlook, and liberation from illusions. In other words, matter must be rectified not just externally but also through the realization of its connection to spirit. Another example of balancing work on consciousness and the environment could be called ‘symbolic architecture’ – the construction of temples, altars, artifacts that are reflections of the spiritual path, as well as the creation of magical items, talismans, amulets that reflect the inner process of change. The same goes for organizing one’s physical space, following principles of harmony (feng shui, hermetic geometry), creating ‘places of power’, energetic points that not only improve subjective states but also enhance the environment itself. It is vital to continuously generate the consciousness that the external environment is not merely ‘the world’ but a reflection of consciousness that can and should be meaningfully corrected. The Hermetic tradition suggests that a perfect being is born not merely through the rectification of consciousness but also through the rectification of matter. Exit from duality involves not rejection of matter but its elevation and harmonization through conscious action. This approach creates balance between Spirit and the World, which is the goal of the Hermetic tradition and the Great Work.