"Lose Yourself"




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The Tree, the Serpent, and the Titans Pt. 1

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The Tree, the Serpent, and the Titans - from  The Hermetic Tradition by Julius Evola    One of the symbols that we encounter in diverse traditions remote in both time and space is that of the tree. Metaphysically, the tree expresses the universal force that spreads out in manifestation the same way that the plant energy spreads out from its invisible roots to the trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit. Consistently associated with the tree are on the one hand, ideas of immortality and supernatural consciousness, and on the other, symbols of mortal, destructive forces and frightening natures such as dragons, serpents, or demons. There also exists a whole cycle of mythological references to dramatic events in which the tree plays a central part and in whose allegory profound meanings are hidden. The biblical myth of the fall of Adam, among others, is well known. Let us highlight some of its variants, but not without first pointing out the universality of the symbolic...
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The Tree, the Serpent and the Titans Pt. 2

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View Part One here.    But the religious view is not the only one. As we have already shown above, this point of view is associated with a humanized and secularized variation on the "sacerdotal" (as opposed to "royal") tradition and is in no way superior to the other - the heroic - which has been affirmed in both Eastern and Western traditions and whose spirit is reflected in great measure by hermetism. One exegesis gives us, in fact, the "rod of Hermes" [footnote: In Athenagoras we find also an interference in the heroic cycle of Hercules; the one in which Rhea is bound by the "rope of Hercules"] as a symbol of the union of a son (Zeus) with his mother (Rhea, symbol of the universal force), whom he has won after killing the father and usurping his kingdom: this is the symbol of "philosophic incest" that we shall encounter in all of the hermetic literature. Hermes himself is, of course, the messenger of the gods, but he is also t...
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St. Nikolai of Ochrid: Lord, Bless My Enemies

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Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world. Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.  Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself...
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