Margherita (the trapped and conditioned feminine consciousness), has lost her reason due to Faust’s abandonment and the death of her (divine) mother, since the sleeping potion had deleterious effects. Driven to insanity, the distressed Margherita, having born Faust’s child, drowns it in a pond to spite her absent lover. Faust is driven by remorse to seek her in the bowels of a prison with the help of Mefistofele, who provides the key to the initiatic mysteries and the means to unlock wisdom from the well of the world, the bottomless pit or abyss where knowledge must be found, discerned, and consciously integrated. Such a descent into the lower worlds is a common trope within mythological narratives, whereby the warrior (human) soul (Tiphereth) must face the terrors of hell and redeem the fallen consciousness (Sophia) from perdition. Such allegories reflect what Samael Aun Weor called the Ninth Sphere, the transformed and divinely-inspired sexuality between husband and wife who conquer desire and practice alchemy, chastity, or sexual transmutation. However, such a path is fraught with pain and hardship, since lust is difficult to extirpate, and “Bitterness”—(which defines many marriages)—“lies in the (alchemical) cup of even the best love: thus it arouses longing for the Superman; thus it arouses your thirst, creator (alchemist)” (Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra). Learn how to transmute the pain of the Ninth Sphere through a study of the 21st Arcanum of the Tarot, known as the Fool in conventional decks, whereby Margherita, the Essence trapped in our defects or ego, can be liberated towards the higher worlds of the initiatic path.

Resources and References:

Through the gifts of his newfound diabolic companion, Faust recuperates his vitality and youth, capitalizing on his new abilities in the effort to seduce Margherita, a beautiful but naive young woman from town. To assist in the magician’s sensual escapades and dangerous liaison, Mefistofele provides him with a sleeping potion to drug Margherita’s mother and therefore avoid detection during the lovers’ tryst. The couple declares their love despite the rocky foundations of their infatuous and hastened affair. Afterward, the devil transports Faust to the top of a dark (and bald) mountain (sparsely populated by trees) to partake in a Witches’ Sabbath: a Satanic ritual characterized by discordance, chaos, violence, lust, and power. Such dramatizations reflect the tremendous reality of and relationship between seduction and black magic: how the passionate fulfillment of lust and desire are the gateway to spiritual destruction and the development of egotistical powers. While modern people laugh and mock such metaphysical phenomena as the consequence and cause of blind fear, superstition, and ignorance, the truth is that such symbols demonstrate how anyone who cultivates lust with mystical devotion ends up as a demon, a being divorced from the eternal but awakened with powers in, of, and for evil. Such powers are driven by selfishness and produce terror and pain, emotions that are so masterfully depicted in Boito’s terrifying music and choruses in this act. Learn how to conquer lust and to comprehend the essential nature of witchcraft, sorcery, and the machinations of the Black Lodge (the congregations of infernal entities) so as to enact spiritual self-defense and the protection of our spirituality from dark forces.

Resources and References:

Like Beethoven, Arrigo Boito composed only one opera (Mefistofele), yet whose mystical allegory, musical power, and masterful lyricism continues to resonate with audiences worldwide. This clever yet profound opera also inspires, alarms, and, quite frequently, amuses. Based on medieval legends and Goethe’s play Faust, this work depicts the famous and jaded scholar who makes a bet with the devil: to acquire occult knowledge and faculties at the cost of his soul, or to conquer temptation in the service of the sacred. If Faust can overcome passion, power, and desire, he can enter the divine mysteries and spiritual hierarchies where true peace, realization, and understanding is to be found. Surprisingly, all of this occurs under the auspices of the Transcendent, for without divinely-sanctioned temptation and adversity, there is no development, mastery, or faith, like Jehovah approving of Satan’s afflictions upon Job to prove his candidacy to sainthood (Job 1:12). Or as described by Samael Aun Weor throughout his writings, “Temptation is fire. Triumph over temptation is light.” Discover how an initiate enters the secret path to liberation by facing the necessary forces of opposition and resistance—the mysterious and instructive tests of Lucifer (“the light-maker”)—so as to acquire profound self-knowledge and the wielding of esoteric powers with ethics, purity, and wisdom.

If you have not already, we recommend you listen to or study the following lecture, since it provides much background knowledge that will deepen your understanding of this opera:

The Eternal Tarot: Arcanum 15

See also the following resources and references:

The Greek brother-deities Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (death) symbolize the deep significance of these phenomena in relationship to spiritual awakening. By learning about the ways humanity is unenlightened or unconscious, it becomes possible to develop our complete potential and awaken to the realities of the spirit beyond death. See how through an exploration of four states of consciousness as well as many practices for understanding our internal mechanisms of distraction, delusion, and spiritual sleep.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/spiritual-sleep-and-mystical-death-why-we-are-unconscious-and-how-to-positively-awaken

To enter spiritual initiation, one must have inner balance, fortitude, and wisdom from practical experience, because the ordeals for proving one’s candidacy in the mysteries are arduous. Without psychological equilibrium, any adversity, accidental or ordained, will throw a person into chaos and disarray. This is why Gnostic students are always taught how to maintain serenity and balance their three brains: intellect, emotions, and actions, for even without the challenges of initiation, life presents difficulties that quickly disorient, disturb, and disable. See how to take advantage of difficult circumstances by harmonizing body, heart, and mind, acquiring deep insights into the psychological causes of affliction, thereby procuring personal knowledge for the alleviation of humanity’s suffering.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/psychological-equilibrium

"Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well." —Sylvia Plath, “Lady Lazarus”

Little do people acknowledge that before physical death, we first die in thirds (in bodily capacity, emotions, and mind—one at a time, or two to three if we’re reckless and daring). This depends on how often, quickly, and intensely we exhaust our resources through the abuses of everyday life, the latter which have produced an epidemic of physical and mental illness. However, healthy living is also an art, and a more preferable one with verifiable guiding principles, practices, and results. See how through an exploration of diet; religious observances around meat and vegetarianism; the five tattvas of esoteric Hinduism (or the energetic, spiritual elements in food); the three gunas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras; the three brains and their proper and improper functioning within Gnostic psychology; the symptomologies and spiritual causes of physical, emotional, and mental illness; the imbalances of body, heart, and mind in ultramodern living; meditative exercises for conscious management and optimal self-maintenance; the nature of and need for true inner equilibrium to attain high initiation; relevant practices for developing greater personal and social harmony, and much more.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/how-to-properly-nourish-body-heart-and-mind-or-else-die-in-thirds

Genuine spiritual healers are rare. Likewise, the process for finding and vetting them is also arduous, uncertain, and time-consuming, usually without positive results given the prevalence of charlatans and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15) who are eager to provide their services for a good buck. This is why it is more practical and beneficial to become one’s own healer, doctor, and master, since it is not only difficult to find uncorrupted traditions and practitioners with proven track records, but that real divine healers are not to be found primarily in the physical world, but in the internal worlds. Likewise, by awakening consciousness in the inner dimensions we inhabit during the normal hours of sleep, we also have more direct means of accessing and knowing the source of legitimate healing, which does not come at any price except a life of virtue and sacrifice for humanity. Discover and apply verifiable, reliable, and effective techniques from the Gnostic tradition of Samael Aun Weor to treat the spiritual causes of illness, thereby transforming oneself into a true Gnostic priest, magician, shaman, or healer.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/spiritual-healing-through-divine-medicinal-masters

The Mayans were not only advanced in astronomy, astrology, and mathematics, but also spiritual psychology. Explore the nature of our internal universe and the way to awaken consciousness through Mayan symbolism, mythos, and principles, beautifully demonstrated within The Flight of the Feathered Serpent, a revolutionary book of Mayan esotericism.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/mayan-principles-of-being

While modern occidental medicine recognizes and treats physical symptoms of disease, such prescriptions often fail to address the internal causes of illness, primarily since health is not merely a physical reality, but a multidimensional problem. The Gnostic tradition, on the other hand, offers deeper remedies for the psychological, metaphysical, and internal causes of sickness that can safely complement the work of medical professionals without causing serious complications. This is because complete human beings are not merely material, but energetic, conscious, and spiritual, and by simultaneously correcting both external infirmities and their internal causes, symptoms are alleviated and the root of disease can be comprehensively cured. See how through an exploration of the Tree of Life: a map of our body, psyche, and mind; the three brains of esoteric psychology; and the art and science of meditation.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/the-five-causes-of-illness

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” —Daniel 12:2

Not all “spiritual” awakenings are positive, demonstrated by the pervasive testimonies of those who profess enlightenment while their lives fall apart. Much of what is promulgated as legitimate mystical experience is often the byproduct of psychological negativity and internal conditions of mind, not the liberated, spontaneous, and free consciousness that knows how to resolve problems with intuition (the ability to discern and know without having to think). Learn how to differentiate between the illusory perceptions of conditioned selfhood and the harmonizing, equilibrating states of divine reality through practical exercises from authentic spiritual traditions.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/awakening-is-not-always-positive-manifesting-the-law-of-attraction-and-black-magic