Comte de Gabalis
Encyclopedia
The Comte De Gabalis is a sacred text for Rosicrucians and spiritual adept
s. It is composed of five discourses given by a Count or spiritual master to the student or aspirant. It was anonymously published in 1670 under the title Comte De Gabalis. The meaning suggests the Count of the Cabala
as the text is cabalistic in nature. The "Holy Cabala" is mentioned explicitly throughout. The first English translation was rendered in 1680. Only in later publishings did the name Abbé N. de Montfaucon de Villars become attached to this work as being its author.
Nevertheless, the importance of who the Comte actually is, is hinted at and among Spiritual societies and groups, it is held to be 'The Polish Rider' -- as he rode westward. At the beginning of the text is a painting by Rembrandt titled The Polish Rider
. This painting can be viewed at the Frick Collection
, New York City. However, those there who attend to this painting are not aware of who the 'Polish Rider' is.
Rosicrucian adepts and members of certain spiritual organizations, such as the "I AM" Activity or Saint Germain Foundation
, believe that it is Sir Francis Bacon
— who, they claim, wrote the Shakespeare plays, employing the pen name "William Shakespeare" — earlier in his illustrious career. Therefore, Francis Bacon at a later date, and just prior to 1670, would have given five discourses under another another pen name 'Comte De Gabalis'. This personage, it is held, disappeared for a time before returning again before the public with a new and final name 'Sanctus Germanus' which means "Germain or Pertaining to the Saints". Today, this name is widely known and recognized as being the Ascended Master
Saint Germain
.
Highlights in this work include prints by Rembrandt, scroll of The Birth of Jesus as related in the Koran, explanation of famous stories and histories such as Melusine
, so forth. In English editions published by The Brothers, an extensive commentary by Lotus Dudley was included. The commentary is simply a means of assisting the reader to understand the points being made in the text which are historical and based in fact. Thus, it is considered a work of nonfiction. However, to an everyday reader, it is often considered a novel or work of fantasy.
C.H. Bjerregaard says,
The book begins with a quote by Tertullian
: "When a thing is hidden away with so much pains, merely to reveal it is to destroy it".
The book consists of five Discourses that center on the topic:
Mary Baker Eddy
is quoted in the Brother's Edition commentary, added by Lotus Dudley, stating, "Divorces should warn the age of some fundamental error in the marriage state. This underscores the purpose of the text which is for a young man or woman to refrain from all sensual contact with the opposite gender and employ that energy for a higher purpose and good. Not only is this the way to spiritual understanding but, according to the text, the original divine plan for humanity. The first or original sin between Adam and Eve
was sexual (eating of the fruit). They were not intended to physically unite but to refrain. As a result, the representatives of humanity lost their divine ability to commune with God, and had to work or labor to survive; and for the first time, women gave birth in pain. The children were not heroic and thus born in "original sin
" since the birth was a result of wrong sexual use. But, other "Trees" and "Fruits" were available and God-given.
"There were giants in the Earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." This was the divine plan that heroic, "mighty men" would be born from the "sons of God", which are the "Children of the Elohim
", partnered and mated with the "children of men" -- humans. The children of the Elohim are the mortal Beings of the Elements. Paracelsus
discussed these very evolved beings as Gnome
s, Nymph
s, Sylph
s and Salamanders
. The females are called Gnomides, Nymphs, Sylphids and Salamanders or Salamandrines. They are in-between the Angelic and human kingdoms. In purity, they are higher than almost all humans except for Adepts, Philosophers and Sages—because they do not have an Unfed Flame or Eternal Spirit. Thus, they are mortal. The original divine plan was for them to unite with humans, who, having an Unfed Flame, were able to transcend the human qualities and become Eternal and Immortal. Through this union, the Being of the Elements hoped to share in this Immortality and be given the same opportunity to Ascend to God, the Father-Mother of all.
Socrates
himself through the hand of Plato
, states that the "daimon
as" were highly evolved. These are the elemental spirit beings. The Comte also quotes Saint Augustine who notes the many occurrences of such meetings of humans with so-called satyr
s, faun
s and the like. The Comte states that the Beings of the Elements were the givers of the Oracles and because of their powers, were looked at as gods. They were the gods of the ancient Greeks. In the Hebrew Bible, mention is made of the teraphim
, and the Comte states that the Beings of the Elements spoke through these to enlighten their owners as well as through virgin maidens who became priestesses. They were the purveyor of oracles to the masses and lived a life of purity to do so. Everyone or anyone who would wish to contact such a being is called to a life of purity, chastity and prayer.
The Comte tells the student not to seek after human relationship and marriage, but to know that marriage with a Gnomide, Nymph, Sylphid or Salamander is a much higher calling. This is the calling of the true sage or philosopher. The Gnome or Gnomide is of the Earth Element. The Nymph is of the Water Element. The Sylph or Sylphid is of the Air Element, and the Salamander is of the Fire Element. The Fire Element being the highest and purest element, the Salamander people are noted for their great beauty. They also live longer than any other element because of this purity; up to 1,200 years. In comparison, a Gnome, Nymph or Sylph may live three to five hundred years. But again, they are mortal so they would, at the end of their lifespan, die.
For a human who passes on after a life of 70 or so years, they will experience re-birth (the law of re-embodiment), and so will have another chance to obtain the goal of life; and if successful, will Ascend. The original divine plan, was for such a human to lead a Being of the Element to Eternal Life—where he or she would not die but become immortal like their partner.
The Comte gives example after example of such unions, their children and the historical stories of those who have become Immortalized or assisted in the Immortalization of a Being of the Elements. Those who misunderstood, such as religious organizations, often condemned these relationships. Hence, the definitions of such beings as being incubi or succubi, demon
s, devil
s, or animals; while their partners were often labeled as witches or sorcerers.
Lord Francis Bacon's (Shakespeare's) plays abound in elemental beings: Puck
and Ariel
. Alexander Pope
was influenced by the Comte De Gabalis in his Rosicrucian poem The Rape of the Lock
. Sylphs have been the favorites of the bards. The Mahabharata
is full of stories about beings of the elements and their heroic offspring with their human partners. Similar themes and references are found in Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey in which the elemental beings as noted by the Comte appear as gods and goddesses such as the mighty Zeus, Hera, Aprodite, Athena, Apollo, and Achilles
, son of a mortal man and the goddess nymph Thetis
. La Motte Fouqué
wrote about a beautiful water-nymph in his novella Undine
, and Sir Walter Scott
endowed the White Lady of Avenel with many of the attributes of the Nymphs. See Lord Lytton's Zanoni
, James Barrie's Tinker Bell; and the bowlers Rip Van Winkle
encountered in the Catskill Mountains
. The story of Melusina is based on the historical marriage of a gentleman and a water Nymph. Charles Mackay
, father of Marie Corelli, wrote "Salamandrine", a poem about a great love between a human and a female Salamander. Cabalism, in general, influenced many mediaeval poems as well as the writings of Dante
.
Adept
An adept is an individual identified as having attained a specific level of knowledge, skill, or aptitude in doctrines relevant to a particular author or organization.-H. P. Blavatsky:...
s. It is composed of five discourses given by a Count or spiritual master to the student or aspirant. It was anonymously published in 1670 under the title Comte De Gabalis. The meaning suggests the Count of the Cabala
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
as the text is cabalistic in nature. The "Holy Cabala" is mentioned explicitly throughout. The first English translation was rendered in 1680. Only in later publishings did the name Abbé N. de Montfaucon de Villars become attached to this work as being its author.
Nevertheless, the importance of who the Comte actually is, is hinted at and among Spiritual societies and groups, it is held to be 'The Polish Rider' -- as he rode westward. At the beginning of the text is a painting by Rembrandt titled The Polish Rider
The Polish Rider
The Polish Rider is a 1655 painting of a man traveling on horseback through a murky landscape, now in the Frick Collection in New York. When the painting was bought by Henry Frick in 1910, there was consensus that the work was by 17th-century Dutch painter Rembrandt...
. This painting can be viewed at the Frick Collection
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...
, New York City. However, those there who attend to this painting are not aware of who the 'Polish Rider' is.
Rosicrucian adepts and members of certain spiritual organizations, such as the "I AM" Activity or Saint Germain Foundation
Saint Germain Foundation
The Saint Germain Foundation is a religious organization, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with a major facility just north of Dunsmuir, California, in the buildings and property of the Shasta Springs retreat...
, believe that it is Sir Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
— who, they claim, wrote the Shakespeare plays, employing the pen name "William Shakespeare" — earlier in his illustrious career. Therefore, Francis Bacon at a later date, and just prior to 1670, would have given five discourses under another another pen name 'Comte De Gabalis'. This personage, it is held, disappeared for a time before returning again before the public with a new and final name 'Sanctus Germanus' which means "Germain or Pertaining to the Saints". Today, this name is widely known and recognized as being the Ascended Master
Ascended master
Ascended Masters, in the Ascended Master Teachings is derived from the Theosophical concept of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or "Mahatmas", though they differ in important aspects...
Saint Germain
Germain of Paris
Saint Germain was a bishop of Paris, who was canonized in 754. He is known in his early vita as pater et pastor populi, rendered in modern times as the "Father of the Poor".-Biography:...
.
Highlights in this work include prints by Rembrandt, scroll of The Birth of Jesus as related in the Koran, explanation of famous stories and histories such as Melusine
Melusine
Melusine is a figure of European legends and folklore, a feminine spirit of fresh waters in sacred springs and rivers.She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down...
, so forth. In English editions published by The Brothers, an extensive commentary by Lotus Dudley was included. The commentary is simply a means of assisting the reader to understand the points being made in the text which are historical and based in fact. Thus, it is considered a work of nonfiction. However, to an everyday reader, it is often considered a novel or work of fantasy.
C.H. Bjerregaard says,
To a reader who cannot or will not believe that the Comte de Gabalis was a real person, but merely a fiction...., the advice is that he leave the question open and attend to the teachings of the book.... All this has meaning to those only of the Inner Life... .....the man and the book...leave a subtle influence upon the mind and prepare it for a flight upwards.
The book begins with a quote by Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
: "When a thing is hidden away with so much pains, merely to reveal it is to destroy it".
The book consists of five Discourses that center on the topic:
- Nature of the Divine Principle in Man: The Student meets the Comte
- Evolution of the Divine Principle in Man: The People of the Elements
- Man's Place in Nature: The Oracles
- Children of the Sun: Children of the Philosophers
- The Life of the True Light is Radiation: Charity of the Philosophers
Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Eddy was the founder of Christian Science , a Protestant American system of religious thought and practice religion adopted by the Church of Christ, Scientist, and others...
is quoted in the Brother's Edition commentary, added by Lotus Dudley, stating, "Divorces should warn the age of some fundamental error in the marriage state. This underscores the purpose of the text which is for a young man or woman to refrain from all sensual contact with the opposite gender and employ that energy for a higher purpose and good. Not only is this the way to spiritual understanding but, according to the text, the original divine plan for humanity. The first or original sin between Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
was sexual (eating of the fruit). They were not intended to physically unite but to refrain. As a result, the representatives of humanity lost their divine ability to commune with God, and had to work or labor to survive; and for the first time, women gave birth in pain. The children were not heroic and thus born in "original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
" since the birth was a result of wrong sexual use. But, other "Trees" and "Fruits" were available and God-given.
"There were giants in the Earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." This was the divine plan that heroic, "mighty men" would be born from the "sons of God", which are the "Children of the Elohim
Elohim
Elohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives elohim is usually plural, "gods" or...
", partnered and mated with the "children of men" -- humans. The children of the Elohim are the mortal Beings of the Elements. Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
discussed these very evolved beings as Gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
s, Nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
s, Sylph
Sylph
Sylph is a mythological creature in the Western tradition. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air...
s and Salamanders
Salamander (legendary creature)
The salamander is an amphibian of the order Urodela. As with many real creatures, pre-modern authors often ascribed fantastic qualities to it , and in recent times some have come to identify a legendary salamander as a distinct concept from the real organism. This idea is most highly developed in...
. The females are called Gnomides, Nymphs, Sylphids and Salamanders or Salamandrines. They are in-between the Angelic and human kingdoms. In purity, they are higher than almost all humans except for Adepts, Philosophers and Sages—because they do not have an Unfed Flame or Eternal Spirit. Thus, they are mortal. The original divine plan was for them to unite with humans, who, having an Unfed Flame, were able to transcend the human qualities and become Eternal and Immortal. Through this union, the Being of the Elements hoped to share in this Immortality and be given the same opportunity to Ascend to God, the Father-Mother of all.
Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
himself through the hand of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, states that the "daimon
Daimon
Daimon is an Ancient Greek word referring to lesser supernatural beings, including minor gods and the spirits of dead heroes.It may also refer to:- People :* Daimon Shelton , professional American football player...
as" were highly evolved. These are the elemental spirit beings. The Comte also quotes Saint Augustine who notes the many occurrences of such meetings of humans with so-called satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s, faun
Faun
The faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
s and the like. The Comte states that the Beings of the Elements were the givers of the Oracles and because of their powers, were looked at as gods. They were the gods of the ancient Greeks. In the Hebrew Bible, mention is made of the teraphim
Teraphim
Teraphim is a Hebrew word from the Bible, found only in the plural, of uncertain etymology. Despite being plural, Teraphim may refer to singular objects, using the Hebrew plural of excellence...
, and the Comte states that the Beings of the Elements spoke through these to enlighten their owners as well as through virgin maidens who became priestesses. They were the purveyor of oracles to the masses and lived a life of purity to do so. Everyone or anyone who would wish to contact such a being is called to a life of purity, chastity and prayer.
The Comte tells the student not to seek after human relationship and marriage, but to know that marriage with a Gnomide, Nymph, Sylphid or Salamander is a much higher calling. This is the calling of the true sage or philosopher. The Gnome or Gnomide is of the Earth Element. The Nymph is of the Water Element. The Sylph or Sylphid is of the Air Element, and the Salamander is of the Fire Element. The Fire Element being the highest and purest element, the Salamander people are noted for their great beauty. They also live longer than any other element because of this purity; up to 1,200 years. In comparison, a Gnome, Nymph or Sylph may live three to five hundred years. But again, they are mortal so they would, at the end of their lifespan, die.
For a human who passes on after a life of 70 or so years, they will experience re-birth (the law of re-embodiment), and so will have another chance to obtain the goal of life; and if successful, will Ascend. The original divine plan, was for such a human to lead a Being of the Element to Eternal Life—where he or she would not die but become immortal like their partner.
The Comte gives example after example of such unions, their children and the historical stories of those who have become Immortalized or assisted in the Immortalization of a Being of the Elements. Those who misunderstood, such as religious organizations, often condemned these relationships. Hence, the definitions of such beings as being incubi or succubi, demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s, devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
s, or animals; while their partners were often labeled as witches or sorcerers.
Lord Francis Bacon's (Shakespeare's) plays abound in elemental beings: Puck
Puck (Shakespeare)
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream that was based on the ancient figure in English mythology, also called Puck. Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave...
and Ariel
Ariel (The Tempest)
Ariel is a spirit who appears in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Ariel is bound to serve the magician Prospero, who rescued him from the tree in which he was imprisoned by Sycorax, the witch who previously inhabited the island. Prospero greets disobedience with a reminder that he saved...
. Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
was influenced by the Comte De Gabalis in his Rosicrucian poem The Rape of the Lock
The Rape of the Lock
The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany in May 1712 in two cantos , but then revised, expanded and reissued under Pope's name on March 2, 1714, in a much-expanded 5-canto version...
. Sylphs have been the favorites of the bards. The Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
is full of stories about beings of the elements and their heroic offspring with their human partners. Similar themes and references are found in Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey in which the elemental beings as noted by the Comte appear as gods and goddesses such as the mighty Zeus, Hera, Aprodite, Athena, Apollo, and Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
, son of a mortal man and the goddess nymph Thetis
Thetis
Silver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths...
. La Motte Fouqué
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué
Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué was a German writer of the romantic style.-Biography:He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in his family name...
wrote about a beautiful water-nymph in his novella Undine
Undine (novella)
Undine is a novel by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué in which Undine, a water spirit, marries a knight named Huldebrand in order to gain a soul. It is an early German romance, which has been translated into English and other languages...
, and Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
endowed the White Lady of Avenel with many of the attributes of the Nymphs. See Lord Lytton's Zanoni
Zanoni
Zanoni is an 1842 novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a story of love and occult aspiration. By way of introduction, the author confesses: "...It so chanced that some years ago, in my younger days, whether of authorship or life, I felt the desire to make myself acquainted with the true origins and...
, James Barrie's Tinker Bell; and the bowlers Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle
"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it was part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon...
encountered in the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
. The story of Melusina is based on the historical marriage of a gentleman and a water Nymph. Charles Mackay
Charles Mackay
Charles Mackay was a Scottish poet, journalist, and song writer.-Life:Charles Mackay was born in Perth, Scotland. His father was by turns a naval officer and a foot soldier; his mother died shortly after his birth. Charles was educated at the Caledonian Asylum, London, and at Brussels, but spent...
, father of Marie Corelli, wrote "Salamandrine", a poem about a great love between a human and a female Salamander. Cabalism, in general, influenced many mediaeval poems as well as the writings of Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
.
Text
- The text of the Comte De Gabalis at sacred.texts.com
- The text of the Comte De Gabalis at archive.org
- Comte De Gabalis, 1914 or 1922 English edition, The Brothers: Macoy & Masonic Supply Co.
- Comte De Gabalis, 1992 English edition, Kessinger Publishing ISBN 1564592014