Theurgy and the Martinist Tradition

by Rectificus, S:::I:::I:::, XI/V, Elder of Circle #8

Introduction
I was asked by a friend, recently, why he Rose!Croi" #artinist $rder
%
&co''only
known as (he R!C#$,( (R!C#$,( or )ust (RC#$(* +ractices heur,y- She had
read so'ewhere in .#$RC/s The Rosicurican Digest that our V-#- 0ouis1Claude de
Saint1#artin abandoned heur,y durin, the latter +art of his life because he felt that
it was (too dan,erous-( She was concerned about how (dan,erous( heur,y is- I
reali2ed then that there are 'isunderstandin,s, e3en a'on, the esoterically inclined,
not only re,ardin, the differences between #a,ic and heur,y, but also in
understandin, what our V-#- Saint1#artin 'eant by the ter'-
heur,y and the .#$RC
o be,in with, it is i'+ortant to understand that the author of the article in The
Rosicrucian Digest is not a heur,ist, was ne3er a heur,ist, and has no idea about
,enuine heur,y- he .#$RC, which +ublishes The Rosicurican Digest, does not
teach heur,y, does not +ractice heur,y, and knows nothin, about ,enuine heur,y-
herefore, the author of that article would not know what heur,y is and would not
be ca+able of actually writin, anythin, infor'ati3e or instructi3e about the .ct and
.rt of heur,y, other than to fall back into the standard +ractice of the uninfor'ed
which is to breathe hushed and o'inous (warnin,s( about it-
Secondly, understandin, authentic and ,enuine #artinist history, and understandin,
&and usin,* the +ractices of authentic #artinis' is not now and seldo' has been a
stron, (forte( of .#$RC and its officers- herefore, one 'ust be 3ery careful about
#artinist (infor'ation( co'in, fro' such a +ublication as The Rosicurican Digest-
hese state'ents are 'ade, not dis+ara,in,ly, but to +ro3ide facts which ha3e
bearin, on the Digest author/s confusion-
heur,y and #a,ic
hirdly, 'any +ersons ha3e seriously and sadly 'isunderstood the ter' heur,y,
often confusin, it with #a,ic- 4e find such 'isunderstandin, and confusion e3en
a'on, those +ersons who consider the'sel3es to be esotericists or 'ystics-
It is i'+ortant to understand that the two o+erations of #a,ic and heur,y can be
confused because they are si'ilar in certain ways- 5oth e'+loy 3aryin, de,rees of
Ritual, and both 'ay use 'ental i'a,ery or words to e"+ress the desired ,oal- But,
again, Magic and Theurgy are not the same! he 'a)or difference is the +osition of
the 4ill in the o+eration-
In #a,ic, the Rituals, 'ental i'a,ery, and words are used to raise and e'+ower the
+ersonal E,o and its E,oic 4ill- In Theurgy, the Rituals, 'ental i'a,ery, and words
are used to 'er,e the +ersonal 4ill into 6od/s 4ill- his 'er,in, is called in
authentic #artinis', The Way of the Heart. herefore, we conclude that the
essential difference between #a,ic and heur,y is the +osition of the 4ill in the
+rocess of acco'+lishin, our ,oals- his essential difference has to do with the
constitution of the hu'an bein, as a creator in 6od/s world-
#an as Creator
It is i'+ortant to understand that 'an is a di3ine bein,, created in the i'a,e and
likeness of 6od- Conse7uently, 'an is, a'on, other thin,s, also a creator- #ake no
'istake11'an is a creator8 $b3iously, 'an is a creator on a 3ery 'inuscule scale
co'+ared to 6od, but, ne3ertheless, 'an is a creator- 9e can create 'entally, as well
as by the use of the s+oken word- 4hen we sit back and do what is fashionably called
(3isuali2ation( in 'any schools, we are 'entally creatin, that which we are
(3isuali2in,-( It is true that what we ha3e created is on the 'ental or astral +lane, but
we can brin, what we ha3e created to 'anifest by an act of 4ill- In other words, we
can (will( so'ethin, to ha++en or to 'anifest- 9ere we are e"ercisin, our innate
di3inity11a +ower which 6od did not stri+ away fro' us after the :all- #an can also
create by use of the s+oken word-
#an as #a,ician
5y the 'ere +rocla'ation of the word or state'ent (5e it done,( It is done- 4ith So
be it or Let it be done, cou+led with the 4ill, 'an sets in 'otion a chain of 3ibrations
for the acco'+lish'ent or 'anifestation of his desires- $f course, its 'anifestation
'ay be 'odified, delayed, or 'iti,ated by kar'ic influences- 5y the e"ercise of the
4ill, we are sayin,: (#y will be done8( his is a si'+le e"a'+le of #a,ic- ;sually
we associate #a,ic with only such ro'antic thin,s as cere'onial, e3ocation to
3isible 'anifestation, s+ells, con)urations, and so on-
#an as heur,ist
<ow, let us e"a'ine another o+eration- 4e ha3e 3isuali2ed what we want to
'anifest- hen, instead of willin, it to ha++en or to 'anifest, or instead of sayin, My
will be done, we say, instead: Holy Father, Thy ill be done!!!! In this instance, we
ha3e 'er,ed our +ersonal E,o into 6od/s 0o3e, and we ha3e ali,ned our +ersonal
will to 6od/s 4ill- 4e ha3e e"+ressed our desire, but we ha3e left its 'anifestation to
9is 4ill, not ours- his is a si'+le e"a'+le of heur,y- In heur,y, howe3er,
because we are +uttin, 6od/s 4ill first and ali,nin, our will with 9is, we do not need
to 'entally create e3ery ti'e we desire so'ethin,- 4e can in3oke 9is <a'e and ask
for what we want- If it is 9is 4ill, it will 'anifest---
For who, if his son asketh for bread, will give him, instead, a stone?
11#atthew =:>
4hen we ali,n our will with 6od/s 4ill durin, our 4ork, we o+en our consciousness
to the ?i3ine flow of Consciousness- 4hat often occurs is that we 'ay a++roach our
+lace of 4ork with a certain +lan in 'ind, and then find that we will do 4ork that we
ne3er really thou,ht of before we entered the 9oly @lace8 In heur,y, we acce+t the
role of bein, an a,ent of 6od/s 4ill- $ne co''on e"a'+le of heur,y is the
Celebration of the 9oly Eucharist &the #ass*-
he 4ork of Initiation
In order to +ractice true and ,enuine heur,y, one 'ust ha3e the Anowled,e, the
@ower, and the .uthority to use that +ower8 Innately, all hu'an bein,s ha3e the
di3ine +ower that is our birthri,ht &(his was the 0i,ht that li,hteth e3ery 'an that
co'eth into the world(*- o truly a++ly that di3ine ri,ht, howe3er, 'an/s
consciousness 'ust be ali,ned +ro+erly with the di3ine current, in order to awaken
the (slee+in, ,iant( of inner di3inity &(Christ in you, the ho+e of ,lory(*- he +ro+er
ali,n'ent with the di3ine current is what true, authentic, and ,enuine Initiation does,
and such Initiation 'ust be recei3ed in +erson fro' one who stands in an unbroken
Initiatic Chain of Initiators- he first link in that Initiatic Chain is always one who has
established an Inner @lane Contact fro' which the Initiatic @ower is recei3ed- 5y
recei3in, Initiation in a heur,ical $rder like he Rose!Croi" #artinist $rder
%
, you
are awakened, and the innate ?i3ine @ower which was for'erly only a slu'berin,
+otential is acti3ated11and you are (born to beco'e a child of 6od-(
?isad3anta,es of #a,ic
he disad3anta,e of #a,ic is that the +ersonal E,o +re3ails and the +ersonal 4ill is
+ara'ount11(#y will be done-( hat is, #a,ic inflates the E,o in order to ha3e a
source of ener,y, then channels the +owers and ener,ies of the inflated E,o into the
4ill which directs those +owers and ener,ies outwardly- It is no wonder that Saint1
#artin re)ected such a +ractice8 9e knew that because #a,ic e"ercises one/s +ersonal
+rero,ati3es as a di3ine bein,, one also assu'es full res+onsibilities for the results of
the 'a,ical acts- In other words, in #a,ic, we incur and acce+t the kar'a of the
results11whether ,ood or bad11usually bad- 5ecause (we see throu,h a ,lass darkly,(
workin, #a,ic is always a risky business because it is difficult11if not i'+ossible11
for the 'a,ician to see all the way throu,h to the final outco'e-
.d3anta,es of heur,y
In heur,y, on the other hand, because the heur,ical Initiate knows those secret,
Initiatic 'ethods which +erfectly 'er,e the +ersonal 4ill in 6od/s 4ill so that there
is a unity of the two 4ills, the ,oals that are ,ranted are ,i3en because 6od/s 4ill has
been done- In true and authentic heur,y such as is tau,ht in he Rose!Croi"
#artinist $rder
%
, 6od/s @erfect Vision o3erco'es the hu'an/s i'+erfect 3ision &the
(dark ,lass(* and the (way of the 0ord is 'ade strai,ht-( Is there kar'a associated
with thisB Ces8 6ood kar'a because only 6ood can co'e out of the e"ecution of
6od/s 4ill8 his is the true 'eanin, of the #aster/s co''and,
Be ye, therefore, perfet, even as your Father in heaven is perfet.
11#atthew D: E8
6od and (the Cos'ic(
?oes this 'ean, then, that when we end our 3isuali2ation with (If it +leases the
Cos'ic, it is done,( then we are +racticin, heur,yB <$8 In the first +lace, the
(Cos'ic( does not enco'+ass 6od8 o illustrate the difference between the two,
consider this analo,y: think of yourself as the (Cos'ic( and the entire ;ni3erse as
6od- Cou can see that 6od, in this illustration, includes you &the (Cos'ic(*, but that
the (Cos'ic( does not enco'+ass 6od8
5ut there is an e3en ,reater difference between the two ter's- he ter' (Cos'ic(
su,,ests a cold, soulless, and distant i'+ersonality, a con,lo'eration of or,ani2ed
forces without +ersona, rather like an electric ,enerator11a source of +ower which can
be used &or abused* at the whi' of the o+erator- 9owe3er, the ter' (6od( su,,ests
+ersona, a #ind &the true 'eanin, of the 6reek (<ous(*, and sentience- o 4ork
#a,ic, you need only call u+on the soulless, 'indless Cos'ic to do your biddin,- o
4ork heur,y, you 'ust reali2e that there is a 6reater 4ill and a 6reater #ind and a
6reater 9eart into which you shall +lun,e- he authentic #artinist works with 6od,
not with the 'ere (Cos'ic-(
Saint1#artin and heur,y
0et us co'e, now, to e"a'ine St-1#artin/s understandin, of the ter' heur,y- :irst
of all, St1#artin re)ected the Ritual acts of @as7ually/s (Elus1Cohen( as bein,
unnecessary (to find 6od-( he Ritual acts of the Elus1Cohen ha3e al'ost all
disa++eared, but a few &a 3ery few* 'anuscri+ts ha3e sur3i3ed- hese show that
@as7ually was usin, cere'onial 'a,ic 3ery si'ilar to the ritual found in the 'edie3al
,ri'oires- E3en thou,h @as7ually called these 'a,ical +rocedures, (theur,y,( in fact,
they were not in any way actually heur,ical8 he #a,ic of the Elus1Cohen was
nothin, 'ore than 'edie3al 'a,ic, but @as7ually, des+ite his considerable ,enius,
was unlearned and incorrectly called these acts (theur,y-( hus, all his life, 0ouis1
Claude de Saint1#artin confused the two ter's and incorrectly referred to #a,ic as
(theur,y( because that was what he was tau,ht in his (first school( &as he called the
Elus1Cohen*-
5ut did 0ouis1Claude de Saint1#artin use and teach ,enuine heur,yB he answer
is11Ces8 5ut he used a different ter': (#a,is' of 6od-( :or +roof of this, note this
state'ent he wrote in a letter to his friend, 5aron Airschber,er:
...There were preious things in our first shool. ! am even inlined to
think that "Martine#$ %as&ualis...had the ative key to all that our dear
Boehme e'poses in his theories.... From all this, it follows that an
e'ellent math may be made by marrying our first shool to friend
Boehme. This is what ! work at( and ! onfess to you andidly that !
find the two spouses so well suited to eah other that ! know nothing
more perfet in its way....
))*etter +,!!, -- .uly,-/01 in Theosophic Correspondence
4hat does Saint1#artin 'ean by ('arryin, our first school to friend 5oeh'e(
&+ronounced (5er1'ah(*B Si'+ly this: acti3e Ritual should be co'bined with di3ine
+hiloso+hy11which is what ,enuine heur,y does8 .lso, let us e"a'ine the followin,
state'ents fro' Saint1#artin/s Man: His True Nature and Ministry &@enny
translation*:
2ll these things point to one and the same term, the 3ivine
Magism FEditor/s note: i-e-, ,enuine heur,yG, whih embraes all things,
fills all things, penetrates all things. !f men diret their aspiration... in
any diretion where this Magism is likely to be found,...they are not
long in arriving at one of these springs, whih all have the same
Magism for priniple, and they soon get into'iated with delights,
whih, though oming through different hannels, all have the same
foundation in 4od. 5p. -016
Saint1#artin also writes in Man: His True Nature and Ministry:
The same law is laid down for you, 7 8pirit)Man, for the management
of your domains as the offier of Truth. 9ou are 4od:s earth( you are a
divine funtionary in the ;niverse.... He sends you this task, wishing
you not to spare yourself in pains for its aomplishment, and warning
you that He will rigorously e'at His returns, whih onsist in nothing
less than the restoration of order, peae, and life, in the portion of His
domains whih He trusted to your are. This work is the Magism of
4od, FEditor/s <ote: this is Saint1#artin/s ter' which 'eans ,enuine
heur,yG and the omplement of prayer. When He thus sends His
desire or thirst into you, He does more than admit you into His ounil,
for He brings His ounil into you( and insinuates within you, the
sweetest and highest purposes of His Wisdom( and impregnates you
with the same relations, whih He Himself has to all that is defetive,
and Himself provides you the needful wherewith to work its
retifiation( that is, He provides you with funds out of His own
glory.... This work is the very omplement of prayer, sine it is the very
ation...of the divine order whih passes into you. 5pp. -/1)-//6
hus, it is clear that Saint1#artin belie3ed in the co'bination of the +ractical
a++lication of hu'an +owers as found in the Elus1Cohen, but he also belie3ed that
such a++lication was to be raised to the subli'e hei,hts of 5oeh'e/s 3ision11and this
is what heur,y does-
heur,y and the #artinist
here is no 7uestion that Saint1#artin used and tau,ht heur,y, and this is the secret
radition +assed on to The <ose=,roi' Martinist 7rder
%
&co''only known as
(he R!C#$( or as (R!C#$* and all ,enuine #artinis'- . #artinist $rder which
has no radition of ,enuine heur,y to ,i3e to its Initiates does not e'+ower the' to
do the work which Saint1#artin co''anded, which is >the management of your
domains as the offier of Truth.>
If the #artinist does not +ossess the radition of heur,y, how can he or she follow
the rule of 6od as Saint1#artin established it, which is (nothin, less than the
restoration of order, +eace, and life, in the +ortion of 9is do'ains which 9e trusted to
your care(B Can (order, +eace, and life( be restored by si'+le talkB Can (order,
+eace, and life( be restored by 'erely Initiatin, &if, indeed, one +ossesses that @ower*
and then in3itin, the so1called #artinist to attend lecturesB <$8 Saint1#artin, as the
'an of action, understands that >"4od$ sends you this task, wishing you not to
spare yourself in pains for its aomplishment, and warning you that He will
rigorously e'at His returns.> rue #artinists understand that 'erely lecturin,
about dinner does not +re+are and ser3e the 'eal- rue #artinists understand that the
4ork of Reinte,ration cannot be acco'+lished by 'erely talkin, about it, but by
a++lication throu,h ,enuine and authentic heur,y-
.uthentic #artinis' and heur,y
he ,enuine #artinist $rder +roduces a #artinist heur,ist whose #artinist heur,y
follows Saint1#artin/s co''and to restore (order, +eace, and life( in the world- he
#artinist $rder that denies heur,y or that denies that Saint1#artin both +racticed
and tau,ht heur,y not only doesn/t know what Saint1#artin wrote, but also fails to
+ro3ide its Initiates with this all1i'+ortant heur,ical radition- Such an inco'+lete
#artinist $rder 'ust re'e'ber that Saint1#artin wrote that 6od (---will ri,orously
e"act 9is returns( because of its failure and refusal to truly work for Reinte,ration-
he Rose!Croi" #artinist $rder
%
will not fail in its duty to e7ui+ its Initiates with
the full and co'+lete radition of #artinist, and that radition includes Saint1
#artin/s +ractice and teachin, of heur,y-
Conclusion
9ence, we answer in the 3ery words of Saint1#artin: because it is authentic
#artinis', he Rose!Croi" #artinist $rder
%
&(he R!C#$(*is a heur,ical $rder
that acce+ts (this task( of workin, for Reinte,ration, wishin, (not to s+are FitGself in
+ains for its acco'+lish'ent-(
<$E: he #artinist books 'entioned herein, as well as other #artinist su++lies,
can be obtained fro' he #artinist Infor'ation Ser3ice- @lease write for a free
catalo, and be sure to enclose a self1addressed sta'+ed en3elo+e-
The <ose=,roi' Martinist 7rder
?

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