Lucid Zahor

MARTINEZ DE PASQUALLY


The information available about Jacques de Livron de La Tour de la Case Martinez de Pasqually are poor . His memory is exclusively connected with the mission he devoted his short life to: making more accessible, to the Western world, the transmutation techniques of the Qabbalah, by transposing them in a theologically acceptable language (according to the Christian ethic point of view). He was born in Grenoble in 1727, to an affluent Jewish family of Portuguese origin. Since early childhood he devoted himself completely to the study of the Qabbalah which he probably studied with Simon Ben Jochai, one of the most prestigious masters of his time.

Introduced to Freemasonry by his father, Martinez traveled around Southern France’s Lodges from 1754 to 1760, gathering around him, passionate followers of his ideas. In 1760, in Foix, he created  the first Chapter of a new High Masonic Degrees’ system: the Order of the Elected Cohen of the Universe.

Suddenly,in 1772 he left for Haiti with the purpose of establishing a Chapter of his Order in Port –au-France. A sudden attack of malaria killed him on September 20th 1774 in Port-au France.

According to the doctrine of the  cabalist schools, the Glory of God spreads in the universe progressively filling ten symbolic vases, the so called Sephiroth that correspond to the ten further levels of manifestation. The ideal disposition of the Sephiroth is similar to the shape of a human  body; man can awake their strength within himself progressively through  a work of purification together with continuous invocations to the Angels who rule them.

In case of successful outcome, man feels “reintegrated” with all the previous faculties Adam enjoyed before falling and he concludes the process of inner transmutation (which in cabalist terms is defined with “reintegration”).

Martinez’ idea was to create a Masonic system of 10 degrees, each corresponding to a Sephirah, according to this scheme:

Order of Elected Cohen

1st class-  Blue Freemasonry:

    1st degree- Apprentice(sephirah:Malkuth)

    2nd degree- Fellow Craft(sephirah:Yesod)

    3rd degree- Master(sephirah:Hod)

    4th degree- Apprentice Cohen(sephirah:Netzach)

2nd class-  Class of the Porch

    5th degree- Fellow Craft Cohen (sephirah:Tiphareth)

    6th degree- Master Cohen (sephirah:Geburah)

    7th degree- Particular Master (sephirah:Chesed)
 

3rd class-  Class of the Temple:

    8th degree-Great Elected Cohen Master (sehirah:Binah)

    9th degree- Knight of the Orient (sephirah:Choknah).

4th class  (secret):

    10th degree-Reau-Croix (sephirah:Kether).

A secret doctrine around man’s fall and reintegration was taught in the degrees of the Order. By following initiations, the transmutant would climb step-by step up the reintegrative ladder and through the operations of sacred magic he devoted himself and he was able to receive the signs (so called “steps”) of his own rise. These signs were created by the mental irradiation of luminous hieroglyphs.

Only by starting the degree of High Master Elected Cohen the real transmutative  work was happening, through purification, exorcism and assistance to the theurgic operations of higher degrees. In the degree of Knight of Orient, the practical aspect was omitted and the transmutant  student  was exclusively engaged in the theoretic study of the inner transmutation.

The main textbook was a book by Martinez himself: ”The Treatise of the Reintegration of the Beings” where he greatly used his cabalist knowledge.

This book (that was circulating as a manuscript till 1899, and has been revealed recently outside by the Order)is practically a commentary on the early books of the Bible, where at the beginning is described the fall of the spiritual beings created by God, that originated  the creation.

After this first tragedy, God derives man :a man-God whose mission is to “watch the fallen Angels and rule over the Universe, the Earth and all the celestial and earthy Spirits”. But man betrays him too because of man's arrogance and God sends him down from Eden to the Earth, giving him the chance of expiating his sin and walking the opposite path, of “reintegration in its original properties, virtues and powers”.

In the Hebraic history, Martinez researches examples and prototypes of reintegrated men: Abel, Enoch, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Salomon and Christ, who represent the highest point of those following reconciliation.

Only an expert theologian is able to fully appreciate the science and sharpness used by Martinez to harmonize his doctrine with the Church; he almost completely succeeded, except for a few really incompatible details.  For example, the Father, the Son and the Spirit are not considered as three people but as ”three faculties of the Creator being”; and the demons are damned to Hell but only for a “temporal eternity”: there is still a theoretical possibility of reintegration “off time” that Catholic doctrine doesn’t conceive. If one considers how deep the basic contradiction is between the “immanence” of the doctrines of transmutation and the “transcendence” of Christianity (the most recent result is the condemnation of New Age by the Pope) he is able to appreciate the value of the little theological miracle Martinez elaborated.

Under this premise, we need to point out that according to Martinez, neither the Israeli priesthood or the Christian is capable of giving to God the only cult he feels worthy: which is showing to mankind the path for atoning his guilt. In other words, granting him the means for transmutation.

Only a few know the real science and they transmit it in secrecy, among these,  Martinez himself and his Reau-Croix.

After Martinez’ death, "The Order of the Elected Cohen" fell victim to the crisis of the Masonic High Degrees systems of esoteric  direction, happening in those years, within the French Freemasonry, for the benefit of those of rationalist direction. In 1780 his third High Master Sebastian de Las Casas officially stopped him, causing his annulment from the outline of the Masonic High Degrees’systems.

But his transmission line was bound to be kept outside the Temple walls, through the Martinist Order, founded by the favorite Martinez’ disciple, Louis Claude de Saint Martin (1743-1803) still existing today.

Its three Degrees basically correspond to the first three Cohen degrees, and the fourth (High Incognito Initiator) virtually synthesizes all the others.

Louis Claude de Saint Martin-“the Incognito Writer”, as he was named, was a mystic thinker of great uniqueness, who continued Martinez’ work trying to harmonize Inner Transmutation, Christianity and Rationalism.

He disagreed with the Master on the artfulness complexity of the Cohen rituals (“is it all needed in order to pray God?” he wrote once) and he minimized the cabalist aspect of Martinez’work, addressing the Martinist Order towards a mystic oriented activity having its inspiration from Protestantism. But this was not the most favorable general lines for the successful spreading of the Order, which almost died out when in 1891 Doctor Gerard Encausse, better known as Papus (1865-1916) one of the greatest creators of the French occultist movement,  ascended to the level of High Incognito Initiator.

Under the guidance of this enthusiastic and blundering type, the spreading of Martinism in the occult and neo-spiritual environments began the rebirth of a “Martinezist” current, totally oriented towards the revaluation of the Cohen rituals and favorable to their” awakening”. Such  a complex operation was impossible to achieve for some time, especially because of the internal disagreements that led the Martinists to several divisions.

After a few troubled events, the awakening of the Order of Elected Cohen was started within a French Martinist part in 1960, and from the beginning of that year a few groups of Elected Cohen have come back for its filiation in a few countries around the world.

The reconstruction of the Reau-Croix rituals in Genoa, happening between the seventies and eighties by a group of Italian Martinists, is particularly beautiful and complete.

It was published in 1987 in limited edition up to 200 copies which we have been privileged enough to access.

We have taken one of the two existing editions, the “Invocation of the 3 days” by Reau-Croix the first one of 1768.

After having performed a few prayers around 10 p.m., Reau-Croix would mark one fourth of a circle on the eastern  corner of the “operation room”, whose segment was oriented towards East. After having marked the line of the segment, he would draw a small circle, intersected by a cross inside an isosceles triangle .In the western  corner he would draw another circle, the so called “circle of the withdraw”. The two shapes were separated from each other by a two foot space.

Inside the Circle of Withdraw and in the fourth of the circle he would draw letters and hieroglyphics: in particular the capital letters R A P in the western part of the cross of the small circle, and the letters I A B in the withdraw circle.

Two hours later, when the preparatory work was completed, the adept was ready for the operation to start at exactly midnight. The barefoot adept would hold the lit candle and place it on his right, outside the circle. He would lay down on the ground, remaining in the circle, with his forehead on his crossed wrists. After 6 minutes in this position, he would stand up and light the candles in the fourth of the circle, placing at the ends of the fourth of a circle the candle by the letters R A P and that one in the center of the line of the segment .He would then bend down in the fourth of the circle.

He would move to the withdraw circle with his right knee on the ground and the hands at right angles touching the floor. In this position he could” trace” the names written in the two circles and in the fourth of a circle, he was then repeating them three times, inserting them in the following formula: “In quali die x, x, x, invocavero te, velociter exaudi me”.

He was asking God to grant him the grace that he wished for "with sincere heart, very penitent and submitted” in virtue of the power he gave to his servants.

He was begging him to repeat him, as a symbol of his mercy, one of the hieroglyphics he has marked with chalk in the center of the room.

After having repeatedly incensed the fourth of the circle and the western corner, he would put out the candles, except the one in the center of the fourth of the circle. He would move it to the withdraw circle where he himself was sitting and after having recited the invocations the “steps” started. They were mental visions of the hieroglyphics often followed by a soft sound as “rolling pebbles on the ceiling”.

Each hieroglyph could appear to the Reau–Croix only once and simultaneously the corresponding angelic power (or “good spirit”)was incorporated in his energetic body; each apparition, according to Martinez,  was thus representing a small “step” towards human reintegration.

The Reau-Croix had to keep memory of the  shape and color of all the hieroglyphics materialized in his mind: at the end of the operation he would have the chance to consult an atlas (called” repertory”) in which many thousand hieroglyphics were represented. With these he was able to compare the name and location of the hieroglyphics that appeared to him, in this way coming to know ”in real time” which parts of his energetic body have already transmuted and on which ones he had to focus his attention for the next work.

The first night  of the invocation of the three days, the adept was not allowed to come out from the withdraw circle other than between one thirty and two in the morning. In that very moment he would cancel all the figures drawn on the floor, repeating the invocations for the signs  representing the “good spirits” and the exorcism against the evil ones. After the work, he would leave the “operation room”.

Any of the ceremonies described above were repeated during the next two nights with the only difference being that the aspirant would orient a small triangular talisman differently, he would use it as a shield against evil spirits, turning it from one point to the other.
 
 

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