The Hermetic North Star

What Hermetic Mastery Is, etc.

...only inherited the title and coat of arms, and passed them on to their descendants without knowing in the least why the Eagle and Lion appear in a black, white, or red field in their heraldry; why the helmet is open or closed; why there are wings, as well as a crown and scepter; why the crowns are marked with ten or twelve sharp points like the alchemical triangle Alchemical Delta (Δ): A symbol typically representing Fire or the Trinity; here it refers to a specific geometric arrangement representing the stages of the alchemical process; why the scepter has a smooth handle, bulbous at the upper end like a drumstick or a pestle The pestle is a primary tool for the alchemist, used to grind substances in a mortar; its presence in heraldry suggests the "labor" of the Art; or why there are pennons of porous material, like mill-bolters A "mill-bolter" or bolting cloth was a sieve used to separate fine flour from bran, serving here as a symbol for alchemical purification and the separation of the pure from the impure, and other such hieroglyphs and objects depicted there. These now serve for nothing more than to determine their lineage and the distinction of the family.

Accordingly, some wise men in later times observed that the small number of people in their own families meant there were few suitable candidates Subjectum: In this context, a "subject" or candidate—an individual possessing the specific spiritual and intellectual qualities required to learn the Hermetic secrets to carry on the work. This caused this Art—which is as great as it is useful to the common good—to not always be communicated or maintained. Indeed, it has often been lost or hidden for an entire century original: "Sæculum". To maintain the Art, some of them in later times established certain societies, admitting only excellent candidates. Among these, there were always some of the very best who possessed the secret science and founded formal Orders, which became known to the world under various symbols: such as two crossed swords, with or without a laurel wreath, as witnesses of the defen-