Thoughts About the Hymn to the Pearl

Since my last Super-archangel working the previous weekend, I have been thinking about the seed or pearl that has been planted into my soul by Metatron. I remember the famous Gnostic tract that I particularly loved called the Hymn to the Pearl. I retrieved it and started to read it, and was amazed at how relevant it was to my currently situation. I decided to reprint it here for all to read.

The Hymn to the Pearl is a poem found in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas. The pearl symbolizes wisdom, which must be extracted from the darkness of life in order to be truly realized and celebrated. The quest for the pearl is the quest for enlightenment, and the seeker is of course, one who seeks for a complete revelation - wisdom that is activated. That the seeker gets seduced by the commonness of mundane existence and falls asleep represents the fact that all seekers are asleep and weighted down with the cares of life. The letter symbolizes a revelation, a kind of gnostic transmission of illumination, that leads the seeker to complete the quest for the pearl.

Perhaps, I have unwittingly been given the quest of the pearl myself, and must find the means to retrieve it and awaken it to its full potential. It certainly resonates with me as an important mythic element added to my Abramelin Lunar Ordeal. So for this reason, I have included a version of it here.

Frater Barrabbas

When I was a little child
Living in my kingdom, in my father's house
Happy in the glories and riches
Of my family that nurtured me.
My parents gave me provisions
And sent me forth from our home in the east.
From their treasure house
They made up a bundle for me.
It was big though light
So I might carry it alone,
And it held gold from the house of the highest ones
And silver of Gazzak the great
And rubies of India
And opals from the land Kushan,
And they girded me with Adamant
Which can crush iron.
And they took off my bright robe of glory,
Which they had made for me out of love,
And took away my purple toga,
Which was woven to fit my stature.
They made a covenant with me
And wrote it in my heart so I would not forget:
“When you go down into Egypt
And bring back the one pearl
Which lies in the middle of the sea
And is guarded by the snorting serpent,
You will again put on your robe of glory
And your toga over it,
And with your brother, our next in rank,
You will be heir in our kingdom”.
I left the east and went down
With my two royal envoys,
Since the way was dangerous and harsh
And I was very young to walk alone.
I crossed the borders of Maishan,
The gathering place of merchants of the east,
And came into the land of Babel
And entered the walls of Sarbug.
I went down into Egypt
And my companions left me.
I went straight to the serpent
And settled in close by his inn,
Waiting for him to sleep
So I could take my pearl from him.

Since I was all alone
I was a stranger to others in the inn,
Yet I saw one of my own people there,
A nobleman from the east,
Young, handsome, lovable,
A son of kings -- an anointed one,
And he came and was close to me.
And I made him my confidante
With whom I shared my mission.
I warned him against the Egyptians
And of contact with the unclean ones.
Then I put on a robe like theirs
Lest they suspect me as an outsider
Who had come to steal the pearl;
Lest they arouse the serpent against me.
But somehow they learned
I was not their countryman,
And they dealt with me cunningly
And gave me their food to eat.
I forgot that I was a son of kings,
And served their king.
I forgot the pearl
For which my parents had sent me.
Through the heaviness of their food
I fell into a deep sleep.
But when all these things happened
My parents knew and grieved for me.
It was proclaimed in our kingdom
That all should come to our gate.
And the kings and princes of Parthia
And all the nobles of the east
Wove a plan on my behalf
So that I would not be left in Egypt.
And they wrote me a letter
And every noble signed it with his name.
“From your father, the king of kings,
And you mother, the mistress of the east,
And from your brother, our next in rank,
To you, our son in Egypt, greetings:
Awake and rise from your sleep
And hear the words of our letter!
Remember that you are a son of kings
And see the slavery of your life.
Remember the pearl
For which you went into Egypt!
Remember your robe of glory
And your splendid mantle
Which you may wear
When your name is named in the book of life,
Is read in the book of heroes,
When you and your brother inherit
Our kingdom.”
And serving as messenger
The letter was a letter
Sealed by the king with his right hand

Against the evil ones, the children of Babel
And the savage demons of Sarbug.
It rose up in the form of an eagle,
The king of all winged fowl;
It flew and alighted beside me,
And became speech.
And its voice and the sound of its rustling
I awoke and rose from my sleep.
I took it, kissed it,
Broke its seal and read.
And the words written on my heart
Were in the letter for me to read.
I remembered that I was a son of kings
And my free soul longed for its own kind.
I remembered the pearl
For which I was sent down into Egypt,
And I began to enchant
The terrible and snorting serpent.
I charmed him into sleep
By naming the name of my father over him,
And the name of the next in rank,
And of my mother, the queen of the east.
I seized the pearl
And turned to carry it to my father.
Their filthy and impure garment
I stripped off, leaving it in the fields,
And directed my way
Into the light of our homeland, the east.
On my way the letter that awakened me
Was lying on the road.
And as it had awakened me with its voice
So it guided me with its light;
It was written on Chinese silk,
And shone before me in its own form.
Its voice soothed my fear
And its love urged me on.
I hurried past Sarbug,
And Babel on the left,
And came to Maishan,
The haven of merchants,
Perched next to the sea.
My robe of glory which I had taken off
And the toga over it
Were sent by my parents
From the heights of Hyrcania.
They were in the hands of treasurers
To whom they were committed
Because of their faith,
And I had forgotten the robe's splendor
For as a child I had left it
In my father's house.
And as I gazed on it
Suddenly the garment seemed a mirror
Of myself. I saw it in my whole self,
And in it I saw myself apart,
For we were two entities
Yet one form.
The treasurers brought me one robe:

They were two of the same shape
With one kingly seal.
They gave me wealth,
And the bright embroidered robe
Was colored with gold and beryls,
With rubies and opals,
And sardonyxes of many colors
Were fastened to it in its high home.
All its seams were fastened
With stones of adamant;
And the image of the king of kings
Was embroidered upon it,
And it glowed with sapphires
Of many colors.
I saw it quiver all over
With movements of gnosis,
And as it prepared to speak
It moved toward me,
Murmuring the sound of its songs
As it descended:
“I am the one who acted for him
For whom I was brought up in my father's house.
I saw myself growing in stature
According to his labors.”
With regal movements
It was spreading toward me,
Urging me to take it,
And love urged me
To receive it.
And I stretched forth and received it
And put on the beauty of its colors.
 I cast my toga of brilliant colors
All around me.
Therein I clothed myself and ascended
To the gate of salutation and adoration,
I bowed my head and adored
The majesty of my father who sent it to me.
I had fulfilled what he promised,
And at the gate of princes
I mingled with his nobles.
He rejoiced in me and received me
And I was with him in his kingdom,
And all his servants praised him
With resounded voices.
He promised me that I would journey quickly
With him in his kingdom,
And all his servants praised him
With resounding voices.
He promised me that I would journey quickly
With him to the gate of the king of kings,
And with my gifts and my pearl
I would appear with him before our king.

Abramelin Lunar Ordeal - Third Weekend - Attribute of Water

I have completed the third weekend working of the Abramlin Lunar Ordeal, and I found this week to be the most difficult and challenging so far. I am amazed at the extent of potential interfering factors that I encountered. Where the previous week I had to contend with a cold and use whatever means to heal myself as much as possible before the working, this last week I had to contend with minor disasters erupting in my mundane life, including and especially my job and its associated responsibilities. I can see the wisdom of not working for the entire duration of the more arduous section of the traditional Abramelin ordeal, but on a practical level I can’t afford to follow that path. I have too many worldly responsibilities and I need to continue to support myself and my household. However, by chance and perseverance on my part, I managed to resolve everything and accomplish my magickal objectives as well. However, in the midst of these workings, it almost made me wonder if I was going to have to choose between completing either the magickal or mundane job objectives - luckily I was able to complete both thoroughly and completely, much to my surprise and satisfaction.

The week began quietly enough. I was so exhausted by the previous weekend’s working that I took Sunday off to get some much needed work completed. I also retired early that night to prepare me for the week. As requested by the Cherub, I switched from performing 30 minute meditation sessions first thing in the morning and before I went to bed in the evening, to a longer meditation and devotion session in the evening. I used a devotion session that included prayers to my personal godhead, silently reciting a prayer saying that there is no barrier between my Deity and myself except the illusionary one that I have created in my mind - that I ardently seek and want union with my godhead. When I recite this prayer, I can feel a moment of powerful passion well up in my deeper being and then pass away. I am unable to sustain it for long, but then that seems kind of normal to me so far. With practice, I may be able to sustain it for longer periods of time. The week progressed without too much difficulty until nearly the end of work week, I was notified that my job would require some important diligence during Friday night and very early Saturday morning, so I decided to perform the workings on Saturday and Sunday instead of Friday and Saturday. This didn’t present much of a problem and gave me time to prepare for the working. I knew about this by Wednesday, so it wasn’t a complicated change.

However, the work related task was jeopardized by a catastrophic failure, which required me to work most of the weekend to fix it. My other job account also required an unusual bit of maintenance, so I ended up spending nearly two eight hour days over the weekend doing this work, not to mention dealing with the stress. I also pulled a muscle in my back and was not particularly happy about these circumstances, since I had fully expected to have a quiet weekend as far as work is concerned. Luckily I do have the benefit of working from home, so I didn’t have to throw in any time for commuting. Despite these complications, I was resolved to perform these invocations, since delaying them was out of the question if I intended to complete this ordeal. I was certainly being tested by uncontrollable events, that was obvious.

As a result of my work related issues, I was not able to perform any devotions on Friday before the working, although I did manage to get all of the preparations completed. I worked up to a point in time that was perhaps a couple of hours before the working, and somehow managed to find a bit of time to eat and take care of my needs. My partner, Grace, helped greatly in this effort, even though she was intensely involved in her own ordeal of completing her semester at school.

December 5 - Invocation of Metatron, Seraphim of the elemental tetrad of Water. Approximate start was around 8:10 pm, during the planetary hour of Mercury, which was locked into the working.  I had been anticipating this invocation all week because Metatron is a very famous and well known angel, being both one of the Seraphim and the chief of the Archangels of the Tree of Life. There are many legends about him, but he is also known for being mysterious and quite unfathomable. There are even legends of him being previously human, perhaps even the later manifestation of the undying patriarch, Enoch. Since I had acquitted my mundane tasks in a satisfactory manner, I felt fully prepared, eager and ready for this invocation, but I could not have been prepared for what I was about to experience, so unusual and unique was the manifestation of that entity.

Invocation of Metatron and its associated rites was performed without any problems or issues, in fact with a certain degree of ease. My lady, Grace, assisted me with the mass and the benediction, and I performed the circle consecration and the invocation rite myself. As the invocation was being performed I noticed that there was a great deal of power and energy being generated as the rite progressed - more than I had previously experienced. My body was vibrating with the nervous energy, and it increased to a climax when the invocation was completed and the spirit of the seraphim began to manifest. I held up the sigil of Ratziel, but that didn’t even seem to matter - what was occurring happened with or without any kind of assistance. I saw a great shower of sparks and points of light form before me and a powerful presence emerged from it in cascading fountains of light that dazzled my eyes.

Then this body of light that was hovering above me descended and seemed to envelope me. I almost lost consciousness - the light was a beautiful flame blue. From the midst of this form a shaft of brilliant and dazzling light shot forth and passed into me, seemingly to penetrate my very being. I saw within myself and there had been planted in me a small round object the size of a pearl that was vibrating with energy and emitting light in pulses. I heard a voice say to me, “This is my gift to you, Oh sojourner of the spiritual paths of super-celestial magick. It is the seed of spiritual love and greatest wisdom. Care for it, nurture it with love and your passion for God, believe in it as the link between you and your goal. If you do this, then the seed will open and unveil its glory unto your soul. If you fail, then it shall become a dead thing, which shall embitter and curse your very quest to its source. You must choose your path wisely and carefully so that the gift is a great boon to you instead of a barrier.”

So I realized that I had been impregnated with a “seed” of wisdom, and that realization amazed me, since I have never experienced anything like that before. I didn’t feel violated or intruded upon, because in a way, I had asked for this boon, whether I realized it or not. The seed is nestled in my soul, silvery white on the outside, but lavender and rose colored on inside. It waits for me to achieve the right degree of passion and angst for it to be released, like a trigger. Meanwhile, I have a precious thing within me that I must protect, care and build. One could also conceive of it as a kind of ticking bomb or a poison pill if I am not careful and diligent. If all goes well, then this seed will open at the right time and release its splendor and power as a god-intoxicating passion and spiritually induced ecstasy. I must find the key and know how to deploy it between now and when I perform the Bornless One invocation rite - a mere twenty-five days away.

Metatron’s gift has many sides or facets, like a fragile egg I will need to nurture it, keep it “warm” with devotions and an ever increasing and accelerating passion for spiritual union with my personal godhead. If I fail, then the planted seed will die, and it will cause me all sorts of troubles and difficulties. To let such a precious gift be wasted would be a sign of extreme bad faith, probably one that I won’t be able to overcome in this lifetime. This seed can open the domain of the causal levels of consciousness and facilitate union between my bornless higher spiritual self and my lower conscious self. My actions are the determining factor, so I must maintain a high level of personal integrity and make certain that nothing deters me from my spiritual goal. Thus the wager of my quest has been greatly magnified, as I stand to gain everything or lose it in single seven week ordeal. Needless to say, I am quite amazed about all of this, it’s not at all what I expected. Other than tell me that brief communication, Metatron had nothing further to say, indicating that I would have the basis of his wisdom if the “seed” bloomed within my soul. He also said other information would be forthcoming from the Cherub of Water, so I looked forward to understanding the nature of what has occurred to me from him. I have been given a rare gift (the likes of which I have never heard of before), but it is also a test and a riddle to be solved.

I felt giddy, full of energy, but also greatly exhausted. I felt drunk, but I was sober. My mind had problems focusing and it was buzzing with all sorts of disconnected thoughts. I couldn’t think clearly and I communicated in an impulsive and disjointed sort of way (more so than usual). I attempted to retire but had problems falling asleep. I had all sorts of vivid dreams, but they were all mixed up and confusing. After I awoke the next day, I was tired, as if I hadn’t really slept very deep or got the rest that I needed. I wondered if I would have the energy to even perform the next working.

The next day found me performing tasks for my mundane job again instead of thinking about what had happened to me the night before. I managed to complete everything that I was working on. There were no major problems that I was not able to quickly solve. Once again, I managed to get everything completed just a couple of hours before the working was to begin. A long meditation with devotions helped to get my mind focused on the magickal work.

December 6 - Invocation of Kerubiel, Cherubim of the elemental attribute of Water. Approximate start was at around 8 pm, locking in the planetary hour of Jupiter. Despite my fatigue and the stress of work related tasks, I managed to find a new store of energy within me. Grace and I split up the ritual work in the same manner as the previous night, except we didn’t need to perform the benediction rite. (The environment was already greatly empowered by the previous night’s working.) The mass was probably the best attempt that I have made to date with the revised Mass of the Great Goddess, since I was doing some ad-lib on sections that needed revising but hadn't yet been revised. Once these changes are put in, the ritual should be closer to its final form.

The invocation proceeded smoothly and I could feel the build up of power, which seemed to be at a magnitude greater than anything I had experienced previously. When the invocation completed, there was silence and stillness. I showed the sigil of Ratziel, but nothing changed in any dramatic way. Instead I heard distant chords of some kind of celestial music. The stillness was the gentle presence of Kerubiel, which soothed and poured a healing balm unto me, such was the beauty and wondrous love emanating from this being. He appeared to me like a warm embrace or a fragrant summer’s night, warm, friendly and inviting. I felt calm, blissful and very much at ease. I was amazed at this manifestation, for I certainly expected to be harshly judged and found woefully inadequate. Instead I found a powerful presence that emanated peace, compassion and healing vitality. I felt refreshed and the stress of the weekend banished as if it hadn’t ever existed. What a truly marvelous thing!

Then I heard Kerubiel speak in a gentle whisper, saying the following things.

“You have bravely passed these tests, although more will be forthcoming. Each step in this ordeal will be more difficult than the previous one, so prepare yourself for this battle, for it shall be a mighty undertaking if you succeed. Know that I am the gate keeper of the Heart of God and I will guard this great treasure from all who are not worthy. I have judged your heart and your integrity. Although you are far from perfect or even an ideal level of perfection, you have consistently loved God from the beginning of your path. You have called the Godhead by the name of the “Goddess,” but it is one of the many manifestations that I have served as an emissary of the One. You have maintained that connection and have given devotions to your godhead all through the years - from your youth until now without any lapse. I have also weighed your ethics and measured your integrity. I have found them consistent and over-all good, but not perfect. So therefore, as the Gate Keeper, I open for you the gateway and act as your guide in this ordeal, which shall last for the rest of your life. Know also that to those I have deemed unworthy I appear in a terrible and deadly guise, to frighten them away, and if they persist, to unsoul them. Since your heart is good, then to you I appear gentle and compassionate.”

“I reveal this wisdom to you - a great seed has been planted in you, and only the greatest passion and love of God will cause it to open and reveal its secrets. When giving devotions to your godhead, remember the poetry of Rumi, Hafiz and Kabir - and other poetry of the love to God, such as the Psalms. Sing praises to God, whom you love and adore, and the seed will reveal to you its inner most secrets and greatest glory.”

“Also, you will need to incorporate some additional elements from the Book of Abramelin into your ordeal. Examine the last three days of that traditional ordeal, such as the fasting, prayers, vigils, anointing and atonement (ashes upon the head) - these you will need to work into what you already have completed. Choose four days before drawing the eight angels together and dedicate each to the one of the four Elements. For each day you shall summon, meditate and commune with the Seraph and the Cherub of that Element for an hour or more, so that whatever knowledge, wisdom and power they might have shall be given to you to accomplish this great ordeal. Do this fully before you dare to merge them together into the spirit of the Godhead Element that you shall summon. Continue from this night forward to give your devotions, remembering to call upon any of the Seraph or Cherub that you might need, to inspire or guide you. For having passed by me, you are given these keys to aid in the completion of your ordeal.”

The invocation of Keburiel was completed then, and even though I felt glad of the outcome, I was greatly exhausted. I was surprised at being so readily accepted by the Cherub, but I knew that I had not wavered in my faith all of these years, and perhaps this was my reward for being such a creature of habit and so fixated on my magick and my pagan faith. It all turned out to have a purpose, so I felt quite happy. Then I remembered the seed planted in my soul, realizing that the work had really only just begun, and any degree complacency on my part was deadly to me.

Frater Barrabbas