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JOHN PORDAGE, A FORGOTTEN MYSTIC AND OCCULTIST




Very little seems to be at present known about John Pordage, a celebrated mystic of the sixteenth century, and I do not know whether any of his writings in English exist.  Nevertheless his views, as far as we know them, are well worthy our attention, for it appears that for a time he occupied about the same position in England in regard to mysticism, as Jacob Bohme did in Germany.

Their views were identical with only this difference, that Jacob Bohme was an illiterate shoemaker and his mode of expression is therefore somewhat difficult to understand, while John Pordage was a doctor of medicine, a highly educated person, a prominent physician, and a theologian at the same time, and consequently better able to express his thoughts in comprehensible language.

He lived at a time when there was quite an epidemic of witchcraft and sorcery and when the burning of witches was an everyday occurrence.  His views about the doings of the witches and their supposed meetings with devils are very interesting, as they throw some light not only upon the popular beliefs of those times, but upon certain occult events, whose actuality can hardly be doubted.

Pordage himself was led to the investigation of spiritual things by certain manifestations of occult and apparently demoniacal and magical powers, which took place at his home in the presence of his family and the neighbors, and annoyed them for many months.  Hosts of ugly demons appeared in bodily shapes and were seen by everybody present.  They were diffusing most terrible stenches; the whole neighborhood was disturbed and tormented by horrible and disgusting sights, insupportable noises, ghostly yells and screams and various painful sensations and horrors unequalled in the history of modern spiritism.

Thus, for instance, there appeared to him once at night a devil in the shape of a terrible dragon, with which he had to battle, and the combat lasted for two hours.  The dragon was so materialized and visible that it was also seen by Dr. Pordage's wife, who was present during the fight.  These tribulations lasted for several months; but finally the powers of darkness were conquered, the trouble ceased, and then a period of interior divine revelations began.

I am not acquainted with any of the writings of Dr. Pordage in English, and do not know whether any such can be found, but I have before me a very rare work, consisting of three volumes of about 800-900 pages each, which is a German translation of his English manuscripts, which seem never to have been published in English.

   The title is as follows:

Göttliche and Wahre Metaphysica Oder Wunderbare und Durch Erfahrung erlangte Wissenschaft Der ewigen and unsichtbaren Dinge Entdeckt durch Dr. Joh. Pordaedsche. Frankfurth and Leipzig i. 7, i. 5. (1)

It is quite interesting to hear how Dr. Pordage arrived at his superior knowledge, and it is remarkable that his exposition of the principles in the constitution of man corresponds to that which we find in the modern theosophical teachings as given out by H. P. Blavatsky.

He says:

« The Holy Ghost guided my own spirit, after the separation from my mortal body and its sinful soul, into the stillness of eternity. There I stood with my own eternal spirit, as an individual spirit among innumerable individual spirits, such as are in the most holy sanctuary. There I saw, heard, tasted and felt all that I have written concerning the first and primeval world or principle of eternity.

During this change I recognized two men within myself, an external and an internal man. The inner man lives invisibly within the external one. My external self was mortal, but the internal self was immortal, and moreover, I knew that the external man [astral body] had for its dwelling the carnal body [physical form] and was in possession of a mortal soul [kama], but the internal man had an internal soul [buddhi-manas] quite different from the mortal soul, and could not die. These two souls lived the one within the other, as though they were only one soul. They were nevertheless two souls; but the external did not know the internal soul.

Furthermore, I perceived that the external man had an external mortal spirit [kama-manas], which belonged to him and which he had received from the spirit of this (external world). It was born only for this world and doomed to die within a certain time, according to its astral constellations. Furthermore I saw clearly that the eternal soul of my inner man had an eternal immortal spirit [buddhi] born in eternity [atma]; that it was descended from eternity (2), and consequently immortal.

I then clearly observed that this eternal spirit is hidden within the temporal and mortal spirit, living within the same as if they both were only one spirit, although they both differ from each other, and the mortal spirit cannot comprehend the immortal one, although the latter lives and is active within the former. (3)

The outward spirit, belonging to the external man is nothing more than the natural spirit (4); but the eternal spirit, belonging to the inner man is the understanding (5) within the natural spirit. The physical body is being divested of its clothes at bed-time; likewise the natural spirit may divest itself of the visible form of flesh at the time of death, and the eternal spirit, when passing from this world into eternity, always divests itself of the natural spirit and leaves it in the lower world. (6)

Within the realm of eternity all things are perceived, known, and understood in their own essence, such as they are in reality. The eternal spirit has its own understanding within its own mind, and within the mind its own faculty of seeing, its own eye and perception. This spiritual seeing takes place by means of the spirit of faith uniting itself with the understanding of the eternal spirit, and illuminating the mind with a light which cannot err, but which dwells, lives and moves within the eternal mind and reveals to it everything. »


It seems that the dual nature of man has never been better explained than in the above lines.  It makes it clear that it is of the highest importance for us to become conscious of our own higher and immortal Self, the Master in us, whose presence is realized only by few.

Pordage therefore admonishes us, that we ought not to waste our time by striving to attain merely external knowledge, and that we should not fill our minds with images of all kinds, which renders our hearts full of vanity and makes us believe that we have very high knowledge, while in reality we know nothing real.

Our own fancies create the clouds which hinder the light of divine wisdom from entering our minds and revealing the supreme mysteries of Nature.  Only to the pure in heart will they become manifest. (7)

To cultivate the love of God is more serviceable for our progress, than to puzzle our brains.  Never dispute or quarrel with anybody about differences of opinion; but seek to penetrate within yourself to the divine fountain of truth.  However: "it is to our own advantage to give credit to such persons as are known to us to be trustworthy and honest, if they communicate to us the result of their spiritual experience and use their knowledge for our progress in divine love."

We are perfectly willing to apply this rule to the teachings of John Pordage, in so far as they refer to morals and to descriptions of divine and spiritual realms, hell and paradise, their inhabitants, government, bodily shapes, speech and occupations, etc; but when he comes to describe the doings of witches, our credulity falters and gives way to scepticism, because we cannot make up our minds that in those old superstitions, which have been exploded by modern science, there may be a kernel of truth.

He, for instance, claims that the witches used to be transported in their physical material bodies through the air, when they went to their meetings.  However, such transportations of still living persons have actually taken place in our times, and during the Middle Ages conditions may have been still more favorable for such feats.  Such things have recently occurred in Italy; and accounts of it appeared in most of the European daily papers. (8)

He says:

« If any one asks, how is it possible that witches and sorcerers, after having anointed their foreheads and wrists with a certain ointment, may be carried bodily away through the air, flying in a very short time over all houses and steeples?

My answer is: Such a carrying away into far away places is due to their ministering spirits; for they are the wooden horses upon which they ride, and the broomsticks upon which the witches are sitting are only like shadows. Their own devil, dwelling within themselves, is their carrier. If you believe such a thing impossible, you may accuse your own ignorance; because you do not know the nature of a devil or lost spirit.

Although you do not understand how these things are performed, nevertheless the witch will be carried away bodily and with her clothing, and not merely as a spirit that left its body behind. It is no dream nor phantasy, but an actual carrying away in a magical manner. The anointing in such cases is not essential: it is merely a ceremony for the purpose of deluding the witches and giving support to their faith. The witches themselves do not know more about the way in which they are carried off than the broom stick upon which they ride. »


We may laugh at such theories, but within the last few years a great many things which heretofore were considered impossible have been discovered to be actual facts.  "Old superstitions" some times become scientific realities when they appear in new form and are given new names.  Perhaps the next discovery will be that our astral form is our real body and our material appearance only its shadowy form; the spiritual world, the real one; our visible world a passing illusion.

There is no doubt that during the medieval age many thousands of people accused of witchcraft were tortured to death or lost their lives by fire at the stake.  Some were merely victims of clerical greed or jealousy, others were unfortunate mediums; but there were also those who willfully gave over their bodies to the possession of evil spirits and thus made a compact with them.  Modern progress has thrown overboard a great many uncracked nuts with shells made of superstitions, without discovering the kernels contained therein.

Superficially considered, the writings of Pordage may appear to be occasionally tainted by the orthodox views of those times; but the attentive reader will find them quite different.  He does not insist upon the necessity of a belief in the historical existence of a human personality called the Christ; but teaches the presence of the essential Christ within ourselves and everywhere.

He says:

« Christ in us is nothing else but the essential Christ of God, the eternal Word of the Father (clothed in his sanctified humanity), of which Paul testifies that it is a hidden mystery (to the profane) but manifests in his saints. Therefore Christ in us is called the spirit of Christ; because it is to be understood as being a supremely holy divine power, emanating from the God-Man Christ (the Divinity in Humanity), and having selected its seat within our own heart, as centre for its manifestation.

Thus the eternal Word, (whether outside of us or within us), is our redeemer in no other way but by assuming human nature, and the God-Man the Christ, inside and outside, is one and the same, and our only means for becoming divine and entering into communion with God.

The hidden mystery of Christ is his being born in us, his death in us, his resurrection and ascension in us. Thus the essential Christ has been within his saints at all times and before his visible appearance in a body of flesh. He has been the same, yesterday and to day and in all eternity has he (the Divinity in Humanity) been born, suffered, died, resurrected and ascended to heaven within (the hearts of) his saints. » (9)


« The great mystery does not consist in believing in a glorified Christ in a far away heaven, or in a dead and crucified Christ in a tomb. The Word is near to ourselves, it is in our hearts, and this Word is the same that was in the beginning with God. How mistaken are those bigots, who teach that all the heathen and others, who do not believe in the Christ as a historical person, are doomed to perdition, although they never heard of that person!

All the saints before the advent of Christianity have had the Christ, the mystery of the Father (the consciousness of Divine Being), within themselves. This secret has not been discovered merely by some mystical writers among the Germans (10); but many of our English nation (Parker, Dayton and others) have also most seriously and with a great deal of courage maintained its truth. »


« A real Christian is one who is reborn in the spirit of Christ. This is a great mystery; consider it well; because upon this depends your salvation. If thy spirit grasps this secret, thou wilt be free of thy selfhood; if it grasps it not, thou wilt still be chained to the illusion of Self. All the (orthodox) teaching about vicarious atonements, which makes the people believe that the historical Christ once and for all suffered and died and that one needs nothing else but to believe in that history, is pure Babel and a mere form.

You will for ever remain excluded from Christ, in spite of what he may have done for you, unless you will die to your adopted selfhood and become a child of divine grace. No one in his selfhood can by the power of his self-will inherit the state of eternal being, because wherever there are two kinds of will there is enmity, and if any one desires to live in the will of God, he must conform his will to the divine will and to the Word that speaks within the heart. »


But it is not within the scope of this article to enter into a detailed exposition of the teachings of Pordage. To do him justice it would be necessary to translate and comment on all of these three volumes. This will perhaps be done by somebody at a time when the world has become more enlightened and more capable of receiving spiritual truth.


FRANZ HARTMANN, M. D.



Notes

  1. Divine and true Metaphysics, or wonderful experimental science regarding eternal and invisible things, discovered by Dr. John Pordage.
  2. This is the doctrine of Reincarnation.
  3. “Two souls alas! Are dwelling in my breast.” – Goethe's Faust.
  4. The intellectual reasoning man.
  5. Spiritual consciousness.
  6. This may explain the platitude of most of the so-called spirit communications.
  7. Comp. The Word. Vol. iv., No. 6., New York.
  8. See “Magical Metathesis” in the Occult Review, Vol. iv., London, July, 1906.
  9. Vol. III., Tr. V., Chap. X. § i-ii.
  10. Refers to J. Bohme.


(The Theosophist, April 1909, vol. 30, p.22-27)





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