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
- Divine and true Metaphysics, or wonderful experimental science regarding eternal and invisible things, discovered by Dr. John Pordage.
- This is the doctrine of Reincarnation.
- “Two souls alas! Are dwelling in my breast.” – Goethe's Faust.
- The intellectual reasoning man.
- Spiritual consciousness.
- This may explain the platitude of most of the so-called spirit communications.
- Comp. The Word. Vol. iv., No. 6., New York.
- See “Magical Metathesis” in the Occult Review, Vol. iv., London, July, 1906.
- Vol. III., Tr. V., Chap. X. § i-ii.
- Refers to J. Bohme.
(The Theosophist, April 1909,
vol. 30, p.22-27)
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