The Nature of the Great Work

Many societies speak of "the great work".
i have my own opinions on this but i was intrested to see if any of you have some input on this matter.

What do you suppose the Great Work to be.
please be civil in your response.
thank you.

The Great Work, AKA The Plan Of The Ages, is a plan to restore The Prince Of This World, AKA The Perpetual Youth Of 16 Summers, to his throne as ruler of this planet.

Shortly, a pack of howling monkeys is going to descend on this post demanding that I list my sources.

I will, as I always do, reply that I travel constantly, and I am several states away from my sources. To paraphrase an old crude saying, demand in one hand and ( fill the other with a commonly available substance ) and see which fills up first.

One theory is that Earth was ruled by some not so very nice folks a long time ago. They were evicted after a very unpleasant battle, and can't come back until they are invited back. To achieve the goal of being invited back, they need certain things:

All memory of their nasty past must be erased from history.

Humans need to be divided into hostile groups who fight each other, and consider each other the enemy. If They - those evil dirtbags - claim in their history that this or that happened, it must be lies because They are such horrible people. Different countries have different histories, with less and less overlap as time goes by. No sensible third party would believe either history to be gospel. A good way to get rid of unconvenient truths, eh?

When everyone is at everyone elses throat, and the inconvenient memories are just silly old myths, you unite the people. Give them a common enemy, an enemy that has no allies here because it is from somewhere far far away. When all looks lost, and our squabbles here look pale and insignificant by comparison to the external threat, give us a leader who has a workable plan to defeat the outsider enemy.

Many people who choose to believe this scenario believe the enemy will be alien invaders. I believe that IF this scenario is true, the enemy will be an asteroid big enough to be a planet killer.

i agree that the great work involves the unveiling of something long forgotten by the prescribed histories.

my hunch is that it has to do with dissemination of cosmological and ontological concepts.
others claim it may be something more physical, such as aliens or the nephilim.
i can honestly say i don't KNOW, but have been researching and come across diverse theories. thats why i thought it was a great subject for ATS.

i agree that the great work involves the unveiling of something long forgotten by the prescribed histories.

my hunch is that it has to do with dissemination of cosmological and ontological concepts.
others claim it may be something more physical, such as aliens or the nephilim.
i can honestly say i don't KNOW, but have been researching and come across diverse theories. thats why i thought it was a great subject for ATS.

Originally posted by xenu brings order
Shortly, a pack of howling monkeys is going to descend on this post demanding that I list my sources.

I may be hairy but I'm not a monkey

Originally posted by Stewart Lewis
Many societies speak of "the great work".

What do you suppose the Great Work to be.

I believe that the SECRET is that we should SEEK WRIT to find the true meaning behind "the great work".

Apply the verses of the bible to the bible, as well as to all words, and all languages, and many truths are revealed. The Great Work is synonymous with: the holy grail, the ark of the covenant, pandora's box, etc ..........



[edit on 27-1-2007 by Esoteric Teacher]

The Great Work, as I understand it, has to do with the transmutation of both gold and the human being. Changing base metal into gold by changing the alchemist into a 'higher being'.

As the first chemists, the alchemists believed they could harness the forces described in the tablet and actually transmute lead into gold in their laboratories. But there was one big difference between the alchemists and modern chemists: The alchemists believed their own state of consciousness would somehow affect the final outcome of their experiments, that the purity of their own souls was a factor in perfecting the metals. For that reason, they worked as much on themselves as they did with their chemicals.

LINK

For added information, I would suggest two books to get you started on understanding this strange old practice which became popular in the 17th century. They are;

- Alchemical Studies
- Psychology and Alchemy

Both books are by CG Jung

The Great Work is to reveal God, unencumbered by religon, unfettered by dogma, unstained by sectarianism.

Originally posted by masqua
The Great Work, as I understand it, has to do with the transmutation of both gold and the human being. Changing base metal into gold by changing the alchemist into a 'higher being'.

I think Masqua is absolutely correct, and if he weren't a mod, he'd get my vote for Way Above for that post.

The Great Work is an alchemical term that involves perfecting the individual by the sublimation of the animal that is man to the Divine that is within him. It is summed up in the Hermetic motto "Know Thyself".

is today's culture (in Usa) condusive to this work, as in more than the past.

Originally posted by Stewart Lewis
is today's culture (in Usa) condusive to this work, as in more than the past.

I would suggest that no it is not, if you look at western society as having become more decadent and morally bankrupt (in general, not for everyone) then these are the exact worldly pleasures which I believe you need to rise above, in order to complete the Great Work.

As was stated above, Know Thyself, not the fleeting pleasures of the flesh.



Tamahu might have an interesting take on this.

I suppose xenu brings order you were talking about the nephillim in your post? They seem to have become very popular these days*

I believe the great work is simply the perfection of the human animal* In conspiracy theories it may aloso refer to the work to bring about the unified world government and the phaeronic ruler

[edit on 28-1-2007 by Count Germails Lovechild]

Originally posted by DrBones666
As was stated above, Know Thyself

Indeed.


The maxim that Pythagoras brought from Khemet to Greece...:


"Man Know Thyself and you shall Know the Universe and its Gods."


...of which I've not much doubt that he Knew directly(Gnosis).



To be truly successful, the Alchemist must work with:


The Three Factors for the Revolution of the Consciousness:


1) Birth(of the Solar Bodies)

2) Death(of the ego)

3) Sacrifice(ourselves for all suffering sentient beings)






[edit on 2-2-2007 by Tamahu]

It is most likely that our planet has been visited by regular planet wide disasters in the past. (i.e. Polar shifts and/or gravitational instability caused by the passing of a giant metor or planetary body.)

The great work is to unite humanity before the planetary apocalypse occurs again. Hopefully we can work together to figure out a way to survive it this time.


[edit on 2-2-2007 by In nothing we trust]

Originally posted by In nothing we trust
The great work is to unite humanity before the planetary apocalypse occurs again. Hopefully we can work together to figure out a way to survive it this time.

Unfortunately, only a few will be saved from the Final Catastrophe of this Root-Race.


The Buddhas strive to Liberate all sentient beings, however they also know that they can't lead every single Individual to Buddha-hood; at least not before the coming Final Catastrophe.

Meaning that if they help to save at least the few that can be saved, all will benefit, as the collective Consciousness will be improved.

The people who didn't care what effect their behaviour had on the whole, will have to enter the Second Death spoken of by Master Jesus.

This is the Buddhist Hell Realms, or Klipoth, Dante's Inferno, etc. where the Buddha-Nature is stripped of the egos of karma, so that that Buddha-Nature can re-emerge as an innocent Human-Elemental without ego, and be given again the oppertunity to attain Self-Realization.


It is taught that the ones who have Built the Solar Bodies, the To Soma Heliakon, Merkabah, etc. will be saved from the Final Catastrophe by Vaivasvata Manu, Noah, Ziusudra, etc.; and will re-populate the Earth.

Hi Stewart

What do you suppose the Great Work to be.

Others have touched on how I would interpret this - Know Thyself - and transmute your own inner lead into gold and striving to be as One with all creation - understanding and respecting the creative force.

I think I would describe the Great Work as working on every level of yourself that you find, when on the path to knowing yourself. Analysing why we react in the way we do, then working on the reaction we believe is the right way to behave and to 'be'

What I find amusing is that when we are turning our inner lead into gold, rather than feeling grander (as critics say when they insult people carrying out the Great Work) the end result for me was a feeling of being tiny, and equal to even a blade of grass. However, rather than thinking a blade of grass as being of no importance, to me every blade of grass is as beautiful as a pearl
Sorry for being whimsical.

I put a website together about 4 years ago on the Great Work, which I haven't been able to update for some time (so Im quite embarrassed by some of the things I put up there, but hey, we're always learning

It's here:
www.btinternet.com...

The specifics ARE in learning alchemy, but you need to learn spiritual alchemy, which is what the alchemists in laboratories were trying to emulate - art imitating nature in the Great Work on Oneself, uniting your inner opposites etc. There are many ways of studying this aside from alchemy but it's definitely up there once you understand all the symbolism and the purpose of it.

[edit on 8-2-2007 by Nebankh]

[edit on 8-2-2007 by Nebankh]

Just my two cents here; I wonder if The Great Work is to carry the torch of knowledge through the dark cycle of The Great year until man can once again emerge into an enlightened age.
Here is a great documentary on The Great Year

According to the Gnostic teachings, only those who Raise the Serpent(s) upon the Staff will survive the destruction of this degenerated Aryan Root-Race.

These are said to be the Master Builders who will found the Sixth Root Race known as Koradi, who will Build the New Jerusalem under the direction of the Divinities of Maat, Jupiter, Zachariel, etc.

So the end of this Aryan Root Race is the end of the Kali-Yuga or Iron Age.

The Building of the New Jerusalem is the beginning of the Golden Age or Satya-Yuga.

for one it might be a fat bank account, majestic mansion, power & fame

for the altruist, it might be
To first learn what Character is and Honorable living entails,
and always setting more Noble goals
while living an Honorable, Impeccible, Inspiring life...

finally, dying with dignity




but that's why stories like lost Horizons still cycle in our collective psyche

Without the Philosopher's Stone, there is no Great Work.