THE STEGANOGRAPHICK COLLECTION (SC)

by Fenella Lavender
www.orderofthegrail.org

The Southern Jasper

At the very opening of the SC, before even the exposition on the symbols, we are introduced to Olocliree and are told that a truth prophesized upon a wise oracle is engraved upon a southern Jasper which one sees in her dwelling. On it is written:

Olocliree, universal object of love, filling the world with her name, shall have such excellences, that even after she shall have been withdrawn from mortals, still shall she be well beloved so much so that several will come into this grotto, to have at least the good luck of breathing the same air as this miracle of Nature, this Marvel of the World.

Steel and Singer have been quoted extensively on the Greek and Egyptian term translated as 'emerald,' which was used for emerald, green granites and perhaps green jasper.

The Emerald Tablet of Hermes is not mentioned at all in the SC, yet it must bear some relationship to the Southern Jasper. Towards the end of the SC a great deal of detailed information on the matter of separation and joining is given, greatly more than in the Emerald Tablet itself. For instance:

Hold as a constant resolution that perfection is not obtained by a constrained order, leading to some goal forced by intolerable involutions, but by the necessary & legitimate one which is equitable, thereby one must not ruin anything to establish, in any way spoil the excellent to restitute it, in as much that it is not reasonable to trouble to enlighten, to kill to vivify, to reprove to tame: it behoves to develop in order to find, to excite to incite, & at least in appearance to resolve the most in truth.

...if this essence is once known to you, you will know it perfects itself without dividing anything, for never does nature in effect lay claim to it, but formally, separating the ugly to adjoin the beautiful, to diminish the unpleasant, in order to augment the agreeable, conserving the whole and multiplying the virtue, through the effect of which nothing is disjoined, nothing is apart or separated, although erased, and in fact the accidents are not separated but erased, as they fade without diminishing in any ways the quantity, of which they would have been set apart had they been separated, in as much as to separate signifies to set apart, and like disjoining, which is to be avoided, since through disjunction one unfastens the specific and natural ties, which can never be restituted, nor others put in their place.

That which once is cut may not be soldered again, to become as united as before……..there is no means by which they could again become what they were before their separation.

Thus to speak truly, to separate when there is no need to do so is to insult love which only requires union.

There is nothing so heavenly destined than the subjects of love, which are faithfully united, therefore for your own good be extremely discreet, and do not ever think of joining Apaxe with Olocliree, although it appears to be the duty. Flee, flee this thought...thereby she flees what Heaven has disunited, and that nature has made separate.

That which by nature is altogether separate, and even in appearance, being by other distinction, will never be absolutely conjoined, not mixed exactly. The substances divided by nature cannot either be conjoined to their very depth, nor concentrically.

Above all do not dare to undo that which is done. You would not know how to incline nor induce nature otherwise than for that which it is destined...

For this reason know that what was united with the faithful tie of nature and love, should it be violated, or undone, cannot be restituted anymore: the oath broken, then mended, is no longer that initial faithfulness: it is done for, one could not reunite the disjoined parts…therefore one must not be obstinate in separating that which nature has conjoined, nor be obstinate in uniting that which nature has not destined reciprocally one for the other...

This is just a selection. The Emerald Tablet is particularly concerned with Fire and Earth, but the SC is focused on Fire and Water. Both are concerned with separation and joining, however the advice in the SC expands on the Emerald Tablet information, and knowledge of Olocliree appears critical to this understanding.

In the Emerald Tablet Hermes claims three parts of the wisdom/philosophy of the whole world/universe. The SC implies the engraved Southern Jasper of Olocliree may be the fourth part, a key. For example, engraved on green stone, if North, East and West are three parts, obviously South would be the fourth. Wildly speculative as this is, this arrangement is mentioned in the SC itself regarding the correct prototype of the veritable chaos, upon which depends the subject of our hopes:

In this distinct confusion were all the Planets, the Moon toward the East, Mercury in the North, the Sun in the West, with most of the others inclined upon this strip. One saw Venus rolling in the South.

Coils of coincidence are everywhere in the SC. Some of them at least must be worthy of consideration.

The Lost Secret

History is replete with many tales of lost treasures and secrets. The SC is unique in that it has found the lost secret and frankly tells us what this particular secret was and how and why it was restituted.

...and none may have access to the holy limits of the great secret, but by means of the ordinary tradition which is now detained, as well as tied to the tongue of the wise Oboel...

...so that by means of a new link it should still remain for the relief and consolation of faithful courages.

He [Oboel] hides himself in the tortuous dens of the grotto of LITE, and it is not easy to accost him, and mainly in the mood that I know him to be in, being hard pressed by regret that malice reigns so much in the world that it has more authority than goodness.

For this cause which I consider a most unsettled misfortune about to befall, and to cause untold damage, is should Oboel persist in his disastrous opinion as it seems he will, this fine chain of cabala would be broken, to the detriment of all good intention. Forecasting which the great Archeus, who takes pity upon benign souls, has remedied it...

For this reason he has allowed me to surprise him while he slept, and to steal his memory, which I have extracted from himself, and have read therein as in a picture the whole of his doctrine and remembrance, in that which concerns the affairs of the excellent Olocliree, who is as I know, oh dear ally, the unique object of your affection: I have therefore applied this memory to my intelligence, which having received the entire impression of that which is contained in this abundant memory; I set it back in its place before the decease of his sleep. Such is the means to restitute that which was going to be lost.

Conclusion

There may once have been a group of people conversant with the secrets of the Lady of Loves, a group so secret that it was better to deny it’s existence than to admit to its membership. They could afford this denial because they understood that this secret and the Lady of Loves was powerful enough to reveal itself.

...the SC itself is strangely quiet in what it has inspired, but it seems that the author of this work, unlike the authors of the other two works, was directly involved in the alchemical movement and published influential works of his own and under other names.

What seems the most incredible is that a published document by a figure of the 1600’s with well established links to the alchemical movement...should be so overlooked. In English a few have discussed the symbols of the frontispiece (actually discussed by de Verville himself in the SC) but discussion of the document as a whole is not available in print nor any comment on the myth of a sleeping Venus with an eternal self fed tree who will awaken to be mother of the King of the World.






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