Asmo

On 9.8.2017 at 7:59 AM, Songshou said:

Hi!  I haven't (yet) seen this insight elsewhere, but in ancient Kabbalist literature they have recognized about 54 (if I remember rightly--from the book "Meditation and Kabbalah" by Aryeh Kaplan) four-letter permutations of Yud, Hey, and Vau (representing the 3 Pillars of the Tree of Life)

 

However the full number of possible permutations is 81.

 

On 13.8.2017 at 6:29 AM, Songshou said:

For some reason, the Kabbalists never explored all the possible permutations.  They did use some of the permutations for meditation, healing, etc.  Kaplan doesn't say much about that, though.

So, for example, the most important tetragrammaton Yud Hey Vav Hey is an interaction of Hesed --> Malkhut -- which might be interpreted as God's Mercy descending and expressing in Earth.

 

Hi!

There is a reason why Aryeh Kaplan lists only 54 permutations.

 

Look at the 81 permutations and imagine them as a flowing dynamic, like your example above.

To have a flow, you need an imbalance. There has to be a higher/lower difference.

 

The middle pillar is the pillar of balance, so from a flowing dynamic viewpoint  it does nothing.

Therefore you have to take the 81 permutations and substract the middle pillar tetragramms (3*9).

 

Hope this helps

 

Have a nice weekend!

Chris

 

If i remember correctly, you can find the answer in Franz Bardon's Initiation into Hermetics - Step IV. 

What finger ? What Moon ? Who's asking ?

I've been thinking lately about karma and yin-yang

 

Imagine that someone is punching you in the face, freeze the image when the fist is 0.5 seconds away.

 

 

from the Buddhist point of view, it's all karma, you messed up something and now it's all coming back to you

 

 

on the other side.. what kind of energy is the punch? Is it yang? Does that mean that you can send yin energy, that way balancing out things so that there will be no way for it to manifest?(or vice versa if it's yin)

 

In my opinion you're to focused on details. Try to see the bigger picture, the whole process that led to the situation and beyond, don't get fixed on one single moment alone.

 

Karma is the law of cause and effect and every effect itself is the cause for another effect etc.

Isolating events and analyzing them makes only sense in retrospective, to learn from your mistakes etc.

 

Speculating about hypothetical events doesn't make sense because you are missing the whole context that led you there.

 

Yin and Yang are not seperated, you could say they work in unison if you want, altough that's also not really correct.

If you really want to understand the Taijitu (Yin/Yang Symbol) you have to live it, not intellectually try to understand it.

Take up Tai Chi and start doing Push Hands lots of it

 

 

 

 

However, internal conflicts are much more difficult to solve than external ones.

 

Example.  I was practicing push-hands with a very aggressive woman a couple of weeks ago.  She only wants to win, always, for all purposes and in all circumstances -- well of course this is a sign that she feels like a loser inside, but so what -- she is strong as a horse and stubborn as a mule, and not fully external in her taiji at that -- her skill is 95% external but the 5% of internal accomplishments give her a very strong (albeit only vertical, fancy-free) root which she can reinforce with all her considerable li (muscular strength) and a bit of fajin (in the beginner, long jin stage).  Not a difficult opponent for someone who has more of the internal goodies -- except she is also cunning and treacherous and very, very hostile under a mask of total friendliness and sweetness.  She is the type who will always praise you to your face and try to win you over with thoughtful presents and sweet-talk you into friendship and stab you in the back the second an opportunity presents itself. 

 

So, we were practicing in the park, and someone else who needed my attention for a moment called me to say something, I stopped the practice and turned to the source of the distraction, naively expecting my partner to do likewise, like normal sparring partners do.  Instead, she fajined into my shoulder, leaving a bruise the size of her iron palm.  What do you reckon my options are at this point?  I know everything about her internal conflicts, she's a borderline personality disorder -- so, I am curious to hear what it is I'm supposed to do with this knowledge.  Seriously.  What would you folks do in my shoes?

 

Depends on what you are trying to achieve. Stepping aside and never train again with her is an option but very limited.

Let me try to give you an alternative viewpoint. (Please don't take it personally it's only a possible way of looking)

 

Life in form of your Sije gave you the task of building a relationship in form of Push Hands with someone.

You took the challenge, judged her beneath you but in the end you were hurt.

 

There is so much you can learn from her don't throw away this chance. She has willpower, focus and awareness, maybe misguided by inner conflict but that's irrelevant. Don't become a "guiltmover" , she is the one who was rough and sneaky and always wants to win etc. If you knew all that and crossed hands with her, who is to blame ?

 

Her intention was clear to you , what was your intention and thinking ?  Only you can say that, but "maybe" you thought her so much beneath you that it is ok to take you awareness away from her...

 

I sincerely hope you understand what i'm trying to say and please bear in mind it's not personal only a different viewpoint!

Stand up to the challenge that life is throwing at you and learn

 

Best whishes

Chris

Ruach, Ruach spinning around,

Never does he gain any ground.

Numbers, facts, allegory

Only tell half the story.

 

I like that !

I think its quite simple. It is psychology. The power of suggestion ... not to be underestimated.

 

From my various readings I have found that magick is psychology.

 

*irony on* 

 

So you are talking from a standpoint of profound experience and insight ...

 

*irony off*

Title says it all really.

 

What do you want to learn/achieve ?

Nice Post Deci !

 

I once showed someone a simple hand scrawled diagram that changes from a pentagram into a pyramid before your eyes, and his only reply was “What does it mean?”

 

I'd like to see that diagram handscrawled or mspainted if possible ;D

 

 

Best whishes

Chris

Horse riding Stance

Hi FraterUFA,

 

That's an interesting approach I hadn't considered.

 

It like revivifying dead metal with fresh life, metal also holds the signature. For a "weak" veg. tincture you can use only the dried plant. for a veg. stone you need fresh plants. Or you reintroduce life into your dried plants

 

 

The way I think of it is that the "life force" isn't a real thing of itself. Rather, it's what manifests when the three principles are present. Dried herbs (absent seeds) will not sprout given the right conditions nor can they be induced to reproduce in any manner... they do not demonstrate the properties of life. And therefore, we have to ask ourselves... if life isn't present, then are all three principles present?

 

The 3 principles are always present everytime everywhere. Dried herbs cannot sprout because the don't have enough life force to reproduce aka build seeds but do you know grafting ? Where you cut the stem off of one fruittree (cutting their life force) and implant it on another tree, reenableing the flow But small plants decompose too fast for that method. The animal real decomposes even faster.

 

 

Yes, exactly... which is why statements that Dubuis made (again, I think he did this intentionally) like: "the Spirit is contained in the alcohol and is common to all plants", it is quite misleading.

 

But this is as it should be, right? Elsewhere are hints and statements which contradict this one (and which are correct).

 

I cannot claim to really know Dubuis intentions, but everything i know of this man makes me believe that he did it with the best intentions for his students. As soon as someone picks up one of the more classical (philosophical) books on alchemy, like the before mentioned Aurea Catena Homeri, they should realise that we are not working with physical parts but metaphysical principles applied to physical parts.

 

 

So now we start getting into astrology. What is the proper role of astrology in alchemy? I certainly don't fully understand it and I believe very few do. But what is certain is that we've muddled it up beyond recognition for the most part and Dubuis certainly contributed to this.

 

I believe that as far as astrology plays a role in alchemy, it is limited to the following:

 

1. The phase of the moon

2. The zodiacal sign of the sun

3. The time of day

4. The major aspects made to the moon

 

Now what is quite interesting about this is that the first three of these have sound physiological reasons behind them. The fouth, I cannot explain nor can I prove one way or another at the current time (eg: it is a belief I currently hold).

 

And whether these make any difference at all in the plant work is another question altogether.

 

As there is only one root (imho ) wheter you call it Source, God, Tao, Allah or whatever else and everything sprouts from it everything has an impact on everyting to different degrees at different times. There is one major key in the 3 principles and 4 elements you can also find it in the post heaven bagua.

 

Balance implies polarity, so I would argue that this is the opposite of evolution in an alchemical sense. We can be perfectly balanced and unevolved at the same time.

 

Compare pre heaven bagua with post heaven, both have polarity but one is perfectly balanced while the other is not and therefore is allowing change and therefore evolution. As long as you are not at the source you will have polarity everywhere, balance it, balance it so perfectly that it "transcends" it Being perfectly balanced and unevolved was a long time ago when this whole thing started imho.

 

 

That is the theory and certainly a safe one for someone working on their own. But by no means is it a requirement.

 

The application of the proper force to the physical body can do more in 60 seconds than months or years of this gradual and often imperceptible consumption of alchemical products. At least tinctures and elixirs, which I am familiar with.

 

Hmm i'm doing a type of QiGong where i'm advised to only do about 5 to 10 minutes twice a day. As i'm notoriously curious i tried it longer, resulting in what we call overcleansing. The amount of energy was not the problem but my body simply couldn't cope with the release of blockages and i got ill for a few days. Today that won't happen. Afaik Dubuis advised to take the vegetable stuff for 18months before switching to metallic or mineral ones. If a beginner does nothing else beside alchemy i think it's sound advise.

 

 

I would but it is not mine to give!

 

Maybe you could ask :D

 

 

This is a good conversation. I am enjoying it. :-)

 

Me too!

 

 

Chris

Hi FraterUFA,

 

 

Knowing full well that without the key, he'd be spinning his wheels for years...

 

But he didn't ask the right question now, did he? :-)

 

 

Hi Chris,

 

 

I provided a level of detail appropriate to the question that was asked. But seeing as you are asking for further detail...

 

 

Like many alchemists (including Albertus), Dubuis put some blinds in his work. He gave enough to satisfy the arm chair alchemists and writes convincingly. But after a bit of hands on experimentation using his methods, one quickly hits roadblocks. I believe that those hurdles were intentional, designed for the purpose of encouraging true seekers to get in contact with his school (which is a pretty wise approach, if you ask me).

 

The blinds he put in there are deliberately and he wrote about that iirc in vol 2 of spagyrics.

Originally these whole scripts where a distance study course for LPN members. You could see who is doing the work because they would hit roadblocks and ask or they would find a solution depending on their depth of understanding. There was a kind of master student relationship embedded in this way. If it would have been a book, i wouldn't I like his approach

 

My favorite though is the part in the spagyrics lessons where he goes into why you shouldn't use store bought materials (I think he was referring to potassium carbonate, I don't have the lessons in front of me right now to confirm) and then 1-2 pages later instructs the student to go to the store and buy it.

 

Can't remember what he wrote exactly either. Those who do the work all by themselves will gain better knowledge and understanding. It's a little bit like seperating the wheat from the chaff.

 

 

He also advises that dead plants can be used as the subject for the elixirs. And technically, he's right... the dead plants won't give any better results than using live ones! Someone reading with a critical eye will question this based on his discussion in S7 about cut herbs having lost their signature. And any gardener/farmer/enologist with a few years experience should instantly recognize the truth about the life force present in dried vs. live plants.

 

Imho , they don't lose their signature, the difference lies in a living plant radiating it's signature outward and a dead plant retaining it.

 

Take Mercury, for instance. How is ethanol the universal mercury of the plant kingdom when ethanol does not naturally occur in the plant kingdom, and furthermore, it is an animal by-product?

 

It seams that this is a simple question when actually it is not

Ethanol is the carrier of the principle of mercury never the mercury in itself.

It doesn't have to occur naturally, nature takes a less pure way to do the work.

The art takes a shortcut in seperating and purifying the principles.

We have (to stay at the current example of the universal mercury of the plant kingdom) the volatizing and the fixing mercury in every plant. But only the mercury of grapes is universally usable.

 

 

His theories about the correspondences (and subsequent practices) of the seven tinctures to the days, planets, and sephiroth. Are we really only going to have "water experiences" on Mondays? Martial experiences on Tuesdays? Hmmm...

 

I mean, that is an interesting theory... but the Tree of Life is ultimately a model of the inner world. Like many occultists, Dubuis mistakes it for outer reality. This hasn't to my knowledge been satisfactorily proven by anyone (yet... though I know of at least one person investigating it).

 

No we don't only have water experiences on Mondays The Etz Chiim is the simplest Glyph but its everexpanding. It may be correct to say that on a Sunday morning in the first hour the influence of the sun is at it's peak and it maybe a good idea to take a tincture/elixir at this hour because it may be easier to get an awareness of this energy. But it's only a dominating factor for a short amount of time.

 

We could go into his advice on astrology as well, though I suspect people will start throwing tomatoes at me if I go into this one.

I won't throw anything at you

 

 

An alternative to his model is the Paracelsian concept of the plant kingdom existing in a type of hierarchy, with certain plants being more evolved and having superior properties to others. This does have experimental support.

 

More evolved should mean more in balance. Grapes should be the most in balance therefore you can take the mercury from grapes and use it on the whole plant kingdom.

 

 

The lessons are disorganized to an extreme. This is pretty much self-evident and it makes me question if you've actually read them seriously.

 

An example: the first experiment is detailed in the early lessons (2-4, if memory serves). But Dubuis doesn't get into a discussion on this until lesson 26.

 

That serves a purpose imho. I'm looking for the right Allegory here but i don't know a good one -.-

 

Let say you want to purify and strenghten Tiphareth. Lets look at a few availablve alchemical options.

 

Veg. Tincture

Veg. Elixir

Cirrculatum Minor

Vegetable Stone

Metallic. Tincture

etc etc etc.

 

If you take a veg. tincture the effect is minimal but it's there. You proceed through the ranks and everything gets more purified and strengthend. If you don't do it that way you can seriously hurt yourself in the process.

 

 

Descriptions and variations of equipment are scattered throughout multiple lessons, often separate from information on the practical use of same.

 

The various methods discussing the plant stone are shotgunned throughout many different lessons (24, 26, 29...)

 

Lessons on the vegetable mercury are scattered throughout... 29, 31, and Minerals 7 just to name a few.

 

Don't get me wrong. There is a lot of good info here. But the lessons seem to be constructed almost as if he transcribed them over time through someone else.

 

A little editing and re-organization turns what is a mediocre effort into something truly magnificent. Seeing this ends all argument.

 

I know what you are meaning, think of it that way. If i would write a book where i state everything no secrets. (Obviously i'm not able to do that.) How many would work their way through it and how many would skip to the last chapter ? The information maybe not in a neat order but in a way that sows the seeds and let them mature before new information is added to it.

 

A reorganized version would be great for someone who actually did the work. For students in a distance learning course not so. Btw if you have a reorganized version i'd really like to have it :D

 

This is a possibility I addressed elsewhere. Having recreated the elixirs under the eye of someone more experienced, it is far more likely that either:

 

A) my vibration is already too high and so these elixirs don't have an effect on me, or...

The Albertus/Dubuis basic elixir approach does not have an alchemical effect

 

Again, I do recommend the PON lessons as a reference but my most blunt, honest assessment is that these lessons are not going to turn anyone into a genuine alchemist.

 

Best,

Fr. UFA

 

Actually very possible that you are purified enough for the next step

As everything we take in has an alchemical effect (not necessarily a purifying) i can assure you they work but not in the most efficient way possible and that's for good!

 

 

Best whishes

Chris

 

 

 

balance

@BKA

 

I was going to do some salts of oak wood.

 

Making the sulfur and mercury of plants was much more doable indoors .

 

Keep it simple, get an iron bbq put the wood in it and let it burn. You can use the time and meditate on the fire element.

 

All I have learned so far was what a sulfur, mercury and salt was, and how to make them (if you don't have a roomate lol). Also how to make a stone with salt.... as for prep for stones with a "salt". Also was told about various advanced stones concepts.

 

You don't "make" the salt, salt is one of the three principles. You seperate and purify them in Spagyrics in Alchemy you also help them in their evolution. You can have a finished product that is wholly composed of distilled water and there is still "salt".

.

Sooooo I have a setup to keep the tinctures and etc. at body temperature for however many days or weeks.... but always wondered about that whole bury the various preparations under manure bit. Is there some reason for this aside from just keeping them at the right temp? I also noticed that most of the time you also bury them in the ground, under the manure.

 

Did most old alchemists have cows too?

 

Using manure is a cheap and easy way to a constant heat source.

 

So what is "mercury" as outlined in most medicinal alchemical recipes pertaining to medicines?

The 2nd principle There are determined Mercury and undetermined. You can make the determined Mercury from the specific plant you like to use.

 

 

Chris

@Michael

"Did I say I am? Would I have started this thread if I were?"

 

Actually Michael, your first post implied that you're a beginner, paraphrased by your question "Where do I start? "

 

I gave you the information how to start and enough material for the next few years.

 

In your next post you tell us that you already have knowledge and only need a few details on the most advanced work in Alchemy.

 

I sincerly believe that my first post was nicely formulated and helpful for a beginner in this art.

My second post aka. 'my smudgy remarks' were simply brutal honesty.

 

From "Where do i start" to questions about aquiring the red stone ? if you are honest with yourself you can't really blame me for my honesty you digged your own grave.

 

Concerning the books and your experience with Spagyrics.

Let me tell you a story about Bob. Bob is a very intelligent guy. He read a lot of books about driving he also loves the experience as co-driver. So he concludes he must be ready for HighSpeed Racing ...

 

I hope you got a driving license and understand this allegory. You are trying to learn an art here, so please go to driving school first.

 

If you have any question ask, i will do my best to give you an helpful answer.

 

But let me give you a last warning, if you're proceeding with metallic work the chances that you will create something are very slim, if you actually manage to create something the chances that it is either toxic or will get you in to serious trouble are very high.

 

Chris

 

 

 

I am happy to see that my thread finally got some momentum.

 

I collected and read many books on Alchemy written from different perspectives, including secondary as well as primary literature. However, it is very difficult to arrive at a coherent picture, especially as far as the practical art is concerned, safe for some introductory works into 'Vegetable Alchemy'. Of course, Alchemy has always been notorious for its obscurity and lack of a terminology and symbolism common to most practitioners. Some scholarly efforts have been made by contemporary academics like Lawrence M. Principe and William R. Newman to figure out what the Alchemists of yore were actually doing in their laboratories. While some of their conclusions are illuminating, they still provide only a rather fragmented view, at best. Even how and with what material to start the Great Work is far from unambiguous.

 

However, as far as I figured out so far, there are two major methods employed by a substantial number of advanced practitioners:

 

The Wet Path

 

This starts with manufacturing a somewhat elusive Spirit of Wine and a preparation of lead acetate. The principal text is Johann Seger Weidenfeld's "The Secret of the Adepts". In modern times, it was attempted by Alexander von Bernus.

 

The Dry Path

 

This starts with manufacturing a star regulus of metallic Antimony. It is also called the Flamel way and was followed by such famous Alchemists as Eirenaeus Philalethes and Sir Isaac Newton.

 

The details of the practice of either path still elude me, however. If you have anything to share on them, I invite your comments. Alternatively, feel free to PM me.

 

Thanks.

 

Michael

 

Hi!

 

Sooo, you've read many books but couldn't grasp it.

You also read books, written by guys who themselve where no Alchemists. Sorta like "Alchemy for Dummies by Dummies" ?

 

"However, as far as I figured out so far, there are two major methods employed by a substantial number of advanced practitioners:"

 

You are neither! It looks like you're looking for a recipe on how to make the stone in simple terms.

Doesn't work that way, you have to do practical fundamental training and not advanced (metallic) work.

 

If you take the available literature you can categorize them roughly:

 

Philosophical and Theoretic - Full of Allegories and Symbols, if you are an Adept everything will be clear, as a beginner reading them is like sowing seeds. Do it long and often and maybe something will grow. If you think you understood something you need to test it, only Knowledge + Experience will show you the way.

 

Old Practical Books: These are often simple recipebooks, but if you don't know ho to cook how would you prepare a meal ? and what makes you think you can cook a 5 Star 4 course menu ?

 

New Practical Books: These are mostly about Spagyrics and enough Theory is embedded to give you everything you need.

 

Doing metallic work without sound knowledge is like giving an untrained person a Desert Eagle .50 Cal.

 

I hope you understand what i tried to tell you.

Best wishes

Chris

HI!

 

If the temperature can be controlled it should be fine, iirc you need to stay under 800°C for organic salts.

 

The initial burning should imho not be attempted inhouse or in your furnace.

Do it outside and after that you can take the ashes and work indoor.

 

Long/Short Calcination: Depends what you're trying to do and the material you start with.

Purification through separation of finely ground ashes doesn't take too long.

 

Rose quarz is not a plant therefore you need other temperatures for calcining.

 

Chris

> Jean Dubuis. Nothing more comprehensive out there.

 

I have mixed thoughts about this.

 

The PON lessons have a lot to offer for the beginner. But there is a lot that is misleading in there. Let's just take the whole concept of the seven planetary elixirs for instance. This is an interesting exercise (and a tedious one) but once you progress, you'll see that that this is a sledgehammer approach that probably doesn't achieve anything alchemical at all. I have seven elixirs and two of them maybe... maybe... have some minimal effect. And I might be imagining that.

 

Dubuis was a typical Frenchman... he came up with lots of logical theories and did not bother to test them. And he's incredibly disorganized. You will spend a lot of time spinning your wheels on this material.

 

Much better to go find a teacher.

 

YMMV!

 

Fr. UFA

 

Hi!

 

You criticized the information and the man who wrote it, but you don't reveal what's wrong

 

What exactly do you think is misleading in his material ?

Why are the 7 planetary elixirs/tinctures a sledgehammer approach ?

 

Which of his theories did he not test? Can't really see the disorganization, care to explain further ?

 

I'm sorry to hear that your elixirs don't do much, but you don't want to blame that fact on anybody but yourself do you ?

 

Chris

Hi!

 

Jean Dubuis. Nothing more comprehensive out there.

His Lessons are free if you can speak french, english version is distributed by Triad Publishing but

they have been on the net for many years.

 

Jean Dubuis 2 Volumes (48 Lessons) on Spagyrics - English/French

 

John Reid - Pflanzen-Alchemie - German http://www.numinosa.at/app/download/4756443/Reid,+John+H.+-+Pflanzen-Alchemie.pdf

or in english on levity.com

 

Aurea Catena Homeri - 1723 German the english translation of Sigismund Bacstrom isn't good/complete, but ok to read trough.

 

now you should have a good understanding of what you're doing

 

Jean Dubuis 4 Volumes (84 Lessons) on Mineral Alchemy - English/French

 

Congratulations you did it !

 

If you want the informationoverkill R.A.M.S. http://www.ramsdigital.com/

They will sell you 292 Scans of Alchemical Books on USB Drive for 54AU$

Good and worth the money but absolutely not necessary.

 

Best whishes

Chris

@MooNiNite

this was a great read, thanks. from the way he writes it was suprising to me that his most life changing experience was almost losing his job.

 

Mabe you missed that part

 

"Finally, later on I was faced with emergency surgery, I lost an organ and was confronted head-on with the possibility of dying."

 

Chris

Ah, but you are mixing the "now" moment up with the future. Our now moment is our now reality. The future hasn't been written yet. Sure, we can change our mind. But we first must acknowledge that it needs changing. Some folks are already absolutely right and will never change their mind about various things, especially spiritual things.

 

Yes, we all are free to change our mind. But that brings insecurity. Better to stay secure than to change one's mind. For some folks even believing a lie is better than being insecure.

 

Hmm no i don't mix up the now with the future. I can't make a change in the future, i only can make it "now" and through that i'm writing my own future.

 

If someone thinks that his pov is right and won't consider any other opinion why should you care or even talk to him/her ? You don't talk to walls do you ? ;D

 

But back 2 topic.

Taomaster tried to impose the law of duality on reality with the help of a binary approach. Apart from the problem that a binary system like the computer uses is not balanced and therefore not useable. Reality isn't black or white.

 

chris

If you don't think it's possible to change the pov why do you state in your signature that you reserve the right to change your mind ? If you change your mind you change your pov.

 

At every moment you're free to change who you are and what you believe.

 

chris

I'm not a native english speaker so maybe it's my fault but i cannot discern if you're asking me how to change the pov or if your question implies that it's not possible to change the pov.

 

best whishes

chris

hi,

 

no i can't give you what you desire , because your assumption is flawed (imho).

 

The Taijitu doesn't tell you everything is black or white, everything is both at the same time to a different degree and depending on the viewpoint, it can also be inverse.

 

Different persons different viewpoints different truths/lies, because everyone percieves their reality different.

 

My dusk - can be your dawn + , only depends where our pov's are aka where on earth we stand.

 

And if we build a line of people all around the world, we would all have a different opinion as long as everyone looks only from their own ego perspective.

 

chris

@taomaster

How do we know what's yin and what's yang. Really.

 

You don't. They are ever-changing. You can only take a snapshot, a moment in time and describe part of the whole as yin or yang.

In the next moment everything has changed.

 

Chris

@BKA

 

"The 10 years minimum part also confirms this, as 12-15 years seems a common time for that particular experience, from what I have seen from several magicians."

 

Can't say much about this as i don't know many but on his site is a link to his first teacher who is still teaching.

It takes approximately 51 months to reach Adeptus minor V°, from there another 54 to reach Magus VIII°.

So i can reasonably conclude that he talks about the Abyss and not the Veil of Paroketh.

 

Frater Acher talks about the Veil of Paroketh aka the smaller abyss here:

http://www.theomagica.com/the-dweller-on-the-threshold/

 

o\

>Chris<