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Mackenzie Crook's critically lauded BBC2 comedy-drama Small Prophets has sparked renewed interest in ‘Homunculi’ - the strange sperm, blood and horse manure created tiny artificial humans or human-like beings of legend...or reality?
Sammelbilder - Homunculus hovering above_Faust (scene from Goethe's Faust, second part)
Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In the show, DIY store worker Michael Small (Pearce Quigley) is inspired by his aged father Brian’s esoteric tales of National Service in Egypt to attempt to create his own prophesying creatures. Why?
To discover what happened to his girlfriend Clea, who disappeared without explanation seven years ago on Christmas Eve:
What are Homunculi - and what are their origins?
Psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961) believed that the concept of an (as yet unnamed as such) ‘Homunculus’ first appeared in the Visions of Zosimos, written in the third century AD. Zosimos was born in Panopolis in the south of Roman Egypt (a connection with Small Prophets) and wrote the oldest known books on alchemy, calling them "Cheirokmeta," for "things made by hand."
In the 1973 motion picture The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, evil sorcerer Koura creates a Homunculus to spy on Sinbad:
How can I create a Homonculus?
Swiss alchemist Paracelsus (1493–1541), in his De natura rerum (1537) outlines how to create Homunculi, not something to be taken lightly.
The sperm of a man be putrefied by itself in a sealed cucurbit for forty days with the highest degree of putrefaction in a horse's womb warmed by"venter equinus, warm, fermenting horse dung", or at least so long that it comes to life and moves itself, and stirs, which is easily observed. After this time, it will look somewhat like a man, but transparent, without a body. If, after this, it be fed wisely with the Arcanum of human blood, and be nourished for up to forty weeks, and be kept in the even heat of the horse's womb, a living human child grows therefrom, with all its members like another child, which is born of a woman, but much smaller.
The homunculus was a potentially powerful but also somewhat limited creature; only thriving for any time within its glass container and sustained only on a particular strain of blood known only to alchemists.
The homunculus acted as seer, protector and servant, not as a weapon; neither good nor evil, counted on only to follow the will of their master, be it for pure means or ill.
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616), concludes with the creation of a male and female Homunculi duo, suggesting the ultimate goal of alchemy is not transmutation of metal but the creation of artificial humans. In 1775, Count Johann Ferdinand von Kufstein, assisted by the cleric/mystic Abbé Geloni, created ten homunculi with the ability to foresee the future (see also Small Prophets), kept in glass containers at the Vienna’s Masonic lodge.
From The Strange Experiments of Count Kuefstein: The Man Who Made Ten Homunculi by Rade Kolbas (2024):
They worked on creating ten spirits, which they claimed to have successfully captured in glass jars. Each spirit was unique: there was a king, a queen, a knight, a monk, a seraph, a nun, a miner, an architect, and two other spirits, one blue and one red, that were only visible through specific rituals. The spirits were said to be small, initially just a few inches in size, and were captured in jars filled with a clear liquid, possibly holy water. The jars were sealed with a special ox bladder and a sigil, believed to prevent the spirits from escaping. Abbé Geloni assured Count Kuefstein that the spirits would grow, which they allegedly did, eventually reaching a length of over a foot. The captured spirits were then dressed and assigned certain roles, the king wore a crown, the knight carried a shield, and so on.
The captured spirits played a role in the Count’s interactions with other members of the Freemason and Rosicrucian orders. On several occasions, he invited prominent members of these secret societies to Greillenstein Castle to witness the spirits in action. These demonstrations were highly secretive, with only a select few allowed to attend. The spirits, according to witnesses, would move within their jars, change color, and even “speak” in a faint, barely audible voice. While some attendees were convinced of the spirits’ authenticity, others suspected that the Count and Geloni were using clever tricks to create the illusion of supernatural activity.
Not everything went smoothly during Count Kuefstein’s experiments. One notable incident involved the breaking of the jar containing the monk spirit. During an attempted ritual, Count Kuefstein accidentally knocked the jar over, causing it to shatter and the spirit to “die.” The Count’s attempts to replace the monk spirit with a new creation, an “admiral” spirit, ended in failure, as the new entity lacked the vitality of its predecessors. Another failed experiment involved an attempt to create a spirit that could provide more direct and accurate answers to questions posed by the Count. This spirit, which was supposed to be a “sage,” never fully formed, and the liquid in its jar remained cloudy and inert.
Dr. Emil Besetzny's 1873 Masonic handbook, Die Sphinx, devoted a chapter to the wahrsagenden Geister (scrying ghosts), apparently a form of Homunculi.
The Golem and Mandrakes
Homunculi have been compared to Jewish folklore’s protective Golem, a lofty animated anthropomorphic artificial being created from mud/clay.
The most well-known account of the golem is The Golem of Prague created by Judah Lowe ben Bezalel, in the 16th century.
The homunculus may have also been inspired by the German folk tradition of the mandragora (mandrake). Author Jean-Baptiste Pitois (1811-1877) likened the creation of a mandragora to that of a homunculus, writing:
“Would you like to make a Mandragora, as powerful as the homunculus so praised by Paracelsus? Then find a root of the plant called bryony. Take it out of the ground on a Monday (the day of the Moon), a little time after the vernal equinox. Cut off the ends of the root and bury it at night in some country churchyard in a dead man’s grave. For 30 days, water it with cow’s milk in which three bats have been drowned. When the 31st day arrives, take out the root in the middle of the night and dry it in an oven heated with branches of verbena; then wrap it in a piece of a dead man’s winding-sheet [burial shroud] and carry it with you everywhere.”
Homunculus_Faust
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
An Homunculus also featured in 2005’s The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, created by 17th-century sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Pea (played by David Warner):
BCrttemberg Kunstkammer-Schmuckkasettep1190
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
"Scenes with Witches: Morning, Day, Evening and Night" by Salvator Rosa (1645 to 1649). A witch pours candle wax into her brew as it boils atop a fire, while another witch holds a book of spells. A demon (or, maybe even the Devil) looks on.
I decided to buy a book about Freemasonry after conflicting cyberspace claims caused me to ponder if they were good guys, bad guys or a strange brew of both. I settled for The Key to Solomon’s Key: Is This The Lost Symbol of Masonry? Second Edition, written by Lon Milo DuQuette; author, magician, master freemason, singer-songwriter, recording artist and humorist. He believes that every one of us is our own self-contained King Solomon:
“We are suns not planets, atoms not molecules, kings and queens, not subjects. The fundamental unit of society is not the family, not the community, not the nation, not the church, but you and I. Until we come to the full realisation of this fundamental truth, we remain like unenlightened Crusaders, fighting and dying for someone else’s absurd fantasy cause, slaves to arbitrary and impersonal outside entities, unable to recognize (let alone fulfil) our human potential.”
Book Cover Image: Linda Summer
The Key To Solomon’s Key
In my experience, nothing beats a spiritually nourishing, well written book, especially by lively, old school authors who enjoy a smattering of controversy. The publication of The Key To Solomon’s Key allegedly rattled the cage of Freemasonry’s exclusive inner core, which probably did them the world of good. Thankfully, DuQuette didn’t suffer the same fate as Freemason William Morgan who, in 1826 or thereabouts, allegedly broke his vow of secrecy by working on a book revealing the organization's secrets. Morgan mysteriously disappeared and lodges consequently saw a big dip in membership.
Welcome to Chapel Perilous
The Key To Solomon’s Key is well-paced, honest, illuminating and refreshingly entertaining. Part One, Solomon’s Secrets, hits the ground running with confessions and secrets aplenty about this mysterious age-old order. (Freemasonry’s documented history dates back to around 1717, the height of the Enlightenment era.) Part Two, The Magic of Solomon, provides comprehensive, step by step magic lessons and even lists the names and biographies of 72 famous spirits of ‘Mighty Kings and Princes’ that allegedly escaped from King Solomon’s Vessel of Brass. Heavenly and hellish stuff all rolled into one. (But where were the Mighty Princesses, I mused.)
“DuQuette’s book carries a ticking religious timebomb of historic proportions just waiting to explode. The implications for our time are provocative.” Arthur Rosengarten, PhD.
The opening lines of the Introduction penned by James Wasserman, who describes DuQuette’s work as a ‘manual of Gnosis’, are well worth repeating:
Brother Lon Milo DuQuette is about to take us on a guided tour of Chapel Perilous. He has asked me to make the following announcement: Will all readers please fasten their seatbelts.
Many of the concepts and questions to which you’ll soon be exposed may be altogether new. Some may threaten your most closely held beliefs and childhood conditioning. We ask only that you approach with an open mind and a willingness to continue your own research when you emerge from these pages…We will be encouraged to become “a principal player in the great plan of creation.”
Why Masonic Lodges Are Closing
If, like me, you have had zero interest in Freemasonry for most of your life and considered it to be nothing more than a charitable old boys networking club, here is an official definition from theFellow Craft Degree Free & Accepted Masons, California Cipher, Grand Lodge of California. F. & A.M.:
“Masonry is a progressive moral science, divided into different degrees; and, as its principles and mystic ceremonies are regularly developed and illustrated, it is intended and hoped that they will make a deep and lasting impression upon your mind.”
Sadly, Duquette reveals that this definition does not reflect what all Masons think the Craft should be. Many now feel that the esoteric roots of this ancient institution are “an embarrassment – queer and unwholesome links to paganism, the occult and even Satanism.” Oh dear. Worse still, there is a concerted effort taking place within Masonry to “once and for all divorce the Craft from its esoteric heritage, and make it an organization open only to men professing certain specific religious convictions.”
The author suggests that this is why Masonic lodges are closing and fewer men are attracted to the fraternity. Traditionally, candidates need only profess a belief in a Supreme Being and a form of the afterlife. But today, there are jurisdictions and lodges around that world that won’t even consider an application if the candidate’s religion is not mainstream enough, or his interest esoteric nature of the craft is suspiciously intense.
Are Our Younger Aspiring Masons The Answer To Spiritual Bankruptcy?
On the brighter note, DuQuette confirms that a significant number of younger Masons are joining the order because they are passionately interested in the esoteric and mystical aspects of the craft:
They come on a personal spiritual quest rather than to exploit opportunities for business or political networking; or the quaint traditions and ceremonies. Some, including the author, view their involvement in the Craft as a magical initiation – a new beginning, or awakening – a conscious decision to become more than they are.
Perhaps a breakaway Freemason fraternity is on the cards.
Freemason Symbology Image: Canva
Oh Solomon, Where Art Thou?
If I had to choose one favourite aspect of The Key to Solomon’s Key, it would be DuQuette’s dogged dig for tangible evidence that King David, King Solomon or Israel’s golden kingdoms actually existed.I must confess that I found this dilemma to be rather amusinggiven that King Solomon is the central figure of both the secret rituals of Freemasonry and forbidden rites of sorcery.
I realise that for some readers this may sound uncomfortably like heresy. Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe it is certainly possible that evidence may someday be found that supports these particular biblical accounts.
DuQuette also confirms that 12th century Jerusalem’s first Knights Templar who had the exclusive opportunity to excavate the alleged site of King Solomon’s temple, also discovered no tangible evidence to suggest that King David or King Solomon ever existed.
Can we rely on biblical accounts alone?
Arguments To Support The Author’s Controversial Claim
1. No mention of the name of David or Solomon has ever been found in the mountains of surviving records kept by the Egyptians or the Assyrians or those of any other neighbouring nations who were allegedly defeated in battle and for years paid massive tribute to Solomon.
2. No archaeologist has uncovered their tombs, a tablet or inscription bearing either of their names or the names of any of their kin or colleagues as outlined so explicitly in the Bible.
3. Most conspicuously absent are any records whatsoever of seven years of taxes and labour levies for what the Bible suggests should exist for 183,000 workmen conscripted locally and from foreign countries, documents which most certainly should be found in abundance among existing contemporary records.
4. Considering the fact that the Holy Land is an area of the world where digging has taken place for centuries… it is almost inconceivable that such celebrated kingdoms and powerful world rulers such as David and Solomon could remain so completely invisible to the archaeological record.
If you happen to come across any hard evidence to suggest otherwise, I’m sure that Lon Milo DuQuette would love to hear from you.
Transcending the Confines of the Bible Narrative
Image: Canva
Religion exalts mystery as an unknowable secret that must be fearfully worshipped from afar, while initiation requires direct participation and demands each of us to evolve our abilities and worthiness to receive the spiritual treasures.
The intrepid author swears that he is breaking no vows of secrecy by sharing that the ceremony of the third degree revolves around the story of King Solomon and the building of his temple. Some of it is taken directly from the Bible but most of it concerns a patently non-biblical story - a dramatic myth unique to Masonry.
He reveals that this ceremony gives the new Mason permission to meditate on sacred mythological truths existing outside the strict confines of the biblical narrative; that perhaps something was buried beneath the Holy of Holies of the Temple - not the fictional Temple of Solomon but the very real ruins of the 1st century BCE temple of Herod the Great.
Almost as if to say “You know - those Bible stories of David and Solomon and King Solomon’s Temple? There’s something underneath those stories. You might want to dig into it.” Masonry urges all her members to use the Volume of the Sacred Law as the Great Light in their profession.
Modern Templar treasure hunters suggest that the Masonic myth points to something buried beneath Scotland’s Rosalyn Chapel whose foundational footprint is said to be scaled to that of Herod’s Temple.
Who Wrote the Books of the Bible?
I have been asking the exact same question as DuQuette for over 30 years. He is of the opinion that we don’t know who wrote the books of the bible. However, it is clear that from approximately the 6th century BCE, multiple scribes and authors were involved including Prophet Jeremiah and Ezra the Scribe. But what we do know for certain is that for the greater part of the last two millennia, western civilization has relied upon the Bible as its primary source of historical information. It was the first book printed in the 1450s and for the next few centuries, it was more than a book. Says DuQuette: “It was the book. The unerring Word of God. Conversely, anything not found in the Bible was considered equally untrue.”
The author is of the view that the historical and archaeological fingerprint of the Hebrew people united by a single religion and occupying a nation with its headquarters in Jerusalem, is non-existent. And according to Professor Norman F Cantor, author of The Sacred Chain, the first Millennium of Jewish history as presented in the Bible has no empirical foundation whatsoever.
Revelations That Would Have Vaporized The Authority Of The Church
Furthermore, the author points out that the narratives of both the Old and New Testament are linked and supported by the story of David and Solomon. If this capstone is removed, not only does the historic integrity of much of the Old Testament collapse but a major facet of the credentials of New Testament Jesus is also radically altered. After all, the gospels go to great lengths to demonstrate that Jesus was a direct descendant of David and Solomon.
Removing this capstone would also be unsettling for pious Muslims, despite their differences…and what would happen to Islamic traditions that also presumed to reach that far back into biblical history? In the 12th century, such faith-crushing revelations would have threatened to vaporise the authority of the church and reduced to ashes concept of the divine right of kings that had been the foundation of the social order in Europe and the west for 1000 years. It would have turned the world upside down. It would have been the most dangerous secret in the world.
Predicament of the Early Templars
DuQuette also recognizes that while it appeared obvious the church was intimidated by whatever the Templars had, it would have been futile to confront this omnipotent establishment directly. Not only would this have put the early Templars in a position of perpetual danger, the secret would have isolated them from a world represented by the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam religions that revered certain books of the Bible; religions that owed their very existence to the adherents’ belief that they were descendants of certain biblical characters, and that the Bible narratives were historically true.
The most dangerous secret in the world was also the world's most blasphemous heresy. The Templars would become the most Easternized Westerners in the world - men who saw the bigger picture of life and culture - men who dreamed greater dreams than those of their fellow Europeans - men who tasted the forbidden fruit of knowledge - their eyes were opened and they became as gods.
Image: Canva
Important Tips for Budding Magicians
Last but not least, here is a sneak peek into Part 2 The Magic of Solomon, Elements of Spirit Evocation. Without giving away too many secrets, I considered this particular question to be a fitting choice to include in this review.
Under what circumstances is it appropriate to evoke the spirit?
1. First you must have a problem – a real problem. Before enlisting the aid of spirit to resolve the problem, you must have done everything in your power to take care of the matter by regular means on the physical plane. That’s magic too.
2. The problem you wish to be resolved must be a personal matter. You can’t do magic for someone else. When you formally evoke a spirit, you evoke an adventure. Adventures are not always pleasant and can be dangerous, even deadly. If you survive, you’ll emerge from the experience a better, wiser, braver person.
3. You must feel totally justified in doing what you are about to do and have a deep emotional involvement in the matter you wish resolved. Once you have evoked the spirit, you must be able to consider the spirit as the personification of your problem (for in essence, that is what it is.) The spirit has to listen to you, so you better know what you want to tell it. It’s either going to shape up and do what you command or you are going to annihilate it.
4. Don’t make deals with the spirit. In a very real way, you’ve been unconsciously making deals with the spirit your whole life. That’s why you have your problem. The whole ceremony is your formal way of branding your subconscious mind with the idea that you are through making deals with this tangled piece of ignorance, flawed perception, fear, vice or addiction (take your pick, they’re all demons.)
Freemasonry Liberated Millions In Its Heyday
Image: Canva
In its heyday, Freemasonry helped liberate millions and led to the founding of governments built on the principle of the consent of the governed. Perhaps the suggestion to expand that doctrine to read ‘informed consent’ can be reviewed by the inner core that currently stands accused of some startling allegations by a reputable UK intelligence and law agency.
What To Do About Corruption At The Highest Levels
My research into Freemasonry has also revealed that the original principles and ethics of Freemasonry have been corrupted at the highest levels and need to be urgently addressed. Some learned circles have suggested that Freemasonry is rotten to the core but arguably about 90% are decent people trapped in a bad system, and most are unaware of the hidden practices of the inner core. This seems to be a common theme across many occult societies and power mongering organisations that do not have humankind’s best interests at heart.
To conclude this review, I have chosen the following passage of liberating wisdom that can be applied to everyday life by us all:
To achieve progressively higher levels of consciousness, you must become a new kind of person and we have to start that process the same way the legendary Knights Templar did - by first liberating ourselves from the great delusion that keeps most of us in a state of spiritual bondage - the delusion that we do not create our own reality, the delusion that we are helpless victims of someone or something else’s reality. This seems like such a little step, but it is in reality a quantum leap of consciousness, a fundamental shift of self-identity.
The Key to Solomon’s Key unlocks a treasure trove of mystical historic tales, and a wealth of wisdom, wonder and controversy. DuQuette’s book is certainly worth making space for in your personal library, or requesting your local public library to order it in for you. The perfect companion to Dean Radin’s equally enlightening book, Real Magic. I wish the younger esoterically inclined Masons well on their unfolding journeys.
