The Spring Equinox coincides with the entry of the Sun into Aries, in this phase of the year the vital energies regain strength, this is undoubtedly positive, but we must also bear in mind that the courageous, strong-willed, but also undisciplined, as dominated by instinct, typical of this sign, it could not lead to a favorable result, indeed it could even prove harmful, if it were not properly guided. In fact, on the initiatory level, our every action must be the decisive, but prudent, manifestation of an inner becoming; we recall, in this regard, the saying Festina lente, or hurry slowly, advice that is said to be addressed to Augustus by Suetonius.

In other words, the Scottish Brother, aware of what he is, opens up to new initiatory experiences, in the times and paths wanted by Nature, with the watchful attention of one who, in the unfolding of Tradition, glimpses his own becoming.

Becoming is one of the most debated concepts in philosophy, it is commonly opposed to that of being in the event that the latter is conceived as eternally immobile and free from any mutation.

Being undoubtedly means to exist, and, in this sense, it is clear that the presence of Man and that of a stone are apparently equivalent, since both exist, but, clearly, the being of Man is not limited to a mere physical manifestation; in fact, he is characterized as a privileged entity, as he is not only able to question himself about his own existence, but also to evaluate its implications and choose between the different existential possibilities that this condition confers on him; in conclusion, man’s being manifests itself not only as a presence, but especially as an action.

The latter, precisely in order to free itself from the animal instinctiveness of Aries, must necessarily become a planning process which projects the individual into time, where, however, it encounters an apparently insurmountable limit, that is death, of which Man, perhaps in a confused way, he is absolutely aware, and, faced with the ineluctability of his own disappearance, he can only feel anguish and fear.

And here is the great enigma of Man, what will be my destiny?

Freemasonry, heir to the ancient mysteries, alludes symbolically to the initiatory resurrection, concealing the secret methods of realization in the folds of esotericism. Again, at this point, it is necessary to stop and think; the Initiate, assuming that all this is possible, is guided only by the desire to perpetuate himself, that is to continue to be, or in him there is the drive to become, that is to evolve spiritually until he reaches the ultimate goal for which he manifested himself on the material plan?

The answer is not easy, the first case reflects the instinctive terror of man who fears becoming prey to Nothingness, the second the ability to intuit a different mode of existence from the ordinary one.

What to do? Once again it is necessary to withdraw into ourselves, to get rid of all our mental superstructures, emotions, memories; let’s dive into our depths in search of our center around which all the many facets of our personality revolve, resembling planets around a sun. Here, in the silence of the mind, where the Pax profunda meets, we can rediscover the essence of our nature and experience a new state of consciousness that can only encourage our experimentations and reassure us about our future. This still remains unknown, but deep down even a tadpole ignores what life as a frog is, but knows that it is what it must become. And if the comparison seems unsuitable to you, then we can refer to Plotinus who, in the Enneads, states:

We must make ourselves similar to the Gods, not to good men: not being exempt from sin, but being a God is the end.

These words may appear exaggerated, but it is first necessary to contextualize and then know how to unravel the complexities of the initiatory path.

It seems clear, at least to my eyes, that the moment one manages to find the occultum lapidem in our depths and to intuit its nature, then one already possesses the key to answering one of the three famous questions, namely: Who are we?

We must force ourselves to look at ourselves in a different way than the ordinary, our genesis looks a little like that of the pearl; as is well known, this is formed when a grain of sand lands on the pallial cavity of a certain bivalve; here, through a process that need not be described, it is gradually covered in mother-of-pearl. We evaluate the pearl for its appearance, for its luster, shape, color; similarly we value our fellow men for their character, culture, physical appearance and we forget about that speck of light that sparkles within us and which constitutes our true essence.

Brothers, our exteriority is important as it allows us to continue to operate on the material level, let’s take care of it, but let’s remember who we really are and base all our actions on the basis of our true nature.

SOVEREIGN GRAN COMMANDER

Gian-Paolo Barbi, 33°