Gold of the gods

People often ask me what I am 'into' as though I had a hobby like stamp-collecting that can easily be described. If I am feeling lazy, or tired, or unwilling to engage in conversation I will say something like 'Oh, this and that. You know...esoteric research' and very often this will suffice. But I know, and my real friends know, that it is really much more than can be described by such useful jargon. To describe myself as being on a quest would also be correct; but that also says very little. In a sense we are all on quests whether these be for money, sex, fame, security or even the Holy Grail. So saying that I am 'on a quest' begs a further question: quest for what? To which there is only one answer: Wisdom.

Now it may seem strange to talk about wisdom in the context of a quest but this simple, short word really goes to the heart of the matter. Philosophy means 'love of wisdom' and that in a sense is what the quest (for there is really only one) is all about. Whether it be the pyramids of Egypt or the search for extra-terrestrial life that draws our attention and focuses our 'want-to-know', it is that faculty we can call 'love of wisdom' that motivates our passion. Yet whilst almost anything can serve as a gateway to higher knowledge, some subjects are of themselves of greater value than others in leading us to our goal.

In my pocket are some brass coins with the nominal value of £1 each. My grandfather also carried pound coins in his pocket but his were called sovereigns and made of 24 carat gold. Both his coins and mine are symbols of the sovereign's power. His, however, were intrinsically valuable, for they could be spent anywhere in the world and retained their value regardless of inflation. My coins, on the other hand, are only  tokens; they signify a presumed value that fluctuates day by day and which is in any case constantly eroded by inflation.

There is indeed a law of numismatics that goes 'bad money drives out good' and this explains how it is that within two generations the money in our pockets has gone from gold, to silver, to copper to base metal. It is a law of devaluation which seems more than apt for the modern world, perhaps to find its fullest expression in the paper Euro. But this corruption of our currency is also, in a nutshell, the same problem we face when we talk about philosophy.

The reason why I, and I expect many of the readers of this magazine [Quest], delve into old books and avidly study such 'unscientific' subjects as astrology, alchemy and so on, is because we have realised that the philosophy underpinning modern science is fatally flawed. We have come to see that materialistic determinism is a debased and devalued currency and that because of this it is unable to buy us the staples of a truly fulfilled and balanced life. I suspect it is also the reason why so many of us are drawn to the 'hard currency' of the pyramids. They are the gold standard of the ancient world by which all other monuments, past and present, are measured. For in them we see projected the deepest thoughts, wishes, hopes and beliefs of mankind.

This is no accident. The civilization of ancient Egypt was founded on totally different premises from those which govern our modern world. The Egyptians had no money and, compared with us, few possessions. They did, however, have a sense of the eternal value of the soul and it is this which has all but disappeared in the hurly-burly of the late 20th century. For them it was self-evident that men were not all born equal, however desirable this might be. They knew very well there is a hierarchy in nature and sort not to change it but to find their own place within the natural order. They also recognised their world for what it was: a reflection of another, higher world where things were nearer to perfection. This sentiment, recognisable still in our Christian vision of heaven, they saw manifest in their starry-sky. But for them there was not the divide there is for us between 'heaven' and 'the heavens'. All was one and the same: the ineffable and irrepressible workings of God. It therefore made sense for them to build pyramids representing Orion, for in doing so they were building a psychological bridge between two worlds.

By studying the symbols the Egyptians and other civilizations of the ancient world left behind, we are able to link into their thought processes. This is not just a matter of seeing what they saw or even knowing what they knew, it is forming a connection of our own with what they valued. Thus when people say to me, 'Adrian, what are you into?' and I reply 'Oh, this and that. You know...esoteric research', this is what I really mean: 'I am on the greatest trip imaginable: exploring ancient bridges to God'.

Article first published in 'Quest' magazine Vol.1 issue 3.

© Adrian G. Gilbert 1997.