The relationship between good and evil is identical to that which exists between spirit and matter

Nowhere in man's investigations into nature do we find that the spirit seeks to rid itself of matter. On the contrary, we note that the spirit works on matter in order to make it evolve. Since the beginning of the world, the spirit has demonstrated its intention to make use of matter, to transform it, to spiritualise it, to make it as vibrant as light. If spirit were to get rid of matter, it could no longer manifest itself, for it can do so only through matter, which is its beloved wife. It is only ignorant human beings who urge them to divorce! So, distrust all those philosophies that try to separate spirit from matter. The only true philosophy teaches us that the spirit descends into matter in order to master it, vivify it, and manifest itself through it. Of course, it is a gigantic enterprise, but the spirit is never discouraged and endlessly returns to celebrate its union with matter.

Much has been said and written about initiations, because at different times and in different places on earth they have taken very different forms. The fact is that all initiations, past as well as present, wherever they take place, have only one goal: to unite spirit and matter. Yes, one goal only: the fusion of spirit and matter, of human beings and their Creator. And if the explanations and forms for reaching this unique goal are so varied and numerous, it is because the knowledge necessary to realise this fusion is infinite. Human beings must place all their means, all the knowledge they ceaselessly work to acquire, in the service of this one goal: to unite with the Divinity, to become one with the first Cause. So long as they seek something else, they will simply wander along paths that lead nowhere.

Because human beings are a synopsis of creation - the microcosm, created in the image of the macrocosm - they are the depository of all the memory of the world and the archives of the universe are held in them. These archives are also represented symbolically in the Sephirothic Tree by the sephirah Daath*, Knowledge. According to the Cabbala, Daath is the original matter, the primordial matter which, in the beginning, God fertilized by letting a breath pass over it. Because it is the substance of Creation, matter is capable of holding the memory. And the spirit awakens this memory by touching lightly upon the matter like a breath of wind rings the strings of an Æolian harp.

Spirit and matter… This is an endless question, since spirit and matter appear in many different forms: as masculine and feminine, positive and negative, emissive and receptive, heaven and earth. Nothing is more important than these two principles – the masculine and the feminine. But you have to understand their respective places and roles so as not to favour one over the other. Humans always tend to go to extremes: either they focus only on the spirit and neglect matter, or they focus on matter and leave out the spirit. This is what is happening today, when so many people are in the grip of matter without ever seeking to bring the spirit into it. And so, matter remains inert, lifeless, and eventually it engulfs them. It is because the spirit is alive in them and animating their matter that men and women can be so alive and expressive. And to prove it: when a human being’s spirit departs at death, all that remains is to bury them. It is always the spirit acting through matter that brings it to life. But without matter, spirit is unable to manifest.

The relationship between good and evil is identical to that which exists between spirit and matter. Just as the spirit needs matter in order to express itself, so good needs evil, otherwise it will fall asleep; there is nothing to stimulate it. Evil provokes good, and then good is projected onto the substance of evil as though onto a screen. It’s thanks to evil that good is what it is; without evil we would have no knowledge of good. If humans wish to destroy evil, good will also be destroyed. In some cases, evil can even be said to be the root of good. Of course, that doesn’t mean we should favour evil; it doesn’t need any favours, it is strong enough as it is. We only need to know it is unavoidable and learn to use it. You cannot evolve, you cannot become a higher being, if you do not encounter evil in the form of obstacles and ordeals. So, be happy that you will always be stimulated, you will always be inspired and full of life, because evil will always be there: there will always be things to annoy you, there will always be flies, wasps, snakes and wicked people, and it is up to you to use them to the good.