Scattered Note I – Beyond Dogma

By: Jorge Molina Aguilar, VII°

“The perfection of things consists in their expressing themselves.”

— Spinoza, Ethics, Part IV, Proposition 18, Scholium.

“And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

— Numbers 21:9, Jerusalem Bible.

This essay, the first of the Scattered Notes, ventures into the symbolic heart of Christianity as seen through the luminous visions of three thinkers: Jakob Boehme, Valentin Tomberg, and Carl Gustav Jung.

What unites these otherwise distinct figures is their shared intuition that the Christian mystery—far from being a frozen dogma—is an inner drama, a spiritual alchemy unfolding within the depths of the human soul.

Drawing from Protestant mysticism, Hermetic Catholicism, and depth psychology respectively, these authors propose a path of initiation marked not by ecclesiastical orthodoxy, but by the personal transfiguration of consciousness.

Bridging the wisdom of esoteric Christianity with Masonic initiatory symbolism—especially as developed within the York Rite—this work unfolds a vision of the inner Temple, one whose construction demands self-knowledge, ethical discernment, and symbolic literacy.

Through close readings of iconographic imagery and theological texts, the essay invites the reader to rediscover a Christianity reconciled with mystery, rooted in transformation, and resonant with the archetypal journey of the soul.

It is a reflection addressed not merely to the religious or the initiated, but to any seeker who dares to move beyond dogma in pursuit of the divine spark within.

Toward the Inner Mystery

Jakob Boehme represents one of those rare figures who elude conventional classifications: a Protestant mystic, yes, but essentially non-sectarian, radically opposed to war, and endowed with a spiritual vision that transcends confessional boundaries.

In his writings, one finds a kind of spiritual alchemy in which Christ and the Philosopher’s Stone are analogous entities; For Boehme, Christianity is not a system of dogmas nor a body of norms to be blindly followed; rather, it is an intimate transformation of being—a transmutation of the soul centered on the notion of Christus in nobis, or more precisely, “Christ in us” (Boehme, 1624).

A complementary perspective—albeit from another confessional angle—is offered by Valentin Tomberg , a Catholic and esoteric author whose work Meditations on the Tarot constitutes one of the most profound and nuanced expositions of hermetic Christianity (Tomberg 1985).

Far removed from New Age simplifications, Tomberg weaves a network of symbolic correspondences that articulate the Christian tradition with the archetypal language of Western esotericism, thus revealing a Christianity that neither nullifies reason nor demonises mystery, but rather intertwines them in a path of inner knowledge.

To these names we may add, as a third voice, Professor Carl Gustav Jung . Though his domain was psychology, his work transcends that field to enter the realm of symbolic and spiritual thought.

Critical of dogmatic Christianity, Jung proposes an interpretation of Christ as a symbol of the Self—that psychic totality which transcends and unifies the Ego (Jung 1952).

His vision does not seek to denial religion, but rather to restore its transformative power through a reencounter with archetypes and foundational myths.

These authors are not easy reading—they require time, attention, and a willingness to decentre ordinary consciousness—but they offer necessary perspectives in a time when many versions of Christianity are marked by sectarianism, hatred, and a worrying narrowness of vision.

In contrast, those who define themselves as “spiritual but not religious” often approach the Christian message more authentically, not so much through doctrinal adherence as through the practice of love, compassion, and inner transformation.

Outside the Bounds of Creed.

This perspective resonates with the esoteric interpretations found within the York Rite of Freemasonry, where allegorical narratives and symbolic rituals aim to guide the initiate toward spiritual enlightenment and moral refinement.

The York Rite, with its emphasis on Christian mysticism and esoteric symbolism, offers a framework that complements and enriches the transformative journeys described by these thinkers. (Davis 2021; Phoenix Masonry, n.d.).

Ultimately, all invite us to look beyond dogma and discover a living, dynamic Christianity deeply tied to freedom of conscience—values that also dwell at the very heart of the Masonic tradition (Faivre 1994; Hanegraaff 2012; York Rite Handbook, n.d.).

Underlying all these approaches is a profoundly initiatory conception of Christianity, a vision that aligns with the symbolic principles of the Masonic tradition. The idea of inner work, of transforming the soul as a rough stone to be polished, and of seeking a truth that is not imposed but revealed progressively to the initiate , echoes the teachings of Boehme, Tomberg, and Jung.

Ultimately, all invite us to look beyond dogma and discover a living, dynamic Christianity deeply tied to freedom of conscience—values that also dwell at the very heart of the Masonic tradition (Faivre 1994; Hanegraaff 2012).

To know these visions is not merely an intellectual exercise nor an erudite curiosity: it is, in essence, a call to inner awakening.

In times when spirituality is often reduced to empty formulas or automatic ritualism, returning to Boehme, Tomberg, and Jung means reconnecting with a path of authentic transformation.

The three authors teach us that divinity is not external, nor imposed by outer structures, but revealed in the depths of the being, where the soul enacts its own transfiguration.

Illustration I. This image represents a form of spiritual alchemy, containing compositions that symbolise the journey from poison to remedy, from division to unity, from death to resurrection.

Through the symbols of the cross, the chalice, and the serpent, it narrates the inner drama of the human soul — a drama Boehme understood as the struggle between light and darkness in the heart of man, which Tomberg elevated to sacramental language, and which Jung interpreted as the process of individuation.

Here is revealed, through Christian-esoteric keys, the eternal return of the soul to its divine origin.

From an esoteric perspective, this implies remembering that the true temple is within, and that every initiatory path — be it Christian, Masonic, or psychological — points to the construction of that invisible temple: a more lucid, ethical, and compassionate consciousness.

From a more pragmatic standpoint, it invites us to ask essential questions, such as: In what aspects of my life do I still act out of fear or habit?

How can I embody, here and now, the values of unity, discernment, and freedom? What prevents me from doing so?

IMAGE LINKED:  Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Ilustration I, II & III. Credits: image I Carl Jung Depth Psychology. “Serpent.” Carl Jung Depth Psychology Site, October 11, 2020. https://carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2020/10/11/serpent-8/.
And Images II & III Original illustration. Credits: Jorge Molina Aguilar

In Illustration I and III, one finds a graphic synthesis of the previously expounded principles.

This iconographic composition symbolises the mystery of redemption and the process of inner transmutation: an authentic iconographia animae in its ascendant journey towards union with the divine.

To the left, the serpent coiled upon the staff refers both to the biblical symbol of the brazen serpent (cf. Numbers 21:9), raised by Moses as a prophetic figure of the crucified Christ (cf. John 3:14), and to the Hermetic caduceus, traditional emblem of Hermes and the medical arts, representing the polar tension between sickness and healing, poison and remedy (pharmakon in its original ambivalence; cf. Derrida´s, Plato’s Pharmacy, 1968).

In Boehme’s theosophy, the serpent is not simply a symbol of evil, but rather an ambiguous power — derived from the Ungrund, or the abysm — which, when passed through the purifying fire of divine love, can be redeemed and transfigured.

In his work Aurora oder Morgenröte im Aufgang (1612), Boehme writes: “In der Finsternis muss das Licht offenbar werden” (“In darkness, the light must become manifest”), thus affirming the possibility of redemption even in the lowest forms of desire.

At the centre (illustration II), the red cross accompanied by the Christogram IC XC (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός), signals the core of the Christological mystery: the incarnate Logos, the mediating principle that unites opposites.

This figure may be read as a manifestation of the Redeemer archetype, in the sense proposed by Valentin Tomberg in his Meditations on the Tarot, where he affirms: “The cross is not only the sign of suffering, but the image of the union of opposites” (p. 159).

For Tomberg, the cross represents the reconciliation between spirit and matter, light and shadow — the inner drama of redemption enacted in the human soul and in universal history.

To the right, the chalice bearing the head of Christ and the emerging serpent offers a visual synthesis of two symbolic levels: on one hand, the Eucharist as representation of divine sacrifice nourishing the soul (cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 73–83); on the other, serpentine wisdom — no longer feared as a threat, but integrated as sublimated energy.

From Jung’s perspective, this image may be interpreted as an epiphany of the Self (Selbst), understood as the psychic totality in which opposites — the conscious and the unconscious, the luminous and the dark — are reconciled dialectically. In his Mysterium Coniunctionis (1955), Jung writes: “The Self is a conjunction of opposites in a transcendental totality” (CW 14, §705), and adds that the serpent — when not repressed but transfigured — may symbolise the ascent of the kundalini force, a vital energy which, when elevated, leads to the integration of the self.

Ultimately, the head of Christ emerging from the chalice represents a spiritual rebirth at the core of the psyche: a hierophany of redeemed consciousness, wherein sacrifice — no longer viewed merely as a historical act, but as an archetypal mystery — gives way to the inner regeneration of the soul.

Sealing the Work

This inner alchemy, far from material crucibles and hermetic formulas, takes place in the invisible furnace of the human heart, where spirit and shadow confront one another in silence.

It is not a matter of denying darkness, but of integrating it; not of fleeing the world, but of inhabiting it with awareness. The soul that dares descend into its abysses, like Orpheus after Eurydice, may emerge transformed — not through the mastery of external secrets, but through the recognition of its inner truth.

Each gesture of compassion, each selfless renunciation, and each fleeting clarity amid the tempest of existence becomes prima materia—the sacred raw substance—of the Great Work (Smoley, 2002).

For the ultimate aim of knowledge — as Boehme, Tomberg, and Jung knew — is not knowledge for its own sake, but the transfiguration of being: the cross embodied in the flesh, the serpent reconciled in the chalice, the Logos resurrected in consciousness.

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