THE HIDDEN PATHS
“The criers of the Mysteries speak again, bidding all men welcome to the House of Light. The great institution of materiality has failed. The false civilization built by man has turned, and like the monster of Frankenstein, is destroying its creator. Religion wanders aimlessly in the maze of theological speculation. Science batters itself impotently against the barriers of the unknown. Only transcendental philosophy knows the path. Only the illumined reason can carry the understanding part of man upward to the light. Only philosophy can teach man to be born well, to live well, to die well, and in perfect measure be born again. Into this band of the elect - those who have chosen the life of knowledge, of virtue, and of utility - the philosophers of the ages invite YOU.”
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES
by Manly P. Hall (1928)
THE HIEROPHANT : We all have ancestry. We all carry within us ancient – and recent – wisdom that is passed down to us through many different ways. The Hierophant represents that wisdom. The Hierophant is the knowledge in you, and it is also you, as a holder of that knowledge. It is all of the potential in you for passing that knowledge on. It is you as a student, accessing this knowledge, and it is you as a teacher, imparting it. The card is concerned with spiritual initiation, and usually depicts a figure who can be seen as a translator of arcane, mysterious, religious or spiritual teachings – a conduit between god/s and man, between the otherworld, and this one, for better or for worse.
Victor Hugo - Le Mythen (1855)
ANOTHER EXPERIMENT FOR SPEAKING WITH SPIRITS, THROUGH WHICH SPIRITS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE WHATEVER YOU WISH.
“Observe pious abstinence for three days. Afterwards wash your hands well with water. Then cast the water through the air with your hand, to honor the masters of the days. And your whole body should be clean, and having bathed, put on clean garments. Afterwards, write with ink on your left hand the figure which is written below, with all the interior letters just as shown, but you should begin to write with the master of the day on which you work. Afterwards, take pure oil from a black frying pan, and anoint the hand with all the letters. When these things have been done, say the following conjuration 23 times.
Hyc Hensym caulesym
schemin lemeim
Lechelimnetin calle
Hiernfaucim olfiraramhi
faracim mynelmenty
Henylcaly huheydem
Lotumotemie ylle calle.
Afterwards invoke one by one the names written in the figure, beginning with the master of the day: “Manifest yourself to me, O you Hamar” (or such and such if a different day) and so call upon the rest in order, one by one, saying,
Descend and show yourself in
my palm, and show me
whatever I ask, without
deceit, because I steadfastly
conjure you through the
Highest Majesty, and through
the one high God who created
you, and whom you trust, and
before whom all things in
heaven, on earth,
and in the abyss tremble.
And when he appears, ask of him whatever things you wish. And meanwhile suffumigate your hand with incense. And note that there are seven masters of the days: Hamath [sic] is master of Sunday, Maymon of Monday, Hamar [sic] of Tuesday, and so for the rest as shown in the circle. So for example, if you want to operate on a Tuesday, first write Hamar [sic] and call upon him first, and afterwards call the rest of the daemons in order as shown in the border of the circle. Afterwards release them thus:
Go in peace, and return
quickly whenever I call you.
And you should erase your palm immediately."
Scrying with the Seven Aerial Kings,
Ghent 1021A fol.108v 110v.
Transcription and translation from latin
by Joseph H. Peterson
“La danse du Sabbat" - Emile Bayard (1870)
in The History & Practice of Magick by Jean-Baptiste Pitois
Julius Albert Elsasser - Moonlit Landscape with a Monk Walking near a Palace (1852)
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Francisco de Goya - Vuelo de brujas (Witcbes' Flight) (1798)
“No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.” ― Carl Jung
LE MONT ANALOGUE
by René Daumal (1939)
“Alpinism is the art of climbing mountains by confronting the greatest dangers with the greatest prudence. Art is used here to mean the accomplishment of knowledge in action.
You cannot always stay on the summits. You have to come down again...
So what's the point? Only this: what is above knows what is below, what is below does not know what is above. While climbing, take note of all the difficulties along your path. During the descent, you will no longer see them, but you will know that they are there if you have observed carefully.
There is an art to finding your way in the lower regions by the memory of what you have seen when you were higher up. When you can no longer see, you can at least still know..."
CREDITS
The Hidden Paths originally recorded on July 28th, 2020. Released as Drüm (romanian for path) on ‘Dark Exits' (2020). Remixed in 2025 by Sébastien Dumontier, mastered by Laurent Roussel.
Electric & acoustic guitars, bass guitar, percussions, violin, keyboards & Mellotron played by Finrod Artîwelë. Drums played by Lavinia Roussel.