"Letters on the Royal Art" by J. B. Kerning

The Hermetic Hour

On Thursday January 12th, 2023 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will review "Letters on the Royal Art" by 19th century German author J. B. Kerning. Kerning was a musician, a mystic and a Freemason. The book is composed of letters describing the spiritual absorption of the symbols, words and signs used in the three degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry in the form of an internal awareness which purifies and sanctifies the whole body. This is similar to a yoga chakra system and may have had an influence on the Golden Dawn's Middle Pillar ritual. The book and other works by Kerning may have influenced Bardon's "Key to the True Qabalah." Kerning was a singer and teaches a magical Masonic Alphabet in the manner of a musical voice teacher. He is perhaps the first modern Western mystic to emphasize internalization of spiritual ritual. His concepts enabled the development of "Bringing Down The Light" in 20th century magick.