The journey of katabasis begins not with a triumphant plunge but with a disorienting fall. After the enthronement of crystalline clarity and direct gaze into the Nous Eye, the luminous altitude collapses downward. The mind that stretched into high noetic light suddenly finds itself heavy, sinking into strata where clarity becomes viscous and charged. The shift carries the unmistakable tone of being dragged down after dwelling in radiance. This is the first movement of purgation, corresponding to the alchemical nigredo, the putrefaction that precedes all renewal. As the Hermetic Arcanum and the Golden Chain of Homer emphasize, putrefaction is not corruption but the necessary dissolution of forms so that a higher life may take root.
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