Tullia

The name Tullia derives from the Latin cognomen Tullius, possibly related to the Etruscan name Tuta. The legend of the perpetual lamp in her tomb, though an apocryphal tale, gained currency among alchemists, associating her with hidden knowledge and enduring mysteries.

A daughter of Cicero, in whose tomb, as claimed by several alchemists, was found burning a perpetual lamp. ]ilaced there more than a tliousand years previously. 320 TIIEOSOPIircAT. Turn, or Toom. The "Brotliors of tlie Turn", a very ancient scliool of Initiation in Nortliern India in the days of Buddhist persecution. The "Turn B'hai" have now become tlie "Aum B'hai", spelt, however, differently at i)re.sent. both schools liavinpr nierjjed into one. The first was <-()niposed of Kshatriyas, tlie second of lirahmans. The word "Turn" has a double nieanin*]:. that of darkness (absolute darkness), which as absolute is hij^rher than the hijjhest and purest of lifrhts, and a sense restinj: on the mystical {rreetinj; amon^ Initiates, "Thou art thou, thyself", c(|uivalent to sayin<? "Thou art one with the Infinite and tiie AH'".

The tale of Tullia and her perpetual lamp, as recounted by Blavatsky, resonates with a persistent theme in esoteric traditions: the discovery of an inner, indestructible flame. This is not merely a story of a literal lamp, but a potent metaphor for the enduring spiritual principle that alchemists sought to uncover, a secret fire that could transmute the base metals of the mundane into the gold of spiritual enlightenment. Mircea Eliade, in his studies of shamanism and archaic techniques of ecstasy, often explored the symbolism of fire as a divine messenger and a source of renewal, a concept echoed in the alchemical pursuit of the ignis philosophicus, the philosophical fire.

The notion of a lamp burning for over a thousand years speaks to a desire for permanence in a world of flux, a yearning for a wisdom that outlasts empires and generations. It echoes the Buddhist concept of nirvana, a state of ultimate liberation that is eternal and unchanging, or the Hindu idea of Atman, the eternal self that is beyond birth and death. For the Hermeticist, it might represent the unwavering light of the Nous, the divine intellect, or the enduring power of the Great Work itself. The story invites contemplation on what truly endures, what luminous truths can be preserved against the ravages of time and ignorance. It suggests that the most profound discoveries are not fleeting sparks but steady, eternal flames, waiting to be rekindled in the chambers of the soul.

RELATED_TERMS: Philosopher's Stone, Inner Light, Perpetual Lamp, Spiritual Illumination, Great Work, Divine Spark, Eternal Flame, Transmutation