When we come across a beautiful piece of art, we describe it as
magnum opus. But, do we actually know where this beautiful
adjective came from?
“
Magnum opus” is a word that originates from Latin language, which simply means “great work”, referred to the finest and the most recognized achievement of any artist, author or a composer.
In arts, "magnum opus” is used to describe a masterpiece as well as a work that has gained immense success. It may be small; it may be large, but still highly successful. A magnum opus may also be used to describe as a failure. For instance, many 19th century composers like Schubert or Franz Lizst were remembered for their beautiful yet short works.
“Magnum opus” also has its traces found in spiritual traditions like Qabalah, Thelema and Alchemy. Though the meaning of the word is more complex in such traditional context, it was more often used with reference to a
philosopher’s stone.
In Qabalah, this term is used in a very different context. The term “great work” does not exist in Zohar, Sepher Yetzirah and other such classic texts of Qabalah. Nevertheless, this concept is found in the some Kabbalist writings during the Renaissance period.
In Alchemy, “Magnum Opus” is the term refers to a successful completion of the transformation of things into gold or in simple words the concept of philosopher’s stone. It is used as a metaphor in the Hermetic tradition for spiritual transmutation.
In Hermeticism, Magnum Opus is discussed in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Eliphas Levi defined it as “the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.”
In Thelema, Magnum Opus is the uniting of opposites like unification of soul with God or that of the microcosm with macrocosm. From a different standpoint, he also considered the term to be the quest of self-knowledge, to "obtain the knowledge of the nature and powers of my own being.”