Theosophical History

A Quarterly Journal of Research Volume IX, No. 2 April 2003 ISSN 0951-497X THEOSOPHICAL HISTORY THEOSOPHICAL HISTORY: OCCASIONAL PAPERS A Quarterly Journal of Research (ISBN 1-883279-00-3) Founded by Leslie Price, 1985 Editor: James A. Santucci

Volume IX, No. 2 April 2003 EDITOR an affinity to modern Theosophy. The subscription rate for residents in the U.S., James A. Santucci Mexico, and Canada is $22.00 (one year) or $39.00 (two years). California resi- California State University, Fullerton dents, please add $1.71 (7.75%) sales tax onto the $22 rate or $2.95 onto the $39 VOLUME I Witness for the Prosecution: Annie Besant’s Testimony on Behalf of H.P. Blavatsky in the rate. For residents outside North America, the subscription rate is $26.00 (£18 N.Y. Sun/Coues Law Case ASSOCIATE EDITORS British Sterling) (one year) or $47.00 (£31) (two years). Air mail is $40.00 (£26) Introduction by Michael Gomes Robert Boyd for Europe and Asia and $36 for Pan American nations (one year) or $74.00 (£48) for Europe and Asia and $67 for Pan American nations (two years). Single issues are †John Cooper $8.00 (£5.50). Electronic (PDF) issues are $2.50 (£1.75) each or $10 (£7) for any University of Sydney four available issues and $17.00 (£12) for any eight available issues. Subscriptions VOLUME II Joan Grant: Winged Pharaoh may also be paid in British sterling. All inquiries should be sent to James Santucci, John Patrick Deveney Department of Comparative Religion, California State University, P.O. Box 6868, By Jean Overton Fuller New York, NY Fullerton, CA 92834-6868 (U.S.A.). Periodicals postage paid at Fullerton, California 92631-9998. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Theosophical April Hejka-Ekins History (c/o James Santucci), Department of Comparative Religion, California VOLUME III Ammonius Saccas and His Eclectic Philosophy as Presented by Alexander Wilder California State University, Stanislaus State University, P.O. Box 6868, Fullerton, CA 92834-6868. By Dr. Jean-Louis Siémons The Editors assume no responsibility for the views expressed by authors in Jerry Hejka-Ekins Theosophical History. Nautilus Books This periodical is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, published by the VOLUME IV W.T. Brown’s “Scenes in My Life” Robert Ellwood American Theological Library Association, 250 S. Wacker Dr., 16th Floor, University of Southern California Chicago, IL 60606, email: [email protected], world wide web: http://www.atla.com. Introduction by Michael Gomes Theosophical History assumes no responsibility for the views expressed by the con- Antoine Faivre tributors to the journal. École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris VOLUME V Krishnamurti and the World Teacher Project: Some Theosophical Perceptions * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Joscelyn Godwin By Govert Schüller Colgate University GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS Jean-Pierre Laurant VOLUME VI Astral Projection or Liberation of the Double and the Work of the Early Theosophical École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris The final copy of all manuscripts must be submitted on 8 x 11 inch stock, dou- ble-spaced, and with margins of at least 1 inches on all sides. Words and phrases Society J. Gordon Melton intended for italics output should appear in italics in the manuscript. The submit- Institute for the Study of American Religion ter is encouraged to send the article, communication, or review by attachment to By John Patrick Deveney University of California, Santa Barbara email. The email address is [email protected]. The submitter may also sub- mit a floppy disk of the work in Microsoft Word (any version). Leslie Price Bibliographical entries and citations must be placed in footnote format. The cita- VOLUME VII Cyril Scott and a Hidden School: Towards the Peeling of an Onion Former Editor, Theosophical History tions must be complete. For books, the publisher’s name and the place and date of the publication are required; for journal articles, the volume, number, and date By Jean Overton Fuller Gregory Tillett must be included, should the information be available. University of Western Sydney, Nepean There is no limitation on the length of manuscripts. In general, articles of 30 pages or less will be published in full; articles in excess of 30 pages may be published VOLUME VIII Franz Hartmann’s Some Fragments of the Secret History of the Theosophical Society Karen-Claire Voss serially. San Jose State University Brief communications, review articles, and book reviews are welcome. They Introduction by Robert Hütwohl should be submitted double-spaced. Theosophical History (ISSN 0951-497X) is published quarterly in January, All correspondence, manuscripts, and subscriptions should be sent to: April, July, and October by James A. Santucci (Department of Comparative VOLUME IX The Unseen Worlds of Emma Hardinge Britten: Some Chapters in the History Religion, California State University, P.O. Box 6868, Fullerton, CA 92834-6868 Dr. James A. Santucci of Western Occultism U.S.A.) The journal consists of four issues per volume: one volume covering a peri- Department of Comparative Religion od of one year. The journal’s purpose is to publish contributions specifically related California State University, P.O. Box 6868 By Robert Mathiesen to the modern Theosophical Movement, from the time of Madame Helena Fullerton, CA 92834-6868 (U.S.A.) Blavatsky and others who were responsible in establishing the original Theosophical FAX: 714-693-0142 Email: [email protected] Society (1875), to all groups that derive their teachings—directly or indirectly, TELEPHONE: 714-278-3727 knowingly or unknowingly—from her or her immediate followers. In addition, the Website: http://www.theohistory.org journal is also receptive to related movements (including pre-Blavatskyite Theosophy, Spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, and the philosophy of Emanuel Copyright ©2003 by James A. Santucci Swedenborg to give but a few examples) that have had an influence on or displayed THEOSOPHICAL HISTORY ______

Contents

April 2003 Volume IX, Number 2

Editor’s Comments James Santucci...... 1

Communication The Universal Brotherhood Martin P. Starr...... 3

Document Postinventional: Open Instruction On Aspiration And Attainment D.K.M. (from the Archives of Cecil Frederick Russell) Presented by Martin P. Starr...... 5

Article The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Hereward Tilton...... 9

Book Review Uppkomsten av Teosofiska Samfundet i Finland Mikal Rothstein...... 30

On the cover: Count Michael Maier (1569-1622). Photo supplied by Dr. Hereward Tilton. Editor’s Comments for the Phoenix: Spiritual Alchemy and occultist Aleister Crowley. We await Mr. Rosicrucianism in the Work of Count Michael Starr’s book length publication of his work, In this Issue Maier (1569-1622), will soon appear as a publi- The Unknown God: W.T. Smith And The cation from Walter de Gruyter. A slightly differ- Thelemites, for a full account of this ent rendering of his article appearing herein was unknown organization, which nonetheless ny attempt to formulate a coherent ments, so the inclusion of Maier as a theoso- delivered at the American Academy of Religion’s had among its members well-known definition of theosophy is less than pher-alchemist is not out of the question. annual conference in 2000 as part of the pro- occultists Paul Foster Case, Israel Regardie, Acompletely successful if only for the Indeed, Dr. Tilton observes that the theoso- gram on Western Esotericism from the Early and C.F. Russell. Also appearing in this issue fact that disparities exist between Christian phy of Maier—interpreted as a “knowledge Modern Period Consultation. At present, is the only U.B. document that has been theosophers and Blavatskyan-inspired of things divine” culled “through an experi- Dr. Tilton resides in Munich researching his brought to public attention, the Theosophists. Such differences exist not mental reading of the liber mundi, the book next book on the alchemist Heinrich Khunrath “Postinventional: Open Instruction On only between these two varieties but also of the world in which we may discern the under the auspices of the Alexander von Aspiration And Attainment.” among the many Christian theosophers and insignia of a most wise and benevolent Humboldt Foundation. the Blavatskyite Theosophists. One need Author”—could be realized “through the * * * only mention the Theosophies discussed in hieroglyphs and myths of ancient Egypt and * * * George Wyld’s (1821–1906) Theosophy and Greece,” which in turn represented “universal Finally, a book review of Tore Ahlbäck’s the Higher Life (1880), Mohini Chatterji’s alchemical processes” that provided a “pris- The Universal Brotherhood has been an Uppkomsten av Teosofiska Samfundet i Finland (1858–1936) and Laura Holloway’s Man: tine language” derived from the Creator. enigmatic and generally forgotten organiza- or The Emergence of the Theosophical Society Fragments of Forgotten History (1885), and Maier's theosophy or knowledge of the tion since the time when it first came on the in Finland, appears after a long delay. The the Countess of Caithness’ Mystery of the Ages divine, therefore, had a lineage that included scene when Mrs. Besant mentioned it in the reviewer, Mikael Rothstein, has done a great (1887). Among the many Christian theoso- Egypt, the Jewish patriarchs, Greece, the May 1912 issue of The Theosophist. My first service in introducing this book to the non- phers, Antoine Faivre’s “The Theosophical Druids of Britain, the Brahmans of India, contact with the U.B. came about through Swedish speaking world, since it is very Current: A Periodization” (Theosophical and the Rosicrucians of Germany. “The research in the life of the editor of the O.E. unlikely that the book will be translated into History VII/5 [January 1999]) provides Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Library Critic, Henry N. Stokes. The result a more accessible language any time soon. ample evidence of this observation. Maier” further explores Maier’s role as a of that research appeared in the April 1986 Dr. Rothstein is a co-editor of the journal Furthermore, some theosophers may be clas- transmitter of the alchemical and Egyptian and January 1987 issues of Theosophical Chaos, the author of Belief Transformations sified by some other label, a case in point wisdom in a most insightful way. History, (both containing little more than a (1996) and New Age Religions and being the alchemist Count Michael Maier Dr. Tilton is one of a number of young mention of the U.B.) From that time, no Globalization (2001), and a board member of (1568-1622). According to Hereward scholars who promise to make a significant information on the U.B. was forthcoming, the Research Network on New Religion in Tilton, the author of “The Egyptian impact in the field of Western esotericism. that is, until now. In a communication by Denmark (RENNER). Theosophy of Count Michael Maier,” alche- He recently was awarded a doctoral degree Martin Starr of the Teitan Press, the mystery my and theosophy are not mutually exclu- from the University of Queensland, where he of the U.B. is solved through Mr. Starr’s * * * * * sive. Christian Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, was a candidate in the Department of Studies research in the life of Wilfred Talbot Smith and Freemasonry did contain alchemical ele- in Religion. His doctoral thesis, The Quest (1885-1957), a disciple of the English

1 Editor’s Comments 2 Editor’s Comments Communication any clear answers from his U.B. mentor Well-known members included the occultists Charles Stansfeld Jones, Smith pushed him Paul Foster Case, Israel Regardie and C.F. The Universal Brotherhood very hard for a more definite response and Russell, all of whom in time abjured the U.B. this was the result: for varying reasons.

[From Martin P. Starr, The Teitan Press, Inc., Thelemites (Teitan Press, June 2003, $49.95, Therefore, in answer to your first question, * * * * * P.O. Box 10258, Chicago IL 60610, e-mail: hardback) I have detailed Smith’s involve- “What is the intent of the U.B.?” I will give you a few pointers: [email protected]] ment in the U.B. The book may prove of interest to readers of Theosophical History as The declared object of the M. is not alone to Crowley was for a period in a Quixotic war bring about a knowledge of God. The n your article “H.N. Stokes And The against the post-Blavatsky Theosophists. “objects” of the Integral Fellowship are all O.E. Library Critic” in Theosophical The “Universal Brotherhood” name the objects of all human beings in all their History 1/6 (April 1986): 129 - 139 confusion is understandable. The one in relationships, insofar as these are included in I its principal “declared objects” which are: the (April 1986), you state that the O.E. Center question not connected directly to any most perfect possible collaboration with the was affiliated with an organization calling Theosophical society, though it did recruit Celestial Powers and with the Creative itself the “Universal Brotherhood.” You from them, provoking Mrs. Besant’s wrath in Intent in the Great Cosmogogis Emprise, mention that “this Society, now headquar- 1912 (see Santucci, James A, “H.N. Stokes’ involved the Universal Terrestrial Realization tered in Pasadena, has no record of an affilia- Early Contact with the Theosophical of the Ideal, the deliberate carrying into tion with the O.E. Center.” Society” in Theosophical History 2/1 [January effect and bringing to full fruition of the Divine and Macrocosmic Purposes, and to In the course of my research into the life 1987]). Besant believed the U.B. to be part that end the study and diffusion of the of Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885-1957), a dis- of a Jesuit conspiracy against Theosophy; Integral Truth and the methods of attaining ciple of the English occultist Aleister although there is no evidence of Jesuit and verifying it, the building up of the Crowley, I came across a significant number involvement, in the U.B. all roads did lead to Integral Fellowship which is Humanity itself of letters dealing with Smith’s membership in Rome and committed members in time con- so far as it has become normally & organi- 1920-1925, through Charles Stansfeld Jones verted to the Roman Catholic Church cally united, the training of men and women for the doing of what imperatively needs to (1887-1950), in a secret society calling itself As it was an oath-bound secret society, be done and which cannot be done other- the “Universal Brotherhood.” It is the same given to heavy use of jargon all its own, pen- wise, and the construction, testing, perfect- organization that attempted to recruit among etrating their beliefs is not a simple task. ing and bringing into full operation of the the E.S. members in the Krotona Colony in What its real purpose may have been sociological mechanism or mechanisms nec- Hollywood; it succeeded in attracting, for a remained a mystery even to some of its con- essary for the most perfect secure and speedy time, a number of Crowley’s American fol- temporary members, including the subject of accomplishment of the Great Work. (letter of March 12, 1925) lowers. In my forthcoming book, The my biography, W.T. Smith. One example will Unknown God: W.T. Smith And The suffice. After having had no luck in obtaining

3 The Universal Brotherhood 4 The Universal Brotherhood Document ends towards which all men must aspire, and doing my full share towards the uplifting and for the attainment of which they must labor, beautifying and blessing of the earth and its under pain of making their lives barren and inhabitants? Do I know all that it is necessary POSTINVENTIONAL useless. If some of these universal ends are for me to know in order to determine what OPEN INSTRUCTION ON ASPIRATION AND ATTAINMENT pursued to the exclusion of others, then the are the highest objects of aspiration and life is one-sided and more or less completely endeavor, or those to which I personally, in [Note from Martin Starr: Although members lized today than it was five thousand years unsatisfactory according to the dignity of the view of all the circumstances and conditions of the Universal Brotherhood (U.B.)[see ago. All human progress whether individual aims that have been lost sight of or ignored. of my existence, can rightly and reasonably Communication] were sworn to secrecy and or collective has been achieved by effort, and In such a case the life may be a success in cer- aspire, and how most surely and abundantly typically returned all the documents of the all effort has been inspired by aspiration. tain respects, on certain planes, or under cer- to attain to them? Such are the questions organization upon resigning, there was a Aspiration is the manifestation in the human tain aspects, but in other respects or planes or which every human being should ask him- “Stationary” status for those who did not wish heart of the same impulse towards enlarge- aspects it is a failure. self, and which he should ask those who to quit but chose not to advance. One ment and beautification and perfection that There is no human life so hedged in, so know the answer, should he be so happy as to “Stationary Terobligate” was Cecil Frederick has been the mainspring of all evolution and lowly, so overshadowed by the clouds of ill- find his way to them. Russell (9 June 1897-12 June 1987), best progress, the fundamental law and force of fortune, that there is no place in it for right He who imagines that too little is known as a disciple of the English mage Aleister all human and natural history. Wherever and hopeful aspiration and no opportunity known regarding the system of the universe, Crowley. Russell had joined in Detroit in 1920 among men aspiration dies out and effort for a real and manifold success. On the other or its fundamental realities, or its origin, or and by November 1921 he had taken perma- relaxes, Progress blackens, [?slackens] ceases, hand there is no human life so rich in con- its cause, or its reason, or its destiny, or the nent leave of the U.B. The present open paper, and is followed by retrogression. tent, so abounding in opportunities and part which man is called upon to play in its “Aspiration,” comes from his archives.] As it is in the race, so it is in the facilities, so full of cherished duties and noble history, or any one to be able to ascertain Individual. Aspiration and the resulting pleasures that there is no need for consider- with certainty what objects of right aspira- he most striking fact in the history of action are the essential conditions of attain- ing whether or not the most is being made of tion exist, or what are most worthy of the Nature is its upward movement. ment. And to the highest, most real, most it that it is possible to make of it, whether or aspiration and effort of the race at large or of TAfter the nebula comes the orb, after worthy and most satisfying attainment it is not all its normal objects, without exception, any of its individual members in particular, is the orb the mineral, after the mineral the necessary that the aspiration and action be are fully perceived and being steadfastly grievously deceived. In the field of that which plant, after the plant the animal, and after right and rightly directed. Therefore what aspired towards and labored for. it is most necessary to human happiness and the animal the man. The evolution of Nature every man needs above all else to know is in Am I making of myself all that I can and attainment to know and do there are no is followed by the progress of Humanity. what manner and towards what objects he should make of myself? Am I gaining all that problems that are unsolvable or unsolved, no Man has not always and everywhere pro- should aspire, and what kind and degree of I should gain on every plane? Am I really and riddles that cannot be, and are not, rightly gressed. In the eighteenth century Turkestan effort and action are requisite for the attain- fully happy or on the road to real and perfect read, no difficulties that are insurmountable was less civilized than it had been in the ment of those objects. happiness? Am I obtaining from the world all or unsurmounted. twelfth, and Greece less civilized than it had There are certain objects of aspiration that it is capable of giving me? And am I giv- The darker life looks to any man the been two thousand years before. The region appropriate to certain persons and conditions ing to it all that I am capable of giving to it more eagerly should he turn towards the win- watered by the Lower Euphrates is less civi- and times and places; but there are other or that it has a right to expect of me? Am I dow through which the Light Ineffable that

5 Postinventional: Open Instruction On 6 Postinventional: Open Instruction On Aspiration And Attainment Aspiration And Attainment bathes the universe can be seen. The more tle either to control his own bodily appetites human experience. All cannot be famous D.K.M., Care Mrs. Alexander, filled with misery it appears to him the more or to realize that there is always, in some statesmen or inventors; but they can wisely The Holt, near Winchfield, ready an ear should he lend to the voice that sense, more beyond. He who, either in youth administer their whole lives and all the func- HANTS, ENGLAND proclaims the Reign of Joy. or in maturity, feels that there are no more tions that are entrusted to them by circum- And the brighter and more filled with worlds for him to conquer is always self- stances or by their fellowman. All cannot be * * * * * happiness life appears to any man the more deceived. The worlds are there; it rests with wonderful benefactors, ministers of joy to keenly he should realize that in so glorious a him, and with him alone, whether he is to millions or to successive ages; but they can be universe there must be heights of possible illu- conquer them like a hero or sit down and happy and give happiness to all who come in mination and bliss, of knowledge and wisdom weep before them like a drunken fool. contact with them. All cannot gain the affec- and goodness and power and beauty, that he All cannot be universal monarchs or tionate devotion of whole armies or peoples has never yet glimpsed and that are worthy of possess vast power of any kind, but they can but they can experience the full blessedness his most zealous aspiration, his most tireless be rulers of themselves, and in some sense, of of unselfish loving and can make themselves effort and his most patient endeavor. the world, and can take part in the building beloved by those around them. He who seems to himself to be and pos- up of the Planetary Commonwealth. All can- And he who has achieved most on any sess least should feel that the degrees in not be money-kings; but they can assist in plane or in any sphere would have achieved which he falls behind others is the measure of exemplifying and propagating the principles more had his aspiration been more enlight- the unrealized possibilities of his own life: that govern the right acquisition and use of ened his effort more sagacious and his action and should long to learn how both to wealth. All cannot be world-renowned physi- more intelligent. become and gain more in and for himself and cians, but they can increase or preserve the If you who read these words truly aspire, to assist others, with whom he can fully sym- spiritual, mental and bodily soundness and if you wish to be assisted in finding your way pathize because he has shared in their disabil- efficiency of themselves and others. All can- to those who can enable you to ascertain with ities, to rise with him to a larger life and a not be famous philosophers or scholars or certainty the right objects of aspiration and richer possession. scientists, but they can know and make to learn how to effectively direct your efforts He who seems to himself to be and pos- known the great fundamental truths a and mould your action, you are invited to sess most should realize that what he is and knowledge of which is essential to human communicate further with the person from has makes possible to him, in a peculiar welfare. All cannot dazzle the continents with whom you received this instruction; or, if degree, the attainment of the very highest their own beauty, or that of the masterpieces you do not know who or where he is, to write things for himself, including the joy and of their art; but they can successfully culti- to the person whose name and address are greatness and glory of having been an impor- vate beauty of body and soul and spirit, and given herewith. tant factor in the progress of mankind, an give beauty to their surroundings. All cannot THE ADDRESS HERE GIVEN MUST integer and not a cipher in human history. leave to future generations a memory hon- NOT BE WRITTEN TO BY ANY ASPI- Alexander the Great wept because there were ored for heroic deeds, unique self-sacrifice, or RANT WHO KNOWS FROM WHOM no more worlds to conquer -but this was only radiant virtues; but they can make their lives HE HAS RECEIVED THES OPEN DOC- because, with all his greatness, he was too lit- shining jewels of goodness in the diadem of UMENT OR ANY OTHER,

7 Postinventional: Open Instruction On 8 Postinventional: Open Instruction On Aspiration And Attainment Aspiration And Attainment The Egyptian Theosophy of world is made meaningful; alongside this Khunrath and traditionalists such as Maier principle the alchemist Oswald Croll were ultimately engaged in an effort to Count Michael Maier (c.1560-1608) placed the latter term, refer- bridge the divide between faith and reason— Hereward Tilton ring to a complementary principle of divine a dream epitomised by the words of the first illumination and revelation.5 Laboratory Rosicrucian manifesto, the Fama Fraternitatis “No less is the Phœnix seen in our own land was even remotely reasonable.2 Despite the workers and purely speculative thinkers alike (1614): “it shall not be said, this is true than in the territories of Egypt, provided that fact that Maier devoted his life to uncovering sought to demonstrate the unity of the Bible according to philosophy, but false according we look around with the little eye of the soul.” the secrets of what he described as an and the book of Nature, and differed only in to theology”. From this perspective the pagan their reliance on the one Light or the other. philosophers and the wisdom of the Bible Hymnosophia Egyptian theosophy, it is unusual to find his very practical science associated with this Whilst he was not a Paracelsian, Maier allud- together “form a sphere or globe, whose parts term. Schick once referred explicitly to Maier ed to this paradigm in one of the many ana- are all removed from the centre by the same hat are we to make of the theoso- as a “theosopher,”3 but the term pansophia is grams of his name, res mea luce mihi—“my distance, which fact should be dealt with fur- more commonly to be seen in connection matter is granted to me by light”. Thus ther and more elaborately in Christian dis- phy of Count Michael Maier 8 (1569-1622)––a laboratory al- with Maier’s œuvre, whilst we think of the Maier sought knowledge of things divine course”. The Rosicrucian literature on which W through an experimental reading of the liber Maier left an indelible alchemical stamp chemist from the duchy of Holstein who purely speculative work of his contemporary promised to cure arthritis and kidney stones Jakob Boehme (1575-1624) as exemplary of mundi, the book of the world in which we makes frequent reference to theosophy: thus with his mercurial medicine quasi in una early theosophy, defined in terms of a gnosis may discern the insignia of a most wise and in the Echo Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum hora, who earned his keep with repeated granting unique insight into the relationship benevolent Author; and although this may (1624) of “Brother Benedictus Hilarion” we promises to wealthy patrons that only a few of God to His Creation.4 appear to reverse the procedure of purely find the secrets of the elusive Fraternity of the extra rix-dollars stood between them and the speculative theosophy, in true gnostic fash- Rosy Cross described in terms of the comple- Philosophers’ Stone, and who was once However, there were a variety of worldviews ion Maier insisted that those insignia were mentary dyad of speculative theosophia and grouped under the rubric of the term only perceptible with the “little eye of the practical chymia: reported to be peddling dried frogs in vinegar 6 to patients at the White Horse Inn in theosophia in early modern Germany, some of soul”. Another Lutheran alchemist and Danzig?1 The sceptical 19th century chemist which grew directly from alchemical labors older contemporary of Maier’s, Heinrich We are not well satisfied with other persons Johann Gmelin once counted Maier amongst before the furnace fire. From the twin sources Khunrath of Leipzig (c.1560-1605), spoke who are well known to us (though they similarly of theosophy in terms of the mysti- themselves are ignorant of this fact), who on those past researchers in the chemical sci- of Paracelsianism and Protestantism there account of their discourses and defences are ences who embellished their laboratory work had emerged in the 16th century a striving for cal perception of a universal, external and visible fire of Nature, and its complement in firmly believed to belong to our Order, as if with “mystical, theosophical and Cabbalistic a new synthesis in science and religion, a wis- they might be true and proper Brothers of nonsense;” yet according to an early biogra- dom derived from both the Light of Nature a universal, internal and invisible fire—that the Rosy Cross; when nevertheless they com- pher, the Reverend J. B. Craven, Maier’s and the Light of Grace. The former term was is to say, in terms of both a knowledge and a prehend neither the extraordinary mysteries desire for “earthly riches” led him away from utilised by Paracelsus to refer to a principle life-imparting entity that transcends the of theosophy nor the fundamentals of chymia. But there is nothing more splendid “higher studies,” and he perceived more standing “behind nature” through which the apparent division between the interior and exterior worlds.7 than the great undertakings of the theoso- chemistry in the myths of the ancients than constitution of humans and things in the 9 Both Paracelsian alchemists like phers and chymists.

9 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 10 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier it was the belief of many observers that the On that count, in both the De Whether he was counted amongst the “true latter was the cause of the former, for such Theosophia Aegyptiorum and the Arcana and proper Brethren” of the Rosy Cross, or was Rudolf’s attraction to the occult sci- Arcanissima the hieroglyphs and myths of whether he in fact numbered amongst the ences—from astrology and Cabbala to necro- ancient Egypt and Greece are interpreted as Narrosophist10 impostors, or whether indeed mancy—that he felt himself to be representations of universal alchemical he was the very author of the Colloquium “bewitched.”13 This was a happy circum- processes, constituting a “pristine language” which its Echo parodies,11 Maier certainly stance for occultists such as Maier, as the gleaned directly from the Creator. The prin- believed himself to be a possessor of those Emperor delighted “in hearing secrets about ciple variation in the arguments presented by “extraordinary mysteries of theosophy” to things both natural and artificial”; according the manuscript and the printed edition con- which the Brethren were privy. And when in to one observer, “whoever is able to deal in cerns the question of origins. According to the following pages we examine Maier’s such matters will always find the ear of the Maier’s draft work, it was Adam himself who unique vision of these mysteries, we may dis- Emperor ready.”14 was granted knowledge of the Art of alchemy, cern not only his belief in the ubiquity of a It is in the context of the search at the divine vitality pervading the interior and imperial court for the prisca sapientia—the exterior worlds, but also the sometimes pristine knowledge first granted to humanity remarkable relation of things heavenly to in antediluvian times—that we should his own very worldly Art. For Maier’s life- understand Maier’s “theosophy.” During his long travels in search of patronage and the time as Rudolf’s courtier Maier composed a ultimately fruitless toils of his laboratory manuscript work entitled De Theosophia work formed the black phase of an alchem- Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) Aegyptiorum (“On the Theosophy of the ical process that had the human soul itself Egyptians”);15 although Christoph Gottlieb as its subject. pursuit of a great synthesis of the various von Murr, following Morhof, described the Whilst Maier’s life of roaming brought spheres of knowledge, a pansophia investigat- De Theosophia Aegyptiorum as a “thorough him mixed fortunes, the trajectory of his ing the links connecting the microcosm with revision of the Arcana Arcanissima” (1614), worldly career as an alchemist reached its the macrocosm through the deciphering of which was never published,16 it would seem zenith in his appointment in 1609 as person- divine “signatures” or “hieroglyphs” imprint- that the work is in fact a rough draft for the al physician to the Holy Roman Emperor, ed in Nature. Rudolf has been characterised Arcana Arcanissima.17 As I have shown else- Rudolf II, and his entrance into the ranks of as a “wizard Emperor” who “trod the paths of where, over the centuries a remarkable the hereditary peerage as a Count of the secret knowledge with an obsession border- mythology concerning the relation of the Imperial Consistory. At his court in Prague ing on madness,” and who ended his reign as supposed contents of this manuscript to the Rudolf had assembled a remarkable group of a self-imposed prisoner in his own castle.12 origins of the Rosicrucian Order has grown alchemists, Cabbalists, magicians and He surrounded himself with a host of physi- up; however, it is my task here to elucidate astronomers, as well as poets and artists from cians, who tended to both his melancholic the actual rather than the imagined subject of The frontispiece of the Arcana across Europe; his goal was to encourage the illness and his fascination with alchemy; yet the work.18 Arcanissima (1614)

11 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 12 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier which was passed on to Egypt by the Jewish certain occult signs drawn from animals patriarchs—in accordance with Marsilio were used instead of writing, later called by 22 Ficino’s lineage—and then on to Greece via the Greeks hieroglyphs. the travels of Pythagoras in Egypt.19 In the Arcana Arcanissima Maier only gives Egypt as It was this occult knowledge that was passed his starting point, the country from which all on quasi de ore ad ora by way of various secret art, religion and science are derived.20 societies through the ages, amongst whom Nevertheless, in his major work on the eso- Maier counted the Druids of Britain, the teric lineage of alchemical wisdom, the Brahmans of India, the “Gymnosophists” of Symbola Aureae Mensae (1616), Maier would Ethiopia, and (closer to his own time) the re-iterate his belief that Hermes Rosicrucians of Germany (that is to say, the Trismegistus—conceived of as the most pious alchemists of Germany, “known and ancient of Egyptian philosophers—had unknown”).23 In keeping with the age-old derived his knowledge from the patriarch necessity of obscuring “chemical truths” Abraham, who had received the prisca sapien- through secrecy and cipher, Maier offers a tia in turn from Seth, the son of Adam.21 verse to the reader in the introduction of the Despite the omission of this lineage in the Arcana Arcanissima, the first and last lines of Arcana Arcanissima, both the De Theosophia which are anagrams of his own name: Aegyptiorum and the Arcana Arcanissima are in agreement on the nature of that pristine (Michael Maierus Doctor, Comes Palatinus.) wisdom, which concerned a miraculous med- In Christo spes illa deo mea, amo cruciatum. icine for both body and soul: Auri ne teneat me malesuadus amor. Aurea dos placeat reliquis et lumina pascat. Laurus, amo omen sic, dos mihi recta placet.24 In order that I might establish the founda- tion of Egyptian doctrine, I have explored innumerable pieces of evidence showing The middle two lines of the verse also that there was practised in Egypt—particu- appear to be anagrams; the whole translates larly amongst the philosophers, priests and roughly as: The geo-heliocentric cosmology given in Maier’s Septimana Philosophica (1620); a com- most ancient kings—a certain science, promise between the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, this particular model stems from teaching the most secret work of nature, or Christoph Rothmann (1550-1605), mathematicus at the court of Hessen-Kassel. The moon a golden medicine, not produced from gold, My hope lies in Christ the God, I love the (d) and sun (l) orbit around the central earth (a), and the planets revolve around the sun. The paths of the inner planets Mercury (i) and Venus (g) intersect with the sun’s orbit but a thousand times more precious than crucified one. around the earth, whilst the paths of the outer planets - Mars (t), Jupiter (x) and Saturn (z) gold. In order that this science could be Lest the seductive love of gold possess me. The golden gift satisfies others and nourish- - do not. A, B, C and D represent the sphere of fixed stars, whilst E, F, G and H represent the passed on to the wise for posterity, and primum mobile.This model may be distinguished from that of Rothmann’s contemporary, es the lights. remain unknown to the common people, Ty c ho Brahe, by the fact that the orbit of Mars does not intersect with the solar orbit.

13 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 14 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier I love and pride myself on the laurel wreath, gold in the fire, will last forever, when the arship it seems that Neoplatonists such as example of the gods (for in that case every- a just gift and an omen. plague of earthly existence is sloughed off. Iamblichus had already perpetrated a funda- one would have been licentious); but rather And what is more, the mind goes on from mental misinterpretation of the very basis of in order that they might show these gods to the sensible world to that which is forever, be fictitious and imaginary, and symbols and We will comment further upon Maier’s laurel and to what will be, though not being seen. Egyptian thought; rather than a magical emblems of an occult art, hidden to the wreath and the circumstances of its granting Those will last, these will pass away; those identification of myth with matter, Hellenic common people but known to themselves; in due course; suffice it to say that these cryp- are hidden, these are signs, and the goodness influence brought an entirely un-Egyptian the one referring to the eye, the other to the tic words demonstrate the true object of of God is evident in both.25 and purely symbolic rendering of the rela- mind. Lest moreover they might appear to Maier’s love—not the worldly wealth which tionship between myth and reality. publicly produce empty names for worthless the base Goldmacher strives for, but Christ. Furthermore, by late antiquity the original riddles, each fictitious god was given a quasi- For all these expressions of Christian piety, in divine function and power of nature. They Hence the golden medicine Maier sought to his introduction to the Arcana Arcanissima significance of the Egyptian priestly script ascribed diverse parents to these gods, but procure was a gift of God granted only to the the good Lutheran Maier understandably had been obscured by the Neoplatonic notwithstanding they professed One God in pious, a point belabored in the numerous tackles a question most pressing for his read- understanding of hieroglyphs as intuitive all of them.29 medieval alchemical texts Maier drew upon ers: why should a Christian follow the teach- representations of archetypal truths.27 in his years of studying the spagyric Art. That ings of the pagans? What is there amongst Although Maier does not mention the De Here Maier gives an account of the nature of this gift “nourishes the lights” can only be the multitude of antique gods that concerns Mysteriis Aegyptiorum by name, it seems like- the alchemical emblem which is typical for interpreted as an allusion to the fact that the those instructed by the infallible Word of ly that this is the work he is referring to, as its his time; these are the pictorial representa- celestial bodies in Maier’s alchemical cosmos God? In Maier’s view, the true significance of ninth chapter deals with the significance of tions of the insignia impressa perceived by the derive their radiance from this very same myth and hieroglyph were stored beyond the hieroglyphs—a fact all the more surpris- alchemist in the book of Creation, which vital, transmutative power emanating from a writing in the memory of the philosophers, ing given that Iamblichus’ chief concern speak not to the corporeal eye but to the divine source. In the dedication of his De for which reason very few signs still exist con- therein is theurgy, i.e. the magical invocation mind, or to the intellect and its divine 28 Circulo Physico, Quadrato (1616) to his one- cerning their true origin—thus the stories of of the deities. However, Iamblichus fol- nature. In order to demonstrate that the time patron Landgrave Moritz von Hessen- the ancients now appear before us like a lowed Plotinus and Plato in stating that all “hieroglyphic emblems” of the Egyptians Kassel, Maier elaborates further on this dis- treasure lying in “the most secret chest” for the gods are in reality only One—and it is to were indeed “chemical” Decknamen or code- tinctly Neoplatonic theme: over three thousand years.26 Nevertheless, we this belief that Maier refers when arguing for names, and referred neither to gods nor to are told that works still exist from which the the compatibility of the ancient writers with historical personages, Maier devotes some God gives power to the sun, the sun to the true meaning of these stories can be gleaned. Christian teaching: space in his Arcana Arcanissima to refuting gold, this eventually to the human heart, and On this count Maier names Iamblichus the claim of Diodorus (fl. 1st century BCE) this through the rotation of the circle looks (c.250-c.330CE), the Syrian Neoplatonist ...it is not likely that the ancient poets attrib- in his Bibliotheca Historica that Isis and back to God, so everything that is created whose De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum (“On the uted so much adultery, homicide, incest and mortal stems from God and tends back Osiris had lived some ten thousand years Mysteries of the Egyptians”) was influential crimes to their gods out of some innate towards God. This circle fills everything wickedness or gratuitous mockery, nor that before Alexander the Great. According to everywhere... As the sun is the image of God, for the Renaissance Hermeticists through they might make sport with gods or men, Maier, any Christian with faith in Scripture so the heart and gold are the image of the Ficino’s translation of 1497. Unfortunately, nor indeed that they might themselves prop- can see that this is false, for the age of the sun, and the gold reveals God with everlast- from the perspective of contemporary schol- agate enormous crimes of that kind by the world itself cannot exceed 5575 years.30 The ing honour; thus also our heart, constant like genealogies of the gods known to the

15 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 16 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier Egyptians and the Greeks were neither his- and, mounting the body, sires Horus, the bird sacred to Thoth, but rather claims it was involved a breakdown of the substance in the torical facts nor idle fantasies, but representa- avenger of his father’s death. Whilst Maier used by the Egyptians for the procurement of vessel into its most elementary constituents, tions of the aurea catena—the “golden chain” does not mention these facts explicitly, he enemas on account of its long hollow beak.34 followed by their reconstitution at a higher, leading from the prima materia to the perfec- only reminds us that the “growth-imparting Not surprisingly, Maier’s Lutheran faith more refined level. Likewise, the action of the tion of the work. Thus Maier explains the pudenda” of Osiris are those “black and use- never allows him to allegorise Christian elusive medicine would reinstate a healthy birth of the gods from Saturn (lead), the less dregs” which at first are consumed by the mythology in similar fashion; rather, the balance of the four humors within the “father of the Golden Age,” as a cipher for fire, but thereafter are separated from the truths revealed by the Bible are the referent human body through catharsis, just as did the processes to be observed in the alchemi- body and purified into the most fine and to which pagan teachings ultimately point.35 the many emetic and sudorific prototypes cal vessel.31 virtuous substance through solution (a ref- Thus Maier refers in the Arcana Arcanissima that Maier tested on his patients and family Throughout the Arcana Arcanissima erence to the river Nile in which Set threw to Christ as “doctor of the body and soul” members. This would not only restore the Maier follows his ancient sources in correlat- the pudenda).32 and as “Trismegistus” (thrice-great)—an inti- youth and physical health of a patient, but ing the Greek gods with those of the This particular imagery—which clearly mation that the Greco-Egyptian title given to would also impart piety itself, for according Egyptians; so it is that Thoth became known makes itself available to the psychoanalytic Hermes/Thoth prefigured the doctrine of the to Maier’s Galenic perspective the imbalance as Hermes, whom Maier nevertheless seems interpretation of a psychological “resurrec- Trinity.36 Christ is the greatest physician, or of the humors lay behind both bodily disease to distinguish from the “great sage” of the tion” through the “sublimation” of instinctu- the transmuting Stone which promises eter- and the urge to sin. And in accord with the Renaissance Hermeticists, Hermes al drives—has interesting connotations as we nal life and forms the foundation of the true many levels of significance to be found in the Trismegistus. Egyptian Osiris is correlated come to consider the nature of Maier’s “spir- Church, but which nevertheless was rejected hieroglyphic emblems, the life of the soul with Greek Dionysus; and the story of his itual alchemy.” For now, this short account by the vulgar.37 As such He is the paragon of itself corresponds to the processes in the murder at the hands of his brother Set, who should serve as a good example of the the true alchemist, who does not seek world- scattered the dismembered parts of his body method Maier applies to a myriad of myths ly wealth in the manner of the vulgar across Egypt, is related in detail in the Arcana in the course of the Arcana Arcanissima and Goldmacher but devotes his labors to the Arcanissima. Osiris is the prima materia of the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum, from the healing of the sick. the Art from which the golden medicine is labors of Hercules to the perennial favorite of Although it cannot be said that Maier composed, or the philosophical sulphur alchemists in the 17th and 18th centuries, the faithfully followed the first law of the residing in that prima materia; having been quest for the Golden Fleece. The fact that he Rosicrucian Brethren, which was to cure the placed in his sepulchre—that is to say, the speaks of Osiris and Isis as sun and moon sick gratis, he certainly devoted himself to the vessel—he is rent to pieces by his brother, Set deities33 serves as another reminder to us that furtherance of medical science through the or Greek Typhon, who represents the “furi- the pre-Hellenic nature of Egyptian mythol- attempted production of the Golden ous spirit” of the furnace fire. His consort Isis ogy and magical ritual was almost entirely Medicine known to the Egyptians, which is mercury, the feminine principle, who col- unknown to Maier’s time—as does one of the contained the four elements and two princi- lects the pieces of Osiris and re-unites more peculiar examples of Maier’s rationaliz- ples (masculine sulphur and feminine mercu- them—a reference to the portion of the ing approach to myth and hieroglyph given ry) in harmonious and equal proportion. As Saturn tending to trees with flow- Egyptian myth in which Isis magically re-ani- in the Septimana Philosophica (1620), in Maier’s rendering of the myth of Osiris ers of gold and silver (from the mates her husband with the help of Thoth which he does not speak of the ibis as the demonstrates, the production of this remedy Symbola Aureae Mensae, 1617).

17 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 18 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier alchemical vessel by virtue of the universality Allegoria Bella that his life of unsettled roam- and see how it is driven by this perpetual ry from the eastern borders of the Swedish of chemical law. ing was always “destined to imitate the natu- motion for as long as life remains; for life empire to Rome, this journey seems to have Thus Maier also saw within the vicissi- ral progression of elements,” which tend ends when the motion is taken away, dam- been an experiential prototype for the travels 40 aged or hindered. It is natural therefore for tudes of his own existence that venerable pat- from density to subtlety. It is this reference man to move from place to place, from described in his Allegoria Bella, and certainly tern which was expressed in the Passion and to the pattern of elemental transmutation region to region, until he can see into him- set the stage for his life of wandering. From Crucifixion of the Saviour, and which was described in Aristotle’s De Generatione et self, above himself and around himself.42 autumn of 1595 Maier sojourned in Padua, prefigured in the pagan myths—namely, the Corruptione which determines the form of where he enrolled in that city’s illustrious mystery of death and resurrection. In the Maier’s imaginary peregrination through the For Maier the peregrinatio that is our earthly medical school. In his own work Maier tells clearest expression of Maier’s “spiritual alche- four continents (from Europe/earth through existence has been presaged by the life of us very little about his time there—only that 41 my,” the Allegoria Bella (“Pleasant Allegory”) America/water and Asia/air to Africa/fire). Christ, and is the complement of the heav- he received the “laurel wreath” (i.e. the pres- appearing in the Symbola Aureae Mensae Maier justifies this great journey to the enly existence to come; therefore we should tigious title of Poet Laureate), which was (1617), Maier writes: “heart” of the world, Egypt, with reference to travel onwards through the regions of the obtained “by custom” after his first experi- 45 a divinely instituted natural order: earth, following the cyclical processes of ence of “love and grief”. At this time Maier There is in our chemistry a splendid sub- Nature, which accomplish something of a was writing Latin poetry under the pseudo- stance, which is passed from master to mas- For we are all strangers in this world, indeed spiritual transformation in the pilgrim and nym Hermes Malavici, an anagram of ter, in the beginning of which there is mis- even in our own native land: from which enable the final homeward return. In his alle- Michael Maierus which suggests that he had ery with vinegar, but in the end of which place we migrate at length to those æthereal, 46 gory Maier describes the goal of this spiritual somehow “triumphed over misfortune”. there is truly joy with gladness. And so I most resplendent heavenly homes, to which Indeed, judging by university records recent- imagined it would eventuate with me, that “pilgrimage” as the Phœnix, the mythical our Saviour who has gone before invites and ly uncovered by Figala and Neumann it in the beginning I might taste much bitter- leads us. I might look to the swallow, the bird of the Egyptians which came to be asso- ness and endure much frustration, sadness messenger of spring, to the crane, the stork, ciated with Christ on account of its life- seems that Maier went through more than and weariness, but at length I might find and many other birds, and see how every imparting self-sacrifice and resurrection at the “customary” grief at the University of ease and happiness.38 year at fixed times they travel by instinct and the altar of the sun temple in Heliopolis.43 Padua: in July of 1596 he attacked and seri- set patterns through the air to unknown According to Maier, the flesh and feathers of ously wounded a fellow scholar, Heino Here Maier explicitly identifies worldly suf- regions of nature; for in this way they set an Lambechius, following a series of verbal dis- example and model of peregrination the Phœnix constitute a cure for “anger and putes.47 As a result of this reportedly “savage fering with the nigredo or black, putrefactive through the regions of the world to man, grief”; that is to say, they represent the phase of the alchemical process, upheld as lest he should grow old amidst the smoke Universal Medicine, in the beginning of act,” Maier was put on trial before the elders indispensable to the Great Work by the and dung of the house altar. To the birds the which lies the bitterness of suffering, but in of the German Nation at Padua, i.e. the medieval alchemists. From this perspective, entire sublunary region of the air lies open, its end a heavenly joy.44 administrative body for German scholars our progress through the world is somewhat and to man it is the terrestrial globe. I might residing there. He was ordered to pay expens- look to the sky itself, and to the great way- To understand Maier’s specific reference akin to that view of earthly existence as to the problem of anger, we might look back es and compelled to deliver a humiliating farer, the sun, and see how it rejoices in con- public plea for forgiveness before the elders: catharsis held by certain of the ancient tinual motion and warms, illuminates and to the beginning of his career, and to a cer- Gnostics (albeit entirely devoid of their governs all the creatures of the earth and tain event in the peregrinatio academica he I am most grieved by the fact that the glori- antinomianism).39 Thus Maier tells us in the heavens. Likewise I will direct my mind to undertook at the age of 25. Spanning territo- ous Nation was injured by me, when, the human breast, and to the heart itself,

19 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 20 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier although I had agreed to terms of peace with “unprecedented”.52 Such, it seems, were the author has found the Phœnix in the face of was ‘revived’ by an aurum potabile Heino in the presence of the Senate, I did passions that formed the impetus behind its very absence. For whilst Maier has Angelicanum, but expired some months later not observe this, but dealt him an injury in Maier’s quest for an alchemical “medicine of referred to some of Horapollo’s pronounce- after ingesting Moritz’ very own “lunar his own chambers. I seek pardon for this my 62 crime; I worship the Nation, I revere it and piety,” and for a wisdom transcending the ments on the Phœnix and its periodic self- essence.” However Maier met his end, and obey it, and I will be sedulously careful that turmoil of our bodily dispositions. immolation at Heliopolis, he has neverthe- however elusive his earthly goals may have no such thing shall happen again.48 Did Maier ever fulfil his quest? In keep- less withheld the crux of that particular pas- remained, we know that he did not consid- ing with the remarkable spirit of paradox that sage, which is the significance of the hiero- er his “true home” to be Holstein; rather, However, the very next day Maier fled in pervades Maier’s work, the quest for the glyph and the key to Maier’s allegory—“to death itself established his homecoming, the secret from Padua when his adversary Phœnix in the Allegoria Bella is frustrated at indicate a traveller who returns from a long cyclical return to the beginning in the great declined monetary compensation for every juncture; and when he finally arrives at journey to his native land, again do the vessel that is God’s creation. All things stem 58 injuries sustained in the attack. The the fabled bird’s abode on the banks of the Egyptians draw a Phœnix.” from God, and all return to God; the force response of the elders to this scandalous Nile, Maier finds it has “gone abroad” for a If we move once more from the realm of of vitality moves through the sun to gold 53 behavior was emphatic: few weeks. So he returns empty-handed to allegory to the facts of Maier’s existence— and the human heart, and then returns Europe, and the oft-repeated warning of the and this time to the demise of his career—it again to its source. When we consider the alchemists has been realised: when the seeker is not surprising to find that life again mir- fact that ancient Egyptian funerary trap- Let others judge how his honour and repu- tation stand thereon. There is no-one who thinks the Art is finally perfected “he will rors Art. After spending fourteen years in for- pings represent the deceased with the words 54 can persuade himself that these actions will find nothing in his hands”. Nevertheless, in eign lands “perfecting” his unattainable sci- “I am in the form of the Phœnix,” it is clear go unpunished.49 one of Maier’s typically enigmatic and witty ence, on August 25th, 1622, Maier wrote of that for all Maier’s errors the heart of the asides, we are told that the Phœnix is absent his intention to return to his native Egyptian “theosophy” was not entirely 59 Accordingly, when Maier entered Basel because it has been “appointed arbiter Holstein. However, within a month he had unknown to him. 60 University in July of 1596 to complete his between the owl and the other birds attack- died before reaching his destination. From medical doctorate, a warrant-like letter was ing her, which conflict we have elsewhere put the evidence of his correspondence as well as sent by the Paduan German Nation to the on record”—an oblique reference to the his printed works, it is clear that Maier’s later Notes Professor of the Faculty of Medicine there, “Rosicrucian” Owl and its detractors years were plagued by illness, quite possibly 55 demanding that Maier not be permitted to described in Maier’s Jocus Severus. as a result of the very quest for a Universal graduate, and insisting that he be held until Accordingly, in his lengthy analysis of the Medicine that had preoccupied his life— 1 For an example of Maier’s promises to his patients, the Nation and Lambechius had attained sat- Allegoria Bella Carl Gustav Jung found it chronic chemical poisoning was not an see his Civitas Corporis Humani, a Tyrannide Arthritica vindicata... (Frankfurt am Main: Lucas isfaction.50 Happily for Maier, the Nation’s tragic that Maier was left with nothing to uncommon cause of death for alchemists in 61 Jennis, 1621), 69; for an example of his technique in efforts to foil his escape came to nought, as show for his long labors apart from a feather, the 17th century. Thus the prolific author 56 courting new patrons, see De Medicina Regia et vere he successfully defended his doctoral theses i.e. “his own quill pen.” But for those of Glauber died of mercury poisoning, whilst heroica, Coelidonia (Prague: no publisher given, and graduated from Basel University on Maier’s readers well acquainted with the Hermann Wolf (1562-1620), employed like 1609), Ci verso; on the matter of dried frogs in vine- November 4th, 1596.51 Nevertheless, the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo—the 4th century Maier as a physician to Moritz of Hessen- gar, see W. Hubicki, “Maier, Michael,” in The Paduan annals speak of his conduct as Neoplatonising rendition of the hieroglyphs Kassel, fell seriously ill in 1619 after sam- Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol. 9 (New York: that is Maier’s source57—it is clear that the pling a leaden clyssi ex Saturni for his prince, Scribner, 1974), 23.

21 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 22 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier decusque venit./ Hic veluti centrum reliquis et Colloquium Rhodostauroticum is often cited as proof chapter 1 of the Arcana Arcanissima on Egyptian gods 2 Johann Friedrich Gmelin, Geschichte der Chemie, Regula motus/ Cernitur, hic coeli lumen Ocellus that Maier was finally admitted into the Order “ere he and hieroglyphics = De Theosophia Aegyptiorum, 8 vol. 1 (Göttingen: Johann Georg Rosenbusch, 1797), habet.” The phrase insignia impressa utilised by died,” the author of the work’s Echo (“Benedictus recto ff.; chapter 2 on Jason and Atalanta = 36 verso ff.; 497-501; J. B. Craven, Count Michael Maier, Doctor of Maier appears to be broadly comparable to the Hilarion”) seems to refer obliquely to Maier as the chapter 3 on the genealogies of the gods = 59 recto ff.; Philosophy and of Medicine, Alchemist, Rosicrucian, Paracelsian term signatura. Colloquium’s author; however, the more speculative chapter 4 on the ancient festivals = 21 verso ff.; chap- Mystic: Life and Writings (Kirkwall: William Pearce theosophical tenor of the work mitigates against this ter 5 on the labors of Hercules = 24 verso ff.; chapter and Son, 1910), 11, 24. 7 Khunrath, De Igne Magorum Philosophorum possibility. On this subject see my biography of Maier 6 on the Trojan expedition = 49 recto ff. Secondly, (Strassburg: Lazarus Zetzner, 1608), 87-88. forthcoming with Walter de Gruyter, The Quest for the there appear to be certain references in note form to 3 Hans Schick, Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum: Ein Phœnix. the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum on the back page of a Beitrag zur Entstehungsgeschichte der Freimaurerei 8 Pleun van der Kooij, and Carlos Gilly (eds.), Fama manuscript of Maier’s dating from early in 1611: (Berlin: Nordland Verlag, 1942), 250. Fraternitatis: Das Urmanifest der Rosenkreuzer 12 R. J. W. Evans, Rudolf II and his World: A Study in Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. Bruderschaft (Haarlem: Rozekruis Pers, 1998), 98: “So Intellectual History, 1576-1612 (Oxford: Oxford 11, 1, p. 64 verso. Thirdly, on the title page of the De 4 For a discussion of the term “theosophy” in the con- soll es nicht heissen: Hoc per Philosophiam verum est, University Press, 1973), 2. Theosophia Aegyptiorum Maier writes “authore text of the history of Western esotericism, see Antoine sed per Theologiam falsum, sondern worinnen es Michaele Meyero,” an earlier variation of his family Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism (Albany: State Plato, Aristoteles, Pytagoras, und andere getroffen/ wo 13 Evans, 89, 198. name that does not occur in Maier’s printed or manu- University of New York Press, 1994), 23-32. Enoch/ Abraham/ Moses/ Salomon den Außschlag script works after 1610. This surname is struck out by geben/ besonders wo daß grosse Wunderbuch die 14 Evans, 196. the same hand (that of the author), and replaced first 5 Walter Pagel, Paracelsus: An Introduction to Biblia concordiret, daß kömmet zusammen/ und wird with ‘Maiero’, which is struck out again and replaced Philosophical Medicine in the Era of the Renaissance eine sphaera oder globus, dessen omnes partes gleiche 15 “De Theosophia Aegyptiorum,” Leipzig, with ‘Maÿero’—the variation Maier decided upon (Basel: Karger, 1982), 356-357; Carlos Gilly, Cimelia weit vom Centro stehen/ wie hiervon in Christlicher Universitätsbibliothek, MS 0396. when publishing his Hymnosophia, which dates from Rhodostaurotica: Die Rosenkreuzer im Spiegel der zwis- Collation weiter und außführlich.” after September 1609 but before Maier’s departure chen 1610 und 1660 entstandenen Handschriften und 16 Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, Über den Wahren from the court of Rudolf II some time prior to the 4th Drucke (Amsterdam: In de Pelikaan, 1995), 17. 9 Benedictus Hilarion, Echo Colloquii Rhodo- Ursprung der Rosenkreuzer und des Freymaurerordens of August 1610. It is not clear whether these revisions Staurotici (Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624), (Sulzbach: Johann Esaias Seidel, 1803), 45; Daniel indicate some indecision on Maier’s behalf concerning 6 Maier, Hymnosophia, seu Meditatio Laudis Divinae, 169: “…cum quibusdam non bene contenti sumus, Georg Morhof, Polyhistor Literarius Philosophicus et the best way to present his name in a printed work; in pro Coelidonia, Medicina mystica, voarchadumica etc. qui nobis (insciis tamen ipsis) bene noti sunt, in quos, Practicus (Lübeck: Peter Böchmann, 1714), 169, n. l: any case, the Arcana Arcanissima appeared under the (Prague: no publisher given, c.1610), C4 verso: “Ales ob locutiones suas et defensionem nostri Ordinis, “Qui et idem Argumentum, diversa licet Methodo, name ‘Maier’, as did all his subsequent publications. It ab ingenio natus viget ille Sophorum,/ Nec magis firma coniicitur praesumptio, quasi ad nos pertineant, denuo pertractavit, in Tr. de Theosophia Aegyptiorum is also pertinent to note that after leaving the imperial Aegypti, quam nostris, visitur arvis,/ Si modo circum et recti verique Roseae Crucis Fratres sint, cum tamen ut antiquissima, sic abdita et Sacra, cuius MStum court Maier spent a period of months in the Saxon nos animi spectemus ocellis.” Elsewhere Maier illi, neque in Theosophia aliquid extra ordinarii mys- αυτοχαηου in Bibliothec. Acad. Lips. Paulina super- town of Torgau, which may explain why the manu- remarks that the heart is a “little eye” which possesses terii, neque etiam in Chymia aliquid ex fundamento esse, Actorum Orbis Eruditi Lipsiensium Collectores, script of the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum was to be “the light of heaven”—an intimation that our own sciant atque intelligant: sed nihil amplius sint, quam plura de eodem referentes, M. Jul. A. 1687 p.393, 394 found at the Paulaner Bibliothek in neighbouring souls possess something of divine perception, by praesumentes magni Theosophi, et Chymici.” nos edocuerunt, Editionem etiam, Morhofii hortatu, Leipzig as early as 1687, according to the testimony of which we may behold the cosmic harmonies institut- uti ipsemet mihi retulit, moliti.” Morhof. ed by God at the creation—De Circulo Physico, 10 A compound word utilised by the author of the Quadrato (Oppenheim: Lucas Jennis, 1616), 6: “Sol Echo and deriving from the German word for a jester 17 There are three facts mitigating against Morhof 18 See my “Regni Christi Frater: Count Michael Maier equidem supera, ceu Rex, regit Arce Planetas,/ In ter- or fool, der Narr. and von Murrs’ assertion: firstly, the contents are and the Fraternity R. C.,” Aries, 2, 1 (2002): 3-33. ram radios insinuatque suos:/ Hinc hominum calido largely identical with the Arcana Arcanissima, and vis vivida corde movetur,/ Hinc invicta AURO forma 11 Whilst a certain passage from the anonymous therefore contain very little to justify a reprint. Thus 19 De Theosophia Aegyptiorum, 4-5.

23 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 24 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier illa,/ Quae sunt, et quamvis non videantur, erunt./ Illa at 9 o’clock in the morning. mysteries of the Christian religion by the operations of 20 Maier, Arcana Arcanissima (London: Creede, c. manent, abeunt haec, illa abscondita, sunt haec/ Nota, Alchemy’. For the reading may become reversed, in 1614), 47-48. DEI Bonitas hinc ut et inde patet.” 31 Arcana Arcanissima, 95 ff. just the same way, leading to an alchemical interpreta- tion of Holy Writ and giving it a ‘natural meaning’: no 21 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, (Frankfurt am 26 Arcana Arcanissima, Ai verso. 32 Arcana Arcanissima, 12-13; Budge once argued that longer does the Stone symbolise Christ, but the Christ Main: Lucas Jennis, 1617), 6-8. the very term ‘alchemy’ derives from this mythic com- becomes, like the Phœnix, a simple allegory of the 27 Erik Iversen, The Myth of Egypt and its Hieroglyphs plex of ideas—the ancient name for Egypt, “Qemt,” Stone. Thus certain alchemists, vehemently opposed 22 Arcana Arcanissima, 2: “Nos ut fundamentum in European Tradition (Princeton: Princeton means “black” on account of the dark mud of the by Maier, did not hesitate to subject Biblical and Aegyptiae doctrinae statuamus, ex innumeris indici- University Press, 1993), 40 ff., 65. Nile’s floodplains. According to Greek writers, quick- Christian ‘myth’ to the same fate as those of Greece is exploratum habemus, in Aegypto scientiam quan- silver was utilised by Egyptian metalsmiths to separate and Egypt, propounding, as it were, a sort of ‘alchemie dam arcanissima naturae opera docentem, sive 28 See Iamblichus, Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the gold and silver from the native ore, from which libertine’ parallel to ‘spiritual alchemy’”: Sylvain MEDICINAM AUREAM, non ex auro, sed auro Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians (London: Stuart process there was produced a dark powder or sub- Matton, “Le Phénix dans l’Oeuvre de Michel Maier et millies preciosiorem, in usu extitisse, praesertim and Watkins, 1968). stance. Not only was this powder believed to possess la Littérature Alchimique,” in Bailly, J. C. (ed.), apud Philosophos, Sacerdotes, et Reges antiquissi- the individuality of the various metals; it was also Chansons Intellectuelles sur la Résurréction du Phénix mos; quae ut posteris sapientioribus tradi posset, 29 Arcana Arcanissima, 59: “...non est verisimile, identified with the body of Osiris during his journey par Michel Maier (Paris: Gutenberg Reprints, 1984); vulgo autem ignota maneret, pro scriptione occultas antiquos illos Poetas ex innata malitia, aut irrisionis to the underworld, and was held to possess life-giving an English translation of this text was kindly provided ab animalibus desumptas notas a Graecis postea gratia tot adulteria, homicidia, incaestus et scelera suis powers. From ‘Qemt’ came the Greek ‘Khemeia’, or to me by Mike Dickman. For Maier’s invective against Hieroglyphicas dictas...” Diis attribuisse, ut vel Deos, vel homines luderent, aut ‘preparation of the black powder’, to which the Arabs this alchemie libertine, see the Symbola Aureae Mensae, vitia ejusmodi enormia Deorum exemplis propagar- added the article ‘al-’. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian 24: “Quid iam dicemus de iis, qui hoc nostro tempore 23 “Gymnosophist” is a word deriving from the Greek ent, (tum enim omnium bipedum nequissimi fuis- Magic (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. Creationem mundi, nativitatem, passionem, mortem, γυµνοσοφισται or ‘naked philosophers’, who were in sent) sed potius ut demonstrarent Deos illos non esse Ltd., 1899), 19-20. resurrectionem et ascensionem Christi, imo fere fact the ascetic Brahmanic yogins known to the nisi ficticios, imaginarios et artis occultae vulgo, sed omnes articulos fide, sacrilege et impiissime ad Greeks through the reports of the companions of sibi notae, symbola et Emblemata aliud ad oculum, 33 Arcana Arcanissima, 2. Chymicam artem transferre conantur?,” etc. Alexander: Maier, Silentium Post Clamores, (Frankfurt aliud ad mentem referentia: Ne autem inania nomina am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1617), 26 ff. On the matter of rebus cassa in medium producere viderentur, singulis 34 Maier, Septimana Philosophica (Frankfurt am 36 Arcana Arcanissima, 285: “Quae omnia cum in Maier’s perspective on Rosicrucianism, see my article illis Diis fictitiis singula officia quasi divinia et vires Main: Lucas Jennis, 1620), 173: “Ibis in Aegypto fre- nulla alia re, quam MEDICINA ANIMI ET COR- in Aries cited above. Naturae: genitricis diversas asscripserunt, ac nihilomi- quentissima est, forma fere ciconiae, quae serpentes et PORIS dicta vere aurea conveniant, hanc Summus nus Unum Deum in omnibus istis professi sunt.” On venenosos vermes ibidem absumit, ideoque inquilinis OPT. MAX: et unice TRISMEGISTUS ille animae et 24 Arcana Arcanissima, Aiv recto. the following page Maier also cites “Orpheus”: ut sacra habetur, et honore colitur: Praeterquam enim corporis Medicus IHESUS CHRISTUS nobis ad sui “Omnia sunt unam, sint plurimina nomina quamvis./ quod innoxia fit avis, utilitatem quoque hanc mortal- nominis gloriam, nostram et proximi utilitatem 25 De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, 7: “Utque Deus Soli, Pluto, Persephone, Ceres et Venus alma, et Amores,/ ibus praestat, ut damna eorum propulset et avertat: usurpandam diutissime, et post hanc, Vitam aeternam Sol auro, hoc denique cordi/ Vim dat, et hoc verso Tritones, Nereus, Tethys, Neptunus et ipse/ Adiectamentum quoque Medicinae contulisse aiunt, concedat, qui ut LAPIS ex alto MONTE sine respicit orbe Deum:/ Omnia ab hoc et ad hunc mor- Mercurius, Iuno, Vulcanus, Iupiter et Pan,/ Diana et dum usum Enematum introduxerit, obstructionem manibus revulsus, et lapis angularis a potiori mundi talia condita tendunt,/ Circulus hic, quicquid constat Phoebus jaculator, sunt Deus unus.” alui seu intestinorum, aqua, rostro posticae inserto, parte seu gentibus rejectus nobis appropriatus, sit ubique, replet.../ Sol, ut imago Dei, sic est cor solis et iniecta eluendo tollens.” benedictus in secula: AMEN.” aurum;/ Utque hoc perpetuo monstrat honore 30 Arcana Arcanissima, 11. Here Maier refers to a Deum:/ Sic quoque cor nostrum, constans velut Christian cosmogonic tradition slightly pre-dating the 35 As Matton states, “Maier was not unaware of the 37 See previous note; the reference to the rejected ignibus aurum/ Semper erit, terrae cum sit abacta famous declaration of John Lightfoot in 1642 that the danger to which one might subject faith by trying, to stone is to Psalm 118.22: “The stone which the lues./ Quod superest, ex sensibilibus Mens pergat ad world was created on September the 17th, 3928 BCE quote the words of Mersenne, to ‘prove or confirm the builders rejected has become the head of the cor-

25 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 26 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier ner”; Matthew 21.42: “Jesus said to them, “Have (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1957), 19-22. 44 Symbola Aureae Mensae, 562. Heinonem illicito plane modo vulneraverat et contra you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone datam fidem clam Natione aufugerat ad Magistratum which the builders rejected has become the head of 42 Symbola Aureae Mensae, 569: “Peregrini enim nos 45 De Medicina Regia, Aii recto: “Ab hoc itinere sub quemcunque politicum: alterum vero commendati- the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is mar- omnes sumus in hoc mundo, etiam in propria, nempe autumnum reversus, Italiam recta contendi, tium quod professoribus Apollineis exibere posset. velous in our eyes’?”; 1 Peter 2.4: “Come to him, to terrestri patria: Unde ad aetherias illas clarissimas inibique Patavii aliquamdiu degens medicam meam Horum exempla in Epistolarum libro reperientur...”; that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight domus, quo Salvator noster, qui praecessit, nos vocat rem omnibus nervis promovere studui: quin et on the matter of the “warrant,” see Hans Stiehle, chosen and precious.” et attrahit, migraturi tandem sumus: Respiciam Lauream frondem ibi primitus amare et mordere, ut Michael Maierus Holsatus (1569-1622): Ein Beitrag hirundinem veris nunciam, gruem, ciconiam, mul- moris, cepi.” zur naturphilosophischen Medizin in seinen Schriften 38 Symbola Aureae Mensae, 568: “Esse in Chemia tasque alias aves, quomodo annuatim statis tempo- und zu seinem wissenschaftlichen Qualifikationsprofil nobile aliquod corpus, quod de domino ad dominum ribus peregrinentur per aera in ignotas regiones natu- 46 I am indebted to Professor Hanegraaff of the (Doctoral thesis, Zentralinstitut für Geschichte der movetur, in cuius initio sit miseria cum aceto, in fine rae instinctu et documento; ut homini specimen et University of Amsterdam for bringing my attention to Technik der Technischen Universität München, vero gaudium cum laeticia, ita et mihi eventurum exemplar edant peregrinationis per mundi partes the significance of Maier’s anagram. 1991), 18. praesupposui, ut primo multa aspera, amara, tristia, instituendae, ne semper fumo et fimo larium inse- taediosa gustarem, perferrem et experirer, tandem nesceret: Avibus aer sublunaris universus patet, et 47 A. Favaro (ed.), Atti della Nazione Germanica 51 Stiehle, 19. omnia laetiora et faciliora visurus essem.” homini globus terrestris: Respiciam coelum ipsum, Artista nello Studio di Padova, vol. 2 (Padua: Antenore, ipsiusque magnum viatorem, Solem, quomodo motu 1967), 81-82; see Karin Figala and Ulrich Neumann, 52 Favaro, 82. 39 Maier specifically refutes the antinomian attitude continuo gaudeat et omnia soli et poli creaturas illus- “‘Author cui Nomen Hermes Malavici’: New Light on of certain Rosicrucian “impostors” in his Themis Aurea tret et illuminet, calefaciat et gubernet: Imo in propri- the Bio-Bibliography of Michael Maier (1569-1622),” 53 Symbola Aureae Mensae, 603. (Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624), 233; for the um sinum pectoris, ad cor ipsum, mentem dirigam, in Piyo Rattansi and Antonio Clericuzio (eds.), attitude of the Gnostic Carpocrates, see Irenaeus, quomodo hoc motu agatur perpetuo, dum vita manet, Alchemy and Chemistry in the 16th and 17th Centuries 54 Hence the words of the Arabic alchemist Baqsam, “Against Heresies,” in The Ante-Nicene Christian quod vitam ut metitur motione illaesa, sic [sic] subla- (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994), as cited by Maier in the 34th discourse of the Library, vol. 5 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1880), ta, laesa, vel impedita, finit: Naturale itaque homini 121-148. Atalanta Fugiens: “Learn O ye students, that which 1.25.4. Antinomian gnosticism is also identifiable in est, moveri de loco ad locum, de regione in regionem, the Philosophers have long since intimated, saying certain of the medieval heretics, such as the Brethren dum in se, supra se et circum se respiciat.” 48 Favaro, 82: “Laesam Nationem inclytam a me, that Truth is not discerned but by Error, and that of the Free Spirit, and continued to persist in the dum pacem quam pactus sum cum Heinone coram nothing begets more grief to the Heart than error in Reformation period. 43 The Phœnix had constituted a symbol for Christ Senatu non servavi, ipsique in aedibus suis vulnus this Work; for when a man thinks he has done and since the time of the Physiologus, an allegorical bestiary dedi, est quod plurimum doleam. Hanc meam cul- has the world, he shall find nothing in his hands.” 40 Symbola Aureae Mensae, 572: “Cur vero hunc produced by Alexandrian Christians around the 4th pam nunc deprecor, Nationem colo, revereor et obser- Maier, “The Flying Atalanta, Or Philosophical ordinem suscipiendi itineris de una parte in aliam century CE; Physiologus, translated by Michael J. vo, ac ne tale quid imposterum fiat sedulo caveo. Emblems of the Secrets of Nature,” British Library, transeundi, animo praeconceperim, haec causa suffi- Curley (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979), 13- Michael Meierus Cymber.” MS Sloane 3645, 80. ciens mihi visa est, quod naturalem elementorum 14; the Phœnix-Christ analogy is also used by certain seriem, qua illa ex crassis in subtilia, ex ponderosis in Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, The 49 Favaro, 82: “ Quo honore nominisque existima- 55 Symbola Aureae Mensae, 603-604: “Phoenicem levia migrant, imitari debeam.” First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, ch. 25, “On tione iudicent alii; impune hoc ipsum habiturum inprimis demonstravit, ubi conveniri deberet, quem the Phœnix as an Emblem of the Resurrection”. Many nemo qui sibi persuadeat.” in loco, de quo ne cogitassem antea latere apertissime 41 The cyclical transmutation of elements described early Christians identified Christ with the rising sun narravit, quo cum pervenissem, meo infortunio, by Aristotle in his De Generatione et Corruptione, II 3- (as the Egyptians had done with the Phœnix), a heresy 50 Favaro, 100: “Augusti Domino Heinoni exierat foras, (forte tum Arbiter constitutus inter 4, formed the foundation of medieval alchemical lab- condemned by Augustine, Tertullian and Pope Leo I, Lambachio Hamburgensi Basileam petenti bina testi- Noctuam et volucres alias eam insectantes, de quo oratory practice. For a discussion of Aristotle’s schema amongst others. monia Nationis nomine dedimus, unum quidem in praelio alibi tradidimus) at post aliquot dies, pauca- as it relates to alchemy, see E. J. Holmyard, Alchemy caussa cum Michaele Meiero Cimbro, qui dictum sue septimanas rediturus.”

27 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 28 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count Michael Maier Michael Maier terae ad me pervenissent: ea propter intermittere non Book Review 56 Carl Gustav Jung, “Psychology and Alchemy,” The potui, quin, illum ipsum Dominum Doctorem Collected Works of C. G. Jung, vol. 12 (London: videlicet, Amicum et Favitorem meum honorandum, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968), 431. ANNI M.DC.XXII. tempore aestivo, Magdeburgi naturae debitum pie persolvisse, omnes et singulos 57 The Hellenistic-Egyptian Hieroglyphics of certiores redderem.” From this information we may Horapollo was rediscovered in 1419; following its surmise that Maier died within a month of writing the Uppkomsten av Teosofiska Samfundet i Finland as an autonomous country in 1905, reappearance the work became a central contributor dedication to the Cantilenae Intellectuales (summer’s Finland. By Tore Ahlbäck. Åbo/Turku, prevented the Theosophical Society from to the Renaissance idea that hieroglyphs constituted a end in the calendar being September 22). Finland, Religionsvitenskapliga skrifter nr 28 officially moving into Finland. The Russian purely pictorial and universal language embodying (ed. Niels G. Holm), Åbo Akademi, 1995. authorities would simply not allow it to hap- the prisca sapientia. 61 Thus in a letter to Johann Hartmann Beyer dated Pp. 191 with bibliography. ISBN 951-650- pen. Since 1882, however, Finnish 20th October, 1617, Maier speaks of the many ill- 656-9, ISSN 0780-1270, n.p. Theosophists had been associated with the 58 Hieroglyphica Horapollinis, translated by David nesses he has suffered during his journeys (Stadt- und Hoeschel (Augustae Vindelicorum: no publisher Universitaetsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, MS Ff. J. Swedish Theosophical Society but it was not given, 1595), 44: “Quin et eum innuentes, qui longo H. Beyer A 161, 207 verso; a quartan fever (charac- until 1907 that they could build an organiza- tempore peregrinatus tandem in solum natale remeet, terised by paroxysms every four days) is mentioned, as Tore Ahlbäck, who is a historian of religions, tion of their own. Historical sources regard- rursum Phoenicem avem pingunt.” is the fact that such sickness did not allow Maier’s has for several decades been studying the his- ing the following period of the Society’s return to Prague after his time in England. The theme tory and development of Theosophy and development are unfortunately scarce. 59 The intention was detailed in the dedication to of prolonged sickness is prominent in Maier’s posthu- Anthroposophy in his native Finland. Based Ahlbäck informs us that the Theosophical Duke Friedrich III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf of mously published Ulysses, which goes by the melan- his Cantilenae Intellectuales (Rostock: Mauritii choly sub-title “Wisdom or intelligence, as a spark of at the Donner Institute, which, through a Society in Finland has no archival materials Saxonis, 1622), A4-A5: “Mei, quia Holsatus sim heavenly joy, by which if one might be shipwrecked in private donation, was established in order to from the earliest days, and that all historical patria, quam ob studia Hermetica penitus absolvenda fortune and health, one may happily make one’s way conduct research in these areas, he has pro- research therefore must rely on newspaper et apud exteros in diversis regionibus et populis exant- to port with the oars of meditation and patience.” vided a number of relevant contributions, of articles, journals, and materials from the landa, ante 14. annos reliqui lubens et volens, non, ut which the present book is one. Belonging to affiliated Swedish Theosophical branch. spes est, in perpetuum, sed ad tempus, prout Deo et 62 Zbigniew Szydlo, Water Which does not Wet Hands the predominantly Swedish speaking minori- First of all it is interesting to observe principi meo placuerit, aliquando reversurus: Meos (Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences, 1994), 15-16; autem, qui qualesque fuerint, non solum tota Bruce T. Moran, The Alchemical World of the German ty of Finland, Ahlbäck writes in Swedish. that the public discussion regarding the Nobilitas Holsata, sed et parens tuus, avusque Divae Court: Occult Philosophy and Chemical Medicine in the The title of the book in English is “The Theosophical Society at that time basically memoriae, quibus illi, quoad vixerunt, servitio fidelis- Circle of Moritz of Hessen (1572-1632) (Stuttgart: Emergence of the Theosophical Society in dealt with the same topics as the current simo astricti fuerunt, optime noverunt.” Franz Steiner Verlag, 1991), 69-70. Finland,” a rather precise demarcation of the debate on new religious movements in the contents. Only a few pages are dedicated to United States and Europe. Indeed it seems as 60 Thus Lucas Jennis, Maier’s publisher, gives the fol- * * * * * the presentation of Theosophy in general if an easily defined tradition of public lowing information concerning Maier’s demise in the posthumously published Ulysses (Frankfurt am Main: while the historical conditions for the estab- responses to deviant religions can be detected Lucas Jennis, 1624), 3-4: “Postquam, amice Lector, lishment of the first Theosophical organiza- from antiquity to the present. Most observers hactenus diversis ex locis aliquot Doctorum virorum, tion in Finland are dealt with in detail. Thus, felt that the emergence of Theosophists was ad Dominum Doctorem Majerum, p.m. (quem in the political conflicts around the turn of the an expression of a decline in morals and reli- vivis adhuc esse certo sibi persuadebant) spectantes lit- century, culminating in the rebirth of gious standards, and that people, desperate to

29 The Egyptian Theosophy of Count 30 Book Review: Uppkomsten av Teosofiska Michael Maier Samfundet i Finland find “something to hold on to,” were the vic- lowing years he had other religious experi- insight into the times and thoughts of tims of naïve or ridiculous belief systems. ences including visions of the Masters quite Finnish society one hundred years ago. The There were, however, also more favorable similar to those Blavatsky claimed she had reader will find no in-depth discussion of responses. Ahlbäck cites a reporter who had. The spiritually lucid child who turned beliefs, rituals or other religious matters, but specifically avoids any kind of judgment or into a religiously (i.e. Theosophically) a clear-cut presentation of the available his- evaluation (p. 31). Readers of the newspaper inspired young man was almost the perfect torical data. Unfortunately, the book is hard- Nay Pressen would even receive a lengthy model for further Theosophical development ly accessible to readers outside Scandinavia introduction addressed to “people with no in Finland. During the following years because nobody to my knowledge has under- special training” through translated articles Ervast produced a number of texts and taken a similar exploration into the history of by the American Theosophist Alexander would lecture on Theosophy over and over Theosophy in Finland. Fullerton as early as 1891. again, and finally, when the establishment of Tore Ahlbäck presents a line of data an actual Finnish society was becoming a that, in many ways, makes further analysis reality, it was he who represented the Finnish Mikael Rothstein easy. Things were said quite straightforward- Theosophists after Annie Besant declared the Department of History of Religions ly and conflicts and alliances in the emerging new section a reality. This was in Stockholm, University of Copenhagen Theosophical milieu are easily detected. In Sweden, October 21, 1907 at 3 pm. In many Artillerivej 86 the course of the Theosophical Society’s his- ways the history of early Theosophy in DK-2300 S tory in Finland, however, a number of indi- Finland is comparable to what we find else- Denmark viduals have been of special importances, where. Ahlbäck, though, points to one inter- especially Pekka Elias Ervast who was born in esting aspect, which makes it somewhat dif- * * * * * the same year as the Theosophical Society ferent: Most Theosophists were recruited was founded by Blavatsky and Olcott, 1875. from working class backgrounds. They were As a child and young man he was allegedly not, as it was the case in many other religiously inspired, but could not wholly European countries, primarily from the mid- consent with the Christian Church’s teach- dle classes or even higher on the social ladder. ings. As he became acquainted with the clas- Ervast wanted to make Theosophy, not sical Theosophical texts in 1894 things took Christianity, the religion for the working a turn. Having read a few pages in one of class. Also, another prominent representative A.P. Sinnett’s books he could not concen- of Theosophy, Veikoo Palomaa, was trate anymore: “I was overcome by a joy so employed at a socialist newspaper. Together immense that I was forced to lie down on my they may well have emphasized the attention couch. Through my entire being a voice towards workers and others of no spectacular sounded: This is true. This is true” (translat- social standing. ed by this reviewer) (pp. 88-89). In the fol- Tore Ahlbäck’s book gives a fascinating

31 Book Review: Uppkomsten av Teosofiska 32 Book Review: Uppkomsten av Teosofiska Samfundet i Finland Samfundet i Finland