Each issue of the Rosicrucian Digest provides members and all interested readers with a compendium of materials regarding the ongoing flow of the Rosicrucian Timeline. The articles, historical excerpts, art, and literature included in this Digest span the ages, and are not only interesting in themselves, but also seek to provide a lasting reference shelf to stimulate continuing study of all of those factors which make up Rosicrucian history and thought. Therefore, we present classical background, historical development, and modern reflections on each of our subjects, using the many forms of primary sources, reflective commentaries, the arts, creative fiction, and poetry.

This magazine is dedicated• to all the women and men throughout the ages who have contributed to and perpetuated the wisdom of the Rosicrucian, Western esoteric, Tradition.

May we ever be •worthy of the light with which we have been entrusted.

In this• issue, we explore the transformative power of Alchemy, from the infinitely boundless above, to the immeasurably sublime within.

Rosicrucian Digest No. 1 2013 Page ii No. 1 - 2013 Vol. 91 - No. 1

Introduction to Alchemy 2 Frater Albertus, FRC

Official Magazine of the The Sun Invincible 10 Worldwide Timothy J. O’Neill, FRC Rosicrucian Order Paracelsus 14 Ralph M. Lewis, FRC

Established in 1915 by the Supreme The Philosopher’s Stone 18 Grand Lodge of the English Language Jurisdiction, AMORC, Rosicrucian Dennis William Hauck, Ph.D., FRC Park, San Jose, CA 95191. Copyright 2013 by the Supreme Grand Ars Magica 26 Lodge of AMORC, Inc. All rights Peter Marshall reserved. Republication of any portion of Rosicrucian Digest is prohibited The Chymical Wedding 31 without prior written permission of the publisher. Christian Rebisse, FRC ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST (ISSN Michael Maier’s Maria Prophetissa 41 #0035–8339) is published bi-annually for $12.00 per year, single copies $6.00, Peter Bindon, FRC by the Grand Lodge of the English Language Jurisdiction, AMORC, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens 44 Inc., at 1342 Naglee Ave., San Jose, CA 95191. POSTMASTER: Send Peter Bindon, FRC address changes to ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST at 1342 Naglee Ave., San Robert Fludd’s Rose and Cross 48 Jose, CA 95191–0001. Peter Bindon, FRC

Sir Isaac Newton — Mystic and Alchemist 50 Staff of the Rosicrucian Research Library ألكامي

Spiritual Alchemy 54 Christian Bernard, FRC

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Page 1 Introduction to Alchemy Frater Albertus, FRC Frater Albertus (1911 - 1984) was a long time member of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, the founder of the Paracelsus Research Society, and an eminent Alchemist who, through his many workshops and books, served as a mentor to some of the most important Alchemists of today. The article below is the Introduction to his book, The Alchemist’s Handbook (Manual for Practical Laboratory Alchemy), an invaluable guide for aspiring Alchemists.

hat is Alchemy? This is the mineral (metallic) realm. A correct the first and most vital understanding, and not just knowledge, Wquestion to be answered of the herbal process will open the gate before a study of the following pages to the great Arcanum. Months and years should be undertaken. This question can of experimentation in your alchemical be answered to the satisfaction of the laboratory will prove the truth of this inquiring mind, but all careless paging statement. The fact that Alchemy is a life’s through this book will be to no avail. If work will be accepted by those who have the reader has no previous knowledge of spent months and years behind books Alchemy and, moreover, no knowledge and retorts. It is this significant fact which through conscientious study concerning provides our spagyric art with such an mysticism, occultism, or related subjects, armor that no materialist can pierce it. If the answer to the above question will have it were not for the cleansing, purging, little meaning. What, then, is Alchemy? It and aging of the alchemist-to-be over a is “the raising of vibrations.” great length of time, like the subjectum For this reason it is wise not to attempt he is working with, how could it be kept to experiment with the laboratory outlines from the profane and the unworthy? Only that follow. These experiments are only for that which has stood the test of fire has those who have spent considerable time been purified. That there is still a cloak of in spagyric research and who have proven secrecy covering alchemical processes, and to themselves that an honest endeavor has that this must yet remain so will have to prevailed and that this same endeavor still be accepted by all aspiring alchemists. For motivates their true search for the highest personal greed has no place in Alchemy. Arcana, the lapis philosophorum. As all The aim of all true Adepts is to help relieve students of alchemistical literature have a suffering humankind in its physical and come to realize that the exact process spiritual misery. A non-acceptance of this for the opus magnum has never been excludes one automatically from the circle completely revealed in simple language or of Adepts. put into print, they will appreciate the fact My friends of the medical profession, that here is given a detailed description of as well as the pharmaceutical chemists, the lesser circulation. will readily disagree with me when reading In Alchemy there are the lesser what follows. This must be taken for Rosicrucian and greater circulations. The former granted and, in fact, has been so since Digest pertains to the herbal kingdom and the what is presented here is so foreign to No. 1 latter to the most coveted of them all, the standardized teachings in present day 2013 Page 2 medical colleges. Since I agree with them, the beginning of this chapter: “Alchemy is on their terms, it is only fair to ask that the raising of the vibrations.” He who sees they think of the contents of this book no meaning in this seemingly unimportant in the terms of an alchemist. If this is sentence has no right to attempt alchemical impossible, then the book should be laid experimentation. Such a person is like one aside for the time being and forgotten who claims that since he knows all the until it can be examined by an open mind letters of the alphabet he can, therefore, free from prejudice. read any language as they are all composed No attempt is being made here to of letters from the same alphabet. But write on allopathic therapeutics. This shall does he read with understanding when the be left to those versed in this particular letters are interchanged, forming words in branch of healing. I am writing here about different languages? A chemist may know Alchemy because of the years of studies all the formulas and all the abbreviations and experiments that have preceded this of chemical terminology, but does she also book, and because of the work that shall understand what they really are? Their in all likelihood continue to follow. Since true origin? Their first state? This we the scope of Alchemy is so immense, shall leave for those who are concerned one earthly incarnation in many, if not to answer. If all the foregoing statements most, cases is an insufficient time for the do not discourage the aspirant and make full completion of the work. In climbing him clap the book shut and put it away the alchemist’s ladder, there are many with disgust, perhaps then it will help tribulations to consider involving time, him to find himself in this universe and money, heartaches—to mention only a to give peace and contentment to his soul. few of the difficult steps. The aspirant Hermetic philosophy, with its practical then should think long and well before arcanum, repeats itself over and over again undertaking such an ordeal, for if he is not in the ancient axiom: “As above, so below. prepared all will prove unsuccessful. As below, so above.” The process in both the lesser It is questionable whether or not and greater circulation is basically historical references to Alchemists of the not expensive. In fact, it is relatively past have a place in these pages. There have insignificant. But before this state can be been so many books published already that reached much money, time, and effort can have made it their business to elaborate and, most likely, will be spent. It is for on the history and romance of Alchemy. these reasons that an urgent appeal is made For this reason, no attempt is being made not to venture rashly into Alchemy, not here to add to the wealth of biographical to see oneself sitting in perfect personal material supplied by such books. Our health at the end of a rainbow with the emphasis falls, rather, on present-day world at one’s feet and with full pots of alchemystical experimentation, conducted glistening gold. These are only illusions in accordance with age-old practices. and will prove to be but sensational and Our aim in these pages is to attempt glamorous fata morgana; they will not to demonstrate and to reveal the truth satisfy the soul. There is more to be gained of Alchemy in contemporary language, in Alchemy than vainglory. This, in fact, while still remaining in harmony with cannot be obtained in Alchemy. Such ancient rules and rituals, according to vainglory is as far from the true goals of the Alchemist’s Oath. The practice of Alchemy as night is from day. This brings Alchemy, not only in earlier times but in us back to the simple statement made at our own day as well, should be undertaken Page 3 only with the greatest solemnity. This can and an understanding of natural laws and best be illustrated by the following oath their corresponding spiritual parallels, no from Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum one could ever truly be called an Alchemist (London, 1652). This oath, in only or a Sage. slightly modified form, is still being used I am not attempting to vindicate by present day Adepts: Alchemy. It needs no vindication. I am advocating the truth in Alchemy, for it is a most wonderful experience to have come to a realization. To experience! To realize! Will you with me tomorrow be content, To have found “the light that shined in the Faithfully to receive the blessed Sacrament, darkness.” Upon this Oath that I shall heere you give, All the foregoing may seem so For ne Gold ne Silver as long as you live, discouraging. Perhaps a heavy doubt Neither for love you beare towards your Kinne, may weigh upon the heart of the lover of Alchemystical Research. Whatever Nor yet to no great Man preferment to wynne: the cause or whatever its effects may be, That you disclose the secret that I shall you a tremendous responsibility is connected teach, with it. He who has read about the lives of Neither by writing nor by no swift speech; the Alchemists has found that most often But only to him which you be sure many years had to elapse before their goal Hath ever searched after the seacrets of Nature? was reached. Not everyone was as fortunate To him you may reveale the seacrets of this Art, as Eirenaeus Philalethes who writes that in Under the Covering of Philosophie before this his 23rd year that great blessing in the form world yee depart. of the lapis philosophorum was attained. Many had to await another incarnation before they proved themselves worthy and ready to receive it. But, if all doubts are put Sooner or later, most students aside and if a firm Belief has grown into a experience a desire to find an Adept strong Faith, then that quickening moment in order to become his or her pupil or that produces knowledge will eventually disciple. But no matter how sincere such help one to come to “Understand,” to a desire is, it is futile for the student to “Realize” the oneness of the universe, the attempt to locate a teacher versed in the secret behind Creation and the unfolding Grand Arcanum. “When the pupil is of cosmic consciousness. ready, the Master will appear.” This ancient This brings us to the natural questions: precept still holds true. One may search, “What is the secret of creation? And what one may aspire, one may work and study constitutes life force?” These questions hard until the wee hours of the morning, must be answered before the would-be and yet it will not be evidence that he or Alchemist can accomplish anything in her she will ever attain that priceless jewel: the laboratory. Grand Arcanum. For it takes more than Since everything that grows comes mere study. An honest heart, a clean heart, from a seed, the fruit must be contained a true heart, a benevolent and contrite in its seed. Mark this well, for here lies the heart accomplishes more than all the secret of creation. The raising of specimen, Rosicrucian book learning can ever do. Yet, strangely as said before, is the raising of vibrations. Digest enough, learning must accompany the Herbs, animals, as well as minerals and No. 1 virtues just cited. Without a knowledge metals, grow from seed. To understand 2013 Page 4 this secret of nature, which is only partly manifest itself partly in the form of a dense revealed to humankind generally, consti- smoke-like vapor that settles, after passing tutes the main theoretical subject in Al- through the condenser tube, into a water- chemy. Once this is known, then only the like substance of a yellowish color carry- proper understanding is necessary in order ing with itself something oily which gives to obtain results in the raising or elevat- the tinge to the extracted water. This oily ing of specimen, which is nothing else but substance, or alchemical Sulphur, is just transmutation. If we can help nature in her as essential to alchemical preparations as ultimate goal, that of bringing her prod- Salt and Essence. I do not wish to go into ucts to perfection, then we are in harmo- this any further at this point, as this will be ny with her laws. Nature does not resent treated more explicitly later on. an artificial effort, or a shortcut, to bring A repetition of certain phrases and about perfection. To illustrate: the seed sentences may be found throughout this of a tomato may be book. This is not arbi- put into the ground trary; they have been late in the fall. Snow purposely inserted in and ice may cover it order to emphasize during the winter. certain important But no tomato plant points more strongly. will grow during Much that is written this time, outdoors here must be reread in freezing tempera- many a time in order tures. However, if the to lift the veil. This same seed is planted only can be accom- inside where suf- plished individually ficient warmth and by each student. That moisture is provided, which follows will be and if it is placed in discovered when the the proper matrix it practical experimen- will grow into a plant tation takes place in and bear fruit. This is the laboratory. not contrary to na- Now to the al- ture. It is in harmony chemist’s laboratory. with the natural laws. This usually takes on For fire (heat), water, a sinister coloring as air, and earth are all that are necessary to one’s imagination runs wild. Even today, cause a seed to grow and bear its predes- so-called religious people are inclined to tined fruit. The life force originates not in discuss Alchemy in rather subdued whis- fire, earth, air, and water. This life force is pers because, so they claim, it is the devil’s a separate essence which fills the universe. work. Ignorance is bliss to some, and no This essence, or fifth essence (quintes- one has a right to take another out of his or sence), is the truly important object that her bliss. We must ignore those that have alchemists seek. It is the fifth of the four: religious scruples against Alchemy, as we fire, water, air, and earth, and is the most do not intend to convert anybody. The aim important one for the alchemist to find laid down here is to help the alchemical and then to separate. After such a separa- aspirant on her laborious road. This road tion has taken place, the answer to what begins in the laboratory. Everything in the lies behind the secret of creation will then laboratory revolves around the fire or its Page 5 emanation: heat. The rest is composed of a the Grand Arcanum, if he is ready. The few flasks, a condenser, and some ingenu- preparation may take years or even tens of ity. It sounds rather simple and really is so. years. No time limit can be set. Some have What about all the other instruments that a natural or inherited tendency, or gift, to clutter up an alchemist’s laboratory, as pic- delve into the mysteries. Some can never tures would have us believe? Just as an art- even enter. The “why” for this has no place ist needs only canvas, paint, and brushes to here. But to those who are ready to travel paint a picture, but may add an indefinite the royal road of Alchemy, I say, “Patience! number of other related objects to his stu- Patience! Patience! Think and live cleanly dio, so may an alchemist add other related and charitably and dwell always in truth— equipment as he sees fit. No doubt he is that which you honestly consider and going to experiment and probe deeper into believe to be the truth.” Such a neophyte the mysteries to unlock one after another. cannot fail then. Remember, “Seek and ye Once the soul hungers and thirsts for truth shall find; knock, and it shall be opened and the unfoldment of nature’s laws, there unto you.” is no end to its search until the ultimate The wisdom of the Sages represents has been reached. a culmination of all that is essential for Where should a laboratory be located? people to have faith in, knowledge of, How can one practice Alchemy in a and understanding about. She who has crowded city? Such questions will have to attained such a state of illumination is be answered individually by each student. indeed in harmony with the universe and A corner in an attic or a place in the at peace with the world. To reach this basement is sufficient, as long as there is goal of enlightenment, the struggle in this a continuous source of heat available. He mundane shell need not be of a violent who wishes to practice our spagyric work nature, as some want us to believe; rather will have to do all the work himself. How it should be a constant alertness to the fortunate! How else could it be? How possibilities that confront us in our daily else can one appreciate the experience if lives, to raise our thought world above he does not arrive at the crucial point of the drudgery of this everyday life, and knowledge by his own individual efforts? eventually to find the peace within us. If Enough has been said now concerning one has not undergone the Alchemy of the hardships and disappointments that the inner self, or transcendental Alchemy, undoubtedly will be encountered. If the as it has been termed, he will find it student, in spite of these difficulties still extremely difficult to obtain results in his wishes to enter the portals of the spagyrist’s practical laboratory experimentation. He holy temple, she will find a welcome guide may produce things he knows nothing in the following pages. These unfold, in about, consequently passing them up as simple language, the process of the lesser worthless. It is not sufficient only to know; circulation. it is understanding that crowns our work. It Those who wait for a complete is here the wisdom of the Sages and Adepts description, in similar language, of the helps to bring about an understanding Grand Arcanum will wait in vain. It within the individual concerning that cannot be given. It is not permissible. which she knows but does not understand. But and this is of utmost significance— In Alchemy there is only one way Rosicrucian he who can accomplish in his laboratory that leads to results. The aspirant must Digest what the following pages present by way show his worthiness and his sufficient No. 1 of instruction, can surely accomplish preparation. This preparation extends over 2013 Page 6 many and varied subjects, but most of all Sages will help us to attain. But only our does it concern the search for truth. The own preparation and proper living will let living, waking, or conscious state must be us obtain it. We must do the work ourselves, immersed in the truthfulness that speaks for no one can do it for us. We will begin out of every word and action. There must be to realize that everything is no longer so a love for humanity that knows no passion, individualistic as it seemed before. We is a readiness to gladly share one’s entrusted the term in which we will think. We, God material possessions with others, and a and I, humanity and I become entwined. willingness to put the needs of humanity The “I” loses its meaning; it becomes above personal desires. All of these virtues submerged in the Cosmic All. “I” becomes one must acquire first. Only then will the many, as part of many that has its ultimate wisdom of the Sages and Adepts begin to in one. Individuality, though still existing, make sense. Then Nature will become a becomes “All-individuality.” Hence we willing companion to serve us. The world, begin to realize that the “I” is only a as we will then realize it, begins to take segment of the Divine, an entity in itself on form and shape, whereas previously it but not the true self, that which is All, the enshrouded us in a haze which our vision Divine. The wise ones, Sages, Adepts, or could not penetrate. We will come to whatever names we may give them, those know God. Illumination will enlighten who have become illuminated, meet on our whole life. It will cease to be a mere the same plane. They have climbed to the fight for an existence, for the Divine will mountain top. Theirs is the mastership have entered our hearts. Peace profound over the world below. They can see what will dwell within and surround us amidst happens below and that which will happen turmoil and strife. This the wisdom of the because of their far-reaching sight. Those

Page 7 in the valley, twisting and turning and the personality must return again and searching behind obstacles are too close again in order to achieve the maximum to the pattern of events to see it. Sages development. read Nature as an open book printed 4. The moral law is one of the basic laws in clear type whose sentences they fully of the universe. It is likewise called the understand. principle of Karma, the result of cause The writing left us by the Sages are and effect, or action and reaction. typical for the correspondence of their There is nothing vindictive about this thoughts and explanations. All agree principle. It works impersonally like any with one another. Only the uninitiated law of nature. As the fruit is contained believes he detects inconsistencies and in the seed, so the consequences are seeming contradictions, due to lack of inherent in the act. This principle understanding. Exemplary in its precision guides the destinies of both people and and profundity are the seven points dealing nations. Knowledge of this principle with Rosicrucian concepts as given during gives human beings the power to an extra-curricular lecture to students control our own destiny. of The Rose Croix University by the late eminent Sovereign Grand Master of that 5. Life has a purpose. Life is not Order, Thor Kiimaletho. The following meaningless. Happiness is a very real is quoted (with his permission) from his thing and is a by-product of knowledge, lecture, “The Basic Rosicrucian Concept”: action, and living. 6. Humans have free choice. We have 1. The Origin of the Universe is Divine. tremendous powers of both good and The Universe is a manifestation of, and evil, depending upon our conscious an emanation from, the One Absolute realizations. Cosmic Being. All manifestations of life are centers of consciousness and 7. Since the individual soul is part of expressions of the One Life within the the universal soul, human beings have framework of its material limitations. access to powers we do not know, There is but One Life in the Universe— but which time and knowledge and the Universal Life. It saturates and fills experience will gradually reveal to us.” all forms, shapes, and manifestations of life. Hermetic philosophers have taught the very same fundamentals even as 2. The soul is a spark of the divine philosophers of the future will do, for that consciousness in the Universe. As a which constitutes truth will remain truth. drop of water is a part of the ocean and It cannot be changed. But the theories all water, so is the soul manifesting in of humans and their opinions, which material expression, a part of the One are incorrectly given by some as truth, Soul in the Universe. In the human are subject to change. Because one calls being it develops the personality and oneself a philosopher does not necessarily the individual expression. make one such. One is only a philosopher 3. The soul-force possesses potentially the who has a sincere love for the wisdom powers of the divine principle at work that manifests universally and who strives in the universe. The function of life as sincerely to apply it in one’s daily life. on earth is to afford the opportunity Wisdom is acquired through righteous Rosicrucian of developing these potentialities in living. It is understanding applied. The Digest No. 1 the personality. Since one incarnation acquisition of a degree of Doctor of 2013 on earth cannot possibly be sufficient, Philosophy, as conferred upon graduates Page 8 in institutions of higher learning, does not laws cannot be adhered to or violated make one a philosopher, as much as those without producing karmic manifestations. in possession of such a degree may believe Beneficial karma, if it is permissible to in their right to such a title. use a term, because karma is impartial, is To be acquainted with the history brought about by harmonious applications of philosophy, the lives and teachings of of natural laws. These natural laws must those called philosophers, is only a study be adhered to if, according to predestined and knowledge of their universal concepts results, we wish to obtain what nature has and what has been derived from them. decreed. To be a philosopher, therefore, means If the foregoing even in its very to understand and live according to that condensed form has made any sense at understanding, knowing well that only all to the student of Alchemy, it must be by giving unhesitatingly and unselfishly apparent then why that alchemical gem, will our belief in humankind be justified. which all alchemists desire to produce, has When this has been realized, then only been called the Philosopher’s Stone. How will Alchemy become something real. often it is that we use words and attach no Transmutation always takes place on a meaning to them, only because we fail to higher plane, and in the physical world understand.

This article is reprinted with permission from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, Newburyport, MA and San Francisco, CA. Orders for the book may be placed at www.redwheelweiser.com. Page 9 The Sun Invincible Timothy J. O’Neill, FRC

In this article, Timothy J. O’Neill, a member of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC’s International Research Council, explores the esoteric meaning of the Sun in Alchemy and the Mystery Religions.

he shaman, alchemist, and to be seen as the localization of the great blacksmith all share one surprising universal driving force of evolution and Tand outstanding characteristic: they life itself. are all masters of fire. And each of these fire As one of the great philosophical masters is expert in the art of transformation. and mystical traditions, alchemy can be From the awakening of human simply defined as the art of accelerating awareness, it was clear that fire and heat nature’s slow and gradual work of universal contain the mystery of change, death, and perfection as exemplified in the process of rebirth. That which is burned is often the biological evolution. In our context, it is grounds for new life, as anyone who has the solar fire of evolution which speeds watched the process of plant re-growth alchemy’s refined work of perfection. following a forest fire will understand. It As the alchemists quickly learned, was also apparent to earliest people that though, the unbridled heart of the solar the greatest source of fire—that embodied force burns too quickly and intensely in the Sun—was the origin or basis of all by itself. That is why, in the practice of life and being. The warmth of the flesh, alchemy, the Sun is rarely found apart from the heat of the internal organs, the passion, its natural companion, the moon, which excitement, and enthusiasm for life, all this is characterized by its moist, cooling, was likened to the gentle warmth of the vaporous currents. The alchemists often Sun. Thus a subtle or esoteric link between symbolized this hidden unity between the Rosicrucian humans and the Sun eventually became opposites—sun and moon—as a mystical Digest No. 1 part of the traditional teachings of the marriage or as the cycle of falling dew and 2013 great philosophical schools. The Sun came rising moisture. You see, it was believed Page 10 in antiquity and the Middle Ages that as It is important at this point to the heat of the morning sun warmed the understand that the alchemists certainly cold, wet earth, the rising vapors would used the actual forces of the physical circulate and fall as dew. We now know solar system in their art, but most often the process to be far more complex. Yet they were referring to more subtle this archetypal cycling of hot and cold, etheric forces, apparent only to a highly dry and moist, fiery and watery, illustrates refined sense of spiritual perception. The perfectly the harmony and balance of Sun apparent simplicity of the process of solar and moon to be found at the heart of the circulation belies a highly complex and alchemical process. subtle alchemical science operating upon The famousMutus Liber or Silent the invisible world of spirit. Our physical Book illustrates this alchemical process of Sun is merely the most gross manifested the circulation of dew in great detail (see aspect of the concentrated force of life and Image 1). As the solar and lunar forces evolution. act together to accelerate the turning of A Vast Philosopher’s Stone the wheel of life, so is evolution hastened, ultimately producing the perfected “gold” There is also a virtual continuum of or purest potential essence of the object or subtle or “etheric” suns coexisting with the person put through the alchemical process. physical Sun at all possible levels of being. In the traditions of esoteric alchemy, it The trained alchemist learns to separate was most often the alchemist who was the these various levels of the invisible body object of the process, the purpose being of the sun into their refined components spiritual perfection. and constituents. Thus, the “Black Sun” represents the fertile solar chaos or the most unorganized and primal level of the evolutionary force. The “Green Sun” represents a more harmonized and healing level of the life-force, and the “Golden Sun” or “Red Sun” represents the pure solar force raised to its highest inherent evolutionary potential. It is at this point in the subtle existence of the Sun that it operates as a vast philosopher’s stone, acting as an evolutionary agent for the life- wave of the entire solar system. The entry of the alchemist into an awareness of this incredibly powerful and profound force in the etheric sun is known in the esoteric traditions as an aspect of the “Golden Dawn” or true spiritual awakening. This experience is perfectly represented in the famous sixteenth century alchemical text Splendor Solis, or Image 1. The alchemical couple as the lower “Splendor of the Sun,” a work imputed to correspondence to the Sun and moon in the harvesting Solomon Trismosin, supposed instructor of the dew, which must occur in the months of April (Aries) and May (Taurus), when according to Kunrath, of the great Paracelsus. This important the green world spirit is at its strongest. esoteric text focuses upon the Sun as the

Page 11 motive force for all transmutation and it traces, in allegorical form, the evolution of the Sun as a philosopher’s stone itself. Of course, this subtle solar force is not only known in the Western tradition. In the East, the evolutionary force is known as kundalini or Baraka and is also broken down into its solar and lunar aspects. The art of circulating the subtle solar and lunar currents has been reduced to a near mathematical precision in the Eastern traditions as described by Paramahansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a Yogi. In that book, he details this ancient alchemical science in terms of an inner solar system within the human body; a concept equally familiar to the West, as evidenced in the words of the great Doctor, Hermeticist, and Rosicrucian apologist Robert Fludd. esoteric alchemy: the enhanced spiritual evolution of the practitioner through accelerated passage on the wheel of life. Many of the details of the Eastern system are found in the works of Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), particularly in his well-known book, The Serpent Power. One of the most gripping examples of the incredible power of the solar force is described in Gopi Krishna’s classic autobiography, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man. As a practicing yogi, he accidentally awoke the full might of the solar force, causing overwhelmingly powerful mental, spiritual, and physical effects. After much travail, he was able to bring the cooling and mediating lunar current into play and thus balance the “parching quality of the sun.” His experience has much to teach Western alchemical students and provides The entire art of Kundalini Yoga in great insight into the essential nature of the East involves the careful circulation the solar force. and harmonization of the fiery solar and Another aspect of the Sun also relates cooling lunar currents within the body. to esoteric alchemy in its work of human These forces are turned around the spinal evolution. During the Roman Empire, Rosicrucian Digest column in a great circle so as to achieve various mystery religions, such as those No. 1 much the same goal as found in Western of Mithras, Aion, and Sol Invictus (The 2013 Page 12 Invincible Sun) treated the Sun as a Thus, this inner sun is the true symbol of the true essence of self, the “central fire” of the alchemical process, shining light of consciousness which was the source of the rising heat which turns to be resurrected out of the darkness of the the Rota Mundi, great wheel of life. This flesh into the light of spirit by the process wheel of life is a natural analogue to of initiation. the globular vessel of the alchemist, the As a state of transformation, initiation subtle, egg-shaped body or alembic, in into the mysteries bears a strong resem- which the circulating solar force works its blance to an alchemical process. Under evolutionary magic. Plato describes this in this model, we all possess an inner “sun” his Timaeus as the spherical, androgynous form of the soul. This subtle inner solar in the exact center of the body, usually as- system is the true microcosmos or “small sumed to be in the region of the solar plex- universe” which mirrors the outer universe us. It is with this inner sun, in conjunc- in its mathematical and geometric essence. tion with the actual Sun and stars in the The Sun, mighty regent of the universe, is sky that the alchemist most truly performs the embodiment of the fiery force which the science of spiritual perfection, seeking drives us through the infinite halls of the great universal Harmonia Mundi or existence. Alchemy is truly then a solar “harmony of the world.” art—a path of the Sun.

REFERENCES • Avalon, Arthur (Sir John Woodroffe),The Serpent • McLean, Adam, A Commentary on the Mutus Liber. Power. Dover Publication, 1974. Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, Edinburgh, • Godwin, Joscelyn, Mystery Religions in the Ancient 1982. World. Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1981. • Trismosin, Solomon, Splendor Solis. Yogi Publication • Godwin, Joscelyn, Robert Fludd: Hermetic Philosopher Society, Chicago, n.d. and Surveyor of Two Worlds. • Yogananda, Paramahansa, Autobiography of a Yogi. • Phanes Press, 1991 Krishna, Gopi, Kundalini; The Self Realization Fellowship Publications, Los Angeles, Evolutionary Energy in Man. Shambala Publications, 1969. Berkeley, 1971. Page 13 Paracelsus Ralph M. Lewis, FRC Ralph M. Lewis served as the Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC from 1939 to 1987. He was an avid historian and world-traveler. In this article (originally printed in the Rosicrucian Digest in March 1952) he shares his admiration for Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, better known as Paracelsus, the Alchemical Genius of the Middle Ages.

here it stood before us—square, Early in his youth, Paracelsus began his boxlike harshly etched against the peregrinations. It was customary for young Tdull rainy sky. This was the original men who sought higher education to travel unit of the old University of Basel. Fond- extensively. It was thought essential to ly, Rosicrucians have come to refer to it as a their acquiring of important knowledge. Rosicrucian university. In it the renowned These journeys took the students to the Paracelsus inculcated into his discourses various universities throughout Europe on medical science Rosicrucian metaphysi- where they tarried a while at each. It cal principles and alchemical terminology. was presumed, and not without merit, To know something of the life of Philippus that the experience of applying acquired Aureolus Paracelsus Theophrastus Bombas- knowledge to the affairs of the day as one tus von Hohenheim, is to know of the early journeyed about was the most beneficial. struggles of Light against ignorance and prej- It made life a great laboratory to try out udice. It is also to know something about the theories expounded in the universities. Basel. The old building before which we It was in the year 1507 when Paracelsus left stood – plain and stark, situated on a vantage his father’s home. His mode of travel was point over the Rhine River – was a crucible simple, principally by foot over the rolling where a great mind was tested and found hills, through the long valleys, staying to have the sterling qualities of a mystic and a while in little hamlets as well as in the humanitarian. larger cities. He attended the University Theophrastus von Hohenheim was of Tubingen (from which his father had born November 14, 1493, near Einsiedeln. been graduated) and then successively of His home was near the so-called Devil’s Heidelberg, Mainz, Munich, and Vienna Bridge which spanned the Sihl River. – all of this on his first journey. He soon At the time of Theophrastus’s birth, had intercourse with renowned alchemists Columbus had just returned to Spain to or spagyrists of the period, whose studies make the world-shaking announcement intrigued him and profoundly impressed of his discoveries. Theophrastus grew him. up in a cultural environment, the effects Paracelsus was greatly disappointed of which stood him in good stead all his with the scholastic methods of the life. His father, William, was a physician, German universities. He resented their a man well versed in philosophy and with dogmatic attitude which to him seemed a strong inclination toward an inquiry into to close people’s minds to new facts. knowledge. In fact, Paracelsus – we shall He further disliked the pompous roles Rosicrucian call him now by the name by which he is which the professors assumed as learned Digest generally known – later said of his father people among the ignorant. After a No. 1 2013 that he was “his first teacher.” brief time at home again, he resumed his Page 14 peregrinations, and this time for a period of about twelve years! This brought him a variation of fortune. He went to Africa and to the boundaries of Arabia. He was determined that further observation must be made of the circumstances contributing to disease. An intimate association must be had with the people who are suffering to understand the causes of their illness. He believed it necessary to be close to people and to nature; for he held that they constitute the greatest laboratory available for research. The medical practices of the period appeared to him to be stultified by the traditions in which they were steeped. After achieving his doctorate, he was resolved to seek out suffering humanity wherever it might be found. It is about this time that he acquired The Rosicrucian Portrait of Paracelsus. Note the sword held by Paracelsus. According to legend, Paracelsus kept the surname, Paracelsus. The “Para” is a miracle material in the end-knob of his sword, which from the Greek, which literally means was called Azoth, which was believed to be able to cure “over and beyond.” The “celsus” was after every possible disease. the Roman patrician, Cornelius Celsus. Also referring to the practices of some The latter had written an excellent treatise of the scholars elsewhere, he said, “They on medicine, De Medicina, which had know not what experimentum means, and been rediscovered. Its contents inspired how experiments are made, neither their and encouraged young Theophrastus. origin nor theory.” By adopting the pseudonym, Paracelsus, Eventually his travels took him to he believed that he was associating with Russia; there he was much impressed himself the reminder of an ideal which he with a visit to Mongolian tribes. He wished to attain. noticed the powerful effects that “faith and In Spain, Paracelsus consulted some imagination” had upon their healing of of the eminent Moorish occultists and the sick. Thereupon he wrote an extensive Islamic mystics who were well versed in the exposition of the subject which, in effect, Hermetic philosophy of the ancient East. constitutes an early treatise on hypnotism There is no question that these contacts and psychosomatic medicine. During greatly influenced his esoteric writings. his peregrinations he was plagued with His interest in the profound mysteries of lice and devised a successful formula for human existence, which go beyond the a powder to combat them−it was the first care of his body, was thus heightened. medicine of its kind. In Paris, he became provoked with the professors of the Sorbonne University. He New Remedies Compounded wrote of these instructors in medicine: “Parisian learned doctors despise all others During the siege of the stronghold of and yet are nothing but utter ignoramuses Suleiman II, the great Muslim war lord, themselves; they think their long necks and by the Knights of Rhodes, Paracelsus took high judgment rise right unto Heaven.” part in helping the sick and wounded. To Page 15 him it was an excellent clinical opportu- cies, as the hatreds and jealousies which we nity to note the effects of the diseases and harbor—or, in other words, psychological to compound new remedies for them. All causes. The fifth was thespiritual , or the of this was experimentation which was violation of the Divine laws. not being done in the great universities in While in Basel, a prominent personage which he had studied. was stricken. It was the renowned His knowledge of alchemy was so publisher and printer, Johannes Froben, thorough that it gave him an advantageous an associate of the great Erasmus. The insight into the chemical properties and patient had severe pain in his leg, which their effects on the human organism. physicians could not alleviate. As was the He wrote many of his formulas in the custom, they then suggested amputating alchemical symbols commonly employed the leg. In desperation, the patient called by the Rosicrucians of later years. These in Paracelsus for consultation. The latter were not understood by other physicians treated and saved the leg. Desiderius who became suspicious of his methods. Erasmus, famous scholar and theologian The success of his treatments was becoming from Rotterdam, was in Basel at the time widespread. This aroused jealousy in and witnessed the treatment. He spoke his profession, the members of which glowingly of what he had experienced. exercised strong political influence. In This episode caused the Town Council 1525, by their connivance, he was arrested of Basel to invite Paracelsus to become its in Salzburg and accused of giving support community physician and to teach at the to rebellious peasants. No evidence was University of Basel. There were but fifteen forthcoming and so he was dismissed, but medical students when Paracelsus assumed was forced to leave the city. his duties. At the very beginning of his Still the stories of Paracelsus’s fame professorship, he expounded his policy of spread. He visited the home of a girl para- instruction. He would teach principles lyzed since childhood. After a thorough which “he had acquired through the nature examination of his young patient, he pre- of things, aided by careful reflection…” scribed a medicine to which he gave the This, in effect, was a proclamation that name of Red Lion, an alchemical symbol. he would profit by his long experience of To the amazement of her parents, the girl, working out among people and from the after a few applications, was able to walk careful records which he had made of his again, and this added to the growing ac- treatments. He would not abide by the claim of his powers. His writings had now methods and texts which observation had become extensive. One of his greatest was shown him to be obsolete. His further Volumen Paramirum. In this work, he di- unconventionality was manifest in his vided the causes of disease into five general giving lectures in the “vulgar” German parts as fields for research and study. The instead of the traditional Latin. Further, first he called natural. This pertained to he despised and refused to wear the the natural organism itself and what may ornate robes of his colleagues as being too be inherited. The second division wasen - ostentatious. In fact, he ridiculed their vironment, the effects of one’s living condi- pompous display. tions and associations upon him. The third He exposed a noxious practice that has consisted of the corrupt influence of the continued even to our times. He demand- Rosicrucian world-soul. This he delineates as consti- ed that the profit-sharing practice between Digest tuting an inharmony with Cosmic forces. physicians and apothecaries be discon- No. 1 The fourth division was mental discrepan- tinued. Though his students increased 2013 Page 16 considerably in number and were highly medicine and remedial measures. He was enthusiastic about his manner of presenta- successful in helping stop the epidemic. tion, he incurred the further wrath of the When the city had recovered, it failed to professors of medicine. They caricatured show appreciation for the valiant efforts him and challenged his unorthodox meth- of this stranger who, at the particular ods as being questionable. The persecu- time, was reduced to the state of a pauper. tion reached such proportions that he was The populace was suspicious of his forced to flee by night on horseback, the philosophical doctrines and even feared means being provided by a friend, as there that his successful treatments constituted was a plot against his life. an exorcising of some malevolent powers. During the plague in 1534, Paracelsus He was thus expelled and continued his entered the old city of Sterzing, which journey and studies. He was maligned not was particularly affected. All who could only during his own time but for centuries had fled the terror and death of the city. or until comparatively recently, principally Nevertheless, he boldly entered, walking in the histories of his own profession. It down its streets, which were deserted is only in the last few years, comparatively except for the rumbling two-wheeled speaking, that his profession has not only carts on which bodies were piled high. vindicated him but highly eulogized him Without any show of fear, he began and also printed some of his heretofore treating the afflicted, introducing new unpublished manuscripts.

Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.

Medicine rests upon four pillars – philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, and ethics.

The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.

When we undertake to create something, we establish a new heaven, as it were, and from it the work that we desire to create flows into us… For such is the immensity of human beings.

Paracelsus

Page 17 The Philosopher’s Stone Dennis William Hauck, Ph.D., FRC Dennis William Hauck is the Project Curator of the new Alchemy Museum, to be built at Rosicrucian Park in San Jose, California. He is an author and alchemist working to facilitate personal and planetary transformation through the application of the ancient principles of alchemy. Frater Hauck has translated a number of important alchemy manuscripts dating back to the fourteenth century and has published dozens of books on the subject. He is the founder of the International Alchemy Conference (AlchemyConference.com), an instructor in alchemy (AlchemyStudy.com), and is president of the International Alchemy Guild (AlchemyGuild. org). His websites are AlchemyLab.com and DWHauck.com. Frater Hauck was a presenter at the “Hidden in Plain Sight” esoteric conference held at Rosicrucian Park. His paper based on that presentation entitled “Materia Prima: The Nature of the First Matter in the Esoteric and Scientific Traditions” can be found in Volume 8 of the Rose+Croix Journal - http://rosecroixjournal.org/issues/2011/articles/vol8_72_88_hauck.pdf.

he Philosopher’s Stone was the base metal into incorruptible gold, it could key to success in alchemy and similarly transform humans from mortal Thad many uses. Not only could (corruptible) beings into immortal (incor- it instantly transmute any metal into ruptible) beings. gold, but it was the alkahest or universal However, it is important to remember solvent, which dissolved every substance that the Stone was not just a philosophical immersed in it and immediately extracted possibility or symbol to alchemists. Both its Quintessence or active essence. The Eastern and Western alchemists believed it Stone was also used in the preparation was a tangible physical object they could of the Grand Elixir and aurum potabile create in their laboratories. The idea prob- (“drinkable gold”), remedies that would ably originated with the observation that regenerate the human body. In addition, it some precious metals could be obtained was used to restore a plant or animal from from the ores of base metals. For instance, its ashes in a process called palingenesis silver is often obtained from galena, the (“retrieval of the soul”). Because the ore of lead. Also, the preparation of metal Philosopher’s Stone carried the purified alloys and chemicals that imparted the life force, it could also be used to create characteristics of gold to other metals sug- artificial living beings calledhomunculi. gested there might be a single agent that The idea of the Philosopher’s Stone would perfect any metal. originated with Alexandrian and Arabian Another inspiration for the concept alchemists and soon captured the imagina- of the Philosopher’s Stone came from tion of people around the world. By the the theory of the Four Elements and the Middle Ages, the Philosopher’s Stone was possibility of changing one element into not only the key to transforming base met- another by manipulating their qualities. Rosicrucian als into gold but also held the secret to For instance, Water (with the qualities Digest eternal life and spiritual perfection as well. of moist and cold) could be turned into No. 1 Since the Stone would turn a corruptible Air (steam) by changing its qualities into 2013 Page 18 moist and hot through boiling. Or Water mative realm between energy and matter, could be turned into Earth (solid ice) by suspended in the twilight between what transforming its qualities into cold and dry exists and what does not exist. “Receive by freezing. this Stone which is not a stone,” said the The Fifth Element and most elevat- Alexandrian alchemist Zosimos, “a pre- ed form of matter was a subtle substance cious thing that has no value, a thing of known as the Quintessence. The source of many shapes that has no shape, this un- the other elements, the Quintessence was known which is known by all.” latent in all things and thought to be the In Latin, the Philosopher’s Stone was substance of heavenly bodies. Paracelsus called the Lapis Philosophorum (Stone of described it as the “star” in objects, an in- the Philosophers) but to the Greeks it was ner image that gave things their primary known as the Chrysopoeia (the Heart of shapes and characteristics. Gold). It was also referred to as the Mag- The spiritual significance of the Phi- isterium (the Magistry), Spiritus Mundi losopher’s Stone probably originated in (Spirit of the World), as well as “Azoth,” the Egyptian belief in the perfection of “Alkahest,” “Etherium,” “Universal Medi- the soul and the creation of an immortal cine,” and “Grand Elixir.” golden body. The mystical doctrine of the The eighth century Arabian alchemist regeneration of the human soul is part of Jabir did much to popularize the notion of most religions, and the Philosopher’s Stone the Philosopher’s Stone among alchemists. became the physical manifestation of our He reasoned that the transmutation of one fundamental desire for perfection. The metal into another could be accomplished parallel is most obvious in Christianity, by the rearrangement of its basic qualities, where Christ is the physical embodiment and the transformation would be expe- of God who offers us salvation and eternal dited by a magical touchstone made from life. In fact, in the liturgy of the Middle a hidden etheric substance that is distrib- Ages, Christ was sometimes referred to as uted throughout the universe. the Lapis or Stone. The Arabs referred to this agent asAl- Many religious scholars believe the Iksir (“from the ashes”), because it could Philosopher’s Stone is synonymous with be isolated through fire and concentrated the symbol of the stone found in many in the ashes of substances. Al-Iksir is the spiritual traditions, such as the Old Testa- origin of our word “elixir,” the alchemical ment stone that Jacob rests his head upon, medicine believed to prolong life indefi- the New Testament rock Christ lays as the nitely and also change metals into gold. foundation of the temple, the Holy Grail or cup of Christ, the Yesodic founda- What the Philosopher’s Stone Looked Like tion stone of the Kabbalah, and the Cu- bic Stone of Freemasonry. In some ways, Much has been written about the the Philosopher’s Stone also resembles the Philosopher’s Stone, and there are scores forbidden fruit of Genesis and symbol- of recipes for its preparation. One example izes knowledge that human beings are not is the seventeenth-century Mutus Liber meant to possess. (or Silent Book), which is a symbolic The power of the Philosopher’s Stone instruction manual of fifteen illustrations to transform anything lies in its fundamen- showing how to concoct the Stone. tal ability to connect through all levels of Surprisingly, we know quite a bit Above and Below, spirit and matter, light about what the Philosopher’s Stone looked and darkness. The Stone exists in the for- like. It was dark red in color and resembled Page 19 a common irregular stone or glass crystal. Masculine and Feminine, the archetypal The material of which the Stone was made King and Queen. was the same red powder of projection so A third cipher for the Phi- prized by the alchemists. The blood-red losopher’s Stone first appeared color of the Stone was its chief physical in the early Renaissance. It de- characteristic and showed up in many picts the Squaring of the Circle, alchemical drawings as the Rosy Cross, the which is a formula for the creation of the Red King, and the Red Dragon. All these Stone. The recipe for it was first revealed in represent the Philosopher’s Stone. the Rosicrucian text Rosarium (1550): The oldest cipher for the Make a circle out of a man and wom- Philosopher’s Stone is also the an. Derive from it a square, and from sign for cinnabar. It originated the square a triangle. Make a circle and in the Middle Ages and depicts you will have the Philosopher’s Stone. the cross of the elements raised This symbol is actually another depiction to their highest level. Cinnabar of the Sacred Marriage in alchemy. is a naturally occurring mineral that unites sulfur and mercury (mercury sulfide HgS). It often appears as a red stone (above left) or in a beautiful trigonal red crystal that forms on white crystalline dolomite (above right). If you heat the stone in an open fire, drops of pure mercury metal sometimes ooze out from the cracks. The name “cinnabar” probably originated with the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, who was born around 370 BCE. Another cipher for the Philosopher’s Stone looks like the Sign of Solomon. It The square is a symbol of masculine probably originated in the late consciousness and signifies earth and Middle Ages and depicts the the Four Elements. It is the four-square union of the elements Fire (the mindset of logic and the aggressive energy upward-pointing triangle) and Water (the of spirit. The circle is a symbol of feminine Rosicrucian downward-pointing triangle). This is the consciousness, the unitary impulse to Digest Sacred Marriage in alchemy, the merging contain and nurture. It is the all-inclusive No. 1 of Fire and Water, Below and Above, mindset of intuition, empathy, and the 2013 Page 20 ancient Egypt. In fact, the word “alchemy” is derived from the Arabic Al-khemi, which means “from the black dirt of the Nile delta.” This all seems to imply that the Stone grows from the First Matter that has been raised to a higher level in the Work. Many reports of the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone exist among Arabian and European alchemists. One of the most credible is from the revered alchemist Albertus Magnus. He reported he had successfully created gold by “transmutation” passive energy of soul. The triangle is in the later years of his life. When Magnus the cipher for Fire, which is the agent of died in 1280, the miraculous object was transformation in alchemy. In this drawing, passed on to his student Thomas Aquinas, the triangle integrates the masculine and who is also said to have made many feminine energies into a third thing, successful transmutations using it. which the alchemists sometimes referred Another credible report of the to as the “Child of the Philosophers.” creation of the Philosopher’s Stone comes This is the Quintessence of consciousness from the sixteenth-century Swiss alchemist that unites the functions of thinking, Paracelsus. He discovered what he called feeling, sensation, and intuition in a new the “Alkahest,” a single substance from embodiment of body, mind, and soul now which all the elements (Fire, Water, Air, fused together in the fire. Finally, human Earth) were derived. This substance was consciousness achieves a divine union with the chief ingredient he used to create his the One Mind of the universe, signified by Philosopher’s Stone. He demonstrated its the greater circle encompassing all. power by creating a homunculus he showed The Philosopher’s Stone exhibited to some of his colleagues. the peculiar property of having a variable Preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone weight. Sometimes it was as heavy as a piece of gold and other times light as a feather. According to alchemical literature, Its primary ingredient was an equally there are two ways to create the mysterious element known as “carmot.” Philosopher’s Stone: the “Wet Way” and Carmot may have been a mythological the “Dry Way.” The Wet Way (or Humid substance, since no mention of it exists Way) uses natural processes and is more outside alchemy, and it does not appear in gradual and safer than the Dry Way, any list of modern chemical compounds. which relies on intense heat and powerful However, there is a tradition among chemicals to achieve the Stone in a shorter French alchemists that the word “carmot” is time. a secret anagram for “marcot.” Specifically, Even in spiritual alchemy, there is a Wet the process is called “marcottage,” a method Way in which natural inspiration builds of plant propagation in which black soil is gradually in the initiate to reach the fervor tied around a branch stripped of a ring of necessary for personal transformation. And bark. The new branch that grows is called there is a spiritual Dry Way in which the the marcot. initiate attempts to ascend on a direct path Interestingly, black dirt has been to divine knowledge. The Wet Way works associated with the First Matter since with the “slow, steady fires of nature,” Page 21 while the Dry Way works with the “raging reduction reactions. This was symbolized fires of our lower nature.” by the Phoenix rising from the fire. The rapid spiritual ascent of the Dry In the Wet Way, the final phase is sometimes Way is very dangerous for unprepared ini- signaled by the appearance of a reddish tiates and can result in a loss of personal swirl of oil or pink globules on the surface identity or even madness. Tantric alche- of the matter. This was symbolized by the mists of India follow the direct path by try- Pelican, which sometimes can be observed ing to release and control sexual energies, regurgitating a meal of freshly killed fish while the Dry path of shamanic alchemy for its young. The mother’s white breast consists of the use of powerful plant allies plumage is often stained with red blood and psychoactive drugs. There is no doubt during the feeding process. that some medieval alchemists made use of such preparations. The alchemists were the The Cipher of the Stone first chemists and were very much aware of the psychological and spiritual effects The most powerful cipher in all of of the plants and compounds with which alchemy is a rather odd-looking glyph that they worked. looks like a little stick man. It is a symbol In the laboratory, the Dry Way begins of the Philosopher’s Stone, and it is said with roasting and heating in an intense to incorporate some of the powers of the fire that may only last a few hours. The Stone whenever it is drawn. In other words, Wet Way begins with slow digestion and the cipher is said to carry its own spirit or putrefaction of the matter that can go on intelligence, which is evoked every time it for many months. In both methods, this is written down or constructed. The name is known as the Black Phase in which the of the cipher is the “Hieroglyphic Monad,” matter blackened as it was reduced to its and it was created by British Rosicrucian basic essences. Dr. John Dee. The Black Phase gives way to the Dee was a true Renaissance man who White Phase in which a purification of achieved world renown as a mathematician, the matter takes place and the essences are mapmaker, cryptographer, alchemist, separated away from any contamination. magician, philosopher, and astrologer. His In the Dry Way, this appears as a white library was one of the largest in England crust formed by dried matter carried by with over 4,000 rare texts and manuscripts, gases bursting in bubbles on the surface and his alchemical laboratory rivaled any of the material. Sometimes the crust puffs in the world at the time. up and releases a cloud of white vapor into He entered Cambridge College at the the flask, which is called the White Eagle. age of 15 and began a five-year regimen In the Wet Way, a white layer of digest- of sleeping only four hours a day, so ing bacteria forms on top of the putrefied he could devote more time to studying material, which is called the White Swan. Hermetic philosophy and alchemy. “I was During the ensuing Red Phase, the so vehemently bent to study,” said Dee energies released in the previous opera- of his time at Cambridge, “that for those tions are captured in a solution or powder. years I did inviolably keep this order: only In the Dry Way, this is indicated by the ap- to sleep four hours every night; to allow to pearance of a red coloring on the surface of meet, eat, and drink two hours every day; Rosicrucian Digest the molten material or in the ashes, which and of the other eighteen hours all were No. 1 is caused by high temperature oxidation- spent in my studies and learning.” 2013 Page 22 Dee grew into an imposing figure symbols, Dee’s efforts crystallized in a clear with a very commanding presence. vision of the Stone. In just thirteen days Biographer John Aubrey described his in January 1564, he completed a step-by- physical appearance in his manuscript step mathematical proof called the Monas Brief Lives (1693): “He had a very fair, Hieroglyphica (The Hieroglyphic Monad). clear, rosey complexion and a long beard In his proof, Dee used the ancient as white as milk. He was tall and slender, a ciphers of alchemy as geometric figures very handsome man. He wore a gown like and applied Euclidean geometry to reveal an artist’s frock, with hanging sleeves, and their deeper meanings and relationships. a slit. A mighty good man was he.” Dee said his proof would “revolutionize Dee was a close confidant of Queen astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, linguis- Elizabeth, who issued him a license to tics, mechanics, music, optics, magic, and practice alchemy and make gold. As a favor adeptship.” He even urged astronomers to to the Queen, it is said, he “controlled the stop peering through their telescopes try- Elements” and cast a ing to understand the spell on the Spanish heavens and instead Armada by causing spend their time med- bad weather to thwart itating on his Monad. the invasion of Eng- Dee believed he land. He became the had proved the exis- model for “Prospero” tence of the universal in Shakespeare’s The Monad, which ac- Tempest and is also cording to Pythago- said to have been ras, was the first thing the inspiration for that came into exis- Goethe’s Faust. tence in the universe. With an intense It can be described purity of intention as the One Thing, or and motive, Dee em- the spiritual atom or barked on a systemat- egg that gave birth to ic plan to discover the the whole cosmos. To Philosopher’s Stone. the Gnostic philoso- He viewed it as much phers, the Monad was a philosophy as a physical object. For Dee, the single higher spiritual being (the One the Stone was “the force behind the evo- Mind) that created all the lesser gods and lution of life and the universal binding elemental powers. In Jungian terms, the power which unites minds and souls in a Monad is the first archetype that contains human oneness.” While most alchemists all the other archetypes. Today, we might of his time sought the Stone for its abil- look at it as a mega computer that contains ity to transmute base metals into gold, Dee all the software of the universe. wanted to possess it to transmute his soul In describing the power of Dee’s cipher, into a more perfect state. Hermetic researcher Tobias Churton wrote Before long, Dee realized that all in The Gnostics: “If one can imagine a great the powers and characteristics of the ocean of First Matter, then we are seeing Philosopher’s Stone could be represented the beginning of the universe. If a hand in one magical symbol. After seven years of were to, as it were, drop the cipher of the intense study and meditation on alchemical Hieroglyphic Monad into that ocean of Page 23 infinite potentials, the First Matter would The bottom and the top of the cipher immediately start forming itself into the are connected by a cross known as the universe we imagine we know today.” Cross of the Elements. It is here that the When the alchemists depicted the workings of manifested reality play out. In Monad, they often added the Latin caption this section of the Monad, all the glyphs In Hoc Signo Vinces (“In this sign you will of the seven planets and their associated conquer”). All the coded ciphers of the metals (Saturn/Lead, Jupiter/Tin, Mars/ alchemists were thought to be pieces of the Iron, Venus/Copper, Mercury/Quicksilver, Hieroglyphic Monad and, as we shall see Moon/Silver, and the Sun/gold) intersect. in the next section, this is geometrically By tracing the connecting lines and arcs quite true. in different ways, one can locate all the The frontispiece of the Hieroglyphic symbols of these seven planets and thereby Monad is a succinct explanation of the reveal the invisible forces behind Nature. cipher itself. It was considered so important The merged planetary ciphers are in Elizabethan times that it became known arranged left to right and top to bottom around the world as the “Greater Seal of around the Cross of the Elements. London.” According to Dee, by placing the planetary At the center of the frontispiece ciphers in their proper relationship, the (shown above) is the Monad cipher within astronomical symbols are imbued with an inverted egg filled with embryonic immortal life,” allowing their coded fluid. This is known as the Hermetic Egg meaning to be expressed “most eloquently and the fluid is representative of the First in any tongue and to any nation.” In this Matter. The yolk is depicted as a circle and arrangement, the Sun is the only symbol point at the center of the figure. The circle that is always the same, and in that sense, with a center point is the cipher for gold incorruptible like gold. No matter which and the Sun. way the Monad is turned – upside down, The lunar crescent symbol of the left to right, right to left, or its mirror Moon intersects the upper part of the image – the cipher of the Sun and gold is yellow yolk of the Sun. Thus the Sun and always exactly the same. Moon are united in gold at this level, The heart of the Monad and the one which represents perfection or the end cipher that encompasses all the others of the Great Work. Within the frame is Mercury. In alchemy, Mercury stands surrounding the Monad can be found the for the principle of transformation itself. Four Elements and the Three Essentials of As can be verified in the geometry of the Sulfur (the Sun on the left pillar), Salt (the Monad, Mercury is part of all the metals Moon on the right pillar), and Mercury and elements of alchemy and melds them (within the center symbol). together as one. Dee embedded the spirit of At the bottom of the Monad are Mercury at the heart of his master symbol two rounded lunar crescents or waves and believed he had successfully captured representing the Water Element. They the essences of the archetypal elements and come together to form the ram horns of the metals. sign of Aries, which signifies Fire. Aries is Dee stated that his Monad carried the first sign of the zodiac and is associated the secret of transformation of anything with the burst of life force in the Spring, that existed in the universe, but he never Rosicrucian at which time the Great Work begins. “To spoke of its precise workings publicly. He Digest begin the Work of this Monad,” wrote felt the Monad was much too powerful No. 1 2013 Dee, “the aid of Fire is required.” to share with the uninitiated. His only Page 24 public summary of the basic operation of inventory list of his massive library was a the Monad was this cryptic phrase: “The description of that book. However, Dee’s Sun and the Moon of this Monad desire secret book on the Monad was destroyed that the Elements in which the tenth when a mob of Anglican fundamentalists proportion will flower, shall be separated, broke into his home and burned his entire and this is done by the application of Fire.” library. But Dee privately told other alche- According to Dee, his commentaries mists that his symbol described not only on the Monad were not necessary to the exact interrelationship of the planetary grasp its power. “He who devotes himself energies but also showed the way to the sincerely to these mysteries,” he said, “will transmutation of the metals, as well as the see clearly that nothing is able to exist spiritual transformation of the alchemist. without the virtue of our hieroglyphic His symbol, he told them, was the true Monad.” But he also gave a strong warning Philosopher’s Stone. to anyone who would attempt to master Dee even wrote a private unpublished his proof: book explaining in detail the workings of “Whoever does not understand his Monad for his fellow alchemists. In the should either learn or be silent.”

This article is taken fromThe Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy (Penguin 2008) by Dennis William Hauck (www.DWHauck.com). A copy of Dee’s Hieroglyphic Monad can be downloaded from www.AlchemyStudy.com/public/Monad-Dee.pdf. Page 25 Ars Magica Peter Marshall In this article Peter Marshall introduces us to Rudolf II (1552-1612) – Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Habsburg heir, and extraordinary patron of the arts and mysticism. Driven to understand the deepest secrets of nature and the riddle of existence, Rudolf invited to his court an endless stream of genius and established Prague as the artistic and scientific center of Europe at that time.

hile Neoplatonism, Hermeti- alchemy of matter as well as the alchemy of cism, the Cabala, and magic spirit: If an alchemist was not spiritually Wwere essential elements in the pure, he would never achieve success in his world view of Rudolf’s court, alchemy and experiments. To discover the Philosopher’s astrology were the main sciences that shared Stone was therefore an outward sign of the same perspective. Alchemy attempted inner enlightenment, the two aspects were to transform nature by drawing on invisi- inextricable. The alchemists’ aim was to ble energies as well as physical means, while attain personal harmony which mirrored astrology assumed that the subtle web of the ultimate harmony of the universe. correspondences between heaven and earth Moreover, they sought not only the ensured that celestial events would influence transmutation of metals but the moral and those on earth. Although they were con- spiritual transformation of humankind. sidered—with magic—part of the “occult” Underlying their obsessive pursuit of the sciences, their higher purpose was to ban- Philosopher’s Stone was undoubtedly a ish the darkness of ignorance and to attain drive for harmony and perfection and enlightenment through knowledge. for the truths of revealed religion. The The word alchemy comes from the alchemical dream of the Renaissance was Coptic word for Egypt Al Kemia, meaning nothing less than a search for the Creator the “Black Land,” and alchemy had first through his created works.1 emerged in Alexandria in the second Rudolf would have known about the century BCE. The Arabs had brought fiery dreams of the alchemists ever since he it to Europe during their occupation of was a boy. The libraries of his father in Vi- Spain and Sicily and the greatest thinkers enna and of his uncle in Madrid were full of the Middle Ages—Thomas Aquinas, of the works of the German, Italian, and Roger Bacon, Ramón Lull, and Arnald de Spanish alchemists and physicians who Villanova—had all been involved in the wrote and communicated with each other pursuit of the Philosopher’s Stone. in Latin. Rudolf’s quest for miraculous The Philosopher’s Stone was the Holy knowledge would have been excited by Grail of the art and science of alchemy. the imperial court physician and astrono- The Philosopher’s Stone, the alchemists mer-astrologer Dr. Tadeáš Hájek of Hájek believed, could not only transmute base (Thaddaeus Hagecius). A native of Prague metal into gold and offer untold riches but and a master of ars magica and occult phi- prolong life indefinitely and provide the losophy, Hájek had been first engaged by key to the riddle of the universe. Alchemy his father. He conducted alchemical ex- Rosicrucian was a sacred science, blending mystical periments in his house on the corner of Digest religion and philosophy with medicine and Bethlehem Square in the Old Town and it No. 1 chemistry. The alchemists believed in the became the meeting place for many alche- 2013 Page 26 mists, physicians, scientists, and scholars. reign alchemy became the greatest passion Hájek completed Rudolf’s Spanish educa- of the age in Central Europe and it is tion by introducing him to the writings of not surprising that he should have been the medieval philosophers Albertus Mag- infected along with other nobles and nus and Roger Bacon (whose works were wealthy families. Certainly alchemical on the Index forbidden by the Vatican), literature, both in manuscripts and printed the infidel physician Avicenna (the “Aris- texts, was heavily represented around totle of the Arabs”), the alchemist Geber 1600 in the Bohemian archives. The (the “Prince of the Arab Philosophers”), wealthiest and most powerful Bohemian and the works of Paracelsus (the found- prince, Vilém Rožmberk, was a fellow ing father of modern medicine and chem- adept and accumulated considerable debts istry). The heady writings of the Spanish supporting an array of alchemists. The alchemist Arnald de Villa- nova, who was a physician to several Popes and accused of heresy, were not neglected. Rudolf had an alchemi- cal laboratory built in the Powder Tower set in the northern wall of Prague Cas- tle and invited alchemists from all over Europe to use it. It would have been full of athanors (furnaces), with sooty assistants working the pumps, warming up stills called alembics (after the Ar- abic al abiq) and pelicans (so called because they looked like the bird) as well as the bain-marie, named after the Alexandrian alchemist Maria the Jewess who first invented the bath for gentle heating. Rudolf would often call un- announced to see how the experiments were proceed- ing. He may even have had Rudolf II. his own laboratories in the cellar of his summer house in the castle Duke of Brunswick, Rudolf’s close ally, gardens and under his Kunstkammer next was also a keen patron of alchemists and to his private apartments. an ardent seeker after the Stone. Rudolf was not unusual in his interest Just as Rudolf’s artists used emblems in alchemy. Many European princes and to express their moral and religious kings were fascinated by the subject and allegories, so his alchemists expressed their accepted its belief in a universal scheme aspirations through symbols and emblems. of correspondences. During Rudolf’s Indeed, what Rudolf was trying to achieve

Page 27 in his castle is beautifully evoked by the dle Ages—both were studied by mathema- title of an illustrated book on alchemy tici—and they only began to be separated by Daniel Stoltzius von Stolzenberg, a from one another during the late Renais- late representative of Rudolfine Prague,A sance. Astrology continued to interpret Chemical Pleasure Garden, “decorated with the meaning of the influence of the mov- handsome figures cut in copper, illustrated ing celestial bodies on life on earth, while with poetic paintings and explanations, so astronomy increasingly became concerned that it may not only serve to refresh the with recording and calculating the move- eyes and the spirit but arouse at the same ments of the heavens as a form of celestial time a very deep contemplation of natural mechanics. Rudolf’s parents had had his things…”2 It shows perfectly how at horoscope cast by the famed Nostradamus Rudolf’s court science and art, reason and in 1565 and he went on to employ many imagination, philosophy and religion were astrologer-astronomers at his court. While inseparable. he constantly consulted them about his state of health, his pros- pects, and the state of the empire, they in their turn began to lay down the foundations of modern astronomy. During the Renais- sance, alchemy and as- trology were still central to medicine. Alchemy provided medicines and elixirs made from chemi- cals, minerals, metals, and herbs, while astrolo- gy was important both in diagnosis and treatment. The horoscope of a per- son could indicate their underlying character: if Saturn was prominent in their chart, for instance they would tend to have a saturnine, melancholic tendency. This in turn

Rudolf II painted as Vertumnus, Roman deity of the seasons, by Giuseppe would help to understand Arcimboldo. Rudolf greatly appreciated the work. their bodily weaknesses and strengths. In addi- Rudolf also took a keen interest in as- tion, the main organs of the body were trology, a subject which alchemists studied associated with different planets, reflect- in order to make sure they undertook their ing the ancient Hermetic principles of “as experiments at the right Cosmic Time. The above, so below” and “as within, so with- Rosicrucian Digest terms astronomy and astrology were con- out.” Astrology would be able to tell what No. 1 sidered to be interchangeable in the Mid- planets were having a beneficial or malefic 2013 Page 28 effect on particular organs in the patient. a word he derived from the words IIias It would also provide the correct timings (Troy) and astrum (star). This “Great to take the medicines, according to the Mystery” was a kind of “matter-energy” most favorable disposition of the planets, which had condensed to form the heavens so that they could have their maximum ef- and earth. It also gave birth to three main fect. forces—the tria prima—that constitute Most physicians still worked within the world, underlay all phenomena and are the Aristotelian tradition of the four to be found in all substances. They are salt, humours which were associated with sulphur, and mercury, which correspond the four elements: fire, earth, air and respectively to the body, soul, and spirit. If water. Disease was explained in terms the tria prima are not in balance, a person of a serious imbalance of the humours will be ill. The physician is therefore an in the body. But the followers of the alchemist of the body who seeks to re- revolutionary Swiss physician, alchemist, establish the natural harmony of health and astrologer Theophrastus Bombastus based on the right proportions of the tria von Hohenheim, otherwise known as prima. Nature is always the foundation of Paracelsus, were beginning to gain ground, medicine because [humans] the microcosm especially in Prague, which during Rudolf’s is a quintessence of all creation and of all reign became the European capital of the forces flowing through the world. Paracelsians.3 In the first half of the century, Paracelsus also argued that since All is Paracelsus became the founding father of One and human beings are a microcosm of iatro-chemistry and pharmacy as well as a the macrocosm there are astra—planets— forerunner of homeopathic medicine. He in the body as well as the heavens. The sun believed that with his “spagyric art,” as for instance rules the heart, the moon the he called alchemy (from the Greek word brain, mercury the liver and so on. The spao and ageiro, meaning “tear apart and task of the physician-astrologer is to restore gather together”), he could produce the the natural harmony between the heavenly panacea for all ills; even Erasmus, the and the bodily astra as well as between the greatest humanist of the age, had faith in tria prima. him. Although influenced by the Cabala Into this royal crucible, with its heady and the Hermetic writing, experience was brew of Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, the his great mentor. Cabala, magic, alchemy, and astrology, He insisted that his students throw Rudolf welcomed some of the greatest away their old books and study the “Book thinkers and scientists of the day. These of Nature.” He broke with tradition by included the English magus John Dee, the writing in German rather than Latin. German alchemist Oswald Croll, the Polish He certainly lived up to his “bombastic” alchemist Michael Sendivogius, the Italian name and reputation. He famously said: philosopher Giordano Bruno, the Danish “What light do you shed, you doctors astronomer Tycho Brahe, and the German of Montpellier, Vienna, and Leipzig? mathematician and astronomer Johannes About as much light as a Spanish fly on a Kepler. Because of the constant threat of dysentery stool!” On another occasion, he persecution from Church and State, such dismissed a critic as a “wormy and lousy original and subversive thinkers were often Sophist” and called himself a “Monarch of obliged to travel around Europe in search Arcana.”4 of a congenial place to continue their According to Paracelsus (his name pioneering and potentially heretical work. means “Beyond Celsus,” the Roman They were men who were prepared to risk physician), in the beginning was Iliaster, their lives in the search for knowledge Page 29 wherever it might lead them, and despite wonders, Rudolf was far from being a their different nationalities, backgrounds, relic of a bygone age. He was fascinated and interests, they shared with Rudolf by the claims of magic, alchemy, and a readiness to go beyond the boundaries astrology, but he was also interested in the of permissible thought. Each one was, emerging sciences of chemical medicine as Galileo addressed Johannes Kepler, a and mathematical astronomy. 5 “comrade in the pursuit of truth.” While their work was rooted in the Rudolf was gripped by the Renaissance medieval world view, the late Renaissance drive for knowledge as well as beauty. thinkers who came to Rudolf’s Prague de- Indeed, he shared the widespread veloped new methods of experimentation Renaissance view that the true is beautiful and observation which saw the first glim- and the beautiful is true. As the world around him threatened to descend into merings of empiricism and the modern the chaos of religious discord, he hoped scientific method. Steeped in alchemy, to recreate a beautiful world of harmony they were the fathers of modern chemistry based on the sacred science of the ancients. and medicine; believing in astrology, they Yet for all his belief in miracles and created the new astronomy.

Prague.

ENDNOTES 1. See A.G. Debus, The Chemical Dream of the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1968), pp. 31-2. This article is an excerpt from The Magic Circle of 2. Daniel Stoltzius von Stolzenberg, A Chemical Pleasure- Garden (Frankfurt, 1624). Rudolf II: Alchemy and Astrology in Renaissance 3. See Trevor-Roper, “The Paracelsian Movement,” Prague. Reprinted with permission © Peter Renaissance Essays (London, 1986 p. 181). Marshall, 2006, The Magic Circle of Rudolf 4. In Marsall, The Philosopher’s Stone, pp. 352, 349. II, Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. Rosicrucian 5. Galileo Galilei to Johannes Kepler, 4 August 1597, in Digest J. M. Ross and M. M. McLaughlin, eds., The Portable No. 1 Renaissance Reader (Harmondsworth, 1985), p. 597. 2013 Page 30 The Chymical Wedding Christian Rebisse, FRC In this article, an excerpt from his book Rosicrucian History and Mysteries, Christian Rebisse invites us to the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz, one of the most important of all Alchemical texts.

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Page 31 he Chymical Wedding of machinery, but also found some of its Christian Rosenkreuz, a book ferment in the alembics of gold­makers Tthat is considered to be the third and extractors of the quintessence.”1 In the Rosicrucian manifesto, made its appearance seventeenth century alchemy broadened in 1616. It was printed in Strasbourg by its perspectives. It claimed to be a unifying Lazarus Zetzner, the publisher of Theatrum science that included medical applications chemicum and numerous other alchemical and developed a more spiritual dimension. treatises. This work differs considerably from It also sought to become part of the the first two manifestos [Fama Fraternitatis thinking on the history of Creation, of and Confessio Fraternitatis]. First of the tragic cosmogony which brought all, although it was likewise published about not only the fall of humanity, but nature as well. Thus, the alchemist was not anonymously, it is known that Johann only a physician who helped humanity to Valentin Andreae was the author. Secondly, regenerate itself so as to be reborn to its it is unusual in form in that it is presented as spiritual condition, but the alchemist was an alchemical novel and as an autobiography also nature’s physician. As St. Paul pointed of Christian Rosenkreuz. out, Creation is in exile and suffering, and Despite the important development it is awaiting its liberation by humanity.2 of science during this period, alchemy Gerhard Dorn, a follower of Paracelsus, remained a potent force. It contributed was an individual who was typical of by enriching the thoughts of researchers, this evolution.3 And it was in this set of Rosicrucian prompting Frank Greiner to state: “The circumstances, so rich in published works, Digest invention of the modern world did not that the Chymical Wedding of Christian No. 1 2013 arise essentially from the triumph of Rosenkreuz took its place. Page 32 Johann Valentin Andreae enthusiastic follower of this science. Young The author of this manifesto, Johann Johann Valentin followed in his father’s Valentin Andreae (1586-1654), came footsteps in theological studies. He was from an illustrious family of theologians. a friend of the theologian Johann Arndt, His grandfather, Jakob Andreae, was one who considered him to be his spiritual son of the authors of the Formula of Concord, and greatly influenced the youth. Arndt an important document in the history of was part of the tradition of Valentin Wei- Lutheranism. In recognition gel, a tradition which tried to of his meritorious services, achieve a synthesis between the Count Palatine Otto Rheno-Flemish mysticism, Heinrich granted him a coat Renaissance Hermeticism, of arms. Jakob’s design incor- and Paracelsian alchemy. Jo- porated the cross of St. An- hann Valentin was also the drew, in reference to his fam- friend of Tobias Hess, a theo- ily name, with four roses, in logian who pursued Paracel- deference to Martin Luther, sian medicine and naometry. whose armorial bearings de- Devoting himself to this sci- picted a rose. The emblem of Luther may ence of “measuring the temple” while at be described thus: in the center is a black Tubingen, young Andreae assisted his cross, bringing to mind mortification and teacher and protector, the theologian Mat- recalling that faith in the crucified Christ thias Hafenreffer, by drawing the illustra- leads to redemption. This cross reposes in tions for a study on the Temple of Ezekiel. the center of a red heart, the symbol of life. The youthful scholar was likewise in- The latter is placed on trigued by the medi- a white rose, the sign ating role of symbols of joy and peace. The in the spiritual experi- whole is surrounded ence. In this regard he by a golden ring sym- shared the preoccupa- bolizing eternal life. tions of his teacher It is possible that this Johann Arndt, who emblem was inspired was noted for his by the writings of St. mysticism and who Bernard of Clairvaux, was considered to be which were deeply one of the precursors appreciated by Lu- of pietism. ther. Indeed, in his The author of the sermons on the Song Chymical Wedding of Songs, St. Bernard considered the theater often used the image to be a worthwhile of the cross united means for inducing with a flower when his contemporaries describing the mar- to ponder serious riage of the soul with God. matters, and some of his works were in- From childhood, Johann Valentin fluenced by thecommedia dell’arte. This is Andreae was brought up surrounded by true in the case of Turbo, a play in which alchemy. His father, a pastor in Tubingen Harlequin made his first appearance on [Germany], owned a laboratory, and his the German stage. This play, published in cousin, Christophe Welling, was also an the same year as the Chymical Wedding, Page 33 makes reference to alchemy. This impor- written, Andreae proposed the creation tant work would later serve as the model of a Societas Christiana, a group which, for Goethe’s Faust. However, although in some respects, resembled the project the author’s learning in the Hermetic art formulated in the manifestos. Throughout is readily apparent,4 his view of alchemists his life, he was constantly creating societies is also ironic. Generally speaking, wheth- of learning, such as the Tubingen Circle, er in theology or science, what interested or organizations of a social character, such Andreae was useful knowledge and not as the Foundation of Dyers, which is still vain speculation. For instance, he and his in existence today. friend John Amos Comenius helped to re- vive pedagogy in the seventeenth century. The Story In 1614, he was named suffragen pastor The third Rosicrucian manifesto differs of Vaihingen. Later he became the super- considerably from the two preceding intendent in Calw, and then the preacher ones. Briefly, here is the story. Christian and counselor at the consistory of Stutt- Rosenkreuz, an elderly man who is eighty- gart. After having held various offices, he one years old, describes his adventures ended his career as the abbot of Adelberg, 5 over a seven-day period in 1459. After a town where he died in 1654. being summoned to a royal wedding by Johann Valentin Andreae left an 6 a winged messenger, Christian leaves his impressive body of work. It was in 1602- retreat, situated on a mountain slope. After 1603, when he was not yet seventeen years various incidents, he arrives at the summit old, that he made his first attempts as an of a high mountain, and then passes author. He wrote two comedies about through a succession of three gates. Once Esther and Hyacinth, as well as the first within, he and the other people who have version of the Chymical Wedding. The been invited are put to a test in which they protagonist of this novel already went are weighed on scales. If they are judged by the name of Christian Rosenkreuz – virtuous enough, they are allowed to although this name may only have been attend the wedding. The select few receive added at its publication in 1616. As the a Golden Fleece7 and are presented to the manuscript for the first version of this royal family. text has disappeared, it is difficult for us to know. However, what we can say for After being brought before the royal certain is that the symbols of the rose and family, Christian Rosenkreuz describes the cross rarely crop up in the novel. We also presentation of a play. This is followed by know that Andreae revamped the text for a banquet, after which the royal family is the 1616 edition. It is intriguing to note decapitated. The coffins containing the that the Chymical Wedding was issued in corpses are loaded onto seven ships bound the same year and by the same publisher for a distant island. Arriving at their as Theca gladii spiritus (The Sheath of the destination, they are placed in the Tower Glory of the Spirit). This book repeated of Olympus, a curious seven-story edifice. twenty-eight passages from the Confessio For the remainder of the narrative we Fraternitatis. However, the name of witness the strange ascent of the guests Christian Cosmoxene was substituted for through the seven stories of the tower. that of Christian Rosenkreuz, and the At each level, under the direction of a author did not seem to adhere to all the maiden and an old man, they participate Rosicrucian concepts presented in the first Rosicrucian in alchemical operations. They carry out a Digest No. 1 texts. It is worth recalling that in the distillation of the royal skins from which 2013 year in which the Fama Fraternitatis was a liquid is obtained that is afterwards Page 34 transformed into a white egg. From this a of the Baroque in the seventeenth bird is hatched that is fattened before being century. The taste for the marvelous and decapitated and reduced to ashes. From the the primacy of ornamentation are quite residue, the guests fabricate two human- apparent.8 The castle where the wedding shaped figurines. These homunculi are fed takes place is sumptuous, and its gardens until they become the size of adults. A final reflect the era’s interest in parks adorned operation communicates to them the spark with fountains and automatons.9 They of life. The two homunculi are none other serve to embellish many scenes in the story than the king and the queen who have – most memorably that of the judgment been restored to life. Shortly afterwards, in which the guests, one by one, put they welcome their guests into the Order themselves in a balance that weighs their of the Golden Stone, and all return to the virtue. The author also has us witness castle. However, Christian Rosenkreuz, strange processions of veiled maidens who at the time of his first day in the castle, are barely perturbed by the arrows shot by committed the indiscretion of entering a rather undisciplined Cupid. Moreover, the mausoleum where the sleeping Venus we encounter such fabulous animals as reposes. His inquisitiveness condemns him unicorns, lions, griffins, and the phoenix. to become the guardian The costumes of of the castle. The the various characters sentence does not seem are luxurious, and dur- to be executed, because ing the narrative some the narrative suddenly of them change from ends with the return of black to white and to Christian Rosenkreuz red, according to the to his cottage. The stage of alchemical author leaves us to transmutation in prog- understand that the ress. Various feasts and hermit, who is eighty- banquets, served by one years old, does invisible valets, punc- not have many more tuate the narrative. years to live. This last Music, often played by statement seems to contradict the Fama invisible musicians, accompanies the nar- Ftaternitatis, which claimed that Christian ration. Trumpets and kettledrums mark Rosenkreuz lived to the venerable age the changes in scenery or the entrance of of 106. Moreover, other aspects of the characters. The text is sprinkled with po- narrative depict a Christian Rosenkreuz ems, and the general plot is interrupted who is quite at odds with the one presented by a play. Nor is humor absent from this in the earlier manifestos. alchemical treatise. It manifests at often unexpected moments, as for example in A Baroque Opera the episode of the judgment (third day), As Bernard Gorceix has remarked, which gives rise to several broad jokes. At Andreae’s work bears the imprint of the moment when the transmutation is seventeenth century culture, that of the virtually achieved (sixth day), the director Baroque, where allegory, fable, and symbol of the operations tricks the guests into be- occupy a preeminent place. According lieving that they are not going to be in- to Gorceix, this novel is a significant vited to the final phase of the work. After historical and literary work. It is, in fact, seeing the effects of the joke, its perpetra- one of the best examples of the emergence tor laughs so hard that “his belly was ready Page 35 to burst.” The narrative involves hidden chemicum, published by Lazarus Zetzner inscriptions and a riddle in ciphers which in 1602.12 In this text, Dorn indicates that Leibniz tried to fathom. As can be seen, the purification carried out on matter by we are face to face with a literary work of the alchemist should also be accomplished great opulence, and in a style very differ- on people. His book presents three char- ent from that of the Fama Fraternitatis and acters who typify the different parts of hu- Confessio Fraternitatis. man beings: body, soul, and spirit. While Inner Alchemy at a crossroads, the three have a discussion regarding what route they should follow In 1617, the year following the so as to reach three castles situated on a publication of the Chymical Wedding, the mountain. The first of these castles is made alchemist Ratichius Brotoffer published of crystal, the second of silver, and the Elucidarius Major, a book in which he third of diamond. After several adventures tried to establish the correlations between and a purification at the Fountain of Love, the seven days of the Chymical Wedding and the stages of alchemical work. He acknowledged, however, that Andreae’s text is obscure. In more recent years, other authors, such as Richard Kienast (1926) or Will-Erich Peuchkert (1928), did their best to decipher the mysteries of this text. More recently, Bernard Gorceix, Serge Hutin, and Roland Edighoffer in particular analyzed this work judiciously.10 The text of the Chymical Wedding barely resembles the works of the alchemical corpus. It is not at all a technical treatise, and its object is not to describe the operations in a laboratory. And we should note in passing that the story does not involve developing the Philosopher’s Stone, but of producing a couple of homunculi. In regards to the seven days described in the tale, it is essentially at the beginning of the fourth day that alchemical symbology occupies center stage. these characters attain the seven stages Paul Arnold tried to show that the which mark the process of the inner regen- Chymical Wedding was simply an adapta- eration of being. There is a striking resem- tion of Canto X of The Faerie Queene by blance between the basic plot of this story Edmund Spenser (1594), which describes and that of the Chymical Wedding. the Red Cross Knight. Yet his argument is hardly convincing. For his part, Roland The Spiritual Wedding Edighoffer showed that Andreae’s story In the epigraph to his book, Andreae bears a striking resemblance to Clavis totius indicates that “the mysteries are demeaned philosophiae chimisticae,” 11 a work by Ger- when revealed and lose their power when Rosicrucian hard Dorn, a follower of Paracelsus. This profaned.” Indeed, the initiatic mysteries Digest book was published in 1567, and then lose their virtue when they merely pass No. 1 included in the first volume of Theatrum through the filter of the intellect. Under 2013 Page 36 these circumstances, how can we analyze Rosenkreuz is a key element in his thinking. the work that interests us here without Contrary to what the title suggests, stripping it of its virtues? We do not make Andreae’s narrative does not speak of a the claim that we can reveal all of the wedding. The marriage ceremony is not arcana, but we feel that three important described in the novel, but rather its action themes presented in Andreae’s initiatic revolves around the resurrection of a king novel need to be emphasized: the wedding, and a queen. As with St. Bernard and the the mountain of revelation, and the seven mystics of previous eras, it is the wedding stages of the work. of being, understood as a regeneration that The sacred wedding, the hierogamy, Andreae refers to in his book. occupies an important place in the ancient The Castle of the Soul mysteries. In Christianity, with St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), this subject was The wedding location is on a mountain. elaborated upon in his commentaries on In traditional symbology, this place, the the Song of Songs. In his treatise On the point where the earth and sky touch, is Love of God, he described the journey the abode of the deities and of revelation. of the soul towards the higher spheres, As has been so well demonstrated by with the final stage being that of the Marie-Madeleine Davy in La Montagne spiritual marriage. This symbolic system et sa symbolique (The Mountain and its was developed in greater detail by the Symbolism),13 when a person determines Rheno-Flemish mystics, notably with the to climb the mountain, he or she sets out Beguines and Jan van Ruysbroeck, author on the quest for self and embarks on the of The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage ascent toward the absolute. The invitation (1335). Among numerous other authors, brought to Christian Rosenkreuz indicates such as Valentin Weigel, the theme of the that he must reach the summit of a spiritual marriage is associated with that mountain crowned by three temples. of regeneration and rebirth. Among the However, in the following episode of the latter, alchemical symbolism is added to narrative, castles are mentioned instead. that of Christianity. Christian Rosenkreuz passes through The royal wedding generally occupies two portals and arrives at the castle where an important place in alchemy, and preparations for the great transmutation psychologist Carl Jung showed that it was are taking place. Then, it is in a third place, particularly well suited for describing the in a tower situated on an island, that the phases of the process of individuation. Great Work is accomplished. We find here The wedding of the king and the queen the theme of the castle of the soul spoken represent the union of the two polarities of by Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) and of being, the animus and the anima, Theresa of Avila (1515-1582). For them, leading to the discovery of Self. Jung the quest of the soul is often presented as set forth his research in many books, of the conquest of a castle. Alchemical texts which the most representative is Psychology combine the two elements in describing and Alchemy (1944). However, it was in a castle on a mountain. We previously Mysterium Coniunctidnis, An Inquiry into observed that Gerhard Dorn spoke of the Separation and Synthesis of Psychic three castles on a high mountain. Whether Opposites in Alchemy (1955-56), that mountain, castle, temple, or tower, all of Jung’s investigations are thought to have these symbolic elements in our narrative reached their greatest development. In this are meant to conjure up the notion of a work, the Chymical Wedding of Christian journey and an ascent. Page 37 world. This vision greatly influenced the Essenes and was the source of all apocalyptic literature.14 We are reminded of the importance of the vision of Ezekiel’s temple in Simon Studion’s Naometria, and, as previously mentioned, we know that Andreae also had the opportunity to work on this subject with Matthias Hafenreffer (see above, “Johann Valentin Andreae”). Moreover, as Roland Edighoffer has shown, the Chymical Wedding includes many eschatological aspects. It is surprising to note that we will soon encounter this idea of an eschatological temple with Robert Fludd. For him, the mountain on which the temple is erected is none other than that of initiation.

The Seven Stages

In the Chymical Wedding, the number seven plays a fundamental role. The action unfolds over seven days; seven virgins, seven weights, seven ships are described; and the final transmutation takes place in an athanor which sits enthroned in a seven-story tower. Although this may not Yet the temple or castle situated on a always be the case, alchemists generally high mountain also has an eschatological divide the process of the elaboration of the aspect by recalling the temple to come Great Work into seven phases. Gerhard which Ezekiel spoke of in his visions. Dorn talks about the seven degrees of the After the destruction of the temple and work. Here we encounter a fundamental the city of Jerusalem, the Jews were theme which is far from being unique to deported to Babylon, and it is then that alchemy. As Professor Ioan P. Couliano Ezekiel prophesied the vision of the future has shown, the theory which states that temple. He drew a parallel between the the process of the elevation of the soul exile of the Jews and the expulsion of encompasses seven stages is found in humanity from Paradise. This destruction numerous traditions.15 His researches of the temple brought about the retreat of indicate that according to a Greek tradition God from Creation, God then becoming also found in Dante, Marsilio Ficino, the only “place” where humans could and Pico della Mirandola, these ascents worship. However, Ezekiel announced the toward ecstasy are accomplished through establishment of a new temple, a third, the seven planetary spheres. Couliano also which would coincide with the restoration noted another form of ascent following a of Creation. The prophet described this as tradition dating back to Babylonia, and Rosicrucian being situated on a “high mountain,” and which later passed into Jewish and Judeo- Digest he declared that the archetype of this temple Christian apocalyptic literature, as well as No. 1 2013 existed previously in the super­terrestrial Islam. Without making reference to the Page 38 planets, it also speaks of seven stages to 5th Day, The Sea Voyage: spiritual ecstasy. The mausoleum of Venus − The false This element is also found in interment of the royal personages − The Hermeticism. ThePoemandres , the first sea voyage − The arrival on the island − treatise of the Corpus Hermeticum, after The seven-story tower − The laboratory. having touched upon the cosmogony and 6th Day, The Seven Phases of Resurrection: the fall of humanity, speaks of the seven stages of the soul’s ascent through the The drawing of lots − The ceremony framework of the spheres. It describes around the fountain and cauldron − The the seven zones that the soul, after the suspended globe − The white egg − The dissolution of the material body, must pass birth of the bird − The decapitation and through so as to purge the self of its defects incineration of the bird − The circular and illusion before ascending toward the furnace − The fabrication of two figurines Father.16 It is interesting to note that the from ashes − The spark of life − The tenth treatise, which provides a summary awakening of the royal couple. of the Hermetic teachings, reconsiders the 7th Day, The Return of Christian ascent toward the Divine by defining it Rosenkreuz: as the “ascent toward Olympus.” Is it not The Knights of the Golden Stone striking that, in the Chymical Wedding, the − The return by ship − The punishment tower where the seven alchemical phases inflicted on Christian Rosenkreuz − His are accomplished is appropriately called return home after his pardon. the Tower of Olympus? This septenary concept is also found The Seven Days of the Wedding in the Christian tradition, notably with St. Bernard, who was highly admired by 1st Day, Preparation for the Departure: Andreae. The dream recounted on the first The heavenly invitation − The prisoners day of the Chymical Wedding derives its of the tower −The departure of Christian theme from St. Bernard’s sermon for the Rosenkreuz for the wedding. fifth Sunday after Pentecost. In this dream, Christian Rosenkreuz is locked away in a 2nd Day, Journey to the Castle: tower in the company of other people. The crossroads of the four paths − The Moreover, the tools which the wedding arrival at the castle and the passage through guests receive for going from one floor to the three gates − The banquet at the castle another in the Tower of Olympus (sixth − The dream. day)—a rope, ladder, or wings ­are taken 3rd Day, The Judgment: from the symbology of St. Bernard. The judgment of the unworthy guests We find reference to the seven stages − The bestowal of the Golden Fleece on the of the inner life among two individuals chosen − The execution of judgment − The praised by Andreae. The first, Stephan visit to the castle –The weighing ceremony. Praetorius, the pastor of Salzwedel, speaks of “justificatio, santificatio, contemplatio, -ap 4th Day, The Blood Wedding: plicatio, devotio, continentia, beneficienta.” The fountain of Hermes − The bestowal The second person is Philip Nicolai (1556- of a second Golden Fleece − Presentation 1608), a pioneer of the “new piety,” who, to the six royal personages − The theatrical when speaking of the mystic wedding, de- presentation − The execution of the royal scribes the seven phases which mark the family − The departure of the coffins on regeneration of the soul (The Mirror of the seven ships. Joys of Eternal Life, 1599). Page 39 Knight of the Golden Stone ENDNOTES 1. Aspects de la tradition alchimique au XVIIe siecle, acts At the end of the seventh day of the of the international conference of the university of Chymical Wedding, Christian Rosenkreuz Reims-Champagne-Ardennes on 28-29 November is dubbed “Knight of the Golden Stone.” 1996, under the direction of Frank Greiner, Chryso- poeia (Paris: Arch 1998) p. 11. This title gives him mastery over ignorance, 2. Romans 8:19-22. poverty, and illness. Each knight takes 3. Bernard Gorceix, Alchimie (Paris: Fayard, 1980). 4. We find here numerous references to Lexicon Al- an oath in promising to dedicate the chemiae by Martin Rulland (1612). English edition: Order to God and his servant, Nature. A Lexicon of Alchemy, by Martin Ruland the Elder. A. In effect, as Johann Valentin Andreae E. Waite, translator (London: J. M. Watkins, 1964). 5. Roland Edighoffer,Rose-Croix et societe ideale selson indicates, “Art serves Nature” and the Johann Valentin Andreae, vols. I and II (Paris: Arma alchemist participates as much to his own Artis, 1982 and 1987). restoration as that of nature. In a register, 6. Edighoffer, Rose-Croix et societe ideale. . ., ibid., vol II., brings together his entire bibliography: books, Christian Rosenkreuz inscribed these translations, editions, correspondence, and manu- words: “The highest knowledge is that we scripts, pp. 761-781. know nothing.” This phrase refers to the 7. The Golden Fleece is a symbol which designated the Great Work. A fascinating work regarding this “learned ignorance” preached by Nicholas subject was written by Antoine Faivre, Toison d’or et of Cusa (1404-1464). The latter, part of Alchimie (Paris: Arche 1990). English edition: The a tradition including Proclus, Dionysius Golden Fleece and Alchemy (Albany NY: State Uni- versity of New York Press, 1993). the Areopagite, and Eckhart, opposed 8. Bernard Gorceix, La Bible des Rose-Croix, introduc- rationalistic logic. “Learned ignorance” tion (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1970) does not consist of, as often thought, the pp. XXXVIII. 9. Regarding this subject, see the work of Salomon de rejection of knowledge, but the recognition Caus, Hortus Palatinus (1620) and in particular the that the world, being infinite, cannot be the reissue of Le Jardin Palatin (Paris: Éd. du Moniteur, object of complete knowledge. Nicholas of 1990), with a postscript by Michel Conan which places S. de Caus in the Rosicrucian movement of Cusa advocated a gnosis, an illuminating Heidelberg. knowledge, one capable of surpassing the 10. We will not mention here the rather fanciful com- mentaries of numerous other authors. world of appearances by understanding 11. Roland Edighoffer,Les Rose-Croix et la crise de the coincidence of opposites. conscience europeenne au XVIIe siecle (Paris: Dervy, 1999) pp. 282-302. In conclusion, the Chymical Wedding 12. See Marie-Louise von Franz, who, in Alchimie et ima- of Christian Rosenkreuz is an initiatic gination active (La Fontaine de Pierre, 1978) provi- narrative, that of a person’s quest on the des numerous excerpts of this text. English edition: Alchemical Active Imagination. Rev. ed. (Boston way to the marriage with one’s soul. This Shambhala, 1997). ascent of the soul is part of a process 13. Paris: Albin Michel, 1996. encompassing both humanity and nature. 14. This idea was developed by Shozo Fujita,The Temple Theology of the Qumran Sect and the Book of Ezekiel: When reading the book, we are struck by Their Relationship to Jewish Literature of the Last Two the richness of the language which testifies Centuries B.C. (Ann Arbor: UMI, Bell & Howell, to the erudition of its author. Indeed, it 1970). (Princeton Thesis, 1970). Henry Cordin summarized it in a chapter of his book Temple et would take an entire volume to point out all Contemplation (Paris: Flammarion, 1980) pp. 307- of the references to mythology, literature, 422. English edition: Temple and Contemplation. theology, and esotericism. We have only Philip Sherrard and Liadain Sherrard, translators (London: KPI in association with Islamic Publica- made a brief sketch here of this marvelous tions, 1986). story. Rather than explain its various 15. See his book (Experience de l’extase (Paris: Payot, 1984), with a preface by Mircea Eliade. meanings, our primary aim has been to 16. See Hermes Trismegiste, I, Poimandres (Paris: Belles motivate you to read or reread this work Lettres, 1991) pp. 15-16. English edition: Her- Rosicrucian that is fundamental to the Rosicrucian metica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Digest Ascelpius in a new English translation, with notes and No. 1 tradition and occupies a prominent place introduction by Brian P. Copenhaver (Cambridge: 2013 in the history of European literature. Cambridge University Press, 1995). Page 40 Michael Maier’s Maria Prophetissa Peter Bindon, FRC Peter Bindon is a professional anthropologist and botanist. He has served on the Editorial Board of the Rose+Croix Journal (www.rosecroixjournal.org) for many years and is a frequent contributor to the Rosicrucian Digest. He was a presenter at the “Hidden in Plain Sight” Esoteric conference held at Rosicrucian Park, where he presented a paper on “Ancient Alchemical Diagrams: Are they Mirrors of the Human Soul for the Modern World?” He recently retired as Grand Master of the English Grand Lodge for Australia, Asia, and New Zealand after many years of service in that position. In this article Frater Bindon introduces us to Maria Prophetissa and the symbolism of this image from the frontispiece of Michael Maier’s Symbola Aurae Mensae, published in 1617.

ome modern writers who comment on content with acquiring an understanding ancient alchemical texts have divided of their place within creation. This is still Sthe existing works into two groups. the case today. There are those seeking to On one side, they place the books written by understand the complexity of living in a the symbolical alchemists who were natural material world while continuing to advance philosophers interested in and moved by the their spiritual and mystical growth. They see wonders of the natural world. In the other sufficiency and contentment as their primary group are placed the works of the delightfully goals. Others see prosperity and satisfaction named “puffers” who labored without success solely in terms of material wealth alone. This to turn base metals into gold. The latter interpretation has the same deficiency as that group was interested only in the acquisition used to categorize the alchemists of former of material wealth, while the former were times, for there are many groups between the

Page 41 two extremes. It is too simplistic to divide all ancients the inspiration to equate this the possibilities within the human condition feature with the furnace in which was into only two categories, just as it is almost confined the energy required to complete impossible to classify accurately all the varied the alchemical process of transformation. approaches made to alchemical practices The summit of the mountain is the location that have occurred throughout history. Is of the Philosopher’s Stone. On the Cosmic this why it is so difficult to make sense of Mountain, the seed has sprung into life alchemical writings, which should be the and produced five flowers, symbolic of foundation of what we now call chemistry, the renewal of life in the appropriate which after all, is a very precise science? The season of the year. We will examine the answer lies in the complexity of the subject. flower itself later in this article when we For each element depicted in alchemical extend the allegory of these symbols. For mandalas and mentioned in formulas, there the moment, let us consider why there are numerous pictorial synonyms. Making are five flowers. Five is the number of a list of these is relatively elementary, but humanity, and this diagram symbolizes an then the inquisitive searcher discovers that activity of renewal recommended by the each symbol has not just one, but numerous original author. Why is five the number of meanings. The problem becomes one of humanity? You will understand why if you attaching the appropriate meaning to each can recall a remarkable sketch by Leonardo symbol on our list. Classifying the way in da Vinci in which a human figure is which individuals interpret symbols has inscribed inside a circle that is touched always been difficult, as those of you who in five places by the head, the hands, and have read the works of Carl Jung and Joseph the feet. The five digits of the hands and Campbell will have found. Happily, each feet emphasize this symbolic attribution of alchemist of former times generally chose the number five, as do the five senses. The to use just one or two of the combinations five-­petaled rose placed in the center of the of symbol and meaning, making our task four­-armed cross was for the Hermeticists, of classifying them and unraveling their the symbol of quintessence, something symbolism somewhat easier. Nevertheless that was above the four primal elements there are numerous interpretations that on the arms of the cross. For some mystical can be made of alchemical diagrams. philosophers, the number five had a sinister or even evil meaning, although Maria Prophetissa, is also known as this interpretation is not necessarily that of the sister of Moses, and by other names, the alchemists. This notion has generally but is better understood by Rosicrucians derived from a Kabbalistic interpretation, as the Maria of the Gnostic tradition. which can be shown to relate to the five She is reputed to have written a treatise days of emptiness needed by the ancient titled Practica Mariae Prophetessae in Egyptians to synchronize their year of 360 artem alchemicam although this work days with the solar year of closer to 365 may actually have an Arabic origin. It days. Rosicrucian interpretations of this was consulted by a number of alchemists illustration see the two urns as symbolic including Michael Maier. The illustration of air and earth respectively, two of the formed the frontispiece of his Symbola primal elements in which all that is created Aurae Mensae, published in 1617. In the has its origins. As the two elements mingle illustration, Maria points towards the and unite, illustrating the principle of “as Rosicrucian seedling that has fallen on the top of the above, so below,” Maria intones one of the Digest No. 1 Cosmic Mountain. The effort required alchemical principles regarding unity and 2013 to ascend the mountain perhaps gave the duality: “One becomes two, two becomes Page 42 three, and out of the third comes the shape. In some illustrations of this process, One that is the fourth.” In the magical- the rose that is produced has an outer row religious terms of alchemy, this saying of red petals and an inner row of white can be interpreted in a number of ways ones, but in this case, the white aspect reiterating Biblical creation. is symbolized by the vapors that stream I will leave this interpretation up to out of each urn towards its opposite. The each individual reader to produce simply red rose was the alchemical symbol of observing that in the Rosicrucian systems of successful completion of the “great work” number symbolism, the even numbers are which ultimately produced the Stone of considered feminine and the odd numbers the Philosophers, and it is partly because masculine. In the arcane language of of this symbol of completion that the rose alchemy, there is another level of meaning that adorns the Rosicrucian trifoliate cross that we will now pursue. Maria Prophetissa is red and not some other symbolic color. is concerned with the combination of two What can we conclude from this array aspects of the one special substance. She of symbols that could be useful to our says: “Take gum from Spain, white gum Rosicrucian practice? The whole of the and red gum, and join them in true right hand side of the illustration thus marriage, gum with gum.” What can this revolves around symbols relating to the mean? There is a hint to how we might red cloaked man and the woman veiled in interpret her words in the colors of the white. substance she mentions. These refer to Symbolically, the red rose of completion the alchemical White Queen and Red can only be achieved when the white veil King. In addition, the alchemical symbol is drawn aside. The two urns, representing for gum is a strange combination of two the vases of Hermes, have completed small letters formed like the modern letter their task of containing the necessary “g” in our alphabet, written side-by-side elements of creation. These represent the and joined by a small cross from which dual nature contained within each of us. is suspended a tiny triangle. This symbol Once parted, because the sublimation of emphasizes the alchemical process that we the contents is complete, they reveal the must become involved with if we are going penultimate stage of the transformative to decode the illustration. The allegorical process. Maria, personifying the wisdom meaning hidden in the drawing is further of times past, points to what is now reinforced by the shape formed by the evident, that in each human, regardless clouds of vapor emerging from the two of their gender, there exists an aspect of vases. This can be interpreted as the union the opposite. These two must be brought of the two equilateral triangles, one with into harmonious balance when they can its apex pointing heavenwards, the other then complement each other forming a apex pointing towards Earth. The upper complete and harmonious whole. Once in triangle represents fire, the masculine this state, each individual can accomplish active element, while the lower one refers to all that they desire. Achieving this blissful water, the feminine and nurturing aspect. state is symbolic of having the Stone of the When the alchemist is able to achieve the Philosophers in one’s grasp. This was the correct conjunction of these two primal aim of the symbolical alchemists of times elements, they give rise to the color red, past and it is the aim of Rosicrucians today. symbolized by the alchemical rose, which is revealed to us as the two streams of white vapor part in their double triangular

Page 43 Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens Peter Bindon, FRC In this article, Peter Bindon presents some of the fascinating symbolism and history behind Emblem 21 in Michael Maier’s intriguing work, Atalanta Fugiens.

n the second volume of De Alchimia opuscula complura veterum Iphilosophorum, published in Frankfurt in 1550, an unknown Philosopher says: “Make a round circle of the man and woman, and draw out of it a quadrangle, and out of the quadrangle a triangle, make a round circle and thou shalt have the Stone of the Philosophers.” Our illustration demonstrates this statement, but appears as Emblem 21 in Michael Maier’s 1618 publication Atalanta Fugiens, in English “Atalanta Fleeing.” This title refers to the well-known­ Greek myth, but the myth is poorly integrated with the alchemical iconography so we will ignore the myth itself and concentrate on the illustration and accompanying text that try to interpret some of the many layers of apparently refers directly to the formula meaning in this alchemical illustration. given about seventy years previously in Maier lived between 1568 and 1622, De Alchemia… (known more familiarly as but published most of his work in the last Rosarium Philosophorum or The Rosary of the decade of his life. He had been a physi- Philosophers). Although it is illustrated with cian and private secretary to the Emperor twenty fascinating woodcuts of alchemical Rudolph II and probably assisted him in and Rosicrucian interest, it does not depict collecting items for his museum, one of the theme of our symbol. Michael Maier’s the first known. Maier had visited England Atalanta Fugiens text accompanying this and it is likely that he was some kind of illustration repeats the quotation from roving ambassador or perhaps a spy for his Rosarium Philosophorum, and then presents master in Prague. His publications cover a a slightly elaborated version set to music. wide range of subjects and indicate that he Maier thus provides us with a meditation had read many earlier books on alchemy in verse and melody that may be used as and other subjects. an inspiration for further contemplation. Adam McLean, a contemporary Recently published multi-media versions commentator on alchemy and on the of “Atalanta Fugiens” supply recordings Rosarium Philosophorum, points out that Rosicrucian of the music for anyone interested. Let there are several useful ways in which Digest us however examine the engraving that modern readers can explore alchemy. No. 1 accompanies Maier’s fugue twenty-one and Two of these are especially relevant to 2013 Page 44 Rosicrucian students. First, alchemy can be of separation dividing off the worldly seen as a way of grouping together potent realms from those of the spirit. An obvious archetypal symbols that students may use example of this symbol is found in the walls as a launching pad from which to begin that surround temples, in the fortress-like meditative inner journeys. Second, it may walls of medieval churches and the like. If be regarded as an early attempt to record not well maintained, cracks appear in this in words and pictures a type of mysticism wall, which will ultimately collapse and in which alchemical transformation is permit a torrent of diabolical influences to an allegory for mystical experiences, enter. Our Philosopher works on the inner and perhaps of religious ideas. I plan to surface of the spiritual wall indicated by discuss the illustration using a combination of these two viewpoints. There is no doubt that constantly in alchemical writings we meet images of transformation in which ele- ments, liquids, and people are changed from a lesser to a sup- posedly greater form. What is not always obvious is that the process of transforma- tion is a metaphor for a jour- ney towards Godhead that is made by those who practice alchemical systems of knowl- edge. Despite the known ca- pacity for such major change to occur on a spiritual level, anyone who other buildings in the background. As his attempts the chemical experiments sug- wall is in disrepair, we understand that the gested in alchemical texts must have their spiritual tablet on which he works remains level of human arrogance reduced. Fol- imperfect. Open as it is to the heavens lowing the literal explanations of alchemy however, Cosmic influences may yet inevitably leads to continual failure and descend to effect repairs. By this symbol one will never transmute humble elements we become aware that there is potential into noble gold. We must look beneath the for success in our esoteric exercise unlike surface of alchemical writings for their real the failure that accompanies a literal meanings. perspective on the task ahead. In our illustration, the Philosopher, To reinforce this idea, Maier includes emblematic of the reader, is busily scribing a symbol of the union of opposites on the the final circle around his design, which is manuscript lying on the ground behind set out upon a wall, and one in poor repair. the feet of the Philosopher. In a faint circle Let us assume that this is a suggestion we see two interlinked triangles forming that we may find some explanation of a hexagram. These may be symbolic of the this illustration in the language of the alchemical conjunction of male and female craft of those who build walls. The wall that we will discuss later, but in the context should perhaps be interpreted as a symbol of Neoplatonic ideas that influenced Maier,

Page 45 they are symbolic of the descent of the creative genius of the Cosmic. Maier’s creative force of the Cosmic that formed words accompanying the illustration the universe and the upward ascension of describe this quest in the language of the creature towards the eternal. alchemy and in other writings he explains The combination of the two triangles the process in the following way. The thus emphasizes the twofold process alchemical squaring of the circle consists in of ascending and descending that will adding a cross, (lying at the Philosopher’s culminate in our linking with Cosmic feet), to a microcosmic sphere which is Consciousness. then converted into a square (the four In the Western Esoteric Tradition, the elements), then into a triangle (body, spirit compasses held by the Philosopher are and soul). The triangle finally transforms used to measure and compare distances. into the great sphere of the macrocosmic, They are usually emblematic of geometry called the Philosopher’s Stone. and provide a visual link with Pythagorean For the alchemists there was nothing mathematics. We also use compasses to strange about the squaring of the circle. construct a perfect circle, and thus they They used the square derived from the are regarded as symbols circle to demonstrate that of exactness and indicate every simple body con- the necessity for adhering tained the four elements. to the strict rules required How can this be? Imag- in achieving one’s goal. ine the rose at the inter- The large outer circle with section of the arms of a its center is an allegory of Rose Cross growing out- the whole, circumscribing ward until the outer circle every part of creation. of petals reaches the ends Traditionally the center of the arms. Use the arms of the circle is an allegory of the cross to divide the for the nature of God or circle evenly into four seg- as Rosicrucians say, of the ments. A builder’s square, Cosmic. In these symbols forming one fourth of a we are presented with the circle, lies at the base of goal of our alchemical journey which is the wall hinting that our interpretations finding unity with the Cosmic. seem correct. Now separate the circular Within the outer circle of our rose into its four segments and rearrange illustration lies a smaller circle containing these to form a square that surrounds a drawings of a male and a female figure, circle (formed by the edge of the quartered unmistakable and potent symbols for rose). Collecting the four segments and the union of opposites. We are reminded stacking each segment one on the other of Adam and Eve, the primal couple of combines the four elements into a more or Creation to whom the biblical authors less triangular shape, which now represents attributed the commencement of the the four elements making up the human human race. Let us imagine that these body. By the transformation of the square two figures amalgamate, the two forms into this triangle the alchemists taught that interpenetrating one another until they one should bring forth spirit, body, and form just one existence. Through their soul, which appear briefly in their symbol- Rosicrucian union, humanity manifests and begins ic colors before re-combining into a glow- Digest No. 1 the alchemical journey that will result in ing red sphere (the rose). The body (earth) 2013 the reunification of individuals with the is assigned the black color of Saturn, to the Page 46 spirit (water) is given the whiteness of the two other illuminating artworks. Leonardo moon, and to the soul (air) the pale yellow da Vinci (1452-1519) made an interesting of the Sun. As the triangle has now at- drawing of a male human figure circum- tained its highest perfection, it must in its scribed by a circle and enclosed in a square. turn change into a circle, colored red like While this is superficially interpreted as a the everlasting fire of the fourth element. study in proportions of the human figure, Becoming now spherical the final result other interpretations are possible. This is of the alchemist’s efforts, the “soul of the especially so as it is known that Leonar- substances,” is transmuted into the gold of do was familiar with occult writings in- the Philosopher’s Stone. cluding the strange mixture of Christian Using the segment of the circle or pro- ideals and pagan thought known as the tractor at the foot of the wall the philoso- Corpus Hermeticum of Marsilio Ficino pher has been checking the drawings on the (1433-1499). A related drawing by Wil- plans that lie behind him. The segment of liam Blake (1757-1827), “The Ancient of a circle is an early form of square, familiar Days Measuring Time” depicts him seated to builders, carpenters, bookbinders, and on the solar disk and stretching a vast pair many other craftspeople. Now philosophi- of compasses earthwards. In the sense used cally, the square is the equivalent of mat- by these two artists and by the Kabbalists, ter, while the compasses are symbols of the compasses have been interpreted as images spirit and of its power over matter. By op- of thought being capable of constructing erating with spiritual and material forces the many concentric circles of the theoreti- the Philosopher suggests that we need to cal world. Readers will be familiar with balance these two aspects of existence. the many Rosicrucian, Kabbalistic, and alchemical images of the world that make In this case, matter is symbolized by the use of this symbolism found in the publi- male figure and spirit, the Biblical breath cation Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of of God by the female figure. Throughout the 16th and 17th Centuries. the transformative operation that has been described, the woman returns into the man (reversing the Biblical imagery), the two individuals becoming a single entity. It is fascinating to realize that the alche- mists of the late Middle Ages understood the necessity for humans to reconcile the two aspects, male and female, contained in every individual. People who acknowledge that their personality is composed of attri- butes that can be seen as either feminine or masculine, and come to accept these characteristics are made more whole and balanced in their personality. Individuals who have battled with finding their real psychic identity find that they can achieve a new outlook on life after they accept the gifts wrapped in the guise of the opposite gender. You may wish to ponder further the imagery of our illustration in the light of Page 47 Robert Fludd’s Rose and Cross Peter Bindon, FRC In this article, Peter Bindon explores Robert Fludd’s Rose and Cross image from the work Summum Bonum (published in 1629), one of several texts that Fludd wrote in defense of the Rosicrucians.

here is some debate about the it was dangerous to one’s own health to connection between Robert Fludd claim to be anything other than a very or- Tand the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, thodox citizen! Robert Fludd’s Rose and as Rosicrucians were known 350 years ago. Cross first appeared as an illustration in However it is very clear from both his his Summum Bonum Part 4 published in writings and what others wrote about him 1629, another defense of the Rosicrucian that Fludd was greatly conversant with the Fraternity. The Latin inscription means: principles of Rosicrucians. His Rose and The Rose Gives Honey to Bees. This is a Cross image is full of symbolism relating to perfectly innocent observation, but why Rosicrucian thinking. would Fludd say something so obvious? It has been suggested that there is a lot more Fludd was born in 1574 and died in here than Fludd says. 1637. Although he lived and worked at medicine most of his time in England, he Let us examine some of the symbolism also traveled in Europe and most likely in this drawing. associated with like-minded individuals The language of the Rose has filled during his six years there. He became a whole books and is too extensive to be Bachelor and later a Doctor in Medicine at discussed here. We may observe however, Oxford University. However, he was con- that the rose is associated with love, sidered unorthodox because he consulted and this virtue is central to Rosicrucian each patient’s horoscope in diagnosis and symbolism. First, Love, along with Light he used what seemed like homeopathic and Life, occupies one of the points of the remedies. Fludd was what one today would Triangle of Manifestation mentioned in call a holistic healer. He maintained that Rosicrucian rituals. Second, we are advised the mind and the spirit of the patient must to “Love one another,” in the words that be healed first and any disease second. Christ used, so that our soul personality Fludd’s radical ideas about medicine and might unfold as do the petals of a rose cures caused him great difficulties in be- advancing to maturity. Third, the mystic coming accepted by the medical commu- rose representing the soul personality nity but eventually he was admitted as a unfolds on the cross of service in our most Fellow in the Royal College of Physicians. potent and easily recognized symbol, that His book, A Compendious Apology for the of the Rose Cross of those content to labor Fraternity of the Rosy Cross… published in at their personal growth. The rose stands 1617 shows that he was a most enthusi- in the garden of the soul. The bees of astic supporter of The Brotherhood of the course are symbolic of labor. Imagine the Rosy Cross but he never claimed that he combined effort of the individual insects Rosicrucian was a member of that group. Of course that is necessary to condense one liter of Digest No. 1 this is no surprise because at that time honey from the nectar of thousands of 2013 Page 48 which nourishes the soul. Again we recall that la- bor is required to make the gar- den productive. The wave-like aspect to the sur- face of the gar- den can simply be thought of as representing what we say even today are “the ups and downs of life.” We understand that every single Robert Fludd’s Rose and Cross. Dat Rosa Mel Apibus. Hand-painted mural in the Rosicrucian moment may not Cultural Center of New York City, Harlem, New York. Photo by Leo Adams, FRC. be experienced at the moment flowers. The labor of the alchemists and as something pleasurable, but despite the healers was no less intense. For us this adversities we encounter, the evolution of symbol indicates that progress in mystical our soul personality proceeds all the more development does not take place without rapidly because of the resolution and forti- considerable personal effort. The Light of tude we exhibit. Rosicrucianism carried by our Rosicrucian The spider is symbolic of the pitfalls Groups is likewise the combination that must be avoided in life. Just as of many tiny lights. This was another the web catches the unwary bee, so illustration related to the symbolism of the distraction, lack of focus, indolence, and bees in their hive. Bees are necessary in a other vices catch the imprudent gardener garden to ensure that the potential fertility of the soul. Robert Fludd has provided us of the plants is manifested in their fruits. with a number of linked symbols in this Unless the flowers receive the attention of illustration. He has artfully camouflaged some pollinating mechanism, they wither the fact that the rose itself is carried on a and die unfulfilled. Bees are the eternal cross. The arms of the cross are formed symbol of the natural progression of life, by stumpy branches, the likes of which even in our less than poetic language, are not seen on actual plants. To avoid any where reproduction is often coyly referred mistake in interpretation, Fludd’s cross to as an activity for “The Birds and Bees.” is intentionally remote from the cross The trellis and vines in Fludd’s illustra- of crucifixion adopted by the Christian tion remind us that we are in a garden. The church. We are thus not to confuse this “Wine of the Grape” has long been a sym- cross with one of religious symbolism. bol of the rich rewards that enterprise can Although there may be parallels between bring. In this instance it is also reminiscent the two kinds of crosses, Fludd’s brings of a transformative function, because many us directly to contemplate the idea of the separate processes are required to trans- cross of service on which unfolds the rose form the grape on the vine into the wine of the developing soul personality.

Page 49 Sir Isaac Newton - Mystic and Alchemist Staff of the Rosicrucian Research Library Many people are familiar with Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)—one of the most extraordi- nary scientists and mathematicians in the history of humanity. In this article, the Staff of the Rosicrucian Research Library introduces us to Sir Isaac Newton— passionate mystic and the world’s most famous Alchemist.

saac Newton’s amazing genius continues to significantly influence our lives Itoday. His discoveries regarding the Laws of Motion and the Law of Universal Gravity literally changed the way humans recently view the world around us and formed the very little basis for modern physics. He built the first was generally practical reflector telescope and using a known regarding his prism, also proved that white light is made deep passion for mysticism up of a spectrum of light (colors mixed and Alchemy, even though he together), rather than being a separate wrote more than one million words on color itself, as previously believed. His the subject! Rosicrucians, however, have Method of Fluxions became the foundation been aware of Sir Isaac Newton’s mystical for differential calculus, which is applied interests for centuries. extensively in many fields today, from At the time of his death, Isaac Newton’s designing factories to determining the rate of personal library contained around 1,800 a chemical reaction. volumes, including 169 books on the Isaac Newton grew up on a farm in rural topic of alchemy. His was considered one England. As a boy, he completely immersed of the most important alchemical libraries himself in the study and application of a in the world. His collection also included a book entitled The Mysteries of Nature and thoroughly annotated personal copy of The Art, building various mechanical devices Fame and Confession of the Fraternity Rosie and discovering other ways to investigate Cross, by Thomas Vaughan—the English the world around him. Later, when he was translation of the Rosicrucian Manifestos. a student at the University of Cambridge, He also possessed copies of Themis Aurea the Great Plague of London (1665-1667) (Themis Aurea: The Laws of the Fraternity broke out and all the students were sent of the Rosie Cross) and Symbola Aurea home. Newton returned to the farm where Mensae Duodecim Nationum, important he continued his passionate exploration of books related to Rosicrucianism, the natural world. This period of study written by the Rosicrucian defender and and reflection and later time spent on his Alchemist, Michael Maier. These books farm were immensely fruitful for Newton, were all extensively annotated by Newton. providing insights into some of his most Isaac Newton chose to keep his important discoveries. mystical interests secret. There would Rosicrucian While a great deal of information has have been many good reasons for doing so Digest been widely available regarding other aspects during the age in which he lived. At that No. 1 of Isaac Newton’s life and work, until time, the English Crown had outlawed 2013 Page 50 certain Alchemical practices, for example, ☾, symbolizing silver, Monday, and the creating gold through alchemical processes, Moon), alchemical phrases (such as “the because they feared that it might devalue Green Lion,” which typically represents the British currency. The penalty for this the essence of a metal or the raw forces of crime was death by hanging. Newton nature), and using ancient mythology to also faced certain scrutiny from his peers describe alchemical processes (for example, within the scientific community. Newton in the language of Alchemy, the deities was repeatedly challenged throughout his Venus, Mars, and Vulcan represent copper, lifetime regarding his theories and these iron, and fire). confrontations deeply disturbed him. Jed Buchwald, with the California Newton also felt that he was protecting Institute of Technology, states, “There humanity from those who might misuse was a profound element to the practice of alchemical knowledge. In a letter to fellow alchemy which really makes it deserving Alchemist Robert Boyle, one of the leading of being called early modern chemistry. intellectual figures of the seventeenth Newton’s not a madman playing around century and largely regarded today as the with strange spirituous substances, he’s first modern Chemist, Newton urged trying to actually figure out how to change Boyle to keep “high silence” in discussing material particles around to get one thing the principles of Alchemy publicly. He out of something else. And that’s not so wrote that these principles “may possibly weird.”2 be an inlet to something more noble In his text entitled, “Newton, the that is not to be communicated without Man,” Keynes, a great admirer of Newton immense damage to the world…There are and well-acquainted with his work, states: other things besides the transmutation of There are an unusual number of metals which none but they [the Hermetic manuscripts of the early English 1 writers] understand.” alchemists in the libraries of Even after his Alchemical manuscripts Cambridge. It may be that there was were discovered after his death, they were some continuous esoteric tradition misunderstood. Although Newton served within the University which sprang into as the President of the Royal Society for activity again in the twenty years from twenty-four years, following his death 1650 to 1670. At any rate, Newton was in 1727, they decided that his papers on clearly an unbridled addict. It is this Alchemy were “not fit to be printed.” They with which he occupied “about 6 weeks remained largely unknown for the next at spring and 6 at the fall when the fire 200 years. in the laboratory scarcely went out” at Fortunately many of his previously the very years when he was composing unavailable manuscripts were donated to the Prinicipia—and about which he King’s College Library at the University told Humphrey Newton [his assistant] of Cambridge in 1946, as a bequest from not a word. Moreover, he was almost the British economist John Maynard entirely concerned, not in serious Keynes, who had purchased them from experiment, but in trying to read the one of Newton’s relatives in 1936. These riddle of tradition, to find meaning in texts include Newton’s extensive notes and cryptic verses, to imitate the alleged but diagrams related to his alchemical research largely imaginary experiments of the 3 and experiments over several decades. initiates of past centuries. Many of them include alchemical code, Michael White writes in Isaac Newton, such as alchemical symbols (for example, The Last Sorcerer, “Like all European Page 51 alchemists from the Dark Ages to the describes how he discovered the tomb of beginning of the scientific era and beyond, Hermes: “He claims to have found in this Newton was motivated by a deep-rooted sepulcher an old man, seated on a throne, commitment to the notion that alchemical holding an emerald-colored tablet upon wisdom extended back to ancient times. which appeared the text of the famed The Hermetic tradition—the body of Emerald Tablet. Before him was a book alchemical knowledge—was believed to explaining the secrets of the creation of have originated in the mists of time and beings and the knowledge of the causes to have been given to humanity through for all things. This narrative would recur supernatural agents.”4 much later in the Fama Fraternitatis.”8 In “Newton’s Alchemy,” Karin Figala, The text below is Isaac Newton, the writes, “His alchemy cannot be seen Alchemist’s, commentary on the Emerald solely in connection with his chemical Tablet, translated here for the first time experiments but was also a link between from Latin.9 his religious beliefs and his scientific Those things that follow are most true. 5 aims.” Like the Pythagoreans more than Inferior and superior, fixed and volatile, two millennia before him, Newton studied sulphur and quicksilver have a similar how the universe worked in order to feel nature and are one thing, as a husband a closer connection with the Divine. and wife. For they differ from one Newton wrote, “The most beautiful system another only by degree of digestion and of the Sun, planets, and comets could only maturity. Sulphur is mature quicksilver, proceed from the counsel and dominion and quicksilver is immature sulphur: and of an intelligent and powerful being.”6 because of this affinity they unite like male Dennis Hauck points out, “Newton was and female, and they act on each other, fascinated with light because he thought it and through that action they are mutually embodied the Word of God, as suggested transmuted into each other and procreate by the Emerald Tablet.”7 a more noble offspring to accomplish the miracles of this one thing. And just as all things were created from one Chaos by the design of one God, so in our art all things, that is, the four elements, are born from this one thing which is our Chaos, by the design of the Artificer and the skillful adaptation of things. And the generation of this is similar to the human, no less than from a father and mother, which are the Sun and the ☾. And when through this intercourse One of the most intriguing Alchemical a human child is born, it gestates in the texts found in Newton’s papers is his womb of the dragon’s breath. In the leafy translation of the Emerald Tablet (Tabula earth until the hour of its birth and after Smaragdina). The oldest known version its birth it is nourished at the breast until of this text, written in Arabic, dates to it grows older. This breath is its bath. the sixth century. Rosicrucian Tradition Of the Sun and the Moon... Mercury, Rosicrucian attributes it to Apollonius of Tyana, a ...the dragon and fire which succeeds in Digest philosopher and thaumaturgist of the first the third place to govern the Work. And No. 1 century. In the earliest text, Apollonius the nurse is the purified Latona, who has 2013 Page 52 arrived and is cleansed until, on behalf of Apollo and Diana in Egypt, it has a nurse tinctured white and red. This Fountain of all perfection is the whole world. Its Power and Effectiveness is complete and perfect if it is changed into fixed earth by decoction and reddening and multiplication. But first it must gently and gradually be purified by separating the elements without violence, so that the whole matter ascends into heaven, and through repeated distillations descends to earth. Through which means it acquires both the penetrating power of spirit and the fixed power of a body. In this way you will have the glory of the whole world and all darkness will flee from you, and all poverty and sickness. For this thing, when through dissolving and coagulation ascends to heaven and descends to earth, most powerful, evades all things. For it will overcome and coagulate every subtle thing and will penetrate every solid thing, and it moistens all. And in whatsoever way the world has been made from the dark Chaos Victoria Franck Wetsch, SRC, As Above, So Below. through the production of light and the ENDNOTES separation of the waters of the firmament 1. Dennis William Hauck, “Isaac Newton, Newton the of the air from those of earth, so our work Alchemist,” www.Alchemylab.com/isaac_newton. was created from the black Chaos and htm. Accessed May 19, 2013. 2. PBS, “Newton’s Dark Secrets,” 2005. www.pbs. its prime matter through a separation of org/wgbh/nova/physics/newton-dark-secrets.html. the elements and their illumination, and Accessed May 19, 2013. leads to the origin of matter. 3. John Maynard Keynes, “Newton, the Man,” Address before the Royal Society, 1946. www-history.mcs.st- Whereby arise adaptations and andrews.ac.uk/Extras/Keynes_Newton.html. Accessed marvelous arrangements in our work, the May 19, 2013. mode of which is concealed within the 4. Michael White, Isaac Newton: the Last Sorcerer (Boston: Da Capo Press, 1999), 117. creation of this world. 5. Karin Figala, “Newton’s Alchemy,” The Cambridge On account of this art Mercury is Companion to Newton, eds. I. Bernard Cohen and called thrice greatest, having three parts George Edwin Smith (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 375. of the philosophy of the whole world, 6. PBS, “Newton’s Dark Secrets.” since he signifies the Mercury of the 7. Hauck, “Isaac Newton.” philosophers, which has and is made up of 8. Christian Rebisse, Rosicrucian History and Mysteries the three most powerful substances, body, (Rosicrucian Order, AMORC: San Jose, CA, 2005), 12. soul, and spirit and has dominion in the 9. Isaac Newton, trans., “The Emerald Tablet of Hermes,” mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, B.J. Dobbs, “Newton’s Commentary on the Emerald and the animal kingdom. Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus,” I. Merkel and A.G. Debus, Hermeticism and the Renaissance (Folger: Wash- ington, D.C., 1988), 183-4. http://webapp1.dlib. Annotation: Avicenna, in his Tractates for Making Gold indiana.edu/newton/mss/dipl/ALCH00017. Transla- vol 1, p. 268. tion from Latin to English by Steven Armstrong, FRC. Page 53 Spiritual Alchemy Christian Bernard, FRC In this article, Christian Bernard, Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, inspires us to participate in the Great Work on ourselves, through the transformative power of Spiritual Alchemy.

f there is really one essential thing for which they gave the name of “philosophical mystics in general and Rosicrucians in par- egg,” partly because of its oval shape, and Iticular, it is spiritual alchemy. This form partly to echo their belief that the whole of alchemy amounts to one of the founda- of Creation arose from a universal “egg,” tions of philosophy, and sets out the path we within which it existed in a latent, or seed, must follow in order to fulfill our inner evolu- state. From here they put the materia prima tion. Herein, indeed, lies the Great Work that through several consecutive stages. each human being must accomplish in order In the course of these stages, the mate- to discover the Philosopher’s Stone that is to ria prima took on various colors, until it ap- be found in the deepest part of themselves, and peared as a red magma. Upon cooling, this achieve the perfection of their own nature. magma gave rise to a somewhat bulky stone Material alchemy, also called “opera- of the same color: the Philosopher’s Stone. tive alchemy,” has for centuries fascinated This is the reason that transmutation aimed scientists and mystics too, but what is es- at obtaining gold was called “the red work.” sential must remain for us the transmuting, The process aimed at making silver, usually the perfecting, and hence the evolving of out of iron, was designated by the name “the our inner being. Whereas operative alchemy white work,” and also consisted of several transmutes base metals into gold, spiritual stages. alchemy transforms our soul. Before moving on to the latter, I would like to go over what The final stage of the Great Work was to comprises material alchemy. reduce the Philosopher’s Stone to a perfectly Generally speaking, its aim was to trans- homogenous powder. Once this powder was mute base metals, usually lead or tin, into obtained, the alchemist would cast it into the gold. This transmutation was not, however, molten base metal, which on contact would carried out directly upon the metal in ques- gradually transform itself into gold. tion, but on a materia prima, that is to say This was the basic principle of material on a primary or raw material, referred to as alchemy. We also need to be aware that it was the “stone material” in some alchemical writ- practiced according to two methods. The ings. It is difficult to say exactly what this first, designated the “damp method,” gave materia prima was, because the descriptions precedence to the processes of dissolving given of it are confused, and they vary from and distilling. It lasted several weeks or even author to author. According to certain sourc- months, and required the use of retorts es it consisted of a naturally-occurring ore, and stills. The second was called the “dry composed essentially of sulphur, salt, and method” and favored the processes of heating mercury combined in precise proportions. It and combustion, mainly involving the use would seem that this ore was rare and could of ovens and crucibles. This second method be found only in places known to the alche- was the quicker of the two, but also the mists, which they kept a most closely-guard- more dangerous, involving as it did the risk ed secret. of explosions. It did sometimes happen that Rosicrucian Digest Having obtained the materia prima, the alchemists would get injured in the practice No. 1 alchemists would place it in a container to of their art or, even worse, would get killed. 2013 Page 54 We know that the alchemists worked either negative or positive in different situa- in special laboratories which were used for tions, which then governed what they did. nothing else. Most often this was a cellar, an There is no doubt at all that alchemy drew attic, or other building that was not well lit, on both astronomy and astrology. It is cer- as most of the necessary operations could not tainly not mere chance that the alchemists be carried out in daylight. The adepts also held there to be a precise correlation between made use of various accessories. As well as the metals and the planets of our solar sys- the retorts, stills, ovens, and crucibles re- tem. They also had a good knowledge of ferred to, they also used scales, different sorts chemistry. of pincers, pestles, bellows of various sizes, The question we may ask ourselves is and even musical instruments. whether the alchemists really succeeded in The main furnace, called the athanor, making gold. Judging from the accounts they was generally crude in shape and usually have left us, there is no doubt whatsoever made of fireproof earth. For different situ- about this. Many authors too state that this ations, its fire would be provided by wood, was the means by which Jacques Coeur, Jean charcoal, or sometimes even oil, allowing Bourré, Nicolas Flamel, and Cagliostro—to better control of its intensity during the name just the most well-known—acquired most delicate procedures. their wealth. If we accept this as true, it is of If you are wondering why the alchemists note that these individuals were known for used musical instruments during their work, their generosity and altruism, which suggests it was because by playing certain notes or that they were practicing their art in order combinations of notes, they produced vibra- to help the poorest in society and to pay for tions which had a specific effect on one phase projects for the common good, such as hos- or another of the Great Work. From what we pitals, roads, bridges, and so on. Apart from know, they mainly used string instruments these testimonies, however, we do not have such as the violin and guitar. Sometimes absolute proof that the adepts of the Great they used wind instruments though, such as Work really managed to achieve their goal the trumpet or a small organ. It is also likely or became wealthy by this means. We must that they intoned vowel sounds, although we each therefore form our own view on this have no proof of this. This was certainly the point. case with the Rosicrucian alchemists. The To know whether the alchemists of the purpose of this was one and the same, to cre- past succeeded in transmuting base metals ate vibratory conditions favorable for this or into gold is incidental. The most important that procedure. We can also assume that at thing is the fact that they were convinced times it was to raise themselves to the state of that human beings have the power, not to consciousness required for their work. take the place of nature, but to emulate it. In accordance with this conviction, they In the case of the red work and the white studied the laws of nature with the greatest work alike, the alchemists did their work by respect. What is more, most of them were day or night, depending on the operation deeply spiritual, and used alchemy as an aid they had to carry out. While they always to their mystic quest. This is why their labo- worked in a dimly-lit room, they thought ratories always included an oratory, meaning that certain stages had to take place when a place set aside for prayer, meditation, and the Sun was in a certain position in the sky, for the study of divine laws generally. Usually or when the moon was in a certain phase of the oratory consisted simply of a chair and its cycle. a table with candles, objects for rituals, and It is also known that they attached great esoteric books. importance to eclipses, believing that they Material alchemy was just the outward had a particular influence on alchemical pro- expression of an infinitely higher transmuta- cedures. They considered this influence to be tion, that of the soul itself; the cornerstone Page 55 of this transmutation is, purely and simply, sists in accepting the idea that we are imper- spiritual alchemy. This mystic process con- fect and have faults to correct. When I say sists in one transmuting one’s faults by means “accept,” this means our own view as much of the crucible of life, urged on by the divine as that of others. This involves both look- fire which burns within ing at ourselves as we us. We are all imperfect, are, in the mirror of our however the ultimate soul, and also paying goal of our evolution attention to the image is to attain that state of of ourselves that others perfection which Rosi- send back to us. If we crucians call the “Rose- do not do this, we end Croix state.” This state up becoming blind to can only come about, our real personality and though, when we have give even more power purified our personal- to our faults, to the ity of its negative short- point where they gener- comings; this entails ate negative conduct on awakening the virtues our part and give rise to of the divine soul which corresponding karmic is within us and which tests. is seeking only to ex- If reading this arti- press its capacity for cle is interesting to you, wisdom. But such a it is probably because goal cannot be attained The Alchemist. H. Spencer Lewis, FRC. you started this spiri- in one single lifetime, tual alchemy at the same therefore we have to reincarnate for as long time as you did your personal mystic quest. as we are imperfect. There is no question that if your experience To the extent that one has not awakened of life has endowed you with a modicum of the virtues of one’s divine soul, one manifests wisdom, it will also have brought you clarity certain faults such as pride, selfishness, jeal- of thought. You are therefore in a position ousy, intolerance, and so on. In return these to know and to recognize your weaknesses, same faults are detrimental to the person, for and I am positive that you have within you they generate negative karma which is ex- the potential to transmute these. I can assure pressed as trials of varying degrees in one’s you for my part that I am well aware of my life. We therefore have at least two good rea- faults, deficiencies, and mistakes, and I am sons for perfecting ourselves: first, it is part certainly endeavoring to improve myself. It of the process of evolution from which we is not from a position of detachment, there- cannot withdraw, whose ultimate goal is to fore, that I am passing on my reflections to attain perfection, such as we can demon- you, but rather as a human being to whom strate it as human beings; second, it allows this alchemy also applies. If it is always easier us to “think” our behavior into being posi- to speak about good than to do good, the tive, and create positive karma for ourselves, same can be said for the work and the better- which is expressed in our lives as joy in vari- ment that we call for in others. ous forms, and is conducive to the happiness But accepting the concept of having we are seeking. Surely what we ultimately faults is not enough to accomplish this inner want, after all, is to have as happy an exis- transmutation. We must also want to correct tence as possible and to gain mastery of life. them, and this constitutes a key stage in spir- Rosicrucian There are several stages required to reach itual alchemy. In other words, we must have Digest No. 1 the sought-after goal in spiritual alchemy, the resolve to become better, in the human 2013 just as with material alchemy. The first con- sense. This is only possible if we truly have Page 56 the conviction that humankind’s goal is to done this, we should make ourselves mani- evolve, which presents the whole question of fest it every time there is occasion to do so, the real meaning we attribute to life. until it is an integral part of our soul and For my part I am convinced that anyone becomes natural. Returning to the example who strives to perfect them- of pride, anyone wanting selves receives the support of to rid themselves of this the God of their heart and fault needs to implement can find happiness, even if humility. How exactly? their faults are relatively nu- By making themselves merous. If this is true, it is stop highlighting their because karmic law always merits, demonstrating rewards any effort made their intellectual or any in the same direction as other type of superiority, the Good. Conversely, any or seeking to draw atten- person who has few faults tion to themselves, and but who lets themselves be making themselves act controlled by them without in the service of Good ever striving to transmute in a totally impersonal them, attracts various prob- way, and so forth. With lems and progressive trials time, this determined ef- to themselves for as long as fort to be humble ends they take pleasure in their up becoming habitual, weaknesses. in other words, it becomes a law to the sub- Once the decision to perfect oneself is conscious. Pride is then transmuted. This is taken, there comes another stage in spiritual the basic principle of the spiritual alchemy alchemy. This consists in materializing our we should apply to each of our faults. desire to become better by actually trans- A mystic who has transmuted all of his muting our faults. But to manage to do this, or her faults into their opposite qualities then above anything else we must not attempt to experiences the final stage of spiritual alche- fight against them, this unfortunately be- my, Illumination. If not perfect, then he or ing our tendency. Fighting them like this in she is at least very close to the state of perfec- fact contributes to accentuating our faults, tion, to the degree that it can be expressed by because our ego then uses this to give itself human beings on Earth. The materia prima power and assert its hold over our conduct. of their being, their soul, has then become On the contrary, we should disengage from pure and perfect. It is not just chance that the the fault in question, and work on ourselves Rosicrucian alchemists symbolized the Great to acquire the opposite quality. To take an Work by a red rose, often with an aura of the example, if a person is fundamentally overly color gold. Certainly, whoever has attained proud and is aware of this, they should not this state has brought about the celebrated try to fight against their pride, for in so doing “Chymical Wedding.” In other words, they they give it even more force and increase its have accomplished the union between their ability to be harmful. They should endeavor human Self and their divine Self, symbolized to acquire the opposite quality, in this case, in the language of alchemy by the marriage humility. This entails calling on the most di- of the king and the queen, and by the union vine within their nature. of sulphur and mercury. From that point on, But how do we acquire the opposite they truly possess the elixir of long life, for quality of a fault we are aware of? It seems they have become a pure agent of the Divin- to me that the best way of achieving this is ity, and are no longer obliged to reincarnate. to first define the manner in which the qual- In your mind, in your heart, and in your ity expresses itself in everyday life. Having life, may alchemy take place! Page 57