Rosicrucian Trilogy

our hundred years ago, the publication of three anonymous Fdocuments launched the Rosicrucian movement. In the ensuing years, much has been written and argued about the esoteric and secretive Rosicrucians. Now, for the ﬁ rst time, those original three documents are brought to life in reliable, readable, modern English. Rosicrucian Trilogy presents an accessible modern translation of the founding texts—Fama Fraternitatis (1614), Confessio Fraternitatis (1615), and The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz (1616)—with thirty original illustrations by Hans Wildermann. The story of Christian Rosenkreuz and his secretive order, as told in the Fama Fraternitatis, had political repercussions that continue to this day, while the Chemical Wedding is a landmark in European fantasy ﬁ ction. Who were the Rosicrucians? An organization of profound thinkers in rebellion against 17th century religious restrictions, or an isolated brotherhood of alchemical philosophers and esoteric sages? Rosicrucian Trilogy is fully annotated, with modern introductions that explain the historical context and shed light on the beginnings of the Rosicrucian Order, and bring this fascinating material to a wider readership. www.rwwbooks.com ISBN: 978-1-57863-603-7 U.S. $18.95 Rosicrucian Trilogy Rosicrucian Trilogy Fama Fraternitatis, 1614 Confessio Fraternitatis, 1615 The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz, 1616 t The Three Original Rosicrucian Publications in new translations by Joscelyn Godwin, Christopher McIntosh, & Donate Pahnke McIntosh WEISER BOOKS First published in 2016 by Weiser Books with offices at: 65 Parker Street, Suite 7 Newburyport, MA 01950 www.redwheelweiser.com © 2016 by Joscelyn Godwin, Christopher McIntosh, & Donate Pahnke McIntosh All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. ISBN: 978-1-57863-603-7 (paperback) ISBN: 978-1-57863-609-9 (hardcover) Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947886 Design by Kathryn Sky-Peck The cover art is a colorized version of Emblem 30, from Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, 1617. The line drawings in The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz are by Hans Wildermann, first published in Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz anno Domini MCCCCLIX. Verfasst von Joh. Val. Andreae. Mit achtundzwanzig Federzeichnungen von Hans Wildermann (Regensburg: Gustav Bosse Verlag, 1923). Vol. 5 in the series “Regensburger Liebhaberdrucke.” Printed in the United States of America EB 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Table of Contents Preface ..............................................vii I. Fama Fraternitatis .............................1 translated by Christopher McIntosh and Donate Pahnke McIntosh, and introduced by Christopher McIntosh Introduction, 3 Text, 15 II. Confessio Fraternitatis ..........................33 translated and introduced by Joscelyn Godwin Introduction, 35 Text, 41 III. The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz ........53 translated and introduced by Joscelyn Godwin Introduction, 55 Text, 61 About the Translators ................................184 Preface our hundred years ago, the publication of three anonymous Fdocuments launched the Rosicrucian movement: the Fama Fraternitatis (1614), the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615), and the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz (1616). Much has been written and argued about the Rosicrucian movement—be it myth, hoax, or spiritual phenomenon (depending on who is speaking about it)—and interest in it is far from extinct. The story of Christian Rosenkreuz and his secretive order, as told in the Fama Fraternitatis, had political repercussions that continue to this day, while the Chemical Wedding is a landmark in European fantasy fiction. The present book serves a purpose that should have been served long ago. It is simply to offer those three founding documents in reliable, readable, modern English, while still maintaining the unique voice of their original author. The last time they were translated directly into English was in the 17th century, an era whose language, for all its eloquence, puts up barriers that today’s readers should be spared. The accompanying editorial material is intended simply to introduce and explain the historical context, not to interpret the Rosicrucian writings. Our hope is to thereby bring this fascinating material to a wider readership. vii I. FAMA FRATERNITATIS Manifesto of the Most Praiseworthy Order of the Rosy Cross, addressed to all the rulers, estates, and learned of Europe Translated from the original German and annotated by Christopher McIntosh and Donate Pahnke McIntosh, with an introduction by Christopher McIntosh Title page of the fi rst edition of the Fama (Kassel, 1614) Introduction to the Fama The Fama Fraternitatis, first published in Kassel in 1614, is the first of the three so-called Rosicrucian manifestos, the two others being the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615) and the Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz (Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz) (1616). In order to appreciate fully the impact of the original publication on its readers, we need to understand something of the cultural and religious context in which it appeared. The period in question was approximately a century after the Reformation. Europe was split into opposing religious camps—Protestant and Catholic—and the tensions between them were soon to erupt into the Thirty Years War. In this unsettled atmosphere there were many who sought consolation in millennialism and the expectation of an imminent new age. Here we have one of the key elements of the worldview that underpins the Fama. While generally rejected by the mainstream of the Church, millenarian ideas were a persistent heterodox current in Christendom, transmitted by various prophetic visionaries, who often attracted considerable followings. One of these visionaries stands out as being of seminal importance, namely Joachim of Fiore (1135–1202), a 12th-century Calabrian abbot and mystic.1 Joachim saw history as proceeding in three successive ages, each presided over by one of the three persons of the Trinity. First came the Age of the Father, characterized by the ethos of the Old Testament and the rule of the Law. Second came the Age of the Son, with the emphasis on the Gospels and on faith. Finally there would come the Age of the Holy Spirit or Paraclete, an age of love, joy, and freedom, 1 See Marjorie Reeves’ Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future (London: SPCK, 1976). 3 when knowledge of God would be revealed directly in the hearts of all humankind. Joachim conceived of each age as lasting 42 generations of 30 years each. Since he believed the second age to have begun with the birth of Christ, it followed that the third age would begin in 1260. Meanwhile the way must be paved for the advent of the new age, and this would be achieved by a new order of monks who would preach the Gospel throughout the world. One of these would be a supreme teacher whose task it would be to turn the world away from earthly things and toward the things of the spirit. However, for three and a half centuries before the Third Age finally came there would be a period of purging carried out by the Antichrist, a secular king who would destroy the corrupt and worldly Church to make way for the true Church. The Antichrist, in his turn, would be overthrown and the Age of the Spirit would begin. Joachim’s influence was transmitted through widely disseminated manuscripts of his writings, and in the 16th century printed editions began to appear along with the works of other prophetic writers. Such millenarian ideas attracted many people who felt that the Reformation had not produced the hoped-for spiritual renewal, and that a new and more radical Reformation was necessary. These radical reformers emphasized inner experience, virtuous living, and the feeling and emotional side of religion, as against what they saw as the ossified dogmatism that characterized the mainstream Protestant churches. The radical Reformation worldview was not confined to religion. Those who looked forward to the new dispensation believed that it was going to involve all aspects of life including science, medicine, and the arts. When they looked around them, they saw signs and portents of this. Recently Galileo had pointed a telescope at the moon for the first time. Copernicus had placed the sun at the center of the planetary system. The Americas had been discovered. The globe had been circumnavigated. Everywhere a great expansion of horizons was taking place, and there was a sense that humankind was facing an opportunity to create a new 4 rosicrucian t r i lo gy Paracelsus (1493–1541) and better world. This mindset often went hand in hand with the notion of an ancient esoteric wisdom, encompassing such currents of thought as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, astrology, alchemy, and the Kabbalah. Of key importance within the currents that fed into the Rosicrucian movement was the heritage of the 16th-century alchemist and physician Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493–1541), who became known as Paracelsus. The philosophy and worldview of Paracelsus amounted virtually to an alternative religion, which came to be called the Theophrastia Sancta, based on the idea of two “lights,” the light of grace and the light of nature. It was profoundly disliked by the traditional clergy of both confessions and by the orthodox medical establishment, but it gained many followers among those who were seeking a new religious dispensation. fa m a fraternitatis 5 A highly important prophetic writer in the pre-Rosicrucian period was the Württemberg scholar Simon Studion (1543–1606), author of a vast manuscript entitled the Naometria (the Measurement of the Holy Place), which remained unpublished but attained wide influence. In Studion’s vision, Joachim’s three ages become four and are linked with the four beings of Ezekiel’s vision,2 which became the symbols of the four gospels, namely the angel, the bull, the eagle and the lion.

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