Rosicrucian History andMysteriesbyChristian Rebisse3Originally published as Rose-Croix histoire et mystres.Translation from the French by Richard Majka.2005SupremeGrandLodgeOfTheAncientandMysticalOrder Rosae Crucis. All Rights Reserved.This publication is for your personal, private use only, and may notbeusedforanycommercialpurpose.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,distributed,displayed,ortransmittedinanyform or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or otherelectronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,withouttheexpressandpriorwrittenpermissionofSupremeGrandLodgeOfTheAncientandMysticalOrderRosaeCrucis,exceptinthecaseofbriefquotationsembodiedinreviews.Forpermissionrequests,pleasecontact:SupremeGrandLodgeOfTheAncientAndMysticalOrderRosaeCrucis,Inc.,Rosicrucian Park, 1342 Naglee Ave, San Jose, California 95191.Theinformationinthisbookisdistributedonanasisbasis,withoutwarranty.Althougheveryprecautionhasbeentakeninthepreparationofthiswork,neithertheauthornorthepublishershallhave any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss ordamagecausedorallegedtobecauseddirectlyorindirectlybytheinformation contained in this book.4Wewouldlike...allhumanbeings,togetherorindividually,youngorold,rich or poor, noblemen or commoners, men or women, to be fully educated and tobecomeaccomplishedbeings.Wewouldalsolikethemtobeeducatedandinformed completely, not only on such or such a point, but also on all that willallow them to achieve their essence integrally, to yearn to know the truth, not tobedeceivedbypretense,tolovegoodandnottobeseducedbyevil,todowhatshould be done and to keep from What should be avoided, to speak wisely (andnot to remain silent) about everything with everyone when it is necessary; lastly, toalwaystreatthings,men,andGodwithprudenceandnotlightly,andtoneverstray from their goal: happiness. Comenius, 17th-century Rosicrucian5CONTENTSIllustrationsChronologyIntroduction1. Egypt and the Primordial TraditionThePrimordialTraditionTheGreeksandEgyptThot-HermesAlexandriaTheCorpusHermeticumPaxRomana Alchemy, Magic, and Astrology Neoplatonism TheChristiansBeforeHermesTheSabaeansIdris-Hermes The Emerald Tablet Arab Alchemy Magic andAstrology Eastern Theosophy2. Hermeticism and the Philosophia PerennisIslaminSpainAlchemyinSpainThePicatrixTheQabalahAstrologyTheExpulsionoftheJewsTheAcademyofFlorencePhilosophiaPerennisNaturalMagicAngelicMagicTheVoarehadumiaDeVerboMirificoHarmonyoftheWorldOccultPhilosophyGiordanoBrunoAlchemyandNatureParacelsusTheDeath of Hermes3. The Crisis of the European ConsciousnessTheInfiniteUniverseTheCataloguesoftheWorldHumanAnatomyRevealedTheReformationTheRevolts The Counter-Reformation The Wars of Religion6 The Imitation of Christ The Mystic Wedding4. The Naometria and the Age of the Holy SpiritSimonStudionTheAgeoftheHolySpiritTheNaometriaNovaTheThirdElijahTheLionoftheSeptentrion5. The Echoes of the Rose CrossTheAdvertisementsfromParnassusApollosReformThe Fama Fraternitatis Arabia Felix Fez, City of Gold TheHouseoftheHolySpiritTheTombofChristianRosenkreuzParacelsusandRosenkreuzAdamHaselmayer Hermes and Rosenkreuz6. The Confessio FraternitatisTheMonadTheConfessioFraternitatisMillennialismThe Liber Mundi The Bible Alchemy and Reforms TheFortressofTruthTheSourcesTheTbingenCircleJohannArndtTobiasHessJohannValentinAndreaeAn Initiatic Narrative7. The Emerald LandTheSpiritualFiliationTheImaginalWorldTrueImaginationInitiaticNarrativesPerfectNatureTheOldSageTheFriendsofGodTheGreenIslandTheFravartis Spiritual Knighthood The Ages of the World The Paraclete Hierohistory8. The Chymical Wedding7Johann Valentin Andreae The Story A Baroque Opera Inner Alchemy The Spiritual Wedding The Castle of theSoul The Seven Stages Knight of the Golden Stone9. The Rose in BloomMichaelMaierRobertFluddJohannesKeplerFrederickVTheDefenestrationofPragueWhiteMountain10. The Philosophers and the Rose-CroixRen Descartes The Three Dreams The Placards in ParisPolybiustheCosmopolitanHollandTheAlchemicalTemptation England The Faerie Queen Francis BaconTheTheosophistsNovumOrganumTheBeeNewAtlantis The Royal Society Comenius The Pansophy The College of Light11. Rosicrucianism and FreemasonryRosicruciansandFreemasonsBrotherI.O.AndersonsConstitutionHiramandRosenkreuzTheEgyptianMysteries The Noachite Religion The Golden and RosyCross The Golden Fleece The Golden Rosy Cross of theAncientSystemTheEssenesandTemplarsInitiatedKnightsandBrothersofAsiaTheRose-CroixDegreeSpiritual Knighthood The Enlightenment and Illuminism12. Magnetism and EgyptosophyTheEnlightenmentSensationalismManasMachineMagnetismTheSocietyofHarmonyArtandEgypt8TheAfricanArchitectsPrimitiveReligionCagliostroTheCondemnationofMagnetismSomnambulismThePyramidoftheTuileriesNapoleonandEgyptTheFriendsoftheDesertTheMemphisRiteTheRosettaStoneTheSocietyofMagnetismBetweenScienceandTradition The Society of Spiritualistic Magnetizers of Paris The Church and Magnetism Jesus the Essene13. In Search of the PsycheHypnosisSpiritualismAllanKardecZanoniTheS.R.I.A.HelenaPetrovnaBlavatskyAnAdventureAmongtheRosicruciansTheH.B.ofL.PsychicResearches14. The Rose Garden of the MagiMonteVeritTheTemplarsoftheOrientTheGoldenDawn Josphin Pladan The Rosicrucians of Toulouse The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix The Rose-CroixoftheTempleandtheGrailTheMagicofArtSymbolismTheMagnificentsTheRosicrucianSalonsThe Confraternity of the Rose Window Count Falkenstein15. The First Rosicrucians of AmericaTheFirstRosicruciansofAmerica144PietismBoehmismandtheQabalahMillennialismThePhiladelphianSocietyandEnglishMillennialismTheDeparture for America16. Harvey Spencer Lewis9TheMysticAwakeningNewThoughtTheKybalionThe New York Institute for Psychical Research17. The Journey to the EastTheOrientTheManhattanMysticCircleEgyptTheNewOntologyAMysticalExperienceTheJourneytoFrance Toulouse, the Rose-Red City The Initiation TheSecret of the Origins18. The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae CrucisThe Philomathic Society The Martinist Project The VisitofanOldLadyTheBirthofAMORCTheFirstRosicrucianLodgeAnAlchemicalDemonstrationH.SpencerLewis,FreemasonTheFirstRosicrucianConvention19. International AlliancesTheodorReussandtheO.T.O.TheTAWUCTheRosicruciansofFranceTheJourneytoFrancein1926AndrLebeyandtheLeagueofNationsAReceptionattheGrandOrientinParisTheBeginningsofRosicrucianism in France Nicholas Roerich and the WorldCouncil The Polaires The FUDOSI The Triangle of theFUDOSI20. The Contemporary EraTheTeachingsofAMORCAMORCintheWorldTheFourthRosicrucianManifestoConclusionNotesThematicBibliography Index of Personal Names viii Illustrations10ConclusionNotesThematic BibliographyIndex of Personal Names11ILLUSTRATIONS1. Michael Maier, Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationum,1617.2. Tabula Smaragdina Hermetis3. Apollonius de Tyana, from Jacques Boissard, De Divinatione etmagicis, 1605.4. Oswald Croll, Basilica Chymica, 1609.5. Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa.6. Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia, 1510.7. Portrait of Paracelsus by Augustin Hirschvogel, 15408. Valentin Weigel, Studium universale, 16959. Galileo, Dialogue Concerning the Two Principal Systems of theUniverse , 163510. Otto Brunfels, Herbarum vivae eicones ad naturae imitationem,154111. Henry IV of France.12. Simon Studion, Naometria, drawing by Jakob Lederlin.13. Simon Studion14. Detail from Simon Studion, Naometria, drawing by JakobLederlin.15. Fama Fraternitatis, first Rosicrucian manifesto, 16141216. Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae, 160317. The Rose Cross, from the 1614 edition of the FamaFraternitatis18. John Dee, Monas Hieroglyphica, 156419. Theophilus Schweighardt (Daniel Mgling), SpeculumSophicum Rhodo-Stauricum, 1618.20. Stephan Michelspacher, Cabala speculum artis et Naturae inAlchymia, 1616.21. Qaf, the Cosmic Mountain22. Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae, TheEmerald Tablet, 1603.23. Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, text edited and annotated byElias Ashmole, 1652.24. Johann Valentin Andreae, Chymical Wedding of ChristianRosenkreuz, 1616.25. Martin Luthers emblem.26. Johann Valentin Andreae27. Inscriptions and cryptogram shown on the fountain of theChymical Wedding (fourth day)28. Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz, drawing by HansWildermann, 192329. The alchemical flask of the royal wedding, from Pandora,1582.30. Joachim Frizius, Summum Bonum, 16291331. Michael Maier.32. Robert Fludd.33. Robert Fludd, Utriusque Cosmi, 161734. Frederick V and Elizabeth at their coronation35. Frontispiece from Novum Organum by Francis Bacon.36. Ren Descartes.37. Gabriel Naud, Instruction la France sur la vrit de lhistoire desFrres de la Roze-Croix, 1623.38. Dutch edition of the Fama Fraternitatis39. J.S. Torrentius.40. Francis Bacon41. Detail from the frontispiece of New Atlantis, 1627.42. Frontispiece from History of the Royal Society by Thomas Sprat,1667. Drawing by John Evelyn.43. Comenius by Max Svabinsky.44. May violence subside from things and may everythingflow from itself Comenius emblem.45. Rosicrucian manuscript of the 18th century46. Elias Ashmole47. Reception of the Masters Degree48. Illustration from an 18th century Rosicrucian ritual49. Lodge room in the Rosicrucian Sovereign Prince Degree.50. Masonic Jewel of the Rose-Croix.1451. Detail from A Key to Magic and the Occult Sciences by E. Sibley,c. 1800.52. Mesmers tub53. Drawing from Diffrentes manires dorner les chemines,1769.54. Scenery from the Magic Flute55. Fountain of Regeneration, detail of a drawing by Monnet,179756. Diagram of a pyramid of the Friends of the Desert57. The French consul general in Egypt58. The Scales of Health from Hector Durvilles The Theory andPractice of Human Magnetism, 1900.59. Allan Kardec60. Levitation experiment with the medium Eusapia Palladino,190961. Zanoni, drawing by Robert Lanz62. Franz Hartmann.63. Cover of the official catalogue of the Rosicrucian Salon,189364. Symbol of the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, bySamuel Mathers, c. 1887-188865. Josphin Pladan66. Symbol of the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix1567. The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix68. Seal of the Grail, drawing hy Franois Merintier for theRosicrucian Salon of 189369. Pietist college, 17th century German engraving.70. Rosicrucian documents photographed by Julius FriedrichSachse for his book The German Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania1694-170871. Johannes Kelpius, drawing by Christopher Witt, The OriginalCanvass.72. Ephrata Community at Cocalico Creek73. Harvey Spencer Lewis74. The Metropolitan Temple of New York.75. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby.76. New York Sunday World, January 190777. May Banks-Stacey78. The Future, February 190879. Clovis Lassalle.80. Drawing by Harvey Spencer Lewis representing the placeof his intiation81. Letter written by Harvey Spencer Lewis to his wife onAugust 13, 1909, the day after his initiation.82. AMORCs foundation charter of April 1, 191583. American Philomathic Journal, October 19121684. American Pronunziamento Number One, February 191585. The New York Lodge.86. Alfred E. Saunders.87. Letter from Sr Hieronymus (mile Dantinne) to HarveySpencer Lewis.88. Charter granted to the Grand Lodge of Denmark in 1920.89. Theodor Reuss.90. Excerpts from a letter written by Camille Savoire to HarveySpencer Lewis on July 12, 1928.91. Harvey Spencer Lewis.92. Ralph Maxwell Lewis93. A Rosicrucian temple94. One of AMORCs official symbols95. Positio Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis.17CHRONOLOGYThistablebringstogethertheimportantdatesinthehistoryofWesternesotericism,aswellasthosedatesconcerningtheemergenceofvariousmovementsthatareassociated,rightlyorwrongly, with Rosicrucianism.100 B.C.Beginning of Greco-Egyptian alchemy, of which Bolos of Mendes isone of the most important representatives.A.D. 140ClaudiusPtolemy,anAlexandrianGreek,writestheTetrabiblos,atreatisewhichcodifiestheprinciplesofastrology.FirstLatintranslation in 1535, by Joachim Camerarius.260Iamblicus,aNeo-Platonist,isinitiatedintotheChaldeanandEgyptian rites, writes The Mysteries of Egypt.383EmperorTheodosiuspromulgatesanedictagainstnon-Christiancults, resulting in the end of the Egyptian religion, but the temple ofIsis at Philae is not closed until the middle of the 6th century.185006th century: Appearance of the Secret Book of Creation by Balinus;reference to the Emerald Tablet and to Hermes Trismegistus.1000Endof11thcentury:TranslationofSeferhaBahir(BookofSplendor),oneofthefirstbooksconcerningtheQabalahinSpain.110012thcentury:IntroductionofalchemyandthedawningofastrologyandmagicintheWestbywayofSpain,duetothetranslations of Arab texts.1200Moses ben Shern Tov of Leon writes the Zohar.1471Marsilio Ficino publishes his translation of the Corpus Hermeticum,before translating Plato.1494JohannesReuchlinpublishesDeVerbomirifico,akeyworkoftheChristian Qabalah and the first European work completely devotedto the Qabalah.1510Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa publishes The Occult Philosophy (1510-191530).1558Publication of the Zohar at Mantua, then in Cremona in 1560.1564John Dee publishes the Monas Hieroglyphica.1589Johann Huser publishes the Complete Works of Paracelsus in Basel(15891591).Asecondeditionisissuedin1603.1602LazarusZetzner published the Theatrum Chemicum, a true encyclopedia ofalchemy in six volumes.1604Simon Studion completes the Naometria Nova.1608TheTbingenCircleisconstitutedintoasocietasincludingTobiasHess,AbrahamHzl,thepastorVischer,andJohannValentinAndreae.1610ThemanuscriptoftheFamaFraternitatis(firstRosicrucianmanifesto)circulatesintheTyrol.1611Thefirstprintedreference20to the Rosicrucians in a text by Adam Haselmeyer, Apologia contraHippolyte Guarinoni.1614IsaacCasaubonprovesthattheCorpusHermeticumisnotofEgyptian origin.1614PublicationoftheFamaFraternitatisinKassel(firstRosicrucianmanifesto).1615PublicationoftheConfessioFraternitatisinKassel(secondRosicrucian manifesto).1616Publication of the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz (thirdRosicrucian manifesto).1616RobertFluddpublishesApologiaCompendiariaFraternitatemdeRosea Cruce suspicionis et infamiae maculis aspersam veritatis quasiFlucibusabluensetabstergens;beginningofthecontroversiesbetween the philosophers over Rosicrucianism.211623AppearanceoftheRosicrucianplacardsinParis:We,Deputiesofthe principal College of the Brothers of the Rose Cross . . . .1623GabrielNaudpublishesInstructionlaFrancesurlavritdelhistoire des Frres de la Roze-Croix.1630Petrus Mormius, in Arcana totius naturae secretissima, nec hactenusunquam detecta, a collegio Rosiano in lucemp produntur, mentionsthe Golden Rosicrucians.1638FirstreferencetotherelationshipbetweenRosicrucianismandMasonry in a poem published in Edinburgh by Perth.1641JohnComeniuspublishesTheWayoftheLight,wherethesubjectmatter of the Rosicrucian manifestos is discussed openly.1694German Pietists led by Johannes Kelpius depart for America aboardthe Sarah Maria.221710SincerusRenatuspublishesDiewahrhafteundvolkommeneBereitungdesphilosophischenSteinsderBrderschafftausdemOrden des Gulden und Rosen Kreutzes. . . with an appendix of thelaws and rules under which the fraternity operated.1717Founding of the Grand Lodge of London and that of Westminster;beginning of Freemasonry.1723Publication of Andersons Constitution.1736First edition of Ramsays Discourse (beginning of the Scottish rite).1757FirstdocumentationoftheexistenceoftheChevalierRose-Croixdegree (Enfans de la Sagesseet Concorde Lodge).1777Johann Rudolf von Bischoffswerder and Johann Christophe Wlnerreform the Golden Rose Cross of the Ancient System (references toalchemy, Egypt, and the Essenes).231783Franz Anton Mesmer founds the Harmony Society.1784Alessandro Cagliostro inaugurates in Lyons La Sagesse triumphante(Egyptian Masonry).1784Convention of the Philalethes in Paris (1784-1787).1785Publication of the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucian of the 16th and17thCenturies(firstpart)inAltona;itisthemostimportantRosicrucian text after the manifestos.1806Alexandre Du Mge creates in Toulouse an Egyptian rite, that of theFriends of the Desert.1814TheBdarridesbrotherscreatetheRiteofMizraim(EgyptianMasonry) (1814-1856).1838Jean-tienneMarconisdeNgre,breakingawayfromtheMizraim,24foundstheMemphisrite(EgyptianMasonry).Thetworitesareunited in 1881 by Giuseppe Garibaldi.1842SirEdwardBulwer-LyttonpublishesZanoni,aRosicrucianinitiaticnovel.1847Experiences of the Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York, marking thebeginnings of spiritualism in the United States.1856AllanKardecpublishesLeLivredesesprits,atextbookofspiritualism.1856liphas Lvi publishes Dogme et ritual de la haute magie; beginningof occultism.1861P. Beverly Randolph founds the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis.1866Robert Wentworth Little founds the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia(S.R.I.A.)251866ExpansionofNewThoughtbythefollowersofPhineasParkhurstQuimby.1868P.BeverlyRandolphfoundstheHermeticBrotherhoodofLuxor(H.B. of L.) (1864-1874).1875Mrs.MaryBakerEddypublishesScienceandHealth,withKeytothe Scriptures, the classic of Christian Science.1875Foundation of the Theosophical Society by Henry Steel Olcott andHelena Petrovna Blavatsky. 18781878FirminBoissininitiatesAdrienPladanintotheRose-CroixofToulouse.1882Creation of the Society for Psychical Research in London.1887StanislasdeGuaitaandJosphinPladanfoundtheKabbalistical26Order of the Rose Cross.1887S.L.Mathers,W.W.Westcott,andW.R.WoodmanfoundtheHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887-1888).1888FranzHartman,secretarytoHelenaBlavatsky,foundstheEsotericRose-Croix.1889PapuslaunchesLInitiation,amagazinethatisanorganoftheMartinist Order.1891Josphin Pladan separates from the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-CroixtocreatetheOrderoftheCatholicRosicruciansoftheTemple and Grail.1892First show of the Rosicrucian Salons in Paris.1909HarveySpencerLewisisinitiatedintotheRosicrucianOrderinToulouse.271909The theosopher Carl Louis von Grasshoff (Max Heindel) founds theRosicrucian Fellowship.1912FoundationinLondonoftheOrderoftheTempleoftheRosyCross by Annie Besant, Marie Russak, and H. Wedgwood.1913Rudolf Steiner breaks with the Theosophical Society and founds theAnthroposophical Society.1915FoundationofAMORC(AncientandMysticalOrderoftheRoseCross) by Harvey Spencer Lewis.1915Arthur Edward Waite founds the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.1915CreationoftheOrderoftheLilyandEagle(Rose-CroixoftheOrient) by Demetrius Platon Semelas and Maria Routchine.1919JanLeene(JanVanRijckenborg),oneofthedirectorsofthe28Rosicrucian association of Max Heindel, founds the Aquarius Bond,thentheOrderofManicheans,whichlaterbecomestheLectorumRosicrucianum and the Golden Rose Cross.1920CreationoftheCollegiumPansophicuminBerlinbyHeinrichTranker.1923mile Dantinne founds the Rose-Croix universitaire.1929JeanMallinger,tienneDantinne,andLonLelargedeveloptheOrdre Hermtiste ttramgiste.1930ZamBhotiva(CesareAccomani)launchesthemovementofthePolaires.1934mileDantinne,VictorBlanchard,andHarveySpencerLewisfoundinBrusselstheFUDOSI(UniversalFederationoftheSovereign and Initiatic Orders).194029DecreeoftheVichygovernmentdissolvingandforbiddingassociations of a secret nature (August 13).1949Official debut of AMORCs activities in France under the directionof Jeanne Guesdon (reactivation of activities after World War II).2001PublicationofthePositioFraternitatisRosaeCrucis(fourthRosicrucian manifesto).30OINTRODUCTIONNEOFTHEWesternworldsmostenigmaticinitiatorysocietiesistheRosicrucianOrder.Goetheonceasked,Whothenhasweddedtherosetothecross?Indeed,theOrderssymbolunitestwoelementsofopposingessence:thecross,whosefourbranchesrecallthefourcardinalpoints,symbolizesthematerialworld,whereastherose,whosesubtleperfume represents the unknowable aspect of things, represents thesoul. The Rose Cross thus represents the mystery of the conjunctionof contraries, the marriage of body and soul.YettheRoseCrossisnotonlyasymbolrelatingtohumanevolution;italsoconcernsthewholeofCreation.Duringthe17thcentury, the golden age of Rosicrucianism, people readily perceivedin the wedding of the rose and cross the process by which humanshelpnaturetofinditsownregeneration.ThisisundoubtedlywhatJosphinPladanwantedtoexpressinthemottoappearingonthecover of one of his books: Ad rosam per crucem, ad crucem per rosam, inea, in eis gemmatus resurgam.Totherosebywayofthecross,tothecrossbywayoftherose,init[therose],inthem[theroseandcross],Iemergeoncemoreasapreciousstone.Throughthemarriage of the rose and crossof human beings and creationtheDivinerevealsitselfinincreasinglybrilliantsplendor.ThesefewelementshelpustounderstandtheattractionthattheRoseCrosssymbolhasexertedforcenturiesuponsomanyseekerswhohavereflected upon the mysteries of God, humanity, and the universe.31It all began in 1614, with the publication of the Fama Fraternitatis, amysterioustextrevealingtoEuropetheexistenceofaRosicrucianfraternity.Inthemidstofaneratornapartbydisturbingscientificdiscoveries, bitter religious controversies, and devastating epidemics,thistextinvitedseekerstojoinafraternityfoundedbyChristianRosenkreuz.TheRosicruciansofferedtodivulgetheirfabulousknowledge,whosevirtueswouldallowasocietyincrisistoberestored.Thisfirstmanifestowassoonfollowedbyasecond,theConfessioFraternitatis,andthenbyathird,theChymicalWeddingofChristianRosenkreuz,publishedrespectivelyin1615and1616.Thethreeworksenjoyedconsiderablesuccess.TheycirculatedthroughoutEuropeandsparkedthepublicationofaphenomenalquantity of books. Soon afterwards, in 1623, the Parisians marveledover placards on the walls of their city announcing that the Brothersof the Rose Cross were staying visible and invisible in the capital.Who were these Rosicrucians who seemed to remain invisible andunknowable?Wheredidtheycomefrom?Weretheytheonesheralded centuries before by Joachim de Fiore as the founders of anewreligion,thatoftheageoftheHolySpirit,whichJoachimdescribedasatimeofbliss?OrdidtheyembodyEliasArtista,themanwhoParacelsuspredictedwouldrevealtohumanityallthesecretsofnature?WhatwasthismysteriousuniversalknowledgethattheRose-Crossfraternityclaimedtopossess?Thesequestionspreoccupied the speculations of numerous 17th century researchers,philosophers,andscholars,includingRenDescartes,andIsaacNewton.32Forsomepeople,theRosicrucianOrderwasasoldastheworld;for others, it arose in the age of pharaohs and later brought togetherthe heritage of the Pythagoreans, the Eleusinian mysteries, the MagiofPersia,theEssenes,theTemplars,andtheorderoftheGoldenFleece. Some saw in its emergence a Jesuit plot. A larger number feltthat the Order did not exist, and that it was simply a legend inventedin the 17th century by a group of intellectuals who were determinedtohavetheircontemporariesreflectuponthegeneraldriftofsociety.Finally,afewpeoplethoughtthatitwasafraternitybelongingtotheinvisibleworlds,composedofUnknownSuperiors watching over the destiny of humanity.Since the 17th century, many authors have pondered the history ofthe Rosicrucians, with their books attesting to the complex mysterysurroundingRosicrucianorigins.Many,confusinglegendwithhistory,havelaunchedintounreasonablespeculations.Others,satisfiedwithwhatmaybedemonstratedbyirrefutabledocuments,sometimes overlook basic points, as they forget the importance andvalueofthelegendaryintheveryconstitutionofcultureand,thereby, of that which underlies historical events. For the last severaldecades,universitystudieshaveshedsomeparticularlyinterestinglightonsomeaspectsofRosicrucianismandhaveallowedustoreconsider entirely a number of points of view expressed previously.However, much remains to be done.Thepresentworkdoesnotclaimtobeexhaustive,buttriestodifferentiatebetweenlegendandhistory,factsandmysteries.Itinvolvestwobasicobjectives:1)tohaveRosicrucianismassumeits33proper place in the history of Western esotericism so that it can bebetterunderstood;and2)toplacewithinthispanoramatheemergence of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, knownthroughouttheworldbytheabbreviationA.M.O.R.C.ThelatterconstitutesnotonlythemostimportantoftheRosicrucianorders,butalsooneofthemajorinitiatorymovementsofthemodernera.Thus, we wish to shed further light on its origins.AsthehistoryofRosicrucianismfitsintothatofWesternesotericism,itisimportanttoemphasizewhatunderliesthisconcept.TheadjectiveesotericcomesfromtheGreekwordesoterikos, which is derived from eso within and eis into. The wordliterally means toward the interior and describes that which is notdirectlyaccessible.Itevokestheconceptofmovingtowardthecenter, the interior. Thus, esotericism is the knowledge of that whichrelates to internal things, of which the intellect can touch upon onlytoacertainextent.Inshort,itinvolvesagnosis,aknowledgethatleads to a transformation, a regeneration of the soul.Furthermore, as shown by Antoine Faivre, esotericism constitutesmoreawayofapproachingmattersratherthanabodyofdefineddoctrines.2Itsfundamentalelements,suchasalchemy,magic,astrology, Qabalah, magnetism, and various spiritual techniques withwhichitisassociated,arenotreadilyapparent.Ithasbeenpiecedtogetherslowly,haspenetratedtheWestgradually,andhasbeensubjected to various influences. Our study will thus lead us to placesofitsbirthmythicalandrealandtothosecountriesandtimesthroughwhichithastraveled.Therefore,wewillvisitEgypt;34Greece;theArablands;EuropeduringtheMiddleAges,Renaissance,andAgeofEnlightenment;FranceoftheBellepoque;andtheNewWorld.Whileonourjourney,wewillmeetsuchextraordinaryindividualsasHermesTrismegistus,MarsilioFicino, Giordano Bruno, John Dee, Theophrastus Paracelsus, FranzAntonMesmer,JosphinPladan,HarveySpencerLewisnottomentionsomeoneasunexpectedasrikSatie.Wewillalsocomeacross numerous initiatory organizations that have played a more orlessimportantroleinWesternesotericismorintheRosicrucianmovement.Finally, to guide those readers who wish to delve further into thesesubjects,wehavealsoincludedathematicbibliography,achronologyrepeatingtheimportantdatesinthehistoryofRosicrucianism or esotericism, and an index of important people inRosicrucian history.Asyouwillnotewhilereadingthisbook,therootsoftheRoseCrossliehiddeninthemistsoftime,becauseitsessencedoesnotrelate to the order of material things. Thus, once we seem to reachits roots, we are confronted with a mystery: that of the very genesisof human beings and of Creation.35FIGURE 1. Michael Maier, Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationum, 1617.36QChapter 1EGYPT AND THEPRIMORDIAL TRADITIONUESTIONS HAVE OFTEN arisen regarding the originsofRosicrucianism.Althoughaconsensusofresearchersplaces its historical beginnings in the 17th century, we areof the opinion that the genesis of this movement dates from muchfartherback.SuchwasthebeliefoftheGermanalchemistMichaelMaier.InhisworkSilentiumPostClamores(1617),hedescribedRosicrucianism as having arisen from the Egyptians, the Brahmans,themysteriesofEleusisandSamothrace,theMagiofPersia,thePythagoreans,andtheArabs.SeveralyearsafterthepublicationoftheFamaFraternitatis(1614)andtheConfessioFraternitatis(1615),IrenaeusAgnostus,inClypeumveritatis(TheShieldofTruth,1618),felt no hesitation in declaring Adam to be the first representative oftheOrder.TheRosicrucianmanifestoslikewisemadereferencetothesamesource:Ourphilosophyhasnothingnewinit;itconformstowhatAdaminheritedaftertheFall,andwhatMosesand Solomon practiced.1THE PRIMORDIAL TRADITIONAdam,Egypt,Persia,theGreeksages,andtheArabswere37conjuredupforgoodreasonbyMichaelMaier.Healludedtoaconceptthatwasverywide-spreadbeforethecomingofRosicrucianism.ThisconceptthePrimordialTraditionfirstappeared in the Renaissance,2 especially after the rediscovery of theCorpusHermeticum,agroupofmysterioustextsattributedtoanEgyptianpriest,HermesTrismegistus.Fromhim,thisideaofaprimordialrevelation,ofwhichEgyptwasthecradle,wouldhaveconsiderable repercussions.OurintentionisnottodescribeEgyptianesotericisminfull,butrathertoindicatehowthisheritagewastransmitted.Therouteconnecting Egypt to the West is long and offers a varied landscape.We will not discuss all of its details, because this description wouldoccupyanentirevolume.However,certainsalientpointswillallowustounderstandRosicrucianorigins.Whileengaginginthisundertakingitisnecessarytofollowatrustworthyguide,andHermesappearstobethecharactermostnotedintheancientwritings. Indeed, the history and myths relating to this individual areparticularly rich in information concerning our purpose at hand.Sinceantiquity,Egyptscivilizationhasbeenmuchadmired.Itsmysteryschools,whichactedbothasuniversitiesandmonasteries,weretheguardiansofitswisdom.TheseschoolsexperiencedadistinctivefloweringundertheruleofAkhnaton(1353-1336B.C.),especiallyafterheintroducedtheconceptofmonotheism.TheEgyptianreligionisparticularlyintriguingbecauseofitsmysteriouscults. Although Hermes had some of his origins in Egypt, in the godThoth, he was primarily a Greek god. He was the son of Zeus and38ofthenymphMaia.TheGreeksconsideredhimthegodofshepherds,thieves,merchants,andtravelers.Hewasalsotheinventor of astronomy, weights and measures, the musical scale, theartofgymnastics,andthecultivationofolivetrees.MostofallhewasthemessengerofZeusandtheshepherdwhoguidedthedeadtowardtheworldofHades.Hisattributeswereacaduceusandwinged sandals.In the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth enjoyed a special illustriousness.He was shown as an ibis headed man or as a baboon (cf. the BookoftheDead).Equippedwithapalette,reed,andpapyrus,hewasalways ready to transcribe the words of Re. He was the very epitomeofascribe;hewasdescribedastheinventorofhieroglyphs.Thothwastheprotectorofscribes,theteacherofmedicine,astronomy,and the arts. He knew the secrets of magic; he was the initiator. OnthestatueofAmenhotep,sonofHapu,ahighofficialandfavoriteofAmenhotepIII(c.1360B.C.),itiswritten:...butintothedivine book, I have been initiated. Of Thoth, I have seen glory, andamong mystery, I introduced myself.InaperiodasfardistantastheOldKingdom(2705-2180B.C.),Thothwasalreadydescribedasthemessengerofthegods,acharacteristic he preserved when passing into the Greek world in theguiseofHermes.Inhiscapacityofjudge,hestoodbetweenSethand Horus. He was the protector of the eye of Horus.In the Middle Kingdom (1987-1640 B.C.), he personified wisdom.HewasparticularlyhonoredinHermopolis,andthepriestsofthiscityattributedtohimtheBookoftheTwoWays,atextwhich39describedthevoyagetotheafterlife.Theinscriptionsfoundinthesarcophagi of this period also mention a divine book of Thoth. Atthe beginning of this period, Thoth appeared as the writer of sacredwritings,theall-knowingteacher,theonewhoknewthesecretmagical rites. It is also reported that the sacred texts were found atthefootofhisstatue.ThissymbolicthemeisfoundmuchlaterinthestorydescribingthediscoveryofthetombofHermesTrismegistusbyApolloniusofTyana.IntheBookoftheDead,Thothplaystheroleofjudgewhenweighingtheheartofthedeceased.IntheNewKingdom(1540-1075B.C.),Akhnaton(1353-1336B.C.)abolishedtheancientpantheonwheninstitutingthecultofAton.Evenso,Thothpreservedcertainprerogativesduringthepharaohs reign. After the disappearance of the founder of Egyptianmonotheism,Thothregainedhisqualitiesofall-knowingsageandtheteacherofsecrets.Duringthisperiod,writingsofanoccultcharacterbecameimportant.ThisisundoubtedlywhyH.SpencerLewis regarded Amosis, the pharaoh who introduced this period, asbeingtheorganizerofthebrotherhoodofinitiatesthatlatergaverisetotheRoseCross.Moreover,hethoughtHermeswasasagecontemporarywithAkhnaton.TheoccultknowledgeoftheEgyptianswasconsideredsecret.Itwastransmittedbyhousesoflife, sometimes called mystery schools.Theopinionsofthespecialistsaredividedregardingtheimportance of occultism and magic in the time of the pharaohs. ErikHornung,anEgyptologistattheUniversityofBasel,feelsthattoo40manyhistorianshavetakenanoverlypositivistapproachregardingthismatter.HedeclaresthatitisundeniablethatatthebeginningoftheNewKingdom,atthelatest,aspiritualclimatepropitioustotheemergenceofHermeticwisdomdominated.EmphasizingtheimportantroleofJanAssmann,whoconcentratedonthissubjectwhile studying the Rameside period, he added that at present thereprevailconditionsmuchmorefavorabletothediscoveryofHermeticisms possible Egyptian roots.3In the Late Kingdom (664-332 B.C.), Thoth was considered to betheteacherofmagic.Astelecallshimtwicegreat,andheispresentedsometimesasthrice(very)great,orevenfivetimesgreat(cf.theStoryofSetne).InthePtolemaicperiod,theGreeksandRomanswerefascinatedbyHermopolisanditscultofThoth.TheredevelopedatthistimeanoriginalsynthesisbetweentheEgyptian civilization and the Hellenistic culture.THE GREEKS AND EGYPTConsiderableevidencerelatestotherelationshipsbetweenthesagesofGreeceandofEgypt.Inthe5thcenturyB.C.HerodotusvisitedEgyptandconversedwiththepriests.InhishistoryhediscussestheOsirianmysteriescelebratedatSais.Forhim,themysteriesofGreeceowedmuchtoEgypt.ComparingtheGreekandEgyptianpantheons,heobservedthatcertaindivinitiesofhiscountry had their origins among the pharaohs.There existed a strong tradition which claimed that the great sagesof ancient Greece obtained knowledge from their Egyptian teachers.41Itwasclaimedthatmanyamongthemwereinitiatedintothemysteries,thusassuringthetransmissionofEgyptianlearningintotheGreekworld.AmongthemHerodotusspokeonlyofSolon(c.640-558).InTimaeusandtheCritiasPlato(427-347),whohimselfhadgonetoEgyptandremainedtherethreeyears,spokeofthediscussions that Solon had with the Egyptian priests. In The Republic,healsoemphasizedtheprestigeoftheEgyptianpriests.Furthermore,hementionedThothinthePhaedrus.Isocrates,acontemporaryofPlato,madeEgyptthesourceofphilosophyandindicated that Pythagoras went there to be instructed. Apollonius ofRhodes(295-c.230)claimedthatHermes,bywayofhissonAithalides, was the direct ancestor of Pythagoras.DiodorusSiculus(80-20)providedthegreatestamountofinformationconcerningtheinfluenceofEgyptuponthesagesofGreece.Hebasedthispartlyuponwhathehadgatheredinhisencounters with the Egyptian priests, and partly upon the Aegyptiaca,a work by Hecataeus of Abdera.Diodorus stated first of all that Orpheus traveled to Egypt and wasinitiated into the Osirian mysteries. After returning to his homelandaround the 6th century B.C., he instituted new rites that were calledtheOrphicmysteries.DiodorusalsostatedthatritesobservedinEleusisbytheAtheniansweresimilartothoseoftheEgyptians.Plutarch(c.A.D.50-c.125)laterremarkedthattheOrphicandBacchicmysterieswerereallyofEgyptianandPythagoreanorigin.DiodorusalsoreportedonthetravelsofSolonandofThalesofMiletus(624-548B.C.),whovisitedthepriestsandmeasuredthe42pyramids. Plutarch declared that Thales brought Egyptian geometryback to Greece. Diodorus also claimed that Thales urged PythagorastogotoEgypt,anditwasinthiscountrythatthelatterconceivedtheconceptofthemigrationofsouls.IamblichuslateraddedthatPythagorashadstudiedintheEgyptiantemplesfortwenty-twoyears, and, after having received this training, he established his ownschoolinCrotona,Italy,andhetaughtwhathehadlearnedintheEgyptian mystery schools. Finally, Diodorus reported that in the 5thcentury Democritus (c. 460-370 B .C .), discoverer of the atom, wastaughtbythegeometersofthepharaoh,andtheninitiatedintheEgyptian temples.OneofPlatosfollowers,EudoxusofCnidus(c.405-355B.C.),amathematicianandgeometer,alsomadethevoyagetothelandoftheNile.Whilethere,hewasinitiatedonboththescientificandspirituallevels.Plinyspecifiedthathewouldreportinhiscountrysomeimportantastronomicalknowledge,asthosewhichrelatedtotheexactdurationoftheyear(365days).Hishypothesisofhomocentricspheresconstitutedthepointofdepartureoftraditionalastronomy.Plutarch,amemberofthesacerdotalcollegeofApolloinDelphi,wherehewashighpriest,alsosoughtknowledge along the banks of the Nile. While there, he was initiatedbyClea,apriestessofIsisandOsiris.InhisbookIsisandOsiris,PlutarchspokeoftheworkscalledBooksofHermesandemphasized the importance of Egyptian astrology. He also reportedthat many authorities declared Isis to be the daughter of Hermes.THOTH-HERMES43IndrawingaparallelbetweenZoroasterandMoses,DiodorusintroducedaconceptthatwouldbeinconsiderablevogueintheRenaissance,wherehespokeofaphilosophiaperennistransmittedbyway of the great sages from the beginnings of time. Beginning in the2ndcenturyB.C.,theGreeksclaimedthatThothhadforasonAgathodemon,whohimselfhadengenderedasonnamedHermes.Thelatter,consideredtobethesecondHermes,wascalledTrismegistusthat is, Thrice-greatest. Thus, in the 3rd century A .D.theGreeksadoptedThoth,givinghimthenameofHermesanddescribing him as Trismegistus Thrice-greatest.As Thoth was the teacher of speech and writing, it was natural thattheGreeksmadehimthefatherofHomer,theirgreatestpoet.Inthe3rdcentury,HeliodorusindicatedthatHomerwasthesonofHermesandanEgyptianpriestsdaughter.Eventuallyeacheraaddedsomedetail,andlittlebylittlewasforgedtheconceptwhichstated that Egypt was the source of wisdom and knowledge.ALEXANDRIAWiththeconquestofEgyptbyAlexandertheGreatin333B.C.,theassimilationoftheEgyptianculturebytheGreekworldwasaccelerated.ThefocusofthisactivityoccurredinthecityofAlexandria, founded in 331 B.C.,where the waters of the Nile mixedwith those of the Mediterranean. A crossroads of Egyptian, Jewish,Greek,andChristiancultures,itactedoverthecenturiesastheintellectualcenteroftheeasternMediterranean.Therapeutae,Gnostics, and various other mystical movements developed around44this city. Its library, enriched by more than 50,000 volumes, gatheredtogetheralloftheknowledgeoftheera.Alexandriawasalsothecrucible where Greco-Egyptian alchemy flourished.Thecitygavebirthtoanewscienceintheformofalchemy,acontinuation of ancient Egyptian practices that was transformed andrevivedbyGreekthought.Itsoriginalityconsistedofofferingaconcreteanduniversaldisciplinefreefromthegraspofreligion.HermesTrismegistus,representedbyAlexandrianalchemistsasbeingthefounderofthisart,becamethenewtransmitteroftheancienttradition.However,weshouldnotethatAlchemyalreadyexistedinChinaandIndia.AmongtheAlexandrianalchemists,BolosofMendes(100B.C.)wasanotablefigure,oftenbeingdescribed as the founder of Greco-Egyptian alchemy.In 30 B.C., Alexandria became the capital of the Roman provinceof Egypt. The Romans assimilated the Greco-Egyptian Hermes withMercury, their god of commerce and travelers. Mercury-Hermes wasthemessengerofthegods,theconductororguideofsouls.Romerapidly adopted Egypt and its cults.THE CORPUS HERMETICUMThree centuries before the Christian era, texts that are now calledtheHermeticabecausetheirauthorshipisattributedtoHermesTrismegistusbegantotakeshape.Thisliteratureexpandedconsiderably from the 1st century B.C., and in the Nile Delta regionthecompositionoftheHermeticacontinueduntilthe3rdcenturyA.D.WritteninGreek,anEgyptianformofesotericismisquite45apparent. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-220) spoke of the forty-twobooksofHermeswhichtheEgyptianscarriedaboutintheirceremonies. Iamblichus attributed 20,000 books to Hermes, whereasSeleucusandManethromentionedabout36,525.Themostcelebrated,writtenbetweenthe1stand3rdcenturies,aretheseventeentractswhichweregatheredtogetherunderthetitleofCorpusHermeticum.4 TheyarecomposedprimarilyofdialoguesbetweenHermes,hissonTat,andAsclepiu.Thefirstofthesetreatises, Poemandres, discusses the creation of the world.The Asclepius is also an important text as it describes the religion oftheEgyptiansandthemagicalritestheypracticedforattractingcosmic powers meant to animate the statues of the gods. Finally, thefragmentsofStobaeusconstitutethethirdgroupoftheHermetica.Thesearecomposedofthirty-ninetextsandconsistofdialoguesbetween Isis and Horus regarding the creation of the world and theoriginofsouls.Thesetexts,generallyattributedtoHermesTrismegistus,claimtobetranslatedfromtheEgyptian.Intruth,theycontainfewauthenticEgyptianelements.TheyareessentiallycharacterizedbyGreekphilosophy,butalsobyJudaismandZoroastrianism. They do not compose a coherent whole and presentnumerous doctrinal contradictions.PAX ROMANAAmongtheGreekstheinfluenceofEgyptwasfeltprimarilythroughitsliterature,butamongtheRomanstheinfluencetookadifferenttwist.Thelatterwerenotcontenttotraveltothelandof46thepharaohs.In30B.C.,afterthesuicideofCleopatraandtheconquestofEgyptbyOctavian,thecountrybecameaRomanprovince.Atthebeginningofthe1stcenturyA.D.theRomanscontrolledtheNilevalley.Theyembraceditsculture,andtheemperorwascomparedtoapharaoh.Theconquerorsadoptedcertain rites of the land they had taken, and the cult of Isis found ahome in Rome.RomeadoptedEgyptianarchitecture.Evennowwecanadmireoneofthelastremnantsofthisera,thepyramidofCaiusCestius.Another,nowvanished,waserectedinthenecropolisoftheVatican.ThecityalsobristledwithnumerousobeliskstakenfromKarnak,Heliopolis,andSais.VisitorstoRomemaystilladmiremore than ten of them. The existence of an Isiac college is attestedaround 80 B.C. By 105 B.C. a temple consecrated to the worship ofIsiswaslocatedinPompeii.TheIseumintheCampusMartius,which included a temple dedicated to Isis and Serapis, remained themostimportantevidenceofthepresenceofEgyptiancultsamongtheRomans.Buttheencounterofthetworeligionsdidnotpasssmoothly,andCaesarbarelyfavoredthegodsofEgypt.Virgil(70-19B.C.)andHorace(65-8B.C.)describedthebattleofmonstrousdivinities,asAnubisbrandishedhisarmsagainstNeptune,Venus,andMinerva.Ovid(43-17/18B.C.)sawthingsinamoreflatteringlight.ThecultofIsiswastoleratedinRome,andNero(37-66)introducedsomeIsiacfeastdaysintheRomancalendar.MarcusAurelius (161180) constructed a temple for the Egyptian Hermes.Inthe2ndcenturyA.D.thePaxRomanaestablishedpeace47throughout the Mediterranean world. In this era, we find a veritablepassionforpastcivilizations:theHindus,Persians,Chaldeans,andabovealltheEgyptians.FascinatedbyEgyptiantemplesthatwerestill in operation, rich Romans flocked to the land of the pharaohs.Apuleius,aLatinwriterintriguedbythemysteries,alsowentthere.In The Golden Asshe described for us the Egyptian mysteries in hiscolorful manner.ALCHEMY, MAGIC, AND ASTROLOGYAlongwithalchemy,magicandastrologyassumedgreaterimportance.ClaudiusPtolemy(c.90168),aGreeklivinginAlexandria,wrotetheTetrabiblos,atreatisethatcodifiedalltheprinciplesofGreekastrology(withEgyptianandChaldeaninfluences): signs, houses, aspects, elements. Ptolemy was not merelyanastrologer,hewasalsoanastronomertowhomweowegeocentrismandthetheoryoftheepicycleswhichdominatedscienceuntilthe17thcentury.ItwasPtolemywhotransmittedGreek astronomical knowledge to the West. Clement of Alexandria(c. 150-213), a Greek church father, drew in his Stromateis a portraitof the Egyptian astrologers of his time, who always had to be readyto recite the four astrological books of Hermes.Olympiodorus(5thor6thcentury)presentedalchemyasasacerdotalartpracticedbytheEgyptians.TheLeidenandStockholmpapyri(2ndcentury)depictthemetallurgicalproceduresas effectively being linked to magical formulas.5Inthe3rdcentury,ZosimosofPanopolissettleddowninAlexandriasoastodedicate48himselftoalchemy.Thefirstwell-knownalchemicalauthor,hebestoweduponthissciencehisconceptsandsymbolism.Buthisalchemicalwritingsdonotsimplyrevolvearoundlaboratorywork;theyalsodiscussthetransformationsofthesoulandentailamystical quest. Alchemy expanded so greatly in the 3rd century thatEmperor Diocletian, disturbed by a possible devaluation of preciousmetals,promulgatedanedictprohibitingthepracticeandcondemning alchemical texts to the flames.NEOPLATONISMNeoplatonistswereconsiderablyinterestedinEgypt.Iamblichus(c.240-c.325),whowasinitiatedintotheChaldean,Egyptian,andSyrianrites,isanenigmaticindividual.SomeextraordinarypowerswereattributedtothedivineIamblichus,theheadofaNeoplatonist school. While in prayer, his body was said to rise morethantencubitsfromtheearth,andhisskinandclothingwerebathedinabeautifulgoldenlight.Egyptheldachosenspotinhiswritings.InDeMysteriis(OntheEgyptianMysteries),6IamblichuspresentedhimselfintheguiseofAbammon,amasteroftheEgyptiansacerdotalhierarchyandaninterpreterofHermeticteachings.HealsopromotedtheurgyandEgyptiandivinatorypractices. A little later, another Neoplatonist, Proclus (412-485), alsostronglyaffectedbytheurgy,believedhimselftobepartofthechainofHermes.HehadgreatinfluenceonSufismandonsuchChristian thinkers as Johannes Scotus Erigena, Meister Eckhart, andmany others.49Nevertheless,thiserasawEgyptfadingawaybeforeanever-expandingChristianity.AlexandriaplayedanimportantroleinthemanycontroversiesthatmarkedthebeginningsofthisreligionnewlyimposedbyConstantine.Inthe3rdcentury,theEgyptiansabandonedhieroglyphsandadoptedtheCopticscriptfortranscribing their language. The Copts adapted the secret knowledgeofthepharaohstoChristianity.Soonafterwards,EmperorTheodosiuspromulgatedanedictagainstnon-Christiancults,thusmarking the end of the Egyptian clergy and their ceremonies.THE CHRISTIANS BEFORE HERMESChristianity, which began to gain in influence, was not unaware ofHermes.Inthemiddleofthe2ndcenturyakindofChristianHermes appeared in the pages of a book entitled The Shepherd, whoseauthorwassaidtobeHermas.7ItisaRomanworkinwhichHermas, the messenger of penance and penitent, took the form ofaprophet.TheShepherdisanapocalypticworkinwhichalltheconventionsofthegenrearefound.IntheearlyChurchJesusisoftenpresentedasashepherd,arolethatisalsoattributedtoHermes. Yet in this instance it is not Jesus that Hermes designates,but the angel of the penance. Considered for a long time to be anintegralpartofthecanonicalscriptures,TheShepherdpassedtothestatus of apocryphal scripture at the beginning of the 4th century.The Church fathers generally loved to delve into mythology so asdisclosethebeginningsoftheGospel.HermesTrismegistuscontinuedtogarnerrespectamongthem.Lactantius(250-325),in50hisDivinarumInstitutionum(DivineInstitutions),sawChristiantruthformulatedbeforetheadventofChristianityintheCorpusHermeticum.HeplacedHermesTrismegistusinthefirstrankofGentileprophetswhoforesawthecomingofChrist.St.Augustine(354-430),theFatheroftheChurch,inhisCityofGod,afundamentaltreatiseofChristiantheology,madeHermesadescendentofGod.HehadreadtheAsclepiusinthetranslationbyApuleiusofMadaura,buteventhoughheadmiredHermesTrismegistus,herejectedthemagicrevealedinthiswork.Clementof Alexandria liked to compare Hermes-Logos to the Christ-Logos.EmperorJuliantheApostate(361-363),thenephewofConstantine,attemptedabriefreturntotheworshipofthemysteries.HeenactedmeasuresagainstChristiansandrestoredpaganism. Influenced by Neoplatonism, he extolled ancient theurgy.Thisreturnwasbrief,however,andby387theChristianpatriarchTheophilus undertook the destruction of the Egyptian temples withtheideaoftransformingthemintoplacesofChristianworship.Nonetheless,ontheislandofPhilaeanEgyptiantemplecontinuedtofunction.Itwasnotcloseduntil551,byorderofEmperorJustinian. It will be noted that the Egyptian temples remained activebetween the 1st and 6th centuriesthat is, during the period whichcoversthecompositionofthehermetica.ItisoftenremarkedthatthesetextsarepessimisticregardingthefutureoftheEgyptianreligion,whichleadsustothinkthattheywerewritteninanEgyptiansettingbyapriestlyclass.FragmentsfromtheEgyptianwisdommayreposeintheHermetica,buttheyareexpressedinan51indirectfashion,havingbeensubmittedtotheprocessofHellenization.AlexandriahadbeenthestartingpointwhereEgyptianteachingsenteredtheGreekandRomanworlds.Itwaswheretheancienttradition was reformulated by way of alchemy, astrology, and magic.Thispointofdeparture,afterhavingscatteredsuchwisdomintoagreaterportionoftheEast,wasalreadydisappearingbythe6thcentury, and the Arabs now took up the torch.FIGURE2.Fromthe17thcentury,thisimage,calledTabulaSmaragdinaHermetis,has been often associated with the text of the Emerald Tablet, as in Aureum Velleus(1599)orSecretSymbolsoftheRosicruciansofthe16thand17thCenturies(1785).Thisillustrationisnot,however,anadaptationofthetextthatitissupposedtoillustrate.TheoldestversionofthisimageseemstobethatofK.Widemann,aParacelsian from Augsburg (1588-1589). Its first printed version is found in Aurei52Velleris Oder Der Gldin Schatz und Kunstkammer, Tractatus III,1599,Rorschach.SeeJoachimTelle,Lartsymboliqueparacelsien:remarquesconcernantunepseudo-TabulaSmaragdinaduXVIesicleandAntoineFaivre,Notesurlapseudo-Tabula Smaragdina et sur Le Secret des sages, in Les Cahiers de lHermtisme, PrsencedHerms Trismgiste (Paris: Albin Michel, 1988) pp. 184-235.THE SABAEANSAlexandria was seized by the Arabs in 642, a date which marks anendtothiscitysdaysofglory.However,theconquestofthiscitywas not the Arabs first encounter with esotericism. Rather, they hadbeen aware of Hermes long before this time. For example, they hadlearnedfromtheSabaeans,inhabitantsofthemythicalkingdomofSheba,whichwassupposedtobeaplaceofearthlyparadise.Inancient times it was also called Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) and wassaidtobethelandofthephoenix.CenturieslaterChristianRosenkreuzwassupposedtohavevisitedtheareasoastogathertogether the marvelous knowledge deposited there. The Bible statesthatthequeenofthisland,thequeenofSheba,visitedKingSolomon. Although the location of her land was not specified in theOldTestament,theKoranindicatesthatitwasinsouthernArabia(modern-day Yemen).The Sabaeans were notable astrologers, and Maimonides indicatedthatthisknowledgeassumedapredominantroleamongthem.TraditionclaimsthatthemagiwhogreetedChristcamefromthislegendaryland.TheSabaeanspossessedboththeHermeticalchemical writings and the Corpus Hermeticum. Being knowledgeableinsuchsubjects,itistheywhointroducedscienceintoIslam,53although they themselves evolved on the fringes of this religion. TheSabaeansclaimedtohaveoriginatedwithHermes,towhomtheydedicated a special cult. They produced some books whose contents,they claimed, had been revealed by Hermes, such as the Risalatfin-nafs (Letter about the Soul) and the Liturgical Institutions of Hermes byThabit ibn Qurrah, an eminent figure of Sabaeanism in Baghdad (c.836-901).IDRIS-HERMESThe7thcenturysignaledthebeginningsofIslam.AlthoughtheKoran did not make any reference to Hermes, the hagiographers ofIslams early centuries identified the prophet Idris, mentioned in theKoran,withHermesandEnoch.ThisassimilationhelpedtolinkIslamwithGreco-Egyptiantraditions.InIslam,Idris-Hermesisdescribedasbothaprophetandatimelesspersonage.Heissometimes compared to al-Khadir,8 the mysterious intermediary andsagewhoinitiatedMosesandwhoplaysafundamentalroleinSufism as a manifestation of the personal guide.Abu-Mashar,an8thcenturyPersianastrologerwhobecamecelebratedinEuropebythenameofAlbumazar,drewupanaccounttracingthegenealogyofHermes.Thistext,whichhadimmenseinfluenceintheIslamicworld,distinguishedthreesuccessive Hermes. The first, Hermes Major, lived before the Flood.Identified with Thoth, he is described as the civilizer of humanity, ashehadthepyramidsconstructedandengravedthesacredhieroglyphsforfuturegenerations.ThesecondHermeslivedin54Babylonia after the Flood; he was a master of medicine, philosophy,andmathematics.HewasalsotheinitiatorofPythagoras.Finally,the third Hermes is described as having continued his predecessorsworkofcivilizingsociety.Asamasterofoccultknowledge,hetransmitted alchemy to humanity.FIGURE3.ApolloniusdeTyana,fromJacquesBoissard,DeDivinationeetmagicis,1605.THE EMERALD TABLET55InthesameerathereappearedtheEmeraldTablet,atextwhichassumedanimportantplaceinthetradition.Theoldestknownversion, in Arabic, dates from the 6th century. Many are those whocitethistextwithoutreallyknowingit;therefore,wefeelthatitwould be useful to present it in its entirety.True,withoutfalsehood,certainandmosttrue,thatwhichisbelowislikethatwhichisabove,andthatwhichisaboveislike that which is below for accomplishing the wonder of theone thing. As all things are created from one, by the will andcommandoftheoneUnitedwhocreatedit,soallthingsareborn from this one thing by dispensation and union. Its fatheristhesun,itsmotheristhemoon,thewindcarriesitinitsbelly, its nurse is the earth. This is the father of all perfectioninthiswholeworld.Itspowerisperfectwhenitischangedinto earth; so you should separate the earth from the fire, andthesubtlefromthethickorgrossbutlovinglywithgreatunderstanding and discretion. It ascends from earth to heavenand from heaven again to earth and receives again the powerof the Above and the Below. Thus you will have the splendorofthewholeworld.Alllackofunderstandingandlackofabilitywillleaveyou.Thisisofallpowerthemostpowerfulpower,foritcanovercomeallsubtletyandcanpenetrateallthatissolid.Thuswastheworldcreated.Thusmanyrarecombinationsoriginated,andwondersarewrought,ofwhichthisisthewaytowork.AndthusIamcalledTrismegistus,having the three parts of the wisdom of the whole world. All56that I have said concerning the work of the sun is fulfilled.9This work is attributed to Apollonius of Tyana, a philosopher andthaumaturgist of the 1st century. As Julius Ruska has shown, the textcomestousthroughthetranslationcomposedbySagiyus,aChristianpriestofNablus.ItappearsinKitabSirrAl-Haliqa(TheSecretBookofCreation)byBalinus(theArabictranslationofthenameApollonius).10Inthisbook,ApolloniusrelateshowhediscoveredthetombofHermes.Heclaimstohavefoundinthissepulcheranoldman,seatedonathrone,holdinganemerald-coloredtabletuponwhichappearedthetextofthefamedEmeraldTablet. Before him was a book explaining the secrets of the creationofbeingsandtheknowledgeofthecausesforallthings.Thisnarrative would recur much later in the Fama Fraternitatis.ARAB ALCHEMYThe role of the Arabs as transmitters of alchemy to the West in theMiddleAgesisgenerallywellknown.Theyalsoleftuswithavocabularydistinctivetothisart(alkemia,chemistry;altanur,athanor;etc.).YetIslamsroleisnotsimplylimitedtothatoftransmission,astheArabsconceptualizeditinaformwhich,afterwards, was to assert itself everywhere.11 Their alchemy was notonly an art of the laboratory, it was also meant to unveil the hiddenlawsofCreation,anditcomprisedamysticandphilosophicaldimension.AlthoughArabalchemyclaimedtobeofEgyptianorigin, its practice occurred after the Arab conquest of Egypt in 639TheyreceivedGreekalchemythroughtheSyrians,buttheirfirst57mastersinthisartwerethePersians,whohadinheritedtheMesopotamian esoteric traditions.ThefirstknownArabalchemist,theUmmayadprinceKhalidibnYazid(?-704),wasinitiatedbyMorienus,aChristianofAlexandria.WithinashorttimealchemyspreadthroughouttheIslamicworldand the Greek treatises were quickly translated. The most illustriousfigure of Arab alchemy was Jabir ibn Hayyan (died c. 815), known intheWesternworldasGeber.Headvancedthefundamentalconceptsofthegreatwork,andhisreflectionsledtoaspiritualalchemyonagrandscale.Heisalsocreditedwithnumerousdiscoveries in alchemy. The Jabirian Corpus is said to contain morethan3,000treatises,mostofwhichareapocryphal.Theywereprobablytheworkofaschoolwhichformedaroundhisteachings.Arabalchemyhadmanymasters,ofwhomwewillmentiononlyafew:abu-BakrMuhammadibn-Zakariya,calledalRaziorRhazes(850-923); Muhammad ibn-Umail al-Tamimi, called Zadith the Elder(10th century); abd Allah al-Jaldaki (14th century). Before long theirtexts penetrated Europe through Spain and profoundly affected theLatin West.MAGIC AND ASTROLOGYMagicalsooccupiedacentralpositioninArabspirituality.Islammadeuseofmagicalletters,muchliketheHebrewQabalah,forpenetratingtheKoranssecrets.Moreover,Arabmagic,whichChristianRosenkreuzinformedusmuchlaterwasnonetoopure,encompassedawiderange:astrology,medicine,talismans,etc.58Astrologywasever-presentintheIslamicworld.Althoughsuspectduetoitspaganorigins,itdevelopedsignificantlyfromthe8thcentury, when the Tetrabiblos ofPtolemywastranslatedintoArabic.Astrology, in the era of al-Mansur, the second Abbassid caliph (754-775), was not only indebted to the Greeks, but also came under theinfluenceoftheHindus,SyrianChristians,Judeo-Arameans,andundoubtedlytheEssenes.Ingeneral,thevariousesotericteachingsplayedafundamentalroleinIslam,particularlyintheShiiteenvironment,asshownbyHenryCorbin.12 ItiseasytounderstandwhyChristianRosenkreuzcametotheArablandstogathertheessentialelementsfromwhichhewastoconstructtheRosicrucianOrder.EASTERN THEOSOPHYAroundthe9thcenturyibn-Wahshiya,inatreatiseentitledTheKnowledgeoftheOccultUnveiled,13presentedmanyoccultalphabetsattributed to Hermes. He also made reference to the four classes ofEgyptianpriestsdescendedfromHermes.Thosewhobelongedtothethirdclassthatis,thechildrenofHermesTrismegistussisterhe called Ishraqiyun (of the East). Some years later, Sohravardi (?-1191),oneofthegreatestIslamicmysticsofPersia,revivedtheexpression Ishraqiyun (signifying Eastern theosophists) to describethemasterswhohadexperiencedIllumination.Philosophyandthemystical experience were inseparable in his mind, and in his BookofOriental Wisdom14 he described the chain of past initiates, the Easterntheosophists. For him this experience was tied to Hermes, whom he59madetheancestor,thefatherofthesages.Theseecstaticphilosophers,describedasthePillarsofWisdom,werePlato,Empedocles,Pythagoras,Zoroaster,andMohammed.WhatmakesSohravardiparticularlyinterestingisthat,incontrasttotheauthorswe have discussed until now, he did not seek to establish a historicalhumanfiliationbetweenHermesandthesagesofthedifferenttraditions,butacelestialinitiatoryfiliationbasedoninnerexperiences.The heritage left by Hermes Trismegistus is manifold. Its treasures(alchemy,magic,andastrology)constituteessentialelementsoftraditionalesotericismandhavetraversedmanycivilizations.Nonetheless,thelatterhavealwaysconsideredEgypttobetheMotherofalltraditions.IntheMiddleAges,thisancientheritagepenetrated the West, and by the time of the Renaissance it took on anewaspectinconstitutingwhatisgenerallycalledWesternesotericism.Itthendevelopedinaspecialwaysoastoreachacritical threshold on the brink of the publication of the Rosicrucianmanifestos.60FIGURE 4. Oswald Croll, Basilica Chymica, 1609.61IChapter 2HERMETICISM AND THEPHILOSOPHIA PERENNISNTHEPREVIOUSchapterweobservedhowThothjourneyedfromEgypttotheHellenicworld.TheHermeticsciencesmagic,alchemy,andastrologyflourishedinthegardensofAlexandria.Thisheritagewasthenenrichedinthe6thcenturybytheArabs,whoaddedtheirownobservations.ButthenHermes Trismegistus traveled to the Christian West, with Spain, andlater Italy, sheltering and developing Hermes ancient knowledge.TothisnewstageinthehistoryofesotericismwewillprovidetheproperelementsforinterpretingthejourneyofChristianRosenkreuz and the contents of the Rosicrucian manifestos.ISLAM IN SPAINIn711theArabsinvadedSpain.Cordobasoonbecametheheartof Moslem Spain under the authority of the Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I. However, both the Christians and Jews, who were quitenumerousinSpain,preservedtheirfreedomofworship.Thissituationhadpositiverepercussions,foritpermittedculturalexchanges. Spain contributed to spreading throughout the West theentireculturalheritagearrivingfromtheArabcivilizationwhich,at62the time, was more advanced than that of Europe in many aspects.AlargequantityofGreektexts,preservedbytheArabsandunknownuntiltheninEurope,weremadeaccessiblethroughtheLatin translations made by Spanish scholars.EsotericwisdomalsopenetratedtheWestbywayofSpain.InToledo,anumberofalchemical,magical,andastronomicaltextsweretranslated,andthiscityquicklyacquiredthereputationofbeingthechairoftheoccultsciences.1Thediscoveryofthebody of St. James at Compostela at the beginning of the 9th centurycontributed to stimulating the Christian Reconquista of Spain, an eventthatonlycametoacloseseveralcenturieslater.Thiswasalmostaccomplishedinthe13thcentury,withtheexceptionofthekingdomofGranada,whichhadtowaitanothertwocenturiestocome under Christian domination. But, before then, by the 11th and12thcenturies,numerouspilgrimagestoCompostelafromalloverEuropeputSpainintouchwiththerestofChristendom,thuscontributing to an expansion of the esoteric corpus.ALCHEMY IN SPAINAsRobertHalleuxpointedoutinLaRceptiondelalchimiearaheenOccident(TheReceptionofArabAlchemyintheWest),thetranslation of Arab alchemical texts opened the way to its develop-mentintheWest.2SpainwasthewaybywhichalchemyenteredEurope. Alchemy is generally thought to have made its debut in theWestin1144,theyearwhenRobertofChester,archdeaconofPamplona,madehistranslationofMorienus.Theprefaceofthis63text recalled the legend of the three Hermes. In the years 1140-1150,another Spanish writer, Hugo de Santalla, translated from Arabic theSecret Book of Creation. In this work, Balinus(i.e., Apollonius of Tyana)recountedhisdiscoveryofthetombofHermesTrismegistus,inwhichhefoundtheEmerald Tablet.InToledo,GerardofCremona(114-1187)learnedArabicandtranslatedtextsfromtheimmensebodyofworksbyGeberandRhazes,whileJohnofToledo,aconverted Jew, translated the Sifr-al-asrar (The Secret of Secrets) ofthe Pseudo-Aristotle, a fundamental alchemical text.THE PICATRIXParallelingthedevelopmentofalchemy,magicalsoexperiencedarenewalinthe12thcentury.DuringtheMiddleAges,itwasessentiallylinkedtotheremnantsofpaganismanddidnotuseanydirectsources.ItsvulgatewasbaseduponthosepassagesconcerningthissubjectwhichIsidoreofSeville(560-636)includedin hisEtymologies. Fromthe12thcentury,andespeciallyinthe13thcentury,thefundamentaltextsappearedintheWestbytheintro-ductionofArabandJewishtreatises.Afterwardsmagicarrivedatthe courts of princes and kings in a scholarly form, which allowed itto escape the con-demnations of the Church.AlfonsoX,theLearned,kingofCastileandLeon,hadtranslatedtheSeferRaziel,aJewishmagicaltreatise,andin1256healsotranslatedtheGhayatal-Hakimfil-sihr(GoaloftheSagesinMagic), more recently known as the Picatrix. The latter is a text ofexceptionalimportance,becauseitinsertsthevastmagicaland64astrologicalheritageofantiquity,thenoftheMiddleAges,intoatheoretical framework: the Neoplatonist philosophy onone hand andHermetismontheother.3ThisArabtreatise,attributedtoAbull-QasimMaslamaal-Majriti,waswritteninEgyptbetween1047and1051. This text, soon translated into Latin by Aegidius of Tebaldio,exertedconsiderableinfluenceonPeterofAbano,MarsilioFicino,andCorneliusHeinrichAgrippa.Itdealswiththesympathiesexisting between plants, stones, animals, planetsand the way theyshould be used for magical purposes. The author also discussed thepowerofmagicalimages,whichheclaimedwereinventedbyHermesTrismegistus.HealsostatedthatHermeswasthefounderof Adocentyn, an ideal city existing in Egypt before the time of theFlood. This city was organized around a solar cult whose priest wasHermes himself. Tommaso Campanella would later draw upon thistext for various concepts discussed in his City of the Sun.465THE QABALAHThepresenceofJewsinSpainplayedanimportantroleinthediffusion of the Qabalah. However, this study, centering around theSepher ha-Bahir (Bookof Light), originally developed in Languedoc, aregion of southern France, in the early 12th century. Many Qabalistsweretobefoundinthisregion,suchasAbrahambenIsaac(died1180),presidentofthetribunalofNarbonne,andIsaactheBlind(1165-1235).Shortlyafterwards,theQabalahevolvedinSpain,primarilyinCatalonia(Gerona)andCastile(Toledo).There,thecontemplative aspect of the Qabalah of the Languedoc was enrichedbyJewishthoughtdescendedfromtheGreco-Arabictradition,aswell as by the doctrines of Plotinus. In Zaragoza, Abraham Abulafia(1240-1291),agreatfigureoftheecstaticQabalah,perfectedatechniqueofmeditationontheHebrewlettersassociatedwithbreathing.Soonafterwards,inthe13thcentury,thereappearedtheZohar, a voluminous text which attained considerable success in theesoteric world. In 1305, in Valladolid,Spain, Moses of Leon claimedto have preservedthe original copy of this treatise.5ASTROLOGYBeginning in the 12th century, there followed Latin translations ofArabictextswhichweretobeinstrumentalinthegrowthofastrologyinEurope.AlthoughpresentintheWestfromthe6thcentury, astrology was heretofore a relatively immature science. ThetranslationoftextssuchastheKitabalUlufofabu-Mashar66(Albumazar)ledtoitsfurtherdevelopment.Thisbook,whichrecounted the legend of the three Hermes, is a summary of Persian,Indian,andGreekastrology.Accesstothebasictextsofancientastrologysetintomotionaconsiderableexpansionofthisbodyofknowledge, as evidenced by the rapid growth of calendars, almanacs,predictions, and imagery using planetary symbolism. Nonetheless, itwas only in the 14th century that a Latin translation of a major textof astrology, the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy, would appear.THE EXPULSION OF THE JEWSAfter the 13th century, which marked the height of the Reconquista,Spain abandoned the religious tolerance established by the Moslems.TheJewswerealreadyexperiencingdifficulties,beinggiventhechoicebetweenconversion,exile,ordeath.In1391,manyallowedthemselvestobebaptizedsoastoavoidmassacre.Someofthem,theMarannos,convertedinpublic,butcontinuedtopracticetheirreligioninsecret.Afterwardscametheexpulsions,beginningin1483inAndalucia,followedin1492withtheexpulsionofalltheJews by Ferdinand and Isabella. Some settled in Italy, carrying withthem a secret wisdom that flourished once again. This heritage wasaddedtothatalreadyaccumulatedinItaly.Infact,in1439,theEastern Christians, menaced by the expansion of Islam, endeavoredtoreachouttotheircounterpartsintheWest.Withthisgoalinmind,anumberofEasternscholars,suchastheNeoplatonistGemistusPletho,cametoFlorencetoparticipateinacouncilofreconciliation.TheycarriedwiththemtoItalythetextsofGreek67philosophers.Theattemptsatreconciliationwereundertakentoolate to prevent the catastrophe that would very soon overwhelm theByzantineChurch:theseizureofConstantinoplebytheTurksin1453.Aswewillseeinthefollowingchapters,itisnocoincidencethat the author of the Chymical Wedding made 1453 the year in whichChristianRosenkreuzreceivedtheannouncementofanintendedwedding in a vision.THE ACADEMY OF FLORENCEThe capture of Constantinople in 1453 allowed Greek cultureinparticulartheworksofPlato,whowasonlyknownfromvariousextractsto penetrate Italy. Cosimo di Medici, the ruler of Florence,wasawareoftheimportanceofthisevent,andsohecreatedthePlatonicAcademyofFlorenceandrequestedthatMarsilioFicino(1433r499)translatePlato.Anindefatigabletraveler,FicinowouldprovidetheWestwithitsfirsttranslationofPlato,aswellastranslationsofPlotinus,Proclus,Iamblichus,andDionysiustheAreopagite. Soon afterwards, an important development took place.TheCorpusHermeticum,oftenmentionedintheMiddleAges,haddisappeared and the Asclepius was the only text still extant. Then, in1460, a monk in the service of the Medicis obtained a manuscript ofthe Corpus Hermeticum.CosimoIconsideredthedocumenttobesoimportantthatheaskedMarsilioFicinotointerrupthistranslationofPlatosoastoworkuponthenewlydiscoveredmaterial.Shortlythereafter,in1471,FicinopublishedthefirsttranslationoftheCorpusHermeticum.Thiseditiongarneredsuchawidespread68readershipthatitwouldbereprintedsixteentimesuntilthe16thcentury.6PHILOSOPHIA PERENNISFicino was convinced that the original text of the Corpus HermeticumhadbeenwritteninEgyptian.HermesTrismegistuswasalsodescribed as an Egyptian priest who had originated and transmittedallofthesecretwisdom.Ficino,inhisTheologiaPlatonica,publishedin1482,devisedafamilytreeofphilosopherstowhomthisknowledgehaddescendedfromHermes:Zoroaster,Orpheus,Aglaopheme, Pythagoras, and Plato.7 This vision gave birth to a newconcept, that of the Primordial Tradition, a primal revelation that wasperpetuatedfromagetoage,frominitiatetoinitiate.Thisconcept,previously endorsed by St. Augustine, experienced a renewal due toFicino.Itwasformalizedin1540byAgostinoSteuco(1496-1549),in his concept of Philosophia Perennis the eternal philosophy.ItisquiteunderstandablethatthisconceptofeternalphilosophywouldfindsuchafavorablereceptioninFlorence.ItwasclaimedthataftertheFlood,NoahhadestablishedtwelvecitiesinEtruria(i.e.,Tuscany),andalegendevenclaimedthathisbodywasburiednear Rome. From this arose the notion that the Tuscan dialect haditssourceinEtruscan,andwasthusolderandsuperiortoLatin.8LittleeffortwasneededtoconnectFlorencewiththeverysourcesofcivilizationandeventotheauthoroftheCorpusHermeticumseeing that Hermes Trismegistus was claimed to be a contemporaryofNoah.Theseideas,debatedfiercelywithintheAcademyof69Florence, were particularly cherished by Cosimo di Medici, who feltthat they provided proof of the superiority of Florence and Tuscanyover the rest of Italy.NATURAL MAGICAlthough the Corpus Hermeticum mentioned the secret knowledge oftheEgyptians,itwasratherimpreciseconcerningitsimplementation. In Treatise 13 of the corpus, Hermes TrismegistustaughthissonTattheprinciplesofmysticalregenerationwhichcouldbeobtainedbysuppressingthesenses,innegatingtheill-omened influences of the stars, and allowing the Divinity to be bornin man.9MarsilioFicinowasnotonlyapriestbutaphysician;andthus,hehadasenseoftheconcrete.HesoughttheapplicationofthesetheoriesinNeoplatonismbutprimarilyinthePicatrix,theworks of abu-Mashar, and in the writings of his compatriot Peter ofAbano (1250-1316), who had studied Arab magic. Ficino arrived at anaturalmagicwhichlinkedthesetheorieswiththeChristianconceptoftheCreatorsWord.Hisnaturalmagicachievedconsiderablerefinement.Hemadeuseofthesympathiessuchastheplanetarycharactersinscribedinalltheelements,minerals,plants,aswellasperfumes,wines,poetry,andmusic(Orphichymns) to capture the spiritus mundi,10 the subtle energies of Creation.MarsilioFicinoisaprominentfigureinthehistoryofWesternesotericism, not only for his role as translator and commentator ontheancienttexts,butalsoforsuchworksasDe Triplici Vita,whichexertedgreatinfluence.AsAntoineFaivrehasremarked,thanksto70Ficino esotericism formed itself into a philosophy until being madean integral part of the thought of the Renaissance.11ANGELIC MAGICFicinosmostillustriouspupilwasthechildgeniusPicodellaMirandola(1463-1494),who,whenmerelytwenty-threeyearsold,hadalreadystudiedeverythingthenknownaboutvariousreligions,philosophies,andesotericsciences.AlthoughFicinoscornedtheQabalah,PicodellaMirandoladiscoveredacomplementtohisteachersformofmagicinthistradition.Hebelieveditusefultoreinforce natural magic by use of Qabalistic magic which was basedontheenergiesoftheempyrean.Thisknowledge,whichinvokedtheangelsandarchangelsbytheirnamesinHebrewdescribedasbeingthelanguageofGodpossessedconsiderableefficacyforhim.RevivingthetheoriesofSt.JeromeandNicholasofCusaconcerningthenameofJesus,hedemonstratedthattheQabalahallowedChristsdivinitytobeproven.Thus,PicoestablishedthefoundationsofaChristianQabalah.12Auniversalistinhisthinking,healsowantedtodemonstratethatallphilosophicalsystems converged. For that reason, in 1486 he published 900 thesesdrawnfromvarioussources.Amongtheargumentswhichheadvanced,letusjustmentionthathedeclaredmagicandtheQabalahtobecomplementariesofChristianity(ThesisNo.7)andthathecampaignedinfavorofQabalisticmagic(ThesisNo.11).Pico proposed to defend these theses in a public debate, but as canbe imagined, the reaction was fierce and he was forced to flee Italy71toprotecthimself.Nevertheless,hewasrehabilitatedinJuneof1493byAlexanderVI,apopewholookedquitefavorablyuponmagic and astrology.THE VOARCHADUMIADuringthisperiod,Italybecameanactivecenterofesotericism.VeniceplayedanimportantroleinthedisseminationoftheQabalah, astrology, the science of numbers, and alchemy.13 After the13thcentury,thealchemicalcorpustransmittedbytheArabswascompletelytranslatedandledtoafloweringofwritingscomposedbyAlbertusMagnus,ThomasAquinas,RogerBacon,ArnoldofVillanova,RaymondLully,andNicholasFlamel.Inthe14thand15th centuries, it was accompanied by a renewal of alchemy that hadadoptedtheChristianallegoryandtookonamysticalconnotationthatwasquestionedbysomepeople.Diditinvolveapracticumexpressedinreligiousterms,oramysticalexperienceexpressedinalchemicalterms?14Thistrendcorroboratedamovementthatbeganinthesecondhalfofthe13thcenturywiththeAuroraconsurgens(TheRisingDawn),atreatiseattributedtoSt.ThomasAquinas,whichrepresentedthealchemicalprocessasaninnerregenerativeexperience.15In1478MichaelPantheuspublishedinVenicealargetreatiseentitledVoarchadumiawhichemphasizedthetranscendentalaspectofalchemy.LegendhasitthattheVoarchadumia was a Venetian secret society. Whatever the case, manyscholarsjourneyedtoItalytostudytheoccultsciences.AmongthemwereJohannReuchlinandCorneliusHeinrichAgrippa,who72both contributed to the diffusion of esotericism throughout Europe.DE VERBO MIRIFICOIncludedamongtheexpelledSpanishJewswhosettledinItalyafter1492wasJudahAbravanel(c.1460-1523),aphysicianandQabalist.AconverttoCatholicism,hewaspassionatelyfondofNeoplatonism.Afterhisdeath,hisDialoghidiAmore(DialoguesofLove)waspublished,aworkinwhichhemadeasynthesisofNeoplatonismandtheQabalah,thuswideningthefieldopenedbyPicodellaMirandolaandMarsilioFicino.Butitwastoafourthindividual, Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522), that came the honors ofsynthesizing the work of his three predecessors. Reuchlin journeyedto Rome in 1482 to study Hebrew, and he then traveled to FlorencetomeetPico.UponreturningtoGermany,hebecameanavidpromoter of the Christian Qabalah. He published in 1494 De VerboMirifico in which he investigated more thoroughly Picos speculationsupontheWord,Leschouah.Theimpactofthisbookwasdecisive,becauseitwasthefirstEuropeanworkentirelydedicatedtotheQabalah.Itwascomplementedin1517byDeArteCabbalistica,oneofthefundamentaltextsoftheChristianQabalah.Importantdevelopments which Reuchlin gave to angelology cleansed it of thedemonological suspicions which tainted Ficinos natural magic.HARMONY OF THE WORLDNatural magic emphasized the occult sympathies existing betweenallthingsinCreation.Thisconceptgainedanaddeddimension73throughtheeffortsofFrancescoGiorgi(1450-1540),aFranciscanfriarofVenice.In1525hepublishedDeHarmoniaMundi,anessential text of the Christian Qabalah. His originality derived fromthefactthathecombinedPythagoreannumerologicaltradition,alchemy,andthearchitectureofVitruvius(1stcenturyA.D.)withtheQabalahofPicodellaMirandolaandtheNeoplatonismofMarsilioFicino.ThisworkexertedanenormousinfluenceoverEnglishRosicrucians,notablyRobertFludd,andoverthegroupofFrenchwriterscalledLaPliade,duetothetranslationofLeFvrede la Boderie.FIGURE 5. Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa.OCCULT PHILOSOPHYForJohannReuchlinangelicmagichadtakenonamoreprecisecharacter,butitremainedbasicallytheoretical.ItwasCornelius74HeinrichAgrippa(1486-1534)who,byhispracticaltrainingasaphysician,movedmagictowardsamoreconcretedimensionbypublishing a genuine handbook of practical magic entitled De OccultaPhilosophia.Initsfirsteditionof1510,thisbookwasstronglyinfluencedbythePicatrix,CorpusHermeticum,andtheworksofFicino.Inthesecondeditionof1533,theQabalahassumedagreater role. With Reuchlin, magic was a method for uniting with theDivine, whereas with Agrippa magic touched upon other subjects inapplyingitselftothevariousproblemsofhumanexistence.Therefore,hismagicwhethernatural,celestial,orceremoniallostthesubtletywhichMarsilioFicinohadgivenit.Agrippacombinedangelology,thescienceofnumbers,andArabmagicwhencomposinghismagicalsquares(seefig.6),planetaryseals,andtablesofcorrespondencesbetweenplants,minerals,numbers,andangels.Agrippasbook,despitebeingplacedontheindexofproscribedworksbyPopePiusVI,experiencedalevelofsuccess which has continued to the present day.16GIORDANO BRUNOGiordanoBruno(1548-1600),aDominicanpriestandagreattraveler, was one of the individuals who contributed enormously tothespreadofesotericisminEurope.StronglyinfluencedbythewritingsofhisItaliancompatriotsMarsilioFicinoandPicodellaMirandola,aswellasCorneliusHeinrichAgrippa,heassiduouslyreadtheCorpusHermeticum.InhisbookSpacciodellaBestiaTrionfante(The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast, 1584), he went so far as to75claim that Egyptian Hermeticism was superior to Christianity. At thebeginningofthiswork,hedescribesameetingofgodswhoassembledforthepurposeofageneralreformofhumanity,whichimpliesareturntotheEgyptianreligion.17Thisthemeforthenecessityofuniversalreformhadgreatinfluence,notablyuponIRagguaglidiParnaso(TheAdvertisementsfromParnassus,1612)byTraianoBoccalini(1556-1613).OneofthechaptersofthisbookwasafterwardsusedastheintroductiontotheFamaFraternitatis.Bruno was closer to Ficino than the Christian Qabalists, and he wasnotatallinterestedintheQabalah.Withhim,thefigureoftheChristianmagusdisappearedentirely.HepreferredtheEgyptianmagic of the Asclepius. He claimed that the Christians had stolen thesymbol of the cross from the Egyptians and prophesied a return tothe Egyptian religion. He lectured upon his theories in Germany atthecourtofEmperorRudolphIIandinEngland.Acolorfulindividual, Bruno was the author of a series of books which toucheduponamultitudeofsubjects.Histheologicalandscientificconceptionsfor example, the universe conceived as being infinite,atheoryborrowedfromNicholasofCusagothimintotroublewiththeInquisition,andin1600hewasburnedatthestakeinRome.76FIGURE 6. Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia, 1510.ALCHEMY AND NATUREHermeticisms spread into Germany was limited. Yet it penetratedthecourtofRudolphII,nicknamedtheGermanHermes,influencinginparticularthealchemistMichaelMaierandtheastronomerJohannesKepler,bothofwhomhadreadtheCorpusHermeticum.Europeanalchemyhadtwoperiodsofgreatness:the12th century which marked its genesis; and the Renaissance, where it77expandedrapidlyespeciallyinGermanywhichexperiencedinthe16thcenturyaveritabletidalwaveofthespagyricsea.18Inthelatterperiodthereappearedthegreatanthologiesofalchemicaltexts, such as the celebrated Theatrum chemicum (1602), as well as thefirstalchemicaldictionaries,whichcharacterizedtheneedforathoroughinvestigationandsynthesiswhichhadalreadymanifesteditself. Here it should be pointed out that 16th century alchemy wasenriched by new qualities. The fabrication of gold was now of littleconcern.Instead,alchemymanifestedstrongspiritualconnotations,stressedcertainmedicalapplications,andclaimedtobeaunifyingscience. Alchemy also sought to enter into a consideration regardingthe history of Creation, of the tragic cosmogony which led not onlyto the fall of man, but also that of nature. The alchemist is thus notonlymansphysician,assistinginhisregenerationandgivingbirthagaintohisspiritualcondition,butthealchemistisalsonaturesphysician, as his constant mission is to nurse nature so as to perfectit. Co-birth, rebirth, and nature are intimately linked in this alchemy.(Incidentally,thewordnaturecomesfromtheLatinnatura,thefuture participle of nascor which means to be born.)78FIGURE 7. Composition inspired by a portrait drawn by Augustin Hirschvogel in1540. Lucien Braun indicates that the above-mentioned drawing is taken from BuchMeteorumbyFranzHogenberg(1566),whileWalterPageldescribesitascomingfromPhilosophiaMagnabyTheodorBirkmann(1567).JosephusStellatus(C.Hirsch),inPegasusFirmamenti(1618),thoughtthethreeballssurroundedbythecrossesshownonthecoatofarmstoberoses,andtherebyconcludedthatthesewereanallusiontotheRosicrucians.Ontheotherhand,E.D.Hauber,inBibliotheca Magica (1739), claimedwithout presenting any convincing argumentsthatthevignettessurroundingtheportraitrecalledRosicrucianism.In1946,JosefStrebelimproperlysawinthesevignettesallRosicruciansymbolismofParacelsus,whichtheworkofWalterPagel,Paracelse(1962),contributedtopopularize.79PARACELSUSTheophrastusParacelsus(1493-1541)wastheindividualmostcharacteristicofthisevolutioninscience.Hisworkrepresentedagargantuan effort to make use of all of the knowledge of his era. Hedelveddeeplyintoastrology,alchemy,magic,andpopulartraditions.19 Asaphysician,heprotestedtheideasofGalenwhoreignedsupremeoveramedicinethathadbeenstrippedofitseffectiveness.InhisVolumenmedicinaeparamirumandhisOpusparamirum,hesetforththebasisofanewmedicine.Thetheoryofmanasamicrocosm,alreadypopularizedbyJohannesScotusErigena,tookonamoreexactmeaningforhim.ForParacelsus,philosophy was the discovery of invisible nature. Nature assumedanessentialfunctionforhim,becauseGodspeakstousboththroughthescripturesandthroughnature.Thus,wemustattuneourselvesbycontemplatingtheBookofNature.AccordingtoParacelsus,mansroleistorevealnatureinitslight.Natureremainsincomplete,initsunknowing;however,itsrevelationmaybe found in man, who is born so as to lead it to its perfection.The alchemist, in seeking to understand natures laws, engages in adialogue with Creation. Through this exchange, natures hidden lightis revealed and illuminates humanity. But the latter cannot arrive atthisresultwithoutpreparation,withoutregeneration.AsRolandEdighoffer has remarked, Paracelsus described in a special way thistransformationofmaninhisLiberderesurrectioneetcorporumglorificatiorte(1533).Herepeatedlycombines(seventeentimesinsix80pages)thesymbolsoftheCrossandRoseandconnectsthemwithalchemicaltransmutationandresurrection.Paracelsuswrote:Truegoldisthatwhichemergespurifiedfromthefire....Thus,atthetimeoftheresurrection,theimpureshallbeseparatedfromthepure, it shall be born with a new body which, because it will be moreluminousthanthesunshallbecalledtheglorifiedbody.Theresurrection of Christ is an image dear to us. . . from him unto himweshallrise,astherosewhichisrebornfromasimilarseed.20Paracelsuswasanindividualofconsiderabledepth,andifwehaveemphasizedcertainaspectsofhisthinking,itisbecausetheyhadaparticularlyimportantbearingontheFamaFraternitatisandtheConfessio Fraternitatis.THE DEATH OF HERMESThecontributionofvarioustraditionsinthecontextofRenaissancehumanismhadgivenrisetotheideaoftolerancebetween all religions, philosophies, and traditions. Nicholas of Cusahad formulated such ideas at the time of the council of Florence in1439.Afterwards,PicodellaMirandolahadsoughttoharmonizethesediversetraditions.Otherswentmuchfarther,suchasFrancescoPatrizi,whospokeofauniversalphilosophy,apansophia,andinhisbookNovadeUniversisPhilosophia (1591) hehad the temerity to ask Pope Gregory XIV to teach Hermeticism inChristianschoolsforthepurposeofbringingabouttheestablishment of a true religion. Alas, such avant-garde ideas carriedlittleweightbeforethepredominatingpolitico-religiousinterests,81which had already given rise to a period of religious intolerance. TheWarsofReligion,beginningwiththe16thcentury,weresoontorestrain the expansion of Hermeticism.Anotheraspect,whichpassedunnoticedatthistime,wouldsoonbringintoquestionthematteroftheEgyptianheritage.In1614,Isaac Casaubon wrote De rebus sacriset ecclesiasticis exercitationes XVI, aworkinwhichhedemonstratedthattheCorpus HermeticumwasnotofEgyptianoriginandthatitwaswrittennotbyHermesTrismegistus,butbyChristiansfromaroundthe2ndcentury.Thisrevelation put a halt to Hereticism in the Renaissance. Nevertheless,eventhoughitseverelyweakenedtheesoterictraditionelaboratedupon in the Renaissance, it did not obliterate the fact that there wasineffectatransmissionofknowledgetotheWestcomingfromaremotepast,ofanOrientofLightinwhichEgyptmaybeconsidered the center of attraction.In any case, it may be said that the foundation of what constitutedtheedificeofWesternesotericismalchemy,astrology,magic,Qabalah,scienceofnumbers,anddivinationwasestablishedintheRenaissance.ThusitisastonishingtonotethatCasaubonsdiscoverycoincidedwithareorganization,arefoundationofWesternesotericismmarkedbythepublicationoftheRosicrucianmanifestosin1614.ChristianRosenkreuzwastoreplaceHermesTrismegistusandEgyptwastoleavethescene,butitwouldeventually return, as we shall see later. This rebirth of the tradition,this renaissance, would come about in an atmosphere of crisis.82FIGURE 8. Valentin Weigel, Studium universale, 169583IChapter 3THE CRISIS OF THEEUROPEANCONSCIOUSNESSNEXAMININGTHEoriginsofRosicrucianism,wehaveprobed the roots of Western esotericism. It remains for us nowto examine the environment which allowed the Rose to bloomon the Cross. Indeed, we need to sketch a full picture of the era inwhichtheRosicrucianmovementdeveloped,soastounderstandtheextraordinaryimpactthatthepublicationoftheRosicrucianmanifestoshadonEuropeancivilization.Atthedawnofthe17thcentury,Europewasbeingfullytransformed.Indescribingthissituation,thephrasecrisisoftheEuropeanconsciousnesshasoften been used. As Alexandre Koyr has written, during this periodtheEuropeanspiritunderwentorcompletedaprofoundspiritualrevolution,arevolutionwhichmodifiedthefoundationsandeventheframeworkofourthinking.1Wementionthesematters so as to point out how the Rosicrucian writings appeared tooffer a possible answer to the crisis faced at that time.2THE INFINITE UNIVERSE84Thedevelopmentofanewcosmologywasnotatallunrelatedtothe disruptions characterizing the 17th century. Indeed, shortly afterthediscoveriesofNicolausCopernicus(1473-1543),astronomyrenouncedthePtolemaicsystemwhichhaddominateduntilthen.Theimageofaclosedworldwasdisplacedbythatofaninfiniteuniverse,wheretheEarthandconsequentlyhumanitywasnolongerinthecenter.Atasinglestroke,thetheoryofepicycles,whichPtolemyhadusedtoexplainplanetarymovements,wasdemolished.ThisineffectualtheorywasmockedinChapter13ofthe Confessio Fraternitatis.Thisnewvisionoftheworldgaverisetothreeconflictingpositions.Thefirst,promulgatedbyGalileoGalilei(1564-1642),established a new scientific attitude and opened the way to a rationalvisionoftheuniverse,thatofaworldreducedtogeometricaldimensions.ExploitingarecentdiscoveryoftheDutch,Galileoconstructedatelescopethatallowedhimtocombinemathematicsandobservation.WecaneasilyimaginetheChurchsattitudewhenconfronted with his vision of the worlda vision so contrary to thatoftheScriptures.ChurchmencondemnedtheCopernicansystem,and Galileo was soon forced to renounce such theories. This event,markingtheriftbetweentheCatholicChurchandscience,inauguratedalongperiodwhenscientificresearchwascrushedbydogmatic fanaticism. Giordano Bruno and Galileo bore the brunt ofthis hostility.Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) offered a third way. A contemporaryof Galileo, he was the assistant to Tycho Brahe at the imperial court85of Rudolph II, the German Hermes. Keplers view of the universedifferedinthatitcombinedheliocentrismwiththeHermeticismofthe Renaissance. In his Mysterium cosmographicum (1596), he made theSunthecenteroftheWorldSoul,thesourcewhichimpartedmovementtotheplanetarysouls.ButbeforelongKeplerwouldchangehismindregardingthismatter,andwhenthisworkwasreissuedin1606,hefounditadvisabletoreplacethewordsoulwiththatofforce.Thischangeinattitudeinvolvedhiminacelebrated controversy with Robert Fludd.3ThisnewvisionofthecosmossuddenlydisclosedaconceptoriginallyposedbyDemocritusthatofthevacuuminwhichtheuniversemoved.SincethetimeofAristotle,thissubjecthadbeenconsidered to be of little merit, but in the 16th century it was seen inadifferentlight.Thistheory,whichchallengedtheomnipotenceofGod,isevennowcontroversial.4Thisisundoubtedlythereasonwhy the Fama Fraternitatis makes this statement: the vacuum doesnot exist. All of these elements changed the relationship of humanswith the universe. The latter was demythified, as it was now seen asavastmachinemadeupofcogwheelsthatcouldbeinvestigatedusing ones reason.86FIGURE9.Aristotle,Ptolemy,andCopernicusonthefrontispieceofabookbyGalileo, Dialogue Concerning the Two Principal Systems of the Universe , 1635.THE CATALOGUES OF THE WORLDThesamesituationappliedtotheterrestrialworld,asitslimitswere pushed back with the discovery of America in 1492 and of themaritimeroutetoIndiain1498.Thesevoyagescontributedtothecreationofthefirstsemi-accuratemapsoftheworld,suchasSebastianMnstersCosmographiapublishedin1544,aworkwhichexperiencedimmediatesuccess,ortheequallycelebratedAtlasofGerhardusMercator.Theprogressofprintingengravedmaterialsalsoledtotherapidexpansionofscientificworks.Inthe16thcentury,thefirstcataloguesenumeratingthemanynaturalriches87of the world were published. Representative of this movement werethe immense herbals published by Otto Brunfels of Strasbourg andLeonhartFuchsofTbingen,aswellassimilarworkscompiledbyKonradvonGesnerofSwitzerland;UlisseAldrovandiofBologna,Italy;andGuillaumeRondeletandPierreBelonofFrance.Inthisera, European princes also loved to collect the marvels of naturehencetheimportanceofcuriositycabinets,wherevariousodditieswereassembled.InthisregardEmperorRudolphIIisparticularlyinterestinginthatheassociatedthepossessionofsuchcuriositieswith the assumption of their magical powers.5HUMAN ANATOMY REVEALEDIfthevisionofthemacrocosmchanged,thatofthemicrocosmalsoevolved.In1543thesameyearthatCopernicusbookonheliocentrismappearedAndreasVesalius(1514-1564)publishedapivotal work in the history of medicine, DeHumaniCorporisFabrica.Thisvolume,whichisthesourceofhumananatomy,attackedtheopinions of Galen (c. 131-201), long considered to be the foremostauthorityinmedicine.AnothergroupofwritingswhichstronglyinfluencedtheevolutionofmedicinewerethoseofParacelsus.From 1560, Johann Huser began to compile the manuscripts of thismedicalpioneer,whicheventuallyledtothepublicationofthecompleteworksofParacelsusintenvolumes(1589-1591).Alsocontributingtotheadvanceofmedicinewastheinventionofthemicroscope by Zacharias Janssen, a spectacles maker of MiddelburgalthoughthisinventionissometimesattributedtoCornelis88Drebbelorothers.ShortlyafterwardsWilliamHarvey(1578-1657),theCopernicusofMedicine,publishedhisDeMotuCordisetSanguinis in Animalibus, in which he revealed his discoveries regardingblood circulation.Theseelements,asawhole,helpedtomodifyhumanitysviewofthe universe. No longer did humans contemplate the mysteries of aworldtowhichavengefulGodhadexiledthem.Theologywasnolongerneededtounderstandtheworld;rather,humansobserved,calculated, and understood the forces ruling all creation. The role ofmaster and possessor of nature had been bestowed upon humanity.FIGURE 10. Otto Brunfels, Herbarum vivae eicones ad naturae imitationem, 1541THE REFORMATIONWhilesciencewasbeingtransformed,religionwasexperiencinga89full-blowncrisis.Thiswasnotanunprecedentedevent,asChristianityhadalreadybeentornapartbytheWesternSchismin1378, when a group of ambitious cardinals elected two popes onein Avignon, Clement VII, and the other in Rome, Urban VIeachofwhomexcommunicatedhisrival.Thissorryspectacleofrivalpopes lasted until 1417. Furthermore, with the invention of printing,the circulation of ideas became more feasible and the humanism oftheRenaissanceopenedtheWesttovarioussourcesofspirituality.Suchprincipleswereprobablynotirrelevanttothereflectionsofmanythinkerswhentheyponderedtheirownnaturaeimitationem,1541.religion.TheyeachquestionedthewaybywhichtheChurchaccomplisheditsministryandhowitwasoverlypreoccupiedwithtemporal matters.The unity of the Western Church was once again torn asunder bytheReformation,whichclaimedtobeareturntothespiritoftheGospels.In1517,Lutherpostedhisninety-fivethesesdenouncingthecommerceinindulgencesandrelicsestablishedbyRome.Reformers emphasized the fact that salvation is a grace derived fromones faith and not ones works, and they placed the authority of theBible beyond the dogmas established by human beings. Luther alsoaccusedtheChurc