238. Astrology perhaps Secret Heresy.—The
mystic astronomy of ancient nations produced judicial astrology, which,
considered from this point of view, will appear less absurd. It was the
principal study of the Middle Ages; and Rome was so violently opposed to it
because, perhaps, it was not only heresy, but a wide-spread reaction against the
Church of Rome. It was chiefly cultivated by the Jews, and protected by princes
opposed to the papal supremacy. The Church was not satisfied with burning the
books, but burned the writers; and the poor astrologers, who spent their lives
in the contemplation of the heavens, mostly perished at the stake.
239. Process by which Astrology degenerated.— As it often happens that the latest disciples attach
themselves to the letter, understanding literally what in the first instance was
only a fiction, taking the mask for a real face, so we may suppose astrology to
have degenerated and become false and puerile. Hermes, the legislator of Egypt,
who was revealed in the Samothracian mysteries, and often represented with a ram
by his side—a constellation initiating the new course of the equinoctial sun,
the conqueror of darkness—was revived in astrological practice; and a great
number of astrological works, the writings of Christian Gnostics and
Neo-Platonists, were attributed to him, and he was considered the father of the
art from him called hermetic, and embracing astrology and alchymy, the
rudimentary efforts of two sciences, which at first overawed ignorance by
imposture, but, after labouring for centuries in the dark, conquered for
themselves glorious thrones in human knowledge.
240. Scientific Value of Alchymy.—
Though Alchymy is no longer believed in as a true science, in spite of the
prophecy of Dr. Girtanner, of Göttingen, that in the nineteenth century the
transmutation of metals will be generally known and practised, it will never
lose its power of awakening curiosity and seducing the imagination. The aspect
of the marvellous which its doctrines assume, the strange renown attaching to
the memory of the adepts, and the mixture of reality and illusion, of truths and
chimeras which it presents, will always exercise a powerful fascination upon
many minds. And we ought also to remember that every delusion that has had a
wide and enduring influence must have been founded, not on falsehood, but on
misapprehended truth. This aphorism is especially applicable to Alchymy, which,
in its origin, and even in its name, is identical with chemistry, the syllable al
being merely the definite article of the Arabs. The researches of the
Alchymists for the discovery of the means by which transmutation might be
effected were naturally suggested by the simplest experiments in metallurgy and
the amalgamation of metals it is very probable that the first man who
made brass thought that he had produced imperfect gold.
241.
The Tincture.— The transmutation of the base metal was to be effected by means
of the transmuting tincture, which, however, was never found. But it exists for
all that; it is the power that turns a green stalk into a golden ear of corn,
that fills the sour unripe apple with sweetness and aroma, that has turned the
lump of charcoal into a diamond. All these are natural processes, which, being
allowed to go on, produce the above results. Now, all base metals may be said to
be imperfect metals, whose progress towards perfection has been arrested, the
active power of the tincture being shut up in them in the first property of
nature. If a man could take hold of the tincture universally
diffused in nature, and by its help assist the imprisoned tincture in the metal
to stir and become active, then the transmutation into gold, or rather the
manifestation of the hidden life, could be effected. But this power
or tincture is so subtle that it cannot possibly be apprehended; yet the
Alchymists did not seek the non-existing, but only the unattainable.
242. Aims
of Alchymy.—The three great ends pursued by Alchymy were the
transmutation of base metals into gold by means of the philosopher’s stone;
the discovery of the panacea, or universal medicine, the elixir of life; and the
universal solvent, which, being applied to any seed, should increase its
fecundity. All these three objects are attainable by means of the tincture—a
vital force, whose body is electricity, by which the two latter aims have to
some extent been reached, for electricity will both cure disease and promote the
growth of plants. Alchymy was then in the beginning the search after means to
raise matter up to its first state, whence it was supposed to have fallen. Gold
was considered, as to matter, what the ether of the eighth heaven was as to
souls; and the seven metals, each called by the name of one of the seven
planets, the knowledge of the seven properties really implied being lost—the
Sun, gold; Moon, silver; Saturn, lead; Venus, tin ; Mercury, iron; Mars, mixed
metal Jupiter, copper,(1)—formed the ascending scale of purification,
corresponding with the trials of the seven caverns or steps. Alchymy was thus
either a bodily initiation, or an initiation into the mysteries, a spiritual
Alchymy; the one formed a veil of the other, wherefore it often happened that in
workshops where the vulgar thought the adepts occupied with handicraft
operations, and nothing sought but the metals of the golden age, in reality, no
other philosopher s stone was searched for than the cubical stone of the temple
of philosophy; in fine, nothing was purified but the passions, men, and not
metals, being passed through the crucible. Böhme, the greatest of mystics, has
written largely on the perfect analogy between the philosophical work and
spiritual regeneration.
243. History of Alchymy.—Alchymy flourished
in Egypt at a very early age, and Solomon was said to have practised it. Its golden age began with the conquest
of the Arabs in Asia and Africa, about the time of the destruction, of the
Alexandrian Library. The Saracens, credulous, and intimate with the fables of
talismans and celestial influences, eagerly admitted the wonders of Alchymy. In
the splendid courts of Almansor and Haroun al Raschid, the professors of the
hermetic art found patronage, disciples, and emolument. Nevertheless, from the
above period until the eleventh century the only alchymist of note is the
Arabian Geber, whose proper name was Abu Mussah Djafar al Sofi. His attempts to
transmute the base metals into gold led him to several discoveries in chemistry
and medicine. He was also a famous astronomer, but—sic transit gloria
rnundi !—he has descended to our times as the founder of that jargon known
by the name of gibberish! The Crusaders brought the art to Europe; and about the
thirteenth century Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, and Raymond Lully appeared as
its revivers. Edward III. engaged John le Rouse and Master William de Dalby,
alchemists, to make experiments before him; and Henry VI. of England encouraged
lords, nobles, doctors, professors, and priests to pursue the search after the
philosopher’s stone; especially the priests, who, says the king— (ironically?)
—having the power to convert bread and wine into the body and blood of
Christ, may well convert an impure into a perfect metal. The next man of note
that pretended to the possession of the lapis philosophorurn was
Paracelsus, whose proper name was Philip Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus
Bombastus, of Hohenheim, and whom his followers called “Prince of Physicians,
Philosopher of Fire, the Trismegistus of Switzerland, Reformer of Alchymistical
Philosophy, Nature’s faithful Secretary, Master of the Elixir of Life and
Philosopher’s Stone, Great Monarch of Cbymical Secrets.” He introduced the
term alcahest (probably a corruption of the German words “all
geist,” - “all spirit“), to express the universal solvent. The
Rosicrucians, of whom Dr. Dee was the herald, next laid claim to alchymistical
secrets, and were, in fact, the descendants of the Alchymists; and it is for
this reason chiefly that these latter have been introduced into this work,
though they cannot strictly be said to have formed a secret society.
244. Still,
Alchymists formed Secret Societies.—Still, in the dedication to the
Emperor Rudolph II., prefixed to the work entitled Thesaurinella Chyrnica—aurea
tripartita, we read “Given in the Imperial City of Hagenau, in the year
1607 of our salvation, and in the reign of the true governor of Olympus, Angelus
Hagith, anno cxcvii.” The author calls himself Benedictus Figulus. The
dedication further mentions a Count Bernhard, evidently one of the heads of the
order, as having been introduced to a society of Alchymists, numbering fourteen
or fifteen members, in Italy. Further, Paracelsus is named as the monarcha of
this order; that is, the monarch, a local head, subject to the governor of
Olympus, the chief of the Italian society. The author also, beside the usual
chronology, gives a separate sectarian date; if we deduct cxcvii. (197) from
1607, we obtain the date 1410 as that of the foundation of the society. Figulus
says it was merged in the Rosicrucian order about the year 1607. Whether it was
the same as that mentioned by Raymond Lully in his “Theatrum Chymicum,”
whose chief was called Rex Physicoram, and which existed before 1400, is
uncertain.
245. Decay of Alchymy.—Alchymy
lost all credit in this country by the failure, and consequent suicide, of Dr.
James Price, a member of the Royal Society, to produce gold, according to
promise, the experiments to be performed in the presence of the Society. This
occurred in 1783. But in 1796 rumours spread throughout Germany of the existence
of a great union of adepts, under the name of the Hermetic Society, which,
however, consisted really of two members only, the well-known Karl Arnold Kortum,
the author of the Jobsiade, and one Bährens, though there were many
“honorary” members. The public, seeing no results, though the “ Society”
promised much, at last took no further notice of the Hermetics, and the wars,
which soon after devastated Europe, caused Alchymy to be forgotten; though up to
the year 1812 the higher society of Carlsruhe amused itself, in secret cliques,
with playing at the transmutation of metals. The last of the English Alchymists
seems to have been a gentleman of the name of Kellerman, who as lately as 1828
was living at Lilley, a village between Luton and Hitchin. There are, no doubt,
at the present moment men engaged in the search after the philosopher’s stone;
we patiently wait for their discoveries.
246. Specimens of Alchymistic
Language.—After Paracelsus the Alchymists divided into two classes: those
that pursued useful studies, and those that took up the visionary fantastical
side of Alchymy, writing books of mystical trash, which they fathered on Hermes,
Aristotle, Albertus Magnus, and others. Their language is now unintelligible.
One brief specimen may suffice. The power of transmutation, called the Green
Lion, was to be obtained in the following manner :—“ In the Green Lion’s
bed the sun and moon are born; they are married and beget a king; the king feeds
on the lion’s blood, which is the king’s father and mother, who are at the
same time his brother and sister. I fear I betray the secret, which I promised
my master to conceal in dark speech from every one who does not know how to rule
the philosopher’s fire.” Our ancestors must have had a great talent for
finding out enigmas if they were able to elicit a meaning from these mysterious
directions; still, the language was understood by the adepts, and was only
intended for them. Many statements of mathematical formulæ must always appear
pure gibberish to the uninitiated into the higher science of numbers; still,
these statements enunciate truths well understood by the mathematician. Thus, to
give but one instance, when Hermes Trismegistus, in one of the treatises
attributed to him, directs the adept to catch the flying bird and to drown it,
so that it fly no more, the fixation of quicksilver by a combination with
gold is meant.
247. Personal Fate of the Alchymists.—The
Alchymists, though chemistry is greatly indebted to them, and in their
researches they stumbled on many a valuable discovery, as a rule led but sad and
chequered lives, arid most of them died in the utmost poverty, if no worse fate
befell them. Thus one of the most famous Alchymists, Bragadino, who lived in
the last quarter of the sixteenth century, who obtained large sums of money for
his pretended secret from the Emperor of Germany, the Doge of Venice, and other
potentates, who boasted that Satan was his slave—two ferocious black dogs that
always accompanied him being demons—was at last hanged at Munich, the cheat
with which he performed the pretended transmutation having been discovered. The
two dogs were shot under the gallows. But even the honest Alchymists were
doomed—-
"To lose good days that might be
better spent,
To
waste long nights in pensive
discontent;
To speed to-day, to be put
back to-morrow,
To feed on hope, to pine with fear
and sorrow
To fret their souls with crosses and
with cares,
To eat their hearts through
comfortless despairs.
Unhappy wights, born to disastrous
end,
That do their lives in tedious
tendance spend!"
THE ROSICRUCIANS
268. Merits of the Rosicrucians.— A halo
of poetic splendour surrounds the order of the Rosicrucians; the magic lights
of fancy play around their graceful daydreams, while the mystery in which they
shrouded themselves lends an additional charm to their history. But their
brilliancy was that of a meteor. It just flashed across the realms of
imagination and intellect, and vanished forever; not, however, without leaving
behind some permanent and lovely traces of its hasty passage, just as the
momentary ray of the sun, caught on the artist’s lens, leaves a lasting image
on the sensitive paper. Poetry and romance are deeply indebted to the
Rosicrucians for many a fascinating creation. The literature of every European
country contains hundreds of pleasing fictions, whose machinery has been
borrowed from their system of philosophy, though that itself has passed away;
and it must be admitted that many of their ideas are highly ingenious, and
attain to such heights of intellectual speculation as we find to have been
reached by the Sophists of India. Before their time, alchymy had sunk down, as a
rule, to a grovelling delusion, seeking but temporal advantages, and occupying
itself with earthly dross only: the Rosicrucians spiritualised and refined it by
giving the chimerical search after the philosopher’s stone a nobler aim than
the attainment of wealth, namely, the opening of the spiritual eyes, whereby man
should be able to see the supernal world, and be filled with an inward light to
illumine his mind with true knowledge. The physical process of the transmutation
of metals was by them considered as analogical with man’s restoration to his
unfallen state, as set forth in Böhme’s Signatura Rerum, chapters
vii., x.—xii. The true Rosicrucians, therefore, may be defined as spiritual
alchymists, or Theosophists.
269. Origin of the Society doubtful.—The society
is of very uncertain origin. It is affirmed by some writers that from the
fourteenth century there existed a society of physicists and alchymists who
laboured in the search after the philosopher’s stone; and a certain Nicolo
Barnaud undertook journeys through Germany and France for the purpose of
establishing a Hermetic society. From the preface of the work, “Echo of the
Society of the Rosy Cross,” it moreover follows that in 1597 meetings were
held to institute a secret society for the promotion of alchymy. Another
indication of the actual existence of such a society is found in a book
published in 1605, and entitled, “Restoration of the Decayed Temple of
Pallas,” which gives a constitution of Rosicrucians. Again, in 1610, the
notary Haselmeyer pretended to have read in a MS. the Fama Fraternitatis, comprising
all the laws of the Order. Four years afterwards appeared a small work, entitled
“General Reformation of the World,” which in fact contains the Fama
Fraternitatis, where it is related that a German, Christian Rosenkreuz,
founded such a society in the fourteenth century, after having learned the
sublime science in the East. Of him it is related, that when, in 1378, he was
travelling in Arabia, he was called by name and greeted by some philosophers,
who had never before seen him; from them he learned many secrets, among
others that of prolonging life. On his return he made many disciples, and died
at the age of 150 years, not because his strength failed him, but because he was
tired of life. In 1604 one of his disciples had his tomb opened, and there found
strange inscriptions, and a MS. in letters of gold. The grotto in which this
tomb was found, by the description given of it, strongly reminds us of the
Mithraic Cave. Another work, published in 1615, the Confessio
Fraternitatis Rosicrucian Rosæs Crucis, contains an account of the object
and spirit of the Order.
270. Rosicrucian Literature.—The
Thesamarinella Chymicaaurea, already referred to (sect. 244) may have
been a. Rosicrucian work, as also Raymundii Lullii Theoria. In
1615, Michael Meyer published at Cologne his Themis Aurea, hoc est, de
legibus Fraternitatis Roseæ Crucis, which purported to contain all the laws
and ordinances of the brotherhood. Another work, entitled “The Chymical
Marriage of Christian Rosenkreuz,” and published in 1616, in the shape of a
comic romance, is really a satire on the alchymistical delusions of the
author’s time. Both works were written, as we learn from his autobiography, by
Valentine Andrea, a Lutheran clergyman of Herrenberg, near Tübingen. But
instead of being taken for what the author intended them-—satires on the
follies of Paracelsus, Weigel, and the alchymists—the public swallowed his
fictions as facts: printed letters and pamphlets appeared everywhere, addressed
to the imaginary brotherhood, whilst others denounced and condemned it. One
Christopher Nigrinus wrote a book to prove the Rosicrucians were Calvinists, but
a passage taken from one of their writings showed them to be zealous Lutherans.
Andrea himself, in his “Turns Babel” and “ Mythologia Christiana,”
published circa 1619, condemns Rosicrucianism. Impostors, indeed,
pretended to belong to the fraternity, and to possess its secrets, and found
plenty of dupes. Numerous works also continued to appear. Here are the titles of
a few of them
“Epistola ad patres de Rosea Cruce.” Frankfurt, 1617.
“Quick Message to the Philosophical Society of the Rosy
Cross.” By Valentine Ischirnessus. Danzig, 1617.
“The Whole Art and Science of the God-Illuminated
Fraternity of Christian Rosenkreuz.” By Theophilus Schweighart. I617.
“Discovery of the Colleges and Axioms of the Illuminated
Fraternity of Christian Rosenkreuz.” By Theophilus Schweighart. 1618.
‘‘De naturæ secretis quibusdam at Vulcaniam artem
chymicæ ante omnia necessariis, addressed to the Masters of the Philosophic
Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.” 1618. N. P.
“Sisters of the Rosy Cross; or, Short Discovery of these
Ladies, and what Religion, Knowledge of Divine and Natural Things, Trades and
Arts, Medicines, &c., may be found therein.” Parthenopolis, 1620.
“The Most Secret and Hitherto Unknown Mysteries of All
Nature.” By the Collegium Rosianum. Leyden, 1630.
Of course the scientific value of all these writings was nil,
the literary scarcely more.
271. Real Objects and Results of Andrea’s Writings.—The
account given in the preceding paragraph of the literary performances of
John Valentine Andrea is the popular one. But certain explanations are
necessary. Andrea’s Rosicrucian writings concealed political objects, the
chief of which was the support of the Lutheran religion, which the Rosicrucians
themselves followed. Andrea made two journeys to Austria— the first in 1612,
when the Emperor Mathias ascended the throne; and the second in 1619, a few
months after the Emperor’s death. At Linz he had private interviews with
several Austrian noblemen, all of them Lutherans. Rosicrucian lodges, to further
the objects of the Reformation, were established, but numerous Catholics
obtained admission to them, and gradually turned their tendencies in the very
opposite direction. Andrea perceiving this withdrew from Rosicrucianism, and
endeavoured by the subsequent writings, mentioned above, to disavow his former
connection with it. With the same object also he, during his second residence in
Austria, founded the “Fraternitas Christi,” to which many members of the
Protestant Austrian nobility sought admission. Three years after the society was
prohibited by the Government, and its final suppression hastened by an
opposition society, founded by the Catholics, with the sanction of the Pope,
first at Olmütz and then at Vienna, the leaders being the Counts Althan,
Gonzaga, and Sforza; the order was called that of the “Blue Cross.” The
Rosicrucians, being no longer under the influence of Andrea, broke up into a
number of independent lodges, which quickly degenerated into mere traps to catch
credulous dupes and their money; hence the duration of most was short. But on
the accession of Joseph II., whose liberal principles were known, the
Rosicrucians, as well as other secret societies, sprang into life again.
Freemasonry became the fashion of the day. Masonic implements were worn as
“charms;” the ladies carried muffs of white silk edged with blue, to
represent the Mason’s aprons, and so on. The Emperor found it necessary to
regulate the conduct of these secret societies. He suppressed all except that of
the Freemasons, to whom in 1785 he granted a patent, which began thus: “Since
nothing is to exist in a well-regulated state without proper supervision, We
deem it necessary thus to declare our will: The so-called Masonic Societies,
whose secrets are unknown to us, since we never were curious enough to inquire
into their juggleries (gauckeleien),” &c. This edict, which
abolished the other societies, but allowed the Freemasons to continue their
“juggleries,” as the Emperor called their ceremonies, threw many of the
suppressed societies, including the Rosicrucians, into the arms of the Masonic
Fraternity; the Asiatic Brethren, as we shall see further on (281),
transferred their activity from Vienna to Sleswick.
272. Ritual and Ceremonies.—The “juggleries”
of the Rosicrucians, whom the Emperor suppressed, were those of the
“constitution” of 1763, and as follows :—The apartment where the
initiation took place contained the tabella mystica, presently to be
described. The floor was covered with a green carpet, and on it were placed the
following objects:— A glass globe,
standing on a pedestal of seven steps, and divided into two parts, representing
light and darkness; three candelabra, placed triangularly; nine glasses,
symbolising male and female properties; the quintessence, and various other
things; a brazier, a circle, and a napkin.
The candidate for initiation is introduced by a brother, who
takes him into a room where a light, pen, ink, and paper, sealing-wax, two red
cords, and a bare sword are laid on a table. The candidate is asked whether he
firmly intends to become a pupil of true wisdom. Having answered affirmatively,
he gives up his hat and sword, and pays the fees. His hands having been bound,
and his eyes bandaged and a red cord put round his neck, he is led to the door
of the lodge, on which the introducer gently knocks nine times. The doorkeeper
opens it and asks “Who is there?” The hierophant answers, “An earthly body
holding the spiritual man imprisoned in ignorance.” The doorkeeper, “What is
to be done to him?” The introducer, “Kill his body and purify his spirit.”
The doorkeeper, “Then bring him into the place of justice.” They enter,
place themselves in front of the circle, the candidate kneeling on one knee. The
master stands at his right hand, with a white wand, the introducer at his left,
holding a sword; both wear their aprons. The master says, “Child of man, I
conjure you through all degrees of profane Freemasonry, and by the endless
circle, which comprises all creatures and the highest wisdom, to tell me for
what purpose you have come here?” The candidate, “To acquire wisdom, art,
and virtue.” The master, “Then live! But your spirit must again rule over
your body; you have found grace, arise and be free.” He is then unbound, steps
into the circle, the master and the introducer hold the wand and sword
crosswise, the candidate lays three fingers thereon, and as soon as the master
says “Now listen,” the candidate repeats the oath propounded to him, which
is simply a declaration that he will have no secrets from his brethren, and will
lead a virtuous life. Then lie is invested with the title of the order, the
seal, password and sign, hat and sword, and has the mystical table interpreted
to him, after which, like the Masons, he and the other brethren go from
“labour” to “refreshment.”
This mystical table is divided into nine vertical and
thirteen horizontal compartments. The first column of nine divisions gives the
numbers, the second the names of the different degrees. The lowest comprises the
Juniores, who know next to nothing; the highest the Magi, from
whom nothing is hidden, who are masters over all things, like Moses, Hermes,
Hyram. Their jewel is an equilateral triangle. According to the table, the
different degrees have meeting-places all over Europe and Asia; the Magi meet
at Smyrna [Izmir, Turkey] every ten years; the Magistri, a degree below,
at Camra, in Poland, and Paris, in France, every nine years; the Juniores every
two years at such a place as may be most convenient. The admission fee to the
degree of Magus is ninety-nine gold marks; to that of Junior, three
marks. The Minores, who know the “philosophical sun,” and “perform
marvellous cures,” pay what they choose.
273. Rosicrucians in England in the Past.—The
works of Andreä excited much attention in England, where mysticism and
astrology at that time had many adherents, as Wood’s “Athenm Oxonienses”
fully shows. Robert Fludd in this country was the great champion of the
Rosicrucians. His two most important works concerning them are “Apologia et
Compendiaria Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce suspicionis et infamiæ maculis
aspersam. veritatis quasi Fluctibus abluens et abstergens.” Leyden, 1616.
“Tractatus Apologetidus integritatem Societatis de Roseæ Cruce defendeus.”
Lugdvai Batavorum, 1617. This latter is really a duplicate of the former
with a new title.
Fludd was followed by one Heydon, born 1629. Strange to say,
an attorney, who, among other works on the Rosicrucians wrote “An Epologue for
an Apilogue,” wherein occur passages such as this: “I shall tell you what
Rosicrucians are, and that Moses was their father. Some say they were of the
order of Elias, some of Ezechiel, others define them to be the officers of the
generalissimo of the world; that are as the eyes and ears of the great king,
seeing and hearing all things, for they are seraphically illuminated as Moses
was, according to this order of the elements, earth refined to water, water to
air, air to fire.” Such gibberish as this was served up for the reading public
some centuries ago, and, I suppose, satisfied them. In another of his works
Heydon maintained that it was criminal to eat—though he did not abstain from
the practice himself—but that there was a fine fatness in the air quite
sufficient for nourishment, and that for men of very voracious appetites, it was
enough to place a cataplasm of cooked meat on the epigastrium to satisfy their
hunger.
In 1646 Elias Ashmole, William Lilly, Dr. Thomas Wharton,
George Wharton, Dr. J. Hewitt, Dr. J. Pearson, and others formed a Rosicrucian
society in London, practically to carry out the scheme propounded in Bacon’s
“New Atlantis,” that is, the erection of the House of Solomon. It was to
remain as unknown as the island of Bensalem, that is to say, the study of nature
was to be pursued esoterically, not exoterically. The carpet in their lodge
represented the pillars of Hermes ; seven steps, the first four of which
symbolised the four elements, and the other three salt, sulphur, and mercury,
led to an “ exchequer,” or higher court, or stage, on which were displayed
the symbols of creation, or of the work of the six days. Some of the members of
this society were Freemasons, hence they were enabled to hold their meetings in
Masons’ Hall, Masons’ Alley, Basinghall Street. They kept nothing secret
except their signs.
274. Origin of Name.—The name is generally
derived, from the supposed founder of the order, Rosenkreuz, Rose Cross; but
according to others, it is taken from the armorial bearings of the Andreä
family, which were a St. Andrew’s cross and four roses. Others again, modern
writers, say it is composed of ros, dew, and crux, tile cross ; crux
is supposed mystically to represent LVX, or light, because the figure X
exhibits the three letters; and light, in the opinion of the Rosicrucians,
produces gold; whilst dew, ros, with the (modern) alchymists, was a
powerful solvent. But Mr. Waite, in his “Real History of the Rosicrucians”
(London, 1887), argues with much force, that tile Rosicrucians bore the
rose and cross as their badge because they were ardent Protestants, to whom
Martin Luther was an idol, prophet, and master, and the device on the seal of
Martin Luther was a cross-crowned heart rising from the centre of a rose. The
theory has much in its favour, but we cannot quite set aside tile fact that in
all mystical systems the rose and the cross have always been emblems of
paramount importance. We meet with them in the most ancient Hindu mythology.
Lackschemi, the wife of Vishnu, was found in a rose with 108 leaves, whence the
Indian rosary has the same number of beads, and to the Hindus the cross was the
symbol of creation. We have already seen in the account of the Eleusinian
Mysteries what importance was attached to the rose, and that Apuleius makes
Lucius to be restored to his primitive form by eating roses; and the “Romance
of the Rose” was considered by the Rosicrucians as one of the most perfect
specimens of Provençal literature, and as the allegorical chef d’oeuvre
of their sect. It is undeniable that this was coeval with chivalry, and had
from thenceforth a literature rich in works, in whose titles the word Rosa is
incorporated; as the Rosa Philosophorum, of which no less than ten
occur in the Artis Auriferæ quam Chiemiam vocant (Basilea, 1610). The connection of the Rosicrucians with chivalry, the Troubadonrs, and
the Albigenses, cannot be denied. Like these, they swore the same hatred to
Rome; like these, they called Catholicism the religion of hate. They solemnly
declared that the Pope was Antichrist.
275.
Statements concerning themselves—They pretended
to feel neither hunger nor thirst, nor to be subject to age or disease; to
possess the power of commanding spirits, and attracting pearls and precious
stones, and of rendering themselves invisible. They stated the aim of their
society to be the restoration of all the sciences and especially of medicine and
by occult artifices to procure treasures and riches sufficient to supply the
rulers and kings with the necessary means for promoting the great reforms of
society then needed. They were bound to conform to five fundamental Laws:.— 1. Gratuitously to heal the sick.
2. To dress in the
costume of the country in which they lived. 3. To attend every year the meeting
of the Order. 4. When dying to choose a successor. 5. To preserve the secret one
hundred years.
276. Poetical Fictions of Rosicrucians. — These are
best known from the work of Joseph Francis Borri, a native of Milan.
and it is to them the ‘‘poetic splendour which surrounds the Order,”
which, in fact, gave real existence to it, is due. Having preached against the
abuses of the Papacy, and promulgated opinions which were deemed
heretical. Borri was seized by order of the Inquisition and condemned to
perpetual imprisonment, He died in the Castle of St. Angelo in 1695. The
work referred to is entitled The Key of the Cabinet of Signor Borri,” and is,
in substance, nothing but the cabalistic romance entitled “The Count de
Gabalis,” published in 1670 by the Abbé de Villars. What we gather from this
work is that the Rosicrucians discarded for ever all the old tales of sorcery
and witchcraft and communion with the devil. They denied the existence of incubi
and succubi, and of all the grotesque imps monkish brains had hatched and
superstitious nations believed in. Man, they said, was surrounded by myriads of
beautiful and beneficent beings, all anxious to do him service. These beings
were the elemental spirits; the air was peopled with sylphs, the water with
undines or naiads, the earth with gnomes, and the fire with salamanders. These
the Rosicrucian could bind to his service, and imprison in a ring, a mirror, or
a stone, and compel to appear when called, and render answers to such questions
as he chose to put. All these beings possessed great powers, and were
unrestrained by the barriers of space or matter. But man was in one respect
their superior: he had an immortal soul, they had not. They could, however,
become sharers in man’s immortality, if they could inspire one of that race
with the passion of love towards them. On this notion is founded the charming
story of “Undine ;“ Shakespeare’s Ariel is a sylph; the “ Rape of the
Lock,” the Masque of “Comus,” the poem of “Salamandrine,” all owe
their machinery to the poetic fancies of the Rosicrucians. Among other things
they taught concerning the elemental spirits, they asserted that they were
composed of the purest particles of the element they inhabited, and that in
consequence of having within them no antagonistic qualities, being made of but
one element (II), they could live for thousands of years. The
Rosicrucians further held the doctrine of the signatura rerum, by which
they meant that everything in this visible world has outwardly impressed on it
its inward spiritual character. Moreover, they said that by the practice of
virtue man could even on earth obtain a glimpse of the spiritual world, and
above all things discover the philosopher’s stone, which, however, could not
be found except by the regenerate, for “it is in close communion with the
heavenly essence.” According to them the letters INRI, the sacred word
of the Order of Rose Croix, signified Igne Natura Regenerando Integrat.
277. The Hague Lodge.— In the year 1622, Montanus,
or, by his real name, Ludwig Conrad, of Bingen, was expelled from an order of
Rosicrucians which then existed at The Hague, where they had a grand palace.
‘They held their meetings by order of the master, called “imperator,” in
great cities, such as Amsterdam, Danzig, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Mantua, Venice,
besides such as were held at The Hague. They publicly wore a black silk cord,
but at their meetings they put on a gold band, to which were attached a golden
cross and rose. Their card of membership was a large parchment, with many seals
affixed with great ceremony. When holding a public procession, they carried a
small green flag. This Montanus, who wrote a book entitled “Introduction to
the Hermetic Science,” says. that he spent his patrimony and his wife’s
fortune, of eleven thousand dollars, for the benefit of the society, and that
when he was totally impoverished he was expelled, being, however, bound over to
keep their secrets, “which latter, indeed, I kept, as women do not reveal
anything where there is nothing to reveal.” These pretended secrets are
supposed to be contained in a book entitled “Sinceri Renati Theophilosophia
Theoretico-practica,” but I have not been able to obtain or see a copy of this
work. The society is supposed to have become extinct at the beginning of the
eighteenth century.
278. A Rosicrucian MS.— According to a statement
made by Dr. von Harless in his “Jacob Bohme and the Alchymists” (2nd ed.,
Leipzic, 1882), a society of Rosicrucians must have existed in Germany in the
year 1641. Dr. von Harless says, “I have recently had an opportunity of
inspecting a Rosicrucian MS. hitherto unknown. It was probably written about
1765, and contains the statutes of an order of Rosicrucians, with the title
Testamentum.
The original must date from the middle of the seventeenth century, as is
proved by a special warning given to members to observe secrecy, especially
towards Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, two members having, from not attending to
this caution, been great sufferers in 1641. The MS., besides the statutes, also
contains instructions for alchymistic operations. The Order, according to the
MS., had one chief, called imperator; its chief seats were Ancona,
Nuremberg, Hamburg, and Amsterdam. The members were to change their residence
every ten years, and maintain the greatest secrecy as to their existence. The
apprenticeship lasted seven years. Their mode of addressing one another was: ave
frater; the answer: ~ rosæ et auraæ. The first: crucis; then both together:
Benedictus Deus qui dedit nobis signum. Then the mutual production of the
signum,
consisting of an engraved seal, a specimen of which was also shown to Dr.
von Harless.”
On taking steps to obtain further particulars from Dr. von Harless himself, I learnt to my regret that he had died in 1878; and as he had
given no intimation in the above-named works where the MS. is deposited, I am
unable to report further thereon. But it would seem that the society referred to
in the MS. was the same as the one spoken of in the “Thesaurinella,”
mentioned towards the end of sect. 244.
279. New Rosicrucain Consitution.—In 1714. or one
hundred years after Andreä’s writings, there appeared a new Rosicrucian
constitution, entitled, “The True and Perfect Preparation of the
Philosopher’s Stone of the Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy Cross. Published
for the benefit Filiorum Doctrinæ by Sincero Renato, Breslau.” The
preface stated that the treatise was not the writer’s work, but intrusted to
him by a professor of the art, whom he was not allowed to name. The author
divides the work into practica ordinis minoris and practica ordinis majoris,
indicating the division of the Order into two distinct fraternities, the
superior one being known as the “Brethren of the Golden Cross,” their symbol
being a red cross, and the inferior one as the “Brethren of the Rosy Cross,”
their symbol being a green cross, from which it is evident that the real work of
the Order was alchymy. Each brother, on being initiated, dropped his real name,
and assumed a fictitious one, as we have seen that Ludwig Conrad was known in
the Order as Montanus (277), and as hereafter we find the Illuminati
assume all kinds of fancy names. Renato’s book further states that the Order
possessed large seminaries, as the above-named Montanus had asserted. Article
42 of the statutes prohibited the reception of married men into the Order; in
Article 17 members who wished to marry were allowed to take wives, but were to
live with them philosophice, whatever that may have meant. Article 44
enjoined that if a brother should, by misfortune or want of caution, be
discovered by any potentate, he was rather to die than reveal the secrets of the
Order.
280. The Duke of Saxe-Weimar and other Rosicrucians.— The
first modern writer who openly professed himself a Rosicrucian was Duke Ernest
Augustus of Saxe-Weimar, who in 1742 published his “Theosophic Devotions” in
a small edition, copies of which are easily recognised by their red morocco
binding and the ducal crown and cipher on the cover. In it he refers to the
“last great union of brethren,” and, according to the vignette at the end of
the book, he must mean Rosicrucians.
We hear of a society of Rosicrucians founded by Freemasons,
whose “General Constitutions” were settled in 1763; they were based on the
“Themis Aurea” of Michael Maier, who had been physician-in-ordinary and
alchymist to the Emperor Rudolph (1576 — 1612). This revived taste was
taken advantage of by many adventurers. John George Schroepfer, who kept a
coffee-house at Nuremberg in 1777. established at his house a lodge, and made so much pretence
to secret and exclusive knowledge, that the Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick and the
Duke of Courland—by whose order Schroepfer had once been flogged—invited him to Dresden, where they openly patronised him,
while he deluded them with the apparitions of ghosts and magical phantasma—really produced by magic-lanterns and
concave mirrors. But his conduct eventually so disgusted his
patrons that they refused him further supplies of money, whereupon he shot
himself in a wood near Leipzic.
But this vulgar cheat left credulous disciples behind. John
Rudolph Bischofswerder (1741—1803), a major, and afterwards Prussian Minister
of War, who had almost been a witness of Schroepfer’s death, and John
Christopher Wöllner (1732— 1800), a clergyman, and afterwards Prussian
Minister of Public Cult, continued what Schroepfer had started. Under the
patronage of the Crown Prince, Frederick William of Prussia, the nephew of
Frederick the Great, whom he succeeded in 1786 as Icing Frederick William II.,
established at Berlin a Rosicrucian lodge, and the enlightened views which had
been introduced by, and had prevailed during the reign of, old Fritz were
quickly suppressed by religious persecution. At that time Bahrdt had
considerable success with his resuscitated order of Illuminati. The two
highly-placed rogues saw in this plebeian a man who might some day compete with
them for the king’s favour; so whilst they, in league with his mistress, the
Countess Lichtenau, more than ever amused their silly royal patron with the
calling up of ghosts and drunken orgies, they induced him to put forth the
notorious Religious Edict of 1788, which was to stem the ungodly advances of the
Illuminati, and which also restored the censorship of the Press. The book (in
German). entitled “The Rosicrucian in his Nakedness,” published by Master
“Pianco,” an ex-member of the society, in 1782, was a violent attack and exposé
of the Rosicrucians; but the delusion continued to flourish.
ASIATIC BRETHREN
281. Origin of the Order—This
Order originated probably about the year 1780, though its chiefs were not known
in 1788; it was, however, suspected that Baron Ecker and Eckhofen was one of
them. He resided at first at Vienna, but afterwards settled at Sleswick; he
distinguished himself by his writings, but the superstitious proclaimed him a
terrible Cacomagus [note: Gr. black magician] . The order spread
from Italy to Russia. Its basis was Rosicrucian, its meetings were called
Melchisedeck lodges, and Jews, Turks, Persians, and Armenians might be received
as members. The masters were called the Worshipful Chiefs of the Seven Churches
of Asia. The full title of the Order was "Order of the Knights and Brethren
of St. John the Evangelist from Asia in Europe." The teaching of the Order
was partly moral, that is to say, it instructed how to rule spirits, by breaking
the seven seals; and partly physical, by showing how to prepare miraculous
medicines and to make gold. It inculcated cabalistic doctrines. The names of the
degrees were taken from the Hebrew, and were symbolical of their
characteristics. The Order did not profess Rosicrucianism, yet in the Third
Chief Degree the members were styled “True Rosicrucians.” The results of the
scientific researches of the masters were not communicated to aspirants; these
had to discover them as they could. The fact seemed to be that the masters had
nothing to communicate, but this admission would have been fatal to the Order
its secrets appearing to exist in the credulity of outsiders only.
282. Divisions of the Order—The
Order was divided into five degrees viz., two probationary and three
chief degrees. The first probationary degree, that of the "Seekers”,
never consisted of more than ten members. The period of probation was fourteen
months. They had lectures delivered to them every fortnight, and the costume
they wore at their meetings consisted of a round black hat with black feathers,
a black cloak, a black sash with three buttons in the shape of roses, white
gloves, and sword with a black tassel, a black ribbon, from which was suspended
a double triangle, which symbol was also embroidered on the left side of the
cloak.
The second probationary degree, consisting of ten members,
was called that of the “Sufferers.” Its duration was seven months. Whilst
the “Seekers” were theorists only, the “Sufferers” were supposed to make
practical researches in physical science. They wore round black hats with black
and white feathers, black cloaks with white linings and collars, on which double
triangles were embroidered in gold, black sashes with white edging and three
rosettes, white gloves, and swords with black and white tassels.
The First Chief Degree styled its members “Knights and
Brother-Initiates from Asia in Europe [note: Asian Minor/Anatolia, the Asian
part of Turkey ].” They wore round black hats with white, black, yellow, and
red feathers, black cloaks with white linings and collars and gold lace; on the
left breast of the cloak there was a red cross with four green roses, having in
their centre a green shield with the monogram M and A. The same cross, of gold,
and enamelled, was worn on a red ribbon; the member further wore a pink sash
round the body edged with green and with three red roses, white gloves with a
red cross and four green roses; the tassels of the swords displayed the four
colours of the feathers.
283. Initiation into this Degree—On the
reception of a “Sufferer” into this degree he was led into a room hung with
black; the floor and furniture were covered with black cloth. The room was lit
up with seven golden candlesticks, six of which had five branches each, whilst
the seventh, standing in the centre, represented a human figure in a white dress
and golden girdle. The chair of the master stood in the centre of the room on a
dais of three steps, under a square black canopy; the back wall was partly open,
but held back with seven tassels, and behind it was the Holiest of Holies,
consisting of a balustrade of ten columns, on the basement of which was a
picture of the sun in a triangle, surrounded by the divine fire. Under the
centre candlestick was the carpet of the three masonic degrees, surrounded by
nine lights, a tenth light standing a little further off at the foot of the
throne. There stood, on the right, a small table, on which were placed a flaming
sword, with the number 56 engraved thereon, and a green rod, with two red ends;
to the left lay the Book of the Law.
The “Sufferer,” being then in an adjoining room, was
asked three times if he desired to be initiated. His answer being in the
affirmative, the Grand Master ordered him to be introduced, after having read
the inscription on a red shield in letters of gold over the door: “Here is the
Door of the Eternal; the just enter here.” The introducer then rang a bell
twice, the Grand Master rang once, and the door was opened. The candidate
stepped up to the table, and thrice made the Master’s sign. He was then told
that he was accepted, and had to sign an obligation never to reveal the secrets
of the Chapter. After a few other childish ceremonies, he was led to the Table
of Purification, on which stood three lights on as many columns. The one
represented a man with the triangle, the other a woman with the triangle
reversed; the central one a man with a double triangle. In the centre of the
table stood a crystal cup, filled with water, in which salt had been dissolved,
another cup with salt, a spoon, a bundle of cedar-wood bound with hyssop and
pink and green silk. The candidate had his coat and waistcoat taken off, the
collar of his shirt opened, and his right arm bared. Having knelt down, the
Grand Master sprinkled his neck thrice with the water, saying, “May the
Merciful One give thee the knowledge of thy weapons, of thy lance, and of the
number Four [which with Rosicrucians is the root and beginning of all numbers].
Then touching his right arm be said, “May the Almighty give thee strength in
battle;” and touching his breast, “May the Just One give thee as a conqueror
rest in the centre.” The “Sufferer” was then dressed again, the Grand
Master opened the Holiest of Holies, and the candidate having taken the oath,
the Grand Master dabbed him a Knight. Touching his right shoulder he said,
“May the Infinite give thee strength, beauty, and wisdom for the fight;"
and touching the left shoulder, “We receive thee, in the name of the most
worshipful and wisest seven Fathers and Rulers of the seven Unknown Churches in
Asia, as a Knight and initiated Brother.” Touching him on the head, he said,
"May the Eternal One give thee the light of the number Four, and thou shalt
be delivered from the Eternal Death.” Then there ensued mutual embracing, a
little more speechifying by the Grand Master, and then the servants brought in
salt, bread, wine, lamb and pork, the latter being symbolical of the Old and the
New Covenant!
284. Second Chief Degree, Wise Masters.—This
degree could only be obtained from the Sanhedrim, which constituted the highest
authority, for in this degree began the revelation of secrets. What they were
has never become known to outsiders. We may assume them to have been wonderful,
considering the wonderful costume the knights were entitled to wear in this
degree, viz., a red hat with stripes of the four different colours mentioned, in
a red cloak, with a green cross and roses, having in their centre the monogram J
and C embroidered in gold on a red field; the same cross in gold, and enamelled
in the same four colours, attached to a green ribbon, edged with red, and three
green roses; white gloves, decorated with red crosses and green roses inside and
out;. sword, with green and red tassel.
285. Their Chief Degree, or Royal Priests, or True Rosicrucians, or
the Degree of Melchisedeck.—This degree also could be obtained from
the Sanhedrim only. The number of its members was restricted to seventy-two.
Solomon in all his glory was nothing compared with the True Rosicrucians in
their official costume. Here it is: a hat, gold, pink, and green, the brim
turned up in front, and the name Jehovah embroidered thereon in gold, and
surmounted with white, red, yellow, black, and green feathers; a long pink
undergarment, fitting closely to the body, the cuffs of the sleeves being made
of materials similar to those composing the hat, as also the sash, worn round
the waist, whereon were embroidered three roses, one white, one red, and the
centre one the colours of the sash; the stockings or hose and shoes were of pink
silk. The cloak consisted of materials similar to those of the hat, and was
lined with green; on the left breast was seen a point with many rays issuing
from it. Round the neck the knight wore a gold chain, having alternately
between the ordinary links shields with the monograms M and A and J and C, and
the representation of a tree, having on the right hand a man, and on the left a
woman, who with one hand cover the pudenda, and touch the tree with the
other; to the end of the chain the Urim and Thummim were attached. White gloves,
decorated with green and red roses within and without, completed this gorgeous
apparel.
286. Organisation of the Order - The Sanhedrim exercised the
highest authority, which it could delegate to committees. appointed from among
its members. The authority next under the Sanhedrim was the General Chapter,
after which came the Provincial Chapters. All these various departments had
every one their own officials, with high-sounding titles, which need not be
given here—the reader will find enough of them among the Freemasons; but on
reading a list of them, one cannot help exclaiming—
"And every one is
Knighted,
And every one is
Grand,
Who would not be
delighted
To join in such a
band?"
But to join in this band was somewhat expensive; the Order was a fee-trap of
no mean order, something like a few of the spurious degrees in Masonry. On his
initiation into the order of the Asiatic Brethren the candidate paid a fee of
two ducats; when he took it into his head to found a Master Lodge, he had to pay
seven ducats for the privilege, and two ducats for the carpet; for every folio
of the Rules of the Lodge, ten kreuzer, or about twopence-halfpenny. The
foundation of a Superior Master Lodge cost twelve ducats; of a Provincial
Chapter, twenty-five ducats; of a General Chapter, fifty ducats. Evety Brother
paid to the Superior Master Lodge a monthly contribution of eightpence, and for
extraordinary expenses and correspondence a fee proportionate to his means on
the days of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. These fees and
subscriptions must annually have amounted to a goodly sum. What became of it?
Rolling, a member, in 1787, published the laughable secrets of the Order.
* * *
287. Rosicrucian Adventurers.—In 1781 there appeared at
Vienna “An Address to the Rosicrucians of the Ancient System.” The Order
seems to have been revived about that time by Fraxinus—evidently a fictitious
name—who was Provincial Grand Master of the four united Masonic Lodges at
Hamburg. The Masons did not know that Fraxinus was a Rosicrucian, but he
evidently knew how to fleece his dupes. We learn from one Cedrinus, who was a
member of one of the Hamburg lodges, that for the initiation into the
Rosicrucian degrees he was by installments mulcted in the sum of nearly 150
dollars. When Cedrinus began to express dissatisfaction at these continual
extortions, Fraxinus, to quiet him, made Cedrinus keeper of the Great Seal of
the Hamburg lodges. This gave the latter an opportunity of gaining an insight
into the way in which degrees were manufactured, and how Masonry was corrupted
by them. He fell out with Fraxinus, and everywhere proclaimed the machinations
of the Rosicrucians. Fraxinus expelled him as a perjured brother.
Another Rosicrucian who obtained notoriety at about the same time was Brother
Gordianus, who resided at Tübingen. He was supposed to be a Rosicrucian and an
alchymist, since he lived well without having any visible means of subsistence.
A schoolmaster, known by the initial L. only, had long desired to become a
Rosicrucian; he consequently paid Gordianus a visit, who informed him, amongst
other matters, that the object of the Order was to carry out the intentions of
Valentine Andrea; that certain conditions were imposed on every member, viz.,
eternal silence on all concerning the Order, the introduction within six weeks
of another member, to show that he was capable of winning the confidence of his
fellowmen, and the payment of an initiation fee of fifty dollars. The poor
schoolmaster after a time raised the money, and received the subjoined receipt,
on a small blue card
|
SUB
RATIFICATIONE VENERAND
SUPERIOR
TETTAra
Receptionis in minum Gradum
Ordinis
Philosophorum icogritorum, Fratr.
A.
LL et R.C. Systematis antiquioris
A
4077.s. 8
I. GORDINAUS
M.L.3 - + -C.
Fr. Inspector
-
l - g. - + -b
Circuli II |
On the back of the card was the following
:
|
+
Prævia
sancta promisionne religiosæ
Ad
impletionis Articuli fundamentalis.
I.
et II. et rite ad impleto
Articulo
III
|
Giorianus then proposed to L. that he should translate hermetical and magical
writings from Latin into German, which L. did. Gordianus published these
translations in a periodical he was then the editor of, without, however,
remunerating L., but keeping his faith alive by repeated promises shortly to
introduce him to the heads of the Order, who would communicate to him great and
valuable secrets. But it seems L. became impatient. He and friends of his made
inquiries, and ascertained that Gordianus had boasted that he intended to form a
society of cheats and dupes. One of L.’s friends charged Gordianus with it.
The latter, in 1785, in writing to L. tried to justify himself, but eventually
disappeared from Tübingen, when L. made known the above facts as a warning to
others.
288.
Theoretical Brethren.—According to the book, “The Theoretical
Brethren, or Second Degree of Rosicrucians,” published in 1785, the
Rosicrucian ritual was as follows:— The candidate must have been initiated
into the Scotch rite; he is led into a large room lighted with candelabra; at
the upper end is a square with a black cloth, on which lie an open Bible, the
Laws of the Order, and a black embroidered apron. On the carpet there is a
globe, surrounded by two rings; from the outer one rays proceed into a circle of
cloud, in which are seen the seven planets. A cubical stone is placed above
Mars, and the Blazing Star above the globe. An unhewn stone stands opposite to
Saturn. The planets promote the growth of the seven metals; the Blazing Star
represents Nature; the two circles typify the agens and patiens, the
male and female principles. The unhewn stone is the materia prima
philosophorum; the cubical stone, the patiens philosophorum. The
globe signifies the lodge. The oath is confined to promising fidelity to the
Order, secrecy and devotion to the study of nature. The apron is white lined
with black, and embroidered. The jewel is of gilt brass, and consists of two
triangles with rays issuing therefrom, the name of Jehovah in Hebrew letters,
and on the reverse the signs 
.
It is attached to a black ribbon.
Sign: raising the right hand, with the thumb and two forefingers extended,
which is answered by placing the thumb and two fore-fingers on the heart. The
grip is given by taking the brother with the right hand round the waist. The
word is Chaos. In Hamburg the initiation fee was forty gold marks, about £23;
monthly contributions amounted to about eighteen shillings. There are nine
degrees. We need not go through the whole of them; a few may suffice.
The third degree is called Bracheus, in which the word is Majim, the
answer to which is Brocha. The next degree is that of Philosophus; the
word, Ruachhiber; initiation fee of about twenty dollars. There is a ninth
degree, the initiation fee to which is ninety-nine gold marks, for which the
member becomes a true Magus, knowing all the secrets of nature, with
power over all angels, devils, and men; the philosopher’s stone is the least
of his possessions.
289.
Spread of Rosicrucianism.—
These Rosicrucians assert that they had lodges in various countries. Vienna,
according to their statements, was the seat of the Grand Master of the eighth
degree(2); Königsberg, Stettin, Berlin, and Danzig, meeting places
of the Brethren of the fifth degree; at Breslau and Leipzic the Brethren of the
fourth degree assembled; at Hamburg the Brethren of the sixth degree had a
lodge, which cost nine thousand marks. The Order, moreover, had lodges at
Nuremherg, Augsburg, Innsbruek, Prague, Paris, Venice, Naples, Malta, Lisbon,
Bergen-op-Zoom, Cracow, Warsaw, Basle, Zurich in Europe, and at Smyrna and
Ispahan in Asia. The sect was also known in Sweden and Scotland, where it bad
its own traditions, claiming to be descended from the Alexandrian priesthood of
Ormuzd, who embraced Christianity in consequence of the preaching of St. Mark,
founding the society of Ormuzd, or of the "Sages of Light.” This
tradition is founded on the Manichænism preserved among the Coptic priests, and
explains the seal impressed on the ancient parchments of the Order, representing
a lion placing his paw on a paper, on which is written the famous sentence, "Pax
tibi, Marce Evangelista meus," from which we might infer that Venice
had some connection with the spreading of that tradition. In fact, Nicolai tells
us that at Venice and Mantua there were Rosicrucians, connected with those of
Erfurt, Leipzic, and Amsterdam. And we also know that at Venice congresses of
Alchymists were held; and the connection between these latter and the
Rosicrucians has already been pointed out. Nevertheless the Scotch and Swedish
Rosicrucians called themselves the most ancient, and asserted Edward, the son of
Henry III., to have been initiated into the Order in 1191, by Raymond Lully, the
alchymist. The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross is still flourishing in England (see
below).
290.
Transitions to Freemasons.—From the Templars and Rosicrucians
the transition to the Freemasons is easy. With these latter alchyrny receives a
wholly symbolical explanation; the philosopher’s stone is a figure of human
perfectibility. In the Masonic degree called the “Key of Masonry,” or
“Knight of the Sun,” and the work “The Blazing Star,” by Tshudi we
discover the parallel aims of the two societies. From the “Blazing Star” I
extract the following portion of the ritual: “When the hermetic philosophers
speak of gold and silver, do they mean common gold and silver? “—“No,
because common gold and silver are dead, whilst the gold and silver of the
philosophers are full of life.” “What is the object of Masonic
inquiries?“—“ The art of knowing how to render perfect what Nature has
left imperfect in man.” “What is the object of philosophic inquiry?
“—“ The art of knowing how to render perfect what Nature has left
imperfect in minerals, and to increase the power of the philosopher’s
stone.” “Is it the same stone whose symbol distinguishes our first
degrees? “—“ Yes, it is the same stone which the Freemasons seek to
polish.” So also the Phoenix is common to Hermetic and Masonic initiation, and
the emblem of the new birth of the neophyte. Now, we have already seen the
meaning of this figure, and its connection with the sun. We might multiply
comparisons to strengthen the parallelism between hidden arts and secret
societies, and trace back the hermetic art to the mysteries of Mithras, where
man is said to ascend to heaven through seven steps or gates of lead, brass,
copper, iron, bronze, silver, and gold.
291.
Progress and Extinction of Rosicrucians.—
After having excited much attention throughout Germany, the Rosicrucians
endeavoured to spread their doctrines in France, but with little success. In
order to attract attention, they in 1623 secretly posted certain notices in the
streets of Paris to this effect: “We, the deputies of the College of the Rosy
Cross, visibly and invisibly dwell in the city. We teach without books or signs
every language that can draw men from mortal error,” &c. &c. A work by
Gabriel Naudé gave them the final blow. Peter Mormio, not having succeeded in
reviving the society in Holland, where it existed in 1622, published at Leyden
in 1630, a work entitled “Arcana Naturæ Secretissima,” wherein he reduced
the secrets of the brethren to three—viz., perpetual motion, the transmutation
of metals, and the universal medicine.
292.
Rosicrucians in the Mauritius.—I am indebted to Mr. Waite’s
“Real History of the Rosicrucians” (published by George Redway, 1888) for
the following particulars:— It appears that a society of Rosicrucians existed
in 1794 in the island of Mauritius. “My authority,” says Mr. Waite, gives at
length a copy of ‘the admission of Dr. Bacstrom’ into that society by
Le Comte de Chazal. In that document Dr. Bacstrom promises, among other things,
‘never to reveal the secret knowledge he receives,’ ‘to initiate such
persons as he may deem worthy,’ including women, seeing that ‘Leona
Constantia, Abbess of Clermont, was actually received as a practical member and
master into the Society in 1736 as a Soror Crucis;’ that he will ‘commence
the great work as soon as circumstances permit,’ that he ‘will give nothing
to the Church,’ that he will ‘never give the fermented metallic medicine for
transmutation to any person living, unless he be a member of the Rosy
Cross.’" To this document is appended the philosophic seal of the
society, representing a man standing in a triangle, enclosed in a square, and
surrounded by a circle. At the head and feet of the man are various cabalistic
signs. The whole resembles some of the diagrams which may be found in the
Magical Works of Cornelius Agrippa,” in the chapter treating of the
proportions, measures, and harmony of the human body.
293. Modern English Rosicrucians.—
Mr. Waite further states that a pseudo-society existed in England before the
year 1836, because Godfrey Higgins says that “He had joined neither the
Templars nor the Rosicrucians.” The present Rosicrucian Society was remodelled
about thirty years ago. A previous initiation into Masonry is an indispensable
qualification of candidates “the officers of the society shall consist of
three Magi, a Master-General, a Treasurer-General, a Secretary-General, and
seven Ancients. There is also an Organist, a Torchbearer, a herald, a Guardian
of the Temple and a Medallist. The members are to meet four times a year, and
dine together once a year. Every novice on admission shall adopt a Latin motto,
to be appended to his signature in all communications with the Order. The jewel
of the Supreme Magus is an ebony cross, with golden roses at its extremities,
and the jewel of the Rosie Cross in the centre. It is surmounted by a crown of
gold for the Supreme Magus alone, and is worn round the neck, suspended by a
crimson velvet ribbon. The jewel of the general officers is a Lozenge-shaped
plate of gold, enamelled white, with the Rosie Cross in the centre, surmounted
by a golden mitre, on the rim of which is enamelled in rose-coloured characters
LUX, and in its centre a small cross of the same colour. The jewel is worn
suspended from a button-hole by a green ribbon an inch wide, and with a cross
also embroidered on it in rose-coloured silk. The jewel of the fraternity is the
lozenge-shaped jewel 0f the Rosie Cross, without the mitre, suspended by a green
ribbon an inch in width, and without the embroidered cross. Mr. Waite derived
this information from a secret record of the association entitled The
Rosicrucian, a very small quarterly of twelve pages, first published in 1863,
which ceased in 1879. In 1871 the society informed its members that their
objects were purely literary and antiquarian; that it consisted of 134 fratres,
ruled over by three Supreme Magi. Seventy-two members composed the London
colleges, the others formed the Bristol and Manchester colleges. A Yorkshire
college was consecrated in 1877; a college in Edinburgh had been established
some time previously. The prime mover in the association was Robert Wentworth
Little; the late Lord Lytton was Grand Patron. But as to Rosicrucian knowledge
the Brethren were altogether destitute of it, as they themselves admitted.
(1) New arrangement: Venus, copper; Mercury,
mixed metal; Mars, iron; Jupiter, tin.
(2)
A somewhat curious fact may be mentioned here The Rosicrucians generally adopted
sidereal or alchymistic pseudonyms. In the seventeenth century, under the
Emperor Ferdinand III., one John Konrad Richthausen came to Vienna. He was a
Rosicrucian, and as such bore the name of Chaos, and eventually was ennobled as
Herr von Chaos. In 1663 he erected an institution for the sons of poor or
deceased parents. When, three Years after, the Plague raged in Vienna and
attacked some of the youths in the Institution, the executors of Richthausen's
will — the testator having died—quickly erected in the district of Mariahilf,
almost in the centre of Vienna, another building, to separate the youths
attacked by the disease from the others. Gradually the building was enlarged, so
that in 1773 it could receive 145 pupils. It was known as the Chaos Foundation (Chaoaische
Stift). In 1752 the Empress Maria Theresa purchased the house for a military
academy, which purpose it still serves but it continues to be called tile Stift,
and the street facing it is still called the Stlftgasse.
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