explanatory of the Hermetic principles of Raymond Lully, one of the
interlocutors, who instructs an enthusiastic disciple in the arcane
principles of the divine art, the disciple in question being in
search of a safeguard against the numerous infirmities and weaknesses
of the “humid radical.” Such a medicine is declared by the master
to be extracted from a single substance, which is the sophic _aqua
metallorum_. The dialogue is of interest, as it shows the connection in
the mind of the writer between the development of metallic perfection
and the physical regeneration of humanity.
FOOTNOTES:
[W] _Dictionnaire des Sciences Occultes_, i. p. 232.
LEONARDI FIORAVANTI.
Doctor, surgeon, and alchemist of the sixteenth century, this Italian
was a voluminous author, who is best known by his “Summary of the
Arcana of Medicine, Surgery, and Alchemy,” published in octavo at
Venice in 1571, and which has been reprinted several times. It contains
an application of Hermetic methods and principles to the science
of medicine, but the author’s account of the _petra philosophorum_
shows the designation to be of a purely arbitrary kind, for it is a
mixture of mercury, nitre, and other substances, intended to act on
the stomach, and has no connection with the transmuting _lapis_ of the
alchemical sages.
JOHN DEE.
The life of this pseudo-adept, and of Edward Kelly, his companion in
alchemy, is involved in a cloud of necromancy and magico-Hermetical
marvels, so that the fabulous and historical elements are not to be
easily separated.
The true name of Edward Kelly is supposed to have been Talbot. He is
said to have been born at Worcester in 1555, and to have followed the
profession of a lawyer in London. His talents in penmanship appear to
have been utilised in the falsification of deeds. He was prosecuted at
Lancaster, according to a narrative of his enemies, for an offence of
this nature, and was condemned to lose his ears. By some he is said to
have suffered this punishment,[X] by others to have evaded it, seeking
safety in Wales, where he lodged at an obscure inn, and concealed his
identity by adopting a new name. During this sojourn an old manuscript
was shown him by the innkeeper, which was indecipherable by himself
or his neighbours. The so-called Edward Kelly, being initiated into
the mysteries of ancient writing, discovered it to be a treatise on
transmutation, and his curiosity was highly excited. He inquired as to
its history, and was told that it had been discovered in the tomb of
a bishop who had been buried in a neighbouring church, and whose tomb
had been sacrilegiously uptorn by some wretched heretical fanatics at
that epoch of furious religiomania and rampant Elizabethan persecution.
The object of this desecration was the discovery of concealed treasures
in the resting-place of the prelate, to whom immense riches were
attributed by popular tradition. The impiety was, however, rewarded by
nothing but the manuscript in question, and two small ivory bottles,
respectively containing a ponderous red and white powder. These pearls
beyond price were rejected by the pigs of apostasy; one of them was
shattered on the spot, and its ruddy, celestine contents for the most
part lost. The remnant, together with the remaining bottle and the
unintelligible manuscript, were speedily disposed of to the innkeeper
in exchange for a skinful of wine. The unbroken bottle was transferred
by the new owner as a plaything to his children, but the providence
which in the main overwatches the accomplishment of the sublime act
preserved its contents intact. When Edward Kelly, with an assumed
antiquarian indifference about objects which were more curious than
valuable, offered a pound sterling for all the articles, a bargain was
promptly effected. The lawyer was by no means an alchemist, but he
believed himself possessed of a Hermetic treasure; he determined, at
all risks, to return to London, and consult with his friend Dr Dee,
who abode in a cottage at Mortlake, and who, in matters of magical
devilment, and in the tortuosities of the occult, was considered a man
of men.
Whether he had been accused of forgery, whether he had lost his ears,
or not, the discovery of Edward Kelly caused the necromantic doctor to
be blind to his faults or his crimes; he at once set to work in his
company, in the year 1579, and in the month of December a stupendous
success was the crown of their labour in common. The richness of
Kelly’s tincture proved to be one upon two hundred and seventy-two
thousand two hundred and thirty; but they lost much gold in experiments
before they knew the extent of its power. In Dr Dee’s “Diary in
Germany” he mentions the book of St Dunstan, which is probably the
manuscript of Kelly, and also the powder “found at the digging in
England,” which indicates some foundation for the narrative just given.
The place where the treasure was obtained is reported to have been the
ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, founded by St Dunstan. The last abbot was
hanged by Henry VIII. for his adherence to the Papal cause.
Kelly appears to have taken up his quarters at Islington. In June
1583 an attachment was issued against him for coining, of which his
companion declares him guiltless. In the following September, Dr Dee,
his wife and children, and Edward Kelly, with his wife, accompanied
by a certain Lord Albert Alasco, of Siradia, in Poland, departed from
London for Cracow. As soon as they had arrived in the north of Germany,
Dr Dee received a letter from one of his friends in England, informing
him that his library at Mortlake had been seized and partially
destroyed, on the vulgar report of his unlawful studies, and that his
rents and property were sequestered. Despite the possession of the
Donum Dei, all parties appear to have been in considerable penury in
consequence.
In 1585 we find them at Prague, then the metropolis of alchemy, and
the headquarters of adepts and adeptship. Edward Kelly and his
companions presently abounded in money, and the owner of the Hermaic
Benediction made no secret of his prize or his powers, indulged
in all kinds of extravagance, performed continual projections for
himself and his friends, as well as for many persons of distinction
who sought his acquaintance. Much of the result was distributed. The
transmutations of Kelly at this period are attested by several writers,
including Gassendus. The most authenticated and remarkable, according
to Figuier, is that which took place in the house of the imperial
physician, Thaddeus de Hazek, when, by the mediation of a single drop
of a red oil, Kelly transmuted a pound of mercury into excellent
gold, the superabundant virtue of the agent leaving in addition at
the bottom of the crucible a small ruby. Dr Nicholas Barnaud, the
assistant of Hazek, and an alchemical writer, whose works are as rare
as they are reputable, was a witness of this wonder, and subsequently
himself manufactured the precious metal, the _désir désiré_, with the
assistance of Edward Kelly.
The report spread, and the adept was invited by the Emperor Maximilian
II. to the Court of Germany, where his transmutations raised him into
highest favour; he was knighted, and created Marshal of Bohemia. Now
perfectly intoxicated, he posed as a veritable adept, who was able to
compose the inestimable projecting powder. This gave a handle to the
enemies whom his exaltation had made him; they persuaded the Emperor to
practically imprison this living philosophical treasure, and to extract
his alchemical secret. His misfortunes now began. Absolute inability to
obey the imperial mandate and compose a considerable quantity of the
stone philosophical, was interpreted as a contumacious refusal; he was
cast into a dungeon, but on engaging to comply with the demand if he
had the liberty to seek assistance, he was speedily set free, whereupon
he rejoined Dr Dee, and they again set to work in concert. The Book
of St Dunstan indicated the use but not the preparation of the powder,
and their experiments, vigilantly overwatched to prevent the escape
of Kelly, proved entirely futile. In the desperation which succeeded
their failure, the outrageous disposition of Kelly broke out, and he
murdered one of his guards. He was again imprisoned, his companion, for
the most part, remaining unmolested, and employing his opportunities,
it is said, to interest Queen Elizabeth in the fate of the Emperor’s
prisoner. She claimed the alchemist as her subject, but his recent
crime had rendered him obnoxious to the laws of the empire, and he was
still detained in his dungeon.
In 1589, Dr Dee set out himself for England. He halted at Bremen, and
was there visited by Henry Khunrath, one of the greatest adepts of
the age. The Landgrave of Hesse sent him a complimentary letter, and
was presented in return with twelve Hungarian horses. Dr Dee arrived
in England after an absence of six years; he was received by the
Queen, who subsequently visited him at his house, presented him with
two hundred angels to keep his Christmas, and gave him a license in
alchemy. Sir Thomas Jones offered him his Castle of Emlin, in Wales,
for a dwelling; he was made Chancellor of St Paul’s, and in 1595,
Warden of Manchester College. He repaired thither with his wife and
children, and was installed in February 1596. He does not appear to
have accomplished any transmutation after his return to England. In
1607 we again find him at Mortlake, living on the revenue which he
derived from Manchester, but subject to much persecution by the Fellows
of that College. He died in 1608, at the age of eighty years.
The Hermetic abilities of Kelly were always believed in by the Emperor;
he continued to detain him, hoping to extract his secret. Some friends
of the unfortunate alchemist endeavoured, in the year 1597, to effect
his escape by means of a rope, but he fell from the window of his
prison, and died of the injuries which he received.
During his confinement he composed a treatise on the philosophical
stone, and the Diary of Dr Dee was published from a genuine Ashmolean
manuscript in 1604. The son of John Dee became physician to the Czar
at Moscow, and in his _Fasciculus Chemicus_, he states that, in early
youth, he witnessed transmutation repeatedly for the space of seven
years.
The metrical account of Sir Edward Kelly’s work in the _Theatrum
Chemicum Britannicum_ informs all who are broiling in the kitchen of
Geber to burn their books “and come and learn of me,” for they can no
more compound the _Elixir Vitæ_ and the precious stone than they can
manufacture apples. The progenitor of magnesia, wife to the gold of
the philosophers, is not a costly thing. The philosophical gold is not
common but Hermetic sulphur, and magnesia is essential mercury.
The _Testamentum Johannis Dee Philosophi Summi ad Johannem Gwynn,
transmissum 1568_, is lucidly worded as follows in its reference to the
_magnum opus_:--
“Cut that in Three which Nature hath made one,
Then strengthen yt, even by it self alone;
Wherewith then cutte the powdered sonne in twayne,
By length of tyme, and heale the wounde againe.
The self same sonne troys yet more, ye must wounde,
Still with new knives, of the same kinde, and grounde;
Our monas trewe thus use by Nature’s Law,
Both binde and lewse, only with rype and rawe,
And aye thank God who only is our Guyde,
All is ynough, no more then at this tyde.”
FOOTNOTES:
[X] Morhof, _Epistola ad Langlelotum de Metallorun Transmutatione_.
HENRY KHUNRATH.
This German alchemist, who is claimed as a hierophant of the psychic
side of the _magnum opus_, and who was undoubtedly aware of the
larger issues of Hermetic theorems, must be classed as a follower of
Paracelsus. He was a native of Saxony, born about the year 1560. He
perambulated a large portion of Germany, and at the age of twenty-eight
received the degree of medical doctor at the University of Basle. He
practised medicine at Hamburg and afterwards at Dresden, where he died
in obscurity and poverty, on the 9th of September 1601, aged about
forty-five years. The _Amphitheatrum Sapientiæ Æternæ solius veræ,
Christiano Kabbalisticum divino magicum_, &c., published in folio in
1609, is the most curious and remarkable of his works, some of which
still remain in manuscript.[Y] It was left unfinished by its author,
appearing four years after his decease, with a preface and conclusion
by his friend Erasmus Wohlfahrt.
The prologue directs the aspirant to the supreme temple of everlasting
wisdom to know God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, to know also
himself, and the mysteries of the macrocosmos. The whole treatise is
purely mystical and magical. The seven steps leading to the portals
of universal knowledge are described in an esoteric commentary on
some portions of the Wisdom of Solomon. The _lapis philosophorum_ is
declared to be identical with the Ruach Elohim who brooded over the
face of the waters during the first period of creation. The Ruach
Elohim is called _vapor virtutis Dei_, and the internal form of all
things. The perfect stone is attained through Christ, and, conversely,
the possession of that treasure gives the knowledge of Christ. The
_Amphitheatrum Sapientiæ Æternæ_ seems to be the voice of the ancient
chaos, but its curious folding plates are exceedingly suggestive.
FOOTNOTES:
[Y] Chausepié, _Dictionnaire_.
MICHAEL MAIER.
This celebrated German alchemist, one of the central figures of the
Rosicrucian controversy in Germany, and the greatest adept of his age,
was born at Ruidsburg, in Holstein, towards the year 1568. In his youth
he applied himself closely to the study of medicine, and establishing
himself at Rostock, he practised that art with so much success that he
became physician to the Emperor Rudolph II., by whom he was ennobled
for his services. Some adepts, notwithstanding, succeeded in enticing
him from the practical path which he had followed so long into the
thorny tortuosities of alchemical labyrinths. _Il se passionna pour le
grand œuvre_ and scoured all Germany to hold conferences with those
whom he imagined to be in possession of transcendent secrets. The
_Biographie Universelle_ declares that he sacrificed his health, his
fortune, and his time to these “ruinous absurdities.” According to
Buhle,[Z] he travelled extensively; and on one occasion paid a visit to
England, where he made the acquaintance of the Kentish mystic, Robert
Fludd.
He appears as an alchemical writer a little before the publication of
the Rosicrucian manifestoes. In the controversy which followed their
appearance, and which convulsed mystic Germany, he took an early and
enthusiastic share, defending the mysterious society in several books
and pamphlets. He is supposed to have travelled in search of genuine
members of the “College of Teutonic Philosophers R.C.,” and, failing
to meet with them, is said to have established a brotherhood of his
own on the plan of the _Fama Fraternitatis_. These statements rest on
inadequate authority, and there is better ground for believing that
he was initiated, towards the close of his life, into the genuine
order. A posthumous tract of Michael Maier, entitled “Ulysses,” was
published in 1624 by one of his personal friends, who added to the same
volume the substance of two pamphlets which had already appeared in
German, but which, by reason of their importance, were now translated
into Latin for the benefit of the literati of Europe. The first was
entitled _Colloquium Rhodostauroticum trium personarum, per Famam et
Confessionem quodamodo revelatam de Fraternitate Roseæ Crucis_. The
second was an _Echo Colloquii_, by Benedict Hilarion, writing in the
name of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. It appears from these pamphlets
that Maier was admitted into the mystical order, but when or where
is uncertain. He became the most voluminous alchemical writer of his
period, publishing continually till his death in the year 1622.
Many of his works are Hermetic elaborations of classical mythology,
and are adorned with most curious plates. They are all hopelessly
obscure, if his Rosicrucian apologies be excepted; the latter are not
deficient in ingenuity, but they are exceedingly laboured, and, of
course, completely unsatisfactory. He does not appear to have been
included among the adepts, and he is now almost forgotten. His chemical
knowledge is buried in a multitude of symbols and insoluble enigmas,
and believers in spiritual chemistry will not derive much comfort or
profit from his writings.
FOOTNOTES:
[Z] See De Quincey’s “Rosicrucians and Freemasons.”
JACOB BÖHME.
After the publication of the psycho-chemical philosophy of the
illuminated shoemaker of Görlitz, the adepts are believed to have
despaired of any longer retaining their secrets, and in their own
writings they began to speak more freely. In this way the mystery of
the _vas philosophorum_ is said to have become less impenetrable than
previously, when it was considered a divine secret in the keeping of
God and his elect.
Jacob Böhme, who may perhaps be considered as the central figure of
Christian mysticism, was born in the year 1575, at Old Seidenberg,
a village near Görlitz, in what was then called German Prussia. His
parents were poor but honest and sober peasants, and were unable to
procure him more than the usual religious schooling and the most simple
elements of common education. In his spare time he tended cattle with
other boys of the village. “He was a quiet, introspective lad,” says
one of his latest biographers, “whose face bore somewhat of the dreamy
expression which is frequent in poetic natures.” Even at this early age
he was rich in inward visions. On one occasion he retired into a cave,
in the rock called Land’s Crown, and discovered a large wooden vessel
full of money, from which he precipitately retired without touching it,
as though it were something diabolical. He told his companions, but
there was no such cavern to be found at the place in question, though
they often visited the spot in search of the concealed treasure.
On leaving school, Jacob was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and while
he was one day serving in the shop during the absence of his master,
an old man, of remarkable and benevolent mien, entered and asked for
some shoes, for which the lad, fearing to conclude a bargain without
his employer, demanded an extravagant price to deter the stranger from
buying. The latter, however, paid the sum asked, and then calling him
by his name, beckoned him into the street, when taking him by the hand,
with sparkling eyes and earnest, angelical countenance, he said:--
“Jacob, thou art as yet but little; nevertheless, the time will
come when thou shalt be great, and the world shall marvel at thee.
Therefore, be pious, fear God, and reverence the Word. Read the Holy
Scriptures diligently; in these thou shalt have comfort and instruction
through the misery, poverty, and persecution which are in store for
thee. Be courageous and persevere; God loves thee, and is gracious unto
thee.”
The stranger then disappeared, or departed, leaving Jacob more serious
and devotional than ever. The words of instruction and inspired
admonition which he was frequently prompted to give to his fellow
apprentices brought him into disputes with his master, and eventually
led to his dismissal. He became a journeyman shoemaker, but returned to
Görlitz in 1594, where he married the daughter of a tradesman, by whom
he had four children.
In 1598 he imagined himself to be surrounded with the divine light
for several consecutive days; he beheld the virtue and nature of the
vegetable world, gazing into the very heart of creation, and learning
the secrets of the physical cosmos by means of the self-interpreting
“signatures” which seemed to be impressed on all around him. A similar
experience recurred in 1600, when he passed into the hypnotic state
by accidentally fixing his eye on a burnished pewter dish. These
visions did not interfere with his capacity for work, or with his
attention to his domestic affairs. Ten years passed away, and his
psychic perceptions became suddenly clearer. “What he had previously
seen only chaotically, fragmentarily, and in isolated glimpses, he now
beheld as a coherent whole and in more definite outlines.” He wrote
what he experienced under a fervour of inspiration, and in this way
his first book was produced--“Aurora, the Day Spring, or Dawning of
the Day in the East, or Morning Redness in the Rising of the Sun.” It
was not originally intended for publication, but manuscript copies
were circulated by one of his friends, and he suffered much consequent
persecution from the ecclesiastical authorities of Görlitz. He was
forbidden to write any more books, and was commanded to stick to his
trade. For five years he meekly obeyed the tyrannous mandate, and
afterwards contented himself with writing simply for his intimate
friends. From 1619 to 1624 he produced a number of voluminous
treatises, of which the book of the “True Principles,” the “Mysterium
Magnum,” and the “Signatura Rerum” are perhaps the most characteristic
and important. The publication, apparently surreptitious, of his
“Way to Christ” again brought him into conflict with the orthodoxy
of Görlitz, and led to his temporary exile. He was invited to the
electoral court at Dresden, where a conference of eminent theologians
examined him, and was so greatly impressed by the man that they
declared themselves incompetent to judge him.
In 1624 he was attacked by a fever at the house of a friend in Silesia,
was carried at his own request to his native town, and there on the
22nd November he expired in a semi-ecstatic condition.
While serving his apprenticeship at Görlitz, Jacob Böhme acquired
some knowledge of chemistry, and he subsequently made use of Hermetic
terminology in a transfigured and spiritual sense. His example was
followed by his disciples, including the illustrious Saint Martin,
Dionysius Andreas Freher, and William Law. The second-named writer has
treated of the analogy in the process of the philosophic work to the
Redemption of man through Christ Jesus, as unfolded by Jacob Böhme.
A treatise on metallurgy is ascribed to the theosophist himself,
and there are several alchemical references in his numerous private
epistles. The Holy Ghost is stated to be the key to alchemy; there
is no need of hard labour and seeking (presumably among physical
substances). “Seek only Christ, _and you will find all things_.” He
describes the philosophers’ stone as dark, disesteemed, and grey in
colour. It contains the highest tincture. Like Henry Khunrath before
him, he deprecates any expenditure beyond that of the time and cost
of the operator’s maintenance. “It doth not cost any money, but what
is spent upon the time and the maintenance, else it might be prepared
with four shillings. The work is easy, the act simple. A boy of sixteen
years might make it, but the wisdom therein is great, and it is
greatest mystery.”
The seal of God is elsewhere declared to be set on the secret of
alchemy, “to conceal the true ground of the same upon pain of eternal
punishments, unless a man know for certain that it shall not be
misused. There is also no power to attain it, no skill or art availeth;
unless one give the tincture into the hands of another, he cannot
prepare it, except he be certainly in the new birth.”
* * * * *
The following lines, copied from a manuscript inserted in a volume
of his works, are included in the original edition of the “Lives of
Alchemysticall Philosophers”:--
“Whate’er the Eastern Magi sought,
Or Orpheus sung, or Hermes taught,
Whate’er Confucius could inspire,
Or Zoroaster’s mystic fire;
The symbols that Pythagoras drew,
The wisdom God-like Plato knew;
What Socrates debating proved,
Or Epictetus lived and loved;
The sacred fire of saint and sage
Through every clime, in every age,
In Bohmen’s wondrous page we view
Discovered and revealed anew.
‘Aurora’ dawned the coming day:
Succeeding books meridian light display.
Ten thousand depths his works explore,
Ten thousand truths unknown before.
Through all his books profound we trace
The abyss of nature, GOD, and grace;
The seals are broke, the mystery’s past,
And all is now revealed at last.
The trumpet sounds, the Spirit’s given,
And Bohmen is the voice from Heaven.”
J. B. VAN HELMONT.