Descartes's Secret Notebook

by Amir D. Aczel

  When he was five years old, the parents of Christian Rosenkreuz placed him in a monastery, where he learned Greek and Latin. At the age of sixteen he left the monastery and joined a group of magicians, learning their art and traveling with them for five years. Then Rosenkreuz left the magicians and continued to travel on his own. He went to Turkey, and from there on to Damascus and farther into Arabia. There he heard about a secret city in the desert, known only to philosophers, whose inhabitants possessed extraordinary knowledge of nature. The city was named Damcar.

  Rosenkreuz found his way to Damcar and was received with great hospitality by its citizens. They all seemed to have been expecting his arrival. He described to them his experiences in the monastery and his travel with the band of magicians, and they instructed him in all their knowledge. They shared with him their science and their understanding of the laws of nature, including physics and mathematics.

  After three years with the people of Damcar, during which time he absorbed their secret knowledge of the universe, Christian Rosenkreuz left and traveled to the Barbary Coast. He went to the city of Fez, and settled there for two years, meeting sages and cabalists and learning their art. He developed ideas about reforming all of science and reforming society. He went to Spain hoping to spread his new knowledge and ideas to Europe. But the people he met were opposed to his knowledge and his theories, and treated him with contempt. He traveled through Europe, finding no interest in his ideas or his science, only disappointment, opposition, and ridicule. Finally, Rosenkreuz returned to Germany and built a large house and pursued his knowledge in solitary research. He would keep the wonderful science he was uncovering all to himself, rather than seek the glory of recognition by society. He constructed scientific instruments and conducted experiments in his house. He wanted to reform the world using science, and his dream was that after his death, his ideas would be carried forward by a select group of scholars. In the year 1484, Rosenkreuz died naturally with no illness at the age of 106.

  Christian Rosenkreuz was buried in a cave that he had fitted with many gold vessels and that seemed to possess magical qualities. In 1604, exactly 120 years after he died, his burial cave was serendipitously discovered by four scholars. The cave had natural light shining in it, even though sunlight could not come in. There was a bright plate of copper with mysterious writings on it, including his initials: R.C. There were four figurines, each inscribed with writings; and there were items that belonged to the deceased: mirrors, bells, books, and an open dictionary. Everything in the cave sparkled brightly. But the most remarkable thing in the cave was this Latin inscription:

  Post CXX Annas Patebo

  [After six score years, I shall be found]

  The four friends took this as a sign. They learned Rosenkreuz's secrets from the possessions and writings he had left behind, and they decided to found the secret Brotherhood of the Rosenkreuz, the Rosy Cross. The purpose of their order was a general reformation of the world using the sciences. They embraced the study of mathematics and physics, but were also interested in medicine and chemistry.

  Within a short time, the four members of the fraternity brought in one friend each, and there were now eight of them. The brothers made the following six rules:

  They must heal and distribute free medicines to all people who need them.

  They must dress in accordance with the customs of the country in which they live.

  They must meet once every year.

  Each must choose a successor, so that all of them will be replaced once they die.

  Each must carry a hidden seal with the letters R.C.

  They will keep their society secret for at least one hundred years.

  The brothers sought to develop a magical language that would serve as a secret code for science. They dispersed throughout the world, each dressing and acting in accordance with the laws and customs of the land in which he lived. Their mission was to divulge their knowledge and to rectify all the errors of science and society.

  In 1614, ten years after it was founded, the brotherhood published its major book, called the Fama jraternitatis, or “Statement of the Brotherhood.” There followed the Confessio jraternitatis (“Confession of the Brotherhood”), in 1615; and a year later, The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz. The term “chemical wedding” derives from alchemy, in which chemical elements are to be wedded together to produce gold. We don't know who authored the first two Rosicrucian texts, but scholars have identified the author of the Chemical Wedding as the Lutheran theologian Johann Valentin Andrea (1586-1654). The three publications received an enormous amount of attention, and caused great excitement among various groups in Europe, making the brotherhood the talk of the entire Continent during the period Descartes was in Germany a few years after the publications first appeared. According to Baillet, word about the founding of the new Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross spread around the world “like news of a Second Coming.” Original copies of the Rosicrucian texts exist today.

  An anonymous seventeenth-century work entitled the Chevalier de Yaigle du pelican ou Roseaoix describes a ritual at the first Rosicrucian lodge. The brothers are dressed in black sashes and aprons. The master stands in front of a table on which are placed three items: a perfect metal triangle, a compass, and a Bible. The master takes a seven-pointed star and lights its points; the flaming star is passed around. The ritual symbolizes the brotherhood's interest in geometry as well as in the physical world and in religion.

  Some people maintain that the Rosicrucians never existed, and that everything said or written about them is sheer myth. According to Baillet, those who hated the Rosicrucians called them Lutherans, believing that Protestants had invented a fictitious society to foment revolution. But books have survived, attributed to the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, and in these books are writings about mathematics, science, and mysticism. Also, these works incorporate a philosophy of life and an approach to politics that are unique and were revolutionary for their time. Clearly, there existed during the early seventeenth century a group of individuals, mostly living in Germany, who knew one another well and called themselves the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. If they defined themselves that way—and their books attest to their existence and association—then who are we to say that they never existed? To doubt the existence of the order of the Rosy Cross might not be different from doubting the existence of other secret societies, such as the Pythagorean order of Greece of the fifth century B.C., which gave us the Pythagorean theorem and early ideas about irrational numbers.

  The Rosicrucians delved in mysticism, alchemy, and astrology. They studied mathematics and early notions of physics, as well as biology and medicine. The Rosicrucians believed that all knowledge was valuable and that it should be unified and pursued as an entity all its own. Mathematics held a key role in all science and could be used to explain the forces of nature. Hence, their philosophy of science was somewhat akin to that of the Pythagoreans, who considered geometry to be at the highest level of human knowledge. It was also very close to the ideas that Descartes would later express in his writings.

  The Rosicrucians were opposed to the power of the church and advocated reform of the religious system on the Continent. The brothers were concerned about the Catholic Church's opposition to scientific ideas, and they sought change. This may well have been one of the main reasons that the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross was a secret society. Had they not maintained secrecy, they would have been persecuted and severely punished by the Inquisition. Rosicrucian writings indicate that the order was opposed to national loyalty—the members saw themselves as citizens of the world rather than of any country. In addition to the unity of all knowledge, the Rosicrucians advocated a unity of humanity without any national or ethnic boundaries.

  Knowledge was traditionally pursued at the university, and in Europe of the early seventeenth century, the universities were dominated by the scholastic tradition and Aristotelian thinking. The Jesuits embraced the Aristotelian view of
the universe, which agreed with scripture in placing the earth at the center of all creation. Thus teachings and research at the university were unwelcoming of the new ideas of Copernicus, Kepler, and others who promoted science. Thinking in Europe of this period was institutionalized and was closed to any new ideas or interpretations. The Rosicrucians were opposed to this trend and to the institutions of their time, the church and the universities, and advocated the view that knowledge should be pursued outside these institutions.

  Given the political role of the Rosicrucians, it is difficult to maintain skepticism about their existence. In a society in which people are in danger whenever they express views—political, scientific, or religious—that are in opposition to those of the authorities, secret societies and organizations arise. It is known that the Jesuits put a man named Adam Haslmayr in irons on a galley for publishing a treatise in 1614 amplifying the writings in the Fama fraternitatis. He was arrested by the Jesuits shortly after the publication appeared. Haslmayr had openly declared that the Jesuits had usurped the title of a true Society of Jesus from its rightful owners—the Rosicrucians. According to Haslmayr, who was a close collaborator of Johann Valentin Andrea, widely believed to be the key Rosicrucian writer, the main purpose of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross was to unite the sciences under the canopy of a Christian society. Thus they attracted to their fold historians, linguists, chemists, physicists, and mathematicians. Descartes' natural secretiveness and his pursuit of science without limits agree well with stated Rosicrucian beliefs. Was the man who wrote that he “advanced masked through life” a Rosicrucian?

  The original legend about the genesis of the Rosicrucians, repeated almost word for word in all the Rosicrucian sources, may well have a sound factual germ. The legend reflects the transfer of knowledge from East to West that took place in medieval times. We know that after the decline of the West following the destruction of Rome in the fifth century, the intellectual center of learning and arts and sciences moved to Arabia. Here, the ancient texts and ideas of Greece were preserved and promoted. In the ninth century, a House of Wisdom was established in Baghdad, in which mathematicians such as Al-Khowarizmi, who gave us algebra and whose name is reflected in the word “algorithm,” worked together with astronomers and other scientists building a new scientific foundation of knowledge. In the centuries that followed, this knowledge moved west. The legend about Christian Rozenkreuz bringing such knowledge from Arabia to Europe may well reflect this historical fact.

  The Rosicrucians claimed that they were ancient. In their books, they said that they were “older than the ancients,” in the sense that they were alive while the ancients existed no more. This claim, which was propagated through their myth about the ancient origins of their founder, allowed them to justify their methods. The Rosicrucians argued that astrology was their predictor of the future and that hundreds of years of experience with interpretations of celestial signs about human events allowed them, statistically, to interpret the signs of the heavens correctly. They made similar claims about alchemy. Thus the Rosicrucians believed that their experience in interpreting the heavens and chemical reactions allowed them to make correct scientific inferences based on experience. Similar principles allowed the Rosicrucians to claim knowledge of healing the sick. They argued that thousands of years of experimentation with herbs and other medicines enabled them to know which of these ointments and liquids held magical healing powers.

  The Rosicrucians claimed ancient origins through the links between their ideas and those of ancient Gnostic and Hermetic traditions. Mystical ideas reflected in Rosicrucian writings originated in alchemical, occult, and mystical writings of third-century Egypt, whose origins were attributed to the much earlier writings of Hermes Trismegistus, believed to have been a contemporary of Moses. The “Hermetic writings” are named after Hermes Trismegistus, but modern scholars believe that these writings go back to a later period, perhaps the second century B.C., and originate in Egyptian magical writings, Jewish mysticism, and Platonism. These elements found their way into seventeenth-century Europe in the writings of the Rosicrucians.

  Chapter 8

  Swords at Sea and a Meeting in the Marais

  DESCARTES' THIRST FOR TRUTH IN cited his lust for travel. For through visiting new places and seeing how people lived in different locales, Descartes was able to free himself of the “false beliefs” that, he thought, permeated the world around him. Descartes' emerging philoso-phy advocated doubt of unproven claims and finding out the truth through firsthand observation. For Descartes, such observation was carried out through travel to distant places and by learning directly about their people and customs and lifestyles.

  In July 1621, Descartes left Germany and its invisible Rosicrucians, and traveled to Hungary. At the end of that month he continued on toward Moravia and Silesia. Of this part of his voyage, we know only that he went into the city of Breslaw. The area had been ravaged by the army of the marquis of Jagerndorf, and Descartes was curious about the effects of the hostilities on the inhabitants of this region. Descartes wanted to see more of northern Germany, and to reach the coast. At the beginning of autumn 1621, he found himself in Pomerania, by the Polish border. He found this region to be in great tranquillity and to have very little contact with the outside world, with the exception of the city of Stettin, a major port town with strong commercial links with the rest of the world. Descartes visited the Baltic coast, and then went up to Brandenburg. The Elector, George William, had just returned there from Warsaw and from Prussia, where he had gone to pay his homage to the nobility and his new subjects, as he had just received the title of king of Poland. Descartes continued to the duchy of Mecklenburg, and from there to Holstein.

  Before returning to Holland, toward the end of November 1621, Descartes wanted to make one more side trip so he could better observe the Frisian coast and islands. He wanted to travel with ease and agility, so he let go his horses and the rest of his assistants, and kept only his trusted valet with him. He embarked on a vessel on the Elbe, headed for the East Frisian Islands, and planned to continue from the East Frisian to the West Frisian Islands. The Frisians are a group of low-lying islands located in the North Sea off the German and Dutch coasts. The East Frisians belong to Germany, and the West Frisians to Holland. Since Roman times, settlements on these islands have been crumbling away under persistent storms and flooding. Descartes wanted to see some of the partially submerged, abandoned villages on these islands, and to study the problem of trying to keep the sea from reclaiming the land.

  Once in the East Frisian Islands, Descartes hired a small boat to take him to the West Frisians, where he wanted to visit a number of specific places that would not otherwise have been accessible to him. According to Baillet, this move “could have been fatal for him.” It nearly was.

  The crew of this boat was “the roughest and most barbarous lot of their profession.” Soon after the boat left port, Descartes realized what a mistake he had made. He saw that the crew of his boat was a pitiless gang of criminals. But he knew that there was little that he could do. Descartes looked wealthy—he was well dressed, a French gentleman with a sword and a bag that the sailors were convinced contained much money, and he traveled with a valet, a sign of prosperity. Descartes tried to keep calm, realizing that hiring this boat and its crew may have been the worst mistake of his life.

  The crew, who spoke a Germanic dialect, thought that their passenger, who spoke French quietly to his valet, was a wealthy foreign merchant who certainly did not understand their language. In his presence, they began to talk about their plan to throw him with his valet overboard and make off with his money. Descartes didn't show any sign that he understood anything they were saying as they discussed their coldblooded plans right in front of him. Baillet explains that there was a difference between highwaymen and these criminals. Robbers on the road, when concealing their identity, would leave their victims unharmed once they robbed them since there was no need to kill them—the vict
ims could not later identify their attackers. But this rough lot had been seen by Descartes. They would have to kill him.

  “Surely,” they were saying, “this foreigner has no acquaintance in this land, and no one would miss a lone traveler with his valet once the boat returns without them.” So they could keep the money without the risk of being caught.

  By his polite and calm demeanor, they took him for a weak man who would not give them much of a fight once they attacked him. They went into details of how they would rush the man and his valet, take hold of the two, and—grabbing his bag of money—throw the two men into the freezing water of the North Sea. Descartes kept his sangfroid in the face of this chilling plan.

  Having taught himself Flemish a few years earlier, Descartes understood every word of the dialect spoken by these people, and once he knew every detail of their plan, he at once unsheathed his sword and lunged toward them with great force. The stunned sailors backed off, but he pursued them on deck, hurling insults at them in their own language. Demonstrating all his swordsmanship skills and speaking their own language, he swung his sword at them in the air with lightning speed and told them he would cut them all up into pieces. “His daring had a marvelous effect on the spirit of these miserable souls,” Baillet tells us. “The terror they felt was followed by vertigo that prevented them from considering the advantage of their number, and they proceeded to conduct him to his destination as peacefully as possible.”

  Descartes returned from his adventure unharmed and with his money intact. He left the German coast and continued to Holland. He spent the winter in that country, often visiting his friend Beeckman, and also observing with interest the progress of two sieges laid by the Spanish to Dutch cities after five months of truce between the two nations had expired. Then Descartes and his valet traveled through the Catholic parts of the Low Countries, and from there they continued to France. In early 1622, Descartes and his valet passed through Paris and continued south to the regions of Touraine and Poitou. In March, Descartes arrived at his father's house in Rennes.