The Magister 2

by Marcus Katz

  When the Fama was first printed, it was within a volume including a preface and a ‘reply’ by Adam Haselmayer. The contents of this preface and reply led Frances Yates to suggest that the intention of the Rosicrucian manifesto was “setting forth an alternative to the Jesuit order, a brotherhood more truly based on the teaching of Jesus.” However, she admits that the preface and reply are ambiguous, although there is clearly “an intention of associating the first Rosicrucian manifesto with anti-Jesuit propaganda.”[41]

  It is clear, however, that the intent of the text is to announce a rediscovery of transmitted wisdom, a philosophy that “also is not a new invention, but as Adam after his fall hath received it.”[42] This revelation, symbolised by the allegory of the discovery of the tomb of C.R., heralds a new reformation, both of “divine and human things, according to our desire, and the expectation of others.”[43]

  It could further be added that the intention is to imply criticism of the Reformation, which was seen to have failed, and also a further intention to test the expectation of ‘others’ (i.e. the public and the learned men to whom the pamphlet is addressed) against a Christian philosophy that is not given but suggested as pure in comparison to the established Church.

  The call to the reader to “declare their mind”[44] is a device which assures the publication of this pamphlet will engender what contemporary advertising would refer to ‘viral marketing’. Indeed, modern campaigns often use undercover and subtle forms of graffiti in city environments to reinforce the mystery of the brand which is being marketed.[45] This is analogous to the appearance of posters promoting the Rosicrucian cause in Paris in 1622; the first commencing with the line, “We, the Deputies of the Higher College of the Rose-Croix, do make our stay, visibly and invisibly, in this city ...” and the second ending with the words “The thoughts attached to the real desire of the seeker will lead us to him and him to us.”

  So, in this sense the publication of the manifestos can be seen, as Christopher McIntosh says, as “the greatest publicity-stunt of all time,”[46] with the intention of a test of the consciousness of the age through the first use of a ‘viral marketing campaign’, mapping a ‘virtual world’ against the ‘real world’ to highlight the wide gap between the utopian vision of a ‘New Age’ and the failure of both Church and State in the reformation towards that vision.

  This self-referential aspect of the texts leads Colin Wilson to write that the invention of Christian Rosenkreuz is “not a hoax so much as a cry of rejection and a demand for new ways: in short, a kind of prophecy.”[47]

  Fr. Wittemans – whose work has been criticised elsewhere – states that the “only certain thing is that Andrae (sic), with thirty others, published the Fama as a sort of experiment ... in order to discover whether and which lovers of the true wisdom are to be found in Europe.”[48] In this he accords in that expression with Tobias Churton, when he writes that Andreae was “calling out for a second spiritual and scientific reformation to encompass all men of goodwill in the true Christian spirit of love and brotherhood.”[49]

  The Confessio

  The publication of the Confessio Fraternitatis in the year following the Fama added more depth to the mystery and debate now rising with regard to the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. It is estimated that several hundred works were printed regarding the search for – or criticism of – the Brotherhood, although there is as yet no extensive dated bibliography of this tangled furore.[50] In this we can see that whatever the intention of the work, the actual effect was as a catalyst – dividing the audience in a way that the author may not have intended.

  If Andreae was indeed author of the Fama, as we have touched on, he wrote in 1619, “Would that the remaining chimes and little bells by which this fable was noised abroad be melted down: I mean that their prolific writings would all go up in smoke!”[51]

  The Confessio was first published in Latin, and the authorship has been attributed to either Andreae or Tobias Hess.[52] Perhaps the Latin delivery was meant for more learned minds than had received the Fama? It may have been intended to quell the facile posturings of the public with regard to the Brotherhood, or it may indeed have been intended to further fuel the debate.

  The preface of the Confessio states that it will list “thirty-seven reasons of purpose and intention,”[53] yet in true ambiguous and esoteric fashion does not then make explicit the manner in which the text relates to thirty-seven reasons.

  The text immediately makes two things clear: the world is “falling to decay, and near its end,” and the Brotherhood are in some way superior to the ‘mortals’ addressed by the text.[54] This context allows a direct criticism of both “the Pope and Mahomet” and the intention of the text is stated “for the sake of the learned ... make a better explanation.”[55] This explanation delivers the rise of a new philosophy and the start of a ‘Sixth Age’ into which newcomers will not be immediately initiated, but “must proceed step by step from the smaller to the greater.”[56] This statement of a step by step revelation is of interest in that it appears to refer to a graduated initiation – again referenced later in the Confessio; “this Fraternity, divided into Degrees.”[57]

  Another intention given by the text is that God himself has decreed that the Fraternity be enlarged,[58] which intensifies the call for the public to respond. The Confessio goes on to expound upon the coming of light to the darkness of “the arts, works and governments of men,”[59] sparing few areas of life in its critical gaze. It sees the dawn of a new Reformation, and hints that the Brotherhood has power through ‘magical writing’ by which prediction can be made.[60] However, it places the religious or spiritual background of the Brotherhood as Christian; the study of the Bible is seen as the “whole sum of our Laws” and yet, at the same time, alchemy is seen as a “great gift of God” so long as it leads to the “knowledge of Nature.”[61]

  The Confessio draws to a close by continuing its specific criticism of the “Roman Imposter” or “Viper” Pope, the “worthless books of pseudo chymists” and the “vain (astronomical) epicycles and eccentric circles”; thus, the philosophy of the Brotherhood is seen as holding truths beyond religion, alchemy and astrology.[62]

  The text concludes by repeating the intended aim of the Brotherhood to “enrich and instruct the whole world” and the call to seek and find the Fraternity the sooner that liberation may come.[63]

  The Chymical Wedding

  It is the opinion of Adam McLean that without the third manifesto of the Chymical Wedding being published, the two preceeding texts would have faded from the public imagination. The publication of the “profound allegorical statement of the mystery of inner transformation” that is the Chymical Wedding, further deepened the enigma of the followers of Christian Rosenkreuz by demonstrating their possession of an “esoteric core.”[64]

  Although Andreae admitted authorship of the Chymical Wedding in his autobiography, Vita ab Ipso Conscripta,[65] he also dismissed it as a ‘ludibrium’. Ludibrium is a word derived from Latin ‘ludus (ludi)’, meaning ‘plaything’ or ‘trivial game’. In Latin ludibrium is an object at the same time of fun and of scorn and derision. However, in Andreae’s Peregrini in Patria errores (1618) he compares the world to an amphitheatre where no one is seen in their true light – thus the ludibrium could well be seen to have serious purpose undeneath the play itself. It may be seen that Andreae delighted in ambiguity, and as Churton notes, “ambivalence was central to Andreae’s genius.”[66]

  It suffices to note that the tale of the Chymical Wedding commences with an invitation to arise from “carnal desires” and through self-examination – “examining myself again and again” – come to an “understanding of the secrets of Nature.”[67] This method and resultant vision is told through a complex allegory of trials, rituals and realms, culminating in the admittance of Christian Rosenkreuz into the order of the Knights of the Golden Stone, whose motto is “The highest wisdom is to know nothing.”[68]

  The idea that the intention of the
publication of the Chymical Wedding was to redirect the audience to the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross as a literary device is stated by McIntosh (1987) and, indeed, Andreae had written in Turris Babel that “in vain do you wait for the coming of the Brotherhood.”[69]

  The Mirror of Wisdom

  This ‘fourth’ Rosicrucian manifesto, Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum (or, The Mirror of the Wisdom of the Rosicrucians), was published in 1618, authored by Daniel Mögling under the pseudonym of Theophilus Schweighardt. Although another complex piece of writing, drawing also on Thomas à Kempis’ Imitatio Christi, it can be seen that this piece attempts an explanation of the methodology of the ‘Rosicrucian Order’, and also intends to delineate the order, their works and their buildings as an inner and received wisdom, and not a material manifestation.

  The College of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood is described as:

  … everywhere visible, but hidden from the eyes of men, adorned with all kinds of divine and natural things, the contemplation of which in theory and practice is granted to every man free of charge and renumeration, but heeded by few because the building appears as bad, little worth and well-known to the mind of the mob who are ever heedless and seekers after things new …[70]

  Another striking illustration from the same work is that used to encapsulate the text where it refers to the Ergon and Parergon – Work and Greater Work – of the Rhodo-Stauroticum. It is clear from the illustration, combined with the text, that the intention is to signal an inner work – the events are taking place in the two sockets of a skull in a mirror of the text:

  And here is to be noted that the created soul of man has two spiritual eyes; the right eye can see into eternity, and the left eye can see into time and creatures.[71]

  Mögling goes on to say that “... the Brotherhood against all expectation goes mightily forward,” but that entry is by prayer and works alone, which will attract a brother of the order to give the earnest seeker the Parergon, or Greater Work.

  This ‘fourth manifesto’ clearly intended to place the mysteries of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross as a means of gnosis, or divine knowledge of Nature, through Christian and Hermetic methods and principles.

  Symbology and Metaphor

  The symbolism of both the Fama and the Confessio are replete with indications that they are used in service of an intended awakening – a new dawn bringing light to the darkness of ignorance. Such symbolism as the rose, the dawn, the flowing chalice or fountain, briefly included in the Fama and Confessio, find their full expression in the Chymical Wedding. It is the symbol of the trumpet that calls this awakening at the start of the Wedding, which belongs to the apocalyptical tradition. Often in the New Testament the sound of trumpets is tied to Christ’s coming. Notice Paul’s description of the resurrection of the dead at the time a great trumpet announces Christ’s return: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”[72]

  The use of metaphor is well known in psychotherapy as a means of circumventing the conscious mind. A congruent and well delivered metaphor is a powerful means to affect change.[73] In the manifestos we see a complex metaphorical structure which plays with time – the unlikely timeline of Christian Rosenkreuz’s life and the constant references to the end of one age and the commencement of a new age – and space – “the college which is everywhere visible, but hidden from the eyes of men.”[74]

  In literature, the creation of a ‘virtual’ world replete with worldview and behaviour to challenge existing notions is commonplace. All literature is analogous, a map of the territory of existence. The content and delivery of the manifestos still finds its echoes in the works of those authors versed in Gnostic, alchemical or kabbalistic motifs, such as Jorge Luis Borges, whose ‘Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius’ is referenced by McIntosh with regard to the Rosicrucian phenomenon,[75] and contemporary authors such as William Gibson who coined the term ‘cyber-space’ and whose recent work references a fragmentary piece of video released over time across the Internet which spawns its own interpretators and followers despite any clear indication of its intention.[76]

  In this section we have seen that each of the manifestos revealing the existence of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross and its founder Christian Rosenkreuz had a common intention to challenge what the author/s saw as the prevalent ignorance of the age, within the religious, artistic and scientific establishment. Their content, delivery and release were fashioned in such a way as to promote widespread discussion – although this also resulted in a literal belief of the content, i.e. the existence of a real brotherhood of mystical Adepts, as the lowest common denominator of public opinion.

  The likely re-working and publication of Andreae’s Chymical Wedding intended to re-frame opinion towards the literal, but in fact deepened the apparent enigma and promoted the mythology of the secret brotherhood and their Hermetic, alchemical knowledge and powers. Whatever their original intention, the manifestos remain ever-timely, visionary and powerful emblems of spiritual striving. It is not only the Tübingen Circle of the early 17th century who – in the face of political chaos, impending war and the failure of religious establishments – looked towards a universally-lived life of truth in a world of mutual trust and respect.

  We will next move on to the academic study of the WEIS, and explore the work of the Golden Dawn, most particularly its curriculum and the student experience. Whilst what follows is more of an academic discussion, we will highlight much which sets the context for our contemporary appreciation of the tradition. If you are disinterested in academic analysis, language or primary source material, you may comfortably pass by the following portion of this volume – although I would recommend some dips into the primary material amidst the academic language.

  Academic Study of the WEIS

  The academic study of Western esotericism is the main issue for this section of first volume of The Magister, as it provides essential grounding in areas of little usual concern to practitioners. The students of the OED are encouraged to pursue historical research and wide reading in order to appreciate the breadth of their work and the roots from whence it has grown.

  There are, however, two areas that we must make clear. Firstly, in academia, it would not be sufficient to simply talk about a singular monolithic ‘Western esoteric tradition’ without defining the terms and scope of the term. In the volumes of The Magister, we use the term as a general label for our work, without need to define it further.

  Secondly, the approach of academic study to esotericism has blatantly ignored the taught content of magical curricula, which is our primary concern in these volumes. Often content is seen as merely a response – to disempowerment, disenfranchisement, science, etc. – and not as a source of independent value. Here we see it from our practitioner perspective as not requiring justification or defence; it is an active approach to engaging life, not a passive response mechanism (or if so, no more than any other activity, including academia).

  The academic ambivalence to actual content versus content-as-response – for example, Webb,[77] Gibbons[78] and Owen[79] – is reflected in other contemporary studies such as Hanegraaff.[80] Whilst speaking of the New Age sensu lato and sensu stricto, and referring to the movement as a whole being rooted in the New Thought tradition (and yet emerging as a secularised esotericism), Hanegraaff sees this movement as characterised by a popular Western cultural criticism.

  Whilst analysing any movement as a ‘flight from reason’ or ‘disenchantment’, or a reaction against male disempowerment, as in Carnes,[81] there is little motivation or necessity to explore the actual content of that movement. Similarly, if content is not viewed beneath activity, where that activity – usually ritual – is seen as a device to maintain secrecy as power, or to alleviate psychological stress, as a psychogenic model might construct, then again, the scholar c
an feel justified in abandoning any further investigation of esoteric content.

  This has meant that the bulk of esoteric teachings have lain fallow to academic appreciation, and that a blind spot to the majority of activity engaged in by individuals has been created. A member of the Golden Dawn would have spent many more hours in private study than a brief initiatory ritual, and even within that ritual, the bulk is taught content, elusive to existing models of initiation.[82]

  Since the revival of academic discourse in the Hermetic tradition pioneered by Yates[83] which followed the attempts of practitioners such as Waite (1921) and Lévi (1855) to discover and divulge – often under the veil of an implied secret knowledge – their roots in an attempt termed by Scholem, with regard to kabbalah, as a “supreme charlatanism,” there has, however, been an accelerating scholarly appreciation of Western esotericism.[84]

  This is evinced in the publication of the monumental Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism (2005) and the foundation of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism in that same year.[85]

  It is within this dynamic discourse that we will seek to place this present study of the content of esoteric curricula – the taught content of a range of groups and individuals self-identifying as holders and transmitters of Western esoteric teaching and tradition.

  The Nature of the Debate

  It is proposed that we take a wide view in order to achieve our aim of surveying such a vast wealth of material present in occult teachings from across a century. We will avoid, by doing so, a reductionist strategy leading to constrained conclusions, such as Carnes, whose study of ritual fraternities, who were “[nearly all] exclusively masculine institutions” leads to the argument that such groups “provided solace and psychological guidance during young men’s troubled passage to manhood in Victorian America.” [86] This entirely ignores the rise of esoteric organisations during that same time which promoted equal membership for both men and women, such as the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.