BIBLIOTHECA PHILOSOPHICA HERMETICA:

A Treasures Chamber to be rediscovered, part 1

by Eva Christina

Translation of an article which appeared on the magazine HERA no. 76 (year

2006)

The mysteries of Man, of the Universe and of the Cosmos contained in the
pages of very ancient manuscripts of every tradition reveal the origin, but also
the destiny of Man. We are embarking on a journey surpassing time and space,
but tracing the essence of the miracle of Life.

In the middle of a fascinating Amsterdam, capital par excellence of a multi-

ethnic world and an impressive modernism, time seems to have stopped in the
Bloemstraat. Right in the middle of the historical city centre, the Bibliotheca
Philosophica Hermetica was here born and still thrives to the present day.
Founded by the dutch businessman Joost Ritman, the Bibliotheca Philosophica
Hermetica (BPH) was opened to the public in 1984, and ever since has been
sponsoring numerous cultural activities in the domain of Hermetism and
Gnosticism throughout Europe, propagating them and their diffusion especially
at present times. We have also to remember the institution of a new Faculty of
History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of
Amsterdam, a unique purely hermetic occurrence in the academic panorama.
Its creation has re-opened the gates of an ancient knowledge… The BPH is the
cradle of a strong esoteric teaching but of an hermetic-alchemical kind,
couched in very ancient texts of which the library is a loyal custodian. Italy has
a prominent place within the library, which preserves renowned texts of poets
and authors who have made esotericism, in the most profoundly gnostic sense,
a reason to live for. There are printed works and manuscripts of Pythagoras,
Eusebius, Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino, Michael Maier, the ‘moth of the
spirit’ Giordano Bruno, the ‘supreme poet’ Dante Alighieri (a copy of the first
edition of the Divina Commedia is present, dated 1472). Many others pass in a
fine display like sand in an hourglass which travels beyond time, where the
rivers of ink and words poured out remain forever, illuminated by a sun which
never darkens. It is profoundly stirring to turn the pages of works of such
antiquity, hand-bound in various formats and illustrated with such rich
abundance that it literally leaves one speechless, reminding us that long time
ago the study and writing of such deep arts were significant and worth
remembering. But what makes the place so special is not so much the large
collection of ancient texts from various traditions and their acquisition
throughout a considerable ark of time as their incomparable and profound
essence. The works are highly spiritual symbols, transmitted to mankind in all
places and manners and connected to each other by a golden thread which
seems to ask man the following questions: ‘Who are you? Where are you from?
Where are you going?’. Essence. Origin. Destiny. The riddle posed by the
Sphynx in Egypt seems to resonate Dante’s universal journey – accompanied
on his journey of initiation by his soul-principle, Beatrice – or the words of Mani,
the Christ of the Orient, or even the contents of the Bhagavad Gita, the Gospel
of India, so similar to the Christian Bible… These are some of the foundations
from which the authors of the works present in the BPH have departed. They
are works which illuminate man setting out to search for the alchemical gold
contained within himself, within his heart. It is a gospel message which can be
understood by those ‘who have eyes to see and ears to hear’, in the past and
today. It is a key able to open the gate to the cosmic universal mystery. At one
time the hermetic teaching was meant for the few and only for those who could
understand it. But now, in the mazes of a world continually evolving and in an
age in which the essential must no longer be invisible to the eyes, the impulse
pushing to the existential wisdom becomes ‘hermetically open’ and available to
all who are seeking it. The works here kept, which are original manuscripts
dating from classical greek Antiquity to a specific spiritual Renaissance, are
kept on shelves with hundreds of similar texts. To make the message livelier
than ever, we would like to invite our readers to take part in a very special
journey. We went to Amsterdam and visited the Bibliotheca Philosophica
Hermetica, where we interviewed director Esther Oosterwijk-Ritman and her
father, founder Joost Ritman.

Interview with Esther Oosterwijk, Director of the Bibliotheca

Philosophica Hermetica
Esther Oosterwijk: First of all I would like to welcome you in the BPH. I have
been director of the library since 2003. The BPH is clearly a hermetic library
and it is no coincidence that it is situated in Amsterdam. When my father was
sixteen he saw in a flash of lightning the spiritual history of the western world
and that of the Christian-hermetic gnosis. He wanted to put all that in a
concrete form, so that it would be accessible to scholars but also to people
interested in mysteric themes. Amsterdam has always been a crucible of
religious freedom, thanks to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the
press. I believe that sometime in the past about 50% of the books was printed
in Amsterdam, books which could not be published elsewhere, like those of
Jacob Böhme.
It all began with a present which my grandmother gave to my father for his
24th birthday. At that time he already collected old manuscripts, and was given
other old manuscripts and printed books. One of the first books he received
was Böhme’s Aurora. It was this book which kindled in him the flame of the
quest. He understood that the source of mysticism and alchemy could be
hidden in ancient writings, and began to search for them by antiquarian
bookdealers. One of them was Mr Schors, from whom he bought the first
edition of the Fama Fraternitatis of the Rosicrucians, the works of Jacob Böhme
and others.

How many works are there in the BPH in all? Can we say that the
majority of authors is of gnostic interest?
In 1984 the collection owned by my family contained about 10,000 works. It
was also the year in which the BPH was opened to the public. Today there are
about 20,000 volumes. Our main collecting areas are Hermetism and Alchemy,
Mysticism, Rosicrucians, Gnosis & Western Esotericism. If we turn to
Amsterdam in the 17th century, it was not only the era of Rembrandt van Rijn
(at present there is an exhibition in honour of his 400th anniversary). Also
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living in the city were Descartes, Comenius and Abraham Willemsz van
Beyerland who here in Amsterdam, in 1643, published for the first time the
complete works of Jacob Böhme, together with the Corpus Hermeticum. It
proves that he, too, was aware of the relationship between Böhme’s works and
hermetism. And not far from here a centre devoted to the freedom of religion
came into being, a centre also from where the study of hermetic gnosis was
disseminated and propagated.

What is your relationship with the Faculty of Hermetic Philosophy at

the University of Amsterdam?
The collections of the University Library of Amsterdam and those of the BPH
are complementary, and we have been working together for a long time. It is
also thanks to the presence of our library and Amsterdam’s unique character
that it was possible to institute a Faculty of Hermetism. The person who has
made it possible is also one of the Advisory Board members of the BPH. The
interesting thing about our library is that it makes possible to connect with the
authentic old sources. Persons involved in a spiritual quest may find in a library
like ours the means to deepen certain themes of sublime spiritual value,
drawing from authentic sources of the highest importance.
In the Middle Ages, Meister Eckhart already spoke of the spark in the heart: it
has been established that he knew hermetic texts, in particular the Asclepius.
Jacob Böhme, a simple shoemaker in Germany around 1600, had great visions
which made him see the inner truth: he discovered the plan of creation and the
place man occupied in it. But as soon as he began to write he came into
conflict with the Church and his work Aurora was confiscated. Our library owns
one of two preserved copies known in the world of his work Der Weg zu
Christo.

Is there a fruitful exchange between the library and the scholars of

esotericism of international stature, such as Gilles Quispel?
The Dutch scholar Gilles Quispel has played a role of great importance in
legitimizing the study of the tradition of Gnosis in the history of Western
culture, above all with regard to the Nag Hammadi codices. Quispel, for
example, initially did not think that Böhme was a gnostic, but changed his
views later, following his study of various other works. This is a chance offered
by our library, its strength also works retroactively.

What is the specific function of the Bibliotheca Philosophica

Hermetica?
In these times and in Amsterdam, a centre of tolerance and multi-culturality
hosting various nationalities, it is first of all that of an internal quest. The
pressing question is: ‘Why are we here? Where are we from? What is our aim?’
It is a question which modern man assesses in various ways, the points of
reference are infinite: what for instance is the significance of the Christian
background? How can we bridge the various forms of intolerance that have
developed throughout the centuries, on the human level but also on the
Christian one?
Amsterdam is still a fit place for such investigations because numerous sources
are here brought together. We have a research institute, a publishing house
and we hope that the library will be virtually open for everybody in the world.

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What do you consider the most important work in the library, a work
also with which you have a strong affinity?
We have numerous manuscripts, but I would like to mention one in particular
concerning the theme of the Grail. It is of special importance because it places
the Grail tradition in a Christian setting. This Grail manuscript is attributed to
Robert de Boron. We know that the Grail tradition has always been of great
importance among the legends and narratives, we know that it involves a
Christianity which differs from the canonical version. This particular
manuscript, composed at the beginning of the fourteenth century, sets the
mystery of the Grail within the story of Joseph of Arimathea. The Grail mystery
incorporates the events of the Holy Supper, the crucifixion, the deposition from
the Cross, the instant when Joseph of Arimathea cedes his tomb to Jesus and is
taken prisoner as a result.
The narrative transmits that at night he is visited by Jesus who gives him the
Grail to watch over and tells him to take it to England, where he is to found a
community. In the manuscript Jesus explains the true meaning of his life and
that all is related to the mystery of blood. There are those who can see with the
heart – which is why they are able to see the Grail – and those who cannot: this
is how the believers are distinguished from the non-believers. Those who
manage to contemplate the Grail and understand its meaning see with the
heart and are different from those who do not manage to see. Another fine
episode is when Joseph passes from France to England: for those who believe it
is enough that they lean on the trail of the bishop’s garment to traverse the
sea, whereas those who do not believe sink and need to cross the sea
swimming. The mysteries of blood naturally refer to Christ’s activities and to
the process of being reborn, a possibility that one can live if able to purify his
heart.

During the years you have also founded a publishing house, In de

Pelikaan. A symbolical reference to self-sacrifice?
In the 1980s, my mother designed the library’s ex libris. Without entering into
details too much, it is important to underline that the symbol of the pelican
which feeds its youngs with its own blood is associated with the sacrifice of
Christ and with the mystery of resurrection, so again to the mystery of blood.
The shedding of the heart’s blood is exactly what my father has always done.
He has never sought to place his interests above those of the library. He has
developed an intuition of a sphere which carries in itself a direct recognition,
exactly like that of the mystery of the Grail, a recognition regarding the books
in the library. It has often happened that in a catalogue with abundant items on
offer my father decided: ‘We need to have that one’. We never questioned
these decisions and after the research institute made a comparative study, it
concluded that the title was a key text to explain a specific tradition. That, too,
is a mystery!

As a publishing house we have several series. First of all there is the ‘Pimander’
series, which publishes the studies carried out by the Ritman research institute.
They are often linked to large international events, such as exhibitions and
congresses. This series has established our name as a publisher making
accessible in dutch early Christian texts, texts which were composed in the first
four centuries. We have published in translation Coptic works found at Nag
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Hammadi, such as the Gospel of Truth and The Gospel of Thomas, but we have
also published dutch translations of the Corpus Hermeticum, the Asclepius and
the Cologne Mani Codex.
We can say that as in Alexandria at the time, we have in our library at hand the
sources documenting the birth of hermetism, the tradition of hermetic-Christian
gnosis and early Christian texts, Manicheism. We are publishing text editions
based on the original sources. The ‘Hermes’ series on the other hand
concentrates on exhibition catalogues.

Do you believe the Inquisition is finished in our times? Or are we still

bearing its consequences? Does the Inquisition continue under other
and varied forms?
If we regard the Inquisition as a representation of evil or a menace to the
freedom of religion, we must acknowledge that evil or the Inquisition has
always been present in one guise or another. In our modern times there is no
Inquisition ruled by the Church, but there exists an Inquisition on the part of
those who pull the financial levers in the world, placing their own mark on
materialism which is now at its peak. But the key is to be found in man himself,
it is hidden in his own perception, the key carries the meaning of a life on a
completely different level. That this is an ineradicable fact is witnessed by the
existence of the library. We have a unique collction of works by Giordano
Bruno, who was burnt alive in 1600 together with a part of his work; as a result
of which there is little left of his legacy. We possess some twenty copies,
including Lo Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante, the work which caused the
Inquisition to take action against the Nolan philosopher. On the day of his
execution, confronted with six cardinals, and asked what he intended to say to
exonerate himself, he said: ‘Perhaps you have more to fear from condemning
me than I have from undergoing the sentence.’ Obviously he did not abandon
what he believed to be true, which was the relationship between God-Cosmos-
Man. Bruno was a fervent supporter of Hermes, as was Nicolaus de Cusa,
Ficino, Pico della Mirandola. In Pico’s Oration on the Dignity of Man, also known
as The Renaissance Manifesto, Hermes is quoted by means of his statement in
the Asclepius, that man is a great miracle. Of great importance in this respect
is the exhibition we have organized around Johann Reuchlin and the Kabbalah.
He was a German Hebraist who came into contact with the group of de’ Medici,
and who also may have known Ficino. In his De verbo mirifico, Reuchlin, too,
uses the same phrase: ‘Man, oh Asclepius, is a great miracle’. Reuchlin was like
Pico; like him he made many assertions, like him he was interested in the
Kabbalah. One of Pico’s assertions was that the Kabbalah proved the divinity of
Christ. In his time, Pico set out to research the sources of wisdom, and he tried
to bring about a dialogue between Christianity, Judaism and Islamism, to show
mankind that we all derive from the same roots. Today this calls for the
creation of a centre of tolerance and religious exchange, something which
already took place in Alexandria 2000 years ago. And today this remains a very
important issue, which is why the media have shown great interest in this
exhibition. Nowadays, the role of the library is to make accessible the works
issuing from the original and authentic sources, to enable a ‘return to the
source’, as the humanist dictum goes which we, too, use: it means that the
sources speak for themselves, and their contents are open also to those who
do not possess the preparation or the religious background, which are not
necessary to find the answers to the most important existential questions.
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What type of people visit the library? Do you believe that the Age of
Aquarius stimulates interest in an inner quest?
We have always said that 50% of our visitors are generally interested visitors
while the other 50% are seekers. But nowadays it seems there is a shift, we
have a percentage of some 30% who are visitors and some 70% who are
seekers. For the spring of 2006 we are planning an exhibition entitled
‘Hermetically open’, in opposition to the expression everybody knows:
‘Hermetically sealed’. We wish to make visible our public function and the uses
of the library, we aim to present out catalogue online, which now includes
some 15,000 modern printed works (post 1800) and in a few years’ time we
also wish to present our pre-1800 works on the Internet [note: all printed
books, pre 1800 and post 1800 can now be searched in the catalogue]. We also
wish to publish a Guide to the Library: we are anticipating a growing number of
interested visitors, so that they may frequent or use our library.

Would it be possible to organize such an exhibition also in the south

of Italy, given the fact that it was the cradle of philosophers of a
decidedly hermetic kind?
They are certainly known to us, we have already entered on a series of projects
with professor Paolo Lucentini, who is in charge of the ‘Hermes Latinus’ project.
The exhibitions we had in Florence and Venice together drew some 75,000
visitors, figures which speak for themselves. On the occasion of the anniversary
of Giordano Bruno, in 2000, we contributed to the exhibition in the Biblioteca
Casanatensa in Rome with a number of works. We have already left some
presence in Italy and it is not impossible that we may return with another
exhibition. Talking about the evolution of hermetism, we have in the library a
vast treasure house of materials of the traditions of the past 2000 years. Our
next international exhibition project will take place in Moscow, with the theme:
‘500 years of Gnosis’. Thus we are able to draw attention to Hermetism,
Rosicrucians, Freemasonry at the end of the eighteenth century. There is an
enormous supply of translations of works of Jacob Böhme, Saint Germain,
Hermes published by Novikov, who translated the Corpus Hermeticum in
Russian and who as a publisher took care of 25% of the book production of that
age.

Do you believe that in Italy the major literary figure who has sought to
illuminate and raise awareness was Dante Alighieri with his Divina
Commedia as an initiatory journey?
Certainly. We have here a copy of the Divina Commedia with illustrations
showing the initiation as a journey of the soul towards the spirit. Dante
occupies a prominent position in the literary assimilation of the gnostic-
hermetic and Christian tradition. His figurative language speaks directly to the
heart, in the sense in which Quispel called ‘Gnosis the knowledge of the heart’.
He who perceives the inner truth does not need an external authority; the
latter is the cause of the conflict caused by institutions placing themselves
between God and Man, as has happened in Rome. It is a conflict caused by the
Church, which considers itself the one and only representative of God on earth.

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And what about the exhibitions organized by the library? Do you
believe that esotericism and alchemy can be understood in our times
in their most profound sense?
For our exhibitions abroad in guest libraries we use a very clear formula, which
is a thematic presentation, drawing from either collections. In 1999 we worked
together with the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, which resulted in the first bi-
lingual catalogue published by the Laurenziana. The theme of the exhibition
was ‘The return of Hermes Trismegistus’, so hermetism within the context of
the Renaissance. This exhibition was based partly on the private library of
Marsilio Ficino, now in the Biblioteca Laurenziana. We were able to present our
own old printed books and manuscripts and indicate the influence of
hermetism on the Renaissance ideal of the universal man. When we were in
Florence, we also became convinced that the influence could be made even
more visible, and so the next step was to go to the Biblioteca Nazionale
Marciana in Venice. When we asked the director whether the library possessed
manuscripts of a hermetic nature, the consternated reply was: ‘Why, this
library was founded by a Cardinal!’ But it soon turned out that Cardinal
Bessarion had in his possession, a year and a half before Cosimo de Medici, a
manuscript of the Corpus Hermeticum. It was a beautiful eleventh-century
manuscript on alchemical Hermetism. We have dealt with the evolution of
hermetism from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century, the influence of
Paracelsus, the hermetism in the seventeenth-century Rosicrucian writings
through to that of the Gold und Rosenkreuzer of the eighteenth century who
once again had recourse to the source of hermetism by studying the Kabbalah,
mysticism and Christian theosophy.

In the next issue we will continue our journey with the words of Joost Ritman.