The_Quest_for_the_Phoenix_Spiritual_Alch

Hereward Tilton
The Quest for the Phoenix

Hereward Tilton
The Quest for the Phoenix

Spiritual Alchemy and Rosicrucianism in the
Work of Count Michael Maier (1569 -1622)
v
Learn O ye students, that which the Philosophers have long

since intimated, saying that truth is not discerned but by
error, and that nothing begets more grief to the heart than
error in this work; for when a man thinks he has done and
has the world, he shall find nothing in his hands.
(Baqsam in The Flying Atalanta, discourse XXXIX)
Foreword
The following work is the fruit of research carried out in libraries and
archives across Europe under the aegis of the Deutscher Akademischer
Austauschdienst Forschungsstipendium and the University of Queensland
Research Travel Award; in the course of my travels a number of people
stepped forward to assist me. Amongst those I would like to thank here
are Prof. Dr. Karin Figala and Dr. Ulrich Neumann of the Technische
Universität München, for their readiness to impart knowledge and their
generosity with the sharing of valuable primary sources related to Maier;
Dr. José Bouman and Dr. Cis van Heertum of the Bibliotheca Philosophica
Hermetica, Amsterdam, for their assistance with a beautiful collection; Dr.
Jill Bepler of the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, for welcoming
me to an illustrious institution; PD Dr. Carlos Gilly of Universität Basel, for
sharing his knowledge of Rosicrucian matters; Prof. Antoine Faivre of the
Sorbonne, for providing timely advice on methodology; Prof. Vladimír
Karpenko of Charles University, Prague, for providing me with food for
thought; Assoc. Prof. Michael Lattke of the University of Queensland,
Brisbane, for help with logistics; Dr. Tara Nummedal of Brown University,
Providence, for engaging in a fruitful dialogue; PD Dr. Heiko Droste of
Hamburg, for his insistence that truth is founded only upon error; Dr. Sabine
Horst of Stuttgart, for her invaluable language training; and Dr. Lisa Colledge
of London, for her kind support during my research at the British and
Bodleian libraries. My special thanks go to Assoc. Prof. Richard Hutch of
the University of Queensland, Brisbane, for his sage advice; to my parents
Harold and Hilary; and to my good friend and wife PD Dr. Michaela Boenke
of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, for her unwavering technical
and personal support.
Table of Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v
I. Introduction: Jung and Early Modern Alchemy

1. The alchemical chimera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. The reception of Jung amongst historians of alchemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. The arguments of Principe and Newman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4. The origins of Jung’s alchemy and the work of Richard Noll . . . . . . . . . 18
5. ‘Secret threads’: the seventeenth century ‘Carl Jung of Mainz’ and
Count Michael Maier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6. Spiritual alchemy, Rosicrucianism and the work of Count Michael
Maier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
II. Maier’s Formative Years

1. The context of Maier’s life and thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2. Auguries of fortune: Maier’s childhood and parentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3. The influence of Governor Heinrich Rantzau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4. Galenism and Maier’s studies at Frankfurt an der Oder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5. ‘First love and grief’: Maier’s peregrinatio academica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
6. The theses on epilepsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7. Contact with the arcana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
8. Maier’s first alchemical experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
III. Bohemia and England

1. Maier at the court of Emperor Rudolf II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2. The Hymnosophia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3. The reversal of fortune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4. The most secret of secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5. A ‘Rosicrucian mission’ to England? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6. The seventeenth rung of the alchemical ladder and the art of
gold-making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
viii
7. A journey to England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
8. Francis Anthony and the ‘drinkable gold’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
9. The Golden Tripod: “Truth is concealed under the cover of
shadows” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
IV. The Rosicrucian ‘Imposture’

1. Illness and a chance encounter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
2. The origins of Rosicrucianism and the Leipzig Manuscript of
Michael Maier .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
3. Johann Valentin Andreae and the nature of the Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4. The serious jest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5. An invitation to Rosicrucians, wherever they may lie hidden . . . . . . . . 139
6. Uncovering the true Brethren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
7. Defining Rosicrucianism: the Silentium post Clamores and the
Themis Aurea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
8. Regni Christi frater: Maier’s ‘entrance into the Order’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
V. The Completion of the Work

1. The squaring of the natural circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
2. Maier and the Calvinist court of Moritz of Hessen-Kassel . . . . . . . . . . 189
3. Millennialism, nationalism and the descent into war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
4. The Civitas Corporis Humani – procuring a medicine of piety . . . . . . . 202
5. Ulysses and the death of Maier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
6. The phoenix and the return of the long-absent traveller . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
VI. Conclusion: Maier and the Historiography of Alchemy

1. Piety and the coniunctio oppositorum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
2. Chymia and alchemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
3. The ‘Tradition’ and the fate of Maier’s thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
4. Alchemy and the re-emergence of Rosicrucianism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
5. The historiography of alchemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
I. Introduction: Jung and early modern alchemy
1. The alchemical chimera
The early modern period witnessed the emergence of theosophy, Rosicru-

cianism and Freemasonry as esoteric currents with specifically ‘alchemical’
concerns. Nevertheless, the task of defining alchemy in this period is fraught
with difficulties, and the relationship between the spiritual alchemies of the
Western esoteric tradition and the laboratory quest for the alchemical agent of
transmutation remains to be clarified. Indeed, the very term ‘alchemy’ had
accumulated a variety of meanings by the turn of the sixteenth century, and
the nature of the endeavours to be placed under its rubric remains a
contentious issue to this day. Arguing against the implicitly religious
interpretation of the ambiguous alchemical corpus put forward by the
Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), Lawrence Principe
and William Newman have recently contended that the symbolic literature
of laboratory alchemy in the early modern period dealt primarily with
code-names (Decknamen) for chemical processes, and for the greater part
bore no relation to matters of spiritual or psychological transformation.
Furthermore, Principe and Newman argue that Jung’s schema falsely implies
a discontinuity between alchemy and modern chemistry. In their view, there
is a lack of any clear and widespread demarcation between the words chemia
and alchemia in the early modern texts, and consequently they have
recommended that we dispense with the term ‘alchemy’ altogether when
referring to this period, utilising instead the more common early modern
appellations of chemia or chymia, whilst reserving the term ‘alchemy’ for the
medieval period alone. 1
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1 Principe, Lawrence M. and William R. Newman. “Some Problems with the Historio-
graphy of Alchemy.” In Newman, William R. and Anthony Grafton (eds.). Secrets of
Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press,
2001, pp. 385-431; “Alchemy vs. Chemistry: The Etymological Origins of a Historio-
graphic Mistake,” Early Science and Medicine, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1998, pp. 32-65; also
Newman, William R. “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language? Eirenaeus Philalethes
and Carl Jung,” Revue D’Histoire des Sciences, Vol. 49, No. 2, 1996, pp. 159-188.
2 Jung and early modern alchemy
Although Faivre has dealt extensively with the subject of alchemy from
the perspective of the history of Western esotericism, 2 the primary historical
enquiry into the status of laboratory alchemy in early modernity continues
to take place amongst historians of science. As a consequence the following
study enters both these arenas of discourse. Clearly the arguments of
Principe and Newman deal not only with questions of historiography and
nomenclature, but concern the very nature of laboratory alchemy in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and its relation to the esoteric traditions.
These introductory pages constitute an extended theoretical preamble on this
current controversy, which will serve as a prelude for an analysis of the
concrete example of the alchemy of Count Michael Maier and his place in the
history of early Rosicrucianism. In the course of that analysis it will be seen
that the relation of Maier’s religious sentiments to his laboratory practice –
no less than his role in the history of Western esotericism – presents
difficulties for the contentions of Principe and Newman. These difficulties
will be detailed in the conclusion with the aim of defining alchemy as a
subject of study in the field of the history of Western esotericism. There it
will be shown that if the study of esoteric currents of thought (and hence the
study of their categories) is taken seriously, the term ‘alchemy’ becomes
entirely indispensable, and appears to refer to a broad yet coherent complex
of ideas with precisely its origins in the early modern period and the work of
alchemists such as Maier (that author’s eschewal of the term ‘alchemy’
notwithstanding). Indeed, if Carl Gustav Jung’s work is itself considered as a
religious artefact, then he may be understood as only the latest purveyor of a
‘spiritual alchemy’ with expressly modern characteristics.
2. The reception of Jung amongst historians of alchemy
Whilst the ideas of Principe and Newman have attained a certain popularity
at this point in time, the reception of Jung and his psychoanalytic approach
amongst historians of alchemy has not always been negative. On the contrary,
Jung’s alchemical studies earned the controversial and mystery-mongering
psychologist his closest encounter with academic respectability. Since his
extensive work on the subject in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, Jung’s belief that
alchemical symbolism expresses psychological processes of an essentially
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2 See, for example, Faivre, Antoine. Access to Western Esotericism. Albany: State Univer-
sity of New York Press, 1994, passim.; The Golden Fleece and Alchemy. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1993; “Mystische Alchemie und Geistige Hermeneutik.”
In Correspondences in Man and World. Eranos Yearbook, 1973. Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1975, pp. 323-360.
The reception of Jung 3
religious nature has held wide currency in the academic study of alchemy. In
1942 Jung published his Paracelsica: Zwei Vorlesungen über den Arzt und
Philosophen Theophrastus, 3 in which he boldly declared that the Swiss
alchemist Paracelsus (c.1493-1541) had anticipated the findings of twentieth
century psychoanalysis:
I had long been aware that alchemy is not only the mother of chemistry, but is also the
forerunner of our modern psychology of the unconscious. Thus Paracelsus appears as a
pioneer not only of chemical medicine but of empirical psychology and psychotherapy. 4
In Jung’s opinion the symbols of Paracelsian alchemy, and of alchemical

literature in general, make more or less veiled reference to the evolution of
the individual psyche – a dialectical process of ‘individuation’ in which
consciousness is confronted with the forces of the unconscious mind.
Furthermore, Jung felt that alchemy was not only the precursor to the modern
psychology of the unconscious, but also a bridge in the history of ideas
between his own thought and the religion of the Gnostics. 5 Thus he spoke of
Paracelsus as a man whose soul “was intermingled with a strange spiritual
current which, issuing from immemorial sources, flowed beyond him into a
distant future.” 6
Upon its first appearance Jung’s understanding of Paracelsus was met with
enthusiasm by historians of chemistry; in his 1946 review of Paracelsica
for Ambix, Gerhard Heym wrote that no modern authority prior to Jung
had been able to decipher the ‘abstruse and obscure’ vocabulary of the
‘psychology’ of Paracelsus. 7 Heym was joined in his praise by no less
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3 A revision of two lectures: Paracelsus als Arzt, delivered to the Schweizerischen
Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften at the annual
meeting of the Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Basel, September the 7th, 1941; and
Paracelsus als geistige Erscheinung, delivered at Einsiedeln, the birthplace of Paracel-
sus, on October the 5th, 1941, at the celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of his
death; Jung, Carl Gustav. “Studien über Alchemistische Vorstellungen.” C. G. Jung
Gesammelte Werke. Vol. 13. Freiburg im Breisgau: Walter-Verlag, 1978, p. 125.
4 Jung, Carl Gustav. “Alchemical Studies.” The Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Vol. 13.
Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967, p. 189; Jung, “Studien
über Alchemistische Vorstellungen,” p. 209: “Es war mir schon lange bewußt, daß die
Alchemie nicht nur die Mutter der Chemie ist, sondern auch die Vorstufe der heutigen
Psychologie des Unbewußten. So sehen wir Paracelsus als einen Bahnbrecher nicht nur
der chemischen Medizin, sondern auch der empirischen Psychologie und der psycho-
logischen Heilkunde.”
5 Ibid., p. 224.
6 Ibid., p. 209: “...Paracelsus, dessen Seele verwoben ist in ein seltsames geistiges Leben,
welches, aus ältesten Quellen entspringend, weit über ihn hinaus in die Zukunft strömt.”
7 Heym, Gerhard. “Review. Paracelsica, Zwei Vorlesungen über den Arzt und Philoso-
phen Theophrastus,” Ambix, Vol. 2, No. 3, December 1946, pp. 196-198.
eminent a scholar of Paracelsianism than Walter Pagel, who likewise claimed

that Jung’s Paracelsica had finally made ‘accessible’ to him the obscure
terminology of Paracelsian iatrochemistry. 8 Writing in Isis in 1948, Pagel
described Jung as the creator of “an encyclopaedia, atlas and new
interpretation of alchemical symbolism which will be fundamental for all
future studies on the subject.” 9 In the same place Pagel reviewed Jung’s
Psychologie und Alchemie (1944), a work based on two lectures delivered to
the Eranos Tagung in 1935 and 1936. 10 In this work Jung attempted to
correlate alchemical symbolism with motifs from the dream life of one of
his patients – a man we now know to be Wolfgang Pauli, the Nobel
prize-winning physicist and Jung’s collaborator on the synchronicity theory.
Having argued that both the alchemical corpus and the dreams of
contemporary citizens express a psychological process of self-realisation,
Jung embarks on an exploration of what he understands to be religious
conceptions in alchemy, during which he sets forward a succinct account of
his theory of projection and the historiography it entails:
What [the alchemist] sees in matter, or thinks he sees, is chiefly the data of his own
unconscious which he is projecting into it. In other words, he encounters in matter, as
apparently belonging to it, certain qualities and potential meanings of whose psychic nature
he is entirely unconscious. This is particularly true of classical alchemy, where empirical
science and mystical philosophy were more or less undifferentiated. The process of fission
which separated the ϕυσιχα from the μυστιχα set in at the end of the sixteenth century and
produced a quite fantastic species of literature whose authors were, at least to some extent,
conscious of the psychic nature of their “alchymical” transmutations. 11
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8 Pagel, Walter. “Jung’s Views on Alchemy,” Isis, Vol. 39, No. 1, May 1948, pp. 44-48.
9 Ibid., p. 48.
10 Traumsymbole des Individuationsprozesses. Eranos Yearbook, 1935. Zurich: Rhein,
1936; Die Erlösungsvorstellungen in der Alchemie. Eranos Yearbook, 1936. Zurich:
Rhein, 1937. First published in English as The Integration of the Personality. New York:
Farrar & Rinehart, 1939.
11 Jung, Carl Gustav. “Psychology and Alchemy.” The Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Vol.
12. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968, p. 218; Jung, Carl
Gustav. “Psychologie und Alchemie.” C. G. Jung Gesammelte Werke. Vol. 12. Freiburg
im Breisgau: Walter-Verlag, 1972, p. 267: “Was er im Stoffe sieht und zu erkennen
meint, sind zunächst seine eigenen unbewußten Gegebenheiten, die er darein projiziert;
das heißt es treten ihm aus dem Stoff diesem anscheinend zugehörige Eigenschaften und
Bedeutungsmöglichkeiten entgegen, deren psychische Natur ihm gänzlich unbewußt ist.
Dies gilt hauptsächlich von der klassischen Alchemie, in welcher naturwissenschaftliche
Empirie und mystische Philosophie sozusagen ununterschieden vorliegen. Der mit dem
Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts einsetzende Spaltungsprozeß, welcher die ϕυσιχα (das Phy-
sische) von den μυστιχα (das Mystische) trennte, hat nun eine wesentlich phantasti-
schere Literaturgattung hervorgebracht, deren Autoren die seelische Natur der „alchy-
mistischen“ Wandlungsprozesse einigermaßen bewußt war.”
It is this notion of the supposed post-Reformation ‘fission’ in the alchemical

literature of the physica and the mystica, elements that were formerly unified
in the ‘classical’ period of ancient and medieval alchemy, which Principe and
Newman refute on the grounds that no clear distinction between chemia and
alchemia arises in the literature prior to the eighteenth century. 12 In their
eyes, any effort to distinguish a ‘mystical’ alchemy from a ‘physical’ chem-
istry in the seventeenth century is presentist – that is to say, it projects
contemporary categories into a time in which such distinctions were alien.
Furthermore, they argue that Jung’s schema supports the false notion of a
discontinuity in the evolution of chemistry, a disjuncture between a modern
mechanistic science and an alchemy that is defined by its ‘spiritual or psychic
dimension’. 13
Principe and Newman also see Jung as the chief progenitor of a tendency
“to downplay or eliminate any natural philosophical or ‘scientific’ content in
alchemy” 14 – and as we shall see, this has been a common criticism voiced by
historians of science, be they partisans or foes of the Jungian approach.
Indeed, in his review of Psychologie und Alchemie Pagel also stated that Jung
was “prone to belittle the role of alchemy as a precursor to modern science”
by overemphasising the psychological aspect of the texts he studied. 15
Nevertheless, he felt that Jung had revolutionised the academic study of
alchemy:
[Jung] succeeds: (1) in placing alchemy into an entirely new perspective in the history of
science, medicine, theology and general human culture, (2) in explaining alchemical
symbolism, hitherto a complete puzzle, by utilising modern psychological analysis for the
elucidation of an historical problem and – vice versa – making use of the latter for the
advancement of modern psychology; and all this in a scholarly, well documented and
scientifically unimpeachable exposition. If not the whole story of alchemy, he has tackled its
“mystery,” its “Nachtseite,” i.e., the problem most urgent and vexing to the historian. 16
Pagel was an early opponent of positivism in the field of the history of

science; whilst many of his contemporaries had dismissed the magical and
religious beliefs of pre-modern and early modern scientists as retrogressive,
Pagel attempted to demonstrate the ‘organic coherence’ of such beliefs with
recognisably ‘modern’ elements in the scientific worldviews he studied. 17 On
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12 Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,” pp. 404,
407-408.
13 Ibid., pp. 417-418.
14 Ibid., p. 412.
15 Pagel, “Jung’s Views on Alchemy,” p. 48.
16 Ibid.
17 On this subject, and on the historiography of alchemy in general, see Debus, Allen G.
“Chemists, Physicians, and Changing Perspectives on the Scientific Revolution,” History
this count he felt Jung’s theories were an antidote to the positivist view of
science as progress towards a truth divorced from its philosophical and
psychological context.18
Another early contributor to the influence of Jung’s ideas in the academic
study of alchemy was the Swiss-educated John Read, who commented in
1947 that it had required ‘the discernment of a master’ to elucidate the
intimate relationship of alchemy to psychology. 19 Soon the conception that
alchemy had involved the projection of unconscious psychological processes
into the objective world of the laboratory became a commonplace amongst
academics in the field. Even those positivistic writers who were antagonistic
towards the role of the irrational in alchemy referred to Jung’s theories in
order to demarcate the realm of ‘genuine’ science from mere superstition.
Thus Eduard Farber in The Evolution of Chemistry (1952) scorned the
‘mystical’ class of alchemical texts as a collection of ‘fantastic tales’, devoid
of both art and science, which might interest a psychoanalyst such as Jung
but were of no use for the historian of chemistry. 20 In similar vein, Maurice
Crosland wrote in his Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry
(1962):
The psychologist Jung considered the paradox as ‘one of our most valued spiritual possess-
ions’ and stated that a religion ‘becomes inwardly impoverished when it loses or reduces its
paradoxes’, because an unambiguous language is unsuited to express the incomprehensible.
It seems clear that, whereas mystical alchemy may well have thrived on paradox, its
existence in the literature was stultifying to alchemy as a science. 21
Although more rationalistic sensibilities were offended by the mystically-

minded ‘adept’, whose “cloud of obscure nomenclature and speculation
contributed nothing to chemistry,” 22 other historians followed Pagel in
an attempt to address the complete intellectual output of the alchemists.
One such writer was Betty Dobbs, who – in stark contrast to Principe and
Newman – utilised Jung’s ideas to emphasise the continuity of the
alchemical tradition with modern chemistry in her work The Foundations of
Newton’s Alchemy (1975). There she traced the influence on Isaac Newton’s
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
of Science Society Distinguished Lecture, Isis, Vol. 89, No.1, March 1998, pp. 66-81;
also Pagel, Walter. William Harvey’s Biological Ideas. New York: Karger, 1967, p. 82.
18 Pagel, “Jung’s Views on Alchemy,” p. 48.
19 Read, John. The Alchemist in Life, Literature and Art. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons
Ltd., 1947, p. 2.
20 Farber, Eduard. The Evolution of Chemistry. New York: The Ronald Press Company,
1952, pp. 39-40.
21 Crosland, Maurice. Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry. New York: Dover,
1962, p. 27.
22 Farber, Evolution of Chemistry, p. 40.
intellectual development of alchemical writers such as Michael Maier, who

inspired Newton to dabble with his ‘chemical’ interpretation of myth and
hieroglyph and study the older texts of the alchemical canon. 23 Dobbs charted
Newton’s efforts to experimentally verify the notions of alchemy, particularly
those of the Neoplatonist alchemists, and she described Newton’s career as
‘one long attempt to integrate alchemy and the mechanical philosophy.’ 24
Although she also criticised Jung’s ahistorical approach, Dobbs followed
Jung’s historiography in the course of her work, describing an ‘older’ ancient
and medieval alchemy in which psychological processes remained largely
unconscious to the adept, and a ‘newer’ alchemy arising with the advent
of the Reformation, in which divisions began to appear between a conscious
alchemical mysticism and an experimentally-based alchemy. 25 Attempting
to give some more historical grounding to Jung’s schema, Dobbs called
upon the ideas of the left-leaning psychoanalyst Erich Fromm. 26 According
to Fromm, large-scale ‘individuation’ or reflexive personal development
emerged in the wake of the collapse of medieval social structures; Dobbs
suggested such a socio-historical process may have given rise to ‘a
more spiritual variety of alchemy’. 27 On the other hand, a more rigorous
experimental study of alchemical processes also ensued:
That was excellent for chemistry, which was thereby enabled to incorporate into itself a
rational alchemical paradigm, but it was deadly for the older alchemy. It had been too
thoroughly chemicalised to carry out its older functions of a religious and psychological
nature, for those functions required a considerable ignorance about the substances with
which the alchemist worked. From that time on the intertwined halves of the older alchemy
were irrevocably separated. 28
So although Dobbs followed Jung in his distinction between a ‘scientific’ and

a ‘spiritual’ alchemy in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, she did
not believe Jung’s work supported the notion of a radical discontinuity in the
evolution of chemistry. Rather, she believed modern chemistry had emerged
from a new ‘experimental alchemy’ that was integrally linked to the scientific
revolution of the Enlightenment:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
23 Dobbs, Betty Jo Teeter. The Foundations of Newton’s Alchemy. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1975, pp. 90, 192.
24 Ibid., p. 230.
25 Ibid., pp. 34, 42, 80.
26 It should be said that Dobbs incorrectly refers to Fromm as an ‘analytical psychologist’,
the term utilised by Jungian psychoanalysts.
27 Ibid., p. 42.
28 Ibid.
…it seems clear that both the mechanical philosophers and the reformers who were
descended intellectually from the mystical Rosicrucians contributed to the new alchemy
which insisted upon full communication of alchemical secrets, experimental study of
alchemical processes, and full description of experimental results in common chemical
terminology... The function of the movement towards the rationalization of alchemy was to
join alchemy to the mainstream of the scientific revolution, destroy its quasi-religious aspect,
and set it on a path of gradual evolution into objective chemistry. 29
The first major challenge to the historiography promoted by Jung came

from the French historian of alchemy, Barbara Obrist. From the outset of her
Les Débuts de l’Imagerie Alchimique (XIVe – XVe siècles) (1982), a study of
alchemical illustration in the late medieval period, Obrist felt it necessary
to dispense with Jung’s perspective – a perspective which, she lamented, had
acquired the status of a self-evident truth and was no longer questioned by
historians of alchemy. 30 Arguing against its ‘monopolisation’ of the academic
study of alchemy, Obrist described Jung’s theory as an ‘ahistorical vision’
which does not take into account the specific political, social and intellectual
contexts of the periods and societies in which alchemy has functioned.
Whilst we have seen that this criticism had been voiced by earlier writers
more sympathetic to the Jungian approach, Obrist extended her critique to
the historiography proposed by Jung. Thus Jung’s ‘early’ or ‘classical’
alchemy – to which Dobbs had recourse in her work – is an erroneous
construct presented as a ‘great timeless unit’ framed by late antiquity and the
seventeenth century. Obrist believed that Jung utilised his theory of universal
archetypal propensities of the human psyche “in order to make products as
strange as alchemical writings and illustrations, pertaining to fundamentally
‘other’ intellectual milieus, accessible to the reader of the twentieth
century.” 31
According to Obrist, this ahistorical approach of Jung led him to propagate
two mistaken conceptions regarding alchemy, which were later reinforced by
the historian of religions, Mircea Eliade, in The Forge and the Crucible
(1962): firstly, the fundamental religiosity of the alchemists, and secondly,
their ‘animistic’ (that is to say, vitalistic) worldview. 32 With regard to the
first error, Obrist cites Jung’s attitudes towards Christological motifs in the
late medieval literature, which she believes served the primarily rhetorical
purpose of explaining purely chemical processes figuratively. Stating that the
medieval alchemist possessed “a very developed consciousness of the levels
of designations and strategies of language,” she argues that there is nothing to
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
29 Ibid., pp. 80-81, 91.
30 Obrist, Barbara. Les Débuts de l’Imagerie Alchimique (XIVe – XVe siècles). Paris: Le
Sycomore, 1982, p. 14.
31 Ibid., p. 16.
32 Ibid., p. 17.
The arguments of Principe and Newman 9
justify the notion that laboratory workers of this time were engaged in a
spiritual quest for selfhood. 33 Rather, she believes Jung projected the
Protestant myth of the solitary, interior search into the Middle Ages, thus
portraying the medieval alchemist as a lone pre-Reformer, and all alchemy as
an enterprise opposed to the dogmas of the Church. These misconceptions of
Jung, Obrist argues, are inspired primarily by the esoteric literature of the
seventeenth century and its perpetuation into the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries in the form of ‘theosophy’ – a literature in which mystical quests,
religion and alchemy are indeed bound together. 34 As for the second error
referred to by Obrist, the views of Jung and Eliade merely echo those of
Hélène Metzger, who sought to distinguish alchemy from a mechanistic
chemistry with reference to its supposed vitalistic and organic view of the
cosmos – a distinction recently undermined by Newman’s identification of a
corpuscularian tradition within medieval and early modern alchemy. 35
3. The arguments of Principe and Newman
In a manner similar to Obrist, Principe and Newman reject both Jung’s histo-
riography and his theory of projection, although their criticisms focus on the
alchemy of early modernity rather than that of the medieval period. In his
first foray into the subject of the Jungian interpretation of alchemy and its
reception, Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language? Eirenaeus Philalethes
and Carl Jung (1996), Newman draws upon the work of the pseudonymous
seventeenth century author Eirenaeus Philalethes to demonstrate that the
surreal symbols of seventeenth century laboratory alchemy are in fact
“secretive names for mineral substances” rather than “parables of the psyche
unfolding its own transformation,” as Jung had proposed. 36 Newman cites the
work of Obrist, as well as that of Robert Halleux, in support of his
contentions, and states that in view of the rejection of Jung by such “serious
historians of alchemy,” his own critique could be considered ‘otiose’. 37
Whilst there is much that is to be commended in the extensive work of
Principe and Newman on the subject of early modern alchemy, an even-
handed appraisal of their contribution to the field requires that we sort the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
33 Ibid., pp. 16, 20.
34 Ibid., p. 17.
35 Metzger, Hélène. “L’évolution du règne métallique d’après les alchimistes du XVIIe
siècle,” Isis, Vol. 4, 1922, pp. 466-482; Newman, William R. “The Corpuscular Theory
of J. B. Van Helmont and its Medieval Sources,” Vivarium, Vol. 31, 1993, pp. 161-191.
36 Newman, “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language?,” pp. 160, 174.
37 Ibid., pp. 160-161.
wheat from the chaff and dispense with a number of methodological and
factual errors in their analyses from the outset. On this count, it must be
stated that Halleux by no means holds “an overtly anti-Jungian position.” 38
On the contrary, in the passage cited by Newman (and referred to again by
Principe and Newman in their most recent work on the matter 39) Halleux
praises Jung’s scrupulous adherence to the fruits of erudition concerning the
dating and authorship of texts, and speaks of Jung’s ‘brilliant’ exegesis of
certain particularly ‘mystical’ texts such as the Hellenistic Egyptian Visions
of Zosimos. 40 Indeed, Halleux draws directly from Jung’s writings in his
exposition of medieval alchemy; his only caveat is that put forward by
those other partisans of Jung, Pagel and Dobbs – namely the ahistorical
nature of the Jungian approach. 41 Contrary to Principe and Newman,
Halleux’s opinions on the matter of medieval alchemy are diametrically
opposed to those of Obrist on precisely the subject of Jung; for example,
Halleux refers to the corpus of pseudo-Arnoldus de Villanova to emphasise
the close connection of religion with alchemy in the medieval period, and to
show that the medieval adept was often concerned with ‘a process of spiritual
self-transformation’. 42 Obrist, on the other hand, refers to the same corpus in
the following manner:
In the texts attributed to Arnold, the metaphor of Christ appears amongst others which are
used as examples, helping to demonstrate chemical processes that are difficult to understand.
They are metaphors like the others, and nothing but metaphors, a fact which Arnold and the
authors who follow in his tradition explain extremely well, and which also applies to the
illustrations of such treatises. Nothing allows us to speculate on the religiosity of an author
when he uses a consciously rhetorical process. 43
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
38 Ibid.
39 Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,” p. 406:
“...the historians Barbara Obrist and Robert Halleux have presented detailed arguments
against Jung’s interpretation based upon their extensive reading of late medieval and
Renaissance alchemical texts, indeed, some of the very same figurative texts that Jung
found most attractive.”
40 Halleux, Robert. Les Textes Alchimiques. Brepols: Turnhout, 1977, p. 55.
41 Ibid., pp. 140 ff.
42 Ibid., p. 142.
43 Obrist, Les Débuts de l’Imagerie Alchimique, p. 21: “Dans les textes attribués à Arnaud,
la métaphore du Christ figure parmi d’autres qui servent d’exempla, aidant à démontrer
des processus chimiques difficiles à comprendre. Ce sont des métaphores comme les
autres, et rien que des métaphores, ce qu’Arnaud et les auteurs qui le suivent dans la
même tradition expliquent fort bien et qui vaut aussi pour l’illustration de tels traités.
Rien ne permet de spéculer sur la religiosité d’un auteur lorsqu’il utilise consciemment
un procédé rhétorique.”
The misappropriation of Halleux by Principe and Newman could be ex-

plained as a simple matter of error in translation, and undoubtedly does not
hinder the main thrust of their arguments; nevertheless, by exaggerating the
weight of evidence in favour of their own ideas, newcomers to the subject are
liable to gain a false impression concerning the acceptability of certain
conceptions in the academic milieu. And here we must emphasise the
importance of utilising an inclusive and ideally value-neutral language when
dealing with the history of alchemy, lest we appear to repeat the positivist
errors of authors such as Herbert Butterfield, who famously derided
historians of alchemy as being “tinctured with the same type of lunacy they
set out to describe.” 44 On this count Newman caricatures the Jungian
interpretation of alchemy by stating that the work of Eirenaeus Philalethes is
not “the product of a disordered mind” or the work of “an irrational mystic
unable to express himself in clear English.” 45 It matters little that ‘irrational
mystics’ have given rise to some of the finest literature in the English
language; what is at stake here is the devaluation of religious sentiments – be
they present in the work of Eirenaeus Philalethes or not. Furthermore, if we
follow Principe and Newman in counterposing a positively valued ‘correct
chemical analysis’ 46 carried out by ‘serious historians of alchemy’ 47 with a
negatively valued ‘analysis of unreason’ 48, we not only run the risk of
committing a violence against the texts at hand, but we also perform a
disservice to contemporary scholarship on the subject of alchemy by
excluding certain voices (principally those of the psychoanalysts) from the
realms of valid discourse.
This initial criticism should serve to clarify the approach adopted by the
current author – and it should also be abundantly clear that the criticisms I
will shortly direct at the Jungian hermeneutic are not the work of a follower
of Jung, lest I too should be accused of being “tinctured with the same type of
lunacy” as the people I study.
The second error committed by Principe and Newman, and one that
stands closer to the heart of their argument, is their fundamentally in-
accurate portrayal of the Jungian theory of projection and its relation to
the unconscious. Thus in their most recent work, “Some Problems with
the Historiography of Alchemy,” Principe and Newman make a general
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
44 Butterfield, Herbert. The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800. New York: MacMillan,
1952, p. 98; cited in Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of
Alchemy,” p. 389.
45 Newman, “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language?,” pp. 165, 188.
46 Ibid., p. 188.
47 Ibid., p. 161; Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of
Alchemy,” p. 401.
48 Newman, “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language?,” p. 174.
description of Jung’s approach to alchemy in which they portray the

projection of the symbols of ‘individuation’ onto the elements in the alembic
as a conscious process:
According to Jung, alchemists were concerned less with chemical reactions than with
psychic states taking place within the practitioner. The practice of alchemy involved the use
of ‘active imagination’ on the part of the would-be adept, which led to a hallucinatory state
in which he ‘projected’ the contents of his psyche onto the matter within his alembic... the
actual substances employed in a process made no difference at all to the alchemist so long as
they stimulated the psyche to its act of projection. 49
To state that the alchemists were ‘concerned with psychic states’, or that
they utilised ‘active imagination’ – a Jungian psychotherapeutic technique
involving a ‘dialogue’ between the conscious and unconscious minds –
implies that they held a conscious understanding of self-transformation as the
goal of their Art; according to Jung’s theory of projection, the alchemists
were by and large unaware of the course of their psychic life during
laboratory practice, and were conscious only of the very worldly goal of the
transmutation of metals. Thus Jung and his followers do not suggest the
alchemists were indifferent to the chemical nature of the substances in their
retort, as Principe and Newman expressly state. 50 Rather, Jung argued that
the ‘classical’ alchemy he referred to was “a chemical research into which
there entered an admixture of unconscious psychic material by the way of
projection;” and on this point it is pertinent to note that Principe and Newman
misrepresent Jung’s declaration that the alchemists dealt “not only with
chemical experiments,” giving instead “not with chemical experiments as
such.” 51 In Jung’s view, only a minority of adepts through the centuries
demonstrated a conscious understanding of the ‘interior’ dimensions of their
work:
Certainly most of the alchemists handled their nigredo in the retort without knowing what it
was they were dealing with. But it is equally certain that adepts like Morienus, Dorn,
Michael Maier, and others knew in their way what they were doing. It was this knowledge,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
49 Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,” p. 402.
50 Ibid.
51 Jung, “Psychologie und Alchemie,” p. 282: “Im alchemischen Opus handelt es sich zum
größten Teil nicht nur um chemische Experimente allein, sondern auch um etwas wie
psychische Vorgänge, die in pseudochemischer Sprache ausgedrückt werden” (emphasis
mine); Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,”
pp. 401-402: “We are called upon to deal, not with chemical experimentations as such,
but with something resembling psychic processes expressed in pseudo-chemical
language.”
and not their greed for gold, that kept them labouring at the apparently hopeless opus, for
which they sacrificed their money, their goods and their life. 52
As for those adepts whom Jung believed were more or less aware of the
psychological dimensions of their work, and whose numbers increased
following the sixteenth century ‘fission’ he stipulates, there is no indication
in Jung’s work that he “wrote laboratory experimentation out of the picture”
when considering such individuals. 53 Thus Jung describes Paracelsus as both
the father of modern pharmacology and ‘a pioneer of empirical psychology
and psychotherapy’, and makes mention of the post-Paracelsus emergence of
a ‘fantastic species of literature’ to which the works of Count Michael Maier
belong – fantastic because they are neither wholly unconscious projections
upon a ‘chemical research’, nor are they purely speculative alchemical tracts
of the ilk of the theosopher Boehme. 54
Whilst Jung’s portrayal of medieval and antique alchemy as ‘a great
timeless unit’ is indeed problematic, there remains no justification for the
assertion of Principe and Newman that Jung believed any alchemical text that
could be decoded into modern chemical language must thereby be excluded
from the realms of a ‘good’ or ‘genuine’ alchemy. 55 In light of this fact, the
insistence of these authors that the strange symbols utilised by the alchemists
are “the products of a skilled use of traditional techniques of deception
that extend back many centuries in the literature of alchemy” in no way
contradicts the Jungian interpretation of alchemy. 56 Indeed, in the early
twentieth century it was widely understood that alchemical symbolism was
a secret vocabulary of Decknamen for chemical substances, and Jung cited
the definitive works of Ruska on this very matter approvingly. 57 Ruska
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
52 Jung, Carl Gustav. “Mysterium Coniunctionis.” The Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Vol.
14. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976, p. 521; Jung, Carl
Gustav. Mysterium Coniunctionis. Vol. 2. Düsseldorf: Walter Verlag, 1995, p. 298:
“Ganz gewiß haben die meisten Alchemisten ihre nigredo in der Retort behandelt, ohne
zu ahnen, was sie handhabten. Aber ebenso gewiß ist es, daß Adepten wie Morienus,
Dorneus, Michael Maier und andere in ihrer Art wußten, worum es ging. Aus diesem
Wissen und nicht etwa aus Goldgier entsprang bei ihnen die Nötigung zu dem anschei-
nend hoffnungslosen opus, dem sie Geld, Gut und Leben opferten.”
54 See above, n. 11.
55 Jung’s assertion that there are “good and bad authors in alchemical literature” refers
merely to the existence of charlatanism in the alchemical corpus; the fact that the texts of
such charlatans are recognisable, in Jung’s view, by their ‘studied mystification’, clearly
reveals that Jung was not referring to texts that were decodable into modern chemical
language; see Jung, “Psychology and Alchemy,” p. 316.
56 Newman, “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language?,” p. 188.
57 See, for example, Jung’s Mysterium Coniunctionis: “Die ‘Chelidonia’ kommt als
Geheimname vor in jener Fassung der Turba, die vom Text, den Ruska gibt, nicht
testified to the wide acceptance of this fact in his formulation of the theory of
Decknamen:
It is well known that the Greeks, Syrians, Persians, Arabians, Latinists, in short all nations
that concerned themselves with alchemy in the course of two thousand years, gave
codenames to the substances utilised in their secret craft, in order to protect the Art against
the ignorant masses. The names are taken in part from the characteristics of the bodies
concerned, so that quicksilver was known as the “volatile slave,” tin the “gnasher,” copper
“the green” because of the colour of verdigris and the colour of its flame, or ammonia was
given the names of various birds. Often they are connected with mystical and religious
conceptions, as when the metals are defined with the names of the planets or their assigned
Gods. Sometimes the names are also arbitrarily invented. 58
The central flaw in Principe and Newmans’ exposition of the theory of Deck-
namen as it relates to the Jungian hermeneutic lies in their use of a simplistic
either-or logic – either the symbols of alchemy are products of the un-
conscious psyche, or they are secret code-names for chemical substances.
This leads them to the following completely untenable position:
...if the images used in alchemical texts are in fact irruptions of the unconscious, then there
would be no possibility of “working backwards” from them to decipher such images into
actual, valid laboratory practice. 59
Of course, the notion that a symbol may possess more than one significance
is as integral to psychoanalysis as it was to seventeenth century alchemy. As
Ruska states, certain symbols in the history of alchemy have borne explicit
religious or mystical significance alongside their narrowly chemical meaning;
thus we shall soon explore the import of the lead-Saturn-melancholy
correspondence in the work of Maier, and his pietistic interpretation of the
relationship between gold, the sun and the human heart. As for those symbols
which Ruska describes as being of ‘arbitrary invention’, Principe and
Newman explain them away simply by stating that the physical appearance
of chemicals in the vessel is sometimes ‘evocative’. 60 Whilst the latest
neurophysiological research on the nature of religious experience has lent
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
unerheblich abweicht. ‘Quidam Philosophi nominaverunt aurum Chelidoniam, Karnech,
Geldum’ usw. Geldum erklärt Ruska als Chelidonium maius L.” Jung, Mysterium
Coniunctionis, p. 252, n. 81. Throughout his works Jung cites Ruska and his translations
as authoritative.
58 Ruska, Julius and E. Wiedemann. “Alchemistische Decknamen,” Beiträge zur
Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Vol. 67, 1924, pp. 17-36; verdigris is a green or
greenish blue poisonous pigment resulting from the action of acetic acid on copper.
60 Ibid., p. 407.
some credence to Jung’s ideas, 61 one need not adhere to the Jungian theory
of a phylogenetically determined collective unconscious to see that Principe
and Newmans’ ‘explanation’ is no explanation at all. When Theobald de
Hoghelande describes “the wonderful variety of figures that appear in
the course of the work... just as we sometimes imagine in the clouds or in the
fire strange shapes of animals, reptiles or trees,” there can be no doubt that
the ‘arbitrary’ symbols of alchemy are evoked from the psyche of the
individual alchemist as much as from the physical processes in the vessel. 62
The psychoanalyst, of course, admits of no ‘arbitrary invention’ of the
psyche – there is a hidden cause behind every product of consciousness, and
each symbol thrown up by imaginative association betrays an unconscious
complex of ideas. That the processes in the alchemical vessel were guided by
a recognised chemical logic in no way precludes the possibility that another
purely subjective logic came into play through the assignment of Decknamen
to those processes by such association (a phenomenon known as pareidolia
to the contemporary psychiatrist). 63
Be this as it may, the following study will have no recourse to
psychoanalytic ideas, be they Freudian or Jungian; my purpose here is to
reconstruct the worldview of Count Michael Maier via an ‘empirical’
approach to the study of Western esotericism similar to that recently outlined
by Wouter Hanegraaff, and wherever possible to rely upon the alchemists’
own testimony concerning the nature of their work. 64 But it is necessary to
establish from the outset that an art which variously promises unlimited
abundance of worldly wealth, freedom from disease, ancient wisdom and
eternal life could not fail to bear a deep psychological significance for its
practitioners, and that the substances in the alchemical vessel carried the
weight of the adept’s hopes and imaginings. In the work of Maier (as Jung
correctly surmised) that psychological dimension of the opus is consciously
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
61 See Newberg, Andrew and Eugene D’Aquili. Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science
and the Biology of Belief. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001, pp. 75-76 et passim.
62 Cited in Jung, “Psychology and Alchemy,” pp. 238-239.
63 Whilst the objection may be raised that the majority of alchemists dealt only with an
established symbolic topology rather than their own imaginative inventions, it is difficult
to deny that symbols as burdened with psychological import as the Passion of Christ or
as rich in traditional cultural associations as Saturn would continue to constitute a
repository for imaginary factors within the practitioner.
64 On the distinction between ‘religionist’, ‘reductionist’ and ‘empiricist’ approaches to
esotericism, and the necessity of recognising the historicity of religious phenomena
whilst maintaining a methodological agnosticism concerning meta-empirical claims in
the data at hand, see Hanegraaff, Wouter. “Empirical Method in the Study of Eso-
tericism,” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1995, pp. 99-129;
see also Hanegraaff, Wouter. “Beyond the Yates Paradigm: The Study of Western
Esotericism between Counterculture and New Complexity,” Aries, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001,
pp. 5-37.
recognised and expressed, and there is no need to draw on reductionist

assumptions from modern psychoanalysis to identify or explain it. On the
contrary, the origins of Rosicrucianism and the emergence of primarily
Germanic ‘spiritual’ alchemies from heterodox Protestant sources casts a
revealing light on the place of Jung’s own psychological theories in the
history of ideas.
This point leads us back to the criticism voiced by Pagel, Dobbs, Halleux,
Obrist, Principe and Newman alike, namely the ahistorical nature of the
Jungian approach. By consciously eschewing an historical analysis of
alchemical literature, and treating its symbolism as a mythology of timeless
origin in the collective psyche, Jung failed to give an adequate account of the
cultural matrix from which his own ideas emerged, and consequently failed
to recognise the bewildering diversity of endeavours that – for better or worse
– have been gathered together under the rubric of the term ‘alchemy’. Thus
we would not expect alchemists such as the Paracelsian Gerhard Dorn or the
traditionalist Michael Maier to be motivated by greed for gold – as Jung
suggests in the passage we have cited – because their primary interest lay in
iatrochemia 65 and the production of the Universal Medicine. Furthermore,
Maier understood his relentless peregrinatio in search of patronage as a
macrocosmic image of the operations within the alchemical vessel, a process
of spiritual purification that was indeed integrally linked to his struggle for
worldly wealth. And without a detailed understanding of the ultimate goal
of Maier’s laboratory experiments – a ‘medicine of piety’ that would cure
diseases and impious urges alike by restoring the balance of humours in the
body – it is not possible to understand the intimate connection of the
‘chemical’ and psychological dimensions of his alchemy. Despite the fact
that the alchemical canon is littered with pseudonymous and anonymous
tracts that are difficult to date, and despite the paucity of biographical data
pertaining to many known alchemists, in the case of Count Michael Maier we
are presented with a wealth of explicit autobiographical allusions that offer
self-avowed insight into the psychological wellsprings of his alchemy.
There are a number of key elements in Maier’s alchemy – a distinctively
Protestant and individualistic spiritual quest, a paradoxical conjunction
of spiritual and material factors, a confluence of pagan and Christian
sentiments, an esoteric ‘tradition’ stemming from antiquity, a nascent
German nationalism, solar mysticism, and Rosicrucianism itself – which
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
65 Although most frequently used in reference to Paracelsian practice, iatrochemia in the
more general sense of the manufacturing of medicines from inorganic material existed
prior to Paracelsus, e.g. in the work of Johannes de Rupescissa in the fourteenth century
(see Haage, Bernhard Dietrich. Alchemie im Mittelalter. Düsseldorf: Artemis und
Winkler, 2000, p. 195). As Maier was not a Paracelsian, the term iatrochemia will be
used in this broader sense in the following pages.
confirm Obrist’s contention that Jung’s views have their origins in precisely
the type of ‘alchemy’ propagated by Maier. However, this fact mitigates
against Obrist’s statement that Jung is dealing with worldviews that are
fundamentally ‘other’ when it comes to early modern alchemy. For all
its very tangential relation to the course of modern psychology, Jung’s
‘analytical psychology’ clearly possesses the four fundamental characteristics
of modern esotericism set forth by Faivre, 66 i.e. a doctrine of
correspondences and sympathies; 67 a belief in a living and revelatory
Nature; 68 an emphasis on imagination as the means to revelation; 69 and the
practical objective of personal ‘transmutation’ through such revelation. 70
When we also consider Jung’s tendencies towards solar mysticism, 71 his
rather unflattering entanglement with a mystical German nationalism, 72 and
his explicitly prophetic utterances concerning the imminence (i.e. at some
time between 1997 and 2012) of an astrologically determinable catastrophe
leading to a New Age in which pagan and Christian doctrines will be
united, 73 we are no
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
66 See Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, pp. 10 ff.; also Faivre, Antoine and Karen-
Claire Voss. “Western Esotericism and the Science of Religions,” Numen, Vol. 42, 1995,
pp. 60 ff.
67 E.g. the concept of ‘synchronistic’ events arising as the result of acausal correspond-
ences in the universe, c.f. Jung, Carl Gustav. “Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting
Principle.” In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 8. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1972, pp. 417-531.
68 E.g. the ultimate indivisibility of psyche and matter, c.f. Jung, Carl Gustav. “On the
Nature of the Psyche.” In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 8. Trans. R. F. C.
Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972, pp. 159-234, and the existence of
archetypes in Nature as expressions of a ‘meaningful orderedness’, c.f. Jung, “Synch-
ronicity.”
69 E.g. the use of ‘active imagination’ as a means of uncovering the archetypal layers of the
psyche, c.f. Jung, Carl Gustav. “The Concept of the Collective Unconscious.” In The
Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 9, Part 1. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1968, pp. 42-53.
70 E.g. the process of ‘individuation’ towards the Self through the encounter with the
archetypal realm, c.f. Jung, Carl Gustav. “On the Psychology of the Unconscious.” In
The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 7. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1966, pp. 1-119.
71 C.f. Jung, Carl Gustav. “Symbols of Transformation.” The Collected Works of C. G.
Jung. Vol. 5. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967, passim.
72 C.f. “Wotan.” In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Vol. 10. Trans. R. F. C. Hull.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970, pp. 179-193.
73 C.f. Jung, Carl Gustav. “Aion – Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self.” The
Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Vol. 9, Part 2. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. London: Routledge,
1991, pp. 86, 94, et passim.; also Jung, Carl Gustav. “A Psychological Approach to the
Trinity.” In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 11. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1969, pp. 107-200; for Jung’s last prophetic utterances, see
Whitney, Mark (dir.). Matter of Heart. Los Angeles: C. G. Jung Institute, 1983.
longer dealing with a doctrine that stands in the realms of science as it is

known today; rather, we are hearing the distant but distinct echoes of
seventeenth century esotericism and a syncretic Protestant millennialism that
once found expression in the Rosicrucian phenomenon.
4. The origins of Jung’s alchemy and the work of Richard Noll
Rather than taking their cue from Jung’s explicit claim that the ‘historical
nexus’ of his work lies in the Freemasonic and Rosicrucian traditions,
Principe and Newman follow Richard Noll in emphasising certain nineteenth
century occultists as the predecessors of Jung’s interpretation of alchemy (we
might more simply state ‘the predecessors of Jung’s alchemy’, if we follow
Eco in characterising alchemy primarily as a hermeneutic tradition).74 On this
count Principe and Newman ascribe the origins of Jung’s views to the
English occultist Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942); the rather insubstantial
basis for their assertion is Noll’s observation that Waite’s works were
circulating amongst members of Jung’s Zurich Psychological Club in the
1910’s. 75 Principe and Newman point to the supposed influence of Waite in
order to support their central historiographic thesis that the conception of
alchemy as a process of personal transmutation from a base, earthly state into
“a more noble, more spiritual, more moral, or more divine state”– a
conception which we shall follow Principe and Newman 76 in describing as
‘spiritual alchemy’ – has its origins in the nineteenth century:
Although it was in fact a commonplace of the early modern period to build extended
religious conceits on alchemical processes and to draw theological parallels therefrom – an
aspect of alchemical writing Luther praised in passing – the occultists of the nineteenth
century went much further to claim that alchemy itself was an art of internal meditation
rather than an external manipulation of apparatus and chemicals... The similarity of Jung’s
psychologising view to the ‘spiritual evolution’ system of A. E. Waite’s Azoth is clear, and
what we now know of Jung’s juvenile interest in the occult and the currency of Victorian
esoterica in Jung’s early circles supports this observable similarity... we therefore come to
the rather surprising conclusion that the residues of Victorian occultism have deeply colored
the historical study of the discipline. It seems unlikely that many historians would continue
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
74 On the history of alchemy as the history of the interpretation of alchemy, see Eco,
Umberto. The Limits of Interpretation. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press,
1990, pp. 18-20.
75 Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,” p. 402;
Noll, Richard. The Aryan Christ: The Secret Life of Carl Jung. New York: Random
House, 1997, pp. 229-230.
The origins of Jung’s alchemy 19
to engage in the blithe generalizations criticized in this chapter if they realized their dubious
origins. 77
We shall soon contest the crypto-positivist notion that early modern

alchemists merely built ‘extended religious conceits’ on purely ‘chemical’
processes, and the assertion of Principe and Newman that the ‘yoking’ of
natural magic and astrology to alchemy was “consummated only during the
final years of the ancien régime in France.” 78 For now it will suffice to
mention that, even if we accept the unsubstantiated theory of Waite’s role in
the formation of Jung’s views, the Englishman did not disregard laboratory
experiment in his portrayal of the history of alchemy, nor did he believe in
the possibility of gold-making, as Principe and Newman claim; rather, he
adopted the position that the alchemists advanced a ‘theory of universal
development’ with equal application to metals and human beings, and that ‘a
few of the Hermetic symbolists’ focused on ‘man’ as the subject of their
work. 79 Furthermore, Jung’s approach has little in common with Waite’s
argument in the Azoth, or the Star in the East (1893) that “all alchemists were
mystics and alchemy a mystic work.” 80 Rather, his historiography more
closely parallels Waite’s work of 1926, The Secret Tradition in Alchemy, in
which Waite revises his earlier opinion and traces the origins of ‘spiritual
alchemy’ to the age of Luther – the time of the ‘fission’ which Jung believed
to herald the widespread emergence of a conscious recognition of the
psychological aspects of the alchemical work. 81
In any case, we find no mention of Waite’s theories on alchemy in Jung’s
works. On this count it must be said that Principe and Newman rely too
heavily on the partisan diatribes of Noll, an ex-Jungian who has sought to
expose his former mentor as a dangerous right-wing cultist and charlatan.
Considerable controversy was aroused in 1994 by the publication of Noll’s
The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement, in which Jung’s
analytical psychology was depicted as an attempt to fuse Freudian
psychoanalysis with neo-pagan sun worship. Employing loosely Weberian
conceptions, Noll portrays Jung as a prophet of the völkisch movement
emergent in German Europe at the fin-de-siècle, and a founder of the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
77 Ibid., pp. 388, 418.
78 Ibid., pp. 387-388.
79 Ibid., p. 394; Waite, Arthur Edward. Lives of the Alchemystical Philosophers. London:
George Redway, 1888, p. 33: “...though it be impossible for the metal, it is true for the
man.”
80 Waite, Arthur Edward. Azoth, or the Star in the East. London: Theosophical Publishing,
1893, p. 54.
81 Waite, Arthur Edward. The Secret Tradition in Alchemy. New York: Alfred Knopf,
1926, p. 366.
charismatic cult that is contemporary Jungianism. 82 At the time of his book’s

publication a strange polemic of Noll’s featured in the editorial pages of The
New York Times entitled The Rose, the Cross and the Analyst. Rather than
legitimately drawing attention to Jung’s place within the history of
esotericism, as his title would naturally suggest, Noll oddly had nothing to
say concerning Rosicrucianism. Rather, he argued that Jung was a cult leader
and ‘new Christ’ of the same ilk as Luc Jouret of the Order of the Solar
Temple, whose followers had been led to their deaths by “the same potent
mixture of sun worship, alchemy and spiritual rebirth” espoused by Jung.
Noll also took the opportunity to affiliate Jung with David Koresh of the
Branch Davidians and Jim Jones of the People’s Temple – and given the
violent and tragic history of these groups, such inaccurate associations
understandably provoked a chorus of protest from Jungian psychotherapists
and sympathisers. 83 Whatever genuinely religious foundations analytical
psychology may possess, a comparison of Jungian psychotherapy to the
millennialist cults in question was simply inaccurate and misleading from the
perspective of the academic study of religion, 84 and merely demonstrated
Noll’s well-established predilection for sensationalism. 85
There was an unacknowledged personal subtext to the inaccuracies of
Noll’s work: a clinical psychiatrist by training, he had earlier published a
number of articles in which he garnered experimental evidence to support
Jung’s conceptions of the archetype, psychological projection, and a
transpersonal and atemporal ‘collective unconscious’. 86 The uncritical
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
82 Noll, Richard. The Jung Cult – Origins of a Charismatic Movement. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1994.
83 Noll, Richard. “The Rose, the Cross and the Analyst,” The New York Times, October 15,
1994, p. 19. Two days prior to the publication of this article, Luc Jouret had led 52 of his
followers in a mass murder/suicide in Switzerland and Canada; according to Noll, both
Jung and Jouret were charismatic Swiss occultists posing as ‘new Christs’. For the
Jungian response to these outlandish claims, see Kirsch, Thomas B. “The Rose, the
Cross and the Analyst,” Anima, vol. 21, 1994, pp. 67-69.
84 For scholarly critiques of Noll’s thesis, see Segal, Robert. “Critical Notice,” Journal of
Analytical Psychology, vol. 40, 1995, pp. 597-608; Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C.
G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology. London: Routledge, 1998.
85 Consider, for example, Noll’s Bizarre Diseases of the Mind – a book which
demonstrates an entirely exploitative attitude towards its ‘real-life’ subject matter that is
strongly reminiscent of contemporary American television culture. A small sampling of
the chapter contents should suffice to demonstrate this point: ‘True Tales of Lycan-
thropy’ (“Werewolves? In the twentieth century? You bet there are!”), ‘Vampires!’
(“these are rare instances – but they do happen. Be certain of that…”) and ‘Deathly
Horrors: Mummification and Necrophilia’ (“Morbid? Yes. But many cases have been
documented…”); Noll, Richard. Bizarre Diseases of the Mind. Berkeley: Berkeley
Publishing Group, 1990, pp. 88, 109, 165.
86 Noll, Richard. “Multiple Personality, Dissociation, and C. G. Jung’s Complex Theory,”
Journal of Analytical Psychology, Vol 34, No. 4, October 1989, pp. 353-370; Noll,
The origins of Jung’s alchemy 21
naïveté Noll exhibited in his earlier writings appears to be inversely

proportional to the antagonism expressed towards Jung following his break
with the Aion Society and the C. G. Jung Center of Philadelphia in 1993, a
fact that leads one to suspect he was less than objective on both counts. 87
Through a repeated emphasis on certain doctrinal commonalities between
analytical psychology and Nazi ideology – commonalities that have stronger,
older roots in German esoteric tradition than racialist fin-de-siècle occultism
–
The Jung Cult utilised a guilt-by-association methodology that played on
lingering anti-German sentiments in the English-speaking West. For
example, Noll presented Jung’s ‘Gnostic’ myth, the Septem Sermones ad
Mortuos (1916) as central evidence that Jung was involved in “a völkisch
intellectual and spiritual elite, an underground ‘secret Germany’” that would
revitalise the German peoples by means of an Aryan ‘inner sun’. 88 It is more
pertinent to note that the hero of Jung’s adolescence, Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe, composed a similar ‘Gnostic’ tract amidst his own existential crisis, a
work inspired by the alchemical and gnostic conceptions he had received
from the Pietist Moravian Brethren. 89 As Goethe before him, Jung stood
within an esoteric tradition emphasising the unity of pagan and Christian
truths. Nevertheless, the one-sidedness of Noll’s anti-Germanic caricature in
The Jung Cult was counterbalanced somewhat in his The Aryan Christ: The
Secret Life of Carl Jung (1997) – a work which, whilst still advocating the
erroneous thesis that Jung believed himself to be an ‘Aryan Jesus’, 90 dealt at
greater length with Pietist and Rosicrucian currents as the ideological source
of Jung’s thought. 91
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Richard. “C. G. Jung and J. B. Rhine: Two Complementary Approaches to the
Phenomenology of the Paranormal.” In Shapin, Betty and Lisette Coly (eds). Para-
psychology and Human Nature. New York: Parapsychology Foundation, 1989.
87 Hence Noll’s introduction to the Encyclopedia of Schizophrenia and the Psychotic
Disorders, where he speaks with adulation of Jung as a ‘giant’ on whose shoulders he
has stood, and thanks the deceased psychoanalyst “for the tremendous impact his life and
work have had on my life, both personally and professionally.” Noll, Richard (ed.).
Encyclopedia of Schizophrenia and the Psychotic Disorders. New York: Facts on File,
2000.
88 Noll, The Jung Cult, pp. 244-246.
89 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Poetry and Truth. Vol. 1. Trans. Minna Smith. London:
G. Bell & Sons Ltd., 1911, p. 313.
90 In the very same lecture that Jung deals with his vision of self-transformation into the
Mithraic/Gnostic leontocephalus, he clearly states that anyone who succumbs to the
temptation of personally identifying with such an image ‘would become a crank or a
fool’, a statement in keeping with his ‘phenomenological’ approach; Segal, “Critical
Notice,” p. 605; Noll, The Jung Cult, p. 211.
91 Noll, The Aryan Christ, pp. 3-21.
5. ‘Secret threads’: the seventeenth century ‘Carl Jung of Mainz’

and Count Michael Maier
However, rather than following the unreliable work of Noll, or looking

for Jung’s influences on the basis of perceived doctrinal similarities –
insignificant as they might be in the case of Waite – we should first look to
Jung’s own testimony on the matter when considering the genesis of his
spiritual alchemy. In the winter of 1955-1956, following the death of his
wife, Jung was decorating the tower-house he had constructed on the shores
of Lake Zurich at Bollingen. Whilst chiselling the names of his paternal
ancestors on three stone tablets for the courtyard of his tower, Jung tells us he
became aware of certain ‘fateful links’ with his forebears:
I feel very strongly that I am under the influence of things or questions which were left
incomplete and unanswered by my parents and grandparents and more distant ancestors…
It has always seemed to me that I had to answer questions which fate had posed to my
forefathers, and which had not yet been answered, or as if I had to complete, or perhaps
continue, things which previous ages had left unfinished. 92
In accordance with this sense of evolving family destiny, Jung painted the
ceiling of his tower with the heraldic arms formulated by his grandfather and
namesake, a Grand Master of the Swiss Lodge of Freemasons. Jung’s
antipathy for his father, a Calvinist preacher, and for the ‘lifeless’ orthodoxy
he represented had led to his strong identification with Carl Gustav Jung
senior – a famous Basel physician and Romantic who, family rumour had it,
was the illegitimate son of Goethe. 93 The arms of his grandfather apparently
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
92 Jung, Carl Gustav. Memories Dreams Reflections. Trans. R. and C. Winston. New York:
Vintage Books, 1973, p. 233; Jung, Carl Gustav. Erinnerungen Träume Gedanken.
Stuttgart: Rascher Verlag, 1962, p. 237: “Ich habe sehr stark das Gefühl, daß ich unter
dem Einfluß von Dingen oder Fragen stehe, die von meinen Eltern und Großeltern und
den weiteren Ahnen unvollendet und unbeantwortet gelassen wurden... So schien es mir
immer, als ob auch ich Fragen zu beantworten hätte, die bei meinen Ahnen schon
schicksalsmäßig aufgeworfen, aber noch nicht beantwortet worden sind, oder als ob ich
Dinge vollenden oder auch nur fortsetzen müsse, welche die Vorzeit unerledigt gelassen
hat.”
93 Ibid., pp. 41. Whilst Jung described the story of his descent from Goethe as an
“annoying tradition,” a student friend recalled Jung’s pride in recounting the tale –
according to Gustav Steiner, “it was not the legend that perplexed me, but the fact that he
told us about it;” Ellenberger, Henri. The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York:
Basic Books, 1970, p. 665. Jung makes no attempt in his autobiography to clarify the
question of his ancestry for his readers; the editor of Erinnerungen Träume Gedanken,
Aniela Jaffé, mentions in an appendix the improbability of Goethe’s siring a son by
Jung’s great-grandmother, but she also recalls Jung’s sense of gratification as he
recollected the legend: Jung, Erinnerungen, p. 399.
‘Secret Threads’ 23
depicted a blue cross in the upper right of the shield, separated by a blue bar
from blue grapes in a field of gold in the lower left. The symbolism,
according to Jung, was ‘Masonic or Rosicrucian’ – just as the Rosicrucian
motif of the cross and red rose represents opposing Christian and pagan
forces, so the blue cross and grapes symbolise “the heavenly and the chthonic
(i.e. earthly) spirit.” 94 In the midst of the separating blue bar is a golden star,
which Jung referred to as the aurum philosophorum (‘philosophers’ gold’) or
symbol for the unity of opposites. For the ageing psychologist, this esoteric
symbolism represented “the historical nexus of my thinking and life.” 95
Crucially, in his autobiography Jung goes on to trace the roots of his
destiny as the founder of analytical psychology beyond his grandfather.
Although his train of thought is typically obscure on this point, Jung suggests
he is descended from a Dr. Carl Jung of Mainz (d.1645), whom he portrays
as a follower of none other than Count Michael Maier, a ‘founder’ of
Rosicrucianism. As a ‘Paracelsian’ this supposed ancestor was purportedly
acquainted with Gerhard Dorn, a man whom Jung believed to have “grappled
with the process of individuation” more than any other alchemist. Jung goes
on to comment suggestively that “all this is not without a certain interest” in
light of his own concern with alchemical symbolism and the coniunctio
oppositorum (‘conjunction of opposites’). 96 In this way Jung intimates that
the unanswered questions he felt driven to resolve through his lifelong
intellectual and therapeutic work stretch back to the Rosicrucianism of Count
Michael Maier and the alchemy of the Paracelsians.
My concern here is not to cast judgment upon Jung’s imaginings.
Rather, it is to demonstrate that Jung considered the esoteric traditions of
Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism as his own spiritual heritage, and that there
are good reasons for accepting his claim. Indeed, if we wish to look to
citations of theory rather than Jung’s autobiographical musing when tracing
the origins of his hermeneutic, then our starting point is provided by Herbert
Silberer (1882-1923), the man whom Jung followed in proclaiming the
coniunctio oppositorum to be the central idea of alchemical procedure. 97
Silberer was a Freemason and pupil of Freud who toyed with Jung’s theory
of archetypes and the progressive nature of the unconscious prior to his
suicide in 1923. 98 In the work Silberer dedicated to alchemy, Probleme
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
94 Jung, Erinnerungen, p. 236.
95 Ibid.
96 Ibid., pp. 236-237.
97 Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis, p. 228; as its title suggests, the coniunctio oppositorum
is the central problem tackled by Jung in this work.
98 Apparently Silberer also experimented with sleep deprivation in his quest to unlock the
secrets of the ‘hypnogogic’ and ‘hypnopompic’ states between waking and sleeping; as
he poignantly remarked when discussing the Jungian term ‘introversion’, “Die Intro-
der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik (1914), we find the fundamental tenets of
Jung’s alchemy in embryonic form. These include Silberer’s comparison of
alchemical symbolism with dream motifs and his conception that the
“elementary types” of the unconscious had “insinuated themselves into the
body of the alchemical hieroglyphics” as the alchemists struggled with the
“riddles of physico-chemical facts.” 99 Here we have the theory of a
projection of psychic contents of a supra-individual nature onto the
alchemical work of the laboratory, formulated more than twenty years prior
to Jung’s first public utterances on the subject. In his autobiographical
Erinnerungen Träume Gedanken (‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections,’ 1961)
Jung appears (somewhat characteristically) to downplay Silberer’s role in the
genesis of his own thought by stating that he had ‘completely forgotten’ the
psychoanalyst’s work prior to his own ‘discovery’ of the psychological
import of alchemical symbolism in 1928. 100 Nevertheless, in the foreword
and conclusion of the work he considered to be his opus magnum, the
Mysterium Coniunctionis (1956), Jung pays homage to Silberer as the ‘first’
researcher to uncover the psychological significance of alchemy, with the
proviso that his predecessor was still constrained by the ‘primitive’ state of
psychological knowledge in 1914 – an allusion to Silberer’s dependence on
Freudian theory and the undeveloped state of Jung’s own ideas at that time:
Herbert Silberer, who unfortunately died too early, has the merit of being the first to discover
the secret threads that lead from alchemy to the psychology of the unconscious. The state of
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
version ist kein Kinderspiel. Sie führt zu Abgründen hin, von denen man verschlungen
werden kann, rettungslos. Wer sich der Introversion unterzieht, gelangt an einen Punkt,
wo sich zwei Wege trennen; und dort muß er eine Entscheidung treffen...”; Silberer,
Herbert. Probleme der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik. Vienna: Hugo Deller & Co., 1914, p.
171.
99 Ibid., p. 206: “Die viel besprochnen Elementartypen haben sich also bei der Gelegenheit
in das Corpus der alchemistischen Hieroglyphik eingeschlichen, als die Menschheit, den
chemisch-physikalischen Tatsachen als Rätseln gegenüberstehend, mit dem Ausdruck
rang zu ihrer gedanklichen Bewältigung...”
100 “Merkwürdigerweise hatte ich ganz vergessen, was Herbert Silberer über Alchemie
geschrieben hatte. Zur Zeit, als sein Buch erschien, kam mir die Alchemie als etwas
Abseitiges und Skurriles vor, so sehr ich auch Silberers anagogischen, d. h. kon-
struktiven Gesichtspunkt zu schätzen wußte. Ich stand damals in Korrespondenz mit ihm
und habe ihm meine Zustimmung ausgedrückt. Wie sein tragisches Ende zeigt, war
jedoch seine Ansicht von keiner Einsicht gefolgt... Erst durch den Text der „Goldene
Blüte“, der zur Chinesischen Alchemie gehört, und den ich 1928 von Richard Wilhelm
erhalten hatte, ist mir das Wesen der Alchemie näher gekommen.” Jung, Erinnerungen,
pp. 207-208. On this matter also see Jung’s letter to Erich Neumann dated the 22nd of
December, 1935, in Jung, Carl Gustav. Letters. Adler, Gerhard and Aniela Jaffé (eds.).
Vol. 1. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973, p. 206 ff.; and Martin, Luther H. “A
History of the Psychological Interpretation of Alchemy,” Ambix, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1975,
pp. 10-20.
psychological knowledge at that time was still too primitive and still too much wrapped
up in personalistic assumptions for the whole problem of alchemy to be understood
psychologically. 101
Jung’s intellectual hubris notwithstanding, it is clear that the confluence of

alchemical and psychoanalytic doctrine to be found in the works of Silberer
and Jung alike marks a qualitatively new phase in the history of alchemical
interpretation. However, if Silberer and Jung are to be evaluated from a
broader perspective in the history of ideas as the purveyors of a ‘spiritual
alchemy’, as Principe and Newman suggest, then we must follow those
‘secret threads’ of which Jung speaks and trace the sources of their (non-
exclusive) conception of alchemy as a process of self-transformation within
the alchemist.
In his Probleme der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik, Silberer attributes the
‘rediscovery’ of the psychological content of alchemy to the ‘profound’
Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1798-1870); throughout his work Silberer states that
he is indebted to Hitchcock when he argues that the central subject of the
Hermetic Art is humankind – i.e. its subject is das Subjekt. 102 Hitchcock was
a Union general and military adviser to Abraham Lincoln who, like Silberer,
was influenced by Freemasonic doctrine: indeed, his father Samuel was a
prominent Freemason who incorporated the society’s motifs into the seal of
the state of Vermont. 103 Hitchcock’s thesis as set forward in his Remarks
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
101 Jung, “Mysterium Coniunctionis” (English edition), p. 555; Jung, Mysterium Coniunc-
tionis (German edition), p. 334: “Dem leider zu früh verstorbenen Herbert Silberer
kommt das Verdienst zu, der erste gewesen zu sein, die geheimen Fäden, die von der
Alchemie zur Psychologie des Unbewußten laufen, entdeckt zu haben. Allerdings war
der Zustand der damaligen psychologischen Erkenntnis noch zu primitiv und zu sehr in
personalistischen Voraussetzungen befangen, als daß das Gesamtproblem der Alchemie
psychologisch hätte erfaßt werden können.”
102 Silberer, Probleme der Mystik, pp. 211, 97: “Das Verdienst, den über das Chemische und
Physikalische hinausgehenden Gehalt der Alchemie wiedergefunden zu haben, gebührt
wohl dem Amerikaner Ethan Allen Hitchcock, der seine Ansichten über die Alchemisten
in dem Buch “Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alchemists” niederlegte, das 1857 in
Boston erschien... Die Entdeckungen, zu welchen der tiefsinnige Hitchcock gelangte,
sind für unsere Analyse so wichtig, daß ihre ausführliche Entwickelung nicht umgangen
werden kann... Hitchcock liefert uns in einem einzigen Wort den Schlüssel zum
Verständnis der hermetischen Meister, wenn er sagt: Das Subjectum ist – der Mensch.
Man kann sich auch eines Wortspiels bedienen und sagen: das Subjectum ist das
Subjekt.”
103 See Smith, Henry Perry. History of Addison County Vermont. Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason
& Co., 1886, p. 143; also Thomas, John D. “The Engine of Enlightenment: Samuel
Hitchcock and the Creation of the University of Vermont Seal.” Unpublished paper, an
abstract of which is to be found in The Center for Research on Vermont Newsletter, Vol.
24, No. 1, April 1999. Although I am loath to further propagate unsubstantiated myths
and fabrications concerning the history of esotericism, it has been alleged that Ethan
Allen Hitchcock belonged to a certain ‘Council of Three’ in the Freemasonic ‘Order of
upon Alchemy and the Alchemists (1857) is that the alchemists were
concerned with the procurement of a spiritual ‘new birth’ through the casting
out of the ‘superfluity’ of evil. 104 Thus he declares that “the subject of
Alchemy was Man, while the object was the perfection of Man,” but as true
‘Reformers’ of the Church the alchemists were compelled to obscure their
properly religious purpose in a pseudo-chemical language. 105 Silberer did not
adopt as untenable a position on the question of Decknamen and laboratory
experimentation as his predecessor, but rather dealt at length in Probleme der
Mystik und ihrer Symbolik with “the problem of multiple interpretation.”106
His research led him to propose three simultaneous significations of
alchemical symbolism: a regressive significance “leading to the depths of the
impulsive life;” an ‘anagogic’ or progressive significance leading to “high
religious ideals;” and a chemical significance pertaining to the realms of
science and natural philosophy. 107 If we dispense with the ‘regressive
significance’ drawn from Freud, we have the broad outlines of the dual
interpretation proposed by Jung – on the one hand alchemical symbolism
reflects laboratory experiment, and on the other it reflects ‘individuating’
tendencies towards the realisation of the ‘Self’, to translate Silberer’s terms
into those of Jung’s spiritual alchemy.
As we cannot accept Jung’s claim that he had ‘forgotten’ Silberer’s work,
replete as it is with Jung’s own theories applied to the subject of alchemy,
then we must recognise Probleme der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik as Jung’s
first documented and most formative encounter with alchemy, and it behoves
us to examine more closely the origins of the ideas advanced by Silberer.
Both Silberer and his predecessor Hitchcock drew their spiritual alchemy in
large part from conceptions expressed in the higher degrees of Freemasonry,
which have as their goal the progressive transformation of the human
personality from a state of primitivity and darkness to a higher level of
human consciousness. Indeed, since the late eighteenth century various
Freemasonic Lodges have incorporated spiritual alchemical conceptions into
their higher degrees, a fact which has led many authors in the last two
centuries to trace the origins of modern Freemasonry to Rosicrucian
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
the Lily’, which claimed its descent from Rosicrucianism by charter of the Supreme
Grand Lodge of France; Hitchcock supposedly took his place in this ‘Council’ alongside
Abraham Lincoln and the occultist P. B. Randolph (1825-1875). These assertions have
been discredited in the article “Abraham Lincoln was not a Freemason,” Lincoln Lore,
No.1595, January 1971.
104 Hitchcock, Ethan Allen. Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alchemists. Boston: Crosby,
Nichols, and Co., 1857, pp. 226-227.
105 Ibid., pp. viii-ix, 22.
106 Silberer, Probleme der Mystik, pp. 133-146.
107 Ibid., pp. 138, 145-146.
Hermeticism. 108 The relation of Rosicrucianism to Freemasonry remains a

contested issue, both within academic and Freemasonic circles. The origins
of the controversy may be traced to Buhle’s Ueber den Ursprung und
die vornehmsten Schicksale der Orden der Rosenkreuzer und Freymaurer
(1804), in which the author argued that speculative masonry or Freemasonry
arose in England between 1629 and 1635 through the work of Robert Fludd
(1574-1637), who had been introduced to the Rosicrucian mysteries by
Count Michael Maier (an erroneous lineage recently exposed by Figala and
Neumann). 109 Buhle’s conception that Freemasonry had its origins in the
mania of early Rosicrucianism rather than the guilds of the medieval masons
or the Egyptian and Greek mysteries (as Masonic lore claimed) was seconded
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
108 Alchemical symbolism may be found to this day in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite of Masonry, particularly in the Knight of the Sun/Prince Adept 28th degree; kind
information of M. Evans.
109 Buhle, Johann Gottlieb. Ueber den Ursprung und die vornehmsten Schicksale der Orden
der Rosenkreuzer und Freymaurer. Eine Historisch-kritische Untersuchung. Göttingen:
Johann Friedrich Röwer, 1804, pp 245-246.: “Michael Maier, der persönlich nach
England reiste, und sich eine Zeitlang dort aufhielt, fand nicht nur die günstigste
Aufnahme; sondern Robert Fludd u. a. schlossen auch mit ihm die innigste Freundschaft,
laborirten mit ihm gemeinschaftlich, und, nachdem Maier nach Deutschland zurück-
gekehrt war, theilten sie ihm noch die Resultate ihrer Forschungen und Experimente in
einer vertrauten Correspondenz mit... Wahrscheinlich empfiengen Fludd und seine
Genossen die erste Nachricht von der in der Fama und Confessio bekant gemachten
Rosenkreuzergesellchaft durch ihren Freund Maier.” Unfortunately, Buhle offers us no
evidence concerning the existence of correspondence between Fludd and Maier. The
contention that Maier brought Rosicrucianism to England via Fludd, who changed its
name to ‘Freemasonry’ due to the disrepute into which the ‘Fraternity of the Rose Cross’
had fallen, was also set forward by Ferdinand Katsch in his Die Entstehung und der
wahre Endzweck der Freimaurerei. Berlin: E. S. Mittler und Sohn, 1897. The conception
of Fludd’s ‘friendship’ with Maier seems to have arisen on the basis that there is no
direct evidence to the contrary; for repetitions of the myth, see Craven, J. B. Count
Michael Maier, Doctor of Philosophy and of Medicine, Alchemist, Rosicrucian, Mystic:
Life and Writings. Kirkwall: William Pearce and Son, 1910, p. 6; Yates, Frances. The
Rosicrucian Enlightenment. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972, p. 81; Hubicki,
W. “Maier, Michael.” In The Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 9. New York:
Scribner, 1974, p. 23; Edighoffer, Roland. Die Rosenkreuzer. München: C. H. Beck,
1995, p. 13; Åkerman, Susanna. Rose Cross over the Baltic: The Spread of
Rosicrucianism in Northern Europe. Leiden: Brill, 1998, p. 90. The concept of a
‘meeting’ or ‘friendship’ was first cast into doubt by Waite in his Brotherhood of the
Rosy Cross. London: Rider and Sons, 1924, pp. 314 ff.; convincing evidence against the
myth is to be found in Figala, Karin and Ulrich Neumann. “Michael Maier (1569-1622):
New Bio-Bibliographical Material.” In Martels, Z. R. W. M. von (ed.). Alchemy
Revisited: Proceedings of the International Conference on the History of Alchemy at the
University of Groningen, 17-19 April 1989. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990, p. 45, and Moran,
Bruce T. The Alchemical World of the German Court: Occult Philosophy and Chemical
Medicine in the Circle of Moritz of Hessen (1572-1632). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag,
1991, pp. 107-108.
in Über den Wahren Ursprung der Rosenkreuzer und des Freymaurerordens

of Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, who – amongst other things – pointed
to certain motifs in Maier’s Septimana Philosophica as evidence of
Freemasonry’s true doctrinal heritage. 110 Later in the nineteenth century
Sandys further emphasised the role of Elias Ashmole (1617-1692), the noted
English enthusiast of Rosicrucian and alchemical lore and one of the earliest
known Freemasons, as the chief conduit of Rosicrucian influence on
Freemasonry. 111 In this century the Maier-Fludd-Ashmole lineage has been
promoted by Masonic writers, notably Lennhof and Naudon. 112 Amongst
academic writers Frances Yates advanced a similar theory, postulating both
Rosicrucian and courtly Hermetic influences on the rise of Freemasonry
in seventeenth century England; 113 Schick argued for the existence of
embryonic traces of the Freemasonic grade system in the work of Maier; 114
whilst Stevenson has recently argued for an early and definitive Rosicrucian
influence on Freemasonry in Scotland – the land which produced the first
hint of a connection between Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry in a verse of
the early 1630’s:
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110 Murr, Christoph Gottlieb von. Über den Wahren Ursprung der Rosenkreuzer und des
Freymaurerordens. Sulzbach: Johann Esaias Seidel, 1803, pp. 75-76; von Murr’s
allusion is to the dialogue between Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and Hiram that forms
the structure of the Septimana Philosophica, and which is drawn from the dialogue
concerning the building of the temple in 2 Chronicles 2; according to von Murr, the
dialogue’s participants are represented on Maier’s title page with certain ‘Rosicrucians’
(von Murr’s term) sitting behind them (see figure 5). Von Murr had seen Buhle’s
forthcoming work advertised in the Göttingischen Gelehrten Anzeigen just as he himself
had ‘intended to go to the printers’, and it seems he beat Buhle to the printing press with
his monograph.
111 In Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, Vol. 22, 1845, pp. 11-23; quoted in Gould, Robert
Freke. The History of Freemasonry: Its Antiquities, Symbols, Constitutions, Customs,
etc. Embracing an Investigation of the records of the Organisations of the Fraternity in
England, Scotland, Ireland, British Colonies, France, Germany, and the United States.
Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T.C. & E.C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, 1885, p. 115. The
Freemason Gould provides us with a thoughtful dissenting view on the Rosicrucian
thesis advanced by Buhle and his successors.
112 Lennhoff, Eugen. Die Freimaurer. Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1929. Wien: Löcker
Verlag, 1981, p. 63; Naudon, Paul. Les Origines de la Franc-Maçonnerie: Le métier et
le sacré. Nouvelle édition entièrement refondue des Origines Religieuses et Corpora-
tives de la Franc-Maçonnerie (1953). N. p.: Dervy, 1991, p. 271.
113 Yates, Frances. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1991, p. 415.
114 Schick, Hans. Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum: Ein Beitrag zur Entstehungsgeschichte der
Freimaurerei. Quellen und Darstellungen zur Freimaurerfrage, Vol. 1. Berlin: Nordland
Verlag, 1942, p. 252.
For we be brethren of the Rosie Cross;

We have the Mason’s Word and second sight. 115
However, the arguments proposed by these various authors suffer from a

paucity of hard evidence, as one might expect of any ventures into
Freemasonic history, which was once described as “the happiest of all
hunting grounds for the light-headed, the fanciful, the altogether unscholarly
and the lunatic fringe of the British Museum Reading Room.” 116
Less fanciful than any supposed early Rosicrucian influence on Free-
masonry is the fact that the eighteenth century inheritor of the Rosicrucian
mantle, the Gold- und Rosenkreutz Order, infiltrated Freemasonic Lodges on
the continent in the later eighteenth century and directly inspired the
alchemical conceptions of the higher Freemasonic grades. The central work
appearing from the circle of the Gold- und Rosenkreutz was Jolyfief’s Der
Compaß der Weisen (1779), which placed Rosicrucian alchemical concep-
tions in the context of the Freemasonic doctrine of personal moral
advancement. 117 We may note that the nineteenth century Societas Rosi-
cruciana in Anglia was grafted onto regular Freemasonry in a similar fashion
to its predecessor and included higher degrees inspired by those of the Gold-
und Rosenkreutz; and we may also remark in passing that the Gold- und
Rosenkreutz grades and laws formed the basis for Waite’s quasi-Masonic
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. 118 In any event, it seems that Silberer
wrote his Probleme der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik in his capacity as a
Freemason as much as that of a psychoanalyst, as he devotes an entire
chapter of his work to the subject of Rosicrucian alchemy and its survival in
the higher Freemasonic grades of his time (although he adheres to the theory
of a seventeenth century Rosicrucian influence on the Lodges). 119 These are
the ‘secret threads’ running from alchemy to the psychology of the
unconscious of which Jung speaks, and we may surmise that they were less a
‘discovery’ of Jung’s than of Silberer’s.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
115 From the Muses’ Threnodie; cited in Stevenson, David. The Origins of Freemasonry:
Scotland’s Century, 1590-1710. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 102.
116 Ibid., p. 3.
117 Jolyfief, Augustin Anton Pocquières de. Der Compaß der Weisen, von einem
Mitverwandten der innern Verfassung der ächten und rechten Freymäurerey. Leipzig:
Christian Ulrich Ringmacher, 1779, also published in Berlin by Friedrich Maurer, 1782;
Beyer, Bernhard. Das Lehrsystem des Ordens der Gold- und Rosenkreuzer. Leipzig:
Pansophie-Verlag, 1925, p. 21.
118 Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, pp. 90-91.
119 Silberer, Probleme der Mystik, pp. 110-133.
6. Spiritual alchemy, Rosicrucianism and the work of

Count Michael Maier
Can these ‘secret threads’, i.e. the conception of a spiritual alchemy present
in the work of Silberer and Jung, be traced further back in history than the
late eighteenth century Gold- und Rosenkreutz? Silberer’s entire analysis of
alchemy in the Probleme der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik was derived from a
single primary source, a certain Parabola included in the late eighteenth
century Rosicrucian compilation, the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer aus
dem 16ten und 17ten Jahrhundert. 120 The editor of this compilation states
that it had been collated from a number of “old manuscripts” that had been
“brought to light” for the first time, 121 whilst Silberer guessed that the
Parabola was either a work of “the Θ R. C. ?” (i.e. the work of the editor as
a member of the eighteenth century Gold- und Rosenkreutz) or “an older
Hermetic philosopher, Fr. R. C” (i.e. an early Rosicrucian text dating to the
seventeenth century). 122 Both men were wrong on this count, as the Parabola
is in fact a portion of the Güldener Tractat vom Philosophischen Steine of
Johannes Grasshoff appearing in the Dyas Chymica Tripartita of 1625. 123
Grasshoff was a laboratory practitioner of alchemy who described himself as
a frater aureae crucis, a term that demonstrates the author’s loose affiliation
with the early Rosicrucian phenomenon. 124 Indeed, contrary to the myth
of an early seventeenth century origin for the Gold- und Rosenkreutz
order (to be discussed in our fourth chapter), the late seventeenth century
Italian ‘Gold and Rosy Cross’ and its eighteenth century German namesake
may well derive their appellation from the conflation of distinct early
seventeenth century tracts written under the ‘Rose Cross’ and ‘Gold Cross’
appellations. 125
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120 Grasshoff, Johannes. “Ein güldener Tractat vom Philosophischen Steine.” In Geheime
Figuren der Rosenkreuzer aus dem 16ten und 17ten Jahrhundert. Vol. 2. Altona: n. p.,
c.1785-1790; in attempting to distance himself from Silberer’s work in his memoirs,
Jung remarks: “Silberer hatte hauptsächlich spätes Material benutzt, mit dem ich nicht
viel anfangen konnte. Die späten alchemistischen Texte sind phantastisch und barock;
nur wenn man die Deutung weiß, erkennt man, daß auch in ihnen viel Wertvolles
steckt.”; Jung, Erinnerungen, p. 208.
121 Geheime Figuren, titlepage.
122 Silberer, Probleme der Mystik, p. 134.
123 Grasshoff, Johannes. “Ein güldener Tractat vom Philosophischen Steine.” In Dyas
Chymica Tripartita. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1625, pp. 55-66.
124 On this point see pp. 124-125 below.
125 Thus the 1656 Italian manuscript ‘La Bugia’ of the Marquise Massimiliano Palombara,
in which mention is made of “una compagnia intitolata della Rosea Croce o come altri
dicono dell’Aurea Croce;” Gabrielle, Mino. Giardino di Hermes: Massimiliano Palom-
bara alchimista e rosacroce nella Roma del Seicento; con la prima edizione del codice
Spiritual alchemy and Rosicrucianism 31
The Güldener Tractat demonstrates the influence of Count Michael Maier,

as Grasshoff restates the Renaissance doctrine of the prisca sapientia or
‘pristine wisdom’ with reference to the sages of the twelve nations given in
Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae Duodecim Nationum (1617). 126 The whole
is a treatise on alchemical natural philosophy drawn primarily from medieval
sources, which Grasshoff concludes with the allegorical Parabola in much
the same manner that the Allegoria Bella is presented as the summation of
Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae. As in Maier’s allegory, Grasshoff begins
his Parabola with a melancholic proclamation of the wretchedness of earthly
life before setting off on a quest for the Philosophers’ Stone – in this case
symbolised by the Lion rather than Maier’s phoenix. 127 The alchemical
allegory was much in vogue in the early modern period; authors of that time
drew their inspiration from medieval alchemical allegories such as those of
Duenech, Maria Prophetissa and Merlin, or mimicked the late antique dream-
revelations of the Greco-Egyptian alchemist Zosimos and the Hermetic
Poimandres. 128 Most early modern allegories demonstrate a similar intent to
that of their medieval and ancient counterparts, being mere tropes for natural
philosophical conceptions and laboratory procedure rather than consciously
constructed allusions to self-transformation. 129 Such may also be said for
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
autografo della Bugia. Rome: Editrice Ianua, 1986, p. 90; the manuscript in question is
in the Vatican Library, MS Reginensis Latini 1521. Research is also said to be pending
on certain ‘statutes and articles’ dating to 1678 and relating to an Italian ‘Gold and Rosy
Cross’; kind information of Susanna Åkerman.
126 Grasshoff, “Güldener Tractat,” p. 17; Maier, Michael. Symbola Aureae Mensae
Duodecim Nationum. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1617.
127 Grasshoff, “Güldener Tractat,” p. 55.
128 For the Duenech allegory, see the Theatrum Chemicum. Vol. 3. Ursel: Zetzner, 1602, pp.
756-757; for the allegory of Maria, see “Practica Mariae Prophetissae in Artem
Alchimicam.” In Artis Auriferae. Vol. 1. Basel: Conrad Waldkirch, 1593, pp. 319-324;
also “The Practice of Mary the Prophetess in the Alchemical Art.” British Library MS
Sloane 3641, 17th century, pp. 1-8; for the allegory of Merlin, see “Merlini Allegoria
Profundissimum Philosophici Lapidis Arcanum Perfecte Continens.” In Artis Auriferae.
Vol. 1. Basel: Conrad Waldkirch, 1593, pp. 392-396; also “The Allegory of Merlin.”
British Library MS Sloane 3506, 17th century, pp. 74-75; for an English translation of the
Visions of Zosimos, see Taylor, F. Sherwood. “The Visions of Zosimos,” Ambix, Vol. 1,
No. 1, May 1937, pp. 88-92; for an example of the reception of the Poimandres amongst
early modern alchemists, see Khunrath, Heinrich. Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae.
The Amphitheatre Engravings of Heinrich Khunrath. Trans. Patricia Tahil. Edinburgh:
Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, 1981.
129 See, for example, Hinricus Madathanus (Adrian von Mynsicht). “Aureum Seculum
Redivivum.” In Dyas Chymica Tripartita, das ist: Sechs Herzliche Teutsche Philosoph-
ische Tractätlein. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1625, pp. 74-87; Greverus, Iodocus.
“Secretum Nobilissimum et Verissimum.” In Theatrum Chemicum. Ursel: Zetzner, 1602,
pp. 783-810; also the “Physica Naturali Rotunda” in Aperta Arca Arcani Artificiosissimi.
Frankfurt am Main: Johan Carl Unckel, 1617, pp. 117 ff. These allegories follow the
dream-vision formula of Zosimos and the Poimandres.
Grasshoff’s Parabola, which was no doubt interpreted as a tale of spiritual

initiation amongst the adherents of the later Gold- und Rosenkreutz and their
Freemasonic brethren.
Nevertheless, we would be mistaken if we were to imagine that the origins
of spiritual alchemy can only be traced to the late eighteenth century, or to
the work of nineteenth century occultists as Principe and Newman suggest. If
we were to do so, we would not have reckoned with the work of Maier, a
laboratory worker who played an influential role in the early Rosicrucian
milieu and who has been described as “the boldest and most consistent of the
alchemists of the German Renaissance.” 130 Of particular importance in this
regard is his Allegoria Bella, which after its initial appearance in 1617 was
reprinted in Latin in 1678 and 1749, and in English in Waite’s translation of
1893. 131 Whilst Principe and Newman have – with some justification –
characterised Waite’s translations of alchemical texts as “adulterated by the
addition of occultist elements and slants completely alien to the originals,” it
must be said that Waite’s version of Maier’s allegory compares favourably
with the Latin original, being a slightly abridged but thematically accurate
depiction of a work that reveals the essentials of Maier’s spiritual alchemy.
Needless to say, when dealing with Maier’s works in the following treatise
there will be no recourse to the translations of other writers, adulterated or
otherwise; indeed, analyses of certain of Maier’s works appear here in print
for the first time. The second document of central importance to the issue of
Maier’s spiritual alchemy is his autobiography, which constitutes the first
chapter of the De Medicina Regia (1609) recently uncovered by Figala and
Neumann at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. 132 As Maier’s alchemy is
intimately bound up with his biography, and with the pilgrimage that he
considered his earthly life to be, the autobiographical elements of the
Medicina Regia and other contemporary biographical sources will provide
the organisational structure for the following exploration of Maier’s alchemy.
This juxtaposition of biography and doctrine not only enables us to build an
accurate account of the evolution of Maier’s thought over time, but also
provides a depiction of Maier’s alchemy of which he himself would have
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
130 Figala, Karin. “Die Exakte Alchemie von Isaac Newton.” In Verhandlungen der
Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel. Vol. 94. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1983, p.
190.
131 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, pp. 561-607; reprinted as “Subtilis Allegoria super
Secreta Chymiae.” In Museum Hermeticum Reformatum et Amplificatum. Frankfurt am
Main: Sande, 1678, pp. 701-740; idem., in Museum Hermeticum Reformatum et
Amplificatum. Frankfurt am Main: Sande, 1749, pp. 701-740; “A Subtle Allegory
concerning the Secrets of Alchemy.” In The Hermetic Museum, Restored and Enlarged.
Trans. Arthur Edward Waite. London: J. Elliott and Co., 1893, pp. 199-233.
132 Maier, Michael. De Medicina Regia et vere heroica, Coelidonia. Copenhagen, Royal
Library, 12,-159, 4º. Published in Prague, 1609.
Spiritual alchemy and Rosicrucianism 33
approved – for the testimony of Maier’s own writings show that, in an

important sense, his life was his work.
In summary, the aim of the following work is to reconstruct the worldview
of Maier through a sensitive, non-reductionist approach to the historical data,
and to avoid violating the texts at hand by projecting contemporary categories
into another time and place. On this count, it must be said that the
hermeneutic paradigm utilised by Principe and Newman in their ‘translation’
of alchemical symbolism into contemporary chemical process is alien to the
spirit of the early modern perspective. 133 Although these authors correctly
state that the theosophical alchemy of Jacob Boehme – who was not
personally concerned with laboratory process – is of ‘a different order’ to the
experimental outlook of an author such as Basil Valentine, Principe and
Newman anachronistically sequester religious and magical elements from
their portrait of the worldview of the early modern laboratory worker:
Although the works of many alchemical writers contain (often extensive) expressions of
period piety, imprecations to God, exhortations to morality, and even the occasional
appearance of an angelic or spiritual messenger, we find no indication that the vast majority
of alchemists were working on anything other than material substances towards material
goals... This is not to say that there was nothing whatsoever in the broad spectrum of
historical alchemy which was akin to a ‘spiritual alchemy’... But Boehme’s use of alchemical
language and imagery – as extensive as it is – remains clearly of a different order than, for
example, the practical and theoretical antimonial exercises of Basil Valentine, Alexander von
Suchten, Eirenaeus Philalethes and others, or the rigorous Scholastic alchemy of “Geber,”
Albert the Great, Petrus Bonus, or Gaston Duclo. 134
Whilst Principe and Newman make brief mention of the fact that the thought
of Heinrich Khunrath and ‘the Rosicrucian enthusiast’, Robert Fludd,
persisted amongst ‘secret societies’, the developmental continuity of Western
esotericism is summarily dismissed on the grounds that, in the hands of such
societies, “alchemical works deliberately written to be obscure and secretive
in their own age sometimes became meaningless in the next.” 135 Of course,
the historian of esotericism cannot accept that the use of alchemical
symbolism within Rosicrucian or Freemasonic circles was ‘meaningless’;
rather, it was drawn directly from the work of early modern alchemists such
as Count Michael Maier – who did in fact replicate the ‘antimonial exercises’
of Basil Valentine in his laboratory practice. Spiritual alchemy is a natural
extension of the theory of microcosmic-macrocosmic correspondence, and
the notion of a vital spirit animating humans, animals, vegetables and
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
133 See in particular Newman, “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language?,” pp. 175-185.
134 Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,” pp. 397-
399.
135 Ibid., p. 387.
minerals alike – regardless if such vitalism is the defining feature of alchemy,

as Metzger believed. When considering the worldview of the early modern
laboratory worker – and even such influential figures in the development of
modern chemistry as Newton and Boerhaave, who both retained vitalistic
conceptions alongside their mechanistic innovations – nothing has been said
when we assert that most early modern alchemists worked on “material
substances towards material goals.” Such an assertion merely begs the
question as to the nature of matter itself in the early modern worldview, and
displays precisely the presentism and positivism Principe and Newman claim
to disown, by which contemporary notions of matter are unconsciously
elevated to the realm of the definitive. It is surely more pertinent to inquire
into the nature of materiality and the scope of chemical law in the eyes of the
early modern alchemist, rather than counterposing a narrowly ‘chemical’
hermeneutic with a psychological model such as that proposed by Jung.
In our conclusion we shall return to the questions of methodology,
historiography and nomenclature we have dealt with here. For now, let us
immerse ourselves in the world and natural magic of Count Michael Maier,
an influential writer on the nature of alchemical Decknamen and a purveyor
of spiritual alchemy, Rosicrucianism and pseudo-Egyptianism to later
esoteric thinkers. In so doing we will uncover the four key elements of his
alchemy: a doctrine of solar and astral influence; a ‘chemical’ interpretation
of Greek and Egyptian mythology; a ‘medicine of piety’; and a Hermetic
theory of correspondence, in which the alchemist’s spiritual life mirrors
laboratory process.
II. Maier’s formative years
1. The context of Maier’s life and thought
Count Michael Maier, one-time physician to Emperor Rudolf II, was born in
the summer of 1569 in the vicinity of Kiel in staunchly Lutheran Holstein,
which at that time was an ethnically German province of Denmark on the
northern border of the Holy Roman Empire or Deutsches Reich. 1 The greater
part of his life spans an uneasy lull in the extensive religious and political
hostilities engendered in the heart of Europe by the Reformation; it is against
this broad historical background that his life and thought should be
understood. The freedoms granted by the Peace of Augsburg (1555) had not
been extended to the followers of Calvin and Zwingli, and the formation of
the Union for the Defence of Protestant Religion in 1608 by the German
Calvinist princes and their allies amongst the Lutheran states set the stage for
the fratricidal maelstrom of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The interests
of Rudolf II lay more in uncovering arcana than attending to affairs of state,
and under his relatively tolerant reign humanist scholars such as Maier, be
they Protestant or Catholic, still formed “a single body of cosmopolitan
scholars” at the imperial court in Prague. 2 Nevertheless, amidst the climate of
growing religious antagonism following the fall of Rudolf in 1612 Maier
gravitated towards the patronage of the Calvinist princes of Germany. On the
eve of war he gained a position at the court of Moritz ‘the Learned’ of
Hessen-Kassel, a close ally of the Calvinist Elector of the Rhineland
Palatinate, Friedrich V, and a supporter of his plans to wrest the imperial
throne from the Spanish-Austrian house of Habsburg.
Moritz was the leading patron of the occult arts in the German states, and
a formidable humanist scholar; his promotion of experimental sciences such
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
1 Prior to Figala and Neumann’s discovery of the De Medicina Regia, to which we will
soon refer, Maier’s date of birth was given as 1568, on the authority of Matthew
Merian’s copperplate illustration printed in Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae (1617) and
Atalanta Fugiens (1617). See Figala, Karin and Neumann, Ulrich. “‘Author cui Nomen
Hermes Malavici’: New Light on the Bio-Bibliography of Michael Maier (1569-1622).”
In Rattansi, Piyo and Antonio Clericuzio (eds.). Alchemy and Chemistry in the 16th and
17th Centuries. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994, pp. 124, 141 n.20.
2 Evans, R. J. W. Rudolf II and his World: A Study in Intellectual History, 1576-1612.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973, p. 3.
36 Maier’s formative years
as alchemy was not only an important means of displaying the prestige and
power of his court, but also reflected the hope of making technological
advances that might grant him the upper hand in his struggle against
the Habsburgs and the Catholic states of the fragmented empire. 3 Alchemy in
particular promised the development of new techniques for the manipulation
of metals (the debasement of coinage through alloying practices caused
severe inflation in Hessen-Kassel prior to the war), and the procurement
of new medicines by courtiers such as Maier might bolster the health of
the aristocracy, if not the state as a whole. Furthermore, within the
Calvinist aegis in Germany the Hermetic arts formed something of an
intellectual counterculture to the Scholasticism propagated by the Jesuits – a
counterculture focussed on an ostensible secret society, the Brotherhood of
the Rosy Cross, and the literature of its supporters, amongst whom Maier
figured prominently. Whilst orthodox Lutheran and Calvinist theologians
railed against the occult sciences, which had as their goal the harnessing of
secret and divine powers in Nature, early Rosicrucianism offered a potent
mixture of heterodox Protestantism, Paracelsianism, and the millennialist
dream of a new age in which the sciences would be perfected and ‘papism’
would be banished from the empire.
The rise of Rosicrucianism in Protestant Germany reflected a nascent
German nationalism and indigenous ‘German’ preoccupations in culture; thus
we find the oft-repeated parallel drawn in the Rosicrucian literature between
Luther, the reformer of theology, and Paracelsus, the liberator of medicine
from its corrupted Scholastic or ‘papal’ state. From the twin sources of
Protestantism and Paracelsianism there emerged in sixteenth century
Germany a striving for a new synthesis in science and religion, a wisdom
derived from both divine revelation and the Light of Nature. 4 This synthesis
was expressed on the one hand by early theosophers such as Valentin Weigel
(1533-1588) and Jacob Boehme (1575-1624), and on the other by laboratory-
bound alchemists such as Heinrich Khunrath (c.1560-1605) and Oswald Croll
(c.1560-1608, a man who considered Weigel to be “the true successor of
Paracelsus”); as the first Rosicrucian manifesto, the Fama Fraternitatis
(c.1610), stated, “it should not be said that something is true according to
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
3 Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 171, 174-175.
4 The ‘Light of Nature’ is a term utilised by Paracelsus to refer to a principle that both
constitutes and penetrates Nature, or a principle standing ‘behind Nature’ whereby the
constitution of humans and things in the world is made meaningful; alongside this
principle Croll placed the ‘Light of Grace’, or the principle of divine illumination: Pagel,
Walter. Paracelsus: An Introduction to Philosophical Medicine in the Era of the
Renaissance. Basel: Karger, 1982, pp. 356-357; Gilly, Carlos. Cimelia Rhodostaurotica:
Die Rosenkreuzer im Spiegel der zwischen 1610 und 1660 entstandenen Handschriften
und Drucke. Ausstellung der Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica Amsterdam und der
Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel. Amsterdam: In de Pelikaan, 1995, p. 17.
The context of Maier’s life and thought 37
philosophy, but false according to theology.” 5 Alchemists and theosophers

alike sought to demonstrate the complementarity of the Bible and the ‘Book
of Nature’, and differed only in their emphasis on the one or the other.
Whilst Maier once spoke nationalistically of Germany as a ‘new Egypt’,
in deference to the land he believed to be the ultimate source of the
pristine knowledge inherited by the Germanic peoples, 6 it is to the Italian
Renaissance that we must look for the doctrinal roots of the amalgamation of
Neoplatonic, Hermetic and gnostic ideas in the German late Renaissance –
and in particular to the work of Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499). 7 A central
figure in the Florentine revival of Platonism and Hermeticism, Ficino
translated the recently discovered Corpus Hermeticum into Latin, and revived
the Greek conception of ‘Egyptian Hermes’ as the great sage of the Egyptians
and contemporary of Moses. 8 Revered by alchemists as the founder of their
Art, Hermes Trismegistus or ‘thrice-great Hermes’ was the Greco-Egyptian
incarnation of Thoth, the Egyptian god of science and the inventor of the
hieroglyphs. 9 Following certain of the Church Fathers, Italian humanists such
as Ficino saw the foreshadowing of Christianity in the texts attributed to
Hermes, and identified therein the presence of a philosophia perennis (the
‘perennial philosophy’) or prisca sapientia granted directly by God to the
ancients. 10 Through Ficino’s misdating of the Hermetic treatises and their
Neoplatonic contents, Hermes Trismegistus also came to be seen as the
primeval source of Platonism. 11
Maier was the chief exponent of the prisca sapientia doctrine amongst
the early modern German alchemists; his work also draws from Italian
Renaissance conceptions of magia naturalis or natural magic, which Ficino
defined as the “implanting of heavenly things in earthly objects” by the
philosopher, “who we are wont rightly to call a magician.” 12 On this subject
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
5 Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 17; Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, pp. 24-25,
65-66.
6 Maier, Michael. Verum Inventum, hoc est, Munera Germaniae... Frankfurt am Main:
Lucas Jennis, 1619, p. 214: “Si quid igitur utilitatis ex Chymiatria et Paracelsicis
remediis ad Rempubl. perveniat, id veluti VERUM INVENTUM Germaniae acceptum
referatur, quae, ut olim Aegyptus, artium est inventrix et ingeniorum mater.”
7 Pagel, Paracelsus, pp. 35 ff.
8 Iversen, Erik. The Myth of Egypt and its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1993, p. 42.
9 Ibid.; a reference to Hermes on the Rosetta Stone (195 BCE), the inscription that allowed
the eventual discovery in the early nineteenth century of the true import of hieroglyphs,
applies to him the epithet ‘Great, Great, Great’.
10 Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, p. 58.
11 Schmitt, Charles B. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 275.
12 Ibid., p. 274.
Maier drew directly from his older contemporary, Giambattista della Porta
(1535-1615), who developed the threefold division of magic as either
diabolic, natural or divine. To a good Lutheran such as Maier, natural magic
was simply the application of a deep knowledge of the occult sympathies
present in Nature; thus he once described the legendary Liber M. of the
Rosicrucian Fraternity as “the book of the world (liber mundi), or the book of
natural magic.” 13 The theory of sympathies and correspondences existing
between the sub-lunary earth and the celestial spheres was central to Maier’s
quest for the Universal Medicine, and like his Italian Renaissance
predecessors, astrology and the manipulation of astral influences played an
integral role in his work.
The antique doctrine of macrocosmic-microcosmic correspondence, drawn
from medieval alchemical works such as the Tabula Smaragdina of Hermes
Trismegistus and mediated by Renaissance Neoplatonism, forms the founda-
tion of Maier’s spiritual alchemy, in which the life of the soul is understood
to correspond to the processes in the alchemical vessel by virtue of universal
‘chemical’ laws or patterns. These laws are the ‘signatures’ in Nature
pointing towards her divine origins, or as Maier puts it, the insignia
impressa. 14 The integral relation Maier perceived between his own life and
the magnum opus he strove to complete may be discerned from the tale of a
certain augury of fortune appearing at the time of his birth, which we shall
now proceed to relate.
2. Auguries of fortune: Maier’s childhood and parentage
Michael Maier’s father was a Goldsticker (gold embroiderer) by the name of

Peter who served the Danish royalty and nobility, including King Friedrich II
of Denmark (1559-1588) and the governor of all Schleswig-Holstein,
Heinrich Rantzau (1526-1598; see figure 3). 15 A powerful noble and patron
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
13 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 294: “Per librum M librum mundi seu rerum in
mundo existentium, earumque proprietatum, aut Magiae naturalis, intelligo.”
14 Maier, Michael. Silentium post Clamores. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1617, p. 18.
15 The King of Denmark is mentioned as a patron of Peter Meier (an alternative form of the
family name utilised by Maier prior to 1611) in the dedication of Maier’s Cantilenae
Intellectuales (1622), which is directed to the grandson of King Friedrich II, Duke
Friedrich III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf: “Meos autem, qui qualesque fuerint, non
solum tota Nobilitas Holsata, sed et parens tuus, avusque Divae memoriae, quibus illi,
quoad vixerunt, servitio fidelissimo astricti fuerunt, optime noverunt.” That this is a
reference to the maternal rather than paternal grandfather of Friedrich is suggested by
Maier’s visit to the ‘royal court’ at the age of 17 (see n. 75 below); on Duke Friedrich III
see the Neue Deutsche Biographie. Vol. 5. Berlin: Duncker und Humblot, 1961, pp. 583-
584. According to Figala and Neumann, “it is very likely that Peter Meier may be
Auguries of fortune 39
of the arts, it seems Rantzau entrusted Peter Maier with the brocade-work on
the dresses of his daughters, upon whom he lavished precious gifts of gold
and silver. 16 Peter Maier’s professional concern with gold – the most noble of
metals, and a symbol of divine and kingly power – was a portent of things to
come for his son. However, he was not content that Michael should learn
his own handicraft, which although it had proved lucrative for his family,
was nevertheless a manual labour and lacked the prestige of an educated
scientific or scholarly profession (which could provide opportunities for
social advancement into the nobility). 17 In order to prepare his son for a
higher calling, Peter had him educated in the literary arts from the tender age
of five. 18 The trajectory Maier’s life took at this early stage was to reach its
zenith in his appointment as personal physician to the Holy Roman Emperor,
and his entrance into the ranks of the hereditary peerage as a Count Palatine
or Pfalzgraf. However, his was by no means an easy passage to success – and
as we shall see in the following pages, it was a success that was to be
somewhat transient.
In the course of his work Maier makes a number of autobiographical
references that display a degree of reflection on his familial background and
career, and offer a glimpse into the foundations of his identity. The most
important of these references occur in the De Medicina Regia (‘On the Royal
Medicine,’ 1609). 19 The first chapter of this document appears to constitute,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
identified with one Peter Perlsticker, whose widow Anna in 1587 owned a house in the
Kehdenstraße in Kiel;” Figala and Neumann, “Author cui Nomen Hermes Malavici,” p.
124.
16 Steinmetz, Wiebke. Heinrich Rantzau (1526-1598): Ein Vertreter des Humanismus in
Nordeuropa und seine Wirkungen als Förderer der Künste. Frankfurt am Main: Peter
Lang, 1991, pp. 274-275.
17 Beck, Wolfgang. Michael Maiers Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum – Eine Schrift
wider die falschen Alchemisten. Doctoral thesis, Zentralinstitut für Geschichte der
Technik der Technischen Universität München, 1992, p. 3.
18 Hubicki’s assertion that Maier’s studies were financed by Severin Goebel (1530-1612), a
well-known physician of Gdansk and Königsberg, are at odds with Maier’s own
testimony in the De Medicina Regia, and seem to derive from a confusion between two
different Michael Maiers; see Hubicki, “Maier, Michael,” p. 23; Figala and Neumann,
“Author cui Nomen Hermes Malavici,” p. 125. Indeed, the number of errors in Hubicki’s
account of Maier’s life – even if they are derived from the only sources available to him
at the time – must cast a shadow over all his assertions. We need only mention Hubicki’s
employment of the perennial myth of Maier’s association with Robert Fludd, which was
refuted as early as 1924 by Arthur Waite (see above, chapter I, n. 109), or his
unsubstantiated suggestion that Maier ‘had a hand’ in the publication of the Fama
Fraternitatis (which, contrary to Hubicki, was first published in 1614). Consequently I
have proceeded with caution with Hubicki’s testimony in the current work, and have
used the well-documented and up-to-date findings of Figala and Neumann as my major
secondary source.
19 See above, chapter I, n. 132.
in effect, a petition for the Emperor’s service in the form of a curriculum

vitae – for Maier was well-versed in the art of tailoring his publications to
suit the predilections of potential patrons, and it seems unlikely that its
appearance in Prague in a limited print-run was coincidental to his entrance
into the Emperor’s service some short months later. In the De Medicina
Regia Maier makes mention of a certain augury presaging his birth – an
augury that draws an intriguing parallel between his life and the alchemical
process. After demonstrating his acquaintance with the production of the
Mercury of the Philosophers – an indication he had reached the ‘white’ phase
of the work 20 – Maier goes on to describe the strange experience of his
mother when she was heavy with child:
Indeed, from the reports of my mother I suspect some sign of augury once came to pass, if
faith can be held in this kind of prophesying; because I was told that three days before I was
born, my mother was sojourning for the sake of her peace of mind with another relative of
mine in the countryside during the summer. As the relative went away for some time, my
mother sat down in the grass, whereupon a dove flew into her lap, I know not why or by
which instinct; and she, marvelling at its beauty and tameness, tried to catch it, at which
point it withdrew and flew away. Although this event may have come to pass by chance, to
many it appeared to be a good omen. As for me, I feel indifferently about it – unless I will be
provided a better destiny by God, to whom alone is due honour to all eternity. 21
The dove is a standard alchemical motif, relating the Christian symbolism

of a divine power linking heaven and earth to the spiritus ascending and
descending within the vessel during the cyclical, purifying process of
distillation – hence Maier precedes the tale of his augury with a description of
the preparation of the Philosophical Mercury, which entails repeatedly
“taking a bird from its nest and placing it back again.” 22 The medieval
alchemists had drawn this motif from the traditional representation of the
Holy Spirit as a dove, most commonly depicted in medieval iconology at the
baptism of Christ or the impregnation of Mary by the divine seminal
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
20 See below, p. 66.
21 Ibid., p. Ci, verso: “Tum demum augurii de me olim concepti ex relatione materna,
signum aliquod suspexi, si quid eiusmodi conjecturis, fidei adhibendum sit: Nam triduo
antequam in lucem editus dicar, mater in aestate una cum parente meo animi gratia rus
expaciatur, cumque ille longius secederet, haec in gramine consedit: En nescio unde aut
quo instinctu, turtur matri sedenti in gremium advolat, cuius pulchritudinem ac cicuri-
tatem dum admiraretur, eamque compraehendere tentaret, iterum se fuga subtraxit: Quae
res etsi fortituito evenisse potuit, apud multos tamen locum praesagii non infelicis
suppleret: Apud me indifferens fuerit, donec Deus de meliori forte prospiciat, cui soli
erit laus in aeternum.”
22 Ibid.: “Aves quoque EX NIDO sumpsi atque iterum in nidum posui, ut philosophi
dicunt; hoc est, Sulfur philosophorum longe aliud, quam prius existimaram, ut vidi,
agnovi, ut et Mercurium seu aquam mineralem, et ex his duobus, Mercurium Philo-
sophorum.”
principle. Here is an indication that Maier, although rarely commenting

explicitly on this matter, believed himself to possess a special relationship
with the subject of his alchemical work; furthermore, his employment of
alchemical symbolism indicates a mode of thought at variance with the
purely didactic use of Christian imagery in medieval alchemy described by
Obrist. For in juxtaposing his strange tale of augury with an account of the
operation of the transmuting or seminal principle, he likens the alchemical
vessel to his own mother’s womb, and hints at a correspondence between the
alchemical process, his own life, and the myth of Christ.
On the point of his ‘indifference’ concerning the augury, we might expect
Maier to dissemble in this manner after making such a seemingly extravagant
claim, which may well have been employed as a strategy for finding favour
in the eyes of the esoterically inclined Emperor. Nevertheless, there is every
reason to believe that Maier was quite sincere in his personal convictions
concerning his ‘destiny’, which, as he suggests in disclaiming the augury,
was in need of some improvement at the leisure of God (by which we may
also understand the leisure of the Emperor and his divine right). Maier’s was
without doubt a melancholic temperament, even if he was well aware whilst
composing his De Medicina Regia that the greatest living exemplar of
melancholy was the Emperor himself. The central expression of this
temperament in Maier’s works is his identification of worldly suffering with
the nigredo or putrefactive phase of the alchemical process, upheld as
indispensable to the Work by the medieval alchemists. In the Allegoria Bella
(‘Pleasant Allegory’) appending his Symbola Aureae Mensae, Maier writes:
There is in our chemistry a splendid substance, which is passed from master to master, in the
beginning of which there is misery with vinegar, but in the end of which there is truly joy
with gladness. And so I imagined it would eventuate with me, that in the beginning I might
taste much bitterness and endure much frustration, sadness and weariness, but at length I
might find ease and happiness. 23
What exactly was this ‘splendid substance’ of which Maier speaks? One day
Maier would confide to his patron, Moritz of Hessen-Kassel, that the materia
of the Art from which gold is born is ‘Tusalmat’; a Deckname or code-name
which, when deciphered with the cryptographic key divulged by Borelli in
1656, yields the term ‘Saturnus’. 24 Saturn is the point of departure for both
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
23 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 568: “Esse in Chemia nobile aliquod corpus, quod de
domino ad dominum movetur, in cuius initio sit miseria cum aceto, in fine vero gaudium
cum laeticia, ita et mihi eventurum praesupposui, ut primo multa aspera, amara, tristia,
taediosa gustarem, perferrem et experirer, tandem omnia laetiora et faciliora visurus
essem.”
24 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2º MS Chem. 19, 1, p. 284 recto; Borelli, Petro.
Bibliotheca Chimica. Heidelberg: Samuel Broun, 1656, p. 254.
the laboratory and spiritual aspects of Maier’s alchemy, and as we shall see, it
is Saturn which binds these two aspects together as an indivisible whole. The
Arabic alchemists and their successors, following Harranian tradition,
believed that the planet or ‘star’ Saturn governs the metal lead. 25 Thus in his
Atalanta Fugiens (1617) Maier quotes the Arabic author ‘Rhazes’ (Abu Bakr
Muhammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī, c.865-c.925) when he states that “the gates
of knowledge are opened by Saturn,” and that “lead is the father of all
gentiles or those who love gold, and is the first gate of the arcana.” 26 But in
the humanist worldview of the early modern period Saturn was bound up
with a wealth of associations and correspondences beyond the narrowly
chemical. These associations, accrued over two millennia, cast some light on
the significance for Maier of this ‘gate of knowledge’. Since antiquity Saturn
was considered to be the planet of old age, which on account of its slow
revolution and its position as the furthest planet beneath the fixed stars had
been associated by the Greeks with the deity Chronos – that is to say, Time. 27
From these earliest origins Chronos-Saturn had taken on a contradictory
aspect, being both the father of gods and men and the devourer of his
children, on the one hand ‘a ruler of the nether gods’ exiled beneath the earth,
and on the other the ruler of the Golden Age and a god of fertility. 28 His
representation with a scythe led to the medieval association of Saturn with
Death as the Reaper. 29 But the correspondence that is most significant for
an understanding of the overarching spirit governing Maier’s alchemy is the
ninth century Arabic association of the planet, on account of its dark colour,
with the melancholy temperament. 30 On this account Ficino once wrote that
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
25 According to that tradition, stemming from at least the sixth century BCE, Saturn
governs lead; Jupiter, tin; Mars, iron; Venus, copper; Mercury, mercury; the Moon,
silver; and the Sun, gold; Haage, Alchemie im Mittelalter, pp. 27, 203 n. 67.
26 bul all of them seek to compleat the Art with you Gold and your Brother Mercury: Wherein
however they err, and work falsely, it being apparent, that all of them bring nothing to
effect, but employ their Gold in vain, destroy [or ruin] themselves by it, and are reduced to
Poverty; The conception that lead is the ‘father of all metals’ can be traced to Greek
authors in the first century CE; see Lippman, E. O. von. Entstehung und Ausbreitung der
Alchemie. Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1978, p. 59.
27 Klibansky, Raymond et. al. Saturn and Melancholy: Studies in the History of Natural
Philosophy, Religion and Art. Nelson: London, 1964, pp. 136-137.
28 According to Klibansky, the Roman association of Saturn – their god of agriculture –
with Chronos confirmed a contradiction already inherent in the Greek deity; ibid., pp.
134-135.
29 Ibid., pp. 185-186.
30 Ibid., p. 127. In Klibansky’s words, “the polarity of the notion of Kronos led to two
opposing basic attitudes... The Saturn to whom the lethargic and vulgar belonged was at
the same time venerated as the planet of high contemplation, the star of anchorets and
philosophers. Nevertheless, the nature and destiny of the man born under Saturn, even
when, within the limits of his condition, his lot was the most fortunate, still retained a
Saturn “seldom denotes ordinary characters and destinies, but rather people
set apart from the rest, divine or bestial, blissful, or bowed down by the
deepest sorrow.” 31
The melancholic attitude was pervasive – one might even say fashionable
– in the early modern period. In ideological terms, this popularity was
derived from the humanist appropriation of the classics; for the pseudo-
Aristotelian Problema XXX.1 (a tract probably written by Theophrast, a
pupil of Aristotle) had associated the melancholic disposition with spiritual
exaltation and divine genius, and not only tragic heroes but poets,
philosophers and statesmen were believed to derive their greatness from
melancholy. 32 With the conjunction of humanist learning and alchemical
lore in the Renaissance, alchemists too were considered to hold a special
relationship to melancholy: as the sixteenth century Italian alchemist Flavio
Girolamo once asked, “why is it said that the age of Saturn was the age of
gold, unless it is because gold is not procured except by melancholy and
Saturnine contemplatives?” 33 The centrality of Saturn’s place in Maier’s
alchemy was adopted by Newton, who similarly considered lead to be ‘the
mother of all metals’; but in his thought the term is largely divested of its
psychological sense, which is to the fore in Maier’s work. Maier depicts
Saturn in the emblem from the Symbola Aureae Mensae that accompanied his
Allegoria Bella in its later re-prints; there the alchemist demonstrates the
metamorphosis of Saturn (lead), who tends to trees with flowers of gold and
silver (figure 2).
If a certain aspect of Maier’s life was in some way equivalent to
alchemical putrefaction or the unpurified leaden state of the alchemical
subject – as our quotation from the Allegoria Bella explicitly states – what
exactly were the sources of the ‘bitterness, frustration, sadness and
weariness’ that he alludes to in his writings? In the course of this work those
sources will become evident as we consider the progress of Maier’s career,
and we will discover that his life was governed by a spirit of paradox in
keeping with that central motif of the alchemical opus, the coniunctio
oppositorum. For it was precisely his life-long toil to procure the Universal
Medicine that formed the nigredo phase of Maier’s spiritual alchemy.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
basis of the sinister; and it is on the idea of a contrast, born of darkness, between the
greatest possibilities of good and evil, that the most profound analogy between Saturn
and melancholy was founded... Like melancholy, Saturn menaced those in his power,
illustrious though they might be, with depression, or even madness.” Ibid., pp. 158-159.
31 Ibid., p. 159.
32 Ibid., pp. 15 ff.
33 Quoted in Brann, Noel. “Alchemy and Melancholy in Medieval and Renaissance
Thought: A Query into the Mystical Basis of their Relationship,” Ambix, Vol. 32, No. 3,
1985, p. 128.
In the pages of the De Medicina Regia Maier relates to the reader a

number of hardships he has endured, all of which stem from his struggles to
establish a career. 34 “The ascent is not easy, for those who seek the steep
ways” – according to the verses that Maier quotes when introducing his
educational qualifications in the De Medicina Regia, one must spend
sleepless nights in toil (the Latin translates literally as “working oneself to
death”) in order to find eventual success. 35 It was this insomniac lifestyle that
would later lead Maier to adopt the owl as the symbol of the alchemist and
the true Rosicrucian, a fact which we shall explore further in our fourth
chapter. Nevertheless, Maier tells us that he was filled with such ardour for
learning as a child, that when his father sometimes threatened to dispatch him
to ‘another kind of profession’ – i.e. the career of an artisan – he would burst
into tears. 36 It was just this threat of sliding back towards the ranks of the
uneducated masses – a threat that was ever-present in Maier’s tenuous
academic and professional existence – that played such a great role in
generating the elitist occult mentality of Maier.
The young Maier’s love of learning was such that he studied not only the
usual Trivium at the district school (grammar, rhetoric and logic) but also
music and the art of poetry. 37 He would later integrate these pursuits closely
with his alchemical work; from the fugues of the Atalanta Fugiens to the
triad verses of the Cantilenae Intellectuales, music and poetry would become
a vehicle for Maier to express the universal harmony or ‘chemical’ order of
the cosmos he perceived. Following the death of his father when Maier was
only thirteen years of age, his mother took over the expenses of his education,
and he spent two years at a ‘more famous school’, where he further cultivated
his skills in Latin poetry. 38 Concerning the four years he spent from February
of 1587 at the University of Rostock, where he studied physics, mathematics,
logic and astronomy under Heinrich Bruchaeus, 39 Maier tells us that he
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
34 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Ai recto.
35 Ibid., p. Ai verso: “Non levis ascensus, si quis petat ardua, sudor/ Plurimus hunc tollit,
nocturnae insomnis olivae/ Immoritur, delet, quod mox lauda verat in se.”
36 Ibid., p. Ai recto: “Postquam a quinto pueritiae anno cura paterna literis semel addicatus
fuissem, tantum voluptatis etiam in primis earum radicibus, quae alias juventuti amarae
sunt, hausi, ut si quando pater minitaretur, sese ad aliud officii genus me consecraturum,
in lachrymas statim irrumperem.”
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.: “Anno aetatis 16 ad aliam Scholam celebriorem perrexi, in qua sumptibus maternis
(nam pater ante biennium obierat) duos annos moratus, praeter alia, poesin uberius
excolere caepi.”
39 Bruchaeus (1530-1593) was a professor of medicine and mathematics at the University
of Rostock from 1567; he was ‘the most significant personality’ in the medical faculty
there, and was wont to combine medical, astronomical, philosophical and physical
theories in his works. That he was in all likelihood Maier’s teacher is borne out by the
The influence of Governor Heinrich Rantzau 45
prefers not to relate the injuries inflicted upon him there by his harsh fortune.
We are only told that he pushed himself through his course by means of his
mental strength for as long as he was able. 40 These difficulties seem to have
had some bearing on the fact that he returned home without a degree in 1591,
a failure that Neumann and Figala suggest was occasioned by financial
difficulties; for in a letter to Heinrich Rantzau dated the 18th of June, 1590,
we find Maier recommending himself as a client for the patronage of his
father’s benefactor.
3. The influence of Governor Heinrich Rantzau
It is not clear whether Maier’s bid for patronage was successful. His letter
to Rantzau was written from his study-room at Rostock University, “in
ward G of the College of Philosophy,” more than six months prior to
his undistinguished departure – a fact that indicates financial aid was
forthcoming from some source. 41 We may also note that he had sufficient
financial means to enter the University of Frankfurt an der Oder in 1592.
Whatever the case may have been, it was the humanist climate fostered by
Heinrich Rantzau that was decisive for the intellectual development of Maier,
as Beck has asserted. 42 Indeed, regardless of the love Maier may have felt for
his father, there is no doubt that Rantzau was his principle role model from an
early age, being at once the power behind his father’s wealth and an exemplar
of the Lutheran humanist nobility to which Maier aspired. Rantzau had
studied at the University of Wittenberg, boarding there at Luther’s very
house; he was both a patron of the arts and the author of numerous treatises
on such diverse subjects as astrology, astronomy, medicine and economics, as
well as the history and art of war. 43 Amongst those scholars whose careers he
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
fact that his Institutiones spherae (1584) is cited by Maier in the course of his Septimana
Philosophica; Bruchaeus also taught at Rostock until the time of his death in 1593. See
Krabbe, Otto. Die Universität Rostock im Fünfzehnten und Sechzehnten Jahrhundert.
Vol. 1. Rostock: Adlers Erben, 1854, pp. 708-711; Biographisches Lexikon der
Hervorragenden Ärzte aller Zeiten und Völker. Vol. 1. Berlin: Urban & Schwarzenberg,
1962, p. 727; Biographie Universelle, Vol. 6. Paris: L. G. Michaud, 1820, p. 70; Maier,
Michael. Septimana Philosophica. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1620, p. 8.
40 Ibid., pp. Ai recto-Ai verso: “Deinde ad Academiam me conferens, bonas artes, quoad
potui legendo, scribendo, exercendo, disputando, tracta vi per quadriennium: Quas
interim fortunae novercantis injurias passus sim, satius erit, hoc loco silere, quam
referre: Nam tum carminis illius, quod nunquam non in ore habui, veritatem experiebar.”
41 Ibid., p. 328.
42 Beck, Michael Maiers Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, p. 3.
43 Hansen, Reimer. “Der Friedensplan Heinrich Rantzaus und die Irenik in der Zweiten
Reformation.” In Schilling, Heinz (ed.). Die reformierte Konfessionalisierung in
sustained was the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), a

founder of the geo-heliocentric cosmology utilised by Maier. 44 The Rantzau
family was closely associated with the Danish royal family; Heinrich’s father
Johann was a general of King Christian III (r.1536-1559), who gained the
Danish throne with the benefit of Johann’s military successes and established
Lutheranism as the official state religion in 1536. 45 In subsequent decades the
might of the Danish court and the relative stability of the lands under its
power led to a steady growth in literary and scientific activity, a development
in which Heinrich took up a central role. 46
Maier’s letter to Heinrich Rantzau, written in verse form and replete with
classical allusions employed to extol the glory of his father’s patron, reflects
not only this impressive efflorescence of late Renaissance humanism in
Danish Holstein, but constitutes the earliest example of Maier’s deft hand
with the courting of patrons. Drawing from Cicero and Ovid, Maier deals at
length with the themes of fame and mortality:
...why should we undertake such labour in the course of life, which is so brief and
insignificant? Certainly our mind, if it anticipates nothing of the future and keeps all thoughts
within the boundaries with which the length of life is circumscribed, neither weakens itself
with great distress nor lets itself be tormented by so much sleeplessness and trouble, nor
struggles against life itself. But there lives within the best people a certain virtue, which
drives on the mind day and night with the spur of fame, and warns that the memory of our
name should not pass away with the end of life, but should be kept alive for all posterity. 47
Although derived from a classical source and addressed to Rantzau, these

words reflect something of Maier’s own mindset, particularly in their pre-
occupation with the subjects of hardship, restlessness and death; for the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Deutschland – Das Problem der “Zweiten Reformation”. Gütersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1986,
pp. 360-361.
44 The first edition of Brahe’s Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica (1598) was issued from
Rantzau’s castle in Wandsbek; see Hannaway, Owen. “Laboratory Design and the Aim
of Science: Andreas Libavius versus Tycho Brahe,” Isis, Vol. 77, 1986, p. 589.
45 Steinmetz, Heinrich Rantzau, pp. 24-25.
46 Ibid., p. 17; Hansen, “Der Friedensplan Heinrich Rantzaus,” p. 362.
47 Figala, Karin and Ulrich Neumann. “Ein Früher Brief Michael Maiers (1569-1622) an
Heinrich Rantzau (1526-1598): Einführung, Lateinischer Originaltext und Deutsche
Übersetzung,” Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences, Vol. 35, No. 114, 1985,
p. 320: “...quid est quod in hoc tam exiguo vitae curriculo et tam brevi, tantis nos in
laboribus exerceamus? Certe si nihil animus praesentiret in posterum, et si, quibus
regionibus vitae spacium circumscriptum est, eisdem omnes cogitationes terminaret
suas, nec tantis se laboribus frangeret neque tot curis vigiliisque angeretur, nec toties de
vita ipsa dimicaret. Nunc insidet quaedam in optimo quoque virtus, quae noctes et dies
animum gloriae stimulis concitat atque admonet, non cum vitae tempore esse dimit-
tendam commemorationem nominis nostri, sed cum omni posteritate adaequandam.”
Drawn from Cicero, Pro Archia: see Figala and Neumann, idem.
The influence of Governor Heinrich Rantzau 47
vestiges of Maier’s life and work repeatedly affirm that he too believed a
nobler spirit must struggle with earthly existence. Maier again draws on
Cicero when he states that fame is the highest reward for virtue, providing us
with consolation in the face of death. 48 Those men who reach the heights of
fame are, as it were, ascending into heaven; and it is Heinrich Rantzau,
whose repute is like “a victory wreath stretching from the mountains of Crete
to the Libyan Sea,” who has ascended such heights that barely any man could
climb higher. 49 Having flattered his would-be benefactor thus, Maier reminds
Rantzau of the high regard he once held for his parents, and of the day he led
the solemn funeral procession that carried his father Peter on his last journey
through the city. 50 After such eloquent and undoubtedly heart-felt words,
Rantzau would have found the brief plea for patronage which ends Maier’s
letter difficult to refuse, particularly given his own love for Latin verse
composition.
In the course of his letter Maier also discloses the early sources of his
fascination with Egypt, which would later be expressed in the strange
Egyptology of his Arcana Arcanissima, and in his definitive binding of
pseudo-Egyptian lore to early Rosicrucianism. In another adulatory passage,
Maier states that Rantzau’s love for his Fatherland is such that he has erected
‘heaven-high’ pyramids and obelisks to the greater glory of the state of
Holstein. 51 This is a reference to Rantzau’s penchant for the construction of
‘Egyptian’ monuments; for Rantzau partook in the Renaissance fascination
with the religion of Egypt and its cult of the sun, however imperfectly they
were known prior to the deciphering of hieroglyphics in the early nineteenth
century. In 1578 he completed the construction of a pyramid on a hill in
Nordroe, and in 1588 another was built in Segeberg, the administrative and
geographical centre of Holstein where Peter Maier had been employed. These
buildings not only symbolised the power and eternal fame of the Danish
monarchy, but also gave expression to Rantzau’s astrological pre-occupation
with the nature of the sun’s course. 52 Despite the ‘Egyptomania’ that swept
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
48 Ibid.
49 Ibid., p. 322; the city of Gortis on Crete was the capital of the Roman province of Libya.
50 Ibid., p. 326: “Imprimis enim patrem meum, Petrum Meierum, phrygionem, civem
chiloniensem filiarum tuarum vestibus acu pingendis Segebergae praefecisti, ubi etiam
eo in opere vita defunctum, ipse funus ex oppido, solenni ritu una deduxisti et
honorificentissime per subditos tuos Chilonium transvehi curasti.”
51 Ibid., p. 322: “Incredibilem tuum erga patriam amorem declarant tot monumenta ad eius
ornatum erecta, tot tantaeque pyramides caelo eductae, tot obelisci, tot tamque variae
structurae, tot aedificia in Holsatiae urbibus splendidissime extructa.”
52 Steinmetz, Heinrich Rantzau, pp. 251 ff.; on one side of his pyramid at Nordroe,
constructed in 1578, Rantzau placed a sun-dial in order to test the theory that the course
of the sun might alter over many years; on the other side of the pyramid were the letters
D·T·ET·U·S (Deo trino et uni sacrum).
Europe in the Renaissance and early modern period, such monuments were
rare in the German-speaking lands of the sixteenth century, and they must
have left a lasting impression on the young Michael Maier. 53 Significantly,
Maier makes another appeal to Rantzau’s Egyptological interests when he
mentions in his letter that the Egyptians constructed a two-faced statue of
‘Mercury’, which depicted on one side a young man in his prime, and on the
other a venerable man of ripe old age; according to Maier, their intention
was to demonstrate that the bravery and energy of the puer must be joined
with the wisdom of the senex, qualities that are indeed united in the person
of Rantzau. 54 Here we have Maier’s earliest reference to Mercury, and to
the coniunctio oppositorum that would become a central element of his
alchemical imagination.
4. Galenism and Maier’s studies at Frankfurt an der Oder
Further sources of Maier’s alchemical worldview – both ideological and

experiential – are to be found in the records relating to his university
education. The library of the Strahov monastery in Prague houses a copy of
the Theses Summam Doctrinae de Temperamentis Corporis Humani Maier
defended for his Master of Arts at Frankfurt an der Oder on June the 17th,
1592. 55 These theses concern the four temperaments and are purely
Aristotelian and Galenic in character. 56 Although it was the custom in
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
53 Ibid.
54 Figala and Neumann, “Ein Früher Brief,” pp. 322, 323 n. 22: Maier’s reference is in fact
to a Greco-Egyptian depiction of Hermes (Roman ‘Mercury’), appropriated by the
Romans in their depictions of the deity Janus.
55 Fersius, Johannes. Theses Summam doctrinae de Temperamentis Corporis humani
breviter complexae, ad disputandum publice; Propositae a M. Iohanne Fersio
Strelensis, de quibus iuvante Deo respondebit Michael Meierus Holsatus. Frankfurt am
Main: Sciurianis, 1592. These theses were independently uncovered by Figala and
Neumann at around the same time as my own discovery of them, and formed the subject
of a seminar by their student Bernhard Zagler at the Deutsches Museum, München, 14th
of July 2000.
56 Galen (130-199 CE), the personal physician to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, drew above all
from the natural philosophy of Aristotle and the pre-Socratics in the construction of his
physiology. In the course of its development from antiquity Galenism was modified
many times, most significantly by the Arabic philosophers Avicenna and Averroes, who
had a substantial influence on the Scholastic Galenism that dominated the medieval
universities. Jean Fernel (1497-1558) systematised these various developments in his
Universa Medicina (1544); in his work the complicated dualistic Galenic hierarchy of
the rational, eternal soul and its subordinate organs, humours and elements continued to
mirror the hierarchy of the medieval cosmos with its divine and angelic powers. In
Maier’s time Galenism was still a highly influential physiological system, despite the
Maier’s studies at Frankfurt an der Oder 49
Maier’s time for students to give an oral defence and elaboration of the theses
of their professor rather than to write an original work, this short tract reveals
the basic natural philosophical conceptions underlying Maier’s alchemy. The
theses themselves are the work of Johannes Fersius (?-1611), a Catholic
doctor of philosophy, theology and medicine. 57 Frankfurt an der Oder had
been Lutheran since 1539, and in the late sixteenth century the university
there was a well-known centre for German humanism, 58 with an attendant
spirit of cross-confessional tolerance – a fact demonstrated by Fersius’
authorship of a conciliatory tract commending the early Czech reformer Jan
Huss. 59 Despite the fact that Maier’s sympathies would undergo something of
a transformation in the antagonistic religious climate leading up to the Thirty
Years War, and that he would one day issue sharp invectives against the
corrupt ‘papal medicine’, it seems that Fersius was an important early
contributor to the overwhelmingly Aristotelian-Galenic elements of his
medical theory.
The foundation of the Aristotelian-Galenic system is expressed in the first
thesis of the Theses Summam Doctrinae, in which it is stated that the human
body is composed of the four elements – earth, water, air and fire – and is
subject to ‘natural mutation’. 60 This is a reference to the fact that the human
body partakes in the mutability of the elements, which according to the
Aristotelian system are interchangeable by virtue of their common properties,
earth being ‘cold’ and ‘dry’, water ‘cold’ and ‘moist’, air ‘hot’ and ‘moist’
and fire ‘hot’ and ‘dry’. 61 Whilst the body is constructed ‘artfully and
methodically’ from the elements by the work of Nature, the first thesis goes
on to state that the body’s gender and individuality are evidence of the
“judgment of a most wise Architect” – an intimation that Nature is the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
inroads made against Scholasticism by Paracelsus and his followers. For an account of
these developments, see Fuchs, Thomas. Die Mechanisierung des Herzens. Frankfurt am
Main: Suhrkamp, 1992, pp. 29-39.
57 Jöcher, Christian Gottlieb. Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon. Vol. 2. Leipzig: Gleditsch,
1750, p. 587.
58 Figala and Neumann, “Michael Maier,” p. 37.
59 Fersius, Johannes. Commendatio Martyrii Beatorum Martyrum Ioannis Hussi et
Hieronymi Pragensis. Wittemberg: Johannes Cratonis, 1586.
60 Thesis I: “Corporis humani compages mutationibus naturalibus obnoxia, naturae opificio
e quatuor simplicissimorum corporum substantiis ea arte ac ratione constructa est, quae
et huic generi, et singulis eius individuis sapientissimi Architecti iudicio convenire visa
est, secundum quam vires illorum primordiorum permixtas varios efficaciae suae gradus
obtinere, partim iudicio assequimur, partim sensu ipso experimur.”
61 The cyclical transmutation of elements is described in detail by Aristotle in his De
Generatione et Corruptione, which formed the foundation of medieval alchemical
laboratory practice: Aristotle, De Generatione et Corruptione, II 3-4. For a discussion of
Aristotle’s schema as it relates to alchemy, see Holmyard, E. J. Alchemy. Harmonds-
worth: Penguin Books, 1957, pp. 19-22.
assistant or ‘handmaiden’ of God, a pervasive conception in the alchemical

corpus which Maier was to study. The four fluids or ‘humours’ circulating in
the human body correspond to the four elements – cold and dry ‘black bile’,
cold and moist phlegm, hot and moist blood, and hot, dry ‘yellow bile’. 62
According to the third thesis, states of health (temperance) and disease
(intemperance) correspond to a balance and imbalance of humours in the
human body; for example, the melancholic fever or quartan which would
afflict Maier in his later life was the result of the dominance of black bile. 63
In their turn, the four elements and their properties correspond to various
other phenomena in the stratified cosmos, such as the seasons, geographical
locations and stages of life, which also hold sway on the temperance or
intemperance of the human body. The traditional medieval system of
correspondences, 64 although admitting to some variations, may be illustrated
in the following way:
element air fire earth water

properties warm, moist warm, dry cold, dry cold, moist
colour red yellow black white
humour blood yellow bile black bile phlegm
temperament sanguine choleric melancholic phlegmatic
stage of life childhood prime decline old age
season spring summer autumn winter
region south east north west
Fersius’ work differs from these correspondences in minor respects. Thus

the theses suggest that childhood is dominated by the sanguine humour,
blood, and is the ‘spring’ of life; youth is dominated by yellow bile, being
predisposed to anger; middle age is a temperate or balanced time; and old
age is cold and dry, corresponding to black bile or melancholy. 65 Although
certain regions of the earth may possess particular properties, the east is
generally warm and dry, the west is cold and moist, the south is warm and
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
62 The key text on this matter is Galen’s De Naturalibus Facultatibus; see Fuchs, Die
Mechanisierung des Herzens, p. 217.
63 Thesis III: “Proinde cum excessus et defectus medii cuiusdam respectu dicantur: duae
erunt temperamentorum species: Temperatum et Intemperatum. Temperatum quidem, in
quo qualitatum primarum omnium par est robur, nec ulla aliam superat: Intemperatum
vero, in quo quaedam superant, quaedam superantur.”
64 For a detailed discussion of this system of correspondences and its development in the
classical and medieval periods, see Klibansky, Saturn and Melancholy.
65 Thesis IX: “Aetas puerorum et adolescentum calida et humida est: florida aetas, calida et
sicca: matura, temperata: senectus, frigida et sicca.” On this variation in the age
apportioned to melancholy, see Klibansky, ibid., p. 10.
moist, the north is cold and dry. 66 We are told that such factors of location,
age and season must be taken into account in the course of diagnosis, which
is to be carried out by means of the senses through the temperate doctor’s
touch, as well as through a more exacting judgment and reasoning. 67 The
wording of the sixth thesis suggests that Maier was required to expound at
length on this use of judgment, and to supply case examples supporting his
assertions. 68
There are a number of specific points in the theses that bear upon
Maier’s later alchemical practice. Most noteworthy is their mention of the
influence on the human body of the fixed stars, and of the ‘moving stars’ or
planets, which by virtue of their rays and position in the Zodiac preserve
particular qualities in the sensitive body of the child at the moment of birth. 69
Astrology played a significant role in Maier’s laboratory experiments, as he
believed that certain operations must be carried out at propitious times, in
order to utilise the influence of the planets’ virtue-imparting rays on the
alchemical subject. We may note that the theory of astral influence, although
commonplace in medieval and early modern natural philosophy, lay in
opposition to the thought of Maier’s teacher at Rostock – for Bruchaeus
resolutely rejected the idea on the grounds that it negated free will, making
human beings into slaves of the heavens and unanswerable for their
conduct. 70
Another basic component of Maier’s medical worldview mentioned in the
theses is the influence of food and drink on human temperament, which
together with the seasons, geographical location and air temperature are the
major non-constitutional factors impinging on the development of the human
body. According to the nineteenth thesis, the liver ‘cooks’ incoming
substances “in order that warm food may beget warmer blood, and cold food
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
66 Thesis XIII: “Regionum autem, praeterquam quod quaelibet peculiares quasdam obtinet
proprietates, Orientalis, calida sicca, Occidentalis frigida humida, meridionalis calida
humida, septentrionalis frigida sicca censetur.”
67 Thesis V: “Earum vero temperatura iudicio potius, compositionem ipsarum considerante,
quam tactu deprehenditur. E contrario autem de totius corporis temperamento tactus
manus hominis temperati facile decernit: iudicium vero ratiocinando non prorsus aeque
facile.”
68 Thesis VI: “Argumenta huiusmodi ratiocinationis suppeditant caussae, effectus, et
quaedam adiuncta.”
69 Thesis VIII: “Universalis est motus coelestis, vel astrorum positus ad momentum
nativitatis. Etenim Luminare utrumque, eorumque et Horoscopi signum, et his radio
partili addicti Planetae qualitatum primarum virtutem obtinent, quas in tenello infantuli
corpusculo excitant.”
70 Heidorn, Günter. Geschichte der Universität Rostock 1419-1969: Festschrift zur
Fünfhundertfünfzig-Jahr-Feier der Universität. Vol. I. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag der
Wissenschaften, 1969, p. 41.
colder blood.” 71 In the Galenic system it is the calor innatus (‘innate heat’)
indwelling in the body that allows first the stomach and then the liver to
‘cook’ the elemental properties of food and drink in this way, so transforming
them into the spiritus vegetalis carried by venous blood, which then courses
from the liver to the corporeal peripheries. 72 In like manner the heart
produces the subtler spiritus vitalis, spreading warmth and vitality to the
body via the arterial system; and the brain produces the most subtle spiritus
animalis, which streams through the nerves (considered by the Galenists to
be hollow) and imparts sensitivity and motion to the sense organs and
muscles. 73 The fundamental driving force in this vitalistic schema remains
the calor innatus, and its seat is the heart, which is the central organ of the
human body; to the extent that it is the source of human vitality, the heart
corresponds to the cosmic seat of warmth and life, the sun. 74 As we shall
discover when considering Maier’s De Circulo Physico, Quadrato (1616),
these ancient conceptions of innate heat and the influence of food and drink
on temperament, when coupled with the alchemical conception of the sun’s
special relation to gold, would form the theoretical foundations of Maier’s
‘mercurial medicine’ – the temperance-imparting medicine par excellence.
In the De Medicina Regia, Maier tells us that during the year following the
receipt of his Masters degree at Frankfurt an der Oder, he “entered the royal
court (aulam Caesareum),” which appears to be a reference to the court of
Christian IV (r.1588-1648), King of Denmark. This can be deduced from the
fact that Maier tells us he had visited this same court at the age of seventeen,
which would have been during the last years of the reign of Christian’s father
Friedrich II (r.1559-1588) – a patron of Maier’s father. 75 It also seems likely
that the connections Maier made during this second visit to the royal court
bore some important fruit. 76 Following this visit he underwent practical
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
71 Thesis XIX: “Etsi enim humores suam a cibo et potu sortiuntur temperaturam: tamen
epatis coquentis calore variantur, ita, ut ex eodem cibo calidus calidiorem sanguinem,
frigidus frigidiorem generet.”
72 Thus the Galenic model depicted a centrifugal motion of blood; it was the discovery of
the circulation of blood by Harvey in 1628 which was a central factor in the downfall of
the Aristotelian-Galenic paradigm. Fuchs, Die Mechanisierung des Herzens, p. 37.
73 Ibid., p. 36.
74 The centrality of the heart as the arche of the body and its relation in the macrocosm to
the sun is a conception stemming from Aristotle which was later taken up by the Stoics;
see Pagel, William Harvey’s Biological Ideas, pp. 25, 81.
75 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Ai verso: “In qua cum ex amicorum suasu, Anno aetatis
24. Magisterii gradum recepissem, publiceque aliquoties disputassem, post annum
domum ad officium aliquod subeundum redii: Prius tamen in aulam Caesaream, ubi tum
ante sexennium quoque fuissem, commigravi...”
76 Such is suggested by the fact that the ‘period of service’ Maier undertook on his return
from Frankfurt an der Oder to which he refers in his De Medicina Regia took place after
his ‘entrance’ into the aulam caesaream; see previous note.
medical training with Matthias Carnarius (?-1620), who since 1591 had been
a personal physician to Duke Johann Adolf of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf,
a son of King Friedrich II who also had connections with Maier’s family. 77
This period of training was of three years duration, commencing when Maier
was twenty-three years of age. Although Figala and Neumann suggest that
Carnarius took “a fatherly interest” in his trainee, 78 Maier would later
describe Carnarius as his most intimate friend, being bound to him by ‘soul,
study, and Fatherland’: terms of endearment that suggest Carnarius, although
some ten years his senior, enjoyed a less formal and more confiding
relationship with Maier. 79 By all accounts Carnarius was a very successful
man, who bequeathed to his heirs not only a large library of medical works
but also a considerable sum of money. His true family name was de
Vleeschouwer; his father Johannes was from Gent, the centre of early
Calvinism in Europe, and had also attended the duke of Schleswig-Holstein-
Gottorf as personal physician after serving as a Professor of Medicine at
Padua University. 80
During this period of training under Carnarius, Maier tells us he could not
resist carrying out certain chemical experiments, including the hardening of
mercury with ‘smoke of lead’, and a failed attempt to ‘yellow’ silver with a
tincture. 81 At the universities of Rostock and Frankfurt an der Oder he had
heard and read much concerning such matters. But when it came to the ‘dark
and profound’ Art of chemia – i.e. the quest for the Philosophers’ Stone
rather than simple metallurgical operations or the procurement of basic
pharmaceutical remedies – he remarks that he had initially been unwilling to
spend his money on such a dubious pursuit:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
77 Achelis, Thomas Otto. Die Ärzte im Herzogtum Schleswig bis zum Jahre 1804. Kiel:
Schleswig-Holsteinische Gesellschaft für Familienforschung und Wappenkunde e.V.
Kiel, 1966, pp. 25, 43.
79 The terms are used in Maier’s dedication of his Basel doctoral theses to Carnarius:
“Clarissimo et optimo viro Dn. D. Matthiae Carnario, illustrissimi Principis Holsatiae
Archiatro dignissimo, amico, qua animo, qua studio, qua patria, meo, ter conjunctis-
simo;” a transcription of these theses is to be found in Stiehle, Hans. Michael Maierus
Holsatus (1569-1622): Ein Beitrag zur naturphilosophischen Medizin in seinen Schriften
und zu seinem wissenschaftlichen Qualifikationsprofil. Doctoral thesis, Zentralinstitut für
Geschichte der Technik der Technischen Universität München, 1991.
80 Hirsch, August (ed.). Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Ärzte aller Zeiten und
Völker. Vol. 5. München: Urban und Schwarzenberg, 1962, p. 779; Jöcher, Allgemeines
Gelehrten-Lexicon, Vol. 1, p. 1679.
81 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Aii recto: “Nihilominus cum domum, ut dictum, ad
officium venissem, non intermittere potui, quin unum aut alterum experimentum
tentarem, quorum unum erat, Mercurii induratio per fumum plumbi, quod successit;
alterum Lunae citrinatio per aquam gradualem seu tinctoriam, quod fefellit.”
...I was not willing to squander expenses set aside for more certain studies on doubtful
matters, particularly as I saw from the writings of a number of physicians how anxiously
they searched for so dark and profound a thing by way of imploring letters to their
colleagues. Thus, thinking about the matter myself, I concluded that if a man substantially
learned in philosophy and medicine is not able to obtain the chemical Art, so much the less
am I; and if he will have obtained it, he will end the quest by writing a book, and meanwhile
I would be making the first steps into the inquiry of this Art. Because of this syllogism, I
abstained for a total of six years from any serious treatment of chemical matters. 82
Carnarius’ strong family ties with the University of Padua must have had
some influence on the direction of the ‘more certain’ studies Maier
undertook, for in the spring of 1595 he decided to travel to that institution,
which was one of the most important centres of Galenic medicine in Europe.
Indeed, Carnarius had also attended Rostock university in 1578, moving on
to Padua in 1586 and Basel in 1589, 83 and it must have seemed quite logical
for the younger man to follow in his mentor’s footsteps. Nevertheless, on
Carnarius’ advice Maier delayed his entrance into Padua for a semester and
set off on a grand peregrinatio academica – as Maier says, “lest I should
become weary with leisure or remaining in one place.” 84
5. ‘First love and grief’: Maier’s peregrinatio academica
According to the humanist ethos prevailing in Maier’s time, travel was

considered to be an indispensable means of education, and enrolment at
foreign universities offered the possibility of a long journey – an opportunity
that Maier did not let pass. 85 Indeed, the theme of travel was popular in the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
82 Ibid., p. Ai verso: “Hoc toto studiorum meorum ac peregrinationis tempore in multis
locis multa de Chemicis experimentis audivi, legi et contuli: Verum, ut fatear, illa me
religio hactenus tenuit, ut extra patriam in re dubia, sumptus studiis certioribus
mancipatos, nollem profundere, praesertim cum viderem ex scriptis nonnullorum
medicorum, quam anxie illi ipsi rem adeo obscuram et profundam, emendicatis per
Epistolas aliorum responsis, quaererent; hoc modo mecum ratiocinando concludens: Si
ille vir tam solide doctus in philosophia et medicina Chemicum artificium non
adipiscatur, multo minus tu: Cum vero ille habuerit, scribendi finem faciet; tum tu ejus
artis inquirendae initium statues: Hoc syllogismo me totum sexennium a seria Chemi-
carum rerum tractatione abstinui.”
83 Achelis, Die Ärzte im Herzogtum Schleswig, p. 25.
84 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Aii recto: “Interim, ne otio aut situ languerem, navigio
praecipuas Balthici littoris urbes adire constituti, ut Galeni exemplo, peregrinando
simplicium uberiorem noticiam haurire, nec non populorum mores et naturas cognoscere
possem.”
85 Trunz, Erich. “Der deutsche Späthumanismus um 1600 als Standeskultur.” In Alewyn,
Richard (ed.). Deutsche Barockforschung: Dokumentation einer Epoche. Köln: Kiepen-
‘First love and grief’ 55
humanist literature of Maier’s time; Governor Rantzau himself had composed

a work, the Methodus Apodemica, which set forth a systematic list of subjects
to be pursued by the observant traveller. 86 Whether Maier ever read this tract,
we cannot say. But Maier does tell us that in the course of his voyage by land
and sea Galen himself served as his exemplar; for the young Greek physician,
after deciding to take up a career in medicine, had travelled widely from his
native Pergamom in search of medical knowledge, and had come at length to
Alexandria, the home of the Great Library and the centre of medical learning
in the Roman empire. 87 Thus Maier imagined he was following in the
footsteps of a great predecessor, for his mission was not only to learn of the
peoples and customs in the regions he visited, but above all to gain a better
knowledge of their simples – that is to say, uncompounded medicaments
derived directly from plants and animals. And even if Maier’s was a more
northerly itinerary – stretching from the eastern borders of the Swedish
empire to Rome – it would also take him to the seat of medical learning in his
day.
Sailing through the islands of the Baltic sea, in spring of 1595 Maier
travelled through Swedish-controlled Kurland, Livland and Estland
(comprising the modern states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) to the
Russian city of Ivangorod, 88 before returning to Lübeck and heading for Italy.
This journey of Maier’s set a precedent for a life of roaming, although in the
future his unsettled existence was to be motivated as much by a search for
patronage as by a noble desire to read the ‘great book of the world’. Despite
the fact that Maier’s last work was devoted to the figure of Ulysses as the
embodiment of human wisdom, Figala and Neumann have argued that
Maier’s life-long travels lay “well within the bounds of the peregrinatio
academica normal for the educated man of his time.” 89 As Trunz states, the
rise of humanism in Germany witnessed the first large-scale migration of the
educated middle and upper classes beyond the borders of the Fatherland, and
the peregrinatio academica created both an important avenue of scholarly
communication and a sense of kinship amongst the learned of Europe. 90
Nevertheless, it must be said that the full significance of the peregrinatio for
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
heuer und Witsch, 1966, p. 162. According to Trunz, in the years between 1590 and
1609 some 3145 German students visited Padua.
86 Evans, R. J. W. “Rantzau and Welser: Aspects of Later German Humanism,” History of
European Ideas, Vol. 5., No. 3, 1984, p. 259.
87 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Aii recto.
88 Ivangorod had been recaptured by Russia from the Swedes in 1592; the Peace of Teusina
signed between the two powers in the year of Maier’s departure must have enabled this
journey beyond the borders of Swedish territory.
90 Trunz, “Der deutsche Späthumanismus,” p. 162.
Maier’s worldview seems to have been missed by Figala and Neumann; for
Maier regarded his entire earthly existence as a spiritual journey, akin in
some sense to a Christian pilgrimage, and a reflected image of the alchemical
process itself. Maier’s clearest remarks on this matter are given in the
aforementioned Allegoria Bella, in which he makes a mythical peregrination
through the four known continents (each representing a part of the human
body) to the ‘heart’ of the world, Egypt. He justifies this great journey with
reference to a divinely instituted natural order:
For we are all strangers in this world, indeed even in our own native land: from which
place we migrate at length to those aethereal, most resplendent heavenly homes, to which
our Saviour who has gone before invites and leads us. I might look to the swallow, the
messenger of spring, to the crane, the stork, and many other birds, and see how every year at
fixed times they travel by instinct and set patterns through the air to unknown regions of
Nature; for in this way they set an example and model of peregrination through the regions
of the world to man, lest he should grow old amidst the smoke and dung of the house altar.
To the birds the entire sublunary region of the air lies open, and to man it is the terrestrial
globe. I might look to the sky itself, and to the great wayfarer, the sun, and see how it
rejoices in continual motion and warms, illuminates and governs all the creatures of the earth
and heavens. Likewise I will direct my mind to the human breast, and to the heart itself, and
see how it is driven by this perpetual motion for as long as life remains; for life ends when
the motion is taken away, damaged or hindered. It is natural therefore for man to move from
place to place, from region to region, until he can see into himself, above himself and around
himself. 91
For Maier the peregrinatio that is our earthly existence has been prefigured
in the life of Christ, and is the complement of the heavenly existence to
come; therefore we should travel onwards through the regions of the earth,
following the cyclical processes of Nature, which accomplish something of a
spiritual transformation in the pilgrim and enable the final homeward return.
In his allegory Maier describes the goal of this spiritual ‘pilgrimage’ as the
phoenix, the feathers of which constitute a cure for ‘anger and grief’; that is
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
91 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 569: “Peregrini enim nos omnes sumus in hoc
mundo, etiam in propria, nempe terrestri patria: Unde ad aetherias illas clarissimas
domus, quo Salvator noster, qui praecessit, nos vocat et attrahit, migraturi tandem
sumus: Respiciam hirundinem veris nunciam, gruem, ciconiam, multasque alias aves,
quomodo annuatim statis temporibus peregrinentur per aera in ignotas regiones naturae
instinctu et documento; ut homini specimen et exemplar edant peregrinationis per mundi
partes instituendae, ne semper fumo et fimo larium insenesceret: Avibus aer sublunaris
universus patet, et homini globus terrestris: Respiciam coelum ipsum, ipsiusque magnum
viatorem, Solem, quomodo motu continuo gaudeat et omnia soli et poli creaturas illustret
et illuminet, calefaciat et gubernet: Imo in proprium sinum pectoris, ad cor ipsum,
mentem dirigam, quomodo hoc motu agatur perpetuo, dum vita manet, quod vitam ut
metitur motione illaesa, sic [sic] sublata, laesa, vel impedita, finit: Naturale itaque
homini est, moveri de loco ad locum, de regione in regionem, dum in se, supra se et
circum se respiciat.”
‘First love and grief’ 57
to say, the Universal Medicine, in the beginning of which lies the bitterness
of suffering, but in its end a heavenly joy. 92 Behind these sentiments we may
detect a certain event in Maier’s peregrinatio academica, which seems to
have been an experiential prototype for the journey described in his Allegoria
Bella. For something of the impetus driving Maier’s alchemical quest, and a
source of his specific reference to the problem of anger, may be found in the
details of his sojourn in Padua, which he reached in the autumn of 1595.
In the De Medicina Regia Maier tells us very little about his time in
Padua – only that he received the ‘laurel wreath’ (i.e. the prestigious title of
Poet Laureate), which was obtained ‘by custom’ after his first experience
of ‘love and grief’. 93 At this time Maier was writing Latin poetry under
the pseudonym Hermes Malavici, an anagram of Michael Maierus. This
appellation not only suggests the mercurial, ambiguous nature of the Greek
deity, but also implies that the author had somehow “triumphed over
misfortune;” indeed, records of an intriguing episode have recently been
uncovered by Figala and Neumann which augment the testimony of the De
Medicina Regia, and suggest that Maier went through more than the
‘customary’ grief at the University of Padua. 94 In July of 1596 the twenty-
seven year old academic attacked and seriously wounded a fellow scholar,
Heino Lambechius, following a series of verbal disputes. As a result of
this reportedly ‘savage act’, Maier was put on trial before the elders of the
‘German Nation’ at Padua, i.e. the administrative body for German scholars
residing there. The details of the quarrel that prompted Maier’s outburst of
aggression are unknown, nor is it clear whether a weapon was used, such as
the rapier apparent in the copperplate portrait of the author (figure 1). In any
event, the annals of the German Nation record that Maier was adjudged the
guilty party in the dispute, ordered to pay expenses and compelled to deliver
the following plea for forgiveness before the elders:
I am most grieved by the fact that the glorious Nation was injured by me, when, although I
had agreed to terms of peace with Heino in the presence of the Senate, I did not observe this,
but dealt him an injury in his own chambers. I seek pardon for this my crime; I worship
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
92 Ibid., p. 562.
93 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Aii recto: “Ab hoc itinere sub autumnum reversus, Italiam
recta contendi, inibique Patavii aliquamdiu degens medicam meam rem omnibus nervis
promovere studui: quin et Lauream frondem ibi primitus amare et mordere, ut moris,
cepi.”
94 Favaro, A. (ed.). Atti della Nazione Germanica Artista nello Studio di Padova. Vol. 2.
Padua: Antenore, 1967, pp. 81-82; I am indebted to Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff of the
University of Amsterdam for bringing my attention to the significance of Maier’s
anagram.
the Nation, I revere it and obey it, and I will be sedulously careful that no such thing shall
happen again. 95
However, the very next day Maier fled in secret from Padua when his
adversary declined monetary compensation for injuries sustained in the
attack. The response of the elders to this scandalous behaviour was emphatic:
Let others judge how his honour and reputation stand thereon. There is no-one who can
persuade himself that these actions will go unpunished. 96
In the year following this incident, Maier travelled to Bologna, Florence,

Sienna, Rome, Loreto, Ancona, and other of “the most splendid cities of the
world,” before re-crossing the Alps to Basel. 97 However, when Maier entered
Basel University to complete his doctorate, a ‘warrant-like’ letter was sent by
the German Nation to the Professor of the Faculty of Medicine there,
demanding that Maier not be permitted to graduate, and insisting that he be
held until the Nation and Lambechius had attained satisfaction. 98 For the
young physician, who had once cried as a child when faced with the
possibility of taking up an uneducated profession, and whose university
studies had already met once with failure, knowledge of this ‘arrest warrant’
was probably rather disturbing. Furthermore, he must have wondered how
these events would appear in the eyes of his benefactor, Matthias Carnarius,
whose father had held an important position within the German Nation at
Padua. 99
Happily for Maier, the Nation’s efforts to foil his escape came to nought,
as he successfully defended his doctoral theses and graduated on November
the 4th, 1596. 100 As the time between his arrival in Basel and his graduation
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
95 Ibid., p. 82: “Laesam Nationem inclytam a me, dum pacem quam pactus sum cum
Heinone coram Senatu non servavi, ipsique in aedibus suis vulnus dedi, est quod
plurimum doleam. Hanc meam culpam nunc deprecor, Nationem colo, revereor et
observo, ac ne tale quid imposterum fiat sedulo caveo. Michael Meierus Cymber.”
96 Ibid.: “Quo honore nominisque existimatione iudicent alii; impune hoc ipsum habiturum
nemo qui sibi persuadeat.”
98 Favaro, Atti della Nazione Germanica, p. 100: “Augusti Domino Heinoni Lambachio
Hamburgensi Basileam petenti bina testimonia Nationis nomine dedimus, unum quidem
in caussa cum Michaele Meiero Cimbro, qui dictum Heinonem illicito plane modo
vulneraverat et contra datam fidem clam Natione aufugerat ad Magistratum quemcunque
politicum: alterum vero commendatitium quod professoribus Apollineis exibere posset.
Horum exempla in Epistolarum libro reperientur...”; Stiehle, Michael Maierus Holsatus,
p. 18.
99 Jöcher, Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon, Vol. 1, p. 1679: Johannes Carnarius had held the
position of librarian in the German Nation concurrently with his professorship.
100 Stiehle, Michael Maierus Holsatus, p. 19.
The theses on epilepsy 59
amounted to little more than two months, it seems the theses he presented
there were the fruits of his learning at the University of Padua – where as a
Protestant he was debarred from graduating by papal decree.101 Nevertheless,
as a result of uncontrollable anger, Maier had been forced to abandon his
hard-won position at a prestigious university in disgrace – and quite possibly
in fear, given that his adversary may have preferred blood to money as
compensation. Although student brawls and even duelling were relatively
commonplace in Maier’s time – to the point that lecturers were sometimes
driven to demand that their students leave their weapons outside the
classroom – the annals speak of this event as ‘unprecedented’. 102 When this
mark against Maier’s character and threat to his academic future is placed in
the context of his lifelong and sometimes inglorious struggle to attract
patronage, the impetus behind Maier’s quest for an alchemical ‘medicine of
piety’ becomes more clear. These are the beginnings of the Philosophers’
Stone, which lie in ‘misery and vinegar’; the collision of earthly passions
with the unyielding demands of socialisation and economic survival, which
marks the first stage of the begetting of an ‘alchemical’ wisdom.
6. The theses on epilepsy
Despite the emotional turmoil of this period Maier’s academic endeavours

had borne fruit, a feat that he admits had required the application of all his
energies; 103 indeed, the experience of such tribulations so far from home may
have overcome lesser men. The Theses de Epilepsia produced by Maier for
his medical doctorate at Basel, dated the 16th of October, 1596, demonstrate
the extensive knowledge of the Aristotelian-Galenic physiological system
their author had accrued on his travels, and express above all his knowledge
of the employment of simples and the ‘composites’ derived therefrom. After
dedicating his theses to Carnarius (whose reaction to the Paduan incident
we cannot gauge), Maier launches into a discussion of the many names given
to epilepsy, such as the ‘divine sickness’, and then goes on to deal with
its symptomatology and the points distinguishing it from other similar
maladies. 104 He then discusses the aetiology of the disease, which in
accordance with the principles laid out in the Theses Summam Doctrinae is
arranged according to internal and external sources. Thus the principal
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
101 Ibid.
102 Favaro, Atti della Nazione Germanica, p. 82.
103 See n. 93 above.
104 UniversitätsBibliothek Basel, Disputationum Medicarum Basiliensium, Vol. 3, No. 92;
Stiehle, Michael Maierus Holsatus, p. 100.
internal cause of epilepsy is the sudden permeation of the brain ventricle by

either thick phlegm, black bile, or poisoned blood, which makes the way too
narrow for the spiritus animalis to flow on its proper course through the
nerves into the sense organs. In this way the facultas animalis governing
sense and motion is disrupted, causing the dramatic seizures to be observed in
sufferers. 105 Amongst the external causes are the intake of cold and moist
foods, or an over-indulgence in lettuce, cabbage and beetroot. Maier advises
epileptics to avoid the cooked liver of a he-goat, 106 and the smell of bitumen
or jet; moonshine, the south wind and strolling without a hat in cold, moist
weather are also proscribed. 107
With regard to treatment, Maier mentions trepanning with a drill via the
sutura coronalis, but he follows Galen in reminding the reader of the
considerable dangers of this operation, which is only to be carried out by the
most experienced surgeons. 108 Indeed, his recommendations are directed on
the whole towards diet and herbal remedies rather than surgery; for example,
in order to dilute the cold, thick phlegm that inhibits the flow of the spiritus
animalis, Maier would prescribe a warm infusion of hissop, marjoram,
betony, melissa leaves, sage, primrose, peony roots and cat’s paw. 109
Over the years, a great number of writers on Maier have described him as
an ardent follower of Paracelsus, the man whose emphasis on experimental
observation and whose vehement opposition to the Galenic medicine of the
Scholastics laid the foundations for modern pharmacology. 110 However, in
his study of Maier’s theses on epilepsy, Hans Stiehle has recently offered an
important corrective to this notion, and has demonstrated in detail the
overwhelmingly Galenic orientation of Maier’s medical practice. Indeed,
Maier’s teacher at Rostock, Bruchaeus, was a prominent critic of Paracelsus,
whom he regarded as an empiricist, i.e. one who relies on experimental
observation and sense data to the exclusion of the wisdom of the traditional
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
105 Thesis 23: “Humor a. crassus et lentus, pituitosus, b. melancholicus c. aut sanguis, vel
vapor copiosus ac venenatus, repente d. in cerebri ventriculos illabens, ac animali spiritui
in sensuum organa influenti vias angustiores reddens;” Stiehle, Michael Maierus
Holsatus, p. 106: these notions are taken directly from Galen’s De Locis Affectis and De
Differentiis Symptomatum.
106 It seems this remark is related to Bonatti’s association of the melancholic humour with
the smell of the goat; see Klibansky, Saturn and Melancholy, p. 147.
107 Theses 75, 76, 77; Stiehle, Michael Maierus Holsatus, p. 118.
108 Also mentioned amongst invasive procedures is blood-letting via the vena basilica or
vena saphena.
109 Thesis 130; Stiehle, Michael Maierus Holsatus, p. 136: “Deinde, si frigidus, lentus ac
crassus peccat humor, concoquatur decoctis calidis, incidentibus et attenuantibus ex
hyssopo, sampsucho, betonica, melyssophillo, salvia, primula veris, rad. poeoniae,
stoechade et similibus partem affectam respicentibus...”
110 For example, Evans, Rudolf II and his World, p. 205; Hubicki, “Maier, Michael,” p. 23.
Contact with the arcana 61
medical corpus. 111 Maier’s works also contain numerous polemics against
empiricists, whom he criticises above all for their lack of a university
education. Nevertheless, in his Themis Aurea (1617) he would describe
Paracelsus as a man who, although vain in character and irreverent in
polemic, possessed “an eminent and admirable knowledge of medicine;” in
that work Maier also states that both the chemical remedies of Paracelsus and
the simples of Galen have their appropriate applications. 112 Likewise, in the
Symbola Aureae Mensae Maier states that Paracelsus often accomplished
alchemical projection before his apprentice, and although he led the life of
a libertine he cured illnesses that were previously incurable. 113 Contrary
to Stiehle, this syncretic attitude is not merely an opportunistic concession
to potential patrons. In certain places Maier lauds Paracelsus as the
equivalent of Luther in the field of iatrochemistry, and the defender of an
indigenous German medicine against the corrupt Italian or ‘papal medicine’;
such diatribes of Maier’s are overtly political in character, and reflect the
increasing interdependence of his religious, political and medical sympathies
that developed during the course of his life. They are also, no doubt, the
source of the depiction of Maier as an avid Paracelsian.
7. Contact with the arcana
Following the completion of his university studies it seems that Maier revised
his earlier opinions on alchemy and undertook an investigation into that ‘dark
and profound’ subject. His first significant contact with alchemical arcana
appears to have taken place in Königsberg in Lutheran East Prussia, where he
set up a medical practice in 1599. 114 The landlord of his dwelling in that city
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
111 Krabbe, Die Universität Rostock, p. 709; Heidorn, Geschichte der Universität Rostock,
p. 41.
112 Maier, Michael. Themis Aurea, hoc est, de Legibus Fraternitatis R. C. Tractatus.
Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624, p. 168: “Quod ad medicamenta mere Chymica
vel Paracelsica attinet, ea quatenus bona sunt, laudamus, sed ita, ne Galenica et
dogmatica vituperemus: His et illis alternatim utendum erit, innullius praeiudicium at
contemptum.” Similar calls to reconcile Paracelsian and Galenic medicine were made by
other physicians who would join Maier at the court of Moritz the Learned, namely
Heinrich Noll and Joseph Duchesne; Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, p.
122.
113 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, pp. 284, 286. The reference is probably to Paracelsus’
successful use of mercury in the cure of dropsy; it seems he also had some success with
the treatment of gout; Pagel, Paracelsus, p. 201.
114 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Aii verso: “Verum ad meos poste rediens, fortunam non
minus variam nusquam non offendi: Post duos deinde annos ad celebre illud Emporium,
littori Balthico adjacens, ubi ante biennium fueram, iterum me contuli, multis aegris
was skilled in the art of assaying by cupellation, 115 and earned a livelihood by
determining the proportion of precious metals to base metals in alloys.
Although Maier tells us he learnt much concerning metallurgy from this man,
he was not versed in the ‘universal work’; that is to say, the production of the
Philosophers’ Stone according to universal chemical laws. 116 Nevertheless,
whilst amongst friends of his landlord who were more closely acquainted
with the alchemical Art, Maier’s medical curiosity was aroused by the
miraculous healing of a chronically ill man through the application of a bright
yellow powder that had been obtained in England. 117 The origins of this
medicine may well have inspired Maier’s later travels to England, where he
would immerse himself in the works of the English alchemists.
After witnessing the remarkable results of the English iatrochemical cure,
Maier began to seek out alchemical literature. Good luck – or destiny – was
to provide some assistance in his endeavour. At some time in 1601 he took
up a patient who had been dismissed by other doctors as a hypochondriac, but
who happened to be well-educated and most sympathetic towards ‘matters
chemical’. Impressed by Maier’s caring manner, the patient paid him a
certain sum of money in order that they should travel together to his country
estate outside of Königsberg – a fortunate turn of events, as the city was
gripped by a serious outbreak of the bubonic plague at that time. 118 What is
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
ibidem medicam meam opellam per aliquot annos navans.” Maier tells us that he had
visited this “famous trading centre at the Baltic Sea” during his peregrinatio academica,
which would suggest that it was Danzig, the free city in Polish-controlled Royal Prussia.
Nevertheless, in their work Neumann and Figala give Königsberg as the likely identity
of the city, although Maier does not mention it as a destination on his peregrinatio; but
by the testimony of Hubicki Maier was in Danzig in December of 1601, a fact which
tallies with the suggestion of the De Medicina Regia that he returned to Holstein at
around this time – i.e. in all likelihood he returned via Danzig, some 120 kilometres to
the west of Königsberg.
115 That is to say, the application of heat to alloys placed in a small porous cupel, by which
means metals such as lead, copper and tin are oxidized and separated from gold or silver.
116 Ibid.: “Interea temporis hospitem nactus sum, qui artificium probandi et examinandi
metalla per cupellam profitebatur: Inde cum multis chemiae deditis familiaritatem inii:
Verum nullus ex iis universale opus seu Lapidem, callere visus est. Quidam adtulit
argenti massas cupro permixtas, aliquot vicibus, menstruo spacio interposito, easque per
cineritium testae depurari voluit: Alius mixturam, quam habuit, aliquot drachmis auri
puri cum mercurio loto amalgamatis conjungi et quasi incorporari, deinde mense abacto,
per testam examinari, postulavit: Unde ex tribus drachmis auri Mercurio impositis, octo
habere se jactavit, idque aliquoties repetiit.”
117 Ibid., Hii verso.
118 Ibid., Aiii recto- Aiii verso: “Interim quidam gravi per multos annos vexatus morbo,
quem medici hypochondriacum indigetant, cum ab aliis plus damni, quam levaminis,
sensisset, meae diligentiae exempla passim obvia cernens, certa me pecuniae summa
conduxit, ut relicta urbe secum, praesertim peste jam graviter in vulgum saeviente, in
suburbanum praedium migrarem, ibique apud se per aestatem manerem.”
Contact with the arcana 63
more, at his patient’s house Maier found an excellent library of alchemical

works, which he was able to peruse at his leisure.
Maier’s reading list included works by the medieval European authors
Geber (pseudo-Jabir or Geber Latinus), pseudo-Arnoldus de Villanova
and Hortulanus Anglicus, as well as the influential Arabic text, the Turba
Philosophorum– a fictional dialogue in which nine pre-Socratic philosophers
engage in thoughtful discussion on the paths to perfecting the Philosophers’
Stone. These are the only details given in Maier’s De Medicina Regia of
the thirty or so writers represented in the library. However, in the course of
his reading Maier would have found corrupted pre-Socratic notions
concerning the prima materia or first matter underlying all elements, and
protracted conjectures stemming from Galenic medicine and the Aristotelian
sulphur-mercury theory of metallic generation, according to which metals
grow in the womb of the earth through the warmth of the sun and
the interacting principles of dry sulphur and moist mercury. 119 Medieval
alchemical literature is distinguished above all by its vitalism, a doctrine
advocating the existence of a living spirit in Nature in which animals, plants
and metals alike are thought to possess the power of increase. 120 But the path
to the discovery of the ‘living’ Stone of the Philosophers, which brings
temperance to the human body just as it imparts to metals their perfect
proportion, is veiled under a thousand words, as pseudo-Arnoldus warns:
Our Stone is cold, moist, dry and hot; it is a Stone and no Stone, and is found by everybody
in the air, fields, on the mountains, and in the water; and it is called Albida, herein all
physicians agree, for they say that Albida is called Rebio. Thus they name it in hidden and
secret words, because they perfectly understand the materia; some say it is blood, others say
it is a man’s hair, others say it is an egg, which has made many fools – who understand no
more than the letter, and the mere sound of words – seek this Art in blood, in eggs, and in
hair... they have found nothing, for they did not rightly understand the sayings of the natural
masters, who spake their words in hidden language. Should they have spoken out plainly,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
119 The Latin text of the Turba Philosophorum gives the participants of the discussion as
Iximidrus, Exumdrus, Anaxagoras, Pandulfus, Arisleus, Lucas, Locustor, Pitagoras and
Eximenes; in 1931 Julius Ruska established the text was of Arabic origin, and in 1954
Martin Plessner transcribed the rather confusing names back into Arabic characters,
revealing the participants as Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Empedocles,
Archelaus, Leucippus, Ecphantus, Pythagoras and Xenophanes. The work also features
guest appearances from Moses (Musa) and the Greco-Egyptian alchemist Zosimos
(Zimus). See Holmyard, Alchemy, pp. 80-84; on the pre-Socratics’ relation to alchemy,
see Sheppard, H. J. “The Ouroboros and the Unity of Matter in Alchemy: A Study in
Origins,” Ambix, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1962, pp. 94-95.
120 Although recent studies by Newman have identified a corpuscularian tradition within
medieval alchemy (see chapter I, n. 35 above), my own wide-ranging survey of medieval
texts suggest vitalistic conceptions were of paramount importance, and corpuscular-
ianism remained the exception to the rule, or was integrated into a broad vitalistic
schema.
they would have done very ill, for all men would have used this Art and the whole world
would have been spoiled. 121
Having noted the confusing diversity of Decknamen employed by the

different authors in his patient’s library, Maier went about comparing and
collating them with the aim of creating a concordance; and in so doing he
must surely have been aware of the warning, repeated often enough in
the alchemical corpus, that by seeking to uncover the true significance of
alchemical symbolism “a man may lose his time, goods and substance, and at
last his health, and miserably rob himself of life.” 122 Nevertheless, Maier tells
us that he had never read anything of such subtlety, and he studied his
patient’s books with such zeal and ardour that he found it difficult to sleep at
night:
Indeed, if I am able to understand the circles of Mercury and the motions, distances and
magnitudes of the planets and fixed stars, or indeed master music as much in theory as in
practice, or the entire art of poetry, and the rest of the most subtle theorems of mathematics,
why should I not grasp this chemistry? For if the alchemists use the figures of words or the
similitudes of things, the stories of poets or the memorials of history, the axioms of physics,
astronomy, medicine and metaphysics, then they do not deceive me, but somehow I may be
able to see the truth shining in the light. 123
These words indicate that Maier’s approach to alchemical symbolism from

the earliest stage was directed towards the unveiling of universal processes:
hence his suggestion that chemistry might be akin to astronomy, music and
poetry, and that all are governed by ‘mathematical’ theorems – a sentiment
dating to the time of Pythagoras, for whom ‘all things’ were number. For
Maier laboratory experiment promised much more than the simple operations
performed by his landlord in Königsberg: in the young man’s eyes, it was a
means of discovering the harmony of the spheres and laying bare the
microcosm which is the human individual.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
121 “A Chymicall treatise of the Ancient and highly illuminated Philosopher, Devine and
Physitian, Arnoldus de Nova Villa.” Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1415, p. 130; c.f.
the words of Morienus in Stavenhagen, Lee (ed., trans.). A Testament of Alchemy.
Hanover: University Press of New England, 1974, p. 45.
122 Ibid., p. 137.
123 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Aiii verso: “Quippe, inquam, si Mercurii orbes, motus,
distantias et magnitudines planetarum et stellarum fixarum, imo Musicam tam
theoricam, quam practicam, poeticam omnem et reliqua subtilissima mathematicorum
theoremata capere potero, quid ni haec chemica? Nam si figuris verborum vel
similitudinibus rerum, si fabulis poetarum, aut monumentis hystoriarum, si axiomatibus
physicae, astronomiae, medicinae, aut metaphysicae utentur Chemici, non subterfugient,
quin aliquam veritatis luce scintillare visurus sim.”
Maier’s first alchemical experiment 65
8. Maier’s first alchemical experiment
Having spent his time in relative peace whilst the bubonic plague “ravaged
the masses” in Königsberg, it seems that Maier may have been inspired
to take up a more salubrious career with which to pursue his intellectual
interests. A few short months after his sojourn in the countryside, he entered
his name on the rolls of the University of Königsberg, an act which Figala
and Neumann, following Hubicki, interpret as an attempt to start a university
career. 124 Nevertheless, he evidently failed to obtain the status of professor or
extraneus at the university, and in late 1601 he returned to Holstein by way of
Danzig – where, according to the testimony of Hubicki, he was to be found in
December of that year prescribing dried frogs in vinegar to patients at the
White Horse Inn. 125 The employment of such remedies was certainly a part
of Maier’s medical repertoire – thus in his Civitas Corporis Humani (1621)
he recommends frogs’ legs wrapped in deer or vulture skin for the cure of
gout. 126 But if Hubicki’s report is correct, it indicates that the fortunes of
Maier, who was now in his 32nd year, were far removed from those he once
envisaged.
Maier had nevertheless been inspired by his studies in Königsberg, and he
went in search of certain minerals necessary to begin his own laboratory
experiments; we are told he visited Hungary, where the minerals were
particularly potent due to the superior influence of solar radiation there. 127
When all the requisite materials had been brought together and the furnace
prepared in his hometown in Holstein, he tells us he began work in 1604 at
the time of Epiphany, i.e. the celebration of the coming of the Magi to
Christ’s birthplace. 128 In medieval alchemy astrological influences were often
taken into account in the timing of the various operations of the Hermetic
Art; in Maier’s work these astrological factors are combined with a
consideration of the dates in the calendar associated with the life of Christ.
After months of often dangerous procedures, the work was completed at
Easter, by which time Maier had observed the crucial sequence of phases in
the alchemical process – the raven, or black phase; the peacock, or multi-
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
124 Figala and Neumann, “Ein Früher Brief,” pp. 307-308; Hubicki, “Maier, Michael,” p. 23.
125 Hubicki, “Maier, Michael,” p. 23.
126 Tortoise feet are also useful in this regard, the left one being bound to the patient’s left
leg, the right one to the right. Maier, Michael. Civitas Corporis Humani, a Tyrannide
arthritica vindicata. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1621, p. 158: “Podagram sanant
pedes ranae ligati in [1] corio cervi, et super podagrici pedes positi. [2] Ad idem crus et
corium cavillae vulturis pedibus aegris adalligantur. [3] Pes item testudinis dexter supra
aegri pedem dextrum, et sinister super sinistrum applicatur.”
127 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Ci recto.
128 Ibid.
coloured phase; the dove, or white phase; the phoenix, or yellow phase; and
the pelican, or red phase. 129
Since the medieval period the basic colours of the alchemical process
were conceived as black, white, yellow and red; they correspond to the four
elements earth, water, fire and air, and to the melancholic, phlegmatic,
choleric and sanguine temperaments of the Galenic system we have
discussed. A progression through black, white, yellow and red forms can be
observed during the heating of an amalgam of copper and mercury, which
process may first have inspired the alchemists’ reliance on this sequence. 130
Maier’s schema of black, multi-coloured, white, yellow, red is a typical
variation, the multi-coloured peacock phase serving as a transition between
black and white. Whilst it is difficult to translate the processes of Maier’s
experiment into the terminology of modern chemistry due to his silence on
the matter of input materials, the black phase traditionally involved
‘calcination’ (oxidisation) or pulverisation by fire of the alchemical subject in
the vessel, followed by solution in caustic fluids and ‘putrefaction’ in warm
dung or water; this was carried out in order to reduce the subject to the
chaotic prima materia, or alternatively to the mercurial and sulphuric
principles that underlie all metals in varying proportions. The white phase
indicated the freeing of the mercurial principle – or the ‘spirit’ contained in
matter – through this process, and was often represented in the medieval texts
by the upward flight of doves. The subsequent yellow phase marked the
return of the volatile mercurial spirit to its ‘nest’; that is to say, to the subject
at the bottom of the vessel through a process of ‘reduction’. Redness typically
appeared during ‘sublimation’, as the alchemical subject was raised to a
higher, more sublime level of composition through the re-entry of the
mercurial principle. 131 Both the yellow and the red phases of the work point
towards a subsequent ‘fixation’: the containment of the volatile, feminine
mercurial spirit in a fixed and useful form through the operation of the stable,
masculine sulphuric principle (this process being the marriage of contraries
or coniunctio oppositorum).
The phoenix and pelican which Maier uses to represent the yellow and red
phases were drawn by the alchemists from medieval Christian iconology, in
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
129 Ibid., p. Ci verso: “Aves deinde quinque vidi, quarum quaedam volatiles, quaedam
explumes sunt, ut Corvus, Pavo, Columba, Phænix et Pelicanus, hoc est, colores omnes
ordine, a philosophis tradito, notavi...”; Basil Valentine, a sixteenth century author from
whom Maier quotes approvingly, gives a similar enumeration of the colours with
reference to birds: the black crow, the white swan, the multi-coloured peacock and the
red Phoenix; Read, John. Prelude to Chemistry. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1936, p. 146.
130 Haage, Alchemie im Mittelalter, pp. 15-16; the sulphur-mercury theory itself seems to be
derived from the properties of cinnabar (mercuric sulphide), which separates into its
component elements through heating.
131 Ibid., pp. 16-17.
Maier’s first alchemical experiment 67
which they served as symbols for Christ – the former on account of its
miraculous powers of self-renewal through a fiery death, the latter because of
its reputed habit of feeding its young with its own blood. Indeed, alchemical
allegory since the medieval period had linked the black phase of the
alchemical process to the passion of Christ on the cross, the white phase to
the release of his spirit at death, and the perfection of the red phase to the
spirit’s re-incorporation into a pure and sinless body at resurrection. Thus the
early sixteenth century Rosarium Philosophorum, a favourite text of Maier’s,
depicts the completion of the alchemical work with an emblem showing the
emergence of Christ from his tomb, and a caption that reads: “after my many
sufferings and great martyrdom, I rise again transfigured, free of all blemish.”
With the advent of the Reformation the synthesis of Christian mythology
and alchemical lore became a prominent component of Protestant alchemy;
thus Maier speaks in his Cantilenae Intellectuales (1622) of the manner in
which the Creator planned by means of ‘a great mystery’ to free humankind
from the death proceeding from original sin:
Thus Omnipotent God became man, and crushed the head of the cunning serpent, and took
from him all his power; He was born of a Virgin free from sin, and underwent a terrible
death by the cross, shedding His blood. And so these sacred mysteries are also to be found in
this mystical Art, having been hidden under obscure images... He who understands the
manner in which Christ has saved us from everlasting death, is also able to understand the
goal of this arcane Art, and the manner in which worthless and impure metals are
perfected. 132
Here Maier refers to a life-imparting power of transformation and renewal,

manifested not only in the Passion, death and resurrection of Christ, but also
in the lives of those saved by Christ. Intimations of a parallel between Christ
and the Philosophers’ Stone stretch back to the earliest Greco-Egyptian texts,
in which the Stone is linked with the divine spark in matter and the anthropos
myth of the Gnostics. 133 The relation of Christ to the Philosophers’ Stone in
Maier’s work is one of sympathetic correspondence rather than identity, and
is not dissimilar to the conception of his older contemporary, the Lutheran
alchemist Heinrich Khunrath, although that writer utilises the Paracelsian
tripartite elemental division of sulphur, mercury and salt rather than the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
132 Maier, Michael. Cantilenae Intellectuales, in Triadas 9. distinctae, De Phoenice
Redivivo. Rostock: Mauritii Saxonis, 1622, verse 7 media: “Sic Deus potens homo/
Factus est qui subdolo/ Daemoni caput terit,/ Omne robur et rapit:/ Nascitur dum
Virgine/ Labis expers et cruce/ Horridam mortem subit,/ Et cruentus interit./ Sic in arte
mystica/ Sunt et haec umbris sacra/ Tecta... Qui modum perceperit/ CHRISTUS ut
salvaverit/ Nos ab aeterna nece,/ Hic potest et noscere/ Artis arcanae scopum,/ Quoque
tingantur, modum,/ Quae metalla vilibus/ Sunt repleta faecibus.”
133 E.g. Taylor, “The Visions of Zosimos.”
Aristotelian schema we have discussed. Furthermore, gnostic Paracelsian

elements are to the fore in the work of Khunrath, who thought of the
Philosophers’ Stone as a “universal spark of the world soul.” 134 Nevertheless,
Maier’s attitude towards salvation could be described as being broadly
gnostic in character, as the sufferings of the world mirror the black phase of
the alchemical process as a necessary, cathartic means of the spirit’s release
from bondage. 135
Having beheld the correct colour sequence in his experiment, and having
witnessed the appearance of the ‘pelican’ at Easter, Maier deemed that the
writings of the medieval alchemical masters he had consulted at Königsberg
were fully in accord with the laws of Nature. Significantly, he also felt that
the experiment had clarified the meaning of his mother’s strange experience
of augury prior to his birth 136 – another avowal that the alchemical processes
he observed in the laboratory were inextricably linked with his own destiny
on earth. As we read the closing section of the autobiographical portion of
Maier’s De Medicina Regia, we may begin to gather what that destiny would
be. For although we are told by Maier that his experiment had produced a
powerful medicament – indeed, a substance he could confidently name the
Mercury of the Philosophers, containing sulphuric and mercuric principles in
equal part 137 – he had nevertheless failed to complete his experiment due to
certain adversities. 138 The promise of future success would form the basis of
his supplication to the Emperor, as well as to later patrons, for continued
finance of a work that could never be completed.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
134 Khunrath, Heinrich. “A Naturall Chymicall Symbolum, or a Short Confession of Henry
Kunwrath of Lipsicke, Doctor of Phisick.” Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1459, II, p.
100.
135 Although the gnostic attitude is marked by a world-denying anti-materialism, as Quispel
remarks, corporeal existence often plays an indispensable role as a catharsis for the spirit
in gnostic traditions. See Quispel, Gilles. “Gnosis and Culture.” In Barnaby, Karin and
Pellegrino D’Acierno (eds.). C. G. Jung and the Humanities. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1990, p. 27.
137 On the theory of a twofold mercury, see below, chapter V, n. 28.
138 Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. Ci verso.
III. Bohemia and England
1. Maier at the court of Emperor Rudolf II
At some point in 1608 Maier moved to Prague, the capital of Bohemia and
the empire, which had become a centre of research for alchemy and the
occult sciences under the reign of Rudolf II (figure 4). The reasons for this
move were not only financial, as we are told in the De Medicina Regia that
Maier had suffered from the negative attentions of locals in his hometown in
Holstein. 1 Persecution by locals was an endemic problem for practising
alchemists, and not only on account of charges of diabolic activity; indeed,
the Englishman George Ripley (?-c.1490) was once hounded by villagers
because of the foul and poisonous fumes emanating from his laboratory. 2
Maier does not elaborate on the content of the “jibes and wicked accusations”
directed towards him, beyond stating that some of his persecutors wished that
he would surrender the precious fruits of his labours. He goes on to add that
winter, spring and summer are finished for him, and that he has reached a
melancholic ‘autumn’ on account of the calumny and injuries which he has
endured on a daily basis from his neighbours. But in a defiant aside, he then
states that it is just these ‘four seasons’ which constitute the alchemical
work. 3
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
2 Holmyard, Alchemy, p. 183.
3 Maier, De Medicina Regia, pp. Ci verso- Cii recto: “...verum eo usque me hominum
malevolorum dicteria et calumniae redegerunt, ut operi omnino supersedere, prosterisque
meis reliquam absolvendam portionem una cum fructibus, qui sperandi sint, relinquere
constituerim: Testor igitur hoc meo libro, hactenus omnia quae legi, quae vidi, cum
authoribus omnibus et singulis (de veris, non ficticiis loquor) si non verbis, at rebus
optime convenire, et a me hyemem, ver et aestatem, anni tempora absoluta, autumnum
vero propter calumnias vicinorum et injurias, quas quotidie passus sum, non attigisse:
Quamvis autem haec quarta pars sit opus mulierum et ludus puerorum, ac merito requies
a philosophis dicatur, respectu praecedentium laborum, in quibus manibus et oculis,
Gebro teste, opus est.” The reference to “women’s work and child’s play” is a standard
medieval alchemical allusion to the processes of ‘cooking’ and ‘washing’ by which the
alchemical subject is purified. The phrase is attributed to Geber in the Rosarium
Philosophorum, but appears in the seventeenth dictum of the Turba Philosophorum from
the mouth of ‘Socrates’; see also the third and twenty-second emblems of Maier’s
Atalanta Fugiens.
70 Bohemia and England
Although we might have expected a winter to have followed his autumn,

in Prague Maier’s fortune was to take a positive turn. Having read the De
Medicina Regia (as it seems) the Emperor was duly impressed not only by
Maier’s command of alchemical theory, but also by his tale of hardship. For
some two months following its publication, as we have noted, Maier was
admitted into the imperial court as a personal physician to the Emperor and,
shortly thereafter, raised to the rank of Imperial Count Palatine. Rudolf has
been characterised as a ‘wizard Emperor’, who “trod the paths of secret
knowledge with an obsession bordering on madness,” and who ended his
reign as a self-imposed prisoner in his own castle. 4 He surrounded himself
with a host of physicians, who tended to both his melancholic illness and his
fascination with alchemy; yet it was the belief of many observers that the
latter was the cause of the former, for such was Rudolf’s fascination with the
occult sciences – from astrology and Kabbalah to necromancy – that he felt
himself to be ‘bewitched’. 5 Be this as it may, his sickness was certainly
associated with an apocalyptically-tinged paranoia, and saw his gradual
withdrawal from the practical affairs of State into a magical, narcissistic
realm of his own creation. 6 This was a happy circumstance for occultists such
as Maier, as the Emperor delighted “in hearing secrets about things both
natural and artificial;” according to one observer, “whoever is able to deal in
such matters will always find the ear of the Emperor ready.” 7
In pursuit of his obsession, Rudolf assembled at his court a remarkable
group of alchemists, Kabbalists, magicians and astronomers, as well as poets
and artists from across Europe; amongst his entourage at various times were
to be counted the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and the
alchemists Oswald Croll and Martin Ruland, whilst occasional visitors
included such luminaries of occult science as John Dee and Giordano Bruno.
Rudolf himself had a good humanist education, and he welcomed learned
Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists alike to his court, where a spirit of cross-
confessional tolerance reigned. 8 His goal was to encourage the pursuit of a
great synthesis of the various spheres of knowledge, a pansophia or science
of the universe. Central to this pursuit was the investigation of the links
connecting the microcosm with the macrocosm through the deciphering of
divine ‘signatures’ or ‘hieroglyphs’ imprinted in Nature.
Interestingly, Will-Erich Peuckert, an important writer on the subject of
pansophia in the esoteric traditions, once argued that Maier did not share in
the pansophic spirit that reigned at the court of Rudolf II; rather, he stated
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
4 Evans, Rudolf II and his World, p. 2.
5 Ibid., pp. 89, 198.
6 Ibid., p. 90.
7 Ibid., p. 196.
8 Ibid., p. 85.
The Hymnosophia 71
that Maier espoused “a philosophy of the laboratory” that leads away from
pansophic approaches to Nature and towards the experimental tradition
exemplified by Newton. 9 Unfortunately, Peuckert’s views on this matter
seem to have been based on the testimony of Maier’s Rosicrucian writings
alone, which on first inspection seem to depict the Rosicrucian brethren as
nothing more than hard-working researchers into a Nature divested of divine
aspect. Although Maier’s pansophic sentiments are not always made explicit,
Peuckert was unaware of the scope of the alchemical Art in Maier’s eyes.
2. The Hymnosophia
That scope is well illustrated in the little-known Hymnosophia (‘Hymn to

Wisdom’), a work written by Maier whilst in Prague. 10 Although there is no
date given on the title page (suggesting it underwent a limited print run in the
same manner as the De Medicina Regia), after Maier’s name we find the title
‘P. C. Caesar’, i.e. Comes Palatinus or Count Palatine – from which fact we
may understand that the work was composed after the 29th of September,
1609, the date of the conferral of Maier’s peerage. Under the author’s name
on the title page stands the verse, “I have nothing to say against worldly
things, when they concern the heavenly; the heavens shine, my matter is
granted to me by light.” 11 The last phrase of the verse, res mea luce mihi, is
an anagram of the author’s name, and appears to refer to the Light of Nature.
The Hymnosophia presents forty hymns praising God, who exists in a co-
eternal Trinity, for the ‘mystical medicine’ that is His gift; their central theme
is the correspondence of things heavenly to earthly, and the divine chain
linking the two. In form this work could be said to prefigure the Cantilenae
Intellectuales written in the last year of Maier’s life, a more polished tract in
which we again find the macrocosmic mysteries of God’s Creation and the
microcosmic Universal Medicine paralleled in alternating verses. Thus in the
twelfth hymn of the Hymnosophia Maier writes of the macrocosm as a war of
the four opposing elements, by which heavier bodies become lighter and
lighter bodies heavier; likewise, the human being is a “smaller copy of the
universe,” being composed of the four contrary humours, from the interaction
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
9 Peuckert, Will-Erich. Pansophie. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1936, pp. 105-107.
10 Maier, Michael. Hymnosophia, seu Meditatio Laudis Divinae, pro Coelidonia, Medicina
mystica, voarchadumica etc. Prague: n.p., n.d. I am indebted to Dr. Ulrich Neumann for
sharing his copy of this work with me.
11 Ibid.: “Nil Mundana moror, cum sint coelestia curae, fulgeat Aetheria res mea luce
mihi.”
of which are produced the various spiritus. 12 This correspondence is based on

a view of both body and universe as the sites of a process of distillation, 13
and is explicated in greater detail in Maier’s Septimana Philosophica (1620),
where we are told that the heart produces the spiritus vitalis from the blood
by its ‘natural fire’ or calor innatus, which travels to the brain and is there
transformed into the spiritus animalis. Likewise, the sun as the homologue of
the heart constructs ‘subtle essences’ from the purest air (the homologue of
blood), and these essences inhere in the light, heat and ‘virtue’ that are
transmitted to the wandering and fixed stars, thus imparting motion to the
universe. 14 The twelfth hymn of the Hymnosophia goes on to explain that the
universe and the human being are mirrored in their turn by the Hermetic
medicine, as it is composed in the alchemical vessel through the alternating
motions of rarefaction and condensation – activities which proceed “in one
marvellously interconnected chain.” 15 In this way Maier offers us a picture of
the universe, the body and the alchemical vessel as inter-related networks of
cosmic sympathy and antipathy, in which ever-finer and subtler spiritus are
distilled.
Correlations between laboratory process and cosmos are found throughout
Maier’s work. Thus the six days of God’s Creation are suggestively portrayed
in the preface of the Hymnosophia as a process of separation and refinement
in which darkness is separated from light, earth from water, and the stars are
gathered together as fires in the heavenly palace. 16 This is the septimana
philosophica, the ‘philosophical week’ in which the universe is the Hermetic
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
12 Ibid., p. Cii recto- Cii verso: “Sic compegit opus caelo septemplice cinctum/ Mundanas
Deus arte plagas, contraria ut omni/ Corpora parte sibi discordia bella moverent;/ Hac
Elementa vocant, quorum calet ignis, at unda/ Friget, humus siccat, mollit penetrabilis
aer:/ Quae tamen unanimi miscentur foedere, ne quid/ Ante diem fugiat, gravibus leviora
tenentur/ Fixa solo, levibus gravioraque pondere certant./ Mundus in exemplo minor est,
Homo, possidet ille/ Terreno hospitio flammas statusque tenellos/ Cum variis mixtos
humoribus, hos regit una/ Mens animae sedes, et motibus incitat artus.”
13 The conception of the universe as a site of distillation dates to the pre-Socratic
philosophers, and in particular to the theory of condensation and rarefaction proposed by
Anaximenes.
14 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 7: “Et si bene rem introspiciamus, penitiusque
consideremus, Sol in coelo, ut cor in humano corpore procedit in suis operationibus. Cor
ex sanguine puriore fabricat spiritus tenues, aerios, sed igneae naturae, calidos et siccos,
motu contractionis et dilatationis, quos deinde mittit per arterias carotidas in cerebrum,
ut ibi frigiditate et humiditate cerebrim retiformi complexu temperentur et fiant spiritus
animales sensibus omnibus et motibus causandis in corpore aptis: ita Sol sive ex puriore
aere, sive alias, fabricat essentias subtilissimas, quibus insunt Lumen, Calor, et Virtus,
antea dicta, easque transmittit ad stellas omnes circumcirca in coelo sitas, hoc est,
errantes et fixas.”
15 Maier, Hymnosophia, p. Cii verso.
16 Ibid., p. Aii verso.
The Hymnosophia 73
vessel writ large, and God – that most “admirable Artificer” – appears as the
supreme alchemist (figure 5). 17 For the alchemists of the medieval and early
modern periods, the most important source of this conception was the
enigmatic Tabula Smaragdina of Hermes Trismegistus: and although this
text has been described as “cryptic” and “virtually incomprehensible,” 18 we
can see that it makes a great deal of sense when understood in terms of the
vitalistic Hermetic cosmology held by an alchemist such as Maier:
That which is beneath is like that which is above: and that which is above, is like that which
is beneath, to worke the miracles of one thing. And as all things have proceeded from one, by
the meditation of one, so all things have sprung from this one thing by adaptation. His father
is the sun, his mother is the moone, the wind bore it in her belly. The earth is his nurse. The
father of all the perfection of this world is here. His force and power is perfect, if it be turned
into earth. Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire, the thinne from the thicke, and
that gently with great discretion. It ascendeth from the Earth into Heaven: and againe it
descendeth into the earth, and receiveth the power of the superiours and inferiours: so shalt
thou have the glorie of the whole worlde. All obscuritie therefore shall flie away from thee.
This is the mightie power of all power, for it shall overcome every subtile thing, and pearce
through every solide thing. So was the worlde created. 19
There exists in the alchemical corpus no more succinct expression of the

correspondence of the alchemical work to the cosmogony, or of the place of
the divine life force in both. That the wind should bear this power ‘in her
belly’ is an allusion to the Stoic notion of the logos spermatikos borne by the
air or ether; that it should be ‘turned into earth’ is a clear reference to the
‘fixation’ of the volatile mercurial spirit, the coniunctio oppositorum which
constitutes an act of creation.
In accordance with the unity of the divine power expressed by the Tabula
Smaragdina, in the thirteenth hymn of his Hymnosophia Maier tells us that
the Triune God has established “a venerable pattern” on earth, as the
Universal Medicine has emerged from a unity, and after many changes
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
17 The parallels of the alchemical opus with God’s work of Creation were elaborated upon
at length by the followers of Paracelsus; see, for example, Gerhard Dorn’s commentary
on the ‘Physica’ of ‘Abbot Trithemius’ in Theatrum Chemicum, Vol. 1. Strasbourg:
Zetzner, 1656, pp. 388-399; an English manuscript translation resides at the British
Library: “A Treatise of John Tritheme concerning the Spagirick Artifice exposed &
interpreted by Gerhard Dorn.” British Library, MS Sloane 632, pp. 6-10. On the subject
of the Paracelsian appropriation of the Christian creation myth, see Debus, Allen G. The
English Paracelsians. London: Oldbourne, 1965, pp. 24-26.
18 Dobbs, Betty Jo Teeter. “Newton’s Commentary on the Emerald Tablet of Hermes
Trismegistus: its Scientific and Theological Significance.” In Merkel, Ingrid and Allen
G. Debus (eds.). Hermeticism and the Renaissance: Intellectual History and the Occult
in Early Modern Europe. Cranbury: Associated University Presses, 1988, p. 184.
19 Cited in Roger Bacon’s The Mirror of Alchimy. London: Richard Olive, 1597, pp. 15-16;
Maier, Hymnosophia, p. Ciii recto.
returns to that unity. 20 Yet the medicine is simultaneously threefold in its

nature, a fact to which Hermes Trismegistus has testified. 21 This is a
reference to the fifth chapter of the medieval Tractatus Aureus Hermetis
Trismegisti, in which Hermes asserts that in all Nature there exists three
things, a beginning, a middle, and an end – a statement Maier repeats in his
thirteenth hymn. 22 These three things are encompassed by God just as the
medicine contains the chaotic prima materia, the process of purification, and
the final perfection within itself. The conception of the Philosophers’ Stone
as an all-encompassing entity is pervasive in the literature, stretching back
to the early Greco-Egyptian texts; witness, for example, the tail-eating
ouroboros (figure 6), or the “temple of one stone” having “neither beginning
nor end in its building” mentioned by Zosimos. 23 Maier’s specific references
to the Trinity in his thirteenth hymn may also be an allusion to the traditional
Christian division of Creation into three eras: the beginning under God, the
middle under Christ, and the end under the Holy Spirit (a theme taken up by
the Joachimite heretics). Furthermore, in the same passage of the Tractatus
Aureus to which Maier refers, Hermes asserts that between Heaven and Earth
there must be a third, that is to say, a Mediator. 24 Thus Maier again draws a
parallel between the Philosophers’ Stone and Christ as the incarnate God and
redeemer of matter, which he explores further in the thirtieth hymn of the
Hymnosophia. 25
The sixteenth hymn – entitled “The sun of the heavens, the sun of the
earth: the locus of the medicine” – confirms the many planes of alchemy’s
significance in its suggestion that the earth, in which metals grow and are
perfected through the power of the sun, is also the homologue of the
alchemist’s vessel:
There is a cave stretching to the centre of the earth, surrounded on all sides by mountains,
which holds the hidden seeds of the sun, and which imparts the gift of divine power, and
conceals the most golden of treasures. If there are lovers of piety, God the Almighty will
make them heirs to the richest gifts. O Lord, if only You would graciously choose me, one in
a thousand men, to be a guest at Your banquet. Alas! how am I to repay so great a present
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
20 Ibid., pp. Cii verso- Ciii recto.
21 Ibid., p. Ciii recto.
22 Hermes Trismegistus. “Tractatus Aureus de Lapidis physici secreto.” In Theatrum
Chemicum. Vol. 4. Straßburg: Zetzner, 1613, pp. 672-797; an English translation is to be
found in Salmon, William. Medicina Practica. London: J. Harris at the Harrow in the
Poultrey, 1692, pp. 178-258.
23 Berthelot, Marcellin Pierre Eugene (ed., trans.). Collection des Anciens Alchimistes
Grecs. London: Holland Press, 1963, p. 120: “...un temple monolithe, semblable à la
céruse, a l’albâtre, n’ayant ni commencement ni fin dans sa construction.”
24 Salmon, Medicina Practica, verse 5.vii.
25 Maier, Hymnosophia, pp. Fiv verso- Gi verso.
The Hymnosophia 75
with my heart? I possess nothing without You, I am indebted to You for this body and soul,
and all the good which You have given to me; these things shall be Yours when I leave [my
earthly existence] and are but a ransom to Your kingdom, in order that I may attend You as a
servile slave close-at-hand to the celebrated Master and Father. 26
It must be said that the devotional language utilised in this and other passages
of the Hymnosophia are unusually florid, and constitute an exception in the
corpus of Maier’s work; and we might also surmise that the indebtedness
Maier felt at this time was as much to his benefactor the Emperor, whom he
no doubt attended diligently, if not as a ‘servile slave’. Nevertheless, this
passage demonstrates well the solar mysticism that is a dominating theme of
Maier’s work, and the Tractatus Aureus may again have been an important
source for Maier when formulating these ideas. 27 The central conception here
is the ‘seed of the sun’, by which plants and the “mass submersed in the
caverns” are animated. 28 Likewise, we are told that the stars too receive the
“pleasing warmth” of this “divine power,” which is at its height when they
change their aspect to face the radiance of the sun. Although there is nothing
of theological speculation in the Hymnosophia, Maier strays far enough from
an orthodox Lutheran position to represent the sun and God in a language that
blurs their distinction. 29
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
26 Ibid., p. Di verso: “Proximus a centro terrarum tractus habetur/ Undique vallatis
conclusum montibus antrum,/ Semina quod Solis tenet abdita, quodque favorem/
Numinis insinuat, thesaurorumque recondit/ Flavissas, si qui fuerint pietatis amantes,/
His beat, haeredesque facit tam divitis arrae/ Largitor Omnipotens: o si me ex millibus
unum/ Gratuito talis convivam ad fercula mensae/ Legeris, heu quantas expendam
pectore grates,/ Aut referam tanto munuscula munere digna?/ Nil ego possideo sine te,
tibi debeo corpus/ Hancque animam, bonaque omnia, quae mihi tute dedisti,/ Haec
habeas, mihi me rapiens lytron ad tua regna,/ Ut tibi mancipii servilis sedulus instar/
Cominus assistam, Dominumque Patremque celebrem.”
27 Although these conceptions are common in the medieval alchemical literature, we
cannot fail to notice the close resemblance of Maier’s sixteenth hymn to the words of
Hermes in the Tractatus Aureus: “This hidden Secret which is the Venerable Stone,
splendid in Color, a Sublime Spirit, an Open Sea, is hid in the Caverns of the Metals:
Behold I have exposed it to you; and give thanks to the Almighty God, who teaches you
this knowledge: If you be grateful, he will return you the Tribute of your Love”; “...such
Gold in Bodies is like the Sun among the Stars, most Light and Splendid. And as by the
Power of God, every Vegetable, and all the Fruits of the Earth are perfected; so by the
same Power, the Gold, and the Seed thereof which contains all these seven Bodies,
makes them to spring to be ripened, and brought to perfection, and without which this
Work can in no wise be performed.” Salmon, Medicina Practica, verses 2.vi, 12.ii.
28 Maier, Hymnosophia, p. Di recto: “Sic et humo plantas, nec non submersa cavernis/
Pondera saepe decet vigilante reponere sensu,/ Omnipotensque rudi sub mole requirere
Numen.”
29 Ibid.: “Sol oculus caeli dum circum voluitur axe/ Fert gyrante diem, radiisque nitentibus
umbras/ Discutit, astra super Clarissime justicia SOL/ Tu Deus effulges, solemque
solumque refraenas/ Imperio, stet ut hoc perpes, moveatur ut ille.”
Did Maier believe at this time that he possessed the ‘coelidonia’ or ‘gift of
heaven’ containing the power of the sun? Despite his supplications to God in
the Hymnosophia to bestow this gift upon him, the evidence of Maier’s
first experiments described above suggests that he already possessed an
iatrochemical remedy that, if not the Universal Medicine itself, was at least
something approaching it in virtue and efficacy. Furthermore, according to a
letter from Maier to Prince August of Anhalt-Plötzkau cited by Figala and
Neumann, the Emperor “graciously condescended to accept a portion of
Maier’s Universal Medicine.” 30 Whether or not the Emperor bravely
condescended to ingest this substance, the nature of Maier’s principal cure is
confirmed in the Hymnosophia by the hymn concerning “the resurrection of
the dead.” 31 In this place, and in the Civitas Corporis Humani to be discussed
in our fifth chapter, we may gather that Maier’s iatrochemical physic was
concerned first and foremost with the employment of drastic purgatives.
Having told us that the phoenix is not only to be found in Egypt but also in
Europe, provided that we “look around with the little eye of the soul,” Maier
goes on in his hymn to liken that bird’s recovery of youth with the treatment
of dropsy (œdema). 32 Although this parallel may appear incongruous – as do
many of the parallels Maier draws – his reference here is to a process of
rejuvenation through catharsis. Thus dropsical limbs are drained of their
excess fluid by ‘perforation’, and the patient is “three times washed by water,
three times purged by the flames given by God.” The standard treatment for
dropsy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was the administration of
purgatives, though it seems that Maier may have had some special remedy
awaiting his patients beyond the mercuric oxide or sulphur commonly
applied. 33
Despite the successes Maier may have had with this remedy, in the
Hymnosophia he discusses the four seasons and their parallels to the Great
Work, and in the course of the twenty-sixth hymn on autumn we are told that
“the ripe fruit does not yet adhere to the tree.” This is because such fruit
cannot be had “by force of ploughing,” i.e. the cycle of Nature must be
allowed to take its course, and no premature stoking of the furnace fires will
hasten the ripening of the solar seed. This having been said, Maier again
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
30 Figala and Neumann, “Author cui Nomen Hermes Malavici,” p. 130.
31 Maier, Hymnosophia, pp. Civ recto- Civ verso.
32 Ibid.: “Hoc etenim purae Medicamen amabile Glaurae,/ Innuitur, cui dirus hydrops
inflaverat artus:/ Traditur hinc lentae per multa pericula curae,/ Omnis aquae rivis qua
per paracenthesin haustis/ Gurgitis a nimio fuit exanimata dolore:/ Tum lymphis ter lota,
ter expurgataque flammis,/ Dante Deo, Coelis animam, velut ante recepit,/ Purior et nulla
juvenis jam labe perennis.”
33 Kiple, K. F. (ed.). The Cambridge World History of Disease. Cambridge: Cambridge
The reversal of fortune 77
adopts his melancholic tone when he says that “the hope of succeeding
consoles the heart,” and he offers up a prayer to God for his future success.
Interestingly, this prayer refers to his acquisition of the poet’s laurels in
Padua: it simply states, “I am he, who was crowned with the laurel wreath in
the city of Padua; not because I speak in verses of the frivolous things of this
world, but because I speak of the great things of God.” 34
3. The reversal of fortune
Maier was 40 years old when he gained his place in the hereditary peerage
on the 29th of September, 1609. The record of the emperor’s bestowal of the
title of Pfalzgraf or Imperial Count Palatine residing in the Allgemeines
Verwaltungsarchiv in Vienna lists the privileges associated with Maier’s new
position; amongst them are the power to grant the right to bear arms, 35 and
the power to bestow the title of Doctor, Magister, Baccalaureate and Poet
Laureate at the universities of the empire and the Venetian Republic. 36 The
university of Padua is mentioned by name, which must have seemed a
pleasant reversal of fortune for Maier considering his violent history at that
institution, and the efforts of the German Nation there to deny him his own
doctoral degree.
In the Deutsches Reich the bestowal of a hereditary peerage was accom-
panied by the ceremonial receipt of heraldic insignia from the Emperor; and
in an official manuscript reply to his appointment as Imperial Count Palatine
(figure 7), Maier makes a request to the Emperor for a particular symbol to
adorn his coat of arms:
Most Merciful Emperor, that true Hermetic Philosopher Avicenna once said in his Porta
Elementorum, “the magistery is an eagle which flies through the air, and a toad which creeps
on the earth.” Thereby he understood the eagle to be the volatile part of Mercury, and by the
creeping toad he understood the fixed part of the earth, from both of which together arises
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
34 Maier, Hymnosophia, p. Fi verso: “Arbore fructus adhuc nondum maturus inhaeret,/
Caerea nulla fluunt nec citria, Arantia ve hortis/ Sponte cadunt, nam causa subest, quod
frigore duro/ Haec loca pressa diu lento sua semina fotu/ Produxere, calor Solis dum
justus abesset:/ Spes sed enim bona successu solatur amico/ Pectora passa graves jam
longo tempore curas./ O si detur et hos animo superare labores,/ Et bene speratis in rebus
cernere finem,/ Vota tibi Supreme Deus solennibus aris/ Mente lubens faciam, sitque
haec inscriptio VOTI:/ ILLE EGO, QUEM PATAVA LAURUS CIRCUMDEDIT
URBE/ IAMPRIDEM, STATUO, QUOD NON HAEC FRIVOLA MUNDI/ CARMI-
NIBUS, SED MIRA DEI MAGNALIA DICAM.”
35 Vienna, Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv: Palatinat, Prag 29. IX. 1609, (R) u. (WB II,
114), p. 11 verso.
36 Ibid., pp. 10 verso-11 recto.
the Hermetic Medicine and Tincture of the Wise, as I will hereafter explain to Your Majesty
at length with the greatest pleasure... it is my most humble wish that Your Majesty would
recognise me and give me a hereditary double helmet for such a philosophical symbol, like
the double helmet that is often to be found on the shields borne by the nobility in Austria...37
Evidently the Emperor obliged, as this is a reference to Maier’s heraldic in-

signia (see figure 1), which show a toad and an eagle linked by a golden
chain – a representation of the alchemical coniunctio oppositorum. The
golden chain (aurea catena) is a medieval alchemical symbol, mentioned by
pseudo-Jean de Meung in the Remonstrance of Nature as the means of
“reconciling opposites and calming their discord.” 38 Just why it should be a
golden chain that binds the opposing mercuric and sulphuric principles in the
alchemical work may be gleaned from the ultimate source of the aurea
catena motif in alchemy, Homer’s Iliad. There Zeus issues a challenge to
those who would oppose his will:
...come, try it, gods – then all of you will know. Hang a golden chain down from heaven, and
all you gods and goddesses take hold of it: but you could not pull Zeus, the counsellor most
high, down from heaven to the ground, however long and hard you laboured... By so much
am I above gods and above men. 39
Clearly, then, the aurea catena forms a link between the supreme power
of heaven and the mass of the world below; it is the ‘marvellously
interconnected chain’ that Maier speaks of in the Hymnosophia, linking the
heart with gold, gold with the sun, and the sun with God. 40 From the time of
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
37 Ibid. p. 24r: “Allergnädigster Kayser, Es sagt Avicenna der/ warhafte Hermetisch
Philosophus in seiner Porta Elementorum,/ Ein Adler, welcher fleucht durch die Luft,
und eine Kröte,/ welcher krigt auf der erde, sey die Meisterschafft; da vorsthet er durch
den adtler das fluchtige theil des/ gemeinen Argenti vivi, durch die erdische krichende
Kröte,/ das fixe theil der erden, von diessen beiten ist zusamen gefuget die Hermetisch
Medicin und Tinctur/ der weissen, wie ich hernach Eur. May: mit grossem Lust
weitleuftig zu erkleren habe... so ist mein untertänigste bitte, Ihr May: wolle mir beuelen,
solchem philosophischem symbolo einen geduppelten helm erblichen verleihen und mit
theilen; wie dan dergeleichen / zwei helme auf einem schilde die vom adel/ meistes
theiles zu österreich...”
38 See the Musaeum Hermeticum Reformatum et Amplificatum. Frankfurt am Main: Sande,
1678, p. 165.
39 Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Martin Hammond. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1987, p.
118.
40 In his Atalanta Fugiens Maier mentions a contemporary English report that a toad with a
golden chain was found inside a quarry stone: “William of Newberry, an English writer,
saith (how truly let others judge) that in a certain quarry in the diocese of Vintonia, a
great stone being split, there was a living Toad found in it, with a golden chain, and it
was by the Bishop’s command, hidden in the same place and buried in perpetual
darkness, lest it might bear an ill omen with it.” Maier goes on to jestingly question why
a toad should require golden jewellery, “lest by chance he should meet the beetle in the
The reversal of fortune 79
the earliest extant alchemical literature, alchemy was concerned with the
powers that link heaven and earth; following the apocryphal Book of Enoch,
the Greco-Egyptian alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis claimed that the
alchemical secrets were taught to humanity by fallen angels, who wrote the
primeval books of alchemy. 41 In accordance with that first encounter,
alchemists through the millennia toiled to manifest divine power in the world.
Maier’s request for the ‘symbol of Avicenna’ is testament to the great
currency held by Hermetic and emblematic symbolism in Rudolfine Prague.
Through his archivist, Octavio de Strada, Rudolf had commissioned the
collection of a vast registry of symbols and heraldic insignia; these were
brought together in a tome known as the Symbola Divina et Humana, in
which each symbol was illustrated with a copperplate emblem and set
together with a motto and short discourse – in similar style to Maier’s
exclusively alchemical emblem book, the Atalanta Fugiens. 42 The emblem
gained popularity in the sixteenth century as a pictorial allegory, often
accompanied by a short motto, designed to intuitively convey a message of
moral significance to the reader. 43 Its origin can be traced largely to the
Renaissance understanding of hieroglyphs, and in particular to the discovery
in 1419 of the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo, a Hellenistic-Egyptian work of
the fourth century CE in which the original significance of the priestly script
had already been obscured by the Neoplatonic understanding of hieroglyphs
as intuitive representations of archetypal truths. 44 Following its reappearance
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
twilight;” and he explains that “it is in the Stone of the subterranean caverns that the
Philosophical Toad is really found, not in the quarry (as that fabulous author asserts).”
Maier, Michael. “The Flying Atalanta, Or Philosophical Emblems of the Secrets of
Nature.” British Library, MS Sloane 3645, 17th century, discourse 4.
41 The Book of Enoch, 8.1-2: “And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and
shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art
of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the
beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. And
there arose much godlessness...”; on this subject, see Mertens, Michèle. “Sur la Trace
des Anges Rebelles dans les Traditions Ésotériques du Début de notre Ère jusqu’au
XVIIe Siècle.” In Ries, Julien and Henri Limet (eds.). Anges et Démons: Actes du
Colloque de Liège et de Louvain-la-Neuve, 25-26 Novembre 1987. Louvain-la-Neuve:
Centre D’Histoire des Religions, 1989, pp. 383-389.
42 Trunz, Erich. “Späthumanismus und Manierismus im Kreise Kaiser Rudolfs II.” In Prag
um 1600: Kunst und Kultur am Hofe Rudolfs II. Freren: Luca-Verlag, 1988, p. 58; on de
Strada’s collection, see Volkmann, Ludwig. Bilder-Schriften der Renaissance:
Hieroglyphik und Emblematik in ihren Beziehungen und Fortwirkungen. Leipzig: Karl
W. Hiersemann, 1923, pp. 58-59.
43 Praz, Mario. Studies in Seventeenth-Century Imagery. Vol. 1. London: The Warburg
Institute, 1939, pp. 12, 19 ff.
44 Iversen, The Myth of Egypt, pp. 40 ff., 65: “In the Platonic and postsocratic philosophies
the Egyptian myths were always considered in the way in which the Greeks had become
accustomed to consider their own, which means that the relationship between myth and
in the Renaissance, Horapollo’s work gave rise to the idea that hieroglyphs
could constitute a universal language without letters, a purely pictorial means
of representation embodying the pristine power of words granted to Adam. 45
4. The most secret of secrets
It is in the context of the search at the imperial court for the prisca sapientia,
and the pansophic concern with divine signatures in Nature, that we should
understand Maier’s Arcana Arcanissima (‘The Most Secret of Secrets,’ 1614;
see figure 8). 46 In this work the hieroglyphs and myths of ancient Egypt and
Greece are interpreted as representations of universal alchemical processes,
and constitute the ‘pristine language’ gleaned directly from the Creator. The
Arcana Arcanissima was composed during Maier’s time at the court of
Rudolf, or at least shortly thereafter, as we may gather from the manuscript
of Maier’s residing at the library of the university of Leipzig entitled
De Theosophia Aegyptiorum (‘On the Theosophy of the Egyptians’). 47
Although Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, following Morhof, described the De
Theosophia Aegyptiorum as a “thorough revision of the Arcana Arcanissima”
which was never published, 48 there are three facts mitigating against
this assertion. Firstly, the contents are largely identical with the Arcana
Arcanissima, and therefore contain very little to justify a reprint. 49
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
reality was considered as being of a symbolic and allegorical nature. But the establish-
ment of this symbolic relationship was a fundamental misinterpretation of the very basis
of Egyptian thought, and substituted the mythical truth of the Egyptians, with its
indissoluble magical identification of myth and matter, by an utterly un-Egyptian
interpretation created by Greek philosophy and poetry.”
45 On this subject see Coudert, Allison P. (ed.). The Language of Adam/ Die Sprache
Adams. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1999.
46 Maier, Michael. Arcana Arcanissima, hoc est, Hieroglyphica Aegyptio-Graeca. London:
Creede, c. 1614.
47 Maier, Michael. De Theosophia Aegyptiorum. Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, MS 0396.
48 von Murr, Über den Wahren Ursprung der Rosenkreuzer, p. 45; Morhof, Daniel Georg.
Polyhistor Literarius Philosophicus et Practicus. Lübeck: Peter Böchmann, 1714, p.
169, n. l: “Qui et idem Argumentum, diversa licet Methodo, denuo pertractavit, in Tr. de
Theosophia Aegyptiorum ut antiquissima, sic abdita et Sacra, cuius MStum αυτοχαϕου
in Bibliothec. Acad. Lips. Paulina superesse, Actorum Orbis Eruditi Lipsiensium
Collectores, plura de eodem referentes, M. Jul. A. 1687 p.393, 394 nos edocuerunt,
Editionem etiam, Morhofii hortatu, uti ipsemet mihi retulit, moliti.”
49 Thus chapter 1 of the Arcana Arcanissima on Egyptian gods and hieroglyphics = De
Theosophia Aegyptiorum, pp. 8 recto ff.; chapter 2 on Jason and Atalanta = pp. 36 verso
ff.; chapter 3 on the genealogies of the gods = pp. 59 recto ff.; chapter 4 on the ancient
festivals = pp. 21 verso ff.; chapter 5 on the labours of Hercules = pp. 24 verso ff.;
chapter 6 on the Trojan expedition = pp. 49 recto ff.
The most secret of secrets 81
Secondly, there appear to be certain references in note form to the De

Theosophia Aegyptiorum on the back page of a manuscript of Maier’s dating
from early in 1611. 50 Thirdly, on the title page of the De Theosophia
Aegyptiorum Maier writes “authore Michaele Meyero,” an earlier variation
of his family name that does not occur in Maier’s printed or manuscript
works after 1610. This surname is struck out by the same hand (that of the
author), and replaced first with ‘Maiero’, which is struck out again and
replaced with ‘Maÿero’ – the variation Maier decided upon when publishing
his Hymnosophia, which as we have seen dates from after September 1609
but before Maier’s departure from the court of Rudolf II some time prior to
the 4th of August 1610. 51 It is not clear whether these revisions indicate some
indecision on Maier’s behalf concerning the best way to present his name in a
printed work; in any case, the Arcana Arcanissima appeared under the name
‘Maier’, as did all his subsequent publications. It is also pertinent to note
that after leaving the imperial court Maier spent a period of months in the
Saxon town of Torgau, which may explain why the manuscript of the
De Theosophia Aegyptiorum was to be found at the Paulaner Bibliothek
in neighbouring Leipzig as early as 1687, according to the testimony of
Morhof. 52 In any case, it would seem that the work is in fact a rough draft for
the Arcana Arcanissima rather than a ‘thorough revision’ of that work.
The principal variation in the arguments presented by the Theosophia
Aegyptiorum and the Arcana Arcanissima lies in the question of origins; for
according to Maier’s draft work, it was Adam himself who was granted
knowledge of the Art of alchemy, which was passed on to Egypt by the
Jewish patriarchs – in accordance with Ficino’s belief – and then on to
Greece via the travels of Pythagoras in Egypt. 53 In the Arcana Arcanissima
Maier only gives Egypt as his starting point, the country from which all art,
religion and science are derived. 54 Nevertheless, in his major work on the
lineage of alchemical wisdom, the Symbola Aureae Mensae (1617), Maier
would reiterate his belief that Hermes Trismegistus – the most ancient of
Egyptian philosophers – had derived his knowledge from the patriarch
Abraham, who had received the prisca sapientia in turn from Seth, the son
of Adam. 55 Despite the omission of this lineage in the Arcana Arcanissima,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
50 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. 11, 1, p. 64 verso.
51 We may also mention the consonance of the subtitle of the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum
– De Circulo Artium, Coelidonia, Medicina mystica, etc. – with Maier’s other two works
of this period: De Medicina Regia et vere Heroica, Coelidonia, and the Hymnosophia,
seu Meditatio Laudis Divinae, pro Coelidonia, Medicina mystica, voarchadumica etc.
52 Morhof, Polyhistor, p. 169.
53 Maier, De Theosophia Aegyptiorum, pp. 4-5.
54 Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, pp. 47-48.
55 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, pp. 6-8.
both the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum and the Arcana Arcanissima are

in agreement on the nature of that pristine wisdom, which concerned a
miraculous medicine for both body and soul:
In order that I might establish the foundation of Egyptian doctrine, I have explored innumer-
able pieces of evidence showing that there was practised in Egypt – particularly amongst the
philosophers, priests and most ancient kings – a certain science, teaching the most secret
work of Nature, or a golden medicine, not produced from gold, but a thousand times more
precious than gold. In order that this science could be passed on to the wise for posterity, and
remain unknown to the common people, certain occult signs drawn from animals were used
instead of writing, later called by the Greeks hieroglyphs. 56
One of the “innumerable pieces of evidence” Maier perused before coming to

his conclusions may have been the Thesaurus Hieroglyphicorum (c.1607) of
Herwarth von Hohenburg, a contemporary collection of hieroglyphic
inscriptions (figure 9); another source was certainly the Hieroglyphics of
Horapollo, who is named as an authority on the first page of the Arcana
Arcanissima. Maier’s theme of secrecy and ciphers is reflected in a verse
offered to the reader in the introduction of the Arcana Arcanissima, the first
and last lines of which are anagrams of his own name:
(Michael Maierus Doctor, Comes Palatinus.)

In Christo spes illa deo mea, amo cruciatum.
Auri ne teneat me malesuadus amor.
Aurea dos placeat reliquis et lumina pascat.
Laurus, amo omen sic, dos mihi recta placet.
The middle two lines of the verse also appear to be anagrams, although their
solution evades the present author. The whole translates roughly as:
My hope lies in Christ the God, I love the crucified one.

Lest the seductive love of gold possess me.
The golden gift may satisfy others and it does nourish the lights.
I love and pride myself on the laurel wreath, a just gift and an omen. 57
In the course of his introduction Maier understandably tackles the question

most pressing to his readers: why should a good Christian follow the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
56 Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, p. 2: “Nos ut fundamentum Aegyptiae doctrinae statuamus,
ex innumeris indiciis exploratum habemus, in Aegypto scientiam quandam arcanissima
naturae opera docentem, sive MEDICINAM AUREAM, non ex auro, sed auro millies
preciosiorem, in usu extitisse, praesertim apud Philosophos, Sacerdotes, et Reges
antiquissimos; quae ut posteris sapientioribus tradi posset, vulgo autem ignota maneret,
pro scriptione occultas ab animalibus desumptas notas a Graecis postea Hieroglyphicas
dictas...”
57 Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, p. Aiv recto.
teachings of the pagans? What is there amongst this multitude of gods that
concerns those instructed by the true Word of God? In Maier’s view, the true
significance of myth and hieroglyph were stored beyond writing in the
memory of the philosophers, for which reason very few signs still exist
concerning their true origin, and the stories of the ancients now appear before
us like a treasure lying in “the most secret chest” for over three thousand
years. 58 Nevertheless, there still exist works from which their true meaning
can be gleaned. On this count Maier names Iamblichus (c.250-c.330 CE), the
Syrian Neoplatonist whose De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum (‘On the Mysteries of
the Egyptians’) was influential for the Hermeticists of the Italian Renaissance
through Ficino’s translation of 1497. Unfortunately, Neoplatonists such as
Iamblichus had already perpetrated “a fundamental misinterpretation of the
very basis of Egyptian thought.” 59 Although Maier does not mention the De
Mysteriis Aegyptiorum by name, it seems likely that this is the work he is
referring to, as its ninth chapter deals with the significance of the hieroglyphs
– a fact all the more surprising given that Iamblichus’ chief concern therein is
theurgy, i.e. the magical invocation of the deities. 60 However, Iamblichus
followed Plotinus and Plato in stating that all the gods are in reality only One
– and it is to this belief that Maier refers when arguing for the compatibility
of the ancient writers with Christian teaching:
...it is not likely that the ancient poets attributed so much adultery, homicide, incest and
crimes to their gods out of some innate wickedness or gratuitous mockery, nor that they
might make sport with gods or men, nor indeed that they might themselves propagate
enormous crimes of that kind by the example of the gods (for in that case everyone would
have been licentious); but rather in order that they might show these gods to be fictitious and
imaginary, and symbols and emblems of an occult Art, hidden to the common people but
known to themselves; the one referring to the eye, the other to the mind. Lest moreover they
might appear to publicly produce empty names for worthless riddles, each fictitious god was
given a quasi-divine function and power of Nature. They ascribed diverse parents to these
gods, but notwithstanding they professed One God in all of them. 61
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
58 Ibid., p. Ai verso.
59 C.f. n. 44 above.
60 See Iamblichus. Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldaeans, and
Assyrians. London: Stuart and Watkins, 1968.
61 Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, p. 59: “...non est verisimile, antiquos illos Poetas ex innata
malitia, aut irrisionis gratia tot adulteria, homicidia, incaestus et scelera suis Diis
attribuisse, ut vel Deos, vel homines luderent, aut vitia ejusmodi enormia Deorum
exemplis propagarent, (tum enim omnium bipedum nequissimi fuissent) sed potius ut
demonstrarent Deos illos non esse nisi ficticios, imaginarios et artis occultae vulgo, sed
sibi notae, symbola et Emblemata aliud ad oculum, aliud ad mentem referentia: Ne
autem inania nomina rebus cassa in medium producere viderentur, singulis illis Diis
fictitiis singula officia quasi divinia et vires Naturae: genitricis diversas asscripserunt, ac
nihilominus Unum Deum in omnibus istis professi sunt.” On the following page Maier
also cites ‘Orpheus’: “Omnia sunt unam, sint plurimina nomina quamvis./ Pluto,
Here Maier gives voice to the contemporary conception of emblems, which

speak not to the corporeal eye but to the mind, or to the intellect and its
divine nature. In order to demonstrate that the ‘hieroglyphic emblems’ of the
Egyptians were indeed ‘chemical’ Decknamen, and did not refer either to
gods or to historical personages, Maier devotes some space in his Arcana
Arcanissima to refuting the claim of Diodorus (fl. first century BCE) in his
Bibliotheca Historica that Isis and Osiris had lived some ten thousand years
before Alexander the Great. According to Maier, any Christian with faith in
Scripture can see that this is false, for the age of the world itself cannot
exceed 5575 years. 62 The genealogies of the gods known to the Egyptians
and the Greeks were neither historical nor mythic, but representations of the
aurea catena – thus Maier explains the birth of the gods from Saturn, the
“father of the Golden Age,” as ciphers for the processes to be observed in the
alchemical vessel. 63
Throughout his work Maier follows his ancient sources in correlating the
Greek gods with those of the Egyptians; so it is that Thoth became known as
Hermes, whom Maier seems to distinguish from Hermes Trismegistus, the
‘ancient philosopher’. Egyptian Osiris is correlated with Greek Dionysus; and
the story of his murder at the hands of his brother Set, who scattered the
dismembered parts of his body across Egypt, is related in detail by Maier.
Osiris is the materia artis from which the golden medicine is composed, or
the philosophical sulphur residing in that materia; having been placed in his
sepulchre – that is to say, the vessel – he is rent to pieces by his brother, Set
or Greek Typhon, who represents the “fiery and furious spirit” of the caustic
solution preceding putrefaction. His consort Isis is mercury, the feminine
principle, who collects the pieces of Osiris and re-unites them – a reference to
the portion of the Egyptian myth in which Isis magically re-animates her
husband with the help of Thoth and, mounting the body, sires Horus, the
avenger of his father’s death (figure 10). Whilst Maier does not mention these
facts explicitly, he only reminds us that the “growth-imparting pudenda” of
Osiris are those “black and useless dregs” which at first are dissolved and
consumed by fire, but thereafter are separated from the body and purified into
the most fine and virtuous substance. 64
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Persephone, Ceres et Venus alma, et Amores,/ Tritones, Nereus, Tethys, Neptunus et
ipse/ Mercurius, Iuno, Vulcanus, Iupiter et Pan,/ Diana et Phoebus jaculator, sunt Deus
unus.”
62 Ibid., p. 11. Here Maier refers to a Christian cosmogonic tradition slightly pre-dating the
famous declaration of John Lightfoot in 1642 that the world was created on September
the 17th, 3928 BCE at 9 o’clock in the morning.
64 Ibid., pp. 12-13: “Osiris, ut dictum, pro materia artis, ex qua Medicina aurea
componatur, absque omni circuitione habetur; Haec suo sepulchro, hoc est, vasi,
imposita a Typhone fratre, in multas partes discerpitur; quas post operis absolutionem
This short account should serve as an example of the method Maier

applies to a myriad of myths in the course of the Arcana Arcanissima, from
the labours of Herakles to the perennial favourite of alchemists in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the quest for the Golden Fleece. The
fact that Maier speaks of Osiris and Isis as sun and moon deities 65 serves as a
reminder to us that the pre-Hellenistic form of Egyptian mythology and
magical ritual was almost entirely unknown to Maier’s time – as does one of
the more peculiar examples of Maier’s rationalising approach to myth and
hieroglyph given in the Septimana Philosophica, in which he does not speak
of the ibis as the bird sacred to Thoth, but rather claims it was used by the
Egyptians for the procurement of enemas on account of its long hollow
beak. 66 Not surprisingly, Maier’s faith never allows him to allegorise
Christian mythology in a similar fashion; rather, the truths revealed by the
Bible are the referent to which pagan teachings ultimately point. 67 Thus
Maier refers in the concluding remarks of the Arcana Arcanissima to Christ
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Isis colligit et unit, sulfure combustibili segregato; Atque sic collectio partium Osiridis
ab Iside instituta, est eiusdem operis reiteratio, quae eo usque contingit, donec Typhonis
virtus extincta sit, et in eius locum Anima Osiridis sat ardens successerit adeo, ut matrem
Isidem, seu coniugem, seu sororem amantissimam facilime ad se convertat; quae est
ultima perfectio: Typhon quid sit iam ante diximus, nempe spiritus igneus et furiosus,
qui mox Osiridem nostrum penetret, et in suum colorem rapiat, instar veneni; quod non
in prima, sed ultima coctione fiaeri debet… Pudendum Osiridis membrum est faex illa
nigra et inutilis, qua primo quidem incrementum sumpsit, at post solutionem separanda a
corpore reliquo mundo et puro.”
65 Ibid., p. 2.
66 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 173: “Ibis in Aegypto frequentissima est, forma fere
ciconiae, quae serpentes et venenosos vermes ibidem absumit, ideoque inquilinis ut sacra
habetur, et honore colitur: Praeterquam enim quod innoxia fit avis, utilitatem quoque
hanc mortalibus praestat, ut damna eorum propulset et avertat: Adiectamentum quoque
Medicinae contulisse aiunt, dum usum Enematum introduxerit, obstructionem alui seu
intestinorum, aqua, rostro posticae inserto, iniecta eluendo tollens.”
67 As Matton states, “Maier was not unaware of the danger to which one might subject faith
by trying, to quote the words of Mersenne, to ‘prove or confirm the mysteries of the
Christian religion by the operations of Alchemy’. For the reading may become reversed,
in just the same way, leading to an alchemical interpretation of Holy Writ and giving it a
‘natural meaning’: no longer does the Stone symbolise Christ, but the Christ becomes,
like the Phoenix, a simple allegory of the Stone. Thus certain alchemists, vehemently
opposed by Maier, did not hesitate to subject Biblical and Christian ‘myth’ to the same
fate as those of Greece and Egypt, propounding, as it were, a sort of ‘alchemie libertine’
parallel to ‘spiritual alchemy’”: Matton, Sylvain. “Le Phénix dans l’Oeuvre de Michel
Maier et la Littérature Alchimique.” In Bailly, J. C. (ed.). Chansons Intellectuelles sur la
Résurréction du Phénix par Michel Maier. Paris: Gutenberg Reprints, 1984; an English
translation of this text was kindly provided to me by Mike Dickman. For Maier’s
invective against this alchemie libertine, see the Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 24: “Quid
iam dicemus de iis, qui hoc nostro tempore Creationem mundi, nativitatem, passionem,
mortem, resurrectionem et ascensionem Christi, imo fere omnes articulos fide, sacrilege
et impiissime ad Chymicam artem transferre conantur?”, etc.
as the “doctor of the body and soul” and as “Trismegistus” – an intimation

that the Greco-Egyptian title given to Hermes prefigured the doctrine of the
Trinity. 68 Christ is the greatest physician, or the transmuting lapis which
promises eternal life and forms the foundation of the true Church, but which
nevertheless was rejected by the vulgar. 69 As such He is the paragon of the
true alchemist, who does not seek worldly wealth in the manner of the
common Goldmacher but devotes his labours to the healing of the sick.
During his time at the imperial court, Maier would have pursued this noble
Christian ideal not only by attending his patients, but also through
iatrochemical experimentation; for it is likely that he had access to the
Emperor’s laboratories, which were housed in a building close to the royal
castle (Hradschin) and contained a large furnace for smelting ores, a bain
marie used for maintaining steady low temperatures, and a furnace used in
distillation. 70 Nevertheless, Maier’s elevated position at the imperial court
was to be relatively short-lived, as he had left Prague less than a year
following his entrance into the Emperor’s service. It is not clear whether this
was on account of some failing on Maier’s part – the ‘Universal Medicine’
not being to the Emperor’s taste, for example – or whether he saw the writing
on the wall for his embattled patron. In any case, by 1610 Rudolf was
descending deeper into melancholy; according to Evans, his sickness had
been exacerbated by a prophecy – attributed to Tycho Brahe – that he would
be intrigued against by members of his own family. 71 Rudolf ended his days
as emperor cowering in his palace during the coronation of his usurping
brother Matthias, who was to move the imperial capital back to Vienna and
reverse the erosion of imperial authority that Rudolf’s extravagant narcissism
had created.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
68 Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, p. 285: “Quae omnia cum in nulla alia re, quam
MEDICINA ANIMI ET CORPORIS dicta vere aurea conveniant, hanc Summus OPT.
MAX: et unice TRISMEGISTUS ille animae et corporis Medicus IHESUS CHRISTUS
nobis ad sui nominis gloriam, nostram et proximi utilitatem usurpandam diutissime, et
post hanc, Vitam aeternam concedat, qui ut LAPIS ex alto MONTE sine manibus
revulsus, et lapis angularis a potiori mundi parte seu gentibus rejectus nobis appro-
priatus, sit benedictus in secula: AMEN.”
69 See previous note; the reference to the rejected stone is to Psalm 118.22: “The stone
which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner;” Matthew 21.42: “Jesus
said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes’?”; 1 Peter 2.4: “Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by
men but in God’s sight chosen and precious.”
70 Powell, Neil. Alchemy: the Ancient Science. London: Aldus Books, 1976, p. 90.
71 Evans, Rudolf II and his World, p. 279.
A ‘Rosicrucian mission’ to England? 87
5. A ‘Rosicrucian mission’ to England?
Following his departure from Prague Maier gravitated towards the patronage
of the Calvinist princes of Germany, and in particular to the court of Moritz
the Learned of Hessen-Kassel (figure 11), a close ally of the Calvinist
pretender to the imperial throne, the Elector Palatine Prince Friedrich V
(figure 12). 72 The court of Moritz was the foremost centre of patronage for
the occult sciences in Germany prior to the Thirty Years War, and has been
described by Moran as exceeding the court of Rudolf II in regard to “the
strength of its focus on the occult arts and the extent of its prince’s per-
sonal involvement in occult projects.” 73 However, the unwavering westward
direction of Maier’s movements in the year following his departure from
Prague – from Leipzig and Torgau in Saxony to Mühlhausen, some 40 miles
from Kassel, then on to Bückeburg in Lower Saxony – also seems to indicate
a personal ambition to travel to England, the land which was the source of the
remarkable medicine that first inspired him to take up alchemical practice.
Whilst in England, Maier not only spent his time studying and translating
certain English alchemical texts, but he also delivered letters of Christmas
greeting to King James I of England and his son Henry, and made the
acquaintance of powerful figures at the English court. In light of these facts,
Frances Yates propagated the notion amongst many writers that the aim of
Maier’s journey to England was not only personal, but should be seen in the
context of German Calvinist efforts to secure the instalment on the imperial
throne of James’ son-in-law – Prince Friedrich V. It is in this context that
Yates understands Maier’s relation to the Rosicrucian phenomenon, and her
emphasis on Calvinist intrigue in the empire leads her to cast those writing
under the name of the ‘Rosicrucians’ as the ‘true Jesuits’ – in accordance
with the description given by the early Rosicrucian apologist Adam Haslmayr
– playing a role equal and opposite to that of the Society of Jesus in the
religious and political affairs of the day. 74
An analysis of early Rosicrucianism will follow; to determine the truth of
Yates’ specific conjecture concerning Maier, we must first examine his
relation to Moritz the Learned prior to his departure for England late in 1611.
From Torgau in March and April of 1611 Maier sent at least two letters and
three manuscript treatises demonstrating his alchemical knowledge to Moritz,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
72 Electors within the Deutsches Reich were powerful princes with the right to cast a vote
in the election of the Emperor – Friedrich being the Elector of the lands of the
Rheinland-Pfalz or Rhineland Palatinate.
73 Moran, The Alchemical World of the German Court, p. 8.
74 Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p. 42 et passim.
in a bid to meet the prince and secure his patronage. Figala and Neumann
suggest this gesture bore no fruit due to Moritz’ focus on the deteriorating
political situation in the Empire – which, as we may recall, had recently
occasioned the division of the German states into the rival camps of the
Catholic League and Protestant Union. 75 There is in fact no evidence of the
personal meeting with Moritz Maier hoped for, and as we shall see in our
fourth chapter, Maier was not invested with an official position at the court
of Moritz until well after his return from England – and that was a relatively
minor post outside the inner circle of alchemists at Kassel.
Nevertheless, it seems that Maier had at least established his presence
within the courtly circles of Moritz prior to his departure for England, as
records exist of a letter sent from Marburg on the 1st of July, 1612 to Maier’s
friend and former fellow alchemist in Prague, Matthias Borbonius, from
Johannes Hartmann (1568-1631) – the iatrochemist appointed by Moritz of
Hessen-Kassel to the first professorship for chemical medicine at Marburg,
who was an early distributor of the Rosicrucian Fama Fraternitatis in
manuscript form. 76 In his letter Hartmann states that Maier is already in
London with a congratulatory poem for the wedding of Friedrich V and
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I. 77 However, with regard to the ties
Maier made with the court of Friedrich V, it seems likely that these were
established after his departure for England. On the 6th of November, 1612
Maier was to be found amongst the ‘Elector Palatine’s gentlemen’ who
attended the funeral of Prince Henry of Wales in London. 78 There is also the
evidence of the preface to the Lusus Serius (1616), a baroque fable of the
same order as the Jocus Severus (1617) which, in tandem with that tract, was
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
76 Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 29.
77 Gellner, G. Životopis Lékaře Borbonia a Výklad Jeho Deníků. Prague: Nákladem Českě
Akademie Věd a Umění, 1938, pp. 96-97: “V psaní III, daném v Marburku 1/7 (11/7)
1612, oznamuje Hartmann Borboniovi po nové připomínce, že posel pořád ještě není
zpět a že nedošla žádaná žlutá antimonová ruda ani návod, jak se z ní extrahuje rtuť, že
Michal Meyer je teď v Londýně a že viděl u hraběte hanavského jeho Carmen
gratulatorium, připsané králi Velké Britanie Jakubovi I. k chystanému zasnoubení
kurfiřta falckého Fridricha V. s Alžbětou Stuartovnou (zasnoubení se slavilo 27/12
1612).” Evans (Rudolf II and his World, pp. 206-207) states that “Borbonius seems never
to have been a Leibarzt [personal physician], though he earned the early favour of
Rudolf by producing a poetic-emblematic volume calculated to appeal to his taste for
Caesarism mixed with antiquarianism, while he enjoyed the friendship of Maier and a
number of the court poets. Borbonius was probably the most sought-after physician in
Prague during the first years of the new century... and his alchemical interests emerge
from a correspondence with the adept Johann Hartmann.”
78 Nichols, J. The Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities of King James the
First. Vol. II. London: Nichols, 1828, p. 485.
A ‘Rosicrucian mission’ to England? 89
rapidly composed on Maier’s return to Germany in the summer of 1616. 79

There we find a dedication to Christian Rumphius, physician to the Elector
Palatine, and Jacob Mosanus, physician to Moritz the Learned, who are
described as “the most sage doctors, expert chemists and my most jocund
friends,” being bound to Maier by charity, learning and humanity. 80 Although
Mosanus was not in England during Maier’s sojourn, Rumphius marched
with Maier in the funeral procession for Prince Henry in November of
1612; and Maier’s description of Rumphius and Mosanus as his ‘most jocund
friends’ suggests that the acquaintance was already of some years’ duration
at the time of the dedication’s composition in September of 1616, rather
than the few short months that had elapsed following Maier’s return
from England. There is also a possibility that Maier walked in the famed
garden of the royal palace at Heidelberg, constructed in accordance with
Friedrich’s penchant for ostentatious displays of his early baroque and occult
sensibilities. In the Jocus Severus Maier tells us that ‘hydraulic organs’
simply do not compare with the voice of the nightingale – an indication that
he may have heard the rare water-powered instrument erected by Salomon de
Caus in the royal garden, and perhaps that he had not been duly impressed by
its tone. 81 But the lack of any other evidence for a visit by Maier to
Heidelberg suggests he opportunistically attached himself to Friedrich’s
retinue upon his arrival in England, and not before.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
79 Maier, Michael. Lusus Serius, quo Hermes sive Mercurius rex mundanorum omnium sub
homine existentium post longam disceptationem, in consilio octovirali habitam, homine
rationali arbitro, judicatus et constitutus est. Oppenheim: Lucas Jennis, 1616.
80 Ibid., p. 3: “Dn. Jacobo Mosano Illustriss. Mauritii Hassiae Landgravii, Archiatro
digniori. Dn. Christiano Rumphio Electorali Palatino ad Rhenum Med. ordinario
circumspecto. Singulis Medicinae Doctoribus sagacissimis, Chymicis expertissimis et
amicis meis jucundissimis, tanquam trino Charitum vinculo, doctrinae rarioris scrinio et
humanitatis singularis sacello, D. D. D. Michael Majerus Med. D. C. Pal.”
81 Maier, Michael. Jocus Severus, hoc est, Tribunal aequum, quo noctua regina avium,
Phoenice arbitro, post varias disceptationes et querelas volucrum eam infestantium
pronunciatur. Frankfurt am Main: Johann Theodor de Bry, 1617, p. 29: “Nunc altam
modulata, imam nunc murmure vocem/ Edit, ut haud aequent Organa hydraula modos./
Ut REsonet MIro FAcilis SOluit LAbra cantu?/ Vox abit ad coelos et nemus omne
replet;” which may be roughly translated, without Maier’s integration of the solfege
syllables: “Now he gives forth a high modulation,/ now the lowest voice with a murmur,/
hydraulic organs simply do not compare./ The lips easily open to give out a marvellous
song?/ His voice carries to heaven and every grove is filled.” Yates (The Rosicrucian
Enlightenment, p. 12) gives a vivid description of the wondrous garden at Heidelberg;
there is also the possibility that this reference to a ‘hydraulic organ’ refers to the device
mentioned in the Symbola Aureae Mensae (p. 593), which Maier saw near Florence
during his peregrinatio academica – although that ‘organ’ was driven by wind as well as
water, and is not referred to as a hydraulic organ. The water organ or hydraulicus was
first described by Vitruvius in his De Architectura (c.20 CE).
Furthermore, if we allow for the possibility that Maier visited the court of
Moritz prior to his departure for England in 1611, or even that Maier made
the personal meeting he desired with Moritz at that time, there is no evidence
of any intelligence role played by Maier whilst in England. And the surviving
intelligence report written in Maier’s post-1618 capacity as Chymicus und
Medicus von Haus auß for Moritz – whilst evidence for the polarisation of
Maier’s own religious and political proclivities – reveals he held no central
role in the affairs of his day, let alone that he played a part in a ‘Rosicrucian’
conspiracy to establish a Calvinist empire or “a state ruled by esoteric
wisdom.” 82 The existence of a ‘Rosicrucian’ conspiracy has been proposed
not only by Yates but also by Adam McLean, who initially presented his
discovery of Maier’s Christmas greetings to James I in the Scottish Record
Office in Edinburgh as evidence that Maier was “trying to establish links
with the highest political authority in Britain” using the symbols of the Rose
and Cross. 83 According to McLean and Srigleys’ detailed description of the
manuscript in question, it presents an eight-petaled rose constructed with
letters in red and gold ink, the petals being divided by eight radiating lines of
gold letters which read “Long live James, King of Great Britain, hail, may the
Rose be joyful under thy protection.” 84 McLean interpreted these radiating
lines as a ‘cross’, and argued that the document as a whole indicates Maier
was ‘an ambassador’ for the Elector Palatine on a ‘Rosicrucian’ mission to
Britain to prepare the ground for a political alliance between England and
Protestant Germany. 85 However, it is highly unlikely that this document
depicts the Rose Cross of the Brethren, not only on the grounds given by
Srigley that the lines emanating from the rose are described in the manuscript
itself as interstitia foliorum Rosae, but also on the grounds of Maier’s own
admission that he gave scant regard to rumours of a ‘Fraternity of the Rose
Cross’ when he first heard them in England, and only involved himself in the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
82 McLean, Adam. “A Rosicrucian Manuscript of Michael Maier,” The Hermetic Journal,
1979, p. 7; Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, pp. 81-82, 89.
83 McLean, “A Rosicrucian Manuscript,” pp. 5-6; McLean later revised his position on the
‘Rosicrucian’ nature of Maier’s greetings.
84 “VIVE JACOBE DIU REX MAGNE BRITANNICE SALVE TEGMINE QUO VERE
SIT ROSA LAETA SUO;” cited in Srigley, Michael. Images of Regeneration: A Study
of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and its Cultural Background. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis
Upsaliensis, 1985, p. 100. Accompanying the rose motif is a fugue in four voices
representing the archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel, to be sung over a
repeated cantus firmus ascribed to the shepherds Menaleas and Thirsis; a transcription of
this example of Maier’s musical acumen (or lack thereof) is to be found in Godwin,
Joscelyn (ed.). Atalanta Fugiens: An Edition of the Fugues, Emblems and Epigrams.
Grand Rapids, Mi.: Phanes Press, 1989, pp. 207-208.
85 McLean, “A Rosicrucian Manuscript,” p. 7; Godwin also follows the thesis of Yates in
“A Context for Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (1617),” The Hermetic Journal, 1985,
p. 5.
The seventeenth rung of the alchemical ladder 91
affair when he returned to Germany in 1616. 86 Yet Srigley himself describes

the rose of Maier’s manuscript as the “millenarian Rose of the Protestant
Fraternity that Maier wishes James to take under his protection,” whilst
Åkerman agrees that the rose “certainly indicates a political manoeuvre.” 87
Although the marriage of Friedrich V to Princess Elizabeth may certainly be
described as such a ‘manoeuvre’, designed as it was to draw James into
alliance with a vulnerable Protestant Union in Germany, 88 a more reasonable
assumption is that Maier’s manuscript depicts the red rose of England (with
the secondary, implied significance of the alchemical rose) and that it is
England (and her alchemy) which “may be joyful” under the protection of
James I.
6. The seventeenth rung of the alchemical ladder

and the art of gold-making
We will return to the question of Maier’s relationship with nascent Rosicru-

cianism in due course; for now let us examine the readily verifiable reasons
for his journey to England, rather than supposing that Maier was awarded an
official and sensitive diplomatic function on the basis of a single visit to a
royal court. Indeed, the evidence of Maier’s correspondence with Moritz the
Learned in 1611 suggests he had difficulties enough garnering support for the
work that was his true passion – the quest for the Universal Medicine.
In the two letters sent by Maier to Moritz from Torgau in March and April
of 1611, the recurrent theme is a plea for continued patronage because the
perfection of the alchemical Art is within his grasp – a ploy familiar to us
from the Medicina Regia. 89 Since at least the 4th of August, 1610, Maier had
been residing in neighbouring Leipzig, where, according to Figala and
Neumann, he had made an unsuccessful bid for a contract with August of
Anhalt-Plötzkau, half-brother of the prominent Calvinist intellectual and
general, Prince Christian of Anhalt-Bernburg (1568-1630). 90 Having heard
that Moritz would be attending a meeting of princes in Torgau, Maier moved
to that town on the 10th of March, 1611, in the hope that he might join the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
86 On this point see below, chapter IV, p. 114.
87 Srigley, Images of Regeneration, p. 101; Åkerman, Rose Cross over the Baltic, p. 133.
88 Hence the words of a contemporary commentator: “All well-affected people take great
pleasure and contentment in this Match, as being a firm foundation and stablishing of
religion, which, upon what ground I know not, was before suspected to be in transitu:
and the Roman Catholics malign it as much, as being the ruin of their hopes.” Nichols,
Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities, pp. 601-602.
90 Figala and Neumann, “Author cui Nomen Hermes Malavici,” pp. 130-131.
prince in the ‘resting hours’ of the meeting and speak in detail concerning his
Art. 91 Apparently Maier had already been in contact with Moritz by this
time, as he makes reference to a letter he received from Moritz’ secretary
(presumably after his arrival in Torgau) requesting that he make his way
quickly to Kassel before the prince’s departure for the meeting. 92 On the 16th
of March Maier wrote a letter to Moritz from Torgau explaining his dilemma
– i.e. whether he should wait in Torgau or make his way to Kassel – and
setting forth his plea for the opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge
in person. 93 There are many vulgar writers and practitioners, Maier writes,
who lie as far from the truth as the earth does from the sky; but if his
demonstration to the prince is not in accord with the testimony of Nature and
reason, and agreeable with “the hidden nature of mineral essences,” then he
will demand no remuneration. His only wish is to experience the mercy and
liberal grace of His Highness, which he is confident he will receive if he is
heard without prejudice. 94 There follows a description of an alchemical
‘ladder’ with eighteen steps, which Maier is now climbing:
I confess that there are eighteen steps of the ladder to the gold-bearing peak, or to the final
perfection of the Art; and the greatest effort is required to move step by step from the lowest
to the highest rung. And in truth that ladder has been placed beyond the view of the vulgar
writers and practitioners, and thus almost none of them will have reached the first step, much
less the second or the third, and still less the higher, since the subsequent steps cannot be
overcome without the preceding steps, and the preceding steps without the last of all are of
little benefit. Ascending these steps from the lowest to the highest, I have overcome sixteen
(God be praised), and standing before the seventeenth or penultimate step I persevere further;
not without considerable expense, as Geber testifies, which I have been lacking for two years
on account of other misfortunes. And nothing is more difficult than the final or eighteenth
step. 95
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
91 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. 19, 1, p. 283 recto.
92 Ibid.: “Utrum igitur mihi agendum, an hic expectandum, an vero ad Celsim. Vam.
properandum sit, ut per Secretary Schedulam Significetur, submisse oro.”
93 Ibid.
94 Ibid., p. 283 verso: “Si non vera sint illa sola et maneant, quae demonstraturus sum, nihil
posco aut peto praemii: si autem sint, atque ex bis vel decies mille argumentis aut
circumstantiis, acclamante rerum mineralium occulta natura, artisque ipsius usu et
authorum authenticorum in omnibus reali consensu, pateant, clementiam gratiamque
liberalem Cels:is Vae ut experiar, unice exopto.”
95 Ibid.: “Octodecim, ut fatear, sunt gradus scalae ad aurificam arcem seu artis summam
perfectionem; per quos pedetentim ab imo ad supremum contendendum erit; Estque ista
scala revera posita extra conspectum vulgarium scribentium aut practiantium; Unde
contigit, ut fere nullus eorum primum huius gradum attigerit, nedum secundum, aut
tertium; multo minus superiorem; cum posterior absque praecedente superari nequeat, ac
praecedentes absque omnium ultimo parvae sint utilitatis. Horum ego graduum (Deo sit
laus) ab inferioribus ad superiores ascendendo, sedecim superavi, ac ante decimum
septimum seu penultimum, non absque sensibilibus sumptibus, Gebro teste, qui mihi iam
Why Maier should have been lacking the means for alchemical experimen-
tation whilst at the court of Rudolf II is not clear, although certainly his
subsequent unsettled existence and his failures to secure patronage would
have mitigated against further work. In any case, Maier appended a table to
his letter illustrating the eighteen steps of the ladder of which he spoke:
Lapis coagulatus 18. The final operation reaching the ultimate goldenness.
17. The final operation reaching the ultimate whiteness.
Lapis solutus 16. Of what nature the fire of the solution ought to be.
15. How the most yellow stone and medicine may be made.
14. How the stone of moderate yellowness may be made.
Lapis citrinus 13. By which fire the stone tending to yellowness may be made.
12. How the gold coloured stone, having been perfectly fixed, may be made.
11. How the stone of moderate goldenness may be made.
Lapis flavus 10. By which fire the stone tending to goldenness may be made.
9. By which degree of fire the white stone may be made.
8. By which degree of fire the stone tending to whiteness may be made.
Lapis albus 7. How the black stone – the material to be ground – may be made by a light fire.
6. The nature of Tusalmat, the material of the Art.
5. What the material of the Art, Tusalmat, is.
Materia artis 4. What the material of the Art is, from which gold is born.
3. Of what nature the true aim of the Art is, having been hidden by the philosophers.
2. That the aim of the Art is agreeable with the nature of gold.
Scopus artis 1. That the aim of the Art is not vulgar.
The second grouping of steps concerning the materia artis refers to the nature
of Tusalmat, the material from which gold is born, which as we have seen is a
code-name for ‘Saturnus’ or lead. 96 Thereafter the colour series to be
observed in the alchemical vessel is black (perhaps a lead oxide), white, gold,
yellow, white and gold. This appears to be a slight variation on the first
alchemical procedure Maier accomplished in 1604, when he observed the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
integram biennium, ob alia infortunia, defecerunt, incipiendum et pertexendum, adhuc
persisto: ultimus seu decimus octavus, nullius est difficultatis.”
96 In his Bibliotheca Chimica (1656) Borelli gives the aenigma on p. 213 of Maier’s
Themis Aurea and its solution under the heading of Aenigma Majerianum:
“Clode No Marri in ium dicsit udaoltan plesaritto, Jeait os uperrimit cegmusiemon tus
polcopitto, im oc igmon cemslu musalun, im hec musalurou os immusaluron.
Credo me nulli in iam dictis adversum protulisse, Jovis et Apollinis cognationem sat
percepisse, in eo ignem contra naturam, in hoc naturalem, et innaturalem.”
The simple cryptographic substitutions are revealed as: a = u, b = ?, c = c, d = d, e = o,
f = ?, g = g, h = ?, i = i, j = j, k = ?, l = r, m = n, n = m, o = e, p = p, q = ?, r = l,
s = t, t = s, u = a; hence Tusalmat = Saturnus, as Newton surmised. Borelli, Bibliotheca
Chimica, p. 254.
sequence black, multi-coloured, white, yellow and red. Nevertheless, the

colour of gold was traditionally distinguished from yellow by the reddish
lustre it possesses, and Maier himself speaks of gold as the ‘red-yellow
metal’, so his conception of the anticipated colour of the final ‘stone of
ultimate goldenness’ may not have changed. 97 A very similar table appears in
one of the three manuscript treatises Maier sent to Moritz after writing his
letter, together with a reiteration of the fact that Maier himself stands at the
sixteenth rung of the ladder – having prepared a ‘yellow mercurial medicine’
– and that only time, labour and money lie between him and ultimate
success. 98 The title of this short tract is the Scala Arcis Philosophicae,
Gradibus Octodecim Distincta (‘The Ladder of the Philosophical Peak,
having been Divided into Eighteen Steps’), and its burden is to tempt Moritz
by partially revealing the nature of the first group of steps on Maier’s ladder
concerning the ‘aim of the Art’. Maier begins his treatise with a poetic
analogy for his quest:
A certain philosophical peak of pure shining gold is situated on a lofty and precipitous
mountain, carrying the most abundant treasury of all the most precious things. The
surrounding region is deserted and rocky, and no fertile trees nor the least twig is to be found
across 100 German miles. The concourse to the said peak is filled with people, but as almost
all approach without a ladder they stand idly by and are unable to climb; and as often as they
strive to overcome the mountain barefoot and unaided they fall on their heads, and break
their necks, legs or arms. 99
Maier makes a similar comparison of the alchemist’s quest with the ascent of
a mountain in his Viatorium, hoc est, De Montibus Planetarum Septem seu
Metallorum (‘A Guide for the Journey, that is, Concerning the Seven
Mountains of the Planets or Metals,’ 1618), a treatise focussing on the
properties of metals, in which the ascent to the ‘philosophical peak’ is
juxtaposed with the motif of wandering in the labyrinth of Daedalus. 100
Similarly, in the Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum (‘The Swarm of
Pseudo-chymical Drones,’ 1617) Maier employs the symbol of the ascent of
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97 Maier, Michael. De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, hoc est, Auro, eiusque virtute
medicinali, sub duro cortice instar nuclei latente. Oppenheim: Lucas Jennis, 1616, p. 6.
99 Ibid.: “Arx quaedam philosophica ex mero et filiis auro splendescens, in quibus
copiosissimis omnium rerum preciosissimarum thesauris referta, in ardus et praecipiti
monte sita est: Regio Circumquaeque deserta et petrosa, nullis arborisque ac ne minimo
ligno per 100. miliaria germanica fertilis; Concursque ad dictam arcem frequentissimus
est; verum cum absque scalis fere omnes accedant, stant otiosi ac ascendere nequeunt; Et
quotquot eam absque scala nudis pedibus superare nisuntur, in caput decidunt, ac vel
collum vel crura aut brachia frangunt.”
100 Maier, Michael. Viatorium, hoc est, De montibus planetarum septem seu metallorum.
Oppenheim: Johann Theodor de Bry, 1618, pp. 5-10.
Mt. Helicon, home of the Muses and resting-place of the stone devoured by
Chronos in place of his son Zeus (figure 13). 101 We can imagine that the
imagery of climbing a great edifice or wandering lost in a maze accurately
reflects the emotions felt by Maier as he laboured on his never-ending task.
The allusion to a ladder in his correspondence to Moritz is drawn from the
words of the Arabic alchemist Morienus in the De Transmutatione Metallica,
who confides to his patron King Khalid:
...whosoever shall seeke any other thinge than this stone for this magistery shall be likened
unto a Man that endeavoreth to clyme a Ladder without steppes, which thing he being unable
to doe, he falleth to the Earth on his face... this stone is cast in the wayes, it is trodden upon
in the dunghills of those wayes, and many men have digged in dunghills in hope to finde it
out in them, and herein they have been deceived: but the wise men have known that thinge,
and have often used it, which containeth in itself four Elements, and hath Dominion over
them. 102
An illustration of this passage appears in the emblematic depiction of Morie-

nus given in Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae (figure 14); there we see a
figure attempting to scale a wall without a ladder, whilst Morienus gestures
didactically and the motto warns, hoc accipe, quod in sterquiliniis suis
calcatur: si non, absque scala ascensurus cades in caput – “accept that it is
trampled upon in their dungheap; if not, when climbing without a ladder you
will fall on your head.” 103 Whilst this saying may appear abstruse, Maier’s
interpretation of its meaning is to be found in the Scala Arcis Philosophicae.
On the front page of that treatise there is a rather crudely drawn mountain,
with a ladder or staircase leading to a temple on the “peak of pure and shining
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101 Maier, Michael. Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum detectorum et in gratiam
veritatis amantium succincte refutatorum. Frankfurt am Main: Johann Theodor de Bry,
1617, p. 9; the myth of Chronos/Saturn, who devoured his children but was tricked into
eating a stone instead of his son Zeus/Jupiter, is recounted in the twelfth discourse of the
Atalanta Fugiens; according to antique tradition, many tried to climb Helicon to see the
stone with their own eyes, but only a few reached their goal due to the difficult and
dangerous ascent. See Beck, Michael Maiers Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, p.
27.
102 Morienus Romanus. “Morieni Romani Eremitae Hierosolymitani Sermo.” British
Library, MS Sloane 3697, 17th century, pp. 52-53; for Maier’s source see “Liber de
Compositione Alchemiae quem edidit Morienus Romanus.” Artis Auriferae. Vol. 2.
Basel: Conrad Waldkirch, 1593, p. 35; for a modern English translation see
Stavenhagen, A Testament of Alchemy, p. 27. The original Arabic text is unknown, but a
number of identical passages are to be found in an Arabic tract written around 1250 by
Abu’l-Qāsim Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Irāqī; see Stavenhagen, p. 60; also Abu’l-Qāsim
Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Irāqī. Book of the Knowledge Acquired Concerning the
Cultivation of Gold. Trans. E. J. Holmyard. Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1923.
103 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 141.
gold.” 104 On the left side of the mountain a small figure climbs, labelled with
the phrase, ascendere cupiens absque scala – “he who desires to climb
without a ladder.” If each step in the alchemical process is the necessary
prerequisite for the one that follows, as Maier asserts, then it appears that the
first, indispensable step for the Art is recognition of the materia artis –
Saturnus or lead. For Maier’s source on the nature of the Roman rites of
Saturn, Macrobius (Saturnalia, 1.7.25), gives one of the aspects of the deity
as ‘Saturnus Sterculius’, the god of manure. This is the thing of little value
that is “trampled upon in their (i.e. the Philosophers’) dungheap,” but which
nevertheless contains the seeds of gold.
However, we must not overlook the fact that on Maier’s ‘ladder’ there are
three steps that precede knowledge of the materia artis, which the unlearned
for the most part have yet to discover – the true aim of the Art. As we are
aware, for Maier this goal was first and foremost the healing of the sick and
the procurement of a cure for ‘grief and anger’. In another letter to Moritz
written on the 29th of April, 1611, Maier declares that he will gladly reveal to
the prince the three lower grades of his alchemical ‘ladder’, although he had
already touched upon the matter obliquely in his Scala Arcis Philosophicae.
The first of these steps consists of the knowledge that the aim of the Art is
not a ‘vulgar’ one, or one of “momentary projection.” 105 According to the
Lexicon Alchemiae, a work of Maier’s contemporary Martin Ruland (1569-
1611), there are two methods by which the agent of transmutation may be
applied to make gold. One is through ‘fermentation’, whereby the lapis is
mixed with a molten base metal and ‘leavens’ it in similar fashion to the
yeast in bread, thus mimicking the long duration of the perfection of
subterranean metals through the sun’s rays; the other is by the ‘projection’ of
the lapis upon a base metal, involving a “violent penetration” and instant
transmutation. 106
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
104 This depiction is reminiscent of the Visions of Zosimos, and the seven steps of
‘mortification’ leading to the ‘temple’, or the fifteen alchemical steps leading to the altar
and the sacrificial priest: “And saying these things, I slept, and I saw a certain sacrificing
priest standing before me and over an altar which had the form of a bowl. And that altar
had fifteen steps going up to it. Then the priest stood up and I heard from above a voice
say to me, ‘I have completed the descent of the fifteen steps and the ascent of the steps
of light. And it is the sacrificing priest who renews me, casting off the body’s
coarseness, and, consecrated by necessity, I have become a spirit.’” See Taylor, “The
Visions of Zosimos,” p. 88.
106 Ruland, Martin. Lexicon Alchemiae sive Dictionarium Alchemisticum. Frankfurt am
Main: Zachariae Palthenii, 1612, p. 384: “Projectio est per medicinam super re mutanda
projectam cum repentino ingressu ex mutatione ex altatio. Convenit cum fermentatione,
quod rem intus in substantia mutet; differt autem quod non fiat cum digestione lenta, qua
paulatim mistilia alterantur et crasin accipiunt; sed violenta penetratione facta, quasi in
momento ingressus, transfiguret;” also p. 211: “Fermentatio est rei in substantia per
Maier considered this latter method to be a sign of charlatanism and one

of the extravagant promises of unlearned mountebanks. Indeed, whilst Maier
briefly condemns the purveyors of fraudulent alchemical medicines in his
Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, the greater part of that work’s invec-
tive is aimed towards the self-proclaimed ‘gold-makers’ and their deceitful
practices. In her analysis of the Atalanta Fugiens (1617), de Jong has argued
that Maier followed Avicenna in denying the possibility of an artificial
conversion of species, be that amongst plants, animals or metals. 107 Never-
theless, the fact that Maier included in his communications with Moritz two
procedures for the manufacture of gold – one by means of a wet method
involving argenti vivi coagulandi, and the other by a dry method involving
sulphuris fixi – demonstrates that gold-making formed part of his early bid
for the prince’s patronage, even if it was not the main goal of his practice. 108
Although they are characteristically unclear, the main aim of Maier’s
comments in the Atalanta Fugiens is to refute the possibility of artificially
converting one metallic species into another “in the short time needed for
eating an egg;” the goal of his own quest was to produce an agent possessing
the power of transmutation and unlimited increase through fermentation, be
that in metals or the human heart. 109
Another aspect of Maier’s appeal to Moritz, who was by all accounts a
man of formidable humanist learning, was the promise to reveal the
innermost secrets of Nature. Thus in his Scala Arcis Philosophicae Maier
devotes a great deal of space to the subject of gold as the perfection of
Nature, being formed in the likeness of a circle and containing within itself
the opposing elements in equal quantity. 110 It was this subject that Maier was
to expound at length in the printed work he dedicated to Moritz, De Circulo
Physico Quadrato (‘On the Squaring of the Natural Circle,’ 1616), which we
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
admistionem fermenti, qua virtute per spiritum distributa totam penetrat massam, et in
suam materiam immutat...”
107 de Jong, H. M. E. Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens: Sources of an Alchemical Book of
Emblems. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1969, pp. 17, 155-157.
108 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 4° MS Chem. 39, 12; for a discussion of the
contents of this manuscript, see Moran, The Alchemical World of the German Court, p.
104.
109 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 18: “Quidam ex antimonio vel ejus stellato Regulo
cuprum ex cupri odore, eo temporis spacio, quo quis ovum comedat, efficere posse
jactant, imo omnia metalla fecisse: verum illis sua sit debita fides, quamvis in hoc mihi
non fiat verisimile... Nihilominus Philosophi affirmant, ut in igne ignificandi principium
extat, sic in auro aurificandi: verum tinctura quaeritur, cujus medio aurum fiat: Haec
indaganda est in suis propriis principiis et generationibus non in alienis: Namsi ignis
ignem producat, pyrus pyrum, equus equum tum plumbum plumbum et non argentum,
aurum aurum et non tincturam generabit.”
110 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. 11, 1, pp. 47 recto- 64 verso,
passim.
shall shortly examine. In the course of the Scala Arcis Philosophicae he

likens the vulgar gold-makers’ claims of effecting an instant transmutation to
the possibility of forming a magic square by a random placement of
numerals. 111 Both Paracelsus and Agrippa von Nettesheim had correlated
magic squares with the planets and the metals, following Arabic theories
concerning the proportion of the four elements within each metal; 112 Maier
uses as his example a magic square of the order of 3, which corresponds to
lead in the Paracelsian schema:
8 1 6
3 5 7
4 9 2
If the chances of placing the numerals 1 to 9 in this pattern by chance are

low, Maier asks how much more difficult it would be to randomly construct
higher order magic squares, i.e. those corresponding to the nobler metals. 113
In this way Maier sought to demonstrate to his would-be patron his own
knowledge of the harmony and order underlying matter, and thereby
distinguish himself from those unlearned practitioners who proceed without a
proper understanding of the occult properties inhering in Nature.
The doubts Maier casts on the possibility of an artificial and instant
transmutation of metals in his correspondence with Moritz go some way to
explaining why he could later find himself in accord with the Fama
Fraternitatis, the first Rosicrucian manifesto, which rails against “the godless
and accursed art of making gold” that has “gotten out of hand in our time,”
but which goes on to state that gold-making is possible for the true
Philosopher, albeit a mere parergon or triviality. 114 For Maier, the third step
of the alchemical ladder he promised to reveal to Moritz – “the true aim of
the Art, having been hidden by the Philosophers” – concerns the medicinal
virtues of gold and the production of a ‘golden stone’ which, like natural
gold, contains the opposing sulphuric and mercuric principles in equal part
and restores the balance of humours in the intemperate body. If Maier was
fortunate enough to meet with Moritz prior to his departure for England, it
would have been the allure of this iatrochemical goal that he would have
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
111 Ibid., p. 50 recto.
112 On this subject, see Karpenko, Vladimír. “Between Magic and Science: Numerical
Magical Squares,” Ambix, Vol. 40, No. 3, November 1993, pp. 121-128; Stapleton, H. E.
“The Antiquity of Alchemy,” Ambix, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1953, pp. 9-15.
113 Ibid.
114 Kooij, Pleun van der and Carlos Gilly (eds.). Fama Fraternitatis: Das Urmanifest der
Rosenkreuzer Bruderschaft. Haarlem: Rozekruis Pers, 1998, pp. 98-100.
A journey to England 99
played upon, and the notion of maintaining health and piety in the body
politic – matters close to the heart of a Calvinist prince such as Moritz.
7. A journey to England
Given the content and aim of these communications to Moritz the Learned, it
is the pursuit of alchemical knowledge and further patronage for his work
that provides the context in which we should understand Maier’s journey to
England. As the English Freemason and patron of occult learning Elias
Ashmole (1617-1692) stated in 1652, Maier “came to live in England,
purposely that he might so understand our English Tongue, as to translate
Norton’s Ordinall into Latin verse.” 115 Even if Maier did meet with Moritz
before setting out for England, it seems that no concrete advantage ensued for
him or his work, much less a ‘Rosicrucian’ diplomatic mission.
On the other hand, Maier was certainly not persona non grata following
his departure from the environs of Kassel in mid-1611, as he was received
at the court of Moritz’ brother-in-law, Count Ernst III of Holstein-
Schauenburg (1569-1622) in Bückeburg shortly thereafter. 116 There he gave
demonstrations of his knowledge to Peter Finxius (1573-1624), personal
physician to Ernst and Professor of Medicine at the University of Rinteln,
who would later contribute an epigram to the Symbola Aureae Mensae (a
work which was dedicated by Maier to Count Ernst). 117 At this time Maier
also paid a visit to Conrad Hoier, the sub-prior of the monastery at
Möllenbeck, some three miles from Rinteln and eight from Bückeburg.
Whilst Maier was so impressed by Hoier’s literary skills that he conferred
upon him the title of Poet Laureate (the only known employment by Maier of
the aforementioned privileges adhering to his position as Count Palatine), it
seems that Hoier did not immediately reciprocate this stranger’s admiration.
According to the account of Strieder, the sub-prior found Maier’s demeanour
somewhat untrustworthy:
In the year 1611 Hoier was crowned Imperial Poet by Michael Maier, Philos. et Med. Doct.
et Caes. Maj. Com. Pal.; but he had doubts concerning the authenticity of this Count
Palatine, and consequently concerning the authenticity of his own crowning as poet, as
shortly before that time there had been a charlatan in the environs of Möllenbeck falsely
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
115 Ashmole, Elias (ed.). Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. London: J. Grismond, 1652, p.
A2.
117 Ibid.; Strieder, Friedrich Wilhelm. Grundlage zu einer Hessischen Gelehrten und
Schriftsteller Geschichte Seit der Reformation bis auf Gegenwärtige Zeiten. Vol. 6.
Kassel: Göttingen: Barmeier, 1786, p. 83.
posing as a Count Palatine. Thus one finds in the front of Hoier’s book, Versus Biblici
Antiquiores, the witnessing stamp of the then Chancellor of Schauenburg, D. Ant. von
Wietersheim, in order to corroborate the validity of his laurel wreath. 118
Whether the talk in Möllenbeck of a roaming impostor had arisen due to

some act of Maier’s whilst in neighbouring Bückeburg, or due to rumours
concerning the man and his Art, we shall never know. But the apparent
indifference and distrust Maier inspired in some of his hosts following his
departure from Prague certainly cast a revealing light on his persona, and
show that wherever he went, he walked a fine line between the status of
learned physician and fraud.
From Lower Saxony Maier moved to Rotterdam – his likely port of
departure for England. 119 There he met with Pieter Carpentier, the rector of
the local grammar school whose natural history collection appears to have
been an inspiration for Maier’s Tractatus de Volucri Arborea (‘Concerning
the Tree Bird,’ 1619) – a compendium of strange tales demonstrating the
hieroglyphic significance of those vegetables and animals created contrary to
Nature, such as the Tree of Dragon’s Blood, the Tartary Lamb and the
Lycanthrope. 120 The ‘Tree Bird’ in question is the barnacle goose, which
according to the medieval bestiaries is born from barnacles growing on the
underside of driftwood; in Maier’s eyes, it had been created thus to mirror the
Virgin Birth of Christ. 121
The next traces of Maier’s movements are the manuscript Christmas
greetings he offered to James I and his son, Henry Prince of Wales, in
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118 Strieder, Grundlage, pp. 91-93: “...Hoier sich im J. 1611 vom Michael Maier, Philos. et
Med. Doct. et Caes. Maj. Com. Pal. zum kaiserlichen gekrönten Poeten machen lassen;
weil er besorgt, man mögte an der Gültigkeit dieses Comitis Palatii, folglich auch an
seiner Krönung zum Poeten einen Zweifel tragen, indem sich kurz vorher in dortigen
Gegenden ein Betrüger für einen Comitem Palatinum fälschlich ausgegeben; so finde
man vor seinem Buche: Versus biblici antiquiores, den Abdruk eines Zeugnisses des
damaligen Schauenburgischen Kanzlers D. Ant. von Wietersheim’s, um die Richtigkeit
seines Lorbeerkranzes zu bestärken.”
120 Ibid.; Maier, Michael. Tractatus de Volucri Arborea, absque patre et matre, in insulis
Orcadum forma anserculorum proveniente, seu de ortu miraculoso potius quam naturali
vegetabilium, animalium, hominum et supranaturalium quorundam. Frankfurt am Main:
Lucas Jennis, 1619, p. 43. In the course of this work Maier corroborates his story of the
‘Tree Bird’ with reference to communications from a certain ‘Doctor of Scotland’.
Craven has suggested that this may have been Dr. John Johnston, whose Thau-
matographia Naturalis (1632) cites the work of the ‘most noble’ Dr. Maier in turn, and
also names Johann Valentin Andreae – the likely progenitor of the Rosicrucian
manifestos – as a close friend of the author. Craven, Count Michael Maier, pp. 121-122.
121 It seems that Maier may also have been inspired to create this compendium by the
Kunsthammer of Emperor Rudolf II, in which many oddities of natural history were to
be found: Godwin, “A Context for Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens,” p. 6.
A journey to England 101
December of 1611. The manuscript given to Henry, recently discovered by

Srigley, presents a poem in the form of a pyramid containing anacrostics
which was clearly designed to appeal to the prince’s interest in Hermeti-
cism. 122 It is executed in red and gold ink and expresses Maier’s hopes for the
restoration of a Golden Age, in similar fashion to the manuscript destined for
James, which mirrors Maier’s early letter to Rantzau in its invocation of the
pristine wisdom of the ‘Egyptian’ double-faced Janus. 123 Maier declares in
his greetings to Henry that the prince’s noble blood is itself a portent of the
great deeds he will perform, and he closes with a toast to “the coming new
year of good omen, 1612.” Unfortunately, however, the stars were not to
shine favourably on Henry that year, as evinced by Maier’s aforementioned
presence amongst the ‘Count Palatine’s gentlemen’ in Henry’s funeral
procession on Monday the 7th of December, 1612. After 12 days of illness,
Henry had capitulated to a certain ‘New Disease’ or ‘corrupt putrid fever’,
thought by the physicians to have been brought from Hungary. 124 Rumphius,
the personal physician of Friedrich V, attended the Prince’s dissection with
Mayerne, the personal physician of James I, along with “many other Knights
and Gentlemen.” 125 The funeral procession was some two thousand strong;
Maier walked together with Rumphius and others of the German retinue, but
at a distance from the Elector Palatine and his closest courtiers, although it
seems he was present in Westminster Abbey during the service. 126
Henry had been rumoured to hold more interventionist views than his
father James concerning the religious conflicts in the Empire, and his pre-
mature death came as something of a blow to those who hoped for English
support of the German Calvinist cause. As a result of his demise, the wedding
of Friedrich V to Princess Elizabeth (see figure 15) was postponed by James
until Sunday the 14th of February, 1613, lest foreign dignitaries arrive and
find the English revelling after the death of his son. 127 It is unclear as to
whether Maier was able to personally deliver the ‘congratulatory poem’
Hartmann speaks of in his letter to Borbonius; nevertheless, it seems likely
that Maier at least attended the public nuptial celebrations, which began on
the Thursday evening before the wedding. Whilst James, Friedrich, Elizabeth
and various English royalty and nobility watched from the galleries and
windows of the royal residence at Whitehall, many thousands gathered on the
banks of the Thames to witness a splendid fireworks display:
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122 Moran, The Alchemical World of the German Court, p. 174.
123 Srigley, Images of Regeneration, pp. 101-102.
124 Nichols, Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities, p. 472.
125 Ibid., p. 485.
126 Ibid., pp. 496-499.
127 Ibid., p. 489.
First, for a welcome to the beholders, a peale of ordnance like unto a terrible thunder, ratled
in the ayer, and seemed as it were to shake the earth; immediately upon this a rocket of fire
burst from the water, and mounted so high into the element, that it dazzled the beholders’
eyes to look after it. Secondly, followed a number more of the same fashion, spredding so
strangely with sparkling blazes, that the skie seemed to be filled with fire, or that there had
been a combate of darting starres fighting in the ayre; and all the time these continued,
certaine cannons planted in the fields adjoyning made thundering musick to the great
pleasure of the beholders. After this, in a most curious manner, an artificiall Fire-worke with
great wonder was seene flying in the ayre, like unto a Dragon, against which another fierie
vision appeared, flaming like to St. George on horsebacke, brought in by a burning
Inchanter, betweene which was there fought a most strange battell... 128
That evening and in the following days there were mock battles between
‘Turkish’ and English ships on the Thames – a spectacular display of anti-
Islamic sentiment which included thirty-six galleons, four floating castles
with fireworks, and a reconstruction (presumably in miniature) of the town
and fort of Algiers at the riverbank. The spectacle cost over £9000, as well as
the eyes and limbs of many of the performers, although the royal retinue
grew weary of their entertainment after the first night. 129 Given his relatively
minor position amongst the courtiers we cannot be sure if Maier attended the
various lavish masques and feasts held in honour of the royal couple, and he
was certainly not present at the wedding service itself – an honour reserved
for “sixteen young men batchelors, being as many as the Bridegroom was
years of age; the rest, by the express command of his Majesty, did not enter
the Chappel.” 130
8. Francis Anthony and the ‘drinkable gold’
In the course of 1613 Maier submitted his Arcana Arcanissima to the London
printers Crede; like the De Medicina Regia, it seems Maier personally
circulated the work amongst prominent figures at the royal court in the hope
of attracting patronage. One of the courtiers to whom he gave a copy of his
work with a hand-written dedication was Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626),
Bishop of Ely, Royal Almoner and one of the king’s Privy Councillors, who
is said to have “converted many papists” through his “painful preaching” 131
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
128 Ibid., p. 537.
129 Ibid., pp. 525, 539-540, 587.
130 Ibid., p. 542.
131 British Biographical Archive. Microfiche Edition. München: Sauer, 1984, mf. 26, 407:
“painful preaching” here seems to have the meaning of ‘careful’ or ‘painstaking’; a
sample follows so that the reader may decide the case: “If this child be Immanuel, God
with us, then without this child, this Immanuel, we be without God. “Without Him in
Francis Anthony and the ‘drinkable gold’ 103
and took up the cause of James’ Defence of the Right of Kings in the face
of Catholic criticism. 132 Another of Maier’s dedicatees was Sir Thomas
Smith (c.1558-1625), first Governor of the British East India Company and
a controversial Treasurer of the Virginia Company from 1609, who was
accused by the Virginian colonists of causing famine by favouring the growth
of tobacco to the neglect of staple commodities. 133 Maier also dedicated a
copy of his Arcana Arcanissima to Sir William Paddy (1554-1634), another
personal physician of James I, president of the London College of Physicians
and close acquaintance of Lancelot Andrewes; Paddy had once gained His
Majesty’s favour by arguing against the proposition that smoking tobacco is
harmful to the health, and was later appointed commissioner of tobacco
processing for his efforts. 134
Yet again, it appears that Maier’s efforts to secure patronage came to
naught. This much is suggested by the fact that the first dedicatee of the
Lusus Serius alongside Rumphius and Mosanus is the controversial English
alchemist, Francis Anthony (1550-1623). A learned scholar of chemistry
from Cambridge University, Anthony had been repeatedly fined and im-
prisoned by the College of Physicians for peddling his alchemical remedies
without a license, and as we shall see, he clearly stood on the outside of
the circle of powerful courtiers who Maier had initially wooed. Amongst
Anthony’s remedies was his famous aurum potabile or drinkable gold, a
powerful cathartic and emetic, which was said to have miraculously cured
certain of his patients, but as often seriously injured or killed them. 135 From
the earliest period in the history of chemistry, gold had been held to possess
divine properties on account of its seemingly incorruptible and eternal nature;
the goal of early modern alchemists such as Anthony was to find a means to
dissolve an insoluble substance and make its divine virtues available for
human digestion. 136 This was a central problem in Maier’s own physic;
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
this world,” saith the apostle, and if without Him in this, without Him in the next; and if
without Him then, if it be not Immanu-el, it will be Immanu-hell. What with Him? Why
if we have Him we need no more; Immanu-el and Immanu-all.’ Cited in the Dictionary
of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith and Elder, 1885, pp. 403-404.
132 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 1, p. 404.
133 British Biographical Archive, mf. 1017, 167.
134 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 43, p. 35.
135 British Biographical Archive, mf. 31, 215-220.
136 The noted poet and lutenist, Thomas Campion (1567-1620), who composed a masque for
the banquet feast of Friedrich V and Princess Elizabeth, offers a good example of
contemporary scepticism regarding the remedy in his epigram De Auro Potabili:
“Pomponi, tantum vendis medicabilis auri,/ quantum dat fidei credula turba tibi;/
evadunt aliqui, sed non vi futilis auri:/ servantur sola certius ergo fide;” (“Pomponius,
the more you vend that medical gold, the more the gullible masses place their trust in
you. Some patients are cured, but not by the power of this ineffectual gold: they are
indeed, he tells us that his medicine is similar to the aurum potabile, except
that it is extracted not from elemental gold but from Philosophical Gold,
which, he cryptically remarks, is only conceivable in the imagination. 137 Like
the aurum potabile, it is also a strong purgative that produces a cathartic
reaction in the patient in order to restore the balance of fluids within the
body; however, it only affects the sources of sickness, and does not attack
the healthy parts of the body. 138 We are told he successfully applied this
medicine in both England and Germany; it heals not only epileptics and
cripples, but causes grey hairs to regain their pristine colour and teeth to grow
back again. 139
This certainly appears to be an advance on Anthony’s medicine, which
according to one account caused his patients’ teeth to drop out. 140 Never-
theless, Maier’s defence of Anthony was emphatic, as we may gather from
the introduction he contributed to the Englishman’s Apologia Veritatis
Illucescentis (1616) appearing under the familiar anagram of Hermes
Malavici. 141 There Maier commends the sober arguments Anthony has set
forth in his work, and defends the ‘potable gold’ against certain detractors:
Most famous sir, I have read your small treatise concerning the drinkable gold published in
your English homeland; the arguments and goal were clearly sound, and whosoever holds
another opinion should not be counted amongst good men. I have gratefully examined the
sweetest little flowers plucked from the true gardens of chymia; and truly when I saw that
most venomous pair of spiders alight upon them, making poison out of the nectar and
spinning futile and useless webs, I could scarcely contain myself, but that I might blow away
those swollen and horrid creatures with one puff, not to say with one fart. But as I have
noticed their webs and many little works pleasing so many people, hitherto I have not wished
to inflict anything too troublesome on those little animals, lest spiders conspire with hornets.
Meanwhile, behold!, I send this sponge imbued with acrid vinegar, with which you can wipe
away those nuisances, or the stinking slime carried in by those little beasts; or, if you prefer,
totally destroy their unpleasant stains and webs. 142
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
saved by their trust alone”). See Campion, Thomas. Thomae Campiani Epigrammatum
libri primus. London: E. Griffin, 1619, Epigram 6.
137 Stiehle, Michael Maierus Holsatus, p. 259; Maier, De Medicina Regia, p. 93.
138 Stiehle, ibid.; Maier, ibid.
139 Stiehle, ibid., pp. 258-259; Maier, ibid., p. 84.; c.f. also Maier, Civitas Corporis Humani,
p. 48; Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 9.
140 British Biographical Archive, mf. 31, 219.
141 Anthony, Francis. Apologia Veritatis Illucescentis, pro Auro Potabili: seu Essentia Auri
ad medicinalem potabilitatem absque corrosivis reducti; ut fere omnibus humani
corporis aegritudinibus, ac praesertim Cordis corroborationi, tanquam Universalis
Medicina, utilissime adhiberi possit; una cum rationibus intelligibilibus, testimoniis
locupletissimis, et modo convenienti in singulis morbis usurpandi, producta. London:
Johannes Legatt, 1616.
142 Ibid., p. ¶ 4 recto: “Legi vir clarissime tractatulum tuum de Auro potabili apud vos in
Anglia editum; argumentum sane et intentio bona; qui aliter aestimet, vix mihi inter
Francis Anthony and the ‘drinkable gold’ 105
The two ‘swollen and horrid’ spiders in question were the alchemist Thomas
Rawlin and a physician and minor playwright, Matthew Gwinne, who was
appointed co-commissioner for the processing of tobacco alongside his friend
from the College of Physicians, Sir William Paddy. Gwinne had debunked
Anthony’s remedy in his Aurum non Aurum (1611) as a response to An-
thony’s first tract on the matter published in 1610, 143 whilst Rawlin’s tract –
the Admonitio Pseudo-Chymici – appeared in 1612 with the aim of exposing
Anthony and espousing his own true ‘potable gold’. 144 The ‘sponge’ which
Maier offered up to Anthony was a long poem praising the flowers of the
‘garden of the Hesperides’ which had been sown in England, and which
Anthony has plucked. 145 This is a reference to the mythical Greek garden in
which golden apples grew and a dragon guarded the Golden Fleece, a motif
to which Maier alludes throughout his works as an alchemical hieroglyph.
Those who would denigrate Anthony’s medicine are likened in Maier’s poem
to ‘Grillus’, one of the men of Odysseus who, having been transformed into a
pig by the sorceress Circe, preferred the swinish form to his former humanity
and so remained thus. 146 When we consider the similarity of Maier’s own
‘mercurial medicine’ to Anthony’s aurum potabile – both of which act by
fortifying the heart’s calor innatus with the virtues of gold – then we may
understand the sympathy he felt for his English friend, and the corresponding
vitriol he directed towards Anthony’s antagonists. Such was his support for
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
bonos aestimandus. Flosculos tuos dulcissimos ex Chymiae verae hortis delibatos grato
animo lustravi; verum cum illis binos areaneos venenosissimos infidere viderem, exque
illo nectare venenum sibi haurire et texere futilia et inutilia reticula, vix me continere
potui, quin illos turgidos et horridos uno ictu ne dicam flatu dissiparem. At cum
animadverterem eorum texturas et opuscula permultis admiranda existere, ideo nihil
incommodi illis animalculis hactenus inferre volui, ne scilicet Crabrones cum araneis
conspirent. Mitto interim en spongiam Muriaticam, seu muria acri imbutam, qua plagas
ab illis bestiolis illatas aut virus infixum elvere, abstergere et sanare possis; aut si mavis,
illorum non candidas lituras aut texturas delere et omnino supprimere.”
143 Anthony, Francis. Medicinae Chymicae, et Veri Potabilis Auri Assertio. Cambridge: Ex
officina Cantrelli Legge, 1610.
144 Gwinne, Matthew. Aurum non Aurum: In assertorem chymicae, sed verae medicinae
desertorum, Frac. Anthonivm, Matthaei Gwynn succincta aduersaria. London: R. Field,
1611; Rawlin, Thomas: Admonitio Pseudo-chymicis: seu Alphabetarium Philosophicum:
omnibus doctrinae filiis, et philosophicae medicinae studiosis, verissime, sincere, et
plusquam laconica brevitate conscriptum, et in bonum publicum emissum: in quo D. D.
Antonii aurum potabile obiter refutatur, et genuina veri auri potabilis, in omnibus
creatis delitescentis, praeparatio proponitur. London: Allde, 1612.
145 Anthony, Apologia Veritatis Illucescentis, pp. ¶ 4 verso- ¶¶ recto.
146 The origins of this tradition are not clear to me, as the tale of ‘Grillus’ does not appear in
Homer’s Odyssey; however, the German word for a cricket is die Grille, and thus the
term ‘Grillus’ may indicate a form of invective.
Anthony that he even took a copy of the Apologia back to Germany, with the
promise of translating it into his native language. 147
Given the fact that Anthony’s antagonists counted amongst the very
courtiers who had been left unimpressed by Maier’s advances, then the con-
spiratorial ‘hornets’ Maier mentions in the preface to Anthony’s Apologia
may be identified as Sir William Paddy and the London College of Phy-
sicians. Thus in his Prologomena to the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
Ashmole makes the remark that Maier’s entertainment in England “was too
coarse for so deserving a scholar.” 148 Maier’s experiences with unspecified
English ‘charlatans’ inspired his Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, the
more substantial sequel to the earlier ‘vinegared sponge’ he had presented to
Anthony, in which he writes:
When I was in England a few years ago I accrued quite some ill-feeling towards such
alchemical frauds, or rather pseudo-chemists, after which time I could not rest until I had
seized my pen and made a description of them. I have done this in order that I may give rein
to my feelings, and also in order that I might light a torch for all good men, as it were, lest
they stumble upon a stone in the gloomy crypt of these frauds, or indeed hit their heads on a
beam. That is to say, lest good men be fooled by these leeches and hornets, who not only
suck out all blood and life-energy, but also attempt to inflict the greatest pain on the body
and soul. 149
It seems that some of these ‘leeches and hornets’ were of the ilk of Thomas
Rawlin, as Maier devotes some space to the subject of the fraudulent
varieties of aurum potabile in the course of the Examen Fucorum Pseudo-
chymicorum. His polemic also draws on testimonies from the works of
Heinrich Khunrath and Oswald Croll. In the Treuhertzige Warnungs-
Vermahnung (‘Sincere Warning’) cited by Maier, Khunrath relates the story
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
147 The statement of Maier’s intent appears in Maier’s letter to the Stadtarzt of Frankfurt,
Johannes Hartmann Beyer, which will be discussed further in the following chapter:
Frankfurt am Main, Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek, MS Ff. J. H. Beyer A. 161, p. 207
verso. It seems that Maier never completed this task, although a Latin edition did appear
from the publisher Frobenius in Hamburg in 1618 under the title Panacea aurea; sive
tractatus duo de ipsius auro potabili… nunc primum in Germania ex Londinensi
exemplari excusi, oper M.B.F.B.; thus the possibility remains that this was Maier’s
translation.
148 Ashmole, Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. A2.
149 Maier, Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, p. A2 verso: “Cum aliquando in Anglia
paucis ab hinc annis nonnihil bilis in eiusmodi fucos alchymicos, aut potius pseudo-
chymicos, collegerim, non potui quiescere, quin eorum delineationem, calamo arrepto,
instituerem, tum ut animo meo pro tempore indulgerem, tum ut bonis omnibus hanc
quasi facem incenderem, ne facile in tenebricosis illorum cryptis pedem lapidi, aut
verticem trabi illiderent, hoc est, se circumveniri ab illis hirudinibus et crabronibus (qui
non solum sanguinem, opumque substantiam exugere, sed et dolores acerrimos animo
corporique infligere tentant) paterentur.”
The Golden Tripod 107
of the alchemist George Penot, who paid 24 ducats for a suspension of gold
filings with camphor, clove and aniseed oil in Prague; 150 whilst Croll recalls
meeting a certain ‘frivolous Philosopher’, who concealed his conniving and
snake-like character under the cover of sincerity and Pharisaic piety, and who
peddled a sulphurous solution for his own enrichment and the considerable
harm of others. 151
9. The Golden Tripod: “Truth is concealed

under the cover of shadows”
Despite his experiences with similar charlatanry in England, Maier held that
country in considerable esteem as a centre of alchemical learning, as we may
gather from the fruits of his journey contained in the Tripus Aureus (‘Golden
Tripod,’ 1618, figure 16). 152 There we find Maier’s translation of the Ordinal
of Alchemy of Thomas Norton (c.1433-1513/14), as well as his transcription
of the Testament of a certain ‘Abbot John Cremer of Westminster’ (figure
17). Norton was a citizen of Bristol, a customs agent and purportedly a
student of George Ripley. All that is known of the man is an entry in the
town records describing a bitter dispute with the mayor, whom he accused of
treason; during the trial Norton was denounced for keeping violent retainers
and playing tennis on Sunday afternoons, and the whole affair led to his
personal humiliation before the king of England. 153 His Ordinal is a Middle
English poem of 3100 lines, which he intended to write in “playne & comon
speche” for “al commyn peple,” and to “shew the trouth in few wordis &
playne.” 154 In the course of the work he sets out the procedures of the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
150 Ibid., p. 45; Khunrath’s tract is to be found in his Von Hylealischen, Das ist Pri-Materia-
lischen Catholischen, oder Algemeinem Natürlichen Chaos. Magdeburg: n.p., 1597;
Penotus’ original text is given by Beck, Michael Maiers Examen Fucorum Pseudo-
chymicorum, p. 54, n. 232.
151 Maier, Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, p. 46: “Communicatam ipsum aliquando
cuidam Philosopho Corticario sub synceritate et pietate pharisaica, hypocriticum ac
colubrinum dexterrime decipientem animum tegenti, qui hunc pulverem (postquam ei
sulfuris triti admixtionem, per admonitionem vim percutiendi ademisset) de facie
incognitum suis imposturis miscens, cum damno aliorum et suo commodo auri
multiplicationem apud plurimos attentavit.”
152 Maier, Michael. Tripus Aureus, hoc est, Tres tractatus chymici selectissimi. Frankfurt am
Main: Lucas Jennis, 1618.
153 Norton, Thomas. Thomas Norton’s Ordinal of Alchemy. Ed. John Reidy. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1975, pp. xlvi ff.
154 Ibid., pp. 6-7. As Ashmole once noted, the first syllables of the first lines of each chapter
of the Ordinal form an anacrostic of the author’s name, ‘Tomas Norton of Brystow’: “To
the honour of god oon in persones þree.../ Mastrie ful mervelous & Archymastrie.../
alchemical process “like as the Ordinalle to prestis settith owte the seruyce of
the dayes,” i.e. in imitation of the order of the Church’s liturgies for the
year. 155 Maier must have found this manner of ordering the magnum opus
pleasing, given his own conception of the alchemical significance of
Epiphany and Easter; and Norton, like Maier, also brings astrological
considerations and celestial virtues to bear in his work. 156 Other aspects of
the Ordinal which resonate with Maier’s worldview are the extensive
descriptions it gives of alchemical swindlers – including a certain “monke of
Normandie” who attempted to beguile Norton himself – and the insistence on
the importance of a knowledge of grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic and music
for the practitioner of the Art. 157 However, in the course of his translating
work Maier must have felt a little apprehensive when reading the dire
warning issued in Norton’s introduction not to change a single syllable of his
work:
Now souerayn lord god me gyde and spede,

For to my maters as now I will procede,
Prayng al men which this boke shal fynde,
with deuowte prayers to haue my soule in mynd;
And that no man for better ne for wors,
Change my writyng, for drede of goddis curs;
For where quyck sentence shal seme not to be,
þere may wise men fynd selcouth priuyte;
And changing of som oone sillable
May make this boke vnprofitable. 158
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Normandie norshide a monke now late.../ Tonsile was a laborere in fyre.../ Of þe Grose
werk now I will not spare.../ Bryse, when þe change of þe coyne was had.../ Towarde the
maters of concordance.../ A Perfite Maister ye may him trowe.” In Ashmole’s
manuscript collection at the Bodleian Library there is a copy of the Ordinal transcribed
by John Dee (1527-1608), magus resident at the court of Elizabeth I, which may have
served as Maier’s source; Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 57, 1577.
155 Norton, Ordinal of Alchemy, p. 8.
156 Thus Norton speaks of the concord of love “bitwen your werkis & the spere above”:
“The virtew of ye mover of ye orbe ys formall,/ The virtew of ye viijth spere is here
Instrumentall,/ With his signis & figuris et parties aspectuall;/ The planet virtue is propre
& speciall;/ The virtew of Elementis is here Materiall,/ The virtew infuside resultith of
them all.” Ibid., pp. 84, 91.
157 Ibid., pp. 52-53: “Conioyne your elementis Grammatically/ with alle theire concordis
conueniently;.../ Ioyne them also in Rethoricalle gyse/ with naturis ornate in purifiede
wyse;.../ Ioyne them to-gedir also Arismetically,/ Bi subtile nombres proporcionally,.../
Ioyne your elementis Musicallye,/ For ij causes: one is for melodye/ whiche theire
accordis wil make to your mynde/ The trewe effecte when þat ye shall fynde;/ And al-so
for like as Dyapason,/ with diapente & with diatesseron,/ with ypate ypaton & lekanos
Mused,/ with accordis which musike be used,/ with theire proporcions cawsen
Armonye,/ Moch like proporcions be in Alchymye...”
158 Ibid., p. 10; ‘selcouth privyte’ means a ‘marvelous secret knowledge’ or ‘rare secret’.
John Cremer, ‘Abbot of Westminster’, is a less tangible figure than Norton;

indeed, a thorough inspection of the names of abbots and monks given in the
obedientiary rolls preserved at Westminster Abbey reveals that no abbot or
monk ever went by the name of Cremer at Westminster. 159 Maier’s trans-
cription of the Testament of Cremer is the earliest record we have of the
allegedly medieval author writing under that name; two further manuscript
versions of the Testament are extant, one in the library of the Wellcome
Institute (a French translation dated to around 1675), and the other in
Ashmole’s collection residing at the Bodleian Library (a copy from
Ashmole’s own hand). 160 Which manuscript source Maier himself drew upon
is unknown, although the work appears to be of sixteenth century origin.
Maier himself seems to have had doubts regarding some aspects of the
Testament, as he introduces the text with the following verse:
Either the mind of the author, or at any rate his words are deceptive;
therefore you should be wary, a serpent lies hidden everywhere.
Do not look down upon this plainly spoken sermon:
by chance truth is concealed under the cover of shadows. 161
When Maier says that the mind of the author or his words are deceptive,
could he be referring to the identity of Cremer and the strange story of his life
recounted in the introduction to the Testament? There we learn that the author
had been led astray by incomprehensible alchemical authors for some thirty
years, but during a journey to Italy Divine Providence brought him into the
company of a certain ‘Raymund’, a man who was as honourable as he was
erudite:
I stayed in his company for a long time, and having thus obtained favour in the eyes of this
good man, he opened up some part of this great mystery to me. Therefore I made many
entreaties to him, and so he came with me to this island and remained with me for two years.
During that time I attained the entire work. And afterwards I led this distinguished man into
the presence of the most illustrious King Edward, by whom he was welcomed with the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
159 Kind information of Christine Reynolds, Assistant Keeper of Muniments at Westminster
Abbey.
160 Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1415; Wellcome Institute Library, MS 3557; mention is
made of Cremer in Richard Widmore’s An History of the Church of St. Peter
Westminster, commonly called Westminster Abbey. London: J. Fox and C. Tovey, 1751,
p. 174, but his account is drawn from Maier’s Tripus Aureus itself. Nevertheless,
Widmore conjectures that ‘Cremer’ may not be on the abbey records because that is the
author’s family name rather than the name he took upon entering the monastery, which
was customarily derived from the monk’s town or region of origin.
161 Maier, Tripus Aureus, p. 184: “Aut mens Authoris, vel certe est littera fallax,/ Inde tibi
caveas, anguis ubique latet./ Hunc ne despicias plano sermone locutum,/ Forte sub
umbroso tegmine vera tegit.”
dignity he deserved and treated very respectfully; and having secured from the King many
promises, pacts and conditions, Raymund was content to make the king rich with his Art.
The most important conditions were that the king should personally conduct a war against
the Turks, the enemies of God, give shelter to the house of the Lord, and least of all make
conflict with other Christians by arrogance or war. But (O great sorrow!) this promise was
broken by the King, and that pious man was afflicted in his soul and spirit, and he fled across
the sea in a miserable state... 162
These words draw on a tradition that the Catalan theologian and martyr
Ramon (Raymund) Lull (c.1235-1316) visited England, a story which derives
from the pseudonymous alchemical literature attributed to Lull, as does
the erroneous belief that Lull believed in the possibility of the transmutation
of metals. 163 Indeed, Cremer’s work uses as its literary model the Testament
of pseudo-Lull, which set the fashion for later alchemical wills and testa-
ments such as Basil Valentine’s Letztes Testament. 164 Ashmole embellishes
Cremer’s tale of his dealings with ‘Raymund’ with a further tradition that
King Edward used the riches he gained through Lull’s Art to declare war on
France, and imprisoned the pious alchemist in the Tower of London, although
Lull “made himself a Leaper, by which meanes he gained more liberty.” 165
Stories of patrons financing war by means of the spagyric Art are a standard
motif in the alchemical corpus; thus Ashmole mentions elsewhere in his
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
162 Ibid., pp. 185-186: “Et ego huius artis facultatisque veluti sectator studiosus mirandum
in modum fui retardatus re obscure mihi in multis variisque codicibus explanata, quos
legi exercuique suis per spatium triginta annorum instructionibus ad meum magnum
sumptum, detrimentumque laboris mei. Quantoque magis legi, tanto magis erravi, usque
dum in Italiam divina providentia me contulerim, ubi Deo optimo maximo visum fuerit,
me in sodalitium unius viri non minus dignitate, quam omni genere eruditionis praediti,
Raymundi nomine destinare, in cuius sodalitate diu remoratus sum, sicque favorem in
conspectu huius boni viri nactus sim quod ille aliquam partem huius tanti mysterii
aperuerit, propterea illum multis precibus ita tractavi, quod mecum in hanc insulam
veniret, mecumque duos annos manserit. In cuius temporis tractu, sum absolutive totum
opus consecutus. Posteaque hunc virum egregium in conspectu inclitissimi Regis
Edouardi deduxi, a quo merita dignitate recipitur et omni humanitate tractatur, ibique
multis promissis, pactis, conditionibusque a rege inductus, erat contentus Regem
promissione divina sua arte divitem facere. Hac solummodo conditione, ut rex in propria
persona adversus Turcas, inimicos Dei, bellum gereret impenderetque super domum
Domini, minimeque in superbia aut bello gerendo adversus Christianos: sed (proh dolor)
hoc promissum erat irritum a rege violatumque, tum ille vir pius in spiritibus
penetralibusque cordis sui afflictus hinc trans mare lamentabili miserabilique more
aufugit...”
163 Roberts, Gareth. The Mirror of Alchemy: Alchemical Ideas and Images in Manuscripts
and Books from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century. London: The British Library,
1994, pp. 38-40.
164 Ibid., p. 40; Valentine, Basil. Letztes Testament und Offenbahrung der Himmlischen und
irdischen Gehmeimniß. Jena: Eyring, 1626.
165 Ashmole, Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. 467.
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum that George Ripley spent some time on the
Isle of Rhodes, and whilst there produced £100 000 worth of gold annually
for the Knights of the Order of Saint John in order to aid their struggle
against the Muslim Turks. 166
Nevertheless, whilst there is every reason to doubt the authenticity of
Cremer’s story and self-professed identity on the basis of his use of such
traditional motifs, Maier’s historical account in the Symbola Aureae Mensae
indicates he thought of ‘Abbot Cremer’ as a true contemporary of Lull who
received the secrets of the Art from that man, and he also specifically refutes
those who doubt certain aspects of Lull’s reported visit to England. 167 This
makes Maier’s introductory verse to the Testament all the more puzzling, and
leads us to wonder exactly what it is about the words of this tract or the mind
of its author that are deceptive. Like Norton’s Ordinal – which also draws
heavily from the works of pseudo-Lull – Cremer’s Testament is written in
supposedly simple terms, and the author instructs us to ignore any books
which deal with an inordinate number of Decknamen. 168 Cremer exposes the
‘true’ meaning of certain of these codenames – thus the ‘Black Raven’ is
oxidised iron ore – although he warns that if any one of his brethren betrays
the identity of the central ingredient of the work, ‘Red Dragon’s Blood’, he
will have his name erased from the Book of Life. 169 Whether or not the ‘true’
meanings of certain Decknamen supplied by Cremer were themselves
codenames, he ends his Testament with the supplication that succeeding
abbots, priors and seniors make a copy of his work every sixty years, as the
written letter is liable to change its form in time. 170 As we will see, the
final testament of Maier’s life, the Ulysses, shows that he failed to find the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
166 Ibid., p. 458.
167 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 480: “Hic est ille, qui se Lullium deduxisse in
Angliam refert, a quo artem obtinuerit;” the arguments concerning Lull’s visit to
England are given on pp. 417 ff.
168 Maier, Tripus Aureus, pp. 185, 195.
169 Ibid., p. 195: “Item iubeo, ut hoc quod vobis revelavi, quod est sanguis draconis rubri, ne
cuiquam indicetis, quid id est, nec quantitatem, nec quando in opus nostrum immittatur,
neque tempus, neque manifestabitis ulli hominum praeterquam ipsis personis solis supra
constitutis: ...quicunque hoc meum mandatum non observaverit, eius nomen e libro vitae
abradatur.” He also bids his fellow monks not to make use of his Art unless the abbey
faces penury or ruin, an ‘impossible’ circumstance given the treasure he has already
bequeathed it: ibid., p. 194.
170 Ibid., pp. 194-195: “...mandatum vobis do, quod vos, qui in supremo dignitatis gradu in
hac domo estis collocati, videlicet Abbas, Prior, gravissimique seniores, ut aliquis
vestrum renovet hoc meum opus, exercitiumque rescriptione quotiescunque numerus
sexaginta annorum finiatur; Nam illud hoc meum opus conservabit ut quam rectissime
possit intelligi: Et quoniam ratio scribendi literas per caracteres varientur, rescriptio de
integro est via tutissima conservandi operis nostri, ut integrum et inviolatum success-
oribus nostris relinquatur.”
truth concealed in the shadowy words of Cremer and Norton, and whatever
knowledge may once have been held by his English forerunners, something
was lost in the translation.
IV. The Rosicrucian ‘imposture’
1. Illness and a chance encounter
Maier returned to Germany in the summer of 1616, as we may gather from

the preface to the Jocus Severus written in Frankfurt am Main in September
of that year. He had initially planned to journey once more to Prague, but due
to a grave and chronic illness he was waylaid in Frankfurt and could travel no
further. In a letter of supplication to Johann Hartmann Beyer (the dedicatee of
his Tripus Aureus) he identifies this illness as the quartan, the fever of the
melancholic, and speaks of the adversities he has faced living in foreign
climes whilst suffering “in body and soul.” 1 Beyer (1563-1625) was not
only the Stadtarzt of Frankfurt, but also an important publisher of medical
tracts, and the term of address utilised by Maier in the course of his letter
(“your Excellency”) is an indication of the importance of Beyer’s position. 2
Nevertheless, despite Maier’s best efforts to secure his patronage, there is no
record of any response from Beyer to either the letter or the sample tracts that
accompanied it. Furthermore, the fact of Maier’s illness (which appears
eventually to have led to his demise) must have lent a very personal urgency
to his alchemical quest; for Maier’s search for the temperance-imparting
Universal Medicine was motivated not only by the necessity of securing an
income, but also by an increasingly desperate desire to correct the imbalance
of humours within his own body. That prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
1 Frankfurt am Main, Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek, MS Ff. J. H. Beyer A. 161, p. 207
verso: “Non aut em satis fuit: plurimos hic morosos expertum fuisse ab initio, sed
praeterea morbus gravissimus et Chronicus, Quartana, invasit, et integrum annum me
exercuisse: Durum sane extitit tot mala alienis in omnis peregrino, incognito, adeo
afflicto animo et corpore experiri, alias nec satis a fortuna instructo. Quid facerem? Licet
iter meum Pragam institueram, hucusque tamen hic praepeditus manere coactus fui.
Interea ad Studia mihi recursus, etiamsi vix unum aut alterum penes me librum
habuerim, nec amicum ullum ex literatis, a quo mutuo authores paucos acciperim.” The
letter is dated October 20, 1617.
2 Beyer was a student of Girolam Fabrici (c.1533-1619), professor of anatomy at the
University of Padua; he was also the inventor of a popular ‘Frankfurter Pille’, made
from aloe and gentian for the relief of indigestion. Beyer is not to be confused with
Maier’s acquaintance Johannes Hartmann (1568-1631), professor of chemical medicine
at Marburg.
114 The Rosicrucian ‘imposture’
in the laboratory may well have been the very source of the illness he sought
to cure is an ironic circumstance.
More will be said of Maier’s downfall in due course; for now it suffices to
note that the changes to his travel itinerary occasioned by his illness were to
prove fateful for the history of Rosicrucianism. The home of a renowned six
monthly book fair, Frankfurt am Main was also a major publishing centre,
and Maier now lived in close proximity to the publishers Johann Theodor de
Bry and Lucas Jennis, who printed the majority of his publications in the
following nine years. Whilst visiting the autumnal book fair of 1616 Maier
first became embroiled in the Rosicrucian affair; according to his account
in the Symbola Aureae Mensae, he had heard rumours during his stay in
England concerning the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, but at that time he was
occupied solely with the subject of chemia 3 and considered the matter to be
“obscure and unbelievable gossip.” As it had been said that these Brethren
were bringing an occult wisdom to Europe via Spain, he had associated them
with contemporaneous reports of a certain prophet or ‘magician king’ named
‘Abdela’ who had conquered the kingdom of Morocco with the help of occult
powers, and he gave the matter no further attention. 4 Nevertheless, during
the book fair by “fortunate chance” he came upon the true source of the
widespread rumours concerning the Brethren, the anonymous Rosicrucian
manifestos. Having read these tracts his opinion was radically altered, and he
held it to be a “great and almost unbelievable matter” that had been set in
motion by these strange Brethren; and if by “practice itself” the programme
of the manifestos might lead to results, he deemed it worthy of being extolled
and promoted with every effort. 5 In accordance with this declaration, during
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
3 As Maier utilises the terms chymia and chemia interchangeably, I have chosen to utilise
either the Latin chemia or the English ‘alchemy’ (for reasons elaborated upon in our
conclusion) in relation to his work.
4 The tale of the ‘magician king’ that Maier had heard is related in a contemporary work,
A True Historicall Discourse of Muley Hamets rising to the three Kingdomes of
Moruecos, Fes and Sus: the dis-union of the three Kingdomes, by civill warre, kindled
amongst his three ambitious Sonnes, Muley Sheck, Muley Boferes, and Muley Sidan.
London: Thomas Purfoot, 1609. In the fifteenth chapter of this tract it is said that in 1608
a certain ‘Abdela’ had defeated his more powerful brother ‘Muley Sidan’ in a battle,
during which a contingent of 200 English mercenaries with 60 cannons refused to retreat
and was routed – the reason, no doubt, for the currency of the rumours Maier heard in
England. The role played by occult powers in the conflict seems to have been confused
in these rumours, as it was Sidan who eventually wrested control of Morocco back from
his brother Abdela some five months after his defeat through the good advice of his
soothsayers (see chapter 17 of the True Historicall Discourse).
5 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 290: “[Fama de Fr. R. C. ad exteros transiit.] FAMA
ILLA dictae FRATERNITATIS, quae hic in plurimorum auribus oreque iampridem
perstrepuit, adque exteras oras circum circa vagata latissimas regiones pervolavit, mihi
quoque tum in Anglia agenti, reique Chymicae unice invigilanti, obscuris quibusdam
Illness and a chance encounter 115
the two years that followed the chance encounter at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Maier dedicated a number of tracts to the defence of the programme set out in
the manifestos, and to the defence of a Brotherhood that remained as elusive
as the goals it preached.
On account of his leading role as apologist for this shadowy Order, in time
Maier came to be known as a man who squandered his talents not only on the
impossible claims of alchemy, but also on the Rosicrucian ‘imposture’, as
Newton would put it when reviewing the manifestos and Maier’s defence of
them. 6 By the eighteenth century the ‘Fraternity of the Rosy Cross’ that had
inspired the hopes and fears of early seventeenth century Europe was widely
condemned alongside alchemy as a malicious fraud, and Maier was depicted
as its chief victim, as the Biographie Universelle makes clear:
It is difficult to know if the society of the Brothers of the Rosy Cross existed elsewhere than
in the imagination of some scoundrels, who used it as a means of extorting money from
overly credulous people. The Brothers were believed to possess the power to change metals
into gold, or to retain their health over many centuries, and to transport themselves with the
rapidity of thought through all the lands of the world. This society commenced with a great
deal of noise in Germany at the beginning of the seventeenth century; and Michael Maier
was certainly one of its initiates, or rather one of its dupes, since he had the inclination to
write up their laws and customs, and took up their defence in his works. 7
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
rumusculis, incredibilibus, ipsaque veritate longe maioribus insonuit, cui fidem, pro
referentis fide, dubiam prima vice adhibui: [A. C. 1613 Barbaria propheticus aut certe
magicus rex multa admiranda fecit.] Eodem tempore ex Barbaria innovationes quaedam
mirabiles ore referebantur, quomodo prope Marocum et Fessam quidam propheta ex
sapientum numero surrexerit, nomine Mullei Om Hamet Ben Abdela, qui plurima
occulta signa in se demonstrans, Regem istius regionis, Mullei Sidan, satis magno
exercitu instructum, pene inermis, exigua manu aggressus profligavit et vicit, regnique
sedem obtinuit. [Prima relatio incerto] Cum vero et hi fratres fama inconstanti ex
Barbaria venisse per Hispaniam dicerentur, eiusdem artis et institutionis hi et ille
Barbaricus propheta, existimati sunt: [Francf. nundi autumnal: A. 1616] Sed libro ipso
de fama et confessione eorum edito, forte fortuna perlustrato, longe aliter de illis ferre
iudicium informatus sum. Magna sane res est, quae ab illis agitatur, et pene incredibilis;
quam si eventus expresserit, usuque ipso verissimam declaraverit, habebimus satis per
vitam, quod miremur, collaudemus et omnibus conatibus promoveamus.”
6 Macguire, W. et. al. (eds.) Alchemy and the Occult: A Catalogue of Books and
Manuscripts from the Collection of Paul and Mary Mellon given to Yale University
Library. Vol. 2. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968, pp. 348-9.
7 Biographie Universelle, Vol. 26, p. 232: “C’est encore un problème de savoir si la
société des frères de la Rose-Croix a existé ailleurs que dans l’imagination de quelques
fourbes, qui en firent un moyen d’extorquer de l’argent à des personnes trop crédules.
On leur attribuait le pouvoir de changer les métaux en or, de se conserver pleins de santé
pendant plusieurs siècles, et de se transporter avec la rapidité de la pensée dans tous les
pays de la terre. Cette société commença à faire du bruit en Allemagne au
commencement du 17e siècle; et Maïer fut certainement un des initiés ou plutôt une des
dupes, puisqu’il a eu la bonhomie de rédiger leurs lois, leurs coutumes, et qu’il a pris
leur défense dans un de ses ouvrages.”
The following chapter will seek to answer one central question concerning
Maier’s relation to early Rosicrucianism – was he the perpetrator or the
victim of an ‘imposture’, if indeed the manifestos and their programme can
be referred to as such? Before considering the evidence of Maier’s Rosicru-
cian writings, some remarks are in order concerning the nature of the
Rosicrucian affair that gripped Europe at this time.
2. The origins of Rosicrucianism and the Leipzig Manuscript of

Michael Maier
If truth is indeed known by error, as the alchemists have asserted, then we

may justly utilise the enigmatic ‘Rosicrucian manuscript’ of Michael Maier
as a means of introducing and defining the Rosicrucian phenomenon with
which he was involved. For the literature – both academic and esoteric –
concerning the history of Rosicrucianism is so replete with fabrications,
intentional and otherwise, that one begins to suspect such deceptions and
fantasies form something of the essence of the Rosicrucian phenomenon from
its inception to the present day.
That inception was declared across Europe by the publication of the
aforesaid anonymous manifestos, the Fama Fraternitatis (‘Fame of the
Fraternity,’ 1614) and the Confessio Fraternitatis (‘Confession of the
Fraternity,’ 1615). 8 The former was circulating in manuscript form in the
cities of Kassel and Marburg, centres of intellectual activity within the
Hessian state of Moritz the Learned, from at least July of 1611. 9 It purported
to describe the opening of the tomb of Christian Rosenkreutz, the founder of
an Order of pious scientist-monks dedicated to the reformation of theology
and the sciences; and the discovery of this tomb, and of the books secreted
therein, was said to herald the dawn of a new era of the knowledge of
God and Nature, in which the proto-sciences of the Golden Age, Alchemia,
Cabala and Magia, would be restored:
Seeing as the only wise and merciful God has lately poured out his mercy and goodness so
richly to the human race, so that the knowledge of his Son as also that of Nature is
continually broadened, we may justly exalt a happy time; because He has allowed us not
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
8 Although the Fama Fraternitatis states the manifestos would be propagated in five
languages throughout Europe, only German, Latin and Dutch editions are known to us
from this early period; an English translation appeared in 1652 under the auspices of
Eugenius Philalethes (Thomas Vaughan): The Fame and Confession of the Fraternity of
R: C:, commonly, of the Rosie Cross. With a Praeface annexed thereto, and a short
Declaration of their Physicall Work. London: Giles Calvert, 1652.
9 Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 70; Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, p. 41.
The origins of Rosicrucianism 117
only to discover almost a half part of the unknown and hidden world, and has shown to us
many wonderful works and creatures of Nature hitherto never seen, but also He has raised up
highly enlightened men of wisdom, who might partly restore the polluted and imperfect arts,
in order that Man might finally understand his nobility and splendour, the nature of the
Microcosm, and how far his art extends into Nature. 10
The Confessio Fraternitatis states that Christian Rosenkreutz (or ‘Father C.

R.’) was born in 1378 (the commencement of the Great Schism between the
popes), and that he lived 106 years (i.e. until shortly after the birth of Martin
Luther in late 1483), whilst in the Fama Fraternitatis it is said that his
tomb was to remain undisturbed for 120 years; which references, considered
together, give the date of the opening of the tomb as 1604, the year in
which a ‘new star’ appeared in the constellation of Serpens. 11 The markedly
chiliastic Confessio Fraternitatis interprets this astronomical event, in tan-
dem with the appearance of a ‘new star’ in Cygnus in 1600, as a sign and
testament to the will of God concerning the coming Reformation of science
and religion. 12 Thus, just as the door to the tomb of Father C. R. has been
miraculously opened, so soon “a door will open for Europe,” as many
anticipate with great yearning. 13 The Fama Fraternitatis goes on to relate
that within the tomb the discoverers found the body of Christian Rosenkreutz,
“venerable and undecayed” – evidence of the miraculous properties of his
life-prolonging medicine, which, according to the foreword to the reader
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
10 Kooij and Gilly, ibid., p. 72: “Nachdem der allein weyse und gnädige Gott in den letzten
Tagen sein Gnad und Güte so reichlich über das Menschliche Geschlecht außgossen, daß
sich die Erkantnuß, beydes seines Sohns und der Natur, je mehr und mehr erweitert, und
wir uns billich einer glückseligen Zeit rühmen mögen, daher Er dann nicht allein fast das
halbe theil der unbekandten und verborgenen Welt erfunden, viel wunderliche und zuvor
nie geschehene Werck und Geschöpff der Natur uns zuführen, und dann hocherleuchte
Ingenia auffstehen lassen, die zum theil die verunreinigte unvollkommene Kunst wieder
zu recht brächten, damit doch endlich der Mensch seinen Adel und Herrlichkeit
verstünde, welcher gestalt der Microcosmus, und wie weit sich sein Kunst in der Natur
erstrecket.”
11 Ibid., p. 89; Yates, Rosicrucian Enlightenment, pp. 255-256; in his De Stella Nova in
Pede Serpentarii Johannes Kepler describes the star (a supernova known today as
SN1604) observed by his assistant on the 27th of September, 1604 of the old calendar as
multi-coloured and flickering with astonishing rapidity, which gave it the appearance of
a multi-sided adamantine in sunlight. See Kepler, Johannes. De Stella Nova in Pede
Serpentarii. Prague: Pauli Sessii, 1606, pp. 1-6; the ‘new star’ in Cygnus (known today
as P Cygni) also mentioned by the Confessio Fraternitatis was discovered on August the
8th, 1600 by a Dutch astronomer, Willem Blauew – contrary to Yates and other writers
on the subject, who speak of the two supernovas appearing in the same year. Kepler’s
star was visible to the naked eye for 18 months, the supernova in Cygnus for a number of
years; neither were as bright as the famous supernova of 1572 analysed by Tycho Brahe.
12 Peuckert attributes astrological significance to the date of birth of Christian Rosenkreutz;
Peuckert, Will-Erich. Pansophie. Vol. 3. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1973, p. 74.
13 Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, p. 88.
appended by Thomas Vaughan to the first English edition, takes away all
disease, fear, distress and troubles of the soul, just as it transmutes imperfect
metals into the finest gold. 14 Clasped within Father C. R.’s hands was the
‘Book I.’, the most treasured of the Fraternity’s texts after the Bible, in which
is depicted “a microcosm corresponding in all motions to the macrocosm” –
the intellectual fruits of the Father’s pilgrimage to Arabia and Africa, where
he studied under the wise men of the city of Damcar and the “elemental
inhabitants” of Fez. 15
For all their mythic dimensions, the Rosicrucian manifestos presented to
Maier and like-minded Protestants a comprehensive and provocative intel-
lectual agenda, giving expression to a Paracelsian-inspired Hermeticism and
a heterodox, humanist Lutheranism with strong millennialist overtones.
Nevertheless, they were advertised in the catalogues of the Leipzig and
Frankfurt book fairs as “Teutsche Theologische Bücher der Calvinisten,” 16 a
classification followed by the chief English Rosicrucian apologist, Robert
Fludd. 17 This classification reflects the fact that the first printing of the Fama
Fraternitatis was made at Kassel with the express consent of Moritz of
Hessen-Kassel; 18 despite being far removed from Calvinist theological
currents, Rosicrucianism was nurtured above all by Calvinist Germany, that
unlikely inheritor of the Renaissance Hermetic tradition, which provided a
safe haven for modes of thought inimical to the Counter-Reformation.
According to their own testimony, the manifestos were distributed anony-
mously because the Brethren of the Rosy Cross – their purported authors –
faced persecution at the hands of the Jesuits. Thus the Confessio Fraternitatis
states that, just as the Brethren now openly name the Pope ‘Antichrist’, so the
day will come when they will be able to reveal their true identities to the
world. 19 Even if these Brethren did not exist beyond the virtuality of the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
14 Ibid., p. 93; Vaughan, Fame and Confession, p. 42.
15 “Elementarischen Inwohnern;” the 1617 printed edition of the Fama Fraternitatis gives
the word “Elementaristen;” in MS Nagel they are described with the Latin Elementarii;
Kooij and Gilly suggest the earth-spirits of Paracelsus may be denoted here; Kooij and
Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, pp. 76, 104 n. 35.
17 See Westman, Robert S. “Nature, Art and Psyche: Jung, Pauli and the Kepler-Fludd
Polemic.” In Vickers, Brian (ed.). Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984, p. 179.
19 Fama Fraternitatis, oder Entdeckung der Bruderschafft deß löblichen Ordens deß Rosen
Creutzes/ Beneben der Confession Oder Bekantnuß derselben Fraternitet/ an alle
Gelehrte und Haüpter in Europa geschrieben. Kassel: n.p., 1616, pp. 37-38: “Gleich wie
wir aber jetzunder gantz sicher/ frey und ohne einige gefahr den bapst zu Rom/ den
Antichrist nennen/... Also wissen wir gewiß/ es werde noch einmal die zeit kommen/ da
wir daß jenige/ so jetzunder noch ingeheim gehalten wirdt/ frey offentlich/ mit heller
Stimme außruffen/ und vor jederman bekennen werden/...”
mythic manifestos and the literary storm they provoked (a question we shall
soon explore in detail), the danger posed to sympathisers of the Rosicrucian
programme was very tangible – a fact demonstrated by the fate of Adam
Haslmayr, a Catholic Paracelsian from the Tyrol and a distributor of the
manuscript Fama Fraternitatis from 1610, whose outspoken advocacy of the
Fraternity earned him four and a half years in irons on a galley. 20
The virulent anti-Catholicism of the manifestos went hand-in-hand with
their scientific predilections, as those Scholastics who follow “Popery, Galen
and Aristotle” are condemned for imagining an “old manuscript” would
be equivalent to the “bright, manifest light” of truth. 21 Whilst orthodox
theologians of all confessions insisted on the separation of things divine and
human in the sciences, the Fama Fraternitatis gave expression to the
pansophist dream of encapsulating the whole of human knowledge within
one overarching schema – a dream epitomised by the words, “it shall not be
said, this is true according to philosophy, but false according to theology.”
The manifestos promoted a humanist resurrection of classical philosophy and
upheld its agreement with the teachings of Scripture – together the pagan
philosophers and the wisdom of the Bible “form a sphere or globe, whose
parts are all removed from the centre by the same distance, which fact should
be dealt with further and more elaborately in Christian discourse.” 22 As
Schick notes, such pansophic sentiments deflected charges of heresy from
within the Protestant camp by promising the consummation rather than the
dethroning of Christianity; in this sense the Rosicrucian manifestos follow in
the syncretic tradition firmly established in Europe by the humanists of the
Italian Renaissance. 23
But what of the identity of these shadowy Protestant Brethren and their
founder? One of the most astute esoteric writers on the subject of Rosicru-
cianism, Arthur Waite, enumerated three different approaches to reading the
manifestos: firstly, to regard the story of Christian Rosenkreutz and his
founding of the Rosicrucian Fraternity as historically true; secondly, to
consider both the society and its founder as purely mythical; and thirdly, to
accept the existence of the Rosicrucian Fraternity as a secret society without
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
20 Gilly, Carlos. Adam Haslmayr: Der Erste Verkünder der Manifeste der Rosenkreuzer.
Stuttgart: Frommann, 1994, pp. 152-162.
22 Ibid., p. 98: “So soll es nicht heissen: Hoc per Philosophiam verum est, sed per
Theologiam falsum, sondern worinnen es Plato, Aristoteles, Pytagoras, und andere
getroffen/ wo Enoch/ Abraham/ Moses/ Salomon den Außschlag geben/ besonders wo
daß grosse Wunderbuch die Biblia concordiret, daß kömmet zusammen/ und wird eine
sphaera oder globus, dessen omnes partes gleiche weit vom Centro stehen/ wie hiervon
in Christlicher Collation weiter und außführlich.”
23 Schick, Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum, p. 76.
accepting the historical existence of its supposed founder. 24 We shall soon

find Waite’s categories wanting; for now it is enough to note that a plethora
of traditions have grown up over the centuries amongst those who have
devoted their time to uncovering a true secret society lying behind the
manifestos. There is no room here to deal with the perennial Rosicrucian –
Knights Templar legend, or the myriad other fantasies stretching from
Akhenaton’s Egypt to the kings of medieval Cambodia. But one of the more
pervasive (and persuasive) of these traditions, circulating in academic and
esoteric circles alike, purports to derive from a manuscript of Michael Maier
residing at the University of Leipzig, in which Maier is alleged to state that
the Fraternity of his time was formed in 1570 by followers of Heinrich
Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (d.1535), the renowned German natural
magician and alchemist whose black dog inspired the appearance of
Mephistopheles as a poodle in Goethe’s Faust.
Although he did not investigate the matter himself, Roland Edighoffer first
cast the existence of this “Rosicrucian manuscript” into some doubt in his
Rose-Croix et Société Ideale selon Johann Valentin Andreae (1982), in which
he points to the insubstantial basis of Montgomery’s theory of sixteenth
century Rosicrucian origins. 25 In his Cross and Crucible: Johann Valentin
Andreae (1586-1654), Phœnix of the Theologians (1973), John Warwick
Montgomery (formerly of the Faculté de Théologie Protestante at the
University of Strasbourg) had spoken of ‘the claim of the Lutheran alchemist
and Rosicrucian Michael Maier that the Rose Cross originated ca.1570
through conventicles reflecting the influence of the occultist Heinrich
Cornelius Agrippa’. 26 Although Montgomery tells us that he has not verified
the manuscript from which this data originates, the idea that Maier ever made
such a claim is never brought into question in his work. As Edighoffer
correctly states, we may be more sure of Maier’s opinion on the matter when
consulting his Silentium post Clamores (1617), in which he defends the
existence of the Fraternity on the grounds that similar secret societies have
existed in the past amongst the wise men of many nations, including the
Druids of Britain, the Brahmans of India and the priests of Egypt. 27 We shall
return to this verifiable testimony of Maier’s at a later point; for now, it
may be insightful to follow the long and convoluted journey of the ‘Rosi-
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
24 Waite, A. E. The Real History of the Rosicrucians, founded on their own manifestos, and
on facts and documents collected from the writings of initiated brethren. New York: J.
W. Bouton, 1888, pp. 217-218.
25 Edighoffer, Roland. Rose-Croix et Société Ideale selon Johann Valentin Andreae. Paris:
Arma Artis, 1982, Vol. 1, pp. 222-223; Vol. 2, pp. 591-592 n. 192.
26 Montgomery, John Warwick. Cross and Crucible: Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-
1654), Phoenix of the Theologians. Vol. 1. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1973, p. 210.
27 Edighoffer, Rose-Croix et Société Ideale, pp. 591-592 n. 192.
crucian’ Leipzig manuscript myth through the centuries, as an illustration of

the Rosicrucian enigma that continues to lead both diligent and credulous
researchers astray.
Montgomery’s misleading passage is derived from an article entitled
“Historique du Mouvement Rosicrucien” in a French Rosicrucian journal of
1927, Le Voile d’Isis (‘The Veil of Isis’). 28 There the author, a certain Joanny
Bricaud, speaks of the “community of mages” organised in France at the
beginning of the sixteenth century by Agrippa von Nettesheim. The
documentary evidence for the existence of this community is slight; but we
shall continue with the story as it stands. Bricaud goes on to state that, upon
arriving in London in 1510, Agrippa founded a secret society similar to that
which he had organised in France; the members of this society adopted secret
signs of reconnaissance (presumably à la Freemasonry) and thereafter
founded corresponding ‘chapters’ of their society throughout Europe devoted
to the study of the occult arts. And – according to the ‘Rosicrucian’ Leipzig
manuscript of Michael Maier – it was this society of Agrippa’s that gave rise
to the Brethren of the Gold and Rosy Cross around the year 1570:
Si l’on en croit un manuscrit de Michel Maïer conservé dans la bibliothèque de Leipzig, c’est
cette communauté qui aurait donné naissance en Allemagne, vers 1570, aux Frères de la
Rose-Croix d’Or. 29
Were it to exist, there can be no doubting the significance of such a

manuscript of Maier’s, as it might provide good reason to push the origins
of the Fraternity – as a true secret society rather than a virtual, literary entity
– beyond its academically accepted genesis in the imagination of the authors
of the Fama Fraternitatis and Confessio Fraternitatis in the early seven-
teenth century. The myth of the ‘Rosicrucian’ Leipzig manuscript has been
variously put to work by writers in support of this agenda. Thus Åkerman
speaks of Maier’s manuscript as evidence for the emergence of the Gold-
und Rosenkreutz as a “two-tiered Hermetic society” embroiled in sixteenth
century French inter-confessional disputes. 30 Likewise, the ‘Rosicrucian’
Leipzig manuscript myth has taken root in Freemasonic lore – in his Les
Origines de la Franc-Maçonnerie: Le Métier et le Sacré (1991) Naudon
quotes Bricaud verbatim as proof of the anteriority of Rosicrucianism (as a
forerunner of Freemasonry) to the Rosicrucian manifestos. 31
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
28 Bricaud, Joanny. “Historique du Mouvement Rosicrucien,” Le Voile d’Isis, Vol. 91, July
1927, pp. 559-574.
29 Ibid., p. 561.
30 Åkerman, Rose Cross over the Baltic, p. 181.
31 Naudon, Les Origines de la Franc-Maçonnerie, pp. 269-270: “...Une autre société
importante dont l’action sur la Maçonnerie, du moins indirectement, est probable, est la
More plausibly, the existence of such a manuscript might also point to

a tradition concerning Rosicrucian origins stemming from the early seven-
teenth century and adhered to by Maier. As related in our third chapter, there
is indeed a manuscript of Michael Maier’s residing at the library of the
University of Leipzig, entitled De Theosophia Aegyptiorum. 32 Nevertheless, a
thorough perusal of this tract does not reveal the slightest mention of the
Rosy Cross, let alone Cornelius Agrippa and his supposed contribution to the
foundation of the Order. Nor should such mention be expected, as it would be
unusual for Maier to affiliate himself with an Order inspired by a man who
was – in Maier’s own opinion – an impoverished and fumbling failure in the
alchemical Art. 33 Furthermore, we have seen that the De Theosophia Aegyp-
tiorum is in fact a rough draft for Maier’s Arcana Arcanissima (1614), and
although Maier was distantly acquainted with the contents of the manuscript
manifestos prior to their publication in print, it was only in 1616 that he
began to consider the subject worthy of his attention. There is no other
manuscript of Maier’s to be found at the University of Leipzig; and whilst
Åkerman adduces that no manuscript confirming the sixteenth century Gold-
und Rosenkreutz hypothesis has been found in Leipzig because “no effort has
been made to locate it,” my own examination of other library catalogues in
Leipzig also revealed no trace of a manuscript by Maier.
This absence is hardly surprising, given that at least one element of this
curious Rosicrucian tale is derived from the Reverend Craven’s work on
Count Michael Maier. Writing in 1910, Craven discounts the mention of
Maier’s Rosicrucian ‘Leiden manuscript’ made by John Yarker in his Arcane
Schools (1909) as a mistake; having consulted the librarian of the University
of Leiden, Craven was assured that there was no such manuscript residing in
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Communauté des Mages. Elle fut fondée en 1510 par Henri-Corneille Agrippa, lorsqu’il
arriva à Londres, sur le modèle de celle qu’il avait déjà créée en France. La Communauté
des Mages était une société secrète groupant les maîtres de l’alchimie et de la magie. Les
membres usaient de signes particuliers de reconnaissance, de “mots de passe.” Ils
fondèrent alors, dans divers autres Etats de l’Europe, des associations correspondantes,
dénommées Chapelies, pour l’étude des sciences “interdites.” Si nous en croyons un
manuscrit de Michel Maîer (1568-1622), conservé à la bibliothèque de Leipzig, ce serait
cette Communauté des Mages qui aurait donné naissance, en Allemagne, vers 1570, aux
Frères de la Rose-Croix d’or, antérieurs par conséquent a la Fama Fraternitatis de
Valentin Andréa.” Needless to say, my consultations with French Freemasons and
Rosicrucians concerning this passage failed to reveal any further details with respect to
the whereabouts and nature of this mysterious manuscript.
32 See above, pp. 78 ff.
33 See, for example, Maier, Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, p. 41: “Cornelius
Agrippa testatur alicubi, se potuisse ex auro hunc subtilem spiritum extrahere: Interim
qualis vir hic fuerit, ex eius epistolis apparet, nempe egestate obrutus et obaeratus, cui
hoc artificium, si id sciverit, nihil profuerit;” also Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 1;
de Jong, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, pp. 62-63.
Leiden, and that Yarker had confused ‘Leiden’ with ‘Leipzig’. Evidently the
Leiden librarian was aware of the existence of a manuscript of Maier’s
at Leipzig, whilst not being aware of its contents. 34 Craven believed the
document at Leipzig was the only manuscript of Maier’s to have “survived
the destruction of Magdeburg;” thus the ‘Leiden manuscript’ became the
‘Leipzig manuscript’, and this may ultimately be the reason why it appears as
such in Bricaud’s article – the Leiden librarian’s deduction being transmitted
to later authors first by Craven and then by Waite.
Yarker’s account of a ‘Leiden manuscript’ in his Arcane Schools 35 –
which Waite correctly identifies as a “tissue of inextricable reveries,”
although he follows Craven in referring to an extant ‘Leipsic manuscript’
with references to the Rose Cross and Agrippa 36 – is based upon the
testimony of Hans Heinrich von Ecker und Eckhoffen in his work of 1782,
Der Rosenkreuzer in seiner Blösse (The Rosicrucian in his Nakedness). 37
There the author, writing under the name of ‘Magister Pianco’, makes a
disgruntled exposé of the secrets of the “so-called True Freemasons, or
Golden Rosicrucians of the Old System,” an attack aimed in particular at
“Brother Phoebron, General Director of the Supreme Order of the
Rosicrucians in Germany” (i.e. Bernhard Joseph Schleiß von Löwenfeld). As
we have seen in our introduction, the Gold- und Rosenkreutz to which he
refers was a Freemasonic offshoot, combining Masonic initiatory grades with
alchemical lore and practice. Having been expelled from this group a year
prior to his book’s publication, and having founded his own rival grouping
known as the ‘Asiatic Brethren’, von Ecker und Eckhoffen attempts to
portray the ‘Golden Rosicrucians’ as puppets of the Jesuits. In the course of
his polemic he refers to the manuscript of Michael Maier of Rensburg, “one
of the most notorious of the Rosicrucians,” to be found at the library of the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
34 Craven, Count Michael Maier, pp. 4-5.
35 Yarker, John. The Arcane Schools; a Review of their Origin and Antiquity; with a
General History of Freemasonry, and its Relation to the Theosophic, Scientific, and
Philosophic Mysteries. Belfast: William Tait, 1909, p. 212: “There exists in the library
of the University of Leyden a MS. by Michael Maier which sets forth that in 1570 the
Society of the old Magical brethren or Wise Men was revived under the name of the
Brethren of the Golden Rosy Cross.” Amongst other curious ‘facts’ included in Yarker’s
account are the ascription of a pre-Reformation date to the Fama Fraternitatis and the
assertion that Maier “published the de Vita Morte et Resurectione of his friend Robert
Fludd.”
36 Waite, Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, p. 330.
37 Ecker und Eckhoffen, Hans Heinrich von (Magister Pianco). Der Rosenkreuzer in seiner
Blösse. Amsterdam: n.p., 1782. The authorship of this tract is also a matter of dispute;
see McIntosh, Christopher. The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason: Eighteenth-Century
Rosicrucianism in Central Europe and its Relation to the Enlightenment. Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1992, p. 133.
University of Leiden. 38 In this supposed manuscript Maier is purported to

describe the reformation of the Rosicrucian Order in 1510, by which the
teachings of the Books of Moses and the Book of Revelations were brought
into accord with the instructions of the “old Magi.” As a sign of their
reformation, the Brethren decided to rename themselves “Brethren of the
Golden Rose Cross, True Freemasons, and True and Sincere Friends and
Kindred of the Golden Rose Cross.” 39
That this history is a fabrication, and does not derive from a true document
of Maier’s, is confirmed by two important facts. Firstly, whilst Craven was
led astray by the good advice of the Leiden librarian, he was correct in stating
that no such manuscript exists – or is likely to have existed – at the
University of Leiden. The university’s manuscript catalogue of the early
nineteenth century contains no trace of a manuscript under the names of
Michael Maier, Meier or Mayer, either as an acquisition or as a possession,
nor have there been any major losses in the collection due to fire, war or
other disasters. Nor is such a manuscript held by the library of the Museum
Boerhaave in Leiden – the other major seventeenth century collection in that
city. 40
Secondly, the term ‘Gold and Rosy Cross’ does not appear in the literature
until the second half of the seventeenth century, when it is mentioned
in certain Italian documents; as a denomination in Germany it is fully
established only with the appearance of Samuel Richter’s Die Warhaffte und
vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophischen Steins (1710). 41 There is no
mention of a ‘Gold and Rosy Cross’ in the Rosicrucian apologetic works of
Fludd, 42 as Åkerman asserts. 43 Nor does the allusion to “brothers of the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
38 Ecker und Eckhoffen, Der Rosenkreuzer in seiner Blösse, p. 82.
39 Ibid., pp. 80-82.
40 I must thank the current keeper of manuscripts at the University of Leiden, Mr. Anton
van der Lem, for his kind investigations into this matter.
41 Such is affirmed by Peuckert, Die Rosenkreuzer: zur Geschichte einer Reformation.
Jena: Eugen Diedrichs, 1928, p. 85; see also above, chapter I, n. 125.
42 Fludd, Robert. Apologia Compendiaria, Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce suspicionis et
infamiae maculis asspersam [sic], veritatis quasi Fluctibus abluens et abstergens.
Leiden: Gottfried Basson, 1616; Fludd, Robert. Tractatus Apologeticus Integritatem
Societatis de Rosea Cruce defendens. In qua probatur contra D. Libavii et aliorum
eiusdem farinae calumnias, quod admirabilia nobis a Fraternitate R. C. oblata, sine
improba Magiae impostura, aut Diaboli praestigiis et illusionibus praestari possint.
Leiden: Gottfried Basson, 1617. Both of these works set forth a defence of the
Fraternity, natural magic and astrology against Libavius’ accusations of necromancy and
diabolic magic; in the course of his apologies Fludd uses a number of variations on the
‘Bruderschafft des Hochlöblichen Ordens des Rosen Creutzes’ and the ‘Fraternitet deß
R. C.’ given in the manuscript Fama Fraternitatis, such as ‘Fraternitas de R. Cruce’,
‘Fratres de Societate R. Crucis’, ‘Societas de Rosea Cruce’, ‘Fratres Societatis de Rosea
C.’ and ‘Fraternitas R. C’. I would encourage interested readers not to take my word on
golden cross” made in the Aureum Seculum Redivivum (1625) of Adrian von
Mynsicht suggest the existence of “a two-tiered Hermetic society” known as
the Gold- und Rosenkreutz: whilst the term was probably suggested to
Mynsicht by the Rosicrucian Order’s appellation, he utilises fratres aureae
crucis as an ornate but general means of addressing those amongst his readers
who are affiliated with him by virtue of their alchemical proclivities. 44 Given
this fact, the mention made by a certain mid-seventeenth century writer in
Italy of “a company entitled the rosy cross, or as others say the golden cross”
demonstrates the logic by which the ‘Gold- und Rosenkreutz’ term first arose,
i.e. from the conflation of tracts written under the aureae crucis and roseae
crucis appellations. 45
In short, it appears that the ‘inextricable reverie’ that has grown up around
the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum is extricated thus: Maier’s ‘Rosicrucian’
Leipzig manuscript is an eighteenth century myth arising within the Gold-
und Rosenkreutz Freemasonic order, first ‘exposed’ by ‘Magister Pianco’,
then associated via Yarker with the tale of Agrippa’s secret society, and
finally conveyed by Craven – quite innocently – as a ‘Leipzig’ rather than a
‘Leiden’ manuscript. Assuming that it was not an intentional fabrication, the
exact mechanism by which the Leipzig manuscript myth first arose cannot be
traced; nevertheless, the subsequent development of the myth shows that the
mere proximity in a conversational or textual source of two unrelated
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
this matter, but to read the works for themselves, as reliance on second-hand reports will
only further nourish the confused mass of fabulous weeds that have overgrown
Rosicrucian history.
43 Åkerman, Rose Cross over the Baltic, p. 181: “[In his Apologia Compendiaria
Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce] Fludd then declared that the movement actually draws on
two schools, one of “Aureae crucis fratres” dealing with the supercelestial world and one
of “Roseae crucis fratres” dealing with the sublunary world; these two schools create
divergent theosophical and alchemical traditions for the Golden and Rosy Cross.”
44 Mynsicht, “Aureum Seculum Redivivum,” pp. 67-87. Mynsicht addresses his readers as
“true brothers of the golden cross” and “exceptional members of the philosophical
fellowship in eternal affiliation” in his foreword: “Weil deutlicher und klärlicher hiervon
zuschreiben ernstlich und zum allerhöchsten in republica chymica verboten ist: trage
aber ganz keinen zweiffel/ es werden all die/ so diß Tractetlein in warer Zuuersicht mit
den innerlichen Augen des Gemüths/ so alles vermügen/ recht anschawen/ in denselben
fleißig studiren, und darbey für allen dingen Gott inniglichen und von Herzen anruffen/
gleich mir/ die hierin verborgene Philosophische wundersüsse Früchte geniesen/ und
derselben nach dem Willen Gottes theilhafftig werden. Und alsdann sein und bleiben sie/
ware Brüder des güldenen Creuzes/ unnd außerlesene Gliedmassen der Philosophischen
gemeine in ewiger Verbündnuß.” The term is also utilised to describe Mynsicht himself
on the frontispiece and in the work’s closing paragraphs. The Aureum Seculum
Redivivum appeared in the Dyas Chymica Tripartita edited by Johannes Grasshoff;
Grasshoff’s own “Güldener Tractat” reiterates the term, possibly in imitation of
Mynsicht’s work (which follows Grasshoff’s tract in the compendium).
45 Vatican Library, MS Reginensis Latini 1521; see above, chapter I, n. 125.
elements can lead to colourful results in the minds of the credulous. As the
De Theosophia Aegyptiorum was undoubtedly the most prominent of the
surviving manuscripts of Maier, thanks to its mention in the Polyhistor of
Morhof, it is in fact possible that von Ecker und Eckhoffen himself confused
‘Leipzig’ with ‘Leiden’ in the course of his communications with ‘Brother
Hosmopina Neberus’ (on whose authority his story concerning the reform-
ation of the Order in 1510 stands). 46 In any case, the unread manuscript is
likely to have formed the focus for considerable conjecture or ‘projection’,
as Jung might have put it. Furthermore, as Arnold points out in his Histoire
des Rose-Croix et les Origines de la Franc-Maçonnerie, it appears that
the Gold- und Rosenkreutz of the late eighteenth century was determined
to demonstrate its anteriority to the widely discredited Rosicrucianism of
the manifestos (although Arnold himself speaks of a “lost Leipzig manu-
script”). 47
The history of Rosicrucianism is littered with such spurious traditions,
many of which stem from the nineteenth century German occultist Carl
Kiesewetter, whom Waite amusingly but accurately describes as Rosicru-
cianism’s fabulator magnus. Kiesewetter claimed to be a direct descendant of
the last ‘Imperator’ of the Brethren, and declared himself to be in the
possession of priceless manuscripts of the Order dating to the sixteenth
century and earlier. 48 He also promulgated a component of the ‘Rosicrucian’
Leipzig manuscript myth, claiming that Agrippa von Nettesheim had
specifically been named as an ‘Imperator’ of the Order by the seventeenth
century English Rosicrucian Thomas Vaughan (who in fact only speaks of
Agrippa as “the oracle of Magick” and “the master” of his secretary
Wierus). 49 Paul Arnold theorised that Kiesewetter’s manuscripts were in fact
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
46 Ecker und Eckhoffen, Der Rosenkreuzer in seiner Blösse, p. 81.
47 Arnold, Paul. Histoire des Rose-Croix et les Origines de la Franc-Maçonnerie. Paris:
Mercure de France, 1954, p. 80.
48 According to Yarker, Arcane Schools, pp. 213-214, “Karl Kiesewetter was a grandson of
the last Imperator, he holds a manuscript claiming a Rosicrucian society existed in 1622
in The Hague, the members of which wore a black silk cord in their top button hole,
having vowed to be strangled with the same sooner than break their silence. Amongst
other signs of recognition between members was their wont to leave their houses on
festival days by the east door and wave a green flag before sunrise. When two of these
brethren met one was compelled to say “Ave Frater!,” to which the other would answer
“Rosae et Aureae,” then the first would say “Crucis,” then together “Benedictus Deus
Dominus Noster, qui Nobis dedit signum.”
49 Kiesewetter, Carl. Untitled article in Sphinx: Monatschrift für die Geschichtliche und
Experimentale Begründung der Übersinnlichen Weltanschauung auf Monistischer
Grundlage. Leipzig: Vol. 1, January, 1886, pp. 42-54; Vaughan, Thomas (Eugenius
Philalethes). Anima Magica Abscondita. London: H.B., 1650, pp. iv, 22. Paracelsus is
the anonymous author from whom Vaughan claims the Brethren “borrowed most of their
instructions;” ibid., p. 37.
Johann Valentin Andreae and the nature of the Order 127
fabrications of the eighteenth century Gold- und Rosenkreutz, 50 and whilst

such fabrications abound, one gets the feeling that Arnold had a little too
much faith in the transparency of Kiesewetter’s motives. For if the purveyors
of Rosicrucianism through the centuries have delighted in providing fellow
occultists and academics alike with a veritable school of red herrings, then
they are only following in the footsteps of the instigator of the Rosicrucian
phenomenon – in all likelihood the Lutheran theologian Johann Valentin
Andreae.
3. Johann Valentin Andreae and the nature of the Order
Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654) was a student of philosophy and

theology at the University of Tübingen; his grandfather had been one of the
chief architects of the Formula of Concord, although in the irenicist climate
of the early seventeenth century he became an admirer of the Calvinist
church order. 51 It seems likely that Andreae wrote the manifestos under the
influence of his mentor and colleague at the University of Tübingen, Dr.
Tobias Hess – a one-time lawyer, physician, dabbler in alchemy and adept in
theology and millennialist prophecy, who was branded by the Medical Guild
of Tübingen as “a disciple of that impious Paracelsus.” 52 Hess formed the
focal point of an “intimate league of friends” in which Andreae spent some
years following his premature departure from Tübingen due to an unspecified
scandal; such was the influence of Hess on the young Andreae that Gilly has
described him as the prototypic theologian-scientist lying behind the figure of
Christian Rosenkreutz. 53
That the manifestos stem from the circle of Hess and Andreae is the
majority opinion in the academic study of Rosicrucianism, although Peuckert
preferred Tobias Hess to Andreae as the author. Montgomery’s is perhaps the
most prominent dissenting voice, but his opinion on the matter – that the
manifestos stem neither from Andreae nor from his circle, but from the late
sixteenth century – not only draws on the myth of the ‘Rosicrucian’ Leipzig
manuscript we have just laid bare, but is also strongly coloured by his own
ideological objections to the encroachment of humanism into (contemporary)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
50 Arnold, Histoire des Rose-Croix, p. 75.
51 Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 47; Neumann, Ulrich. “Johann Valentin Andreae.” In
Figala, Karin and Claus Priesner (eds.). Alchemie: Lexikon einer hermetischen
Wissenschaft. München: C. H. Beck, 1998, pp. 46-47.
52 Gilly, ibid., pp. 47-49.
53 Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, pp. 17-19.
Christianity. 54 There is good evidence for Andreae’s authorship of the

manifestos, not only on stylistic and redactional grounds, 55 but also on the
grounds that by 1607 Andreae had already composed his famous alchemical
allegory, the Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz (‘Chemical Wed-
ding of Christian Rosenkreutz,’ 1616) – long before the public appearance of
the manifestos. 56 And there is also the testimony of the Pietist Gottfried
Arnold, who reports that Andreae confided to a friend, John Arne, that he and
his colleagues had first set forth the Fama Fraternitatis “in order that under
this cover they might learn the judgment of Europe thereon,” and to see what
“lovers of true wisdom might then come forward.” 57
Furthermore, Gilly has identified a number of passages in Andreae’s
Theca Gladii Spiritus (‘Sheath of the Spiritual Sword,’ 1616) and in his
Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate Rosaceae Crucis CHAOS
(‘The Tower of Babel, or the Chaos of Judgments concerning the Fraternity
of the Rosy Cross,’ 1619) that are highly suggestive of Andreae’s authorship
of the manifestos. In the latter work Andreae states:
More than enough sport has been made with people; at last we may free the binds, we may
embolden those who hesitate, we may arouse those who have fallen into error, we may call
back those who have gone across, we may heal the diseased. Lo, mortals! There is no need to
wait for the Fraternity: the play is finished. The Fama has sanctioned it, and the Fama has
ended it. The Fama said yes, now it says no. 58
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
54 Montgomery, John Warwick. “The World-view of Johann Valentin Andreae.” In Das
Erbe des Christian Rosenkreutz. Amsterdam: In de Pelikaan, 1988, pp. 152-169. In his
passage composed under the sub-title of ‘The Gospel vs. Hermeticism’, Montgomery
can surely not be referring to the good Lutheran Maier when he speaks of “the belief of
the esoterists that man can become God by way of nature,” as Maier quite clearly states
that eternal life cannot be gained by means of an elixir, but only by our death and rebirth
in Christ. Furthermore, for Andreae to swear by Church and Trinity that “he had always
laughed at the Rosicrucian fable and inveighed against the curious little brothers” by no
means constitutes a denial of his role in the affair, particularly given the connotation of
fraterculus as a term of endearment for friends. For a sampling of Montgomery’s views
on humanism and contemporary Christianity, see Crisis in Lutheran Theology. Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1973.
55 On this point see the comprehensive survey of Schick, Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum, pp.
64-87.
56 Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 82, gives the probable date of authorship as 1607 on
the basis of Carl Widemann’s note that he possessed the “alchimistische Hochzeit” by
March the 31st of that year, and that it was known to Tobias Hess by that time.
57 Arnold, Gottfried. Unpartheyische Kirchen- und Ketzer- Historie, Vom Anfang des
Neuen Testaments biß auf das Jahr Christi 1688. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1967 (first
published 1699), p. 899.
58 Andreae, Johann Valentin. Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate Rosaceae
Crucis CHAOS. Strasbourg: Lazarus Zetzner, 1619, p. 69: “Satis superque hominibus
illusum est, liberemus tandem constrictos, confirmemus fluctuantes, erigamus lapsos,
revocemus transversos, sanemus morbidos. Ehem, Mortales! nihil est, quod Frater-
Johann Valentin Andreae and the nature of the Order 129
Gilly asserts that only the author of the Fama Fraternitatis would be in
a position to speak in such a way. 59 Be this as it may, Andreae’s Turris
Babel presents to us a series of three-way dialogues representing typical
respondents to the manifestos, the third respondent representing the views of
Andreae himself. In the final chapter, Andreae demonstrates his uneasiness
with the unchecked immensity of the furore he has engendered by writing as
Recipiscens, ‘he who has come to his senses’. This mode of self-description
not only mirrors the shift in Andreae’s thinking away from his ‘youthful
folly’ and towards a more orthodox Lutheran position, but also reflects the
danger of being identified as the author of the manifestos. For by the time of
the publication of the Turris Babel following the outbreak of the Thirty Years
War, Andreae’s authorship had been uncovered by at least two parties in the
Rosicrucian debate, and threatened to become open knowledge. 60
Is it justified, then, to name the ‘intimate league of friends’ of Andreae
and Hess as the true ‘Brethren of the Rosy Cross’, as Schick has implied? To
answer this question we may turn again to the Turris Babel, and to the
thirteenth dialogue between Admirator (an admirer), Contemptor (a despiser)
and Aestimator (an appraiser according to the intrinsic value of a thing).
Andreae as Aestimator gives the following revealing assessment of the furore
provoked by the Brethren:
The more I inquire into this fraternity, the more ingenious the game appears to me. For it
possesses such a sum of human desires, that it inspires the appetite in pre-eminent intel-
lects to obtain those things for which they have long exerted themselves. And truly, by
this coming together of intellects, or by this society, if it consisted of the most select and
perspicacious men, it would be possible to produce things which surpass our comprehension.
That it is indeed such a kind of society, they have not yet persuaded me, because they proffer
up too much imprudence, or indeed baseness. 61
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
nitatem expectetis: fabula peracta est. Fama astruxit: fama destruxit. Fama ajebat: fama
negat...”
60 Ibid., p. 78; in 1617 the Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Tübingen, Kasper
Bucher, alluded to Andreae as author of the manifestos in an anti-Rosicrucian lecture,
whilst in 1619 the feared pamphletist Friedrich Grick threatened to expose Andreae as
the author of the manifestos. For a discussion of Andreae’s reasons for distancing
himself from the Rosicrucian affair, see Schick, Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum, p. 72.
61 Andreae, Turris Babel, p. 37: “Quo magis in hanc fraternitatem inquiro, eo mihi lusus
videtur artificiosior. Habet enim nescio quam epitomen humanorum desideriorum, quod
erectioribus ingeniis salivam moveat ea impetrandi, in quibus jam dudum defudarunt
[sic]. Et verisimile est, ingeniorum concursu sive societate, si ea ex selectissimis et
perspicacissimis constet, aliquid tale posse exhiberi, quod captum nostrum superet.
Talem vero jam esse, nondum mihi persuaserunt, tum quia nimis vel temeraria, vel
humilia etiam proferunt.”
The crux of this passage is contained in its clear equation of the ‘concourse of
intellects’ brought together by the manifestos with the ‘society’ itself; for it is
clear from Andreae’s words that what is ingenious about the ‘game’ is that a
Rosicrucian society of sorts had indeed been constituted by those inspired to
the defence of the Fraternity by Andreae’s utopian vision – or would have
been constituted, if there were not so many vulgar opinions amongst those
that flooded the printing presses in response to the manifestos. In this sense
the manifestos did not simply constitute an invitation to the learned of Europe
to eventually build a society akin to that outlined in the manifestos, but
also formed a very present and cogent virtual arena for the furtherance of
a Hermetic Protestant ideology. In light of this fact, Waite’s misleading
alternatives of a ‘mythic’ or a ‘real’ Fraternity do not hold. This Rosicrucian
‘Brotherhood’ was not merely a ludibrium, i.e. a ‘jest’ or ‘game’, as Andreae
was later to describe it; to borrow the title of Michael Maier’s first
‘Rosicrucian’ work, the Jocus Severus, it was a very ‘serious jest’.
That the tale of the opening of the tomb of Christian Rosenkreutz draws
from alchemical allegory should have been clear enough to anyone as well
versed in the alchemical literature as Maier. 62 We need only mention the
fact that the discovery of the sepulchre and the Book I. held to the chest of
Christian Rosenkreutz bears a close resemblance to the tale given in the
Tabula Smaragdina, in which the Emerald Tablet is said to have been found
clasped in the hands of Hermes as he lay in state in his tomb. 63 Furthermore,
Maier followed the lead of Andreae when composing his Allegoria Bella, in
which he travels to Egypt and Arabia in search of the phoenix – a journey to
the source of the prisca sapientia which mirrors the phases of the alchemical
work in similar fashion to the journey of Christian Rosenkreutz in Andreae’s
Chymische Hochzeit. 64 Nevertheless, the evidence seems to overwhelmingly
contradict the possibility that Maier was aware of the strictly virtual existence
of the Brethren: for why did he expend such great energy not only in
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
62 It is pertinent to note that Rosenkreutz’s return journey to Germany follows an important
medieval conduit of Arabic science into Europe, i.e. via Fez, the intellectual capital of
the Moorish empire, into Spain and beyond. In this sense the Fama Fraternitatis
presents a parable for the entrance of occult Arabic wisdom into medieval Europe.
63 The tradition that the discoverer was Alexander the Great is given in a tract ascribed to
Albertus Magnus: “Scriptum Alberti super Arborem Aristotelis.” In Theatrum
Chemicum. Vol. 2. Straßburg: Zetzner, 1659, p. 458.
64 Maier’s contemporary, the alchemist Christoffer Rotbard (‘Radtichs Brotofferr’) issued a
work at this time explaining the journey of Christian Rosenkreutz in the Chymische
Hochzeit in alchemical terms: Elucidarius Major, Oder Erleuchterunge uber die
Reformation der ganzen weiten Welt/ F. C. R. auß ihrer Chymischen Hochzeit- und sonst
mit viel andern testimoniis Philosophorum/ sonderlich in appendice/ dermassen
verbessert/ daß beydes materia et praeparatio lapidis aurei/ deutlich genug darinn
angezeigt werden. Lüneburg: bey den Sternen Buchf., 1617.
The serious jest 131
defending the existence of the Fraternity as an organised secret society, but

also in promoting the myth of Christian Rosenkreutz as historical fact? In
order to understand Maier’s relationship to Rosicrucianism, it is necessary
to approach his Rosicrucian works in strict chronological order, as they dem-
onstrate the development of his response to the affair from one of initial
disinterest, through the issuing of tentative rejoinders to the Rosicrucian
programme in his Jocus Severus (1616) and Symbola Aureae Mensae (1617),
to a role as chief apologist for the Order through the publication of his
Silentium post Clamores (1617) and Themis Aurea (1618).
4. The serious jest
Given that anyone assenting in print to the programme of the manifestos or

taking up the defence of the Order might be said to belong to this virtual
‘Brotherhood’, Maier’s first genuinely Rosicrucian work is the Jocus Severus
(1617). There is in fact a record of the Jocus Severus in a flyer produced for
the Frankfurt Book Fair by Maier’s publisher, Johann Theodor de Bry; and
whilst the date given at the head of the flyer (1609) might again provide
evidence for Maier’s earlier acquaintance with the Rosicrucian phenomenon
(and indeed for an earlier genesis of Rosicrucianism itself), Maier’s work is
in fact a later addition by the printer to a list composed in 1609 and used at
subsequent fairs. 65 Such are the obstacles that obscure a clear perspective on
this subject.
Maier confesses that the Jocus Severus was written hurriedly; indeed, he
wrote “six or seven chemical treatises” with a “hot quill” whilst lying ill in
Frankfurt am Main, which were “inspired more by the small payment which I
received for them rather than by the improvement and perfection of the works
themselves.” 66 Given that all these treatises were either in print or at the
printers by October of 1617, then we must count amongst them not only the
Jocus Severus, but also the Atalanta Fugiens (1617), De Circulo Physico,
Quadrato (1616), Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum (1617), Lusus
Serius (1616), Silentium post Clamores (1617) and Symbola Aureae Mensae
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
65 Prof. Karin Figala and Dr. Ulrich Neumann of Technische Universität München brought
my attention to this perplexing document.
verso: “Atque sic aeger plaerumque haerens lecto nonnulla commentatus sum, ad
Chymiam spectantia (quorum quaedam proelo subjecta sunt, quaedam subiicienda ab
aliis reservantis ad proximas nundinas) lucella, quod inde evenit, magis incitatus, quam
maturitate et emendatione ipsorum opusculorum: Tractatus itaque chymicos 6 vel 7
calente calamo deproperavi, sperans me hac via, tantum lucraturum, quo in locum
praefixum commode transmearem.”
(1617). If we are to take Maier by his word, then this is a remarkable

achievement (even if work on some of the texts had been started in England,
as Figala and Neumann suggest); moreover, the fact that their publication
was specifically intended to raise money for the abandoned journey to Prague
gives us some insight into the source of their enduring popularity. In any
case, Maier’s financial difficulties at this time cast further doubt on Yates’
contention that the reference in the Jocus Severus to a planned journey to
Bohemia is further evidence of Maier’s service within a nascent Anglo-
German-Bohemian political and military alliance. 67 Rather, it seems more
likely that he simply hoped to find a livelihood there with the help of his
former colleagues.
There are no explicit references to the Brethren of the Rosy Cross within
the main body of the Jocus Severus, which fact suggests that the
‘Rosicrucian’ preface was appended after the encounter with the manifestos
at the Frankfurt Book Fair of October 1616 to a work which had been
composed before that time. 68 The main text is a rather charming satirical
fable in which, according to Trunz, Maier shows himself as “a playful master
of Latin verse forms.” 69 In its frequent references to the Satires of Juvenalis,
and in its recourse to curious zoological data, drawn in large part from
Pliny’s Historia Naturalis, this work shows marked similarities to Maier’s
Lusus Serius (1616), in which Mercury is crowned king of an assembly of
animals, plants and minerals beneficial to humanity. The Jocus Severus takes
the form of a court of judgment upon the bird of wisdom sacred to Pallas
Athena, the Owl – in this instance embodying chemia as the highest science.
The Owl stands accused of a number of misdemeanours by an assembly of
squawking and cantankerous birds, who represent the various critics of
chemia. Counsel for the defence is the Hawk; the judge presiding over the
court is the Phoenix, the symbol of the Work’s perfection which we shall
explore in greater detail in the following chapter. In order to please “both the
mind and the ears” of his readers, Maier forms each verse in accordance with
the voice of the accusing bird, and the other birds reply in the same
‘language’, ranging from the Nightingale’s graceful and well-spanned
Sapphic strophes to the Jackdaw’s staccato of five syllables per line. After
facing her fellow birds’ accusations, the Owl and her Art are eventually
vindicated by the Hawk’s expert defence, and she is adjudged Queen of the
Birds by the Phoenix.
Thus the Jocus Severus forms a mythic arena of debate in which the
protagonists enact a very real and ‘serious’ controversy; the Rosicrucian
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
67 Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, pp. 81, 84.
68 Maier, Jocus Severus, p. 12.
69 Trunz, Erich. Wissenschaft und Kunst im Kreise Kaiser Rudolfs II. 1576-1612.
Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz Verlag, 1992, p. 90.
manifestos could also be said to present such a mythic arena to the reader,
although there the ambiguous character of the protagonists – the Brethren –
blurs the lines between literary symbol and referent. In his foreword to the
Jocus Severus Maier superimposes the ‘Rosicrucian’ arena onto that of his
own work; in accordance with the emphasis on alchemy given in Maier’s
reading of the Rosicrucian manifestos, we are told that the symbol of the Owl
represents not merely the true chymists of Germany, but specifically the
Brethren of the Rosy Cross – who are, to his mind, primarily concerned with
the Art of chemia and the production of the Universal Medicine. Hence the
court of judgment upon the Owl becomes a court of judgment on the Brethren
themselves, who are now defined in Maier’s exclusively alchemical terms:
I dedicate and bequeath this tract to all lovers of true chymia throughout Germany, known
and unknown; and amongst them, unless Fame deceives us, to that ORDER OF GERMAN
BLOOD, hitherto lying hidden, but manifested by the bringing forth of the Fama
Fraternitatis, as well as by the admirable and pleasing Confessio Fraternitatis. 70
Maier’s reference to deceiving ‘Fame’ here is to the Fama Fraternitatis,

and it indicates that although he was unsure of the existence of an organised
Fraternity lying behind the manifestos, he proceeded with his apologetics
regardless. Given his own predilection for literary conceits and ‘serious
jests’, the possibility that the manifestos were ‘deceitful’ could not have
escaped Maier; but if by ‘playing the game’ he might promote his own
interests, then he was more than willing to do so.
Accordingly, we find a double meaning in Maier’s words; for the word
fama possesses not only the connotation of the English ‘fame’ with which it
has been translated, but also that of ‘rumour’ or ‘common talk’ – an
ambiguity not lost to the manifesto’s creator. In this sense the Fama might
deceive because truth withers away upon exposure to the vulgar and ignorant
masses; thus Maier states that the anonymous members of the Fraternity are
themselves like the Owl, because they shun the light of fame to avoid
exposing the secrets of the Hermetic arts. And whilst it has been their custom
to lead lives of anonymity, 71 as the ‘evening of the world’ rapidly approaches
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
70 Maier, Jocus Severus, p. 10: “Omnibus Verae Chymiae Amantibus, per Germaniam
notis et ignotis, et inter hos, nisi nos Fama fallat, ILLI SANGUINIS GERMANICI
ORDINI, adhuc delitescenti, at Fama Fraternitatis et Confessione sua admiranda et
probabili, in genere manifestato, asscribo, dico et dedico.” It is noteworthy that de Rola
omits ‘ILLI SANGUINIS GERMANICI ORDINI in his rendering of this passage; de
Rola, Stanislas Klossowski. The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the
Seventeenth Century. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1988, p. 62.
71 Ibid.: “Cum enim tantus Dei Thesaurus ab iis, quibus oblatus est, nulli prostitui aut
manifestari debeat, hinc authores ipsi quasi Deo dicati, mundoque abrogati, Deo sibique
viventes rarissime agnosci uni aut alteri, nunquam vero vulgo voluerunt.”
the Brethren – like the Owl – emerge from their diurnal concealment to
manifest the truth of the coming age:
...Now there arises that profession of divine and human matters, which like a fanfare of
trumpets declares the indisputable conviction of truth throughout the whole of Germany,
under the name of the Fraternity. This Fraternity, like the Owl, hides itself with good reason
from the abduction of rapacious and hostile birds until the evening arrives – which evening
is now approaching as the great day of this world comes to its end, and as the truth manifests
itself in signs that should not be dismissed. Thus I offer this Owl to the Fraternity, as
to others working under the same noble Muse, known and unknown; not for the sake of
creating a work of great subtlety (because here you will find none), but (according to our
title) for the sake of a SERIOUS JEST. 72
Here Maier’s worldview is revealed to us as deeply millenarian. His refer-

ence to the evening of the ‘great day of this world’ derives from the more
chiliastic and prophetic of the two manifestos, the Confessio Fraternitatis,
which as we have seen was particularly ‘admirable and pleasing’ to Maier.
In that tract the anonymous author speaks of the coming Sabbath of the
world:
Whatsoever is published, and made known to everyone, concerning our Fraternity, by the
foresaid Fama, let no man esteem lightly of it, nor hold it as an idle or invented thing, and
much less receive the same, as though it were only a mere conceit of ours. It is the Lord
Jehovah (who seeing the Lord’s Sabbath is almost at hand, and hastened again, his period or
course being finished, to his first beginning) doth turn about the course of Nature... 73
These words derive in part from the apocryphal fourth book of Ezra; 74
as Gilly notes, Andreae also utilises the passage from 4 Ezra concerning
God’s ‘hastening’ in his Collectanea Mathematica, in which a table is given
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
72 Ibid., p. 11: “Ex quatuor igitur hisce, quae inseparabiliter convenire oportet, coniunctis
exurgit PROFESSIO illa divinarum humanarumque rerum, quae iam quasi TUBA
quadam praecentoria per Germaniam haud dubia veritatis opinione, sub FRATER-
NITATIS nomine, insonuit: Haec cum iure suo, Noctuae instar, ab avium rapacium et se
infestantium raptu, donec vesper advenerit, occultetur, qui iam inclinante magni huius
mundi die instet, ut illa per indicia haud aspernandae se manifestavit, sic ego illi merito
hanc NOCTUAM, ut et aliis eiusdem Musae procis, ignotis et notis, asscribo, dico et
obfero, non pro magnae subtilitatis (quae hic nulla est) opere, sed (ut inscriptio habet)
pro IOCO SEVERO.”
73 Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p. 251.
74 4 Ezra 4.34-37: “You do not hasten faster than the Most High, for your haste is for
yourself, but the Highest hastens on behalf of many. Did not the souls of the righteous in
their chambers ask about these matters, saying, ‘How long are we to remain here? And
when will come the harvest of our reward?’ And Jeremiel the archangel answered them
and said, ‘When the number of those like yourselves is completed; for he has weighed
the age in the balance, and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times by
number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.’”
representing the six millennia of the world, and Luther is portrayed as the
herald of the end-time. 75 It may be pertinent to add that the conception of ‘the
Lord’s Sabbath’ also hearkens to the medieval and early modern tradition of
seven ages of the world corresponding to the seven days of Creation in
Genesis, derived from the De Temporum Ratione of the Venerable Bede
(673-735), who in his turn elaborated upon the world chronology of the
Church Fathers Isidor of Seville and Augustine. 76 In the worldview of the
authors of the Rosicrucian manifestos and their followers, Christian
millennialism merges with the Paracelsian prophecy of the coming of Elias
Artista and the restoration of the arts and sciences to their pristine state. Thus,
in congruence with representations of the alchemical process as the
septimana philosophica, 77 the Sabbath of the Lord establishes the completion
and perfection of God’s work through a return to the point of origin. This
return brings the recovery of the prisca sapientia for which Maier strove, but
which he realised in the dying hours of his age must remain “polluted and
imperfect,” as the Fama Fraternitatis would have it. 78
In the course of his preface to the Jocus Severus, Maier makes it clear that
he considers himself to be a member of that ‘Order of German Blood’ which
is ushering in the new age. As once the wise men of Athens worked under the
figure of the Owl, so in Maier’s time the “true investigators of Nature, known
and unknown” are denoted by that same hieroglyph; 79 and amongst these true
scientists are numbered not only the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, but Maier
himself. For the Jocus Severus is a game that he plays in the nocturnal hours,
in order to “escape the silence of Vulcan’s work” and to “obey his soul,”
rather than for the purpose of publishing his knowledge and exposing it to the
common folk. 80 Thus we can envisage Maier patiently sitting before the
furnace in the late hours of the night, scratching at a manuscript with his quill
pen whilst the chemical processes within the vessel take their course. In
defence of such a nocturnal lifestyle, Maier invokes the authority of
Avicenna, who writes in his commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
76 Schmidt-Biggemann, Wilhelm. Philosophia Perennis: Historische Umrisse abendländ-
ischer Spiritualität in Antike, Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit. Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp Verlag, 1998, pp. 593 ff. The tradition reflects the centrality of the number 7
in Revelations – the opening of the seventh seal upon the Day of Judgment, the trumpet-
call of the seventh angel announcing the fulfilment of the Mystery of God, etc.
77 See Roberts, The Mirror of Alchemy, p. 56.
79 Maier, Jocus Severus, p. 5.
80 Ibid., p. 3: “En tibi iterum, candide lector, Iocum Severum insinuo, quem aliquando
nocturnis horis ad vulcanias operas potius ad fallendum silentii illius moras, animoque
obtemperandum meo, lusi, quam, ut vulgo ederetur, perfeci.”
I have learnt all this by frequent reading, little sleep, little food and less drinking; and as
much money as my colleagues spent during the daytime in order to have wine at night, so
much did I spend for oil to stay awake and read; and as much as they have spent in eating by
night, I have spent more for the light necessary to stay awake and learn: and unless I do this,
I will not have skill in the magistery. 81
Thus only the pious are afforded the secrets of the Great Work, whilst those
who revel in the pleasures of the senses will surely fail. As the Owl might
be said to represent Maier’s self-understanding as an alchemist – and by
association, his understanding of the Fraternity – so those birds arrayed
against the Owl in the Jocus Severus represent his own detractors. These
detractors, who bestow insults upon chemia and defame her with clamorous
reviling, are divided by Maier into three different classes. The first are the
foolish, unlearned and ignorant mob, represented under the names of the Jay,
Magpie, Raven, Goose and Swallow; at their head is the quarrelsome Crow,
the pre-eminent enemy of the Owl, denoting those “ignoble and unrefined
censors” who do not consider the true causes of things, but rather judge
chemia prejudicially as a vain and frivolous pursuit. 82 Thus the Crow argues
before the court that his dispute with the Owl is an ancient one, and as he was
born of what he imagines to be a noble seed, that is enough reason for him to
follow his forefathers in attacking the Owl. Although he asks the court to
excuse his somewhat coarse mode of speech, the sentence of the Phoenix is
emphatic:
The words that you have uttered, which fill the air with droning, do not help at all; if you
take away the body from the light, the shadow is lost. And if you do not rage with anger
about the blind habits that your parents teach you and your offspring, you are being deceived
and are in want of reason, courage and fairness. If that is the crime of your forefathers, do not
take it up yourself. 83
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
81 Ibid., p. 5: “Ego hoc totum, inquit, didici frequenter legendo, et parum dormiendo, et
parum comedendo et minus bibendo, et quantum expenderunt socii mei in lumine ad
potandum vinum de nocte, tantum ego expendi ad vigilandum et legendum de nocte in
oleo, et quantum expendebant in comestione, amplius expendebam ego in lumine ad
vigilandum et discendum de nocte: Et nisi hoc facerem, non scirem de magisterio.”
82 Ibid., p. 14: “Sub nomine actoris ex vulgo imperiti, qui causas rerum non attendit, sed ex
alterius praeiudicio de Chemia, in qua ne tantillum expertus est, iudicat. Argumentum
eius est, Chemiam esse vanam et frivolam, odioque dignam censendam, quia sic
iudicarint nostri maiores sapientia longe excellentissimi: Sunt autem cornices, (hoc est
eiusmodi illiberales et impoliti censores) noctuae inprimis inimicae, adeo ut sibi invicem
ova suffurentur: Inauspicatae quoque sunt garrulitatis.”
83 Ibid., p. 17: “Nil data verba iuvant, quae replent aera bombo,/ Corpora si luci dempseris,
umbra perit./ Si nihil irarum furias, quam caeca parentum/ Consuetudo docet te
sobolemque tuam:/ Falleris et rationis eges, virtutis et aequi,/ Si quod erit patrium, ne tibi
sume, scelus.”
The judgment having been passed, the little Crow plods away with a slow
and gloomy step. In this passage Maier again associates blind emotion,
stemming from a want of reason, with the masses – an association that, as
we have seen in our second chapter, has a special significance for his own
biography. The subject of piety is also uppermost when Maier depicts the
third class of the detractors of chemia: those men pre-occupied by greed, the
depraved in mind who fritter away expenses, signified by the Cuckoo,
Jackdaw, Woodpecker and Heron. Whilst possessing means and titles, such
men stand at the forefront of the mob on account of their love of sensual
pleasure. The Cuckoo represents one such “uncivilised civilian”:
Amongst those actors pre-occupied with worldly pleasures, or ‘uncivilised civilians’, stands
the Cuckoo. His argument is that chemia makes a man solitary and keeps him from
conversation with others, so he entertains himself only by burning up coal, emaciating the
body with labour and wakefulness, and vexing the soul with sorrows and fruitless
meditation: whereby the Cuckoo rejects the Art and argues vehemently against it, in order
that he may return more freely to the revelling and drinking to which he is accustomed, and
distinguish himself thus amongst the common people. 84
According to Maier’s curious analogy, drawn in part from the sixth Satire of
Juvenalis, the gluttonous Cuckoo is in the habit of breaking the eggs of other
birds and sucking out their contents, for which reason it has gained a bad
reputation amongst its avian cousins; consequently it lays its eggs in other
birds’ nests, by which subterfuge its unnoticed chicks escape retribution. 85
Nevertheless, the Owl, being a wise creature, willingly offers up its eggs to
this glutton, “in order that they may deliver abstinence, and infuse wisdom,
sobriety and the yearning for temperance.” 86 The eggs of the Owl in this
case denote Maier’s medicine itself, which is offered up to his presumably
undeserving patients in the most altruistic and Christian manner. For Maier’s
was a medicine of piety, a cure for intemperance of mind and body stemming
from a time in which the diagnosis and treatment of disease was closely
intertwined with concepts of morality. As the Cuckoo has inadvertently eaten
the temperance-imparting eggs of the Owl, the Phoenix returns no judgment
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
84 Ibid., p. 24: “Sub nomine actoris, in mundo praeoccupati negociis ad ventrem
spectantibus, aut sensuum delitias, sive impoliti Politici. Argumentum eius est, Chemiam
hominem solitarium reddere et a conversatione cum aliis revocare, dum ei vacantes solis
carbonibus comburendis sese oblectent, corpus laboribus et vigiliis, animum curis et
meditationibus in subtilitatibus vanis et inanibus, macerantes: Unde plerique Chemiae
valedicunt et prorsus contradicunt, ut ad solitas commessationes et compotationes
liberius rederant, frontemque cum vulgo exporrigant.”
85 Ibid.
86 Ibid.: “Noctuae ova comesta eam vim habere traduntur (quod scire, ad sequentia
intelligenda non inutile) ut abstemium reddant, atque ita quasi sapientiam et sobrietatem,
vini sublato desiderio, ea comedenti instillent et inducant.”
upon him: although he may be “a brigand worthy of hemlock,” the “cure of

the pharmacist” has already rendered the appropriate remedy, and he is told
to leave in order to avoid a harsher fate. 87 Given the unpleasant effects of
Maier’s medicine, the double meaning of pharmacus as ‘pharmacist’ and
‘poisoner’ cannot go unnoticed here.
In describing the second class of the detractors of chemia – those who are
learned, but are nevertheless ignorant of the truth of chemia, represented by
the Parrot, Nightingale and Crane – Maier seems to make oblique reference
to the Scholastic ethos, which to his mind is founded upon the reiteration of
received wisdom without recourse to empirical data. Thus the Parrot is
“erudite enough in the arts and sciences of other learned men,” but argues
that the study of chemia distracts the mind from more useful and fruitful
professions such as medicine and law. 88 Similarly, the Nightingale attempts
to beguile the court with harmonious speech alone, as she is the most
eloquent of the birds. In her judgment the Phoenix advises the Nightingale
that those proficient in chemia have brought their speech and their hearts into
accord – “as musical harmonies ought to be present in the voice, so also
should they be present in the heart, and no tone is dissonant in the thread of
life itself.” 89 It was this pansophic theme that Maier brought to its fullest
expression in his Atalanta Fugiens, in which the truths of chemia and the
harmony of the spheres are expressed in the form of Maier’s (not always
harmonious) fugues.
The words of the Jocus Severus and its preface show us precisely the
manner in which Maier approached the Rosicrucian ‘furore’ that was raging
around him on his return from England. Whilst he found himself in accord
with both the religious and the scientific sentiments of the manifestos, a work
that had been written without the ‘Fraternity’ in mind immediately became
the means by which he could define the ‘Brethren’ as men who value chemia
as “the most precious good in all the world after the Word of God.” 90 Their
labour is his labour: to procure “the most exquisite means of preserving
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
87 Ibid., p. 28: “Qui non virus atrox ovis, sed pharmaci medelam/ Latro bibisti, dignior
cicuta:/ Ne crimen regeratur, abi, ne morte praeoccuperis,/ Inferre noli funus innocenti.”
88 Ibid., p. 51: “Sub nomine actoris, viri alias docti et in reliquis artibus et scientiis satis
eruditi, licet cum vulgo hac parte consentientis. Cuius argumentum est: Quod studium
Chemiae avocet animum a magis utilibus et frugiferis scientiis, quales sunt Medicina,
Iurisprudentia aut aliae de pane lucrando. Cum econtra Chemica ars sit sterilis et inanis,
delitamentis phantasticorum hominum plena, qui eam ad otiosorum ingenia exercenda,
cupiditatemque magna spe auri proposita explendam, manuum labore et sumptuum
temporisque interpositione, inventam et introductam voluerunt.”
89 Ibid., p. 35: “Voce concordes ut adesse debent/ Musici, sic sint quoque corde, non est/
Dissonans ullus tonus ac in ipso Stamine vitae.”
90 Ibid., p. 10.
An invitation to Rosicrucians 139
health and restoring health which is lost.” 91 Although the manifestos already
possessed an alchemical bent, they became the receptacle for Maier’s own
anti-social, elitist and secretive alchemical predilections: thus the anonymity
maintained by the Brethren is a sign that they are unwilling to ‘prostitute’
their knowledge of chemia to the masses. 92 Maier’s interpretation of the
programme of the manifestos is less an attempt to narrow its scope, and more
to widen the scope of chemia, an Art which deals with the “great things of
God” once alluded to in the Hymnosophia.
5. An invitation to Rosicrucians, wherever they may lie hidden
The second work in which Maier devoted some attention to the Rosicrucian
Brotherhood was his Symbola Aureae Mensae (‘Symbols of the Golden
Table,’ 1617); the dedication, directed to Count Ernst III of Holstein-
Schauenburg, is dated December 1616 at Frankfurt am Main. This lengthy
work, sometimes considered to be Maier’s magnum opus, is a defence and
legitimisation of the alchemical tradition with reference to the practitioners of
twelve nations – Hermes Trismegistus of the Egyptians, Maria Prophetissa of
the Jews, Democritus of the Greeks, Morienus of the Romans, Avicenna of
the Arabs, Albertus Magnus of the Germans, Arnoldus de Villanova of the
French, Thomas Aquinas of the Italians, Raymond Lull of the Spanish, Roger
Bacon of the English, Melchior Cibinensis of the Hungarians, and an
anonymous author from Sarmatia, figurehead of the Slavic practitioners. As
in the Jocus Severus, Maier places his protagonists within an allegorical
arena of debate – in this case a banquet held in honour of the Virgin Queen
Chemia. The distinguished alchemists preside at a circular banquet table,
formed “in the image of the world,” and composed of two semi-circles, one
red and one snow-white, the colours of the sun (gold) and moon (silver) – a
‘hieroglyph’ to warn the guests of the legitimacy of the alchemical work in
question, and that no “colour-changing chameleon” can possibly imitate the
colours of the true alchemical phases. 93 However, also presiding at the table
is the troublesome guest Pyrgopolynices, the braggart centurion from the
Miles Gloriosus of Plautus; in Maier’s work he represents Queen Chemia’s
adversary, whose objections to her laws are at each opportunity refuted
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
91 Ibid.
92 Ibid.
93 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 3: “Erat autem mensa haec instar Orbis rotunda, ex
duabus Hemicycliis compacta, quarum una ruberrimi coloris, altera nivei visa est;
nullam aliam ob causam, quam ut hoc quasi Hieroglyphico Convivae assidentes admon-
erentur, hos inprimis colores esse veros et legitimos, Lunae et Solis proprios, quos
Chamaeleon versipellis nullo modo imitari aut exprimere possit.”
succinctly by the gathered alchemists. And whilst the phoenix was the chief
judge of the avian court in the Jocus Severus, in his dedication Maier invites
Count Ernst himself to act as arbiter of the dispute. 94
According to Waite, Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae marks the first
usage of the denomination Collegium Philosophorum Germanorum de
R∴C∴, or ‘College of German Philosophers R∴C∴’, which was propagated
in the nineteenth century amongst certain esoteric initiatory societies. 95 The
passage in the Symbola Aureae Mensae concerning the Rosicrucian Brethren
occurs in the midst of the sixth chapter, which is dedicated to the German
alchemists, and in particular to the great German scientist and theologian
Albertus Magnus (c.1200-1280), who is said by Maier to have “produced the
phoenix,” and was moreover the first to perfect the Art after the Arabs. 96 In
the course of this chapter Maier launches into a nineteen-page discourse on
the subject of the Brethren, which is placed within the wider context of the
transmission of the alchemical Art from the Arabs to the Germans. In so
doing he establishes not only alchemy but Rosicrucianism itself as the heir of
the wisdom of the great Egyptian sage, Hermes Trismegistus.
Whilst discussing Paracelsus as a compatriot of Albertus, Maier states
that the “hitherto unknown” Brethren have given favourable testimony
concerning this man – a reference to the Fama Fraternitatis, in which it is
stated that although he led a free and careless life and preferred to mock
rather than peaceably confer with his peers, Paracelsus had nevertheless
diligently read the Fraternity’s treasured work, the Liber M.. 97 Using this
reference as a bridge to the topic of Rosicrucianism, Maier describes how the
Brethren profess ‘occult medicine’ and the operation of ‘astral properties’ –
properties to which he, too, has recourse in his work. 98 He goes on to present
two of his chief arguments for the Fraternity’s reality and legitimacy:
Since indeed we may recall that in ancient times there were instituted diverse and solemn
philosophical colleges by experts in the Art of chymia, would it not be marvellous if this
kind of college should at some time have come to pass in our most populous German
nation, which has been divided into so many peoples and regions? For as [these Brethren],
being authors of truth, and having obtained the goals of the Art by their own faculty of
invention, or alternately by communication, have spoken of and exhibited compassion and
philanthropic service to humankind, and pious prayer to God; so it is lawful that they
maintain silence and ill-will against the undeserving... 99
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
94 Ibid., p. vi.
96 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, pp. 236, 248.
97 Ibid., p. 286; Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, pp. 79-81.
99 Ibid., pp. 288-289: “Cum vero antehac diversorum collegiorum philosophicorum
solennitatumque antiquitus ab artis Chymicae gnaris institutarum meminerimus, quid
The first argument implied here, and elaborated upon at length in the
Silentium post Clamores – that it is not unreasonable to suppose a secret
Fraternity exists in Germany, given the existence of similar ‘philosophical
colleges’ in other countries – might seem spurious to the contemporary
reader. Nevertheless, Maier makes sporadic mention of such societies
throughout the Symbola Aureae Mensae and the Arcana Arcanissima, which
he reiterates succinctly in the fifth chapter of the Silentium post Clamores.
His aim is to demonstrate the oral transmission of chemical arcana since the
time of Hermes Trismegistus, the ‘Viceroy’ of the Virgin Queen Chemia; and
if a direct lineage cannot always be traced, one may in any case account for
the congruency of arcane teachings throughout the millennia simply because
insight into Nature will always give rise to the same unvarying truths. Thus
Maier allows that the Brethren may have perfected the Art either “by their
own faculty of invention” or by “communication;” and thus he interprets the
Liber M. of the Brethren as the liber mundi, which having been codified by
the Arabs was passed on to Germany, but which nevertheless is universally
available to those with eyes to see. In answer to those critics of the Fama
Fraternitatis who argue that Paracelsus could not have read the Liber M., as
the tomb of Christian Rosenkreutz had been sealed some nine years before
his birth, Maier goes on to state that it is irrelevant whether Paracelsus had
read a particular book of the Brethren, as the Liber M. is in fact “the book of
the world, or of things existing in the world, and of their properties; or
indeed, the book of natural magic.” 100
The second argument set forward in the Symbola Aureae Mensae follows
a theme of the preface to the Jocus Severus: that the silence of the Fraternity
is lawful, as their arcana are a gift from God and should not be exposed to the
undeserving rabble. Such silence does not imply the non-existence of the
Brethren, which was an oft-heard accusation given their failure to answer the
many enthusiastic replies and entreaties for admittance provoked by the
publication of the manifestos. 101 It might be deduced from these arguments
that Maier was convinced of the existence of an organised secret Fraternity
lying behind the manifestos, and was thus victim rather than perpetrator of a
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
mirum, si huiusmodi in natione Germanica populosissima, inque tot gentes et regiones
divisa olim hunc usque contigerit? Nam ut artifices veri, qui ex propria inventione vel
alterius communicatione finem artis consecuti sunt, Deo votum pietatis, hominibus
officium humanitatis et commiserationem dicant et praestant, ita licet silentium et
invidiam contra indignos obtineant...”
100 Ibid., pp. 294-295: “Per librum M librum mundi seu rerum in mundo existentium,
earumque proprietatum, aut Magiae naturalis, intelligo: Talem librum Arabes habuerunt,
qui cum descriptus fuerit in Germaniam allatus est: sive igitur hunc ipsum aut ei similem
Paracelsus legerit perinde est, nihilominus constat eum in hoc libro versatissimum
extitisse.”
101 Ibid., p. 289.
ludibrium, as later generations of writers were to describe him. Nevertheless,

we find certain discrepancies and ambiguities in Maier’s account which bring
such a judgment into question. The first of these occurs shortly after the
passage cited above:
Lest we the rearguard remain too long unbelieving, we declare: that praiseworthy German
society, however many they are and wherever they may lie hidden amongst the living, are
invited, called together, and led to this our Table, named Golden because of its golden
guests, provided that they will be satisfied with quite simple dishes, which are the only
courses we have to offer here (for the cook has been seized during his preparation by a
hostile fever, sometimes cold, sometimes hot, and his breathing has been agitated, wherefore
he is unable to serve up more splendid and opulent dishes of oxen). 102
It is clear from his words that Maier considers himself to be amongst a

‘rearguard’ (post principia) of a similar ilk to the Protestant Hermeticists
portrayed in the manifestos; by inviting the Fraternity to the Golden Table he
is calling upon those of his own persuasion to join together in face of their
critics. The words ‘too long unbelieving’ might indicate Maier was still
uncertain concerning the status of the author of the manifestos; nevertheless,
it seems that he did not go to any great length to investigate the matter, given
that he might have followed the same route that Friedrich Grick had taken to
uncover Andreae’s identity – the Frankfurt Book Fair. Like other Rosicrucian
apologists, Maier constructed his Rosicrucian writings as a rallying point for
his own ideas, and a call to realise an already-existing but dispersed and
disorganised brotherhood in Christ and Hermes. In this sense the words of the
Symbola Aureae Mensae are not unlike the invitation that the manifestos
themselves form.
It is also evident that Maier’s ‘invitation’ to the Fraternity is an attempt to
demarcate the boundaries of true Rosicrucianism in accordance with his own
proclivities; for those who would not be satisfied with the dishes served at the
Golden Table are those with no interest in the practical labour of alchemy and
the production of iatrochemical cures. Thus the puzzling allusion to the
feverish cook refers to the labours of the alchemist, and the dishes he serves
are the fruits of those labours. This allusion rests in part upon the traditional
depiction of the alchemical process as a feverish man, to be found in the
medieval Allegory of Merlin reprinted seven years prior to the Symbola
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
102 Ibid.: “Ne itaque et nos, post principia, nimis diu increduli remaneamus, constituimus
LAUDABILEM ILLAM SOCIETATEM GERMANICAM, QUOTQUOT ET UBI
LATEANT APUD VIVOS, AD HANC NOSTRAM MENSAM, AUREAM DICTAM
OB AURATOS CONVIVAS, invitare, convocare et adducere, si modo vulgaribus sint
contenti missibus, (coquus enim certe dum in hac praeparatione tota occupatus fuit,
quartano hoste nunc frigidum nunc calidum expirante agitatus lautiores bovis epulas
apponere nequit) quos hic solos offerimus.”
Aureae Mensae, or the strange tale of the melancholic duke dosed with
sudorifics presented by the Allegory of Duenech and referred to in the
twenty-eighth discourse of Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens. 103 But Maier also
clearly states that he himself is the ‘cook’ at the Golden Table; for this entire
passage appears under the curious marginal heading, “The author has been
fighting with the disease for four days (as the guests fought with
Pyrgopolynices).” 104 As the ‘hostile fever’ suffered by the cook is the
quartan, there can be no doubt that Maier was sick at the time of writing, a
fact that underscores his very personal involvement with his Work. Just what
Maier is cooking up at the Golden Table is made evident by omission, when
he states that the feverish cook is unable to serve the guests “opulent dishes
of oxen.” This is not only a warning that those who wish to engage with the
pleasures of the senses will not find their appetites satisfied at the Golden
Table, but also an oblique reference to the temperance-imparting Universal
Medicine, which is the ‘only course’ on offer.
Nevertheless, in the following pages of the Symbola Aureae Mensae Maier
playfully reverses notions of piety and desire when he presents ten short
enigmas to the Brethren; in a typically obscure allusion, it is said that he
offers these enigmas to the Fraternity at the Golden Table just as philothesia
was offered up to the table guests during the Saturnalia. 105 Although the word
philothesia is not to be found in any of the major Latin lexicons, from
another reference to this term made by Maier in the fourth epigram of the
Atalanta Fugiens we may identify it as a love potion (figure 18). 106
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
103 See “The Allegory of Merlin.” British Library, MS Sloane 3506, pp. 74-75; also
“Merlini Allegoria profundissimum Philosophici Lapidis arcanum perfecte continens.”
In Artis Auriferae. Vol. I. Basel: Conrad Waldkirch, 1610, pp. 252-254. The Duenech
allegory is to be found in the Theatrum Chemicum. Vol. 3. Ursel: Zetzner, 1602, pp.
756-757; Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 28: “Duenech itaque a Pharut in
Laconicum introducitur, ut ibi sudet, et tertiae concoctionis foeces per poros excernat:
Est autem hujus regis affectus melancholicus seu atrabilarius, unde omnibus aliis
principibus in minori authoritate et precio est habitus, dum Saturni morositate et Martis
cholera seu iracundia fuerit taxatus: Ipse igitur aut mori aut curari voluit, si id possibile
sit.” Maier explains the allegory in terms of the purification of both human and metallic
bodies.
104 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 289: “Authoris cum morbo (uti convivarum cum
Pyrgopolynice, conflictu) quarto quoque die.”
105 Ibid., p. 291: “Denique nostri conatus ad Minervae Aenigmata, prout illa in mentem
manumque venerint, eidem Collegio Germanico studiose, ceu philothesia in Saturnalibus
propinamus hoc est, discumbentes inservientibus pro temporis ratione.”
106 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, epigram 4: “Non hominum foret in mundo nunc tanta
propago,/ Si fratri conjunx non data prima soror./ Ergo lubens conjunge duos ab utroque
parente/ Progenitos ut sint foemina masque toro./ Praebibe nectareo Philothesia pocla
liquore/ Utrisque, et foetus spem generabit amor.” In the German translation of the
epigram in the Atalanta Fugiens “der Lieb Becher mit süssem Reben Safft” is given, i.e.
“the love goblet with the juice of the vine;” there is the possibility that this is a
According to Maier’s letter of Christmas greetings to Prince Henry of

England, the Saturnalia was a midwinter Roman festival which marked a
brief return to the conditions of the Golden Age; 107 significantly for Maier’s
reference to ‘serving’ the Brethren his enigmas, during this festival the roles
of master and slave were reversed and moral restrictions were relaxed. Thus
Maier appears impishly to question whether the Brethren are in fact masters
or servants at the Golden Table. However, it is not simply Maier’s penchant
for riddles that motivates this strange portrayal of the purveying of love
potion to the chaste Brethren, or his depiction of the Golden Table as a feast
in honour of Saturn, symbol of old age, decay and the deep materiality of
lead. Rather, it is his concern with the coniunctio oppositorum, and the
paradoxical relationship in his alchemy of corporeality to the divine.
On first inspection the ten enigmas composed by Maier give the impres-
sion that their solutions may well have died with their author; and as draughts
served up to the Fraternity they would have proved less than potable, even to
the author of the enigmatic manifestos. Nevertheless, they furnish us with
interesting clues concerning Maier’s perspective on the Rosicrucian affair.
The first nine enigmas are dedicated to the Muses; and in the ninth enigma
dedicated to Urania, the Muse of astronomy, Maier ponders over the number
of ‘Brethren’ brought together by the manifestos and their message:
As I consider the eternal signs of your house R. C.,

and ponder the number of our allies united in one troupe,
a man from the common people passes by.
He asks eagerly, how many have I counted in my sum total;
Might it be five times fifty? For seemingly I had so much.
In reply I declare: that number which I have gathered,
if just so many is increased by half,
and this by a sixth part moreover,
then there would be given just so many as you say.
But he was unable to deal with this complicated addition. 108
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Deckname for an actual herbal medicament employed by Maier, as philothesia may be
derived from the Greek θησειον (originally, ‘temple of Theseus’) denoting a parasitic
plant known as the bastard toad-flax, Thesium linophyllum.
107 Srigley, Images of Regeneration, p. 101.
108 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 301: “Vestrae signa domus R. C. perennia/ Dum
lustro, numerosque ex sociis agens;/ Unito agmine, praeterit/ Quidam de populi grege./
Hic quarens cupida mente, quot egerim/ In summam numeros, anne ea quinquies:/
Quinquaginta referrent?/ Tot namque esse viderier./ Quem contra asservi: Quot numeri
mihi:/ Collecti, totidem si fuerint adhuc,/ Atque hoc dimidio auctum, et Sexta hoc parte
sit insuper;/ Tunc, quot dicis, erunt hinc numeri dati:/ Extricare sed his plexibus
impotens...”
Whilst this enigma may have confounded the common folk of Maier’s time,
the solution is roughly 142.857; and if we might consider this to be a
nonsense, at the end of the enigma we are reminded by Maier that it is not our
place to guess the number of those whom God has chosen to bring together.
Nevertheless, it would seem from his words that the Fraternity is formed not
only by the authors of the manifestos but by all those “German chemical and
philosophical authors, unknown and anonymous, lying hidden under the
symbol of R. C.” 109 In Maier’s eyes the letters R. C. form a Deckname or
hieroglyph under which alchemists across Germany are working; and the
significance of that hieroglyph is dealt with in the tenth and final ‘twofold
enigma’, dedicated to Apollo, god of the Sun:
For me R. refers to the sea,

In which fish are being hunted at three different times:
The first when Cancer thrust forth his claws,
The second under the righteous judgement of Libra,
The third when Aquarius pours forth wet waves:
Tell me, of which fish do I speak, and of which waves of the sea? 110
The reference here to fish in a sea appears to be an allusion to the well-known

alchemical allegory concerning “the little round fish in our sea” to be found
in the enigmas of the Visio Arislei. 111 In the context of this allegory, the sea
may be understood as the Mercurial Water, a universal solvent used to extract
the ‘miraculous power’ from the base metals or primary subject (the ‘fish’)
within the alchemical vessel. In the twenty-second discourse of his Atalanta
Fugiens Maier follows Paracelsus in referring to the alchemical fish as trout,
as it was believed that trout hold within themselves traces of the river gold
they swallow (and hence, according to Maier’s alchemical cosmology, they
are a model for the divine power of the Sun, the seed of gold, lying at the
heart of all metals). 112 A good emblematic depiction of the alchemical sea
and its fish is to be found in Lambsprinck’s De Lapide Philosophico Libellus
(see figure 19), which Maier mentions a little prior to the enigmas in his
Symbola Aureae Mensae. 113
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
109 Ibid., p. 289: “Germani authores Chymici et philosophi, incogniti et anonymi, latentes
sub symbolo R. C.”
110 Ibid., p. 302: “R. mihi adest aequor, pisces captantur in illo/ Tempore tres vario, primus
cum brachia Cancer/ Exerit, atque alter sub iusto examine Librae,/ Tertius humentes cum
fundit Aquarius undas:/ Dicite, quos pisces statuam quas Aequoris undas?”
111 “Aenigmata ex Visione Arislei Philosophi.” In Artis Auriferae. Vol. 1. Basel: Petrum
Pernam, 1572, p. 162. Reprinted in 1610.
112 On this subject see de Jong, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, pp. 179-180.
113 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 272. De Jong, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, p.
6, discusses the relationship of Lambsprinck’s emblems to those of the Atalanta Fugiens.
It follows that the “three different times” at which the fish are hunted
represent three different phases of solution in the lengthy alchemical process,
as dictated by astrological law; the first when the sun is in Cancer (from June
22), the second in Libra (from September 23) and the third in Aquarius (from
January 20). These signs of the Zodiac correspond to summer, autumn and
winter, giving spring as the time of the work’s completion – and perhaps
Easter, in accordance with Maier’s first alchemical experiment detailed in the
De Medicina Regia, although it must be said that the threefold solution given
in the enigma does not correspond to any of the disparate procedures alluded
to elsewhere by Maier.
Whilst the details of Maier’s laboratory practice are impossible to recon-
struct, these enigmatic allusions again confirm the importance of practical
alchemical work to his Rosicrucian ideal. Peuckert once remarked that
Maier’s Rosicrucian works do not completely reflect the attitude of the
Fama Fraternitatis and the Confessio Fraternitatis, because “gold is always
as valuable as sophia to him,” and whilst alchemy forms a part of the
manifestos’ message, “for Maier it was everything.” 114 Whilst it is true that
Maier’s emphasis on alchemy is at variance with that of the manifestos,
divine wisdom and laboratory process are not counterposed in his work, as
the Hermetic doctrines of sympathy and correspondence stipulate that the
divinely instituted laws at operation in the alchemist’s vessel are mirrored in
the various tiers of the cosmos. Thus it is said in the second half of the tenth
‘twin’ enigma that C. refers to the “sublime laws of a fortress”:
C. gives you the sublime laws of a fortress; and there is

No other bird that has more power with threatening wings and eyes
Than the winged being thought to be yours.
By that bird’s command a nest has been constructed in a tree,
Which some time ago produced a series of gold-born chicks. 115
On one hand we may understand the fortress to be the alchemical vessel

itself; it is analogous to the nest of the bird of the Rosicrucians, which, from
the references given in Maier’s fifth enigma, we may identify as his beloved
phoenix. 116 From its nest, unassailable in the heights of an oak-tree, new life
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
114 Peuckert, Pansophie (1936 edition), p. 152.
115 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 302: “C. vobis Castri sublimia iura dat, et non/ Inter
aves est, quae valeat pernicibus alis/ Aut oculis ante hanc volucrem, quae vestra putatur,/
Et cuius nutu est constructus in arbore nidus,/ Qui pridem Aurigenos produxit in ordine
pullos.”
116 The fifth enigma, dedicated to the muse of Tragedy, Melpomene, describes the nest of
the Phoenix built high in a gnarled oak where it rears its chicks; the bird is to be found in
the remote Arabian forests of Sheba, where it prepares for its long flight through all the
world: “Iovis volucris olim/ Quercu plicasset alta/ Nidos, suos penates,/ Pullos ut
is born through a process of fiery destruction (the black phase of the work)
and re-creation. On the other hand, the ‘nest’ and ‘fortress’ possess a
significance beyond the vagaries of laboratory work. They are also a symbol
for Protestant Germany, the heart of the spiritual regeneration of Europe, and
the womb that has brought forth the generations of the Fraternity, as Maier
puts it in his Themis Aurea. 117 Thus in Maier’s preamble to the enigmas, he
tells us that “the defences of the high wall” have been built around the “place
of truth” – and although the wall crumbles before those that assail it,
nevertheless the ‘artisans’ within rush forward to build it up again, “in order
that, by the command of God, the threats may cease.” 118 These words are
reminiscent of the famous emblem printed in Daniel Mögling’s Speculum
Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum (‘Sophical Rosicrucian Mirror,’ 1618), in
which the dwelling-place of the Fraternity is depicted as a fortress of God’s
truth prevailing against its detractors – the most pernicious of whom, in the
eyes of the Rosicrucian apologists, were the Jesuit calumniators and other
agents of the papal yoke.
How far was Maier implicated in the religious strife of his day by his
involvement in the Rosicrucian affair? Evidence for the depth of hostilities
harboured by the Jesuit camp is to be found in Father François Garasset’s La
Doctrine Curieuse des Beaux Esprits de ce Temps, ou Pretendus Tels (1623),
a polemical tract appearing in Catholic France a year after Maier’s death –
the same year that hysteria was created in Paris with reports of the entrance
of the ‘invisible’ Brethren into that city. In this tract Garasset names Maier as
the ‘secretary’ of the Fraternity, which he portrays as a “pernicious company
of sorcerers and magicians” whose doctrine stems from Satan and the “Turks
and cannibals” of the Middle East. 119 According to Garasset, Maier’s books
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
educaret:/ Rerum feracitate/ Estque apta visa sedes./ Quod cum Sabae remotis/ Sylvis eo
propinquans/ Phoenix videret, inquit,/ Hic est quies parata/ Volatuum labori,/ Qui factus
est per annos/ Tot, integrum per orbem...” Ibid., p. 299.
117 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), pp. 123-124: see n. 212 below.
118 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 291: “Mina muri extant. Minas extare alti alicuius
muri cum ipsis fatemur, ex quarum lapsu concursuros opifices ad eas erigendas, at ita
erigent, ut minae esse desinant, ex Dei nutu: Nullus enim timor aut minae apud veritatis
amantes locum inveniunt...”
119 Garasset, François. La Doctrine Curieuse des Beaux Esprits de ce Temps, ou Pretendus
Tels. Contenant Plusieurs Maximes pernicieuses à l’Estat, à la Religion, et aux bonnes
Moeurs. Combattue et Renversee par le P. François Garassus de la Compagnie de
JESUS. Paris: Sebastien Chappelet, 1623, pp. 86-87: “Les Freres de la Croix des Roses
parlant de ce venerable enluminé leur fondateur, disent deux choses, de ses estudes, 1.
Inter Turcas maxime profecit, inde doctrinam suam hausit, il profita grandement en
Turquie, c’est de là qu’il apprist les secrets de sa doctrine, et je ne me puis persuader que
les fondateurs de cette cabale d’impieté ayent appris les horribles blasphemes qu’ils
prononcent insolemment contre Iesus-Christ, que parmi des Turcs ou Cannibales, je
are “as enigmatic as Lycophron,” 120 and he and his fellow conspirators
(Rudolph Goclenius and Adam Haslmayr are mentioned by name) pose a
threat to the church, to the secular state and to good morals. Consequently, he
writes that no torture would be great enough for these men, whom he
condemns as Sodomites and perverters of youth. 121 It seems the Jesuits also
had a theory concerning the true significance of the Fraternity’s name.
Garasset relates that a wreath of roses was hung in the German drinking halls,
where the Fraternity’s heresies were inspired by “the warmth of the wine;”
and when the Fama Fraternitatis states that the Order’s founder was from a
poor background, so Garasset concurs, stating that Father C. R. was a barfly
(moucheron de cabaret) who found illumination in his beer. 122 Given the
emphasis on temperance to be found in Rosicrucian writings, these passages
are clearly designed to offend Protestant sensibilities (indeed, in his Verum
Inventum Maier argues specifically against inspiration through the
consumption of alcohol). It is also clear that the polemical description of
Maier as ‘secretary’ of the order cannot be taken seriously. Nevertheless,
Garasset’s tract reveals that Maier and his writings assumed a central place
within the Rosicrucian controversy, at least from the perspective of the
Fraternity’s detractors.
As for Maier’s actual commitment to Protestant political or religious
goals, it is important to state that his writings portray the Brethren first and
foremost as good alchemists, opposed by those ignorant in the ways of the
Art. Thus we have seen in the tenth enigma of the Symbola Aureae Mensae
that Maier again depicts the enemies of Rosicrucianism as the cantank-
erous birds of the Jocus Severus, assailing the phoenix of the Brethren.
Furthermore, Maier clearly states in the oft-quoted passage from the final
chapter of his Themis Aurea that the Brethren do not confess a universal
reformation with the goal of one empire and one religion – an answer on
the one hand to Jesuit accusations that the Rosicrucians sought world
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
dirois, qu’ils les ont appris des Diables, s’ils ne m’enseignoient eux mesmes par les
maximes de leur creance, qu’ils ne croyent ny Dieu ny Diable.”
120 A Greek poet known for the extreme obscurity of his erudite style.
121 Ibid., pp. 91-92: “Je conclus que si ces Freres de la fraternité de Roses sont coulpables,
meschans et condamnez par arrest en qualité de Sorciers et d’une meschante conjuration
de faquins prejudiciable à la Religion, aux Estats seculiers et à la doctrine des bonnes
moeurs, quoy qu’ils ayent en apparence quelque attrait de pieté, je ne voy point de
supplices assez grands pour nos dogmatisans, qui n’ont en leurs parolles que blasphemes
et impietez, en leurs actions que brutalitez et Sodomies, en leurs escrits que tropheés de
leurs impudicitez, en leur hantise, que corruption de jeunesse, en leur visage
qu’impudence, en leur ame que trahison, en leur corps que les marques de leurs sueurs,
dont ils se vantent eux-mesmes par leurs livres imprimez, a fin que personne n’en
pretende cause d’ignorance.”
122 Ibid., pp. 84, 86.
government through a pact with Islam, and on the other to those “Anabaptists
and Enthusiasts” who, acting under the good name of the Fraternity, disturb
“all order and law” with their foolish dreams. 123 Maier only concedes that
some years in the past a Reformation had indeed been necessary, which has
already been effected by Father C. R., as by Erasmus, Luther, Melanchthon,
Paracelsus, Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. 124 It is only within God’s power to
change the hearts of individuals and turn the Papists towards the true Church
of God, a task the Brethren do not presume to take on themselves. 125 This
having been said, however, Maier immediately launches into a tirade against
“the seven-hilled city” which oppresses the “German Eagle,” i.e. the
Deutsches Reich and her princes, from whose labour and blood Rome
acquires her glory. 126 Given these sentiments of Maier’s, perhaps we may see
in the arch-villain of the Symbola Aureae Mensae, the Roman centurion
Pyrgopolynices (literally, ‘tower-town-taker’), an allusion to the Rome of
Maier’s day and the Protestant-Hermetic ‘fortress’ standing against it. 127
Thus Maier ends his discourse with the remark that the Fraternity has
recently been augmented by ten men; on hearing this fact, Pyrgopolynices
“digests the matter with difficulty” before he “bursts forth” with another
tirade against the good alchemists seated at the Golden Table.128 In any case,
it seems the cardinals of the Sacred Congregation of the Index in Rome were
able to decipher enough of Maier’s enigmatic references to inspire their
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
123 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), p. 233. These sentiments lie in accord with the
Fama Fraternitatis, which rails against all “enthusiasts, heretics and false Prophets.”
124 Maier, Themis Aurea, p. 234.
125 Ibid., p. 235.
126 Ibid., p. 234: “Tyrannidem in religione occupatam et tanti temporis praescriptione
possessam illi, qui Septicollem falso sibi asscribit urbem, Aquilae Germanicae
subjectam, Regum cervices (instar superbissimi illius Sesostridis Aegyptii) calcare
solitus et regna ad se transferre verbis, quasi alieno labore et sanguine partam gloriam, ut
Thraso apud Comicum, non excepero, sed ut in veram Christi ecclesiam, quae non
gladiis sibi regna quaerit aut tuetur, quam primo redeat, relictis mundanis, unice
optamus.” Sesostris (1878-1841 BCE) was an Egyptian pharoah who according to
Herodotus (Histories 2.102-110) sacrificed two of his own sons in an act of cowardice,
yet set up obelisks across the lands of Egypt to demonstrate his own power (and placed
female genitalia upon them to signify the cowardice of those who did not resist his
dominion).
127 According to Frick, in Maier’s time the character from Plautus’ play had also become a
literary symbol for the archetypal braggart; see his introduction to the Symbola Aureae
Mensae Duodecim Nationum. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1972, p.
xi.
128 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 306: “Decem probatissimis viris dicitur collegium
adhuc auctum. Hostis interim Pyrgopolynices irarum materiam ruminans aegreque
concoquens apud sese, ubi silentium fieri animadvertit, in hunc erupit modum.
Argumentum Adversarii contra Chemiam...”
wrath, as the Symbola Aureae Mensae was banned by papal decree on

December the 12th, 1624. 129
6. Uncovering the true Brethren
Maier’s was only one amongst a number of possible interpretations of the

manifestos, each of which gave their own emphasis to the broad Protestant
and Hermetic contours portrayed there, be it theological, theosophical,
alchemical, astrological or chiliastic. Indeed, in the decade following the
first publication of the Fama Fraternitatis in 1614 over four hundred
‘Rosicrucian’ apologies and opposing Kampfschriften appeared, and many of
the former were composed under the name of the Fraternity itself. 130 In the
Symbola Aureae Mensae Maier gives us some intriguing clues concerning the
Rosicrucian literature he had encountered by 1617, and the form of
Rosicrucianism he found most pleasing. At the end of his discourse on the
Rosicrucians, he sets out a condensed version of the Order’s history given in
the manifestos. 131 He goes on to depict in list form the membership of the
Order through three centuries and generations, each being composed of 8
Brethren; the first two generations (of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries)
are reconstructed in accordance with the members’ initials given in the Fama
Fraternitatis – those given in the main narrative of the text, as well as those
inscribed in the parchment book found clasped in the hands of the perfectly
preserved corpse of Father Christian Rosenkreutz. It is unlikely that any of
these initials refer to historical personages – for example, we are told that
Brother I. O., who “cured a young Earl of Norfolk of leprosy,” did not live to
see the death of Father C. R. in 1484; yet there were no Earls of Norfolk in
the fifteenth century, nor were there any cases of leprosy amongst the
Mowbray and Howard families who held the duchy of Norfolk during this
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
129 Moller, Johannis. Cimbria Literata, sive Scriptorum Ducatus Utriusque Slesvicensis et
Holsatici, Quibus et Alii vicini quidam accensentur, Historia Literaria Tripartita. Vol. 1.
Havniae: Orphanotrophius, 1744, p. 378. Apparently the books prohibited by this decree
were included as an appendix to the Index of prohibited books originally published at the
direction of Pope Clement VIII in 1596.
130 In the course of his research Carlos Gilly has collated over 700 printed works and
manuscripts relating to the Rosicrucian affair appearing in the years 1610-1660; see
Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 76; also Gilly, Carlos. “Iter Rosicrucianum: Auf der
Suche nach Unbekannten Quellen der Frühen Rosenkreuzer.” In Das Erbe des Christian
Rosenkreutz: Vorträge gehalten anläßlich des Amsterdamer Symposiums 18.-20.
November 1986. Amsterdam: In de Pelikaan, 1988, p. 63.
131 The bulk of this history is derived from the Fama Fraternitatis, with the exception of the
dates of the birth and death of Father C. R. (1378-1484), which are taken from the
Confessio Fraternitatis.
Uncovering the true Brethren 151
period. 132 Be that as it may, it is the third generation of the Order given by
Maier – that of the seventeenth century – that interests us here:
Tertius ordinis et seculi moderni.
1.
2.
3. Tertius in ordine, qui Wetzlariae, A. C. 1615. se fratrem ore est confessus et multis
modis demonstravit.
4.
5.
6.
7. B. M. I. qui Haganosae scripsit quaedam impressa, A. C. 1614. Sept. 22.
8. N. N. bonus Architectus; casu aperuit fornicem sepulchri Fr. R. C. A.C. 1604 aut
circiter.
Decem probatissimis viris dicitur collegium adhuc auctum. 133
Mention of the eighth member, Brother N. N., who “by chance opened the
vault of the sepulchre of Father C. R. in 1604 or thereabouts,” may be found
in the account given by the Fama Fraternitatis. 134 However, Maier’s
reference to the third member from Wetzlar (a town in the Calvinist state of
Nassau-Dillenburg bordering Hessen-Kassel) is derived from Georg
Molther’s Gründtliche Relation von einer frembden Mannsperson, Welche
inn jüngst verflossenem M. DC. XV. Jahr durch deß H. Reichs Statt Wetzslar
gereißt (‘Thorough Report of a foreign man, who in the recently elapsed year
of 1615 travelled through the town Wetzlar of the Holy Roman Empire’).
Molther was a court physician to Count Johann of Nassau-Dillenburg, a close
ally of Moritz the Learned and Friedrich V of the Palatinate. Whilst
biographical records on Molther are exceedingly scanty, the fact that he
moved close to the inner circles of Rosicrucianism is made clear by the
inclusion of his theses in the Disputationes Chymico-Medicae presided over
by Johannes Hartmann – the personal physician to Moritz of Hessen-Kassel
who, as we have mentioned, was both an acquaintance of Maier and an early
distributor of the Fama Fraternitatis in manuscript form. 135 The Gründtliche
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
132 Nor have there been any subsequent cases of leprosy in those families – kind information
of Dr. John Martin Robinson, Librarian to Major-General His Grace the Duke of
Norfolk.
134 Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, pp. 89 ff.
135 That Molther was a student of Hartmann’s may be gathered from the twelfth disputation
concerning “the obstruction of the liver,” appearing under the respondent name of Georg
Molther of Grünberg in Disputationes Chymico-Medicae: Pleraeque sub Praesidio Joh.
Hartmanni, Med. D. et Chymiatriae in Academia Marpurgensi Professoris Publici, ab
aliquot Medicinae Candidatis et Studiosis, ibidem censurae publicae expositae...
Relation, addressed in the preface to Count Johann, first appeared in a Latin

edition of 1616, and was reprinted in German translation as an appendix to
the 1617 Frankfurt am Main edition of the Fama Fraternitatis. 136 It describes
Molther’s strange encounter in the town of Wetzlar with a wonder-working
naturopath, who not only described himself as a ‘brother of the Order of the
Rosy Cross’, but also demonstrated an astonishingly multi-faceted skill and
learning. Although most researchers in the field of early Rosicrucianism have
neglected this tract, testimony to its importance was given by Schick when he
described Molther as “defender and chief witness for the existence of real
Rosicrucians.” 137
According to Molther’s ‘report’, a citizen was tending his hops garden one
day in early May of 1615 when he spied a poorly dressed stranger passing by,
collecting herbs and roots by the way to put in his sack. Striking up a
conversation, the citizen inquired as to the purpose of his activity, to which
the stranger replied that he could cure many diseases with these plants and
with “the assistance of God.” 138 The stranger went on to cure the citizen’s
wife of a respiratory problem, charging no fee for his services (in accordance
with the first law of the Order given in the Fama Fraternitatis); whereupon
he was taken to a patient of Molther’s, who was suffering from breast cancer,
and was laid low with pain. Although he could not cure the disease on
account of its advanced state, he nevertheless delivered a precise prognosis in
accordance with astrological principles – a prognosis that, according to
Molther, proved to be entirely accurate. 139
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Marburg: Paul Egenolph, 1614, pp. 301-310. The town of Grünberg lies some 40
kilometres from Wetzlar. For Hartmann as a distributor of the manuscript Fama
Fraternitatis, see Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p. 29; Kooij and Gilly, Fama
Fraternitatis, pp. 13, 15 n. 6.
136 Molther, Georg. De quodam peregrino, qui anno superiore MDCXV imperialem
Wetzslariam transiens, non modo se fratrem R. C. confessus fuit verum etiam multiplici
rerum scientia, verbis et factis admirabilem se praestitit. Frankfurt am Main: Johann
Bringer, 1616; Molther, Georg. “Von einer frembden Mannsperson/ Welche inn jüngst
verflossenem M. DC. XV. Jahr durch deß H. Reichs Statt Wetzslar gereißt/ und sich
nicht allein für ein Bruder deß Ordens deß Rosen Creuzes außgegeben/ sondern auch
durch vielfältige Geschickligkeit/ unnd allerhand Sachen Wissenschafft/ mit Worten
unnd Wercken sich also erzeigt hat/ daß man sich ab ihme verwundern müssen/
Gründtliche Relation.” In Fama Fraternitatis, oder Entdeckung der Bruderschafft deß
löblichen Ordens deß Rosen Creutzes... Sampt dem Sendtschreiben Iuliani de Campis,
und Georgii Moltheri Med. D. und Ordinarii zu Wetzlar Relation/ von einer diß Ordens
gewissen Person. Frankfurt am Main: Johann Bringer, 1617. Molther also composed a
Rosicrucian tract under the title E. D. F. O. C. R. Sen., Antwort, der Hochwürdigen und
Hocherleuchten Brüderschafft deß RosenCreutzes. N.p: n.p., 1617.
138 Molther, “Von einer frembden Mannsperson,” p. 90.
139 Ibid., pp. 91-92, 98-99.
Word of these miraculous powers spread through Wetzlar, and Molther

met the stranger, who confirmed the physician’s suspicion that he was indeed
a Brother of the Rosy Cross, and (breaking his oath of silence a second time,
as we may note) divulged the meeting place of the Fraternity. 140 Being the
third admitted into the latest generation of the Order (as Maier faithfully
records in his membership list), the Brother stated that there were yet two
others from the Order visiting the region. By Molther’s reckoning, the
Brother was a wretched looking man, with poor farmer’s clothes, a medium
stature and a cropped beard; and although he confessed to being 81 years old,
he had no grey hair or imperfections on his teeth – the tell-tale signs, as we
may recall, of the application of a chemical medicine such as that purportedly
possessed by Maier. 141 He spoke all the languages of the world, and it is
cryptically stated that he accommodated his speech to certain “hieroglyphical
figures.” 142 His cures were effected not only by means of the influence of the
stars, but also through his remarkable knowledge of the Bible, which he was
wont to cite whilst administering his herbal remedies; and such was his
devout faith that Molther believed no man could possibly accuse him of
purveying “an ungodly Black Art.” 143 Through his knowledge of astrology he
predicted to Molther the coming of a great cold spell at Pentecost, which did
indeed fall deleteriously at that time. 144 He was well-versed in alchemical
preparations, as well as certain magical procedures – for instance, he knew
how to drive mice out of the house with a bull-whip, or drive moles out of a
field; how to attract fish from a distance, “that they make their way in great
numbers, and are happy to be caught;” and how to fend off lightning bolts by
means of laurel leaves, seal fur and eagle skin. 145 Indeed, it seemed to
Molther that this man was “blessed by all the counsel of Nature,” and that all
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
140 Ibid., p. 97.
141 Ibid., pp. 96-97: “Ganz deutlich unnd rundt bekannte er/ daß er der dritte in der Ordnung
der Fratrum R. C. were/ und daß noch zweene von der Fraternitet fast in gleichem gradu
sich in derselben Gegent auffhielten/ Er were vor Zeiten ein Münch gewesen/ und
jetzund ein unnd achtzig Jahr alt/ hette auch keinen Mangel an den Zähnen/ denn er
dieselbigen noch alle frisch und vollkommlich hatte/ Item daß er hette sieben Probierjahr
und etliche Tage müssen außstehen. Viel andere Sachen dergleichen mehr sagte er/ als
den Ort seiner Geburt/ seiner Reise/ unnd ihrer Zusammenkunfft.” For the properties of
Maier’s medicine, see above, chapter III, pp. 103-104.
142 Ibid., p. 97.
143 Ibid.
144 Ibid., p. 100.
145 Ibid., p. 102: “Wie man sonsten erfehret von den Lorberzweigen/ Seehunden/ und
Adlershäuten/ daß sie den donnerstrahl verhüten.” Apparently the ‘Brother’ was also
wont (rather impiously) to perform mischiefs which would lead to the persecution of
Gypsies: “wie man ein Feuwer auff einem Bauschen Stro/ oder anderm/ das gerne
brennt/ machen solle/ daß man sonsten meynt/ es geschehe durch deß losen Gesindlins/
der Ziegeuner Zauberey/ unnd es nicht weiter/ als man wil/ vom Feuwer verletzt werde.”
the things that occurred in the world were known to him. Nevertheless, the
Brother did not allow the details of his remarkable skills to be noted down on
paper, and he assured Molther that were he to record his knowledge against
his will, the words would thereafter be either unreadable or their sense
unintelligible. 146 With this admonition he declared that he would make his
way to a “wild forest” to collect more herbs and roots, as he would not suffer
to spend more than two nights at the same location for fear of detection. 147
Writing in 1942, Schick appears to have been undecided as to whether this
document is in fact a real report of events “or only the literary form of such a
report,” although he seemed to favour the former possibility when he
described the anonymous Rosicrucian as “der Schwindler von Wetzlar” – i.e.
he believed that Molther’s story was a genuine relation of fact, but that the
account given by the ‘wonder-working’ naturopath concerning his powers
and collegial affiliations was not. 148 Likewise, Waite (an advocate of the
existence of an organised secret Fraternity) cites Molther’s tract as proof that
“impostors were thought and known to be about.” 149 Nevertheless, there are
good reasons to favour the latter possibility proposed by Schick – that the
‘imposture’ was Molther’s, and not that of a roaming charlatan.
In themselves, the strange powers of the ‘Brother’ related by Molther may
not arouse our suspicions concerning the veracity of his report, as they are
not unlike certain of the magical procedures related in the works of Maier.
There, too, we may find the medicinal employment of minerals, herbs and
various animal parts, amalgamated with theories of astral influence. In his
Themis Aurea Maier identifies the herb utilised by Molther’s brother as
bryony, a powerful cathartic and diuretic which causes a very painful death in
cases of overdose; he goes on to state that the gathering of medicinal herbs
according to the alignment of the constellations of the Zodiac may indeed
effect cures for dangerous diseases. 150 It is clear that Maier would have found
much in agreement with the stranger of Wetzlar, given his devout Protestant
leanings and iatrochemical prowess. Considering his sympathies with the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
146 Ibid., pp. 103-104: “Was denckwürdiges er etwa redete/ wolte er nicht leiden/ daß es
notirt und inn Schreibtaffeln uffgezeichnet würde: ja er betheurte es/ daß/ wann wir
etwas von seinen Sachen wider seinen Willen uffnotiren würden/ wirs entweder nicht
lesen/ oder doch nicht würden können verstehen...”
147 Ibid., p. 104.
150 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), pp. 183-185; according to this testimony, one
source of Maier’s knowledge of herbal lore was Bartholomaeus Carrichter, the
‘Kräuterdoktor’ resident at the imperial court of Rudolf’s predecessor Maximillian II,
who described various herbal cures as well as the Zodiac signs under which their healing
powers thrive in his Kräutterbuch des Edelen und Hochgelehrten Herzen Doctoris
Bartholomei Carrichters. Straßburg: Antony Bertram, 1609.
religious and natural philosophical outlook of Molther’s ‘Brother’, there was

no reason for Maier to be concerned that he was lending credence to a literary
creation in compiling his list. On this count, any observant reader may
identify the simple narrative devices Molther employs in the course of his
report and the logical inconsistencies they entail; for example, the Rosi-
crucian Brother divulges to Molther both his membership in the Fraternity
and its meeting place, although by Molther’s own reckoning they had
conversed together for only “one or two hours.” 151 Such a divulgence would
have raised the suspicion of anyone remotely acquainted with the laws of
the Fraternity published in the Fama Fraternitatis; and with knowledge of
the Fraternity’s meeting-place, there would be no reason for Molther to
lament the Brother’s unfulfilled promise that he would one day renew their
acquaintance. 152 The fact that Molther finds it so hard to recall the details of
his conversation, as if confirming the mysterious warning of the Brother that
it is simply impossible to record the words he utters, is rather difficult to
swallow. 153 And finally, Molther protests a little too much when he states that
no honourable man could suspect that he would lie to his very own patron, as
we can well imagine that Johann of Nassau-Dillenburg was an insider to the
entire jocus severus. 154 The concluding words of the Gründtliche Relation
seem to be those of someone who has a stake in promulgating the myth of a
Rosicrucian Order:
In this way there should be some Brethren, just as one would wish them to be, no matter
whether they really exist in the world or not; in order that we may know it for sure, everyone
should make the greatest efforts and try to find out. 155
The seventh Rosicrucian Brother given in Maier’s list is derived from the
Assertio Fraternitatis R. C. (‘Vindication of the Fraternity R. C.,’ 1614), a
relatively early Rosicrucian publication written by a certain B. M. I., who
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
152 Ibid., p. 105.
153 Ibid.
154 It is difficult to say if there is any significance in the dating of the dedication to Johann –
April 1st. The expression “jemand in den April zu schicken” first occurs in the literature
in Germany in 1618, suggesting this sixteenth century custom was well and truly current
at the time of Georg Molther’s little tract. Nevertheless, it seems likely the custom
prevailed primarily in Catholic areas. See Meyers Lexikon. Vol. 1. Leipzig:
Bibliographisches Institut, 1924, pp. 718-719; also Meyers Grosses Universal Lexikon.
Vol. 1. Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, 1981, p. 502.
155 Molther, “Von einer frembden Mannsperson,” p. 108: “Dergleichen seyn sollen etliche
R. C. Fratres, wie es zu wünschen were/ als ob sie in der Welt seyen oder nicht/ damit
wirs gewiß erfahren mögen/ soll sich billich ein jeder uffs fleissigste bemühen/ unnd
darnach forschen.”
claims to be one of the Order. 156 This tract emanated from the same pub-
lisher as the Gründtliche Relation; Peuckert attributed its authorship to the
Reformed theologian and alchemist, Raphael Eglinus, whom Moran suggests
played a key role in the promulgation of Rosicrucianism at the court of
Moritz of Hessen-Kassel. 157 Whilst the Assertio Fraternitatis is a short work
and does not contain such exorbitant detail as Molther’s Gründtliche
Relation, it again offers us a picture of the form of Rosicrucianism Maier
supported.
The tract is addressed on the title page to “whosoever harbours doubts
concerning the Order of the Brothers of the Rosy Cross;” it promises the
reader that “the verses having been read through, you will be certain.” 158 We
are informed that during his third peregrination B. M. I. was held up by the
rain at ‘Hagenoa’ – possibly the monastery town of Haina in Hessen-Kassel –
where he decided to pass his time by writing these Latin verses. 159 The clues
he gives as to the nature of the Fraternity’s dwelling, Father C. R.’s ‘House of
the Holy Spirit’, further embellish those given in the Fama Fraternitatis; for
whereas the third law given in the manifesto states that the Brethren must
assemble there on a certain day of each year, B. M. I. states that their House
of the Holy Spirit is a permanently inhabited monastery lying in the midst of
Germany, not far from a city of great reputation, amidst woods and fields
through which a splendid river runs. 160 Moreover, the building’s inhabitants
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
156 B. M. I. (Raphael Eglinus?). Assertio Fraternitatis R. C. Quam Roseae Crucis vocant, a
quodam Fraternitatis eius Socio Carmine expressa. Frankfurt am Main: Johann Bringer,
1614. Bringer published a number of Rosicrucian tracts apart from the Gründtliche
Relation and the Assertio Fraternitatis, including the 1615 Frankfurt am Main edition of
the Fama Fraternitatis.
157 Peuckert, Die Rosenkreuzer, p. 171; Moran, The Alchemical World of the German Court,
pp. 98ff. Gilly also supplies evidence that Eglinus was privy to the contents of the
manuscript Fama Fraternitatis from an early stage: Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, p.
29.
158 B. M. I., Assertio Fraternitatis, title page: “Quisquis de Roseae dubitas Crucis ordine
Fratrum:/ Hoc lege, perlecto Carmine certus eris.”
159 Ibid., p. 3 recto: “Tertia perficitur mihi nunc Apodemia, meque/ Urbs non incelebris
nunc Hagenoa tenet.” ‘Hagenoa’ resembles ‘Hagena’ or Haina given in Graesse, Johann
Georg Theodor. Orbis Latinus. Berlin: Schmidt, 1922. Another possibility is ‘Haganoa’,
i.e. the town of Großenhain in Saxony; it must be remarked that the references to events
in Austria in the Assertio Fraternitatis, and the fact that ‘Hagenoa’ may refer to
‘Hageno’ or Gendorf bei Baldramsdorf in Austrian Carinthia, may suggest a more
southerly origin of the tract, although the fact that the town is said to be “non incelebris”
mitigates against this possibility.
160 We may wonder if the ‘House of the Holy Spirit’ has some relation to the monastery of
Haina in B. M. I.’s eyes, and that the nearby “town of great reputation” is Marburg lying
some 25 miles to the northeast. B. M. I., Assertio Fraternitatis, p. 3 verso: “Ordo latet
noster media Germanide terra.../Arboribus nemorum cum nostris cingimur arvis,/
are well-known to the local people, who daily beat on the monastery doors
and go away loaded with abundant gifts; the Brethren also use their healing
powers to cure illnesses amongst them, for which reason they do not betray
the Fraternity to its enemies. 161 Here the Assertio Fraternitatis gives clear
expression to the sectarian sentiments presaging the coming conflagration of
the Thirty Years War: for although the Brethren are currently spared “the
Papist yoke,” the Jesuits plot against them and search for their dwelling-
place night and day. In the course of the tract imprecations are made to God
to protect the Fraternity from the jaws of these ‘wolves’. 162 But we are
also ominously informed that an army – presumably sympathetic to the
Rosicrucian cause – is encamped near the House of the Holy Spirit, although
“for important reasons” B. M. I. does not betray its position. 163 In similar
fashion to Maier’s portrayal of the Protestant-Hermetic ‘fortress’, the author
of the Assertio Fraternitatis is warning that although the Brethren may pray
for divine intervention, they nevertheless have recourse to the very tangible
power of Calvinist Germany and its allies.
The Assertio Fraternitatis also inveighs against certain men posing falsely
as Rosicrucians, and seeks thereby to establish the true inheritors of the
Rosicrucian mantle created by the manifestos. This invective is evidence that
various streams of thought and practice had grown up within the Rosicrucian
milieu from an early stage of its development, as the Assertio Fraternitatis
was published within the same year as the Fama Fraternitatis itself. In his
Themis Aurea Maier also sought to demarcate true Rosicrucianism from false
by identifying certain ‘impostors’ who write and act in the name of the
Brethren; 164 and just as Maier railed against the charlatanism of the vulgar
gold-makers in his Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum, so the relation in
the Assertio Fraternitatis of the sorry fate of a certain ‘purse-thief’ is
suggestive of alchemical Betrügerei and the “gold-making rogues” censured
in the Fama Fraternitatis:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Praeterit et tacitis nobile flumen acquis./ Nec procul a nobis urbs inclyta fama
habitatur...”
161 Ibid., p. 3 recto: “Quotidie pulsant tamen ostia nostra rogantes,/ Qui larga semper stipe
onerati abeunt./ Quin etiam duris afflicti in corpore morbis,/ A nobis Medica saepe
levantur ope;/ Unde favet nobis circum vicinia tota,/ Nec quisquam nostras laedere vellet
opes.”
162 Ibid., pp. 4 verso- 5 recto: “Insidias etiam tendit Jesuitica turba/ Sedibus et nostris nocte,
dieque inhiat./ Ut fauces horum fugiamus et ora luporum/ Multa jubet cautos dissimulare
dies./ Sancte Deus nostrum conserva et protege caetum,/ Si te rite colit, si tibi grata
facit./ Et prohibe saevos furiati pectoris hostes,/ Ne possint ulla parte nocere probis.”
163 Ibid., p. 3 recto: “Pene locum dixi, quo nostrum considet agmen,/ Nomen at ob causas
prodere cesso graves.”
164 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), p. 233.
And nor do I disguise the fact, that certain writings less esteemed by us have been published
in the name of the Brethren. Which writings one will easily recognise, because they are not
in agreement with our Fama, as anyone who reads it with an attentive mind will realise.
Maybe there are some who name themselves Brethren, whilst not being at all in harmony
with our choir. Such an impostor some time ago spread the most deceitful rubbish amongst
the peoples of the lands between Innsbruck and Vienna. That purse-thief was exposed, and
paid a bitter price by being suspended on a cross. Another such meddler was similarly caught
in the city of Augsburg, and he lost his earlobes with the lash. 165
It must be remarked that, authentic or otherwise, any ‘Rosicrucians’ found

peddling their ideologies or alchemical wares in Austria – at that time a seat
of the Counter-Reformation – could expect short shrift from the authorities.
However, B. M. I. himself gives a clue that the true Fraternity was rather
more virtual than tangible when – in a somewhat cryptic aside – he
admonishes such impostors not to “throw our gaming-board (alveolus) into
confusion.” 166 Here we have another allusion to the game or ‘serious jest’ set
in motion by Andreae.
Given this reference, we may take B. M. I.’s account of life within the
Fraternity as another portrait of the ideal collegium, and a Rosicrucian vision
of which Maier approved. Thus the Brethren of the Assertio Fraternitatis are
concerned first and foremost with the procurement of iatrochemical remedies;
in accordance with the statement of the Fama Fraternitatis, gold-making to
them is a mere parergon or ornament. B. M. I. also makes a point of refuting
allegations of Satanic involvement in their Art, levelled at that time not only
by the Jesuits but also by many Protestant theologians:
He who has defamed us lately on account of the magic arts, errs and is ignorant of our way. I
do not deny that we often achieve stupendous things, but they are achieved by the silent
means of nature. That in which we excel in skill is the matter of chemia; every day it
employs our furnaces. If somebody imagines this Art is performed by a contract with Satan,
woe to me, how totally wrong he is! For this our chief cure derives from chaste minds and
hands, duly and at the leisure of God. Our whole life is spent in the fear of God, and likewise
in obliging duty to all humanity. 167
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
165 B. M. I., Assertio Fraternitatis, p. 4 verso: “At neque dissimulo, quod fratrum nomine
quaedam/ Vulgantur, nobis scripta probata minus./ Quae facile agnoscet, nostrae quia
dissona famae,/ Attenta quisquis talia mente legit./ Forsitan et Fratrem se quis de nomine
fingit,/ Cum tamen a nostro sit procul ille choro./ Qualis deceptor pridem per Norica
rura,/ Sparserat ad populum plurima vana rudem./ Donec convictus quod fur, quod
manticulator,/ De cruce suspensus triste pependit onus:/ Qualis item ardelio Augustana
prensus in urbe,/ Verberibus caesus perdidit auriculas.” Norica refers to the region in
Austria between the Wienerwald to the east, the River Inn to the west, the Danube to the
north and the River Drau to the south.
166 Ibid., p. 4 verso: “Alveolos nostros turbare omittite fuci.”
167 Ibid., p. 4 recto: “Qui nuper Magicas nos diffamavit ob artes,/ Errat et est nostrae nescius
ille viae./ Non Ego diffiteor, patramus saepe stupenda,/ Naturae tacitis cuncta sed illa
Thus B. M. I. states that the Brethren are guided by the contemplation of

Nature, but to the greater glory of God and not of Satan – a reiteration of the
distinction between natural and diabolical magic adhered to by Maier and the
magi of the Italian Renaissance. They tend to the body in accordance with the
laws of Nature, “from whence flows good health and long life;” and those to
come will wonder at the lofty goals that will be achieved by this means.168 To
this end the Brethren scour the lands of Europe in search of new knowledge –
a custom in which the medieval Christian ethic of holy pilgrimage meets the
natural philosophy of Paracelsus, who once stated, “he who wishes to explore
Nature must tread her books with his feet… one land, one page.” 169 Maier’s
life of wandering suggests this was an ideal that he too held dear.
On account of the Brothers’ journeys B. M. I. informs us that “there is
nothing that occurs on the soil of Europe that is not noted precisely by our
luminaries” – and this includes the publication of learned tracts with which to
complement the Fraternity’s “abundant library.” 170 Indeed, every day at a
fixed hour the prefect of the Order calls together the Fraternity, and each
Brother has the opportunity to tell what he has “seen, read, meditated and
heard.” 171 Here B. M. I. is elaborating upon the statement of the Fama
Fraternitatis that the Brethren travelled widely in order that their axiomata
could be scrutinised more keenly, and also because “they wished to inform
each other if in one land or another some error came to light through
observation.” 172 According to B. M. I.’s elaboration, each item of knowledge
brought back to the House of the Holy Spirit by the Brethren – when
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
modis./ Qualia chemiae sunt quae praestamus ab arte:/ Exercet nostros quotidie illa
focos./ Quae si quis Satana fieri putat astipulante,/ Hei mihi quam tot a fallitur ille via!/
Haec etenim nobis est cura potissima, puris/ Mentibus et manibus rite vacante Deo./ Vita
agitur nobis Divino plena timore,/ Et simul in cunctos officiosa homines...”
168 Ibid., p. 4 recto: “Corpora curamus naturae convenienter,/ Inde valetudo, vitaque longa
fluit...”; p. 4 verso: “Grandia molimur, sua quae mirabitur aetas/ Quaeque seipsa probent
utilitate sua.”
169 Pagel, Paracelsus, p. 56.
170 B. M. I., Assertio Fraternitatis, p. 3. verso: “Discendi cupidi sumus, atque ut multa
sciamus,/ Venamur tacite quicquid ubique boni./ Sic nihil Europa rerum geritur prope
terra,/ Quod non exacte Lumina nostra notent./ Quicquid librorum profertur ubique
novorum,/Ad nostras curat Bibliopola manus.”
171 Ibid.: “Quotidie certis praesul nos convocat horis,/ Ponereque in medium cognita
quemque iubet./ De quibus in partem mox disceptatur utramque,/ Vera probant cuncti,
falsaque rejiciunt./ Tunc sibi quid visum, quid lectum, quid meditatum,/ Auditumve
refert ordine quisque suo.” Note that the term ‘prefect’ or praesul is used here rather than
the eighteenth century Rosicrucian denomination of ‘commander’ or imperator.
172 Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, p. 82: “...wie es gleichs anfangs verglichen ward,
theileten sie sich in alle Land, damit nicht allein ihre axiomata in geheimb von den
Gelehrten schärffer examiniret würden, sondern auch sie selbst, da in einem oder anderm
Land einige observation ein Irrung brächte, sie einander möchten berichten.”
approved as factual – is entered into a special book for the sake of future
generations. Every philosopher, physician and professor of the Holy Scripture
acquainted with the powers of alchemy is being watched by the Fraternity;
and B. M. I. states that if he would make the names of those men known, the
book would become monstrously large. 173 We are also told that the ranks of
the Fraternity have recently been increased with ten “great men skilled in the
Art” 174 – a fact that roused Pyrgopolynices’ ire at the Golden Table of the
Symbola Aureae Mensae. 175
7. Defining Rosicrucianism: the Silentium post Clamores and

the Themis Aurea
The two tracts that Maier devotes exclusively to the defence of the Order, the
Silentium post Clamores (‘Silence after the Clamour,’ 1617) and the Themis
Aurea (‘Golden Themis,’ 1618), are dedicated generally to the reading public
rather than to patrons or friends of Maier. The Silentium post Clamores deals
with the silence of the Fraternity in face of the furore provoked by the
manifestos; it sets itself the task of explaining this lack of response from the
Fraternity, as well as refuting those malevolents who have impersonated or
attacked the Order in print. In his preface to the reader, Maier states that the
Fraternity prefer to bring the slanderers back to repose and a sounder state of
mind, rather than stir up more passion by composing tedious responses – and
true to his medical training, he uses the analogy of a doctor placating a
delirious patient simply by displaying tranquillity. 176 In order to explain why
he does not follow the serene example of the Brethren, Maier justifies his
apology in the following way:
Even if the Brethren have no need of my protection or service – and I do not expect anything
from them, except the goodwill which the virtuous offer to other good people – nevertheless
I could not forbear to cast a white stone 177 on behalf of the truth, lest it might appear that
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
173 B. M. I., Assertio Fraternitatis, p. 5: “Norunt Philosophi, Medici, Sacramque professi/
Scripturam, Chymicas quique tuentur opes./ Quorum proferre in vulgus si nomina
vellem,/ Vah mihi quam grandis cresceret inde liber!”
174 Ibid., p. 2: “Nuper is est auctus, quem pauci valde tenebant,/ Ingenio et magnis quinque
bis arte viris.”
175 See above, p. 149.
176 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, pp. 4-5: “Sed quia ita mores hominum atque haec aetas
ferunt, maledicos silentio suo potius ad quietem et saniorem mentem (ut Medici
phreneticos) reducere conantur, quam responsionibus longioribus, quas sine dubio
veridicas adferre possent, irritare ad affectum a bile augendum.”
177 The reference here is to stones used in antiquity for voting; a white one was cast for
assent or acquittal, a black for denial or condemnation.
Defining Rosicrucianism 161
truth is overwhelmed with malice by the censure of ignorant people, rather than freed with
righteousness by the fairness of the intelligent. For that censure is undoubtedly very similar
to that illiterate commoner, who did not recognise the face of Aristides, the most meritorious
of the Athenian republic, and on that account followed the others in condemning him for
being too just. But we relegate such people to their ploughs and hoes, not to writing and
judgment; and we commend you to God, candid reader, who are not amongst them. Vale. 178
In considering this address, Arthur Waite proposed two possible ways of

reading Maier’s words; the first is to consider them as the expression of
someone whose “congenital credulity” has led him to an “a priori belief in
the actuality and honesty of the Order, because its claims are, from his
standpoint, without offence to possibility.” 179 From this perspective the
Silentium post Clamores constitutes an open declaration of Maier’s desire for
admission into the Order, analogous to the many other entreaties that
emerged in the wake of the manifestos’ publication. The second possible
interpretation given by Waite – who, as we may recall, advocated the
existence of an organised secret Brotherhood – is that Maier’s words
constitute “a defence issued from within the occult circle, which – while
advancing what it can on its own behalf – is determined to remain
anonymous and requires its champions to dissemble.” 180 Waite in fact opted
for the former of these two readings, although he saw in Maier’s subsequent
Rosicrucian work, the Themis Aurea, evidence for Maier’s entry into “the
ranks of the Society.”
Whilst his remarks concerning Maier’s “congenital credulity” may not be
so far wide of the mark, the inadequacy of Waite’s underlying paradigm is
revealed in the elaborate classical allusions that Maier utilises in the course of
his preface to the Silentium post Clamores. We have seen that Maier refers to
Aristides, the just Athenian patriot from the work of Plutarch bearing his
name, who was ostracised by the citizens of Athens on account of their envy
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
178 Ibid., p. 5: “Interim, etsi nostro patrocinio aut officio non indigeant, nec ego quid ab illis,
nisi benevolentiam, quam bonis boni ultro offerunt, expectem, tamen intermittere non
potui, quin pro veritate calculum non nigellum iacerem, ne illa potius literam quoque
Theta scribere ignorantium livore oppressa, quam recte sentientium candore absoluta
videretur: Permultos enim esse illi cerdoni, qui Analphabetarius Aristidem optime de
Repub. meritum, nec de facie agnitum, una cum caeteris ideo damnavit, quia nimis
iustus esset, in hoc censu similes, non est dubium: Sed hos ad ligones et aratra, non ad
literas et tribunalia destinatos ut novimus, sic relegamus, ac te, Candide lector, ex eorum
numero exemptum Deo commendamus. Vale.”
179 According to Waite, “the will to believe was obviously much too predominant in
Michael Maier for him to see that there was another point from which it might be
possible to approach the subject, namely, that statements in anonymous documents
which offer no evidence and cannot be checked otherwise can at most be left only as
open questions and are certainly not justified by the appeal to an alleged possibility of
things.” Waite, Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, p. 321.
180 Ibid., p. 320.
of his fame; during the ballot of ostracism a ‘clownish’ illiterate approached

Aristides, and, imagining him to be an ordinary citizen, asked him to
write his own name on the ballot-sherd, with which request the disgusted
Aristides complied. Here Maier again expresses his occultist elitism, and his
disapproval of certain parties writing under the name of the ‘just’ Fraternity
who have impugned true Rosicrucianism by giving forth “calumny and
viperous language.” 181 Similarly, Maier contends that those who deceitfully
write in the Fraternity’s name have brought forth monsters in the manner of
Ixion, who attempted to mate with Juno, the ‘goddess of riches’; according to
the Greek myth, Jupiter (Zeus) substituted for his wife an image formed of
cloud, by which Ixion begat the Centaurs. The unhappy fate of the would-be
adulterer was to be strung to an ever-turning wheel by Jupiter, which might
be seen as an appropriate analogy for the seemingly endless dialectic set
in motion by Andreae. The allusion Maier makes to the myth of Ixion
demonstrates at least a partial awareness of the virtual nature of the
Rosicrucian affair, for he tells us that the cloud with which the calumniators
have mated is the “cloud of frenzied opinion” that has grown up around the
manifestos, leaving the true Fraternity of the manifestos as the “unhappiest of
parents.” 182 Maier again refers to the Order as the surrogate parent of a vile
offspring by comparing the calumniators to Autolycus, the son of Mercury
who deceived and robbed his victims by using his inherited ability to
transform himself into manifold forms. According to Maier’s allusion it is
Mt. Parnassus itself, throne of the Philosophers, that the ‘Rosicrucian’
impostors have sought to assail with the power they have usurped. 183 It is
significant that the Fraternity is portrayed here as Mercury, who has lent his
shape-changing power to an unworthy child – a suggestion that the Order
itself partakes of a mercurial nature. At the very least, the evidence of
Maier’s preface indicates that his primary interest did not lie in admission to
a secret Order; he was less concerned with the existence of a ‘real’ secret
Fraternity, and more concerned to distinguish true Rosicrucianism from false
and establish himself as the chief spokesman of the former.
In so doing it is clear that Maier too could be portrayed as an ‘Ixion’ or an
‘Autolycus’; as Schick notes, without personal acquaintance with the
Tübinger circle of Andreae, he stood with “sovereign supremacy” above the
dispute, as if he was completely privy to the secrets of the Rosicrucians on
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
181 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, p. 3.
182 Ibid.
183 Ibid.: “Hinc tot in eam Calumniae et viperinae linguae exercentur, quibus pro
deceptoribus Ixionibus seu monstrorum, dum cum nube insanae opinionis, vice Iunonis,
Divitiarum deae, coiverint, parentibus infelicissimis, et Autolycis, qui proxima Parnasso
loca furtis infestarint, habentur et proclamantur.”
account of his alchemical studies. 184 But Schick also states that Maier adopts
a tone in the Silentium post Clamores “as if the Order already existed” –
for Schick regarded the manifestos principally as a plan and invitation to
establish an Order, rather than as a very real focal point for the Hermetic
tendency in German Protestantism, which itself formed a Brotherhood in
Hermes and Christ.
In the Silentium post Clamores Maier again stresses the alchemical aspect
of the manifestos, although when he refers to the godliness of the Brethren he
is by no means paying mere lip service to contemporary notions of piety, as
Principe and Newman might have it. Rather, piety is a fundamental element
of his alchemical theory and practice, as the Owl’s temperance-imparting
eggs in the Jocus Severus suggest. In Maier’s eyes the chief axioms of the
Fraternity are:
To owe to God above all things honour and fear, to procure the advantage of humankind, to
turn away harm, to encourage piety and a frugal life, to destroy demonic work or vexation
(as in cases of possession), to live satisfied with the least gift of Nature in victuals and
clothing, and to shrink back from violent impulses and crimes. 185
Whilst the Brethren possess the “most excellent Art of gold-making”

amongst those gifts granted by the Almighty for the benefit of the human
race, it is the Universal Medicine that is the most outstanding of the secrets of
their Fraternity. This medicine has been uncovered through an enquiry into
the occult powers of Nature – which enquiry is to be distinguished from
magic, necromancy and the work of the Devil, because these things display
nothing of the ‘insignia’ or signatures imprinted in Nature. 186 The diabolic
sense of ‘magic’ as it is used here is to be distinguished from ‘natural magic’,
which Maier defended as a deep knowledge of the interconnections of Nature
– as we have seen in the Symbola Aureae Mensae, in which he describes the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
185 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, p. 41: “Quorum axiomata sunt, se debere Deum super
omnia honorare et timere, hominum utilitatem procurare, damnum avertere, ad pietatem
et vitae frugalitatem adhortari, daemonum opera seu vexationes (ut in obsessis) tollere, et
minimis naturae donis in victu et vestitu contentos vivere, ab affectibus violentis et vitiis
abhorere.”
186 Ibid., pp. 17-18: “Arcanorum nomine, ne tamen quis existimet compraehendi cuiusque
inventa sive phantasmata, quae nec in natura, nec in Experientia locum inveniunt, nos
solum intelligimus occulta potentialis naturae opera, quae in actum naturalibus mediis
deduci possunt; a quibus magica, negromantica, diabolica et somnia ab hominibus
excogitata, quae nec caput nec caudam habent, hoc est, quae nulla naturae impressa
insignia ostendunt, secludimus et relegamus.” That Maier understands the insignia to be
of divine origin is not only demonstrated by their counterposition to the subjects of
diabolic magic, but also by the fact they have been ‘impressed’ or ‘imprinted’ upon
Nature – without doubt by the Creator.
Fraternity’s Liber M. as “the book of natural magic.” 187 This distinction was
probably drawn by Maier from his older contemporary, Giambattista della
Porta (1535-1615), and follows in the long-established tradition of Renais-
sance magi such as Ficino and Agrippa, who also declared that magia
naturalis is “the most perfect achievement of natural philosophy.” 188 Whilst
Maier uses the term insignia rather than the signatura that is so common in
Paracelsian works and the theosophical thought of Boehme, the two words
appear to be largely synonymous, as both refer to traces of a divinely
instituted order present in Nature – the reading of which constitutes a central
concern of Maier’s natural magic.
The main argument Maier employs in his Silentium post Clamores to
explain the Fraternity’s silence is that knowledge of this natural or ‘chemical’
order should not be prostituted to the common people – therefore those who
expect the Fraternity to answer all who have called upon them are simply
childish, as the Brethren have without doubt decided to share their science
with only a very few from that great number. 189 Indeed, Maier tells us that
the Brethren follow the same vows of silence concerning their arcana as the
ancient ‘philosophical colleges’ that have preceded them. Thus the Egyptians
worshiped the god of Silence, Sigalion, “or rather an image of Sigalion,”
represented with the left hand covering the genitalia and the right suppressing
the lips; according to Maier, its position at the altar indicated that the sacred
rites performed there were of an occult nature and should not be imparted to
non-initiates. Likewise the Romans revered Angerona, the goddess of Death
and Silence, whose effigy was depicted with a sealed mouth, and who
received sacrificial offerings on January the 13th of each year. 190 True to his
alchemical inclinations, Maier seems to suggest that the arcana protected by
these deities concerned the mysteries of cyclical transformation, as he also
mentions the Roman worship of Consus (possibly synonymous with Janus)
whose festival marked the end of the solar year. Sigalion – or the Egyptian
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
188 Schmitt, Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy, p. 266; that Maier was
conversant with della Porta’s work is shown by the citations from his Magia Naturalis to
be found in the Themis Aurea (1624 edition), p. 112; Maier, Atalanta Fugiens,
discourses 18, 29.
189 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, pp. 53-54.
190 Ibid., p. 58: “Hinc Ethnici Deos silentii produxerunt varios, ut Consum Romani, quasi
consiliorum secretorum largitorem, Angeronam deam, quae (teste Plinio lib. 2.) ore
obligato, obsignatoque Romae simulachrum habuit, eique sacrificatum fuit ad diem 13.
Calend. Ianuarias: Apud Aegyptios Sigalion seu Harpocrates colebatur, aut potius eius
simulachrum, quod sinistram verendis tegendis, dextrae, indicem et medium, digitos
labris compressis adhiberet, in altaribus ponebatur, ad indicandum, sacra, quae ibi
peragerentur, esse occulti sensus et silentio premenda.” In his Historia Naturalis, 3.5.65
Pliny in fact gives January the 12th as the date of the sacrifice of Angerona.
Heru-pa-khered, the young Horus – was also a god of the newborn sun,
although it seems unlikely Maier was aware of this fact, as it was the
Greeks who mistakenly associated Sigalion with their own god of Silence,
Harpocrates, on account of the Egyptian deity’s depiction with a hand
covering his mouth. 191 It seems more likely, however, that Maier was aware
of the Greek tradition concerning Cupid’s gift of a rose to Harpocrates,
bestowed in order to ensure his silence concerning the sexual improprieties of
Venus. As tradition has it, this myth marks the origins not only of the phrase
sub rosa, denoting something carried out in secrecy, but also of the European
(and purportedly ‘Rosicrucian’) custom of hanging roses over tavern tables
referred to by Father Garasset. 192
Amongst other ‘precursors’ of the Rosicrucian Brethren, Maier names
the Mauritanians of Fez, the Druids of Britain, the Brahmans of India and
the ‘Gymnosophists’ of Ethiopia – a word deriving from the Greek
γυμνοσοφισται or ‘naked philosophers’, who were in fact the ascetic
Brahmanic philosophers known to the Greeks through the reports of the
companions of Alexander. 193 Elements of Brahmanic lore are present in
Rosicrucianism to this day; and whilst the nineteenth century esotericists
pilloried by Principe and Newman laid particular emphasis on a perceived
harmony of eastern and western esoteric modes of thought, it is clear from
the evidence of the Silentium post Clamores that they were only following in
a syncretic tradition stemming from the Renaissance and firmly established in
Rosicrucian circles by Maier. 194 According to Maier, all the occult traditions
of the world are in agreement, and stem from one author: namely, Hermes
Trismegistus. 195 Thus it was from the Egyptians that Pythagoras derived
his magic and knowledge of the arcana, as well as the doctrine of
metempsychosis or the transmigration of the soul through reincarnation. 196
As for the Rosicrucian Brethren, Maier asserts that they follow the custom of
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
191 According to another tradition, Harpocrates was a Greek philosopher who enjoined
silence concerning the nature of the gods.
192 See p. 148 above; the Swiss Freemasonic Lodge, the ‘Loge sub Rosa’, draws on a
Rosicrucian significance of the phrase.
193 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, pp. 26 ff.
194 Principe and Newman, “Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy,” pp. 388-
401.
195 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, pp. 40-41: “Non solum enim ab uno authore, nempe
Hermete, videntur omnes hae coloniae dependere et ab una gente ad aliam, quasi per
manus, tradita haec arcanorum cognitio progressa, sed quoque in legibus et regulis, vitae
moribusque praefixis pro temporum et religionis ratione consentiunt.”
196 Ibid., p. 38: “Pythagoras in Aegypto a sacerdotibus et Babylone a Chaldaeis arcana
naturae et magiae una cum Metapsychosi didicit: Eius discipuli facultates omnes in
unum conferebant, ut omnibus essent communes: Quinquennium totum silebant,
antequam in collegium et ad praeceptorem admitterentur.”
the Pythagoreans of Greece and Italy, who maintained a period of five years’
silence before being initiated into the higher mysteries of their college.
Likewise, the Rosicrucian Brethren conduct an intensive inquiry into the lives
of those they are about to select, and admittance into the Order is only
allowed after a private ballot cast by the quarter of the Fraternity holding
voting rights; then capable members are further tested with at least five
years’ silence before admittance into the higher secrets. 197 Although it is not
clear from which source (if any) these details concerning voting derive,
Maier’s reference to a grade system appears to stem from Georg Molther’s
Gründtliche Relation, in which the wonder-working Brother states that he has
almost completed his probationary period of seven years, and that the two
other Brethren sojourning in the same region are of the same ‘grade’ as
himself. 198 In any case, Schick saw in the grade system mentioned by Maier
the “unmistakeable germs of the organisational units of Freemasonry
developed some decades later in England under the influence of Rosicrucian
ideas.” 199
The historian of Freemasonry Robert Gould once argued that Maier
believed so firmly in the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross that he endeavoured to
join it, but finding this impossible decided to found his own order, and in
subsequent writings he “spoke of it as already existing, going so far even as
to publish its laws.” 200 Here he was referring to the Themis Aurea (1618), in
which Maier sets out and elaborates upon the laws of the Fraternity given in
the Fama Fraternitatis. However, once the hypothesis of an organised secret
society is dispelled, and hence Waite’s suggestion that Maier was physically
able to “enter into the ranks of the Society,” we are left with no other option
but to accept Maier’s awareness of the virtual nature of the Order when
considering his Themis Aurea. For there Maier does indeed write as if from
the ‘inside’ of the Order, as Waite asserts. This fact in itself demonstrates a
conclusive shift in Maier’s thinking away from the possibility of the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
197 Ibid., pp. 80, 82: “Sed societas illa excusari poterit, quod quemlibet associandum sibi,
etiam quo ad doctrinam dignissimum, primum quinquennali silentio (veluti Pythagoras
suos discipulos) vel etiam longiori probandum habeant, ut potentia suos affectus et freno
linguam domare prius discat, quam tantorum arcanorum particeps fiat”; “Deinde non
solummodo doctrinam respici, inde patet, quod et pictores, aliosque sibi adiunxerint,
alias morum severitate et silentio probatos: Unde testantur, se longo usu et respectu
primum inquirere in vitam illorum, quos electuri sint: Fieri quoque solet eiusmodi
electio, ut quarta eius societatis lex habetur, non votis communibus sed uniuscuiusque
privatim, quocirca quod a toto sodalitio quis non sit acceptus, id illi imputari non debet,
sed ei, a quo gratiam illam accipere potuit et non accepit.”
199 Schick, Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum, p. 252; on this subject see also Buhle, Ueber den
Ursprung der Orden der Rosenkreuzer, p. 207.
200 Gould, The History of Freemasonry, p. 92.
existence of an organised secret Order – for if he had still entertained such a

possibility, he could only have hoped to provoke the ire of the Fraternity as
an outsider usurping their very laws.
Rather than being an attempt to found a secret order or evidence of
Maier’s membership in such an entity, the Themis Aurea is in fact dedicated
to defining for the reading public the true alchemist and Rosicrucian brother
with recourse to the laws of the Fraternity. In order to facilitate his
exploitation of the platform granted him by the appearance of the manifestos,
Maier produced both a Latin and a German edition of the work in the course
of 1618. 201 The laws of the Fraternity, as set out in the Fama Fraternitatis,
run as follows:
1. None of the Brothers should exercise any other profession than to cure the sick, and
that without charge.
2. None of the Brothers should be obliged by the Fraternity to wear a particular
clothing, but should follow the custom of the country they inhabit.
3. Every Brother should present himself once a year upon the day C. at the House of
the Holy Spirit, or send a message concerning the cause of their absence.
4. Every Brother should look around for a suitable person who will take his place in
the event [it is necessary].
5. The letters R. C. should be their seal, password, and emblem.
6. The Fraternity should remain secret for one hundred years. 202
Concerning the first law, Maier’s burden in the Themis Aurea is to

demonstrate that the true Rosicrucian is concerned primarily with the art of
healing, and not with the production of gold or other self-aggrandising
pursuits. This goal is reflected in the title of the work, which is explained in
the foreword as Maier relates the myth of Themis, the Greek goddess of law
and prophecy known to the Romans as Justitia. According to the first book of
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, after the Deluge Themis was asked by Deucalion
and Pyrrha how humankind could again be restored to the earth, to which
the goddess replied that they must throw the bones of their mother over
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
201 Maier, Michael. Themis Aurea, hoc est, de Legibus Fraternitatis R. C. Tractatus.
Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1618; Maier, Michael. Themis Aurea, das ist, von den
Gesetzen und Ordnungen der löblichen Fraternitet R. C. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas
Jennis, 1618. Here I again cite the Latin edition of 1624.
202 Kooij and Gilly, Fama Fraternitatis, pp. 82-85: “Erstlich: keiner solt sich keiner andern
profession außthun, als Krancken zu curiren und diß umbsonst./ Zum Andern: keiner
solte genötigt sein, von der Bruderschafft wegen ein gewiß Kleid zu tragen, sondern der
Land Arten sich zu gebrauchen./ Zum Dritten: Ein jeder Brüder soll alle Jahre auff C.
Tag sich bey Sancti Spiritus einstellen oder seines aussenbleibens ursach schicken./ Zum
Vierten: ein jeder Brüder soll sich umb ein taugliche Person umbsehen, die ihm auff den
fall möchte succediren./ Zum Fünfften: Das Wort R. C. soll ihr Sigill, Losung und
Character sein./ Zum Sechsten: Die Bruderschafft soll hundert Jahr verschwiegen
bleiben.”
their heads. Although Pyrrha understood the injunction literally, Deucalion

recognised the words of Themis as a reference to the stones of the earth; and
having been thrown, two stones miraculously softened and grew into a man
and a woman, by which means the earth was repopulated. Drawing on the
hermeneutic first established in the Arcana Arcanissima, Maier argues that
the true significance of this myth lies in the procurement of the Golden
Medicine, which has the power of unlimited increase and is formed by two
‘stones’, feminine Mercury and masculine Sulphur. 203 It is this Golden
Medicine which the Brethren altruistically labour to procure, and through
which they can impart not only physical health but piety, justice and truth to
those they treat. 204
In the course of his work Maier defines the ideal Rosicrucian in accor-
dance with his own medical practice; thus the Brethren are neither
Scholastics who slavishly follow established opinion without recourse to
experimentation, nor are they empiricists who disregard the ancient
foundations of medicine in Galen and Hippocrates. Paracelsus was an
eminent physician of great learning, but others must decide whether that gave
him the right to trample down the ancient medicine and introduce a new
one. 205 On this count Maier censures those Paracelsians who follow their
master in directing coarse diatribes towards their opponents, whilst exhibiting
nothing of substance in their own works. Disease, we are reminded, is the
true enemy of the physician. 206 Both chemical and herbal remedies have their
place in the physician’s armoury, and both draw their power and virtues from
the influence of the heavenly bodies. 207
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
203 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), p. 103: “Unde prima legum promulgatrix Themis
habetur, cuius tamen responsio non de hominibus reparandis a vetustissimis Poetis
accepta fuit, at de duobus lapidibus, masculo et foemina, a quibus multiplicatio
Medicinae aureae causata est.”
204 Ibid., p. 227: “Denique habent iidem Fratres, nescio quid arcani maximarum virium, quo
se posse et velle succurrere uni, si quando opus sit, personae, quo pietas, iustitia et
veritas superiorem locum obtineant, nec supprimantur a suis contrariis vitiis.”
205 Ibid., p. 166: “Virum doctissimum et singularem in Medicina eum fuisse non est
dubium: An propterea sat causae habuerit, omnem veterem conculcandi et novam his
ultimis seculis in mundi senio, introducendi Medicinam, aliorum sit iudicare.”
206 Ibid., p. 168: “Chymici vel Medici, qui Paracelsi doctrinam sequuntur, utinam nec in
mores sui magistri degenerarent, et res relictis personalibus tractarent: Multorum hoc
seculo eius farinae inveniuntur libri, ex quibus si calumniae et canina eloquentia, in
medicos exercita, tollantur, quod reliquum est, tantum doctrinae, quantum inania
stramina frugis, continebunt... Personae maneant intactae, communis hostis est morbus,
eiusque causa et effectus seu symptoma.”
207 Ibid.: “Quod ad medicamenta mere Chymica vel Paracelsica attinet, ea quatenus bona
sunt, laudamus, sed ita, ne Galenica et dogmatica vituperemus: His et illis alternatim
utendum erit, innullius praeiudicium aut contemptum;” ibid., pp. 132-133, 184-185.
With regard to the second law of the Fraternity, Maier states that the
Brethren are merely following the admirable example set by Nature in
changing their attire to suit the country of their dwelling; for just as the
chameleon changes it colour to suit its surrounds, or the fur of certain hares
becomes white in winter (a fact Maier himself observed in Lithuania), so
the Brethren are compelled to alter their appearance for the sake of their
own safety. 208 Their peregrinations are driven by their desire to read the
liber mundi, and if sometimes they appear to be uneducated empirics (witness
Molther’s somewhat rustic ‘Brother’), nevertheless their medicine is drawn
from the “marrow of the great body” that is the world. 209 When we consider
Maier’s decidedly folksy analogies and sentiments, it is not altogether sur-
prising that he was once characterised in the Rosicrucian polemics of his time
as der Deutsche Michael, i.e. as a Bauerntölpel or yokel from beyond the
northern borders of the empire. 210 Nevertheless, Maier seems to have found
some comfort in the image of the Rosicrucian, particularly as it was set forth
by Molther: to the genuine Brother of the Rosy Cross – as to the wandering
Maier – the world is a place of pilgrimage, and he must remain an oft-reviled
stranger and traveller until he reaches his true heavenly home. 211
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
208 Ibid., p. 195.
209 Ibid., p. 129: “At hic mox obstrepent nobis illi, qui omnium cupiunt esse primi, et non
sunt, dicentque, Fratres non esse medicos, at forte Empyricos, qui Medicinam exercere
satagant: Verum hi manticam in tergo non vident suam, alienam semper habentes in
conspectu: Fateor, plerosque fratrum non militasse in eorum castris, ideoque pro
commilitonibus haud agnosci: Sed nec id quidem desiderant, cum sub Phoebo, Musis et
Charitibus omnibus non solum tyrocinia, sed quoque summa officia merverint et
exercuerint: Medicina, quam faciunt, est illis propria Medulla magni corporis, remotis
ossibus, nucleus dulcissimae nucis rejectis corticibus.”
210 Thus the meaning of ‘Meier’ is ‘farmhand’ or ‘dairy farmer’; Wahrig, Gerhard et. al.
(eds.). Brockhaus-Wahrig Deutsches Wörterbuch. Vol. 4. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-
Anstalt, 1982, p. 634; the reference to der Deutsche Michael occurs in the VII. Miracula
Naturae (1619) of Hisaias sub Cruce Ath. (aka. Isaac Habrecht); a vindication of Maier
in face of this slander comes from Habrecht’s opponent Irenaeus Agnostus (aka.
Friedrich Grick) in the Prodromus Fr. R. C. Das ist: Ein vorgeschmack und beyläuffige
Anzeig der grossen außführlichen Apologi εισ φανεραν ομολογησιν, welche baldt folgen
sol, gegen und wider den Zanbrecher, und Fabelprediger Hisaiam sub Cruce. N.p: n.p.,
1620, p. C4.
211 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), pp. 215-216: “Cur vero Fratres R. C. latere non
debeant in loco et personis, cum in latibulis non semper haereant, sed maxime per
mundum, ut sapientes, quibus omne solum patria est, versentur? Cur non peregrinentur
incogniti? An forte, si agnoscerentur, tantum boni expectent, an plus mali? Qui multum
et saepe homines et terras obeunt, multa dicuntur hospitia experiri, pauca candoris
foedera, varias blanditias, nullas fere amicitias, ita vere dicendas: Si hoc etiam illis, qui
ortu, nomine et officio agnosci non refugiunt, contingit, nulla est causa, cur se quis totum
aperiat et quantus qualisque sit, omnibus absque discrimine ebuccinetur: Dicunt ne tam
sacrae quam prophanae literae, nos omnes in hoc mundo esse peregrinos, ac coelum
appeti debere pro patria?”
Concerning the third law of the Fraternity given in the Fama Fraternitatis,
Maier makes two pronouncements in the course of his Themis Aurea that
bear upon the nature of the ‘meeting place’ of the Brethren. Firstly, it is
stated that the House of the Holy Spirit is not in Utopia, but in the middle of
Germany – for Europe is like unto a virgin (figure 20), and although it is not
meet for a virgin to uncover herself, nevertheless she has brought forth the
hitherto unknown arts and sciences of the Brethren from that secret place.
In this way Maier relates the rise of the occult sciences in Germany to a
miraculous virgin birth, an allegorical means of depicting the late Renais-
sance in Germany. This efflorescence of the prisca sapientia will not be
violated by its enemies; thus Maier also likens Germany to an alchemical
rose garden, where roses and lilies secretly grow “lest wanton hands damage
or indeed pluck those little flowers.” 212 Here he uses the traditional symbols
for the final white and red stages of the work to denote the Brethren or true
alchemists of Germany, ‘known and unknown’. The second reference to the
House of the Holy Spirit given by Maier in the Themis Aurea further
accentuates his alchemical reading of the manifestos. He tells us that
although he cannot divulge the time or place of the Fraternity’s meeting,
nevertheless he once saw a place he imagined to be the House of the Holy
Spirit: Mt. Helicon, home of the philosophers, where Pegasus opened a
perpetual spring with his hooves, and Diana bathed herself with Venus as her
handmaid and Saturn as her usher. 213 These words are clearly a cipher for
processes Maier may have observed in the alchemical vessel late one night;
thus Diana as goddess of the moon represents the white phase of the
alchemical subject, the ‘white lead’ which must be purified by ‘washing’ or
solution following the putrefactive black phase. In accordance with the
genealogies given in the Arcana Arcanissima, Saturn is her grandfather, or
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
212 Ibid., pp. 123-124: “De Loco huiusce congregationis, aut legum promulgationis ne
quoque quis sit nimis curiosus in indagando, videndum erit: Non enim hoc utile est sciri
ab omnibus, sed sufficit si a solis confoederatis et electis agnoscatur: in Utopia non est,
ut opinor, nec apud Tartaros aut Lappones, sed forte in umbelico Germaniae, cum
Europa forma virginem, et Germania in ea ventrem referre dicatur: Non convenit
virgineos sinus patefacere vulgo, ne meretrix potius, quam virgo, vidatur: Satis est scire,
eam non esse infoecundam, sed in utero suo (ut Themis ex Iove) hanc Eunomiam
concepisse, aut hos Palycos fratres, tanquam ignotos et ex terra natos, (ut Thalia ex
eodem) protulisse: Venter hic quidem virgineus est, at permultas artes et scientias, ante
incognitas, edidit, GERMANIAM dico et intelligo, quae germinat nunc perpetuo ROSIS
ET LILIIS, quae nec hyemem nec aestum ignis reformident, et in Philosophicis hortis
seu Rosetis conservantur, ne petulca manus tenellos flosculos laedat aut carpat.”
213 Ibid., p. 201: “Vidi aliquando Olympicas domus, non procul a fluviolo et civitate nota,
quas S. Spiritus vocari imaginamur: Helicon est, de quo loquor, aut biceps Parnassus, in
quo equus Pegasus fontem aperuit perennis aquae adhuc stillantem, in quo Diana se
lavat, cui Venus ut pedissequa, et Saturnus ut anteambulo, coniunguntur: Intelligenti
nimium, inexperto minimum hoc erit dictum.”
the progenitor of all metals; and the ‘perpetual spring’ is the quintessence or
aqua foetida used in the solution, a powerful spirit “with the smell of sulphur
and the grave” mentioned in the tenth and thirty-seventh discourses of the
Atalanta Fugiens. 214 Maier states that his words will reveal a great deal to the
intelligent, but nothing to the inexperienced: 215 in this way he demonstrates
an allegorical understanding not only of Greek myth, but of central elements
of the narrative in the Fama Fraternitatis itself.
In the discourse on the initials R. C. given in his Themis Aurea, Maier
states that the Egyptians possessed two scripts, one profane and commonly
known, the other holy and understood by the priests alone. These latter were
the hieroglyphs, symbols of deep wisdom; and although popular belief holds
that the letters R. C. refer to rosa and crux, they are in fact just such sacred
signs serving to cover the mysteries of the Order. 216 Following this statement,
Figala and Neumann have suggested an interpretation of the letters as res
chymicae; but although this interpretation is ingenious and fully in accord
with Maier’s ethos, it may be futile to attempt to discover one final, definitive
phrase to which Maier adhered. 217 Thus we have seen that Maier gave the
initials the significance of ‘the sea’ and ‘the sublime laws of a fortress’ in the
tenth enigma of the Symbola Aureae Mensae; likewise the seventh enigma
speaks of R. as the ‘canine letter’, which contains in itself war and the
pugnatrix (she who fights), whilst the eighth enigma speaks of C. as the
waning moon:
Lo the half moon is resplendent with rays before you!

Hence it is also consecrated to the C.,
For just as the horns of Phoebe foretell the demise of dark and shady night,
Thus also by and by the clouds are put to flight,
As your public Confession promises.
Six companions follow, of whom two times two are making a clamour,
But two give forth harmonious speech:
This will have been enough to reveal to your judgment. 218
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
214 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 10: “Est quoque eadem aqua acetum acerrimum,quae
corpus fecit merum spiritum... Est autem haec aqua ex Parnassi petita fonte, quae praeter
naturam aliorum fontium in vertice montis existit, ab ungula Pegasi, volatilis equi,
factus;” ibid., discourse 37: “Foetida dicitur, quia foetorem sulphureum de se mittit, et
odorem sepulchrorum: Haec est illa aqua, quam Pegasus ex Parnasso ungula sua
percusso elicuit...”
216 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), pp. 209-211.
218 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, pp. 300-301: “En mediata vobis/ Luna resplendet
radiis, hinc quoque C. dicata est,/ Cornua namque Phoebes/ Ceu monent decrescere
noctis tenebras opacae,/ Sic quoque mox fugandas/ Esse nubes, publica confessio vestra
Here Maier appears to make another allusion to the processes in the vessel,
and the ‘washing’ of the moon we have just discussed. Nevertheless, the
reference is also to the ‘promise’ of the Confessio Fraternitatis that God
is “turning about the course of Nature,” as the Lord’s Sabbath is almost at
hand – a cyclical return to the beginning, or a re-establishment of the Golden
Age through an apocalyptic purification. In the Themis Aurea Maier gives a
similar interpretation of the initial C. as ‘the moon’; and in accordance with
the ‘canine’ musings of the seventh enigma in the Symbola Aureae Mensae,
R. is given as ‘rabies’ or ‘madness’. 219 These references to violence and
chaos may refer to the fires of the alchemical furnace, by which means the
purification of the alchemical subject is ultimately achieved. Thus R. is
referred to in a second place in the Themis Aurea as ‘Pegasus’, which struck
its hooves against Mt. Helicon (the vessel) and opened up the eternal spring
in which Diana bathed. C. in this second allusion is given as ‘Julius’ – a
possible reference to Julius Caesar, who traced his ancestry to the gods via a
son of Venus; for if we follow Maier’s interpretation of the genealogies of the
gods in the Arcana Arcanissima as the phases to be observed in the vessel,
then Caesar is a representation of the completion of the work in which things
heavenly and worldly coalesce. 220
Tentative as these conclusions are, it would seem that Figala and
Neumann were on the right track when they proposed the significance of res
chymicae; for although a ‘chemical’ truth may be both manifested and
represented in different ways, the letters R. C. (in Maier’s view) are indeed
ciphers for the all-pervasive alchemical process. In concluding his discourse
on the initials of the Order in the Themis Aurea, Maier gives expression to his
pietist leanings when he says that if the sun mediates between ‘rabies’ and
‘the moon’ a heart is formed, which if it is sincere may be an acceptable
sacrifice to God. 221 This appears to be a reference to the seal of the Fraternity
illustrated in the Themis Aurea (figure 21), in which ‘S’ as sol mediates
between ‘R’ and ‘C’ – a symbol apparently of Maier’s own invention which
expresses universal, occult laws in a manner similar to John Dee’s monas
hieroglyphica. In relation to this seal Maier offers up the phrase “d. wmml.
zii, w. sgqqhka. x.,” and challenges us to understand it if we can. 222
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
spondet:/ Sex comites sequuntur,/ Ex quibus clamant duo bis, sed duo consonantem/ Ore
ferunt loquelam:/ Haec satis vestro fuerit iudicio indicasse.”
219 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), p. 214: “Hinc canina illius litterae R. rabies et
media illa C. Luna non sunt despicienda Elementa: Si enim Sol illis medius adveniat, cor
efficiunt, quod primarium est in humanis visceribus, si synceritatem conjunctam habeat,
sacrificium unicum Deo gratum, quo ad voluntatem existens.”
220 Ibid., p. 212.
221 C.f. n. 219 above.
222 Maier, Themis Aurea (1624 edition), pp. 212-213.
Regni Christi frater 173
Unfortunately, the meaning of this last riddle seems to have passed away with
its author, as even the key divulged by Borelli is of no avail to us here.
8. Regni Christi frater: Maier’s ‘entrance into the Order’
Clearly, then, the riddles of the Themis Aurea are not the work of a member
of the Rosicrucian Order, at least in the sense of the member of an organised
secret society; rather, Maier’s efforts to define the virtual entity of
Rosicrucianism seem to have borne some fruit, given Garasset’s description
of him as ‘secretary’ of the Order, and given the largely alchemical bent of
later Rosicrucianism. Furthermore, the fact that Maier chose not to use a
pseudonym when publishing his works must have raised his profile in
Germany considerably, as we find his tracts are given a good deal of
publicity in the subsequent debate concerning the true nature of the Order. In
concluding this discussion of Maier’s relation to early Rosicrucianism, let
us now turn to two Rosicrucian tracts that make mention of Maier, the
Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum (‘Rosicrucian Colloquium,’ 1621; see figure
22) and its rejoinder, the Echo Colloquii Rhodo-Staurotici (‘Answer to
the Rosicrucian Colloquium,’ 1622) – this latter work having been cited
alongside Garasset’s claim as evidence for Maier’s ‘entrance into the
Fraternity’.
The Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum was first published in a German
edition of 1621 and is, putatively, a lengthy letter delivered from a certain C.
V. A. I. B. F. to a certain A. W. B. D. S. F. 223 The latter addresses his
foreword to “the theosophical reader,” and tells us that he had read a number
of works which had been circulating in the name of the “highly illumined
Fraternity of the Rosy Cross,” but which nevertheless did not agree in their
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
223 C. V. A. I. B. F. Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum, Das ist: Gespräch dreyer Personen/
von der vor wenig Jahren/ durch die Famam et Confessionem etlicher massen
geoffenbarten Fraternitet deß Rosen Creuzes; Darinnen zu sehen/ Was endlich von so
vielen unterschiedlichen in ihrem Namen publicirten Schriefften/ und denn auch von der
Brüderschafft selbsten zu halten sey. Allen trewherzigen/ und aber durch so vielerhand
Schreiben irrgemachten Christlichen Lesern zu lieb in druck gegeben. N.p.: n.p., 1621.
Curiously, the initials C. I. B. F. and A. S. N. B. rather than C. V. A. I. B. F. and A. W.
B. D. S. F. are given in the Latin version of the work: Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum
trium personarum, per Famam et Confessionem quodammodo revelatum, de
Fraternitate Roseae Crucis. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624. I cannot see any
good reason for this discrepancy, although a pointless invention on behalf of the
translator seems unlikely. It is possible that the variant initials of the Latin edition derive
from the Latinisation of the original non-abbreviated forms of these pseudonyms, with
which the translator (who as we shall see was none other than Maier’s publisher, Lucas
Jennis) may have been acquainted.
fundamentals with the original manifestos issued by the Order. Mentioned

in particular are the Tintinabulum Sophorum, the Apologia F. R. C. and
the Prodromus F. R. C. of Irenaeus Agnostus. It seems that as a result of
his reading A. W. B. D. S. F. was in a quandary concerning the true
interpretation of the manifestos – and therefore in doubt concerning the
nature of the genuine brotherhood. Therefore he wrote to C. V. A. I. B. F., “a
trusted friend who can better judge these things than I,” and asked for his
opinion on the matter. An answer arrived in the form of a ‘colloquium’ or
three-way conversation between the imaginary characters Tyrosophus,
Quirinus and Politicus, each participant representing a particular perspective
on the nature of the Order and its beliefs – and Tyrosophus representing a
true Rosicrucianism in accord with the original manifestos. In this way the
Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum follows the formula set forward by Andreae
in the Turris Babel. Having found this ‘colloquium’ pleasing, A. W. B. D. S.
F. approached a publisher (who was himself “a denizen of the citadel of
wisdom”) and with the permission of the author, C. V. A. I. B. F., it was
published for the enlightenment of others on that topic. The foreword is dated
March 1st, 1621. 224
Schick has attributed this work to the personal physician of the Calvinist
Landgrave Phillip von Hessen-Butzbach, Daniel Mögling. It appears that
Mögling wrote as an apologist for the Rosicrucians under the pseudo-
nyms of Theophilus Schweighardt and Florentinus de Valentia in such works
as Pandora Sextae Aetatis (‘Pandora of the Sixth Age,’ 1617), Rosa
Florescens (‘Blooming Rose,’ 1617) and the Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-
Stauroticum (‘Sophical Rosicrucian Mirror,’ 1618). Whilst the Colloquium
Rhodo-Stauroticum did not appear under the names of either Schweighardt or
de Valentia, Schick has attributed its authorship to Mögling on the basis of
certain thematic and editorial factors, and on the basis of a communication of
1618 from Landgrave Phillip von Hessen-Butzbach to the Rosicrucian
Kabbalist and prophet, Johann Faulhaber, in which Phillip reveals the identity
of Schweighardt and de Valentia as that of his own physician. 225 According
to Edighoffer, Mögling was a personal acquaintance of Johann Valentin
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
224 Ibid., 1621, pp. 3-6; the foreword of the 1624 edition, pp. 45-48, gives no date.
225 Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Hausarchiv, Abteilung 4, Konv. 72, Fasc. 9; see
Schick, Das Ältere Rosenkreuzertum, p. 185. Schick gives the following reasons for his
attribution: firstly, the Colloquium appears in part to be the continuation of a polemic
against a certain ‘Menapius’ to be found in Mögling’s (i.e. Schweighardt and de
Valentias’) previous works; secondly, those works display a consonance with the
Colloquium in the style of their titles; thirdly, whilst the author of the Colloquium cites
many Rosicrucian authors, including Maier, only the works of Schweighardt and de
Valentia are quoted word-for-word. On this latter point we must note that Schick was
mistaken, as the Colloquium author also cites Maier word-for-word.
Andreae, although I do not know on which authority this claim rests. 226 The
matter is thrown into further confusion by Arnold’s suggestion that the author
writing under the name of de Valentia in the Rosa Florescens was in fact
Andreae, although again, there are no specific grounds given to support this
idea. 227 Yates completes the chaos by quoting Arnold and stating that both
Schweighardt and de Valentia “may be Andreae himself.” 228 In any case, we
will proceed with the working hypothesis that Daniel Mögling was both the
author of the Colloquium and the true identity behind these pseudonyms,
which seems reasonable on the basis of Schick’s arguments.
Whilst the story of C. V. A. I. B. F.’s letter to A. W. B. D. S. F. given in
the Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum is clearly a literary invention, the
participants of the colloquium represent genuine ideological threads in the
tangled web of ‘Rosicrucian’ apologies and opposing Kampfschriften that
grew up around the Fama Fraternitatis and the Confessio Fraternitatis. As
the mouthpiece of Mögling himself, the ‘Tyrosophus’ of the colloquium
gives expression to a heterodox Protestantism of a theosophical strain. In the
course of the colloquium Tyrosophus presents a list of books he says are
highly recommended by the Fraternity itself; first and foremost is the De
Imitatione Christi of the Rhenish ascetic Thomas à Kempis (c.1379-1471), a
key work of Christian piety; also named are the Vier Bücher vom wahren
Christentum (1605-1609) by Johann Arndt, a work influential for later
Pietism that was itself inspired by à Kempis and the Rhenish mystic Johann
Tauler (c.1300-61); the Philosophia Mystica, an important compilation of
Paracelsian and Weigelian tracts published in Neustadt in 1618; the
Offenbahrung of Paul Lautensack; and the Vom Baum des Wissens Gutes und
Böses of Sebastian Franck (c.1499-c.1542). These latter two authors were
once counted amongst the possessors of a “paradoxical and uncommon
learning” by Andreae. 229 It seems humility demanded that Mögling place his
own tracts, Rosa Florescens and Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum,
towards the end of the list of recommendations. 230
In the course of his Colloquium Mögling also makes repeated and
approving mention of the works of Michael Maier; in particular the
Symbola Aureae Mensae, the Themis Aurea and the Silentium post Clamores,
which he cites as evidence that knowledge of the lapis philosophorum
has been passed to the Brethren quasi de ore ad ora through many
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
226 Edighoffer, Die Rosenkreuzer, p. 14.
227 Arnold, Histoire des Rose-Croix, p. 113.
228 Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p. 93.
230 C. V. A. I. B. F., Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum (1621 edition), pp. 110-111: the list is
considerably abridged in the Latin edition of 1624, pp. 140-141.
centuries. 231 It is these references which seem to have inspired the peculiar
allusions to Maier made in the rejoinder to the Colloquium Rhodo-
Stauroticum, the Echo Colloquii Rhodo-Staurotici. The author of this work is
one Benedictus Hilarion – and the ‘joviality’ implicit in his surname should
immediately arouse our suspicions concerning the authenticity of the author’s
claim that the work was issued “according to the mandate of the superiors” of
the Rosicrucian Order, in imitation of certain passages in the Colloquium. As
Schick writes, ‘Brother’ Benedictus Hilarion “banters with the author of the
Colloquium with impish ease, and takes the public for a ride.” 232
The Echo Colloquii Rhodo-Staurotici was first published in a German
edition in 1622. 233 In the opening paragraphs ‘Benedictus Hilarion’ addresses
the author of the Colloquium as “well-known friend Anonymous,” and states
that the identity of this “well-beloved and highly trusted” man is in fact
known to the Order, as is the fact that C. V. A. I. B. F. and A. W. B. D. S. F.
are one and the same person. And whilst the members of the “highly gifted
Order” had knowledge of the Colloquium before it was sent to the press, and
thus may have intervened to stop its publication, nevertheless they allowed
the author to proceed without hindrance for three reasons: 234
Firstly, in order that you get some good experience, so that in future times of leisure you
might spend your time fruitfully rather than in vain. Secondly, in order that the disputation or
rather dissertation of the fictive persons would not only incite some pious men and good
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
231 Ibid., p. 138: “Si enim illa incredulis Ethnicis, qui de Deo, neque eius verbo atque
voluntate certi aliquid sciverunt, tali modo largitus est, quod etiam, veluti Dominus
Michael Mayerus, in suo Silentio post Clamores, eius rei meminit, integra Collegia huius
professionis inter ipsos fuerint, in quibus naturae mysteria summo studio agitata, et
multis seculis quasi de ore ad ora, posteris suis, quos ex aliis Philosophis elegerunt, ista
reliquerint.” On page 93 the author cites Maier to confirm his views on the lapis
philosophorum: “Intempestivi autem isti judices in Domini Michaelis Mayeri Symbolis
aureae Mensae legere deberent, quid videlicet, hoc in puncto, pro et contra possibilitatem
Lapidis, inter artis istius assertores, eiusdemque hostes, disputatur, tunc enim, meo
quidem pro judicio, praeconceptam suam opinionem mox dimissuri essent.”
233 Benedictus Hilarion. Echo Colloquii Rhodo-staurotici, Das ist: Wider-Schall/ oder
Antwort/ auff das newlicher zeit außgegangene Gespräch Dreyer Persohnen, die
Fraternitet vom RosenCreutz betreffendt. N.p: n.p., 1622.
234 Ibid., pp. 3-4: “Zu wissen sey dir hiemit/ vielgeliebter unnd hochvertrawter Freund
Anonyme Wolbekandt/ daß dein selbst gestelletes Colloquium Rhodostauroticum, so
zwar das ansehen hat,/ als wann es von einem Christiano Ungenandt/ dir zugeschickt
wäre/ nach seiner Datirung/ uns Collegianten/ deß hochbegabten Ordens vom
RosenCreutz/ zeitlichen ist zu Händen kommen. Und wir nun wohl/ ehe dann du
dasselbige sub praelo geben/ deines Vorhabens dißfalls sehr gute Wissenschafft gehabt/
und demnach solches verbleiben zulassen/ dich gar wol hätten berichten können: So
haben wir jedoch/ folgender Ursachen halben/ dich darmit unverhindert groß-
günstiglichen fortfahren lassen.”
citizens (of whom quite a few are known to us from time to time) to research us and our
intentions; but also that they might thereby have reason to behave in their daily life in such a
way as to show themselves worthy of acceptance into our Society at the given time. Thirdly,
in order to show all the more clearly the white next to the black... 235
Following this riposte, ‘Benedictus Hilarion’ goes on to state that the

Fraternity has recently admitted a number of good men into its ranks,
amongst whom are “P: N. I: A. M: B. I: H. I: B. I: M. I: D: M. I: S. I: D:
B. G: A. etc.” – a jesting comment on the inordinate number of initials used
in the Rosicrucian literature. 236 In the course of the Echo Hilarion gives some
droll advice to those who might die before the prophesised dawning of the
Golden Age in 1624, and speaks of the great “Reformation of grammar”
instituted by certain supporters of the Order. 237 He also speaks at length
concerning the ‘Narrosophus’ (fool-philosopher) who passes judgment on the
existence of the Philosophers’ Stone before he has found it, although Hilarion
himself seems to view the “extraordinary mysteries of theosophy and
chemia” in a favourable light (his work is, after all, an ‘echo’ of the
sentiments set forth in the Colloquium). 238 Appending the tract is a poem
concerning the forthcoming “eclipse of the entire world,” 239 as well as a list
of eleven prophetic and apocalyptic works: and in the copy of the Echo
residing at the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam a sarcastic
seventeenth century reader has penned in a twelfth work – the ‘Tintinabulum’
(a bell on a door to summon attendants) of the “highly learned and
celebrated” Tilman Eulenspiegel (a semi-mythical medieval jester), dedicated
to his dear sons, the Brothers of the Rosy Cross, and containing all their
‘Narrosophia’ in one short compendium. 240
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
235 Ibid., pp. 5-6: “Erstlichen/ dich hierdurch etlicher massen zu uben/ damit du zu andern
horis subcesivis, unnd Erquickstunden/ nich vergebens/ sondern fruchtbarlichen die Zeit
vertreiben möchtest. Zum Andern/ damit die Disputatio oder vielmehr Dissertatio der
fingirten Personen/ möchte noch manchen frommen Menschen und Biderman (derer uns/
hin unnd wieder/ sehr viel bekandt) nicht allein erwecken/ uns und unserer Gelegenheit
ferner nachzuforschen: Sondern auch dardurch möchte verursacht seyn/ sich in seinem
täglichen Leben/ Thun und Wandel/ dergestalt zuverhalten/ daß Er/ zu seiner zeit/ mag
würdig sein in unsere Gesellschafft auff und angenommen zu werden. Zum Dritten/
damit/ also zu reden/ das Weisse/ neben dem Schwartzen/ desto besser/ und viel eher/
mag erkandt werden.”
236 Ibid., pp. 9-10.
237 Ibid., pp. 19, 31-32.
238 Ibid., p. 32.
239 Ibid., pp. 40-45.
240 Ibid., p. 39: “Des hochgelerten und Weitberümpten Vilosophi, Tilman Eülenspiegels
Tintinabulum, seinen lieben sönen, Roseae Crücis Fratribus, dedicieret, darinn alle ihre
Narosophia in ein kürtz compendium gebracht ist. Getrücket zu Quinsai, in der
grössesten stadt der gantzen Welt.”
For all the Eulenspiegeleien contained in the Echo Colloquii Rhodo-

Staurotici, a certain passage within that work was once taken by Waite
as evidence for Maier’s ‘entrance’ into the order “ere he died.” Whilst
addressing the author of the Colloquium Hilarion states:
It is quite accurate that our silence has hitherto made many people crazy, nevertheless only
those who cannot wait in patience for the time. However, you should not be counted amongst
those people, because you have always been more for than against us, together with some
other good-hearted people known to us: as you have shown in many ways with your verbal
defence against those who, by their great ignorance, have proved to be full of hatred towards
us. Being an educated man, Master Michael Maier also did the same in writing, as he proved
in a worthy and reasonable manner in his Silentium post Clamores, Themis Aurea, Verum
Inventum, Symbola Aureae Mensae, etc. Which writings from him should not have been
written in vain. 241
Unfortunately for Waite’s hypothesis, it must be noted that the 1624 Latin
translation from which he quotes elaborates a little on the first German
edition, stating in tandem with the original that Maier will not have written
his defences of the Order in vain, but adding that “we will deservedly reward
him before his death, as much with great honours as with communications of
singular mystery.” 242 That Latin translation was made by Maier’s publisher,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
241 Ibid., pp. 7-9: “Nicht ohn ist es zwar/ daß unser Silentium oder Stillschweigen bißhero/
viel Leuth irre gemacht/ jedoch nur die jenigen/ so der zeit nicht mit Gedult erwartten
können. Unter welche du für deine Person gleichwol nicht solst gezehlet seyn: dieweil
du sambt noch etlichen uns wolbekandten feinen guthertzigen/ jederzeit mehr pro als
contra nos gewesen. Wie du dann dasselbige mit mündlicher Defendirung/ alleweg bey
den jenigen/ so uns/ auß grober Unwissenheit/ gehässig/ sehr wol erwiesen. Deßgleichen
dann auch Herr Michael Mayer/ als ein Gelehrter Mann/ solches Schrifftlich verrichtet
und gethan hat/ wie dasselbige vernünfftig unnd wol außweisen/ sein Silentium post
Clamores, Themis, Verum Inventum, Symbola Aureae Mensae etc. Welche Scripta dann
auch von ihme dem Domino Authore nit umbsonst oder vergebens sollen geschrieben
seyn.”
242 Benedictus Hilarion. Echo Colloquii Rhodo-Staurotici, hoc est: Resolutio sive Responsio
ad nupero tempore editum trium personarum Colloquium Fraternitatem Roseae Crucis
concernens. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624, pp. 167-168: “Equidem non abs re
est, quod Silentium nostrum multos hactenus homines in errorem praecipitaverit, illos
tamen solummodo, qui tempus patienter expectare minime potuerunt. Inter quos tamen
te non numeratum volumus, quod, una cum quibusdam, nobis bene notis piis, benevolis,
ab initio, in hodiernum usque diem semper magis pro, quam contra nos extiteris:
quemadmodum etiam illud ipsum orali defensione omni tempore apud ipsos, qui, crassa
ex ignorantia, nobis infecti sunt, mascule praestitisti. Quemadmodum etiam Dominus
Michael Majerus, tamquam vir Clarissimus, illud ipsum scribendo egregie praestitit,
veluti ejus rei luculentum praebent testimonium, ipsius Silentium post clamores, Themis
aurea, Verum inventum, Symbola aureae mensae, etc: quae scripta etiam a Domino
Authore ipso non frustra scripta esse debent, sed illum, haud immerito, ante mortem
ipsius, tam ingentibus honorariis, quam non minus singularium mysteriorum commun-
icatione, beabimus.”
Lucas Jennis, who included both the Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum and the
Echo Colloquii Rhodo-Staurotici with his publication of the dead Maier’s
Ulysses, together with a reprint of the Silentium post Clamores. In his
foreword to the Ulysses Jennis states that he publishes the four tracts together
partly out of love for the departed Maier, partly out of Christian duty, partly
out of politics, and all for the service of humanity; and whilst the Echo may
be a “work of vexation,” nevertheless it is one which Maier would also have
commended. 243 These words seem to indicate that Maier was more closely
bound up with the origins of the Colloquium and the Echo than Jennis
reveals: a suspicion which becomes greater when considering Hilarion’s
strange description of Maier as a person who has defended in writing that
which the author of the Colloquium has defended ‘verbally’. 244 Furthermore,
the name ‘Tyrosophus’ from the Colloquium seems to be an allusion to
Hiram, the wise king of Tyre who participates in a three-way dialogue with
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba in Maier’s Septimana Philosophica; and
the Colloquium also makes mention of the ‘feather of the phoenix’ as the
Universal Medicine in the manner of Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae. 245
Nevertheless, these latter facts may only indicate the influence of Maier upon
the author; and it must be said that whilst the theosophical bent of the tract
does not run counter to Maier’s ideals, it is out of character with the
alchemical emphasis in the rest of his printed Rosicrucian works, and
mitigates against the possibility that Maier himself was the author of the
Colloquium (or, for that matter, the Echo itself).
Whatever the case may be, it would appear that Jennis was paying his own
respects to the memory of Maier when he elaborated upon the German
original of the Echo with his statement that Maier would be ‘rewarded’ by the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
243 Maier, Michael. Tractatus Posthumus, sive Ulysses, hoc est, Sapientia seu intelligentia,
tanquam coelestis scintilla beatitudinis, quod si in fortunae et corporis bonis naufragium
faciat, ad portum meditationis et patientiae remigio feliciter se expediat. Una cum
annexis tractatibus de fraternitate Roseae Crucis. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis,
1624, pp. 5-6: “Itaque partim ex amore, erga proximum meum, Christiano, et simul
politico, omnibus pro virili inserviendi desiderio (praesertim cum cognoverim, quod
etiam externae nationes de fraterna ista societate jam primum majori Studio inquirere
incipiant) intermittere nec potui, nec volui, quin res istas hisce simul conjungerem
Colloquium Rhodo-Stauroticum (in quo cunctis de rebus Fraternitatem concernentibus
tractatur) et ad illud pertinens Echo. Quae cum nulla alia, quam in vernacula (uti quidem
recordor) typis impressa viderim, ea propter illa, in tui benevoli Lectoris gratiam, in
Romanam linguam transferri curavi. Quo de meo instituto et jam pro lubitu tuo nunc ipse
judicare poteris. Pro mea tamen persona commemorata ista opuscula non adeo
inconcinna mihi videntur, praesertim autem Echo. An vero a Fraternitate forsitan suam
trahat originem, vel saltim figmentum, et scriptum vexatorium sit, quorum similia multa
hactenus sunt edita illud ipsum cuiusvis nunc relinquo judicio.”
245 Maier, Ulysses, p. 113; the form tyros may also refer to a ‘new recruit’.
Fraternity before his death. Perhaps the final word on Maier’s relation to
Rosicrucianism should be given to Jennis, a man who was in a better position
than any of us to understand the true nature of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. In
his foreword to the Ulysses he appears to refer to his very own fabrication
when he asks if the reader would be happy to hear that Maier had been
accepted into the Order before his death. He goes on to write that he does
not know if this is true, although he knows very well that Maier has been
associated with the Order ad extremum. Furthermore, it is common
knowledge that Maier was “a brother of the kingdom of Christ” (i.e. a Regni
Christi frater, or ‘Brother R. C.’). 246
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
246 Ibid., pp. 7-8: “Quoniam etiam, peramice Lector, mox ab initio Domini Doctoris Majeri
aliquoties mentionem fecimus, forsitan libenter scires, an videlicet ille ipse Doctor
Majerus, tanquam dictae Fraternitatis Roseae Crucis Defensor, adhuc ante suum ex
mortali hacce vita digressum, in ordinem istum receptus fuerit? Ad hoc me illud nescire,
respondeo. Hoc tamen minime ignoro, quomodo videlicet ad extremum cum ipso
quodammodo comparatum fuerit. Etiamsi autem in Roseae Crucis Fratrum societatem
forsitan non receptus sit, ipsum tamen Religionis Christianae, vel Regni Christi Fratrem
fuisse, notum est.”
The squaring of the natural circle 181
V. The completion of the work
1. The squaring of the natural circle
Having examined the consequences of Maier’s fateful encounter with the

Rosicrucian manifestos at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1616, let us return to the
course of events in the last five years of his life, and to a consideration of his
ongoing quest for alchemical wisdom. In Maier’s time Frankfurt am Main
was an imperial city; there the edict of cuius regio, eius religio established by
the Peace of Augsburg did not hold, and political authority was vested in the
city council, which did not owe its allegiance to a particular prince or
confession. 1 Nevertheless, the city was a predominantly Lutheran centre,
with a large population of Calvinist exiles from the Netherlands, and its
religious composition must have made it an attractive place for Maier to
settle. 2 Whilst living there Maier not only came under the influence of
Rosicrucian ideas, but also came still closer to the Calvinist and occult orbit
of Moritz the Learned and his court – a fact which is reflected in the overtly
political content of some of the works we will shortly consider. Indeed, a
major event in the life of Frankfurt in 1617 was the Reformation Jubilee,
which had been instigated by Friedrich V during a meeting of the Protestant
Union as a means of drawing together Calvinists and Lutherans in the face of
the impending conflict with Catholicism. 3 Although Maier spent much of his
time attending a wealthy nobleman by the name of von Riedesel in
Stockhausen, 4 some forty miles from Frankfurt, it seems likely that he
witnessed some of the sermons, fireworks and solemn processions of the
Jubilee, and judging by his writings during this period he certainly partook of
the intense millennialist expectations they expressed.
Maier’s marriage in Frankfurt is an event little remarked, either by Maier
himself or by his biographers. The only reference to the fact comes obliquely
in the course of a letter to Moritz the Learned dated the 17th of April, 1618, in
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
1 Po-Chia Hsia, R. Social Discipline in the Reformation: Central Europe 1550-1750.
London: Routledge, 1989, p. 6; Schilling, Heinz. Religion, Political Culture and the
Emergence of Early Modern Society. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992, pp 171-172.
2 Schilling, ibid.
3 Po-Chia Hsia, Social Discipline in the Reformation, p. 14.
4 Von Riedesel belonged to a prominent noble family with links to Hessen-Kassel and the
court of Moritz; of the four branches of the family, one resided at Hermansburg in the
environs of Stockhausen.
182 The completion of the work
which he tells the prince he must break off his stay at Stockhausen with von
Riedesel and go directly home, as his wife is heavy with child and will give
birth at any moment. 5 In the same letter Maier also asks the leave of Moritz
to name the child after His Highness or His consort Juliana, but at no point
are we informed of his own wife’s name. 6 Nor is there any indication from
other sources that the birth went as Maier had hoped. Since there is so little
information concerning Maier’s own family life, we must satisfy ourselves
with the knowledge that Maier held fairly orthodox Lutheran views on the
subject of gender, as we may gather from certain comments he makes in the
Symbola Aureae Mensae. There he states that a republic is liable to become a
depraved den of iniquity if it is governed “by that sex which, on account of
its inconstant mind and feeble temperament, is born to suffering.” 7
Although his contacts with Moritz prior to his English journey do not
seem to have been fruitful, Maier paved the way for his eventual entrance
into the court of Moritz by dedicating a book to him in August of 1616
entitled De Circulo Physico, Quadrato (On the Squaring of the Natural
Circle). 8 In this work we find a comprehensive elaboration of the themes
presented to Moritz in Maier’s earlier manuscript communications, and a
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
5 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. 19, 1, p. 285 recto: “Serenissime,
illustrissimeque Princeps, Domine Clementissime, post submissam servitii mei
oblationem non possum praeferire, quin ex debito et promisso Celsitudinem Va:m hisce
invisam, eamque certiorem hoc proprio tabellario, cum alius ordinarius non occurreret,
misso, faciam, me in Stockhausen apud Nobi. Dom: Riedeselium hucusque detineri,
eiusque curationi adhuc vacare, quam, ut spero, propediem, Deo dante, nisi aliud quid
interveniat, absoluturus, meque Francofurtum, ubi Uxorem gravidam et partui vicinam
reliqui, collaturus sum.” Around this time Maier also sent a manuscript containing four
memoranda concerning chemical matters to Moritz; the third memorandum states that
Maier has already divulged to Moritz that which he knows concerning the ‘Philosophers
R. C.’, and that his opinion seems to have been confirmed by reason and experience:
Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. 19, 1, p. 280 verso: “Quantum mihi
cognitum sit de Philosophis R.C. iam ante in aurem Serenituri. V:ae dixi, in qua opinione
a ratione et experientia stabilitus et confirmatus videor.” It should be noted that Moran,
Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 105-106, suggests that this document was
amongst the earlier testimonies to Maier’s alchemical knowledge sent to Moritz in 1611
– an impossibility given the timeline of Maier’s involvement with Rosicrucianism.
6 Ibid., p. 285 verso.
7 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 578: “Ibi enim mulieres fere viros et hi illas
repraesentant; et adulteria sunt adeo frequentia, maritatarumque foeminarum, in secretis
lupanaribus se aliis, ex laenarum nutu, prostituentium tanta multitudo impunita, ut
incredibile sit auditu: In quibus civitatibus liberi aut potius spurii habentur communes,
tanquam in Republ. quadam Platonica, cum fere et uxores communes habeantur: Adhaec
indecorum putabant, ut ille sexus, qui propter ingenii imbecillitatem animique
inconstantiam ad patiendum sit natus, omnium actiones regeret et gubernaret.”
8 Maier, Michael. De Circulo Physico, Quadrato: Hoc est, AURO, Eiusque virtute
medicinali, sub duro cortice instar nuclei latente; An et qualis inde petenda sit,
Tractatus haud inutilis. Oppenheim: Lucas Jennis, 1616.
clear statement of the fundamentals of Maier’s mature alchemical ideas.

Drawing on neo-Pythagorean speculation and the numerical mysticism of
Plato’s Timaeus, Maier explains to Moritz in his foreword that there are
certain hidden bonds which maintain the harmony of the universe, namely
those between God, the sun, the human heart and the hidden power of gold,
which “correspond to each other in their mutual change.” 9 Between God and
the sun, we are told, there exists an interval of one octave; between the sun
and gold, there are four intervals; and between the human heart and God
there are eight. 10 Here Maier takes a leaf from the work of Ficino and the
Renaissance Neoplatonists, who closely affiliated the Hermetic doctrine of
microcosmic-macrocosmic correspondence with the Pythagorean conception
that the universe is an ordered system of interconnected parts bound together
“by universally valid numerical principles and harmonic (i.e. proportional,
musical) relationships.” 11 This Hermetic musical philosophy can be traced
through the sixteenth century in the work of Agrippa and Giorgi, and finds
its most elaborate baroque expression in the fugues, emblems and discourses
of Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens; indeed, references to the De Vita Libri Tres
(1489) in the sixth discourse of that work raise the possibility that Maier
was directly influenced by Ficino. 12 Maier’s theories of universal harmony
are not as clearly expounded or sophisticated as those of his contem-
porary, Robert Fludd (1574-1637); nevertheless, Fludd’s major work on the
matter, the Utriusque Cosmi Maioris scilicet et Minoris Metaphysica,
Physica, atque Technica Historia (1617), offers us a graphic illustration of a
neo-Pythagorean cosmology very similar to Maier’s, with the universe
represented as a double octave reaching from earth to heaven and divided by
the sun (figure 23).
In Maier’s work the sun, gold and the human heart are linked with divinity
by virtue of a hidden consonance, which is akin to the striking of an octave.
But this relation is also illustrated by Maier with recourse to the cyclical
processes in the alchemical vessel; as he writes in the De Circulo Physico,
Quadrato, the divine virtue or spiritus descends to earth and ascends again to
heaven through “the rotation of the circle”:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
9 Ibid., p. 6: “Sunt tria, mirificis graduum concordia vinclis/ Harmoniam mundi, quae
Monumenta docent:/ Nempe COR humanum, SOL coeli atque AUREA virtus,/ In se
dum vicibus convenienter eunt.”
10 Ibid., p. 7: “Unius Octavae velut intervalla videntur/ Solem interque Deum, si bene
mente notes:/ Quadrupla sic inter solem numerantur, et aurum,/ Corde sed octuplo
Numen abest spacio...”
11 Mitchell, Kenneth Stephen. Musical Conceptions in the Hermetic Philosophy of Robert
Fludd: Their Nature and Significance in German Baroque Muscial Thought. Doctoral
thesis, Washington University, 1994, p. 84.
12 Ibid., p. 91; Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 6.
God gives power to the sun, the sun to the gold, this eventually to the human heart, and this
through the rotation of the circle looks back to God, so everything that is created mortal
stems from God and tends back towards God. This circle fills everything everywhere... As
the sun is the image of God, so the heart and gold are the image of the sun, and the gold
reveals God with everlasting honour; thus also our heart, constant like gold in the fire, will
last forever, when the plague of earthly existence is sloughed off. And what is more, the
mind goes on from the sensible world to that which is forever, and to what will be, though
not being seen. Those will last, these will pass away; those are hidden, these are signs, and
the goodness of God is evident in both. 13
In Neoplatonic fashion, Maier proclaims that gold is a sign in the material

world pointing towards invisible and eternal divinity; it is “the mirror of the
whole world” and “the visible proof of the great heavens as an image.” 14 And
just as gold is incorruptible, so our own heart – as the seat of the soul – is
unchanging like gold in the fire, and will continue on after the trials of earthly
existence have ended. For Maier the flow and ebb of Creation is a cosmic
work of alchemy, in which the human soul descends into the darkness of
materiality – the putrefactio or black phase of the work – and returns again to
its heavenly origins. The ‘goodness of God’ is evident in things transitory as
well as eternal because the present world is a sign pointing to the realm to
come, an ‘open book’ teaching the nature of this life and the next. 15 These
ideas are a central element of Maier’s spiritual alchemy, and may be broadly
characterised as gnostic, echoing as they do the ancient Gnostic descent into
physis of the divine scintilla. Thus in the course of his exposition Maier
cryptically remarks that the heart is a “little eye” which possesses “the light
of heaven” – an intimation that our own souls possess something of divine
perception, by which we may behold the cosmic harmonies instituted by God
at the Creation. 16 In the Hymnosophia Maier also referred to the “little eye of
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
13 Maier, De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, p. 7: “Utque Deus Soli, Sol auro, hoc denique
cordi/ Vim dat, et hoc verso respicit orbe Deum:/ Omnia ab hoc et ad hunc mortalia
condita tendunt,/ Circulus hic, quicquid constat ubique, replet.../ Sol, ut imago Dei, sic
est cor solis et aurum;/ Utque hoc perpetuo monstrat honore Deum:/ Sic quoque cor
nostrum, constans velut ignibus aurum/ Semper erit, terrae cum sit abacta lues./ Quod
superest, ex sensibilibus Mens pergat ad illa,/ Quae sunt, et quamvis non videantur,
erunt./ Illa manent, abeunt haec, illa abscondita, sunt haec/ Nota, DEI Bonitas hinc ut et
inde patet.”
14 Ibid., p. 6: “Subdita nam fulvo sunt haec terrena metallo,/ Hoc speculum mundi totius
abdit opes./ Hoc patuli succincta soli compendia praebet,/ Et specimen magni monstrat
imago poli.”
15 See also ibid., p. 43: “Quod totus hic mundus apertus liber sit, docens rationales homines
in genere, quod et qualis sit DEUS, quod haec vita transitura, aliaque aeternae felicitatis
expectanda sit, in quo Aurum, qui paginam esse negat, Elleboro indigeat.”
16 Ibid., p. 6: “Sol equidem supera, ceu Rex, regit Arce Planetas,/ In terram radios
insinuatque suos:/ Hinc hominum calido vis vivida corde movetur,/ Hinc invicta AURO
the soul” as the means of perceiving the phoenix, be it in Egypt or in

Germany – for the mythical bird is not seen with the corporeal eye, but
constitutes a hieroglyph concealing an eternal law of death and resurrection,
manifested in both the macrocosm of Creation and the microcosm of the
individual. 17
Maier placed theses notions of correspondence and sympathy in the
context of the geo-heliocentric cosmology set forth by Christoph Rothmann
(1550-1605), mathematicus to Moritz’s father, Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel
(figure 24). Like his contemporary Tycho Brahe, Rothmann offered up
a compromise between the earth-centred Ptolemaic system and the new
heliocentrism of Copernicus, although Rothmann’s cosmology may be
distinguished from Brahe’s by the fact that the orbit of Mars does not
intersect with the solar orbit. 18 In Maier’s work this geo-heliocentric
macrocosm corresponds to the microcosm of the human body, or at least to
Maier’s Galenic conception of the human body, as we have found it
described in the Theses Summam Doctrinae de Temperamentis Corporis
Humani. All light stems from the sun, which as the homologue of the human
heart constructs ‘subtle essences’ from the ‘purest air’, the homologue of
blood which surrounds the celestial bodies in Rothmann’s system. 19 These
essences inhere in the light, heat and ‘virtue’ which are transmitted to the
planets and fixed stars – the homologues of the organs – thus imparting
motion to the universe. 20 The reflected radiance of the planets and fixed stars
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
forma decusque venit./ Hic veluti centrum reliquis et Regula motus/ Cernitur, hic coeli
lumen Ocellus habet.”
17 Maier, Hymnosophia, p. C4 verso: “Ales ab ingenio natus viget ille Sophorum,/ Nec
magis Aegypti, quam nostris, visitur arvis,/ Si modo circum nos animi spectemus
ocellis.”
18 Rothmann’s ‘correction’ of the Ptolemaic system may be found in Christophori
Rothmanni Bernburgensis Astronomia: in qua hypotheses Ptolemaicae ex hypothesibus
Copernici corriguntur et supplentur et inprimis intellectus et usus tabularum
Prutenicarum declaratur et demonstratur. Landesbibliothek und Murhardische
Bibliothek der Stadt Kassel, MS Astron. 4° 11; see Barker, Peter and Bernard R.
Goldstein, “Realism and Instrumentalism in Sixteenth Century Astronomy: A
Reappraisal,” Perspectives on Science, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1998, p. 241.
19 On the subject of Rothmann’s system and the air-blood correspondence, see Granada,
Miguel A. “Christoph Rothmann und die Auflösung der himmlischen Sphären. Die
Briefe an den Landgrafen von Hessen-Kassel 1585.” In Dick, Wolfgang R. and Jürgen
Hamel (eds.). Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte, Vol. 2. Frankfurt: Deutsch, 1999, pp.
34-57.
20 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 7: “Virtutem, quam similiter circum se superius et
inferius diffundit, ad stellas, in primis Planetas, ut per reflexionem quandam ab illis
communicetur rebus nascentibus, cum singuli Planetae suas virtutes temperarint et
coniunxerint cum solari: ad terram, ubi crescentibus necessaria est omnibus. Et si bene
rem introspiciamus, penitiusque consideremus, Sol in coelo, ut cor in humano corpore
procedit in suis operationibus. Cor ex sanguine puriore fabricat spiritus tenues, aerios,
contain specific virtues which influence the individual’s temperament at the

moment of birth, as well as determining the most propitious moment for
conducting certain alchemical operations or picking medicinal herbs. In the
course of his preface to Moritz in the De Circulo Physico, Quadrato Maier
further extends the scope of his doctrines of virtue and macrocosmic-
microcosmic correspondence by describing the monarch and his court as
another bond in the chain of harmonies linking heaven and earth – an idea
that his patron-to-be seems to have appreciated. As the sun directs the motion
of the planets and warms the metal-bearing womb of the earth with its
radiation, so the prince rules his subjects and nurtures his princedom, and so
the human heart commands the organs of the body, imparting the vital spirit
or innate heat to the veins, “from whence flows the flaming torch of life.” 21
The first half of the De Physico Circulo, Quadrato is devoted to a
theoretical exposition of the occult qualities of gold. Maier explains that the
‘squaring of the circle’ is a problem of natural science as much as it is of
geometry – by which he refers to the mystery of gold, which like the sun and
the soul is formed in the image of the perfect figure, the circle, but
nevertheless contains within itself the quaternity of elements in equal
proportion. A further paradox Maier refers to is that gold is a homogeneous
unity, yet at the same time a trinity, containing within itself volatile mercury,
fixed sulphur and the bond that unites the two – a structure that corresponds
with the Holy Trinity. 22 Maier also alluded to these ‘geometrical’ matters in
the twenty-first emblem and discourse of the Atalanta Fugiens (figure 25),
where we find the original source of his speculations – the Rosarium
Philosophorum, in which ‘Aristotle’ declares:
Make a circle out of a man and a woman, derive from it a square, and from the square a
triangle: make a circle [again] and you will have the Philosophers’ Stone. 23
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
sed igneae naturae, calidos et siccos, motu contractionis et dilatationis, quos deinde
mittit per arterias carotidas in cerebrum, ut ibi frigiditate et humiditate cerebrim retiformi
complexu temperentur et fiant spiritus animales sensibus omnibus et motibus causandis
in corpore aptis: ita Sol sive ex puriore aere, sive alias, fabricat essentias subtilissimas,
quibus insunt Lumen, Calor, et Virtus, antea dicta, easque transmittit ad stellas omnes
circumcirca in coelo sitas, hoc est, errantes et fixas.”
21 Maier, De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, p. 6: “Mobilis hic orbis punctus, stipante corona/
Errantum incedit Duxque caputque Facum./ Sic COR et humani dominatur corporis
Aula/ Proque suo nutu subdita membra trahit./ Illud spiritibus venas, vegetoque tepore,/
Unde fluit vitae flammea taeda, beat./ Omnibus, in medio Princeps velut imperat Urbis,/
Artubus hoc vires datque negatque suas.”
22 Ibid., pp. 41-42, 45-46.
23 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, epigram 21: “Fac de masculo et foemina circulum rotundum, et
de eo extrahe quadrangulum, et quadrangulo triangulum; fac circulum rotundum et
habebis lapidem philosophorum.” From “Rosarium Philosophorum.” In Artis Auriferae.
Vol. 2. Basel: Petrus Pernam, 1572, p. 278.
This puzzling pronouncement ultimately pertains to the secret of Creation, in

which the four elements emerge from the ‘monad’ or unity that is God. In the
Atalanta Fugiens the square within the circle is again said to correspond to
the four elements, whilst the triangle within the square corresponds to “soul,
spirit and body.” Although de Jong takes this to be a reference to the
Paracelsian tria prima, there is no mention in Maier’s discourse of salt, the
third element Paracelsus added to the traditional sulphur-mercury dyad. 24
Indeed, elsewhere Maier clearly states that there are in reality only two
primary elements, sulphur and mercury. 25 Rather, this mention of ‘soul,
spirit and body’ is another reference to Aristotle’s theory of elemental
transmutation: thus according to the Atalanta Fugiens the ‘body’ is the
blackness of Saturn or lead, corresponding to earth; the ‘spirit’ is the white
phase of the work corresponding to water; and the ‘soul’ is the ‘yellowness of
the air’. The final ‘redness’ of fire is the “unity and eternal peace” of the
Philosophers’ Stone (represented in Maier’s emblem by the union of man and
woman), which marks the perfection of the work through “the return to the
Monad.” 26 In the De Circulo Physico, Quadrato Maier employs the symbols
of the trinity and quaternity within the unity to represent gold rather than the
Philosophers’ Stone, but in both cases he is using an occult geometry to
describe a ‘spiritual’ body that is the image of divine perfection, uniting
opposites within itself.
For all Maier’s paeans to gold as “the measure of measures” and “the
physical image of eternity,” was he looking for gold or the Philosophers’
Stone as the end-product of his laboratory work, the lapis coagulatus of the
‘ultimate goldenness’? As we have discovered in our earlier consideration of
the Hymnosophia, in accordance with Maier’s medieval sources the virtue or
‘seed’ of the sun imparts ‘vital sensations’ to animals, plants and the metals
‘submersed in the caverns of the earth’; by nurturing this solar seed in the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
24 De Jong, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, p. 169.
25 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 74: “Saba: ‘Sed alii tria huius subjecti statuunt
principia, veluti et rerum omnium, Sal, Sulphur et Mercurium; Quid tu ad haec?’
Solomon: ‘Sunt sane, qui ex binario binarium deducunt, et unum pro alio accipiunt,
binarium materiae, et unitatem formae attribuentes, unde fit Trias compositi ex Monade,
vel triangulus ex circulo, idque aptissime et vere, sed hos alii imitantes sinistre
interpretantur de principiis, quae proprie bina sunt, nempe materia et forma, seu
Mercurius et Sulphur.’”
26 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 21: “Similiter volunt Philosophi quadrangulum in
triangulum ducendum esse, hoc est, in corpus, spiritus et animam, quae tria in trinis
coloribus ante rubedinem praeviis apparent, ut pote corpus seu terra in Saturni nigredine,
spiritus in lunari albedine, tanquam aqua, anima sive aer in solati citrinitate: Tum
Triangulus perfectus erit, sed hic vicissim in circulum mutari debet, hoc est, in
rubedinem invariabilem. Qua operatione foemina in masculum conversa et unum quid
cum ipso facto est et senarius primus ex perfectis numerus absolutus per unum, duo, cum
ad monadem iterum redierit, in quo quies et pax aeterna.”
alchemical vessel Maier constructs his ‘golden’ medicine, which imparts its
virtue to the human heart, thus fortifying the calor innatus and restoring the
balance of the humours. Maier’s central concern in the De Circulo Physico,
Quadrato is to demonstrate that the medical virtue of gold lies hidden under a
hard husk in the manner of a kernel. 27 Although the second half of the tract is
devoted to the practical question of obtaining this virtue, Maier speaks in
very general terms rather than offering the reader specific recipes. We only
learn that the virtue of gold, if made digestible as an aurum potabile, corrects
intemperance in the human body, even if different organs are suffering from
different deficits. This is because gold is the temperate metal par excellence;
its golden bonds unite the ‘finest atoms’ of the four elements in indivisible
harmony, just as they hold the four qualities together and bind volatile
mercury and fixed sulphur in equal proportion. 28 Maier likens these three
bonds to a “golden castle surrounded by three walls,” which remains
unconquerable in the face of all enemies – unless someone has received the
key from “the master of the castle” (i.e. the Creator) through long meditation
and manual labour. 29
Needless to say, the nature of this ‘key’ is not divulged to the reader; but
we already know that Maier commences his work not with gold but with
lead, ‘the mother of gold’, lying in the alchemical vessel. This is reduced
through the black phase of the work to its constituent components – volatile
mercury and fixed sulphur – which are then reconstituted and united in a
more perfect proportion. Thus Maier writes to Moritz that “a straw house
cannot become the marble stone castle of a great prince through the mere
rising up of a seed;” rather, one must “tear down the straw house to its
foundations and thereafter build the marble castle from the ground up.” 30
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
27 Maier, De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, p. 73: “Quod aurum detectum a suo cortice,
nucleum medicinalem offerat, sine quo tota compages ejus fere inefficax habeatur.”
28 Ibid., pp. 40-42: “Triplex omnino aurei nodi filum est, quo ille connectitur: Primum,
Elementorum, terrae, aquae, aeris et ignis illa proportione et mixtionis subtilitate mira
complexio et perminimos atomos mutua colligatio... Hinc natura lente festinat in suis
mutationibus naturalibus, donec Aquila Bufonem attollat, et bufo aquilam deprimat, hoc
est, alterum ab altero inseparabiliter teneatur, et sulfur ex argento vivo generetur,
identitate substantiae Mercurialis manente. Secundum filum complexionis aureae est in
duplici jam dicta substantia Mercuriali, fixa et volatili, rubea et alba, matura et
immatura... Tertium aurei nodi vinculum est aequatio quatuor qualitatum.” In this
passage Maier utilises the theory of a twofold mercury, developed by pseudo-Arnoldus
de Villanova, which postulates the existence of a volatile mercury and a mercury which
is fixed by virtue of an internal sulphur; Roberts, Mirror of Alchemy, p. 62.
29 Ibid., p. 42: “Hoc triplici muro Castrum aureum circumdatum omnibus Elementorum
hostibus insuperabile permanet, nisi quis veram clavem a Domino Castri acceperit
diutina animi speculatione, exercitio manuum et labore Chymico.”
30 Kassel, Gesamthochschul-Bibliothek, 2° MS Chem. 11, 1; cited in Moran, Alchemical
World of the German Court, p. 104.
The court of Moritz of Hessen-Kassel 189
Maier envisaged that the final lapis coagulatus ‘of the ultimate goldenness’
lying in his vessel would not be gold itself, but the miraculous medicinal
‘kernel’ to be found underneath the impregnable husk of that metal. In this
‘tincture’ or seed of gold the four contrary elements would be united – the
‘squaring of the circle’, which would provide the means for producing gold
through fermentation, and imparting a like equilibrium to the four humours of
the human body.
2. Maier and the Calvinist court of Moritz of Hessen-Kassel
Whilst Maier’s dedication of his De Circulo Physico, Quadrato to Moritz did

not immediately result in his entrance into the princely court, in April of 1618
he sent exemplars of the eleven works he had hitherto published to Moritz,
and was accepted as Medicus und Chymicus von Hauß aus shortly
thereafter. 31 This position was extra-mural, and allowed Maier to continue
residing at Frankfurt; 32 according to the letter of service issued by Moritz, he
was to be paid 150 rix-dollars (Reichstaler) per year and 75 rix-dollars extra
to represent the court at each Frankfurt Book Fair, “for as long as the
appointment remains”:
Through the mercy of God, We Moritz, Prince of Caznelbogen, Diz, Zigenhain and Nidda,
do hereby make publicly known that we have adopted by our grace the most learned and
faithful Michael Maier as our Doctor and Chymist; and we do this by power of this letter, so
that he will be our Doctor and Chymist and will be trusty, obedient and willing to warn us of
danger when he resides at Frankfurt or other places; not only to faithfully communicate and
consult with us concerning medical and chymical matters, as the opportunity occurs, but also
to give all kinds of good intelligence concerning other matters. 33
It seems that Maier’s principal task concerning matters medical and alchemi-
cal was to test new medicines at Moritz’ monetary expense – and as we might
imagine, at the possible physical expense of his patients, unless Maier chose
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
32 Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, p. 108.
33 Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, Bestand 4b, Nr. 266: “Von Gottes gnaden Wihr Moriz
Landgrave von Hesen, grave zu Caznelbogen, Diz, Zigenhain und Nidda, thun kund
hiemit offentlich bekanndt, das wihr den hochgelarte unsern lieben getreuen Michaelem
Majerum vor unseren Medicum und Chymicum von hauß auß in gnaden bestelt, uff- und
angenommen haben und thun daß hirmit in craft dieses brives derogestalt und also daß er
unser Medicus und Chymicus, unß getreu, wolt gehorsamb und gewilig sein, unseren
schaden alzeit treulich warnen und hergegen bestes werken, mit unß, wen er etwa zu
frankfurt oder derglichen orter einen sich uffhalten wirdet, nicht allein in medicina und
chymia nach vorfallender gelegenheit getreulich communiciren, und consuliren, sondern
auch in andere wege allerhandt gute nachrichtung geben...”
to follow the example of other physicians at the court of Hessen-Kassel and

self-medicate. 34 But the reference in his letter of appointment to further
intelligence-gathering duties beyond matters of alchemy has fortified the
Rosicrucian thesis of Yates in the eyes of some recent writers, and thus a
more thorough examination of Maier’s relation to the Calvinist court is called
for.
Firstly, it should be noted that German courtiers in the early modern
period were generally required to report the details of their movements and
experiences whilst residing in foreign lands or states. In Maier’s time a
universal postage system had recently been established within the Empire,
and with war impending the exploitation of all possible intelligence
opportunities was paramount. 35 This was particularly true for Moritz, who
was amongst the vanguard of the ‘Second Reformation’ in Germany – an
attempt to fully implement Luther and Calvins’ ‘Reformation of Doctrine’ in
a comprehensive ‘Reformation of Life’, which had as its goal the fusion of
ecclesiastical and secular power under the prince’s absolute authority. 36
Although his humanist education went hand-in-hand with an irenicist
approach to intra-Protestant relations, Moritz was the possessor of an
“undiplomatic and radical Calvinist spirit” which alarmed his Catholic
adversaries; his desire for reform extended beyond the borders of his own
lands, and he played a central role in efforts to install the Elector Palatine on
the imperial throne. 37
Whilst his position compelled Moritz to remain well-informed concerning
developments in the Empire, the historical record does not support the
conjecture of Yates that Maier was a key figure in his intelligence network. 38
During Maier’s years in Frankfurt am Main Moritz had at least three other
agents operative in that city, including a certain ‘Hessian agent’ by the name
of Hans Breul, a postal administrator by the name of Weigand Uffsteiner, and
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
34 Ibid.: “...uff unßer costen medicando und sonste, wozu wihr ihne dienlich und geschickt
befinden und wißen, gebrauchen laßen...”; on the duties of ‘testers’ at the court of
Moritz, see Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, p. 69.
35 Kleinpaul, Johannes. Das Nachrichtenwesen der deutschen Fürsten im 16. und 17.
Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Adolf Klein, 1930, pp. 138 ff.
36 Given the occurence of similar developments in Lutheran and Catholic lands at this
time, Schilling prefers the term ‘Calvinist confessionalisation’ to ‘Second Reformation’;
Schilling, Religion, Political Culture and the Emergence of Early Modern Society, pp.
247 ff.
37 Borggrefe, Heiner, Vera Lüpkes and Hans Ottomeyer (eds.). Moritz der Gelehrte: Ein
Renaissancefürst in Europa. Eurasburg: Edition Minerva, 1997, p. 11; on Moritz’
‘Points of Improvement’, an irenic attempt to harmonise worship and belief between the
Lutherans and Calvinists of his lands, see Menk, Gerhard. “Die ‘Zweite Reformation’ in
Hessen-Kassel.” In Schilling, Die reformierte Konfessionalisierung in Deutschland, pp.
154-183.
38 Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, pp. 81-82, 88.
The court of Moritz of Hessen-Kassel 191
a postmaster by the name of Johann von den Birghden. 39 Another royal agent
in Basel mentions Maier at one point in a letter to Moritz, but only to express
a certain displeasure with the acquaintance. 40 And as we have seen, there is
no justification for the belief that Maier had a hand in organising an Anglo-
Bohemian axis for the Calvinists whilst he was in England: at that time
Moritz used a certain Francis Segar to conduct any important political
business in London, such as seeking subsidies from James I to counter
incursions into the Empire from the Spanish Netherlands. 41
What was the basis, then, for Moritz’ employment of Maier? In his work
The Alchemical World of the German Court, Moran argues that Moritz’
patronage of the occult arts was motivated primarily by “a form of political
despair,” which in the case of alchemy inspired particular interest in the
manipulation and transformation of metals as a possible technological
solution for his political problems. 42 Whilst it is certainly true that princely
patronage in the early modern period was driven by “practical concerns
relating to the demonstration or preservation of political power,” it was the
medical application of alchemy that took the centre stage in Maier’s work
and in his appeals for patronage; thus the particular reasons behind Moritz’
employment of an iatrochemist such as Maier remain unclarified by Moran,
beyond the very general aim of investigating and gaining control over
Nature. 43 Given the close connection perceived between physical and moral
states in the medical worldview of the day, the iatrochemistry of Maier and
other physicians at the princely court offered not only a means of curing
diseases but also establishing a pious life amongst subjects through the
restoration of the body’s natural order – a proposition that would be
particularly attractive to a Calvinist prince who held the moral state of his
dominion close to his heart. Needless to say, contemporary pharmacology
continues to play a central role in the maintenance of social order, with the
proviso that its application to the realms of physical and mental health is no
longer integrated in the same manner. In his practice and in the theoretical
ideas he directed towards Moritz, Maier placed particular emphasis on the
establishing of ‘temperance’ – conceived holistically as a psychosomatic state
– in both individual and society through the operation of a divine virtue.
Thus the unified Hermetic worldview propagated by alchemists such as
Maier not only offered Moritz “an intellectual balsam for religious and
political confusion,” as Moran has it, but also promised a very practical
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
39 Kleinpaul, Das Nachrichtenwesen der deutschen Fürsten, p. 78.
40 Ibid., p. 80.
41 Ibid., pp. 79-80.
42 Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 171, 174-175.
43 Ibid., p. 176.
means of imbuing the princedom with “the flaming torch of life.” 44 Although
they are largely alien to the contemporary scientific worldview, Moritz held
firmly to such vitalistic notions. 45 Furthermore, printing provided the state
with a powerful ideological tool, and Maier’s writings on macrocosmic-
microcosmic correspondence communicated to the educated elite an episteme
in which the natural and social orders are mirrors of the divine. 46 Humanist
intellectuals such as Maier formed an important well of support for
the authoritarian programme of the Calvinist monarchs, and although the
‘Second Reformation’ in Germany had first arisen in the city-states of the
Lower Rhine through the congregational pressure of Dutch Calvinist exiles,
in states such as Hessen-Kassel Calvinist confessionalisation was imposed by
princely autocracy through the collusion of the academic and civic
echelons. 47 In both its practical and ideological aspects, then, Maier’s work
complemented a process of ‘social disciplining’ that advanced in Calvinist
Germany under the rubric of the ‘Reformation of Life’ – a process by which
powerful centralised states were constructed through the promotion of a
culture of piety and obedience amongst citizens. 48
3. Millennialism, nationalism and the descent into war
However, even if Maier’s duties as Medicus und Chymicus von Hauß aus did
not earn him a central role in some ‘Rosicrucian’ intrigue, or even a place
amongst the inner circle of alchemists at the court of Moritz, the surviving
manuscript from his intelligence service is a fascinating document which
reveals something of Maier’s own sensibilities as Europe descended into war
around him. On May the 23rd, 1618 – that is, around the time of Maier’s
entrance into the service of Moritz – Protestant rebels in Prague accused two
imperial ministers of violating the Letter of Majesty, the guarantee of
religious freedom for Bohemian Hussites, Calvinists and Lutherans issued by
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
44 Ibid., p. 24; Maier, De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, p. 6.
45 Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, p. 174.
46 On this point see the much-criticised work by Michel Foucault: The Order of Things:
An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. London: Tavistock Publications, 1970; for a
discussion of the audience of Maier’s works, see Figala and Neumann, “Michael Maier,”
p. 49.
47 Schilling, Religion, Political Culture and the Emergence of Early Modern Society, p.
290; Cameron, Euan. The European Reformation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991, pp.
369 ff.; Cohn, Henry J. “The Territorial Princes in Germany’s Second Reformation,
1559-1622.” In International Calvinism 1541-1715. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986, p.
141.
48 Po-Chia Hsia, Social Discipline in the Reformation, pp. 35-37, 122 ff.
Millennialism, nationalism and the descent into war 193
Emperor Rudolf in 1609. After an improvised trial, the two men were thrown
from the windows of the Royal Chancellery in the Hradschin, an event
known as the Defenestration of Prague (figure 26). 49 Although the men
survived their eighty-foot fall with the help of a dunghill in the castle trench,
the event and its expected consequences inspired a full-scale Protestant
insurrection in Bohemia; and whilst the ailing and childless Emperor
Matthias made some efforts towards conciliation, his nephew and chosen
successor as Emperor and King of Bohemia, Archduke Ferdinand of Styria,
was known as a zealous defender of Roman Catholic and Habsburg interests
in the Empire. 50 Fears concerning the imminent death of Matthias and the
accession of Ferdinand to the imperial throne figure prominently in Maier’s
report to Moritz, which is dated the 18th of January, 1619:
One report says that the Emperor is already dead... others say that he is very weak, and
cannot keep any food down, and everything must be expelled from above rather than
beneath; it is for this reason that he is said to see dead people coming before him, such as the
Empress, Clösel and some others, and is very terrified about it. Clösel is dead, and after his
death hung up; the reason for his imprisonment was that he let the Bohemians know that
Ferdinand is attempting to weaken the Letter of Majesty in order that it might be completely
nullified when he becomes king... As reasonable people here can well imagine, the whole
preparation and war armament that the Spanish have undertaken in the last year in Naples,
Sicily, Spain and Milan, is in order that they may offer their hand to the Emperor against the
Bohemians and the united [Protestant] princes; let Almighty God enlighten our leaders and
princes to defend themselves in good time against such mischief. People say that the
Venetians have allowed the Spanish to pass freely through their land, though this is not to be
believed... It is also announced that a request for access through Your Majesty’s land for
10000 men has been made [by the Spanish], as also through the lands of the Earl of
Wetterau, with the condition that if such access is not permitted, to make it by force. 51
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
49 Schiller, Friedrich. Der Dreißigjährige Krieg. München: Kindler, 1975, p. 70.
50 Ibid., pp. 67-68, 70 ff.
51 Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, Bestand 4g, Paket 57- 1619, pp. 1-2: “Man sagt alhie,
Ihr Kay: May: sey schon todt... Andere sagen, er sey sehr schwach, könne kein essen bey
sich behalten, also das alles von oben, und nicht Unten, musse weg gehen, dazu ursach
gegeben, das er die keisserinne, Clösel und ezliche andere vorstorbene personen fur sich
kommente gesehen, daruber er sehr erschrocken; Dan der Clösel sey gestorben, und nach
seinem todt gehencket; die Ursache des Clösels gefengniss sey auch diesse, das er
geoffentbaret den behmen, wie der k. ferdinandus habe sich bearbeitet, zufor er zu den
kron erhoben, durch der behmen Maiestet brief ein loch zu bringen, oder denselben
umbzustossen, damit er, wan er konig geworden, desto fuglicher ihn ghar konte
vornichten... Was der Expedition gehgen Behmen und der spannier hulf anlanget, könen
Vornunftige alhie wol abmessen, das die ganze zubereitung und kriegesrustung, so der
spannier dis Vorgangene Jar zu Neapolis, zu sicilien, spannien und Meylandt bis anhero
gehabt, dahin gereichen, das er Ihr Kay: May: die handt biete, gegen die behmen und die
voreinigten fursten, Godt der Almechtige wolle unsere haupter und fursten also
erleuchten, damit solchem unheil in zeiten gewäret werde. Man sagt, die Venetianer
haben deme Spannier den pas durch ihr landt vorgunnet, welches doch nicht gleublig...
We can be fairly certain that this was not the first Moritz had heard of a
threatened Spanish foray through his lands; indeed, Maier himself opens his
letter with the self-deprecating admission that he hasn’t any good reason to
write, but that he knows he is duty-bound to do so. 52 The remainder of
Maier’s letter deals with articles of hearsay and superstition that would have
been of little or no use to Moritz, but which highlight the millennialist
anxieties inspired by the deteriorating state of the Empire. The fact that Maier
suggests certain of these portents should be heeded shows that he, too, was
deeply imbued with the prevalent spirit of foreboding:
That the comet which has recently appeared brings with it changes in many things is
believable. The ordinary man says that three stars were to be seen; one was a comet, another
was fiery red, the third (although unbelievable) often gave out a noise. However, these last
two stars should be understood as the planets Venus and Jupiter, which are unknown to the
common man and are seen in unusual parts of the Zodiac. That the star should give forth a
noise is not believable. Nevertheless people say that here around the city walls such voices
(“Woe! Woe!”) were heard at night. People also say that the comet fell into the moat in
Nancy, Lotringen, and in case it had reached the town, it would have flattened it. I don’t
know, however, what to make of these things. Nevertheless I have heard from truthful people
that meteors were seen in the sky in Holland, and that people running together were seen,
and shooting was heard together with the beating of drums. This one should truthfully report,
and also make it publicly known. 53
The comet of 1618 (figure 27) was widely understood as an omen of im-
pending doom for Europe. In his Septimana Philosophica Maier describes
comets as “viscous ascending exhalations” which are drawn up from the earth
by the sun, and may ascend as high as the superlunary regions; we are told
that they do not emit their own light, but like the stars resemble “clear
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Es werdt auch vormeldt, das durch E. F. G. landen fur 10. tausent man ein pas begeret
geworden, wie auch durch der Wetterawischen grafen landen, mit der Condition,
woferne solches nicht vorgunnet wurde, durch macht ihn zu suchen...”
52 Ibid., p. 1.
53 Ibid., p. 2: “Das der Comete, so newlig erschienen eine mutationem mit sich bringen
werde in vielen sachen, ist glaublig, Der gemeine man saget es sein 3. Sterne gesehen
worden, davon der ein Ein comete, der ander sey rodtfeurig gewesen, der dritte habe
(obwol ungleublig) oftmahl ein Stimme von sich gegeben, Jedog werden ohn zweifel die
2. leste sterne Von den planeten Venere oder Hespero und Iove vorstanden, so dem
gemeinen man unbekandt und an ungewönlichen orteren Zodiaci gesehen seint, Das der
Sterne solte ein stimme hören lassen, ist wol ungleublig, Jedog sagt man, das alhie umb
den mauern auch solche Stimme (Wehe, Wehe) des nachtes gehöret worden, Man sagt
auch der Comeht sey in lotringen zu Nancy in den schlossgraben gefallen, welcher so er
die stadt erreichet, sie ertrucket hette, Ich weis aber nicht, was hie von zu halten, Jedog
hab ichs von warhaften leuten gehöret, Das auch Chasmata in der luft in hollandt
gesehen, da auch die personen zusamen laufende gesehen und das schiessent gehöret,
sambt der trummel schlagent, Sol man warhaftig berichten; auch in patenten
umbtragen.”
crystal” which reflects the sun’s rays. 54 That these coagulated vapours
contain fine earthy matter is attested to by the fact that such particles also
adhere to vapour in the alchemical vessel during distillation. 55 Thus in
Maier’s alchemical worldview the cosmos is created in the likeness of a great
alembic, and the possibility that the spiritus or solar virtue reflected from
unusual heavenly bodies such as comets might cause momentous
transformations in worldly affairs is very plausible.
Mention is also made in his letter of an anonymous verse disseminated on
the walls of Rome which read, “The house of the Austrian Emperor perishes:
England will smile, Austria will groan, the Pope will grieve, after 60 years
the glory of the fifth will cease.” 56 Maier goes on to give a lengthy exposition
of a ‘believable’ vision had by a watchman in a town near Frankfurt, in which
a ghostly prince was seen on horseback slaughtering his enemies, the words
‘Heinrich Friedrich’ were heard, and the city of Frankfurt was seen in
flames. 57 Maier also appended to his letter a certain prophecy that had come
into his possession, now apparently lost; he concludes with a solemn request
that Moritz take heed of his humble service and remain his merciful Master. 58
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
54 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 60: “Quid Cometae sunt? Non sunt stellae, quo ad
formam, motum, aut durationem; quamuis, ut stellae, lumen Solis in se recipiant: Qui
enim putant, esse Cometas igneos vapores in aere incensos, et ardentes eo usque donec
absumantur, falluntur: Sol est, qui Planetis, stellis fixis, et Cometis lumen communicat;
Unde patet, quod materia Cometarum sit aeque receptiva Solaris luminis, hoc est,
viscosa, et instar crystalli clara, quam stellarum... Saepe in sublunari visuntur aere, sed
nec raro supra lunam prope Solis altitudinem, aliquando et Martis; qualis fuit, qui ante
40. annos, aut circiter in Cassiopeia apparuit, quem propterea miraculosam stellam
quidam putarunt.”
55 Ibid., p. 35: “Ex vaporibus ascendentibus viscosis fiunt Cometae. Cum vero alicubi
rarefactus est aer, Sol attrahit vehementius vapores, et sic nonnunquam quid crassioris
materiae cum illis elevat (ut quoque fieri potest perignem vehementem arenae vel
cinerum in distillatione aquarum, ut aliquid terrestrioris materiae una cum vaporibus
aqueis attrahatur) quae materia crassior in nubibus consistit;” also Maier, De Circulo
Physico, Quadrato, p. 41: “...si [substantia mercurialis] cruda alba et volatilis per se
consideretur, invenitur, quod in eo aqua ita adhaereat terrae, et terra aquae, quod terra
cum aqua simul in aera seu alembicum ascendat, quod est alias contra communem
naturae institutum.” Although his speculations concerning the origin of comets stray
from the mark, it is an interesting coincidence that Maier’s thoughts on their composition
(i.e. water and earthy particles) conforms closely to our contemporary knowledge of
these objects.
56 Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, Bestand 4g, Paket 57- 1619, p. 3: “InteritUs DoMUs
aUstrIa Cae:/ Anglia ridebit, gemet Austria, Papa dolebit,/ Post ter viginti cessabit gloria
Quinti.”
57 Ibid., pp. 3-4: the words ‘Heinrich Friedrich’ possibly depict Friedrich V as the avenger
of Henry IV of France, the implacable foe of the Habsburgs whose assassination in 1610
by a Roman Catholic fanatic, Ravaillac, dealt a blow to Protestant hopes in both France
and the Deutsches Reich.
58 Ibid., p. 4.
The sentiments expressed by Maier in his report are in keeping with the
“intense Lutheran eschatology” of the time, in which an apocalyptic conflict
with the Antichrist – i.e. the Roman Catholic Church – was thought to be
the precursor to the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. 59 However,
there are other specifically esoteric millennialist elements to be found in
Maier’s work, particularly in relation to the ‘Rosicrucian brotherhood’ and
its role in the re-establishment of the Golden Age. 60 In Rosicrucian circles
these elements emanated above all from the Paracelsian prophecy of the
destruction of a third part of the world and the appearance of ‘Elias Artista’ –
a great artist and scientist identified in certain texts as the chemical agent of
transmutation itself. 61 Maier’s fellow alchemist and Rosicrucian at the court
of Moritz, Raphael Eglinus (1559-1622), believed this apocalyptic event
would mark the overthrow of a ‘bestial estate’, i.e. the rule of humans as
unenlightened beings driven by animal desire and lust. 62 Whilst there is
nothing of the Elias myth to be found in Maier’s work, given his own
proclamations concerning the coming Hermetic Golden Age it is possible that
he envisaged the divine virtues of his own medicine playing a role in the
construction of just such a pious new world.
As we have seen, Maier’s attitude towards Paracelsus was somewhat
ambiguous; on the one hand, certain fundamentals of his alchemical theory
were opposed to the Paracelsian schema, whilst on the other hand he praised
the Swiss alchemist as the ‘Luther’ of chemical medicine. In Maier’s time
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
59 Po-Chia Hsia, Social Discipline in the Reformation, pp. 12-13.
60 See above, pp. 133-135.
61 Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 42-43. Elias appears to be an
amalgam of the biblical prophet Elijah and certain medieval alchemical figures; an
interesting account of the myth is given by ‘Tharsander’, or Georg Wilhelm Wegner in
his Adeptus Ineptus, Oder Entdeckung der falsch berühmten Kunst ALCHIMIE genannt.
Berlin: Ambrosius Haude, 1744, pp. 38-39: “Basil Valentine and Theophrastus
Paracelsus also dreamt much of this Elias Artista. Glauberus, who amongst all the
alchemists easily wrote the most, also wrote a tract concerning this Elias, wherein he
showed how and what this Elias Artista should reform, namely the true spagyric
medicine of the ancient Egyptian philosophers, which was lost for more than 1000 years.
However, he declares in the second part of Miraculi Mundi that this Elias is in fact the
white Sal Artis Mirificum, and highest medicine: and if one changes about the letters of
Elias Artista, as Glauberus himself adduces, one receives: ‘Et artis Salia’. I leave the
alchemists to work out whether this Elias is in fact a real man, or the Philosophers’ Stone
itself; and only remark, that one of these alchemists gives us to believe that Elias is
already at hand. Helvetius, in his tractate Vitulus Aureus, believes that in the year 1666
some adept came to him in the Hague, who gave to him a small kernel of stone, half as
big as a turnip seed, with which he tinged one and a half pounds of lead into the most
beautiful gold, for which reason he took this Adept to be Elias Artista himself.”
62 Moran, ibid., p. 42; Eglinus predicted 1658 as the date of this second coming, rather
roughly following Paracelsus, who stated that Elias would return in the fifty-eighth year
following the first fifteen centuries of the Christian era.
such comparisons of Paracelsus and Luther were commonplace, and reflected

a striving to establish a pan-Germanic identity amongst a patchwork of states
fragmented by politics and religion. Since the time of the Reformation anti-
Catholicism in the Deutsches Reich had been closely allied to a nascent
German nationalism, and humanist Lutheran scholars such as Maier not only
sympathised with efforts to wrest control of the empire from the clutches of
Papism, but also attempted to establish their own claims to a German
‘Renaissance’ distinct from its Italian predecessor. Thus Maier speaks of
Germany as the ‘new Egypt’; and in the Arcana Arcanissima we find the
rather remarkable assertion that the name of the Teutons derives from the
word ‘Thoth’, whose cult Maier believed was particularly strong amongst his
ancient forebears. 63 In this way Maier sought to affirm the legitimacy of
German Hermeticism as a unique entity, rather than portraying his knowledge
as the derivative of the Italian Renaissance that it truly was.
These contemporary tendencies towards cultural nationalism and Reichs-
patriotismus are most clearly demonstrated in Maier’s Verum Inventum (True
Inventions of the German Nation, 1619), a work printed simultaneously in
German and Latin editions in which he praises the ingenuity of the German
peoples in the fields of warfare, empire-building, theology, medicine and
chemistry. The first three chapters of the Verum Inventum deal with the
history of the German Empire and its prerogatives; Maier’s burden is to
demonstrate that the first ‘true invention’ of the Germans was the founding
of the Deutsches Reich by Karl the Great (Charlemagne) – not as a gift of
the Pope, but rather by the “law of war.” 64 When German authority was
threatened by the Italians and the French after the cessation of the
Carolingian line, the empire was maintained for the “Germans alone” through
the ingenuity and strength of Otto the Saxon and his successors, an
independence which persisted thereafter through divine providence. 65 In the
following chapters Maier goes on to enumerate German inventions in the art
of war; mention is made of the medieval German monk and alchemist
Berthold the Black, who reputedly discovered the cannon in 1380 when a
laboratory experiment went horribly wrong. 66 According to Maier, whilst
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
63 Maier, Verum Inventum, pp. 214-215; Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, p. 142; comparable
efforts to link Egyptian lore with the indigenous inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein were
made by Johannes Goropius Becanus (1518-1572), whilst the Swedes Olaus Magnus and
Olaus Rudbeck attempted to demonstrate the kinship of Egyptian hieroglyphs and
Nordic runes. See Iversen, The Myth of Egypt, pp. 88-89, 159.
66 Ibid., pp. 90-91: “Quibus omnibus consideratis Bertholdus Schwartz miscuit haec tria
simul, nempe carbones eos, ut corpus, sulphur, ut animam, sal petrae, ut spiritum, et
posuit invase forti ad ignem fixatis, adhibitis ignis gradibus: Verum quamprimum calor
ignis incendium sulphuris causatus est, vas in mille partes dissiliit maximo cum bombo:
Berthold’s invention has delivered so many more up to death than have been
freed by medicine, its efficacy is just one of the useful by-products of the
search for the panacea, as it has liberated the Christian world from the
incursion of barbarians such as the Huns and Tartars. 67 A chapter is devoted
to the German ‘purification’ of theological doctrine through Luther and
Calvin, which although rejected by the ignorant is particularly salutary for the
Christian world. 68 On the subject of medicine Maier argues that the
conglomeration of the fields of chemistry and medicine instituted by Para-
celsus has given rise to great advances. This is despite the fact that the Swiss
alchemist’s doctrines have been refuted by the ‘learned’ Erastus (1523-1583)
– the Calvinist theologian who established the doctrine of the Church’s total
subjection to the power of the state (‘Erastianism’), but who railed against
Paracelsus as a restorer of Gnostic heresy and disciple of the Devil. 69 A
staunch opponent of the Hermetic arts and zealous persecutor of witches,
Erastus had been close to the court of the Rhineland-Palatinate; Maier
diplomatically steps around the problem of his censure by implying that it is
certain unlearned followers of Paracelsus who are most deserving of the
theologian’s reproach. 70 In Maier’s eyes, Protestants and iatrochemists face
the common enemy of a ‘papist medicine’; and just as Luther has “purged the
papist faeces” from German theology, so Paracelsus has undertaken a similar
task in the realm of Medicine. 71
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Ut autem huius effectus causae probe agnoscerentur, est credibile ipsum monachum non
acquievisse in eo, cum vas fractum esset, forte lapideum, sed vas metallicum fortis-
simum accepisse, ex ferro vel aere campanarum confecto, qualia sunt mortaria vel ollae
metallicae, inque hoc disposuisse hanc suam eandem materiam in maiori copia, et
orificium vasis arctissime conclusisse cum metallo eiusdem generis: sed vase ad ignem
posito, quamprimum calor incenderit dictum pulverem, tanta violentia erupit obtura-
mentum vasis, ut omnia, quae attigerit, penetrarit, fregerit et impetu validissimo
prostraverit: Hoc fuit initium fortuitae inventionis Pyrii pulveris.”
67 Ibid., pp. 84, 90: “Ita dum monachus sapientiam quaerit Chymicam, hoc est Medic-
inam morborum omnium in homine et metallis, reperit Pyrium pulverem, quo tot et
plures tradendi sunt morti, quam inde ea medicina liberandi.”; “Secundum VERUM a
Germanis inventum est pulvis tormentarius et machina bellica, qua insignis mutatio facta
est in mundo, tantum habens boni in vero suo usu, quantum mali in abusu; idque
Christianum orbem a barbarorum, ut olim Hunnorum, Tartarorum, et aliorum, incurs-
ionibus liberavit.”
68 Ibid., pp. 143 ff.
69 Pagel, Paracelsus, pp. 311 ff.
70 Maier, Verum Inventum, p. 214: “Etsi vero a doctissimo Thoma Erasto Paracelsica
Medicina examinata sit et refutata in multis, tamen suos adhuc inventi cultores tam inter
doctos, quam indoctos: Et quotidie nova exeunt opera, quae Chymicam cum medicina
coniunctam optimum ei adminiculum esse declarant.”
71 Ibid. pp. 210-211, 214: “Haec Medicina corporis non curat verba Sophistarum et
Thrasonum, sed mox ad Examen et probam eius professor vocatur; Papistica illa
medicina animae per Sophistas logomachos et distinctionum subtilium authores, Iesuitas
Not surprisingly, these sentiments earned the Verum Inventum a place

alongside the Symbola Aureae Mensae on the papal Index of banned books. 72
The publication of the Verum Inventum at the outbreak of the Thirty Years
War and its distribution in the vernacular for the sake of a wider audience
were not facts coincidental to its author’s purpose. Indeed, the evidence of
Maier’s own words does not support the view of some esotericists that Maier
sought nothing more than a peaceful reformation of the arts and sciences;
rather, they show he was inclined in his later life to authoritarianism, anti-
Catholicism and a militaristic nationalism. 73 In September of 1618 Maier
had already dedicated his Viatorium to Prince Christian of Anhalt-Bernburg,
the military commander of the German Calvinists and their allies amongst the
Lutheran states. 74 The autocratic Erastian programme of Moritz and the
German Calvinist princes accorded well with Maier’s own elitist attitudes
concerning alchemy and its relation to the unwashed masses; thus in his
discourse on the subject of alchemical secrecy in the Silentium post
Clamores, Maier recommends to the reader the work of ‘Clapmarius’. 75
Arnold Klapmeier (1574-1604) was a follower of Machiavelli and a professor
of history and politics patronised by Moritz of Hessen-Kassel; in the book
mentioned by Maier, the De Arcanis Rerum Publicarum, he advocates the use
of draconian measures for the establishment of religious unity, and reiterates
Tacitus’ insistence on the necessity of withholding state secrets from the
common people. 76
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
verbo tenus defenditur et sustentatur, veluti mox ruitura domus per columnas... Cum
Medicina animae esset a purificatore Saxone a foecibus humanis seu papisticis clarior et
syncerior reddita, ita ut quilibet non omnino intellectus oculis privatus, puritatem et
salubritatem doctrinae Evangelicae perciperet, En ex montanis Helvetiorum (quos
Swiceros vocitant et Cymbrorum reliquias) locis alius prorupit Eremita, qui, quod
factum erat in Theologia, similiter in Medicina corporis testare ausus est, et hoc non
minore foelicitatis eventu, quam animi magni conatu.”
72 Moller, Cimbria Literata, p. 378; the honour was bestowed by special decree of the
Congregation of the Index on the 12th of April, 1628.
73 A view derived from statements in Maier’s Themis Aurea concerning the necessity of the
Reformation; see above, pp. 148-149.
74 Figala and Neumann, “Michael Maier,” p. 130, suggest that Prince Christian may have
been a benefactor of Maier’s during his time in Prague.
75 Maier, Silentium post Clamores, pp. 57-58: “Nemo autem, qui sanae mentis est,
existimabit, non solum in mundo arcana haberi, quae in vulgum proferenda non sint,
cum omnes aetates, regiones, personae publicae et privatae, civitates et status sua
habeant secreta, in quae inquirendum aut involandum non sit: De secretis Rerum
publicarum Clapmarius: De naturae arcanis innumeri scripserunt, non quasi omnia
revelaverint, sed quaedam pro Exemplis adduxerint, ex quibus de aliis, quae latent,
iudicium ferre liceat.”
76 Oestreich, Gerhard. “Clapmarius.” In Neue Deutsche Biographie. Vol. 3. Berlin:
Duncker & Humblot, 1957, p. 260.
The formation of a German national identity amongst Protestant scholars

in the early modern period was particularly influenced by the Germania of
Tacitus, the ancient account of the German tribes and their invincibility in
the face of the might of Rome, which took on a specifically anti-Italian
significance through German redactors such as Conrad Celtis. 77 Thus Maier
liberally intersperses his Verum Inventum and other works with citations from
the Germania, and takes particular pride in the fact that Tacitus attested to the
greatness of the ‘Cimbri’, who vanquished entire Roman legions with their
vast numbers and mighty army. Maier followed his patron Rantzau in signing
his name with the appendage ‘Cimbri’, in order to identify himself to his
readers as a member of the indigenous ethnic grouping of Schleswig-
Holstein. Following Tacitus, in his Atalanta Fugiens Maier proudly recalls
that when the Cimbri were denied their land by the Romans, they entered
Italy and slew several thousand Roman soldiers together with their consuls.
As a people who had also fought through the centuries against the
encroachment of the sea on their lands, the problem of Lebensraum was very
real for the Cimbri; thus the point of Maier’s boast is to demonstrate the
alchemical truth that whilst the earth as the last repository of things putrefied
is most vile, it is also most precious as “the mother of all things.” 78 Clearly, it
was German earth in particular that Maier held precious, and the nation that
had given rise to those occult sciences which are like “roses and lilies” in the
alchemical rose garden.
It also seems that Maier planned a more ambitious means of expressing his
nationalism – a work in which he would tie these sentiments more closely to
his belief in an occult natural order. In his Grundlage zu einer Hessischen
Gelehrten und Schriftsteller Geschichte (1786), Strieder makes note of a
printed document not to be found in other bibliographies entitled the Aquila
Germanica (‘German Eagle’). Now apparently lost, this document consisted
of just two pages, and constituted the announcement of a larger work that was
to be forthcoming. Indeed, it was amongst the material Maier offered up to
the judgment of Johann Hartmann Beyer in his letter of the 20th of October,
1617. There we are told that Maier planned the work whilst in England in
order to honour his homeland – an understandable impulse given his bad
experiences amongst the English. 79 The text is given by Strieder, and runs as
follows:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
77 See Muhlack, Ulrich. “Die Germania im deutschen Nationalbewußtsein vor dem 19.
Jahrhundert.” In Beiträge zum Verständnis der Germania des Tacitus. Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1989, pp. 136 ff.; also Schama, Simon. Landscape and
Memory. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, pp. 92 ff.
78 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 36.
verso: “Quod si vero ita vivendum mihi foret, uti absque medica praxi (quam in
The German Eagle; that is, the collective body of the great modern Germans, consisting of
head and limbs, or leader and subordinates, with ten organs or classes as well as similar
institutions; partly ecclesiastical, with Elector Archbishops, Bishops, Masters of the Orders,
Prefects and Abbots, and likewise partly secular, with Elector Archdukes, Princes, Counts,
Barons, Nobles, free cities and subjects of other dominions, as well as extraordinary
members. Together with the particularities of topography and genealogy, and the history of
outstanding places, persons, events and memorable deeds; demonstrated, enumerated and
collated from widely dispersed sources into one composition, and arranged in twelve
chapters, in order that the duty owed to the nation may be discharged. 80
The theme of the correspondence of society to body, and of both to the

universal order, was touched upon by Maier in the De Circulo Physico,
Quadrato, and was developed at length in the Civitas Corporis Humani we
will shortly analyse. Strieder correctly deduces that the plan for the Aquila
Germanica was printed in 1617, on the grounds that the second page displays
the copperplate engraving of Maier with the words “Aetatis suae. 49. Ao.
1617” (see figure 1).
Like Maier’s Aquila Germanica, the Calvinist project in the empire was to
remain incomplete, and the dominion of Catholicism and the House of
Habsburg prevailed. In August of 1619 Ferdinand of Styria was crowned
Emperor in Frankfurt; shortly thereafter the General Diet in Prague deprived
him of the crown of Bohemia, and elected Friedrich V in his stead. 81 So
began the short reign of the ‘Winter King’; for some Lutheran German states
wavered in their support for Friedrich’s venture, and even James I refused to
commit himself to his son-in-law’s perilous bid for the imperial throne. At
the Battle of the White Mountain near Prague on November the 8th, 1620, it
took a Catholic League army sent by Ferdinand less than an hour to defeat
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
commodiori loco potius eligerem) semper aliquid meditandum ac scribendum esset, opus
quoddam hic animo concepi (dum absum a meis) in totius Germaniae, tanquam
communis Patriae, honorem et multorum commoditatem concinnandum, quod quale sit
et ex quibus partibus constare debeat, in pagellis adiunctis, AQUILAM Germanicam
referentibus, patebit, de quo ut iudicium, Excellentiae Tuae candidum et maturum, hoc
est, consilium auxiliumque, eo promptius experiri possim, ut et alias, occasionem hanc
capitandi in dedicando illi Aureum hunc TRIPODEM, hoc est, tres Authores Chymicos,
qui nunc sub proelo fervent.”
80 Strieder, Grundlage, pp. 92-93: “Michaelis Maieri Aquila germanica, hoc est, universum
corpus Germaniae Magnae, modernae, constans capite seu imperio, et membris,
ordinariis, cum organicis sive X circulis, tum similaribus, partim ecclesiasticis, ut
Elect. Archiepiscopis, Episcopis, Ordinum Magistris, Praepositis, Abbatibus, partim
Secularibus ut Elect. Archiduc. Ducibus, Principibus, Comitibus, Baronibus, Nobilibus,
Civitatibus liberis et aliorum dominio subjectis, nec non Extraordinariis; quo Topograph-
iae, genealogiae, chronologiae seu Historiae praecipuorum locorum, personarum, rerum
et factorum memorabilium continentur, demonstrantur et recensentur, ut debitum Patriae
talentum solvatur, ex varie dispersis materiis in unam formam sibi debitam collectum et
in XII. Sectiones dispositum et concinnatum.”
81 Schiller, Religion, Political Culture and the Emergence of Early Modern Society, p. 78.
the Bohemian and German Protestant forces led by Prince Christian of

Anhalt-Bernburg. 82 At the time Friedrich was residing nearby in his Star
Palace (figure 28), an ornate hexagram structure fashioned on Hermetic
principles; such was the haste of his retreat that his crown was left behind,
and he is reported to have uttered the unhappy words, “I now know who I
am.” 83 Ferdinand’s wrath in Bohemia was severe, and he personally rent the
Letter of Majesty asunder and burnt its seal. 84 Thus began the thirty-year
cycle of war, famine and pestilence that – in a strange confirmation of the
Paracelsian prophecy – would cost the German states one third of their
population.
4. The Civitas Corporis Humani – procuring a medicine of piety
Life went on for the 51 year-old Maier, albeit under conditions of increasing
hardship. As Figala and Neumann note, there is no mention on the title page
of Maier’s Civitas Corporis Humani (‘State of the Human Body,’ 1621) of
his status as ‘Medicus und Chymicus von Hauß aus’ at the court of Moritz
the Learned, a fact which not only strongly suggests that he no longer held
this position, but also raises the possibility that his services had been
dispensed with for lack of result. 85 Nevertheless, Moritz remained a staunch
supporter of Friedrich V after the Battle of the White Mountain; even the
dissolution of the Protestant Union in 1621 did not deter him, and in that year
a great part of his revenue was devoted to the cause of Count Ernst von
Mansfeld and Duke Christian of Braunschweig, who raised two marauding
armies of forty thousand ex-Union troops which skirmished and plundered
their way through the heart of Germany. 86 With Spanish and Bavarian troops
occupying the lands of the Palatinate and pressing hard on the borders of his
own land, Moritz may have found little time or money for further patronage
of Maier.
Whatever the reasons for his apparent departure from the princely court, it
seems that Maier continued to make a living with his private medical
practice; the Civitas Corporis Humani is a rather more sophisticated version
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
82 Ibid., p. 85.
83 Ibid.
84 Ibid., p. 86.
86 Schiller, Religion, Political Culture and the Emergence of Early Modern Society, pp. 97
ff.; Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 33-35: the reign of Moritz came
to an end in 1627, when he abdicated in the face of military defeat, and in face of his
own wife’s bargaining with Catholic forces for a portion of his remaining land.
The Civitas Corporis Humani 203
of a pharmacy window advertisement, in which Maier presents the sum total

of his medical knowledge alongside extravagant promises aimed at those
wealthy readers who might employ him. Rather than dedicating this work to a
potential princely patron, Maier makes a general dedication to doctors,
doctoral candidates, and whosoever may be concerned with the diseases of
arthritis and gout – and amongst the latter, as Maier makes clear in his work,
are those on whom his livelihood depends, i.e. the sufferers of these diseases.
In the course of his Civitas Corporis Humani Maier elaborates further on
the correspondences between the princely state, the human body and the
divine order mentioned in the De Circulo Physico, Quadrato, and he
makes explicit the relationship between his own medicine and an ethic of
piety. As in the macrocosm the ‘citizens’ of the universe are the stars,
elements, angels and creatures, so in the microcosm of the human body
each citizen is represented by the organs and limbs. 87 Together, these form
the civitas corporis humani. Three states exist in the body politic –
monarchy, aristocratic oligarchy and democracy – and although there may be
variations of these principle forms, monarchy is clearly the most perfect
amongst them. 88 Likewise, in the human body these three states also exist.
Again, the most harmonious or temperate state is the monarchy – the rule of
the heart, which Maier compares to the prince in the royal court of the thorax.
The other members of the corporeal ‘aristocracy’ – the brain, lungs, liver and
other principle organs – pay homage to the heart, as it is the heart that is the
source of the body’s calor innatus, which imparts to the corporeal state life
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
87 Maier states that Galen observed the elegant order and functions of these ‘citizens’, even
if he opposed the teachings of Moses and Christ; indeed, by his dissection of the human
body Galen had made a greater sacrifice than if he had offered up a hundred oxen at the
pagan altar, for in so doing he came to know God by His works: “De Mundo minore, seu
Civitate humani corporis nostra intentio est dicere, cuius cives, seu viscera et membra,
cum Ethnicus ille Galenus (Mosi, Christoque nostro, contrarius alias) per anatomiam
rimaretur, eorumque concinnos ordines, officia, et functiones miraretur, in libro De usu
partium, se maius DEO sacrificium hac descriptione praestitisse affirmat, quam si
Hecatomben, seu centum bovum oblationem, ad aram instituisset: Certe huiuc
Philosopho et Medico possibile fuit, DEUM ex operibus suis cognoscere, non qualis in
essentia, et quantus secundum immensitatem suam DEUS sit, nec qualiter se in verbo
creationis, redemptionis, et sanctificationis patefecit, sed tamen vere et mire secundum
quid.” Maier, Civitas Corporis Humani, pp. 23-24.
88 Ibid., pp. 33-34: “In tres omnino species Magistratus politicus olim, ut adhuc, divisus,
usu ipso rerum magistro, invenitur, nempe in eum, quo unus omnibus praeficitur, sive
Rex, sive Princeps, aut in quem Optimates plures consentiunt, aut quando populus ipse
imperii habenas penes se habet: Prima species est regnum, vel principatus: Secunda
dicitur Aristocratia: Tertia, Democratia. Hae, et non plures, a politicis omnis aevi
admissi sunt, licet mixti dominatus ex his, vel etiam degeneres non raro legantur:
Nullum est dubium, quin monarchia sit perfectissima Reipublicae forma, in qua potestas
summa sit penes unum, sive Regem, sive Principem.”
and heat (the equivalent of princely justice in the political state). The consent
of the principle organs to the rule of the heart ensures that the common
citizens – the limbs and extremities – remain “steadfast in their duty” and
maintain their proper function. 89 However, if the heart becomes too powerful,
and the other members of the ‘aristocracy’ such as the reasoning brain are
overthrown, tyranny may result. Maier compares this state of affairs to a
royal palace, in which love of power and immoderation has grown so strong
that rubbish and filth pile up at the palace doors, and the common folk whose
work it is to clean up after the monarch become overloaded with their
burdens. 90 In the corporeal state such tyranny is brought about by an over-
fondness for ‘Bacchus and Venus’, i.e. by immoderation in drinking, eating
and sexual activity. 91
Such is the source of the ‘tyranny’ of gout and arthritis,92 which involves a
breakdown of the natural order and may lead to “the utter destruction of the
republic.” 93 Immoderation produces an excessive downflow of humours from
the brain, lungs, liver and stomach, which suffer from a paucity of the
‘justice’-imparting calor innatus. If the body is not destroyed by a revolu-
tionary ‘democracy’, it may become a tyrannical oligarchy, in which the
impurities produced by an impious lifestyle build up in the pericranium and
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
89 Ibid., pp. 34-35: “Ad Aristocratiam itaque mixtam cum principatu referimus,
quemadmodum in Republica Veneta observamus, in qua Magnates dominantur, sed sub
Principe limitatae potestatis: Cor, pulmo, thorax, nec non caput, seu cerebrum, cum
visceribus aliis principalibus ad salutem corporis humani spectant; verum cordi, ut
principi, plurima indulgentur vota, dignitas, et excubiae regales, ut sub eo reliqua omnia
vegetabilia firma permaneant, in suis quaeque officiis. Cor fabricatur spiritus vitales in
suis thalamis, per systolen et diastolen, hoc est, dilatationem et compressionem pulsuum
in arteriis totius corporis sensibilium, eosque defert ad omnes partes, tam remotas, quam
propinquas, ut sic illae vita et calore imbuantur, et perfundantur.”
90 Ibid., pp. 37-38: “Restant membra, vel viscera evehentia superfluitates et saburras
corporis per sua emunctoria, quae, cum plebeia munia obeant, et non semper aequaliter a
calore cordis et spiritibus vitalibus illustrentur, hinc fit, ut facile onerentur laboribus, et
tardentur in functionibus; unde contingit, ut indies materia in nobilioribus visceribus
generata ad haec mittatur: Quemadmodum enim in aula potentissimi Principis, ex
singulis conclavibus sordes eiiciuntur foras, et quilibet a suis ostiis onera illa submovent,
donec tandem ad loca ab aliis neglecta vel humilia devoluantur; sic quoque fit in humani
corporis civitate nonnunquam, dum partes fortiores ad imbecilliores, cordi propinqui-
ores, ad remotiores sua excrementa amandant: Quod si imbecilliores possent respondere
suis viribus ad se translata, alio quoque mitterent.”
91 Ibid., p. 37.
92 Gout is a metabolic disease marked by a painful inflammation of the joints, deposits of
urates in and around the joints, and commonly an excessive amount of uric acid in the
blood; the term arthritis refers to a number of conditions involving inflammation of the
joints due to infectious, metabolic or constitutional causes.
93 Maier, Civitas Corporis Humani, p. 38.
three coctions (the three sites of ‘cooking’ nutrients in the Galenic system,
i.e. the stomach, liver and veins 94) and overwhelm the extremities:
In the body politic the state of the aristocracy we have described degenerates into an
oligarchy if the noblest suppress the inferiors and demand all work and little profit... In like
manner it happens in the State of the human body that a paucity of innate heat and spiritus
vitalis are supplied to the hands and feet, since those extremities are very remote from the
heart, but nevertheless the superfluities which should be expelled elsewhere are transported
to them. This occurs because the hands and feet are positioned in the lower places of the
body, to which place the humours flow by their nature, nor do the extremities possess any
other ways or indeed parts to which they may send the superfluities further. Hence the
tyranny of the oligarchy prevails in the human body, which rages and frenzies most bitterly
in the nerves and tendons of the hands or feet, which it lacerates, dislocates and swells like a
torturer, and makes those organs useless and maimed. 95
The deleterious results of decadence in the civitas corporis humani demon-

strate the close relation of immorality to sickness in Maier’s medicine, and
the necessity of piety and sensual moderation for the maintenance of good
health. If this early modern aetiology of arthritis seems strange to the
contemporary reader, then the purgative remedies which Maier proposes
might also strike us as being somewhat dangerous. Nevertheless, the Civitas
Corporis Humani contains the most detailed description of Maier’s ‘mer-
curial medicine’ and its mode of operation to be found in his works.
Two principle remedies are described, the first being a golden powder,
and the second a ‘fixed yellow Quicksilver’ composed of Mercury and
Sulphur in equal parts, and apparently very similar in nature to the mercurial
medicine Maier produced in Easter of 1604 during his first period of
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
94 According to Galenic physiology, the first coction in the stomach turns food into chyle,
which is transported through the veins of the intestine to the liver. In the liver the second
coction transforms the chyle into blood, which issues forth to the various parts of the
body. In these parts the third coction takes place, by which the material absorbed from
the veins by the flesh is made flesh itself. In the Galenic system the coctions are assisted
by the calor innatus, being thus analogous to domestic cooking. See Hall, A. Rupert. The
Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800: The Formation of the Modern Scientific Attitude.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1966, p. 133.
95 Maier, Civitas Corporis Humani, pp. 38-39: “In Politia est status Aristocraticus ante
relatus, qui in Oligarchicum degenerat, si Optimates supprimant inferiores, illisque
omnia onera et perpauca commoda demandent... Similiter contingit in Civitate humani
corporis, quod paucitas caloris nativi et spirituum vitalium manibus et pedibus supped-
itetur, cum sint a corde eae extremae partes valde remotae, et nihilominus superfluitates
pleraeque totius, quae evehi aliunde deberent, iis transmittantur; quod eo facilius
contingit, quia in inferiori corporis situ collocatae sint, quorsum humores sua natura
defluunt, nec habeant alias partes, aut vias, ad quas ipsae ulterius amandent: Hinc
Tyrannis oligarchica in homine tum exoritur, quae saevit et furit acerbissime in nervos et
tendones manuum aut pedum, eosque instar carnificum lacerat, extendit, luxat, et ad
omnem usum motionis organa illa inutilia et manca reddit.”
alchemical experimentation. This ‘Quicksilver’ is also imbued with solar or

astral virtues, and the stages of the process used to obtain it again follow the
traditional medieval sequence:
I have received the brightest mineral produced by Nature, which resembles ice, the most pure
substance devoid of any heterogeneity, and if we may establish its physical anatomy, it will
be discerned that it is composed of Mercury and Sulphur. That Mercury contains some grains
of silver, and if it is bound together with the correct quantity of silver itself, will then secrete
some grains of gold. This mineral is therefore the grandmother of gold, as it were, and the
mother of natural silver, or rather it is sticky water impregnated with sulphur, which takes
into itself the embryos of gold and silver. It is liquefied in a strong fire, and it is the ray of a
higher sphere: it is pounded into the blackest powder, and it becomes somewhat white as it is
heated by a slow fire in an earthen vessel, and it is made in nine months – not less – and at
length by the tenth month it matures into a fixed yellow Quicksilver. 96
This passage gives clear expression to the medieval alchemical conception of

a cure for ‘sick’ metals and humans alike, and the notion of embryonic forms
of silver and gold created through the ‘impregnation’ of Mercury with
Sulphur, understood by Maier as the infusion of ‘female’ matter with ‘male’
form. 97 Hence the preparation period of nine months, after which “you will
possess the yellow Mercurial substance, twofold by nature, both fixed and
volatile, masculine and feminine, which is our said Medicine.” 98 Maier also
describes his golden powder as a ‘mercurial medicine’, and like the ‘fixed
yellow Quicksilver’ it is also a strong purgative. As it is very potent, only
three to six grains are to be well mixed with aniseed water, cinnamon water
or aqua vitae (wine spirit), and are to be drunk before the grains subside to
the bottom of the cup. This aurum potabile should be administered “when
paroxysm is impending,” but not when the patient is already vomiting. The
draught should be washed down with one or two spoons of the same liquid
medium, “so that nothing should be felt to have stuck in the mouth, throat or
oesophagus, but the complete dose has descended into the stomach with the
liquid.” During treatment the patient should remain in bed, but avoid sleep or
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
96 Ibid., p. 67: “Accepi mineram a natura productam clarissimam, instar glaciei, absque
ullis heterogeneis purissimam, cuius si anatomiam physicam instituamus, composita ani-
madvertetur ex Mercurio et sulphure: Mercurius ille continet in se argenti aliquot grana,
et ipsum argentum, si colligatur ad iustam quantitatem, aliquot auri grana iterum
abscondit: Est itaque illa minera tanquam avia auri, et mater argenti naturalis, imo est
aqua viscosa impraegnata a sulphure, donec hos conceperit embryones: Liquescit in igne
valido, estque radius superioris sphaerae: In pulverem nigerrimum tunditur, et igne lento
in vasis terreis tenetur, donec subalbescat, idque fit nono fere mense, non prius, ac
tandem decimo mense maturatur in argentum vivum fixum subflavum.”
97 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 74; see n. 25 above.
98 Maier, Civitas Corporis Humani, p. 68: “...habebis Mercurialem substantiam citrinam,
duplicem, fixam et volatilem, masculam et foemineam, quae est nostra dicta Medicina.”
ingesting other fluids or solids. 99 The effects of the remedy on the patient are
described in some detail:
The operation is usually accomplished in this manner: as soon as this little powder reaches
the bottom of the stomach, it begins to attract the humours, at first from neighbouring parts,
then from more remote parts; when an abundant amount has been attracted, a portion ascends
through the oesophagus into the mouth, and fills it with sputum, which is continuously spat
into a basin. But in fact the greater part of the same humour remains in the stomach, which it
aggravates while it remains in abundance; there may be nausea, belching, and - by and by -
light vomiting. Which as often and as frequently as it returns, then so often and of so great a
magnitude the work will have been. 100
In accordance with Galenic method, then, this ‘work’ is effected by a

poison; and whilst we may discount Heisler’s strange depiction of Maier as a
poisoner-assassin embroiled in aristocratic intrigue at the court of James I, 101
it is an open question as to whether any of Maier’s patients died of their
‘cure’ before he determined the non-fatal dose of his remedies. In the Civitas
Corporis Humani Maier advises those patients who “do not greatly fear the
use of this powder” to obtain a prescription from their local apothecary; and
failing this, “a quantity pleasing for the price” may be received directly from
the author. 102 Furthermore, we are told that arthritis is not the only ailment
that this mercurial medicine is indicated for; Maier claims that his
Quicksilver will cure ‘quasi in una hora’ a host of diseases caused by the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
99 Ibid., p. 53: “Volumus autem, ut grana iij. iiij. ad vj. usque, eius pulveris sumantur eo
tempore, quando paroxysmus instat, nec dum iam incursionem fecerit, (quamuis in ipso
paroxysmo et urgentibus doloribus idem optime revellendo et evacuando conveniat,) in
aqua stillatitia qualitatis calidae; utpote aqua cinamoni, anisi, vitae spiritu vini, aut simili,
cum cochleari, pulvisculo bene mixto, et per liquorem diffuso, ut, antequam subsideat,
ebibatur, et post unum aut alterum cochlear eiusdem liquoris superbibatur, donec nihil in
ore, vel faucibus, aut oesophago haesisse sentiatur, sed tota dosis cum liquore in
ventriculum descendat: Teneat patiens se in lecto calide, et ab assumptione a somno, et
aliarum rerum ingestione abstineat.”
100 Ibid., p. 54: “Operatio hoc modo plaerumque perficitur: Quamprimum hic pulvisculus
fundum stomachi attigerit, incipit attrahere humores primo viciniores, deinde remotiores
in ventriculum; quorum copia cum adfuerit attracta, pars ascendit per oesophagum in os,
et replet illud sputo, quod continue in pelvim expuendum est; maior vero pars eiusdem
humoris manet in ventriculo, quem dum sua copia aggravat, sit nausea, ructus, et mox
levis vomitio; quae toties redit, et in tanta frequentia, quoties et quanta opus fuerit.”
101 Heisler, Ron. “Michael Maier in England,” in The Hermetic Journal, 1989.
102 Maier, Civitas Corporis Humani, pp. 68-69: “Pulvis Aurelius ubi haberi possit? Si vero
non cuiusvis sit Medici, aut patientis, tantum temporis, laboris, aut sumptus, huic operi
impendere, et interim quis eius pulveris usum ad eradicationem tanti mali non
reformidet, sed maxime desideret, is saltem proximum sibi pharmacopoeum moneat, ut
ad praescriptam formam dictam medicinam praeparet, vel, si neque id tuto aut commode
fieri possit, ut a nobis quantitatem placitam pro suo pretio accipiat, inque usus aliorum
iterum divendat.”
excessive downflow of humours, from fever, ‘hypochondriac melancholy’

and kidney stones to obstructions of the spleen, liver, gall bladder, mammary
glands, urethra and uterus – and all for the price of “an easily tolerated
sickness.” 103
There is a note of desperation, and a strong suggestion of charlatanism, in
Maier’s use of such exorbitant claims. His tone in the Civitas Corporis
Humani is far removed from the elegant natural philosophical speculations of
the Septimana Philosophica or the De Circulo Physico, Quadrato. Had Maier
fallen upon hard times following the loss of his position at the court of
Moritz? Such is confirmed not only by the assertion of the eighteenth century
Biographie Universelle that Maier “sacrificed his time, his fortune and his
reputation to a vain research” 104 – a statement that reflects the standard
eighteenth century view of alchemy – but also by his posthumously published
ethical tract Ulysses (1624), which appeared two years after his death with
the melancholy subtitle, “Wisdom or intelligence, as a spark of heavenly joy,
by which if one might be shipwrecked in fortune and health, one may happily
make one’s way to port with the oars of meditation and patience.” 105 Indeed,
the contents of Maier’s Ulysses – no less than its posthumous appearance –
give rise to the suspicion that Maier had been ‘shipwrecked’ in health, and
that this tract was composed during a time of terminal illness.
5. Ulysses and the death of Maier
Maier’s Ulysses was published with a foreword from his publisher, Lucas
Jennis, announcing the death of ‘the master’ in Magdeburg:
Recently, friendly reader, I received a number of letters from learned men in various
locations addressed to Master Doctor Maier, P. M., whom these men were imagining to be
alive: on which account I could not tarry, but felt I must announce positively to one and all
that the master himself, namely my friend and honoured patron, died in Magdeburg in the
summer of 1622, the debt of Nature having been dutifully paid. When therefore I received
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
103 Ibid., p. 69: “Quibus alias conveniat. Nec vero hoc remedium tantum arthriticis con-
venit, sed aeque omnibus ex humorum colluvie quacunque laboratibus auxiliatur, quasi
in una hora omnem labem morbificam copiosissime cum aegri facili tolerantia edu-
cendo, ut sunt febres tertianae, quartanae, quotidianae, melancholia hypochondriaca,
calculus, obstructio viscerum, lienis, epatis, vesiculae fellis, meseraicarum, emulgent-
ium, ureterum, uteri, et in summa omnium humorum excessus, et ex his morbi, aut
symptomata.”
104 Biographie Universelle, Vol. 36, p. 232.
105 Maier, Ulysses, title page: “Sapientia seu intelligentia, tanquam coelestis scintilla beati-
tudinis, quod si in fortunae et corporis bonis naufragium faciat, ad portum meditationis
et patientiae remigio feliciter se expediat.”
Ulysses and the death of Maier 209
the present little tract named Ulysses from that same man who was hitherto living, I was
unwilling to submit it for publication on account of its humble size. Nevertheless, as I have
said, when several of the most learned men took care that their letters to the deceased Dr.
Maier be delivered to me (having expected that they would be passed on to him because I
had printed the greater part of their works), I felt it would be worth the labour if, for the
better information of everyone, and by issuing this little work itself, I might arrange [for Dr.
Maier] a public departure from this miserable life to death. In doing so I fulfilled the task of a
mother carrying out the last duties for her dead son. Granting, as I have said, this little work
may be too slender in respect of pages, nevertheless with regard to its substance it is quite
big enough, and worthy of being read... 106
It seems from these solemn words that Maier died in 1622 between the date
of the dedication of his Cantilenae Intellectuales, the 25th of August, and
summer’s end in the calendar, the 22nd of September. The cause of his death
is not made clear by Jennis; nevertheless, his wording suggests sickness
carried Maier away rather than accident or foul play. Chronic chemical
poisoning was not uncommon for alchemists in the seventeenth century; thus
the prolific author Glauber died of mercury poisoning, whilst Hermann Wolf
(1562-1620), employed by Moritz of Hessen-Kassel as a physician and
‘taster’, fell seriously ill in 1619 after sampling a leaden clyssi ex Saturni for
his prince, was ‘revived’ by an aurum potabile Angelicanum, but expired
some months later after ingesting Moritz’ very own ‘lunar essence’. 107
Whether or not long-term exposure to ‘Saturnus’, mercury, antimony and
other toxic substances explains Maier’s untimely demise, there is certainly no
justification for Åkerman’s assertion that Maier “disappeared during the
violent siege of Magdeburg by Imperial troops in 1622,” as the city’s
declared neutrality was still holding in that year, and she was not put under
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
106 Ibid., p. 3-4: “Postquam, amice Lector, hactenus diversis ex locis aliquot Doctorum
virorum, ad Dominum Doctorem Majerum, p.m. (quem in vivis adhuc esse certo sibi
persuadebant) spectantes litterae ad me pervenissent: ea propter intermittere non potui,
quin, illum ipsum Dominum Doctorem videlicet, Amicum et Favitorem meum
honorandum, ANNI M.DC.XXII. tempore aestivo, Magdeburgi naturae debitum pie
persolvisse, omnes et singulos certiores redderem. Cum igitur, ipso adhuc vivente,
praesens opusculum, Ulyssis nomine inscriptum, ab eodem acceperim, illudque, ob
parvitatem suam, praelo subijcere noluerim: nihilominus tamen cum, uti dictum, aliquot
viri doctissimi literas suas, ad D. Majerum exaratas, ad me (ut pote qui, non abs re
quidem, credebant, illas ipsas suas literas me hero suo certo transmissurum esse, idque
eo magis, quod suorum operum majorem ad partem sumptibus meis imprimi operam
dedissem) perferri curassent: operae pretium me facturum putavi, si, ad meliorem
omnium informationem, publicatione huius sui opusculi mortalem ipsius ex misera
hacce vita egressum testatum facerem. Qua sane in re matris alicuius, posthumum
aliquem excludentis officio functus sum. Licet vero, uti dictum, opusculum illud papyri
paucitate nimis tenue et parvum sit: nihilominus tamen respectu materiae satis magnum,
lectuque dignum est...”
107 Szydlo, Zbigniew. Water which does not Wet Hands. Warsaw: Polish Academy of
Sciences, 1994, pp. 15-16; Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 69-70.
siege or sacked until 1631. 108 The suggestion that Maier may have been
executed by his enemies is only one amongst a number of myths that have
grown up around his death. Despite the testimony of Jennis – or perhaps
because of it, as he makes mention of Maier’s purported ‘admittance’ into the
ranks of the Rosicrucian Fraternity shortly before his death – the notion has
recently arisen in esoteric circles that Maier did not die at Magdeburg at all,
but changed his identity and continued his work under another name. 109
Whilst not disprovable, one cannot fail to note that similar myths have
adhered to numerous personages in history, and are likely to reflect a
religious impulse in their creators. Furthermore, the Cantilenae Intellectuales
are dedicated to Duke Friedrich III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, the son of
Carnarius’ patron Duke Johann Adolf, and grandson of the patron of Peter
Maier, King Friedrich II of Denmark. In that dedication Maier flatters the
Duke for his “singular love of letters and those who cultivate them,” and
recalls the past generosity shown by the Duke’s family to his own; he also
states that he is hoping to return to his native Holstein with the help of the
Duke’s patronage, thus bringing to an end the fourteen years he has ‘endured’
in foreign lands “perfecting his Hermetic studies.” 110 These are not the words
of someone who had decided “the time was ripe to disappear for political and
philosophical reasons,” as de Rola has it. 111 Rather, they speak of a dying
man’s desire to see his homeland.
Alas, unlike the wandering Ulysses, the ailing Maier was not to make a
heroic return to his native land after years of travelling. Given its clear
parallels with Maier’s own life of wandering and hardship, Ulysses may be
understood in an autobiographical sense, and its subject – the Greek hero
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
108 Wolter, F. A. Geschichte der Stadt Magdeburg von ihrem Ursprung bis auf die
Gegenwart. Magdeburg: Faber, 1901, p. 149; Åkerman, Rose Cross over the Baltic, p.
91. Åkerman’s statement echoes Yates’ suggestive and misleading comment that Maier
“disappeared at Magdeburg in 1622 when that city was in the hands of the troops;”
Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p. 81.
109 This tradition seems to stem from Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, who writes: “Some
biographers believe that Maier died at Magdeburg in 1622, but I do not. I believe that
Maier felt the time was ripe to disappear for political and philosophical reasons, and this
may well be why his last treatise (1624) was given out as posthumous.” The idea of
‘disappearing’ may also stem from Yates; to be fair to de Rola, he rightly admits that this
is “an unsubstantiated feeling.” See de Rola, The Golden Game, p. 106.
110 Maier, Cantilenae Intellectuales, pp. A4-A5: “Mei, quia Holsatus sim patria, quam ob
studia Hermetica penitus absolvenda et apud exteros in diversis regionibus et populis
exantlanda, ante 14. annos reliqui lubens et volens, non, ut spes est, in perpetuum, sed ad
tempus, prout Deo et principi meo placuerit, aliquando reversurus: Meos autem, qui
qualesque fuerint, non solum tota Nobilitas Holsata, sed et parens tuus, avusque Divae
memoriae, quibus illi, quoad vixerunt, servitio fidelissimo astricti fuerunt, optime
noverunt.”
111 De Rola, The Golden Game, p. 106.
Odysseus, or Roman Ulysses – reflects the ideals and self-perception of a

man who is nearing the end of a long journey. Following the method of his
Arcana Arcanissima, Maier portrays the figure of Ulysses as a hieroglyph,
behind which lies veiled a higher truth – wisdom in the face of suffering. This
wisdom takes the form of a paradox, as ill fortune and poor health may be
transformed through the power of the intellect:
Nobody is happy, I believe, unless they are wise, and nobody unhappy or foolish, unless they
do not skilfully use the intellect; for while good and evil things depend on fortune, they do
not define a man or determine the boundary of happiness and unhappiness, since bad may be
transformed into good for a man, and good into bad. I am willing to say the same concerning
favourable or odious circumstances of the body, because they do not truly deliver happiness
or sadness to a man. It is that better part of man, the mind, which determines whether he is
happy or not; and even if this opinion seems at first sight to reveal a rather strong Stoic
attitude, it does not contradict the truth of the Academic philosophy, 112 but rather
approaches it very closely. And if this may be held to be the paradox of paradoxes, I take
care to put it in a way that it might not be unpleasant – unless I am mistaken – to delicate
ears. 113
For all their reification of the intellect, these introductory words appear to be
spoken from experience; and on account of his constancy in the face of
hardship – be it shipwreck, battles with fabulous beasts, or seduction by the
sirens – Ulysses is accounted “the symbol of absolute (human) wisdom,
which exceeds all other mortals, and exalts itself in the ethereal realm, never
crawling on the earth or seeking bestial practices, but sublime, truly
intellectual and peculiar to man.” 114 According to Maier the wisdom
encapsulated in the figure of Ulysses has been ‘imprinted’ by God in the
minds of a select few, and is not visible with the corporeal eye – by which he
means to say that it may be discovered with ‘the little eye of the soul’ we
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
112 Here Maier seems to allude to the Platonic Academy of ancient Greece, and to the fact
that the Good of Platonic idealism is an absolute which cannot become its opposite; in
another place he criticises the Stoics for arguing that God is subject to Fate and not
entirely free; see Maier, Themis Aurea, p. 180.
113 Maier, Ulysses, pp. 11-12: “Nemo est, me judice, beatus, nisi sapiens, et nemo infelix,
nisi intellectu dextre non utens, aut insipiens: Nam quae bona et mala a fortuna
dependent, hominem non definiunt aut ad finem beatitudinis aut infelicitatis non
dirigunt, cum illa mala in bonum, et bona in malum virum transferri possint: Eadem de
corporis accidentibus favorabilibus, aut odiosis dicta velim; quod nec illa vere felicem,
haec miserum reddant hominem: In potiore hominis parte, mente, situm esse debet, a
quo denominatio ejus beati vel contra petenda sit: Quae mea sententia liceat stoam
duriorem primo aspectu praese ferat, veritati tamen Academicae neutiquam adversatur,
sed proxime ad eam accedit: Hoc etsi paradoxon paradoxotaton haberi possit, tamen
faxo, ut teneris etiam auribus non ingratum, nisi fallor, accidat.”
114 Ibid., p. 30: “Ulysses itaque est sapientiae absolutae (humanae) symbolum, quae omnes
alios supergreditur mortales, seque in aethereas exaltat domos, nunquam humi repens aut
bestialia exercitia quaerens, sed sublimia, vere intellectualia et homini propria.”
have discussed. 115 In accordance with Maier’s Lutheran sensibilities, this

wisdom is the foundation of morality, imparting both strength and piety to
humankind, lest it falls into the immoderation of vice. 116
In the figure of Ulysses Maier sees those aspects of a man’s character he
most admires; thus we are told that Ulysses was the most astute of men, the
most eloquent, the most prudent, the most ingenious, the most distinguished
in war, the most expedite in counsel, and the most patient in the face of toil
and danger. In the course of the Ulysses he elaborates upon each of these
seven characteristics with reference to various episodes in the hero’s journey.
In the manner of the Arcana Arcanissima Maier undertakes a curious
rationalisation of the myth, for just as Ulysses represents the intellect, the
divine faculty in humanity, so the men of his company are understood to be
the faculties of vision, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, imagination,
memory and ‘common sense’ – that is to say, the sense in the Aristotelian
schema binding the other senses together to give a common, unitary
impression. Maier illustrates the relation of this schema to his medicine of
piety through Ulysses’ encounter on the island Aeaea with the sorceress
Circe, who turns Ulysses’ men into pigs with her magic wand. Although
these men, as representatives of the base senses, are easily led into a ‘bestial’
existence, Ulysses as the intellect is rendered immune to Circe’s sorcery by
Hermes, who gives the hero the magical herb Moly – in Maier’s eyes, a
cipher for the Universal Medicine:
Ulysses protected himself with the herb Moly, lest he should be transformed by Circe
into wild animals with his men. The men, as I have said, are the senses... and they are
all defeated by the sorceress Circe, or the abyss of wickedness, and transformed into
beasts. Ulysses alone, the intellect, being the exception, who used the most extraordinary
amulet 117 to avert the sorcery. Here one might ask what this Moly, a white flower with
black roots, might be? Without doubt it is a bittersweet virtue that must be searched
for by the intellect and perfected by the will; it possesses a black and bitter root, but
a sweet and lovely little white flower: through baseness to majesty, through toil to glory,
through courage to immortal fame, it is striven for and it is reached. The same thing
concerning Moly and its virtue is asserted by Gratian the Philosopher in the Rosarium
Philosophorum: “and there is in our Art a certain noble body, which is moved from
master to master, in the beginning of which will be misery with vinegar, but in the end
gladness with joy.” This herb arrives from a black root to a little white flower, from
darkness to radiance, from immaturity to perfection; likewise the same [noble] body we
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
115 Ibid., pp. 30-31: “Haec est idaea paucorum mentibus impressa, quae si oculis corporeis
conspici posset, miros sui amores apud quam plurimos relinqueret.”
116 Ibid., p. 31: “Sapientia est, quae hominem exornat moribus, ditat opibus et temperat
virtutibus, ne in extremitates vitiorum immoderatas irruat.”
117 Pliny makes mention of a veneficiorum amuleta, hung around the neck as a preservative
against sickness.
have just mentioned tends from misery to pleasure, from vinegar to joy, like the completion
of a comedy. 118
Naturally Maier does not mention the fact that, in Homer’s tale, Ulysses
proceeds to the bed of Circe once she releases his men from the bondage of
their swinish forms. Nevertheless, Maier’s purpose here is to demonstrate the
integral relation of piety to his alchemy, and its relation to the coniunctio
oppositorum. The ‘noble body’ mentioned in the Rosarium Philosophorum is
not only manifested in the preparation of the cathartic iatrochemical cure and
its operation, but in a life of travelling and hardship, by which the corporeal
realm is superseded and we approach divinity. On both cosmic levels the
Philosophers’ Stone stands in a paradoxical relationship with its opposite,
“the abyss of wickedness,” for as in the black phase of the alchemical
process, so in the seductions and anguish of the body new life and wisdom
are found.
Even if Maier found wisdom in the Great Work that was his life, it would
be tempting to conclude that he did not find it in the laboratory, although he
stubbornly persisted with his methods to the end. For Maier the figure of
the ideal alchemist was to be found in Ulysses, as both are steadfast and
courageous, “pushing on through the many waves of error to the haven of
truth.” 119 This is not the way of the “purely speculative philosopher,” who
regardless of the merits of his reasoning achieves nothing more than the
formation of an abstract idea; rather, the ideal alchemist is “a practical
physical philosopher, who is compelled to prove by the work itself that which
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
118 Ibid., pp. 21-22: “Sexto, idem se molii herba munit, ne in bestias cum sociis a Circe
transformetur: socii, ut diximus, ipsius intellectus sunt sensus tam externi, visus auditus,
gustatus, odoratus, tactaus, quam interni, communis, phantasia et memoria: Hi omnes a
venefica Circe, seu vitiorum voragine superantur, in bestias mutantur, solo intellectu,
Ulysse, excepto, qui amuleto prestantissimo ad veneficium avertendum usus est: Quid
moly sit, flos albus cum radice nigra, hic quaeri posset? Certe est amara dulcis virtus tam
intellectu investiganda, quam voluntate perficienda: Nigram habet radicem et amaram,
sed flosculum album, amabilem et dulcem: Per angusta n. ad augusta, per laborem ad
gloriam, per virtutem ad immortale nomen tenditur et pervenitur: De Moly que dicitur, et
virtute, idem in Rosario Philosophorum a Gratiano Philosopho asseritur, nempe que sit
in arte quoddam corpus nobile, que movetur de domino ad dominum, in cujus principio
erit miseria cum aceto, sed in fine gaudium cum laetitia: Herba ea a radice nigra ad
flosculum album, a tenebris ad candorem, ab immaturitate ad perfectionem pervenit;
Eodem modo et iam dictum corpus a miseria ad gaudium, ab aceto ad laetitiam, quasi
comoedia peracta, tendit.”
119 Ibid., pp. 28-29: “Est enim Herois constantis, animosi et patientis praeclarum exem-
plar, quod poeta in Ulysse exprimere voluit: At nos meminimus, quod in Hieroglyph.
libr. 6. ad philosophum retulerimus, qui per multos errorum fluctus ad veritatis portum
contendat.”
is speculated.” 120 It seems that Maier attempts to rationalise his own failures
when he describes this ‘practical physical philosopher’. Thus he argues that
nothing certain has been established when “the most learned doctor” strays
from the mark in his diagnosis, and is not immediately able to remove an
illness with his remedies, whilst “empiricists, charlatans and little old
women” manage to heal difficult cases with mere audacity and persuasion,
with a false theoretical basis, and without insight into the true causes of
disease. There is a science (i.e. chemia) beyond the extremes of unlearned
empiricism and Scholastic medicine, in which the practitioner is able to
systematically learn from his errors – a science which is nevertheless open
only to the most learned of the learned. 121 These words mark something of a
departure from the exorbitant claims of the Civitas Corporis Humani and its
promise of a cure, quasi in una hora, for diverse and serious diseases. Indeed,
they are more reminiscent of the testimony of ‘Bacsen’ (the Arabic alchemist
Baqsam) given in the Turba Philosophorum, and quoted in the thirty-ninth
discourse of Atalanta Fugiens. After stating that the “seeker after the Art”
needs a patient soul and persevering courage, Baqsam issues the following
stern warning:
Woe unto you who seek the very great reward and treasure of God! Do you not know that for
the smallest purpose in the world, earthly men will give themselves to death, and what,
therefore, ought they to do for this most excellent and almost impossible offering? ...Woe
unto you, sons of the Doctrine! For one who plants trees does not look for fruit, save in due
season; he also who sows seeds does not expect to reap, except at harvest time... Learn O ye
students, that which the Philosophers have long since intimated, saying that truth is not
discerned but by error, and that nothing begets more grief to the heart than error in this work;
for when a man thinks he has done and has the world, he shall find nothing in his hands. 122
Strangely, it seems that this was the wisdom Maier found in his laboratory. In
his discourse on this passage in the Atalanta Fugiens, Maier states that the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
120 Ibid., p. 29: “Non intelligo philosophum mere speculativum, qui sive bene, sive male
ratiocinatus sit, eundem effectum relinquit, nempe scientiam vel opinionem in mente,
sed philosophum physicum practicum, qui opere ipso quod speculatus est, comprobare
cogitur.”
121 Ibid.: “Verum cum in re medica saepe usu veniat, doctissimum medicum, causas rerum
optime perscrutantem, a scopo aberrare, ut morbum suis remediis non statim tollat, et
econtra indoctissimum quoque, Empyricum, agyrtam vel aniculam absque ulla causarum
consideratione, ex falso fundamento, ex mera audacia, et persuasione non raro morbos
desperatos medicis curare, hinc nihil certi hic statuendum arbitror: Est praeter medi-
cinam alia scientia mere intellectualis, quae opus palpabile post se relinquit, nullis
Empyricis, falsariis aut indoctis possibile vel imitabile, sed solis doctiorum doctissimis,
in opere constantissimis, et errores suos emendare non detrectantibus.”
122 Waite, Arthur Edward. The Turba Philosophorum, or the Assembly of Sages. New York:
Samuel Weiser, 1973, pp. 128-129; the final sentence here is taken from Maier, The
Flying Atalanta, discourse 39.
The phoenix and the return of the long-absent traveller 215
same truth lies hidden behind the hieroglyph of the Sphinx, for those who fail
to solve its riddles are destroyed – a fate he understands allegorically as the
‘grief’ occasioned by failure in the enigmatic alchemical Art. 123 In this
complex of ideas we may discern the integral relation of Maier’s laboratory
practice to the magnum opus that was his life; for it was precisely his quest
for the Universal Medicine and his endless struggle to find patronage which
constituted the black phase of the work, an impossible task from which the
final release could only be death. Thus in the Atalanta Fugiens Maier clearly
states that “there is nothing that can restore youth to man but death itself,
which is the beginning of eternal life that follows it.” 124 This is the circular
and paradoxical nature of Maier’s spiritual alchemy, which like the
ouroboros devours and emerges out of itself (figure 6).
6. The phoenix and the return of the long-absent traveller
In concluding our consideration of Maier’s life and its relationship to

his alchemy, we may turn again to his Allegoria Bella, in which the
correspondence of laboratory process to his own personal odyssey through
the world finds its clearest expression. This allegory forms part of the
concluding chapter of the Symbola Aureae Mensae (1617); in accordance
with his role as ‘cook’ for the banquet held in honour of ‘Queen Chemia’, the
Allegoria Bella is offered up by Maier as the bellaria or ‘dessert’, i.e. a
summation of the combined wisdom of the sages gathered around the Golden
Table. 125 Although strictly speaking it is not an autonomous text, the
Allegoria Bella counts amongst the most attractive and intriguing works of
Maier, a fact which no doubt earned its separate publication in the Musaeum
Hermeticum of 1678 and 1749 as A Subtle Allegory concerning the Secrets of
Alchemy. 126
Inspiration for Maier’s allegory was undoubtedly drawn from the quin-
tessential expression of early Rosicrucianism, Johann Valentin Andreae’s
Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz, which appeared a year prior to
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
123 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 39: “...quod si aliquis monstrum praetereat, nil mali
ab ipso patitur, qui vero animi vel ingenii audacia fretus ejus aenigmata dissolvere
conetur, nisi id faciat, excidium sibi parat, hoc est, dolorem cordi et damnum rebus suis
ex errore in hoc opere.”
124 Ibid., discourse 9: “Hominem, quod rejuvenescere faciat, nihil est, nisi mors ipsa et
sequentis aeternae vitae initium.”
125 The work’s full title runs as follows: “Mensae Secundae seu Bellaria, Hoc est, Allegoria
Bella, Vice recapitulationis aut conclusionis summariae totius operis posita, plurimum et
perspicuae utilitatis et iucundae meditationis lectoris menti exhibens.”
126 See above, chapter I, n. 131.
the Symbola Aureae Mensae. That work describes the journey of Christian
Rosenkreutz, the legendary founder of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross,
who sets out to attend a mysterious royal wedding. His seven-day journey
symbolises seven stages of the alchemical work, whilst the wedding itself
denotes the perfection of the opus through the union of Mercury and
Sulphur. 127 As we have mentioned, Maier’s Allegoria Bella is constructed in
a very similar fashion, portraying the alchemical process as the author’s
pilgrimage through four continents in search of the phoenix, the feathers of
which constitute a cure for “anger and grief.” However, given Maier’s own
unsettled life of roaming it is clear that this allegorical pilgrimage was not
composed merely as a didactic analogy for the laboratory work; Maier tells
us at the outset that he himself was “destined to imitate the natural
progression of elements,” which tend from density to subtlety – that is to say,
the pattern of elemental transmutation described in Aristotle’s De
Generatione et Corruptione to which we have referred. 128 Thus he begins his
quest in Europe (earth), travels through America (water) to Asia (air) and
finally arrives in the deserts of Africa (fire) – for “air may not come from
earth except by the mediation of water, and fire may not come from water
except by the mediation of air.” 129 Whilst Andreae’s Chymische Hochzeit is
replete with an intensely surreal imagery, Maier’s allegory is permeated with
a veritable cornucopia of bizarre facts drawn from history, astronomy, botany
and zoology, each of which possesses a microcosmic or macrocosmic
correspondence to laboratory process.
Maier begins his allegory with an explanation of the origins of his quest
for the phoenix. Having spent the greater part of his life in the study of
refined literature and the liberal arts, and having conversed with men of
greater wisdom than the common folk, his contemplation of the masses had
led him to the conclusion that they prefer ostentation, carnality and lust to
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127 In his Elucidarius Major (1617) Maier’s contemporary Radtichs Brotofferr (Christoffer
Rotbard ‘the Exile’) describes the Chymische Hochzeit as a ‘very artful description’ of
the preparation of the Philosophers’ Stone, and enumerates the seven stages of the
alchemical process corresponding to the seven days of Christian Rosenkreutz’ journey as
distillation, solution, putrefaction, multiplication, fermentation, projection and ‘the
Medicine’. ‘Rotbard’ also gives a chemical explanation of the Rosicrucian manifestos in
this work and the earlier Elucidarius Chymicus. Goßlar: Johann Vogt, 1616.
128 See below, chapter VI, n. 3; in constructing this schema (see above, chapter II, n. 61)
Aristotle elaborated upon similar theories proposed by the pre-Socratics. Thus, according
to Heraclitus (535-475 BCE), the world is resolved out of fire (the prima materia) into
water and then into earth (‘the way downwards’), and then returns again from earth
through water to fire (‘the way upwards’). See Barnes, Jonathan. Early Greek
Philosophy. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1987, p. 107.
129 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 572: “Ex terra autem non fit aer, nisi intermedio
aquae, et ex aqua non fit ignis, nisi intermedio aeris.”
honour, and esteem piety and virtue less than the pursuit of material wealth.
When he discovered this melancholy truth, Maier tells us he was not sure
whether he should follow the ‘laughing Democritus’ 130 or the ‘weeping
Heraclitus’, 131 or indeed simply follow Solomon in declaring, “Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity!” 132
Nevertheless, upon reading the Bible he was inspired to investigate “the
most useful things hidden in Nature and man,” be that “at home in books
bequeathed by others, which lead the way for meditation and experience, or
to go out of the house and range through that great book of the world.” 133
Although Maier’s autobiographical testimony in the De Medicina Regia
points to the medieval alchemists as the inspiration for his quest to uncover
the structure of the cosmos and the Universal Medicine, his allusion here is to
the harmony of the two great works of God – the Bible and the Book of
Nature. This harmony is expressed in the Allegoria Bella in the figure of the
phoenix, by which both Christ and the Universal Medicine are signified. The
phoenix had constituted a symbol for Christ since the time of the
Physiologus, an allegorical bestiary produced by Alexandrian Christians
around the fourth century CE, and this significance would have been clear to
many of Maier’s Christian readers. 134 In Maier’s eyes Jesus Christ was the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
130 Democritus (born c.460 BCE), founder of atomic theory and the Epicurean school of
thought, was said to have laughed constantly; imagining him to be crazy, the local
people called upon the great physician Hippocrates to tend to him, whereupon
Democritus confessed that he was laughing at their foolishness.
131 Heraclitus, despiser of democracy and the lower classes, was known as the ‘weeping
philosopher’, in part for his theory of perpetual flux and his belief that ‘war is the father
of all things’.
132 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, pp. 561-562: “Cum iam potiorem vitae meae partem in
literarum humaniorum, artiumque liberalium studiis, ac cum doctioribus quibuscunque,
qui sapere quid prae vulgo viderentur, conversationibus transegissem, ita ut quid
firmioris iudicii partim assidua lectione, partim ipso rerum usu acquisiuisse mihi viderer,
cepi mecum considerare acutius varias hominum actiones, plaerumque vel ad pompam et
libidinem aliis praedominandi et in honoribus anteferri, aut gulam et luxuriem corporis
promovendam, aliaue eiusmodi enormia vitia spectantes, et quod plaerique per fas et
nefas solis fere diuitiis cumulandis, omni conscientiae respectu, pietatis aut virtutis zelo
posthabito, praeoccupati essent; Unde diu anceps et incertus haesitavi, an Democritico
cachinno, an Heracletio fletui eandem ob causam subscriberem, an vero cum Ecclesias-
tico, Omnia vanitates vanitatum pronunciarem...” See Ecclesiastes 1.2.
133 Ibid., p. 562: “...Verum pensiculatis singulis tandem ad me reversus, post Dei Opti.
Max. agnitionem, ex Fontibus Israelis seu sacris Bibliis haustam, nihil melius, prius
aut antiquius inveni, quam rerum abditarum in natura existentium, hominique maxime
utilium, investigationem, qualicunque modo institutam, sive domi per libros ab aliis
relictos, meditatione praevia et experientia manuali pedisse qua, sive foris magnum illum
Mundi codicem pervoluendo.”
134 Physiologus. Trans. Michael J. Curley. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979, pp. 13-
14; the phoenix-Christ analogy is also used by certain Church Fathers, such as Clement
greatest of physicians, and the agent of transmuting the hearts and minds of
men, turning them from lives of sin to piety. 135 In his reference to the Bible,
therefore, we may discern the experiential genesis of Maier’s concern with a
cure for anger, as Christ promises emancipation from base impulses of the
kind that had once jeopardised his own career in Padua. Nevertheless, as a
doctor Maier also understands that anger has a very physical basis, and that
Christ has the temperance-imparting Universal Medicine as a physical
corollary – for “the habits of the mind follow the temperament of the body,”
as Galen has stated, and just as the bravest soldier may be ground down by a
long and squalid imprisonment, so also the mind of man, whilst not being
otherwise predisposed to anger, may be overcome through ‘contamination’
with yellow bile or other humours. 136 The Universal Medicine also promises
to assuage unspeakable sorrows such as those inflicted upon Maier by his
‘harsh fortune’. For we are told in the Allegoria Bella that the phoenix is
synonymous with nepenthe, 137 the cure of worldly cares given by the queen
of Egypt to Helen of Troy, who administered it to the son of Odysseus,
Telemachus:
...like Tantalus, the more I learnt, the more I thirsted: and I had heard moreover that there is a
certain bird unparalleled in the entire sphere of the earth called the phoenix, and that its skin
stripped away from its body (that is to say, its feathers) constitute the pre-eminent medicine
of all medicines, as it is the remedy for anger and grief, or Nepenthe; concerning which it is
written in the ancient texts, that Helena, having been seized by Paris to Troy, supplied it to
Telemachus, who was rapt in the greatest joy, having forgotten all his past toils, cares and
grief. Therefore I was forced to search for this bird – wherever it may have been hidden – by
a certain impulse of Nature and my mind, as if willingly compelled. Not that I hoped to
possess this bird in its entirety (for I could see that was impossible for me), but at least in
order that I might obtain a little feather of it, whatever labour, expense or travel I may need
to undergo. 138
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
of Alexandria, The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, ch. 25, “On the Phoenix
as an Emblem of the Resurrection.”
135 The description of Christ as the greatest of physicians occurs in a number of places in
Maier’s works; see, for instance, Maier, Septimana Philosophica, p. 200: “Quanto enim
honestius est, mederi malis et morbis hominum (quod aeternus Dei Filius hic in terris
versans ante alia omnia elegit et perfecit divinitus) quam cupiditatibus propriis
indulgere.”
136 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 564: “...Quod mores animi sequantur tempera-
mentum corporis: Ut enim alias fortissimus et invictus miles diutino et squalido carcere
enervari et conteri potest adeo, ut aegre seipsum sustineat, ita et mens hominis, alias nec
irae nec furiosis affectibus mancipata, vitio solius corporis biliosi vel ab humoribus aliis
contaminati, saepissime inficitur et vincitur.”
137 According to Pliny and Dioscorides, nepenthe was the herb borage, or borago officinalis,
which was steeped in warm wine and drunk as a sedative.
138 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 562: “A nullo horum inquirendae scientiae modo
abstinui, sed nunc hic, nunc alteri indulgendo, quo plus hausi, eo magis, Tantali instar,
Having decided upon his quest, Maier left his hometown on the day of
the vernal equinox, “when the moon and sun were in the sign of Aries
near the head of the Dragon.” 139 This is a reference to the most auspicious
astrological moment for the commencement of the laboratory work, when
the appropriate astral influences are at their peak. It is also the time of
spring, which marks the beginning of life in the cycle of the year; in which
case we may assume that ‘the head of the dragon’ refers not only to
the constellation Draco which coincides with that of Aries, but also to the
ouroboros, whose head marks the beginning and the end of the cyclical
alchemical work.
According to Maier, Europe represents the element earth because she is
the foundation and mother of the world; she also corresponds to the sun and
gold, on account of the excellence of her people. 140 Giving further reign to
his nationalistic sympathies, Maier describes the Umbilicus Germanicus that
is the centre of the European ‘virgin’, from which both imperial power and
occult wisdom extend:
This is the mother, who is always known as a virgin; this is the most talented nurse of the
people, who has brought forth from herself in abundance many gifts invented by the most
subtle art: in this Umbilicus Germanicus, as the immovable centre from which the axioms of
imperial authority extend, so many arts issue forth as from the fruitful horn of Amalthea. 141
Maier goes on to relate certain ‘miracles’ or hieroglyphic truths demon-

strating the correspondence of Europe to the element of earth: thus in certain
regions of Hungary men live underwater with the help of tufa, which is
congealed out of water; and in the mountains of Karlsbad raging waters are
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
sitii: Audiveram vero inter caetera esse avem quandam in toto terrarum orbe saltem
unicam, PHOENICE dictam, cuius corporis exuviae, hoc est plumae seu carnes habe-
rentur Medicina omnium Medicinarum praestantissima, ut pote quae foret Remedium
IRAE ET DOLORIS seu NEPENTHES, de quo legitur in antiquorum scriptis, quod
Helena, a Paride Troiano rapta, id praebuerit Telemacho, quo ille omnes praeteritos
labores, curas et dolores oblitus laetitia singulari exhilaratus est. Ad hanc itaque avem
indagandam, ubicunque lateret, impetu quodam naturae meae mentisque raptus et quasi
volens coactus sum; non quod sperarem potiri hac volucri integra (id enim mihi
impossibile praevidi) sed saltem ut vel plumam exiguam eius, quocunque labore, sumptu
et peregrinatione adipiscerer...”
139 Ibid., p. 572: “Egressus itaque solo patrio ipso AEQUINOCTII Vernalis die LUNA, cum
Sole in ARIETIS signo circa caput Draconis...”
140 Ibid., pp. 573-574.
141 Ibid., p. 574: “Haec est ea mater, quae virgo semper agnoscitur: Haec est nutrix populor-
um ingeniosissima, quae multa dona artificio subtilissimo a se inventa suppeditavit:
In hac Umbilicus Germanicus, veluti centrum immobile, consistit, a quo ut Axioma
Imperialis Dignitatis dependet, ita multae artes, tanquam ex uberrimo Amaltheae cornu
profluxerunt.”
petrified in the same manner. 142 On the shores of Prussia pellucid and
fragrant amber is washed up by the waves, having been produced from
subterranean juices, and the coral-plants of the Sicilian sea harden into red
and white stony shoots when taken out of the water (figure 29). 143 Maier tells
us these examples are to be understood with the mind, and not only with the
ears – for Europe itself is akin to the fixed ‘Lion Earth’ of the alchemical
vessel, which is not resolved into air, nor is it destroyed by the fiercest fire,
but in the likeness of gold maintains an equilibrium of forces and yields to no
other power. 144
For all the magnificence of Europe, Maier says that he did not find anyone
there who could tell him something more certain about the phoenix and its
medicine; indeed, he encountered many people who would rather jest with
him than aid him by word or deed. Some tell him the thing which he seeks is
nowhere to be found, and when he does find something it will not be what he
expects; they advise him to spare his labours, expenses and droning
questions, which are as insubstantial as Echo following Narcissus – the
implication being that Maier has fallen in love with the products of his own
imagination. Others say that life is too short, and that a man will die before he
finds such secret and intricate things. 145 Nevertheless, in his reply to these
nay-sayers Maier speaks of a certain allure that draws him on in the face of
such doubts – and in so doing he reveals something of the psychology lying
behind his quest:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
142 Ibid.: “In quibusdam Pannonia locis homines sub aquis habitare scribunt, quia ex aquis
induratis tophacei lapides concreverint: In montanis Carolinis aquae ferventes lapides-
cunt similiter.”
143 Ibid., p. 575: “Quis non miretur succinum, lapidem pellucidum et odoriferum ex succis
subterraneis gigni et per maris fluctus littoribus appelli, ut in Sudavia, maritima
Borussiae ora? Ne quid dicam de Corallis Siculi maris, ex vegetabili seu frutice
indurescente extra aquam in lapideum rubrum vel album virgultum.”
144 Ibid.: “...sufficiat nobis Leoninam terram indicasse et intelligentibus, qui mente, non
auribus solum nostra dicta capiunt, innuisse. Terra insuper ut in igne perdurat, nec
resolvitur in aerem, licet flamma sit fortissima, sed Auri instar pretiosi, quibus libet
injuriis resistit, sic et Europa nostra suis potentiis aequata et serata, veluti Terminus
Deorum antiquissimus, nulli cedit.” The reference to ‘Terminus’ here is to the ancient
Roman god of boundary stones.
145 Ibid.: “Multis perreptatis celebr ioribus locis in nullum incidere potui, qui de Phoenice
eiusque Medicina me certiorem faceret, Verum quamplurimos offendi, qui me veluti
ludentem operam et oleum luserint potius, quam iuverint verbis, multo minus rebus:
Quod quaeris, dicebant, nusquam invenies, ac quod invenies, non est, quod quaeris:
Deceptus es ab aliis, qui te, quod non est, indagare impulerunt: Parce labori, sumptui et
inquisitioni vocalis sine pondere bombi, qui velut Echo te Narcissum proprii ingenii
admiratorem sequitur et ad omnia vocata, prout videntur, apta respondet, ad rem vero,
quam inquiris, ineptissima: Nonnulli eorum, haec est res abstrusior et intricatior, aiebant,
quem ut tibi, tuisque studiis conveniat: Demus enim, esse eiusmodi Medicinam ex
Phoenice petendam, at hominis vita per se admodum brevis perit, antequam indagetur.”
Even if truly I may not possess such great gifts, nevertheless I do not know by which
beckoning or command (surely divine, I believe) I am being swept into these troubles, at
once willing and unwilling, with the unwavering and preconceived hope that the sought
medicine will eventually be found through the benevolence of God. As any queen appears to
her king, or a beautiful bride to her bridegroom, so this medicine is pleasing to me before all
good things in the world, and with a certain magnetic power it enchants and draws my mind
towards it, so that I might be willing to forego life, friends and family if I could hold it. 146
Maier also defends his quest by stating that ‘sweat’ comes before virtue and
fame, and “rest from labour will be reached through the earth”: 147 another
indication that his purifying peregrination through the world mirrors both the
transmutation in the vessel and the action of the cathartic Medicine itself.
Having gained no useful information concerning the phoenix in Europe,
Maier travels to the Canary Islands where he witnesses a royal wedding
vaguely akin to that portrayed in Andreae’s Chymisches Hochzeit. 148 From
there he sails onwards to America on a ship with an eagle at its prow. The
eagle is the symbol of St. John; yet its significance for Maier is also to be
found in the forty-sixth emblem and discourse of the Atalanta Fugiens, in
which Maier speaks of two eagles circumnavigating the globe: one comes
from the east, and one from the west, which together signify the two
principles (masculine Sulphur and feminine Mercury) necessary for the
completion of the work (figure 30). Maier also likens the eagle to the lapis
philosophorum because it is said to restore itself to youth by plunging itself
three times into a fountain. 149 In this way the eagle is linked with the cyclical
processes in the vessel, in which the alchemical subject eventually returns
to the point of origin, albeit in a purified and renewed state. In the course
of his peregrination Maier also returns to the place of his departure by
circumnavigating the earth, a subject that figures prominently in the discourse
of the ‘sixth day’ of his Septimana Philosophica. There it is said that
Columbus, Americus and Magellan have fought the vast oceans in their quest
for new worlds, sailing “with barely a hand’s width between their lives and
death;” the latter encircled the entire globe (figure 31), thus overcoming
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
146 Ibid., p. 576: “Etsi vero ego talia et tanta dona in me non agnoscam, tamen nescio
quo ductu aut nutu (credo, certe divino) in has difficultate nolens volens rapior,
spe indubitata praeconcepta, me Medicamentum quaesitum tandem, ex Dei gratia
inventurum esse: Cuilibet Regi ut sua Regina, aut sponso sponsa pulchra videtur, sic
mihi haec Medicina prae omnibus mundi bonis arridet et magnetica quadam virtute
mentem meam sibi fascinat et astringit, ut vita et amicis cognatisque carere velim, si illa
debeam.”
147 Ibid., pp. 576-577: “Ratio est, quia pulchra difficilia, et sudor ante virtutem et gloriam
positus sit: Per terram enim laboris tenditur ad quietem.”
148 Ibid., pp. 578-579.
149 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 46.
human weakness through “steadfastness and greatness of soul” – a theme

familiar to us from Maier’s Ulysses. 150
In accordance with this theme, Maier’s crossing of the Atlantic is des-
cribed as a journey by night through the dark surges of the ocean, in which
perilous encounters with hurricanes and sea monsters mirror the black phase
of the processes within the vessel. At length, however, he arrives at the
shores of Brazil, “a great province of America covered with unbroken
forests,” in which colonies are rare and men with knowledge of the liberal
arts such as Maier himself are entirely foreign. 151 Given that the natives of
that province have only recently received the art of reading and writing from
the Spanish, and hold it in low esteem as “the betrayal of deeds,” Maier
wonders whom he might question concerning the phoenix. For although there
are birds of many species and diverse colours in Brazil, he knows that the
phoenix is of a different nature and is not to be found amongst them. In any
case, he takes to wandering through the fragrant and multi-coloured forests,
where the flowers and trees refresh his eyes and the “natural music” of the
birds frees his mind from troubles. 152 There he discovers an extraordinary
and marvellously elegant apple, on the side of which is the following
inscription:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
150 Maier, Septimana Philosophica, pp. 199-200: “Magna fuit hominum illorum audacia
prudentiae coniuncta, qui, relicta terra, quae humanae genti incolenda concessa est, aliud
elementum, utpote vastum ingressi Oceanum, compactis lignis seu navibus, vitam suam,
ut a morte vix palmum distaret, crediderunt, alium quo quaererent orbem, animalibus,
hominibusque, veluti hunc, inhabitatum, quales fuere Columbus, Americus, et Magel-
lanus; quorum primus novas insulas invenit; alter Americam, de suo nomine sic dictam,
detexit et lustravit; tertius totum terrenum globum aquis undiquaque cinctum cir-
cumnavigavit, incredibili et pene humanam superante imbecillitatem magnanimitate et
constantia.” Maier goes on to say that the physician is an explorer of the ‘little world’
that is man, although he is not driven by greed for gold and the ‘thirst of kings’; rather, it
is his aim to remedy the evils and illnesses of humankind, a task which the eternal Son of
God perfected whilst living here on earth.
151 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 580: “Fluctibus Oceani de nocte horribiliter nigri-
cantibus emensis, multisque periculis a monstris marinis et adversis turbinibus ac
procellis inflictis, exantlatis; tandem ad Brasiliae littora laeti appulimus, quae magna
Provincia est Americae nemoribus continuis repleta. Mapalia colonorum rara, rarissima
oppida, et homines a doctrinis liberalium artium alienissimi sunt.”
152 Ibid., pp. 580-581: “Quos hic, inquam, de arcanis naturae occultissimis consulam, ubi
incolae pro miraculo non ita pridem habuerunt lectionem Epistolae ab Hispanis invicem
scriptae et transmissae, putaruntque chartam loquacem et proditoriam factorum? Quem
perconter de Phoenice avium omnium rarissima? Hoc quidem indubitatum est, volucres
diversorum generum et colorum ibi reperiri, quales non in his locis aut terrae partibus
visantur, verum cum Phoenix sit longe alterius naturae et proprietatis, non est qui illum
inter vulgares aves quaeramus. Nemora hic ex odoratis et variae coloratis arboribus sunt
frequentia, in quae dum meditationibus occupatus aliquando deambularem; partim ut
laetiori arborum florumque aspectu oculos reficerem, partim ut naturali avium cantil-
lantium musica mentem a curis relaxarem...”
Within lies that which you may deliver to its grandmother,

Thence reappears the son which may enter the mother in embrace.
After a little while it will be born again into an excellent tree,
Which will give to the farmer progeny with golden foliage. 153
After pondering for a while over this little riddle, Maier realises that the apple
must come from the garden of the Hesperides, and that the grandmother in
question is the earth – a line of reasoning familiar to us from the tale of
Deucalion and Pyrrha in the Themis Aurea. Thus Maier plants a seed of the
fruit in the earth, and after a short time a sapling grows up; then he looks
nearby for another tree of the same genus (the mother) and grafts the two
together. From this grafting there arises a more noble tree bearing the
extraordinary fruit of the scion – an example, as Maier declares, of the
perfection of Nature through art. 154 Maier goes on to relate a similar story
concerning a sage who passed through the same region and taught the natives
how to breed mules from horses and asses; an allegory which serves to
demonstrate a natural or chemical law in the same manner as the tale of the
apple. 155 For just as the leopard is born from the lioness and the panther (!),
or new varieties of flowers are produced through interbreeding, so gold arises
when Mercury is mixed with the Tincture or “red metal powder” in the fire.
Maier’s point here is to demonstrate that gold differs in kind from both its
parents. 156
Before taking his leave of America, Maier takes a valuable piece of ebony
as a souvenir; in describing its properties he cites the work of Nicolas
Bautista Monardes (c.1508-1588), a physician of Seville who first brought
knowledge of the medicinal virtues of plants in South and Central America to
Europe. 157 Maier also relates that the natives of Peru are in possession of a
miraculous ‘water’ or aqua Americana which makes gold soft and malleable,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
153 Ibid., p. 581: “Intus adest aviae, quod tradas, inde resurgens/ Filius, amplexus matris
inire potest./ Inde renascetur paulo post nobilis arbor,/ Agricolae foetus quae dabit
auricomos.”
154 Ibid.
155 Ibid., pp. 581-583.
156 Ibid., p. 583: “Sunt nam qui dicant ex Pardo et Leaena sic generatum Leopardum, ex
lupo et cane foemina, lyciscam, ex equo et asina hinnum seu mulam diversam a mulo;
Ex surculo seu ramulo unius arboris et trunco alterius illi, non huic similem arborem, ex
floribus certis coloribus mistis, alios flores coloratos, ex Tinctura seu pulvere metallico
ruberrimo cum argento vivo in igne mixto, aurum, quae nec huic, nec illi per oina est
simile, et sic de aliis censendum.”
157 The work Maier cites is the Historia Medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras
Indias Occidentales. Seville: Escrivano, 1574.
yet does not burn the fingers – the reason, no doubt, why America answers to
the element of water in his schema. 158
Maier sails on towards Asia on a ship with a white unicorn at its prow – a
medieval symbol for Christ – and by and by makes a landing in the Persian
Gulf. On account of the moistness and warmth of this region Maier associates
it with the element of air, and speaks of it as the mediator between hot and
dry Africa and the frigid north (a slight variation on the association of regions
with Aristotelian properties given in the Theses Summam Doctrinae de
Temperamentis Corporis Humani). 159 Upon his arrival Maier makes his way
towards Asia Minor, and to the place where Jason was said to have obtained
the Golden Fleece. Coming to the field of Mars, which was the site of
the palace of Jason’s father-in-law Äetes (a descendant of the Sun), Maier
meets an old man of venerable countenance with whom he strikes up a
conversation. As this senex is clearly a wise and experienced man, Maier asks
him if the stories related in poems and histories concerning Jason and his
Golden Fleece are in fact true, or vain and false; for as facts they detract from
faith, but as fictions they may at least represent moral expositions. 160 To this
question the old man suddenly cries “Behold, I am Jason!”, and proceeds to
relate the story of his quest for the Golden Fleece, which had been ‘gilded’ by
Mercury and hung in the grove of Mars by Äetes. As a dragon had been set to
guard the fleece, Jason had subdued it with a narcotic supplied by Medea; he
then sowed the dragon’s teeth in ground tilled by fire-breathing bulls, whose
fire he first extinguished by sprinkling “the clearest dripping water” into their
jaws. Whilst Maier was “somewhat terrified” by the old man’s revelation,
nevertheless he was told not to be afraid, as it appears that the Greek hero
was not in the habit of harming others, but rather sought to benefit them as a
good physician. 161 In this way Maier receives a confirmation of his chemical
interpretation of ancient myth – from the horse’s mouth, as it were.
In time Maier journeys towards Ormuz (Jazireh-ye Hormoz) – a city on an
island in the Persian Gulf that in Maier’s time was a major Portuguese
conduit for the Indian spice trade. In that city, which as we might expect is
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
159 Ibid., pp. 584-585.
160 Ibid., p. 586: “Vellem autem lubens cognoscere, num illa, quae de Iasone, eiusque
vellere Aureo a tot Poesis et historiis tradita, revera ita se habeant, an vero sint vana et
falsa, solummodo ad delectandos homines introducta et huc usque ad nos propagata?
Multi enim his, ceu factis, fidem detrahunt, sed saltem ut fictis moralem expositionem
inducunt.”
161 Ibid., pp. 586-587: “Ad quae ille renidens paululum, en ego, inquit, sum ipse Iason, de
quo quaeris, qui tibi de me roganti omnium optime responsum dare ut possum, sic
polliceor: Quo dicto, cum aliquantulum exhorrescerem, non est, ait ille, cur timeas; Ego
enim et vivus nulli nocui, sed veluti Medicus bonus omnibus profui, sic nec vita
defunctus, quamvis revera mortuus non sim, sed fama, ut semper, vegetus et superstes.”
full of exotic fragrances, Maier becomes embroiled in the locals’ quest for
an ‘earthly paradise’, although he gathers little information from them
concerning its whereabouts. 162 Having crossed to the mainland of Persia he
travels by road until he comes to a fork in the way, where there stands a
statue of Mercury; like the “man of silver who becomes a man of gold” in the
Visions of Zosimos, his body is made of silver and his head is golden, and
with his right arm he gestures towards the ‘earthly paradise’ which Maier
seeks. 163 Setting forth in this direction, Maier reaches a broad river – on the
other shore lies a magnificent garden replete with the sound of birds, exotic
fragrances, evergreen trees and flowers such as amaranths, lilies, roses and
hyacinths. The parallels between the peregrination of the Allegoria Bella and
Maier’s own biography are demonstrated here when Maier also tells us he
could see an organ in the Edenic garden driven by a water-wheel and
windsocks, which gave forth wonderful multi-voiced melodies – a device that
was very similar to one he once saw near Florence. 164 We may take this as
another indication that the peregrinatio academica which Maier undertook
some twenty years earlier served as an important experiential source for the
pilgrimage described in the Allegoria Bella, as his only recorded visit to
Florence occurred on that journey. 165
Nevertheless, for want of a boat Maier is unable to cross the river to the
earthly paradise, and so he decides to return to his quest for the phoenix,
confident in the knowledge that he will one day come back to this
magnificent place. In this passage we may see another reference to the
secluded alchemical garden with its roses and lilies – a symbol for the
perfection of the work, in which things heavenly and earthly coalesce.
Nevertheless, in Maier’s failure to reach his goal we may also see a very
Christian allusion to the afterlife awaiting us when our earthly toils are at an
end. Although the divine law of death and resurrection is to be observed in
the microcosm of the vessel, and the elixir vitae Maier sought to procure
partakes of the divine nature and power in some lesser measure, we have seen
that Maier believed eternal life can ultimately be found only through our
departure from this life. Thus the Edenic symbolism of the Allegoria Bella
recalls the passage in 1 Corinthians to which Maier alludes when describing
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
162 Ibid., pp. 591-592.
163 Ibid., p. 592; see Taylor, “The Visions of Zosimos.” A representation of the Work as a
human figure with a golden head is to be found in the sixth parable and emblem of the
Splendor Solis.
164 Ibid., p. 593: “Nec defuit Musica arte instrumentalis, quae facta erat cum rota suis clavis
deprimente claviculas Organorum Musicorum, atque sic varias melodias 4 5 vel 6
vocum, veluti digitis humanis, causante; follibus ventum afflantibus, dictaque rota a rivo
quodam aquae perenni, motis et circumductis, quemadmodum prope Florentiam Italiae
in Pratolino olim vidimus et audivimus.”
the Rosicrucian Brotherhood’s Liber M. in the third chapter of the Themis

Aurea: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I
know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known.” 166
The frustration of Maier’s attempt to reach the ‘earthly paradise’ prefig-
ures the outcome of his quest for the phoenix, which next takes him to the
penultimate destination of his journey, ‘hot and dry’ Africa which answers to
the element of fire. Maier’s point of arrival is Eritrea, which he reaches by
crossing the Red Sea from Arabia when “the sun has entered Leo for the
second time, and the moon is holding in the height of the house of Cancer;”
more than a year had elapsed since his departure from Europe, and the
astrological signs seemed to augur well for him. 167 Maier begins the tale of
his adventures in Africa by giving a description of a number of fabulous
animals and semi-humans that live there; he also tells us that in the region by
the Red Sea there dwells the ‘Ortus’:
In the same place close to the Eritrean sea a certain wild animal has been seen, called the
Ortus, which has a red head with golden lines extending all the way to the neck, black eyes,
white forefeet, blacker hindfeet, and a white face up to the cheeks. Whilst I was engaged in
meditation on the exterior form of this creature, it occurred to me that the words of Avicenna
the philosopher appear to concern an animal which is in all ways similar: namely, “What is
that thing, whose head is red, feet white and eyes black? That is the magistery.” 168
This creature does not seem to appear in the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo or

the bestiaries which Maier drew upon when compiling his Tractatus de
Volucri Arborea; nevertheless, some clue as to the significance of the beast’s
name is given by the meaning of the Latin word ortus: variously ‘a rising of
the heavenly bodies’, an ‘origin’ and ‘a springing up’ or ‘growth’. Like the
multi-coloured statue of Mercury this beast recalls the vitalistic fantasy
represented in the fourth parable and corresponding emblem of the sixteenth
century Splendor Solis, in which we see a humanoid figure with a red head
and right arm, white left arm and black body emerging from a muddy swamp
and accompanied by the caption, “it is a living thing that dies no more, for
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
166 1 Corinthians 13.12.
167 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 594: “Cum in Africam appulissem, integro exacto
anno et eo amplius, iam Sol iterum Leonem ingressus fuerat, Luna tenente Cancrum sui
domicilii fastigium, quod magnam mihi spem optimi augurii fecit.”
168 Ibid., pp. 594-595: “Ibidem iuxta Erythraeum mare fera quaedam visa est, ORTUS
nomine, cuius caput rubeum lineis aureis ad cervicem usque pertinentibus, oculi nigri et
pedes, praesertim priores, albi, posteriores nigriores, os usque ad genas candidum, fuere:
Cuius exterioris formae consideratione dum detineor, occurrit, philosophi Avicennae
dictum, quod de consimili animali videtur intelligi; nempe, Res, cuius caput rubeum est,
et pedes albi et oculi nigri, quid est? Hoc est magisterium.”
it is endowed with everlasting increase.” 169 Maier’s Ortus represents the

progressive perfection of organic forms, in which the head as the centre of
the most refined spiritus corresponds to the final phase of the work arising
from the inferior, black and earthy parts of the body.
In a cave in the vicinity of the Red Sea there also lives the Erythræan (i.e.
Eritrean) Sibyl – the pagan prophetess who, according to certain of the
Church Fathers, predicted the coming of Christ. 170 Having heard of her
presence there, Maier decides to pay her a visit in order to learn more from
her concerning the whereabouts of the phoenix, and whether its feathers
do indeed constitute a cure for anger and grief. Although she is somewhat
startled by Maier’s arrival and castigates him for approaching a lone virgin
thus, the Sibyl consents to tell him what she knows. She begins her discourse
by stating that the very land in which Maier now stands is the birthplace of
the phoenix, and she goes on to describe the bird in order that Maier may
better apprehend it:
In ancient times felicitous Arabia and its neighbour Egypt rejoiced in this bird, the neck of
which is of flashing gold, the body is covered with purple feathers, and on the head there is a
crest like a crown. It is sacred to the sun, and it lives 660 years; at which time, with old age
approaching, it constructs a nest with twigs of cinnamon and frankincense which it fills with
fragrance. Then it stirs up flames by shaking its wings towards the sun’s rays, and is burnt to
ashes. Out of these ashes there is produced a worm, and from thence a little bird, which gives
its father a proper funeral by carrying the entire nest to Heliopolis in Egypt, the city sacred to
the sun also known as Thebes, and there places it upon an altar. Those who regard this as a
complete fantasy show themselves to be children and poor judges of things; those who take it
to be historical fact just as the words sound are deceived by their judgement. For these things
are Hieroglyphs and are spoken more to the mind than the ears, and are written to the mind
rather than the eyes by means of certain figures and pictures like letters, which are said to be
sacred. If you have no faith in my judgment alone on this matter, you should consult the
Egyptian author Horus Apollo, amongst others... 171
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
169 Salomon Trismosin. Splendor Solis. Trans. Joscelyn Godwin, with an introduction and
commentary by Adam McLean. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Phanes Press, 1991, p. 36.
170 Augustine. “City of God.” In The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 24. Washington: Catholic
University of America Press, 1954, pp. 114 ff. See also Theophilus and Lactantius; and
Eusebius, from whom Maier quotes when introducing the Sibyl.
171 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 598: “Arabia felix, eique adjacens Aegyptus
antiquitus hac gaudebat volucri, cuius collum aureus fulgor, reliquum corpus purpureus
color in pennis cinxit: In capitibus crista, coronae instar, visa est: Soli sacra avis vivit
annos 660 ad quam aetatem cum pervenerit senescens, casia thurisque surculis construit
nidum, quem odoribus replet, conquassatisque ad solis radios alis flammam excitat, qua
comburitur in cinerem: Ex hoc deinde prodit vermiculus et inde pullus, qui priori ceu
patri funera iusta reddens, totum nidum defert in urbem Aegypti Heliopolim Soli sacram,
alias Thebas dictam, ibique in ara deponit. Hoc, qui pro fabula omnino habent, pueri et
iniqui rerum aestimatores videntur, qui pro historia, ut verba sonant, facta, et illi
falluntur suo iudicio. Hieroglyphica enim sunt haec et menti potius dictantur, quam
auribus, inscribunturque potius, quam oculis per certas figuras et picturas, quasi literas,
The Sibyl then cites the words of Horapollo in his Hieroglyphics, which
interestingly are at variance with both the account of Pliny she had just
delivered and the account of the Hieroglyphics given in Hoeschel’s 1595
edition of that work: for the Sibyl states that the phoenix flies to Heliopolis
when it is 500 years old, and if it reaches that city before it dies it is
“cared for mystically” by the Egyptians. Although Hoeschel’s edition merely
mentions that when the phoenix dies “it is buried with great solemnity and
ritual,” the reasoning behind the ‘mystical’ wording of the Sibyl’s account is
clear; for she goes on to tell Maier that “these words are enough to teach you
that the phoenix was understood mystically by the Egyptians, just as it was
cared for ‘mystically’.” 172
This ‘mystical’ significance of the phoenix becomes apparent when Maier
is directed by the Erythræan Sybil to the seven mouths of the Nile, the
dwelling-place of Mercury himself, who has “the power to show you
the phoenix and the Medicine derived from it.” 173 In using the Christ-
prophesying Sybil to demonstrate the path to the phoenix in this way, it is
clear that Maier understands the fabled bird as a symbol for both the
alchemical Universal Medicine and Christ, whose life-giving power of
renewal was manifested not only in His passion and resurrection, but also in
the resurrection of those saved by Him. Thus, whilst en route to the mouths
of the Nile, Maier passes by a famous hill where the bodies of a number of
Christian martyrs are interred. We are told that on a certain day in May
between the rising of the sun and midday the skeletons buried there rise up
towards the surface of the earth until they are visible, then sink back into the
earth as the sun wanes. Maier declares that those who might call this event
diabolical rather than divine are impious, for they deny the will of the free
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
quas sacras vocant: Qua de re si mihi fidem soli non adhibes, consule inter caeteros
Orum Apollinem Aegyptium scriptorem...”
172 Ibid., p. 598: “...‘Phoenicem post quingentesimum annum, cum iam est morti propinqua,
in Aegyptum remeare, ac si praeveniat ante obitum curari mystice ab Aegyptiis, et
quaecunque aliis sacris animalibus tribuunt, haec et Phoenici omnia deberi: Gaudet enim
sole maxime Phoenix in Aegypto praecipue, ut pote illic vehementi.’ Haec Ori verba te
satis erudiunt, quod mystice accipiatur Phoenix ab Aegyptiis, prout mystice curatur.”
Hoeschel’s 1595 edition runs as follows: “Haec enim in Aegyptum, cum tempus mortis
instat, quingentesimo demum anno regreditur: ubi si naturae debitum persolverit, magna
solennitate ac ritu funeratur. Quaecunque enim in caeteris sacris animantibus religiose
observant Aegyptii, ea et Phoenici tribui debent. Fertur siquidem Sole magis apud
Aegyptios gaudere, quam apud caeteras gentes.” Hieroglyphica Horapollinis. Trans.
David Hoeschel. Augustae Vindelicorum: n.p., 1595, p. 44. For an English translation of
this passage, see Boas, George. The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo. Princeton: Princeton
173 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 599: “Pater enim filio dedit potestatem monstrandi
tibi Phoenicem et ex ea petendam Medicinam.”
and omnipotent God; furthermore, such a miracle presents evidence for the
resurrection of the body at Judgment Day, “just as the new phoenix arises
from the ashes of the dead.” 174
When Maier finally arrives at the Nile he finds his quest for Mercury
frustrated at every juncture, as the inhabitants of the delta that once cradled
the Great Library of Alexandria are sunk in a barbarous and abject state.
Nevertheless, this is the place of which Zosimos once wrote:
Go to the waters of the Nile; there you will find a stone which has a spirit; take it, cut it in
two; put your hand in its interior and draw out the heart: because its soul is in its heart. 175
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
174 Ibid., p. 600: “Ad Canopicum primo me contuli, in qua via per collem sepulturae
Christianorum a barbaris ibi quondam occisorum insignem profectus sum, cuius loci
annua miracula, relatu dignissima, hic praeterire nequeo: Num certo quodam die Mensis
Maii cadavera seu ossa sepultorum ab oriente sole usque in meridiem sensim ad
superficiem usque tumbae elevantur ex sese, donec in conspectum eo concurrentium
hominum devenerint, alicubi magis, alibi minus, tum a meridie versus occasum solis
eodem modo deprimuntur, donec omnia ad pristinum statum redierint: Quae si quis
non divina virtute, sed diabolica prorsus fieri affirmet, videat ne a superstitione
nimium discedendo ad incredulitatem seu impietatem inclinet, Deique omnipotentiae
et liberrimae voluntati haec aut his similia miraculosa facta deneget ac subtrahat: Haec
si vera sunt, ut testantur multi, qui viderunt, suis scriptis publicatis, Resurrectionis
corporum humanorum evidentissimum exemplar exhibent, quemadmodum quoque Phoe-
nicis novi ex cinere mortui resuscitatio.” Tertullian also used the phoenix as a symbol for
the resurrection of the body in his On the Resurrection of the Flesh, ch. 13: “What can
be more express and more significant for our subject; or to what other thing can such a
phenomenon bear witness? God even in His own Scripture says: “The righteous shall
flourish like the phoenix;” that is, shall flourish or revive, from death, from the grave –
to teach you to believe that a bodily substance may be recovered even from the fire.”
However, the reference in the gospel of Matthew to which Tertullian refers only
mentions a palm tree – a symbol associated with the phoenix.
175 Zosimos of Panopolis. “Concerning Virtue and its Interpretation.” In Berthelot,
Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, p. 129: “Va vers le courant du Nil; tu
trouveras là une pierre ayant un esprit; prends-la, coupe-la en deux; mets ta main dans
l’intérieur et tires-en le cœur: car son âme est dans son cœur;” the saying is attributed by
Zosimos to ‘Ostanes’. Budge once argued that the very term ‘alchemy’ is ultimately
Egyptian in origin, deriving from an ancient name for Egypt, ‘Qemt’ – a word meaning
‘black’ on account of the dark mud of the Nile’s floodplains. According to Greek
writers, quicksilver was utilised by Egyptian metalsmiths to separate gold and silver
from the native ore, from which process there was produced a dark powder or substance.
Not only was this powder believed to possess the individuality of the various metals; it
was also identified with the body of Osiris during his journey to the underworld, and was
held to possess life-giving powers. From the word ‘Qemt’ came the Greek ‘Khemeia’, or
‘preparation of the black powder’, to which the Arabs added the article ‘al-’. Budge, Sir
E. A. Wallis. Egyptian Magic. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. Ltd., 1899,
pp. 19-20.
Maier’s point of arrival at the Nile is Canopus (i.e. modern Abu Qir on the
outskirts of Alexandria), where he hears that Hermes once said Egypt
signifies the heavens, and that the seven mouths of the Nile refer to the seven
planets; the Canopic mouth answers to the highest of the planets, Saturn, and
as Mercury is his grandson Maier is told to look for him in another mouth of
the Nile. 176 Given the correspondence of the planets to the metals, this
allusion shows the reader of the Allegoria Bella that Maier’s passage through
the delta is akin to the progress of metallic development in the womb of the
earth, and that Maier has begun his journey at Saturn or lead – which as
Rhazes stated is the “first gate to the arcana.” 177
Nevertheless, upon searching all the other mouths of the Nile – the
Bolbitic, Sebbenitic, Pelusian, Tanitic, Phanitic and Mendesian – the
dwelling of the elusive Mercury is nowhere to be found, and the inhabitants
are equally elusive in their answers to Maier’s queries. Whilst the Sibyl had
issued a warning that Mercury has no ‘fixed’ habitation, and is to be found in
different places at different times, Maier begins to believe that she has
deceived him out of some hatred for strangers, and thrown him into this
‘labyrinth’ in order to lead him around with the false hope of reward. 178
Similarly, it seems to him that the deceptions of the delta’s inhabitants are
also born of some loathing of foreigners; but considering this matter
carefully, he decides to follow the opposite of their advice, and begins to
retrace his steps towards the Canopic mouth. Before reaching that mouth he
finally finds Mercury in a place where the inhabitants had previously said he
was not to be seen – in all likelihood the fifth Tanitic mouth, which
corresponds to the fourth planet from Saturn (i.e. Mercury) in Maier’s
cosmology, and where the locals had actively denied Mercury’s presence
rather than disowning any knowledge of the matter. 179
Having received instructions from Mercury (about whose visage nothing
is said), the time is ripe for the fulfilment of Maier’s destiny as it was
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
178 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 603: “Atque sic septem ex ordine Nili ostiis
perlustratis, quem quaesivi, cum non offenderim, deceptum me a Sibylla arbitratus sum,
quae saltem in hosce labyrinthos iniecerit, ut animum falsa spe lactatum circumduceret,
forte ex invidia aut odio erga alienos praeconcepto.”
179 Ibid.: “Verum cum singula, quae contigerant in itinere, revolverem; me forte ab
inquilinis quorumcunque locorum pessime deceptoria responsione circumventum con-
jectavi, ea ratione quod innata quadam ferocia omnes peregrinos fastidirent ac odissent:
Ideoque quid circa primum, secundum ac tertium, aliaque ostia, ab illis responsum fuerit,
bene consideravi, ex quibus quam plurima occurrerunt, quae dubium ante conceptum
augerent potius, quam eximerent: Unde retorsum vestigia relegendo ab ultimo versus
primum regressus sum, ac tandem antequam ad primum redierim Mercurium inveni, in
aliquo ostiorum, ubi incolae visi essent antea negasse.”
prefigured in the augury of his birth. However, when he finally arrives at the
abode of the phoenix, he finds it has “gone abroad” for a few weeks, and so
he returns empty-handed to Europe. The phoenix has taken flight – just as a
dove once flew beyond the grasp of Maier’s mother’s hands – and the oft-
repeated warning of the alchemists has been realised: when the seeker thinks
the Art is finally perfected, “he will find nothing in his hands.” Nevertheless,
in one of Maier’s typically enigmatic and witty asides, we are told that the
phoenix is absent because it has been “appointed arbiter between the owl and
the other birds attacking her, which conflict we have elsewhere put on
record” – an oblique reference to the ‘Rosicrucian’ Owl and its detractors
described in Maier’s Jocus Severus. 180 In his lengthy analysis of the
Allegoria Bella Carl Gustav Jung found it tragic that, at the end of his long
journey, Maier was left with nothing but a feather, i.e. “his own quill pen.” 181
But for those of Maier’s readers well acquainted with the Hieroglyphics of
Horapollo, it is clear that the author has found the phoenix in the face of its
very absence. For in allowing the Erythræan Sibyl to give voice to
Horapollo’s pronouncements on the phoenix, Maier has nevertheless
withheld the crux of that particular passage, which is the significance of the
hieroglyph and the key to Maier’s allegory – “to indicate a traveller who
returns from a long journey to his native land, again do the Egyptians draw a
phoenix.” 182
Apart from offering concise insight into the nature of Maier’s spiritual
alchemy, the Allegoria Bella sets forth that admixture of vitalism, solar
mysticism and pietist Christian sentiments that is so characteristic of Maier’s
thought. Although we must continue to designate Maier’s doctrines as
‘pseudo-Egyptian’ due to the transformation of Egyptian religion by both
ancient and Renaissance Neoplatonism, his works display a very Egyptian
and pagan fascination with gold, the sun and eternal life. In other passages in
the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo from which Maier does not quote, the
phoenix is also said to denote the sun, the immortality of the soul and a ‘long
enduring restoration’, “for when this bird is born, there is a renewal of
things.” 183 Despite the Neoplatonising nature of the Hieroglyphics, these
meanings are congruent with ancient Egyptian depictions of the phoenix or
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
180 Ibid., p. 603-604: “Phoenicem inprimis demonstravit, ubi conveniri deberet, quem in
loco, de quo ne cogitassem antea latere apertissime narravit, quo cum pervenissem, meo
infortunio, exierat foras, (forte tum Arbiter constitutus inter Noctuam et volucres alias
eam insectantes, de quo praelio alibi tradidimus) at post aliquot dies, paucasue sept-
imanas rediturus.”
181 Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, p. 431.
182 Horapollo, Hieroglyphica Horapollinis, p. 44: “Quin et eum innuentes, qui longo
tempore peregrinatus tandem in solum natale remeet, rursum Phoenicem avem pingunt.”
183 Ibid., pp. 42-44, 96.
bennu, which show the bird as a type of heron with two long feathers
streaming from the back of its head, and which associate it with the rising
sun. Hieroglyphic inscriptions speak of the phoenix as “the soul of Ra” and
“the heart of the renewed Ra;” the Papyrus of Ani also relates the creature to
the cult of the resurrected Osiris, and Egyptian funerary trappings represent
the deceased with the words “I am in the form of the phoenix.” 184 In this
way the phoenix represents a typically pagan concern with natural cyclical
processes of ebb and flow, death and resurrection – processes that appear to
have first given rise to the association of the bennu with the returning sun in
ancient Egypt, as the meaning of the “returning traveller” given by Horapollo
derives from the said heron’s periodic migrations. 185 When we view these
facts in light of Maier’s discourse in the Allegoria Bella on the “model of
peregrination” set for man by birds and the sun, 186 it is clear that for all
Maier’s errors the ethos of the Egyptian cults was not entirely lost to him.
As we have seen, Maier did not consider his ‘true home’ to be Europe, or
even his native Holstein. Maier’s homecoming came when death overtook
him as he was returning to Holstein, i.e. through another frustration of his
earthly designs, a fate that seems to have been prefigured in the alchemical
augury appearing at his birth. After the many years he had spent in foreign
lands ‘perfecting’ his unattainable Art, living amongst strangers as hostile to
his quest as the inhabitants of the Nile delta in the Allegoria Bella, the spirit
of this ‘long-absent traveller’ had finally returned to its origins. This is the
‘rotation of the circle’ of which Maier spoke in his De Circulo Physico,
Quadrato, the cyclical return to the beginning in the great vessel that is God’s
Creation – for just as the spiritus descended as a dove at Maier’s birth, so it
ascended at death as Maier returned to his true heavenly home. All things
stem from God, and all return to God; the spiritus moves through the sun to
gold and the human heart, and then returns again to its source. Alternatively,
it is the ‘return to the Monad’ of the Atalanta Fugiens, the ‘unity and eternal
peace’ following the purification of the matter in the vessel – “make a circle
out of a man and a woman, derive from it a square, and from the square a
triangle: make a circle again and you will have the Philosophers’ Stone.”
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
184 Cook, Albert Stanburrough. The Old English Elene, Phœnix and Physiologus. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1919, pp. xxxviii ff.
185 Ibid., p. xxxix; according to Cook, the etymological origin of bennu lies in a root verb
meaning ‘to turn’.
VI. Conclusion: Maier and the historiography of alchemy
1. Piety and the coniunctio oppositorum
Let us now return to the conjectures of Principe and Newman, and in

particular to their argument that the notions of piety and “exhortations to
morality” to be found in the literature are epiphenomena with little or no
relation to the central goal of the early modern alchemist, who merely worked
on “material substances towards material goals.” 1 As we have seen in our
analysis of the life and work of a significant laboratory worker and influential
writer on the nature of alchemical Decknamen, notions of morality held an
important place in the early modern medical worldview. This holds true not
only for Maier, but also for other alchemists of his time, such as Raphael
Eglinus, Oswald Croll, Joseph Duchesne and Heinrich Noll. 2 In Maier’s eyes
disease was closely associated with impiety and a sinful lifestyle; and the
Universal Medicine which he strove to uncover imparted ‘temperance’ to the
human body, a term which refers simultaneously to a somatic and a psychic
or moral state. The imbalance of humours in the body that Maier sought to
treat was the direct result of overindulgence in sensual pleasures, such as the
drinking of alcohol, sexual debauchery and gluttony. Likewise, impious urges
such as anger are the result of just such a disequilibrium in the four bodily
fluids, which may be remedied by the temperance-imparting lapis just as
metals may gain a more perfect proportion or balance of opposing elements.
Furthermore, the operation of Maier’s alchemical remedies depends upon the
‘virtue’ of divine origins inhering in the rays of the sun, be it directly
received or reflected; and in the term virtus itself we may also see something
of the holistic sense that has been largely lost to contemporary science, i.e.
the dual meaning of ‘strength’ or ‘power’ and ‘moral virtue’. Hence the
relation of the body to the princely state in Maier’s work, and the nature of
his appeals to the patronage of his Calvinist master in the De Circulo
Physico, Quadrato.
Central though piety was to Maier’s alchemical physic, there is nothing
in this fact per se which would justify the application to his work of the
phrase ‘spiritual alchemy’ as we have defined it. Nevertheless, in Maier’s
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
2 On this point see Moran, Alchemical World of the German Court, pp. 122-125.
234 Maier and the historiography of alchemy
work alchemical Decknamen refer not only to chemical processes narrowly

conceived in the manner of Principe and Newman, but also to a process of
personal transmutation from a base, earthly state into “a more noble, more
spiritual, more moral, or more divine state” – i.e., a ‘spiritual alchemy’. Thus
Maier believed that he was “destined to imitate the natural succession of
elements” to be observed within the vessel, moving from a denser ‘earthly’
state to a finer ‘spiritual’ state. 3 From the perspective of the history of
ideas, these sentiments are a natural extension of the Hermetic theory of
microcosmic-macrocosmic correspondence, and the traditional alchemical
conception of an agent able to transmute metals and humans alike; in Maier’s
time they were fortified on the one hand by the Protestant emphasis on
reflexivity and the religion of the individual, and on the other by pansophic
concerns with the integration of disparate fields in a unified science. Whilst
Newman has briefly considered in his work the court of Rudolf II, the centre
of pansophic thought in the early modern period, it is only to state that “the
cult of emblems” adhered to by Maier encouraged the trend of employing
‘verbal conceits’ and ‘tropes’ current in medieval European alchemy! 4 In
the pansophist imagination, the relation of the processes in the alembic to
soteriological and spiritual matters was one of correspondence, and not
merely didactically employed analogy. Indeed, when reading Maier’s works
one has the sense that the underlying reality of the cosmos is ‘chemical’ in
his eyes, and that ‘chemical’ research was concerned with uncovering laws
which govern all aspects of the macrocosm and the microcosm – including
the life of the soul.
Whilst Jung’s ahistorical methodology failed to expose the integral
relation of laboratory practice with ‘spiritual’ alchemical notions of the trans-
formation of the psyche or soul, we have seen that in Maier’s work the one
emerges from and complements the other. On the one hand, Maier hoped to
achieve something of a moral transformation in his patients through the
application of his cathartic, purgative medicine; more importantly, however,
it was precisely the hopeless quest for the Philosophers’ Stone that formed
the black phase of the work that was Maier’s life, a peregrination in search of
the arcana in which a finer spirit was distilled through the trials and
seductions of earthly existence. In this sense Maier’s thought conforms to the
ethos of the later German Romantics, who utilised the alchemical symbol of
the blue flower to signify an elusive wisdom that withers away before it can
be grasped. Herein lies the most profound expression of the alchemical
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
3 Maier, Symbola Aureae Mensae, p. 572: “Cur vero hunc ordinem suscipiendi itineris de
una parte in aliam transeundi, animo praeconceperim, haec causa sufficiens mihi visa est,
quod naturalem elementorum seriem, qua illa ex crassis in subtilia, ex ponderosis in levia
migrant, imitari debeam.”
4 Newman, “Decknamen or Pseudochemical Language?,” pp. 162-163.
Chymia and alchemia 235
coniunctio oppositorum; for Maier’s great and fruitless labour to reach the
eighteenth rung of the alchemical ladder, and the sometimes inglorious and
near-fraudulent means he employed to extract gold from his patrons and
patients, formed the means of knowing “the nature of this transitory life, and
the nature of the everlasting happiness to come.” Whosoever denies the
lessons imparted by the liber mundi, Maier writes, is in need of “a dose of
Hellebore.” 5
2. Chymia and alchemia
Given that Maier names his own Art chemia or chymia and uses alchemia in
reference to the work of those vulgar practitioners and Betrüger who have
brought the true Art of transmutation into disrepute, should we dispense with
the term ‘alchemy’ when describing his work? Or should we dispense with
the term altogether when referring to the early modern period, as Principe and
Newman recommend? Whilst these authors have shown that a clear and
consistent distinction between the terms alchemia and chemia did not appear
until the anti-chrysopoeian Lemery elaborated upon Ruland’s mistaken
etymology in the late seventeenth century, Maier was already distinguishing
between the two terms on the basis of charlatanism by the early seventeenth
century. In itself this fact suggests that the eventual widespread distinction
between the two terms – the one referring to the procurement of the
lapis philosophorum, the other to a chemical research rejecting metallic
transmutation and the feasibility of an elixir vitae – was not merely the result
of an etymological error, but may also have emerged through earlier attempts
to distinguish unlearned from legitimate chemical research. Maier’s
discarding of the term alchemia in favour of chemia is in accord with the
rationalising aspect of his work, and may indicate that the exotic otherness
imparted by the Arabic definite article ‘al’ was beginning to be associated in
his time with equally outlandish and spurious claims (hence the widespread
seventeenth century misunderstanding of ‘al’ as signifying the ‘great’ or
‘sublime’ nature of the Art). 6 Whatever the case may be, with the progressive
‘disenchantment of the world’ associated with the rise of modernity the term
alchemia became associated exclusively with transmutational pursuits
excluded from the domain of ‘legitimate’ chemical research.
In her study of Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens de Jong has also made note of
the fact that Maier eschewed the term ‘alchemy’ in favour of chemia or
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
5 See above, chapter V, n. 15; Hellebore was a plant with violent emetic and cathartic
properties much used by the ancients as a remedy for mental disease; it has been used as
a term of invective through the centuries.
6 C.f. Principe and Newman, “Alchemy vs. Chemistry,” passim.
chymia in his work; nevertheless, she continues to use the term herself
because Maier draws from sources prior to the widespread emergence of the
term chymia, and because his iatrochemical goals bear a strong resemblance
to those of his medieval predecessors (i.e. the production of a Universal
Medicine which imparts its virtue to metals and the human body alike). 7 It
behoves us to follow this sound reasoning when considering the continuity
existing between Maier’s work and subsequent esoteric pursuits sequestered
from the scientific mainstream in the course of the eighteenth century. If we
were to cease utilising the term ‘alchemy’ in favour of chymia on the grounds
that such use would constitute a ‘presentist’ projection of contemporary
categories into a time when they did not exist, we would be left with a
medieval ‘alchemy’, an early modern chymia, and a modern ‘alchemy’, with
no sense left of the clear ideological continuity between them. Likewise, the
term ‘alchemy’ could not be applied to the pre-Arabic pursuit of metallic
and spiritual transmutation. Given these difficulties inherent in Principe and
Newmans’ proposal, one may legitimately speak of Maier’s place in an
esoteric tradition of ‘alchemy’; for just as the retrospectively-constructed
term ‘humanism’ would have proved a strange conception in the Renaissance
and early modern periods, so the term ‘alchemy’ – whilst possessing negative
connotations in Maier’s work – is indispensable as a category in the history
of Western esotericism. In making sense of the alchemical past we cannot
fail to be ‘presentist’, as our own schismatic understanding of science and
religion is grounded in developments which were nascent in the early modern
era but which had not fully crystallised by that time.
On this count there can be no doubt that Maier stood at a crossroad in the
history of ideas, as Jung suggested; for whilst the rationalising elements
present in his work led Peuckert to speak of Maier’s “philosophy of the
laboratory” which “must lead in the end to Newton,” 8 it is also clear that the
spiritual alchemy, vitalism, pietism and pseudo-Egyptianism drawn from his
work by the eighteenth century Gold- und Rosenkreutz lay on the wrong side
of the Aufklärung (a fact demonstrated by that Order’s inter-Masonic conflict
with the Illuminati). But of course, in the eyes of Principe and Newman there
is no continuity between early modern laboratory alchemy and the later
esoteric traditions, as the alchemical Decknamen of the seventeenth century
became ‘meaningless’ in the hands of the secret societies. 9
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
7 de Jong, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, p. 11.
8 Peuckert, Pansophie (1936 edition), pp. 107-108.
The ‘Tradition’ and the fate of Maier’s thought 237
3. The ‘Tradition’ and the fate of Maier’s thought
In order to offer a corrective to this claim, let us proceed to chart the history
of the reception of Maier’s thought amongst later writers. When delving
through this history and uncovering the myriad verdicts pronounced con-
cerning the value of Maier’s labour or the moral standing of this man, it must
be said that a mercurial figure emerges. Maier has been the subject of a
spate of recent academic studies, many of which have focussed on his work
of multimedia, the Atalanta Fugiens, which has been described as “the
strangest, the most beautiful and the most innovative work of esoteric
alchemy in the seventeenth century.” 10 Maier has also figured in recent works
of popular fiction, in which he has been playfully portrayed as the erstwhile
correspondent of John Dee, or the purveyor of an elusive wisdom. 11 Amongst
Protestant writers of the last century the judgment was mixed; thus Mont-
gomery perceived in Maier’s work inclinations towards “an existential Christ
mysticism,” yet the Reverend Craven felt that Maier’s desire for “earthly
riches” led him away from “higher studies.” 12 And in the esoteric circles of
contemporary Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, Maier is accepted as an
initiate of the mysteries and a representative of the ‘Tradition’, even if his
enigmatic style has eluded some writers. 13
The conception of a Tradition prevalent in contemporary esoteric circles
stems in part from the Renaissance, and the attempt to identify the chain of
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
10 Kindlers Literatur Lexikon. Vol. 8. Weinheim: Zweiburgen Verlag, 1982, p. 10478; in
addition to those works already cited above, we may mention Mödersheim, Sabine.
“Mater et Matrix: Michael Maiers alchimistische Sinnbilder der Mutter.” In Mutter und
Mütterlichkeit: Wandel und Wirksamkeit einer Phantasie in der deutschen Literatur.
Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 1996, pp. 31-56; Rebotier, Jacques. “La
Musique Cachée de l’Atalanta Fugiens,” Chrysopoeia, Vol. 1, 1987, pp. 56-76; Allen,
Sally G. “Outrunning Atalanta: Feminine Destiny in Alchemical Transmutation,” Journal
of Women in Culture and Society, Vol. 6, 1980, pp. 210-221; Streich, Hildemarie.
“Musikalische und psychologische Entsprechungen in der Atalanta Fugiens von Michael
Maier.” In Correspondences in Man and World. Eranos Yearbook, 1973. Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1975, pp. 361-426. Forthcoming studies on Maier will appear from Erik Leibenguth
of Universität Heidelberg (Cantilenae Intellectuales) and Bernhard Zagler of Technische
Universität München (Theses Summam Doctrinae de Temperamentis Corporis Humani).
11 Umminger, Walter. Das Winterkönigreich. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1994; Eco, Umberto.
Das Foucaultsche Pendel. München: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1989.
12 Montgomery, Cross and Crucible, p. 19; Craven, Count Michael Maier, p. 11.
13 Thus the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC) recently established a
‘Michael Maier’ branch in Seattle; the Freemasonic writer Manly P. Hall once stated that
Maier was one of a small group of adepts residing at the House of the Holy Spirit, but he
“concealed his knowledge so cunningly that it is exceedingly difficult to extract from his
writings the secrets which he possessed;” Hall, Manly P. Lectures on Ancient Philosophy.
Los Angeles: Hall Publishing Co., 1929, p. 411.
initiates who transmitted the philosophia perennis from the time of the
Jewish Patriarchs onwards; medieval alchemical texts also produced lists of
those adept in the alchemical Art. 14 As we have seen, the identification of just
such a Tradition was the central concern of Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae,
as it also was in the fifth and sixth chapters of his Silentium post Clamores, in
which the Rosicrucian ‘Brethren’ were portrayed as only the latest
representatives of a long line of purveyors of the prisca sapientia. As Faivre
argues, the task of the scholar of esoteric studies is not to prove the existence
of a philosophia perennis reaching beyond the Renaissance into antiquity, but
rather to describe the different facets of the emergence of this idea as it
appears in post-Renaissance discourse. 15 On this count we may note that in
the decades following his death, Maier himself came to be regarded as an
expositor of the Tradition amongst the proponents of Hermetic philosophy.
One of the earliest figures in this regard was Daniel Stoltzius von
Stoltzenberg (c.1597-c.1644), a Bohemian alchemist who has been rather
enthusiastically described by Read as “a humble disciple of the great Michael
Maier.” 16 Stoltzius studied at Charles University in Prague and at the
University of Marburg, an important centre of ‘Rosicrucian’ activity; later in
his life he would find employment in Constantinople. 17 Whilst in Frankfurt-
am-Main Stoltzius visited Maier’s publisher, Lucas Jennis; it seems Jennis
himself arranged a viewing for the young man of certain alchemical emblems
from the books of Maier and his fellow physician at the court of Moritz
the Learned, Johann Daniel Mylius. According to Stoltzius, his soul was
delighted by the “mystical sense” of these ingenious pictures; they provided
some solace in the face of his flight from war-torn Bohemia, which seems to
have coincided with the defeat and exile of Friedrich V. Having seen how
much these copperplate engravings pleased the young man, Jennis suggested
that he compose short verses to accompany their republication – the end
result being the beautiful Viridarium Chymicum (Chemical Pleasure-Garden,
1624). 18 In the foreword to this work Stoltzius pays tribute to the pious
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
14 Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, p. 37.
15 Ibid., p. 51.
16 Read, Prelude to Chemistry, p. 197.
17 See Hild, Heike. Das Stammbuch des Medicus, Alchemisten und Poeten Daniel Stoltzius
als Manuskript des Emblembuches Viridarium Chymicum (1624) und als Zeugnis seiner
Peregrinatio Academica. Doctoral Thesis, Technische Universität München, 1991; also
Karpenko, Vladimir. “Viridarium Chymicum: The Encyclopedia of Alchemy,” The
Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 50, No. 4, April 1973, p. 272.
18 Stoltzius, Daniel. Viridarium Chymicum Figuris Cupro Incisis Adornatum et Poeticis
Scripturis Illustratum: Ita ut non tantum oculorum et animi recreationum suppeditet, sed
et profundiorem rerum naturalium considerationem excitet, ad haec forma sua oblonga
Amicorum Albo inservire queat. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624, p. A4:
“Desiderabam igitur talem mihi Philothecam comparare, quae et oculos meos artificiosa
memory of Michael Maier, a celebrated doctor and a “most brilliant and

learned man,” and he speaks of the importance of embracing the “great
treasure” that has been bequeathed through his work. 19 In a particularly
poetic passage, Stoltzius describes his re-issuing of the emblems as the
transmission to posterity of a tradition based on reason and experience:
With this flame before us, we shall not stray into darkness; leaning on this staff, we shall not
fall in the slippery way; nor will we swear by someone’s lengthy words or inane phantasms,
but having been guided by Nature, we will examine everything with the precise touchstone
of reason and pyrotechnic experiment, eagerly seizing the truth and rejecting falsehood. And
by examining closely the unexhausted abysses of Nature, and the immense miracles in this
great amphitheatre of the contemplated universe, we will be inspired to sing to the praise and
glory of its Author. 20
Here Stoltzius expresses a similar sentiment to that of the forty-second

emblem and discourse of Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (1617), in which it is said
that Nature, reason, experience and reading should be ‘guide, staff, spectacles
and lamp’ to those who are employed in alchemical affairs (figure 32). The
first intention of the alchemist, Maier writes, must be to discover “through
intimate contemplation how Nature proceeds in her operations.” 21 This was a
staple theme of the medieval alchemical literature, and one that was
reinforced by the Paracelsian emphasis on observation and experiment.
Stoltzius adds that such knowledge of Nature aids our proximity to God, and
that all our labours should be made to repay His love for us – a restatement of
Maier’s belief that we may know God through His works. The reading of the
liber mundi remained a central concern of the Tradition as it appeared in later
Paracelsian Naturphilosophie and eighteenth century Rosicrucianism.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
pictura recrearet, et mystico sensu animum oblectaret: potissimum in hac Medicinae ergo
suscepta peregrinatione, in qua Patriae meae mirandos et miserandos casus cum moerore
audio, et turbis illis Martialibus hinc et inde dispersis, non sine gravi dolore, saepissime
interturbor. Has ergo cupro incisas imagines Francofurti apud Dn. Lucam Jennisium
praeter spem inveni, et cum mihi arriserint, eidem desiderium meum aperui. Propositum
ille comprobavit, meque mei voti compotem reddidit, simulque ut figuras illas brevissimo
Carmine describerem, et tecum, Lector Humaniss. communicarem, rogavit.”
19 Ibid., p. A6.
20 Ibid.: “Hac enim face praeeunte, in tenebris non aberrabimus; hoc baculo innixi, in via
lubrica non cademus, neque amplius in alicujus sesquipedalia verba, et inania
phantasmata jurabimus, sed naturae ductum sequendo, ad rationis et experientiae
pyronomicae trutinam omnia examinabimus, verum avide arripiemus, falsum abjiciemus,
Inexhaustas Naturae abyssos, et miracula immensa in hoc totius Universitatis
Amphitheatro intuendo, ad laudem et gloriam Conditori decantandam excitabimur.”
21 Maier, Atalanta Fugiens, discourse 42: “Prima itaque intentio est, naturam intime
contemplati quomodo procedat in suis operationibus eo fine, ut subjecta Chymiae
naturalia absque defectu aut superfluitate haberi queant.”
The conception that knowledge of Nature leads to knowledge of things

divine was succinctly expressed by another early appraiser of Maier, the
French alchemist Jean d’Espagnet (1564-c.1637). In his Enchiridio Physicae
Restitutae (‘Summary of the Restored Physics,’ 1623), written a year after
Maier’s death, d’Espagnet tells us that the ancients knew the world was
prefigured in its Archetype, which is God; before Creation He was like unto
“a book rolled up in Himself,” but by giving birth to the world His mind was
made manifest, so that Nature is nothing else but “the disclosed image of an
occult Deity.” 22 In his writings d’Espagnet gives alchemical meanings to
Greek and Egyptian myth in a style reminiscent of Maier’s; he also
recommends that those who have not understood the alchemists should
inspect the writings of Maier on account of their perspicuity:
Philosophers do usually expresse themselves more pithily in types and aenigmaticall figures
(as by a mute kind of speech) then by words; for example, Senior’s Table, the allegoricall
Pictures of Rosarius, the Schemes of Abraham Judaeus in Flamellus: of the later sort, the rare
Emblemes of the most learned Michael Maierus, wherein the mysteries of the Ancients are
so fully opened, that as new Perspectives they can present antiquated truth, and remote from
our age as near unto our eies, and perfectly to be seen by us. 23
Although Schick once asserted that Maier was a ‘theosopher’, 24 the thought 89F
of laboratory alchemists such as Maier or d’Espagnet is more often described

as ‘pansophist’ due to its emphasis on knowing divinity through Nature,
rather than using gnosis or theosophical speculation on cosmogony as a point
of departure. 25 Nevertheless, there were a variety of worldviews grouped
89F
under the rubric of the term theosophia in early modern Germany, some of
which grew directly from alchemical labours before the furnace fire. Maier’s
contemporary and fellow Lutheran, Khunrath, spoke of theosophy in terms of
the mystical perception of a universal, external and visible fire of Nature, and
its complement in a universal, internal and invisible fire – that is to say, in
terms of both a knowledge and a life-imparting entity that transcends the
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
22 d’Espagnet, Jean. Enchyridion Physicae Restitutae, or, A Summary of the Physicks
Recovered. Ed. Thomas Willard. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1999, p. 10.
23 Ashmole, Elias. Fasciculus Chemicus: or, Chymical Collections. Expressing the Ingress,
Progress, and Egress, of the Secret Hermetick Science, out of the Choisest and most
Famous Authors. Collected and digested in such an order, that it may prove to the
advantage, not onely of the Beginners, but Proficients of this high Art, by none hitherto
disposed in this Method. Whereunto is added, the Arcanum or Grand Secret of Hermetick
Philosophy. Both made English by James Hasolle, Esquire, Qui est Mercuriophilus
Anglicus. London: Printed by J. Flesher for Richard Mynne, at the sign of St.Paul in
Little Britain, 1650, p. 169.
25 On this point see Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, pp. 23-32.
apparent division between the interior and exterior worlds. 26 Similarly,

Maier’s own use of the term ‘theosophy’ in the De Theosophia Aegyptiorum
denotes a knowledge of divine things acquired through the reading of
‘hieroglyphs’ present in both the microcosm and the macrocosm, which
proceeds from the gnostic and revelatory operation of the ‘little eye of the
soul’. Whilst there is nothing in the way of explicit theological speculation in
Maier’s works, given the complementarity of the Light of Nature and the
Light of Grace (the latter being the inspiration of theosophers proper such as
Boehme and Weigel), later theosophically-oriented Paracelsians could
comfortably portray Maier as a ‘chymico-theologian’.
Whilst Rosicrucianism underwent something of a lull in Germany after its
initial efflorescence, across the English Channel Maier’s reputation in Britain
as an expositor of Rosicrucian knowledge was furthered by Nathaniel and
Thomas Hodges’ 1656 translation of his Themis Aurea, entitled The Laws of
the Fraternity of the Rosie Crosse. 27 The dedicatee of this translation was
“the most excellently accomplish’t, the onely Philosopher in the present age:
the Honoured, Noble, Learned, Elias Ashmole, Esq.,” who as we have
mentioned was an early English Freemason and a member of the Royal
Society. In accordance with their concern to establish an unbroken lineage of
adepts, in the eyes of later esoteric writers England became the nexus for the
transmission of Rosicrucian ideas through the fictitious Maier-Fludd-
Ashmole chain we have discussed. 28 Whether or not Freemasonry was
influenced by Rosicrucian ideas at this early stage, the currency of Maier’s
thought in ‘Rosicrucian’ circles is demonstrated by Thomas Vaughan’s
citations from the Themis Aurea in his preface to the English edition of the
Fama Fraternitatis (1652). Furthermore, the 1618 version of the Themis
Aurea had a preface addressed to a certain S. P. D., who was described as
“Theod. Verax., Theophil. Caelnatus;” after the publication of Vaughan’s
version of the Fama Fraternitatis an open letter appeared in reply from
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
26 Khunrath, Heinrich. De Igne Magorum Philosophorum. Strassburg: Lazarus Zetzner,
1608, pp. 87-88.
27 Maier, Michael. Themis Aurea: The Laws of the Fraternity of the Rosie Crosse. Written
in Latin by Count Michael Maierus, And now in English for the Information of those who
seek after the knowledge of that Honourable and mysterious Society of wise and
renowned Philosophers... Whereto is annexed an Epistle to the Fraternity in Latine, from
some here in England. London: Printed for N. Brooke at the Angel in Cornhill, 1656.
28 Hence William Wynn Westcott, writing in 1926 in his capacity as Supreme Magus of the
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, stated that Maier “admitted Robert Fludd, M. A. and M.
D. Oxon. to Rosicrucian Adeptship;” Fludd became “First Magus” in England, followed
by Sir Kenelm Digby, whilst Ashmole received the torch of occult truth from William
Backhouse, “a renowned Rosicrucian and Chemist:” introduction to Gardner, F. Leigh. A
Catalogue Raisonné of Works on the Occult Sciences. Vol. 1. N.p.; n.p., 1923, pp. xviii-
xix.
“Theodosius Verax and Theophilus Caelnatus,” a clear indication that the

German edition of the Themis Aurea was in circulation in England prior to
the appearance of the English Fama Fraternitatis. 29 Maier’s Lusus Serius
was also published in English at this time as The Serious Jest (1654), 30 and
there exist two English manuscript translations of the Atalanta Fugiens
dating to the seventeenth century. 31
Following the devastation wreaked by the Thirty Years War in Germany,
the thought of Maier re-appeared in an interesting series of dialogues
concerning the true nature of alchemy and the possibility of the transmutation
of metals. In 1673 the renowned German encyclopaedist and professor of
history at the University of Kiel, Daniel Morhof (1639-1691), published a
lengthy letter concerning the transmutation of metals (De Metallorum
Transmutatione) he had earlier sent to the chief physician at the court of
Schleswig-Holstein, Joel Langelott (1617-1680). In this letter he advises
caution in the pursuit of metallic transmutation, arguing agnostically that
the secrets of chrysopoeia or gold-making will probably remain forever
unknown, just as the processes of metallic formation in the womb of the earth
must remain hidden from human eyes. 32 Whilst acknowledging the many
benefits of chymia, Morhof argues that prudence should prevail before
spending time and money on the uncertain quest for transmutation. He goes
on to impugn those pseudo-chemists who set out to deceive even the most
observant clients by concealing gold dust in the coals of their fires, or within
the instruments with which they work. On this count he mentions the Examen
Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum of the ‘learned’ Michael Maier, in which are
enumerated over fifty such ingenious frauds:
...I have recommended that his book be read, lest we may be deceived by those impostors,
whose sole labour it is, to seek wealth of their own by imposing the hope for wealth on
others: a practice by which the harmless study of alchemy is led into odium, and honest men
come to perceive this Art as an empty mockery, or curse all chymists as fraudulent. 33
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
29 Waite, Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, pp. 329, 386; according to Heisler, there is an
English manuscript translation of portions of the Themis Aurea dating to 1623.
30 Maier, Michael. Lusus Serius, or, Serious Passe-time. A Philosophical Discourse
concerning the Superiority of Creatures under Man. London: Moseley and Heath, 1654.
31 Maier, The Flying Atalanta, is held by the British Library; Yale University Library
houses Atalanta Running, that is, New Chymicall Emblems relating to the Secrets of
Nature. Yale University Library, MS 48; this latter work may have been a rough draft for
a planned English edition that never emerged.
32 Morhof, D. G. De Metallorum Transmutatione, ad Virum Nobilissimum et Amplissimum
Joelem Langelottum, Serenissimi Principis Cimbrici Archiatrum Celeberrimum, Epistola.
Hamburg: Ex Officina Gothofredi Schultzen, 1673, p. 83.
33 Ibid., pp. 84-85: “Talibus enim operandi modis plerumque dignoscendi Pseudo Chemici,
qui adeo speciose fraudes suas tegere possunt, ut vel oculatissimos nonnunquam fallant:
per infidias enim auri pulverem vel carbonibus, vel instrumentis, quibus operantur,
Here Morhof uses the terms alchemia and chymia to denote the iatrochemia
formerly pursued by the ‘learned’ Maier, and now practised by his friend
Langelott; this ‘alchemy’ stands in contrast with chrysopoeia, which had
been so thoroughly tainted by fraud. Later in his letter Morhof also
commends Maier’s Arcana Arcanissima. Although he feels Maier ascribed a
little too much ingenuity to the Egyptians as the concealers of chemical truth
with myth and hieroglyph, Morhof notes that Maier’s argument is followed
by Vigenerius, Johannes Petrus Faber, Conringius, and the ‘father’ of early
Egyptology, Athanasius Kircher. 34 In his Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1653), in the
chapter entitled De Alchymia Aegyptiaca, Kircher argued that the hieroglyphs
referred symbolically to “a certain quintessence” that cures illness and
imparts abundant happiness, on account of which it is known as “the highest
subtlety and perfection;” he also makes brief mention of Maier’s Arcana
Arcanissima, although his status as a Jesuit seems to have hindered him from
citing more freely from a book that was to earn a place on the Index in
1667. 35
Despite the decline of early Rosicrucianism in the German-speaking lands,
the Paracelsian alchemy which was the life-blood of its eighteenth century
revival remained. A rejoinder to the dialogue between Morhof and Langelott
was made by Johann Ludwig Hanneman (1640-1724), a professor of natural
philosophy at Köln patronised by Christian Albert, King of Norway and
ruler of Schleswig-Holstein. Hanneman was a believer not only in the
Universal Medicine but also in the possibility of the transmutation of metals,
and there is a strong mystical streak in his work, whereby chemistry and
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
recondunt, ut arte factum quis putet, quod verum est et nativum. Quoru. quinquaginta et
amplius fraudes sane ingeniosissimas recenset Michael Meierus in Examine Fucorum
Pseudo-Chemicorum detectorum: quem vel ideo librum legendum suaserim, ne fallamur
ab agyrtis istis et impostoribus, quorum unicus labor est, spe lucri aliis ostensa sibi
lucrum quaerere: quo fit, ut innoxia Alchemiae studia in invidiam adducantur, honestique
homines vel ut res inanes ludibrio habeant, vel ut fraudulentas detestentur.”
34 Ibid., p. 104: “Hinc plurimas Graecorum fabulas natas fuisse verosimile est, quas
ingeniose satis ad Chemicos sensus explicat Michael Mejerus, Vir doctus, in Arcanis suis
arcanissimis sive Hieroglyphicus Aegyptio-Graecis vulgo nondum cognitis, qui tamen ob
amorem artis fortassis nimium ingenio suo indulget. Quem sequuntur in hoc instituto
Vigenerius commentario in Philostrati tabulas et Pet. Ioh. Faber in Pan-Chymico suo.
Negare certe ipse Conringius non potest, docendi ac scribendi rationem apud Aegyptios,
Chemicorum ordini semper familiarem, et ad hos ab illis derivatam videri posse.
Kircherus vero noster quasi e tripode pronunciat (Oedip. Aegyptiac. tom. 2. classe 10. de
Alchymica Aegyptiaca) Aegyptios praxin lapidis Philosophorum haud intendisse, sed rem
quandam in inferiori mundo Soli analogam et quintam quandam essentiam pro morbis
omnibus curandis et vita in omni felicitate traducenda.”
35 Kircher, Athanasius. Oedipus Aegyptiacus. Vol. 2. Rome: Vitalis Mascardi, 1653, p. 399;
Moller, Cimbria Literata, p. 379: “E vocibus Praefationis: Salvifico verbo, priorem
Salvifici Index Expurg. Hispanicus, ab Ant. Sotomajore Madriti A. 1667 editus, p. 787.,
ridicule jubet expungi.”
theology are brought into close proximity. In his Cato Chemicus Tractatus
(1690) he set out to distinguish between “the true and genuine hermetic
philosophy, and the counterfeit and sophistical pseudo-chemistry, as well as
the characteristics of the masters of both.” 36 There the Examen Fucorum
Pseudo-chymicorum is specified as the means by which these two lineages
may be distinguished; Hanneman also recommends Heinrich Khunrath
(c.1560-1605), whose warnings concerning the Betrüger were translated
from the vernacular into Latin by Maier and quoted at length in his
own polemic. Great praise is lavished on Maier in Hanneman’s Ovum
Hermetico-Paracelsico-Trismegistum (‘Hermetic-Paracelsian-Trismegistian
Egg,’ 1694); and whilst there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of
Hanneman’s beliefs, his love of Maier (“O most serene and merciful
master!”) is certainly motivated in part by ethnic pride. Amongst learned
men, Maier is “a star of the first magnitude” not only in Jutland but in all
Europe, and through him Jutland shines as the possessor of that ‘sublimer’
Hermetic Art. 37 As a number of erudite persons have flourished in Jutland
under the name of Maier, Hanneman suggests further research should be
made into his lineage by means of baptismal records, and he also muses that
some material may one day be found concerning the nature of his death in
Magdeburg. 38
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
36 Hanneman, Johann Ludwig. Cato Chemicus Tractatus: Quo Verae ac Genuinae
Philosophiae Hermeticae, et Fucatae ac Sophisticae Pseudo Chemiae et utriusque
Magistrorum Characterismi accurate delineantur. Hamburg: Gothofried Liebernickel,
1690.
37 Hanneman, Johann Ludwig. Ovum Hermetico-Paracelsico-Trismegistum, i.e.
Commentarius-Philosophico-Chemico-Medicus, In quandam Epistolam Mezahab Dictam
de Auro. Et Historia Philosophico Chemico-Medica de eodem metallo nativo et
artificiali. In quo et 108. Quaestiones Chemicae ab Excellentiss. D. D. Morhofio
propositae ab Autore solvuntur. Omnia, juxta adeptae Paracelsicae et Eclecticae
Philosophiae principia. Frankfurt am Main: Friderich Knoch, 1694, pp. C1a-C1b: “Multi
sunt ex omnium facultatum et scientiarum Professoribus, qui pro ejus divinioris artis
veritate pugnarunt, ac doctissima apologemata conscripserunt. Ex quorum numero duo
instar omnium, qui et Cymbriae nostrae, imo universae Europae stellae primae magni-
tudinis fuerunt, esse possunt. Quos et jam ex nube testium in hoc theatro sisto, ut puta
DD. Michaelem Meyerum, qui O serenissime Princeps ac Domine clementissime!
primam suae vitae auram Tuae Cymbriae, in hac enim dicitur natus, tuusque vel et beatae
memoriae Divi Parentis subditus fuit, ut hoc pluribus in commentarii hujus contextu
asserui. Sicque haec nostra Chersonesus Cymbrica consummatissimo istius Hermeticae
sublimioris possessore superba fulget. Huic a latere jungimus DD. Morhofium, o
candidum olim amicitiae nostrae pectus!”
38 Ibid., p. 133: “Forsan adhuc Magdeburgi aliqua notitia de eo haberi posset. Esset revera
operae pretium, anxius quis inquireret in ejus familiam, ad quamnam Mejeranam esset
relegandus. Aluit enim alias nostra Cimbria Eruditos Mejeros Criticos, Mathematicos,
Rectores, Gymnasiarchas, Poetas, Concionatores et id genus Eruditos. Ad aliquam autem
familiam Mejeranam hic noster Philosophus adeptus afferendus. Quod si inquirerentur
In the course of his Ovum Hermetico-Paracelsico-Trismegistum Hanne-

man refers to the “chemical questions” proposed by the sceptical Morhof,
which he seeks to answer “in accordance with the principles of Paracelsian
and eclectic philosophy.” 39 These questions seem to have arisen not only
from the publication of Morhof’s De Metallorum Transmutatione, but also
because Morhof had personally shown Hanneman a letter from Maier (now
apparently lost) to a certain doctor in Lübeck condemning alchemical
Betrügerei. 40 In his reply to Morhof, Hanneman counts Maier amongst the
adeptae, who in his eyes possessed the means to transmute both metallic and
human bodies. In his Ovum he sets forward four (slightly shaky) reasons for
this assertion. Firstly, Maier was physician to Emperor Rudolf II, a man who
was himself most experienced in chemical matters, and who promoted Maier
to the position of Count Palatine on account of his fine service; secondly,
because the Emperor granted Maier nothing less than the ‘symbol of
Avicenna’, the representation of the magistery that appears on Maier’s coat-
of-arms – an honour that would never have been granted unless Maier had
possessed that magistery; thirdly, because clear and manifest testimonies
concerning the arcana are given in Maier’s Viatorium, Symbola Aureae
Mensae and Arcana Arcanissima; and fourthly, because Maier is counted
amongst the adepts by other adepts, such as the author of the Experimentum
Osiandrinorum. 41 Here Hanneman refers to the Osiandrische Experiment
(1659), in which the anonymous author writes of his efforts to repeat the
purported experimental production of the Philosophers’ Stone by Lucas
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Matriculae Ecclesiasticae, quibus recens baptisati infantes inscribi solent. Quilibet Pastor
alicujus Parochiae tantum temporis facile impenderet ut suae Ecclesiae matriculam
perlustraret, anne ex ea aliquid luminis huic dubio accendi posset.”
39 Hanneman also addressed Morhof’s doubts concerning chrysopoeia in a book-length
commentary on the Arcanum Hermeticae Philosophiae of d’Espagnet entitled
Instructissima Pharus. Kiel: n.p., 1712, p. 190.
40 Hanneman, Ovum Hermetico-Paracelsico-Trismegistum, p. 131: “Mihi aliquando
praelaudatus Morhofius concessit literas ipsius Michaelis Meyeri manu hic Kiliae
exaratas ad quendam Chymicum Lubecae commorantem, in quo vehementius expostulat
de dolo, quo ipsi Chymicus pessime imposuerat; in istius Epistolae contextu multa
occurrebant, quae ipsum Cimbriae nostrae asserebant.”
41 Ibid., pp. 130-131: “(1) Quia fuit Archiater ipsius Imperatoris, qui istorum naturae
Mysteriorum fuit peritissimus, ejus autem clementia luculentissime esse usum, probat
quod ab eo Autore in Comitem Palatinum fuerit promotus. (2) Quod ipsi Imperator ad
insignia concesserit symbolum Avicennae, quo hoc Magisterium adumbratur: et est:
Aquila volans per aerem et Bufo gradiens per terram est Magisterium; scilicet Aquila
catena Bufoni alligata est. Nunquam autem suis insignibus hoc symbolum inseruisset,
nisi istius artis vel Magisterii fuisset Possessor. (3) Idem et probant ejus scripta,
cumprimis Viatorium; symbolae aureae mensae; Arcana arcanissima etc. in quibus
evidentia et perspicua testimonia istius arcani exstant. (4) ab omnibus inter Adeptos
refertur, quoque iis eum annumerat Author Experimentorum Osiandrinorum, et alii
multi.”
Osiander (1534-1604), a Lutheran professor of theology and chancellor at the

University of Tübingen; in that work the lapis is conceived of as both a
Tincture for metals and a miraculous medicine, and the lineage of twelve
nations given in Maier’s Symbola Aureae Mensae is reiterated. 42
When enumerating these proofs, perhaps Hanneman was unaware of the
fact that Maier had only reached the seventeenth rung of the alchemical
ladder leading to the Philosophers’ Stone. Nevertheless, his aim was to
establish and define for his own purposes an authoritative Tradition in which
Maier himself appears as a representative, thus lending credence to his own
conception of the alchemical Art as the means of metallic and human
transmutation. Thus Hanneman also identifies in detail an “unbroken chain”
of German adepts, because “our Germany has brought forth so many who
have acquired that golden harvest, and it may in future bring forth more.” 43
This chain is led by Albertus Magnus, the Swabian Dominican and eminent
scientist whose name adorns a number of alchemical works from the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; it moves through Bernard of Trevisan,
Basil Valentine of Alsatia, Isaac Hollandus, Johannes Pontanus, Jodocus
Greverus, Paracelsus, Borrichius, Abbot Trithemius, Johannes Rhenanus,
Valentin Weigel, Heinrich Khunrath, and comes to Michael Maier. We
cannot fail to note the inclusion in this list of the theosopher Weigel, who
was not a laboratory worker but whose work is congruent in Hanneman’s
eyes with a practical alchemical endeavour. For Hanneman, Maier was “an
incomparable priest of the mysteries,” a revealer of that sacred knowledge
held by the pre-Christian pagans which Maier himself terms a ‘theosophy’. 44
Thus Hanneman also lauds Arcana Arcanissima (“O most learned of
writings!”) and he suggests (in concert with Moller) that the fame of the
Jesuit Athanasius Kircher has derived in no small part from Maier’s own
findings in that work. 45
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
42 Osiandrische Experiment von Sole, Luna et Mercuria, Welche in fürnehmer Herren
laboratoriis probirt worden darauß mehr per Exempla als Rationes, oder durch viel
verwirzte Proceß verkehrte Sophistische und unnütze Bücher verschrauffte Wort und
subtile Reden und die wahre Philosophische Materi, rechte Solution, Gewicht, Glas, Ofen
und Regierung des Feuers zu fassen, und zumal man richtige Anleitung hat, dem Werck
zur Tinctur und Arztnei weiter nachzudencken und zuergründen. Nürnberg: Johann
Andreas, 1659, p. 39.
43 Hanneman, Ovum Hermetico-Paracelsico-Trismegistum, p. 127.
44 Ibid., p. 130: “Locum decimum sextum sibi vindicat DD. Michael Mejerus Archiater
Rudolphi Imperatoris; de quo sibi nostra gratulatur Cimbria, qua hic magnus Vir
oriundus, adeptae Philosophiae ac arcanioris sapientiae mysta incomparabilis, perspicua
dictione usus est, et caeteris luculentius scripsit; Quare autem ipsum Adeptum faciamus
nos sequentes rationes movent.”
45 Ibid., pp. B5b-B6a: “Asserit id mecum incluta et Nobilissima Virorum triga, quae rei
literariae nostri seculi fulgidissima lumina fuerunt, ut puta praelaudatus DD. Michael
Mayerus adeptus Holsatus; DD. Morhofius et DD. Jacobus Toll; iste in suis arcanis
An increasing antagonism emerged in the course of the eighteenth century

towards chrysopoeia and the claims of gold-makers such as Hanneman, and
it is interesting that the name of Maier was also invoked by those who
wished to discredit alchemy altogether. One of the most intriguing references
to Maier in this regard comes from a certain ‘Tharsander’, or the physician
Georg Wilhelm Wegner, in his amusingly entitled Adeptus Ineptus (1744).
The subtitle of his work reads:
An exposé of the falsely celebrated art known as Alchemy, wherein the inanity of this art is
clearly proven, the principles of the alchemists scrutinised and refuted, their beguiling
exposed, and the likelihood of the impossibility of metallic transmutation is set forth... 46
In the course of his polemic Wegner does not distinguish between chryso-
poeia and the quest for the Universal Medicine, which he also impugns as a
delusion. His definition of alchemy runs as follows:
By alchemy I understand that art which teaches the means of transmuting metals, and of
bringing imperfect metals to their maturity, or making Gold or Silver from imperfect metals.
Or it is the art of preparing the Philosophers’ Stone, which not only makes imperfect metals
into Gold and Silver, but also works in the human body as a general medicament for the
preservation of health and life. I speak therefore not of Chimia, which is the art of opening
the natural body, of separating, purifying, and setting it together again, thereby making it
more amenable to medicine and other useful applications. I have deemed it necessary to state
this in order that no-one should believe that I reject and disapprove of Chimia, which I do in
fact hold to be the most highly useful art. 47
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
arcanissimis (o doctissimum scriptum) in quibus Aegyptiorum Mythologiam, idolol-
atriam de hac arte felicissime explicavit, ut de Athanasio Kirchero scribat Casalius
Romanus lib. II. de Ritibus Veter. Aegyptiorum c. 10 p. 35. Difficillimam hanc
antiquitatum Aegyptiarum, sacrorumque mysteriorum sub hieroglyphicis disciplinis
latentium, a nemine hucusque tentatam investigationem etc. Verum nisi arasset Vitulo
nostri Mayeri haud tanto elogio dignus esset. Preter haec arcana arcanissima edita Mejeri,
restat adhuc aliud Msc. ejusdem Autoris in eodem argumento conscriptum.”
46 Wegner, Adeptus Ineptus, title page.: “Adeptus Ineptus, Oder Entdeckung der falsch
berühmten Kunst ALCHIMIE genannt: Darin die Nichtigkeit solcher Kunst klärlich
erwiesen, der Alchimisten Principia untersucht und widerlegt, ihre Betrügereyen eröffnet,
und die Unmöglichkeit der Metallen-Verwandlung wenigstens auf das wahrscheinlichste
dargethan, Wie auch von der Universal-Medicin und anderen vorgegebenen
Alchimistischen Kunst-Stücken gehandelt wird.”
47 Ibid., p. 9: “Durch die Alchimie verstehe ich diejenige Kunst, welche lehret die Metallen
zu verwandlen, und die unvollkommenen zu ihrer Reife zu bringen, oder aus denen
unvollkommenen Metallen Gold und Silber zu machen. Oder es ist eine Kunst den Stein
der Weisen zu bereiten, welcher nicht allein die unvollkommene Metallen zu Gold und
Silber macht, sondern auch in dem menschlichen Cörper, als eine allgemeine Artzney,
zur Erhaltung der Gesundheit und des Lebens würket. Ich rede also nicht von der Chimie,
welches eine Kunst ist die natürlichen Cörper aufzuschliessen, zu scheiden, zu reinigen,
sie wieder zusammen zu setzen, und dadurch zur Artzney und anderm nützlichen
Gebrauch tüchtig zu machen. Solches habe ich zu erinnern für nöthig geachtet, damit
Thus Wegner makes a clear demarcation between a non-vitalistic conception

of ‘chimia’ and a vitalistic ‘alchemy’ which has as its goal the isolation of a
universal agent of transmutation. He distinguishes between two types of
deception carried out by the alchemists – the conscious deception of others,
and a self-deception brought about by the obscurity of the alchemical corpus
combined with the alchemists’ greed for worldly wealth. 48 Wegner states that
such laboratory workers are not only thieves to themselves, but also deprive
their needy neighbours through their wasteful practices; he suggests that if
one could only gather together all the money that has been frittered away by
alchemists through the ages, one could buy not only great cities such as
London, Amsterdam and Paris, but entire kingdoms. 49
In the passage pertaining to Michael Maier, Wegner rather unkindly
states that those who eventually recognise their self-deception imagine
they have thereby achieved something important, and some have flattered
themselves by relating their experiences in print. 50 On this count he presents
a tract which he attributes to Maier, the “famous Rosicrucian” who was
known on occasion to “run around the German courts with the Gold-spear.” 51
The name of this tract is the Treuhertzige Warnungs-Vermahnung, which
also appears in the late compendium of alchemical texts, the Deutsches
Theatrum Chemicum (1728); 52 it is dedicated to “all lovers of Alchymie
Transmutatoriae” from a certain “faithful lover of Truth” named ‘Riceni
Thrasibuli’. Although Ferguson followed Wegner in attributing this work to
Maier in his Bibliotheca Chemica, 53 Riceni Thrasibuli is actually a
pseudonym of Heinrich Khunrath; the tract itself appears in Khunrath’s Von
Hylealischen, Das ist Pri-Materia-lischen Catholischen, oder Algemeinem
Natürlichen Chaos (1597). Nevertheless, we have seen that extracts from
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
man nicht meyne, als ob ich die Chimie verwerffen und widerlegen wolte, die ich doch
für eine höchst nützliche Kunst halte.”
49 Ibid., p. 80: “Das ist ein großer Selbstbetrug, welcher dabey noch sündlich ist: Denn
solche Laboranten werden zu Dieben an sich selbst, und auch an ihren nothleidenden
Nächsten, dem sie von ihren reichlichen Vermögen hätten einiger maßen dienen
können... Wann ich nur das Geld zusammen haben mögte, welches jemahls durch die
Alchimisten liederlich verlaboriret ist, wolte ich nicht nur fragen ob London, Amsterdam
und Paris feil waren? Sondern ich getrauete mich ganze große Königreiche damit zu
bezahlen, und wenn sie zu Kauf stünden an mich zu handeln.”
50 Ibid., pp. 80-81.
51 Ibid., p. 94: “...der bekannte Rosen-Creuzer Michael Maier, der hin und wider mit dem
Gold-Spieß, an den teutschen Höfen, weidlich herum gelaufen...”; I have not been able to
identify the precise meaning of this derogatory expression.
52 Khunrath, Heinrich. “Treuhertzige Warnungs-Vermahnung an alle Liebhaber der Natur-
gemesen Alchemie Transmutatoriae.” In Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum. Nürnberg:
Adam Jonathan Felßecker, 1728, pp. 289-313.
53 Ferguson, John. Bibliotheca Chemica. London: Starker Brothers, 1906, p. 66.
Alchemy and the re-emergence of Rosicrucianism 249
the Treuhertzige Warnungs-Vermahnung do in fact feature prominently in

Maier’s Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum. 54 Wegner bases his attri-
bution of the work to Maier on a remark made by a certain Felix Maurer, who
states that Maier had compiled in one of his works “the most remarkable
intrigues and trickery” that he had met with in the German courts – a work
which Maurer believed should be “included as a foreword to all alchemical
texts hitherto printed.” 55 It seems his reference was to the Examen Fucorum
Pseudo-chymicorum, with which Wegner was clearly not acquainted.
4. Alchemy and the re-emergence of Rosicrucianism
Despite the protests of an increasing number of sceptics such as Wegner, the

practical laboratory quest for the Philosophers’ Stone survived until at least
the end of the eighteenth century in Germany – chiefly amongst the inheritors
of the Rosicrucian mantle, the members of the Gold- und Rosenkreutz. This
survival forms a bridge between early modern and nineteenth century
conceptions of alchemy – a critical link missing from Principe and Newmans’
historiography.
The first sign of the emergence of the Gold- und Rosenkreutz is the
Warhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophischen Steins der
Brüderschafft aus dem Orden des Gülden- und Rosen-Creutzes (‘The True
and Complete Preparation of the Philosophers’ Stone of the Brotherhood,
from the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross,’ 1710), a tract that appeared
under the pseudonym of ‘Sincerus Renatus’ (‘genuine rebirth’). 56 The author
is generally held to be a Protestant pastor from Hartmannsdorf in Silesia by
the name of Samuel Richter. True to the example set by seventeenth century
Rosicrucian literature, it is not clear whether an actual secret society lay
behind Richter’s work. Waite suggested the laws of the Fraternity appended
to the text demonstrate that “something had been growing up in the silence,”
and the recent discovery of late seventeenth century Italian documents
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
54 See above, pp. 106-107.
55 Wegner, Adeptus Ineptus, p. 94: “...er die merckwürdigsten Räncke und Taschen-
Spielerey, so dabey fürgehen, in ein Buch zusammen gebracht, welches meritirte, daß es
allen alchimistischen Schriften als eine Vorrede von neuen angedruckt würde.”
56 Richter, Samuel. Die Warhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophischen Steins/
Der Brüderschafft aus dem Orden des Gülden- und Rosen-Creutzes/ Darinne die Materie
zu diesem Geheimniß mit seinem Nahmen genennet/ auch die Bereitung von Anfang bis
zu Ende mit allen Hand-Griffen gezeiget ist/ Dabey angehänget die Gesetz oder Regeln/
welche die gedachte Brüderschafft unter sich hält/ Denen Filiis Doctrinae zum Besten
publiciret von S.R. Breslau: Fellgiebel, 1710.
referring to a ‘gold and rosy cross’ seems to confirm his intuition. 57 In any
case, the alchemical and theosophical ideology presented by Richter in the
course of his work demonstrates a clear continuity of thought with earlier
Rosicrucianism, and can hardly be dismissed as ‘meaningless’. 58
In his introduction Richter states that “some years ago” the Brethren had
taken their leave of Europe and settled in India “to live there in greater
peace” – a reference taken from a Kampfschrift that appeared in the initial
Rosicrucian furore. 59 The main body of the work is concerned with
laboratory alchemical procedure; drawing on the thought of Paracelsus, van
Helmont and Basil Valentine, Richter demonstrates the means of obtaining a
‘perfect metal’ through repeated projection of the lapis. 60 The appendix of
laws begins by stating that in 1624 the Fraternity made an effort to summon
their Brethren from across the world, but that only nine new members and
two apprentices were found due to the strict criteria of admission; in time a
decision was made to increase the Fraternity’s membership and construct a
new set of laws, in order that such an “invaluable treasure” as was held by the
Brethren should not be lost to the world. 61 Thus, in contrast to the anti-
Catholic emphasis of the manifestos, a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy
concerning the religious affiliation of members is prescribed; mention is also
made of the fact that the society has been divided into two branches, the Rosy
Cross and the Golden Cross. 62 Most of the laws govern the use of the
Philosophers’ Stone, which imparts sixty years to the lifespan of those who
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
57 C.f. chapter I, n. 125 above.
59 Ibid.
60 Richter, Die Warhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophischen Steins, p. 57:
“Diese Materie der andern Ordnung/ wird auf eine andere Art projectiret/ als wie oben
gesagt/ dreymahl rectificiret/ und reincrudiret worden/ alsdenn sie von vielen grössern
Kräfften zusammen gesetzet. Nimm also I. Theil dieses rectificirten Steines/ und trage
ihn auf 100. Theil geflossen Metall/ diese 100. auf 1000./ diese 1000. auf 10000./und
diese 10000 auf 1000000. Und also procedire biß auf die 10. Projection, so wird 1. Theil
auf hundert fallen/ und ein perfectes Metall von allen Proben seyn.”
61 Ibid., pp. 99-100: “Diese unsre Congregation war vor diesem von unsern alten Helden
mit sehr strengen Clausuln und Gesetzen auffgerichtet worden/ durch welche unsere neue
Brüderschaft wahrgenommen/ daß dieses allein die Ursach sey/ warum ietzo so wenig
derselben gefunden werden/ deßwegen haben sie um das Jahr 1624. durch die ganze Welt
ihr Votum und Stimme ergehen lassen/ um die Brüder zu beruffen/ von welchen nur ihren
9. und 2. Lehrlinge gefunden worden/ welche nach langer und reiffer Unterredung
endlich beschlossen haben/ daß man diese Brüderschafft vermehren müsse/ damit ein so
unschätzbares Kleinod/ als dieses/ so das allergröste ist/ unter denen zeitlichen Gütern
dieser Welt/ nicht verlohren gehen möchte. Darum auch die ganze Zusammenkunfft
übereinstimmig worden/ und confirmiret/ nach folgende Puncta zu halten.”
62 Ibid., p. 102.
Alchemy and the re-emergence of Rosicrucianism 251
ingest it. 63 When undertaking their ‘renewal’ in this manner the brethren
must permanently remove themselves to another country; they are also
enjoined not to use the lapis whilst hunting. 64
Whilst these peculiar edicts mitigate against the possibility that there
existed behind Richter’s work an actual cult centred on the miraculous
powers of the lapis, the Warhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des
Philosophischen Steins was an influence on the emergence of later
Rosicrucianism within Freemasonic circles around the middle of the
eighteenth century. 65 The first German Freemasonic Lodge was founded in
1737; in the following decades there emerged a variety of higher degrees
augmenting the three Craft degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, Master
Mason) established in English Freemasonry. The higher degrees differed
from group to group, and have been categorised by McIntosh according to
three different tendencies; a secular, egalitarian and Enlightenment-orientated
tendency, a ‘Templar’ chivalric strain, and a Rosicrucian variety marked by
an emphasis on alchemy, secret gnosis and anti-democratic or theocratic
sentiments. 66 According to McIntosh, evidence of the emergence of this latter
tendency occurs in a Czech manuscript of 1761, which draws from the
Aureum Vellus (‘Golden Fleece,’ 1749) of Hermann Fictuld and contains
seven grades and rituals of the Gold- und Rosenkreutz. 67 Fictuld was a
correspondent with the famous theosopher Friedrich Christoph Oetinger
(1702-1782), and has been touted as a possible ‘founder’ of the Gold- und
Rosenkreutz. 68 In the Aureum Vellus he made mention of die goldenen
Rosen-kreutzer as the inheritors of the ‘Golden Fleece’ sought by Jason and
the Argonauts; the work as a whole dealt with the alchemical significance of
Greek and Egyptian mythology in the tradition of Michael Maier’s Arcana
Arcanissima, and gave an alchemical reading of the symbolism of the
fifteenth century Order of the Golden Fleece (which we also find in the
sixteenth chapter of Maier’s Themis Aurea, albeit in passing). 69 A similar
alchemical treatment of pagan mythology drawing directly from Maier’s
Arcana Arcanissima, Symbola Aureae Mensae and Atalanta Fugiens is to be
found in the Fables Égyptiennes et Grecques Dévoilées (1758) of Antoine
Joseph Pernéty, who would become librarian to the most prominent member
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
63 Ibid., p. 103.
64 Ibid., p. 106.
65 McIntosh, The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason, pp. 33-34.
66 Ibid., pp. 39, 44.
67 Ibid., pp. 46-47.
68 Ibid.; Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, pp. 179-180.
69 Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism, pp. 76, 186; on Maier’s reading of the myth of the
Golden Fleece in his Arcana Arcanissima, Symbola Aureae Mensae and Atalanta
Fugiens, see also Faivre, The Golden Fleece and Alchemy, pp. 24-26.
of the Gold- und Rosenkreutz, King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia (r.1786-

1797). 70
Following the collapse due to scandal of Baron von Hund’s ‘Strict
Observance’ Templar strain of Freemasonry in 1782, the Gold- und
Rosenkreutz became the dominant force within the German Craft, alongside
the ‘Illuminati’ who represented the secular, rationalising tendency we
have mentioned. 71 The Gold- und Rosenkreutz was marked by its anti-
Enlightenment stance and its emphasis on Christian piety and alchemy.
Alchemical ideas and symbols were incorporated into the rituals of initiation
and the teachings that accompanied each grade; laboratory alchemy was also
an important part of the work of the order from the third degree onwards, and
those members reaching the seventh grade were deemed to have knowledge
of the Philosophers’ Stone. 72 Paracelsian and Valentinian alchemy were the
order of the day, although there were some members who denied the tria
prima of Paracelsus and worked with the traditional sulphur-mercury theory
as Maier had done. 73 Ideologically speaking, we find a marked similarity
with the thought of early modern alchemists such as Maier, i.e. vitalistic
conceptions of a correspondence between gold, the sun and God, and a belief
in a vital spirit conveyed by the blood which is the basis of a miraculous
medicine and tincture for metals. 74 Members of the Gold- und Rosenkreutz
also defended the complementarity of pagan and Christian belief in the
manner of their predecessors; thus Biblical authority was upheld alongside
the authority of a Tradition stretching back to ancient Egypt. 75
In the work that has been described as the ‘Bible’ of the Gold- und
Rosenkreutz Order, the Compaß der Weisen (1779), we find an extensive
survey of alchemical and Rosicrucian writings, compiled by a frater Roseae
et Aureae Crucis with the partial aim of making them comprehensible within
the context of Freemasonry. The author names a number of early modern
writers as authorities, including Michael Maier, Heinrich Khunrath, Robert
Fludd, Thomas Vaughan, Gerhard Dorn, Basil Valentine and Adrian von
Mynsicht. The introduction deals with the occult knowledge of the Egyptians,
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
70 Pernéty, Antoine Joseph. Fables Égyptiennes et Grecques Dévoilées. Paris: Chez Bauche,
1758, pp. 13, 243, 259, 382, 495, 513, 529 et passim; Faivre, Access to Western Esoteric-
ism, pp. 76, 178.
71 McIntosh, The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason, p. 42.
72 On this subject see McIntosh, Christopher. “Alchemy and the Gold- und Rosenkreutz.” In
Martels, Z. R. W. M. von. Alchemy Revisited: Proceedings of the International
Conference on the History of Alchemy at the University of Groningen, 17-19 April 1989.
Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990, pp. 239-244.
73 Beyer, Das Lehrsystem des Ordens der Gold- und Rosenkreuzer, p. 21.
74 McIntosh, “Alchemy and the Gold- und Rosenkreutz,” pp. 241-243.
75 McIntosh, The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason, p. 52.
The historiography of alchemy 253
Greeks, Brahmans, Druids et. al., and there Maier is named next to the
antique authors Macrobius and Diodorus Siculus as an authority on
mythology and the mystery cults, as well as being noted for his Rosicrucian
apologies. 76 In the main body of the text particular attention is directed
towards the Symbola Aureae Mensae as a source for information on medieval
alchemical authors, 77 and as a guide to alchemical procedure itself. 78 On this
count the Allegoria Bella is cited concerning the most astrologically
propitious moment for the commencement of the work, i.e. “when the moon
and sun are in the sign of Aries near the head of the Dragon.” 79 The Atalanta
Fugiens is referred to concerning the nature of certain Decknamen, 80 as well
as a passage from an unidentified work of Maier’s concerning the relation of
the alchemical work to the (Aristotelian) properties of the north and west
winds. 81
5. The historiography of alchemy
This brief sketch of the re-emergence of Rosicrucianism should serve to

establish that the alchemy of early modern practitioners such as Maier did not
become ‘meaningless’ in the hands of later esoteric groupings, as Principe
and Newman assert. Our goal here has not been to demonstrate the
transmission of a Tradition, passed from master to initiate from the time of
Maier to our own; rather, it is to show that there exists an ideological
congruence in the history of esotericism pertaining to matters of alchemy.
When nineteenth century writers such as Buhle, Katsch and von Murr looked
to Maier as a key figure in the emergence of later Rosicrucianism and
Freemasonry, they may have erred in constructing their ‘lineage’;
nevertheless, their error was prompted by the broad similarities existing
between Maier’s thought and that of the secret societies of their own time.
These similarities may be enumerated as follows:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
76 Jolyfief, Der Compaß der Weisen, pp. 93-94, 114.
77 Ibid., pp. 151-152, 311-313, 335.
78 Ibid., pp. 164, 311-313.
79 Ibid., p. 373.
80 Ibid., p. 402.
81 Ibid., pp. 376-377: “Michael Meier sagt, man müsse Achtung geben, daß der Vulcan die
Sonnenhitze, die ohnehin schon von Natur trocken und warm sey, nicht zu stark überhand
nehmen lasse, daher sey es rathsam die Arbeit anzufangen, wenn ein nicht zu rauher
Nordwind wehet, welcher von den hohen Bergen seinen Ursprung nimmt, damit die
starke Hitze dieses göttlichen Feuers in etwas nachlassen möge, und die angenehmen
Westwinde eine gebührende Mäßigung der Kälte und Wärme, Nässe und Trockne mit
sich bringen.”
1. A vitalistic conception of alchemy as a universal science, which also

encompasses the life of the human soul as a ‘spiritual alchemy’
with pietistic overtones. In the Freemasonic and later Rosicrucian
traditions this alchemy was integrated with the Freemasonic system of
initiatory grades designed to accomplish a moral transformation in the
adept.
2. An alchemical philosophy of Nature focussing on celestial virtues,
solar mysticism, cyclical natural processes and correspondences
between the macrocosm and the microcosm. As McIntosh and
Peuckert have argued, above all other authors it was Maier who
effected a definitive binding of such alchemical conceptions with the
Rosicrucian tradition, as alchemy had formed only a part of the
message of the original manifestos and rejoinders. 82
3. A concern with the deciphering of ‘hieroglyphs’, in the pansophist
sense of signs in Nature pointing to universal, divinely instituted laws.
4. A pseudo-Egyptianism with its origins in the prisca sapientia doctrine
of the Renaissance. This doctrine was associated with a syncretic
tendency to harmonise Christian and pagan thought in a unitary
Tradition, and an eclectic attitude towards the integration of diverse
occult and religious ideologies; Jewish patriarchal origins were also
heavily emphasised.
As we have shown in our introductory preamble to the current work, this

conjunction of alchemical and associated ideological elements continued to
prevail in the esoteric circles of the nineteenth century, and formed the basis
for the alchemical hermeneutic proposed first by Silberer and then by Jung.
In attempting to evaluate Jung’s historiography and his claims concerning
the nature of alchemy, it is pertinent to note that his argument for the
existence of a coherent ‘tradition’ extending from his own psychology via
alchemy to ancient Gnosticism is far from new. Indeed, similar ideas are to
be found in the Unpartheyische Kirchen- und Ketzer- Historie (‘Impartial
History of the Church and Heretics,’ 1699) of the Pietist Gottfried Arnold, in
which Rosicrucian and alchemical currents are also traced to the Gnostics,
who were to Arnold’s mind the ‘true’ Christians and forebears of the
Reformation. 83 But even if we grant that Paracelsus and his followers were
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
82 McIntosh, Christopher. The Rosicrucians: The History, Mythology and Rituals of an
Occult Order. Wellingborough: Crucible, 1987, pp. 54-56; Peuckert, Pansophie (1936
edition), p. 152.
83 The prevalence of alchemical practice in Pietist circles is demonstrated by the fact that
Goethe himself was healed as a young man by an alchemical medicine produced by the
Pietist Moravian Brotherhood – the origins of a fascination with alchemy that was to play
a central role in German culture, particularly through his Faust.
The historiography of alchemy 255
branded as revivers of Gnostic heresy by their contemporaries, 84 a survey of

the medieval sources utilised by Maier confirms Obrist’s view that the
soteriological and Christological motifs therein serve a primarily rhetorical
purpose, and that Jung’s views have their origins in the alchemy of the post-
Reformation era. Certainly, a great deal of medieval texts speak of the
necessity of divine inspiration in the Art, and the importance of leading a
moral life if one wishes to be granted the divine secrets of the Philosophers’
Stone. There are also widespread conjectures concerning the nature of the
prima materia and the cyclical transmutation of the four elements, which in
their original antique philosophical context were inseparable from religious
speculation on the nature of God and the human soul. But it is only
subsequent to the late fifteenth century flowering of Neoplatonism in Italy,
the emergence of a syncretic Renaissance Hermeticism with its elaborate
theories of sympathy and correspondence, and the re-appearance of overtly
gnostic and individualistic sentiments in the course of the Reformation, that
certain alchemies again attained the overt religiosity of their Hellenistic
Egyptian and Gnostic counterparts. 85
It should be noted, however, that Jung placed his own work in the context
of a lineage of symbolic import rather than a Tradition per se, as he argued
that psychological or ‘spiritual’ elements in alchemical practice prior to the
sixteenth century ‘fission’ of physica and mystica remained largely
unconscious to the ‘adepts’. On this matter we might follow the good advice
of the historian of alchemy E. J. Holmyard, who stated that “it must be left to
the psychologists” to pronounce judgment on the “profound psychological
study” put forward by Jung, rather than intruding into fields which are not
our rightful domain. 86 We should also keep in mind Holmyard’s accurate
depiction of Jung’s view of medieval alchemy as a “chemical research work
into which there entered, by way of projection, an admixture of unconscious
psychic material;” 87 as we have shown, when Principe and Newman speak of
“Jung’s assertion that alchemy ceases to be alchemy when it becomes clear
enough to be understood in chemical terms,” they betray their fundamental
misunderstanding of the psychology of the unconscious. 88
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
84 Pagel, Paracelsus, p. 315.
85 Whilst Merkur has recently argued for a medieval origin to ‘spiritual alchemy’ with
reference to the theoretical relation of the quintessence to the soul, his terms are not well
defined, and an explicit medieval work on alchemy as a process of spiritual transmutation
within the adept is yet to be uncovered. See Merkur, Dan. “The Study of Spiritual
Alchemy: Mysticism, Gold-Making, and Esoteric Hermeneutics,” Ambix, Vol. 37, No. 1,
March 1990, pp. 35-45.
86 Holmyard, Alchemy, p. 160.
87 Ibid., p. 159.
Whilst it is true that the pursuit which we have defined as ‘spiritual

alchemy’ remains a subset of the whole that is early modern alchemy, it is by
no means an insignificant element in the history of ideas, nor was it limited to
non-laboratory practitioners such as Boehme or Weigel. Furthermore, there
can be no doubt that the seeds of the early modern emergence of ‘spiritual’
alchemies were contained in medieval alchemy. When dealing with the
presence (or perceived absence) of spiritual alchemies amongst laboratory
practitioners of the early modern period, Principe and Newman make
mention of a little known ‘supernatural alchemy’ which developed in
seventeenth century England, and which held that certain alchemical products
had supernatural effects; their point is to show that such a pursuit has little in
common with the spiritual alchemies of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. 89 It is self-evident that this particular alchemy cannot be placed
under the rubric of ‘spiritual alchemy’ in the manner of Maier’s practice, and
that nothing has been proved by the example. The historiography proposed
by Principe and Newman can only be upheld by portraying early modern
laboratory alchemy as a purely ‘chemical’ research (conceived in crypto-
positivist terms), and by erasing from history the development of alchemical
thought subsequent to the seventeenth century. For researchers in the history
of Western esotericism, this modus operandi is entirely inadequate. Rather, it
is apparent that the categories we encounter in the debate concerning the true
import of the ambiguous symbols of the alchemical corpus are not new, and
that we are embarking upon the study of living traditions; for just as certain
voices in the early modern period called for the separation of matters
theological and scientific, so today we find that schismatic outlook expressed
by apologists (witting or otherwise) for the dominant scientific paradigm.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
89 Ibid., pp. 399-400.
Bibliography
1. Primary Sources
A. Printed works of Maier
The following is a list of Maier’s printed works cited in the foregoing pages.
A forthcoming bibliography prepared by Prof. Dr. Karin Figala and Dr.
Ulrich Neumann of the Technische Universität München promises to be an
exhaustive inventory of Maier’s known printed works and manuscripts.
Maier, Michael. Arcana Arcanissima, hoc est, Hieroglyphica Aegyptio-Graeca, vulgo

necdum cognita, ad demonstrandam falsorum apud antiquos deorum, dearum, heroum,
animantium et institutorum, pro sacris receptorum, originem, ex uno Aegyptiorum
artificio, quod aureum animi et Corporis medicamentum peregit, deductam, Unde tot
poëtarum allegoriae, scriptorum narrationes fabulosae et pertotam Encyclopaediam
errores sparsi clarissima veritatis luce manifestantur, suaeque tribui singula restituuntur,
sex libris exposita. London: Creede, c. 1614.
— Atalanta Fugiens, hoc est, Emblemata nova de secretis naturae chymica, accommodata
partim oculis et intellectui, figuris cupro incisis, adjectisque sententiis, Epigrammatis et
notis, partim auribus et recreationi animi plus minus 50 Fugis musicalibus trium Vocum,
quarum duae ad unum simplicem melodiam distichis canendis peraptam, correspon-
deant, non absque, singulari jucunditate videnda, legenda, meditanda, intelligenda,
dijudicanda, canenda et audienda. Oppenheim: Johann Theodor de Bry, 1617.
— Cantilenae Intellectuales, in Triadas 9. distinctae, De Phoenice Redivivo, hoc est,
Medicinarum omnium pretiosissima, (quae Mundi Epitome et Universi Speculum est) non
tam alta voce, quam profunda mente dictatae, et pro CLAVE Ternarum irreserabilium in
Chymia arcanum rationabilibus ministratae. Rostock: Mauritii Saxonis, 1622.
— Civitas Corporis Humani, a Tyrannide Arthritica vindicata: Hoc est, Podagrae,
Chiragrae, et Gonagrae, quae, velut tyranni immanissimi artus extremos obsident, et
excruciant, Methodica Curatio. Duobus auxiliis potissimum instituta, ac deinde latius
clarissimorum, praesertim GERMANIAE, Medicorum testimoniis comprobata, inque
Medicinae Candidatorum gratiam atque utilitatem concinnata et edita. Frankfurt am
— De Circulo Physico, Quadrato: Hoc est, AURO, Eiusque virtute medicinali, sub duro
cortice instar nuclei latente; An et qualis inde petenda sit, Tractatus haud inutilis.
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258 Primary Sources
— De Medicina Regia et vere heroica, Coelidonia. Copenhagen, Royal Library, 12,-159, 4º.
Prague: n.p., 1609.
— Examen Fucorum Pseudo-chymicorum detectorum et in gratiam veritatis amantium
succincte refutatorum. Frankfurt am Main: Johann Theodor de Bry, 1617.
— Hymnosophia, seu Meditatio Laudis Divinae, pro Coelidonia, Medicina mystica, voar-
chadumica etc. Prague: n.p., n.d.
— Jocus Severus, hoc est, Tribunal aequum, quo noctua regina avium, Phoenice arbitro,
post varias disceptationes et querelas volucrum eam infestantium pronunciatur. Frankfurt
am Main: Johann Theodor de Bry, 1617.
— Lusus Serius, quo Hermes sive Mercurius rex mundanorum omnium sub homine
existentium, post longam disceptationem in concilio octovirali habitam, homine rationali
arbitro, judicatus et constitutus est. Oppenheim: Lucas Jennis, 1616.
— Septimana Philosophica, qua aenigmata aureola de omni naturae genere a Salomone
Israëlitarum sapientissimo rege, et Arabiae regina Saba, nec non Hyramo, Tyri principe,
sibi invicem in modum colloquii proponuntur et enodantur: ubi passim novae, at verae,
cum ratione et experientia convenientes, rerum naturalium causae exponuntur et
demonstrantur, figuris cupro incisis singulis diebus adjectis. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas
Jennis, 1620.
— Silentium post Clamores, hoc est, Tractatus apologeticus, quo causae non solum
clamorum seu revelationum Fraternitatis Germanicae de R.C. sed et silentii, seu non
redditae ad singulorum vota responsionis, una cum malevolorum refutatione, traduntur
et demonstrantur. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1617.
— “Subtilis Allegoria super Secreta Chymiae.” In Museum Hermeticum Reformatum et
Amplificatum. Frankfurt am Main: Sande, 1678, pp. 701-740.
— Symbola Aureae Mensae Duodecim Nationum. Hoc est, Hermaea seu Mercurii Festa ab
Heroibus duodenis selectis, artis chymicae usu, sapientia et authoritate paribus
celebrata, ad Pyrgopolynicem seu Adversarium illum tot annis iactabundum, virgini
Chemiae Iniuriam argumentis tam vitiosis, quam conuitiis argutis inferentem, confun-
dendum et exarmandum, Artifices vero optime de ea meritos suo honori et famae
restituendum. Ubi et artis continuatio et veritas invicta 36 rationibus, et experientia
librisque authorum plus quam trecentis demonstrantur. Opus, ut Chemiae, sic omnibus
antiquitatis et rerum scitu dignissimarum percupidis, utilissimum, 12 libris explicatum et
traditum, figuris cupro incisis passim adjectis. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1617.
— Themis Aurea, das ist, von den Gesetzen und Ordnungen der löblichen Fraternitet R. C.
Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1618.
— Themis Aurea, hoc est, de Legibus Fraternitatis R. C. tractatus, quo earum cum rei
veritate convenientia, utilitas publica et privata, nec non causa necessaria, evolvuntur et
demonstrantur. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1618.
— Themis Aurea, hoc est, de Legibus Fraternitatis R. C. tractatus, quo earum cum rei
veritate convenientia, utilitas publica et privata, nec non causa necessaria, evolvuntur et
demonstrantur. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624.
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Bibliography 259
— Tractatus de Volucri Arborea, absque patre et matre, in insulis Orcadum forma

anserculorum proveniente, seu de ortu miraculoso potius quam naturali vegetabilium,
animalium, hominum et supranaturalium quorundam. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis,
1619.
— Tractatus Posthumus, sive Ulysses, hoc est, Sapientia seu intelligentia, tanquam coelestis
scintilla beatitudinis, quod si in fortunae et corporis bonis naufragium faciat, ad portum
meditationis et patientiae remigio feliciter se expediat. Una cum annexis tractatibus de
fraternitate Roseae Crucis. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624.
— Tripus Aureus, hoc est, Tres tractatus chymici selectissimi, nempe I. Basilii Valentini,
Benedictini ordinis monachi, Germani. Practica una cum 12. clavibus et appendice, ex
Germanico; II. Thomae Nortoni, Crede mihi seu Ordinale, ante annos 140 ab authore
scriptum, nunc ex Anglicano manuscripto in Latinum translatum, phrasi cuiusque
authoris ut et sententia retenta; III. Cremeri cuius Abbatis Westmonasteriensis Angli
Testamentum, hactenus nondum publicatum, nunc in diversarum nationum gratiam editi,
et figuris cupro affabre incisis ornati opera et studio Michaelis Maieri. Phil. et Med. D.
Com. P. etc. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1618.
— Verum Inventum, Hoc est, Munera Germaniae, Ab ipsa primitus reperta (non ex vino, ut
calumniator quidam scoptice inuehit, sed vi animi et corporis) et reliquo ORBI
communicata, quae tanta sunt, ut plaeraque eorum mutationem Mundo singularem
attulerint, universa longe utilissima extiterint, Tractatu peculiari evoluta et tradita.
— Viatorium, Hoc est, de Montibus Planetarum septem seu metallorum; Tractatus tam
utilis, quam perspicuus, quo, ut Indice Mercuriali in triviis, vel Ariadneo filo in
Labyrintho, seu Cynosura in oceano chymicorum errorum immenso, quilibet rationalis,
veritatis amans, ad illum, qui in montibus sese abdidit De Rubeapetra Alexicacum,
omnibus medicis desideratum, investigandum, uti poterit. Oppenheim: Johann Theodor
de Bry, 1618.
B. Manuscripts relating to Maier
Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, Bestand 4b, Nr. 266. Draft of Maier’s appointment as
Medicus und Chymicus von Haus Auß at the court of Moritz of Hessen-Kassel.
— Bestand 4g, Paket 57- 1619. A letter from Maier to Moritz of Hessen-Kassel dated 18th
January, 1619.
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Index
Abraham, Jewish patriarch, 81, 119n. 64, 139, 188n.

active imagination, 12, 17n. arthritis, 203-205, 207
Adam, Jewish patriarch, 80-81 Ashmole, Elias, 28, 99, 106, 107n., 108n.,
Äetes, 224 109-110, 241
Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius, 98, 120- Asiatic Brethren, 123
122, 125-126, 164, 183 astral virtues, 34, 38, 51, 140, 154, 206,
à Kempis, Thomas, 175 219
Åkerman, Susanna, 27, 31, 91, 121-122, astrology, 17, 19, 38, 45, 47, 51, 65, 70,
124-125, 209-210 108, 117n., 124n., 146, 150, 152, 153,
Akhenaton, 120 219, 226, 253
Albertus Magnus, 130, 139, 140, 246 Athena, 132
alchemia, v. chymia, 1, 5, 235-236, 243 August of Anhalt-Plötzkau, 76, 91
alembic, see vessel, alchemical Augustine, 135, 227n.
Alexander the Great, 84, 130n., 165 aurea catena, 71, 72, 78, 84, 186
Alexandria, 55, 229 aurum potabile, 103-106, 188, 206, 209
al-Irāqī, Abu’l-Qāsim Muhammad ibn Autolycus, 162
Ahmad, 95 Averroes, 48n.
al-Rāzī, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Avicenna, 48n., 77, 79, 97, 135, 139, 226,
Zakarīyā (‘Rhazes’), 42, 230 245
amber, 220 Azazel, 79n.
Anabaptists, 149
Anaxagoras, 63n. Backhouse, William, 241n.
Anaximander, 63n. Bacon, Roger, 73n., 139
Anaximenes, 63n., 72n. Baqsam, 214
Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis barnacle goose, 100
(AMORC), 237 Basil Valentine, 33, 66n., 110, 196n.,
Andreae, Johann Valentin, 100n., 127- 246, 250, 252, fig. 16
130, 134, 142, 158, 162, 174, 175, Battle of the White Mountain, 201-202
215, 216, 221 Becanus, Johannes Goropius, 197
Andrewes, Lancelot, 102, 103 Beck, Wolfgang, 45
angels, 48, 79, 90n., 203 Benedictus Hilarion, 176-178
Angerona, 164 bennu, 231-232
Anthony, Francis, 102-106 Bernard of Trevisan, 246
anthropos myth, 67 Berthold the Black, 197-198
antimony, 33, 79n., 209 bestiaries, 100, 217, 226
apocalypse, see millennialism Betrügerei, see charlatanism
Apollo, 145 Beyer, Johannes Hartmann, 106n., 113,
aqua Americana, 223 200
aqua foetida, 171 Birghden, Johann von den, 191
Archelaus, 63n. black phase of the Art, 41-43, 50, 65-68,
archetypes, 8, 17n., 20, 23, 79, 240 84, 93-94, 111, 146-147, 170, 184,
Aristides, 161 187, 188, 206, 212-213, 215, 222, 226-
Aristotle, 43, 48ff., 52n., 59, 63, 68, 119, 227, 229n., 234
135, 187, 212, 216, 224, 253 Blauew, Willem, 117
Aristotle, Pseudo-, 43, 186 blue flower, 234
Arndt, Johann, 175 Boehme, Jacob, 13, 33, 36, 164, 241, 256
Arnold, Gottfried, 128, 254 Boerhaave, Hermann, 34
Arnold, Paul, 126-127, 175 Book of Enoch, 79
Arnoldus de Villanova, Pseudo-, 10, 63, Book of Nature, see liber mundi
Index 279
Book of Revelations, 124, 135n. 202

Book of the World, see liber mundi Christian of Braunschweig, 202
Borbonius, Matthias, 88, 101 Christian Rosenkreutz, 116-117, 119,
Borelli, Petro, 41, 93n., 173 127, 128, 130-131, 141, 148, 149, 150-
Brahe, Tycho, 46, 70, 86, 117n., 149, 185 151, 156, 216
Brahmans, 120, 165, 253 Chronos, see Saturn
Branch Davidians, 20 chrysopoeia, 235, 242-243, 245, 247
Breul, Hans, 190 Cibinensis, Melchior, 139
Bricaud, Joanny, 121, 123 Cicero, 46-47
Bringer, Johann, 156n. cinnabar, 66n.
Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, see Circe, 105, 212- 213
Rosicrucianism, early 17th century circle, as perfect figure, 97, 139, 183-184,
Brother Phoebron, see Löwenfeld, 186-187, 189, 232
Bernhard Joseph Schleiß von Clement VIII, Pope, 150n.
Bruchaeus, Heinrich, 44, 51, 60 Clement of Alexandria, 217n.
Bruno, Giordano, 70 coction, 51-52, 205
Bry, Johann Theodor de, 114, 131 coelidonia, 76, 81n.
bryony, 154 colours, and alchemical phases, 50, 65-
bubonic plague, 62, 65 67, 68, 93-94, 139, 170, 226-227
Bucher, Kasper, 129n. Columbus, Christopher, 221, 222n.
Budge, Sir E. A. Wallis, 229n. comets, 194-195, fig. 27
Buhle, Johann Gottlieb, 27, 28n., 253 Confessio Fraternitatis, 116-118, 121,
Butterfield, Herbert, 11 133-134, 146, 150n., 172, 175
coniunctio oppositorum, 23, 43, 48, 66,
Cabala, see Kabbalah 73, 78, 144, 213, 234-235
calcination, 66 Consus, 164
calor innatus, 52, 72, 105, 188, 203, 204, Copernicus, Nicholas, 149, 185
205 coral, 220, fig. 29
Calvin, Jean, 35, 198 Corpus Hermeticum, 37
Calvinism, 22, 35-36, 53, 70, 87, 90, 91, corpuscularianism, 9, 63n.
99, 101, 118, 127, 151, 157, 174, 181, correspondences, theory of, 14, 17, 27,
189ff., 198-199, 201, 233 33, 34, 38, 41, 42, 50-51, 52, 66, 67,
Campion, Thomas, 103n. 71-73, 88, 98, 118, 135, 146-147, 183-
Carnarius, Matthias, 53-54, 58, 59, 210 186, 187, 192, 201, 203ff., 215, 216,
Carpentier, Pieter, 100 219-220, 227, 230, 234, 252, 254, 255
Carrichter, Bartholomaeus, 154n. cosmogony, 72-74, 84n., 135, 184, 187,
catharsis, 68, 76, 103-104, 154, 213, 221, 232, 240, fig. 5
234, 235n. ‘Council of Three’, 25n.
Catholic League, 88, 201 Counter-Reformation, 118, 158
Celtis, Conrad, 200 Craven, Reverend J. B., 27n., 100, 122-
charlatanism, 13n., 19, 97, 99-100, 106- 125, 237
107, 115, 154, 157-158, 208, 214, 235, Creation, see cosmogony
242-243, 244-245, 247-249 Cremer, Abbot John, 107, 109-111, fig.
Christ, 8, 10, 15n., 18, 20, 21, 40-41, 56, 16, fig. 17
65, 67, 74, 82, 85-86, 100, 128n., 142, Croll, Oswald, 36, 70, 106-107, 233
163, 180, 203n., 217-218, 224, 227, Crosland, Maurice, 6
228, 237, 255 cupellation, 62
Christian III, King of Denmark, 46 Cupid, 165
Christian IV, King of Denmark, 52
Christian Albert, King of Norway, 33, Daedalus, 94
232, 243 Damcar, 118
Christian of Anhalt-Bernburg, 91, 199, de Caus, Salomon, 89
280 Index
Decknamen, 1, 9, 13-15, 26, 34, 41, 64, Eliade, Mircea, 8-9

84, 111, 144n., 145, 233-234, 236, 253 Elias Artista, 135, 196
Dee, John, 70, 108n., 172, 237 Elijah, 196n.
Defenestration of Prague, 193, fig. 26 elixir vitae, 128n., 225, 235
de Jong, H. M. E., 97, 187, 235-236 Elizabeth I, queen of England, 108n.
della Porta, Giambattista, 38, 164 Elizabeth, consort of Friedrich V, 88, 91,
de Meung, Pseudo-Jean, 78 101, 103n., fig. 15
democracy, 203, 204, 217n. emblems, 43, 67, 69n., 79-80, 83-84,
Democritus, 139, 217 88n., 95, 145, 147, 167, 183, 186-187,
de Rola, Stanislas Klossowski, 133n., 210 221, 225n., 226, 234, 238-239, 240
d’Espagnet, Jean, 240, 245n. Emerald Tablet, see Tabula Smaragdina
de Strada, Octavio, 79 Empedocles, 63n.
Deucalion, 167-168, 223 empiricism, 60-61, 138, 168, 169, 214
Devil, see Satan Enlightenment, 7, 251, 252
Diana, Greek deity, 170, 172 epilepsy, 59-60, 104
Digby, Sir Kenelm, 241n. Erasmus, Desiderius, 149
Diodorus Siculus, 84, 253 Erastus, Thomas, 198-199
Dionysus, 84 Ernst III of Holstein-Schauenburg, 99,
Dioscorides, 218n. 139, 140
distillation, 40, 72, 86, 195, 216n. Ernst von Mansfeld, 202
divine spark, see scintilla Erythræan Sibyl, 227-228, 230-231
Dobbs, B. J. T., 6-8, 10, 16 Estland, 55
Dorn, Gerhard, 12, 16, 23, 73n., 252 eternal life, 15, 86, 128n., 215, 225, 231
dove, 40-41, 66, 231, 232 Eugenius Philalethes, see Vaughan,
Dragon’s Blood, 100, 111 Thomas
dreams, 4, 24, 31 Eusebius, 227n.
dropsy, see œdema Evans, R. J. W., 86
Druids, 120, 165, 253 Ezra, 134
Duchesne, Joseph, 61n., 233
Duenech, 31, 143 Fabrici, Girolam, 113n.
dung, 66, 95-96 facultas animalis, 60
Faivre, Antoine, 2, 17, 238
eagle, as alchemical symbol, 77-78, 221, Fama Fraternitatis, 36, 39n., 88, 98, 116-
fig. 30 119, 121, 122n., 123n., 124n., 128-
Easter, 65, 68, 108, 146, 205 129, 130n., 133, 135, 140, 141, 146,
Echo, 220 148, 149n., 150-152, 155ff., 166, 167,
Ecker und Eckhoffen, Hans Heinrich von, 170, 171, 175, 241-242
123ff. Farber, Eduard, 6
Eco, Umberto, 18, 237n. Father C. R., see Christian Rosenkreutz
Edighoffer, Roland, 27, 120, 174, 175 Faulhaber, Johann, 174
Eglinus, Raphael, 156, 196, 233 Ferdinand of Styria, 193, 201-202
Egypt, 37, 47, 56, 76, 80-82, 84, 85n., Ferguson, John, 248
120, 130, 149n., 185, 197, 218, 227, fermentation, 96-97, 189, 216n.
229, 232, 252 Fernel, Jean, 48n.
Egyptian wisdom, see pseudo- Fersius, Johannes, 48ff.
Egyptianism Ficino, Marsilio, 37, 42-43, 81, 83, 164,
Eirenaeus Philalethes (=George 183
Starkey?), 9, 11, 33 Fictuld, Hermann, 251
‘elemental inhabitants of Fez’, 118 Figala, Karin, 27, 32, 38n.-39n., 45, 48n.,
elements, four, 49-50, 63, 66, 67-68, 71, 53, 55-56, 57, 62n., 76, 88, 91, 131n.,
95, 97, 98, 186-189, 216, 219, 223, 132, 171-172, 192n., 199n., 202
224, 226, 233, 234, 255 Finxius, Peter, 99
Index 281
fire, see elements, four Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 21, 22,
fish, as alchemical symbol, 145-146, fig. 120, 254n.
19 gold, as repository of divine power, 14,
fixation, 66, 73 39, 52, 74, 78-79, 97, 103-105, 145,
Florentinus de Valentia. See Mögling, 183-189, 220, 231, 232, 252
Daniel manufacturing of, 19, 97-98, 157-158,
Fludd, Robert, 27-28, 33, 39n., 118, 163, 242, 247; see also charlatanism,
123n., 124, 125n., 183, 241, 252, fig. chrysopoeia
23 Gold and Rosy Cross, presumed Italian
Formula of Concord, 127 secret society, 30, 31n., 124, 125, 249-
Franck, Sebastian, 175 250; see also Gold- und Rosenkreutz
Frankfurt Book Fair, 114-115, 118, 131, Golden Age, 42, 84, 101, 116, 144, 172,
132, 142, 182, 189 177, 196
‘Frankfurter Pille’, 113 Golden Chain, see aurea catena
fraud, see charlatanism Golden Fleece, 85, 105, 224, 251
Freemasonry, 1, 18, 22-23, 25-29, 32, 33, Golden Medicine, 82, 84, 168
99, 121, 122n., 123-124, 125, 165n., Gold- und Rosenkreutz, 29-30, 32, 121ff.,
166, 237, 241, 251-252, 253, 254 236, 249-253
Freud, Sigmund, 15, 19, 23, 24, 26 Gould, Robert Freke, 28n., 166
Friedrich II, King of Denmark, 38, 52, 53, gout, 61n., 65, 203-205
210 Grasshoff, 30-32, 125n.
Friedrich III of Schleswig-Holstein- Great Schism, 117
Gottorf, 38n., 210 Grick, Friedrich (Irenaeus Agnostus),
Friedrich V, Elector Palatine, 35, 87-91, 129n., 142, 169n., 174
101-102, 103n., 151, 181, 195n., 201- grillus, 105
202, 238, fig. 12, fig. 15 Gwinne, Matthew, 105
Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia, Gymnosophists, 165
252
Fromm, Erich, 7 Habrecht, Isaac, 169n.
Habsburg, house of, 35-36, 193, 195n.,
Gabriel, archangel, 90 201
Galen, 48n., 55, 60, 119, 168, 218 Haina, as site of the House of the Holy
Galenism, 48ff., 54, 59ff., 63, 66, 185, Spirit, 156n.
205, 207 Hall, Manly P., 237n.
Garasset, François, 147-148, 165, 173 Halleux, Robert, 9-11, 16
garden, alchemical, 104, 105, 170, 200, Hanegraaff, Wouter, 15, 57n.
223, 225 Hanneman, Johann Ludwig, 243-247
Garden of Eden, 225 Harpocrates, 165
Garden of the Hesperides, 105, 223 Hartmann, Johannes, 88, 101, 113n., 151,
Geber Latinus, 33, 63, 69n., 92 152n.
geo-heliocentrism, 46, 185-186 Harvey, William, 52n.
German Nation of Padua University, 57- Haslmayr, Adam, 87, 119, 148
58, 77 heart, its significance for the alchemical
Gilly, Carlos, 118n., 127-129, 134, 150n., work, 14, 52, 56, 72, 75, 78, 97, 105,
156n. 138, 172, 183-186, 188, 203-205, 232
Girolamo, Flavio, 43 Heisler, Ron, 207, 242n.
Glauber, Johann Rudolf, 196n., 209 Helen of Troy, 218
gnosticism, 21, 37, 68, 184-185, 241, 255 Heliopolis, 227-228
Gnosticism, ancient, 3, 21n., 67, 184, hellebore, 235
198, 254-255 Helmont, Joan Baptista van, 250
Goclenius, Rudolph, 148 Helvetius, Johannes, 196
Goebel, Severin, 39n. Henry IV, King of France, 195n.
282 Index
Henry, Prince of Wales, 87-89, 100-101, 192, 197, 236

144 humours, 16, 48n., 50, 71, 98, 113, 188,
Heraclitus, 216n., 217 189, 204-208, 218, 233
Herakles, see Hercules Hund, Baron von, 252
herbalism, 60, 144, 152-154, 168, 186, Hussites, 192
212, 218n. Huss, Jan, 49
Hercules, 80n., 85 hydraulic organ, 89, 225
Hermes, Greek deity, 37n., 48n., 84, 132,
162, 212, 225 Iamblichus, 83
Hermes Trismegistus, 37, 38, 73-74, 81, iatrochemia, 4, 16, 61, 62, 76, 86, 88, 98-
84, 86, 130, 139, 140, 141, 142, 163, 99, 142, 154, 158, 191-192, 198, 213,
165, 229-230 236, 243; defined, 16n.
Hermeticism, 27, 37, 83, 118, 142, 197, iatrochemistry, see iatrochemia
255 et passim; see also ibis, 85
correspondences, theory of Iliad, 78
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 29 Illuminati, 236, 252
Herodotus, 149n. Index, papal, 149-150, 150n., 199, 243
Heru-pa-khered, 165; see also Horus individuation, 3, 7, 12, 17n., 23, 26
Hess, Tobias, 127-129 insignia impressa, 38, 163-164, 245
Heym, Gerhard, 3 Irenaeus Agnostus, see Grick, Friedrich
Hieroglyphics of Horapollo, 79-80, 82, Isidor of Seville, 135
226, 227, 228, 231-232 Isis, 84-85
hieroglyphs, 7, 24, 37, 47, 70, 79ff., 100, Islam, 102, 111, 149
105, 135, 139, 145, 153, 171, 172, Ixion, 162
185, 211, 215, 219, 227, 231-232, 241,
243, 254, fig. 9 Jabir, Pseudo-, see Geber Latinus
Hippocrates, 168, 217n. Jaffé, Aniela, 22n.
Hiram, 28n., 179 James I, King of England, 87, 88, 90, 91,
Hitchcock, Ethan Allen, 25-26 100, 101, 103, 191, 201, 207
Hitchcock, Samuel, 25 Janus, 48n., 101, 164
Hodges, Nathaniel, 241 Jason, Greek hero, 80n., 224, 251
Hodges, Thomas, 241 Jennis, Lucas, 114, 173n., 178-180, 208-
Hoeschel, David, 228 210, 238
Hoghelande, Theobald de, 15 Jeremiel, archangel, 134n.
Hohenburg, Herwarth von, 82, fig. 9 Jesuits, 36, 87, 118, 123, 147-149, 157,
Hoier, Conrad, 99-100 158, 243, 246
Hollandus, Isaac, 246 Jesus, see Christ
Holmyard, E. J., 255 Joachimites, 74
Holy Spirit, 40-41, 74 Johann Adolf of Schleswig-Holstein-
Homer, 78, 105n., 213 Gottorf, 53, 210
Horapollo, see Hieroglyphics of Johann of Nassau-Dillenburg, 151, 155
Horapollo Johnston, John, 100n.
Hortulanus Anglicus, 63 Jolyfief, Augustin Anton Pocquières de,
Horus, 84, 165 29, 253n.
‘Horus Apollo’, see Hieroglyphics of Jones, Jim, 20
Horapollo Jouret, Luc, 20
House of the Holy Spirit, 156ff., 167, Juliana, consort of Moritz of Hessen-
170, 237n. Kassel, 182
Hradschin, 86, 193 Julius Caesar, 172
Hubicki, 39n., 62n., 65 Jung, Carl Gustav, 1-26, 29, 30, 34, 126,
humanism, 35, 37, 42, 43, 45, 46, 49, 54- 231, 234, 236, 254-255
55, 70, 97, 118, 119, 127, 128n., 190, Jung, Carl Gustav (grandfather of
Index 283
psychoanalyst), 22 London College of Physicians, 103, 105

Jung, Carl (supposed ancestor of Lull, Pseudo-, 110-111, 139
psychoanalyst), 23 Lutheranism, 35-36, 38, 45, 46, 49, 61,
Juno, 162 67, 70, 75, 118, 120, 127-128, 129,
Justitia, 167 181, 182, 190n., 192, 196, 197, 199,
Juvenalis, 132, 137 201, 212, 240, 246
Luther, Martin, 18, 19, 36, 45, 61, 117,
Kabbalah, 70, 116 135, 149, 190, 196-197, 198
Karl the Great, 197 lycanthropes, 20n., 100
Katsch, Ferdinand, 27n., 253 Lycophron, 148
Kepler, Johannes, 70, 117n.
Khunrath, Heinrich, 31n., 33, 36, 67-68, Machiavelli, Niccolò, 199
106-107, 240-241, 244, 246, 248-249, Macrobius, 96, 253
252 macrocosm, see correspondences, theory
Kiesewetter, Carl, 126-127 of
Kircher, Athanasius, 243, 246 Madathanus, Hinricus, see Mynsicht,
Klapmeier, Arnold, 199 Adrian von
Knights of the Order of Saint John, 111 Magellan (Fernao de Magalhaes), 221,
Knights Templar, 120, 251, 252 fig. 31
Koresh, David, 20 Magi, biblical, 65, 124
Kurland, 55 magic, natural, 5, 19, 33, 34, 37-38, 120,
124n., 141, 153-154, 158-159, 163-
Lactantius, 227n. 164, 165; diabolic, 38, 158-159, 163
ladder, as alchemical symbol, 91ff., 235, magic squares, 98
246 Magister Pianco, see Ecker und
Lambechius, Heino, 57-58 Eckhoffen, Hans Heinrich von
Lambsprinck, Abraham von, 145 Magnus, Olaus, 197
Langelott, Joel, 242-243 Maier, Michael
lapis philosophorum, see Philosophers’ Life: childhood, 38ff.; parentage, see
Stone Meier, Peter and Meier, Anna; Masters
Lautensack, Paul, 175 degree, 48ff.; peregrinatio academica,
lead, 14, 42-43, 53, 62n., 93, 96, 98, 144, 54ff.; Poet Laureate, 57; doctoral
170, 187, 188, 196n., 230 degree, 58-59; as ‘Hermes Malavici’,
Lennhof, Eugen, 28 57, 104; appointment as Pfalzgraf
leontocephalus, 21n. (Count Palatine), 77, 99; journey to
leopard, as progeny of lion and panther, England, 87ff.; involvement with
223 Rosicrucianism, 87ff., 131ff.;
Letter of Majesty, 192-193, 202 marriage, 181-182; appointment as
Leucippus, 63n. Medicus und Chymicus von Hauß aus,
liber mundi, 37, 38, 55, 141, 159, 169, 189; illness, 113-114, 143, 208;
217, 235, 239 ‘entrance’ into the Rosicrucian
Lightfoot, John, 84n. Fraternity, 161, 173ff., 210; death,
Light of Grace, 36n., 241 178-179, 208ff.
Light of Nature, 36, 71, 241 Works: Allegoria Bella, 31, 32, 41, 43,
lily, as alchemical symbol, 170, 200, 225 56, 57, 130, 215, 216, 217, 225, 230,
Lincoln, Abraham, 25, 26n. 231, 232, 253; Aquila Germanica,
lion, as alchemical symbol, 31, 220 200-201; Arcana Arcanissima, 47, 80-
Livland, 55 86, 102, 103, 122, 141, 168, 170, 172,
Löwenfeld, Bernhard Joseph Schleiß von, 197, 211, 212, 243, 245, 246, 251;
123 Atalanta Fugiens, 35n., 42, 44, 69n.,
Loge sub Rosa, 165n. 78n., 79, 95n., 97, 104n., 122n., 131,
logos spermatikos, 73 138, 143, 145, 164n., 171, 183, 186,
284 Index
187, 200, 214, 215, 221, 232, 235, Michael Maier), 39n., 47
237, 239, 242, 251, 253; Cantilenae Meier, Peter (father of Michael Maier),
Intellectuales, 38n., 44, 67, 71, 209, 38, 44, 45, 47, 52
210, 237n.; Civitas Corporis Humani, melancholy, 14, 31, 41-43, 50, 66, 69, 70,
65, 76, 104n., 201, 202-208, 214; De 77, 86, 113, 143, 208, 217
Circulo Physico, Quadrato, 52, 94, Melanchthon, Philipp, 149
131, 182ff., 195n., 201, 203, 208, 232, Melpomene, 146n.
233; De Medicina Regia, 32, 35n., Mercurial Medicine, 52, 94, 105, 205-207
39ff., 44, 52-55, 57, 62n., 63, 68, 69, Mercurial Water, 145
70, 71, 81n., 91, 102, 104, 146, 217; mercuric oxide, 76
De Theosophia Aegyptiorum, 80-82, mercuric sulphide, see cinnabar
122, 125-126, 241; Examen Fucorum mercury, 14, 53, 66, 209, 229n.
Pseudo-chymicorum, 94-95, 97, 106- mercury, alchemical principle, 40, 42, 53,
107, 122n., 131, 157, 242, 244, 249; 63, 66, 67, 68, 73, 77, 78, 84, 98, 162,
Hymnosophia, 71-77, 78, 81, 139, 168, 186, 187, 188, 205, 206, 216,
184-185, 187; Jocus Severus, 88, 89, 221, 223ff., 252
113, 130, 131-139, 140, 141, 148, 163, Mercury, planet, 42n., 64, fig. 24
231; Lusus Serius, 88-89, 103, 131, Mercury, Roman deity, see Hermes,
132, 242; Scala Arcis Philosophicae, Greek deity
94-97; Septimana Philosophica, 28, mercury, twofold, 68, 188n., 206
45n., 72, 85, 179, 194-195, 208, 221- Merian, Matthew, 35n.
222; Silentium post Clamores, 120, Merkur, Dan, 255n.
131, 141, 160-165, 175, 178, 179, 199, Merlin, Pseudo-, 31, 142
238; Symbola Aureae Mensae, 31, metempsychosis, see reincarnation
32n., 35n., 38, 41, 43, 56, 61, 81, 85n., Metzger, Hélène, 9, 34
89n., 95, 99, 111, 114, 131-151, 160, Michael, archangel, 90n.
163-164, 171-172, 175, 178, 179, 182, microcosm, see correspondences, theory
199, 215ff., 238, 245, 246, 251, 253; of
Themis Aurea, 61, 93n., 131, 147, 148, millennialism, 18, 20, 36, 91, 118, 127,
154, 157, 160, 161, 164n., 166-173, 134, 135, 181, 194ff.
175, 178, 199n., 223, 225-226, 241- miracles, 219, 228
242, 251; Theses de Epilepsia, 59-60; Mithraism, 21n.
Theses Summam Doctrinae (defended Mögling, Daniel, 147, 174-175
by Maier), 48-52, 59, 185, 224; Molther, Georg, 151-156, 166, 169
Tractatus de Volucri Arborea, 100, ‘Moly’, herb, 212, 213
226; Tripus Aureus, 107ff.; Ulysses, monad, 187, 232
111, 179, 180, 208-214, 222; Verum Montgomery, John Warwick, 120-121,
Inventum, 37, 148, 178, 197-200; 127-128
Viatorium, 94, 199, 245 moon, 42n., 60, 73, 85, 139, 170, 171-
Marcus Aurelius, 48n. 172, 219, 226, 253, fig. 20, fig. 24
Maria Prophetissa, 31, 139 Moran, Bruce T., 87, 156, 182n., 191
Mary, mother of Christ, 40, 67 Moravian Brethren, 21, 254n.
Mary, sister of Moses, see Maria Morhof, Daniel, 80-81, 126, 242-243, 245
Prophetissa Morienus, 12, 64n., 95, 139, fig. 14
Matthias, Emperor, 86, 193 Moritz ‘the Learned’ of Hessen-Kassel,
Maurer, Felix, 249 35, 41, 61n., 87-99, 116, 118, 151,
Maximillian II, Emperor, 154n. 156, 181ff., 202, 208, 209, 238, fig. 11
Mayerne, Sir Theodor Turquet de, 101 Mosanus, Jacob, 89, 103
McIntosh, Christopher, 251, 254 Moses, 37, 63n., 119n., 124, 203n.
McLean, Adam, 90 Mt. Helicon, 95, 170, 172
Medea, 224 Mt. Parnassus, 162
Meier, Anna (presumed mother of multiplication, 216n.
Index 285
Murr, Christoph Gottlieb von, 28, 80, 253 44, 69, 70, 82-83, 87, 89, 98, 99, 114,
Muses, 95, 144 121, 126, 127, 140, 162ff., 170, 172,
music, and alchemy, 44, 64, 108, 138, 186-187, 191, 200, 219, 240, 252, 254
183, 222 Odysseus, see Ulysses
Mylius, Johann Daniel, 238 œdema, 61n., 76
Mynsicht, Adrian von, 31n., 125, 252 Oetinger, Friedrich Christoph, 251
mystery religions, ancient, 27, 67, 83, Order of the Golden Fleece, 251
240, 246, 253 Order of the Lily, 26n.
mysticism, 4ff., 14, 16, 17, 19, 67, 71, 75, Order of the Solar Temple, 20
175, 183, 228, 231, 237, 238, 240, Ortus, 226
243-244 Osiander, Lucas, 245-246
mythology, alchemical interpretation of, Osiris, 84-85, 229n., 232, fig. 10
7, 25, 34, 41, 67, 79ff., 105, 167-168, Otto I, Emperor (Otto the Saxon), 197
185, 212, 224, 240, 243, 251 ouroboros, 74, 215, 219, fig. 6
Ovid, 46, 167
Narcissus, 220 owl, 44, 132-137, 163, 231
nationalism, German, 16, 17, 36, 192,
197-200 Paddy, Sir William, 103, 105, 106
natural magic, see magic Pagel, Walter, 4, 5, 6, 10, 16
Nature, 17, 36-38, 49-50, 56, 63, 68, 70, Palombara, Marquise Massimiliano, 30n.
71, 74, 76, 80, 82, 83, 92, 97-98, 100, panacea, 198; see also Universal
116-117, 135, 141, 153, 159, 163-164, Medicine; nepenthe
169, 172, 191, 206, 217, 218, 223, pansophia, 70-71, 80, 119, 138, 234, 240,
239-241, 254, fig. 32 254
Naudon, Paul, 28, 121 Paracelsianism, 3, 4, 16, 23, 36, 60-61,
Nazism, 21 67-68, 73n., 98, 118, 119, 135, 164,
necromancy, 70, 124n., 163 168, 175, 187, 196, 202, 239, 241,
neo-paganism, 19 243, 245, 252
Neoplatonism, 7, 37, 38, 79-80, 83, 183- Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von
184, 231, 255 Hohenheim), 3, 13, 16n., 36, 49, 60-
neo-Pythagoreanism, 64, 165, 183, fig. 23 61, 73n., 98, 118n., 126n., 127, 140,
nepenthe, 218 141, 145, 149, 159, 168, 187, 196-197,
Neumann, Ulrich, 27, 32, 38n.-39n., 45, 198, 246, 250, 252, 254
48n., 53, 55-56, 57, 62n., 76, 88, 91, pareidolia, 15
131n., 132, 171-172, 192n., 199n., 202 Pauli, Wolfgang, 4
neurophysiology, 14 Peace of Augsburg, 35, 181
New Age, 17-18 Peace of Teusina, 55n.
Newman, William R., 1, 2, 5, 6, 9-15, 16, peacock, as alchemical symbol, 65-66
18, 19, 25, 32, 33, 34, 63n., 104, 163, Pegasus, 170, 172
165, 233-236, 249, 253, 255-256 pelican, as alchemical symbol, 66-67, 68
Newton, Isaac, 6-7, 34, 43, 71, 93n., 115, Penot, George, 107
236 People’s Temple, 20
nigredo, see black phase of the Art peregrination, 16, 54-57, 62n., 89n., 156,
Nile, 228-230, 232 169, 221, 225, 232, 234
Noll, Heinrich, 61n., 233 Pergamom, 55
Noll, Richard, 18-21, 22 Pernéty, Antoine Joseph, 251-252
Norfolk, duchy, 150-151 Peuckert, 70, 71, 117n., 124n., 127, 146,
Norton, Thomas, 99, 107-109, 111-112, 156, 236, 254
fig. 16 Phillip von Hessen-Butzbach, 174
Philosophers’ Stone, 31, 41, 53, 59, 62,
Obrist, Barbara, 8-9, 10, 16, 17, 41, 255 63, 67-68, 74, 86, 93, 96, 175, 176n.,
occultism, 18-19, 20, 21, 32, 35-36, 38, 177, 186-189, 196n., 212-213, 216n.,
286 Index
221, 232, 233, 234, 235, 245-246, 247, Qemt, 229n.

249, 250-251, 252, 255 quartan, 50, 113, 143
philosophia perennis, 37, 238 Queen of Sheba, 28n., 179
Philosophical Gold, 104 quicksilver, see mercury
philothesia, 143, 144n., fig. 18 Quicksilver, ‘fixed yellow’, 205-207
phoenix, 31, 56, 66-67, 76, 85n., 130, quintessence, 171, 243, 255n.
132, 136ff. 140, 146-147, 148, 179,
185, 216ff. Ra, 232
Physiologus, 217 rabies, 172
Pietism, 21, 128, 175, 254 Radtichs Brotofferr, see Rotbard,
piety, 14, 16, 33, 34, 59, 74, 99, 107, 137- Christoffer
138, 143, 163, 168, 172, 175, 192, Randolph, P. B., 26n.
203ff., 212-213, 217, 218, 231, 233, Rantzau, Heinrich, 38, 39, 45-48, 55, 101,
236, 252, 254 200, fig. 3
pilgrimage, 32, 56, 118, 159, 169, 216, Rantzau, Johann, 46
225 Raphael, archangel, 90n.
planets, 14, 42, 51, 64, 98, 108n., 185- Ravaillac, 195
186, 194, 230, fig. 24 raven, as alchemical symbol, 65, 111
Plato, 83, 183 Rawlin, Thomas, 105-106
Platonism, 37, 79n., 211n. Read, John, 6, 238
Plautus, 139, 149n. red phase of the Art, see colours, and
Plessner, Martin, 63n. alchemical phases
Pliny, 132, 164n., 212n., 218n., 228 Reformation, 5, 7, 9, 26, 35, 67, 116, 117,
Plotinus, 83 118, 123n., 124, 130, 148-149, 177,
Plutarch, 161 181, 190, 192, 196, 197, 199, 254
Poimandres, 31 Reformation of Life, see Second
Points of Improvement, 190n. Reformation
Pontanus, Johannes, 246 Reichspatriotismus, 197; see also
positivism, 5-6, 11, 19, 34, 256 nationalism, German
presentism, 5, 34, 236 reincarnation, 165
pre-Socratics, 48n., 63, 72n., 216n. resurrection, alchemical, 67, 76, 185, 225,
prima materia, 63, 66, 74, 216n., 255 228, 229, 232
Principe, Lawrence M., 1, 2, 5, 6, 9-15, Rhazes, see al-Rāzī, Abu Bakr
16, 18, 19, 25, 32, 33, 34, 104, 163, Muhammad ibn Zakarīyā
165, 233-236, 249, 253, 255-256 Rhenanus, Johannes, 246
prisca sapientia, 31, 37, 80, 81-82, 130, Riceni Thrasibuli, see Khunrath, Heinrich
135, 170, 238, 254 Richter, Samuel, 124, 249, 250-251
projection, alchemical, 61, 96, 216n., 250 Ripley, George, 69, 107, 111
projection, psychological, 4, 6, 9, 11-13, Romantics, 22, 234
20, 24, 126, 255 Rosarium Philosophorum, 67, 69n., 186,
pseudo-Egyptianism, 34, 236, 254 212-213, fig. 25
psychoanalysis, see Jung; Freud rose, 23, 90-91, 148, 165, 170, 200, 225
Ptolemaic system, 185 Rose Cross, see Rosicrucianism
purgatives, 76, 104, 205-206, 234 Rosetta Stone, 37n.
putrefaction, 41, 43, 66, 84, 170, 184, Rosicrucianism, early 17th century, 1, 2,
216n. 8, 18, 23, 26-29, 30, 32, 36, 47, 87ff.,
pyramids, 47, 101 98, 114ff., 190, 196, 215, 226, 238,
Pyrgopolynices, 139, 143, 149, 160 250; laws of the Fraternity, early 17th
Pyrrha, 167-168, 223 century, 115, 155, 166ff., 241; letters
Pythagoras, 63n., 64, 81, 165 R. C., their meaning, 144ff., 171-173,
Pythagoreans, ancient, 166 180; Liber I., 118, 130; Liber M., 38,
140-141, 164, 225; seal of the
Index 287
Fraternity, 172, fig. 21 Sphinx, 215

Rosicrucianism, late 17th and 18th spiritual alchemy, 1ff., 30ff., 38, 42, 43,
centuries, see Gold- und Rosenkreutz; 56, 184, 215, 231, 233-234, 254;
also Gold and Rosy Cross defined, 18
Rotbard, Christoffer, 130n., 216n. spiritus, 40, 52, 60, 72, 183, 195, 205,
Rothmann, Christoph, 185, fig. 24 227, 232
Royal Society, 241 Srigley, Michael, 90, 91, 101, 144
Rudbeck, Olaus, 197n. Star Palace, 202, fig. 28
Rudolf II, Emperor, 35, 69-70, 79, 80, 81, Steiner, Gustav, 22n.
86, 87, 88n., 93, 100n., 154n., 193, Stevenson, David, 28n.
234, 245, fig. 4 Stiehle, Hans, 60-61
Ruland, Martin, 70, 96, 235 Stoicism, 52n., 73, 211
Rumphius, Christian, 89, 101, 103 Stoltzenberg, Daniel Stoltzius von, 238,
runes, 197n. 239
Rupescissa, Johannes de, 16n. Strict Observance, 252
Ruska, Julius, 13-14, 63n. Strieder, Friedrich Wilhelm, 99, 200-201
sublimation, 66
Sacred Congregation of the Index, see sub rosa, meaning of phrase, 165
Index, papal sulphur, 76, 107, 171
salt, Paracelsian element, 67, 187 sulphur, alchemical principle, 84, 97; see
Satan, 147, 158-159, 163, 198 also sulphur-mercury theory
Saturn, 14, 15n., 41-43, 84, 93, 95n., 96, sulphur-mercury theory, 63, 66, 67-68,
144, 170, 187, 209, 230, fig. 2, fig. 13; 78, 98, 168, 186-188, 205, 206, 216,
see also lead 221, 252, fig. 17
Saturnalia, 143 sun, 14, 19, 20, 21, 47, 52, 56, 63, 72, 73,
Schick, Hans, 28, 119, 129, 152, 154, 74-76, 78, 85, 96, 139, 145, 146, 165,
162-163, 166, 174-175, 176, 240 172, 183-187, 194-195, 219, 224, 226,
Schilling, Heinz, 190n. 227, 228, 231ff., 252, 253, fig. 24; see
Scholasticism, 33, 36, 48n.-49n., 60, 119, also solar mysticism
138, 168, 214 supernovas, 117n.
scintilla, 67-68, 179, 184, 208 sympathies, doctrine of, 17, 38, 67, 72,
Second Reformation, 190, 192 146, 185, 255; see also
Segar, Francis, 191 correspondences, theory of
Sesostris, 149n. synchronicity, 4, 17n.
Set, 84
Seth, son of Adam, 81 Tabula Smaragdina, 38, 73, 130
seven, significance of number, 134-135 Tacitus, 199-200
Sigalion, 164-165 Tartary Lamb, 100
signatures, doctrine of, 38, 70, 80, 163 Tauler, Johann, 175
Silberer, Herbert, 23-26, 29, 30, 254 Telemachus, 218
simples, 55, 59, 61 temperance/intemperance, 41-43, 48ff.,
Sincerus Renatus, see Richter, Samuel 63, 66, 98, 113, 137-138, 143, 148,
Smith, Sir Thomas, 103 163, 182, 186, 188, 191, 203-205, 218,
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, 29, 233; see also humours
241n. temple, alchemical, 74, 95, 96n.
Socrates, 69n. Temple of Solomon, 28n.
solar mysticism, 16, 17, 34, 65, 75, 76, Terminus, 220n.
164, 185-186, 187-188, 195, 206, 231, Tertullian, 229n.
254 Teutons, 197
Solomon, 28n., 179, 217 Tharsander, see Wegner, Georg Wilhelm
solution, 66, 84, 93, 146, 170-171, 216n. Thebes, see Heliopolis
spark, divine, see scintilla Themis, 167-168
288 Index
Theodosius Verax, 241-242 Venus, Roman deity, 42, 165, 170, 172,
Theophilus Caelnatus, 241-242 204
Theophilus, Church Father, 227 verdigris, 14n.
Theophilus Schweighardt, see Mögling, Vespucci, Amerigo (Americus), 221,
Daniel 222n.
Theophrast, 43 vessel, alchemical, 12, 14, 15, 16, 38, 40,
theosophy, 1, 9, 13, 33, 36-37, 80ff., 150, 41, 66, 72-73, 74, 84, 93, 135, 145,
164, 173, 175, 177, 179, 240-241, 246, 146, 170, 172, 183-184, 188-189, 195,
250, 251 206, 220, 221, 222, 225, 232, 234
theurgy, 83 virtue, 51, 72, 103, 105, 108, 168, 183-
Thirty Years War, 35, 49, 87, 129, 157, 188, 191, 195, 196, 206, 233, 236,
199, 201-202, 242 254; see also astral virtues
Thomas Aquinas, 139 vitalism, 8-9, 33-34, 52, 63, 73, 186, 187,
Thoth, 37, 84, 85, 197 192, 226, 231, 236, 248, 252, 254
Tilman Eulenspiegel, 177 Vitruvius, 89n.
tincture, 53, 78, 79n., 189, 223, 246, 252 Vleeschouwer, Johannes, 53
toad, 77, 78, 79n. von Riedesel, family, 181-182
tortoise feet, 65n.
Tractatus Aureus Hermetis Trismegisti, Waite, Arthur Edward, 18, 19, 22, 27n.,
74-75 29, 32, 39n., 119-120, 123, 126, 130,
Tree Bird, see barnacle goose 140, 154, 161, 166, 178, 249-250
Tree of Dragon’s Blood, 100 washing, 69n., 170, 172; see also solution
Trinity, Holy, 71, 73, 74, 86, 128n., 186 Wegner, Georg Wilhelm, 196n., 247-249
Trithemius, Abbot, 73n., 246 Weigel, Valentin, 36, 175, 241, 246, 256
Trojan War, 80n. Westcott, William Wynn, 241n.
Trunz, Erich, 55, 132 white, see colours, and alchemical phases
Turba Philosophorum, 63, 69n., 214 Widemann, Carl, 128n.
Tusalmat, 41, 93 Winter King, see Friedrich V, Elector
Typhon, 84 Palatine
Wolf, Hermann, 209
Uffsteiner, Weigand, 190
Ulysses, 55, 105, 210-213, 218 Xenophanes, 63n.
unicorn, 224
Union for the Defence of Protestant Yarker, John, 122-123, 125, 126n.
Religion, 35, 88, 91, 181, 202 Yates, Dame Frances, 28, 87, 90, 117n.,
Universal Medicine, 16, 38, 43, 57, 71, 132, 175, 190, 210n.
73-74, 76, 86, 91, 113, 133, 143, 163, yellow, see colours, and alchemical
179, 212-213, 215, 217-218, 228, 233, phases
236, 243, 247
Urania, 144 Zagler, Bernhard, 48n.
Uriel, archangel, 90n. Zeus, 78, 95, 162
Zodiac, 51, 146, 154, 194
Vaughan, Thomas, 116n., 118, 126, 241, Zosimos, 10, 31, 63n., 74, 79, 96n., 225,
252 229
Venerable Bede, 135 Zwingli, Huldreich, 35
Venus, planet, 42n., 194, fig. 24
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Hereward Tilton

The Quest for the Phoenix

The Quest for the Phoenix

Learn O ye students, that which the Philosophers have long

(Baqsam in The Flying Atalanta, discourse XXXIX)

I. Introduction: Jung and Early Modern Alchemy

II. Maier’s Formative Years

III. Bohemia and England

IV. The Rosicrucian ‘Imposture’

V. The Completion of the Work

VI. Conclusion: Maier and the Historiography of Alchemy

1. The alchemical chimera

The early modern period witnessed the emergence of theosophy, Rosicru-

2. The reception of Jung amongst historians of alchemy

In Jung’s opinion the symbols of Paracelsian alchemy, and of alchemical

eminent a scholar of Paracelsianism than Walter Pagel, who likewise claimed

It is this notion of the supposed post-Reformation ‘fission’ in the alchemical

Pagel was an early opponent of positivism in the field of the history of

Although more rationalistic sensibilities were offended by the mystically-

intellectual development of alchemical writers such as Michael Maier, who

So although Dobbs followed Jung in his distinction between a ‘scientific’ and

The first major challenge to the historiography promoted by Jung came

3. The arguments of Principe and Newman

The misappropriation of Halleux by Principe and Newman could be ex-

description of Jung’s approach to alchemy in which they portray the

recognised and expressed, and there is no need to draw on reductionist

longer dealing with a doctrine that stands in the realms of science as it is

4. The origins of Jung’s alchemy and the work of Richard Noll

We shall soon contest the crypto-positivist notion that early modern

charismatic cult that is contemporary Jungianism. 82 At the time of his book’s

naïveté Noll exhibited in his earlier writings appears to be inversely

5. ‘Secret threads’: the seventeenth century ‘Carl Jung of Mainz’

However, rather than following the unreliable work of Noll, or looking

Jung’s intellectual hubris notwithstanding, it is clear that the confluence of

Hermeticism. 108 The relation of Rosicrucianism to Freemasonry remains a

in Über den Wahren Ursprung der Rosenkreuzer und des Freymaurerordens

For we be brethren of the Rosie Cross;

However, the arguments proposed by these various authors suffer from a

6. Spiritual alchemy, Rosicrucianism and the work of

The Güldener Tractat demonstrates the influence of Count Michael Maier,

Grasshoff’s Parabola, which was no doubt interpreted as a tale of spiritual

approved – for the testimony of Maier’s own writings show that, in an

minerals alike – regardless if such vitalism is the defining feature of alchemy,

1. The context of Maier’s life and thought

philosophy, but false according to theology.” 5 Alchemists and theosophers

2. Auguries of fortune: Maier’s childhood and parentage

Michael Maier’s father was a Goldsticker (gold embroiderer) by the name of

in effect, a petition for the Emperor’s service in the form of a curriculum

The dove is a standard alchemical motif, relating the Christian symbolism

principle. Here is an indication that Maier, although rarely commenting

In the pages of the De Medicina Regia Maier relates to the reader a

3. The influence of Governor Heinrich Rantzau

sustained was the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), a

Although derived from a classical source and addressed to Rantzau, these

4. Galenism and Maier’s studies at Frankfurt an der Oder

Further sources of Maier’s alchemical worldview – both ideological and

assistant or ‘handmaiden’ of God, a pervasive conception in the alchemical

element air fire earth water