Τα πιο μεγάλα και τα πιο θαυμαστά πράγματα...

Τα πιο μεγάλα και τα πιο θαυμαστά πράγματα δεν προέρχονται παρά μόνον από τον Θεό και πατέρα μας, βρίσκοντας καταφύγιο μέσα στην καρδιά του κάθε ανθρώπου ακτινοβολούν την δόξα της αγάπης που ο δημιουργός μας άφησε για παρακαταθήκη σε όλους εμάς.

Μέσα από αυτά κατανοούμε τον κόσμο που υπερβαίνει τον κόσμο μας και την λαχτάρα της μεγάλης επιστροφής των ψυχών στην κοιλάδα του αμετάβλητου βασιλείου.

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All the greatest, most wonderful things do not derived but only from God our Father, finding shelter into the heart of every man radiating the glory of the Love that our Creator has left as a legacy for all of us.

Through them, we comprehend the world, above our world, and the longing of 'the great return of the souls' in the valley of the immutable Kingdom.

 

Call of the World's heart

Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries

Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries

The two books 

translated into English 

and converted in high analysis 

(jpg form)

for 

easy reading 

or 

use of the drawings 

in 

blogs 

or 

pages

Book A
http://www.mediafire.com/?0zyuwugyjoirelf

Book B

http://www.mediafire.com/?zenerrble94i359

Εσύ τι έκανες για τον συνάνθρωπό σου;

Συνήθως ο άνθρωπος σε μια δεδομένη στιγμή αδυναμίας θυμάται την ύπαρξη του Θεού, και έτσι αποζητάει από Αυτόν την βοήθεια του.
Τέτοιο είναι το θράσος του και ο απέραντος εγωισμός του όπως εξελίσσετε μέσα στην καθημερινότητα του.
Όλες τις υπόλοιπες μέρες εύλογα μπορεί κάποιος να αναρωτηθεί όχι το τι έκανε αυτός για το Δημιουργό του αλλά κάτι το πολύ απλούστερο, το τι έκανε μέχρι εκείνην την στιγμή για τον συνάνθρωπό του;
Αυτή είναι μια ερώτηση που πρέπει να απαντηθεί από τον καθένα από εμάς ξεχωριστά.

Confessio Fraternitatis

Confessio Fraternitatis 

or
The Confession of the Laudable Fraternity of the Most Honorable Order
of the Rosy Cross, 

Written to All the Learned of Europe

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; and what heretofore hath been sought with great pains, and daily labour, is now manifested unto those who make small account, or scarcely once think upon it; but those which desire it, it is in a manner forced and thrust upon them, that thereby the life of the godly may be eased of all their toil and labour, and be no more subject to the storms of inconstant Fortune; but the wickedness of the ungodly thereby, with their due and deserved punishment, be augmented and multiplied.  

Although we cannot be by any suspected of the least heresy, or of any wicked beginning, or purpose against the worldly government, we do condemn the East and the West (meaning the Pope and Mahomet) blasphemers against our Lord Jesus Christ, and offer and present with a good will to the chief head of the Roman Empire our prayers, secrets, and great treasures of gold.  Yet we have thought good, and fit for the learned's sakes, to add somewhat more to this, and make a better explanation if there be anything too deep, hidden, and set down over dark in the Fama, or for certain reasons were altogether omitted, and left out; hoping herewith the learned will be more addicted unto us, and be made far more fit and willing for our purpose.  

Concerning the alteration and amendment of Philosophy, we have (as much as this present is needful) sufficiently declared, to wit, that the same is altogether weak and faulty; yet we doubt not, although the most part falsely do allege that she (I know not how) is sound and strong, yet notwithstanding she fetches her last breath and is departing.  But as commonly, even in the same place or country where there breaketh forth a new a unaccustomed disease, Nature also there discovereth a medicine against the same; so there doth appear for so manifold infirmities of Philosophy the right means, and unto our Patria sufficiently offered, whereby she may become sound again, which is now to be renewed and altogether new.  

No other Philosophy we have, than that which is the head and sum, the foundations and contents of all faculties, sciences, and arts, the which (if we will behold our age) containeth much of Theology and medicine, but little of the wisdom of the law, and doth diligently search both heaven and earth: or, to speak briefly thereof, which doth manifest and declare sufficiently Man, whereof all learned who will make themselves known unto us, and come into our brotherhood, shall find more wonderful secrets by us than heretofore they did attain unto, and did know, or are able to believe or utter.  

Wherefore, to declare briefly our meaning hereof, we ought to labour carefully that there be not only a wondering at our meeting and adhortation, but that likewise everyone may know, that although we do not lightly esteem and regard such mysteries and secrets, we nevertheless holde it fit, that the knowledge thereof be manifested and revealed to many.  For it is to be taught and believed, that this our unhoped (for), willing offer will raise many and divers thoughts in men, unto whom (as yet) be unknown Miranda sexta aetatis, or those which by reason of the course of the world, esteem the things to come like unto the present, and are 

hindered through all manner of importunities of this our time, so that they live no otherwise in the world, than blind fools, who can, in the clear sun-shine day discern and know nothing, than only by feeling.  

Now concerning the first part, we hold this, that the meditations, knowledge and inventions of our loving Christian Father (of all that, which from the beginning of the world, Man's wisdom, either through God's revelation, or through the service of the angels and spirits, or through the sharpness and depth of understanding, or through long observation, use, and experience, hath found out, invented, brought forth, corrected, and till now hath been propagated and transplanted) are so excellent, worthy and great, that if all books should perish, and by God's almighty sufferance, all writings and all learnings should be lost, yet the posterity will be able only thereby to lay a new foundation, and bring truth to light again; the which perhaps would not be so hard to do as if one should begin to pull down and destroy the old ruinous building, and then to enlarge the fore court, afterwards bring lights into the lodgings, and then change the doors, stair, and other things according to our intention.  

But to whom would not this be acceptable, for to be manifested to everyone rather that to have it kept and spared, as an especial ornament for the appointed time to come?  Wherefore should we not with all our hearts rest and remain in the only truth (which men through so many erroneous and crooked ways do seek) if it had only pleased God to lighten unto us the sixth Candelbrium? 

Were it not good that we needed not to care, not to fear hunger, poverty, sickness and age?  Were it not a precious thing, that you could always live so, as if you had lived from the beginning of the world, and, moreover, as you should still live to the end thereof? Were it not excellent you dwell in one place, that neither the people which dwell beyond the River Ganges in the Indies could Hide anything, nor those which in Peru might be able to keep secret their counsels from thee?  

Were it not a precious thing, that you could so read in one only book, and withal by reading understand and remember, all that which in all other books (which heretofore have been, and are now, and hereafter shall come out) hath been, is, and shall be learned and found out of them?  How pleasant were it, that you could so sing, that instead of stony rocks you could draw the pearls and precious stones, instead of wild beasts, spirits, and instead of hellish Pluto, move the might princes of the world.  

O ye people, God's counsel is far otherwise, who hath concluded now to increase and enlarge the number of our Fraternity, the which we with such joy have undertaken, as we have heretofore obtained this great treasure without our merits, yea without our hopes, and thoughts, and purpose with the like fidelity to put the same in practice, that neither the compassion nor pity of our own children (which some of us in the Fraternity have) shall draw us from it, because we know these unhoped for goods cannot be inherited, nor by chance be obtained.  

If there be somebody now, which on the other side will complain of our discretion, that we offer our treasure so freely, and without any difference to all men, and do not rather regard and respect more the godly, learned, wise, or princely persons, than the common people; those we do not contradict, seeing it is not a slight and easy matter; but withal we signify so much, that our Arcana or secrets will no ways be common, and generally made known. Although the Fama be set forth in five languages, and is manifested to everyone, yet we do partly very well know that the unlearned and gross wits will not receive nor regard the same; as also the worthiness of those who shall be accepted into our Fraternity are not esteemed and known of us by Man's carefulness, but by the Rule of our Revelation and Manifestation. 

Wherefore if the unworthy cry and call a thousand times, or if they shall offer and present themselves to us a thousand times, yet God hath commanded our ears, that they should hear none of them: yea God hath so compassed us about with his clouds, that unto us his servants no violence or force can be done or committed; wherefore we neither can be seen or known by anybody, except he had the eyes of an eagle. It hath been necessary that the Fama be set forth in everyone's mother tongue, because those should not be defrauded of the knowledge thereof, whom (although they be unlearned) God hath not excluded from the happiness of this Fraternity, the which shall be divided and parted into certain degrees; as those which dwell in the city of Damascus in Arabia, who have a far different politick order from the other Arabians. 

For there do govern only wise and understanding men, who by the king's permission make particular laws; according unto which example also the government shall be instituted in Europe (whereof we have a description set down by our Christianly Father) when first is done and come to pass that which is to precede. And thenceforth our Trumpet shall publicly sound with a loud sound, and great noise, when namely the same (which at this present is shown by few, and is secretly, as a thing to come, declared in figures and pictures) shall be free and publicly proclaimed, and the whole world shall be filled withal. Even in such manner as heretofore, many godly people have secretly and altogether desperately pushed at the Pope's tyranny, which afterwards, with great, earnest, and especial zeal in Germany, was thrown from his seat, and trodden underfoot, whose final fall is delayed, and kept for our times, when he also shall be scratched in pieces with nails, and an end be made of his ass's cry, by a new voice. 

The which we know is already reasonable manifest and known to many learned men in Germany, as their writings and secret congratulations do sufficiently witness the same.  We could here relate and declare what all the time, from the year of Our Lord 1378 (in which year our Christian Father was born) till now, hath happened, where we might rehearse what alterations he hath seen in these one hundred and six years of his life, which he hath left to our breathren and us after his decease to peruse. But brevity, which we do observe, will not permit at this present to make rehearsal of it, till a more fit time. At this time it is enough for those which do not despise our declaration, having therefore briefly touched it, thereby to prepare the way for their acquaintance and friendship with us.  

Yet to whom it is permitted that he may see, and for his instruction use, those great letters and characters which the Lord god hath written and imprinted in heaven and earth's edifice, through the alteration of government, which hath been from time to time altered and reviewed, the same is already (although as yet unknown to himself) ours. And as we know he will not despise our inviting and calling, so none shall fear any deceit, for we promise and openly say, that no man's uprightness and hopes shall deceive him, whosoever shall make himself known unto us under the seal of secrecy, and desire our Fraternity.  

But to the false hypocrites, and to those that seek other things than wisdom, we say and witness by these presents publicly, we cannot be made known, and be betrayed unto them; and much less they shall be able to hurt as any manner of way without the will of God; but they shall certainly be partakers of all the punishment spoken of in our Fama; so their wicked counsels shall light upon themselves, and our treasures shall remain untouched and unstirred, until the Lion doth come, who will ask them for his use, and employ them for the confirmation and establishment of his kingdom. 

We ought therefore here to observe well, and make it known unto everyone, that God hath certainly and most assuredly concluded to send and grant to the world before her end, which presently thereupon shall ensue, such a truth, light, life, and glory, as the first man Adam had, which he lost in Paradise, after which his successors were put and driven, with him, to misery. 

Wherefore there shall cease all servitude, falsehood, lies, and darkness, which by little and little, with the great world's revolution, was crept into all arts, works, and governments of men, and have darkened the most part of them. For form thence are proceeded an innumerable sort of all manner of false opinions and heresies, that scarce the wisest of all was able to know whose doctrine and opinion he should follow and embrace, and could not well and easily be discerned; seeing on the one part they were detained, hindered, and brought into errors through the respect of the philosophers and learned men, and on the other part through true experience. 

All the which, when it shall once be abolished and removed, and instead thereof a right and true rule instituted, then there will remain thanks unto them which have taken pains therein. But the work itself shall be attributed to the blessedness of our age.  

As we now willingly confess, that may principal men by their writings will be a great furtherance unto this Reformation which is to come; so we desire not to have this honour ascribed to us, as if such work were only commanded and imposed upon us. 

But we confess, and witness openly with the Lord Jesus Christ, that it shall first happen that the stones shall arise, and offer their service, before there shall be any want of executors and accomplishers of God's counsel; yea, the Lord God hath already sent before certain messengers, which should testify his will, to wit, some new stars, which do appear and are seen in the firmament in Serpentario and Cygno, which signify and give themselves known to everyone, that they are powerful Signacula of great weighty matters. So then, the secret his writings and characters are most necessary for all such things which are found out by men. Although that great book of nature stands open to all men, yet there are but few that can read and understand the same. 

For as there is given to man two instruments to hear, likewise two to see, and two to smell, but only one to speak, and it were but vain to expect speech from the ears, or hearing from the eyes. So there hath been ages or times which have seen, there have also been ages that have heard, smelt, and tasted. Now there remains yet that which in short time, honour shall be likewise given to the tongue, and by the same; what before times hath been seen, heard, and smelt, now finally shall be spoken and uttered forth, when the World shall awake out of her heavy and drowsy sleep, and with an open heart, bare-head, and bare-foot, shall merrily and joyfully meet the new arising Sun.  

These characters and letters, as God hath here and there incorporated them in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, so hath he imprinted them in all beasts. So that like as the mathematician and astronomer can long before see and know the eclipses which are to come, so we may verily foreknow and foresee the darkness of obscurations of the Church, and how long they shall last. From the which characters or letters we have borrowed our magic writing, and have found out, and made, a new language for ourselves, in the which withal is expressed and declared the nature of all things. So that it is no wonder that we are not so eloquent in other languages, the which we know that they are altogether disagreeing to the language of our forefathers, Adam and Enoch, and were through the Babylonical confusion wholly hidden.

But we must also let you understand that there are yet some Eagles' Feathers in our way, the which do hinder our purpose. Wherefore we do admonish everyone for to read diligently and continually the Holy Bible, for he that taketh all his pleasures therein, he shall know that he prepared for himself an excellent way to come to our Fraternity. 

For as this is the whole sum and content of our rule, that every letter or character which is in the world ought to be learned and regarded well; so those are like unto us, and are very near allied unto us, who do make the Holy Bible a rule of their life, and an aim and end of all their studies: yea to let it be a compendium and content of the whole world. And not only to have it continually in the mouth, but to know how to apply and direct the true understanding of it to all times and ages of the world. 

Also, it is not our custom to prostitute and make so common the Holy Scriptures; for there are innumerable expounders of the same; some alleging and wresting it to serve for their opinion, some to scandal it, and most wickedly do like it to a nose of wax, which alike should serve the divines, philosophers, physicians, and mathematicians, against all the which we do openly witness and acknowledge, that from the beginning of the world there hath not been given unto men a more worthy, a more excellent, and more admirable and wholesome Book than the Holy Bible. 

Blessed is he that hath the same, yet more blessed is he who reads it diligently, but most blessed of all is he that truly understandeth the same, for he is most like to God, and doth truly understandeth the same, for his most like to God, and doth come most near to him. But whatsoever hath been said in the Fama concerning the deceivers against the transmutation of metals, and the highest medicine in the world, the same is thus to be understood, that this so great gift of God we do in no manner set at naught, or dispise it. 

But because she bringeth not with her always the knowledge of Nature, but this bringeth forth not only medicine, but also maketh manifest and open unto us innumerable secrets and wonders. 

Therefore it is requisite, that we be earnest to attain to the understanding and knowledge of philosophy. And moreover, excellent wits ought not to be drawn to the tincture of metals, before they be exercised well in the knowledge of Nature. He must needs be an insatiable creature, who is come so far, that neither poverty nor sickness can hurt him, yea, who is exalted above all other men, and hath rule over that, the which doth anguish, trouble and pain others, yet will give himself again to idle things, as to build houses, make wars, and use al manner of pride, because he hath gold and silver infinite store.  

God is far otherwise pleased, for he exalteth the lowly, and pulleth down the proud with disdain; to those which are of few works, he sendeth his holy Angel to speak with them, but the unclean babblers he driveth in the wilderness and solitary places. 

The which is the right reward of the Romish seducers, who have vomited forth their blasphemies against Christ, and as yet do not abstain from their lies in this clear shining light. In Germany all their abominations and detestable tricks have been disclosed, that thereby he may fully fulfill the measure of sin, and draw near to the end of his punishment. Therefore one day it will come to pass, that the mouth of those vipers will be stopped and the triple crown will be brought to nought, as thereof at our meeting shall more plain and at large be discoursed.  

For conclusion of our Confession, we must earnestly admonish you, that you put away, if not all, yet the most books written by false Alchemists, who do think it but a jest, or a pastime, when they either misuse the Holy Trinity, when they do apply it to vain things, or deceive the people with most strange figures, and dark sentences and speeches, and cozen the simple of their money; as there are nowadays too many such books set forth, which the Enemy of man's welfare doth daily, and will to the end, mingle among the good seed, thereby to make the Truth more difficult to be believed, which in herself is simple, easy, and naked, but contrarily Falsehood is proud, haughty, and coloured with a kind of lustre of seeming godly and of humane wisdom. Ye that are wise eschew such books, and turn unto us, who seek not your moneys, but offer unto you most willingly our great treasures. 

We hunt not after your goods with invented lying tinctures, but desire to make you partakes of our goods. We speak unto you by parables, but would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy and ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets. We desire not to be received by you, but invite you unto our more than kingly houses and palaces, and that verily not by our own proper motion, but (that you likewise may know it) as forced unto it, by the instigation of the Spirit of God, by his admonitions, and by the occasion of this present time.  

What think you, loving people, and how seem you affected, seeing that you now understand and know, that we acknowledge ourselves truly and sincerely to profess Christ, condemn the Pope, addict ourselves to the true Philosophy, lead a Christian life, and daily call, entreat and invite many more unto our Fraternity, unto whom the same Light of God likewise appeareth? Consider you not at length how you might begin with us, not only by pondering the Gifts which are in you, and by experience which you have in the word of God, beside the careful consideration of the imperfection of all arts, and many other unfitting things, to seek for an amendment therein; to appease God, and to accommodate you for the time wherein you live. 

Certainly if you will perform the same, this profit will follow, that all those goods which Nature hath in all parts of the world wonderfully dispersed, shall at one time altogether be given unto you, and shall easily disburden you of all that which obscureth the understanding of man, and hindereth the working thereof, like unto the vain eccentrics and epicycles.  But those pragmatical and busy-headed men, who either are blinded with the glittering of gold, or (to say more truly) who are now honest, but by; thinking such great riches should never fail, might easily be corrupted, and brought to idleness, and to riotous proud living, those we desire that they would not trouble us with their idle and vain crying. 

But let them think, that although there be a medicine to be had which might fully cure all diseases, nevertheless those whom God hath destined to plague with diseases, neverthelesss those whom God hath destined to plaque with diseases, and to keep under the rod of correction, such shall never obtain any such medicine.  

Even in such manner, although we might enrich the whole world, and endue them with learning, and might release it from innumerable miseries, yet shall we never be manifested and made known unto any many, without the especial pleasure of God; yea, it shall be so far from him whosoever thinks to get the benefit and be partaker of our riches and knowledge, without and against the will of God, that he shall sooner lose his life in seeking and searching for us, than to find us, and attain to come to the wished happiness of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.

The second Rosicrucian manifesto, the Confessio fraternitatis, was first published in 1615 in Latin (together with the Consideratio brevis) and later that same year in German. Although some manuscripts exist of English translations dating from the 1620's, an English version was not published till 1652. This was issued under the name of Thomas Vaughan, the alchemical writer.  Transcription from Kevin Day.

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The classical Rosicrucian writings of the 17th century

The three classical Rosicrucian writings were published by the German theologian Johann Valentin Andreae at the beginning of the 17th century. The LRC editions contain the full original texts and an esoteric analysis by Jan van Rijckenborgh which supplies the key for understanding.
The summaries supply a short impression of the contents. Just click to view them. For a book order click the direct link to the Amazon bookshop.

The Call of the Brotherhood of the Rosycross by Jan van Rijckenborgh

ΤΑ ΜΥΣΤΙΚΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΔΕΛΦΟΤΗΤΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΡΟΔΟΣΤΑΥΡΟΥ ΤΟΜΟΣ ΙI:
Η ΟΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΔΕΛΦΟΤΗΤΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΡΟΔΟΣΤΑΥΡΟΥ

(Εσωτερική ανάλυση του Confessio Fraternitatis RC)

του Jan van Rijckenborgh

Ο συγγραφέας περιγράφει αυτή τη Ροδοσταυρική διακήρυξη, που πρωτοεκδόθηκε το 1615, ως ακολούθως: Με μια πιο προσεκτική θεώρηση, οι μελετητές της Confessio θα συνειδητοποιούσαν ότι αυτό το παλιό έγγραφο δεν είναι μια ομολογία πίστης, με την συνηθισμένη έννοια, ούτε μια δογματική έκθεση του τι συμφωνεί και τι όχι με τις πεποιθήσεις των Ροδόσταυρων, αλλά ένα καταπληκτικό κομμάτι προφητείας. Εάν πάμε πέρα από την απλή, όντως μερικές φορές πολύ απλοποιημένη, εξωτερική όψη, μας αποκαλύπτεται η συμπαντική απεριόριστη σημασία του και βλέπουμε το ακτινοβόλο μονοπάτι της αλήθειας να απλώνεται σαν μια πλατιά αψίδα από ορίζοντα σε ορίζοντα. Υπο μετάφραση.

http://www.rodostavros.org/βιβλιογραφία/ροδοσταυρικα-μανιφεστα
http://www.rozekruispers.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Confession-Rosicrucian-Brotherhood-van-Rijckenborgh/dp/9067320374

Rare Recordings No1 - Schumann Concerto for Cello and Orchestra

Schumann
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra op.129  (1951)

10 inch 33rpm

Andre Navarra Cello
Andre Cluytens conducts  

L'Orchestre de L'Association des Concerts Colonne
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
Columbia 33FC-1006  

Made in France

André-Nicolas Navarra (October 13, 1911 Biarritz, France – July 31, 1988 Siena, Italy) was a French cellist and cello teacher.

He was born into a musical family, his father a bassist of Italian descent.[citation needed] His parents took steps to prepare him for music before setting him up with an instrument, teaching him scales and solfège before he began studying cello at age seven. Two years later, he was accepted as a student at the Toulouse Conservatory, and graduated in 1924 with first prize at age thirteen. He then continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, learning cello from Jules Leopold-Loeb and chamber music from Charles Tournemire. He graduated two years later at age fifteen, again taking first prize.

After the completion of his lessons at the Conservatoire de Paris, Navarra stopped taking lessons entirely something very unusual for first-rate soloists. Instead, he worked out his own course of study, and practiced at it. This included transcribing many of the violin technical methods to make up for a lack of decent cello études, including those of Carl Flesch and Otakar Ševčík.

Navarra remained in Paris for this period of self-study, and used the opportunity to meet and observe the playing of musicians such as Emanuel Feuermann, pianist Alfred Cortot, and violinist Jacques Thibaud. Navarra also developed friendships with composers Jacques Ibert, Florent Schmitt, and Arthur Honegger. Later on, he was mentored by Pablo Casals in regard to artistic matters.

In 1929, at the age of eighteen, Navarra joined the Krettly Quartet, and remained with them for the next seven years. He also helped form an ensemble called the B.B.N. Trio with pianist Joseph Benvenuti[verification needed] and violinist René Benedetti. Two years later, he made his solo debut with Paris's Colonne Orchestra, performing Édouard Lalo's Cello Concerto in D minor. In 1933 he became principal cellist of the Paris Opéra Orchestra, in addition to continuing to appear as a soloist with various European orchestras.

During these years, Navarra was exceptionally athletic. His favorite sport was swimming, but he also enjoyed boxing. This led to Navarra developing an extremely strong and stocky physique which he kept for years afterward. He regarded this as ideal for a cellist, allowing him to dominate the relatively large instrument.

Navarra slowly continued to establish his career throughout the 1930s, receiving a major boost in 1937 when he won first prize at the Vienna International Competition. However, his career was abruptly halted by World War II in 1939. During this time he abandoned his cello and served with the French infantry.

 In 1945, after a period of practice to regain his physical skills, André Navarra resumed his career. In 1949, he accepted a professorship at the Conservatoire de Paris as a successor to Pierre Fournier, and meanwhile toured extensively in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Soviet Union, playing with the era's great conductors. His performances included premieres of cello concertos written for him. Among them was one by André Jolivet, which Navarra recorded for Erato; it received release in the United States on Westminster XWN-19118 (mono) and WST-17118 (stereo). He also recorded a particularly well-received version of Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto with Sir John Barbirolli conducting.

In addition to his position at the Conservatoire de Paris, Navarra taught summer courses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana Siena from 1954, fall courses in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and accepted an additional professorship at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in 1958. He also taught in London and Vienna.


Navarra recorded Antonín Dvořák's 'Cello Concerto in 1954 with the New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Rudolf Schwarz. Capitol Records released it in 1955, catalog number P 8301.

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The Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129, by Robert Schumann was completed in a period of only two weeks, between 10 October and 24 October 1850, shortly after Schumann became the music director at Düsseldorf.

The concerto was never played in Schumann's lifetime. It was premièred on 9 June 1860, four years after his death, at the Leipzig Conservatory in a concert in honour of the 50th anniversary of Schumann's birth, with Ludwig Ebert as soloist.The length of a typical performance is about 25 minutes.

This concerto is considered one of his more daring and adventurous works, due to the length of the exposition and the transcendental quality of the opening. On the autographed score, Schumann gave the title Konzertstück (concert piece) rather than Konzert (concerto), which suggested he intended to depart from the traditional conventions of a concerto from the very beginning.

 Andre Navarra

Like Schumann's other concertos, the first movement of the cello concerto begins with a very short orchestral introduction followed by the presentation of the main theme by solo, which in turn is followed by a short tutti that leads into a lyrical melody.

The second movement is a very short lyrical movement in which the soloist occasionally uses double stops. It also features a descending fifth, a gesture used throughout the piece as a signal and homage to his wife, Clara Schumann.

The third movement is a lively rondo which contrasts with the first two movements. At the end of the movement, there is an accompanied in-tempo cadenza, something unprecedented in Schumann's day, that leads into the final coda. In recent years, some cellists have chosen instead to include their own unaccompanied cadenza at this point, although there is no indication that Schumann wished for one.

Schumann famously abhorred receiving applause between movements. As a result, there are no breaks between any of the movements in the concerto.

Movements :


The piece is in three movements, which follow on from each other without a pause:

Nicht zu schnell (A minor)
Langsam (F major)
Sehr lebhaft (A minor – A major)

Η διαφορετικότητα των μορφών ανάμεσα στους ανθρώπους - The diversity of forms among people

Ορφεύς και Ευρυδίκη

Η διαφορετικότητα των μορφών ανάμεσα στους ανθρώπους ομοιάζει με την ποικιλία των σχεδίων και των ήχων των οργάνων σε μια συμφωνική ορχήστρα.

Όμως, όσο και παράξενος να ακούγετε ο ήχος ενός μπάσου οργάνου από μόνος του, όταν αυτή η ίδια μελωδία συνδυαστεί αρμονικά με το υπόλοιπο σύνολο, η ένωση όλων αυτών των φαινομενικά διαφορετικών ήχων μας εκπλήσσει σαν αποτέλεσμα, δημιουργώντας μια σύνθεση απαράμιλλης ομορφιάς.

Το ίδιο ταυτόχρονα συμβαίνει και στην μαθητεία μας σε μια πνευματική σχολή αλλά και ανάμεσα στις αμέτρητες σχέσεις που έχουμε ήδη.

Πρώτα από όλα η εμφάνιση μας σαν μορφή δεν πρέπει να μας ξενίσει ή να μας προξενήσει πρόβλημα.

Εν συνεχεία πρέπει να δημιουργηθεί η σύλληψη της ενότητας στην διαφορετικότητα του συνόλου των ανθρώπων που ζουν ανάμεσά μας και πως εμείς θα μπορέσουμε να μάθουμε τότε να εκτελούμε αυτόν τον σκοπό αρμονικά και σε πλήρη ικανότητα.

Αυτή η εναρμόνιση είναι ουσιώδους σημασίας για την προσωπική μας μαθητεία αλλά και για την δυναμική του συνόλου.

Εδώ μπορούμε να αντικρίσουμε την μορφή του Ορφέα σαν σύμβολο του ανθρώπου που σαν ον έχει εναρμονίσει τον σωματικό του φορέα σε τέτοιο βαθμό που οι μελωδίες που παίζει είναι ευάρεστες στον πατέρα μας και δημιουργό.

Αυτή η εναρμόνιση είναι μια ουσιαστική και απαραίτητη προπαρασκευή εξαγνισμού που δονητικά θα μας παράσχει το κλειδί μέσα από το οποίο η επικοινωνία με το Ποιμάνδρη μας να λάβει χώρα.

Μόνον τότε μια αληθινή συνομιλία με το Πνεύμα μπορεί να πραγματοποιηθεί οδηγώντας την ουσία του μικροκόσμου μας σε πλήρη μεταμόρφωση και σωτηρία.

Είθε οι επτά χορδές της λύρας του Ορφέα,οι επτά αχτίνες του Αγίου Πνεύματος να μας αγγίξουν εσωτερικά μια δεδομένη στιγμή ώστε αυτό το οποίο έχει στο παρελθόν αποκαλυφθεί να εκφραστεί εσωτερικά και σε εμάς επίσης.

*******

 The diversity of forms among people resembles the variety of the designs and sounds of the instruments in a symphonic orchestra.

But as strange can be to us the sound of a bass instrument, when this same melody combined harmoniously with the rest of the set, the union of all these seemingly different sounds have a surprising result creating in this way a composition of great beauty.

The same also applies in our pupilship in a spiritual school but also among the countless relationships we already have or do.

First of all, our appearance as a form should not seemed awkward to us or our cause any trouble.

Subsequently we must create the concept of unity in the diversity of all people and that how we will be able to learn to execute this tune in harmony and to full capacity.

This harmonization is essential to our personal pupilship and also of the dynamics of the whole.

Here we can see the figure of Orpheus as a symbol of the man who as a being has harmonized his physical body to such an extent that the tunes he play are pleasing to our Father and creator.

This harmonization is an essential and necessary preparation of purification that will provide us the vibrational key means by which the communication with our Poimander occurs.

Only then a true conversation with Spirit can take place, leading to the essence of our microcosm into complete transformation and salvation.

May the seven strings of the lyre of Orpheus, the seven rays of the Holy Spirit touch us at a given moment internally so all what has been previously revealed to be expressed to us internally too

Annie Lennox - Into the West (The Return of the King)

4 CD - 07.  DAYS OF THE RING
Featuring Annie Lennox performing “Into the West”

Strings stir up a final reading of the Journey Back Again, until trickling guitar instigates a new accompaniment line. Annie Lennox sings “into the west,” the vocal rendition of the grey havens theme. Somewhere, upon the outer waters of middle-earth, Frodo’s journey is ending… and just beginning.

After a suite of musical highlights from The Return of the King, the orchestra introduces a new line, a series of lilting arpeggios climbing high over lapping chords. This is Shore’s nod to Richard wagner’s Götterdämmerung, the final opera in his Der Ring des Nibelungen, another Ring myth.

 "Into the West" (The Return of the King) performed by Annie Lennox: won the Academy Award for Best Song in 2004.

Into the West
Words and music by Fran walsh, howard Shore, Annie Lennox

 Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore

Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping

What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home

And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All souls pass

Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say: «We have come now to the end»
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again

And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping

And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West

Days Of The Ring - Ft. Annie Lennox Performing Into The West 

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Mozart’s Sister (2010)

Mozart’s Sister (2010)

Beginning in 1763, the film follows the Mozart family’s exhausting life on the road, traveling by coach from one royal court to the next, where the nobility marvel at young Wolfgang’s prodigious talent. But accomplished singer, harpsichordist, violinist Nannerl, Wolfgang’s elder by five years, first held forth as the family’s infant prodigy. At the film begins, she is still performing, though overshadowed and sidelined as accompanist by Wolfgang’s growing fame. Her father bows to social strictures “for her own good,” refusing to let her continue with the violin or compose, while privately conceding Nannerl’s talent to his wife. No longer a precocious tot, Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed by her gender and frets about her prospects.

Mozart’s Sister (2010) 480p BDRip MKV 500MB

Info's :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1653911/

Trailer : 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/iG0Mw_anm_E

Free downloading here :)

https://rapidshare.com/files/3801567833/mozartsis.bd480p.AmoviesZ.com.mkv.rar

Dionysius the Areopagite - On the Divine Names and Mystical Theology

Dionysius the Areopagite - On the Divine Names and Mystical Theology

by Clarence Edwin Rolt, 1920

 Introduction :

On the Divine Names and Mystical Theology are two of the greatest works of Dionysius the Areopagite. Also known as Pseudo-Dionysius, he was long thought to be the first century disciple of Paul. Later evidence, however, showed this important and influential theologian to be an anonymous fifth century Christian, neo-platonic thinker. Both On the Divine Names and Mystical Theology emphasize the transcendence of God, and the inability of human language to fully capture God's true nature. Dionysius's theological method--often called "negative theology" because it never made positive affirmations about God--was adopted by many Christians. This particular edition of Dionysius's work also comes with an elaborate and instructive introduction, sure to be of help when understanding Dionysius's writings. Although Dionysius's work was long unavailable in modern translation, now anyone can read and enjoy this impressive and important theologian!

*******

IV.--THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

At wearisome length Dionysius discusses the problem of evil and shows that nothing is inherently bad. For existence is in itself good (as coming ultimately from the Super-Essence), and all things are therefore good in so far as they exist. Since evil is ltimately non-existent; a totally evil thing would be simply non-existent, and thus the evil in  the world, wherever it becomes complete, annihilates itself and that wherein it lodges. We may illustrate this thought by the nature of zero in mathematics, which is non-entity (since, added to numbers, it makes no difference) and yet has an annihilating force (since it reduces to zero all numbers that are multiplied by it). Even so evil is nothing and yet manifests itself in the annihilation of the things it qualifies. That which we call evil in the world is merely a tendency of things towards nothingness. Thus sickness is a tendency towards death, and death is simply the cessation of physical vitality. And sin is a tendency towards spiritual death, which is the cessation of spiritual vitality. But, since the ground of the soul is indestructible, a complete cessation of its being is impossible; and hence even the devils are not inherently bad. Were they such they would cease ipsofacto to exist.

Dionysius here touches incidentally on a mystical doctrine which, as developed by later writers, afterwards attained the greatest importance. This doctrine of a timeless self is the postulate, perhaps,of all Christian mysticism. The boldest expression of it is to be found in Eckhart and his disciple Tauler, who both say that even the lost souls in hell retain unaltered the ultimate nobility of their being.
And lest this doctrine should be thought to trifle with grave matters,be it remembered that the sinfulness and gravity of sin are simply due to this indestructible nobility of our being. Man cannot become non-moral, and hence his capacity for wickedness. The soul is potentially divine, and therefore may be actually satanic. The very devils in hell cannot destroy the image of the Godhead within them, and it is this image that sin defiles.

It follows from the ultimate non-entity of evil that, in so far as it exists, it can only do so through being mingled with some element of good. To take an illustration given by Dionysius himself, where there is disease there is vitality, for when life ceases the sickness disappears in death. The ugliness of evil lies precisely in the fact that it always, somehow or other, consists in the corruption of something inherently good.

It is, however, this ugliness of things that Dionysius fails to emphasize, and herein lies the great weakness of his teaching. Not only does he, with the misguided zeal of an apologist, gloze deliberately over certain particular cruelties of the Creation and accept them as finite forms of good, but also he tends to explain away the very nature of evil in itself. He tends to be misled by his own true theories. For it is true that evil is ultimately non-existent. St. Augustine taught this when he said: "Sin is nought"; [6] so did Julian of Norwich, who "saw not sin," because she believes "it hath no manner of substance nor any part of being." [7] The fault of Dionysius is the natural failure of his mental type to grasp the mere facts of the actual world as mere facts. He is so dazzled with his vision of ultimate Reality that he does not feel with any intensity the partial realities of this finite universe. Hence, though his theory of evil is, in the main, true, he does not quite grasp the true application of his theory to this world of actual facts.

For this world is by its very nature finite. And hence, if the evil in it is (as Dionysius rightly says) but partial, it must also be remembered (as he for a moment forgets) that its very existence is but partial. And, therefore, though evil is ultimately non-existent, yet the bad qualities of things may, so far as this present world is concerned, have as much reality, or at least as much actuality, as their good qualities. And when we say that evil is ultimately non-existent we merely mean that evil ought to have no actuality here,not that it has none. Dionysius calls evil a lapse and failure of the creature's proper virtues. But a lapse or failure has in it something positive, as he in the same breath both admits by using the word and also tries to explain away. It is as positive as the virtues from which it lapses. The absence of a wooden block is nothing, light has no proper place there, but the air, where light should is darkness and is a visible shadow. St. Augustine has crystallized this truth in his famous epigram, quoted above in part, which runs in full as follows: "Sin is naught, and men are naughtes when they sin." The void left by the want of a good thing has a content consisting in the want. Probably had Dionysius seen more of the world's misery and sin he would have had a stronger sense of this fact. And in that case he mould have given more prominence than he gives, in his extant writings at least, to the Cross of Christ.

Two things should, however, be borne in mind. In the first place he is writing for intellectual Christians in whom he can take for granted both an understanding of metaphysics and a horror of sin. To such readers the non-existence of evil could not have the same meaning as it would to the world outside. For the same reason he (like other Christian teachers after him) speaks of God's transcendent Non-Existence without fearing lest his words should be interpreted as atheism. In fact, to guard against misinterpretation he utters the express warning that mysteries can only be taught to the Initiated. [8]
In the second place throughout his whole treatment of evil, he is no doubt writing with an eye on the dualistic heresy of the Manichees, which was prevalent in his day. Hence the occasional indiscretion of the zeal with which he seeks to block every loop-hole looking towards dualism. The result is a one-sided emphasis in his teaching rather than positive error. He rightly denies a dualism of ultimate realities; but he tends to ignore, rather than to deny, the obvious dualism of actual facts.

Before proceeding to the Method of Contemplation which crowns and vitalizes the entire speculative system of Dionysius, it will be well to bring together in one paragraph the various meanings he gives to Non-Existence.

(1) The Super-Essence transcends the distinction between the Aristotelian "Matter" and "Form"; but in this world the two are distinct from each other. And whereas, in this world, Form without "Matter" has an abstract existence for thought, "Matter" with out Form has none. Thus mere "Matter" is non-existent. And hence things both before their creation and after their destruction are non-existent, for their "Matter" has then no "form." 

(2) Similarly Good without evil exists as the highest Manifestation or "Form" of the Godhead, but evil without Good is formless and therefore non-existent. (This does not mean that "Matter" or the world-stuff is evil, but that neither it nor evil is anything at all.) And since evil is ultimately altogether non-existent, all things are non-existent in so far as they are evil.
(3) Finally, the Super-Essence is, in a transcendent manner, non-Existent as being beyond Existence. And hence the paradox that the destructive force of evil and the higher impulse towards the Godhead both have the same negative principle of a discontent with the existent world--the dangerous, yet true, doctrine (taught, among others, by St. Augustine [9] and Dante [10] ) that evil is a mistaken quest for Good.
The principle of this classification is quite simple. It lies in the fact that Being is the most universal of the Emanations or Forms, and that all things therefore exist only in so far as they possess Form.
Hence the want of all "form" is non-entity and makes things which are without any form to be non-existent; that want of proper "form" which we call evil is a tendency to non-entity and makes evil things to be so far non-existent; the want of complete substantial or spiritual "form" makes merely existent things (i.e. lifeless things) to be "un-existent"; and the transcendence of all "Form" makes the Super-Essence to be in a special sense "Non-Existent." The theory of evil, as given above, is worked out in a manner sufficiently startling.

We naturally divide existent things into good and bad and do not think of non-existent things as being things at all. Dionysius, with apparent perversity, says all things are good, and then proceeds to divide them into "Existent" and "Non-Existent"! The reason is this: All things have two sides to their being: the one in the Super-Essence and the other in themselves. In the Super-Essence they are eternally good, even before their creation. But in themselves (i.e. in their created essence) they were wholly non-existent before their temporal creation, and after it are partially non-existent in so far as they are tainted with evil.

[6] Com. on St. John i. 13. Cf. Conf. vii. 18; xii. 11.
[7] Revelations of Divine Love, xxvii.
[8] Div. Nom. i. 8, ad fin.; Myst. Theol. i. 2.
[9] Conf. ii. 6, 12-14
[10] Parad. v. 10-12

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Michael Maier (1568–1622)

During the past many charismatic writers tried to explain, every one with his own perception the spiritual world as a reflection into ours and how we could approach it, in which method. 

But as you understand because of the gray times they lived in, this couldn't be in open, so they create a new language, a new code full of symbols and give birth to new words with strange for the ordinary people meanings.Also they put many hidden meanings in beautiful strange drawings.

Today all these writing are of course important for us, but in our times all these knowledge is so openly present not only in words but also in power.

The Light under the work of the spiritual messengers is working in this level of life,as always did, giving us in this way  the opportunity to be a part of It again.

When we walk this path towards the Light of the Gnosis, in time will be not necessary for us to decode all these ancient books but we can experience it within our new Soul and so be witnesses of it helping in this way all our brothers and sisters that are still in dark. When we will experience Love this Love will be so radiant in us so powerful a real bliss.With this Love we will change the world and man bringing them both nearest in which we all call our Father-Mother. G.J.P.

*******

 Michael Maier

Michael Maier (1568–1622) was a German physician and counselor to Rudolf II Habsburg, a learned alchemist, epigramist and amateur composer.

Biography
Maier was born in Rendsburg, Holstein, in 1568. He studied philosophy and medicine at Rostock (1587), Frankfurt (Oder) (M.A. 1592), and Padua. He attained in 1596 a doctorate in medicine at Basel, and returned to Rostock to practice the medical profession. He also briefly (c. 1601) practised in Königsberg and Danzig. Around this time he became interested in alchemy. In 1608 he went to Prague, and in 1609 became the physician and imperial counselor of Rudolf II. The interest of the emperor in the occult was the reason of his high esteem for Maier. Maier wrote a commentary on Hermes Trismegistus and was dedicated, along with the emperor, to researching the secrets of nature.
Emblem woodcut from Atalanta fugiens, 1617

Between 1611 and 1616, Maier spent time in England at the court of James I, and also served other German princes, particularly the prince of Nassau, a great protector of alchemy. His Atalanta fugiens, an alchemical emblem book, was published in 1617; alongside images, poems, and discussion, it included fifty pieces of music in the form of fugues, the form itself being a pun on Atalanta "fleeing". In 1619 he became the physician of Landgrave Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). In 1620 he moved to Magdeburg to practice medicine, where he died in 1622 at the age of 54, leaving a noteworthy quantity of unpublished works.

A devout Lutheran all his life, Michael Maier had a strong influence on Sir Isaac Newton. He was also involved in the Rosicrucian movement that appeared around this time, which afforded part of the matter of his Themis aurea.

Influence
The 1656 English translation of Themis Aurea appeared as Themis Aurea: The Laws of the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross, and was dedicated to Elias Ashmole.Under the initials N.L.T.S. and H.S. the dedicators justified their dedication over three pages; they are now identified as Nathaniel Hodges, and Thomas Hodges (either his father or his brother, both of that name). Ashmole, they said, began to learn seal engraving, casting in sand, and goldsmith's work when living in Blackfriars, London, at which time he was initiated into rosicrucian "secrets" by William Backhouse of Swallowfield in Berkshire. While illustrating the chain of Rosie Cross links from Michael Maier and Robert Fludd, via Backhouse to Ashmole, the details given about Ashmole's training as a craftsman could illustrate the background of the latter's acception in operative masonry.

Maier's Septimana Philosophica: Qua Aenigmata Aureola de omni Naturae genere a Solomone Israelitarum Sapientissimo Rege, et Arabiae Regina Saba, nec non Hyramo, Tyri Principe, sibi invicem in modum Colloquii proponuntur et enodatur -Francfurti Typis Hartmanni Palthenii 1620 has Salomon, Sheba, and Hiram of Tyre discuss on the secrets of the universe. Over six days of the week -the seventh being Sabbath day- they investigate the nature of the universe from mineral to man. Under Vegetable Life the Rose is described. White and Red, the colours for Silver and Gold: "The center of the Rose is green- an emblem of the green Lion which philosophers know well." The conference on man is illustrated with a print representing a globe in a frame, supported on the one side by a masculine figure with a compass, on the other by a skeleton holding a vase with smoking contents.

James Brown Craven, who gave detailed descriptions of the works above in his catalogue raissonée (1910) of Michael Maier, also included the 1654 English translation of Lusus Serius: or, Serious Passtime. A Philosophical Discourse ...wherein Hermes or Mercury is declared King of all Worldly things. The copy from the Bodleian Library described by Craven was dedicated "To the Honourable Cary Dillon, Esq., Son to Robert, late Earle of Roscommon by J. de la Salle" [i.e., John Hall of Durham]. This is a fair example of the intellectual circle in which Maier's work circulated contemporary with the association of Rosie Cross with Elias Ashmole.

What Craven described as "one of the most curious and rare of Maier's books" he knew only in a 1758 French translation Michael Maieri Cantilenae Intelectuales de Phoenice Redivivo; ou Chansons Intelectuelles sur la resurection Du Phenix...traduites...par M.L.L.M.. The original was first printed in Rome 1622, the translation is from the 1623 print at Rostock.

"The title promises much- "Nine Triads of Intellectual Songs on the Resurrection of the Phoenix: or the most precious of all medicines, the Mirror and abridgement of this Universe, proposed less to the ear than to the mind, and presented to the wise as the key of the three impenetrable Secrets of Chemistry."

The plan of the squared Triads:-

1.The names.
2.The allegories.
3.The application of the Mysteries of the Art to those of Religion.

The volume is dedicated to Frederick, Prince of Norway."

J.B.Craven in Count Michael Maier - Life and Writings Kirkwall 1910

 Atalanta fugiens 1617 Emblem 10

Works
With modern editions and translations where relevant:

De Medicina Regina. 1609.

Hymnosophia.

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, quad aureum animi et Corporis medicamentum peregit, deductam: unde tot poetarum allegoriae, scriptorum narrationes fabulosae et per totam encyclopaediam errores sparsi clarissima veritatis luce manifestantur, suaque tribui singula restituuntur, sex libris exposita. London: Creede, 1614.

De Circulo physico, quadrato: Hoc est, de Auro ejusque virtute medicinali, sub duro cortice instar nuclei latente, an et qualis inde petenda sit tractatus haut inutilis. Oppenheim: Lucas Jennis, 1616.

Silentium Post Clamores, 1617.

Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationum, hoc est Hermaea seu Mercurii festa ab heroibus duodenis selectis, artis chymicae usu, sapientia et authoritate paribus celebrata, ad Pyrgopolynicen seu adversarium illum tot annis jactabundum, virgini Chemiae injuriam argumentis tam vitiosis quam convitiis argutis inferentem, confundendum et exarmandum, artifices vero optime de ea meritos suo honori et famae restituendum. Frankfurt a. M: Lucas Jennis, 1617.

Atalanta Fugiens, hoc est, Emblemata Nova de Secretis Naturae Chymica, Accommodata partim oculis et intellectui, figuris cupro incisis, adjectisquesententiis, Epigrammatis et notis, partim auribus & recreationi animi plus minus 50 Fugis Musicalibus trium Vocum, quarum duae ad unam simplicem melodiam distichis canendis peraptam, correspondeant, non absq; singulari jucunditate videnda, legenda, meditanda, intelligenda, dijudicanda, canenda et audienda. Oppenheim: Johann Theodori de Bry, 1617.

Examen Fucorum Pseudo-Chymicorum. 1617.

Jocus Severus. Frankfurt, 1617.

(ed.), Tripus Aureus, hoc est, Tres Tractatus Chymici Selectissimi, nempe; I. Basilii Valentini, Benedictini Ordinis monachi, Germani, Practica vna cum 12. clauibus & appendice, ex Germanico; II. Thomas Nortoni, Angli Philosophi Crede Mihi seu Ordinale, ante annos 140. ab authore scriptum, nunc ex Anglicano manuscripto in Latinum translatum, phrasi cuiusque authoris vt & sententia retenta; III. Cremeri cuiusdam Abbatis Westmonasteriensis Angli Testamentum, hactenus nondum publicatum, nunc in diuersarum nationum gratiam editi, & figuris cupro affabre incisis ornati opera & studio. Frankfurt a. M.: Lucas Jennis,1618.

Viatorium. Frankfurt, 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, evoluntur et demonstrantur. 1618.

Tractus de Volugri Arborea. 1619.

Verum Inventum. 1619.

Lusus Serius. Oppenheim, 1619.

Septimana Philosophica: Qua Aenigmata Aureola de omni Naturae genere a Solomone Israelitarum Sapientissimo Rege, et Arabiae Regina Saba, nec non Hyramo, Tyri Principe, sibi invicem in modum Colloquii proponuntur et enodatu. 1620.

Civitas Corporis Humani. 1621.

Cantilenae Intelectuales de Phoenice Redivivo; ou Chansons Intelectuelles sur la resurection Du Phenix. 1622.

Ulysses. Sapientia seu intelligentia, tanquam coelestis scintilla beatitudinis, quod si in fortunae et corporis bonis naufragium faciat, ad portum meditationis et patientiae remingio feliciter se expediat. 1624. (Posthumus)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Maier

The International School of the Golden Rosycross An introduction

Contents

PART 1 The quest for life's meaning
The dual nature of the human being
The two orders of existence
A bridge from time to eternity

PART 2 The heart of religion
The universal path
The holy grail

PART 3 The two nature orders
Our nature order -- the world of 'dialectics'
The original, divine nature order
Why does the dialectical nature order exist?
The Fall
The task of humankind
The reawakening of the divine spark

PART 4 The human being as a microcosm
The microcosmic firmament
The respiration field
The subtle bodies
The divine seed
The path of experience

PART 5 The holy desire
The process of transfiguration
The choice facing us
The Golden Cross of resurrection
Can it really be done?

PART 1

The quest for life’s meaning

Why do human beings exist? What is the real purpose of human life?

Perhaps you are no longer satisfied by the conventional answers to these questions,and feel driven by a very deep-seated inner urge to find some indefinable, missing 'something.' Perhaps you give it a name -- you say you want to find out who you really are, or you want to experience conscious union with God, or you want to become a more loving human being -- a source of healing in the world -- or you want to find inner peace, and lasting happiness. Or perhaps you can't quite put a name to what you are looking for, but you know it's something, and you have to find it.

In fact, the urge to find that 'something' is quite powerful in you, powerful enough to drive you out of the ordinary acceptance of life that so many other people appear to enjoy, and onto a quest that may already have led you through libraries, courses, workshops, groups and all kinds of experiences.

Sometimes you feel as though you're getting near your goal, but then, just when it looks as though it's almost within your reach, it slips out of your hands again. So you keep going. You keep trying.

If you, too, are involved in this quest, you may well find that the teachings of the Rosycross can be of help to you. It must be emphasized, though, that what the International School of the Golden Rosycross teaches is not meant to be accepted 'on authority.' Rather, its aim is to awaken in you an awareness of something that, deep down, you know already  although, temporarily at least, you may have forgotten it.

When this inner fount of wisdom is awakened within you, and you learn to listen to it, and follow it, the path to liberation will be opened wide. In this way, we can become fountains of Living Water for the benefit of all our fellow human beings. Let us explain what we mean.....

The dual nature of the human being 

First of all, there is one fundamental Rosicrucian insight which, though at first glance may seem very simple, can actually prove decisive in our quest for life's meaning. This insight, if understood and worked with on a daily basis, can help enormously in purifying our urge to seek, so that it becomes much more dynamic and capable of reaching its goal. This insight is the knowledge that our urge to seek -- our yearning for absolute truth, perfection, healing, love -- does not  originate in the part of ourselves we are accustomed to calling 'I,' although it may appear to do so. Our thirst for the Absolute actually originates from an eternal principle latent within us. This eternal principle is quite distinct from the 'I' or ego, and remains in a more or less dormant state in most people. The Rosicrucians call this principle of eternity the 'Rose,' but it is also known by many other names, such as 'divine spark,' 'spirit-spark atom,' the Christos, the Pearl of Great Price, the Precious Jewel in the Lotus, and so on.

The two orders of existence
This brings us to the second fundamental tenet of the Rosicrucians: the knowledge that the Rose -- the eternal principle latent in the heart -- is subject to one set of laws, while the rest of our being is subject to another. We call these two sets of laws the 'two orders of existence,' or the 'two nature orders.' Apart from the Rose, our whole being is a product of nature, entirely subject to the laws of time and space. That is why, of ourselves, we can never achieve anything absolute and lasting, for our creations will always be subject to finiteness and temporality.

The Rose, on the other hand, as the principle of eternity latent within us, is subject to the laws of eternity. That is why, if we want to transcend space and time, if we want to reach the Absolute, the eternal, we will never be able to do so with any part of our self as it is at this moment. If we want our thirst for the Absolute to be satisfied, we will need to begin by 'standing aside,' as regards our ordinary, I-central consciousness, and allowing the eternal principle latent within us to develop so that it gradually becomes predominant in our system.

 A bridge from time to eternity
As a gnostic school, the International School of the Golden Rosycross helps and supports its pupils in their efforts to shift the I-central consciousness from its position as 'king' in their inner household, and to restore it to its proper role: that of 'servant' to the growing True Self within, the Christ-Self, the Rose. Simultaneously, this Rose within them is given all the sustenance it needs to be able to grow. If the pupil cooperates and perseveres in this process, the Rose increasingly unfolds and blooms; it becomes an inner source of light and love that sheds its perfume and radiance over all, for the benefit of all.

In the following sections we would like to tell you more about the Rosicrucian understanding of how this source of the eternal within you can be unlocked.

PART 2 

The heart of religion

The teachings given by the International School of the Golden Rosycross are not new. The method of restoring to life the Rose -- the original, divine Self -- can be traced at the heart of all the world's great religions. However, we human beings in whom the I-central self predominates are prone to misunderstanding, since we tend to interpret the teachings of religion as if they were intended for the ordinary I-consciousness. 
In this way, messages regarding the spiritual path are distorted, and the original truth is forgotten as the years go by.

The universal path
In all the world's great religions the idea is expressed that, in the beginning, human beings had a perfect connection with their origin, with the Absolute, with God. When they lost this connection they became twofold creatures in a world separated from God, no longer able to live in the original Light-World.

The original teachings behind all religions describe a path of return to that Light World, a method of restoring our connection with the Godhead. Hence the word' religion', which stems from the Latin re ligare , 'to reconnect'.

This possibility of restoring our connection with the Godhead is beautifully described, for instance, in the ancient Egyptian text, the Corpus Hermeticum :

'It was His will that the link with the Spirit should be placed within reach of all souls;
however, as a prize for the race. He sent down a great Mixing Vessel, filled with the powers of
the Spirit and He appointed a herald and bade him proclaim to the hearts of men: 'Immerse
yourselves in this Mixing Vessel, you souls who can; you who believe and trust that you will
ascend to Him who sent down this Vessel; you who know for what purpose you were created.'

The Holy Grail
The prize for the race is the immersion, the purification, the baptism of water, wine and spirit in the Mixing Vessel, the Holy Grail. This Mixing Vessel, the Holy Grail, filled with all the powers and attributes necessary for our return to the Light-World, really does exist. It has always existed and will continue to exist as long as there remains one single human being who has not yet found the way back home.However, it exists not as a form but as a vibration  and, because of its purity, it can never be touched or tainted by the lower, I-central self.

That is why the classical Rosicrucians said, in their manifesto, the Fama Fraternitatis R.C., published in 1614:

'Thus our Building, even if thousands were to see it from nearby, will forever remain untouched, indestructible, invisible and totally hidden from the wicked world.'


So there is a divine power with the aid of which the spiritual Self latent within us can be restored to life. In this way the human connection with the Absolute is reestablished. This divine power -- the power of the Spirit, or 'Tao,' as the Chinese call it -- is freely available to all. Nevertheless, access to it is one of life's deepest mysteries, for it cannot be touched by any of the faculties inherent in the I-central self.

The science of enabling this power to function in us so that the true, original Self can grow, while the self of illusion -- the I-central self -- can be purified into stillness, is the science taught in the International School of the Golden Rosycross.

PART 3 

The two nature orders

Now that we have given a brief description of some of the basic tenets of Rosicrucian philosophy, we would like to go into some of these ideas in more detail. The first idea we would like to discuss is the concept of the two orders of existence -- two distinct systems of laws and conditions which we call 'the two nature orders.' If we can understand how these two systems work, we will be able to understand more clearly why our search for absolute values -- for truth, pure love, absolute wisdom and so on -- has not yet met with success.

Our nature order -- the world of 'dialectics'
The evidence of our senses tells us that everything which comes into existence in the world we see around us will someday turn into its opposite. This constant interchanging of opposites is the fundamental essence of our world. In our yearning for absolute values -- for lasting peace, love, and truth -- we often tend to overlook that inescapable fact. Nevertheless, logic alone is enough to tell us that everything which comes into existence is going to disappear someday; it is only transitory, never absolute.

Think about this for a moment. Nothing we are, nothing we do, nothing we can create is going to last; sooner or later, it will all decay and return to where it came from. We are transitory creatures of an ever changing world. We begin to age and decay even before we leave our mother's womb. Nothing is perfect in our world. Nothing can last in our world. Change and death are the only two laws we can absolutely rely upon. They surround us inexorably, like prison walls. This fact is confirmed by Lao Tzu, Buddha, and all the world's great religious teachers.

So hasn't it ever struck you as strange that, in spite of the inescapability of imperfection, change, and decay, we still yearn for a perfect life? Haven't you ever wondered how it is possible, in view of the facts of life, that human beings can even have any notion of absolute values? How did the idea of the absolute, of perfection, even enter our heads? Where did it come from? Certainly not from the world we see around us.


Look. Someday, every one of us is going to die, and yet we maintain a kind of conspiracy of silence, a shared fantasy, in which we live our lives as if death did not exist! And if you have ever experienced the loss of someone close to you, you may have observed that there is a part of you that will never  accept that this person has gone, no matter what beliefs you may or may not have about an afterlife. Wherever do we get these passionate longings for the everlasting, for the absolute, when all the evidence of our senses tells us that they do not exist?

Well, the concept of the 'two nature orders' offers an answer to this question. In the International School of the Golden Rosycross we often refer to the nature order in which we live as the world of 'dialectics.' We use the word 'dialectics' because our world is characterized by constantly interchanging opposites. 
This 'dialectical world'  includes not only the material, visible world we see around us, but also the realm our subtle bodies inhabit when we are asleep, and even in the after-death state.

The original, divine nature order
Apart from, separate from this 'dialectical world,' but occupying the same space, is another, quite different nature order. This second nature order is characterized by perfection, absoluteness, eternity. 
The Rosicrucians call this second nature order the 'immovable kingdom,' because in it, duality and the interchanging  of opposites do not exist. There is only an eternal growth and development, from glory to glory, and from power to power.


So you see, the eternal values, the absolute truth, freedom and love we long for really do exist, but not in our world, not in the world we belong to, the dialectical world.

Why does the dialectical nature order exist?
To understand why this dialectical world exists, it helps to remember that there is a plan underlying creation. The International School of the Golden Rosycross calls this 'the divine plan.' You could imagine the divine plan flowing like a stream, with a certain direction, momentum, and destination. Every creation is free to move in and out of the stream at will, gathering experiences along the way. However, as long as the creation always returns to the stream and remains, overall, in harmony with it, it will be carried along by the current, and all will be well. But if, in free will, a creation wishes to maintain itself permanently in a state not in harmony with the stream of the divine idea, what happens then? Let us try to see the logical answer to that question.

We can imagine what happens if we continue with our analogy of a stream of flowing water. If a creation seeks to exclude itself from the flow of the divine current, because it wants to hold onto some aspect of it, and make it permanent rather than allowing it to flow, it can only do so by becoming crystallized, like a heavy stone in the water. Then, because it is crystallized, heavy, it can no longer experience the helping, carrying effects of the current, but will experience its flow as a series of buffetings, just as any obstruction does when placed in flowing water.


This is a much simplified image of how the two nature orders have come into existence: the divine nature order -- where the helping, carrying, continuously developing effects of the divine stream are experienced; and the dialectical nature order -- the world we know -- in which the correcting effects of the divine stream are experienced, so that nothing is allowed to last and everything is constantly brought back to its starting point.

The Fall
Now can you see that becoming subject to the second system of laws -- the correcting system -- effectively isolates the creature from the world in which the first system of laws -- the divine system -- operates? And can you see that such a creature, that has deviated from its underlying plan, will remain isolated from the order of nature to which it originally belonged until such time as it chooses to return to the divine plan?

The Universal Philosophy teaches that, in the distant past, a large group belonging to the human lifewave did indeed decide, in free will, to deviate from the plan underlying their existence. In this way, they isolated themselves from the divine nature order and became confined to the dialectical order of existence. The result was that, eventually, all the faculties they had been able to use while still subject to the first, divine system of laws, atrophied, and they fell into a dormant state, in which they could not die, because they were eternal, but in which they were inactive, asleep.


The task of humankind
If you have followed us so far, you will be able to see in your mind's eye the dormant sparks of fallen, divine humanity, like seeds, unable to live, but unable -- either -- to die. What could be done to rescue these dormant creatures? To bring them back to a state of true life again?

Consciousness and will are needed for this task, but the fallen divine creatures no longer have any, in their dormant state. Where can that consciousness, that willingness, come from? Well, the Rosicrucians teach that the human race as we know it was created for precisely that one purpose -- to act, consciously and willingly, as servants, for the restoration of the original, divine creature. That is the task, the calling, of every human being, and if we succeed in it, we too will be able to share in the life of eternity.

We, mortals, are not that divine creature, but we bear it within us, as a dormant spark. And it is within our power to allow that dormant spark to come alive again, and to return from its state of exile to the divine world, its home, the 'House of the
Father.'

The reawakening of the divine spark
So the reason why we experience yearnings for the absolute, for truth, for the divine, should now be much clearer. As we said in Part 1, these yearnings do not originate from us, creatures of transitoriness, but from the divine spark we bear within us.
They are the longings of the divine spark for its lost home, the divine order of existence it once knew and inhabited.


These yearnings, which can -- as you may have experienced -- develop into an all consuming hunger and thirst, represent the first stirrings of the dormant divine spark within us. So that inner disquiet, that desire which, perhaps, is motivating you to read this introduction, is in fact the most important faculty you have as a spiritual seeker; it is the 'Ariadne's thread' that can, if you react to it in the right way, lead you right out of the maze. Perhaps the 'Sleeping Beauty' is not awake yet, but she is stirring in her sleep -- a sign of life! And where there is life, there is hope!

PART 4

The human being as a microcosm

In this section we would like to give you a brief description of the human system of vehicles as they are understood by the Rosicrucians. You will then be able to see more clearly the part played by the divine spark in your bodily system as a whole.

In the International School of the Golden Rosycross, the human being is seen as much more than just a physical body. In reality, the human being is a 'microcosm,' or cosmos in miniature.

The microcosmic firmament
The outermost layer of the human microcosm, surrounding us like an eggshell, consists of a magnetic field which we call the 'lipika.' The lipika can be seen, if you like, as the 'sky' of our own miniature cosmos, our own personal zodiac, because it is studded with many magnetic points like stars. These magnetic points act as filters, admitting from the cosmos into the microcosm only those energies which resonate with them. In most people, these magnetic points are attuned only to the dialectical order of existence, the universe of separation and death.

The respiration field
Inside this magnetic sphere is a space called the 'respiration field.' This space is filled with magnetic lines of force running from the magnetic points in the lipika to the material body of the temporary, mortal personality which is you or me.

The subtle bodies
As is widely understood these days, this material body consists not only of the physical body we can see and touch, but of more subtle bodies as well. Altogether there are -- in the present-day human being -- four physical bodies, each of different grades of subtlety, all interpenetrating each other. So our visible, material body is interpenetrated and surrounded firstly by the etheric or vital body, which guides and controls the life processes going on in the material body.

Interpenetrating the etheric and material bodies and extending some distance beyond them is the astral body. In this body, our desires and emotions, and our feelings of attraction and rejection are manifested and radiated outwards.

Then there is the mental body. This is concentrated mainly around the head and is involved in attracting and radiating all the forces concerned with our thinking processes. It is not yet really mature in the majority of human beings, so that in most people it is hardly possible to speak of a 'body' as such.

The divine seed
And now there is one last aspect of the microcosm we would like to mention -- the Rose of the Heart, or spirit-spark referred to earlier. This Rose of the Heart is situated right at the center of the microcosm at a point which coincides with the top of the right heart ventricle. The Rose of the Heart -- being the last remnant in the microcosm of its original, divine state -- is not affected by any of the forces at work in the dialectical nature order, the world of time and space. It can only react to the forces of the original, divine nature order. So, until it can be touched by the divine forces it remains sleeping, dormant, like a seed. And like a seed, it contains the whole blueprint, the whole matrix, of the original, divine microcosm. It only waits for the divine sunlight to reach it, and then, with the cooperation of the human personality, it will be able to unfold and the whole microcosm will gradually be able to be restored to its original, divine state. But a lot has to happen before the human personality is willing and able to allow the divine sunlight to reach the Rose of the Heart.

The Path of experience
We live our lives, we accumulate experiences, many of them painful, and then we die. When the physical body dies, the subtle bodies, too, are dissolved after a period of time, leaving only the sum of the experience gained in that lifetime, which is etched into the lipika. The microcosm then adopts a new system of physical vehicles through the process of birth. This is the cycle of birth and death, which goes on and on, lifetime after lifetime, until gradually -- mostly through suffering but sometimes through intense joy, too -- our consciousness and our desires are purified. At last the recognition begins to be born in us that our soul's deepest sorrow will never be alleviated by anything we might find in this world. The inkling may also dawn on us that our most profound moments of joy do not belong to the self we are accustomed to calling 'I' at all, but to something much higher. And there, at last, we stand before the Unknown, with open, empty hands. Still waiting, still hoping, but no longer expecting everything of the I-central self and its world. And at that point we can be helped…

PART 5

The holy desire

It is very important, when the soul has reached this point of openness, to understand that our yearnings for perfection, love, goodness and so on do not, in the final analysis, originate from our I-central consciousness but from the last remnant of the divine within us, the Rose of the Heart. Because then, when the heart sends out its pure cry of yearning, when it gives voice to its holy desire, its holy thirst, we will not try to quench it with vinegar, with all the techniques and palliatives our microcosms have acquired over the course of many lifetimes. Instead, our I-central self will remain silent, and in that silence only four, simple words will be heard: 'Your will be done... ..' and that is the Open Sesame.

When, having exhausted all the possibilities we thought we had, we finally stop struggling and surrender to the Divine One within us; when we are filled with only one desire, expressed in the words, 'Your will be done,' it is as if a doorway appears where before there was only a blank rock-face. So now the way forward is open again. It is the path to what the Rosicrucians call 'transfiguration.'

The process of transfiguration
This process of transfiguration is much more than just a metaphysical or a mystical process. It is a very real, structural process. It has often been called an alchemical process. To give you an idea of how it is possible for such a radical process to take place in the human system, remember that the human body -- with its material, etheric, astral and mental layers -- is kept alive by drawing into its system and assimilating actual substances -- foods -- which also have their material, etheric, astral and mental components.

These foods are drawn into the body, as we know, via the digestive and respiratory systems. The more subtle, tenuous substances are also drawn into the body directly via the chakra system. And the quality of nourishment absorbed, and the way it is assimilated is determined by the consciousness. For the consciousness, with its thoughts and desires, conditions the chakra system so that it attracts what is in harmony with it and repels what is not.

So imagine that, because of your surrender to the Rose of the Heart, because of the purity of your holy desire, the Rose of the Heart is beginning to open in you. The Rose of the Heart, unlike any other part of your system, is capable of attracting and absorbing the etheric, astral and mental substances of the original, divine nature order. These are the powers of the Spirit, the powers of the Holy Grail referred to in Part 1.

So now you can see how the opening Rose of the Heart can become a 'fountain of Living Water' -- to use the phrase we mentioned in Part 1. The less 'I-centred', and therefore the more 'Rose-centred' we become, the more the Rose of the Heart can become a point at which divine energies are attracted, metabolized, and radiated. This transmutation and radiation of divine energies can then be of help to all those who need it.

With the help of these divine energies, the Rose of the Heart is enabled to unfold and grow, more and more. Gradually, it draws around itself a new form, constructed from the pure etheric, astral and mental substances of the Spirit. That new assimilation is
the basis of transfiguration, and through it, death is overcome for good. The prayer, 'Your will be done' is fulfilled as regards the microcosm, and it re-joins the stream of the Shining Ones, journeying back to union with the divine.

Obviously, there is much, much more the International School of the Golden Rosycross could tell you about transfiguration, but the beginning of the process is the most important thing for us, here and now. If we make a start, the rest will follow. And the start is the decision to surrender the self to the Rose of the Heart.

The choice facing us
To end this introduction, we would like to remind you of the choice facing a person in whom the holy desire is beginning to be felt. If, when the holy desire (which we sometimes call yearning for salvation) is felt, our I-consciousness thinks: I want to be perfect, I want to be liberated, I want to experience Nirvana, and we go to work on ourselves in our own strength, without any fundamental change in the orientation of our consciousness, then it will not matter what exercises or self-development techniques we use; the Rose of the Heart will still not receive any nourishment because the I-consciousness is only capable of attracting into the system the forces of this dialectical nature order. So instead of helping the yearning for salvation, and hence the Rose of the Heart, to grow, all those techniques conceived and practiced by the I-consciousness will only serve to make the personality-system and its delusion stronger and more powerful.

If, on the other hand, we clearly understand that our yearning for salvation does not belong to us, mortal, finite beings, but to the divine Rose within us, we will have made our first revolutionary step on the road that will lead to the satisfaction of our heart's desire. And if we understand that the Rose cannot be nourished by the energies we, as mortal beings, are capable of attracting, but only by the energies of the original, divine realm, we will want to surrender our whole being to the Rose, so that it can have the freedom to draw into our microcosm the energies it needs to grow.

The Golden Cross of resurrection
What does it mean, to 'surrender our whole being to the Rose'? It is not a merely mystical devotion. Rosicrucian pupils become builders, freemasons in the original sense of the word. With all their faith, love, persistence and intelligence, they exert themselves to cooperate with the liberating power set free in them by the Rose, allowing It to carry out the work of demolishing the old and building the new. What is the 'old', and what is the 'new'? The old is the cross of matter, the I-central self and all its consequences in the microcosm. The process of self-surrender enables a living connection to be established between the Rose and the very center of this cross. Then, to the extent that the old is demolished, the new can be built. The new is the Golden Cross of resurrection, the fiery Cross whose vertical beam is the energy of the higher, divine nature, flowing through the renewed microcosm and spreading out horizontally, via the opened Rose, over the whole world.

Can it really be done?
Perhaps you are thinking, now, that the key to this path of transfiguration -- the holy desire, or yearning for salvation -- is still very far from you. But we would like to ask you to look at yourself again. Perhaps your heart's yearning for salvation is not as far away as you might think. Perhaps it is, in fact, something which has accompanied you so closely through the years that you hardly notice it any longer, like a precious jewel you have been carrying around in your pocket, thinking it was just a stone. For what is making you read this introduction? Surely it is an inner awareness that has been growing over the years, that things are not as they should be; an awareness of something fundamentally wrong inside us that needs to be healed; a yearning for
absolute values, for a love that is not conditional, but unconditional, for a goodness that is not partial, but total, for a truth that is not valid only for today, but for always. There are all kinds of ways we could express it, but if you look within, do you recognize this longing in yourself? Well, even if it isn't pure yet, even if it is still tainted by our mental misconceptions and the ego's natural urge to grasp at everything, this longing is something. It's a start! This longing is real, and it can be our starting point.

How? Well, perhaps a picture will help you to understand. Imagine a medieval knight. He is clad in armour and, though he knows well how to fight, he is not doing so. Instead, at the place where his heart is, he is holding a candle. His whole attention is absorbed in keeping that candle burning brightly, in protecting its light from anything that might disturb it, or blow it out. He keeps its fragile light burning in the midst of the world's turmoil.

Well, that light is our yearning for salvation, our holy desire, the first faint flickering of light and life in the Rose. And, like the knight, we are able, if we wish, to put that fragile light first, not only in ourselves but in others also. What exactly do we mean by this? Jan van Rijckenborgh and Catharose de Petri, founders of the International School of the Golden Rosycross, expressed it in the following way:

'It is a state of being, rather like being in love. If you have ever really loved someone, or been loved by someone, you will know that the whole heart can be absorbed and uplifted by it. This gives rise to an emanation, which radiates from the heart and establishes the connecting link. Well, it is with a love like that, that the heart must devote itself to the spiritual Rose, which is present in the heart, in the center, of your being. And then, because the Rose is so very near to you and has been waiting for you for such a long time, a powerful connection will come into being between you. Then the foundation for soul-rebirth will have been laid. And that is why the Bible says that only love can set you free.'*

When the highest priority in our lives is the effort to devote ourselves, in thought, word and deed, to the Rose and its yearning, the hold of the I-central ego on the microcosm is bound to be loosened. And, though there may yet be a very long way to go on the road to transfiguration, the axe will have been 'put to the root of the tree'.

This step, then, is the one that will open the Path for you. And yet it is only the beginning. Many more steps will need to be taken, many more lessons learned. If you want to find out more about what this path of transfiguration entails, or you feel you may actually want to walk the path as a pupil, the International School of the Golden Rosycross would like to be of help to you.

If you would like to know more about the ideas mentioned in this introduction, and to find out about the possibility of having closer contact with the Lectorium Rosicrucianum you are welcome to ask for our introductory course of 12 letters.
There is a minor charge for these letters, as a contribution towards printing and postage.
The course of 12 letters is obtainable from a local center of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum. 

For addresses see the internet page: "Information". (http://www.LectoriumRosicrucianum.org/en_06.htm)

e-mail:    info@lectoriumrosicrucianum.org
website:  http://www.LectoriumRosicrucianum.org

*From The Chinese Gnosis, p. 223 (Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem, The Netherlands 1996).