Kabbala denudata Knorr von Rosenroth, Christian, Freiherr, 1636-1689

Kabbala denudata Knorr von Rosenroth, Christian, Freiherr, 1636-1689

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE KABBALAH, REDEMPTLON, AND THE IDEA OF PROGRESS 

The frontispiece of the Kabbala denudata shows the higb expectations Knorr and van Helmont had of the Kabbalab in terms of religious peace and unity.

It also reveals their conviction that the Kabbalab offered a key to understanding the natural world as well. Here the figure of a beautiful maiden with flowing hair and Grecian robes gazes skywards as she runs along a narrow ledge of earth separating the sea from a cave. 

Her destination is a doorway marked "Palatium Arcanorum" (Place of Secrets). 'Intrat" (she enters) is written on the threshold of this palace, while the word "domat" (she calms, subdues) appears under her right foot and "alterer" (changes for the better, transmutes) under her left. 

The cave is designated "antrum materie" (the cave of matter) and within it appear the astrological and alchemical signs that stand for the planets and their comparable metals.' 

In her right hand, which is stretched over the swelling waves, she holds a burning torch, under which is written "mare concupscientiarurn" (the sea of concupiscence). In her left she carries a scroll representing the Scriptures, on which is written "explicat" (she explains). A ship sails in the distance, while on the edge of the shore, almost submerged by waves, a tree grows. 

A great circle of light breaks through the clouds and darkness, and within this light are three circles, which in turn enclose three smaller circles. 

These stand for the ten kabbalistic sejirot,or the ten faces (parzuphim) of the hidden deity as he revealed himself in the act of creation.' Where the sea meets the sky the words "Metaphysics gentiles" are written, suggesting that gentile wisdom has clear limits-it does not reach to, or come from, heaven the way the Kabbalah does. 

We have seen that Knorr attributed the divisions among Christians to their misplaced dependence on Greek wisdom, which far from being the source of true philosophy had simply muddied the pure waters of divine Hebrew wisdom. 

The background of the picture offers a repre• sentation of the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire, with air suggested by the tumultuous waves, the list of the ship, and the bent trunk of the tree. The female figure in this complex landscape is, of course, the Kabbalah, and the keys hanging on a cord from her wrist indicate that the KabbaJah alone is able to unlock the secrets of both the Old and New Testaments.

The Impact of the Kabbalah in the 17th Century: The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury Van Helmot, 1614-1698