Psycho-Aetheric Alchemy Volume 1 by David Chaim Smith

The earliest known Rosicrucian ritual system published for the first time.

The subject of this book is Johann Samuel Mund artist, alchemist and Free-mason and his own special interpretation of the Royal Art. It was in Frankfurt that Mund founded the Masonic Lodge known as the Bund der Treue und Wahrheit zu den 3 Rosenkreuzern Weiß, Roth und Gold (Union of Loyalty and Truth of the 3 Rosy Crosses, White, Red and Gold), for which he developed his own doctrine with its own rituals and teachings, which have fortunately come down to us in various manuscript archives.

In this book the authors provide the first complete overview of Mund's teachings, illustrated with the unique images and diagrams that he created specially for them. The authors also explore the conditions prevailing at the time the Lodge of the Union of Loyalty and Truth was founded, the influences that shaped it, and the impact it had upon the development of the High Degrees in the mid-18th century.

What is more, the book sheds light on a fascinating chapter in Masonic history, and one that has been relatively neglected to date, namely the connection between practical and philosophical alchemy on the one hand and dogmatic Freemasonry (at that time not yet fully developed) on the other.

This meticulously researched and richly illustrated volume is a joint production of Salier Verlag, Germany, and Lewis Masonic and contains all the relevant texts in both German and English. It is aimed both at academics specialising in the Enlightenment and the general reader with an interest in the history of ideas, alchemy and esotericism, as well as Freemasons who are eager to explore a fascinating and previously neglected chapter in the development of the Brotherhood.

1st Edition 2024 (bilingual edition in German and English)
Hard-cover binding in imitation leather with gold embossing, thread-stitched, two bookmarks (one Gold and one Rose coloured)
Colour throughout with numerous illustrations
544 pages, 17 x 24 cm

Only 500 Printed

 Author's edition, limited to 100 copies.
24 page large format pamphlet printed on 160 gsm paper, with a full-colour cover on 350 gsm card stock. Each copy is hand-sewn with traditional thread binding. The interior design is by Ouroboros Press, while the cover was designed by Frater Acher himself. Every copy is individually hand-numbered and signed. Originally published as a hardback through Ouroboros press.

There is no better time than now to acknowledge the challenge we have been thrown into — and the elders who mastered it before us. No ancestor better embodies lifelong resistance to despair and numbness, to cynicism and fear in the face of terror, war, and loss than John Amos Comenius: Moravian bishop, pansophic visionary, and spiritual heir to both Paracelsus and the Rosicrucian manifestos. This man was not only an example for his own age. Modern Western magic would look very different without him. His influence shaped not only education, politics, and early modern science, but also applied magic and the great Rosicrucian project of world reform. In a media landscape that monetizes outrage and rewards fragmentation and polemics, Comenius’ idea that wonder begins in direct sensory encounter with the world — inside the magical circle and beyond — reads less like 17th-century mysticism and more like a practical instruction for how to remain human. I hope this small text can be a calm hand on your shoulder, an old presence at your back, or a lantern at your side.