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Categories:
Alchemy & Hermeticism,
Astrology
Secrets of Nature – Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe Edited by William R. Newman & Anthony Grafton
£50.00
Second hand / Antiquarian
Published: MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2001
Condition: Fine. Dust jacket unclipped, pages clean and unmarked.
"In recent years scholars have begun to acknowledge that the occult sciences were not marginal enterprises but an integral part of the worldview of many of our ancestors. Astrology was one of the many intellectual toolsalong with what we consider to be the superior tools of social and political analysisthat Renaissance thinkers used to attack practical and intellectual problems. It was a coherent body of practices, strongly supported by social institutions. And alchemy was not viewed primarily as a spiritual pursuit, an idea popularized by nineteenth-century occultists, but as a part of natural philosophy. It was often compared to medicine.
Many Renaissance writers suggested links between astrology and alchemy that went beyond the use of astrological charts to determine the best time to attempt alchemical operations. Secrets of Nature shows the many ways in which astrology (a form of divination) and alchemy (an artisanal pursuit concerned with the technologies of minerals and metals) diverge as well as intersect. Overall, it shows how an appreciation of the role of the occult opens up new ways of understanding the past. Topics include the career of Renaissance astrologer Girolamo Cardano and his work on medical astrology, the astrological thinking of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, the history of the Rosicrucians and the influence of John Dee, the work of medical alchemist Simon Forman, and an extended critique of the existing historiography of alchemy."
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The Secret Freemasonry of a Priest in the Temple of Nature by Johann Samuel Mund
£49.00
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
Psycho-Aetheric Alchemy Volume 1 by David Chaim Smith
£19.99
"We are very happy to launch a new series of paperback books entitled Psycho-Aetheric Alchemy. This series will present innovative new works utilizing esoteric symbol systems established in the Lightning Flash of Alef books, published between 2017 and 2023. Volume One bears the title of the series and is based on a set of 72 concise contemplative passages presented in numbered sections. Each passage is accompanied by an image from the extended body of esoteric cartographs from 2006 until present."
On Alchemy by Brian Cotnoir
£11.69 £12.99
Alchemy is the art of transmuting base metal into gold - a material process that also functions as a metaphor for spiritual transformation and creativity. This book contains all the information and skills you need to start practising alchemy - to unite your inner spiritual work with your outer work, to decode the most complex alchemical texts and also, if you wish, to take up practical laboratory alchemy. The book is aimed at all those who are excited about alchemy's potential for spiritually enriching their lives and art, as well as practising alchemists who want key to the difficult texts and to explore how inner work can be united with their outer practice.
Mind-blowing exercises include:The practice of geometry to purify the inner eyeThe meditative practice of rehearsing a process from beginning to end to solve a problemObservation exercises using alchemical images and processesDreamwork to question the godsOn Alchemy puts the conceptual tools and practices of alchemy into the hands of readers and show creators of all types how to use art-making as a spiritual path.
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