Product Description

Esoteric analysis of the Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz anno 1459, Part II. First published in 1616, this strange story of Christian Rosycross's seven-day journey to the wedding of a King and a Queen is a Hermetic allegory intended, says Jan van Rijckenborgh, to be a guidebook for people who are actively engaged in the process of inner transformation. As he unlocks the story for us, we begin to see the means by which the original Soul dormant within us can be brought back to life and united with the Spirit. This 'marriage' is accompanied by the alchemical transformation of consciousness, soul and body.

After seven days of ceremonies and tests, Christian Rosycross is dubbed a Knight of the Golden Stone. But not selfishness, deception and pride allowed him to win, but his great humility and self-knowledge. In the end, his credo is: The highest knowledge is that we know nothing. In the afterword, Jan van Rijckenborgh gives a scenario of the future.

This second volume contains the text of the last four days of The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross by Johann Valentin Andreae with extensive esoteric analysis, 8 full-page illustrations by Johfra and a 5-page glossary of Rosicrucian terms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2279633 in Books
• Published on: 1991-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 255 pages

About the Author
The two main authors whose works are published by the Rosycross Press, Jan van Rijckenborgh (1896-1968) and Catharose de Petri (1902-1990), devoted their lives to forming the School of the Golden Rosycross. Their goal was the formation of a group of people in whom the I-central consciousness had been shifted from its position as 'king' in their inner being, and restored to its proper role: that of 'servant' to the growing Spirit-Soul, the true Self or inner Christ. However, they were faced with the difficult task of building a bridge of understanding between this goal and the minds of people who, though they had a deep interest in the hidden side of life, saw it largely through the lens of the separative, I-central ego.

Throughout all the many hundreds of talks they gave, and the books they wrote, it is clear that their aim was to cut through the conditioning of the ego so as to give their pupils a distinct vision of what was required of them. To do this they expressed the essential teachings of Spirit-Soul rebirth in all kinds of different ways and considered them from countless angles. Often they found it necessary to speak in a rather emphatic way, and to depict in stark, bleak outlines the depth of human imprisonment in the material world. Always, they used texts, stories and symbolism drawn from all times and all places to illustrate their points, and to show that the transfiguristic path they were teaching was not new, but has been handed down - though often in veiled form - ever since the dawn of human development.

Thus, although the methods they taught were adapted to modern times, their teachings were essentially the same as those of earlier groups such as the Essenes, the Christian Gnostics, the Manichaeans and the Cathars, to name but a few.

Customer Reviews

The Esoteric Secrets of the Alchemical Wedding
This book reveals immense esoteric wisdom to both the heart and the mind. Not only can you not help but turn and turn the pages, you realise there is no way back. A lot of esoteric books attempt to speak to the heart, but due to our distracted and petrified nature, such books rarely speak to us beyond the intellect. The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosy Cross speaks directly to that pure but trapped part of us which longs to be on the divine path with Christian Rosencreutz - it tickles the rose! Whether we then surrender ourselves to God by way of the cross, and allow the rose to bloom, is a matter of Will.

I have found, and still find, it very difficult to dissolve the lower, egoistic will, and it can therefore be difficult to read beautiful books without distraction. This book, however, is written so well that it cut through the spasmodic mental distractions which usually interrupts and spoils my reading.

I have read a lot of Samael Aun Woer's books, and spent much time listening to lectures on Glorian's website (they publish SAW's books in English). I think this may have helped me to understand The Alchemical Wedding more profoundly, but equally I think that reading The Alchemical Wedding has helped me understand Samael Aun Woer's works, along with other great Gnostic works such as Pistis Sophia - I can't recommend these enough. If you have a sincere heart, even if it is not yet quite as pure as you'd like, reading The Alchemical Wedding really is like drinking water from the fountain of life (John 4:14). And you can't help but thirst for more. I hope you can be touched in the same way, whether you read this book or not.

Religious fascism comes in many forms...
J. van Rijckenborgh, The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross (Rozekruis, 1991)

I was planning on writing a review of this based solely on my amusing observation that this is actually a one hundred fifty page novel with six hundred pages of footnotes, and make it a cautionary tale on the dangers of interpreting a text long after it was written and not taking into account the advances in science that had occurred in the interim. Then I came across the following passage, and realized I could let van Rijckenborgh do all my reviewing for me:

"It is most often the case that although, in the beginning, one yearns for the new state of life, it is like when one looks at a beautiful painting or reads a lovely book, or listens to some delightful music: it gives satisfaction for a moment, it is aesthetically pleasing, but nothing more. It does not change your way of life." (2:183)

Perhaps that's true of some people. Most, even. But I don't know a single avid reader who would make the claim that no book he's ever read has changed his life; I'd be suspect of one who did, in fact. This sort of facile reasoning is synecdochic of the entire "footnote" section of the books (this is a two-volume set), which reads more like an interminable sermon than a work of literary scholarship. Even better, not long after that, I came upon this lovely passage:

"In the coming times, the modern Spiritual School will give evidence of the place it occupies as servant of the Brotherhood. Working from its magnificent 'Home Sancti Spiritus', its sevenfold Living Body, the Brotherhood of the Rosycross will permit nothing which is not in conformity with its great plan." (2:236)

I don't think I need to point out the problems inherent in such writing (and I'm not just talking about the hideous grammar). It's entirely possible that van Rijckenborgh has some excellent points, and that the majority of his analysis of Andreae's book (which is included, and is really rather good) is sound; the places where it obviously lapses, however, show exactly why academic rigor should be so strictly enforced. Some lapses in judgment call-- or should call, for anyone with a remotely critical mind-- the entire text into question. **

Essential reading for Truthseekers
For those who have read the manuscripts of the Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross,but found them difficult to understand,here is the only book I have
found that sheds light on the subject and makes it comprehensible.
Any serious seeker for Truth will be touched in the heart by this wonderful explanation of the symbolism and importance of these classic
Rosicrucian manusripts.
Highly recommended to all who search for wisdom and understanding.