(1548-1600 e.v.) by Sabazius Giordano Bruno, born Filippo Bruno in Nola, Campania, was an Italian philosopher, priest, Copernican cosmologist, occultist, mnemonicist, and iconoclast. Bruno’s philosophical and scientific views were profoundly influenced by the ideas of Arab astrological magic, Neoplatonism and Renaissance Hermeticism. His 35 published works include Ars Memoriae (The Art of Memory, 1582), De
Comments Off on Giordano Bruno(1574-1637 e.v.) by T. Apiryon Robert Fludd was a Kentish Anglican alchemist, Paracelsist physician, mathematician, astronomer, cosmologist, Qabalist, and Rosicrucian apologist. Fludd was considered by Crowley to be an Adeptus Exemptus. Fludd was a prolific writer, and many of his works on alchemy, Rosicrucianism, occult medicine, the “magnetic” philosophy and various scientific theories survive. The
Comments Off on Robertus de Fluctibus(1586-1654 e.v.) by T. Apiryon Johann Valentin Andreae was a Lutheran pastor, and the author of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz (1616), a light and sometimes humorous allegorical fantasy of the marriage of the Sun and Moon. Some skeptical authors credit Andrea with the authorship of the “Fama Fraternitatis” and the “Confessio Fraternitatis,” and
Comments Off on Andrea(1561-1626 e.v.) by T. Apiryon English philosopher, lawyer, statesman and scientist, sometime Lord Chancellor of England, and developer of the inductive method of reasoning. Bacon began his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge when he was 12 years old. He was first elected to Parliament in 1584 e.v. He was an adviser to both Queen Elizabeth
Comments Off on Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam(1575-1624 e.v.) by T. Apiryon Also spelled Boehm, Böhme, Böhm or Behmen. German Protestant mystic and philosophical theologian. Boehme was born into a middle-class family at Alt Seidenberg, near Görlitz, in Germany. He received little in the way of formal education, and settled down as a shoemaker in Gorlitz in 1599. Despite the limitations of
Comments Off on Jacob Boehme(1431-1503 e.v.) by T. Apiryon Added to the list of Saints in 1929/30 e.v. Spanish-born Rodric Borgia (born Rodrigo Lanzol, later adopting his mother’s family name of Borja, italianized as Borgia) is remembered by Catholics as one of the most “decadent” of the Renaissance Popes. Alexander VI was in fact a popular Pope during his
Comments Off on Roderic Borgia, Pope Alexander the Sixth(1566-1622 e.v.) by T. Apiryon German Lutheran alchemist, physician and Rosicrucian apologist. Maier was a contemporary of Robert Fludd. He was the author of “Scrutinium Chymicum” (1687, a posthumously published abridgement of “Atalanta Fugiens”), which is included in Section 1 of the A:. A:. reading list. The early Rosicrucian movement was deeply involved with alchemy.
Comments Off on Michael Maier(1494-1541 e.v.) by T. Apiryon Paracelsus is the latinized pen-name of Philippus Areolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. Swiss physician and surgeon, philosopher and theologist, metallurgist and alchemist, magician and scientist, travelling medicine man and father of the science of pharmacology. He was a contemporary of Rabelais and Ulrich von Hutten, and Crowley considered him to
Comments Off on Paracelsus(1488-1523 e.v.) by T. Apiryon German patriot, poet, knight, classical scholar, satirist and Renaissance humanist. Hutten was a contemporary of Rabelais and Paracelsus, and was a key figure in the German Reformation. He allied himself with Reuchlin, Erasmus, and particularly Luther, in the battle to free Germany from the yoke of Rome. He published Luther’s
Comments Off on Ulrich von Hutten(1378-1484 e.v./mythic) by T. Apiryon Legendary German hero of the Fama Fraternitas and Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz of Andrea (q.v.), and founder of the Rosicrucians. Crowley considered Christian Rosencreutz to have been a man, under a different name, who was a Master of the Temple. See Part III of The Heart of the Master.
Comments Off on Christian Rosencreutz