CAPITAL ENTERTAINMENT
14,1987 19
BOOKS
Rosicrucians
A strange lot
And o strange book, too
THE ROSICRUCIANS
AND MAGISTER
CHRISTOPH SCHLEGEL
By Manly P. Hall The Philosophical
Research Society 250 pages.
By JOHN GOODSPEED
Before reading this strange, ram-
bling book, my only clue to what the
Rosicrucians were up to was the
strange little ad they used to run —
and may still - in strange bttle
magazines. It entreated us, as I
recall, to write in for more informa-
tion about how to acquire strange
mystic powers, but I kept putting it
off and never acquired any.
Now, after reading this strange,
disjointed book, I know that the
Rosicrucians are — no, I should say,
I gather that the Rosicrucians were
(and perhaps still are, although it's
not clear that any of them are still
around) — a mystical fraternity,
probably Christian, founded in Eu-
rope, probably Germany, probably
in the 17th Century although maybe
the 14th.
Prominent Rosicrucians, if there
were any, may have included Fran-
cis Bacon, although no Rosicrucian
has ever admitted membership. But
closer to home, a German immi-
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grant named Christopher Schlegel
may — or, of course, may not, if he
wasn't in fact a Rosicrucian - have
brought Rosicrucian thinking to the
New World in 1700. That's 103 years
before the birth of Ralph Waldo
Emerson's transcendentalism, and
anyhow, A Russell Slagle, a de-
scendant of Christopher Schlegel
who lives in Baltimore, is the author
of an appendix in this strange, ram-
bling, disjointed, mysterious book —
a Schlegel/Slagle geneology that
first appeared in Pennsylvania folk-
life
The author of the main text of this
strange, rambling, disjointed, mys-
terious, transcendental book is Man-
ly P Hall, who remains unidentified
— not even mentioned on the dust
jacket
Rosicrucian means "Rosey Cross"
and may or may not allude to the
blood of Jesus on the Cross, I gather.
Also, Rosicrucians may have fooled
around a lot with alchemy, which,
come to think of it, is probably the
strange mystic power that strange
little ad in those strange little maga-
zines was hinting about. Hmmm.
Maybe if I read this book again,
carefully, I can learn how to change
this typewriter into gold.
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Wine, roses
pastries, Paris
(Continued from Page 3)
horse meat to boulangeries where
the breads and pastries looked like
works of art.
One of the most fascinating was a
cheese store called La Ferme Savo-
yarde. Women wearing smocks the
color of cotton candy presided over
the spotless premises, which were
fragrant with aromas of the mild-
aged French cheeses. Brie with truf-
fles and chevre studded with olives
were among the cheeses displayed
like jewels on beds of green tissue
paper.
The best time to visit the Forville
market is early in the morning,
when local chefs and housewives
move swiftly around the stalls stalk-
ing their prey — vegetables, fruit,
fish and flowers. By the time we
arrived at the large hangar-like buil-
din, the mood was mellow. As we
strolled along, the merchants smiled
and invited us to taste their wares.
Tiny black Mediterranean olives,
blushing native apricots, and glisten-
ing red currants were among the
delicacies we sampled. A bottle of
the native extra-virgin olive oil was
our only purchase.
Fish fresh from the Baie de
Cannes and the nearby lies de Ler-
ins are served at the best tables on
the French Riviera, and the firm-
fleshed St. Pierre we admired at
market that morning appeared on
our plates that evening at a festive
dinner at the'Hotel Martinez' pool-
side L'Orangerie restaurant. "La Fourche," which means pitchfork, fork or garden fork, is a
Christian Wilier, the 44-year-old
chef, prepared a special meal to sculpture which overlooks the hills of St. Paul-de Vence at the Maeght
show off regional specialties of the Foundation, a gallery of modem art ingeniously designed by architect
region. It began with medallions of Jose Luis Sort.
lobster a la Cannoise followed by
thick slices of the St. Pierre and the
local loup (a softer-textured local
fish of the bass family), then an All Saints' Parish Supper
entree of exquisite baby loin lamb
chops from the nearby hills. After a
separate cheese course, there were
desserts of a lemon mousse and
crepes filled with the tart reddish
black cherries called griottes that
grow in the area. A white Chateau
Sainte Roseline from Provence and
a red Chateau Vannieres Bandol
enhanced the food, aad vice-versa.
On the following day, one of the
group and I made a pilgrimage to
the ancient town of Meugins, where
in 1969 the now-noted French chef,
Roger Verge aad his Peruvian wife
Denise opened a restaurant and inn
in a mill dating back to the 16th
century. Le Moulin de Mougins is
tucked into a verdant hollow in the
steep countryside outside of Cannes,
and its dreamlike setting is hypnot- Saturday, August 8th, 1987
ic Two beautifully appointed rooms Two until Seven
open onto a garden at this time of
year, and the inspired Provencal
cuisine of M Verge makes a table Crabcakes,Ham &
here one of the most coveted in all of Fried Chicken
France
Verge was in America making
Adults, $9.00 - Children, $4.50
arrangements for the restaurant
he'll open in Disney World with his (Take-out orders also avaBable)
compatriot Paul Bocuse, so we met Bake and Craft Tables
with his wife and a staff member
named Jean-Marc We were shown All Saints' Parish House
the herb garden as well as the (car can&ftoned)
kitchen, where an ongoing series of Intersection of Routes 2 & 4
classes are offered to food profes- Sunderland, Maryland
sionals who come from all over the
world to leam Verge's secrets