CHRISTIAN ROSENCREUTZ

(1378-1484 )
T W D Smith
Hallamshire College SRIA
THE FOUNDER OF ROSICRUCIANISM

 ZELATOR GRADE

“grant unto us this day that the spirit of our illustrious founder,
Christian Rosencreutz…..”

 Was he also an alchemist ?

 And a psychologist ?
THE FOUNDER OF ROSICRUCIANISM

 ZELATOR GRADE

“grant unto us this day that the spirit of our illustrious founder,
Christian Rosencreutz…..”

 Was he also an alchemist ?

 And a psychologist ?

 DID HE REALLY EXIST ?

 INITIATION OF
ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)
 THE FAMA
Published 1614-1616
WAS CHRISTIAN ROSENCRANTZ A HISTORIC
FIGURE ? See Fama Fraternitas…below….
EUROPE BEFORE THE
FALL OF
CONSTANTINOPLE 1453

1378 CR BORN
1394 PILGRIMAGE
1493 ARABS LEAVE SPAIN
ALCHEMY EXISTED IN
EGYPT BEFORE THE
ARAB CONQUEST
(679)

Typical symbols
1. The ankh
2. Birds
3. Dragons or snakes
4. Hieroglyphs
5. Alembic
 mercury

SYMBOLS IN ALCHEMY
tin

iron (Viatorium Spagyricum1625)

copper

 Rebis = dual matter (res bina)

 The Hermaphrodite (UNION OF OPPOSITES)
straddles the Dragon and the Winged Globe of
Chaos
 Sun and moon
 VARIOUS SYMBOLS…dragon represents negative features
in the unconscious e.g. laziness, egotism

 SQUARE AND COMPASSES

THE CHYMICAL WEDDING of
Christian Rosenkreutz 1459

Johann Valentin Andreae 1616

 IS ALCHEMY ROOTED
IN PSYCHOLOGY ?

OR VICE VERSA
“FREUDIAN” CONCEPT of The EGO

 “AS IT IS ABOVE SO IT IS BELOW”

 Found in the emerald tablet (Hermes trimegistus) but translated from Arabic vi – viii century

 TREE ABOVE GROUND = CONSCIOUS MIND (SUPER EGO)

 ROOTS BELOW GROUND = UNCONSCIOUS MIND (ID)

C G JUNG CONSCIOUS MIND )

EGO…above
PERSONA
SOUL

 UNCONSCIOUS MIND
 COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS (COMMON TO ALL
HUMANS….MYTHS)
 ARCHETYPES….ANIMUS/ANIMA, WISE OLD MAN/CHILD,
THE SHADOW etc.
 INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOUR & EXPLAINS “ILLOGICAL”
BEHAVIOUR
 JUNG’S MODEL
 The Psyche includes both conscious and unconscious
minds

 Man’s task is to become conscious of the contents that

pass upwards from the unconscious

 The union of opposites leads to INDIVIDUATION

 The SELF is the totality of the whole psyche

(wholeness or self transcendence achieved)
 What did C G Jung say about
the Chymical Wedding in 1953 ?

 “Certain things began to dawn on me, especially when I read Christian

Rosenkreutz’s Chymical Wedding”

 Letters Vol II, 246-247

WHO WAS CARL GUSTAV JUNG (1875-1961) ?

GRANDFATHER (ALSO C G JUNG born 1794)

GRAND MASTER OF GRAND LODGE ALPINA, SWITZERLAND
PROFESSOR OF SURGERY

FATHER (PAUL ACHILLES JUNG) WAS A PROTESTANT PASTOR

TUTORED CARL IN CLASSICS FROM AN EARLY AGE

ANCESTOR SAID TO BE A ROSICRUCIAN (DR CARL JUNG OF

MAINZ…DIED 1645)
 KÜSSNACHT

 Jung married a colleague from a wealthy family

 Inherited money used to build a house on LAKE ZÜRICH

(now C G Jung Institute)

 Incorporated his own ideas in the design

Was Carl Gustav Jung a Rosicrucian ?
WHO WAS CHRISTIAN
ROSENCREUTZ ?

 “I WAN THE OLDEST OF THEM ALL” with ice grey locks

 WAS HE JEWISH ? (REFERENCE TO PASCHAL LAMB &

UNLEAVENED CAKE)

 THE SECOND DAY

“So Brother Rosencreutz you are also here”
IS THERE A PLOT?

Christian Rosencreutz is invited to a wedding

Allegorical journey with symbols (often birds & animals)

Various dreams e.g. ascending ropes & ladders, opening a door

Bizarre events including decapitations

Eventually complex alchemical process involving an egg, a bird and

rebirth
The beginning of the journey

CRC may not be an Alchemist but appears to be

a Rosicrucian

No Chemistry…. but mention the Atomic theory of

Democritus
 ALCHEMICAL SEQUENCE

1. Decapitation of kings & queens

2. Extraction into globe
3. Opening of globe to reveal egg
4. Bird hatches from egg
5. Eventual decapitation of bird (after colour changes & pigment extraction)
6. Blood saved
7. Ashes used to make a paste
8. Homunculi
C G JUNG
THE RED BOOK

 It is required that the vessel be not only

round but egg shaped
THE WORLD EGG
 C G JUNG
PSYCHOLOGY AND ALCHEMY

 557. Alchemy…….was in essence, chemical research work into which there

entered, by way of projection, an admixture of unconscious psychic material.
INDIVIDUATION
 THE SELF
RESULT OF INDIVIDUATION
 Coniunctio (union of opposites) allows
the emergence of the Self
ALCHEMIA
Hermes Trimegistus

Note the left index finger

THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION
 Albrecht Dűrer….self portrait aged 13

 Note the right index finger

 And the hat !

 WHEN WAS THE CHYMICAL WEDDING
WRITTEN ?

1458 ?

REFORMATION MENTIONED (1517)

1616 ?