Khunrath

This volume contains Czech translations of two short, yet significant works by the Renaissance Platonist Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), On Light (De lumine) and On the Sun (De sole), together with their Latin text and an introductory study on “Marsilio Ficino and His Metaphysics of Light”. The two intimately related writings were originally published
together in Florence in 1493. They were, in fact, reworked versions of earlier treatises: The Quid sit lumen (1476, published in an edition of the Theologia Platonica, Ficino’s chef-d’oeuvre) and
De comparatione solis ad Deum (1492). Both texts belong to Ficinoʼs
multifarious commentaries on Plato. The De lumine focuses on the
relationship between light and God and on Plotinusʼ metaphysics
of light; while the De sole builds upon Platoʼs parable of the Sun,
expanding on the analogy between seeing and understanding.
In De lumine, Ficino names God as an “immense light dwelling
in itself”. Light is for him “a visible godhead” referring us to God.
The De sole is a mature work of the Florentine Platonist in which
his philosophical and theological concepts are presented together
with allegorical hermeneutics as well as astrological elements. It is
not only in these two short treatises that Ficino demonstrates his
interest in the solar motif and the metaphysics of light; his Platonic
theology, for example, opens with reflections on the Sun and light,
and similar motives recur constantly throughout his writings.
Ficino did not intend to provide strictly logical metaphysics but
used comparisons of light and the Sun allegorically and poetically as a means of ascending from the visible to the invisible, from
the Sun and light to God. Also interesting are Ficino’s astrological
explanations. Although he is an advocate of the geocentric model
of the universe he gives the Sun an extraordinarily important role.
What he proposes is thus a “metaphysical heliocentrism”. However, he sometimes seems to transgress the limits of pure metaphysics, entering a new solar cosmology. Besides the motives mentioned above, the introduction presents an overview of Ficinoʼs cosmology and anthropology as well as his metaphysics and epistemology. As for the latter, the role of light is the main focus of attention. In this context, a brief history of the metaphysics of light before Ficino is given. The introduction also deals with the role of allegory in Ficinoʼs thought, explaining what sense philosophy actually had for him. It further analyzes his notion of Earth as a living being. Finally, some remarks are made on the influence of Ficino’s metaphysics of light and his treatises
De lumine and De sole, particularly on Copernicus, Patrizi and Paracelsian circles in Germany (esp. on Heinrich Khunrath).
The translation is based on the first edition of Ficino’s Opera omnia (Basel 1576) while taking the editio princeps into consideration when warranted. The Latin text reprinted here is that of 1576. Major divergences from the 1493 version are mentioned in footnotes.

The Ritman Library and The Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents present the Infinite Fire Webinar Series. In this first webinar Dr. P. J. Forshaw shares his knowledge on Heinrich Khunrath or dr. Henricus Khunrath as he was called, who was a physician and Hermetic alchemist.

In the webinar a focus is put on Khunrath's Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae - The Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom (originally published in 1595), which has traditionally been considered to be a strange mix of Christianity and Magic. Peter elaborates on the alchemical symbolism of 4 circular and 5 rectangular engravings integrated in the Amphitheatrum. A famous plate is the Tabula Smaragdina or The Emerald Tablet, to be considered one of the main inspirational works for alchemists, Hermetic philosophers and Rosicrucians.

Click here to watch the webinar: https://youtu.be/slS3CDlfp2o

This essay investigates the relationships between early modern alchemy and the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, following its introduction to the Christian West by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola at the end of the fifteenth century, and its promulgation by Johannes Reuchlin in the early sixteenth century. New exponents of Christian Cabala were excited by the exegetical methods of Kabbalah, and some alchemists, seeking fresh ways of interpreting enigmatic alchemical texts and the Book of Nature, experimented with novel combinations of the two practices in the hope of gaining insights into their work. While many of these figures were engaged in the broader concerns of Paracelsian philosophy, those experimenting with combinations of alchemy and Cabala nevertheless spanned the spectrum from metallic transmutation to chemical medicine. While focusing on the investigation of kabbalistic elements in alchemical texts produced by Christian authors, rather than the discussion of alchemical material in Jewish Kabbalistic sources, I also briefly consider one apparently authentic Jewish combination of alchemy and Kabbalah: the Aesch Mezareph, published by Christian Knorr von Rosenroth in the Kabbala Denudata.

This chapter considers some of the ways that early modern Christians engaged with Jewish Kabbalah, ranging from Gershom Scholem's emphasis on it as missionary activity to Joseph Dan's argument for the Christian recognition of the relevance of non-biblical Jewish sources.

The engraving of the Lab-Oratorium, in the Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom of the Paracelsian Heinrich Khunrath of Leipzig (1560-1605) - 'doctor of both medicines and faithful lover of theosophy'- is a well-known image for historians of early modern esotericism, but little has been said about the significance of the musical instruments in the foreground of the image. This article examines various references in Khunrath's writings that concern music and the related theme of harmony in the context of Khunrath's cabalistic and alchemical activities in his Oratory and Laboratory. It examines the influence of pythagorean ideas on Khunrath's theurgical practices, identifies the christian-cabalist source of the polyglot hymn that he links to one of the theosophical images on the table of his Oratory, and offers some reflections about the use of music in this cabalistic dimension of his work. Given that Khunrath is known above all as a practitioner of alchemy, the second part of this article considers several examples of music and song, beginning with a manuscript survival from Khunrath's work and ends with a brief examination of the most famous combination of alchemy and music, namely, the Atalanta fugiens of his admirer, Count Michael Maier (1568-1622).

Both Andreas Libavius and Heinrich Khunrath graduated from Basel Medical Academy in 1588, though the theses they defended reveal antithetical approaches to medicine, despite their shared interests in iatrochemistry and transmutational alchemy. Libavius argued in favour of Galenic allopathy while Khunrath promoted the contrasting homeopathic approach of Paracelsus and the utility of the occult doctrine of Signatures for medical purposes. This article considers these differences in the two graduates' theses, both as intimations of their subsequent divergent notions of the boundaries of alchemy and its relations with medicine and magic, and also as evidence of the surprisingly unstable academic status of Paracelsian philosophy in Basel, its main publishing centre, at the end of the sixteenth century.

Even though other specific theoretical points of contact between Heinrich Khunrath and Marsilio Ficino may exist, the most fundamental and important link is, I believe, the metaphysics of light. I have argued that Khunrath knew and accepted Ficino’s concept of light as divine and of the Sun as radiating source of the divine animating light in this world. Furthermore, Khunrathʼs use of burning mirrors as sources of “living fire”, so important in his alchemy, must be seen and interpreted against this backdrop. Similarly, the specific notion of the “light of nature”, as used by Khunrath and other Paracelsians, becomes more understandable on the grounds of Ficino’s metaphysics and epistemology of light.

In his Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1609), Heinrich Khunrath of Leipzig (1560-1605), ‘Doctor of both medicines and faithful lover of Theosophy’, defines HYPERPHYSICOMAGEIA as ‘pious and useful conversation, as much when awake as when sleeping, mediately and immediately, with good Angels, GOD’S fiery ministers.’ In the Dictionarium Theophrasti Paracelsi (1584) and Lexicon Alchemiae (1612) of Khunrath’s fellow Paracelsians, Gérard Dorn and Martin Ruland, we similarly find meditatio defined as ‘when a man has an inner dialogue with someone else, who is however not seen. As with God calling him, or with himself, or with his good angel’. This essay considers the theory and practice of angelic communication in works of the late Sixteenth Century, referring to Christian-Cabalist and occult philosophical sources (Reuchlin, Trithemius, Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Dee) and related contemporary works like Otho Casmann’s Angelographia (1597) and Scaliger’s Exercitationes (1557). It shows how Khunrath believed that the theosophical adept endowed with knowledge of the angelic orders could attain revelation, ‘mentally migrate’ into the ‘Sanctuary of God’s good angels,’ and, ultimately, become ‘as it were a human God or a Divine man.’

Note: When I view this pdf on my own computer screen, it looks like some of the pages of notes aren't loading. If you experience a similar problem, do get in touch and I'll do my best to send you the missing pages. All best wishes, Peter