Rosicrucians Emerged as an Antidote to the Material Side of Alchemy

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Blavatsky Speaks Series · 13 pages

Thirteen pages from Lucifer of November 1887, and the companion to the longer Rosicrucian study in this section. The thesis is historical: that the Rosicrucians emerged in Europe specifically as an antidote to the material side of alchemy and to stem the tide of the folly that had grown around it — which makes them, on this reading, a group of reformers rather than a secret society in the popular sense.

The condition they insisted on is the one the piece exists to state: that the spiritual side of man must be awakened and used before the Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life can be discovered at all. Wonder-seekers then as now, craving power and wealth, did not appreciate that higher ethics and a virtuous life are prerequisites of real wisdom — which is why, on her account, so few found anything. The Rosicrucians are accordingly described as alchemists in the spiritual sense and professors of a divine magic devoid of selfishness, love of power, ambition and lucre. A closing section sets out how divergent the lines of thought are between the Christian and the occultist, and it is the sharpest part of the document.

Read the full text (PDF, 0.8 MB, 13 pages)