Solomon's Secret Arts
Page 1
Copyright © 2013 Paul Kléber Monod
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Monod, Paul Kléber.
Solomon's Secret Arts: The Occult in the Age of Enlightenment/Paul Kleber Monod.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-300-12358-6 (hardback)
1. Magic. 2. Science—History—Miscellanea. 3. Alchemy. 4. Occult sciences. 5. Enlightenment. I. Title.
BF1611.M65 2013
130.9—dc23
2012043028
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Jan and Evan, as always.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: What Was the Occult?
Part One: Aurora, 1650–1688
Chapter One: The Alchemical Heyday
Chapter Two: The Silver Age of the Astrologers
Chapter Three: The Occult Contested
Part Two: Eclipse, 1688–1760
Chapter Four: A Fading Flame
Chapter Five: The Newtonian Magi
Chapter Six: The Occult on the Margins
Part Three: Glad Day, 1760–1815
Chapter Seven: The Occult Revival
Chapter Eight: An Occult Enlightenment?
Chapter Nine: Prophets and Revolutions
Conclusion
Manuscript Sources
Notes
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Engraving of an alchemical adept and a student from Elias Ashmole, Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum (London, 1652). © The British Library Board.
2. Engraving of a Behmenist alchemical diagram from The Philosophical Epitaph of W.C. Esq. (London, 1673). © The British Library Board.
3. Page from John Gadbury, ΕΩΗΜΕΡΙΣ, Or, A Diary Astronomical and Astological, For the Year of Grace 1668 (London, 1667), showing the astrological man. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
4. Frontispiece portrait engraving from John Heydon, Theomagia: Or, The Temple of Wisdom (London, 1664). © The British Library Board.
5. Frontispiece engraving of six scenes of apparitions from Joseph Glanvill, Saducismus Triumphatus: The Second Part (London, 1681). © The British Library Board.
6. Frontispiece engraving of the Palace of Secrets from Knorr von Rosenroth, Kabbala Denudata, vol. 1, part 1 (Salzbach, 1677). Collection of German Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
7. Frontispiece engraving of the Tree of Life from Baro Urbigerus, Aphorismi Urbigerani (London, 1690). © The British Library Board.
8. Engraving of two sigils from John Partridge, Merlinus Liberatus (London, 1698). The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
9. Engraved plan of the Temple of Solomon from Sir Isaac Newton, The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (London, 1728). © The British Library Board.
10. Avebury as a serpent, an engraving from William Stukeley, Abury, A Temple of the British Druids (London, 1743). © The British Library Board.
11. Frontispiece portrait from Duncan Campbel, Secret Memoirs of the Late Mr. Duncan Campbel, The Famous Deaf and Dumb Gentleman (London, 1732). © The British Library Board.
12. Fold-out engravings of “The Third Table” from Jacob Behmen, “Four Tables of Divine Revelation,” in The Works of Jacob Behmen, vol. 3 (London, 1772). © The British Library Board.
13. Engraved portrait of Ebenezer Sibly, from Ebenezer Sibly, The Medical Mirror (London, 1794). The Wellcome Library, London.
14. Joseph Wright of Derby, “The Alchymist discovers Phosphorus,” 1771. © 09/2012 Derby Museums and Art Gallery, Derby.
15. “Revolution of America”, from Ebenezer Sibly, A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences (2 vols in one, London, 1790). © The British Library Board.
16. Peter Lambert de Lintot, “Chapter and Grand Lodge of England,” engraving, 1789. The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons' Hall, London.
17. “Animal Magnetism—The Operator putting his Patient into a Crisis,” engraving from Ebenezer Sibly, A Key to Physic, and the Occult Sciences (London, 1810). The Wellcome Library, London.
18. Urizen from William Blake, Europe: A Prophecy (1794). © The British Library Board.
1 The aspiring young alchemical adept accepts a book of secrets from his aged master in this engraving from Elias Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. Above them, angels rejoice and the Holy Spirit sends out celestial rays. The two columns and the lions suggest that the location is Solomon's Temple, while the borders are filled with the abundance of Nature. The alchemist's quest is at the center of the divine and natural universes.
2 Inspired by the illustrations to early editions of Jacob Boehme's works, this alchemical diagram from The Philosophical Epitaph of W.C. Esq. represents a “Pythagorean” or rather Copernican universe, in which Man, located between the celestial and elemental spheres, revolves around a solar God. The rudiments of alchemy—sulphur, stones, plants, metals, salt—stand above the primeval chaos and the infernal fire in which Satan resides. They are elevated by mercury, which points directly towards the divine. This is evidently a spiritual as well as a natural quest.
3 The astrological man from John Gadbury's almanac ΕΩΗΜΕΡΙΣ for 1668. The moon as it passes through each zodiacal sign governs a different body part. At the bottom of the page is an advertisement for a mathematical instrument maker. The facing page, not shown here, contains a table of “dignities,” or the celestial mansions and houses in which the planets were located, along with advertisements: for a bookseller who marketed both ink and toothpaste, and for a table of astrological houses designed for “the ingenious Arti[st]s in Astrologie.”
4 A portrait of John Heydon, from his book Theomagia: Or, The Temple of Wisdom (1664). Richly attired and surrounded by his own books, he basks in celestial rays. Below the portrait is a coat of arms that marks him as an Esquire. The planetary signs that surround him form a kind of nativity chart. At the bottom left, an obedient dog labeled “Lilly” bows towards the “Astromagus.”
5 The frontispiece to the second part of Joseph Glanvill's Saducismus Triumphatus shows the Devil carrying out various types of mischief, including levitation. The drummer of Tedworth is at the upper left, and at the lower right, an angel appears to a disabled girl in Amsterdam, who is cured of her affliction. Evidently, some spirits can be benign, but human beings cannot enter into voluntary contact with them.
6 A ray of celestial light directly illuminates the sight of a young woman as she enters the Palace of Secrets, which resembles a mausoleum or perhaps the outer gate to Solomon's Temple. Running through parted waters, she carries both the Old and the New Testaments as well as a set of keys and a fading torch. To entice alchemists further, all four elements are represented in this frontispiece to Kabbala Denudata. The ocean rolls back to reveal the earth just as the cloudy skies break up to reveal the fiery sun.
7 Gold and silver, personified in the gods Apollo (the sun) and Diana (the moon), stand knee-deep in a watery solution beneath the Tree
of Life in the frontispiece to the alchemical aphorisms of Baro Urbigerus. Above them are a serpent and a winged dragon, symbols of mercury in the alchemical process. At the right, the two divine beings have been combined into a single, hermaphroditic figure.
8 The sigil whose sale by the astrologer Henry Coley in 1698 was so vehemently denounced by John Partridge in his almanac. The Cherubim Sachiel or Zadkiel is mentioned in the Kabbala and was associated with the planet Jupiter, while Raphael appears in the Biblical Book of Tobit and is linked, as here, with the planet Mercury.
9 The Temple plan from Newton's Chronology. West is at the top of the print. The outer court or Court of the People surrounds an inner wall, containing the Court of the Priests and the Temple proper. The altar, marked “G,” is at the centre of the Court of the Priests, in front of the Temple porch, which is supported by the two legendary pillars named Jachin and Boaz. The letter “O” marks the Holy of Holies, surrounded by the Treasure Chambers—filled, perhaps, with the fruits of Solomon's alchemy.
10 William Stukeley's conception of Avebury as a winged serpent is clearly represented in this engraving from Abury, A Temple of the British Druids (1743). The head of the snake is at lower right, while the concentric circles at the centre are the (not very convincing) wings. Compare this image to the serpent and winged dragon in Plate 7, which are alchemical symbols for mercury.
11 Duncan Campbel's portrait, from his Secret Memoirs, sports a magnificent wig that emphasizes his respectability. The absence of occult symbols is notable, but emphasis is placed on Campbel's eyes, which served as his conduit to predicting the future. He is a polite prophet, not a magician.
12 The third of A.D. Freher's “Three Tables,” showing Man moving towards a spiritual or regenerated state, as illustrated in the third volume of The Works of Jacob Behmen (1772). These elaborate cutout engravings were arranged in multiple folded layers that could be lifted up to reveal changes to the body and the spirit. As each layer was raised, the appearance and spiritual organs of the earthly Man progressively degenerated and then were gradually restored. In keeping with Freher's original designs, the figures are surrounded by astrological signs and the stages in their transformations are represented by celestial or alchemical symbols.
13 The beaming countenance of Ebenezer Sibly, from his Medical Mirror (1794), displays the confidence of a Member of the Royal College of Physicians, Aberdeen. The initials “F. R. H. S.” probably refer to a branch of the Harmonic Society, which was dedicated to magnetic healing; the “R” may stand for Rosicrucian rather than Royal. No doubt Sibly was a founding Fellow. The only other occult reference here is to Mercury, who bears alchemical symbols on his shield. The vignette at the bottom of the page depicts the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, and at right is the Nehushtan, the serpent wound around a staff that appeared to Moses—obviously, a Scriptural counterpart to Mercury's staff or caduceus.
14 The immediate source of light in Joseph Wright of Derby's remarkable painting, “The Alchymist,” may be the glowing retort containing phosphorus that radiates at the centre of the alchemist's laboratory, but the vessel merely reflects the divine light dimly viewed through the window at the top of the scene. The picture is heavily laden with references to Freemasonry that would have been obvious to any initiate.
15 Ebenezer Sibly's famous astrological chart of the birth of the United States on July 4, 1776, is carried aloft by a winged figure of Victory. Below, George Washington gestures towards Justice and a young Federal Union, while a rather ludicrous looking Indian, derived from tobacco advertisements, toasts him and points to symbols of trade. A military camp and a prosperous port town are seen in the background. This is a rare example of a strongly pro-American print, engraved in England only 12 years after American Independence.
16 The most imaginative and detailed of Peter Lambert de Lintot's Masonic engravings, dating from 1789, displays the symbols of the different degrees granted by the breakaway Grand Lodge of England. The use of alchemical imagery and language (“Chaos,” “Hermes,” etc.) is striking, as are the multiple representations of Solomon's Temple. The arrangement of the seven degrees might be compared to Newton's plan of the Temple. The inscriptions around the edges are written in English, French and an indecipherable quasi-Hebraic script (perhaps the language of Adam) for the benefit of the multi-cultural members of the Grand Lodge.
17 The famous depiction of animal magnetism from Ebenezer Sibly's Key to Physic, and the Occult Sciences (1795) shows a male magnetizer operating on a female patient. He stands at a discrete distance from her, his hands radiating magnetic energy at her face and breast. She sits passively and registers no visible signs of a “Crisis”. This was a tame representation of the controversial therapy, engraved at a point when it was no longer widely acceptable among the English elite.
18 The morose and misguided Urizen calmly measuring out the universe with a compass at the opening of William Blake's Europe: A Prophecy. The instrument is an unmistakable reference to Freemasonry, and to the Masonic concept of God as the architect of the universe. Urizen's uncomfortable crouch also resembles the bending pose of Isaac Newton in a print issued by Blake in 1795, where the great scientist uses a compass to measure out a conical section. The compositional structure of the Urizen painting, with its combination of a circle and a triangle, can be compared to the alchemical diagram in The Philosophical Epitaph of W.C. Esq., which was in turn derived from the illustrations to Jacob Boehme's works. In the end, however, Blake's personal vision trumps Masonry, Newton, alchemy and even Boehme.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THIS BOOK has taken longer to realize than any alchemical recipe known to me. The journey, however, has been fascinating. It has included a visiting fellowship at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University, in 2001–2, as well as research fellowships at the Getty Research Institute in 2004 and the Huntington Library in 2008. During a leave year in 2007–8, research on this project was supported by a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The most consistent support came from Middlebury College, largely through the A. Barton Hepburn Professorship. Parts of this book have been presented in seminar talks at the University of California at Los Angeles, the Newbury Library, Warwick University, the University of Glasgow and McGill University, as well as conference talks at the Università del Salento in Lecce, the British Institute, the University of Strathclyde, the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and the Karl Franzens Universität Graz. The organizers of those seminars and conferences deserve gratitude for inviting me to speak on often half-baked ideas.
I must also thank a host of individuals who assisted me along the way with advice, information, suggestions and comments. They include David Armando, Robin Briggs, Bob Bucholz, Louisa Burnham, R.J. Evans, Antoine Faivre, Joscelyn Godwin, Anthony Grafton, Wouter Hanegraaff, Ronald Hutton, Sarah Hutton, Colin Kidd, Jim Larrabee, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Scott Mandelbrote, Alex Marr, Mark Morrisson, Victor Nuovo, Kapil Raj, Peter Reill, Isabel Rivers, Teofilo Ruiz, Bill Sherman, Marsha Keith Schuchard, Susan Sommers, Bob Tittler, John Walsh, David Womersley and David Wykes. The staff at all the institutions listed in the bibliography deserve praise, in particular those at the Getty Research Library, the Clark Library, Dr Williams's Library, the Library of Freemasonry, Swedenborg House and Chetham's Library. I must especially thank the duke of Northumberland for permission to use the archive at Alnwick Castle, and the estate office at Alnwick for assisting me in working there.
My greatest debt, as always, is to my wife, Jan Albers, who has lived cheerfully with this rather offbeat project for the past eleven years. Our son, Evan, wonders why I am not able to perform conjuring tricks, because he does not realize that he is the best magic his mother and I could produce. My own mother has provided constant reminders of how receptive West Country Methodists were to the supernatural, while my late father bequeathed to me a French-Swiss scepticism that occasionally surfaces in this book. In carrying out research, I have depended on the unflagging hospit
ality of Colin and Lucy Kidd at Glasgow, my ever-welcoming cousin Margaret Monod and her wonderful partner, Joyce Chester, in Sussex and my dear uncle Dennis Donovan, who kept me up to date with happenings in his village of West Lydford, Somerset, where John Cannon lived.
This book is not a gateway to occult knowledge, but it should help to explain why that knowledge has been of such vital interest to past generations of Britons. What distinguishes the British version of the occult is its openness to both learned and popular ideas, making its history intellectually messy yet constantly surprising. If this book brings some surprises, a few insights and some pleasure, then perhaps its flaws, which are entirely my own responsibility, may be forgiven. As for the Philosopher's Stone, readers, seek that out for yourselves.
Weybridge, Vermont, June 2012
INTRODUCTION
What Was the Occult?
LIKE POVERTY, death and taxes, the occult seems always to have been with us. From the mysterious cave painters of Lascaux to today's online astrologers and televised psychic readers, human beings throughout history have sought ways of tapping into hidden powers, to gain knowledge and influence through what is now commonly referred to as “the unexplained.” Contemporary British culture is hardly immune to a fascination with the occult—witness the immense popular success of the Harry Potter novels, replete with witches, wizards and alchemists, or the stupendous magical confrontations of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, or any number of “sword and sorcery” computer games. More serious manifestations of occult belief, from Spiritualism to Wicca to Druids to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, have proliferated in Britain over the past century. Although the United States (where the Golden Dawn has been incorporated since 1988) is now the intellectual hub and chief recruiting ground for occult organizations, a large number of them have British origins or maintain affiliates in the United Kingdom. “Occultism” is often associated with the New Age religious philosophies of California, but many of its roots are thoroughly British.1