Testamentum or coded biblical preface, constitution, and secret operations of a Roseae et Aureae Crucis brotherhood according to a german manuscript.
In Archarion’s La Via della Vera Alchimia, ed. Mediterranee 1994, italian translation of the original ” Von Wahrer Alchemie 1983, there is a Testamentum Fraternitatis Roseae et Aureae Crucis as an appendix. I don’t mean here to get into disquisitions whether the document is really the full translation of a single manuscript, that’s to say Cod SN 2897 in the Vienna Nationalbibliothek, with the Ms full title Testamentum Der Fraternitet Rosæ et Auræ Crucis, als gewisse Extases oder geheime Operationes, wodurch das Mysterium eröffnet an unsere Kinder der Weisheit göttlicher Magie und englischer Cabbalae. I.W.R. Anno 580.
That’s to say, Testamentum of Roseae et Aurae Crucis brotherhood, as certainly ecstasies or secret operations, so opens the mystery to our children of Divine Knowledge and English Cabbala. There are known numerous Mss with quite similar, but not identical titles and content spread around in European libraries; among them almost known are Mss. Wien, Darmstadt, Hamburg and Stuttgard. Anyway, the Testamentum Fraternitatis Roseae et Aureae Crucis in this edition of La Via della Vera Alchimia seems complete of the once censured chapters of the second part, including the chapters on Homunculus and that on a Master’s rejuvenation.
I translated all thirteen chapters of extases or secret operations from Italian, which I have ordered as Testamentum Fraternitatis Roseae et Aureae Crucis. Part 1-6, while the attached images have been almost taken from Ms. Darmstadt. Further numerations will be translated from editions different than those taken from Archarion’s book.
Although very hardly the manuscript (s) can have been written for the alleged inner use of a secret Roseae et Aureae Crucis brotherhood ( how did happen the ms. ended up being forgotten in a private library and lately donated to public use? And mostly, how did happen the testament of a secret group in a written form and not, more safely, orally transmitted? ) despite all that, the document, or mix of documents, is interesting and intriguing.
Interesting because it throws light on biblical symbolism and symbolism at large. Intriguing for the allusions to operations considered, if not impossible, at least forbidden, like immortality or eternity. And from the constitution, we know the possibility for brothers to pass to eternity.
A last observation: if the document was a real constitution from a secret brotherhood, they talk of modifications and adjustments of the ancient constitution. So humankind, enlightened or not, are always slaves of their social mores, which need to be updated as time passes. If it does exist, the Great Spirit may be well elastic to cope with us. I said that because, as a woman, I can’t help but note all the misogyny involved in the document. This leads to the document date issue: the use of the word “concreation“, or creation in collaboration with, takes its origin in the late sixteenth century, and in fact, the humankind culture described here fulfilled the beginning of the European baroque age. We can even be more precise and, because of the mentioning of “tea” as a drink, in the eleventh chapter, the document can not go back to before the end of the sixteenth century so that we can take for reliable the date mentioned in Wien manuscript, i.e., 1580.
Here I started with the biblical coded preface, the constitution, and the extases chapters index. The biblical preface, perhaps used to prove the ancient tradition of the brotherhood, is a coded representation of our alchemical Opus Magnum (“… But Mary, Moses sister, having become curious about the wisdom, broke the law of the Lord, and the Lord chastised making her sick with leprosy. Then Moses took her and held them closed for seven days, a magic number. And after this time, she washed away… Joshua then gathered his twelve priests and ordered them to bring the covenant ark. Instead of twelve, after the Jordan was opened and they crossed, it arrived in the middle of the river, and they had to stop. Everyone had to take up twelve stones in numbers and bring them along to indicate the Lord was with them and that, after the separation of the water with which all things were created, one could prepare twelve stones in number… Under this force, Joshua turned around Jericho seven times, which means that the strength of the magic is sevenfold, and Jericho had to fall, because before this spirit could not resist”).
And specifically, our preliminary works, those to achieve our Mercurius ( here defined Lilium, Doves) from the black first putrefaction in the second part: “I ‘m black but lovable“.
A last observation: note the contiguity of Biblical and Greek mythological characters, rather a blaspheme for the time. Anyway, very hermetic.
So, Testamentum Fraternitatis Roseae et Aureae Crucis: Extases or secret Operations, revealing to our children the mystery of divine magic and English Cabala.
Jehovah
Dear brother,
Our beloved old, when after mature reflection, had found a way to keep the mystery hidden for it to be revealed only to the worthy, agreed to seek a certain number of virtuous men and good at the mysterium of nature (to occult works) and even more that they took into high consideration the Almighty and feared him with a true heart, were silent and had their mouth sealed. Furthermore, they had an aptitude for magic and cabala.
Now, however, is the Almighty to have competence in knowing the hearts, testing the courage, and pouring all his properties into men’s hearts; it happens that for a strange combination, with the help of the Almighty, they were united around the year 576 from the beginning of the world, just when from the seed of Noah Japheth was born, and from the latter Thubal; Sem kept the wisdom secret up to one hundred years after the Flood when he generated Arphachsad, who was educated in the mysterium when he came to age.
From Arphachsad, that was passed to his son Salah, and from this breed was kept secret until Abraham and Lot. From Abraham passed to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, from Jacob to Joseph and Benjamin, and from this was transmitted to Egyptians, from whom Moses learned and even Aaron. Under Moses and Aaron was educated in the wisdom of Bezaleel. He was the first emperor; in the same period, the great Jehovah passed on his wisdom to his son Asisamat and many others.
This brought to light many wonders in the mysterium because Moses taught them and unveiled the nature of the fire, which is the center of the mysterium. He took the worshiped calf and broke it to pieces, poured over it the fire he had prepared, and with this burned the metallic form, reduced it to a red powder, and gave it to the children of Israel, who God punished for their sin.
And on the top, he erected a cross with a bronze serpent, symbolizing magic. The children of Israel, to be freed from the pains they were afflicted in their illness, had to look at him; and by the power of the Almighty, many other wonders occurred.
But Mary, Moses’ sister, had become curious about the wisdom, broke the law of the Lord, and the Lord chastised her, making her sick with leprosy. Then Moses took her and held her closed for seven days, a magic number. And after this time, she washed away.
From Moses, Aaron, Bezaleel passed to Joshua. To them for their sin, having turned away from the Lord, the wisdom was taken away and given to others because the Almighty wants us to keep his secrets well hidden, and if any, used with fear of God. Joshua then gathered his priests, twelve in number, which added a further twelve men who the Almighty had given wisdom. To these, as priests endowed with strength and wisdom, they ordered to bring the covenant ark. Instead of twelve, after the Jordan was opened and they crossed, it arrived in the middle of the river, and they had to stop. Everyone had to take up twelve stones in number and bring them along to indicate the Lord was with them and that, after the separation of the water with which all things were created, one could prepare twelve stones in number, a wonder for the children of wisdom, who go after the wisdom, love and aspire to it.
For this reason, the Lord commanded him to show it and teach it to descendants. Under this force, Joshua turned around Jericho seven times, which means that the strength of the magic is sevenfold, and Jericho had to fall because before, this spirit could not resist. The mighty Jehovah was moved to do so because he had to pull down Jericho.
At that time, according to what says our secret tradition, we find many, nay a very large number of priests who learned in magic; in fact, after Joshua was skilled in magic Judah and Simon. Here the Mysterium stayed by the children of Israel for a long time and from them was transmitted to pagans because among them there are many talented in magic and to which the Spirit of the Highest reveals his secret. Joshua also passed to Gideon. Aldo here Cooperation of the great Spirit of Jehovah is present; in fact, the Lord taught Gideon, who could lap the water (philosophic) with tongue. This one chose them because they were born for magic. In so doing, Gideon defeated his enemies: an image taken from the number three of Cabala. From Gideon, the Mysterium passed to Jephta and from Jephta to Samson. During Heli time, the high priest and the beloved old separated, and many Sages died. At that time, the Spirit of the Lord was transmitted to Samuel and many, nay a very large number; among them even to king Saul, a man very skilled in magic, but he became superb and abandoned the Lord. After him, David was chosen, a hero son of Jesse. To him, the power of Spirit was given with profusion, and like any other before; he was helped by the prophet Nathan. Nevertheless, he didn’t stay within the Spirit border, so he didn’t receive the sacred priesthood, but his son Solomon was born from his loins. Here many mages were born because Solomon got powerful and, as such, as first master and sage, describes the secret in its high chant with clear words: the dissolution of the dense one in the subtle one, the discovery of the hidden, the transformation of the humid in the dry and the volatile in the fixed, he calls the matter by its name and indicates the form of the same with the following words:
I’m black but lovable; daughters of Jerusalem don’t look at me because I’m black as though I have been burned by the sun. The children of my mother, whose I’m the eighth ( she is the real minera, bismuth), that’s to say the seven metals, are angry at me. I was awarded custody of the vineyards, but I haven’t looked after my vineyard. That’s to say I got dissolved in grapes juice, and I feel neglected as subjectus universalis. So when he (Salomon) says: you are the more beautiful among the beautiful, you don’t know yourself, follow the footsteps of sheep and graze your goats by shepherd’s houses. As Hermes says: what is below is what is above. Furthermore, he points to the Lilium or Columba Dianae, when he says: as is an apple tree among wild trees, so is my friend among the children, i.e., the seven metals. I’m in the shadow; that’s to say, I’m found in the mountains, in a dark place. Those looking for me will find my fruit sweet to their palate. This is the Lilium Artis, which in the dry path sublimes and the humid path congeals as crystals, as the dry and humid path teach. And she means the red flower when she says: I’m a flower at Saron in the rocky valley. By the words ” I’m a rose in the valley”, she means: I’m at the bottom and am withheld like by hard rock, the worm resistant to fire, the salamander. But when the white Lilium fades, the rose gets to open through two paths. Before, when she says: I get dissolved in the grapes juice; then when she says: You are the most beautiful among the beautiful, you don’t know yourself, follow the footsteps of the sheep; she means: look for the earth, the one you step over, virginal and pure, whose has to be extracted the lower part; with it must be prepared the pure virgin and poured on that old, grey and black boy: this is the humid path. But it teaches the humid path also below, saying: she takes me to the cellar. In this juice is got hidden the thing we must extract, as well as all the separation of the pure from the impure. Even Solomon explains how to manage the fire during the conjunction when says: Oh daughters of Israel, who are in the field with roes and hinds, I beg you: do not wake up and reanimate my friend until she doesn’t want to. That’s to say: I warn you that in the preparatory work, you should not hurry up, that’s to say you have not to pollute or wake up the work with the fire before it is time. Hermes says: dissolve her gently and smartly; and also in the main work mind not to wake up my friend. Furthermore, when saying: let rise the north wind and comes to the south wind and blow across my garden, to let drop its scent, she means: to keep the right heat degree. In fact, when the air from the north arrives, we have to protect ourselves from it, which is the first degree. Instead, when she says: comes the south wind and blows across my garden, she means: in the other degree, the heat must not get over that of the south winds, which make live and green all the things, as it is with this degree that all the colors get manifested. She lets understand it by saying: so that my garden makes dropping its scents; past the second degree, it has nothing to say. She clearly describes even vessels, when saying: comes and hops on the mountains and the jumps hills, and my friend slips her hand in the hole and my body trembles, meaning: the Lilium rises over the mountains, goes upward, then slips her hand in the hole, to get us to know that we should put the Lilium in a vessel, as though it were a hand, to purify it in it, because of that the body will tremble. She clearly describes the seal as well. In fact, she says: my sister, my friend, is a closed garden, so not to let anyone in at his/her leisure. Rather, it is a closed-off spring, a sealed source, as in the starting so in the conjunction. In addition, she teaches: in the preparatory work putrefaction, in the main work, the black, dark, wherein says: I have looked for the night because my soul wanted to demonstrate that black and dark have been disappeared. In this way – as I have before said – she teaches also sublimation and distillation when she explains: that which comes out of the desert is like a straight fume, like a fume of incense and myrrh. In this way, she also indicates the real original colors: black, white, and red. She describes black as follows: I’m the black and under my black, I’m very lovable, daughters of Jerusalem, I’m like the huts of Kedar, as multi colors carpets. Of white and red, she says: my friend is white and red; the dove is white, the lion is red. In this way, she clearly indicates also the four months ( of philosophy) in the main work, when she says: see, the winter is past, the rain has gone; meaning: the darkness has disappeared because the spring has arrived, and in our land, we hear the chant of the dove. Man enjoys when seeing these things. About the summer, she says: the fig tree is covered with gems, grapes have eyes and emit their scent, get up, my friend, get up, my beautiful. She characterizes autumn as the end of the work by saying: flowers have appeared and got ripe. In this way, she teaches with comprehensible words the whole cooking, multiplication, and increase as well as the projection or fruition of the opera (high chant of Solomon: chapter 6, 7 (multiplication); chapters 8, 9 (exaltation and projection).
By that, we have just wanted to demonstrate that Solomon had asked for the knowledge that God had given him. Through king Solomon, the Mysterium arrives also to Arabs because – thanks to his knowledge – he had in his hand the heart of many nations. From Solomon, it was also transmitted to high priests and prophets and got diffused to the point that it also arrived to Romans. Solomon was the first to make – with the help of Mysterium – metallic images according to asters influx, and he was brought to the heights and sinned before his God. It was in that way – our sacred tradition demonstrated it – that our belonging to the Lord has been so far conserved by the power of God, even though our brothers have had to bring frequent innovations, on the other hand, because they were and are still scattered all over the world.
The first has been Noah; from him were born Sem and Cam, and from the latter Thubal. Sem, as first-born, received the great secret from his father Noah, written on a brass tablet. Cam, the other son of Noah, was Hermes, whose Tabula Smaragdina has come to us. Also, Egyptians had this knowledge, the real offspring of Cam. Cam generated Chus or Champhes the young, which Egyptians called Saturn, and as you can read in the secret tradition and the concreation (1) of the Egyptians. The father of Noah was Seth, Saturn the old, father of all the camphes and all the Mages. Sam and Cam were also Jupiter or Camphes. Cam generated Chus, Saturn the young, or Champhes the young. This one generated Misra or Vulcan, Perth or Phaeton, as Egyptians called him, but he was also called Canaan or Tautus, or Thoyt or Mercurius; From Misra was born Osiris. From Osiris and Isis, Horus or Apollo, and this one Aesculapius. Aesculapius generated Tot and this one Tazio. As a matter of fact, we found that from one century to another, the knowledge of Egyptians increased more and more. Hence the pursuit of knowledge became a job and a misuse. And Moses learned the knowledge from the Egyptians. It seems that some of our fathers remembered that, at that time, Joseph was the first emperor. It is certain that all the children of Israel have learned knowledge from the Egyptians and that there are still some from the Egyptians. From the Israelites, the Mysterium passed to Arabs and Chaldeans. Chaldean were leaders among the scholars Daniel and Anania, Azaria, and Misael. But the master of all was Daniel. Now all these Heroes have become unified, and so far, the Spirit of God has made them unified. From prophets and beloved ancient, the Mysterium has passed to our Teutons (Germans) through our father Teuth. And prodigiously stayed with us till today. Thus we have kept such laudable custom ( and system) of the ancient in the same way they have ordered us to do: we have conserved and transmitted the secret exactly how certain extases or secret operations have been passed down to us from our beloved ancient.