Blessed Aurora will now henceforth begin to appear, who (after the passing away of the dark Night of Saturn) with her Brightness altogether extinguisheth the shining of the Moon, or the small Sparks of Heavenly Wisdom, which yet remaineth with men, and is a Forerunner of pleasant Phebus, who with his clear and fiery glistering Beams brings forth that Blessed Day long wished for, of many true hearted; by which Daylight then shall truly be known, and shall be seen all heavenly Treasures of godly Wisdom, as also the Secrets of all hidden and invisible things in the World according to the Doctrine of our Forefathers and ancient Wisemen.
This will be the right kingly Ruby, and most excellent shining Carbuncle, of the which it is said, That he doth shine and give light in darkness, and to be a perfect Medicine of all imperfect Bodies, and to change them into the best Gold, and to cure all Diseases of Men, easing them of all pains and miseries.
Be, therefore, gentle Reader, admonished, that with me you do earnestly pray to God, that it please him to open the hearts and ears of all ill hearing people, and to grant unto them his blessing, that they may be able to know him in his Omnipotency, with admiring contemplation of Nature, to his honour and praise, and to the love, help, comfort and strengthening of our Neighbours, and to the restoring of the diseased.
Fama Fraternitatis,
Or, A Discovery of the Fraternity of the most laudable
Order of the Rosy Cross.
Seeing the only Wise and Merciful God in these latter days hath poured out so richly his mercy and goodness to Mankind, whereby we do attain more and more to the perfect knowledge of his Son Jesus Christ and Nature, that justly we may boast of the happy time, wherein there is not only discovered unto us the half part of the World, which was heretofore unknown and hidden, but he hath also made manifest unto us many wonderful and never-heretofore seen Works and Creatures of Nature, and moreover hath raised men imbued with great Wisdom, which might partly renew and reduce all Arts (in this our Age spotted and imperfect) to perfection; so that finally Man might thereby understand his own nobleness and worth, and why he is called Microcosmus, and how far his knowledge extendeth in Nature.
Although the rude World herewith will be but little pleased, but rather smile and scoff thereat; also the Pride and Covetousness of the Learned is so great it will not suffer them to agree together; but were they united, they might out of all those things which in this our Age God doth so richly bestow upon us, collect Librum Naturæ, or a perfect method of all Arts; but such is their opposition, that they still keep and are loth to leave the old course, esteeming Porphiry, Aristotle, and Galen, yea and that which hath a meer show of learning, more than the clear and manifested Light and Truth, who if they were now living, with much joy would leave their erroneous Doctrines. But here is too great weakness for such a great Work, and although in Theologie, Physic, and the Mathematic, the Truth doth oppose itself, nevertheless the old enemy by his subtilty and craft doth shew himself in hindering every good purpose by his Instruments and contentious wavering people. To such an intent of a general Reformation, the most godly and highly illuminated Father, our Brother, C. R., a German, the chief and original of our Fraternity, hath much and long time laboured, who by reason of his poverty (although descended of Noble Parents) in the fifth year of his age, was placed in a Cloyster, where he had learned indifferently the Greek and Latin Tongues, who (upon his earnest desire and request), being yet in his growing years, was associated to a Brother P. A. L., who had determined to go to the Holy Land.
Although this Brother dyed in Cyprus, and so never came to Jerusalem, yet our Brother C. R. did not return, but shipped himself over, and went to Damasco, minding from thence to go to Jerusalem; but by reason of the feebleness of his body, he remained still there, and by his skill in Physick he obtained much favour with the Turks. In the mean time he became by chance acquainted with the Wise Men of Damasco in Arabia, and beheld what great wonders they wrought, and how Nature was discovered unto them; hereby was that high and noble Spirit of Brother C. R. so stirred up that Jerusalem was not so much now in his mind as Damasco; also he could not bridle his desires any longer, but made a bargain with the Arabians that they should carry him for a certain sum of money to Damasco.
As we have on another page stated all these particulars on the authority of the epistle dedicatory to the Axiomata we need simply allude to them as recorded in the work from which we are now quoting. The account proceeds pretty much as stated in the Axiomata by John Heydon, then after stating that the Fraternity began with an association of four persons only, the Fama says that finding their labour too heavy they concluded to draw and receive yet others more into their Fraternity. To this end was chosen brother R. C. his deceased father’s brother’s son, brother B. a skilful Painter, G. and P. D. their Secretary, all Germans except J. A., so in all they were eight in number, all bachelors and of sound virginity; by those was collected a book or volumn of all that which man can desire, wish, or hope for.
Although we do now freely confess that the World is much amended within an hundred years, yet we are assured that our Axiomata shall unmovably remain unto the World’s End, and also the world in her highest and last Age shall not attain to see anything else; for our Rota takes her beginning from that day when God spake Fiat, and shall end when he shall speak Pereat; yet God’s Clock striketh every minute, where ours scarce striketh perfect hours. We also stedfastly beleeve, that if our Brethren and Fathers had lived in this our present and clear light, they would more roughly have handled the Pope, Mahomet, Scribes, Artists, and Sophisters, and had shewed themselves more helpful, not simply with sighs, and wishing of their end and consummation.
When now these eight brethen had disposed and ordered all things in such manner, as there was not now need of any great labour, and also that every one was sufficiently instructed, and able perfectly to discourse of secret and manifest Philosophy, they would not remain any longer together, but as in the beginning they had agreed, they separated themselves into several countries, because that not only their Axiomata might in secret be more profoundly examined by the learned, but that they themselves, if in some country or other they observed any thing or perceived some error, they might inform one another of it.