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| The Chemical Wedding by Christian Rosencreutz |
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| A ROMANCE IN EIGHT DAYS by JOHANN VALENTIN ANDREAE in a new version by JOHN CROWLEY illustrated by THEO FADEL |
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| SMALL BEER PRESS EASTHAMPTON, MASS. |
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| Introduction |
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| I |
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| The Chemical Wedding by Christian Rosencreutz is the way I’ve decided to present the title of this book. |
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| Most versions in English are called The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz, which suggests (and most people who’ve heard of it suppose) that the wedding is Christian’s . |
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| It’s not; Christian Rosencreutz is the purported author of a book called The Chemical Wedding. |
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| The actual author is Johann Valentin Andreae, whose name didn’t appear on the book originally, thus ensuring the confusion. |
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| I’ll call it herein (as everyone mostly does) simply The Chemical Wedding. |
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| Though its original readers would have had a certain amount of context for the truly bizarre and surprising events it tells of, it’s possible that The Chemical Wedding is now more enjoyable without knowing that context, and experiencing the book unmediated. |
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| You might therefore wish to start right in on the first page of text that follows and only then return to this introduction. |
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| Consider a similar case: a little book published in 1934 by the Surrealist artist Max Ernst called Une Semaine de Bonté. |
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| It was made entirely of collaged illustrations cut out of old books |
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| The First Day |
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| It was just before Easter Sunday, 1 and I was sitting at my table. |
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| I’d said my prayers, talking a long time as usual with my Maker and thinking about some of the great mysteries the Father of Lights had revealed to me. |
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| Now I was ready to make and to bake – only in my heart, actually – a small, perfect unleavened wafer to eat with my beloved Paschal Lamb. |
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| All of a sudden a terrible wind blew up, so strong that I thought the hill my little house was built on would be blown apart – but I’d seen the Devil do things as bad as this before (the Devil had often tried to harm me), so I took heart and went on meditating. |
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| Till I felt somebody touch me on the back. |
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| This frightened me so that I didn’t dare turn. |
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| I tried to stay as brave and calm as a human being could under the circumstances. |
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| I felt my coat tugged at, and tugged again, and at last I looked around. |
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| A woman stood there, so bright and beautiful, in a sky-colored robe – a heavens covered with |
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| 1 Christian’s story begins just before Easter, like Dante’s Divine Comedy. |
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| It can be seen as an allegory of Christ’s death and resurrection, though this idea produces some puzzles. |
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| The birds sang so beautifully, the young deer skipped so happily, that it gladdened my old heart, and I couldn't help singing too ... |
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| THE FOURTH DAY |
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| I was awake and lying in bed next morning, looking idly at the wonderful images and inscriptions all around my room, when suddenly I heard the sound of trumpets, as if a procession were already underway. |
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| My page jumped out of bed as if crazed, looking more dead than alive, and you can imagine how I felt when he cried, “They're already being presented to the king!' |
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| I could only groan in frustration and curse my lazy bones. |
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| I got dressed, but my page was quicker than I was and ran out of the chamber to see what was what. |
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| He soon came back and gave me the good news that I actually hadn’t overslept; all I’d done was miss breakfast: they hadn’t wanted to wake an old man who needed his rest. |
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| But now I had to get ready to go with him to the lion fountain, where most of the others were gathered. |
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| Such a relief! |
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| My spirits recovered, and as soon as I had got into my habit, I followed him to the garden I have already told about. |
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| I found that the lion, in place of his sword, now held a rather large plaque. |
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| Examining this, I could tell that it had been taken from those ancient monuments I’d seen and put here for some special reason. |
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| The inscription on it was fading away, so I should set it down here as it was then, and ask my readers to ponder it: |
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| Prince Hermes: Now after humankind has suffered so much harm here I flow having by god’s counsel and with the help of art become a healing balm. |
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| Drink from me if you can; wash, if you like; trouble my waters if you dare. |
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| Drink, Brethren! |
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| Drink and live! |