The Mage's Images: Heinrich Khunrath in His Oratory and Laboratory, Volume 3: Mage & Alchemist(39 Aries Book Series)

This is the 3rd volume in a 4-volume work entitled The Mage’s Images. The work provides the first in-depth examination of the life and works of Heinrich Khunrath (1560-1605), ‘one of the great Hermetic philosophers’, whose Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom (1595/1609) has been described as ‘one of the most important books in the whole literature of theosophical alchemy and the occult sciences’. Khunrath is best known for his novel combination of ‘scripture and picture’ in the complex engravings in his Amphitheatre. In this richly illustrated monograph, Forshaw analyses occult symbolism, with previously unpublished material, offering insight into Khunrath’s insistence on the necessary combination of alchemy, magic, and cabala in ‘Oratory and Laboratory’.

Table of Contents:
Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures List of Tables Introductory Note 5 Magic: Physical, Hyperphysical and Divine  1 Occult Forebears  2 Hermes Trismegistus  3 Reuchlin’s Threefold Art of Miracles  4 Agrippa’s Three Books  5 Paracelsus’s Sagacious Philosophy  6 Giovanni Battista Della Porta  7 1) Natural (or Physical) Magic  8 Theo-magia of the Macro- and Micro-cosm  9 Signatures of Natural Things  10 Phytognomonica  11 Character Reading: Physiognomy, Metoposcopy & Chiromancy  12 2) Mathematical, Celestial or Astral Magic  13 i) Heavens: Meteorology, Astrology, & Astral Divination  14 The Most Accurate Observations of King Zebel  15 Image Magic: Talismans and Gamahaea  16 Khunrath’s Practical Applications  17 ii) Earth: Geomantic Divination and the Casting of Lots  18 Sortilegia of the Apostles  19 Liber Albedachi  20 Liber Almachbale  21 Compendiaria Secretissimaque Operatio Geomantica  22 iii) Oratorium, Auditorium, Laboratorium: Magic, Music, and Alchemy  23 Oratory as the Sensorium, the Space or Place of Magic  24 Counsel concerning Vulcan’s Magical Forging of the Arms of Achilles  25 3) Ceremonial or Ritual Magic  26 Hyperphysical Magic  27 Divine Magic  28 Theurgy or Angel Magic  29 Necromancy  30 Addressative Magic and Intermediary Beings  31 Seven Oracular Laws at the Entrance  32 Consilium Dei  33 Naming Demons  34 Condemning Nigromancy  35 Reformation of Magic  36 Magical Prayer  37 A Hymn to the Generator and Craftsman of Everything  38 Sigillum Dei: Virtuous Pentacle of Solomon  39 Almadel or Liber Intelligentiarum  40 Tabulae Theosophicae Cabbalisticae – Cabbalistic Theosophical Tables  41 Do Not Speak of God without Light  42 A Concealed ‘Illustration’  43 Five Letters: I.V.A.O.V.  44 From Majorca to Nettesheim: a Lineage of Magicians  45 Circulus seu Tabula Veritatis – the Circle or Table of Truth  46 Ars Crucifixi – Art of the Crucifix  47 De proprio Angelo – on One’s Own Angel  48 Peri Anacriseōn ton hypnoticōn – on Visions of Secret Things in Dreams  49 Dormiens Vigila: in Oratorio, Laboratorio, Dormitorio  50 Conclusion 6 From Physico-Chymistry to Supernatural Alchemy?  1 Khunrath’s Terminology  2 Alchemia, Alchymia and Halchymia  3 Chrysopoeia – Goldmaking  4 On Primaterial Chaos  5 Universal Magnesia of the Philosophers  6 The Athanor: Khunrath’s Design for a Furnace  7 Physico-Chemistry in the Amphitheatre  8 The Influence of Paracelsus: Chymiatria, Iatrochymia, Spagyria  9 Ratio & Experientia  10 Khunrath the Paracelsian  11 Three Questions  12 Vulcan’s Art of Fire  13 Solar Fire and the Paracelsian Archaeus  14 Higher and Lower Astronomy: Alchemy and Astrology  15 Operations: Chrysopoetic and Spagyric  16 Equipment in the Laboratory  17 On the Table  18 Under the Table  19 Equipment in Khunrath’s Portrait  20 Reagent Bottles and Khunrath’s Alchemical Glyphs  21 Substances: Animal, Vegetable and Mineral  22 Khunrath’s Rebis and the First Secret of the Art  23 The Subject or Matter of Our Stone  24 ΧΑΟΣ – Chaos  25 Magnesia  26 Azoth  27 Neither Mercury, nor Antimony, but Salt  28 ☿ Mercurialists  29 ♁ Antimonialists  30  Vitriolists  31 g & j There Is Nothing More Useful in the World Than Sun and Salt  32 The Second Secret of the Art: the Threefold Regimen  33 The First Regimen: Preparatory Work  34 The Second Regimen: After-Work  35 Colour Changes & the Bird of Hermes  36 Plusquamperfectio: Surpassing Perfection  37 The Third Regimen: the Stone’s Union with the Macrocosm  38 The Philosophers’ Stone & Its Triune Use  39 Types of Stones  40 1. The Macrocosmic Stone  41 2. The Microcosmic Stone  42 3. The Divine Stone  43 The Elixir: Elixeir  44 Religion and Alchemy  45 Book of the Holy Trinity  46 The Dawn Rising  47 Cabala and Alchemy  48 The First “Cabalchemist”: Giovanni Agostino Pantheo  49 Cabala, Cabalia, sive Cabalistica Ars: Theophrastus Paracelsus  50 A Vexed Question: Spiritual Alchemy  51 Some Problems with ‘Some Problems’?  52 A School of Supernatural Alchemy  53 The Occult Laboratory and ‘Spiritual Chymists’  54 The Vast Majority: Material Substances and Material Goals  55 A by No Means Insignificant Minority: the Influence of Gerard Dorn  56 Ascetic Practice and Alchemical Inspiration  57 Religious Dimensions: Khunrath’s Theo-Alchemy  58 1) Alchemical Theology: the Alchemical Exegesis of Genesis  59 2) An Analogical Harmony: Christ and the Stone  60 Regeneration, Rejuvenation, Rebirth  61 A Philosophical Song on the Incorporation of the Spirit of the Lord in Salt  62 Alchemy and Theurgy: Philosophers’ Stone in the Service of Divine Magic  63 Father of All Talismans  64 Artificially Fashioned Magical Stones  65 Alchemy, Self-Perfection & Transformation in the Amphitheatre  66 Spiritual Transmutation of Man  67 Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Peter J. Forshaw, Ph.D. (2004), London University, is Associate Professor in History of Western Esotericism at the University of Amsterdam. He was editor of the journal Aries (2010-2020), has edited essay collections and published articles and chapters on esotericism and occult philosophy.