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Volume 19
Bells and Spells: Rosicrucianism and the Invocation of Planetary Spirits in Early Modern Germany
Hereward Tilton
Abstract
This paper examines early modern theurgical techniques in the context of Christian anti-magical polemics and an associated marginalization of gnostic-emanationist religiosity. Particular attention is directed to the ritual invocation of planetary spirits in the Rosicrucian tradition, which involved artefacts (spirit-summoning bells, animated statues, etc.) manufactured from Paracelsian electrum magicum, a pervasive material in European ritual magical practice. Further light is cast upon this Christian Cabalistic theurgical tradition by the author's discovery of the Dutch Behmenist origins of the Gold- und Rosenkreuz.
Citation: Hereward Tilton, 'Bells and Spells: Rosicrucianism and the Invocation of Planetary Spirits in Early Modern Germany', Celestial Magic, special issue of Culture and Cosmos, Vol. 19, nos. 1 and 2, 2015, pp. 167-88.
