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The Rosicrucian Enlightenment
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A history of the role that the occult has played in the formation of modern science and medicine, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment has had a tremendous impact on our understanding of the western esoteric tradition. Beautifully illustrated, it remains one of those rare works of scholarship which the general reader simply cannot afford to ignore.
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
October 12th 2001
by Routledge Classics
(first published 1972)
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Although written years before "Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age," this book almost starts off where the other ended chronologically. Yates reveals a forgotten chapter in history where a spiritual/political movement rose around Friedrich, Elector Palatine, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter to James I of England, whom supporters hoped to install as King and Queen of Bohemia. At the same time, a pair of anonymous manifestos were published proclaiming the existence of an hitherto invisible br
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I saw this book mentioned in a Brooklyn Rail article on "Green Hermeticism" and decided to pick it up. Highly enjoyable writing that sheds actual historical light on a topic that is mired in new-age dreck. Yates traces the influence of Renaissance Hermetic-Cabalistic/Dee-influenced thought through the early 1600's and documents it's impact on the scientific revolution in Newton, Kepler and the Royal Society. I very much enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading Yates' other books on Renais
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Not that easy of a read. This is a orthodox type historian, and writes like it, but her conclusions are unorthodox and disturb established ideas about western history. Highly recommended, but I helps to have some background in 16th and 17th European history to get what she is saying.
Πρόκειται για ένα πολύ ιδιαίτερο βιβλίο που στο αντικείμενο του συνδυάζει στοιχεία ιστορίας, πολιτικής, θρησκειολογίας, επιστημολογίας και αποκρυφισμού. Καταρχάς, πριν από οτιδήποτε άλλο, πρέπει να γίνει σαφές ότι πρόκειται για ένα καθαρά επιστημονικό βιβλίο εξετάζοντας το μύθο των Ροδόσταυρων μέσα από τις πηγές και τα δεδομένα, ως ένα ιστορικό φαινόμενο και δεν έχει καμία σχέση με τα ψευδοεπιστημονικά, συνωμοσιολογικά προϊόντα που κατά καιρούς εκδίδονται για να καλύψουν αναγνώστες που κινούνται
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The Rosicrucian Enlightenment is a proper, scholarly treatment of a topic that has been mystified by people who are way into the idea of secret societies. Looking at a rarely considered part of European intellectual history, Yates sketches an outline of what she describes as the Rosicrucian furor: a period in the early 17th century, just before the devastating Thirty Year War, when manifestos written by unknown authors, claiming a "general reformation of the whole wide world" was at hand, were p
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Definitely an interesting read about an obscure and misunderstood "movement". Yates links early Rosicrucian manifestos as propaganda created to usher in the Protestant reign of Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart of Bohemia. Includes some really great copies of Rosicrucian engravings and art. This one's for the history nerds. Sadly, if you are trying to learn how to astral project or access your akashic records this is not the book for you.
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It took me 20 years to finish this book! Interesting material but the writing is repetitious and covers too much too thinly. I'd be interested in checking out some of Yates's other books but I won't commit to finishing them up front.
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Titlul acestei cărţi poate fi înşelător. "Rozicrucian" poate sugera că aceasta va fi o carte despre grupuri de cercetători modemi ai unor fonne de ocultism. "lluminism" poate sugera că va fi vorba despre perioada cunoscută sub numele de A ufklărung, ieşirea la lumina raţiunii din întunericul
superstiţiei, datorită lui Voltaire, Diderot şi secolului al XVIII-lea. Iar cele două cuvinte luate împreună par să producă o imposibilitate, ele reprezentînd două tendinţe opuse : una în direcţia unor fonne ...more
superstiţiei, datorită lui Voltaire, Diderot şi secolului al XVIII-lea. Iar cele două cuvinte luate împreună par să producă o imposibilitate, ele reprezentînd două tendinţe opuse : una în direcţia unor fonne ...more
I read this just before bed for a lot of nights... so I tended to have a blinding flash of inspiration and enlightenment just before nodding off. So, its probably about the magical roots of scientific advancement... but I could be wrong.
A phrase I caught just before having a nap today "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment included a vision of the necessity for the reform of society, paticularly of education, for a third reformation of religion, embracing all sides of man's (sic) activity - and saw thi ...more
A phrase I caught just before having a nap today "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment included a vision of the necessity for the reform of society, paticularly of education, for a third reformation of religion, embracing all sides of man's (sic) activity - and saw thi ...more
This book does a fantastic job of being really interesting in spite of the fact that it is very dry and scholarly. The organization and clarity of the author's train of thought is such that it is easy to follow her even when I did not really have the background foundational knowledge to read a scholarly book on this topic. She does a great job of clearly laying out the info you need to understand her point as well as signposting her arguments frequently enough that you never lose track of them.
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Yates's reputation as the leading scholar of intellectual movements of the Renaissance period is well deserved. This book offers significant analysis of the Rosicrucian manifesto's and the intellectual currents which inspired them. The further study of historical developments in early seventeenth century Europe gives an even greater depth of understanding into the realities of the Brotherhood and how its ideology influenced the emergent speculative Freemasonry.
In terms of balance, depth, and re ...more
In terms of balance, depth, and re ...more
Sep 01, 2019
Ankh156
added it
First read in the 1970s when I was studying anthropokogy in Lancaster UK.
Although this was required reading for one of my academic courses, this book coincidentally serves as excellent further reading for fans of the series A Discovery of Witches (especially season 2!)
May 16, 2017
Mary Catelli
rated it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
history-modern,
moderately-old-books
A survey of some early modern thinkers, including pointing out how closely interconnected the study of magic (and angels) and science were.
An historical journey into the occult roots of modern science and technology.
Admittedly, I picked up this book because of my general interest in Western occultism, thinking it might bring light to some of the weirder parts of the Rosicrucian manifestos. Thankfully, Yates ignores the black hole of trying to wrestle with the question of whether or not the Rosicrucians existed and instead traces the currents of thought that likely led to and from the three published works attributed to them. She presents the argument that the manifestos of the early 1600's were likely an ex
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Challenges the traditional history of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment by exploring the role of ideas of magic and the occult. In particular, it explores a movement known as the Rosicrucians, not the secret society popularized by the Da Vinci Code, but a historically real group of Protestant writers associated with the court of Frederick of Palatine just before the Thirty Years War. Yates brings together strands of European history to make a compelling argument that the Scientific
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Can two anonymously authored manifestoes published in Bohemia at the start of the seventeenth century trace their origins to the esoteric magic, alchemy, and cabala of the Elizabethan adviser and tutor John Dee?
How are these two short documents, about a legendary secret society, to then shape in some ways the intellectual, political, and cultural history of Europe? Perhaps, even influencing the first natural philosophers in England as they form the Royal Society?
Historian Frances Yates puts for ...more
How are these two short documents, about a legendary secret society, to then shape in some ways the intellectual, political, and cultural history of Europe? Perhaps, even influencing the first natural philosophers in England as they form the Royal Society?
Historian Frances Yates puts for ...more
The more of Frances Yates I read the more impressed I become. Scholarly, but accessible. Sometimes like a detective novel. Plenty to enjoy: hoax manifestos, Rosicrucians, John Dee and the impressive Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (arguably the most important British royal you‘ve never heard of). Loved the frontispieces and now looking for “signs” in the Wenceslaus Hollar “Long View of London” on the wall in my flat.
Barking mad conspiracy stuff in places, and has inspired countless scores of idiots to wander off down fruitless paths of nonsense. But thought-provoking in places, and an interesting alternate perspective on the period even after 40-odd years.
From Ficcino, Camillo, Erasmus (who shared the bed with Camillo) to Bruno, Dee, Christian Rosenkreutz and the Royal Society.
A brilliant book and an eye-opening introduction to the fascinating story of our hermetic heritage.
Fascinating!
sucker for the rosicrucians-- guilty as charged
An amazing study that puts the Rosicrucian cosmic joke in a historical perspective and follows the joke's impact. A great study for occultists and lovers of Utopian schemes. Essential reading, IMO.
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The first true historical look at the "Rosicrucian" movement in Europe.
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A really brilliant history of European mysticism
Fascinating account of the origins and mysteries of science. France's Yates is a formidable scholar and remarkably capable writer
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Dame Frances Amelia Yates DBE FBA was an English historian who focused on the study of the Renaissance. In an academic capacity, she taught at the Warburg Institute of the University of London for many years, and also wrote a number of seminal books on the subject of esoteric history.
Yates was born to a middle-class family in Portsmouth, and was largely self-educated, before attaining a BA and MA ...more
Yates was born to a middle-class family in Portsmouth, and was largely self-educated, before attaining a BA and MA ...more
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“To return to the general analysis of the Rosicrucian outlook. Magic was a dominating factor, working as a mathematics-mechanics in the lower world, as celestial mathematics in the celestial world, and as angelic conjuration in the supercelestial world. One cannot leave out the angels in this world view, however much it may have been advancing towards the scientific revolution. The religious outlook is bound up with the idea that penetration has been made into higher angelic spheres in which all religions were seen as one; and it is the angels who are believed to illuminate man's intellectual activities.
In the earlier Renaissance, the magi had been careful to use only the forms of magic operating in the elemental or celestial spheres, using talismans and various rituals to draw down favourable influences from the stars. The magic of a bold operator like Dee, aims beyond the stars, aims at doing the supercelestial mathematical magic, the angel-conjuring magic. Dee firmly believed that he had gained contact with good angels from whom he learned advancement in knowledge. This sense of close contact with angels or spiritual beings is the hallmark of the Rosicrucian. It is this which infuses his technology, however practical and successful and entirely rational in its new understanding of mathematical techniques, with an unearthly air, and makes him suspect as possibly in contact, not with angels, but with devils.”
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In the earlier Renaissance, the magi had been careful to use only the forms of magic operating in the elemental or celestial spheres, using talismans and various rituals to draw down favourable influences from the stars. The magic of a bold operator like Dee, aims beyond the stars, aims at doing the supercelestial mathematical magic, the angel-conjuring magic. Dee firmly believed that he had gained contact with good angels from whom he learned advancement in knowledge. This sense of close contact with angels or spiritual beings is the hallmark of the Rosicrucian. It is this which infuses his technology, however practical and successful and entirely rational in its new understanding of mathematical techniques, with an unearthly air, and makes him suspect as possibly in contact, not with angels, but with devils.”
“The main reason why serious historical studies of the Rosicrucian manifestos and their influence have hitherto been on the whole lacking is no doubt because the whole subject has been bedevilled by enthusiasts for secret societies. There is a vast literature on Rosicrucianism which assumes the existence of a secret society, founded by Christian Rosencreutz, and having a continuous existence up to modern times. In the vague and inaccurate world of so-called 'occultist' writing this assumption has produced a kind of literature which deservedly sinks below the notice of the serious historian. And when, as if often the case, the misty discussion of 'Rosicrucians' and their history becomes involved with the masonic myths, the enquirer feels that he is sinking helplessly into a bottomless bog.”
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