Rosicrucian
Digest
No. 1
2007
Page 2
Questions have often arisen regarding
the origins of Rosicrucianism.
Although a consensus of researchers
places its historical beginnings in the
seventeenth century, we are of the opinion
that the genesis of this movement dates from
much farther back. Such was the belief of the
German alchemist Michael Maier. In his
work Silentium Post Clamores (1617), he
described Rosicrucianism as
having
arisen
from
the
Egyptians, the Brahmans, the
mysteries of Eleusis and
Samothrace, the Magi of
Persia, the Pythagoreans, and
the Arabs. Several years after
the publication of the Fama
Fraternitatis (1614) and the
Confessio Fraternitatis (1615),
Irenaeus Agnostus, in Clypeum
veritatis (The Shield of Truth,
1618), felt no hesitation in
declaring Adam to be the first
representative of the Order.
The Rosicrucian manifestos
likewise made reference to the
same source: “Our philosophy
has nothing new in it; it conforms to what
Adam inherited after the Fall, and what
Moses and Solomon practiced.”1
The Primordial Tradition
Adam, Egypt, Persia, the Greek sages,
and the Arabs were conjured up for good
reason by Michael Maier. He alluded to a
concept that was very widespread before the
coming of Rosicrucianism. This concept—
the Primordial Tradition—first appeared in
the Renaissance,2
especially
after
the
rediscovery of the Corpus Hermeticum, a
group of mysterious texts attributed to an
Egyptian priest, Hermes Trismegistus. From
him, this idea of a primordial revelation, of
which Egypt was the cradle, would have
considerable repercussions.
Our intention is not to describe Egyptian
esotericism in full, but rather to indicate how
this heritage was transmitted. The route
connecting Egypt to the West is long and
offers a varied landscape. We will not discuss
all of its details, because this description
would occupy an entire
volume. However,
certain
salient points will allow us to
understand Rosicrucian origins.
While
engaging
in
this
undertaking i