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Full Description
As a practising Christian priest, Hermann Beckh was profoundly aware that the mystery of substance - its transmutation in the cosmos and the human being - was a mystical fact to be approached with the greatest reverence, requiring at once ever-deepening scholarship and meditation. He viewed chemistry as a worthy but materialistic science devoid of spirit, while the fullness of spiritual-physical nature could be approached by what he preferred to call 'chymistry' or 'alchymy', thereby taking in millennia of spiritual tradition.
In consequence, Beckh's Alchymy, The Mystery of the Material World is not limited to the conventional workings of Western alchemy, nor to what can be found in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation - although he does unveil hidden riches there. Neither should Beckh be considered only as a learned Professor with impeccable academic qualifications and European-wide recognition. Beckh writes about such topics as 'Isis', 'the Golden Fleece', traditional fairy-stories and Wagner's Parsifal in a way that enables the reader to catch glimpses of the Mystery of Substance; to share the writer's authentic experience of the divine substantia - the living reality - of Christ in the world.
Beckh's Alchymy set an entirely new standard, and went on to become his most popular publication. This is the first time that it has been translated into English, along with updated footnotes, making his ideas and insights accessible to a wide readership. In addition, this edition features translations of Beckh's 'The New Jerusalem', where theology could best be expressed in verse; his exemplary essay on 'Snow-white'; observations on 'Allerleirauh', and a substantial excerpt from Gundhild Kačer-Bock's biography of Beckh.
Contents
Foreword - Introduction by Neil Franklin - Translator's note - I. Alchymy and Man's Past: - Rosicrucianism, the Virginal Earth, the Philosopher's Stone - II. Alchymy and Mankind in the Present: - Chemistry and chymistry; The 'construction of the atom';
Salt, mercury, sulphur and the mystery of the threefold human being - III. Alchymy and the Bible (Old Testament): - The Creation, the River of Paradise, the Deluge; The secret of gold and of precious stones; Chaos and Astra, primal matter, the chymical process - IV. Alchymy and Mythology: - Isis; The Rhinegold; the Golden Fleece; Venus-Urania - V. Alchymy and the Future of Humanity: - John's Gospel and the Apocalypse of John; The Mystery of Cana (Chymical Wedding) and the New Testament; The Mystery of the twelve precious stones - Appendices - Hermann Beckh: The New Jerusalem, a meditation in verse 1 - Hermann Beckh: Snow-white - Supplement: 'Allerleirauh' - Review: Mysteries of the Material World, Rudolf Bind - Excerpt from the biographical sketch of Hermann Beckh by G. KacÏer-Bock - Notes - The Works of Prof. Hermann Beckh
