forshaw, cabala music and alchemy

27
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, DOI: 10.1163/156798910X520584 ARIES . () – ARIES www.brill.nl/arie OratoriumAuditoriumLaboratorium: Early Modern Improvisations on Cabala, Music, and Alchemy Peter J. Forshaw University of Amsterdam Abstract La gravure du Lab-Oratorium, dans l’Amphithéâtre de la Sagesse Eternelle ( / ), du paracelsien Heinrich Khunrath de Leipzig (–)—‘docteur des deux médecines et fidèle amoureux de la théosophie’—est une image bien connue des historiens de l’ésotérisme du début des Temps Modernes, mais peu de choses ont été dites sur la signification des instruments musicaux qui sont au premier plan de l’image. Cet article examine les diverses références qui, dans les écrits de Khunrath, concernent la musique et le thème y relatif de l’harmonie dans le contexte des activités kabbalistiques et alchimiques de Khunrath en son Oratoire et son Laboratoire. Il examine l’influence d’idées pythagoriciennes sur les pratiques théurgiques de Khunrath, identifie la source christiano-kabbalistique de l’hymne polyglotte qu’il relie à l’une des images théosophiques sur la table de son Oratoire, et propose une réflexion sur l’usage de la musique dans cette dimension kabbalistique de son œuvre. Etant donné que Khunrath est connu surtout comme praticien de l’alchimie, la seconde section de l’article traite de quelques exemples de chant et de musique, à commencer par un manuscrit qui a survécu dans le travail de Khunrath, et se termine par un bref examen de la plus célèbre combinaison d’alchimie et de musique; à savoir, l’Atlanta Fugiens (), de son admirateur le Comte Michael Maier (–). Keywords Music; Harmony; Alchemy; Cabala; Heinrich Khunrath; Michael Maier; Oratory; Labora- tory In his Raphael oder Artzt-Engel (), Abraham von Franckenberg (– ), disciple and early biographer of Jakob Boehme, has a section on ‘Kabal- istic or Spiritual Medicine,’ which includes a table of correspondences between

Upload: nemoomen

Post on 07-Apr-2015

391 views

Category:

Documents


9 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, !"#" DOI: 10.1163/156798910X520584

ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&ARIES

www.brill.nl/arie

Oratorium—Auditorium—Laboratorium:Early Modern Improvisations onCabala, Music, and Alchemy

Peter J. ForshawUniversity of Amsterdam

Abstract

La gravure du Lab-Oratorium, dans l’Amphithéâtre de la Sagesse Eternelle (#$%$ /#&"%), duparacelsien Heinrich Khunrath de Leipzig (#$&"–#&"$)—‘docteur des deux médecines etfidèle amoureux de la théosophie’—est une image bien connue des historiens de l’ésotérismedu début des Temps Modernes, mais peu de choses ont été dites sur la signification desinstruments musicaux qui sont au premier plan de l’image. Cet article examine les diversesréférences qui, dans les écrits de Khunrath, concernent la musique et le thème y relatif del’harmonie dans le contexte des activités kabbalistiques et alchimiques de Khunrath en sonOratoire et son Laboratoire. Il examine l’influence d’idées pythagoriciennes sur les pratiquesthéurgiques de Khunrath, identifie la source christiano-kabbalistique de l’hymne polyglottequ’il relie à l’une des images théosophiques sur la table de son Oratoire, et propose uneréflexion sur l’usage de la musique dans cette dimension kabbalistique de son œuvre. Etantdonné que Khunrath est connu surtout comme praticien de l’alchimie, la seconde section del’article traite de quelques exemples de chant et de musique, à commencer par un manuscritqui a survécu dans le travail de Khunrath, et se termine par un bref examen de la plus célèbrecombinaison d’alchimie et de musique; à savoir, l’Atlanta Fugiens (#&#'), de son admirateurle Comte Michael Maier (#$&(–#&!!).

KeywordsMusic; Harmony; Alchemy; Cabala; Heinrich Khunrath; Michael Maier; Oratory; Labora-tory

In his Raphael oder Artzt-Engel (#&'&), Abraham von Franckenberg (#$%)–#&$!), disciple and early biographer of Jakob Boehme, has a section on ‘Kabal-istic or Spiritual Medicine,’ which includes a table of correspondences between

Page 2: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#'" Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Kabala,Magia and Chymia. At the bottom of the table we discover that the locifor these practices are, respectively,Oratorium, Auditorium, and Laboratorium.1

*+,+-+ .+/01 +-123.4Spirit Soul BodyDivine Natural ArtificialBelief Reason SenseGod Human Creature

5eology Mathematics PhysicsIntellect Reason SenseDivine Angelic HumanSpirit Word Flesh1000 100 10Alpha X OmegaOra- Audi- Labora-

67809..

5is association of esoteric sciences and spaces is undoubtedly inspired bythe Paracelsian doctor Heinrich Khunrath of Leipzig (#$&"–#&"$), whoseDe Igne magorum (#&"() insists on the vital necessity of working alchemy,magic and cabala in conjunction.2 5ese three arts combine in Khunrath’sChristian-Cabalist, Divinely-Magical, and Physico-Chemical magnum opus theAmphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae (#$%$ /#&"%), finding their most profoundexpression in his image of the Lab-Oratorium, probably one of the best-knownimages of early modern esotericism.3

In this ‘5eosophical figure’4 Khunrath presents the domains of theChristian-Cabalist at prayer before the Oratory tabernacle on the left and ofthe alchemist in the Laboratory on the right. In his words, we hear the universalvoice of Wisdom

with the ears of the senses, of reason, of the Intellect and of the Mind: Praying inthe Oratory, Working Micro and Macro-Cosmically, Physically, Physico-Medically,Physico-Chemically, etc. in the Laboratory.5

1) Franckenberg, Raphael oder Artzt-Engel, !'.2) Khunrath, De Igne magorum, %$.3) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%. On the sequence of engravings in Khunrath’s book,see Eco, Lo Strano Caso della Hanau !$"%.4) Khunrath, Totique, celestis exercitus spiritualis, … Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae,solius verae, #$%$, Title-page: ‘exornatum figuris quatuor 5eosophicis.’5) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #(–#%.

Page 3: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #'#

Heinrich Khunrath’s Lab-Oratorium, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae(#&"%) (Courtesy of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Amsterdam)

In another of his works, Vom hylealischen Chaos (#$%'), Khunrath makesit explicitly clear that these domains are intimately connected and castigatesthose who ‘utterly un-Philosophically separate Oratory and Laboratory fromeach other.’6 Only one experienced in both will comprehend the “analogicalharmony” (Harmonia analogica) between Christ, Son of the Microcosm, andthe Philosophers’ Stone, Son of the Macrocosm.7 Movement between thesetwo disciplinary domains itself performs a probatory function, for the works

6) Khunrath, Vom hylealischen Chaos, !$!.7) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #%'; Khunrath,Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum,)".

Page 4: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#'! Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

of the alchemist and cabalist are mutually confirming. Although Khunrath iswell aware he risks being accused of blasphemy, he firmly asserts that ‘if theone exists, so does the other’, Christ can be known naturally through the Stoneand the Stone theosophically through Christ.8 So inspired is he by this revela-tion that he exuberantly exclaims, ‘Oh, wondrous Regenerative harmony of theMacro andMicrocosm’.9Given the apparent significance of the Lab-Oratoriumimage, it is particularly frustrating to discover that Khunrath is far less forth-coming about the specific details of his engraving and its harmonious message,in particular the objects that occupy centre stage, indeed dominate the veryforeground of the engraving, the musical instruments in what Franckenbergso fittingly names the Auditorium.

In Franckenberg’s table of correspondences, the Auditorium mediates be-tweenOratory and Laboratory, andMathematics stands between5eology andPhysics. Anyone familiar with the medieval university curriculum will knowthat in addition to the verbal arts of the Trivium, students also studied thenumerical subjects of the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy andmusic), in preparation for the more advanced study of philosophy or theology.Khunrath’s central table presumably represents the third of his Amphitheatre’sactivities, magic and, given his penchant for describing this endeavour asboth ‘physical’ and ‘hyperphysical’, the engraving allows for the interpretationthat the reader meditating on this image enters Khunrath’s world by way ofthe instruments on the table, thereafter turning to the realms of physics ormetaphysics as the spirit moves him. 5e notion of music mediating betweenthe verbal activity of the Oratory and manual activity of the Laboratory findssupport from the famous third-century musical theorist Aristides Quintilianus’claim that ‘Only music teaches both by word and by the counterparts ofactions’.10 5is reading is partly encouraged, too, by one of the most famousRenaissance magi, Marsilio Ficino (#:))–#:%%), who justified his personalcombination of medicine, music and theology with the argument that musicis as important for the intermediary spirit as medicine is for the body andtheology for the soul.11 True, Franckenberg prefers soul as the intermediaryprinciple, but the table-cloth beneath Khunrath’s instruments bears the more“pneumatic” message: ‘Sacred Music is the dispeller of sadness and evil spirits,

8) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #%! (mispaginated as #%)), #%'.9) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, $:.10) Mathiesen, ‘Harmonia and Ethos’, !&(.11) Kristeller, ‘Music and Learning’, !&%; Ehrmann, ‘Marsilio Ficino und sein Einfluß’,!:#, !:$.

Page 5: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #')

because the ;<0806 of =327>+2 gladly sings in a heart filled with pious joy’(.9;01+ ;+?16+ tristitiae spirituumque malignorum fuga quia ;<0806>; 42>2lubenter psallit in cordi gaudio pio perfuso).

Looking at the four musical instruments on the table, at the most basic levelof interpretation they could be taken as symbolising the harmonies vibratingbetween Heaven and Earth, a reminder of the Hermetic dictum appearingon the Amphitheatre’s #&"% title page, from the Emerald Tablet, ‘that whichis ,3-7@ is like that which is +,7>3; And that which is +,7>3 is like thatwhich is ,3-7@’.12 More than likely, there is also an intended reference tothe sympathies existing between the Microcosm and Macrocosm, a notionthat crops up repeatedly in Khunrath’s works, frequently in company with themedieval topos of God’s Two Books of Scripture and Nature. As shall be seen,there is also a tacit acknowledgement of the universal and musical harmonymade famous by Pythagoras and Plato in antiquity, for whom harmonia isabove all a cosmic principle of order, the ‘unification of things that appearon a lower level to be dissimilar or unrelated or lacking in order’ into a lastingrelationship.135is notion was perpetuated in the Renaissance by hermetic andcabalistic works like Francesco Giorgi’s De harmonia mundi (#$!$) and JohnDee’s Propaedeumata aphoristica (#$$().14 5e presence of four instrumentscould also be alluding to the concord of the four elements and their qualitiesin nature or the balance of the four humours of the human body.15

In his Life of Pythagoras, the third-century Neoplatonist Iamblichus writes ofhow the master alone could hear the harmony and consonance of the spheresand the stars moving through them.16 5is Pythagorean resonance is presentin the most influential source for Khunrath’s Cabala, the German humanistJohannes Reuchlin (#:$$–#$!!), author of two of Christian Cabala’s mostinfluential works, De verbo mirifico (#:%:) and De arte cabalistica (#$#'), inwhich he sets forth the fundamental harmony between this mystical form ofJudaism and the philosophy or ‘symbolic theology’ of Pythagoras.17 Certainly,a Pythagorean presence is immediately evident in the plaque suspended over

12) On the sympathetic harmony between internal, external and Olympic fire, see, forinstance, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, !"!.13) Mathiesen, ‘Harmonia and Ethos’, !&&.14) Schmidt-Biggemann, Philosophia Perennis, )"$–)#&. Szönyi, John Dee’s Occultism, #&";Cavallaro, ‘5e Alchemical Significance of John Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica’.15) Finney, ‘Music’, $".16) Godwin, Music, Mysticism and Magic, !&.17) Reuchlin, De Arte Cabalistica, !)), !:#.

Page 6: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#': Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

the Amphitheatre’s Oratory table, where we read the injunction ‘Do not speakof God without light’ (Ne loquaris de deo absque lvmine). Khunrath’s mostlikely direct source for this statement is one of his favoured authors, HeinrichCornelius Agrippa (#:(&–#$)$), who explains that

the first, and most wise institutors of religions, and ceremonies ordained, that prayers,singings, and all manner of divine worships whatsoever should not be performed with-out lighted candles, or torches. (Hence also was that significant saying of Pythagoras:do not speak of God without a light).18

Khunrath and Agrippa could well have lifted this saying fromMarsilio Ficino’sDe Sole (#:%:) or his translation of Iamblichus’s De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum,Chaldaeorum, Assyriorum (#:%'), where it is included among the ‘Symbols ofPythagoras the Philosopher.’19

Returning to the instruments on the table, we see that on the left lie a lyrada braccio and harp and on the right a lute and what appears to be a cittern.20 Itmay be coincidental, but the latter two instruments, those closest to the earthlylaboratory are fretted, perhaps intimating of the clearly defined quantitativedivisions of weight and measure necessary for the alchemical study of nature.5is notion is encouraged by the presence of the balance scales and weightsbehind these two instruments and, in combination with the open book withstaves of music behind the harp and lyre on the left, they should probably beunderstood as an allusion to a scriptural verse popular among both alchemistsand cabalists, from Wisdom ##:!# ‘5ou hast ordered all things in measure,and number, and weight.’21 Michael Maier (#$&(–#&!!), like Khunrath nostranger to the Bohemian court of Rudolf II, was to allude to the same sourcein his alchemical Cantilenae intellectuales (#&!!), declaring that ‘by a certainnumber, weight and measure all celestial and terrestrial bodies rejoice in as itwere a real blending of musical harmony, as do spiritual creatures … led by itsmelodies and symphonic intervals’.22

18) Agrippa,'ree Books of Occult Philosophy, #:.19) See Ficino’s translation of Iamblichus de mysteriis, sig. (&r and Ficino, De Sole, sig. [Lv].Versions of the phrase also appear in Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life, #"% ‘Donot speak without light’, #!% ‘Do not talk about Pythagorean matters without light.’ Seetoo Fideler (ed), 'e Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library, '(, ().20) Cf Rebotier, ‘La Musique de Flamel’, $)! luth, un dessus de viole, cistre, harpe; Meinel,‘Alchemie und Musik’, !"! zwei Lauten, Harfe und Viola.21) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #$&.22) Maier, Cantilenae intellectuales, &, (. For more on Maier, see Tilton, 'e Quest for thePhoenix; De Jong, Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens; Godwin, Atalanta fugiens.

Page 7: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #'$

As the declaration on the Lab-Oratorium table-clothmakes clear, Khunrath’sfocus is on the powers of ‘Sacred Music’ and his claim resonates well withAgrippa’s statement in a chapter ‘Of the Composition and Harmony of thehumane soul’, from De occulta philosophia (#$))), that ‘there is nothing moreeAcacious to drive away evil spirits than Musicall Harmony (for they beingfallen from that Celestiall Harmony, cannot endure any true consent, as beingan enemy to them, but fly from it)’.23 Certainly the two instruments on theOratory side of the table have strong associations with religious and divine fig-ures known for their musical abilities to sway souls: Orpheus could charm evenstones when he played his lyre and David’s harp-playing allayed Saul’s wrathwhen he was troubled with an evil spirit.24 In a chapter ‘Of Musicall Harmony,of the force and powere thereof ’, Agrippa indeed provides a long list of priscitheologi and philosophi who enjoy a reputation for musical cures, includingArion, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Asclepiades who ‘were wont todomany wonderful things by sounds.’25Mention of the prisci theologi brings usback to Ficino who is well-known for his association of the Lyre with Orpheusas well as for his own practice of singing Orphic hymns, while accompanyinghimself on the lyre.26 In De musica, Aristides Quintilianus explains how ‘allthe parts of music—pitch, scale, tonos, rhythmic pattern, and so on—are likethe order of the universe, and therefore through mimesis, music may make theorder of the soul like the order of the universe.’27 For the astrologer-musicianFicino, this assumption was assuredly behind the composition of De vita libritres (#:(%) the best known Renaissance promotion of the power of music todispel Saturnine melancholy.28 Knowledge of this was presumably at a pre-mium in the court of the melancholy emperor Rudolf, where more than a fewearly modern magi, including Khunrath, paid their dues.29

Khunrath’s sacred music, however, seems to be somewhat less exotic thanthat of Ficino. In his Lab-Oratorium, he can be seen kneeling before a tablebearing a psalter, open at Psalm #:$:#% promising that ‘Jehovah does the

23) Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia, ):#; 'ree Books of Occult Philosophy, )$$.24) Walker, ‘Orpheus the5eologian’, #"#. Cornelius Agrippa,De Occulta philosophia, )!!,):#. See too Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, !(.25) Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta philosophia, )!!; 'ree Books, ))).26) Voss, ‘Orpheus redivivus’, !!'; eadem, ‘Marsilio Ficino, the Second Orpheus’.27) Mathiesen, ‘Harmonia and Ethos’, !&(.28) Tomlinson,Music in Renaissance Magic; refs to Aristides and Gafori, also Chapter Four:Ficino’s Magical Songs, #"#–#::; Allen, ‘Ficino, Daemonic Mathematics, and the Spirit’;Ammann, ‘Music and Melancholy’.29) For Khunrath on melancholy, see Quaestiones Tres.

Page 8: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#'& Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Will of them that fear him’. Elsewhere in the Amphitheatre he cites Paul’sadvice to the Ephesians ($:#() ‘be ye filled with the Holy Spirit, speakingto yourselves in psalms and hymns and Spiritual canticles, in your hearts tothe -78B.’30 He leaves us in no doubt of his faith in the powers of sacredmusic: Jehoshaphat, he recalls, routed the army of the sons of Ammon andMoab with a single hymn, and David allayed the madness of Saul; ‘those whounderstand the occult Nature of things,’ he states, ‘are capable of furnishingmany similar instances, which the multitude takes to be miracles.’31 It ispossible that Khunrath’s reference to the power of sacred music to dispel evilspirits is connected with exorcism, for the Pythagorean injunction not to speakof God without light is apparently also connected with exorcistic practices;we find the same utterance in the pseudo-Agrippan Fourth Book of OccultPhilosophy in a passage discussing ‘How the devils are to be driven away’.32Another possible application for the four musical instruments is natural magic.As a Christian Cabalist, Khunrath is, of course, familiar with Giovanni Picodella Mirandola’s Conclusiones Nongentae, in omnigenere scientiarum (#:(&),including those concerning the Orphic hymns,33 where we find the intriguing,but slightly puzzling statement that ‘Nothing is more eCective in natural magicthan the hymns of Orpheus …’.

Next to the psalter in Khunrath’sOratory stand two images, which are in facttwo of the Amphitheatre’s circular engravings.5e first of these presents a seriesof concentric rings of Hebrew text including theDecalogue, theHebrew alpha-bet, the names of the angelic orders, the Cabalist Sephiroth and their relatedShemoth or Divine Names, together with the Hebrew Tetragrammaton com-bined with the Pythagorean Tetraktys. At their centre stands Christ resurrected,surrounded by a fiery pentagram, the five largest tongues of flame each bearinga Hebrew letter of the the Christian-Cabalist name par excellence, 42;>2, asproclaimed by Reuchlin in his De verbo mirifico. Khunrath’s Isagoge to this cir-cular figure includes a rather theurgic musical dimension in the advice, albeitunacknowledged, from the same source, to ‘Make your vows and prayers to the

30) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #$'.31) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, !(, ().32) Agrippa, Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, #)(.33) Farmer, Syncretism in the West, $":–$#$. For Khunrath’s references to Pico’s conclusions,see Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, ':; Vom hylealischen Chaos, !!;De Igne Magorum, )'. Indeed,Khunrath also quotes from Orpheus’s De Lapidibus—On Stones, a text which must haveheld an obvious attraction for an alchemist seeking the Philosophers’ Stone.

Page 9: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #''

First, Your hymns to the Lesser Powers.’5is is evidently of some importance,for it also appears in another of the Amphitheatre’s engravings in a set of seven‘Oracular Laws’ all taken from Reuchlin.34 It is surely with the first circularfigure in mind that Khunrath advises his readers,

Learn, therefore, to invoke the ?+.3 7D /7B, with Seth, Abram, Moses, David, [and]the Disciples … [quoting the psalms]: I will sing to the name of the -78B, the MostHigh, <salm '… I will be glad and rejoice in you, I will sing to your name, Oh MostHigh, Psalm %:).35

Reuchlin’s influence persists in the second circular figure on the Oratory table.At its centre is the Cabalist image of Adam Kadmon or Adam Androgyne, theuniversal man, surrounded by an alchemical exhortation to spiritual regenera-tion plus two ‘scales’: ten Grades of Cognition, as found in both Aristotle’s DeAnima and Reuchlin’sDe arte cabalistica, and a ten-step Ladder of Conjunctionand Union.36 Khunrath also provides a curious polyglot hymn incorporatingdivine Hebrew names, references to the Greek underworld, and Greek termswhich serve equally well for Olympic Jove or heavenly Christ:

Generator and craftsman of everything,King of those above, Light of genius, hope of men,Trembling of the shadowy shade of Phlegethon,Incredible love of heavenly beings,Invincible terror of the denizens of Tartarus,Celebrated religion of the children of the earth,Lord, Our Lord, Our God,King, Almighty, Born before all,One /7B, Very /7B, Bountiful /7B,Descending from on high, flow into 9;,

479, 479, 479Remain hereQuicken the inertWarn us what are falseTeach us what may be true.37

34) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #(&. Although not noted by Khunrath, this advice,together with six other injunctions in the Isagoge to the first two circular figures again revealReuchlin’s influence, all being taken verbatim from De verbo mirifico, )".35) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, (#.36) Aristotle, On the Soul, #"$–#"'. Reuchlin, De arte, $#.37) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #((; Reuchlin, De verbo mirifico, )(.

Page 10: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#'( Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

5is hymn is another unacknowledged borrowing from Reuchlin’sDe verbomirifico, where it appears in the context of what Charles Zika describes as ‘akind of purgative rite’, aimed at ‘predisposing the individual to accept powersfrom the divinity’, in ‘preparation for the revelation of the wonder-workingword’.38

In his Isagoge to this figure, Khunrath gives us a clear idea of the results heexpects from the performance of this rite, introducing it immediately after thepromise that ‘We shall experience without deception the good +?/3-; amicablyhelping us, faithfully advising us, familiarly teaching us by the benevolentcommand of Jehovah, and guiding us safely on our ways.’ He follows Reuchlinin advising that the hymn be sung in the ‘Ionic mode’ (ionico modulamine)and with an accentuation suitable for stirring the mind to sacred things.39 5etheory that music based on the Greek Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian scales,and so forth could induce various emotions in the soul dated from antiquity.Anyone seeking advice on music in relation to ‘divine magic’ or theurgic ritualcould read Iamblichus’s account of how Pythagoras directed the ‘passions ofthe soul’ by ‘divinely contriving mixtures of certain diatonic, chromatic, andenharmonic melodies’.40 Plato had spoken of the musical modes in the Republicand Aristotle in the Politics.41 With the Renaissance rediscovery of classicalantiquity in the fifteenth century Gemistus Pletho (#)$$–#:$!) practised aform of music-magic that placed great importance on musical modes, specialbody postures and times of performance.42 True, Plato had dismissed theIonian mode as ‘soft and convivial’, as ‘lax’, and as unbefitting the guardiansof the Republic,43 and Aristophanes claimed that prostitutes made use of itfor saucy songs;44 but other sources Khunrath knew, like Athenaeus in hisDeipnosophists, praised the Ionic mode as ‘neither bright nor cheerful but

38) Zika, ‘Reuchlin’s De Verbo Mirifico’, ##'. In the updated version of this article in Zika,Exorcising our Demons, :" n. :# Zika suggests that Reuchlin intends Ionic ‘metre’ ratherthan Ionic ‘mode’. For a German translation of this hymn, see Rhein, ‘Johannes Reuchlin’,#:$.39) Khunrath, Amphitheatrum, #&"%, II, #((.40) Godwin, Music, Mysticism and Magic, !&. Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life,(%.41) Plato, Republic, !:$C. Aristotle, Politics, Book VIII, v. ', &$% f.42) Walker, Spiritual & Demonic Magic, &".43) Plato, Republic, !:'. See Mountford, ‘5e Musical Scales of Plato’s Republic’.44) Litchfield West, Ancient Greek Music, #(!.

Page 11: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #'%

austere and hard, having a seriousness which is not ignoble; and … welladapted to tragedy’.45

By the sixteenth century attitudes had changed and we find the Swisshumanist and musical theorist, Heinrich Glarean (#:((–#$&)), who himselfowned a copy of Reuchlin’s De verbo mirifico,46 referring to this scale in hisDodekachordon (#$:'), in which he propounds his theory of twelve churchmodes.47 In contrast to the negative opinions of Plato and Aristotle, Glareanexplains that Lucian writes of ‘Ionicae iucunditatem’, the ‘delightfulness ofthe Ionic mode’,48 and declares that for the last four hundred years it hadbeen deeply admired by church singers, enticed by its ‘sweetness and allur-ing charm.’49 Agrippa touches on music in De occulta philosophia and in adiscussion of the voices of the planets attributes the quality of being ‘delight-ful’ (iucundos) to Mercury, information which would presumably appeal to aHermetic philosopher.50 Neither Reuchlin nor Khunrath give any indicationof whether the Ionic mode, today’s ‘major’ scale, was meant to elevate theirminds through solemnity or joy, both of which would be fitting, in their ways,for Khunrath’s self-confessed ‘enthusiasm’.51

Khunrath’s ‘Musica sancta’ should not, however, be exclusively related toNeopythagorean Christian Cabala in the Oratory, for connections can alsobe made with the Laboratory. Any hermetic philosopher worth his salt would,after all, have been familiar with the story ofHermes inventing the first Lyre outof a tortoise shell, so we should not be too surprised to find some connectionsbetween music and the hermetic art.52 Such a reference occurs, for example, inJean Brouaut’s Traité de l’Eau de Vie ou anatomie théorique et pratique du Vin

45) Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, )'#. 5e same sentiments are also attributed to HeraclidesPonticus. See West, Ancient Greek Music, #(!.46) Fenlon, ‘Heinrich Glarean’s Books’, ().47) Glareanus, [Dodekachordon], '", '&, (% f. For more on Glarean’s modes, see Atcherson,‘Key and Mode in Seventeenth-Century Music5eory Books’.48) Glareanus, [Dodekachordon], (%. Lucian, ‘Harmonides’, !#'.49) Fuller, ‘Defending the “Dodecachordon” ’, !#!.50) Fellerer, ‘Agrippa vonNettesheim und dieMusik’, (). See Cornelius Agrippa,DeOccultaPhilosophia, )!$.51) For references to Aristoxenus’s consideration of catharsis of the soul eCected by musicin his biography of Pythagoras and 5eophrastus on music’s three sources as sorrow, joyand religious ecstasy in On Divine Infilling (Peri enthousiasmou), see Anderson, ‘MusicalDevelopments in the School of Aristotle’, ('. See also Finney, ‘Ecstasy and Music inSeventeenth-Century England’.52) Maier,Arcana Arcanissima, :–$; Fabre, Pan-Chymici Opus, #%). See also Borthwick, ‘5eRiddle of the Tortoise and the Lyre’, )')–)':.

Page 12: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#(" Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Basil Valentine, Révelation des mystères des teintures essentielles des sept métaux (#&:&). Titlepage engraving. (Courtesy of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Amsterdam)

(#&:&),53 a work printed by the seventeenth-century publisher of alchemicaland musical works, Jacques de Senlecque, who is a useful example of a readerthat interprets Khunrath’s ‘Musica Sancta’ in an alchemical light. Senlecqueuses an interesting engraving on the title pages of both Brouault’sTraité de l’Eaude Vie and an edition of Basil Valentine’s Révelation des mystères des teinturesessentielles des sept métaux (#&:& /#&&().

5ere we find the “Occidental Philosopher” Basil Valentine and the “Orien-tal Philosopher” Hermes Trismegistus busy in the laboratory. If we look closelywe discover a phrase obviously inspired by Khunrath: ‘Harmonia sancta, spir-ituum malignorum fuga seu [Saturni] intemperiei Medicina est’ (Sacred har-mony is the dispeller of evil spirits or medicine [against] the extremely intem-

53) Brouaut, Traité de l’Eau de Vie, #'.

Page 13: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #(#

perate behaviour of Saturn). We need have no doubt that Senlecque did haveKhunrath in mind, for in a lengthy address ‘L’Imprimeur au Lecteur’ in theRévelation des mystères, he recommends the ‘singular’ works of Henry Khun-rath to his readers.54 Senlecque’s engraving deserves more attention than spacepermits, but it is worth singling out the phrase ‘Psallite Domino in Chordiset Organo’ (Play to the Lord on Chords and Organ)55 and the seven organpipes associated with the symbols for the seven planets and their related met-als. Giving some support to the possible symbolism of the numbers of strings inKhunrath’s engraving is the fact that Senlecque explicitly associates his planet-metal septenary with the strings of the Viol, ‘called Lyre in antiquity’.56 Hisvariation on the Lab-Oratorium’s ‘Musica Sancta’ message nicely transformsKhunrath’s ‘sadness’ into a more Ficinian Saturnine melancholy, and intro-duces the notion of a chemical medicine for both human beings and metals.In his Arcana arcanissima (#&#)), Michael Maier provides an alchemical read-ing of the mythical birth of Harmonia, daughter of Venus (Copper) and Mars(Iron), conceived when they were trapped in the steel net fashioned by Vulcan(Fire), with the explanation that she represents the alchemists’ ‘harmonicallycomposed’ Golden Philosophical Medicine.57

Although no music is provided in Khunrath’s printed works or appears tohave survived in manuscript, we do have Ein Philosophisch Lied, Von Saltz-LeibWerdung deß Geists des Herrn: So Gen: !.#. au( demWasser schwebete.5is shorttext also exists in an anonymous seventeenth-century English translation as APhilosophicall short songe of the incorporating of the Spirit of the Lord in Saltand stands as an example of Khunrath’s curious blending of alchemical theoryand Christian faith, an instance when Oratorium and Laboratorium conjoinin the Auditorium.58 5ere is no doubting the devotional nature of this song,with each of the seven stanzas ending with the liturgical refrain from the Mass,

54) Valentine, Révelation des mystères, sig. Bv.55) Clement of Alexandria, 'e Instructor, II. :, cited in Finney, ‘A World of Instruments’,%$.56) Brouaut, Traité de l’Eau de Vie, )!, ):. On Senlecque, see Secret, ‘Littérature et alchimieau XVIIe siècle’.57) Maier, Arcana Arcanissima, ##'–##(. See Pernety, Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique, #%).See also Rebotier, ‘Le mythe d’Harmonie’.58) Khunrath, A Naturall Chymicall Symbolum. A hand-written copy of this can also befound in the end-papers of the British Library edition of Khunrath’s Von hylealischen… Chaos (Magdeburg, #$%'), entitled Ein Philosophisch Lied. Schmieder, Geschichte derAlchemie, )!! records another text attributed to Khunrath on ‘5e Art of Preparing thePhilosophers’ Stone according to the High Song of Solomon.’

Page 14: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#(! Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy upon us). As an illustration, here is the firststanza:

Spirit Divine, blest be thy state,5at art in Salt incorporateAnd in the Worlds true virgin wombeA pure Quintessence art becomme.

Lord have mercy upon us.

In a marginal note, the “Spirit Divine” is equated with the Ruach Elohim,the Spirit of the Lord that brooded over the waters in the Mosaic account ofCreation. Khunrath provides an alchemical reading of Genesis with the Spiritof the Lord as the Paracelsian Light of Nature, implying that both Christ andthe Philosophers’ Stone were conceived in virginal wombs.59

Alchemical songs are fairly rare. 5e earliest known is the Antiphona, ‘Enpulcher lapis noster’ of the fifteenth-century Bohemian Priest, Johann Tecenen-sis (Jan Tesínsky), of which several manuscripts survive. Yale University isfortunate enough to possess a copy dating from around #:"" that includesa musical arrangement like a Gregorian chant in the Phrygian mode.60 5eunion of liturgical musical form and alchemical text can also be found in theearly sixteenth-century alchemical mass, Processus sub forma missae (c. #$#&)of Nicolaus Melchior Cibinensis, from Hermannstadt in Siebenbürgen. LikeKhunrath’s Philosophicall Short Song it contains the Kyrie Eleison (sung to thetune of Gaudeamus), though Melchior diCers from Khunrath: rather thanspeaking of an “analogous harmony,” he makes a direct identification of Christwith the Philosophers’ Stone: ‘Christe, Hagie, lapis benedicte artis’ (Christ,Holy One, blessed stone of the art).61 5is evidently made an impression onMichael Maier, for he includes Melchior as the alchemical representative of theHungarian nation in his Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationum (#&#').62In the same work, incidentally, Maier mentions the Venetian priest GiovanniAgostino Pantheo, whose Ars et 'eoria Transmvtationis Metallicae, first pub-lished in #$#%, is the first work we know that attempts to combine alchemy

59) For a comparable alchemical reference to Genesis, see Valentine, Von dem grossen Steinder uhralten Weisen, )".60) Meinel, ‘Alchemie und Musik’, !#"; Beinecke Library, Yale, Mellon MS $.61) See Zetzner (ed.), 'eatrum chemicum, Vol. III, '$(–'&#. See also Kiss, et al, ‘5eAlchemical Mass of NicolausMelchior Cibinensis’, #:) and Benedek Lang,Unlocked Books,#::–#&#.62) Maier, Symbola aureae mensae, $"'–$#".

Page 15: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #()

and cabala.63 Pantheo was to be a source of inspiration for Khunrath, Dee, andother Paracelsian-minded alchemists, and this work also includes a reference toHarmony and the Pythagorean musical intervals.64 An example of a less reli-gious, more popular kind of alchemical song, which nevertheless concludeswith the importance of the ‘Magisterium of Salt’, is provided by BenedictFigulus (editor of Khunrath’s On the Fire of the Mages and Philosophers), whoincludes aGesang von der Materia Prima—Song on Primal Matter (#&")) in his'esaurinella Olympica aurea tripartita (#&"().65

Alchemical songs may be rare, but references to music and harmony inalchemical texts can be found as far back as the works of Zosimus of Panopolisat the end of the third century and Stephanos of Alexandria in the seventh.66 Inhis Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, Marcellin Berthelot includes a shorttreatise by an anonymous philosopher, in which analogies are drawn betweenalchemical and musical composition, with emphasis on the importance ofsystematic processes and the necessity of guarding against haphazard action.Just as in music one should observe the correct rules of harmonic progression,the cycles of fourths and fifths, so in alchemy one should respect the correctsequence of colour changes, i.e., moving from nigredo to albedo and so forth.67Robert of York, in his Correctorium alchimiae (c. #):() suggested that boththe elements with which the alchemist worked and the projecting rays of theplanets … might be arranged according to musical proportions.68

Probably the most quoted passage on alchemy andmusic appears in5omasNorton’s fifteenth-centuryOrdinall of Alchymy, a work translated into Latin byMichael Maier and included in his Tripus Aureus (#&#(),69 as well as beingpopularised in Elias Ashmole’s compendium of English alchemical poetry, the'eatrum Chemicum Britannicum (#&$!).5ere, we read:

Joyne your ElementsMusically,For two causes, one is for Melody:Which there accords will make to your mind,5e trewe eCect when that ye shall finde.And also for like as Diapason,

63) Maier, Symbola aureae mensae, )((.64) Pantheo, Ars et 'eoria (#$$"), (.65) Figulus (ed.),'esaurinella Olympica, !#)–!#&.66) Wellesz, ‘Music in the Treatises of Greek Gnostics and Alchemists’.67) Berthelot, Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, !C.68) Finney, ‘Music’, $". 5orndike, A History of Magic, Vol. III, ##:.69) Maier (ed.), Tripus Aureus, #)&–#)'.

Page 16: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#(: Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

With Diapente and with Diatesseron,With ypate ypaton, and with Lecanos muse,With other accords which in Musick be,With their proporcions causen Harmony,Much like proportions be in Alkimy.70

Here, of course, we are back with Pythagoras, who was said to have discoveredthe musical proportions, Diapason (Octave), Diapente (Fifth), and Diatesseron(Fourth), after hearing a blacksmith’s hammer clanging on his anvil.71 5eTetraktys (#+!+)+: = #"), which Iamblichus in his Life of Pythagoras calls‘the harmony in which the Sirens are’,72 embodies the three musical intervalsafter Perfect Unison (#:#): Octave (#:!), the Perfect Fifth (!:)) and the PerfectFourth ()::).73

Returning to Khunrath’s engraving, it is possible that the number of stringson the four musical instruments alludes to these intervals: the harp has eightstrings, the cittern and the lute both have five strings or courses, and the lyrefour. Pythagorean music theorists like Nicomachus in the first century, relatedtheTetraktys to the notes of the classical tetrachords,74which included the notesmentioned by Norton, Hypate hypaton and lichanos meson being notes fromthe two main scalar systems of ancient Greek music.5e most likely source forNorton’s musical ruminations was Boethius’s early sixth-centuryDe Institutionemusica, the main conduit for the transmission of classical musical theory to theWest. Norton’s Hypate hypaton is the lowest note of the lowest pitched of thefour classical tetrachords. In a chapter discussing which lyre-string is relatedto which planet, Boethius recounts that Cicero attributes hypate hypaton toMercury and lichanos meson to Saturn.75 As alchemists have the tendency totranslate planets into their respective metals, this would make PhilosophicalMercury the lowest note on the scale, or what Martianus Capella called the‘principle of principles’ (principalis principalium), a suitable enough locationfor the primal matter of the GreatWork, while the mean (meson) note, a perfectfifth higher, would be Lead.76

70) Norton, 'e Ordinall of Alchimy, &".71) See Maier, Intellectual Cantilenae, )&. See also Kepler, Welt-Harmonik, ((.72) Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life, #"'.73) Anderson, ‘Musical Developments’, (:. Bowen, ‘Ficino’s Analysis’, !#.74) Nicomachus, Harmonices Manuale, :#.75) Boethius, De Musica, cols. ##%!–##%). But see Nicomachus, Harmonices Manuale, &,)), who assigns the lowest note, hypate hypaton, to Saturn, presumably since it is the slowestmoving planet.76) Capella, De nuptiis philologi, #'%, Sig. Z!.

Page 17: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #($

5e best example, however, of an alchemist’s engagement with music isMichael Maier’s Atalanta fugiens—Atalanta fleeing (#&#'), a work based on theGreek myth of the swift-footed huntress Atalanta, who could run faster thanthe East Wind and was only prepared to marry a man who could beat her in afoot race; those suitors who were too slow she killed with her arrows. She waseventually defeated by Hippomenes who outran her by dropping three goldenapples given to him by Aphrodite in order to distract her from the contest.775e Author’s Epigram at the start of the work explains this succinctly:

5ree Golden Apples from the Hesperian grove.A present Worthy of the Queen of Love.

Gave wise Hippomenes Eternal Fame.And Atalanta’s cruel Speed O’ercame.

In Vain he follows ’till with Radiant Light,One Rolling Apple captivates her Sight.And by its glittering charms retards her flight. …78

5e Epigram also explains the basic alchemical significance of the myth: Ata-lanta has the volatile nature of quicksilver while Hippomenes has the fierynature of sulphur. In medieval chrysopoeia or gold-making alchemy, these werethe two ingredients necessary for the creation of Gold and the Philosophers’Stone:

What is Hippomenes, true Wisdom knows.And whence the Speed of Atalanta Flows.

She with Mercurial Swiftness is Endued,Which Yields by Sulphur’s prudent Strength pursued.

On the title-pageMaier explains that these are ‘New Chymical Emblems of theSecrets of Nature, adapted partly for the eyes and intellect in figures engravedon copper, with legends, Epigrams and notes attached, partly for the ears andthe soul’s recreation with some $" musical fugues in three voices, of whichtwo are set to a simple melody suitable for singing the couplets, to be lookedat, read, meditated, understood, weighed, sung and listened to, not without

77) See Ovid, Metamorphoses #".$&"–&("; Hyginus, Fabulae #($. For another reference tothe myth in an alchemical context, see [Bonneau], Abrege de l’Astronomie Inferieure, &$.78) Maier, Atalanta fugiens, #&#(, !. English translation British Library MS. Sloane )&:$.My thanks to AdamMaclean for publishing this on the AlchemyWebsite: http://www.levity.com/alchemy/atl#–$.html

Page 18: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#(& Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

a certain pleasure’. Manfred Kelkel suggests that Maier chose the number $"because it represents the sum total of the sides of the regular Platonic solids(tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron), pointing outthat he was in Rudolf II’s court at the same time as Johannes Kepler, author oftheMysterium Cosmographicum (#$%&) andHarmonices Mundi (#&#%), both ofwhich deal with melodic proportions and celestial harmonies of the planetaryspheres.79

In the ‘Preface to the Reader’, Maier explains further about his musicalcompositions:

My Muses gives you here three-voiced fugues in order to express this race in suchmusical forms as are most similar to it. One voice remains simple, still and withdrawnand presents the golden apple, but the other, Atalanta, is fugitive and the third [Hip-pomenes] follows directly after her. Let the fugues proclaim themselves to your ears, andthe emblems to your eyes, and then let your understanding test the mysteries hiddentherein. I have brought you these things that, by way of the senses, it may stimulateyour insight so that you, allured by that, may understand what treasures are hiddentherein.80

5ese three voices are, then:

#) Atalanta fugiens (Atalanta fleeing) = the ‘Dux’ or ‘Leader’;!) Hippomenes sequens (Hippomenes following) = the ‘Comes’ or ‘Compan-

ion’;)) Pomum morans (the apple delaying) = Cantus Firmus.

79) Kelkel, ‘A la recherche d’un art total’, $!. See Kepler, Le Secret du Monde, facing p. )( forthe famous engraving of the $ regular bodies. See especially Chapter XII, '(–(: ‘Division duZodiaque et Aspects’, which includes speculations on musical tones. See also Kepler, Welt-Harmonik, (%–%: ‘Exkurs über die pythagoreische Vierheit’; ‘Über die Zusammensetzungvon Systemen’, #::–#:&.80) 5is is the rather free English translation of Atalanta fugiens (#&#(), %. Cf EtiennePerrot’s more faithful rendition in Atalante Fugitive, $& ‘De même que cette Atalante fuit,une voix musicale fuit toujours devant l’autre, et cette autre la poursuit, commeHippomène.Cependant elles sont stabilisées et consolidées dans la troisième qui est simple et d’une seulevaleur comme par une pomme d’or. Cette même vierge est purement chymique; elle estle mercure philosophique fixé et retenu dans sa fuite par le soufre d’or.’ Here it is worthmentioning thatMaier was familiar with Khunrath’s work, praising his alchemical astutenessin Examen Fucorum, )#–:$ passim. 5e fact that the music in Atalanta fugiens is in theform of “fugues” should, perhaps, cast Khunrath’s description of sacred music in the Lab-Oratorium engraving—as that which ‘puts to flight’ (fuga) sadness and evil spirits—in a newlight.

Page 19: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #('

5e music consists of $" two-part canons on a single unvarying cantusfirmus, which has been identified as the Christe Eleison from the tenth-centuryWest Frankish plainchant Kyrie Cunctipotens genitor Deus in the liturgicalMissa in Festis Apostolorum, dating back to the eleventh century.81 F.H. Sawyerremarks that writing all $" canons against the same cantus firmus must havebeen a particularly thankless task, noting that it is ‘one of the most extendedexamples of Canon against Canto Fermo in existence.’82Whatever the aestheticconsiderations may be of the value of such a decision, on an alchemical levelthe cantus firmus voice of the golden apple forms the common element in all$" pieces, while the voice of Atalanta takes on a new musical form in eachfugue, all three voices relating to one another with diCerent musical intervalsbetween the voices: fourth, fifth, and so forth.5e voice of the apple sometimesappears as the bass line, sometimes mediates between the two other voices,and occasionally rises to the highest part, representing the sublimation andcondensation of matter in the alchemical opus. At the end of the book, Maierincludes an ‘Index Fugarum Atalanticarum’ in which he divides the fuguesinto groups depending on the intervals between the voices of Atalanta andHippomenes.83 In the first fugue, for example, Atalanta has the first voice,Hippomenes the second, the apple the third. 5e apple melody, incidentally,is in the Dorian mode, which the Greeks considered to be an equalising,balancing mode, suitable here for that which mediates between Atalanta andHippomenes. It was also the mode appropriate, incidentally, for the worshipof Apollo, which suits the solar, golden signification of the apples.84 In termsof sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Paracelsian alchemy, the apple could beargued to represent the third substance of Salt, introduced by Paracelsus tosymbolise the principle that fixes and preserves the volatile Mercury and fierySulphur.

Maier’s ‘discourses’ on each of the alchemical engravings provide us littledirect insight into the relation between his music and alchemy, although thereare one or two passages emphasising its importance, including:

5e angels sing (as the Holy Scriptures declare), the heavens sing, as Pythagorasconfirmed; and they proclaim the glory of God, as the Psalmist says; the Muses and

81) Raasveld, ‘Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (#&#')’, )$%.82) Sawyer, ‘5e Music in “Atalanta Fugiens” ’, !(). For more information on the CantusFirmus, with passing references to Maier, see Sawyer. ‘5e Use and Treatment of CantoFermo’.83) Maier, Atalanta fugiens (#&#(), Dd!v.84) Godwin, Atalanta fugiens, :#.

Page 20: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#(( Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Apollo sing, as the poets say; men and even children sing, birds sing, sheep and geesesing on their musical instruments; so if we too sing, we don’t do it without reason.85

Maier gives us at least a hint of what he intends in his commentary on thefirst engraving, which portrays Boreas the North Wind, carrying a foetus inhis belly, alluding to the line from the Emerald Tablet concerning ‘5e windbore it in its belly’. Maier explains that this should be understood on variouslevels of meaning:

Chymically, it is sulphur, which is carried in quicksilver … Physically, it is the foetus… Arithmetically, it is the Cube root; Musically, it is the Disdiapason; Geometrically,it is the initial point of the flowing line; Astronomically, it is the centre of the planetsSaturn, Jupiter and Mars.86

A hunt through Maier’s other works for further references to the Pythagoreanintervals in relation to alchemy turns up little more.87 In his Viatorium,On themountains of the seven planets or metals, published a year after Atalanta fugiensin #&#(, writing of two diCerent kinds of sulphur, Maier states that

one is the cause of blackness, imperfection, and destruction of metals; the other ofyellowness, perfection and their endurance in fire, whence the Double Octave, bywhich they say that these two sulphurs diCer from one another.88

Perhaps we can imagine that with these harmonic relationships between thetwo substances (the Disdiapason or Double Octave has the ratio ::#), Maierhad something similar in mind to Agrippa’s De occulta philosophia, where in achapter on ‘the Celestial bodies, andwhat harmony and sound is correspondentof every Star’, he writes that ‘between Fire and Aire … there ariseth … anHarmony of a double Diapason and a Diapente …Betwixt the Aire and Water… Diapason and Diapente’, and so forth.89 Furthermore, Agrippa informs us,

85) Maier, Atalanta fugiens, #&#(, )$.86) Maier, Atalanta fugiens, #:. Cf Robert Fludd (#$':–#&)'), Utriusque Cosmi Historia,Vol. #, (& ‘Nam terra in musica mundana se habet, ut [gamma] in musica, unita inArithmetica & punctum in Geometria: Est enim quasi terminus, a quo ratio materiaeproportionalis habenda est.’87) Although he does not discuss music, Maier does refer to the myth of Atalanta andHippomenes in the Cantilenae. See Chansons intellectuelles, $'.88) Maier, Viatorium, !'.89) Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta philosophia, Lib. !, Cap. xxvi, )!(.

Page 21: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #(%

the distance between the earth and the moon is #!&,""" miles, which equalsone tone; the distance between the moon and mercury is imagined to be halfthat distance, therefore a semi-tone. It is conceivable that an alchemist couldtranslate the astronomical correlation between planetary distances and musicalconsonances into an alchemical relationship between the weight of substancesand musical intervals.

Although critics have been less than complementary about some of Maier’smusical compositions, there is a certain degree of sophistication in some ofthe fugues.90 Hildemarie Streich, Manfred Kelkel, and Jacques Rebotier eachidentify several techniques employed at significant moments in the sequence.For example, in the first :" fugues all three voices move in the same direc-tion, but in Fugue :# there is a change and the voice of the Apple suddenlymoves in the opposite retrograde direction, the crab or cancrizans motion, acompositional technique in which the voice is read backwards, from the backto the front. Streich and Kelkel suggest that this is the moment when Hip-pomenes drops the first Apple and Atalanta stoops to pick it oC the ground.91In Fugue ::Maier employs the technique of the proportional canon, in whichthe imitating voice moves in longer or shorter note-values than the leadingvoice. For the first time the voice of Hippomenes begins at the same time asthose of Atalanta and the Apple, but his voice hurries ahead of the others, sug-gesting that he has seized his chance to beat Atalanta at her game and win therace.92

In conclusion, let us return, with a somewhat crab-like motion, to Khun-rath’s ambiguously named Amphitheatre, stadium for footraces and stage formusical and dramatic performances. Its engravings, in particular that of theLab-Oratorium embrace both possibilities and constantly reinforce the impor-tance of harmonious balance between diCerent domains. 5e musical instru-ments so invitingly laid out for us to pluck or strum intimate of the necessarycombination of theory and practice, spirit and matter, of becoming intellectu-ally and physically attuned to the Creator and his creation, with the Hermeticunderstanding that true knowledge of music means knowing the arrangementof all things and that ‘this ordering of all separate things into one, achievedby skillful reason, makes the sweetest and truest harmony with the Divine

90) Sawyer, ‘5e Music in “Atalanta Fugiens” ’, !().91) Kelkel, ‘A la recherche d’un art total’, $:; Streich, ‘Musikalische und psychologischeEntsprechungen’, )%"; Rebotier, ‘La musique cachée’.92) Streich, ‘Musikalische und psychologische Entsprechungen’, )%&.

Page 22: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#%" Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Song’.93 Ultimately, it encapsulates the Pythagorean belief that the supremeform ofMousike is Philosophia or, in Khunrath’s case, Philotheosophia, the “Loveof Divine Wisdom”.94

Bibliography

Agrippa, Henry Cornelius, Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, London:5omas Rooks #&&$.Agrippa, Cornelius, De Occulta Philosophia, libri tres, edited by V. Perrone Compagni,

Leiden: Brill #%%!.Agrippa, Henry Cornelius,'ree Books of Occult Philosophy, translated by James Freake and

edited by Donald Tyson, St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, #%%); repr. #%%'.Allen, Michael J.B., ‘Ficino, Daemonic Mathematics, and the Spirit’, in: Anthony Grafton

and Nancy Siraisi (eds), Natural Particulars: Nature and the Disciplines in RenaissanceEurope, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press #%%%, #!#–#)'.

Ammann, Peter, ‘Music and Melancholy: Marsilio Ficino’s Archetypal Music 5erapy’,Journal of Analytical Psychology, :):: (!""!), $'#–$((.

Anderson, Warren, ‘Musical Developments in the School of Aristotle’, Royal Musical Asso-ciation Research Chronicle, No. #& (#%("), '%–%(.

Aristotle, Politics, translated by H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard University Press #%)!; repr. #%$%.

Aristotle, On the Soul. Parva Naturalia. On Breath, translated by W.S. Hett, Loeb ClassicalLibrary, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press #%)&; repr. #%%$.

Atcherson, Walter, ‘Key and Mode in Seventeenth-Century Music 5eory Books’, Journalof Music 'eory, Vol. #', No. ! (Autumn, #%')), !":–!)!.

Athenaeus,Deipnosophists, Translated by Charles Burton Gulick. Vol. & of '. Loeb ClassicalLibrary, London: William Heinemann Ltd., #%:#; repr. #%&#.

[Bonneau, Jean de] I.D.B., Abrege de l’Astronomie Inferieure, Expliquant le Systeme desPlanetes; les douze signes du Zodiac & autres Constellations du Ciel Hermetique, Paris, ChezI. de Senlecque & Iean Remy #&::.

Berthelot, Marcellin, Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, Troisième Livraison, Paris:Georges Steinheil, #(((.

Boethius, De Musica libri quinque, Liv. #, Cap. XXVII, in: Boetii, Opera omnia, Vol. #,Patrologia Latina Vol. LXIII, edited by J.P. Migne, Paris: J.P. Migne, #(&".

Borthwick, E.K., ‘5e Riddle of the Tortoise and the Lyre’, Music & Letters, Vol. $#, No. :(Oct., #%'"), )')–)('.

Bowen, William R., ‘Ficino’s Analysis of Musical Harmonia’, in: Konrad Eisenbichler andOlga Zorzi Pugliese (eds), Ficino and Renaissance Neoplatonism, Ottawa: DovehouseEditions Canada #%(&, #'–!'.

Brouaut, Jean, Traité de l’Eau de Vie ou anatomie théorique et pratique du Vin, divisé en troislivres, Paris, chez Jacques de Senlecque, #&:&.

93) Asclepius #), cited in Godwin, Music, Mysticism and Magic, #&.94) Anderson, ‘Musical Developments’, '(. For Khunrath on “Philotheosophia”, see Vomhylealischen Chaos, Preface, sig.)()($v.

Page 23: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #%#

Capella, Martianus, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, in: Marcus Meibomius, AntiquaeMusicae Auctores, ! vols, Amsterdam: Ludovicus Elzevirius, #&$!, Vol. II, #&$–#%$, sigs.X)r-Bb)v.

Cavallaro, Federico, ‘5e Alchemical Significance of John Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica’, in:Stephen Clucas (ed.), John Dee: Interdisciplinary Studies in English Renaissance 'ought,Dordrecht: Springer !""&, #$%–#'&.

Clulee, Nicholas H., ‘Astrology, Magic, and Optics: Facets of John Dee’s Early NaturalPhilosophy’, Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. )", No. : (Winter, #%''), &)!–&(".

Eco, Umberto, Lo Strano Caso della Hanau !$"%, Milano: Bompiani #%(%.Ehrmann, Sabine, ‘Marsilio Ficino und sein Einfluß auf die Musiktheorie. Zu den Voraus-

setzungen der musiktheoretischen Diskussion in Italien um #&""’, Archiv für Musikwis-senschaft, :(. Jahrg., H. ). (#%%#), !):–!:%.

Fabre, Pierre Jean, Pan-Chymici seu Anatomiae totius universi opus, Frankfurt am Main:Johann Beyer, #&$#.

Farmer, S.A., Syncretism in the West: Pico’s %"" 'eses (!)*$)—'e Evolution of TraditionalReligious and Philosophical Systems, Arizona: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies#%%(.

Fellerer, Karl Gustav, ‘Agrippa vonNettesheim und dieMusik’, Archiv fürMusikwissenschaft,#&. Jahrg., H. #. /!., Wilibald Gurlitt zum siebzigsten Geburtstag (#%$%), ''–(&.

Fenlon, Iain, ‘Heinrich Glarean’s Books’, in: John Kmetz (ed.),Music in the German Renais-sance: Sources, Styles, and Contexts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press #%%:, ':–#"!.

Ficino, Marsilio, Iamblichus de mysteriis, !nd edition, Venice: Aldus Manutius and AndreaSocerus #$#&.

———, De Sole, in:Margarita Facetiarum, Strasbourg: Johannes Grüninger #$"(.Fideler, David (ed), 'e Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Phanes Press #%((.Figulus, Benedictus (ed.),'esaurinella Olympica aurea tripartita, Frankfurt #&"(.Finney, Gretchen L., ‘Ecstasy and Music in Seventeenth-Century England,’ Journal of the

History of Ideas, Vol. (, No. ! (April, #%:'), #$)–#(&.Finney, Gretchen L., ‘A World of Instruments’, ELH, Vol. !", No. ! (June, #%$)), ('–

#!".Finney, Gretchen L., ‘Music: a Book of Knowledge in Renaissance England’, Studies in the

Renaissance, Vol. & (#%$%), )&–&).Fludd, Robert, Utriusque Cosmi Historia, Oppenheim, #&#', Vol. #Franckenberg, Abraham von, Raphael oder Artzt-Engel, Amsterdam #&'&.Fuller, Sarah, ‘Defending the “Dodecachordon”: Ideological Currents in Glarean’s Modal

5eory’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. :%, No. ! (Summer, #%%&),#%#–!!:.

Glareanus, Henricus, [Dodekachordon], Basel: Henrichus Petri #$:'.Godwin, Joscelyn,Music, Mysticism and Magic: A Sourcebook, London: Arkana #%(&.———, Atalanta fugiens. An Edition of the Fugues, Emblems and Epigrams, Grand Rapids,

MI.: Phanes Press #%(%.Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life, Text, Translation, and Notes by John Dillon

and Jackson Hershbell, Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press #%%#.

Page 24: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#%! Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Jong, H.M.E. de,MichaelMaier’s Atalanta Fugiens: Sources of an Alchemical Book of Emblems,Leiden: E.J. Brill #%&%.

Kelkel, Manfred, ‘A la recherche d’un art total: musique et alchimie chez Michael Maier;Maniérismes et discours hermétique dans Atalanta fugiens (#&#')’, Analyse Musicale ((June #%('), :%–$$.

Kepler, Johannes, Welt-Harmonik: Übersetzt und Eingeleitet von Max Caspar, München-Berlin: Verlag R. Oldenbourg #%)%.

Kepler, Jean, Le Secret duMonde, Introduction, Traduction et Notes de Alain Segonds, Paris:Les Belles Lettres #%(:.

Khunrath, Heinrich, Totique, celestis exercitus spiritualis, militiae, proximo suo fideli, et sibi-metipsi, naturae atque arti, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, solius verae, [Hamburg]#$%$.

———, De Igne magorum philosophorumque secreto externo et visibili, Strassburg: LazarusZetzner #&"(.

———, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae solius verae: christiano-kabalisticum, divino-magicum, nec non physico-chymicum, tertriunum, catholicon, Hanau: Guilielmus Anto-nius #&"%.

———, Vom hylealischen das ist pri-materialischen catholischen oder algemeinem natürlichenChaos der naturgemessen Alchymiae und Alchymisten, Frankfurt: Georg HeinrichOehrling#'"(; facsimile rept. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt #%%".

———,Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, Magdeburg: Johan Botcher #$%%.———, Quaestiones Tres, Leipzig:5omas Schürer #&"'.———, A Naturall Chymicall Symbolum Or a short Confession of Henry Kunwrath of Lipsicke

Doctor of Physick Concerning ye […] misticall Naturale Chaos of Alchimie … [including]A Philosophicall short songe of the incorporating of the Spirit of the Lord in Salt, Oxford,Bodleian Library, Ms. Ashmole #:$%, C. %%–#"&.

———, Ein Philosophisch Lied, Von Saltz-Leib Werdung deß Geists des Herrn: So Gen:!.#. au(dem Wasser schwebete, British Library edition of Khunrath’s Von hylealischen … Chaos,Magdeburg, Andreas Genen Erben, #$%', Shelfmark #:""a!%#

Kiss, Farkas Gabor, Benedek Lang, and Cosmin Popa-Gorjanu, ‘5e Alchemical Mass ofNicolaus Melchior Cibinensis: Text, Identity and Speculations’, Ambix, Vol. $), No. !(July !""&), #:)–#$%.

Kristeller, Paul Oskar, ‘Music and Learning in the Early Italian Renaissance’, Journal ofRenaissance and Baroque Music, Vol. #, No. : (Jun., #%:'), !$$–!':.

Lang, Benedek, Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries ofCentral Europe, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press !""(.

Litchfield West, Martin, Ancient Greek Music, Oxford: Clarendon Press #%%:.Lucian, ‘Harmonides’, in: Lucian, ( vols, Loeb Classical Library, vol. &, translated by

K. Kilburn, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press #%$%.Maier, Michael, Arcana Arcanissima, hoc est Hieroglyphica Aegyptio-Graeca (London, #&#:),

:–$.———, Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationum, Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis

#&#'.———, Examen Fucorum Pseudo-Chymicorum detectorum, Frankfurt am Main: Johann

5eodor de Bry #&#'.

Page 25: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #%)

———, (ed.), Tripus Aureus, Hoc est, Tres Tractatus Chymici Selectissimi, Frankfurt amMain:Lucas Jennis #&#(.

———, Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim: Johann5eodor de Bry #&#(.———, Viatorium, hoc est de montibus planetarum septem seu metallorum, Oppenheim:

Johann5eodor de Bry #&#(.———, Atalante Fugitive, Traduction française d’Etienne Perrot, Paris: Librairie de Médicis

#%&%.———, Intellectual Cantilenae in Nine Triads upon the Resurrection of the Phoenix, translated

by Mike Dickman, Glasgow: Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks #%%'.———, Atalanta fugiens, British Library MS. Sloane )&:$.Maier,Michel,Chansons intellectuelles sur la résurrection du Phénix, Paris, Chez Debure l’aîné

#'$(, précédé de Le Phénix dans l’oeuvre de Michel Maier et la littérature alchimique parSylvain Matton et de La Musique des Cantilenae Intellectuales par Jacques Rebotier, Paris:J. C. Bailly #%(:.

Michael Maier: Atalanta fugiens: an Edition of the Fugues, Emblems and Epigrams, translatedby Joscelyn Godwin, Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press #%(%.

Mathiesen, 5omas J., ‘Harmonia and Ethos in Ancient Greek Music’, 'e Journal ofMusicology, Vol. ), No. ) (Summer, #%(:), !&:–!'%.

Meinel, Christoph, ‘Alchemie und Musik’, in: Christoph Meinel (ed.), Die Alchemie in dereuropäischen Kultur- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz #%(&,!"#–!!(.

Mountford, J.F., ‘5e Musical Scales of Plato’s Republic’, 'e Classical Quarterly, Vol. #',No. ) /: (July–Oct., #%!)), #!$–#)&.

Nicomachus Gerasenus, Harmonices Manuale, in: Marcus Meibomius, Antiquae MusicaeAuctores Septem, ! vols., Amsterdam: Ludovicus Elzevirius, #&$!, Vol. I, #–:#.

Norton, 5omas, 'e Ordinall of Alchimy, in Elias Ashmole (ed.), 'eatrum ChemicumBritannicum, London: Nathaniel Brooke #&$#, #–#"&.

Pantheo, Giovanni Agostino, Ars transmvtationis metallicae, Venice, #$#%; reprint Ars et'eoria Transmutationis Metallicae cum Voarchadumia, Paris: Vincent Gaultherot#$$".

Pernety, Antoine-Joseph, Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique, Paris: Bauche #'$(.Plato, Republic. Loeb Classical Library, Vol. #, translated by Paul Shorey, Cambridge, Mass.:

Harvard University Press #%)"; repr. #%$).Raasveld, Paul P., ‘Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (#&#') und das Kompositionsmodell in

Johannes Lippius’ Synopsis Musicae Novae (#&#!),’ in: Albert Clément and Eric Jas (eds),From Ciconia to Sweelinck, Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi #%%:, )$$–)&'.

Rebotier, Jacques, ‘La Musique de Flamel’, in: Didier Kahn and Sylvain Matton (eds),Alchimie: art, histoire et mythes, Paris: S.É.H.A. /Milan: Archè #%%$, $"'–$:$.

———, ‘La musique cachée de l’Atalanta fugiens’, Chrysopoeia # (#%('), $&–'&.———, ‘Le mythe d’Harmonie’, Chrysopoeia ! (#%((), )%#–:"".Reuchlin, Johann, De Verbo Mirifico (#:%:); facsimile reprint, Stuttgart: Friedrich From-

mann #%&:.———, De Arte Cabalistica: On the Art of the Kabbalah. Translated by Martin and Sarah

Goodman, New York: Abaris Books #%(); repr. Lincoln and London: University ofNebraska Press, Bison Books #%%).

Page 26: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

#%: Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%&

Rhein, Stefan, ‘Johannes Reuchlin’, in: Stephan Füssel (ed.), Deutsche Dichter der frühenNeuzeit !)&"–!$"", Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag #%%), #)(–#$$.

Sawyer, F.H., ‘5e Use and Treatment of Canto Fermo by the Netherlands School of theFifteenth Century,’ Proceedings of the Musical Association, &)rd Sess. (#%)&–#%)'), %'–##&.

———, ‘5eMusic in “Atalanta Fugiens” ’, in: John Read, Prelude to Chemistry: An Outline ofAlchemy, Its Literature and Relationships. London: G. Bell & Sons #%)&; repr. Cambridge,Mass.:5e M.I.T. Press #%&&, !(#–!(%.

Schmidt-Biggemann, Wilhelm, Philosophia Perennis: Historical Outlines of Western Spiritu-ality in Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern 'ought, Dordrecht: Springer !"":.

Schmieder, Karl Christoph, Geschichte der Alchemie, Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung desWaisenhauses #()!.

Secret, François, ‘Littérature et alchimie au XVIIe siècle: “L’écusson harmonique” de JacquesSanlecque’, Studi Francesi #& (#%'!), ))(–:)&.

Streich, Hildemarie, ‘Musikalische und psychologische Entsprechungen in der AtalantaFugiens von Michael Maier’, In: Eranos Jahrbuch :!: Correspondences in Man and World(#%')), )&#–:!&.

Szönyi, György Endre, John Dee’s Occultism: Magical Exaltation through Powerful Signs,Albany, NY: State University of New York Press !"":.

Tecenensis, Johannes, Antiphona, Beinecke Library, Yale, Mellon MS $ Alchemical Miscel-lany.

5orndike, Lynn,AHistory ofMagic and Experimental Science, Vol. III, NewYork: ColumbiaUniversity Press #%):.

Tilton, Hereward, 'e Quest for the Phoenix: Spiritual Alchemy and Rosicrucianism in theWork of Count Michael Maier (!&$%–!$##), Berlin: Walter de Gruyter !"").

Tomlinson, Gary, Music in Renaissance Magic: Toward a Historiography of Others, Chicagoand London: University of Chicago Press #%%).

Valentine, Basil,Révelation des mystères des teintures essentielles des sept métaux, Paris: La veufveI. de Senlecque #&&(.

Valentine, Basil, Von dem grossen Stein der uhralten Weisen, np: Barthel Voigt, #&!&.Voss, Angela, ‘Marsilio Ficino, the Second Orpheus’, in: Peregrine Horden (ed.), Music as

Medicine, 'e History of Music 'erapy since Antiquity, Aldershot: Ashgate !""", #$:–#'!.

———, ‘Orpheus redivivus: 5e Musical Magic of Marsilio Ficino’, in: Michael J.B. Allenand Valery Rees (eds), Marsilio Ficino: His 'eology, His Philosophy, His Legacy, Leiden:Brill !""!, !!'–!:#.

Walker, D.P., ‘Orpheus the 5eologian and Renaissance Platonists’, Journal of the Warburgand Courtauld Institutes, Vol. #&, No. # /! (#%$)), #""–#!".

———, Spiritual & Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella, Stroud: Sutton Publishing!""".

Wellesz, Egon, ‘Music in the Treatises of Greek Gnostics and Alchemists’, Ambix, Vol. IV,Nos. ) & : (February #%$#), #:$–#$(.

Zetzner, Lazarus (ed.), 'eatrum chemicum, praecipuos selectorum auctorum tractatus dechemiae et lapidis philosophici antiquitate, veritate, iure, praestantia et operationibus, con-tinens, Strassburg: Heirs of Eberhard Zetzner #&$%, vol. III, '$(–'&#.

Page 27: Forshaw, Cabala Music and Alchemy

Peter J. Forshaw / ARIES !".# (#"!") !$%–!%& #%$

Zika, Charles, ‘Reuchlin’s De Verbo Mirifico and the Magic Debate of the Late FifteenthCentury’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. )%, (#%'&), #":–#)(.

———,Exorcising our Demons:Magic,Witchcraft, and Visual Culture in EarlyModern Europe,Leiden: Brill !"").