Wednesday, 30. November 2005
Symbolic Art from Rare and Esoteric Manuscripts
The Orphic Egg
From Bryant's An Analysis of Ancient Mythology

The ancient symbol of the Orphic Mysteries was the serpent-entwined egg, which signified Cosmos as encircled by the fiery Creative Spirit. The egg also represents the soul of the philosopher; the serpent, the Mysteries. At the time of initiation the shell is broken and man emerges from the embryonic state of physical existence wherein he had remained through the fetal period of philosophic regeneration.

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The Sunflower
From Kircher’s Magnes sive de Arte Magnetica Opus Tripartitum

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This diagram illustrates a curious experiment in plant magnetism reproduced with several other experiments in Athanasius Kircher’s rare volume on magnetism.Several plants were sacred to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Hindus because of the peculiar effect which the sun exerted over them. As it is difficult for man to look upon the face of the sun without being blinded by the light, those plants which turned and deliberately faced the solar orb were considered typical of very highly advanced souls. Since the sun was regarded as the personification of the Supreme Deity, those forms of life over which it exercised marked influence were venerated as being sacred to Divinity. The sunflower, because of its plainly perceptible affinity for the sun, was given high rank among sacred plants.


The 72 Names of God
From Kircher’s OEdipus AEgyptiacus

This rare cut shows the name of God in seventy-two languages inscribed upon the petals of a symbolic sunflower. Above the circle are the seventy-two powers of God according to the Hebrew Kabbalah. Below are two trees, that on the left bearing the symbols of the planets and that on the right the signs of the zodiac and the names of the tribes of Israel. The esoteric doctrines of the Kabbalah are in alignment with the secret teachings of all the schools of philosophy, but the method by which its secrets are revealed to the wise and concealed from the ignorant is most unusual.

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Within these pages the visitor will find a wealth of symbolic art compiled from the many rare and esoteric manuscripts and books that are part of the PRS Library. Many of these diagrams were used by Manly P. Hall to illustrate The Secret Teachings of All Ages.

Symbolic Art from Rare and Esoteric Manuscripts
Category: Symbols & Geometry




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