Christopher McIntosh

Besproken in Thoth 1996 no.5, p.173 door Br.Kwaadgras:
“Dit boek is momenteel de beste verhandeling over de opkomst van het verschijnsel Gold- und Rosenkreuzer.”
Besproken in AQC ?:
“Bro. McIntosh, however, is not concerned with the Rosicrucians of the seventeenth-century manifestos, but with the revival of Rosicrucianism that grew out of the alchemical enthusiasms of Samuel Richter, a Silezian Pietist, who was active during the early years of the eighteenth century. This neo-Rosicrucianism arose in tandem with the Enlightenment – the Aufklärung- and, while it was not exclusively masonic, it took tangible form in the 1750’s when it was grafted on to the more exotic offshoots of the Craft and came to its full flowering as the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross…It is thus no easy task to untangle the complex web of relationships within and between the Golden and Rosy Cross, the Asiatic Brethren, the Illuminati, and the whole gamut of masonic chivalric Orders that flourished in Germany and Eastern Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century, but Bro. McIntosh has done it with skill and meticulous attention to detail…It deserves a place in every masonic library of repute.”… (altro)

Besproken in Thoth 1996 no.5, p.173 door Br.Kwaadgras:
“Dit boek is momenteel de beste verhandeling over de opkomst van het verschijnsel Gold- und Rosenkreuzer.”
Besproken in AQC ?:
“Bro. McIntosh, however, is not concerned with the Rosicrucians of the seventeenth-century manifestos, but with the revival of Rosicrucianism that grew out of the alchemical enthusiasms of Samuel Richter, a Silezian Pietist, who was active during the early years of the eighteenth century. This neo-Rosicrucianism arose in tandem with the Enlightenment – the Aufklärung- and, while it was not exclusively masonic, it took tangible form in the 1750’s when it was grafted on to the more exotic offshoots of the Craft and came to its full flowering as the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross…It is thus no easy task to untangle the complex web of relationships within and between the Golden and Rosy Cross, the Asiatic Brethren, the Illuminati, and the whole gamut of masonic chivalric Orders that flourished in Germany and Eastern Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century, but Bro. McIntosh has done it with skill and meticulous attention to detail…It deserves a place in every masonic library of repute.”… (altro)

A very odd book - I found it in equal parts entertaining and frustrating. It introduced me to many ideas about Nordic mysticism and 'heathenry' that I had not before heard of or thought about, and did so in an entertaining way. So as a social history of the revival of interest in ancient Nordic culture, the vikings, and shamanism was good.

However the author has a habit of talking about sources that are, shall we say, not really credible. He weaves established historical and geographical fact with nationalist, fantastical and sometimes outright crazy ideas and rarely differentiates between the two. So the book becomes a mash-up between an ethnographical study, a personal recording of ideas and ... a round-up of outlandish theories.

Thing is, for all it's faults I am going to give it three stars because there was some work of interest in here, and the topic is interesting. I just hope I come across a better book on the subject some time soon.… (altro)

THE ROSICRUCIANS :
THE HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY OF AN OCCULT ORDER

A hundred and twenty years after his death the body of
Father Christian Rosenkreuz remained in a state of perfect
preservation in a seven-sided vault..

So runs part of the legend concerning the birth of the
Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, with its mysterious founder
Christian Rosenkreuz, forerunner of the many Secret Masters'
who have had such a profound influence on the course of
Western occultism.

Alchemy, Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden
Dawn, and literature have all been enriched by the legend and
symbolism of Rosicrucianism. But who were the Rosicrucians
and how did they come to exercise such an influence on the
Western esoteric tradition?

Here - for the first time - the strange story of the
Rosy Cross is told in its entirety, from its shadowy beginnings
in the seventeenth century to its many and various modern
offshoots… (altro)