, 1618.]]

Rosicrucianism is a secret philosophical society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm." Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross.

Between 1607 and 1616, two anonymous manifestos were published, first in Germany and later throughout Europe. These were Fama Fraternitatis RC (The Fame of the Brotherhood of RC) and Confessio Fraternitatis (The Confession of the Brotherhood of RC). The influence of these documents, presenting a "most laudable Order" of mystic-philosopher-doctors and promoting a "Universal Reformation of Mankind", gave rise to an enthusiasm called by its historian Dame Frances Yates the "Rosicrucian Enlightenment".

Rosicrucianism was more closely associated with Protestantism than Roman Catholism and in particular, was most closely associated Lutheranism. According to historian David Stevenson, it was also influential to Freemasonry as it was emerging in Scotland. or Zoroastrianism, he was unable to spread the knowledge he had acquired to any prominent European figures. Instead, he gathered a small circle of friends/disciples and founded the Rosicrucian Order (this can be deduced to have occurred in 1407).

During Rosenkreuz's lifetime, the Order was said to consist of no more than eight members, each a doctor and a sworn bachelor. Each member undertook an oath to heal the sick without payment, to maintain a secret fellowship, and to find a replacement for himself before he died. Three such generations had supposedly passed between c.1500 and c.1600, a time when scientific, philosophical and religious freedom had grown so that the public might benefit from the Rosicrucians' knowledge, so that they were now seeking good men.

Reception

The manifestos were and are not taken literally by many but rather regarded either as hoaxes or as allegorical statements. The manifestos directly state: "We speak unto you by parables, but would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy, and ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets." Others believe Rosenkreuz to be a pseudonym for a more famous historical figure, usually theorized as Francis Bacon.

It is evident that the first Rosicrucian manifesto was influenced by the work of the respected hermetic philosopher Heinrich Khunrath, of Hamburg, author of the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1609), who was in turn influenced by John Dee, author of the Monas Hieroglyphica (1564). The invitation to the royal wedding in the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz opens with Dee's philosophical key, the Monas Heiroglyphica symbol. The writer also claimed the brotherhood possessed a book that resembled the works of Paracelsus.

Some say the writers were moral and religious reformers. They used the techniques of chemistry (alchemy) and of the sciences generally as media through which to publicize their opinions and beliefs.

In his autobiography, Johann Valentin Andreae (1586–1654) claimed the anonymously published Chymische Hochzeit (Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz) as one of his works, and he subsequently described it as a ludibrium. In his later works, he makes alchemy an object of ridicule and places it with music, art, theatre and astrology in the category of less serious sciences. According to some sources, his role in the origin of the Rosicrucian legend is controversial. It is generally accepted according to others.

The Rosicrucian Enlightenment

(1614)]] In the early 17th century, the manifestos caused excitement throughout Europe by declaring the existence of a secret brotherhood of alchemists and sages who were preparing to transform the arts, sciences, religion, and political and intellectual landscape of Europe. Wars of politics and religion ravaged the continent. The works were re-issued several times and followed by numerous pamphlets, favorable and otherwise. Between 1614 and 1620, about 400 manuscripts and books were published which discussed the Rosicrucian documents.

The peak of the so-called "Rosicrucianism furor" was reached when two mysterious posters appeared on the walls of Paris in 1622 within a few days of each other. The first said, "We, the Deputies of the Higher College of the Rose-Croix, do make our stay, visibly and invisibly, in this city (...)" and the second one ended with the words, "The thoughts attached to the real desire of the seeker will lead us to him and him to us".

The legend inspired a variety of works, among them the works of Michael Maier (1568–1622) of Germany; Robert Fludd (1574–1637) and Elias Ashmole (1617–1692) of England; Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, Gotthardus Arthusius, Julius Sperber, Henricus Madathanus, Gabriel Naudé, Thomas Vaughan, and others. In Elias Ashmole's Theatrum Chimicum britannicum (1650) he defends the Rosicrucians. Some later works with an impact on Rosicrucianism were the Opus magocabalisticum et theosophicum by George von Welling (1719), of alchemical and paracelsian inspiration, and the Aureum Vellus oder Goldenes Vliess by Hermann Fictuld in 1749.

Michael Maier was ennobled with the title Pfalzgraf (Count Palatine) by Rudolph II, Emperor and King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. He also was one of the most prominent defenders of the Rosicrucians, clearly transmitting details about the "Brothers of the Rose Cross" in his writings. Maier made the firm statement that the Brothers of R.C. exist to advance inspired arts and sciences, including alchemy. Researchers of Maier's writings point out that he never claimed to have produced gold, nor did Heinrich Khunrath or any of the other Rosicrucianists. Their writings point toward a symbolic and spiritual alchemy, rather than an operative one. In both direct and veiled styles, these writings conveyed the nine stages of the involutive-evolutive transmutation of the threefold body of the human being, the threefold soul and the threefold spirit, among other esoteric knowledge related to the "Path of Initiation".

In his 1618 pamphlet, Pia et Utilissima Admonitio de Fratribus Rosae Crucis, Henrichus Neuhusius writes that the Rosicrucians left for the East due to the instability in Europe caused by the start of the Thirty Years' War. In 1710 Sigmund Richter, founder of the secret society of the Golden and Rosy Cross, also suggested the Rosicrucians had migrated to the East. In the first half of the 20th century, René Guénon, a researcher of the occult, presented this same idea in some of his works. An eminent author of the 19th century, Arthur Edward Waite, presents arguments that contradict this idea. It was in this fertile field of discourse that many "Rosicrucian" societies arose. They were based on the occult tradition and inspired by the mystery of this "College of Invisibles".

(symbolical representation)]] The literary works of the 16th and 17th centuries are full of enigmatic passages containing references to the Rose Cross, as in these lines (somewhat modernised):

The idea of such an order, exemplified by the network of astronomers, professors, mathematicians, and natural philosophers in 16th century Europe and promoted by men such as Johannes Kepler, Georg Joachim Rheticus, John Dee and Tycho Brahe, gave rise to the Invisible College. This was a precursor to the Royal Society formed during the 17th century. It was constituted by a group of scientists who began to hold regular meetings to share and develop knowledge acquired by experimental investigation. Among these were Robert Boyle, who wrote: "the cornerstones of the Invisible (or as they term themselves the Philosophical) College, do now and then honour me with their company..."; and John Wallis, who described those meetings in the following terms: "About the year 1645, while I lived in London (at a time when, by our civil wars, academical studies were much interrupted in both our Universities), ... I had the opportunity of being acquainted with divers worthy persons, inquisitive natural philosophy, and other parts of human learning; and particularly of what hath been called the New Philosophy or Experimental Philosophy. We did by agreements, divers of us, meet weekly in London on a certain day and hour, under a certain penalty, and a weekly contribution for the charge of experiments, with certain rules agreed amongst us, to treat and discourse of such affairs..."

Rose-Cross Degrees in Freemasonry

)]]

According to Jean-Pierre Bayard, two Rosicrucian-inspired Masonic rites emerged towards the end of 18th century, the Rectified Scottish Rite, widespread in Central Europe where there was a strong presence of the "Golden and Rosy Cross", and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, first practised in France, in which the 18th degree is called Knight of the Rose Croix.

The change from "operative" to "speculative" Masonry occurred between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 18th century. Two of the earliest speculative Masons for whom a record of initiation exists were Sir Robert Moray and Elias Ashmole. Robert Vanloo states that earlier 17th century Rosicrucianism had a considerable influence on Anglo-Saxon Masonry. Hans Schick sees in the works of Comenius (1592–1670) the ideal of the newly born English Masonry before the foundation of the Grand Lodge in 1717. Comenius was in England during 1641.

The Gold und Rosenkreuzer (Golden and Rosy Cross) was founded by the alchemist Samuel Richter who in 1710 published Die warhhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophischen Steins der Brüderschaft aus dem Orden des Gülden-und Rosen-Creutzes (The True and Complete Preparation of the Philosopher's Stone by the Brotherhood from the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross) in Breslau under the pseudonym Sincerus Renatus in Prague in the early 18th century as a hierarchical secret society composed of internal circles, recognition signs and alchemy treatises. Under the leadership of Hermann Fictuld the group reformed itself extensively in 1767 and again in 1777 because of political pressure. Its members claimed that the leaders of the Rosicrucian Order had invented Freemasonry and only they knew the secret meaning of Masonic symbols. The Rosicrucian Order had been founded by Egyptian “Ormusse” or “Licht-Weise” who had emigrated to Scotland with the name “Builders from the East”. Then the original Order disappeared and was supposed to have been resurrected by Oliver Cromwell as “Freemasonry”. In 1785 and 1788 the Golden and Rosy Cross group published the Geheime Figuren or “The Secret Symbols of the 16th and 17th century Rosicrucians”.

Led by Johann Christoph von Wöllner and General Johann Rudolf von Bischoffwerder, the Masonic lodge (later: Grand Lodge) Zu den drei Weltkugeln (The Three Globes) was infiltrated and came under the influence of the Golden and Rosy Cross. Many Freemasons became Rosicrucianists and Rosicrucianism was established in many lodges. In 1782 at the Convent of Wilhelmsbad the Alte schottische Loge Friedrich zum goldenen Löwen (Old Scottish Lodge Friedrich at the Golden Lion) in Berlin strongly requested Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and all other Freemasons to submit to the Golden and Rosy Cross, without success.

After 1782, this highly secretive society added Egyptian, Greek and Druidic mysteries to its alchemy system. A comparative study of what is known about the Gold and Rosenkreuzer appears to reveal, on the one hand, that it has influenced the creation of some modern Initiatic groups and, on the other hand, that the Nazis (see The Occult Roots of Nazism) may have been inspired by this German group.

According to the writings of the Masonic historian E.J. Marconis de Negre, who together with his father Gabriel M. Marconis is held to be the founder of the "Rite of Memphis-Misraim" of Freemasonry, based on earlier conjectures (1784) by a Rosicrucian scholar Baron de Westerode and also promulgated by the 18th century secret society called the "Golden and Rosy Cross", the Rosicrucian Order was created in the year 46 when an Alexandrian Gnostic sage named Ormus and his six followers were converted by one of Jesus' disciples, Mark. Their symbol was said to be a red cross surmounted by a rose, thus the designation of Rosy Cross. From this conversion, Rosicrucianism was supposedly born, by purifying Egyptian mysteries with the new higher teachings of early Christianity.

According to Maurice Magre (1877–1941) in his book Magicians, Seers, and Mystics, Rosenkreutz was the last descendant of the Germelshausen, a German family from the 13th century. Their castle stood in the Thuringian Forest on the border of Hesse, and they embraced Albigensian doctrines. The whole family was put to death by Landgrave Conrad of Thuringia, except for the youngest son, then five years old. He was carried away secretly by a monk, an Albigensian adept from Languedoc, and placed in a monastery under the influence of the Albigenses, where he was educated and met the four Brothers later to be associated with him in the founding of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. Magre's account supposedly derives from oral tradition.

Around 1530, more than eighty years before the publication of the first manifesto, the association of cross and rose already existed in Portugal in the Convent of the Order of Christ, home of the Knights Templar, later renamed Order of Christ. Three bocetes were, and still are, on the abóboda (vault) of the initiation room. The rose can clearly be seen at the center of the cross. At the same time, a minor writing by Paracelsus called Prognosticatio Eximii Doctoris Paracelsi (1530), containing 32 prophecies with allegorical pictures surrounded by enigmatic texts, makes reference to an image of a double cross over an open rose; this is one of the examples used to prove the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" existed far earlier than 1614.

In 1909 a Masonic Rito Filosofico Italiano was founded in Florence. Within its hierarchy an "Italic Rose+Croix" degree - largely based on the esoteric legacy of the Italian Renaissance - was soon to be developed as the fifth. This Rito Filosofico Italiano is now led by Michele Moramarco, who has extensively dealt with Rosicrucian subjects in his Nuova Enciclopedia Massonica (1989–1995).

Modern groups

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various groups styled themselves Rosicrucian. The diverse groups who link themselves to a "Rosicrucian Tradition" can be divided into three categories: Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian groups, which profess Christ; Masonic Rosicrucian groups such as Societas Rosicruciana; and initiatory groups such as the Golden Dawn and the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC).

Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian schools provide esoteric knowledge related to the inner teachings of Christianity.

The Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1909/11. Teachings present the mysteries, in the form of esoteric knowledge, of which Christ spoke in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. The Fellowship seeks to prepare the individual through harmonious development of mind and heart in a spirit of unselfish service to mankind and an all-embracing altruism. According to it the Rosicrucian Order was founded in the year 1313 and is composed of twelve exalted Beings gathered around a thirteenth, Christian Rosenkreuz. These great Adepts have already advanced far beyond the cycle of rebirth; their mission is to prepare the whole wide world for a new phase in religion—which includes awareness of the inner worlds and the subtle bodies, and to provide safe guidance in the gradual awakening of man's latent spiritual faculties during the next six centuries toward the coming Age of Aquarius.

According to masonic writers the Order of the Rose Cross is expounded in a major Christian literary work that molded the subsequent spiritual views of the western civilization, The Divine Comedy (ca. 1308–1321) by Dante Alighieri.

Other Christian-Rosicrucian oriented bodies include:

Anthroposophical Society, 1912

Lectorium Rosicrucianum, 1924

Archeosophical Society, 1968

Freemasonic Rosicrucian bodies providing preparation either through direct study and/or through the practice of symbolic-initiatic journey.

French Rite, 1786

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 1801

Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, 1866, in Scotia (SRIS; Scotland), in Civitatibus Foederatis (MSRICF/SRICF; United States) etc. This Masonic esoteric society reprinted the Rosicrucian manifestos in 1923. A well-known member was Arthur Edward Waite.

Initiatory groups which follow a degree system of study and initiation include:

The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, incorporated in the U.S. in 1915

Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn, California based Order

Chronological list of groups formed for the study of Rosicrucianism and related subjects

Many of these groups generally speak of a lineal descent from earlier branches of the ancient Rosicrucian Order in England, France, Egypt, or other countries. However, some groups speak of a spiritual affiliation with a true and invisible Rosicrucian Order. Note there are other Rosicrucian groups not listed here. Some do not use the name "Rosicrucian" to name themselves. Some groups listed may have been dissolved and are no longer operating.

Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, 1861

Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA). ca. 1860-1865 Societas Rosicruciana in America (SRIA), 1878 Order of the Temple of the Rosy Cross, 1912

Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis (FRC), 1920

Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, 1924

Lectorium Rosicrucianum, 1924

Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua (FRA), 1927

The Saint Paul Rosicrucian Fellowship (Fraternidade Rosacruciana São Paulo), 1929

ConFraternity Rosae + Crucis (CR+C), 1989

Ancient Rosae Crucis (ARC), ?

See also

Anthroposophy

Behmenism

Bogomilism

Brethren of Purity

Catharism

Christian mysticism

Druzism

Essenes

Gnosticism

Manichaeism

Martinism

Neoplatonism

Numerology

Parabola Allegory

Pythagoreanism

Rosicrucian cipher

Western esotericism

Western Esotericism (academic field)

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Old editions

Among the treasures of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam are books on the Gnosis and the Corpus Hermeticum as published in Florence in 1471.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Digital Collections Center has a digital edition of the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer, aus dem 16ten und 17ten Jahrhundert (1785–1788).

Publications

Bayard, Jean-Pierre (1986) Les Rose-Croix M. A. Éditions, Paris, ISBN 2-86676-229-0, in French

Bayard, Jean-Pierre (1990) La Spiritualité de la Rose-Croix: Histoire, Tradition et Valeur Initiatique Dangles, Saint-Jean-de-Braye, France, ISBN 2-7033-0353-X, in French

Bernard, Christian (2001) Rosicrucian Order AMORC: Questions and Answers Grand Lodge of the English Language Jurisdiction, AMORC, San Jose, California, ISBN 1-893971-02-3; based upon the earlier versions by Harve Spencer Lewis 1929 and following, and Heindel, Max (1910) 'The Rosicrucian philosophy in questions and answers'' M.A. Donohue & Company, Chicago, OCLC 67395149; see book description from AMORC Rosicruician Order

Clymer, R. Swinburne (1916) The Rose Cross order: a short sketch of the history of the Rose Cross order in America, together with a sketch of the life of Dr. P. B. Randolph, the founder of the order Philosophical Publishing Company, Allentown, Pennsylvania, OCLC 6671066

Churton, Tobias (2009) The Invisible History of the Rosicrucians: The World's Most Mysterious Secret Society Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vermont, ISBN 978-1-59477-255-9

Dietzfelbinger, K. (2005) Rosicrucians through the ages (translation of Dietzfelbinger, K. (1998) Rozenkruisers toen en nu Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem, Netherlands, ISBN 90-6732-199-0) Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem, Netherlands, ISBN 90-6732-323-3

Edighoffer, Roland (1982) Rose-Croix et Société Idéale selon Johann Valentin Andreae (volume 1) Arma Artis, Neuilly-sur-Seine, OCLC 39787480, in French

Edighoffer, Roland (1987) Rose-Croix et Société Idéale selon Johann Valentin Andreae (volume 2) Arma Artis, Neuilly-sur-Seine, OCLC 311787409, in French

Frietsch, Wolfram (1999) Die Geheimnisse der Rosenkreuzer Rowohlt, Reinbeck bei Hamburg, ISBN 3-499-60495-7, in German

Gorceix, Bernard (1970) La Bible des Rose-Croix: traduction et commentaire des trois premiers écrits rosicruciens (1614-1615-1616) PUF, Paris, OCLC 64751560, in French

Hall, Manly Palmer (1929) "Chapter 19: Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins" Lectures on Ancient Philosophy: An Introduction to the Study and Application of Rational Procedure Hall Publishing Company, Los Angeles, OCLC 2028728; full text from The Mystic Light

Hall, Manly Palmer (1928) The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Quabbalistic and Rosictucian Symbolical PhilosophyPhilosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, OCLC 1358719; see full text from The Internet Sacred Text Archive

Heindel, Max (1909) The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception or Christian Occult Science, An Elementary Treatise Upon Man's Past Evolution, Present Constitution and Future Development Independent Book Company, Chicago, OCLC 7466633; full text of updated version entitled 'The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception or Mystic Christianity, An Elementary Treatise Upon Man's Past Evolution, Present Constitution and Future Development from The Rosicrucian Fellowship''

Jennings, Hargrave (1870) The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries John Camden Hotten, London, OCLC 301465719; reprinted in 1976 by Arno Press, New York, ISBN 0-405-07957-5

Lindgren, Carl Edwin as “Neophyte” (1996) Spiritual Alchemists: Rosicrucians, the Brotherhood of Light Ars Latomorum Publications, New Orleans, Louisiana, ISBN 1-885591-18-7

Lindgren, Carl Edwin The Rose Cross Order: A Historical and Philosophical View full text from Professor Lindgren’s web site

Macedo, António de (2000) Instruções Iniciáticas - Ensaios Espirituais (2^nd edition) Hughin Editores, Lisbon; see partial view from Hughin Editores, in Portuguese

Matthews, John (1999) The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited Lindisfarne Books, Hudson, New York, ISBN 0-940262-84-3

McIntosh, Christopher (1992) The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason: Eighteenth-century Rosicrucianism in Central Europe and its relationship to the Enlightenment, E.J. Brill, New York, ISBN 90-04-09502-0

Palou, Jean (1964) La franc-Maçonnerie (The French Masons) Payot, Paris, OCLC 417482551, in French

Pincus-Witten, Robert (1976) Occult Symbolism in France: Joséphin Péladan and the Salons de la Rose-Croix Garland Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-8240-2003-0

Rebisse, Christian (2005) Rosicrucian History and Mysteries (translation of Rebisse, Christian (2003) Rose-croix histoire et mysteres) Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, San Jose, California, ISBN 1-893971-05-8; book description from AMORC Rosicruician Order

Silberer, Herbert (1917) Problems of mysticism and its symbolism (translation of Silberer, Herbert (1914) Probleme der mystik und ihrer symbolik Heller, Vienna, OCLC 4943853) Moffat, Yard and Company, New York, OCLC 538149; reprinted in 1970 by S. Weiser, New York, ISBN 0-87728-038-X

Steiner, Rudolf (1984) Esoteric Christianity and the Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz: Thirteen lectures given in various European cities in the years 1911 and 1912 (a partial translation of Steiner, Rudolf (1962) Das esoterische Christentum und die geistige Führung der Menschheit: dreiundzwanzig Vorträge, gehalten in den Jahr. 1911 und 1912 in verschiedenen Städten Verlag der Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach, Switzerland) Rudolf Steiner Press, London, OCLC 264715257; see full text from the Rudolf Steiner Archive

Steiner, Rudolf (1965) Rosicrucianism and Modern Initiation: Mystery Centres of the Middle Ages: Six lectures given in Dornach, 4–13 January 1924 (translation of Steiner, Rudolf (1950) Mepterienstätte des Mittelalters: Rosenkreuzertum und Modernes Einweihungsprinzip, printed as volume two of The Mission of Christian Rozenkreuz) R. Steiner, London, OCLC 7209265; see full text from the Rudolf Steiner Archive

Waite, Arthur Edward (1887) The Real History of the Rosicrucians G. Redway, London OCLC 7080058; reprinted in 1960 by Society of Metaphysicians, Hastings, England, ISBN 1-85228-705-5; reprinted in 2000 by Garber Communications, Blauvelt, New York, ISBN 0-89345-018-9; see full text from The Internet Sacred Text Archive

Waite, Arthur Edward (1916–1918) Complete Rosicrucian Initiations of the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross ; reprinted in 2005 ISBN 978-0-9735931-7-4 and 2007 ISBN 978-0-9783883-4-8 by Ishtar Publishing, Burnaby, British Columbia; renamed in 2008 Rosicrucian Rites and Ceremonies of the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross by Founder of the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn Arthur Edward Waite ISBN 978-0-9783883-4-8 book description from Ishtar Publishing

Westcott, William Wynn (1885) Rosicrucian Thoughts on the Ever-Burning Lamps of the Ancients (pamphlet) G. Kenning, London; reprinted in 1979 by David Medina, London, ISBN 0-9505859-2-0; see full text from The Alchemy Web Site

Williamson, Benedict J. (editor) (2002) The Rosicrucian Manuscripts Invisible College Press, Arlington, Virginia, ISBN 1-931468-12-5

Yates, Frances (1972) The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Routledge, London, ISBN 0-7100-7380-1; reprinted in 2002 by Routledge, New York, ISBN 0-415-26769-2

Essays

Alexandre David, Fama Fraternitatis - Introduction www

Corinne Heline, The Seven Jewels and the Seven Stages of Initiation www

Fictional literature

St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century by William Godwin, 1799

St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1811, London, John Joseph Stockdale

Wolfstein; or, The Mysterious Bandit by Percy Bysshe Shelley, circa 1815, J. Bailey, London, a chapbook reduction of St. Irvyne

Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Tale (1842), www

Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Vril: The Power of the Coming Race (1870) www

Franz Hartmann, With the Adepts: An Adventure Among the Rosicrucians (1910) www

Hermann Hesse, Journey to the East (1932, also "Journey to the Land of the Morning/of the Tomorrow" (Die Morgenlandfahrt))

Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (1943), also known as "Magister Ludi" (Master of the Game)

Prentiss Tucker, In the Land of the Living Dead: an Occult Story (1929) www

Antal Szerb, "The Pendragon Legend" (1934) (Translated by Len Rix).

Conspiracy literature

Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982), advanced a pseudohistorical relation of Rosicrucianism with a secret society called Priory of Sion.

Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum (1988), Serendipities: Language and Lunacy (1998).

Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code (2003), follows the Holy Blood, Holy Grail's conspiracy theories line.

Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol (2009)

External links

Accessible magazine (2006): The Portugal Code: the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucian Order and the Holy Grail

Alchemy Web Site (The): Rosicrucianism

Catholic Encyclopedia: Rosicrucians

CESNUR: 2005 International Conference - Spiritual filiation or doctrinal conflicts in modern Rosicrucian movements

Orthodox America: The Rosicrucians

Reverse Spins: The Mysterious Rosicrucian...

Rosie: Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum

Straight Dope (The): What is Rosicrucianism all about?

textfiles.com - Occult (The): Rosicrucianism

Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians in hi-rez full color

* Category:Alchemy Category:Western astrology Category:History of astrology Category:Esoteric Christianity Category:Esoteric schools of thought Category:Fraternal and magical organizations Category:Hermeticism Category:Secret societies

Name	King Solomon - Hebrew: Shelomoh ben David
Title	King of Israel - Hebrew: Melekh Ysra’el,
Caption	Judgment of SolomonNineteenth century engraving by Gustave Doré
Reign	c. 971 - 931 BC
Predecessor	David
Successor	Rehoboam
Consort	Naamah, Pharaoh's Daughter, around 1000 other wives and concubines
Issue	Rehoboam
Royal house	House of David
Father	David
Mother	Bathsheba
Date of birth	c. 1011 BC
Place of birth	Jerusalem
Date of death	c. 931 BC
Place of death	Jerusalem
Buried	Jerusalem}}

Solomon (, Sulaymān; ; Solomōn; ; Salman) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a King of Israel and in the Qur'an, a Prophet, son of Dawood and known as Sulaiman. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David. He is also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split; following the split his patrilineal descendants ruled over Judah alone.

The Hebrew Bible credits Solomon as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem, Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends.

Biblical account

Wives

Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The wives are described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Sidon and of the Hittites. These wives are depicted as leading Solomon astray. The only wife that is mentioned by name is Naamah, who is described as the Ammonite. She was the mother of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam. .According to 1 Kings 1:39, Solomon was anointed by Zadok.]]

Succession

Solomon became king after the death of his father King David. According to the biblical First Book of Kings, when David was "old and advanced in years" "he could not get warm." "So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king." this applied even to a woman who had shared the bed of a king advanced in age.

David's general Joab was killed, in accord with David's deathbed request to Solomon, because he had killed generals Abner and Amasa during a peace (2 Samuel 20:8-13; 1 Kings 2:5). David's priest Abiathar was exiled by Solomon because he had sided with rival Adonijah. Abiathar is a descendent of Eli, which has important prophetic significance. (1 Kings 2:27) Shimei was confined to Jerusalem and killed three years later, when he went to Gath to retrieve some runaway servants, in part because he had cursed David when Absalom, David's son, rebelled against David. (1 Kings 2:1-46)

Wisdom

One of the qualities most ascribed to Solomon is his wisdom. Solomon prays:

"Give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people and to know good and evil."1 Kings 3:9

"So God said to him, 'Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked...'" (1 Kings 3:11-12)

In one account, known as the Judgment of Solomon, two women came before Solomon to resolve a quarrel about which was the true mother of a baby. One mother had her baby die in the night after rolling over it in her sleep and crushing it; each claims the surviving child as her own. When Solomon suggests dividing the living child in two with a sword, the true mother is revealed to him because she is willing to give up her child to the lying woman, as heartbreaking a decision as it is. Solomon then declares the woman who shows compassion to be the true mother, and gives the baby back to her.

Solomon is also noted as one of many authors of Wisdom Literature. The Wisdom of Solomon, along with the books of Sirach, "are the familiar personalities and the events of Israel's history combinded with the wisdom tradition. Much of this literature, however, is attributed to Solomon." Solomon became a favorite author and contributor of different kinds of wisdom literature, "including not only the collections of proverbs, but also of Ecclesiates and the Song of Solomon and the later apocryphal book the Wisdom of Solomon."

Relationship with Queen of Sheba

, painting by Piero della Francesca]] In a brief, unelaborated, and enigmatic passage, the Hebrew Bible describes how the fame of Solomon's wisdom and wealth spread far and wide, so much so that the queen of Sheba decided that she should meet him. The queen is described as visiting with a number of gifts including gold and rare jewels to decorate the temple, and also bringing with her a number of riddles. When Solomon gave her "all her desire, whatsoever she asked," she left satisfied (1 Kings ).

Whether the passage is simply to provide a brief token foreign witness of Solomon's wealth and wisdom, or whether there is meant to be something more significant to the queen's visit and her riddles is unknown; nevertheless the visit of the Queen of Sheba has become the subject of numerous stories.

Sheba is typically identified as Saba, a nation once spanning the Red Sea on the coasts of what are now Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen, in Arabia Felix. In a Rabbinical account (e.g. Targum Sheni), Solomon was accustomed to ordering the living creatures of the world to dance before him (Rabbinical accounts say that Solomon had been given control over all living things by God), but one day upon discovering that the mountain-cock or hoopoe (the Hebrew name for the creature is Shade) was absent, he summoned it to him, and the bird told him that it had been searching for somewhere new.

The bird had discovered a land in the east, exceedingly rich in gold, silver, and plants, whose capital was called Kitor and whose ruler was the Queen of Sheba, and the bird, on its own advice, was sent by Solomon to request the queen's immediate attendance at Solomon's court.

In an Ethiopian account (Kebra Nagast) it is maintained that the Queen of Sheba had sexual relations with King Solomon (of which the Biblical and Quranic accounts give no hint) and gave birth by the Mai Bella stream in the province of Hamasien, Eritrea. The Ethiopian tradition has a detailed account of the affair. (See Queen of Sheba)

The child was a son who went on to become Menelik I, King of Axum, and founded a dynasty that would reign what became the Christian Empire of Ethiopia for 2900+ years (less one usurpation episode and interval of ca. 133 years until a "legitimate" male heir regained the crown) until Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974. Menelik was said to be a practicing Jew, had been gifted with a replica Ark of the Covenant by King Solomon, but moreover, the original was switched and went to Axum with him and his mother, and is still there, guarded by a single priest charged with caring for the artifact as his life's task.

The claim of such a lineage and of possession of the Ark has been an important source of legitimacy and prestige for the Ethiopian monarchy throughout the many centuries of its existence, and had important and lasting effects on Ethiopian culture as a whole. The Ethiopian government and church deny all requests to view the alleged ark.

Some classical-era Rabbis, attacking Solomon's moral character, have claimed instead that the child was an ancestor of Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed Solomon's temple some 300 years later.

Solomon's sins

According to Solomon's "wives turned his heart after other gods", their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring divine anger and retribution in the form of the division of the kingdom after Solomon's death. ()

describes Solomon's descent into idolatry, particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. In , a king is commanded not to multiply horses or wives, neither greatly multiply to himself gold or silver. Solomon sins in all three of these areas. Solomon collects 666 talents of gold each year, () a huge amount of money for a small nation like Israel. Solomon gathers a large number of horses and chariots and even brings in horses from Egypt. Just as warns, collecting horses and chariots takes Israel back to Egypt. Finally, Solomon marries foreign women, and these women turn Solomon to other gods.

According to , it was because of these sins that "the Lord punishes Solomon by tearing the kingdom in two":

Islamic Perspective

In contrast to the Christian tradition (taken from the Christian readings of the books of Kings and Chronicles) that Solomon (Sulayman) fell into idolatry in his declining years, Islam denies that any such event took place, nor that Solomon ever turned away from God in any way prior to his death and views him as famed throughout the lands for his wisdom and fair judgments. King Solomon was also a prophet and a messenger from God. He was the youngest son of the Prophet David (Dawud). King Solomon was a talented man with versatile gifts, and so his father had made him his heir. After the death of Dawud he ascended the throne of Judia on account of his sagacity, power of judgement, right understanding, and spiritual insight. The Qur'an says: "And We verily gave knowledge to Dawud and Sulayman and they said: praise be to God (Allah) Who has preferred us above many of his believing servants". (27:15)

Solomon's enemies

Near the end of his life Solomon was forced to contend with several enemies including Hadad of Edom, Rezon of Zobah, and one of his officials named Jeroboam who was from the tribe of Ephraim. at around 80 years of age. Upon Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, succeeded him as king. However, ten of the Tribes of Israel refused to accept him as king, causing the United Monarchy to split and form the northern Kingdom of Israel ruled by Jeroboam, while Rehoboam continued to reign in the southern Kingdom of Judah.

Building and other works

, illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company]] , based on descriptions in the Scriptures.]] During Solomon's long reign of 40 years, the Israelite monarchy, according to the Bible, gained its highest splendour and wealth. In a single year, according to , Solomon collected tribute amounting to 666 talents of gold (39,960 pounds).

Solomon is described as surrounding himself with all the luxuries and the external grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered. He entered into an alliance with Hiram I, king of Tyre, who in many ways greatly assisted him in his numerous undertakings. For some years before his death, David was engaged in collecting materials for building a temple in Jerusalem as a permanent abode for the Ark of the Covenant. Solomon is described as completing its construction, with the help of an architect, also named Hiram, and other materials, sent from King Hiram of Tyre.

After the completion of the temple, Solomon is described as erecting many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem; for the long space of thirteen years he was engaged in the erection of a royal palace on Ophel (a hilly promontory in central Jerusalem); Solomon also constructed great works for the purpose of securing a plentiful supply of water for the city, and the Millo (Septuagint, Acra) for the defense of the city. However, excavations of Jerusalem have shown a distinct lack of monumental architecture from the era, and remains of neither the Temple nor Solomon's palace have been found. However, a number of significant but politically sensitive areas have not been extensively excavated, including the site where the Temple is traditionally said to have been located.

Solomon is also described as rebuilding major cities elsewhere in Israel, creating the port of Ezion-Geber, and constructing Tadmor in the wilderness as a commercial depot and military outpost. Solomon is additionally described as having amassed a thousand and four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. Though the location of Solomon's port of Ezion-Geber is known, no remains have ever been found. More archaeological success has been achieved with the major cities Solomon is said to have strengthened or rebuilt (for example, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer — ); these all have substantial ancient remains, including impressive six-chambered gates, and ashlar palaces, as well as trough-like structures outside buildings that early archaeologists have identified as the stables for Solomon's horses.

According to the Bible, during Solomon's reign Israel enjoyed great commercial prosperity, with extensive traffic being carried on by land with Tyre, Egypt, and Arabia, and by sea with Tarshish (Spain), Ophir, and South India.

Apocryphal texts

Rabbinical tradition attributes the Wisdom of Solomon to Solomon although this book was probably written in the 2nd century BC. In this work Solomon is portrayed as an astronomer. Other books of wisdom poetry such as the Odes of Solomon and the Psalms of Solomon also bear his name. The Jewish historian Eupolemus, who wrote about 157 BC, included copies of apocryphal letters exchanged between Solomon and the kings of Egypt and Tyre.

The Gnostic Apocalypse of Adam, which may date to the 1st or 2nd century, refers to a legend in which Solomon sends out an army of demons to seek a virgin who had fled from him, perhaps the earliest surviving mention of the later common tale that Solomon controlled demons and made them his slaves. This tradition of Solomon's control over demons appears fully elaborated in the early Gnostic work called the Testament of Solomon with its elaborate and grotesque demonology.

Historical figure

Historical evidence of King Solomon other than the biblical accounts is scarce. Nothing indisputably of Solomon's reign has been found. Archaeological excavations at Hazor, Megiddo, Beit Shean and Gezer have uncovered structures that Israeli archaeologists Yigael Yadin, Amnon Ben-Tor, Amihai Mazar and US Professor William G. Dever have argued all belong to his reign and all were simultaneously destroyed by the Shishaq expedition. Others, such as Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, argue that these structures should be dated to the Omride period, more than a century after Solomon's reign, although they do believe that David and Solomon were actual kings in the region. Excavations on these sites are ongoing.

Archaeological evidence

In February 2010 archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced the excavation of what she believes is a 10th-century city wall and royal structure that she suggests, because of writing in Hebrew, to corroborate the existence of a royal palace and fortified capital city under control of a Hebrew king in Jerusalem in the 10th-century BC. Not all archaeologists believe that there was a strong state at that time, and archaeologist Aren Maeir is dubious about Mazar's dating

, as in 1 Kings 3:12-13, illustration from a Bible card published 1896 by the Providence Lithograph Company.]]

Biblical account criticism

According to Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, authors of The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, at the time of the Davidic and Solomonic kingdoms, Jerusalem may have been unpopulated, or at most populated by only a few hundred residents, leading to the conclusion that this is insufficient for an empire stretching from the Euphrates to Eilath. According to The Bible Unearthed, archaeological evidence also suggests that the kingdom of Israel at the time of Solomon was little more than a small city state, and thus the collection of 666 talents of gold (which Solomon received per year) of tribute to be an implausibly large amount of money. Although both Finkelstein and Silberman do accept that David and Solomon were real kings of Judah about the 10th century BC, they write that the earliest independent reference to the Kingdom of Israel is about 890 BC, whilst for that of Judah is about 750 BC. They suggest that due to religious prejudice, later writers (i.e., the Biblical authors) suppressed the achievements of the Omrides (whom the Hebrew Bible describes as being polytheist), and instead pushed them back to a supposed golden age of Judaism and godly rulers, i.e., monotheist, and devotees of YHWH. Some go further like the biblical minimalists, notably Thomas L. Thompson, who state that Jerusalem only became a city and capable of acting as a state capital in the middle of the seventh century.

These views are strongly criticized by William G. Dever, Helga Weippert, Amihai Mazar and Amnon Ben-Tor.

André Lemaire states in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple that the principal points of the biblical tradition of Solomon are generally trustworthy, as does Kenneth Kitchen, who argues that Solomon ruled over a comparatively wealthy "mini-empire", rather than a small city-state, and considers this sum of 666 talents of gold to be a rather modest amount of money. Mr. Kitchen calculates that over a 30 year period such a kingdom might have accumulated from this up to 500 tons of gold, which is small when compared to other examples, such as the 1,180 tons of gold that Alexander the Great took from Susa. Likewise, the magnitude of Solomon's temple is considered excessively large by some, for example, Finkelstein; however, others, such as Kenneth Kitchen, consider it a reasonable and typically sized structure for the region at the time.

William G. Dever states "that we now have direct Bronze and Iron Age parallels for every feature of the 'Solomonic temple' as described in the Hebrew Bible".

The archaeological remains that are still considered to actually date from the time of Solomon are notable for the fact that Canaanite material culture appears to have continued unabated; there is a distinct lack of magnificent empire, or cultural development - indeed comparing pottery from areas traditionally assigned to Israel with that of the Philistines points to the Philistines having been significantly more sophisticated. However there is a lack of physical evidence of its existence, despite some archaeological work in the area.

From a critical point of view, Solomon's building of a temple for YHWH should not be seen as an act resulting from particular devotion to YHWH, since Solomon is also described as erecting places of worship for a number of other deities Such views have been challenged by other textual scholars who maintain that there are evidences that these passages in Kings are derived from official court records from the time of Solomon and from other contemporaneous writings that were incorporated into the canonical books of Kings.

Chronological notes

Biblical scholars who believe in a historical Solomon argue that his regnal dates can be derived by independent methods: The division of the kingdom following Solomon's death occurred at some time in the year beginning in Nisan (in the spring) of 931 BC, as argued by Edwin Thiele, so that his fourth year would have begun in Tishri (in the fall) of 968/967 BC. Solomon's fourth year, in which Temple construction allegedly began, is calculated by modern scholars from the Tyrian king list of Menander as the year 968 BC without the use of biblical texts. Edward Lipinski suggests that the length of Solomon's reign, which is unknown, would have likely been 20 to 25 years starting ca. 956/5 or 951/0, although the Hebrew Bible claims that he reigned for forty years (1 Kings 11:42).

Solomon's Pools

to Jerusalem]]

Solomon's Pools are located near the town of al-Khader about 5 miles southwest of Bethlehem. They are named after the Biblical king, probably because of his mention in Ecclesiastes 2.6, that "I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees". However, more recent evidence suggests the pools were probably the work of Herod the Great to provide source water for the aqueduct built to supply water to Bethlehem and Jerusalem where it terminated under the Temple Mount. These source pools consist of three open cisterns, each at different elevations, fed from an underground spring. The total water capacity is about 3 million gallons (about 11 million liters).

Jewish scriptures

King Solomon is one of the central Biblical figures in Jewish heritage that have lasting religious, national and political aspects. As the constructor of the First Temple in Jerusalem and last ruler of the united Kingdom of Israel before its division into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah, Solomon is associated with the peak "golden age" of the independent Kingdom of Israel as well as a source of judicial and religious wisdom. According to Jewish tradition, King Solomon wrote three books of the Bible:

Mishlei (Book of Proverbs), a collection of fables and wisdom of life

Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), a book of contemplation and his self reflection.

Shir ha-Shirim (Song of Songs), a chronicle of erotic love (there are contrasting opinions whether its subject is a woman or God).

The Hebrew word "To Solomon" (which can also be translated as "by Solomon") appears in the title of two hymns in the book of Psalms (Tehillim), suggesting to some that Solomon wrote them.

Religions and Solomon

Judaism

King Solomon sinned by acquiring too many wives and horses because he thought he knew the reason for the Biblical prohibition and thought it did not apply to him. When King Solomon married the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh, a sandbank formed which eventually formed the "great nation of Rome" - the nation that destroyed the Second Temple (Herod's Temple). Solomon gradually lost more and more prestige until he became like a commoner. Some say he regained his status while others say he did not.

Christianity

icon of King Solomon. He is depicted holding a model of the Temple. (18th century, iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia).]]

Christianity has traditionally accepted the historical existence of Solomon, though some modern Christian scholars have also questioned at least his authorship of those biblical texts ascribed to him. Such disputes tend to divide Christians into traditionalist and modernist camps.

Of the two genealogies of Jesus given in the Gospels, Matthew mentions Solomon, but Luke does not. Jesus mentions Solomon twice. The first reference is the famous simile of and , in which Jesus compares the lilies of the field with "Solomon in his glory". In the second reference Jesus alludes to the Queen of Sheba's visit to the court of David (, ). Saint Stephen, in his testimony before the Sanhedrin, mentions Solomon's construction of the Temple ().

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Solomon is commemorated as a saint, with the title of "Righteous Prophet and King". His feast day is celebrated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord).

The staunchly Catholic King Philip II of Spain sought to model himself after King Solomon. Statues of King David and Solomon stand on either side of the entrance to the basilica of El Escorial, Philip's palace, and Solomon is also depicted in a great fresco at the center of El Escorial's library. Philip identified the warrior-king David with his own father Charles V, and himself sought to emulate the thoughtful and logical character which he perceived in Solomon. Moreover, Escorial's structure was inspired by that of Solomon's Temple.

Islam

:Main article Islamic view of Solomon :See also Biblical narratives and the Qur'an

Solomon also appears in the Qur'an, where he is called in Arabic, which is transliterated in English variously as Sulayman, Suleiman, Sulaimaan etc. The Qur'an refers to Sulayman as the son of David (Arabic: Dawud, Dawood, or Dawoud), a prophet and a great ruler imparted by God with tremendous wisdom, favor, and special powers (like his father). The Qur'an states that Sulayman ruled not only people, but also hosts of Jinn, was able to understand the language of the birds and ants, and to see some of the hidden glory in the world that was not accessible to most other human beings. Ruling a large kingdom that extended south into Yemen, via Queen of Sheba who accepted Solomon's prophethood and religion. He was famed throughout the lands for his wisdom and fair judgments. In particular, the Qur'an denies that Solomon ever turned away from God.

And they followed what the Shayatin(devils) chanted of sorcery in the reign of Sulaiman, and Sulaiman was not an unbeliever, but the Shayatin(devils) disbelieved, they teach people sorcery and such things that came down to the two angels at Babel, Harut and Marut, yet they(the two Angels) taught no person until they had said to them, "Surely, we are only a trial, therefore do not be a disbeliever." So they learn from them(the two Angels) that by which they might cause a separation between a man and his wife; and they cannot hurt with it any one except with Allah's permission, and they learned what harmed them and did not profit them, and certainly they know that he who bought it should have no share of good in the hereafter and evil was the price for which they sold their souls, had they but known this.

Solomon is said to have been given control over various things, such as the wind, and transportation. Thus the Qur'an says,

And to Solomon (We subjected) the wind, its morning (stride from sunrise till midnoon) was a month's (journey), and its afternoon (stride from the midday decline of the sun to sunset) was a month's (journey i.e. in one day he could travel two months' journey). And We caused a fount of (molten) brass to flow for him, and there were jinn that worked in front of him, by the Leave of his Lord, And whosoever of them turned aside from Our Command, We shall cause him to taste of the torment of the blazing Fire.

And before Sulayman were marshaled his hosts,- of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks.

And Solomon, accordingly grateful of God, says:

"O ye people! We have been taught the speech of birds, and on us has been bestowed from everything: this is indeed the Grace manifest (from God)."

According to the Qur'an, the death of Solomon held a lesson to be learned:

Then, when We decreed (Solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the Jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task).

According to Muslim tradition, when Solomon died he was standing watching the work of his Jinn, while leaning on his cane. There he silently died, but did not fall. He remained in this position, and the Jinn, thinking he was still alive watching them work, kept working. But termites were eating the cane, so that the body of Solomon fell after forty days. Thereafter, the Jinn (along with all humans) regretted that they did not know more than God had allotted them to know.

Fictional accounts and legends

One Thousand and One Nights

:Main article One Thousand and One Nights A well-known story in the One Thousand and One Nights describes a genie who had displeased King Solomon and was punished by being locked in a bottle and thrown into the sea. Since the bottle was sealed with Solomon's seal, the genie was helpless to free himself, until freed many centuries later by a fisherman who discovered the bottle.

Angels and magic

:Main article Rabbinical literature According to the Rabbinical literature, on account of his modest request for wisdom only, Solomon was rewarded with riches and an unprecedentedly glorious realm, which extended over the upper world inhabited by the angels and over the whole of the terrestrial globe with all its inhabitants, including all the beasts, fowl, and reptiles, as well as the demons and spirits. His control over the demons, spirits, and animals augmented his splendor, the demons bringing him precious stones, besides water from distant countries to irrigate his exotic plants. The beasts and fowl of their own accord entered the kitchen of Solomon's palace, so that they might be used as food for him, and extravagant meals for him were prepared daily by each of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, with the thought that perhaps the king would feast that day in her house.

Seal of Solomon

:Main article Seal of Solomon A magic ring called the "Seal of Solomon" was supposedly given to Solomon and gave him power over demons. The magical symbol said to have been on the Seal of Solomon which made it work is now better known as the Star of David. Asmodeus, king of demons, was one day, according to the classical Rabbis, captured by Benaiah using the ring, and was forced to remain in Solomon's service. In one tale, Asmodeus brought a man with two heads from under the earth to show Solomon; the man, unable to return, married a woman from Jerusalem and had seven sons, six of whom resembled the mother, while one resembled the father in having two heads. After their father's death, the son with two heads claimed two shares of the inheritance, arguing that he was two men; Solomon decided that the son with two heads was only one man. The Seal of Solomon, in some legends known as the Ring of Aandaleeb, was a highly sought after symbol of power. In several legends, different groups or individuals attempted to steal it or attain it in some manner.

Solomon and Asmodeus

:Main article Asmodeus One legend concerning Asmodeus goes on to state that Solomon one day asked Asmodeus what could make demons powerful over man, and Asmodeus asked to be freed and given the ring so that he could demonstrate; Solomon agreed but Asmodeus threw the ring into the sea and it was swallowed by a fish. Asmodeus then swallowed the king, stood up fully with one wing touching heaven and the other earth, and spat out Solomon to a distance of 400 miles. The Rabbis claim this was a divine punishment for Solomon having failed to follow three divine commands, and Solomon was forced to wander from city to city, until he eventually arrived in an Ammonite city where he was forced to work in the king's kitchens. Solomon gained a chance to prepare a meal for the Ammonite king, which the king found so impressive that the previous cook was sacked and Solomon put in his place; the king's daughter, Naamah, subsequently fell in love with Solomon, but the family (thinking Solomon a commoner) disapproved, so the king decided to kill them both by sending them into the desert. Solomon and the king’s daughter wandered the desert until they reached a coastal city, where they bought a fish to eat, which just happened to be the one which had swallowed the magic ring. Solomon was then able to regain his throne and expel Asmodeus. (The element of a ring thrown into the sea and found back in a fish's belly earlier appeared in Herodotus' account of Polycrates of Samos).

In another familiar version of the legend of the Seal of Solomon, Asmodeus disguises himself. In some myths, he's disguised as King Solomon himself, while in more frequently heard versions he's disguised as a falcon, calling himself Gavyn (Gavinn or Gavin), one of King Solomon’s trusted friends. The concealed Asmodeus tells travelers who have ventured up to King Solomon's grand lofty palace that the Seal of Solomon was thrown into the sea. He then convinces them to plunge in and attempt to retrieve it, for if they do they would take the throne as king.

Artifacts

Other magical items attributed to Solomon are his key and his Table. The latter was said to be held in Toledo, Spain during Visigoth rule and was part of the loot taken by Tarik ibn Ziyad during the Umayyad Conquest of Iberia, according to Ibn Abd-el-Hakem's History of the Conquest of Spain. The former appears in the title of the Lesser Key of Solomon, a grimoire whose framing tale is Solomon capturing demons using his ring, and forcing them to explain themselves to him.

Other forms of legend describe Solomon as having had a flying carpet that was 60 miles square, and could travel so fast that it could get from Damascus to Medina within a day. One day, due to Solomon exhibiting pride, the wind shook the carpet and caused 40,000 men to fall from it; Solomon on being told by the wind why this had happened, felt ashamed. Another day Solomon was flying over an ant-infested valley and overheard an ant warning its fellow ants to hide lest Solomon destroy them; Solomon desired to ask the ant a question, but was told it was not becoming for the interrogator to be above and the interrogated below. Solomon then lifted the ant above the valley, but the ant said it was not fitting that Solomon should sit on a throne while the ant remained on the ground, so Solomon placed the ant upon his hand, and asked it whether there was any one in the world greater than he. The ant replied that she was much greater as otherwise God would not have sent him there to place it upon his hand; this offended Solomon and he threw the ant down reminding it who he was, but the ant told him that it knew Solomon was created from a corrupted drop, causing Solomon to feel ashamed.

Angels

Angels also help out Solomon in building the Temple; though not by choice. The edifice was, according to rabbinical legend, throughout miraculously constructed, the large, heavy stones rising to and settling in their respective places of themselves. The general opinion of the Rabbis is that Solomon hewed the stones by means of a shamir, a mythical worm whose mere touch cleft rocks. According to Midrash Tehillim, the shamir was brought from paradise by Solomon's eagle; but most of the rabbis state that Solomon was informed of the worm's haunts by Asmodeus. The shamir had been entrusted by the prince of the sea to the mountain cock alone, and the cock had sworn to guard it well, but Solomon's men found the bird's nest, and covered it with glass. When the bird returned, it used the shamir to break the glass, whereupon the men scared the bird, causing it to drop the worm, which the men could then bring to Solomon.

Solomon in the Kabbalah

Early adherents of the Kabbalah portray Solomon as having sailed through the air on a throne of light placed on an eagle, which brought him near the heavenly gates as well as to the dark mountains behind which the fallen angels Uzza and Azzael were chained; the eagle would rest on the chains, and Solomon, using the magic ring, would compel the two angels to reveal every mystery he desired to know. Solomon is also portrayed as forcing demons to take Solomon's friends, including Hiram, on day return trips to hell.

The palace without entrance

According to one legend, while traveling magically, Solomon noticed a magnificent palace to which there appeared to be no entrance. He ordered the demons to climb to the roof and see if they could discover any living being within the building but the demons only found an eagle, which said that it was 700 years old, but that it had never seen an entrance. An elder brother of the eagle, 900 years old, was then found, but it also did not know the entrance. The eldest brother of these two birds, which was 1,300 years old, then declared it had been informed by its father that the door was on the west side, but that it had become hidden by sand drifted by the wind. Having discovered the entrance, Solomon found an idol inside that had in its mouth a silver tablet saying in Greek (a language not thought by modern scholars to have existed 1000 years before the time of Solomon) that the statue was of Shaddad, the son of 'Ad, and that it had reigned over a million cities, rode on a million horses, had under it a million vassals and slew a million warriors, yet it could not resist the angel of death.

Throne

Solomon's throne is described at length in Targum Sheni, which is compiled from three different sources, and in two later Midrash. According to these, there were on the steps of the throne twelve golden lions, each facing a golden eagle. There were six steps to the throne, on which animals, all of gold, were arranged in the following order: on the first step a lion opposite an ox; on the second, a wolf opposite a sheep; on the third, a tiger opposite a camel; on the fourth, an eagle opposite a peacock, on the fifth, a cat opposite a cock; on the sixth, a sparrow-hawk opposite a dove. On the top of the throne was a dove holding a sparrow-hawk in its claws, symbolizing the dominion of Israel over the Gentiles. The first midrash claims that six steps were constructed because Solomon foresaw that six kings would sit on the throne, namely, Solomon, Rehoboam, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah. There was also on the top of the throne a golden candelabrum, on the seven branches of the one side of which were engraved the names of the seven patriarchs Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job, and on the seven of the other the names of Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, Aaron, Eldad, Medad, and, in addition, Hur (another version has Haggai). Above the candelabrum was a golden jar filled with olive-oil and beneath it a golden basin which supplied the jar with oil and on which the names of Nadab, Abihu, and Eli and his two sons were engraved. Over the throne, twenty-four vines were fixed to cast a shadow on the king's head.

By a mechanical contrivance the throne followed Solomon wherever he wished to go. Supposedly, due to another mechanical trick, when the king reached the first step, the ox stretched forth its leg, on which Solomon leaned, a similar action taking place in the case of the animals on each of the six steps. From the sixth step the eagles raised the king and placed him in his seat, near which a golden serpent lay coiled. When the king was seated the large eagle placed the crown on his head, the serpent uncoiled itself, and the lions and eagles moved upward to form a shade over him. The dove then descended, took the scroll of the Law from the Ark, and placed it on Solomon's knees. When the king sat, surrounded by the Sanhedrin, to judge the people, the wheels began to turn, and the beasts and fowls began to utter their respective cries, which frightened those who had intended to bear false testimony. Moreover, while Solomon was ascending the throne, the lions scattered all kinds of fragrant spices. After Solomon's death, Pharaoh Shishak, when taking away the treasures of the Temple (I Kings xiv. 26), carried off the throne, which remained in Egypt till Sennacherib conquered that country. After Sennacherib's fall Hezekiah gained possession of it, but when Josiah was slain by Pharaoh Necho, the latter took it away. However, according to rabbinical accounts, Necho did not know how the mechanism worked and so accidentally struck himself with one of the lions causing him to become lame; Nebuchadnezzar, into whose possession the throne subsequently came, shared a similar fate. The throne then passed to the Persians, who their king Darius was the first to sit successfully on Solomon's throne since his death, and after that the throne passed into the possession of the Greeks and Ahasuerus.

Contemporary fiction

Literature

In The Divine Comedy the spirit of Solomon appears to Dante Alighieri in the Heaven of the Sun with other exemplars of inspired wisdom.

In Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Die Physiker, the physicist Möbius claims that Solomon appears to him and dictates the "theory of all possible inventions" (based on Unified Field Theory).

In Neal Stephenson's three-volume The Baroque Cycle, 17th century alchemists like Isaac Newton believe that Solomon created a kind of "heavier" gold with mystical properties and that it was cached in the Solomon Islands where it was accidentally discovered by the crew of a wayward Spanish galleon. In the third volume of The Baroque Cycle, The System of the World, a mysterious member of the entourage of Czar Peter I of Russia, named "Solomon Kohan" appears in early 18th century London. The czar, traveling incognito to purchase English-made ships for his navy, explains that he added him to his court after the Sack of Azov, where Kohan had been a guest of the Pasha. Solomon Kohan is later revealed as one of the extremely long-lived "Wise" (like Enoch Root), and compares a courtyard full of inventors' workstations to "an operation I used to have in Jerusalem a long time ago," denominating either facility as "a temple."

Film

The Kingdom of Solomon (2009) - Iranian production directed by Shahriar Bahrani

Solomon and Sheba (1959) - Epic film directed by King Vidor, starring Yul Brynner

Music

Händel composed an oratorio entitled Solomon in 1748. The story follows the basic Biblical plot.

Ernest Bloch composed a Hebraic Rhapsody for cello and orchestra entitled Schelomo, based on King Solomon.

Yes Referenced in the song Future Times Rejoice on the Tormato album released September 20th 1978

See also

Goetia

Solomon and Marcolf

Solomonic column

This too shall pass

The Judgement of Salomon (Giorgione)

References

Notes

External links

A collection of King Solomon links on the web

Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1905)

Catholic Encyclopedia: Solomon entry by Gabriel Oussani (1913)

Animated depiction of the life of Solomon Artistic movie about the rise and the reign of King Solomon

Wars of King Solomon The Wars of King Solomon: Summaries and Studies: www.warsofisrael.com

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Category:10th-century BC Biblical rulers Category:Hebrew Bible people Category:Jewish royalty Category:Kings of ancient Israel Category:Kings of ancient Judah Category:Old Testament saints Category:Qur'an Category:Religious leaders *Main Category:Books of Kings