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[music playing]
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>> Books love me.
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>> The name of the libraryis Bibliotheca Philosophica
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Hermetica, the Library
of Hermetic Philosophy.
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This library, with therare books and manuscripts,
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altogether, some 23,000 volumes.
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>> The possibilities that Ihad to buy books was always
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combined with the task toproduce every day a result
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as an entrepreneur.
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So I built a company.
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And I made out of the
profits of my company.
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But it is not so that the bookscome like birds into the house
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of treasures of Mr. Ritman.
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Now, you have to make an
effort to acquire them.
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I built a library.
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I bought books.
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I brought them together.
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The books that are
on the shelves,
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you have to open the
information suddenly.
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You come to the point
that you are not
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standing alone any longer.
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And that is the
fantastic point what I
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call, the chain of [inaudible].
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We are invited to be members.
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>> That's what I love
most in this library.
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To see that in every singlebook in a different way.
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And a book doesn't stand alone.
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They stand together.
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They are like in a continuousconversation with each other.
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And that's what fascinates me.
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>> By Western esotericism,we mean a set of currents
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of movements, of authors, thatcan go back basically to Late
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Antiquity and then to theMiddle Ages with a big revival
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in the early modern periodduring the Renaissance.
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And then which continue
during the Enlightenment
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and also throughout the
19th and 20th century.
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Basically up to our days.
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>> Western esotericism isthe study from the outside
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to the inner reality.
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You can call that
occult streams,
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you can call that
esoteric streams.
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You can call that
hermetic streams.
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It is like to dive intoall the different aspects
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of a tradition.
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>> Traditions that emergedand developed mostly in Europe
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and in the Mediterranean basin.
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>> To compose an alphabetof understanding.
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But it never gives the meaningof the language itself.
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>> Approaching the
divine, approaching kind
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of metaphysical reality,are precisely what we can
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understand as the
core of esotericism.
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>> I was very interested
in the human presence.
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But not as the end of the story,but the beginning of the story
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where I said, what is the man?
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Why is he here?
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He comes from the invisible, helives here, and he disappears.
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If you look through
the Hubble telescope
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you can see this
infinite universe.
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And you see all different formsof energy that are, in a way,
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on the move.
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Perhaps we did not know butwe are experiencing a Big Bang
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again.
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We say you have the elements--
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Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.
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But I believe, for myself,that there's a new element
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in the atmosphere.
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A new element in the atmospherethat was invisible and came
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to mystery schools and under theprotection of ceremonies where
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there is a holy of holiness.
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There this divine energy
was kept as a secret.
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I think that divine
energy is now
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available to billions
and millions of persons.
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And that is the
so-called individualism.
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Why if that doesn't refer anylonger, not a second longer,
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with the old tradition,
with the old generation,
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with the way you think,
you live, you are?
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The domination of
the past is broken.
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It all ends in anarchy.
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[music playing]
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And that you see in this moment.
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The international
power feuds, conflicts,
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that we are in a crisis.
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Nobody can say, I have
nothing to do with that.
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It comes closer and closer.
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We are not independent.
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We are very dependent, more andmore dependent, to each other,
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as we thought in the past.
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>> We have main
collecting areas.
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And they are Hermetica, Alchemy,Mysticism and Rosicrucianism.
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But related collecting areasare Kabbalah but also theosophy,
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anthroposophy, so the moremodern movements originating
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from the 19th century
can also be found here.
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>> Esotericism is in
fact a modern word.
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Because it was created
in the 19th century.
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But in fact, the history
of the term is older.
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The word comes from the Greek.
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The ancient Greek
esoterikos, which
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is an objective, whichbasically means "interior."
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It means something
that is inner.
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So something that is
inside, as opposed
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to something that is outside.
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And in ancient Greece theterm was used especially
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to refer to philosophy,to philosophical schools.
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For instance, in
the case of Plato,
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in the case of
Aristotle, the idea
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was that there was a
particular teaching that
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was meant for a broader public.
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And then there was a morerestrictive kind of teaching.
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And that teaching
would be reserved only
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for a particular elite.
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So you really needed
to be a pupil.
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>> That's Hermes Trismegistus.
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That's called filius noster.
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And here you see the Sun,the Moon and coming together,
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it brings forward
Hermes Trismegistus.
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He's having can you
say this, and it
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is the symbol of initiate.
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The [inaudible],, the cloak,an attribute of power.
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The text of Hermes Trismegistusare written down already
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in the pyramids of
Sakkara in Egypt.
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>> We have an exhibitionon Hermes Trismegistus And
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the visual imagery
connected with Hermes,
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a very colorful exhibition thatshows you the roots of Hermes
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Trismegistus.
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He is part Egyptian, part Greek.
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He is the Egyptian godThoth and the Greek Hermes.
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And these two combinedwere Hermes Trismegistus.
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This is a beautiful image
of Hermes Trismegistus.
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It's a reproduction
from a mosaic in Sienna.
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He is a wisdom teacher, a sagewho presents to the Egyptians
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the laws and the letters.
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>> Originally the
distinction, perhaps,
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did not have much to
do with spirituality.
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Later on this idea wasconnected to the ancient mystery
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cults like [inaudible] orthe Mysteries of Eleusis.
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And therefore a more
spiritual meaning
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was attached to the word.
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And it was thought that infact, an esoteric teaching
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had to do with somethingthat was religious, something
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that was spiritual.
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So it had to do, for instance,with the destiny of man
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after death.
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That is basically theorigin of the modern concept
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of esotericism.
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>> This is one of the mostimportant books in our library,
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a book by Hermes Trismegistus,the name giver of the library
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of course.
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Hermes.
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And we collect all the editionsof his philosophical works.
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We call it now the
Corpus Hermeticum.
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In the older days it
was called Pimandre,
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after the pupil that isinstructed by the philosopher
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Hermes.
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>> The Egyptian god Thoth,and the Greek Hermes,
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they are both
scribes, messengers.
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And magic is also attributedto the two of them.
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And that is why theywere conflated and became
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Hermes Trismegistus,
the thrice greatest.
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>> Classical culture becomesless prominent during
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the Middle Ages.
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Greek culture was
sort of forgotten.
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But then it comes back
in the Renaissance.
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>> One of the treasures ofthe library is the Corpus
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Hermeticum of Hermes
Trismegistus, on vellum.
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>> At the end of
the Middle Ages,
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with the conquest
of Constantinople,
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there is the rediscovery ofthe Neoplatonic texts and texts
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by Plato, so the rediscoveryof Platonic philosophy.
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But also the rediscovery
of the hermetic texts,
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which played really a
key role in the revival
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of what we call esotericideas, especially in Italy.
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In Florence, more particularly,with Cosimo de Medici and then
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Lorenzo Magnifico of
course, with scholars
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such as Marsilio Ficino,
Piccola de la Mirandola.
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It all starts in Italy but thenit's spread all around Europe.
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>> I was in the Medici
library in Florence.
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And it was built
by Michelangelo.
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And there was an exhibitionto commemorate the 500
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years since the death
of Marsilio Ficino.
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The director of
the Medici library,
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she said to me, Mr. Ritman,I have a present for you.
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But can't take it away.
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She gave me in my hands.
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And that was the original copyof the manuscript of the Corpus
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Hermeticum.
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Cosimo de Medici gave an
order to Marsilio Ficino
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to translate the text of
the Corpus Hermeticum.
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And then it was printed.
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And you see it there in
an original publication
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on parchment.
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>> There's also a very,
very interesting story.
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When we did an exhibitionon the text and tradition
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of the Corpus Hermeticum,we had a Dutch translation
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in manuscript of the
Corpus Hermeticum.
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But one half of the
book was missing.
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In that period I
still lived at home.
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And at a certain
evening, something
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was put in our postbox.
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And it was a booklet.
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And it said, with a
small note, Mr. Ritman,
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I think you should have
this in the library.
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00:12:05,202 --> 00:12:08,771
And that was so amazingbecause it was the missing part
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00:12:08,902 --> 00:12:11,818
of that same particular book.
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That was reunited in this way.
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00:12:13,950 --> 00:12:20,914
And these are moments you cannoteven imagine it to happen.
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00:12:21,044 --> 00:12:26,571
And it has all happened
in the past 30 years.
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00:12:26,702 --> 00:12:28,660
>> We're talking about
Hermes Trismegistus.
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And another attribute is theouroboros cyclical serpent
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biting its own tail.
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And to end with the
Staff of Hermes.
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And there's a beautiful pictureat the end, an engraving,
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which captures all three.
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You have the Greek
Hermes on top.
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In the middle it's
the hieroglyphs,
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00:12:53,294 --> 00:12:54,730
the Egyptian Thoth.
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And here you have
Hermes Trismegistus
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in Oriental garb, the wisesage, the wisdom teacher.
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00:13:01,389 --> 00:13:03,652
All three are herecombined in this engraving
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00:13:03,783 --> 00:13:05,262
from the late 18th century.
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00:13:11,703 --> 00:13:14,228
>> This is one of the latereditions of the Corpus
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Hermeticum, a scholarly
edition in Latin.
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00:13:17,405 --> 00:13:22,497
In other languages, suchas Italian, Dutch, English,
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00:13:22,627 --> 00:13:25,717
there are also editionsof the Corpus Hermeticum.
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All the books were
very often rebound.
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And not only once butmaybe four or five times.
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And every time a new binding
was put around the book,
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00:13:36,772 --> 00:13:41,168
the binder cut the
paper nice and sharp.
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00:13:41,298 --> 00:13:43,779
But we lose a bit of text then.
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This is the first time
the texts of Hermes
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00:13:50,003 --> 00:13:52,179
were translated into German.
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And as you can see
that was rather late.
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It's 1706.
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Of course, everybody couldread Latin in those days.
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00:14:01,057 --> 00:14:04,321
So they kept printing
the Latin edition.
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00:14:04,452 --> 00:14:07,542
An illustration like
this, of course,
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00:14:07,672 --> 00:14:09,587
has to do with the book.
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00:14:09,718 --> 00:14:16,856
It refers to the Emerald Table,also a text ascribed to Hermes.
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00:14:16,986 --> 00:14:20,685
And it says, so above, so below.
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00:14:20,816 --> 00:14:25,777
The macrocosmos, that the worldabove, the world of the gods,
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00:14:25,908 --> 00:14:28,868
and the microcosmos,
the world of man.
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00:14:28,998 --> 00:14:33,742
>> This Corpus Hermeticumis also having the Tabula
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00:14:33,873 --> 00:14:35,483
Smaragdina.
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00:14:35,613 --> 00:14:39,487
>> This is a beautiful engravingfrom the early 17th century
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00:14:39,617 --> 00:14:41,315
called the Tabula Smaragdina.
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00:14:41,445 --> 00:14:44,535
And one of the most pregnantphrases from this very brief
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00:14:44,666 --> 00:14:48,713
text, emerald tablet of Hermes,is, "that which is above
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00:14:48,844 --> 00:14:50,454
is like that which is below."
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And it just tells you allabout the intimate connection
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00:14:54,502 --> 00:14:57,244
between the macrocosm
and the microcosm.
250
00:14:57,374 --> 00:15:03,467
>> In this period of time, manypersons are coming to an idea
251
00:15:03,598 --> 00:15:09,343
that there is something hiddenbehind the curtain of visible
252
00:15:09,473 --> 00:15:10,779
life.
253
00:15:10,910 --> 00:15:13,173
>> A hidden meaning
that has to be found.
254
00:15:13,303 --> 00:15:15,436
A hidden meaning that
has been handed down
255
00:15:15,566 --> 00:15:19,135
in the form of tradition,or hidden meaning that
256
00:15:19,266 --> 00:15:23,748
can be discovered throughparticular experiences
257
00:15:23,879 --> 00:15:28,884
of revelation, of contact withthe divine dimension with God.
258
00:15:29,015 --> 00:15:30,973
Or also with nature,
for instance.
259
00:15:31,104 --> 00:15:34,585
A mystical experience
of fusion with nature.
260
00:15:34,716 --> 00:15:37,240
>> Let's climb the mountain.
261
00:15:37,371 --> 00:15:40,287
Let's try to reach the top.
262
00:15:40,417 --> 00:15:44,900
Or, let's go deep in the earth.
263
00:15:45,031 --> 00:15:49,383
But what you find out
at the end of the story,
264
00:15:49,513 --> 00:15:53,735
you only find at
the certain moment,
265
00:15:53,865 --> 00:15:58,044
some persons will
climb to the top.
266
00:15:58,174 --> 00:16:03,701
Some persons who dive
so deep in the mystery.
267
00:16:03,832 --> 00:16:06,530
>> This hidden meaning canbe found in different ways,
268
00:16:06,661 --> 00:16:07,749
in different places.
269
00:16:07,879 --> 00:16:09,533
It can be found in the text.
270
00:16:09,664 --> 00:16:11,318
For instance, the Bible.
271
00:16:11,448 --> 00:16:14,321
But also all other sacred texts.
272
00:16:14,451 --> 00:16:16,627
It can also be
found in the Koran.
273
00:16:16,758 --> 00:16:18,064
We think about Islam.
274
00:16:18,194 --> 00:16:20,370
But it can also be
found in nature.
275
00:16:20,501 --> 00:16:23,417
An idea that has been widespreadsince the Middle Ages--
276
00:16:23,547 --> 00:16:28,596
God is speaking to us not onlythrough the textual revelation
277
00:16:28,726 --> 00:16:34,645
of the Bible, but also throughnature when we have contact
278
00:16:34,776 --> 00:16:36,560
with the natural real.
279
00:16:36,691 --> 00:16:38,301
We can read symbols.
280
00:16:38,432 --> 00:16:39,694
We can read signs.
281
00:16:39,824 --> 00:16:44,177
And through a particular
hermeneutical ability,
282
00:16:44,307 --> 00:16:46,048
which is the
ability to interpret
283
00:16:46,179 --> 00:16:48,485
these signs and
these symbols, we
284
00:16:48,616 --> 00:16:50,879
can understand the
hidden message.
285
00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:56,363
So we can understand whatGod is trying to tell us.
286
00:16:56,493 --> 00:17:01,890
>> So the only thing
is to open the curtain.
287
00:17:02,021 --> 00:17:08,940
And then you come in alandscape of inner reality.
288
00:17:09,071 --> 00:17:15,817
But that will not saythat you reach your goal.
289
00:17:15,947 --> 00:17:20,909
The man who climbed to
the top and the man who
290
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:28,221
was diving into the waterto find that hermetic pearl.
291
00:17:28,351 --> 00:17:31,920
The fantastic thing
is that he brought it
292
00:17:32,051 --> 00:17:37,360
in a fish bowl
frame, that everybody
293
00:17:37,491 --> 00:17:40,189
could touch the experience.
294
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,410
That everybody could
receive that experience.
295
00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:48,893
And that is how, I would
say, so mysterious.
296
00:17:49,024 --> 00:17:52,114
>> Gradually, HermesTrismegistus becomes really
297
00:17:52,245 --> 00:17:54,116
associated with alchemy.
298
00:17:54,247 --> 00:17:56,945
And he becomes the fatherof all philosophers.
299
00:17:57,076 --> 00:17:59,295
And the practitioners
of alchemy become
300
00:17:59,426 --> 00:18:02,603
known as the sons ofHermes, the filii hermeti.
301
00:18:02,733 --> 00:18:08,261
So there's a very close bondbetween Hermes and alchemy.
302
00:18:08,391 --> 00:18:11,873
In this library, on theseshelves, you find alchemy.
303
00:18:12,003 --> 00:18:14,005
You find hermetica.
304
00:18:14,136 --> 00:18:16,530
And the two are
very much related.
305
00:18:16,660 --> 00:18:21,796
Hermes is, so to speak, thepatron saint of alchemy.
306
00:18:21,926 --> 00:18:25,626
In the 16th and 17th centuries,people who performed alchemy,
307
00:18:25,756 --> 00:18:27,976
alchemists, were known
as the sons of Hermes.
308
00:18:28,107 --> 00:18:30,065
So there is a very
close connection
309
00:18:30,196 --> 00:18:31,936
between alchemy and Hermes.
310
00:18:32,067 --> 00:18:34,069
[music playing]
311
00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:39,596
>> You don't find manyalchemical symbols painted.
312
00:18:39,727 --> 00:18:45,298
This is one of the great momentsalso in my interest as an art
313
00:18:45,428 --> 00:18:46,516
collector.
314
00:18:46,647 --> 00:18:49,302
>> It shows the
triumph of alchemy.
315
00:18:49,432 --> 00:18:51,260
A triumphal chariot with--
316
00:18:51,391 --> 00:18:53,262
>> Basil Valentine.
317
00:18:53,393 --> 00:18:56,526
>> As it has never beenreproduced and never been
318
00:18:56,657 --> 00:18:58,354
looked at by scholars.
319
00:18:58,485 --> 00:19:02,445
This little painting isprobably unique in the history
320
00:19:02,576 --> 00:19:04,447
of alchemical imagery.
321
00:19:04,578 --> 00:19:08,582
>> A lady, who is thenegative side of alchemy,
322
00:19:08,712 --> 00:19:13,282
tries to attract, I wouldsay, the pseudo-alchemists.
323
00:19:13,413 --> 00:19:19,549
All the real adepts
were taking the secrets
324
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:25,468
of the keys of Basil Valentineto the real process of alchemy.
325
00:19:25,599 --> 00:19:30,865
>> I only recognized it becauseI was looking in an old book.
326
00:19:30,995 --> 00:19:34,173
And there it was redrawn.
327
00:19:34,303 --> 00:19:37,698
And I thought, I
recognized this drawing.
328
00:19:37,828 --> 00:19:40,353
This is the picture
that Mr. Ritman
329
00:19:40,483 --> 00:19:43,443
has hanging on his
wall for 20 years.
330
00:19:43,573 --> 00:19:46,924
And then I took a closer
look and found out what
331
00:19:47,055 --> 00:19:50,319
an extremely rare
piece we have here.
332
00:20:01,765 --> 00:20:06,509
>> For me, the imagery ofthe library is so interesting
333
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:11,862
because the symbolic engravingsand drawings that you will find
334
00:20:11,993 --> 00:20:16,476
in many books of this library,they contain the same elements.
335
00:20:16,606 --> 00:20:20,654
Like the circle and the
square and the triangle.
336
00:20:20,784 --> 00:20:25,049
And their meaning is,
in fact, universal.
337
00:20:25,180 --> 00:20:30,359
But there is endless ways thatthese symbols can be applied,
338
00:20:30,490 --> 00:20:33,232
whether in the work of
Christian Kabbalists
339
00:20:33,362 --> 00:20:35,973
or in the works of
a mystic like Jakob
340
00:20:36,104 --> 00:20:40,761
Boehme or a Christian hermeticthinker as Robert Fludd.
341
00:20:40,891 --> 00:20:43,154
>> I was always very curious.
342
00:20:43,285 --> 00:20:46,593
I was never satisfied
with explanations.
343
00:20:46,723 --> 00:20:53,077
And I said to myself,
let me go and look
344
00:20:53,208 --> 00:20:55,210
to the reality of things.
345
00:20:55,341 --> 00:20:58,735
And therefore, I
knew, that I was
346
00:20:58,866 --> 00:21:04,219
a spark between theinvisible life as a spark
347
00:21:04,350 --> 00:21:07,527
and then disappear again.
348
00:21:07,657 --> 00:21:09,833
Mr. Ritman disappeared.
349
00:21:09,964 --> 00:21:15,099
So I ask myself, when I amonly a spark, a light flash
350
00:21:15,230 --> 00:21:23,020
in a moment, why I should notbuild a library of awareness,
351
00:21:23,151 --> 00:21:24,544
of research.
352
00:21:24,674 --> 00:21:29,679
I started this librarywith the hermetic science.
353
00:21:29,810 --> 00:21:34,510
The hermetic science is ascience of all awareness.
354
00:21:38,688 --> 00:21:41,604
I am convinced.
355
00:21:41,735 --> 00:21:47,871
With the Hermetic tradition,you come into contact
356
00:21:48,002 --> 00:21:52,093
not only with people,
but also with religions,
357
00:21:52,223 --> 00:21:56,184
with mystery schools,
with initiates.
358
00:21:56,315 --> 00:22:01,842
And for me, the mysteryschools around the world,
359
00:22:01,972 --> 00:22:05,715
they connected to
the master plan
360
00:22:05,846 --> 00:22:11,242
and with the flow of
human awareness through,
361
00:22:11,373 --> 00:22:14,028
I would say, the millenniums.
362
00:22:14,158 --> 00:22:20,208
This millennium is acompletely different paradigm
363
00:22:20,339 --> 00:22:26,388
of references than what wesaw, so far, in the last 5,000
364
00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:27,607
years.
365
00:22:27,737 --> 00:22:30,261
Different developments
of religion.
366
00:22:30,392 --> 00:22:33,003
Different developments
of spirituality.
367
00:22:33,134 --> 00:22:39,967
And now it comes togetherin one global goal.
368
00:22:40,097 --> 00:22:43,274
And that is, for me, gnosis.
369
00:22:43,405 --> 00:22:44,798
Gnosis.
370
00:22:44,928 --> 00:22:49,193
Hermeticism, agnosticism,they have the same roots
371
00:22:49,324 --> 00:22:53,110
in all the stories, in allthe religions of the world.
372
00:22:53,241 --> 00:22:59,465
It has to do with, Idon't want to call it God.
373
00:22:59,595 --> 00:23:02,816
But I want to call it Creator.
374
00:23:02,946 --> 00:23:04,731
Creation.
375
00:23:04,861 --> 00:23:08,212
And creation and men.
376
00:23:08,343 --> 00:23:14,697
The three aspects of, I
would say, the divine.
377
00:23:14,828 --> 00:23:17,221
The element of nature.
378
00:23:17,352 --> 00:23:20,877
The two elements of nature,the male and the female,
379
00:23:21,008 --> 00:23:26,187
come together in a macrocosm.
380
00:23:26,317 --> 00:23:30,757
>> Gnosis is the third componentof our European cultural
381
00:23:30,887 --> 00:23:32,149
heritage.
382
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:33,499
And that's what we have
here in the library.
383
00:23:33,629 --> 00:23:35,979
[chanting music]
384
00:23:45,554 --> 00:23:46,947
>> Gnosticism.
385
00:23:47,077 --> 00:23:49,776
They speak about
light and darkness.
386
00:23:49,906 --> 00:23:55,085
The point in Hermeticismis that they don't reject
387
00:23:55,216 --> 00:23:58,175
the gnostic approach of life.
388
00:23:58,306 --> 00:24:04,312
But they say it is the
task of a human being,
389
00:24:04,443 --> 00:24:09,926
through daily experience
in your life, where
390
00:24:10,057 --> 00:24:16,890
you meet positive and
negative influences,
391
00:24:17,020 --> 00:24:22,069
to come to the point that theyare always going together.
392
00:24:22,199 --> 00:24:23,549
That they have a meaning.
393
00:24:23,679 --> 00:24:27,640
If we don't see thatthis library has meaning,
394
00:24:27,770 --> 00:24:32,819
if we don't see that thelast 12,000 years are also
395
00:24:32,949 --> 00:24:38,999
a reflection of the waves oflife, if we don't see that,
396
00:24:39,129 --> 00:24:41,175
then we don't come to a
point of concentration.
397
00:24:41,305 --> 00:24:47,486
And so this library is a
point of concentration.
398
00:24:47,616 --> 00:24:51,185
>> Of all the books
in the Ritman Library,
399
00:24:51,315 --> 00:24:57,104
I love the hermeticbooks most because to me,
400
00:24:57,234 --> 00:25:02,109
this hermetic worldview, therelation between god, kosmos,
401
00:25:02,239 --> 00:25:08,245
man, is the essence of
human consciousness.
402
00:25:08,376 --> 00:25:13,729
That's the universal aspect inall religious and philosophical
403
00:25:13,860 --> 00:25:15,339
traditions.
404
00:25:15,470 --> 00:25:18,647
And what's most importantis that a human being, him
405
00:25:18,778 --> 00:25:20,780
or herself, it's about us.
406
00:25:20,910 --> 00:25:21,781
It's about you.
407
00:25:21,911 --> 00:25:23,217
It's about me.
408
00:25:23,347 --> 00:25:25,349
In the hermetic
tradition it's said,
409
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,962
when you want to know
God, know yourself.
410
00:25:29,092 --> 00:25:30,137
Study nature.
411
00:25:30,267 --> 00:25:33,096
And you will know God.
412
00:25:33,227 --> 00:25:38,754
>> The only reason thateverything is not OK is that we
413
00:25:38,885 --> 00:25:40,626
lack knowledge.
414
00:25:40,756 --> 00:25:44,847
Knowledge of a
dimension that we don't
415
00:25:44,978 --> 00:25:47,546
bring into our daily practice.
416
00:25:47,676 --> 00:25:49,635
The gnosis is ours.
417
00:25:49,765 --> 00:25:52,768
It is an energy field.
418
00:25:52,899 --> 00:25:58,165
What we don't use together, thatis the misuse of the spirit.
419
00:25:58,295 --> 00:26:02,822
That we are only living,
that we are consumers,
420
00:26:02,952 --> 00:26:06,129
but that we are not soul beings.
421
00:26:06,260 --> 00:26:08,610
[piano music]
422
00:26:17,184 --> 00:26:18,446
>> Kabbalah.
423
00:26:18,577 --> 00:26:21,144
Jewish forms of mysticismand esotericism,
424
00:26:21,275 --> 00:26:23,886
begin in the late
Middle Ages, especially
425
00:26:24,017 --> 00:26:27,803
in the South of France andalso in those areas that
426
00:26:27,934 --> 00:26:33,330
were a kind of crossroad betweenIslamic, Christian and Jewish
427
00:26:33,461 --> 00:26:34,897
culture, especially in Spain.
428
00:26:54,482 --> 00:26:58,355
Some authors in this periodconstruct a whole system
429
00:26:58,486 --> 00:27:01,881
of occult philosophy, whichis a kind of synthesis effect.
430
00:27:07,843 --> 00:27:09,628
Heinrich Cornelius
Agrippa, for instance,
431
00:27:09,758 --> 00:27:14,545
writes a famous work calledThe Occulta Philosophia, where
432
00:27:14,676 --> 00:27:17,113
he tries to bringtogether all these ideas.
433
00:27:17,244 --> 00:27:22,466
So, Christian Kabbalah,magic, astrology, alchemy.
434
00:27:22,597 --> 00:27:25,992
They're trying to make a kind ofconsistent vision of the world
435
00:27:26,122 --> 00:27:27,733
based on this occult wisdom.
436
00:27:31,345 --> 00:27:34,783
Occultists were
opposing some of what
437
00:27:34,914 --> 00:27:38,221
they perceived to be
kind of negative aspects
438
00:27:38,352 --> 00:27:40,833
of both science and religion.
439
00:27:40,963 --> 00:27:42,661
In terms of science,
the biggest problem
440
00:27:42,791 --> 00:27:45,576
was, of course,
materialism, the idea
441
00:27:45,707 --> 00:27:49,711
that the universe is constructedonly on the basis of matter.
442
00:27:49,842 --> 00:27:51,974
That there is no space
for spirituality,
443
00:27:52,105 --> 00:27:54,411
for the spiritual
aspects of reality.
444
00:27:54,542 --> 00:27:57,850
When it came to religion thebiggest problem that was felt
445
00:27:57,980 --> 00:28:01,680
was seen in the presence
of dogmatism, the idea
446
00:28:01,810 --> 00:28:05,205
that in fact, establishedchurches had sort of become
447
00:28:05,335 --> 00:28:08,556
petrified in their message.
448
00:28:08,687 --> 00:28:11,646
They had lost some of
the living spirit that
449
00:28:11,777 --> 00:28:13,779
was there when they
had been created,
450
00:28:13,909 --> 00:28:15,432
when they had been founded.
451
00:28:15,563 --> 00:28:19,610
>> I don't want to say thatI have nothing with magic.
452
00:28:19,741 --> 00:28:23,832
And that I have nothing
with the occult.
453
00:28:23,963 --> 00:28:26,008
There are very
important magicians.
454
00:28:26,139 --> 00:28:28,794
But for me that's not enough.
455
00:28:28,924 --> 00:28:32,101
It was not so important
to look at myself,
456
00:28:32,232 --> 00:28:38,281
but to look to nature,
to look to the cosmos
457
00:28:38,412 --> 00:28:43,722
as a fantasticdevelopment of life waves.
458
00:28:43,852 --> 00:28:47,987
And to see the universeas an infinite laboratory.
459
00:28:48,117 --> 00:28:50,424
[horn music]
460
00:29:06,745 --> 00:29:09,269
>> A little bit later,
in the German speaking,
461
00:29:09,399 --> 00:29:13,490
there are other currents thatare emerging, with Paracelsus,
462
00:29:13,621 --> 00:29:17,407
who is starting off what couldbe considered a different kind
463
00:29:17,538 --> 00:29:19,845
of tradition, a
different kind of trend,
464
00:29:19,975 --> 00:29:24,284
which later will take theform of Christian theosophy.
465
00:29:24,414 --> 00:29:25,894
Especially after Jakob Boehme.
466
00:29:26,025 --> 00:29:28,331
[horn music]
467
00:29:37,384 --> 00:29:40,996
>> One of the great namesof alchemy and medicine is,
468
00:29:41,127 --> 00:29:45,479
of course, Paracelsus, who wasborn in Switzerland and who was
469
00:29:45,609 --> 00:29:49,265
known as TrismegistusGermanus, the German Hermes.
470
00:29:49,396 --> 00:29:52,486
Because he really believed inthat Christian hermetic world
471
00:29:52,616 --> 00:29:54,270
picture.
472
00:29:54,401 --> 00:29:57,926
And also believed that you coulduse minerals to cure people,
473
00:29:58,057 --> 00:29:59,972
to heal and perfect nature.
474
00:30:00,102 --> 00:30:02,365
[chamber music]
475
00:30:19,643 --> 00:30:22,908
>> This is one of our booksin the original binding,
476
00:30:23,038 --> 00:30:25,824
dated 1512.
477
00:30:25,954 --> 00:30:28,391
The Letters of Saint Paul.
478
00:30:28,522 --> 00:30:31,264
This is a text of the Bible.
479
00:30:31,394 --> 00:30:35,137
A Bible text is not a
heretic text, of course.
480
00:30:35,268 --> 00:30:40,099
But in the commentaries
we find these pasted
481
00:30:40,229 --> 00:30:42,318
in pieces of paper.
482
00:30:42,449 --> 00:30:45,191
That makes it very interesting.
483
00:30:45,321 --> 00:30:49,325
Because in old printed books,two copies are never the same.
484
00:30:49,456 --> 00:30:51,371
That is very well illustrated.
485
00:30:51,501 --> 00:30:54,896
As you can see, one
copy is a paper copy.
486
00:30:55,027 --> 00:31:00,728
And this is a copy printedon vellum, on parchment.
487
00:31:00,859 --> 00:31:06,255
All over the commentariesthis text is censored.
488
00:31:06,386 --> 00:31:09,345
If we look at the
same page in this copy
489
00:31:09,476 --> 00:31:12,958
we will find no
censored passages.
490
00:31:13,088 --> 00:31:16,526
So it depends where
the book was used.
491
00:31:16,657 --> 00:31:21,183
If certain ideas werethought to be heretic or not.
492
00:31:21,314 --> 00:31:25,666
But the general point is
that many of our authors
493
00:31:25,796 --> 00:31:28,495
got into problems
with the Church.
494
00:31:28,625 --> 00:31:33,152
>> Men who were crucified,who were killed,
495
00:31:33,282 --> 00:31:36,720
who were brought to the stake.
496
00:31:36,851 --> 00:31:40,986
They represented
an inner reality
497
00:31:41,116 --> 00:31:46,556
and they said, no, no,
no, to dictatorship,
498
00:31:46,687 --> 00:31:47,949
that you have to obey.
499
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,171
Giordano Bruno, is
one of the, for me,
500
00:31:52,301 --> 00:31:56,871
the main philosophers
of the 16th century.
501
00:31:57,002 --> 00:32:01,267
He was burned at the
stake in the year 1600
502
00:32:01,397 --> 00:32:05,967
by an accusation of heresyby the Catholic Church.
503
00:32:06,098 --> 00:32:10,929
But there was one book thatbrought him to the stake.
504
00:32:11,059 --> 00:32:15,629
And it was this text, SpaccioDella Bestia Trionfante.
505
00:32:22,679 --> 00:32:25,639
Anyway, it was a
dialogue to break
506
00:32:25,769 --> 00:32:29,382
the walls of the scholasticapproach of the Church,
507
00:32:29,512 --> 00:32:33,255
that the Earth is in the
center of the universe.
508
00:32:33,386 --> 00:32:35,127
But he said, no.
509
00:32:35,257 --> 00:32:37,825
That the universe is infinite.
510
00:32:37,956 --> 00:32:39,305
So there is no center.
511
00:32:39,435 --> 00:32:40,741
There is no center
in the universe.
512
00:32:40,871 --> 00:32:43,135
[string music]
513
00:32:52,144 --> 00:32:57,236
In our library we have about 20publications, first editions,
514
00:32:57,366 --> 00:32:58,715
by Giordano Bruno.
515
00:32:58,846 --> 00:33:02,241
But this book was missing.
516
00:33:02,371 --> 00:33:04,678
I was in Venice.
517
00:33:04,808 --> 00:33:08,334
And I was there
with a conference.
518
00:33:08,464 --> 00:33:09,944
Save Venice.
519
00:33:10,075 --> 00:33:10,901
Save Venice.
520
00:33:11,032 --> 00:33:12,468
The water flood of Venice.
521
00:33:12,599 --> 00:33:17,430
And I was there with somany international visitors,
522
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,954
but in a special
forum with people
523
00:33:20,085 --> 00:33:23,305
that were interested in books.
524
00:33:23,436 --> 00:33:29,920
And the last evening, therewas an antiquarian bookseller
525
00:33:30,051 --> 00:33:35,100
who brought some books aboutarchitecture in Venice.
526
00:33:35,230 --> 00:33:42,063
And suddenly it came withme to my mind to ask,
527
00:33:42,194 --> 00:33:47,982
do you have copies
of Giordano Bruno?
528
00:33:48,113 --> 00:33:49,375
And he said, yes, Mr. Ritman.
529
00:33:49,505 --> 00:33:51,159
I have two.
530
00:33:51,290 --> 00:33:54,206
I have de Umbris Idearum and Ihave the Spaccio Della Bestia
531
00:33:54,336 --> 00:33:55,990
Trionfante.
532
00:33:56,121 --> 00:34:02,127
And it was so nice that Brunowas taken prisoner in Venice.
533
00:34:06,566 --> 00:34:11,005
I felt myself very
close to Giordano Bruno.
534
00:34:11,136 --> 00:34:15,009
And then to acquire
a book in the city
535
00:34:15,140 --> 00:34:19,492
where he was taken prisonerwas very moving for me.
536
00:34:19,622 --> 00:34:21,972
And in Rome was
the commemoration
537
00:34:22,103 --> 00:34:25,541
of 400 years since the
death of Giordano Bruno.
538
00:34:25,672 --> 00:34:29,763
I was given a complimentby the Minister of Culture
539
00:34:29,893 --> 00:34:34,289
to bring treasures to
Rome of Giordano Bruno.
540
00:34:34,420 --> 00:34:40,600
He was burned at the stakeat the flower market in Rome.
541
00:34:40,730 --> 00:34:42,167
Campo de Fiori.
542
00:34:42,297 --> 00:34:45,126
And now you are
here in the kennel
543
00:34:45,257 --> 00:34:47,128
of the flowers in Amsterdam.
544
00:34:47,259 --> 00:34:50,914
My relationship withGiordano Bruno is very close.
545
00:34:51,045 --> 00:34:53,265
[horn music]
546
00:34:57,182 --> 00:35:00,881
I created a foundation.
547
00:35:01,011 --> 00:35:04,493
I want to bring all
these different opinions
548
00:35:04,624 --> 00:35:10,238
and offer all these differentexperiences together.
549
00:35:10,369 --> 00:35:15,069
This library is a
library of information
550
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:19,726
about the inner network
of the human search
551
00:35:19,856 --> 00:35:21,510
for the destiny of life.
552
00:35:21,641 --> 00:35:23,904
[fountain sound]
553
00:35:29,388 --> 00:35:31,172
That new energy.
554
00:35:31,303 --> 00:35:37,265
You can call it aquarius,or heavenly water,
555
00:35:37,396 --> 00:35:41,835
that comes through the
earth will clean up
556
00:35:41,965 --> 00:35:46,622
many, many, many,
many dark things,
557
00:35:46,753 --> 00:35:51,061
or things that are
crystallized et cetera.
558
00:35:51,192 --> 00:35:54,587
Life is always on the
move like a river that
559
00:35:54,717 --> 00:35:57,155
floats through a landscape.
560
00:35:57,285 --> 00:35:59,940
But it brings energy.
561
00:36:00,070 --> 00:36:02,856
It brings the mineral
life, vegetable life,
562
00:36:02,986 --> 00:36:04,249
the geological life.
563
00:36:04,379 --> 00:36:06,729
[piano music]
564
00:36:30,666 --> 00:36:34,192
>> The meaning ofsomething that is inside,
565
00:36:34,322 --> 00:36:37,064
something that is interior,
remained of course.
566
00:36:37,195 --> 00:36:38,892
And is still present today.
567
00:36:39,022 --> 00:36:41,329
And in fact, most peoplewhen they are using the term
568
00:36:41,460 --> 00:36:45,333
esotericism are probably usingit precisely with this meaning.
569
00:36:45,464 --> 00:36:50,730
So referring to a religiousmessage that goes beyond what
570
00:36:50,860 --> 00:36:56,953
is visible in the literal formof a sacred text, for instance.
571
00:36:57,084 --> 00:37:01,044
You could see that there
is a story in the Bible.
572
00:37:01,175 --> 00:37:04,831
And you could wonder whetherthe story that is being told
573
00:37:04,961 --> 00:37:07,703
is the only message
that is there.
574
00:37:07,834 --> 00:37:10,315
And ask yourself
whether perhaps there
575
00:37:10,445 --> 00:37:12,708
is a kind of hidden
meaning, a hidden story.
576
00:37:12,839 --> 00:37:15,058
[string music]
577
00:37:18,584 --> 00:37:24,067
>> The Polyglot Bible wasprinted in Antwerp in 1573.
578
00:37:45,785 --> 00:37:49,702
>> It's a Catholic Bible, theso-called polyglot edition
579
00:37:49,832 --> 00:37:51,269
of the Bible.
580
00:37:51,399 --> 00:37:55,751
That means that all thelanguages in which the Bible
581
00:37:55,882 --> 00:37:59,668
manuscripts were
originally found
582
00:37:59,799 --> 00:38:02,976
are reproduced here together.
583
00:38:03,106 --> 00:38:06,762
>> Hebraic, Chaldaic,
Greek and Latin.
584
00:38:06,893 --> 00:38:08,982
So four languages.
585
00:38:09,112 --> 00:38:12,638
It is an example of bookillumination of the highest
586
00:38:12,768 --> 00:38:14,988
quality that you can
find in the world.
587
00:38:15,118 --> 00:38:18,600
>> All the illustrations
are hand colored.
588
00:38:18,731 --> 00:38:22,387
When the book left the
press, the illustrations
589
00:38:22,517 --> 00:38:26,042
were just black and white.
590
00:38:26,173 --> 00:38:31,265
I love rare books, old books,because the paper is still as
591
00:38:31,396 --> 00:38:33,223
if it was produced yesterday.
592
00:38:33,354 --> 00:38:36,009
It's paper that is made by hand.
593
00:38:36,139 --> 00:38:39,491
But this old paper that
will last for ages.
594
00:38:39,621 --> 00:38:40,318
That makes me happy.
595
00:38:40,448 --> 00:38:42,711
[string music]
596
00:39:09,956 --> 00:39:12,524
>> On the one hand, it wasthought that it was possible
597
00:39:12,654 --> 00:39:16,441
to demonstrate the existenceof a spiritual dimension.
598
00:39:16,571 --> 00:39:19,400
And on the other hand,
many esotericists
599
00:39:19,531 --> 00:39:21,620
thought that it was
possible to revive
600
00:39:21,750 --> 00:39:25,058
a kind of religious
spirit by applying
601
00:39:25,188 --> 00:39:27,887
a different way of readingthe ancient texts, a sort
602
00:39:28,017 --> 00:39:29,976
of metaphorical
reading, an emblematic
603
00:39:30,106 --> 00:39:30,977
reading of the texts.
604
00:39:31,107 --> 00:39:33,240
[chamber music]
605
00:39:38,332 --> 00:39:39,812
>> In the 19th century--
606
00:39:39,942 --> 00:39:41,901
I think also, actually,
in theosophy, it
607
00:39:42,031 --> 00:39:43,903
was a very pregnant symbol.
608
00:39:44,033 --> 00:39:47,385
The Renaissance of course wasa time of great open-mindedness
609
00:39:47,515 --> 00:39:50,649
and intense curiosity
about other religions,
610
00:39:50,779 --> 00:39:54,217
about what moved other people.
611
00:39:54,348 --> 00:39:56,394
And this is a wonderful
image actually
612
00:39:56,524 --> 00:39:59,179
in a manuscript of 1575.
613
00:39:59,309 --> 00:40:01,399
And it shows the
[inaudible],, known
614
00:40:01,529 --> 00:40:04,140
as the 10 divine attributes.
615
00:40:04,271 --> 00:40:07,883
In Hebrew Kabbalah, youhave keter, chochma, binah,
616
00:40:08,014 --> 00:40:09,276
down to malchut.
617
00:40:09,407 --> 00:40:11,234
And these are the
channels through which
618
00:40:11,365 --> 00:40:13,976
God can communicate with us.
619
00:40:14,107 --> 00:40:15,456
As above, so below.
620
00:40:15,587 --> 00:40:17,676
That's the hermetic
phrase par excellence.
621
00:40:17,806 --> 00:40:21,506
So we have these [inaudible],,these rotating wheels
622
00:40:21,636 --> 00:40:22,855
that you can rotate.
623
00:40:22,985 --> 00:40:25,335
And each [inaudible]
has the same number
624
00:40:25,466 --> 00:40:28,382
of [inaudible],, the
10 written on them.
625
00:40:28,513 --> 00:40:30,776
And they were used
to meditate upon.
626
00:40:43,528 --> 00:40:46,661
>> Alchemy is the
book of nature.
627
00:40:46,792 --> 00:40:49,664
>> Alchemy, really, is
an exciting subject.
628
00:40:49,795 --> 00:40:50,883
Fascinating.
629
00:40:51,013 --> 00:40:52,972
And it continues
to fascinate today.
630
00:40:53,102 --> 00:40:57,716
>> My fascination for alchemy isthat it is a process of change.
631
00:40:57,846 --> 00:40:59,935
[piano music]
632
00:41:23,916 --> 00:41:25,526
>> Alchemy.
633
00:41:25,657 --> 00:41:29,269
It's fascinating because it'sto do with laboratory work.
634
00:41:29,399 --> 00:41:34,970
But it's also to do withdiscovering nature and finding
635
00:41:35,101 --> 00:41:36,842
out about the secrets of nature.
636
00:41:36,972 --> 00:41:40,236
And it was believed
that God had implanted
637
00:41:40,367 --> 00:41:44,153
in nature the secrets forus, for man, to discover,
638
00:41:44,284 --> 00:41:45,198
to find out.
639
00:41:45,328 --> 00:41:48,070
And also to perfect nature.
640
00:41:48,201 --> 00:41:51,726
>> And this is also very nice.
641
00:41:51,857 --> 00:41:53,249
[speaking german]
642
00:41:56,209 --> 00:41:58,516
[string music]
643
00:42:19,972 --> 00:42:24,498
I have a principle that Isay, that the divine spark
644
00:42:24,629 --> 00:42:27,632
is within you.
645
00:42:27,762 --> 00:42:34,290
That divine spark has
to become a flame.
646
00:42:34,421 --> 00:42:37,032
A flame of awareness.
647
00:42:37,163 --> 00:42:44,866
And what that flame
should produce is fire.
648
00:42:44,997 --> 00:42:46,651
Fire.
649
00:42:46,781 --> 00:42:53,179
And that fire is your heritage.
650
00:42:53,309 --> 00:42:53,962
So.
651
00:42:54,093 --> 00:42:56,269
Spark.
652
00:42:56,399 --> 00:42:57,313
Flame.
653
00:42:57,444 --> 00:42:58,837
Fire.
654
00:42:58,967 --> 00:43:05,147
And that fire, thatproduces this fifth element.
655
00:43:05,278 --> 00:43:07,585
>> What the people atCERN are doing now is what
656
00:43:07,715 --> 00:43:10,152
the scientists, the alchemistsin the 17th century were doing
657
00:43:10,283 --> 00:43:11,458
also.
658
00:43:11,589 --> 00:43:13,155
They were working
in the laboratory.
659
00:43:13,286 --> 00:43:16,245
And they were exploring nature.
660
00:43:16,376 --> 00:43:21,250
>> You see an interior
of an alchemist.
661
00:43:24,514 --> 00:43:31,217
To pray, an oratorium, andto work, a laboratorium.
662
00:43:34,350 --> 00:43:35,787
And that is from Khunrath.
663
00:43:39,268 --> 00:43:44,665
>> Heinrich Khunrath, a Germanalchemist, a physician also,
664
00:43:44,796 --> 00:43:49,017
is another very well-knownengraving called The Laboratory
665
00:43:49,148 --> 00:43:50,540
and the Oratory.
666
00:43:50,671 --> 00:43:52,586
And here you have
Khunrath himself.
667
00:43:52,717 --> 00:43:54,370
He's meditating.
668
00:43:54,501 --> 00:43:58,679
He's freeing his mind before hecan perform the alchemical work
669
00:43:58,810 --> 00:43:59,637
in the laboratory.
670
00:43:59,767 --> 00:44:01,508
So you have the two--
671
00:44:01,639 --> 00:44:04,903
the oratory and the laboratoryactually on the same level.
672
00:44:05,033 --> 00:44:06,600
There is no hierarchy.
673
00:44:06,731 --> 00:44:09,472
That performing alchemy
and praying to God
674
00:44:09,603 --> 00:44:13,476
are on the same level is reallya very astute observation.
675
00:44:13,607 --> 00:44:19,134
>> I was always interestedin the laboratory of nature,
676
00:44:19,265 --> 00:44:24,270
the laboratory of the universe,and the laboratory of the man
677
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,011
as a microcosm.
678
00:44:26,141 --> 00:44:29,884
>> It's that sort of connectionthat's really fascinating.
679
00:44:30,015 --> 00:44:33,627
That between the work in thelaboratory and the bigger
680
00:44:33,758 --> 00:44:35,237
picture.
681
00:44:35,368 --> 00:44:39,589
The idea of man as a microcosm,who by exploring nature,
682
00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:43,289
can discover the secretsthat God implanted in nature
683
00:44:43,419 --> 00:44:45,465
for the perfection of mankind.
684
00:44:45,595 --> 00:44:49,948
>> So many esotericists at thetime thought that esotericism
685
00:44:50,078 --> 00:44:54,474
could give an answer tothat problem and could solve
686
00:44:54,604 --> 00:44:57,695
the conflict that existedbetween science and religion.
687
00:44:57,825 --> 00:45:01,699
So by constructing the
kind of common ground,
688
00:45:01,829 --> 00:45:04,963
common fields like a
bridge between the two.
689
00:45:05,093 --> 00:45:08,488
>> This is the Atalantafugiens of Michael Maier.
690
00:45:08,618 --> 00:45:11,970
There is 50
illustrations and it has
691
00:45:12,100 --> 00:45:17,192
to do with text, with
music and emblems.
692
00:45:17,323 --> 00:45:19,717
So it's an emblematic book.
693
00:45:19,847 --> 00:45:27,855
And it is the main
work of Michael Maier.
694
00:45:27,986 --> 00:45:31,729
That brings me to
the story in Paris.
695
00:45:31,859 --> 00:45:36,037
With my private plane
I flew to Paris.
696
00:45:36,168 --> 00:45:41,782
Then I met an antiquarianbook dealer of Amsterdam.
697
00:45:41,913 --> 00:45:46,308
He wanted to take
possession of the books
698
00:45:46,439 --> 00:45:49,616
and to sell them
to me afterwards.
699
00:45:49,747 --> 00:45:51,531
Then he came to me.
700
00:45:51,661 --> 00:45:58,016
He said, Joost, can
we speak together?
701
00:45:58,146 --> 00:45:59,626
And I said, no.
702
00:45:59,757 --> 00:46:03,761
I come here for a specialreason, to buy books.
703
00:46:03,891 --> 00:46:06,546
So there is for me
no need to speak.
704
00:46:06,676 --> 00:46:11,029
We will meet in auction.
705
00:46:11,159 --> 00:46:13,640
There are some major auctions.
706
00:46:13,771 --> 00:46:16,121
And there you have to fight.
707
00:46:16,251 --> 00:46:20,778
You have to be prepared thatyou have to pay the price.
708
00:46:20,908 --> 00:46:23,171
And you never know the price.
709
00:46:23,302 --> 00:46:28,394
They spoke about the
night of the alchemist.
710
00:46:28,524 --> 00:46:33,486
People who came theretogether to get the recipe
711
00:46:33,616 --> 00:46:35,140
for gold making.
712
00:46:35,270 --> 00:46:38,360
So the people who are interestedin the original writings
713
00:46:38,491 --> 00:46:42,364
were coming together
and were fighting.
714
00:46:42,495 --> 00:46:46,455
In the second half
of the last century,
715
00:46:46,586 --> 00:46:49,458
many very rare books
and manuscripts
716
00:46:49,589 --> 00:46:51,243
came to the book market.
717
00:46:51,373 --> 00:46:54,420
And now that period is over.
718
00:46:54,550 --> 00:46:58,163
So you can really
say that I took
719
00:46:58,293 --> 00:47:02,080
the opportunity from
the early 60s, and now
720
00:47:02,210 --> 00:47:06,127
more than 50 years later, tomake this library complete.
721
00:47:06,258 --> 00:47:09,348
I bought at that
auction one third
722
00:47:09,478 --> 00:47:10,871
of all the available texts.
723
00:47:11,002 --> 00:47:14,005
[slow music]
724
00:47:14,135 --> 00:47:16,181
This is a priceless book.
725
00:47:16,311 --> 00:47:18,574
[chanting music]
726
00:47:25,451 --> 00:47:32,284
In the mystery of alchemy,here, he's a farmer.
727
00:47:32,414 --> 00:47:35,156
He is giving the
seed to the land.
728
00:47:35,287 --> 00:47:38,159
But these are not normal seeds.
729
00:47:38,290 --> 00:47:40,074
They are gold seeds.
730
00:47:40,205 --> 00:47:44,426
The real alchemist
brings the seeds
731
00:47:44,557 --> 00:47:48,387
of gold making to the earth.
732
00:47:48,517 --> 00:47:50,824
There is a seed.
733
00:47:50,955 --> 00:47:57,526
And you have to put that in theinner center of your awareness.
734
00:47:57,657 --> 00:47:59,311
That seed.
735
00:47:59,441 --> 00:48:04,142
And at that moment that you havewent through the experience,
736
00:48:04,272 --> 00:48:11,149
you see that that seed startsto grow and to flourish
737
00:48:11,279 --> 00:48:12,324
in a different dimension.
738
00:48:12,454 --> 00:48:14,848
[chanting music]
739
00:48:27,861 --> 00:48:29,080
And here is a circle.
740
00:48:32,170 --> 00:48:34,999
And then a square.
741
00:48:35,129 --> 00:48:37,305
And then a triangle.
742
00:48:37,436 --> 00:48:42,571
And out of the circlethe square and a triangle
743
00:48:42,702 --> 00:48:47,576
compose a man and a woman.
744
00:48:47,707 --> 00:48:51,798
And there you have the
two elements in alchemy.
745
00:48:51,929 --> 00:48:55,280
The male and the
female come together
746
00:48:55,410 --> 00:48:58,152
to create the stone
of [inaudible]..
747
00:48:58,283 --> 00:49:00,589
[chanting music]
748
00:49:23,656 --> 00:49:25,963
[horn music]
749
00:49:40,629 --> 00:49:45,983
The library is a daily
journal of 5,000 years
750
00:49:46,113 --> 00:49:50,030
of human research intothe field of spirituality
751
00:49:50,161 --> 00:49:52,946
and into the field
of the unexpected.
752
00:49:53,077 --> 00:49:55,427
[horn music]
753
00:50:10,572 --> 00:50:16,491
In alchemy they speak
about three principles.
754
00:50:16,622 --> 00:50:21,496
About silver that is
related to the Sun,
755
00:50:21,627 --> 00:50:25,065
mercury that is
related to the Moon,
756
00:50:25,196 --> 00:50:31,115
and salt is related to matter.
757
00:50:31,245 --> 00:50:33,552
[classical music]
758
00:50:56,792 --> 00:51:00,448
>> The engravings that theycontain have been produced
759
00:51:00,579 --> 00:51:03,060
in the same house.
760
00:51:03,190 --> 00:51:07,890
It was the engraver Miriam,who was working in Oppenheim.
761
00:51:08,021 --> 00:51:09,631
Atalanta fugiens.
762
00:51:09,762 --> 00:51:14,680
That's in fact a multimediabooklet, I would say,
763
00:51:14,810 --> 00:51:18,249
that makes alchemy interestingto a broader audience.
764
00:51:22,166 --> 00:51:24,820
There have also been moments.
765
00:51:24,951 --> 00:51:28,737
For example, a very beautifulhand-colored edition
766
00:51:28,868 --> 00:51:31,740
of the Atlanta fugiens
was offered to him.
767
00:51:31,871 --> 00:51:33,916
And a colleague
and friend of his
768
00:51:34,047 --> 00:51:36,571
said, OK, Joost,
you have so much.
769
00:51:36,702 --> 00:51:40,053
Please let me buy this one.
770
00:51:40,184 --> 00:51:42,186
And he's still sorry
that at that moment
771
00:51:42,316 --> 00:51:43,796
he didn't go for it.
772
00:51:43,926 --> 00:51:46,277
[classical music]
773
00:51:59,942 --> 00:52:05,165
>> Mysticism is the book ofthe knowledge of the heart.
774
00:52:05,296 --> 00:52:11,693
The knowledge of the
heart goes deeper
775
00:52:11,824 --> 00:52:14,218
than the awareness of the eyes.
776
00:52:14,348 --> 00:52:17,046
>> Also Christian theosophyis very important,
777
00:52:17,177 --> 00:52:20,398
which has its roots inthe 17th century already.
778
00:52:20,528 --> 00:52:23,314
And even earlier withParacelsus and then later
779
00:52:23,444 --> 00:52:25,098
with Jakob Boehme.
780
00:52:25,229 --> 00:52:30,495
>> And for me, the most preciousbook in mysticism is the Aurora
781
00:52:30,625 --> 00:52:32,192
of Jakob Boehme.
782
00:52:32,323 --> 00:52:35,543
>> In the case of Jakob Boehmeit's a mystic experience.
783
00:52:35,674 --> 00:52:37,763
>> This is the Aurora.
784
00:52:37,893 --> 00:52:39,460
A new momentum.
785
00:52:39,591 --> 00:52:43,377
An Aurora for the
awareness of humanity.
786
00:52:43,508 --> 00:52:44,596
And Jakob Boehme--
787
00:52:44,726 --> 00:52:46,250
>> --was not a learned person.
788
00:52:46,380 --> 00:52:47,468
He had a vision.
789
00:52:47,599 --> 00:52:49,601
He had a visionary mind.
790
00:52:49,731 --> 00:52:52,212
And he felt he should
write about it.
791
00:52:52,343 --> 00:52:55,694
>> These new moments
that has come.
792
00:52:55,824 --> 00:52:57,957
The planet Earth.
793
00:52:58,087 --> 00:53:00,220
Here you see the zodiac.
794
00:53:00,351 --> 00:53:07,662
And here, suddenly, a completelynew element is coming.
795
00:53:07,793 --> 00:53:12,189
>> If you see an image likethis in the favorite book
796
00:53:12,319 --> 00:53:16,236
of my father, you're notimmediately able to explain.
797
00:53:16,367 --> 00:53:19,761
You are able to grasp
the meaning somehow.
798
00:53:19,892 --> 00:53:24,375
It gives you some sensation of,wow, this is really special.
799
00:53:24,505 --> 00:53:28,379
>> The root, or
mother, of philosophy,
800
00:53:28,509 --> 00:53:31,382
astrology and theology.
801
00:53:31,512 --> 00:53:34,820
So this is also a
fantastic present.
802
00:53:34,950 --> 00:53:39,955
And I could say that was
the spark that became
803
00:53:40,086 --> 00:53:42,828
a flame in my collector's life.
804
00:53:42,958 --> 00:53:46,048
That was the present
when I was 23 years old.
805
00:53:46,179 --> 00:53:48,877
That's now more
than 50 years ago.
806
00:53:49,008 --> 00:53:50,488
That I got from my mother.
807
00:53:50,618 --> 00:53:55,406
And this is one of theearly copies of the library.
808
00:53:55,536 --> 00:53:59,323
It's what you call now whatare now the first momentums,
809
00:53:59,453 --> 00:54:00,585
the first books.
810
00:54:00,715 --> 00:54:03,936
So this, perhaps,
was the first book
811
00:54:04,066 --> 00:54:05,503
that came to the collection.
812
00:54:05,633 --> 00:54:07,940
[classical music]
813
00:54:13,511 --> 00:54:15,817
>> I do discoveries
all the time.
814
00:54:15,948 --> 00:54:19,647
If you look at this bookletby Johann Gichtel, a follower
815
00:54:19,778 --> 00:54:22,694
of Jakob Boehme, it's
a short introduction
816
00:54:22,824 --> 00:54:27,960
about the three principlesand the worlds within man.
817
00:54:28,090 --> 00:54:31,355
He's talking about
worlds in men.
818
00:54:31,485 --> 00:54:35,446
So there is a world
of darkness inside us.
819
00:54:35,576 --> 00:54:37,926
[ominous music]
820
00:54:57,903 --> 00:55:01,733
That fascination that Ipersonally have always had
821
00:55:01,863 --> 00:55:05,258
is the fascination for the
imagery of the library.
822
00:55:05,389 --> 00:55:09,088
Of course, I've grown up
in the world of ideas.
823
00:55:09,218 --> 00:55:12,961
A lot of the content ofthese books is visionary.
824
00:55:13,092 --> 00:55:15,442
[classical music]
825
00:55:19,620 --> 00:55:21,927
So what's happening
is the complete works
826
00:55:22,057 --> 00:55:26,671
of Jakob Boehme have beentranslated and put into print.
827
00:55:26,801 --> 00:55:27,976
And what you see--
828
00:55:28,107 --> 00:55:30,762
that there is
again an artist who
829
00:55:30,892 --> 00:55:33,765
feels compelled to visualize.
830
00:55:33,895 --> 00:55:35,462
Here is our Sun.
831
00:55:35,593 --> 00:55:36,333
And here's the Moon.
832
00:55:36,463 --> 00:55:37,943
And here's the Earth.
833
00:55:38,073 --> 00:55:40,902
So there you have alreadya macrocosmic reality.
834
00:55:43,775 --> 00:55:47,126
The abstract world
of the microcosm
835
00:55:47,256 --> 00:55:51,870
and the way the macrocosmand the defined world
836
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:56,875
unfolds itself and becomesvisible in the cosmos.
837
00:55:57,005 --> 00:55:59,312
[piano music]
838
00:56:11,498 --> 00:56:16,416
This is Jakob Boehme'sexplanation of the human being,
839
00:56:16,547 --> 00:56:19,376
the androgenic human being.
840
00:56:19,506 --> 00:56:22,770
The human being has
many instruments
841
00:56:22,901 --> 00:56:25,904
to understand his
place in creation.
842
00:56:26,034 --> 00:56:27,949
He uses his senses.
843
00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:30,169
He uses his reason.
844
00:56:30,299 --> 00:56:33,128
And he has even
got an astral mind.
845
00:56:33,259 --> 00:56:38,438
So he's able to understandabstract principles.
846
00:56:38,569 --> 00:56:40,658
[piano music]
847
00:56:42,311 --> 00:56:47,142
Our eyes open up andthen we see what's there.
848
00:56:47,273 --> 00:56:49,841
This is the symbol
for the holy trinity
849
00:56:49,971 --> 00:56:54,367
with the fiat in the end andalso probably in the beginning.
850
00:56:54,498 --> 00:56:55,368
[inaudible]
851
00:56:55,499 --> 00:56:57,762
[piano music]
852
00:57:04,725 --> 00:57:06,988
[opera singing]
853
00:57:09,600 --> 00:57:11,558
>> That's the Book of Wonders.
854
00:57:11,689 --> 00:57:12,472
Wonderboeck.
855
00:57:12,603 --> 00:57:14,039
Wunderbuch.
856
00:57:14,169 --> 00:57:16,476
[opera singing]
857
00:57:22,439 --> 00:57:25,093
Sofia, the mother of wisdom.
858
00:57:25,224 --> 00:57:31,012
And here you see that
she conquered the snake.
859
00:57:31,143 --> 00:57:33,450
[classical music]
860
00:57:51,076 --> 00:57:54,688
>> At the beginning of the 17thcentury we have the outbreak
861
00:57:54,819 --> 00:57:58,431
of the 30 year war, whichis going to change, really,
862
00:57:58,562 --> 00:58:01,086
Europe, which is going tohave very serious consequences
863
00:58:01,216 --> 00:58:02,957
politically and historically.
864
00:58:03,088 --> 00:58:06,613
In the historical climate rightbefore the outbreak of this war
865
00:58:06,744 --> 00:58:08,485
it's that Rosicrucianism begins.
866
00:58:08,615 --> 00:58:10,878
>> It started with my fatherjust knocking on the door
867
00:58:11,009 --> 00:58:13,272
of an antiquarian
bookseller, asking,
868
00:58:13,402 --> 00:58:16,536
I want to buy the
Fama Fraternitatis.
869
00:58:16,667 --> 00:58:19,539
He started to laugh and said,OK, I'm looking for that
870
00:58:19,670 --> 00:58:21,193
all my life as well.
871
00:58:21,323 --> 00:58:22,673
So what do you think?
872
00:58:22,803 --> 00:58:25,545
>> It's a German
affair so to speak.
873
00:58:25,676 --> 00:58:29,549
Because it originated
in Tubingen in 1614,
874
00:58:29,680 --> 00:58:32,421
where the first Rosicrucianmanifesto was written,
875
00:58:32,552 --> 00:58:33,858
actually.
876
00:58:33,988 --> 00:58:36,817
Fama Fraternitatis, the
call of the brotherhood.
877
00:58:36,948 --> 00:58:41,126
And it was a very
small pamphlet which
878
00:58:41,256 --> 00:58:43,955
called on all the
learned heads of Europe
879
00:58:44,085 --> 00:58:47,654
to achieve a reformation,a worldwide reformation,
880
00:58:47,785 --> 00:58:50,396
of science, religion and
really of everything.
881
00:58:50,527 --> 00:58:53,834
And making man realize
he is the microcosm.
882
00:58:53,965 --> 00:58:57,098
>> The human being as
a microcosm is in fact
883
00:58:57,229 --> 00:59:03,017
their medicine to a societythat has lost its religious
884
00:59:03,148 --> 00:59:04,802
orientation.
885
00:59:04,932 --> 00:59:13,462
>> Rosicrucianism is in a waythe chain of representatives
886
00:59:13,593 --> 00:59:21,775
who saw the contact betweenthe heart, the mind and nature.
887
00:59:21,906 --> 00:59:25,518
>> The Rosicrucians were
followers of Paracelsus.
888
00:59:25,649 --> 00:59:29,130
Paracelsus is actually one ofthe only people in the Fama
889
00:59:29,261 --> 00:59:32,569
Fraternitatis who is
mentioned by name.
890
00:59:32,699 --> 00:59:35,354
The people behind the
Fama Fraternitatis
891
00:59:35,484 --> 00:59:37,051
were dedicated physicians.
892
00:59:37,182 --> 00:59:38,749
They were Paracelsians.
893
00:59:38,879 --> 00:59:43,057
And they produced this pamphletto inspire people to bring
894
00:59:43,188 --> 00:59:45,538
about a real reformation.
895
00:59:45,669 --> 00:59:50,761
>> The manifestos are only threebooks, some hundreds of pages.
896
00:59:50,891 --> 00:59:53,677
>> The Fama Fraternitatisin that sense is also a very
897
00:59:53,807 --> 00:59:56,114
ethical little pamphlet.
898
00:59:56,244 --> 00:59:59,552
It was followed by the ConfessioFraternitatis and the Chymische
899
00:59:59,683 --> 01:00:00,727
Hochzeit.
900
01:00:00,858 --> 01:00:03,338
And these three
pamphlets together
901
01:00:03,469 --> 01:00:05,471
are called the
Rosicrucian Manifestos.
902
01:00:05,602 --> 01:00:10,824
And they are really the
source of a great furor
903
01:00:10,955 --> 01:00:14,959
in German society on the
eve of the 30 Years War.
904
01:00:15,089 --> 01:00:18,527
>> In the very first lines ofFama Fraternitatis, it is said,
905
01:00:18,658 --> 01:00:23,881
now, after all we've learnedand all gifts and grace that God
906
01:00:24,011 --> 01:00:28,015
has bestowed on us, it's nowtime to understand why we are
907
01:00:28,146 --> 01:00:29,713
a microcosm.
908
01:00:29,843 --> 01:00:32,193
>> It's a wonderful story,that of Christian Rosenkreuz,
909
01:00:32,324 --> 01:00:37,416
who travels to the Orient, whocollects all kinds of magical
910
01:00:37,546 --> 01:00:39,548
alchemical,
Kabbalistic knowledge.
911
01:00:39,679 --> 01:00:42,029
He takes it with
him back to Europe
912
01:00:42,160 --> 01:00:45,163
and presents it to the
learned heads of Europe,
913
01:00:45,293 --> 01:00:46,860
who don't want to know.
914
01:00:46,991 --> 01:00:50,168
>> There are traditions relatedto alchemy, to astrology,
915
01:00:50,298 --> 01:00:55,303
and also very much to magic thatare still present in the Middle
916
01:00:55,434 --> 01:01:00,700
Ages, and that are being keptalive in the territories that
917
01:01:00,831 --> 01:01:02,267
are controlled by the Arabs.
918
01:01:02,397 --> 01:01:04,835
>> On his journeys,
Christian Rosenkreuz,
919
01:01:04,965 --> 01:01:07,576
the protagonist of the
Fama Fraternitatis,
920
01:01:07,707 --> 01:01:10,797
also visited Fez,
the city in Morocco.
921
01:01:10,928 --> 01:01:14,322
And it's been establishedrecently that the rules
922
01:01:14,453 --> 01:01:16,455
of the brotherhood--
four of them--
923
01:01:16,585 --> 01:01:20,285
are actually based on thoseof a Sufi community in Fez.
924
01:01:20,415 --> 01:01:23,070
So it's really remarkablethat it's presented
925
01:01:23,201 --> 01:01:26,204
as a magical tale almost.
926
01:01:26,334 --> 01:01:31,949
But of course, like magic, italso has its roots in reality.
927
01:01:32,079 --> 01:01:34,865
And so what the Fama
Fraternitatis urged
928
01:01:34,995 --> 01:01:36,997
was a reformation.
929
01:01:37,128 --> 01:01:39,783
Also, because they wereParacelsians and therefore
930
01:01:39,913 --> 01:01:43,743
physicians, they also
urged their colleagues
931
01:01:43,874 --> 01:01:46,746
to cure people for free.
932
01:01:46,877 --> 01:01:49,793
>> The Arabs played a keyrole in transmitting the Greek
933
01:01:49,923 --> 01:01:52,578
culture by translating
philosophical treatises
934
01:01:52,709 --> 01:01:57,278
into Arabic and then
from Arabic into Latin.
935
01:01:57,409 --> 01:02:00,586
>> But if you look to thetraditional Rosicrucianism,
936
01:02:00,717 --> 01:02:05,591
there are hundreds of thousandsof persons who are interested
937
01:02:05,722 --> 01:02:07,985
to know about the
Rosicrucianism.
938
01:02:08,115 --> 01:02:10,770
>> This is a watercolor drawing.
939
01:02:10,901 --> 01:02:13,294
It's the original
illustration in the book
940
01:02:13,425 --> 01:02:17,081
of Manly P. Hall, The SecretTeachings of All Ages.
941
01:02:17,211 --> 01:02:23,130
And what we see here is a veryimportant moment in the Fama
942
01:02:23,261 --> 01:02:29,310
Fraternitatis, where one of thebrothers, who is an architect,
943
01:02:29,441 --> 01:02:31,660
he wants to improvesomething in the building.
944
01:02:31,791 --> 01:02:35,926
And he sees a small nailin the wall and he thinks,
945
01:02:36,056 --> 01:02:37,405
I should tear that out.
946
01:02:37,536 --> 01:02:40,887
And when he does
he finds a door.
947
01:02:41,018 --> 01:02:44,282
And when they carefully takeeverything away and open
948
01:02:44,412 --> 01:02:48,155
the door they find the graveof Christian Rosenkreuz,
949
01:02:48,286 --> 01:02:50,897
the founder of the
Rosicrucian brotherhood,
950
01:02:51,028 --> 01:02:53,900
their father-brother,
as they call him.
951
01:02:54,031 --> 01:02:57,512
And on his grave they
find a copper plate.
952
01:02:57,643 --> 01:03:02,039
This [? minitus ?] mundi, allthe knowledge and the secrets
953
01:03:02,169 --> 01:03:04,128
of the Rosicrucians.
954
01:03:04,258 --> 01:03:12,963
>> The man is a minitum mundi,a little world, a microcosm.
955
01:03:13,093 --> 01:03:21,145
To come to the question, whatis the reason behind that?
956
01:03:21,275 --> 01:03:27,934
>> During my lifetime I havemade the entire compendium
957
01:03:28,065 --> 01:03:32,678
of all this knowledge
to my grave.
958
01:03:32,809 --> 01:03:35,202
That's a very
mysterious sentence.
959
01:03:35,333 --> 01:03:40,555
>> But the meaning of themanifesto is always the same
960
01:03:40,686 --> 01:03:42,079
secret.
961
01:03:42,209 --> 01:03:49,129
That it has to do with thetriangle of creativity.
962
01:03:49,260 --> 01:03:52,698
You can call that art.
963
01:03:52,829 --> 01:03:55,788
Research, you can
call that science.
964
01:03:55,919 --> 01:04:00,619
But then with an invisibleframework of reality.
965
01:04:00,749 --> 01:04:02,012
And then religion.
966
01:04:02,142 --> 01:04:08,322
And religion is only
the task to bring things
967
01:04:08,453 --> 01:04:10,847
together within in one scope.
968
01:04:10,977 --> 01:04:12,631
[classical music]
969
01:04:12,761 --> 01:04:17,679
>> We focused on the imagery ofbooks around the Rosicrucians.
970
01:04:17,810 --> 01:04:20,508
Of people who were
not Rosicrucians.
971
01:04:20,639 --> 01:04:22,902
They were advocating
their ideas.
972
01:04:23,033 --> 01:04:28,560
Robert Fludd claimed that hehas written this encyclopedic
973
01:04:28,690 --> 01:04:33,608
work, Utriusque Cosmi Maioris,the physical, metaphysical and
974
01:04:33,739 --> 01:04:37,874
hyper-physical world,without having any notice
975
01:04:38,004 --> 01:04:40,137
of the Rosicrucian manifestos.
976
01:04:40,267 --> 01:04:46,012
Still, in all his telling,
he's giving the same key
977
01:04:46,143 --> 01:04:49,015
of the microcosmic man.
978
01:04:49,146 --> 01:04:57,023
>> In the microcosm,that's for me the promise.
979
01:04:57,154 --> 01:05:02,246
If you go through the
process of experience
980
01:05:02,376 --> 01:05:07,251
you can be in directconnection with the creator.
981
01:05:07,381 --> 01:05:11,690
And with that you
become a co-creator.
982
01:05:11,820 --> 01:05:16,042
And that is, for me, the
message of my library.
983
01:05:16,173 --> 01:05:18,915
I'm only a co-creator.
984
01:05:19,045 --> 01:05:26,531
We can produce nectarlike a bee to a bee hive.
985
01:05:26,661 --> 01:05:34,756
And that nectar is the food for,I would say, human awareness.
986
01:05:34,887 --> 01:05:37,498
>> A beautiful engravingof Robert Fludd also made
987
01:05:37,629 --> 01:05:40,588
by Marian of the human mind.
988
01:05:40,719 --> 01:05:44,244
Man has an inner
awareness connected
989
01:05:44,375 --> 01:05:47,900
to the world of the senses, tothe world of the imagination,
990
01:05:48,031 --> 01:05:51,556
to define reality.
991
01:05:51,686 --> 01:05:54,080
And there's also
the world of memory.
992
01:05:54,211 --> 01:06:02,175
>> The perfect man is aware thatlife in itself is not something
993
01:06:02,306 --> 01:06:08,965
that you can put like a pictureor a painting within a frame.
994
01:06:09,095 --> 01:06:11,358
There is no frame for life.
995
01:06:11,489 --> 01:06:14,448
There is no limit
to human existence.
996
01:06:14,579 --> 01:06:18,626
>> There is one element thatconnects all these worlds.
997
01:06:18,757 --> 01:06:20,759
And that's the human soul.
998
01:06:20,889 --> 01:06:24,154
All the impressions that weobtain through our senses
999
01:06:24,284 --> 01:06:26,939
also give us an
image, a sensation.
1000
01:06:27,070 --> 01:06:34,077
We can connect all we seeand smell to our imagination.
1001
01:06:34,207 --> 01:06:37,863
But our imagination is also,again, a tool of the soul.
1002
01:06:37,994 --> 01:06:42,085
Because when we imagine
us to be a bird,
1003
01:06:42,215 --> 01:06:44,609
as it is said in the
Corpus Hermeticum,
1004
01:06:44,739 --> 01:06:48,178
we are already there,
high in the sky.
1005
01:06:48,308 --> 01:06:50,963
And a human being,
with his imagination,
1006
01:06:51,094 --> 01:06:56,664
can grasp some meaning ofbeing of the divine world.
1007
01:06:56,795 --> 01:06:58,971
And that's what is shown here.
1008
01:06:59,102 --> 01:07:04,281
So with our ratio, ourintellect and our spirit,
1009
01:07:04,411 --> 01:07:07,066
we can enter the divine world.
1010
01:07:07,197 --> 01:07:12,028
He says also, the divine worldis in constant interaction
1011
01:07:12,158 --> 01:07:13,116
with the whole world.
1012
01:07:13,246 --> 01:07:15,379
But also with the human mind.
1013
01:07:15,509 --> 01:07:18,251
So it works both ways.
1014
01:07:18,382 --> 01:07:22,516
Michelspacher was also aware ofthe manifestoes and in context
1015
01:07:22,647 --> 01:07:24,518
with people in this circle.
1016
01:07:24,649 --> 01:07:28,044
This has also been
designed by Marian.
1017
01:07:28,174 --> 01:07:31,960
[guitar music]
1018
01:07:56,681 --> 01:08:01,425
>> They follow thetradition of human research.
1019
01:08:01,555 --> 01:08:06,038
So hermeticism goes
back to 5,000 years ago.
1020
01:08:06,169 --> 01:08:09,085
Alchemy goes back
to 3,000 years ago.
1021
01:08:09,215 --> 01:08:13,915
The mysticism is
related to Christianity,
1022
01:08:14,046 --> 01:08:16,440
to put Christ in the center.
1023
01:08:16,570 --> 01:08:19,399
You can also mention Kabbalah,the Jewish tradition.
1024
01:08:19,530 --> 01:08:21,445
It's so very important.
1025
01:08:21,575 --> 01:08:27,015
But Rosicrucianism combinesall these different flows.
1026
01:08:27,146 --> 01:08:29,279
They are the fruit
of, I would say,
1027
01:08:29,409 --> 01:08:35,198
5,000 years of spiritualexploration of the human mind.
1028
01:08:35,328 --> 01:08:38,505
>> Daniel Mogling wrote a bookthat's called The Wisdom Mirror
1029
01:08:38,636 --> 01:08:40,855
of the Rosicrucians.
1030
01:08:40,986 --> 01:08:44,250
And then he writes
in his text, you
1031
01:08:44,381 --> 01:08:48,254
know about this mysteriousbrotherhood of the Rose Cross
1032
01:08:48,385 --> 01:08:50,778
that everybody's asking for.
1033
01:08:50,909 --> 01:08:54,782
If you want to know what themeaning of the Rosicrucian
1034
01:08:54,913 --> 01:08:59,700
message is, study this
engraving closely.
1035
01:08:59,831 --> 01:09:03,661
All you need to know aboutRosicrucians is there.
1036
01:09:03,791 --> 01:09:05,619
I cannot say more.
1037
01:09:05,750 --> 01:09:07,317
Because you know what happens.
1038
01:09:07,447 --> 01:09:09,928
When you say something, theyare twisting your words.
1039
01:09:10,058 --> 01:09:11,582
So I cannot say more.
1040
01:09:11,712 --> 01:09:14,062
But, one thing.
1041
01:09:14,193 --> 01:09:17,936
Once you understand whyman is called a microcosm,
1042
01:09:18,066 --> 01:09:22,767
you will encounter
a Rosicrucian maybe
1043
01:09:22,897 --> 01:09:25,726
in your direct neighborhood.
1044
01:09:25,857 --> 01:09:31,036
So what he is saying there,that the imagery is a tool that
1045
01:09:31,167 --> 01:09:36,911
is more accurate and
pure than any words
1046
01:09:37,042 --> 01:09:38,696
he could express in his book.
1047
01:09:38,826 --> 01:09:41,133
>> This is a copy
of the [inaudible]..
1048
01:09:41,264 --> 01:09:43,657
It was printed in the
late 18th century.
1049
01:09:43,788 --> 01:09:47,966
But it returns to the sourcesof the 16th and 17th centuries.
1050
01:09:48,096 --> 01:09:50,751
[chanting music]
1051
01:09:50,882 --> 01:09:56,583
>> It's an image of the heavenlyand terrestrial [? eva, ?]
1052
01:09:56,714 --> 01:10:01,893
the mother of all creaturesin heaven and on Earth.
1053
01:10:02,023 --> 01:10:06,463
Lady Sophia, or
the Virgin Sophia.
1054
01:10:06,593 --> 01:10:11,903
From her wisdom the divinecomes into manifestation
1055
01:10:12,033 --> 01:10:13,774
because of our consciousness.
1056
01:10:13,905 --> 01:10:18,344
Because we become aware of theconnection between the divine
1057
01:10:18,475 --> 01:10:22,174
and the cosmos and thehuman being as the creature.
1058
01:10:22,305 --> 01:10:24,698
>> This for instance is abeautiful image from Daniel
1059
01:10:24,829 --> 01:10:27,919
Mogling's Speculum
Rhodostauroticum.
1060
01:10:28,049 --> 01:10:29,964
The Mirror for
the Rosuicrucians.
1061
01:10:30,095 --> 01:10:32,271
And it's called [inaudible].
1062
01:10:32,402 --> 01:10:34,012
The [inaudible] of wisdom.
1063
01:10:34,142 --> 01:10:35,796
>> A man.
1064
01:10:35,927 --> 01:10:40,410
And he's connected with mineral,vegetable and biological life.
1065
01:10:40,540 --> 01:10:44,762
So the microcosmos
and nature itself.
1066
01:10:44,892 --> 01:10:46,285
[chanting music]
1067
01:10:46,416 --> 01:10:49,854
>> The human beingconnects eternity and time.
1068
01:10:49,984 --> 01:10:52,509
The human being
is again displayed
1069
01:10:52,639 --> 01:10:56,774
as an instrument, aninstrument of the divine fiat.
1070
01:10:56,904 --> 01:10:59,994
In the middle you haveman, who is the microcosm.
1071
01:11:00,125 --> 01:11:03,911
And the Latin word tibi,
for you, which means,
1072
01:11:04,042 --> 01:11:07,306
we are the microcosm and thatis God's gift to the world.
1073
01:11:07,437 --> 01:11:11,179
We as men, as people, we
rely on our five senses.
1074
01:11:11,310 --> 01:11:13,399
But we also have
knowledge of God.
1075
01:11:13,530 --> 01:11:14,661
Inner knowledge.
1076
01:11:14,792 --> 01:11:16,446
The Corpus Hermeticum
also says it.
1077
01:11:16,576 --> 01:11:19,536
That is why man is themost gifted of creatures.
1078
01:11:19,666 --> 01:11:23,279
Because he has the use ofhis five senses but also he
1079
01:11:23,409 --> 01:11:24,454
has gnosis.
1080
01:11:24,584 --> 01:11:26,804
He can achieve a
knowledge of God.
1081
01:11:26,934 --> 01:11:29,981
And that is what this
image is also all about.
1082
01:11:30,111 --> 01:11:31,330
Omnia [inaudible].
1083
01:11:31,461 --> 01:11:34,899
Everything from the one.
1084
01:11:35,029 --> 01:11:36,596
Omnia ad unum.
1085
01:11:36,727 --> 01:11:39,207
Everything returns in the one.
1086
01:11:39,338 --> 01:11:47,564
>> Everything through the unitybrings everything to the unity.
1087
01:11:47,694 --> 01:11:50,654
So here you have the creator.
1088
01:11:50,784 --> 01:11:52,090
You have the nature.
1089
01:11:52,220 --> 01:11:53,787
And here you have
the waves of life.
1090
01:11:53,918 --> 01:11:57,748
And everything comestogether in the microcosmos.
1091
01:11:57,878 --> 01:12:00,185
[chanting music]
1092
01:12:16,506 --> 01:12:18,986
>> The phenomenon ofwestern esotericism can be
1093
01:12:19,117 --> 01:12:23,251
characterized by the fact thatin most historical periods it
1094
01:12:23,382 --> 01:12:28,779
seems to be at odds withmainstream religious thinking.
1095
01:12:28,909 --> 01:12:30,650
And then later,
especially starting
1096
01:12:30,781 --> 01:12:33,131
with the scientificrevolution and with the period
1097
01:12:33,261 --> 01:12:36,830
of the Enlightenment, alsowith scientific and rational
1098
01:12:36,961 --> 01:12:38,484
thinking.
1099
01:12:38,615 --> 01:12:42,706
>> The library is a telescopeof visions of thousands
1100
01:12:42,836 --> 01:12:45,578
of persons.
1101
01:12:45,709 --> 01:12:49,277
But my life itself, myinner life, is a microscope.
1102
01:12:49,408 --> 01:12:52,280
>> Perhaps an author you
might not expect to find
1103
01:12:52,411 --> 01:12:54,718
on the shelves of thislibrary, which is a hermetic,
1104
01:12:54,848 --> 01:12:58,286
alchemical, magical
library, is Spinoza.
1105
01:12:58,417 --> 01:13:00,419
And but he is here.
1106
01:13:00,550 --> 01:13:03,857
This is an edition of oneof his most famous works,
1107
01:13:03,988 --> 01:13:06,425
the Tractatus
Theologico Politicus.
1108
01:13:06,556 --> 01:13:09,341
It's an amazing work in itself.
1109
01:13:09,472 --> 01:13:12,126
It's also a very
special edition.
1110
01:13:12,257 --> 01:13:15,521
As you can see it wassupposedly printed in Hamburg.
1111
01:13:15,652 --> 01:13:17,218
But it wasn't printed
in Hamburg at all.
1112
01:13:17,349 --> 01:13:19,133
It was printed in Amsterdam.
1113
01:13:19,264 --> 01:13:21,745
Amsterdam in the 17th
century was a great city
1114
01:13:21,875 --> 01:13:24,051
for freedom of expression,freedom of the press.
1115
01:13:24,182 --> 01:13:26,445
Spinoza was very well
aware of the fact
1116
01:13:26,576 --> 01:13:28,447
that this was a
very explosive work.
1117
01:13:28,578 --> 01:13:29,970
It's in Latin.
1118
01:13:30,101 --> 01:13:33,583
It's international, Latinbeing the Lingua Franca.
1119
01:13:33,713 --> 01:13:36,673
And we have a letter fromSpinoza to a friend of his.
1120
01:13:36,803 --> 01:13:39,415
And he says, don'tpublish the work in Dutch
1121
01:13:39,545 --> 01:13:42,592
because the ministers,
the preachers,
1122
01:13:42,722 --> 01:13:44,463
are already up in
arms against me.
1123
01:13:44,594 --> 01:13:47,684
And if this work becomes
available in Dutch
1124
01:13:47,814 --> 01:13:49,947
I will have no end of trouble.
1125
01:13:50,077 --> 01:13:52,471
So the Dutch translation
of the Tractatus
1126
01:13:52,602 --> 01:13:56,649
was only published in 1693when Spinoza was long dead.
1127
01:13:56,780 --> 01:13:59,652
[classical music]
1128
01:13:59,783 --> 01:14:02,699
>> This kind of conflictualrelationship should not be
1129
01:14:02,829 --> 01:14:06,485
overemphasized in thesense that, in many cases,
1130
01:14:06,616 --> 01:14:09,967
you see that authors aretrying to find a compromise.
1131
01:14:10,097 --> 01:14:14,450
And if we move a little bitlater, to the 18th century,
1132
01:14:14,580 --> 01:14:17,322
we encounter another veryimportant phenomenon,
1133
01:14:17,453 --> 01:14:19,803
which is modern Freemasonry.
1134
01:14:19,933 --> 01:14:22,066
And that's very importantbecause although we already
1135
01:14:22,196 --> 01:14:24,982
see this model earlier
on with the beginning
1136
01:14:25,112 --> 01:14:28,159
of Rosicrucianism-- so, theidea that in fact, esotericists
1137
01:14:28,289 --> 01:14:30,422
don't work alone.
1138
01:14:30,553 --> 01:14:32,206
That, in fact, they
should be organized
1139
01:14:32,337 --> 01:14:35,645
in some sort of brotherhood,some sort of fraternity kind
1140
01:14:35,775 --> 01:14:36,428
of organization.
1141
01:14:36,559 --> 01:14:38,299
[soft music]
1142
01:14:38,430 --> 01:14:41,738
But with Rosicrucianism it'snot clear whether this was just
1143
01:14:41,868 --> 01:14:43,522
a project--
1144
01:14:43,653 --> 01:14:45,829
something that was on paper--or whether such an organization
1145
01:14:45,959 --> 01:14:47,613
really existed.
1146
01:14:47,744 --> 01:14:51,791
Well, with Freemasonry, we havea real, concrete organization
1147
01:14:51,922 --> 01:14:53,140
that is being created.
1148
01:14:53,271 --> 01:14:56,317
So people getting
together and engaging
1149
01:14:56,448 --> 01:14:59,756
in all sorts of communal
activities and rituals
1150
01:14:59,886 --> 01:15:01,018
and so on.
1151
01:15:01,148 --> 01:15:03,368
>> We had famous
visitors in the past.
1152
01:15:03,499 --> 01:15:07,241
Umberto Eco, who is also agreat collector of hermetic
1153
01:15:07,372 --> 01:15:08,895
and alchemical works.
1154
01:15:09,026 --> 01:15:12,159
Last year we had Dan
Brown, who was totally
1155
01:15:12,290 --> 01:15:16,033
amazed by this
collection because he
1156
01:15:16,163 --> 01:15:20,690
has written so many novelsabout Rosicrucians, Freemasons.
1157
01:15:20,820 --> 01:15:24,302
So he was bowled over byhis visit to the library.
1158
01:15:24,432 --> 01:15:25,869
[classical music]
1159
01:15:25,999 --> 01:15:28,785
>> One should not think thatFreemasonry is esoteric,
1160
01:15:28,915 --> 01:15:32,223
per se, because Freemasonryin fact is a very complex
1161
01:15:32,353 --> 01:15:33,529
phenomenon.
1162
01:15:33,659 --> 01:15:35,966
And there are traditions
in Freemasonry
1163
01:15:36,096 --> 01:15:40,536
that are more open toesotericism, to spirituality,
1164
01:15:40,666 --> 01:15:42,233
and other traditions
that perhaps
1165
01:15:42,363 --> 01:15:45,323
prefer to have a kind of
more rational approach
1166
01:15:45,453 --> 01:15:46,672
to spirituality.
1167
01:15:46,803 --> 01:15:49,109
[opera singing]
1168
01:16:04,124 --> 01:16:10,566
>> The microcosmos is a sparkof the Big Bang in the Big Bang.
1169
01:16:10,696 --> 01:16:14,395
It's the god's
particle in creation.
1170
01:16:14,526 --> 01:16:22,099
And I carry that god's particleas a treasure in my life.
1171
01:16:22,229 --> 01:16:23,883
[piano music]
1172
01:16:24,014 --> 01:16:26,190
>> The library is so specialbecause it's a private library
1173
01:16:26,320 --> 01:16:27,800
but it's open to the public.
1174
01:16:27,931 --> 01:16:30,368
And it has on the
shelves authors
1175
01:16:30,498 --> 01:16:34,111
who wanted to unite peopleand bring them together.
1176
01:16:34,241 --> 01:16:35,416
Who didn't want division.
1177
01:16:35,547 --> 01:16:37,549
Who didn't want
religious strife.
1178
01:16:37,680 --> 01:16:41,161
Who wanted people to
acknowledge, to realize,
1179
01:16:41,292 --> 01:16:44,121
that they are a
mirror of nature,
1180
01:16:44,251 --> 01:16:46,863
that they are the microcosm.
1181
01:16:46,993 --> 01:16:50,127
That great hermeticsentence-- as above, so below.
1182
01:16:50,257 --> 01:16:54,914
>> Man is a mirror of light.
1183
01:16:55,045 --> 01:16:57,961
He has a task of connection.
1184
01:16:58,091 --> 01:17:02,313
So to receive that energy.
1185
01:17:02,443 --> 01:17:04,271
>> The 18th century, of
course, is also the Age
1186
01:17:04,402 --> 01:17:06,099
of the Enlightenment,
which should be the age
1187
01:17:06,230 --> 01:17:07,448
of rationality.
1188
01:17:07,579 --> 01:17:09,407
It insists on the
importance of reason
1189
01:17:09,537 --> 01:17:10,930
and the importance of science.
1190
01:17:11,061 --> 01:17:13,541
It sees at the same
time the development
1191
01:17:13,672 --> 01:17:16,327
of another esoteric
current which
1192
01:17:16,457 --> 01:17:20,331
also makes a reference to thesymbol of the light, which
1193
01:17:20,461 --> 01:17:22,028
is called illuminism.
1194
01:17:22,159 --> 01:17:25,684
>> There is a directenergy floating throughout
1195
01:17:25,815 --> 01:17:27,077
the universe.
1196
01:17:27,207 --> 01:17:29,688
The simple example, light.
1197
01:17:29,819 --> 01:17:33,910
Light in itself is invisible.
1198
01:17:34,040 --> 01:17:37,740
But at the moment that itcomes into contact with matter
1199
01:17:37,870 --> 01:17:41,134
it becomes color
and becomes life.
1200
01:17:41,265 --> 01:17:46,705
And we can say the Sun
is the origin of light.
1201
01:17:46,836 --> 01:17:51,797
But light in itself, of
the Sun, is invisible.
1202
01:17:51,928 --> 01:17:55,148
>> Illuminism lays great
emphasis on the idea
1203
01:17:55,279 --> 01:17:56,846
of mystical knowledge.
1204
01:17:56,976 --> 01:17:59,936
A based mystical approach tonature and to the mysteries
1205
01:18:00,066 --> 01:18:01,764
of the universe,
which is perhaps
1206
01:18:01,894 --> 01:18:04,636
the kind of flip side
of the Enlightenment.
1207
01:18:04,767 --> 01:18:08,161
>> My father decided he wantedto make his private collection
1208
01:18:08,292 --> 01:18:12,165
publicly accessible in '84.
1209
01:18:12,296 --> 01:18:15,821
He had the vision to
immediately say, OK.
1210
01:18:15,952 --> 01:18:20,696
When we open up this collection,which is in fact a knowledge
1211
01:18:20,826 --> 01:18:25,570
field, it should beaccessed in a scholarly way.
1212
01:18:25,701 --> 01:18:29,008
>> I built my library.
1213
01:18:29,139 --> 01:18:33,447
I built the Research Institute.
1214
01:18:33,578 --> 01:18:39,802
I was everywhere togetherwith my staff in exhibitions.
1215
01:18:39,932 --> 01:18:44,284
I published many books
about this field.
1216
01:18:44,415 --> 01:18:48,506
And now I want to come to acertain point that we say,
1217
01:18:48,636 --> 01:18:51,770
let us share the future.
1218
01:18:51,901 --> 01:18:56,035
>> We want to build a globalhermetic circle of people who
1219
01:18:56,166 --> 01:18:57,863
are genuinely interested.
1220
01:18:57,994 --> 01:19:01,345
We started the project
Hermetically Open
1221
01:19:01,475 --> 01:19:05,653
to share every
activity and aspect
1222
01:19:05,784 --> 01:19:10,136
that we do with the collectionin exhibitions and projects
1223
01:19:10,267 --> 01:19:13,313
and the Ritman Institute
and our publishing
1224
01:19:13,444 --> 01:19:14,445
house in the Pelikaan.
1225
01:19:14,575 --> 01:19:16,142
>> Simple.
1226
01:19:16,273 --> 01:19:17,013
Brief.
1227
01:19:17,143 --> 01:19:17,840
Clear.
1228
01:19:17,970 --> 01:19:19,450
Transparent.
1229
01:19:19,580 --> 01:19:23,062
Not to come with answersthat people don't understand.
1230
01:19:23,193 --> 01:19:27,240
>> Hermetically Open to allhas in fact, after a few years,
1231
01:19:27,371 --> 01:19:33,725
become our main strategy as alibrary because we have quite
1232
01:19:33,856 --> 01:19:37,424
an elaborate scholarly context
we have established over
1233
01:19:37,555 --> 01:19:38,948
the years.
1234
01:19:39,078 --> 01:19:42,516
And we see that it'simportant that we open up
1235
01:19:42,647 --> 01:19:44,736
all this knowledge,
all this expertise,
1236
01:19:44,867 --> 01:19:45,911
to a broader audience.
1237
01:19:46,042 --> 01:19:47,870
And not only share
our collection
1238
01:19:48,000 --> 01:19:51,308
but also share our
expertise in this way.
1239
01:19:51,438 --> 01:19:55,181
>> I always saw the totalfield in front of me.
1240
01:19:55,312 --> 01:19:56,574
And then the books came.
1241
01:19:56,704 --> 01:19:59,272
The field of
magnetism, of energy.
1242
01:19:59,403 --> 01:20:00,970
[piano music]
1243
01:20:01,100 --> 01:20:03,363
>> At the end of the 18thcentury we have the current
1244
01:20:03,494 --> 01:20:06,845
of animal magnetism
with Franz Anton Mesmer.
1245
01:20:06,976 --> 01:20:10,327
And another importantcurrent is Swedenborgianism,
1246
01:20:10,457 --> 01:20:13,547
based on the teachings
of the Swedish visionary
1247
01:20:13,678 --> 01:20:15,419
and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg.
1248
01:20:15,549 --> 01:20:17,116
These two currents combined--
1249
01:20:17,247 --> 01:20:20,337
Swedenborgianism and
animal magnetism,
1250
01:20:20,467 --> 01:20:22,861
or Mesmerism as it
is sometimes called--
1251
01:20:22,992 --> 01:20:27,387
form a sort of backboneto all later esotericism.
1252
01:20:27,518 --> 01:20:31,783
>> I went to all the differentfour corners of the world.
1253
01:20:31,914 --> 01:20:33,611
It's all the same.
1254
01:20:33,741 --> 01:20:37,920
But it comes together
in one awareness.
1255
01:20:38,050 --> 01:20:40,096
The East, the West, the
North and the South.
1256
01:20:40,226 --> 01:20:46,450
They will meet in a new
consensus of questions.
1257
01:20:46,580 --> 01:20:49,366
Where do I come from?
1258
01:20:49,496 --> 01:20:52,151
Why am I here?
1259
01:20:52,282 --> 01:20:55,894
And what is the destiny of life?
1260
01:20:56,025 --> 01:20:59,550
>> In the 19th century
we have Spiritualism,
1261
01:20:59,680 --> 01:21:01,639
which really begins in America.
1262
01:21:01,769 --> 01:21:05,077
The classical date that ismentioned for the beginnings
1263
01:21:05,208 --> 01:21:07,558
of this movement is 1848.
1264
01:21:07,688 --> 01:21:12,215
The very basic idea that it ispossible to have communication
1265
01:21:12,345 --> 01:21:13,520
with the spirits of the dead.
1266
01:21:13,651 --> 01:21:16,262
So that it is possible
to talk to them,
1267
01:21:16,393 --> 01:21:19,918
to receive messages
from them, and therefore
1268
01:21:20,049 --> 01:21:24,009
to know about what is goingto happen to us when we die.
1269
01:21:24,140 --> 01:21:26,577
Most of the messages
that are being received
1270
01:21:26,707 --> 01:21:30,973
through Spiritualism are in factrelated to the destiny of man
1271
01:21:31,103 --> 01:21:32,496
after death.
1272
01:21:32,626 --> 01:21:36,979
>> The soul is the propertyof the microcosmos.
1273
01:21:37,109 --> 01:21:46,292
The human presence is,
I would say, a traveler
1274
01:21:46,423 --> 01:21:48,120
in time and space.
1275
01:21:48,251 --> 01:21:52,995
So I can't tell
you how many times
1276
01:21:53,125 --> 01:21:58,261
I came here again and again.
1277
01:21:58,391 --> 01:22:00,480
The transmigration of souls.
1278
01:22:00,611 --> 01:22:03,222
I would give myself
as an example.
1279
01:22:03,353 --> 01:22:08,662
My soul comes back at themoment that I'm here again.
1280
01:22:08,793 --> 01:22:11,100
[piano music]
1281
01:22:18,759 --> 01:22:22,024
>> We tried to collect thefirst editions of, for instance,
1282
01:22:22,154 --> 01:22:24,374
Madame Blavatsky's works.
1283
01:22:24,504 --> 01:22:26,854
[piano music]
1284
01:22:40,042 --> 01:22:42,653
>> Spiritualism is notvery much based on the idea
1285
01:22:42,783 --> 01:22:44,220
of a tradition.
1286
01:22:44,350 --> 01:22:46,874
It's more based on theidea of direct experience.
1287
01:22:47,005 --> 01:22:50,487
You get together with agroup of sympathetic persons.
1288
01:22:50,617 --> 01:22:54,752
And then you engage in whatis usually called a seance.
1289
01:22:54,882 --> 01:22:56,145
With the help of a medium--
1290
01:22:56,275 --> 01:22:58,756
so, a person with the
particular skills--
1291
01:22:58,886 --> 01:23:02,368
you enter in contact withthe spirits of dead people.
1292
01:23:02,499 --> 01:23:04,109
It is that simple.
1293
01:23:04,240 --> 01:23:06,285
So you don't need to have aparticular tradition for that.
1294
01:23:06,416 --> 01:23:08,722
[piano music]
1295
01:23:35,923 --> 01:23:39,188
Occultism really begins aroundthe same time as spiritualism,
1296
01:23:39,318 --> 01:23:40,667
the 19th century.
1297
01:23:40,798 --> 01:23:42,713
There is a kind of
hidden spiritual wisdom
1298
01:23:42,843 --> 01:23:47,979
that has been handed down by aparticular series of masters,
1299
01:23:48,110 --> 01:23:51,983
of adepts, of initiates,
that are going to keep
1300
01:23:52,114 --> 01:23:54,464
alive the flame of this wisdom.
1301
01:23:54,594 --> 01:23:58,555
In this sense it is similarto older forms of esotericism.
1302
01:23:58,685 --> 01:24:03,777
>> I warn everybody that itis not a way of speculation.
1303
01:24:03,908 --> 01:24:06,084
It is very natural.
1304
01:24:06,215 --> 01:24:08,478
And I can say this to you.
1305
01:24:08,608 --> 01:24:17,661
A mystic and hermetic
person, an alchemist,
1306
01:24:17,791 --> 01:24:23,536
is far more concretethan the so-called called
1307
01:24:23,667 --> 01:24:30,543
mystics, alchemists,
spiritists, occultists.
1308
01:24:30,674 --> 01:24:35,070
They only produce clouds.
1309
01:24:35,200 --> 01:24:42,207
And what I want to produce is anopen air that you see the Sun.
1310
01:24:42,338 --> 01:24:45,210
[inaudible] that
you see the reality.
1311
01:24:45,341 --> 01:24:47,691
That you see the
plants, the animals.
1312
01:24:47,821 --> 01:24:50,128
That you see the
people around you.
1313
01:24:50,259 --> 01:24:56,917
And you see them not so much asthat they think that they are.
1314
01:24:57,048 --> 01:25:00,747
But that you see them
with the possibilities.
1315
01:25:00,878 --> 01:25:04,447
And that you inspire people.
1316
01:25:04,577 --> 01:25:07,711
Then I'm no longer
a mystic, praying,
1317
01:25:07,841 --> 01:25:10,192
sitting in inner,
deep meditation.
1318
01:25:10,322 --> 01:25:11,062
No.
1319
01:25:11,193 --> 01:25:13,586
I'm walking the streets.
1320
01:25:13,717 --> 01:25:15,153
I shake hands.
1321
01:25:15,284 --> 01:25:19,810
I embrace people with thereality of my example.
1322
01:25:19,940 --> 01:25:21,159
[piano music]
1323
01:25:21,290 --> 01:25:26,730
At the moment that
you build a library,
1324
01:25:26,860 --> 01:25:32,518
it is an every day, everyweek, every month, every year--
1325
01:25:32,649 --> 01:25:34,303
it's an ongoing journey.
1326
01:25:38,829 --> 01:25:42,049
>> After the First WorldWar you have a new current--
1327
01:25:42,180 --> 01:25:44,661
Perennialism, or Traditionalism.
1328
01:25:44,791 --> 01:25:47,968
The main authors associated
with this current
1329
01:25:48,099 --> 01:25:50,536
are Frenchmen, Rene Guenon.
1330
01:25:50,667 --> 01:25:52,843
But then there are
other important names.
1331
01:25:52,973 --> 01:25:55,019
For instance,
Ananda Coomaraswamy
1332
01:25:55,150 --> 01:25:57,761
or the Italian Julius Evola.
1333
01:25:57,891 --> 01:26:03,201
Now with Traditionalism we enterinto a bit more pessimistic,
1334
01:26:03,332 --> 01:26:06,073
late modern form of esotericism.
1335
01:26:06,204 --> 01:26:08,859
Traditionalism is based,
among other things,
1336
01:26:08,989 --> 01:26:12,515
on the idea that in fact we areapproaching the end of times.
1337
01:26:12,645 --> 01:26:15,692
We should not trust so
much the possibility
1338
01:26:15,822 --> 01:26:19,174
to gain new knowledge fromnew discoveries of science,
1339
01:26:19,304 --> 01:26:20,479
for instance.
1340
01:26:20,610 --> 01:26:23,134
But that everything
has to be related
1341
01:26:23,265 --> 01:26:25,223
to a kind of primordial wisdom.
1342
01:26:25,354 --> 01:26:27,312
In ancient wisdom,
everything that
1343
01:26:27,443 --> 01:26:30,185
has created distance fromthis primordial tradition
1344
01:26:30,315 --> 01:26:31,664
is intrinsically bad.
1345
01:26:31,795 --> 01:26:33,753
So all modernity,
basically, is bad.
1346
01:26:33,884 --> 01:26:35,451
[string music]
1347
01:26:35,581 --> 01:26:38,018
>> The library in the fieldof hermetic philosophy is
1348
01:26:38,149 --> 01:26:41,805
for the first time broughttogether in the world.
1349
01:26:46,766 --> 01:26:50,509
I want it to be complete
with this field.
1350
01:26:50,640 --> 01:26:51,902
Complete.
1351
01:26:52,032 --> 01:26:56,298
It took me about 50
years to be complete.
1352
01:26:56,428 --> 01:27:00,215
And I can say we have an
unbelievable [inaudible]
1353
01:27:00,345 --> 01:27:02,956
in manuscripts
and in [inaudible]
1354
01:27:03,087 --> 01:27:04,871
and also in modern prints.
1355
01:27:05,002 --> 01:27:13,402
The fascination of a collectoris that a library is never
1356
01:27:13,532 --> 01:27:15,186
really complete.
1357
01:27:15,317 --> 01:27:18,581
>> After the Second World Warwe have the emergence of other
1358
01:27:18,711 --> 01:27:19,886
currents.
1359
01:27:20,017 --> 01:27:21,888
For instance,
neopaganism, especially
1360
01:27:22,019 --> 01:27:24,587
in the Anglo-American
world, with the creation
1361
01:27:24,717 --> 01:27:27,242
of particular groupslike Wicca, for instance.
1362
01:27:27,372 --> 01:27:28,939
That is very important.
1363
01:27:29,069 --> 01:27:32,508
But then we have, especiallystarting from the 60s, also
1364
01:27:32,638 --> 01:27:35,554
other forms of esotericismthat start to develop.
1365
01:27:35,685 --> 01:27:37,382
For instance, the New Age.
1366
01:27:37,513 --> 01:27:41,299
The New Age has been perceivedby observers, by scholars,
1367
01:27:41,430 --> 01:27:45,172
sometimes, also as a
kind of popularized form
1368
01:27:45,303 --> 01:27:46,478
of esotericism.
1369
01:27:46,609 --> 01:27:48,350
Perhaps a commercial aspect.
1370
01:27:48,480 --> 01:27:52,223
Some people think that it'sa kind of degeneration,
1371
01:27:52,354 --> 01:27:53,746
also, of esotericism.
1372
01:27:53,877 --> 01:27:56,227
You have the phenomenon
of the bestseller--
1373
01:27:56,358 --> 01:27:58,795
what are in fact esotericideas, but to a very, very
1374
01:27:58,925 --> 01:27:59,622
large public.
1375
01:27:59,752 --> 01:28:01,363
[string music]
1376
01:28:01,493 --> 01:28:03,452
>> I love rare books becauseeach one of them is different,
1377
01:28:03,582 --> 01:28:05,845
whether it's the
binding, the contents.
1378
01:28:05,976 --> 01:28:09,849
Someone has inscribed
his thoughts in them.
1379
01:28:09,980 --> 01:28:14,550
>> You share the ownership withthe people who had these books
1380
01:28:14,680 --> 01:28:18,684
in their hands and gaveit to the next generation.
1381
01:28:18,815 --> 01:28:20,730
>> Owners have come and gone.
1382
01:28:20,860 --> 01:28:22,906
Each rare book is different.
1383
01:28:23,036 --> 01:28:25,561
It's a character of its own.
1384
01:28:25,691 --> 01:28:30,217
>> It's not a library thatwent from hand to hand to hand.
1385
01:28:30,348 --> 01:28:36,920
But with 30,000 books, they camefrom thousands of other owners.
1386
01:28:37,050 --> 01:28:39,836
But they were always
kept as a treasure.
1387
01:28:39,966 --> 01:28:40,619
[classical music]
1388
01:28:40,750 --> 01:28:41,881
Look.
1389
01:28:42,012 --> 01:28:42,839
Look to the splendor
of these books.
1390
01:28:42,969 --> 01:28:45,276
[classical music]
1391
01:28:59,116 --> 01:29:05,905
Why I am always using fireworksat the end of the year?
1392
01:29:06,036 --> 01:29:11,998
To say every moment,
only on New Year's Eve,
1393
01:29:12,129 --> 01:29:15,698
the Big Bang comes
back as a fireball.
1394
01:29:15,828 --> 01:29:18,396
[classical music]
109553
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