The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz: A Commentary on a Christian Path of Initiation, Paperback/Johann Valentin Andreae

The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is one of the most important writings of esoteric Christianity, first published anonymously in German in 1616. It is an allegorical story divided into seven journeys about how Christian Rosenkreutz was invited to a castle to assist the 'chymical wedding' of the king and queen. 'Chymical' is an old form of the word chemical and refers to alchemy, whose aim is the uniting of opposites -- hence, the sacred wedding. It is a book concerned with the inner transformation of the soul. Bastiaan Baan's interpretation and commentary makes this work accessible to readers of today, and shows the special language Andreae used to express the meditative content of his text. He delves deep to uncover the original significance, combining images and concepts from alchemy with insights from Rudolf Steiner's teachings. He concludes that the content is as valuable today as it was hundreds of years ago. The book contains the complete text of the Chymical Wedding. About author(s): Johann Valetin Andreae (1586-1654) was a German theologian who was probably the author of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, one of the three founding works of Rosicrucianism. Bastiaan Baan worked as a teacher in the Netherlands before being ordained in 1981. He was a Christian Community priest in the Netherlands and is currently director of the priests' seminary in Spring Valley, NY. He lectures widely, and has written many books.