Comments on: Freher’s Paradoxical Emblems

By: Mothy

Mothy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:33:05 +0000

I am about to undertake a study of this text and wonder if you would be interested in my progress, I hope a bit of feedback will help me out as well

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:48:40 +0000

this is what i have found so far:

paradoxical emblems of freher
D. A. Freher was one of the most important of those who worked and followed in the stream of mysticism initiated by Jacob Boehme. He had a gift for illustrating mystical ideas in pictorial form, and he applied this to Boehme’s work in creating a series of ‘Paradoxical Emblems’, consisting of 153 emblematic diagrams each bearing a short line of text. Though prepared in the early 18th century for publication, regrettably they never appeared in print. These emblems are a coherent integrated system of interior exercises. Each of these focusses on a simple fundamental spiritual statement, of which Freher gives us the essence in a picture for us to meditate upon. The sequence of 153 emblems begins with Emblem 1 the point everywhere in empty space and the maxim of Hermes Trismegistus “The Center of Centres is everywhere, the Circumference is nowhere”, and ends with emblem 152-3 “All things were, are and will Be, out of the One, through One and to One”.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:47:17 +0000

I have been researching some of these paradoxical emblems and i might have found something! i will post back with my findings.

By: Psychology

Psychology — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:39:36 +0000

The emblems symbolise the natural laws of the universe i.e. Law of divine oneness, law of abundance, law of relativity and cause and effect(the one is capable of both this and that), etc.

By: Greg Pass

Greg Pass — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 19:01:09 +0000

Thanks very much, Mirco. I will investigate this further.

By: Mirco

Mirco — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:42:02 +0000

Talking of Boehme, quite recently I got interested
in Ephrata, a mystic community operating in south Pennsylvania around the eighteen century.

Their leader,Conrad Beissel,was influenced by Boehme
& the Philadelphian Society. Ephrata developed its own form of calligraphy and emblematic writing, known as Fraktur.Perhaps a few Fraktur samples could enrich your site:http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Tours/ephrata.htm

By: Greg Pass

Greg Pass — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 05:45:04 +0000

myspider —

Like Freher, Thomas Vaughan (a.k.a. Eugenius Philalethes) was influenced by Böehme.

I can’t find the quote anywhere in Magia Adamica (Google Books has it available as a PDF), or in the other books in the PDF (Anthroposophia Theomagia, etc.). Perhaps your source is incorrect?

By: myspider

myspider — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 03:51:57 +0000

“What thou hast of One yield to that One again, if thou intendest to keep it. Only by so doing canst thou be a Perpetuum Mobile ”

—Philalethes, Magia Adamica, 1650

By: Greg Pass

Greg Pass — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:28:39 +0000

Guido —

You’ll find several of the plates around the web, but not the entire set; a few libraries have the complete manuscript (I can look this up if you like); buying the McLean edition is probably your best option.

As for the esoterics: yes and no. From the point of view of a philosophia perennis, something of “it” is there.

By: Guido the Dragonslayer

Guido the Dragonslayer — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:01:39 +0000

While the quoted commentary initially turned me off, I find myself quite enamored with the plates – any chance that I could get a link to the rest of them?

Didn’t know you were still into the esoteric stuff – that surprised me.