Man, Myth and Magic Gallery

THEOSOPHY - THOUGHT-FORMS - ASTRAL PLANE Occult vision of the music of Gounod, being

THEOSOPHY - THOUGHT-FORMS - ASTRAL PLANE
Occult vision of the music of Gounod, being played on a church organ. Paintings of thought-forms were originated by a group of Theosophists, towards the end of the nineteenth century. The paintings were done, following the occult observations of such thoughts or visions on the astral plane, by Charles Leadbeater (Besant claimed such an astral vision, but it is unlikely that this was genuine), by John Varley (a descendant of the John Varley who taught William Blake astrology), Mr. Prince and Miss Macfarlane, all three of whom painted in earth's dull colours the forms clothed in the living light of other worlds'. The paintings were reproduced, and discussed, in Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, Thought-Forms, 1901 edn, from which these plates are photographed

© 2003 Charles Walker / Topfoto

ASTROLOGY - NOSTRADAMUS The schema of the cosmos [Mundus Elementaris] according

ASTROLOGY - NOSTRADAMUS
The schema of the cosmos [Mundus Elementaris] according to the late mediaeval cosmology: an engraving from Johann Daniel Mylius, Opus Medico-Chymicum, 1618, used also in Janitor Pansophus, Seu Figura Aenea Quadripartita. According to this cosmology, the universe was a living thing, a ladder of spiritual being. The alchemical system portrayed in this complex diagram departs to some extent from the Theological system, and even from the standard Ptolemaic. The outer sphere consists of the zodiac, with its twelve images for the signs. In the conterminous sphere, are the corresponding sigils for the twelve signs, and an indication of which part of the human body these signs rule. The concentric next in descending order gives the twelve corresponding Months and seasons. Then, in the yellow concentric, follows the names of the four Elements, along with a sigil denoting the relevant Element, and a series of three sigils which are more difficult to explain: precisely why the Earth [Terra] should be linked with the sigils for Salt and Sulphur is not at all clear. Follows, in descending order, the planetary spheres, from Saturn to the Moon. In each case, the name of the ruler of the sphere is given: these correspond to the archangels of history, the Secundadeians, described by the occultist Trithemius, in De Septem Secundadeis, in 1522, which had a profound influence on the writings and dating system of the seer, Michel Nostradamus. The one deviation is the list of Archangels is the name of the archangel of Mars, who is given as Samuel, when it should properly be Samael. Below the sphere of the Moon, the spheres become more arcane. The first sublunar sphere makes various statements about the Trinities of the material plane - these are the Three Principles (of Salt, Mercury and Sulphur); the Three Worlds - Celestial, Material and Infernal; the Three Ages and the Three Reigns (no doubt a reference to Joachimite predictive philosophy

© 2003 Charles Walker / Topfoto

NOSTRADAMUS - - PREDICTION OF NOVA. In Quatrain 2:41 (published 1555), Nostradamus

NOSTRADAMUS - - PREDICTION OF NOVA. In Quatrain 2:41 (published 1555), Nostradamus predicted the Nova, or New Star, of 1572. The Nova appeared in the constellation of Cassiopeia, set in the back of her chair. The illustration is from Tycho Brahe, Astronomiae Instauratae Progymnasmata, 1602

© 2003 Charles Walker / Topfoto

Esoterica, Paranormal