The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age

Part I: Christian Cabala: From Medieval to Renaissance

I Medieval Christian Cabala: The Art of Ramon Lull

The Lullian Vision of Religious Unity

• Ramon Lull (1232-c.1316) developed an Art based on principles common to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism
• The Art used elemental theory and Divine Names/Attributes as universal foundations
• Aimed to prove the truth of the Christian Trinity to Muslims and Jews through rational demonstration

The Structure of the Lullian Art

• Based on nine Divine Dignities: Bonitas, Magnitudo, Eternitas, Potestas, Sapientia, Voluntas, Virtus, Veritas, Gloria
• Used letter notation (BCDEFGHIK) placed on revolving wheels for systematic combinations
• Applied geometric symbols: triangle (divine), circle (heavens), square (elements)

Lullism as Medieval Christian Cabala

• Parallels with Spanish Cabala: both based on Divine Names and letter combinations
• Lull used Latin letters rather than Hebrew, making it accessible to Christians
• Represented the medieval form of Christian Cabala with missionary aims

Historical Context and Influence

• Developed during the climax of Spanish Cabala (contemporary with the Zohar, c.1275)
• Influenced by medieval Christian Platonism and Pseudo-Dionysian hierarchies
• Prefigured later Christian Cabalist movements and scientific method

II The Occult Philosophy in the Italian Renaissance: Pico della Mirandola

The Florentine Renaissance Context

• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-94) belonged to the Medici circle with Marsilio Ficino
• Renaissance Neoplatonism combined Platonic teachings with Neoplatonism and Hermetic texts
• The Corpus Hermeticum was believed to represent ancient Egyptian wisdom predating Plato

Pico as Founder of Christian Cabala

• First to introduce Cabala into Renaissance Neoplatonic synthesis
• Believed Hebrew Cabala could enlarge Christian understanding and confirm Christianity’s truth
• Recognized the Art of Ramon Lull as a Cabalist method

The 900 Theses and Cabalist Conclusions

• The 72 Cabalist Conclusions formed part of Pico’s comprehensive philosophical synthesis
• Central argument: the name Jesus contains the Tetragrammaton with a medial S, proving Jesus as Messiah
• Combined “practical Cabala” (angel conjuring) with theoretical understanding

The Two Branches of Cabala

• Ars combinandi: the art of combining Hebrew letters (similar to Lull’s Art)
• “Way of capturing powers of superior things”: invoking spiritual and angelic powers
• Emphasized the need for purity and holiness to avoid demonic dangers

Historical Impact

• Made possible by Spanish Jewish refugees after 1492 expulsion
• Influenced by mysterious figure Flavius Mithridates who provided Hebrew texts
• Established the foundation for all subsequent Christian Cabalist movements

III The Occult Philosophy in the Reformation: Johannes Reuchlin

Reuchlin as German Christian Cabalist

• Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522) was the greatest German Renaissance scholar of Hebrew
• Inspired by meeting Pico in Italy to pursue Hebrew and Cabalist studies
• Sought a “more powerful” Christian philosophy to replace scholasticism

De Verbo Mirifico (1494)

• Structured as dialogue between Greek (Sidonius), Jew (Baruchias), and Christian (Capnion/Reuchlin)
• Emphasized Hebrew as the divine language and the power of Hebrew names
• Presented the Cabalist proof that Jesus is the Messiah’s name

De Arte Cabalistica (1517)

• First full treatise on Cabala by a non-Jew, written in Latin
• Featured dialogue including Pythagorean (Philolaus), emphasizing numerical aspects
• Became the fundamental text for Christian Cabalists (“bible of Christian Cabalists”)

The Reuchlin Controversy

• Attacked by converted Jew Johann Pfefferkorn who sought to confiscate Jewish books
• Defended by the satirical Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum (1516-17)
• The controversy prefigured Luther’s Reformation and represented defense of New Learning

ristian Cabala and Reform

• Sought “wonder-working” philosophy more powerful than scholasticism
• Associated magical power with Hebrew names and angelic invocation
• Connected with broader movement of pre-Reformation religious reform

IV The Cabalist Friar of Venice: Francesco Giorgi

Giorgi’s Background and Works

• Francesco Giorgi (1466-1540) was a Franciscan friar in Venice
• Major works: De harmonia mundi (1525) and Problemata (1536)
• Combined Pico’s Christian Cabala with Franciscan mysticism and poetic sensibility

The Philosophy of Universal Harmony

• Based on Pythagorean-Platonic numerology combined with Cabalist letter-mysticism
• Universe as perfectly proportioned Temple built by the divine Architect
• Three worlds structure: supercelestial (angels), celestial (planets), elemental (material)

Planetary-Angelic-Sephirotic System

• Planets associated with Christian angelic hierarchies and Cabalist Sephiroth
• All planetary influences are good when properly received
• Saturn “revalued” as highest planet, associated with profound contemplation and Jewish religion

Giorgi and Henry VIII’s Divorce

• Assisted Richard Croke’s mission to Venice (1529) regarding the divorce
• Consulted as expert in Hebrew law and canonist opinion
• Received personal thanks from Henry VIII for valuable assistance

Influence and Translation

• French translation by Guy Le Fèvre de la Boderie (1578) spread influence
• Influenced French Renaissance poetry and philosophy
• Combined with Nicolas Le Fèvre de la Boderie’s discourse emphasizing numerology and Temple of Solomon imagery

Later Censorship

• Works condemned by Counter-Reformation censors
• Seen as too close to “Platonists and Cabalists”
• Represented the type of Renaissance philosophy the reaction sought to suppress

V The Occult Philosophy and Magic: Henry Cornelius Agrippa

Agrippa’s Life and Travels

• Henry Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) traveled extensively, forming networks of occult practitioners
• Possibly involved in secret societies devoted to Hermetic and Cabalist studies
• Combined scholarly pursuits with practical magic and alchemy

Early Influences and English Connection

• Studied with Trithemius and wrote first version of De Occulta Philosophia (1510)
• Visited England (1510), studied Pauline epistles with John Colet
• Met Italian Christian Cabalists including brief contact with Francesco Giorgi

De Vanitate Scientiarum (1526)

• Argued that all human learning is vain, echoing Ecclesiastes
• Similar structure and message to Erasmus’s Praise of Folly
• Concluded that only the Word of God in Scripture provides true knowledge
• Represented evangelical reform position against scholasticism

De Occulta Philosophia (1533)

• Comprehensive handbook of Renaissance magic divided into three books
• First book: Natural magic in the elemental world
• Second book: Celestial/mathematical magic involving planetary influences
• Third book: Ceremonial magic directed toward angelic/supercelestial world

The Three Worlds System

• Elemental world: natural sympathies and correspondences
• Celestial world: mathematical magic using number and planetary influences
• Intellectual world: Cabalist magic using Hebrew letters and divine names

ristian Cabalist Integration

• All magical operations strengthened and made safe through Hebrew/Cabalist elements
• Culminates in the Name of Jesus as most powerful of all Names
• Attempts to provide “more powerful” Christian philosophy than scholasticism

Later Reputation and Persecution

• Built up as archetypal black magician by enemies like Martin del Rio
• Legend of black dog familiar spirit fixed his image as evil sorcerer
• Represents the failure of Christian Cabala to convince critics of its “whiteness”

VI The Occult Philosophy and Melancholy: Dürer and Agrippa

The Theory of Inspired Melancholy

• Based on Pseudo-Aristotelian Problemata linking melancholy to genius
• Traditional melancholy was lowest, most unfortunate temperament
• Renaissance “revaluation” made melancholy the humour of heroes, philosophers, and great men

Dürer’s Melencolia I (1514)

• Based directly on Agrippa’s account of inspired melancholy in De Occulta Philosophia
• Shows first stage: imaginative inspiration of artists and craftsmen
• Dark-faced female figure with tools of measurement and geometry

The Three Stages of Inspired Melancholy (Agrippa)

• First stage (imaginatio): artistic and craft inspiration, depicted in Melencolia I
• Second stage (ratio): moral and political insight, prophetic of social changes
• Third stage (mens): highest religious insight into divine matters and salvation

Dürer’s St Jerome (1514) as Companion Piece

• May represent third stage of inspired melancholy
• Shows ordered, geometrically perfect study environment
• Contrasts with the apparent disorder surrounding Melencolia I

Reinterpretation of Melencolia I

• Not frustrated genius (Panofsky) but inspired trance protected by angelic guidance
• Angel wings indicate protection from demonic dangers
• Sleeping dog represents controlled senses during visionary experience
• Ladder suggests Jacob’s ladder for angelic ascent and descent

Cranach’s Melancholy Witch (1528)

• Shows dangerous alternative: melancholy without Christian Cabalist protection
• Witch’s sabbath in sky shows demonic possession instead of angelic guidance
• Contrasts good and bad uses of melancholy inspiration

Connection to Witch Craze

• Inspired melancholy cultivation potentially dangerous during witch-hunt periods
• Christian Cabalist safeguards not always recognized or accepted
• Renaissance occult philosophy vulnerable to accusations of demonic involvement

VII Reactions Against the Occult Philosophy: The Witch Craze

Counter-Reformation Suppression

• Cardinal Egidius of Viterbo’s hopes for spiritual unity through Cabala disappointed
• Council of Trent intensified opposition to Renaissance occult philosophy
• Francesco Giorgi’s works censored as containing dangerous Platonist and Cabalist ideas

The Case of Francesco Giorgi

• Works moved from approval to censorship as times changed
• De harmonia mundi marked “caute legendum” (to be read with caution)
• Representative of broader suppression of Renaissance Platonism

Jean Bodin’s Démonomanie des Sorciers (1580)

• Fierce attack on witchcraft combined with assault on Pico and Agrippa
• Argued that wrong use of Cabala by Renaissance magi encouraged demon proliferation
• Distinguished between true religious Cabala and magical abuse of Cabalist methods

French Context: Competing Influences

• Guy Le Fèvre de la Boderie’s enthusiastic Christian Cabala (1578)
• Bodin’s witch-hunting attack on Pico’s use of Cabala (1580)
• Both figures connected to François D’Alençon’s “politique” circle

Johann Weyer and Rational Opposition

• Agrippa’s disciple argued witches were deluded, not diabolical
• Bodin fiercely attacked Weyer’s merciful interpretation
• Represented early rational approach to witch persecution

The Mechanics of Reaction

• Medieval anti-sorcery formulas applied to Renaissance scholars
• Renaissance genius transformed into neurotic magician
• Popular fear manipulated against learned traditions

European Context

• Giordano Bruno burned in Rome (1600) as climax of reaction
• Witch crazes used to eliminate Renaissance occult traditions
• Learned magic and popular magic persecution interrelated

Part II: The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age

Introduction

The Elizabethan Context

• Elizabethan world populated by spirits, fairies, demons, witches, conjurors
• Question: Was occult preoccupation derived from popular tradition or philosophical sources?
• Argument: Dominant philosophy of Elizabethan age was the occult philosophy

John Dee as Representative Figure

• Mathematical preface to Euclid (1570) shows Neoplatonic-Cabalist orientation
• Quotes Agrippa on three worlds and Pico on number
• Combined scientific advancement with Christian Cabalist conjuring

Historical Timing

• Elizabethan Renaissance came late when continental reaction was intensifying
• Counter-Reformation attacking Renaissance Neoplatonism and occultisms
• Building up Elizabeth I as Neoplatonic heroine was itself a challenge to Catholic powers

VIII John Dee: Christian Cabalist

Dee’s First Period (1558-83): Leader of Elizabethan Renaissance

Background and Library

• John Dee (1527-1608) born into Tudor court circles
• Extensive library contained works of Lull, Pico, Reuchlin, Agrippa, Giorgi
• Library served as intellectual center for Elizabethan courtiers, poets, navigators

The Mathematical Preface to Euclid (1570)

• Manifesto of Dee’s movement combining “Divine Plato” with Agrippan three-worlds system
• Emphasized importance of number and mathematical sciences
• Based on Vitruvian architectural theory and proportion

The Monas Hieroglyphica (1564)

• Composite planetary symbol believed to contain universal philosophical meaning
• Combined astrology, alchemy, mathematics, and Cabala
• Related to “tremendous structure of Hebrew letters” as Cabalist symbol

British Imperial Vision

• Connected mathematical studies with expansion of Elizabethan England
• General and Rare Memorials (1577) outlined “British Empire” based on Arthurian legend
• Believed himself descended from ancient British royalty

The Inspired Melancholy Role

• Dee as representative of Renaissance “revalued” Saturn
• Three stages: scientific studies, prophetic British destiny, universal religious visions
• Lost writings included Cabala Hebraicae compendiosa tabella and works on British history

Dee’s Second Period (1583-9): The Continental Mission

The European Context

• Left England for six-year continental mission
• Traveled to Poland and Prague, court of Emperor Rudolf II
• Pursued alchemical experiments and angel-summoning with Edward Kelley

The Missionary Message

• Predicted “miraculous reformation” coming to Christian world
• Neither Catholic nor Protestant but appeal to universal reforming movement
• Drew spiritual strength from resources of occult philosophy

Parallel with Giordano Bruno

• Both missionaries preached Hermetic-Cabalist reform
• Bruno in Prague shortly after Dee
• Both represented opposition to Counter-Reformation suppression

The Monas as Imperial Symbol

• Originally dedicated to Emperor Maximilian II
• Possibly hoped Rudolf II would accept it as occult imperial sign
• Connected to Elizabeth I’s role in occult imperial reform

Rosicrucian Connections

• German Rosicrucian manifestos heavily influenced by Dee’s philosophy
• One manifesto contains version of Monas Hieroglyphica
• Christian Rosenkreutz possibly teutonized memory of John Dee

Dee’s Third Period (1589-1608): Disgrace and Failure

Changed Reception in England

• Old position at center of Elizabethan world not restored
• Leicester dead (1588), Sidney circle diminished
• Growing witch-hunt accusations against him as conjuror

The Defense Against Accusations

• Letter to Archbishop of Canterbury (published 1604) defending studies
• Illustrated with woodcut showing Dee beset by “many-headed monster” of rumor
• Insisted all studies directed toward truth of God through “philosophical method”

Manchester Period and Witchcraft Consultancy

• Made warden of Manchester college (1596) as semi-banishment
• Consulted on witchcraft cases, lending books including Weyer’s skeptical work
• Ironically became expert on demonology despite being accused of conjuring

King James I’s Opposition

• James’s Daemonologie (1587) attacked Agrippa and occult philosophy
• Dee’s appeals to new monarch for clearing his name rejected
• Died in poverty at Mortlake (1608)

Historical Significance

• Represents disappearance of Renaissance in clouds of demonic rumor
• Renaissance Neoplatonism suppressed in witch-hunts across Europe
• Renaissance magus transformed into Faustian archetype

IX Spenser’s Neoplatonism and the Occult Philosophy: John Dee and The Faerie Queene

Spenser and Renaissance Neoplatonism

• Edmund Spenser usually labeled as Neoplatonist but Hermetic-Cabalist core not recognized
• Recent scholarship reveals numerological patterns and astral themes in The Faerie Queene
• Hermetic-Egyptian setting in Britomart’s Temple of Isis vision

Influence of Francesco Giorgi

• Major influence on Spenser was Giorgi’s De harmonia mundi
• Giorgi’s lyrical style and poetic quality attractive to poets
• French translation (1578) increased contemporary awareness

Connection to Dee Circle

• Spenser in contact with Dee’s pupils Philip Sidney and Edward Dyer
• Sidney-Harvey letters (1580) show connections to leading Dee circle poets
• Spenser sought contemporary philosophy for panegyric of queen and imperial reform

The Spenserian Hymnes

• Published 1596 as explanation of philosophy behind The Faerie Queene
• Structure follows Hermetic ascent and descent through three worlds
• Culminates in Christian devotion similar to Giorgi’s lyrical evangelicalism

Architectural and Numerological Imagery

• House of Alma (Faerie Queene II, ix, 22) shows human body/soul in architectural terms
• Geometric description involves three worlds: quadrate (elements), seven (planets), nine (angels)
• Forms “goodly diapase” or octave representing universal harmony

Planetary Themes in The Faerie Queene

The System Behind the Planets

• Giorgi’s planetary-angelic-Sephirotic schemes made planets ethically neutral
• All planetary influences good when properly received; bad reception creates vices
• Seven planetary virtues opposed to seven deadly sins

Proposed Order of Books

• Book I (Red Cross/Holiness): Solar book, Sun = Christian religion/Charity
• Book II (Guyon/Temperance): Mars book, Mars = cleansing power of virtue
• Book III (Britomart/Chastity): Luna book, Moon = Angels hierarchy/Kingdom
• Book IV (Cambel and Triamond/Friendship): Mercury book, reconciling opposites
• Book V (Artegall/Justice): Saturn book, revalued Saturn = wise religious leadership
• Book VI (Calidore/Courtesy): Venus book, grace and beauty of courtly Neoplatonism
• Projected Book VII: Jupiter book (unfinished)

Aristotelian Virtues Integration

• Spenser’s stated plan for twelve Aristotelian virtues worked numerologically
• Giorgi reconciled Aristotle with Plato through Hermetic ascent interpretation
• Pseudo-Aristotelian Problemata enabled integration of melancholy theory

Elizabeth I as Central Figure

• Whole poem planned as panegyric to Queen Elizabeth
• Planetary themes arranged to present ideal portrait of religious/moral leader
• Astral plan dedicated to imperial reform under Elizabeth

British-Arthurian Elements

• Giorgi’s influence merged with Arthurian-British element
• Created “British Israel” mystique combining Cabalist and Arthurian themes
• Dee circle as source for linking Christian Cabala with British imperialism

Comparison with Giordano Bruno

• Bruno’s parallel Hermetic-Cabalist mission overlapped with Spenser’s writing
• Both represent protests against reactionary suppression of Renaissance
• Bruno’s Spaccio may have influenced Spenser’s celestial reform themes

Historical Context and Reception

• Poem conceived during Dee’s successful first period
• Published (1590) during Dee’s disgrace after continental mission
• Chilly reception related to changed political climate and suspicion of occult philosophy

Relationship to Later Movements

• Spenser’s fairy imagery as “Rosicrucian” with Red Cross and Una (Monas)
• German Rosicrucian writers recognized connections to Spenser
• Represents major European current of religious thought and aspiration

X Elizabethan England and the Jews

The Jewish Diaspora After 1492

• Spanish Expulsion created new types of Jew-Christian contact
• Marrano phenomenon: crypto-Jews maintaining Judaism under Christian exterior
• Many refugees settled in Ottoman Empire, Italy, France, and eventually Holland

Jews in Elizabethan England

• Officially no Jews since 1290 expulsion
• Certainly some Jewish presence, probably increased through post-1492 refugees
• Would have had to live as crypto-Jews or marranos, concealing religion

The Lopez Case

• Dr. Roderigo Lopez, Portuguese physician to Leicester and Elizabeth
• Prominent member of medical establishment
• Executed 1594 amid antisemitic mob hysteria for alleged plot to poison queen

The Maria Nuñez Legend

• Story of Portuguese Jewish refugees supposedly welcomed by Elizabeth (1593)
• Queen allegedly drove through London with beautiful Jewish woman
• Legend possibly reflects philosemitic tendencies or abortive admission project

ristian Cabala and Jewish Assimilation

• Giorgi’s “Judaising” De harmonia mundi might have provided conversion bridge
• Christian Cabalist influence at court in country officially excluding Jews
• Question of whether Christian Cabala offered compromise for English marranos

Amsterdam as Alternative

• Holland became most liberal Protestant country for Jewish refugees
• Amsterdam offered open Jewish practice and Hebrew cultural revival
• Founded partly by refugees from England in 1590s according to legend

Missed Opportunity?

• Why weren’t Jews received in Elizabethan England like in Holland?
• After Armada victory, why no follow-up strengthening trade with Jewish refugees?
• Project had to wait until Cromwellian times under Menasseh ben Israel

The Elizabethan Christian Cabalist Context

• Jewish refugees would have encountered Christian Cabalist influences
• Elizabethan imperial reform included Christian Cabala as ingredient of Elizabeth cult
• Might have enabled easier transition for patriotic English Jews to adopted country’s religion

XI The Reaction: Christopher Marlowe on Conjurors, Imperialists and Jews

Doctor Faustus as Anti-Occult Propaganda

Historical Context and Dating

• Based on English translation of German Faust-Buch (1587)
• Probably written 1593, first known performance 1594
• Immense success with over twenty recorded performances 1594-97

The Attack on Agrippa

• Marlowe presents Faustus as student of Agrippa following De Occulta Philosophia
• Faustus resolves to be “as cunning as Agrippa was”
• Uses magical apparatus: circles, planetary symbols, zodiacal signs

Reversal of Christian Cabala

• Faustus abjures Christ and Trinity, overturning Christian Cabalist claims
• Black magic explicitly opposed to “white” magic of Christian Cabala
• Devil appears in habit of Franciscan friar (possible parody of Francesco Giorgi)

The Mechanics of Reaction

• Medieval anti-sorcery formula applied to Renaissance scholar
• All learning dismissed as vain except Scripture (echoing Agrippa’s De Vanitate)
• But void filled with explicitly diabolical magic rather than evangelical Christianity

Political Implications

• Associates bad magic with anti-Spanish politics and Puritan “canting”
• References to raising armies against “Prince of Parma” and “old Philip’s treasury”
• May reflect knowledge of Dee’s continental mission and Rosicrucian connections

Target: John Dee

• Audiences would recognize Faustus as unfavorable reference to Dee
• Dee had publicly proclaimed following Agrippa in Mathematical Preface
• Play may have significantly contributed to Dee’s transformation from respected mathematician to suspected conjuror

Tamburlaine as Imperial Critique

The Imperial Theme Subverted

• Tamburlaine born under Venus and Saturn, dreams of world monarchy
• Uses all glorious trappings of imperial pageantry and Renaissance triumph imagery
• But rule is cruel tyranny without justice, virtue, or peace

Saturnian Aspiration

• Tamburlaine as inspired melancholic seeking universal knowledge and rule
• “Still climbing after knowledge infinite” with souls that “comprehend / The wondrous Architecture of the world”
• But aspiration leads to cruelty rather than wisdom

Contrast with Elizabethan Imperial Theme

• Elizabethan imperial propaganda emphasized just rule and pure religion
• Marlowe strips away moral justification, showing only tyranny and conquest
• May be deliberately subversive of Elizabeth cult and Spenserian imperial vision

Anti-Dee Implications

• Published around time of Dee’s return from continental mission
• Undermines imperial themes central to Dee’s “British Empire” vision
• Devalues connection between imperial triumph and establishment of virtue

The Jew of Malta as Antisemitic Fantasy

Modern Post-Expulsion Jew

• Barabbas not medieval Jew but modern commercial figure using widespread trading connections
• Represents extraordinary developments in Jewish commercial success
• Acknowledges Jewish wealth “by farre then those that brag of faith”

Traditional Antisemitic Accusations

• Uses old slanders: poisoning wells, murdering Christians, spreading disease
• But frameworks them in cleverly constructed play with poetic language
• Designed to turn audience into antisemitic mob

The Lopez Connection

• Play gained renewed popularity after Lopez execution (1594)
• May have been aimed originally at Lopez as well-known Jew in England
• Execution revived interest with many performances to large houses

Broader Target: Philosemitism

• Real crisis may have been suspicion of philosemitic persons in high positions
• Were some considering admission of Jews to England?
• Lopez affair possibly “tip of iceberg” concealing larger policy debates

Marlowe’s Revolutionary Position

• Represents modern rigidity and reaction sweeping Europe
• Belongs to contemporary mood opposing Renaissance magic and religious reform
• Chief target appears to be Fairy Queen and all she implied of white magic, imperial reform, and Christian Cabala

Contrast with Spenser

• Spenser’s Faerie Queene: magical, fully Renaissance, but overtaken by reaction
• Marlowe’s propaganda: belongs to witch-hunt atmosphere against occult philosophy
• Elizabethan England in curious position where late Renaissance immediately overtaken by reaction

XII Shakespeare and Christian Cabala: Francesco Giorgi and The Merchant of Venice

The Play’s Structure and Themes

• Merchant of Venice (written mid-1590s) uses well-known plots: pound of flesh and three caskets
• Central theme is Law (Torah) rather than simple antisemitism
• Antonio the Christian merchant is title character, not Shylock the Jew

Contrast with Marlowe’s Jew of Malta

• Shakespeare’s Shylock dignified human being, not object of hatred
• No traditional Jew-baiting accusations
• Shylock’s savage state accounted for by persecution he has suffered
• Clear intention to reply to Marlowe’s antisemitic propaganda

The Trial Scene: Justice vs. Mercy

• Portia’s famous sermon pleads for mercy to temper justice
• “The quality of mercy is not strain’d, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven”
• Traditionally interpreted as allegory of Old Law vs. New Law of Love

Daniel Banes’ Cabalist Interpretation

• Banes argues strong influence of Giorgi’s De harmonia mundi
• Characters equated with Sephiroth of Cabalist Tree
• Shylock = Gevura/Din (Judgment/Severity)
• Antonio = Hesed (Loving Kindness)
• Portia = Tiphereth (Beauty/Mercy) mediating between opposites

The Conversion Theme

• Portia’s arguments for mercy possibly based on Jewish-Cabalist rather than Christian lines
• Mercy not monopoly of Christians but enjoined in Jewish law and Cabalist mysticism
• Theme of conversion vital contemporary issue that Giorgi’s “Judaising” philosophy addressed

The Universal Harmony Scene

• Lorenzo and Jessica (Christian and converted Jewess) gaze at night sky
• Supreme formulation of music of spheres theme in Venetian context
• “Look how the floor of heaven / Is thick inlaid with patens of bright gold”
• Angels singing in celestial spheres, especially “young-eyed cherubins”

Giorgi’s Influence on the Harmony Passage

• Immediate inspiration likely from Giorgi’s poetic expositions of universal harmony
• Giorgi’s analyses of angelic hierarchies with planetary spheres
• Cherubim belong with highest celestial sphere (fixed stars)
• Universal harmony heard in Venice, reconciling Christians and Jews

The Three Caskets and Religious Symbolism

• Gold, silver, and lead caskets possibly represent three great religions
• Bassanio (representing Judaism) chooses lead casket of Saturn
• Saturn represents Jewish religion in Giorgi’s system
• Choice based on Proverbs: “Choose my discipline, and not silver; / Choose understanding, and not fine gold”

Jessica and the Wisdom-Torah Theme

• Jessica’s name possibly from Iscah (Genesis 11:29)
• Bassanio choosing lead gains Portia (Christian Princess)
• Movement among mysteries of Wisdom-Torah and Sephardic religious love songs

The Venetian Context

• Play evokes Venice of Francesco Giorgi, the Cabalist Friar
• Jews and Christians in Venice, Jewish-Christian marriage
• Distills very different atmosphere from Marlowe’s antisemitic propaganda

Reply to Marlowe

• Can live with Spenserian magic unlike Marlowe’s witch-hunt atmosphere
• Shakespeare appears sympathetic to Spenserian-Giorgi Christian Cabalist philosophy
• Contemporary with Spenser’s Foure Hymnes (1596) emphasizing Neoplatonic mysticism with Cabalist undertones

XIII Agrippa and Elizabethan Melancholy: George Chapman’s Shadow of Night

The Mystery of Chapman’s Poem

• The Shadow of Night (1594) describes “humour of the night” - sad, weeping, devoted to studies
• Contrasts profound contemplations of Night with foolish activities of Day
• Vision of Moon rising in magical splendour from darkness

The Hidden Theme: Inspired Melancholy

• Chapman never uses word “melancholy” but describes its characteristics
• Dark, weeping, nocturnal humour = melancholy humour
• Based on Agrippa’s account of inspired melancholy and its stages

Visual Influences: Dürer’s Melencolia I

• Chapman influenced by Dürer’s imagery in poetic formulation
• Robert Burton mentions Dürer’s Melencolia I by name in Anatomy of Melancholy
• Elizabethan noblemen might have owned copies from continental travels

The First Stage: Imaginative Inspiration

• Chapman’s “working soul” in “court of skill” reaching “all secrets”
• Parallels Dürer’s Melancholy with tools of skill and learning
• “No pen can any thing eternal write, / That is not steept in humour of the night”

The Black-Faced Figure

• “Mens faces glitter, and their hearts are blacke, / But thou (great Mistresse of heavens gloomie racke) / Art blacke in face, and glitterst in thy heart”
• Echoes Dürer’s Melancholy with swarthy face and money-bags
• Dark figure secretly endowed with power, wealth, and Art

Comparison with Gerung’s Melancholia (1558)

• Matthias Gerung’s painting shows Dürer influence: winged melancholy figure in darkness
• Contrasts meditative melancholy figures with active worldly occupations
• May be copy of lost Dürer engraving of Melencolia II (second stage)

The Day-Night Antithesis

• Chapman’s word-picture parallels Gerung’s visual composition
• Day’s “sorted men to sorted tasks addressed” vs. Night’s contemplation
• Conventional debate between active and contemplative lives

Political Melancholy: The Second Stage

• Movement into second Agrippan stage: moral insight and utopian dreaming
• Hercules urged to “cleanse the beastly stable of the world”
• Parallels “malcontent” humour and Hamlet’s “nighted humour”

The Hymnus in Cynthiam: Third Stage

• Moon as “our empresse” (Queen Elizabeth I) in “all-ill-purging purity”
• Elizabeth’s “magicke authority” in chaste imperial reform
• Prophetic grade of inspired melancholy brought into Elizabeth cult

Imperial Symbolism

• “Set thy Christal, and Imperiall throne… Gainst Europe’s Sunne directly opposite”
• References Charles V’s imperial device: “Pax imperii” between two pillars
• Elizabeth as chaste Moon opposing evil Sun of papacy and Spanish aggression

White Magic and Chastity

• Vision of Elizabeth “enchantress-like” in white magical moonlight
• “Then in thy clear and Isie Pentacle / Now execute a Magicke miracle”
• Chastity guarantees white magic, religious and Cabalist

The Banquet of Sense (1595)

• Richly erotic poem following Shadow of Night
• Not contradiction but completion: Venus influences tempering Saturn
• Venereal theme raised to celestial and angelic level
• Comparison to Spenser’s approach in Hymnes and Faerie Queene

Defense of the Occult Philosophy

• Reply to Marlowe’s attack in Doctor Faustus
• Restatement of Dee-Spenser traditions in obscure form
• Vindication of noble Saturnian melancholics carrying on Dee science and magic

The “School of Night” Connection

• Chapman’s preface mentions noblemen devoted to deep studies
• “Girt with Saturn’s adamantine sword” - Saturnian character of group
• Earl of Northumberland, Thomas Hariot, possibly Walter Raleigh
• Represents retreat into deeper occultism under threat of reactions

European Context

• Parallel to Emperor Rudolf II’s melancholy retreat from Counter-Reformation
• Both Elizabeth and Rudolf seen as outposts of liberal Renaissance outlook
• Düreresque imagery may reflect similar cult of Agrippan melancholy at imperial courts

XIV Shakespearean Fairies, Witches, Melancholy: King Lear and the Demons

The Phoenix Nest (1593)

• Collection begins with lament for Leicester, elegies for Sidney
• Poems by Dyer, Raleigh, other circle members infused with melancholy
• Allusions to Cynthia, chastity, Spenserian Elizabeth-cult
• Seem to plead for return to Spenserian-Elizabethan outlook and traditions

Shakespearean Fairies and the Elizabeth Cult

The Merry Wives of Windsor

• Fairies employed to point moral of chastity, punish Falstaff’s lust
• Write Order of Garter motto in flowers, decorate Garter Chapel
• Defenders of chaste queen and pure knighthood
• Perform white magic to safeguard queen and knighthood from evil influences

Literary and Religious Origins

• Not manifestations of folk tradition but literary and religious
• Origins in Arthurian legend and white magic of Christian Cabala
• Fairy imagery begun in Accession Day Tilts, related to chivalric imagery
• Spenserian fairy imagery: Arthurian, chivalric, Christian Cabalist magic

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Imperial Votaress Passage

• Oberon describes Cupid’s shaft quenched “in the chaste beams of the watery moon”
• “Imperial votaress passed on, / In maiden meditation, fancy free”
• Brilliant summary of Elizabeth cult as representative of imperial reform

Visual Parallels

• “Sieve” portrait of Elizabeth: chastity emblem, imperial column, British shipping
• Both portrait and Shakespeare’s lines are Triumphs of Chastity
• Petrarchan Trionfi model: purity in both public and private life

Connection to Spenser and Raleigh

• Shakespeare presents Gloriana-Belphoebe of Spenser’s description to Raleigh
• “Watery moon” may pun on “Walter” (Raleigh’s Cynthia cult)
• Complex allusion to Spenserian dream-world and magical cult of Imperial Virgin

Love’s Labour’s Lost and the “School of Night”

The Dark Lady and Black Complexion

• Berowne’s love for dark Rosaline evokes criticism of “school of night”
• “Black is the badge of hell, / The hue of dungeons and the school of night”
• Possible allusion to Chapman’s poem or Saturnian philosopher group

Inspired Melancholy Theme

• Berowne’s black love teaches melancholy with furor of inspiration
• King recognizes inspired melancholy: “What zeal, what fury hath inspired thee now?”
• Connection to Agrippan demons and melancholy theory

The Universal Harmony

• Through black love, Berowne hears harmony “as sweet and musical / As bright Apollo’s lute”
• “When love speaks, the voice of all the gods / Make heaven drowsy with the harmony”
• Good Saturnian distinguished from wicked conjuror

Religious Justification

• “For charity itself fulfils the law: / And who can sever love from charity”
• Similar to Portia’s arguments about Law in Merchant of Venice
• Astonishing virtuosity in Shakespeare’s use of esoteric imagery

As You Like It: The Melancholy Jacques

• Jacques represents inspired melancholy of moralising kind
• Classical Ajax connection to melancholy madness theory
• “Under the shade of melancholy boughs” in Forest of Arden
• Inspired to speak truth: “give me leave / To speak my mind, and I will through and through / Cleanse the foul body of the infected world”

Hamlet: The Supreme Melancholic

The Ghost and Occult Atmosphere

• Opens in darkness with awful apparition
• Problem: devil’s invention or prophetic inspiration?
• Hamlet’s melancholy: inspired vision or diabolic possession?

The Prophetic Soul

• Ghost reveals murder story, Hamlet cries “O my prophetic soul”
• But continues doubting: “The spirit that I have seen / May be the devil”
• Theory of diabolic possession of witches vs. inspired melancholy

Vindication Through the Play

• Play-within-play proves ghost gave truly inspired insight
• Hamlet’s black humour proven prophetic rather than diabolical
• Must “cleanse” the “nasty sty” like other inspired melancholics

Universal Harmony Broken

• World so disobedient to Law that harmony inaudible
• Sweet bells “jangled out of tune and harsh”
• Melancholy of prophet in corrupted world

King James I and the Witchcraft Problem

• James’s Daemonologie (1587) classed Agrippa with bad conjurors
• Opposed Christian Cabala, condemned fairies as bad spirits
• Disliked Spenser’s poem for criticism of his mother
• Would side with Marlowe in seeing inspired melancholy as damnable

Macbeth: The School of Night Indeed

• Dark night of melancholy witchcraft over Scotland
• Witches incite murder, evil necromancy prevails
• Angels heard only in judgment, no good fairies
• Very far from Spenserian world of white magic

King Lear: The Tragedy of British Imperial Theme

Spenserian Source

• Story of King Lear told at length in Faerie Queene as part of “British Chronicle”
• Shakespeare choosing “Brutan” theme of sacred British descent
• Strange choice: dire tragedy of ingratitude rather than triumphant history

Cosmic Ingratitude

• British monarch gives away empire to ungrateful people
• Theme heightened to cosmic proportions
• Turned out into storm, utterly destitute except for Fool and apparent madman

Tom o’ Bedlam and Faked Possession

• Edgar disguised as escaped lunatic possessed by devils
• Uses devil-names from Harsnett’s Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603)
• Harsnett exposed Jesuit faked exorcisms for political purposes
• Shakespeare raises question of whether demonic scares falsely manipulated

The Dee Connection

• Amazing possibility: ancient British monarch = John Dee
• Architect of British Empire idea now suffering base ingratitude
• Claimed descent from British kings, belonged to Spenserian tradition
• Third period: banished from court, total neglect, bitter poverty
• Pursued by false accusations of demonic possession (black magic charges)

Historical Allegory

• Tragedy of imperial theme of Elizabethan age sung by Spenser
• Nourished by Dee’s work but broken in dark hour of disillusion
• Published 1590 during Dee’s disgrace, entering harder world

XV Prospero: The Shakespearean Magus

The Elizabethan Revival in the Jacobean Age

• Prince Henry’s anti-Spanish leadership encouraged hope
• Patronised old Elizabethan school: Chapman, imprisoned Raleigh
• Fairy imagery revived in prince’s circle and masques

Prince Henry’s Masques and Arthurian Revival

• Dekker’s Whore of Babylon (1607) recreates Shakespearean fairy imagery
• Titania figures “our late Queen Elizabeth,” opposed to Babylon/Rome
• Prince appears in “Barriers” and “Oberon” as Fairy Prince aided by Merlin
• Continuation of Elizabethan Fairy Queen traditions

Princess Elizabeth and Protestant Symbolism

• Associated with late Queen Elizabeth as pure Protestant heroine
• The Tempest performed before Princess Elizabeth for Protestant wedding
• Marriage to Elector Palatine misliked by pro-Spanish interests

Prospero as Dee-like Magus

• Frank Kermode (1954) noted Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia influence
• White magic emphasized through chastity requirements
• Contrasted with black magic of witch Sycorax
• Good conjuror who transported valuable library to island

Vindication of the Occult Philosophy

• Returns to magical world of late Virgin Queen
• Defends white magician Doctor Dee in Prospero figure
• Beneficent magus uses magical science for utopian ends
• Climax of long spiritual struggle, vindicates Dee science and conjuring

Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist (1610)

• Contemporary satirical attack on occult sciences
• Subtle the alchemist as charlatan cheat, also drawn from Dee
• Parodies Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica and Mathematical Preface
• Attacks “Elizabethan revival” through fake vision of Fairy Queen as whore

The Reaction vs. the Revival

• Jonson writing from viewpoint of reaction against Elizabethanism
• James feared Spain and Jesuits but nervous of son’s active Protestantism
• Jonson became court favorite, wrote masques flattering James
• Subtle cleared out by returning owner vs. Prospero’s magical control

Shakespeare vs. Jonson on Poetry

• Shakespeare’s Tempest infused with spiritual alchemy and transformation
• Poetry as magic, spell-binding use of words
• Jonson preferred polished criticism over natural inspiration
• Attack on magical poetry in Alchemist preface against “naturals”

The Stratford Monument

• Memorial bust shows fixed gaze, trance-like expression, half-open mouth
• Friends emphasized poet of inspiration “who never blotted a line”
• Memorial emphasizes inspired utterance rather than learned craftsmanship

Part III: The Survival of the Tradition

XVI Christian Cabala and Rosicrucianism

The Giorgi-Fludd Connection

• Robert Fludd’s Utriusque cosmi historia (1617-19) heavily influenced by Giorgi
• Represents Giorgi philosophy in later form, associated with Rosicrucian movement
• Raises question: Was Christian Cabala influence really Rosicrucianism from beginning?

The Development of the Rosicrucian Name

• Not secret society from start but European Renaissance philosophy
• Acquired “Rosicrucian” name when associated with Elizabethanism
• Connected to Tudor Rose, Dee’s scientific British imperialism
• Messianic movement for uniting Europeans against Catholic-Hapsburg powers

Spenser’s Faerie Queene as Rosicrucian

• Red Cross Knight as moving spirit of occult Protestantism
• Already Rosicrucian poem before “Christian Rosenkreutz” appeared in Germany
• German manifestos (1614-15) reflect Dee’s philosophy from continental mission

The English-German Transition

• Red Cross Knight became Christian Rosenkreutz through Dee’s influence
• German manifestos contain tract based on Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica
• Dee philosophy naturally translated English knight into German figure

The Tempest as Rosicrucian Manifesto

• Prospero represents magical Renaissance philosophy in Elizabethan revival
• Bold affirmation made before printed German manifestos
• Performed before future Winter King and Queen of Bohemia
• Shakespeare’s blessing on exported Elizabethan occult philosophy

The Mersenne Attack (1623)

• Mersenne’s Quaestiones in Genesim fierce attack on Renaissance Neoplatonism
• Particularly targets Giorgi’s De harmonia mundi and Problemata
• Large polemic against Fludd and Rosicrucians
• Marks transition from Renaissance to scientific revolution

The Two Paths to Science

• Mersenne banishes Giorgi from his Universal Harmony
• Mathematics replaces numerology, magic banished
• Contrast: Baconian science grows in warm Rosicrucian atmosphere
• Mersenne afraid of heretical associations vs. Bacon’s constructive Hebraism

Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis

• Recognizable as Christian Cabalist community with red cross and Jesus’s name
• Jews among inhabitants who “love the nation of Bensalem extremely”
• Jewish merchant believes Moses ordained Bensalem’s laws by “secret cabala”
• Illustrates Christian Cabala’s role in better Christian-Jewish relations

XVII The Occult Philosophy and Puritanism: John Milton

Elizabethan Puritan Renaissance Elements

• Strong Puritan elements in Spenser’s Faerie Queene and Sidney-Leicester circle
• Renaissance culture combined with Puritan reform
• “Puritan occultism”: Puritan version of occult philosophy

The Elizabethan-Miltonic Succession

• Leicester, Sidney, Spenser as courtly Elizabethan Puritans
• Milton’s vision: nation of chosen people to lead Protestant Europe
• Similar to Spenser’s vision of England and Elizabeth as chosen for religious role
• Difference: Milton republican vs. Spenser’s monarchism

The Arthurian-Biblical Transition

• Milton initially planned chivalrous Arthurian poem
• Thirty years later wrote Biblical epic Paradise Lost with Adam as hero
• Transposed early enthusiasm for chivalrous epic into Biblical epic
• Reflected enthusiasm for Puritan Revolution as successor to failed Rosicrucian revolution

Robert Fludd as Mediating Influence

• Recent scholarship points to Fludd as main influence on Milton’s angels and demons
• Fludd in direct descent from Giorgi-Dee tradition, identified with Rosicrucianism
• Milton’s educational scheme based on arts and sciences, mathematical arts
• Related to “universal harmony” tradition, no relation to scholastic Aristotelianism

ristian Cabala in Milton

• Denis Saurat first suggested Cabalist influence on Milton
• R.J.Z. Werblowsky distinguished Christian from Jewish Cabala influence
• “Milton influenced by Christian post-Renaissance Cabala in its pre-Lurianic phase”
• Robert Fludd’s Christian Cabala as major influence

The Missing Link

• Influence of Christian Cabala via Agrippa-Giorgi-Dee on Spenser’s epic
• Fludd as inheritor of Elizabethan Cabalism that influenced Spenser
• Milton inherited Neoplatonic Christian Cabala of Elizabethan age
• Poetic sequence: Milton admirer of Spenser, writing epic with Spenserian influence

Messianic Patriotism

• Milton inheritor of Spenser’s Hebraic type of patriotism
• Idea of messianic task implicit in Elizabethan Spenserianism and queen-cult
• Found in Bacon’s Bensalem and Raleigh’s influence
• Continuity between Miltonic and Spenserian messianism

Il Penseroso and Inspired Melancholy

• Milton describes dark face of Melancholy hiding saintly visage
• Saturn’s daughter brings “cherub Contemplation”
• Hermetic trance with visions of immortal mind and demons
• Three stages leading to prophetic experience in old age

Renaissance Puritanism

• Milton’s Puritanism infused with Renaissance influences like Spenser’s
• Revolutionary freedom combined with Renaissance traditions
• Attractive to Italian academicians who met him on Italian visit
• Puritan England refuge from continental suppression of Renaissance culture

The Rosicrucian-Puritan Connection

• Rosicrucian movement failed on continent, refugees poured into Puritan England
• Puritan revolution took over aspects of projected Rosicrucian revolution
• English translation of Rosicrucian manifestos published in Cromwellian England
• Dee’s philosophy cultivated by earnest Parliamentarians

XVIII The Return of the Jews to England

The Long Absence (1290-1660s)

• Official expulsion by Edward I in 1290
• Through reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth, James I, Charles I
• Some clandestine Jewish presence but small numbers
• Only as converted Jews possible to live openly, still at risk

The Puritan Paradox

• Whole Christian Cabala movement passed without acknowledged Jewish presence
• Puritan movement with Hebraic religion occurred without acknowledged Jews
• Return of Jews virtually culmination of gradual attitude change

Menasseh ben Israel’s Background

• Born 1604, brought to Amsterdam as child by parents escaping Portuguese Inquisition
• Became rabbi in Amsterdam, famous for writings attracting Gentile readers
• Ardent Lurianic Cabalist looking for Messiah’s coming

The Cromwell Connection

• Cromwell’s Puritan sympathy with Jews nourished by Old Testament devotion
• Contacts between English Puritans and Amsterdam community
• Some English Puritans emigrated to Amsterdam, adopted Judaism
• Hope that purified Christianity would bring Jewish conversion and millennium

Messianic Geography

• Menasseh believed Messiah wouldn’t come until Jews scattered to earth’s ends
• England as remote corner where Jews not yet established
• Settlement in island would hasten Messiah’s appearance
• Connected with rumors about Lost Tribes of Israel

The Hope of Israel (1650)

• Menasseh’s influential book expounding messianic views
• Reminiscent of Francis Bacon’s Hebraic mysticism in New Atlantis
• Published in Latin, English, and Spanish translations

The 1655 Mission

• Menasseh came to England invited by Cromwell
• Great interest and excitement, favored by liberal and learned
• Opposition from antisemitism and detrimental legends
• Popular opposition forced Cromwell to abandon project

arles II and Quiet Success

• Expected abandonment at Restoration didn’t happen
• Charles II allowed Jewish settlement unobtrusively
• Avoided controversy, made settlement practically possible
• Anglo-Jewry in modern form began like Royal Society

Puritan-Jewish Messianic Parallels

• Both movements in excited expectation of divine event
• Puritans: Second Coming and Christian millennium
• Jews: intensive Lurianic Cabalist meditation for Messiah’s advent
• Possible mutual influence between movements

Sabbatai Sevi and the Messianic Climax

• Sabbatai Sevi (born 1625) revealed himself as Messiah (1665)
• Immense excitement in all Jewish communities east and west
• Culmination of Cabalist movements intensified by 1492 Expulsion
• Disastrous turn when Sabbatai apostatized to Islam (1666)

English Puritan Influences on Sabbatianism

• Sabbatai’s father was agent for English Puritan merchants in Smyrna
• Possible contacts between Puritan millennialism and Jewish messianism
• Curious Christian influences on Sabbatai Sevi
• Milton’s Paradise Regained (1671) possibly influenced by contemporary messianism

The Scientific Revolution Aftermath

• Neither millennium nor Messiah came as expected
• Great tide of spiritual effort left Science on shores of time
• Royal Society founded 1660 as tangible evidence of Science’s arrival

Rembrandt’s Inspired Scholar

• Etching (c.1651-3) shows figure immersed in profound studies
• Vision of rays of light through circular combination of letters
• INRI (Christ monogram) in central circle
• AGLA formula (from Eighteen Benedictions) in outer ring
• Both Christian and Jewish religious content in vision
• Represents Christian Cabalist to whom Divine Name revealed in melancholy labors

Epilogue

The Need for Further Study

• History of Christian Cabala not yet adequately attempted
• Jewish Cabala well-studied through Scholem’s fundamental works
• No corresponding work on Christian Cabala yet available
• Particularly lacking: definition of Christian vs. Jewish Cabala

The Historical Importance

• New approach to Judeo-Christian tradition in Renaissance Hebrew revival
• Christian Cabalists appropriated Jewish mysticism for Christian ends
• Parallels early Christianity’s appropriation of Jewish religion
• Neglected way into European spiritual history at momentous turning-point

Fundamental Questions Remaining

• Effect of different Messianic expectations on Christian vs. Jewish Cabala
• Impact of yoking Cabala with Hermeticism (Moses with Hermes Trismegistus)
• Connection between Christian Cabala and witch craze reactions
• All require study beginning with Pico della Mirandola as founder

This Book’s Contribution

• Provisional account awaiting better, expert treatment
• Argues “occult philosophy of Elizabethan age” was Christian Cabalist philosophy
• Based on two approaches: history of Christian Cabala and iconographical analysis
• Combination of Renaissance Hermetic-Cabalist thought with imagery of pure religion

The Jerusalem and Albion Theme

• Elizabethan Renaissance absorbs Hermetic-Cabalist tradition with Arthurian associations
• Root of Spenser, Shakespeare also seen as Spenserian
• Wedding of Jerusalem and Albion fundamental for English poetic imagination
• Already begun in Elizabethan age

The Ultimate Meaning

• Esoteric imagery of darkness and light represents search for God
• “If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me: then shall my night be turned to day”
• “The darkness and light to thee are both alike”
• Psalm 139 as final statement of mystical quest underlying the tradition