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204
HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS.
their company, and their wives and daughters are seldom
visible. They transcend all the others in beauty, for they
are natives of a purer element." l
III. In the third place, the Eosicrucian manifestoes con-
tain the doctrine of the signatura rerum, which again is of
Paracelsian origin. This is the " magical writing " referred
to in the "Fama," and the mystic characters of that " Book
of Nature " which, according to the " Confessio," stands
open "for all eyes," but " can be read or understood by only
a very few." These characters are the seal of God im-
printed " on the wonderful work of creation, on the heavens,
the earth, and on all beasts." 2 This "signature of things " is
described by Paracelsus as "a certain organic vital activity,"
which is frequently " expressed even in the exterior form of
things ; and by observing that form we may learn something
in regard to their interior qualities, even without using our
interior sight. We see that the internal character of a man
is often expressed in his exterior appearance, even in the
manner of his walking and in the sound of his voice. Like-
wise the hidden character of things is to a certain extent
expressed in their outward forms. As long as man remained
in a natural state, he recognised the signatures of
things and knew their true character; but the more he
diverged from the path of Nature, and the more his mind
became captivated by illusive external appearances, the
more this power became lost."
:
The same doctrine is de-
veloped by the most distinguished disciple of Paracelsus,
the Kentish Rosicrucian, Robert Fludd.
"
There are other
invisible writings, secretly impressed on the leaves of
1 " Comte de Gabalis." Second Entretien.
2 "Confessio Fraternatis," c. viii.
:i Hartmann's "Paracelsus," pp. 51, 52.