RosicRucian - AMORC

Today you can visit the settlement at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, where,after the death of Kelpius, some few surviving members of the originalgroup travelled to join Conrad Beissel in carrying on their mysticalstudies.Streets Philadelphia, where Dr. Witt had lived andworked, was finally torn down in 1914.AstronomyIn addition to the garden, there was a telescopeat the Glen, and both astronomy andastrology were studied. Copies of some early“nativities” or horoscopes cast there may befound in the books of the Pietist Dr. JuliusFriedrich Sachse. This study of the heavens wasregarded as decidedly curious by some of theneighbours.The Rittenhouse family (Rittenhuysen,Rittinghuis, Rittenhausen) settled in the area in1688. David Rittenhouse went on to become astatesman, astronomer and mathematician. Indeed,Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse AstronomicalSociety is named after him. It was in theWissahickon wilderness, that the youngRittenhouse learned astronomy underthe guidance of the Hermits and Dr.Christopher Witt?Education and LiteratureOne of the best things about the settlerswas their desire for fellowship. Throughherbal lore, healing and teachingthey reached out to all their German,Quaker, Swedish and Native Americanneighbours.The importance they put oneducation may be seen in this excerptfrom an account of the early days,unsigned, but possibly written byDaniel Falkner: “For we are resolved, besidesgiving public instruction to the little children ofthis country, to take many of them to ourselvesso as to lay in them the foundation of a stablepermanent character. With them the beginningmust be made, otherwise there will be onlymending and patching of the old people.” (7 thAugust 1694) The teaching continued underSeelig and Matthai.As to the creative arts, very little hassurvived, but there are enough pages toindicate that creative thought flourishedin Wissahickon Glen. Kelpius’ Diarium,or diary, remains, with copies of letters.Also surviving is another description of thevoyage from England possibly penned byDaniel Falkner. We have Falkner’s CurieuseNachricht, which spurred the increase ofGerman immigration to Pennsylvania. There isstill preserved a portrait of Kelpius by Dr. Witt.Also surviving the centuries is a collection ofpoetry in German by several members of thegroup, including Kelpius, Seelig and Koster,As to the creative arts, very little hassurvived today…along with the remarkable manuscript of poetryand music, The Lamenting Voice of the HiddenLove. There also exists Dr. Witt’s translation ofKelpius’ Method of Prayer, along with a beautifultwelve-verse poem, very balanced and carefullyfashioned, called “Der einsahmer Turteltauben”signed by Johann Gottfried Seelig and dated 1707.Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Astronomical Society is named after DavidRittenhouse. It was in the Wissahickon wilderness, that the youngRittenhouse learned astronomy under the guidance of the Hermits.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200943