Alchemy texts archives - The Comte de St Germain manuscript

Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998
From: Adam Audette

I am interested in discussing the work by the Comte de St Germain
entitled 'La Tres Sainte Trinosophie' [The Most Holy Trinosophia,
or "The Most Holy Three-fold Wisdom"]. I have recently aqcuired the
edition by Manly Hall that contains excellent historical
information as well as Mr. Hall's own peculiarly insightful
commentaries on the manuscript. Included as well is a complete
photostatic fascimile of the original in French and an english
translation.

Mr. Hall mentions St Germain's work as "The rarest of occult
manuscripts", and further states that yet one more work by St
Germain was in his possession at the time of this publishing,
"...and will be published". I have contacted the Philosophical
Research Society about this unknown manuscript, and I was assured
that it does exist and is in their possession. It is doubtful if it
will ever see a printing, and I was unable to get any information
on it. It is available for viewing at PRS in microfilm or photocopy.

La Tres Sainte Trinosophie is MS. No. 2400 in the French Library at
Troyes.

The Most Holy Trinosophia is truly a brilliant work; in its
apparent simplicity it reads as a wonderfully imaginative tale
comparable to the Chemical Marriage, but like the latter this is
only on the superficial level. The title of the manuscript attests
to a deeper significance and a larger breadth. As Mr. Hall writes,
"The word "Trinosophie" quite properly infers a triple meaning to
the contents of the book, in other words that its meaning should be
interpreted with the aid of three keys. From the symbolism it seems
that one these keys is alchemy...; another Essenian Cabbalism; and
the third Alexandrian Hermetism, the mysticism of the later
Egyptians."

In addition to its significance as an alchemical fable, the
manuscript is also seemingly an esoteric manual for the disciples
of St Germain. Furthermore, "...the French is scholarly and
dramatic, and the text is embellished with numerous figures, well
drawn and brilliantly colored. In addition to the full-page
drawings there are small symbols at the beginning and end of each
of the sections. Throughout the French text there are scattered
letters, words, and phrases in several ancient languages. There are
also magical symbols, figures resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics,
and a few words in character resembling cuneiform. At the end of
the manuscript are a number of leaves written in arbitrary ciphers,
possibly the code used by St.Germain's secret society. The work was
probably executed in the latter part of the eighteenth century,
though most of the material belongs to a considerably earlier
period."[Hall, INTRO. XXXII-]

Next Hall quotes extensively from a Mr. Edward C. Getsinger, "...an
eminent authority on ancient alphabets and languages, who is now
engaged in the decoding of the primitive ciphers in the Book of
Genesis." If anyone has further knowledge of this Mr. Getsinger and
his work, it would be appreciated. This is the first mention of his
name I have come across.

Here are Getsinger's notes (in part) regarding the La Tres Sainte
Trinosophie:

"In order to decipher ancient writings of a religious or
philosophic nature, it is first necessary to discover the code or
method of concealment used by the scribe. In all my twenty years of
experience as a reader of archaic writings I have never encountered
such ingenious codes and methods of concealment as are found in
this manuscript. In only a few instances are complete phrases
written in the same alphabet; usually two or three forms of writing
are employed, with letters written upside down, reversed, or with
the text written backwards. Vowels are often omitted, and at times
several letters are missing with merely dots to indicate their
number. Every combination of hieroglyphics seemed hopeless at the
beginning, yet, after hours of alphabetic dissection, one familiar
word would appear. This gave a clue as to the language used, and
established a place where word combinations might begin, and then a
sentence would gradually unfold."

"The various texts are written in Chaldean Hebrew, Ionic Greek,
Arabic, Syriac, cuneiform, Greek hieroglyphics, and ideographs. The
keynote throughout this material is that of the approach of the age
when the Leg of the Grand Man and the Waterman of the Zodiac [Orion
& Aquarius?
-AA] shall meet in conjunction at the equinox and end a grand
400,000 year cycle. This points to a culmination of eons, as
mentioned in the Apocalypse: "Behold! I make a new heaven and a new
earth", meaning a series of new cycles and a new humanity."

I sense this is last comment is a reference to the precession of
the equinoxes and the Sun's entrance into Aquarius. Although
straying a bit from alchemy directly, and obviously fostering a
contagious sense of mystery, this book has opened a new field of
speculation for me that I would like to research further. If anyone
has done independent work with this manuscript, or has other
information on any of these points it would be welcome.

In Fellowship,
Adam

Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998
From: Marcos Steiner

Dear Adam Audette,

I´ve the spanish version in my biblioteque "la santisima trinosofia"
conde de saint german biblioteca esoterica, traduccion de "la tres
sainte trinosophie (manuscrito de troyes)

greetings,

Marcos Steiner

Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998
From: Robert Word

Adam Audette wrote:

> Mr. Hall mentions St Germain's work as "The rarest of occult
> manuscripts", and further states that yet one more work by St
> Germain was in his possession at the time of this publishing,
> "...and will be published". I have contacted the Philosophical
> Research Society about this unknown manuscript, and I was assured
> that it does exist and is in their possession. It is doubtful if it
> will ever see a printing, and I was unable to get any information
> on it. It is available for viewing at PRS in microfilm or photocopy.

This obscure manuscript attributed to le Comte de Saint-Germain is the
"triangular book", and it is a work of magickal rituals.

I have handled two different copies of this work which are (or were)
possessed by the PRS. I looked at the works around 1979, at the time
that Manley Hall was President of the Society.

Both copies were bound as volumes in triangular form. Of the two copies
which I regarded, one was under a red colored cover, and the other was a
rather darkish color, but I don't recall the exact hue of the latter at
this point. I recall that one of the two copies had a notice indicating
that it emanated from the archives of a Lodge of the Grand Orient de
France located in New York City. If indeed it emanated from a masonic
archive in that city, I don't know how it came to be in Mr. Hall's
possession. Perhaps he acquired it through initiation into an esoteric
circle loosely associated with the GO de France milieu.
Presumably he acquired it though, before becoming a regular mason circa
1957 if I recall correctly (the GO of France is no longer directly
affiliated with regular masonry however.)

The "triangular book" contains a text in cipher. The PRS is in
possession of the correct cipher, which turns out to be a simple
substitution cipher, and when deciphered, it becomes a ritual text
written in french. As I recall, there are two or three rituals, one of
which has the object to "lengthen the lifespan of a man to the age of
100 years with the strength and vigor of a man of 50 years." I seem to
recall that another one of the rituals has the object of uncovering
buried diamonds or riches. A cursory examination of the rituals
suggests a generic similarity with the Heptemeron of Petro d'Albano.

The PRS is in possession of a translation of the french ritual text of
the triangular book into english, which was made either by Manly Hall,
or at his behest.

It is probable that the present GO of France headquartered in Paris is
no longer in possession of any copies of the triangular book; it is
known that the Nazis stole all masonic documents during the occupation,
and the present Order in Paris is thought to be relatively impoverished
from a point of view of the archives formerly in their possession.
Neither have I seen any indication that the current Rosicrucian milieu
in Paris was in possession of this text in recent years.

The PRS does not allow the reproduction of the ritual texts of the
triangular book. On what authority they suppress a text which they
possess but did not originate is not clear, but we may speculate that
the question is tied in with a Rosicrucian lineage which they might
possess. It is known that Manly Hall worked a small private Rosicrucian
group within the confines of PRS, and that he also initiated Rosicrucian
transmissions to Plummer of the American SRIA. It is also known that
the Comte de Saint-Germain was connected with rosicrucian movements on
the continent, such as CBCS, and PRS might be under the pledge of a
rosicrucian transmission not to disseminate the material. Aside from
this consideration, their motivation to suppress the material is
unclear, since it appears to be a fairly innocuous work and typical of
superstitious productions of that ilk. (Possibly the Rosicrucian wing
of the PRS worked the ritual in their small private group, and hence
they did not wish to disseminate a working private ritual.) PRS did
publish one illustration out of the text in an issue of their house
publication many years ago, an act which apparantly did not contravene
their desire to suppress the ritual text itself.

The authenticity of the triangular book may be corroborated by allusions
to it from the works of Blavatsky. Nevertheless many years have now
passed since I looked into this, and I don't recall the precise
reference.

All the best,
REW

From: Adam McLean
Date: 15 Sep 1998

Robert Word wrote:
>I have handled two different copies of this work which are (or were)
>possessed by the PRS.

These late 18th century manuscripts are now in the possession of
the Getty Centre in Los Angeles which purchased part of the
Manly Palmer Hall collection a few years ago. This collection is open to
scholars, so it is possible for people to have access to these works.
The catalogue descriptions in the Ron Hogart catalogue of the PRS
can be summarised as follows.

Adam McLean

-----------------------

Manly Palmer Hall [P.R.S.] MS. 209.
31 folios. Parchment. Triangular. 210 x 244 x 244mm.
[Comte St. Germain] 'No. Soixante & Seize'. De la collection maconnique
du F : illustre F : Antoine Louis Moret fondateur, et Véné honoraire
de la R : ... La Sincerite No. 122. Ex president du Souv : Chap : la Triple
union Or : maitre, Elu, chevalier commandeur, patriarch, Prince & Govr :
Prince des tous les ordres macon : et des tous les Rites : Francais,
Ecossais, Anglais, irelandais, Prussiens, &c. &c. &c. Govr : G : insp :
Gene : du 33e degre S : P : D : E : Or : de : New York Etats unis L'am :
du Nord 5810.
Ex Dono Sapientissimi Comitis St. Germain Qui Orbem Terrarum Per Cucurrit.
[Blue and gold ink on various leaves of ruled parchment. Text in cypher
with three magical illustrations in gilt and several other colours of ink.]

Manly Palmer Hall [P.R.S.] MS. 210.
24 folios. Parchment. Triangular 237 x 237 x 235mm.
[Comte St. Germain.] Ex Dono Sapientissimi Comitis St. Germain Qui Orbem
Terrarum Per Cucurrit.

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998
From: Joel Tetard

A reprint of the St Germain's "Très Sainte Trinosophie" was published in 1971 by
the French editor E.P. Denoël (dealer : Retz ) (coll. Bibiotheca Hermetica) from
the manuscript of Troyes library (France).

Best regards.

Joel Tetard

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998
From: Tim Scott

The Getty Centre has an online database
of all their holdings, which lists 163 items in the Manly P Hall
collection. I looked pretty carefully at all the listings and did not
see one matching the description below.

This is interesting to me since the Getty Centre is not too terribly
far away and I was considering visiting this collection at some
time.

Perhaps someone better experienced than I with library science could
verify this.

An entry point to this database is at

http://opac.pub.getty.edu/screens/aboutiris.html

and you can view the entire Hall collection with this:

http://opac.pub.getty.edu/search/e?SEARCH=Manly+P+Hall

Best regards

Tim Scott

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998
From: Adam Audette

In response to Robert Word & Adam McLean:

Adam McLean is correct that the Getty Centre purchased the two
triangular manuscripts together with part of the PRS collection. I
did some further research on the history of these works and found
the following:

According to the large bibliography 'Alchemy - A Comprehensive
Bibliography of the Manly Palmer Hall Collection', Including
Related Material on Rosicrucianism and the Writings of Jacob
Boehme, edited by Ron. Charles Hogart with an intro. by Manly Hall
[published 1986]:

MS 209:

"This manuscript, bought from Frank Hollings, a London antiquary,
after 1933 (he apparently was unaware of the Hauser St. Germain
manuscript [MS 210 - below]) came from the occult library of Mme.
Barbe, who had it from the bibiographer Stanislaus de Guaita, who
in turn bought it at the auction of the library of Jules Favre. It
is a copy made from one of the magical texts in the possession of
St. Germain by the owner's permission. A number of such copies were
executed for the members of his Masonic lodge in Paris, and the
following manuscript, as different in style as it is, may be one of
the copies too. It is unclear in both cases whether the Comte St.
Germain wrote these magical formulae or owned a copy of an ancient
text. This manuscript was made for Antoine Louis Moret, a French
emigre to America active in Masonry and in politics."

MS 210:

"This manuscript was offered at the Hauser Sale in 1933 (item no.
527). The key to the cypher in an accompanying bound volume was
provided with the lot. A typed French transcription and English
translation are to be found in the bound volume, inserted in the
slip-case. Another French translation is in the bound volume
accompanying the other copy [MS 209] of this text, provided by the
bookseller.

The litany of St. Germain's miracles -- his eternal youthfulness,
his incomparable painting of pigments made from the colors
magically pulled out of gemstones, his endless wealth, his
invisibility, his brilliant sonatas and inspired performances, the
flaws removed from the King's diamonds, metals transmuted,
languages spoken, friends among the long-dead -- these and many
more tales, and a few unflattering references in the shards of
eighteenth century diplomancy constitute his whole legend, the
story of a man who whispered words of un-heeded advice in the ear
of Marie Antoinette and whose image remains the centerpiece of
newly fabricated mythologies. There remains a number of remarkable
contemporary testimonies and unsolved puzzles. As for hard
evidence, there is none.

St. Germain has been described as the greatest of the European
adepts. His prodigious knowledge of history and philosophy was
often commented upon in his day. In a letter to Frederick II,
Voltaire described St. Germain as "the man who does not die."

This manuscript bears an attribution on its face not independently
verified in any source."

There are two plates included with this information, one of what
looks like the frontispiece to MS 209 showing a dragon of magical
influences with a tail in lemniscate formation with a small head on
its end. The main head and the headed tail are pointing in opposing
directions, and the figure is winged with an arrow-shaped tongue
protruding from the main head. The notes tell us this is one of
three magical illustrations executed in gilt and several colors of
ink.

Personally, I was dissappointed to find that the content of these
manuscripts is of the more supersititious ilk. It seems that these
works, if actually written by St. Germain, were especially intended
for inner magical rituals among his initiates.

In fellowship,
Adam Audette

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998
From: Victoria Gevoian

Dear Adam Audette,
I wanted to know if this manuscript/book was truly in a triangular
shape? If so, I had heard from a very close source of the Hall's, that
this triangular shaped book, if indeed, triangular...was one of Manly's
most prized possessions. Did you actually see the book? And can one
enter the database of Getty museum to access it?

Victoria GaVoian

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998
From: Robert Word

Victoria Gevoian wrote:

> I wanted to know if this manuscript/book was truly in a triangular
> shape?

I have handled the manuscript in question, and it is indeed truly in a
triangular shape. Manly Hall possessed two copies of the same
manuscript; I handled both of them in 1979, and each was triangular in
shape.

This is a very inconvenient shape for a book; I presume this was done
for magickal reasons.

> If so, I had heard from a very close source of the Hall's, that
> this triangular shaped book, if indeed, triangular...was one of Manly's
> most prized possessions.

I handled the manuscript in 1979, and at that time, Manly Hall kept the
manuscripts in a Vault within the confines of the Library of the PRS.
The book was never out on open display at PRS to my knowledge. I am
very surprised to hear that PRS may have sold the manuscript.

> Did you actually see the book?

Yes. And I made copious notes of the manuscript text, which I still
possess somewhere or other.

> And can one enter the database of Getty museum to access it?

I have not been to the Getty Center, nor have I handled the manuscripts
after their (presumed) sale by PRS to the Getty Center. It remains to
verify with the Getty Center that they indeed now possess the Triangular
Book of the Comte de Saint Germain coming from PRS.

All the best,
Robert Word

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998
From: Adam Audette

Victoria Gevoian wrote:
>I wanted to know if this manuscript/book was truly in a triangular
shape?

Yes, both manuscripts [numbers 209 & 210 in the Manly Hall
collection - now in the possession of Getty, presumably] are
triangular in shape.

>If so, I had heard from a very close source of the Hall's, that
>this triangular shaped book, if indeed, triangular...was one of
>Manly's most prized possessions. Did you actually see the book?

Interesting...I would think if these manuscripts were indeed prized
additions to Hall's collection, that the society would especially
intend to retain them. However, this certainly does not have to be
the case.

I have not viewed either of the manuscripts, only the title
information and included plates in the Alchemy Bibliography of the
Hall collection. Robert Word, who wrote to this group on this topic
recently, has viewed both of these manuscripts.

>And can one enter the database of Getty museum to access it?

I believe you will only be able to access the bibliographic
information...it seems very improbable the works have been uploaded
to the Getty database.

Tim Scott recently offered these url's for accessing the library's
special collections:

An entry point to this database is at

http://opac.pub.getty.edu/screens/aboutiris.html

and you can view the entire Hall collection with this:

http://opac.pub.getty.edu/search/e?SEARCH=Manly+P+Hall

Hope this is of help,
Adam Audette

Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998
From: Victoria Gevoian

Dear Robert,
I have thought about this book (for some odd) reason, for years. I had
heard a close friend describe it to me and have been drawn by it since.
I don't quite understand my attachment to something I've never seen,
however you have freed me of regrets that I had not been better
acquainted with Mr. Hall when he was alive (having only met him once).
I had come in contact with Mrs. Marie Hall, just after his death. I
have been working on her works for the past 4-5 years. Her work was
very intense and a difficult read for some time. But finally it
clicked. I created a glossary to break her terms down and digested
everything I could find. Did you know Marie Hall then, or of her
work? I was just curious what people had thought of her. What was your
relationship to Manly or Marie? I will go to PRS and see if I can find
the english translation. I have a close friend who works at the Getty
Museum...she scans in the original art and corrects the color in
computer, etc. I will try to see if she can get me access. Thank you
so much for responding!
Best regards,
Victoria GeVoian

Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998
From: Robert Word

Victoria Gevoian wrote:

> Did you know Marie Hall then, or of her
> work? I was just curious what people had thought of her. What was your
> relationship to Manly or Marie? I will go to PRS and see if I can find
> the english translation. I have a close friend who works at the Getty
> Museum...she scans in the original art and corrects the color in
> computer, etc. I will try to see if she can get me access.

Dear Victoria,

My e-mail address is word@tiw.com, and if you will contact me there,
then I will see about making some of the materials of my notes available
to you. I have the text in french, an english translation which I made,
as well as copies of a portion of the cipher as well as the cipher key.
My notes might not be fully complete, but they do contain an accurate
indication of the contents of the text.

If you are acquainted with Marie Hall, you might obtain some relevant
materials from her. It might also be possible to obtain these materials
from the Getty Center, as Adam MacLean has pointed out.

The PRS made the triangular book materials available for my study in
1979. They did this even though I had never been a member of PRS, nor
personally acquainted with Manly Hall, or with others at the institute.
I met and spoke with Manly Hall on only one occasion, and he seemed one
of the most friendly and amiable people I have ever met. Also, I heard
Manly Hall speak on one occasion; this was in 1989, and it was one of
the most lucid lectures I have ever heard, all the more remarkable as he
was then very old, ill, and nearing the end of his life.

I have not been acquainted with Marie Hall either, although I have heard
that years ago she did some very interesting research on the early
rosicrucians in America.

All the best,
Robert Word

Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998
From: Victoria Gevoian

Adam Audette wrote:

> Interesting...I would think if these manuscripts were indeed prized
> additions to Hall's collection, that the society would especially
> intend to retain them. However, this certainly does not have to be
> the case.

Dear Adam,
Unfortunately, economics was the root cause for the sale of this
treasured text, along with a valuable set of Rosicrucian manuscripts
that were obtained by the Getty's. PRS had a tremendous legal bill
after Manly's death and I am very sad to say, the lawyers had control of
sales and had to be paid. It was not in the lawyers best interest to
sell the texts to anyone but the highest bidder...and it was very
difficult for Bibliotec to outbid the Getty's.

All the best,
Victoria GeVoian

Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998
From: Robert Word

I have received a number of requests for an english translation of the
text of the triangular book; this post contains the entire text as
contained in my notes of 1979.

The Triangular Book of the Count of St. Germain

The Holy Magic revealed to Moses discovered within an Egyptian monument
and preciously preserved in Asia under the emblem of a winged dragon.

1. To find things lost in the seas since the flooding of the globe. 2.
To discover mines and diamonds, gold and silver within the bowels of
the earth. 3. To preserve one's health and prolong one's life for a
century, and that with the freshness of fifty years, and the strength of
that age. You should do your operations for the first two objects only
when the sun, earth, and moon are found in conjunction in the same line,
and within the same plane. As for the third marvel, you may perform the
operation at any time, but it is necessary to carry on your person a
figure like that which you see here.

You shall take an appropriate vase (made of any material) and fill it
with fire which you shall exorcise in the following manner:

O Creature of Fire, I excorcise you by Him by whom all things were made
in order that you shall remove from yourself all phantoms.

Bless it, O eternal Father, for the glory of thy holy and immortel Name.
Thou who lives and reigns through all the centuries of the centures.

A Levite which you shall have with you shall respond: AMEN. Next, you
shall bless the incense and four lamps in the following manner: O
eternal God, sovereign Being, bless this incense and these lamps in
order that their strength and their virtue shall augment the fear of
their enemies, that they may not enter herein. Thou who lives and
reigns through all the centuries of the centuries. Your Levite
responds: AMEN.

You shall pour this incense so blessed upon the fire and light the lamps
before your operations. The small concentric circle is the place which
you shall take during these operations. The other circle which is below
is the place to be occupied by your Levite; you shall be clad as in the
days of the sacrificial ceremonies. Upon entering your circle you shall
have in your left hand the following figure. Your Levite shall follow
you in carrying the characters of revelation.

When you shall have arrived at the destined place, you shall give back
to you Levite the figure with which you entered; then the Levite having
occupied his, you shall bless his circle in pronouncing these sacred
words:

NOTAMARGATET, -- bless that circle -- bless it YANODA -- bless it MIOLE
-- bless it ALAG -- bless it AOTHIO -- bless it SORIDIS -- blesws it
APHAL -- bless it AGEMO, bless it THOBASSA -- bless it ARIF -- bless it
BADORA, Thou who lives and reigns through all the centuries of the
centuries. Your Levite shall respond AMEN.

Next you shall invoke the spirits to whom I have given the power to
preside over the hours of the night in commencing from the side where
the sun rises, saying: LEAMAN, LECIAB, LATRANAVIO, RIBRAL, TELARO.

From the side where the sun sets: ELANA, LEPAB, USTAEL, THAERRUB,
SOTARECO, ILIBAPAC.

From the highest side of the circle: ELIA, ELINA, AMIGABIREL.

From the lowest side of the circle: PEDINBAD, FIALECHAM, CHARSIEL.

You shall then make the following invocation on the side where the sun
rises, prostrated upon the ground:

We invoke you YALATINA, and LEMIROT, LESIAB, and TELAR, HERIBAG and
ARNAVIO, TRABA and ARIOT, ANIEL and LEDIMAT, YANAEL and CALMAS, LEASO
and VIANOEL; we command you by Him by whom all things were made and by
all the other names of the ETERNAL, and by these:

IANODA, EL MIHOLES, HOLAE MEBOTH, NOLICSAZ, and NOTAMMARGATEL who is the
Lord God exalted before you and represented invisibly near this circle;
let me know by a just inspiration if you judge me to be dignified by the
purity of my soul -- the places where there are mines of diamonds, gold,
and silver, those who find precious things lost in the seas -- to
prolong my life in health and that for a century -- I request these
favors to be granted without incurring danger, risk, or peril, by Y and
V which Adam understood, by the name AGLA for the preservation of Lot
and his family from the fire of Sodom and Gemorrha. By the name Joth,
for the deliverance of Jacob from the persecution of his brother. By
those of SOIGAD, YANADA, THEOS or NOTAMMARGATET, and by the other names
of the ALL-POWERFUL who truly lives and reigns. Such is the WILL of Him
who created all, and Whose empire endures through all the centuries of
the centuries.

Your Levite shall respond: AMEN.

You shall place upon your head with your left hand the figure which you
gave to your Levite; then if your soul is pure, it shall be exalted.
You shall feel yourself to be inspired; you shall lend an attentive ear
to all that which the aerial spirits shall whisper, having care to trace
from right to left on a brass plate the inspired characters which; you
shall bless with these words:

Blessed Be PAO.

THEOS. You may communicate these things to no person because you would
render unworthy my divine bounty and you would not have the success for
which you have obtained hope.

You shall then take the figure which was upon your head with the same
hand; then holding it in both hands and prostrating in adoration you
shall pronounce these characters:

In the name of the Eternal my God, true master of my body, my soul, and
my spirit, go, go in peace; retire that you may accompany me always, and
be ever ready to come when I shall call you.

AMEN and AMEN.

FINIS.