part may have been played by avarice, ambition,

vanity, curiosity, and finally by a not unpraiseworthy emotional hunger?
The speculators who fished in the muddy waters of late rosicrucianism put many desirable things as bait on the hook; as power over the world of spirits, penetration into the most recondite parts of nature's teachings, honor, riches, health, longevity. In one was aroused the hope of one of these aims, in another of another. The belief in gold making was, as al- ready mentioned, still alive at that period. But it was not only the continuance of this conviction that caused belief in the alchemistic secrets of the high degrees, but, as for instance, B. Kopp shows (Alch. II, p. 13) it was a certain metaphysical need of the time.
It will have been noticed that with all recognition of its abuses I grant to rosicrucianism, as it deserves, even its later forms, an ideal side. To deny it were to falsify its true likeness. Only the important dif- ference must be noted between an idea and its advo- cates alchemy and the alchemists, rosicrucianism and the rosicrucians. There are worthy and unworthy advocates; among the alchemists they are called the adepts or masters and the stoppers and sloppy work- ers. Since in our research we are concerned with the hermetic science itself, not merely with the mis- directions undertaken in its name, we should not let ourselves be involved in these. And as for us the
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spiritual result (alchemy, rosicrucian thoughts, ma- sonic symbolism, etc.) is primarily to be regarded and not the single persons advocating it, the question is idle as to whether the earliest rosicrucians had an organized union or not. It is enough that the rosi- crucians are created in the imagination, that this imagination is fostered and that people live it out and make it real. It amounts to the same thing for us, whether there were " so-called " or " real " rosi- crucians; the substance of their teaching lives and this substance, which is evident in literature, was what I referred to when I said that rosicrucianism is identical with higher alchemy or the hermetic or the royal art. But I think the comparison holds true for the gold and rose-cross societies also, for the spiritual scope of this new edition is the same as that of the old order, except that, as in the fate of all subtile things, it was misunderstood by the ma- jority. There were not lacking attempts to dissuade people from their errors. In the rosicrucian notes to the " Kompass der Weisen " (edition of 1782), e.g., " Moreover the object of our guiltless guild is not the making of gold. . . . Rather we remove the erroneous opinion from them [the disciples] in so far as they are infected with it, even on the first step of the temple of wisdom. They are earnestly en- joined against these errors and that they must seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Also through all kinds of reforms we seek to set the way- farer on the right path that leads to the original
208 PROBLEMS OF MYSTICISM
ideal. It appears that the alchemistic preparation of the " work " is available only for the smallest circles. The multitude is blinded.
" Where do the Scottish masters stay? "
" Quite near the sun."
"Why?"
" Because they can stand it."