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 re-
mained 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.

ROSICRUCIANISM, ALCHEMY, AND MAGIC. 205

Nature's book, which are not to be read or comprehended
save with the eyes of understanding, being traced by the
Spirit of the living God on the hidden fleshly tablets of our
own hearts. . . . These internal and spiritual characters,
constituting the interior writing, may also to the bodily
eyes be the cause and origin of the things which do ap-
pear."1 "It is manifest," he also remarks, "that those
vivific letters and characters impressed on the Bible and on
the great Book of Nature, and which we call arcane, be-
cause they are understood only by the few, are one thing,
and that the dead, destroying letters of the same books,
whose cortices contain the living and spiritual characters,
are another."