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THE LABYRINTH OF THE WORLD

(Contumatio Famæ Rosæorum.)

4. Meanwhile, behold the blowing of trumpets again begins; then many, and I also, run in the direction from which the sound came, and I beheld one who was spreading out his wares and calling on the people to view and buy his wondrous secrets; they were, he said, taken from the treasury of the new philosophy, and would content all who were desirous of secret knowledge. And there was joy that the holy Rosicrucian brotherhood would clearly now share its treasures bounteously with them; many approached and bought. Now everything that was sold was wrapped up in boxes that were painted and had various pretty inscriptions, such as: Portæ Sapientiæ; Fortalitium Scientiæ; Gymnasium Universitatis; Bonum Macro-micro-cosmicon; Harmonia utriusque Cosmi; Christiano-Cabalisticum; Antrum Naturæ; Tertrinum Catholicum; Pyramis Triumphalis, and so forth.[1]

Now everyone who purchased was forbidden to open his box; for it was said that the force of this secret wisdom was such that it worked by penetrating through the cover; but if the box was opened it would evaporate and vanish. None the

  1. These words of uncouth Latinity form part of the vocabulary particular to the Rosicrucians, and Komensky has formed them partly on Paracelolus Venetus. Komensky was well acquainted with the tenets of the Rosicrucians, as Andreæ, whose pupil he was, and from whom—as noted elsewhere—part of the contents of the "Labyrinth" are derived, was one of the prominent Rosicrucians.