Hermetic Behmenists:
Writings from Dionysius Andreas Freher
and Francis Lee

edited by John Madziarczyk

Hermetic Behmenists reproduces writings from Dionysius Andreas Freher and Francis Lee, two exceptional commentators on Jacob Boehme’s philosophy. The texts contained in this book were originally published in 1856, in an edition of 500, given away to friends, and sent to university libraries by their editor, Christopher Walton. They were never sold publicly.

Walton was an English Behmenist and devotee of William Law, and these texts were assembled as part of a research project, “Notes and Materials Towards an Adequate Biography of William Law”, that was never completed. Unfortunately, Walton presented the texts haphazardly, without a table of contents, in microscopic type, with footnotes up to one hundred pages in length, that in turn contained other texts.

Besides Walton’s book, only fragments of Freher’s writings have been published. A great quantity of writings exist in manuscript form. Freher was referred to as “Second to Boehme” in his capacity as a commentator on Boehme’s philosophy, making the inaccessibility of his works an unfortunate loss.

Francis Lee was the co-founder of the Philadelphian Society, an English Behmenist group. Although many of his writings were published posthumously, his Behmenist works were excluded.

This edition aims to put these writings into a more accessible, and readable format.

Table of Contents:

Preface 1

Introduction 3

1. Boehme and the Background of Theosophy 5
2. Rosicrucians and Para-Rosicrucians 23
3. The Philadelphian Society 41
4. Freher, Walton, “Notes and Materials”, Texts in This Volume 56

Part One: Dionysius Andreas Freher

Foundational Texts

1. God Without Nature or Creature [from Serial Elucidations A, section 1] 97
2. How the Nothing Brings Forth Something [From Serial Elucidations F, part 1] 101
3. God in Unity and Trinity Before and After Eternal Nature [Serial Elucidations G, part 1] 145
4. General Positions on Divine Nature in Unity and Trinity [Serial Elucidations G., part 2] 171
Intermediary Texts 5. Two Questions Answered, [Serial Elucidations G part 7] 183
6. Considerations on Lucifer and the Third Principle [?][Serial Elucidations B Section 5] 209
7. Rubens’ Manuscript [Extract from the Commentary on the “Three Tables”] 225
8. [Thirty Propositions, Fragment] 233
9. Of the Further Manifestation of God Through the Creation of Angels[?] [Serial Elucidations B section 4] 243
10. Process in the Philosophical Work [Serial Elucidations G], part 10 249
12. Growing Vegetables [Serial Elucidations G, part 11] 273
Observations on Waple

11. Observations on Waple [Serial Elucidations H] 281

Highlights within Waple

[Seven Spirits] 289
[Nature of Angels] 297
[Seven Spirits in Nature] 308
[Formation of the Planets] 314
[Alchemy] 323
[Breath in Man] 337
[Adam in Paradise] 341
[Eve and the Serpent] 352
[Reproduction] 360
[Partial Esoteric Anatomy] 375
[Esoteric Meaning of Jesus] 390
[God and the Nature of Evil] 403
[Thirty Positions on God] 407
[Spiritual Discernment] 433
[The Ten Commandments] 440
[Baptism] 444
[Eucharist] 447
[The End Times] 457
Final

13. Freher’s Confession, [Three Tables, Table One] 467
14. Walton’s Summaries of Serial Elucidations A-E 485
15. Discourse by William Law, Compiled from Freher’s Works 517
16. List of Freher’s Works by Walton 537

Part Two: Francis Lee

Philadelphian Society Era Texts:

1. Letter to Dodwell 553
2. [Comments on the Seven Spirits.] 631
3. Introduction to the First Volume of “A Fountain of Gardens” by Jane Lead 633
4. Excerpt from Theosophical Transactions 647
5. Questions to Edward Hooker. About Pordage 663

Post-Philadelphian Texts:

6. Concerning Wisdom 665
7. Short Reflections on the Universal Matter, 687
8. [On the Book of Revelation] 691
9. [On Moses] 695
10. [Paragraph on Mystical Theology] 696
11. One Hundred Questions on the Mosaic Cabbala 697

Organizational Texts and Texts on Contemplation and Prayer:

15. [Lee on the Contemplative Way] 709
16. [Two Commemorations and Three Prayers by Lee]. 721
12. [Plan for a Publishing Company] 729
13. Model of a Society for Reviving the Spirit and Life of Christianity 731

Part Three: Richard Roach & Christopher Walton

Richard Roach

1. Solomon’s Porch. 737
2. [Chapter on Magical Prayer] 763
3. Index of Philosophical and Theosophical Terms 767

Christopher Walton

4. [Comments on the Philadelphians] 781
5. [On Enthusiasm.] 787
6. [Walton’s Reading List on Magic] 791

Appendix 797

826 pages
Available in trade paperback and hardcover.

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