Heydoniana I: Portrait of an English Rosicrucian
To warm up for some future posts about the 17th century Rosicrucian apologist
John Heydon, here are images
of the portraits that appear as frontispieces to several of his works. History
has been unkind to Heydon - commentators dismissing him as an outright plagiarist
of Francis
Bacon, Fludd, Gaffarel and Agrippa
amongst others. While I don't that deny great portions of his works have been
lifted from these authors, he does at least on occasion cite his authorities - which is more
than can be said for the 'great' Agrippa who paraphrased large portions of works
like Ficino's
De Vita Coelitus
Comparanda without even a nod to the original author. Furthermore, it's
ironic that much of Heydon's work was later plagiarised the 18th century in an
even more audacious manner by a certain Peter
Smart who attributed it to "Dr. Rudd", a character whose existence
is extremely questionable.
I think Heydon deserves a re-evaluation instead of being dismissed as some kind of sham-Rosicrucian fraud. He was essentially a compiler lifting chunks of other authors and occasionally interpolating them with obsessive and idiosyncratic references to genii and spirits. Since Heydon wrote these treatises during his holidays from serving as a London clerk, the lengthy lifts from other authorities are often eccentrically and confusingly stitched together - for example a large portion of his Theomagia is lifted from a text by Christopher Cattan published 70 years earlier, although interspersed with typically Heydonian tangents concerning 'genii' which often serve to completely obscure the text at hand. Heydon did not compose great works of esoteric literature (although he may have deluded himself that he did), but rather provided idiosyncratic and well-illustrated compilations brimming with an at times misguided Rosicrucian enthusiasm.
So, here are two portraits of our Rosicrucian philosopher - the first from the 1662 edition of The Holy Guide, and the second from his Theomagia: The Temple of Wisdom (1664).
The second portrait is the most interesting since it depicts many aspects of his astrological natal chart. The sun is shown in the top-left, along with Mercury and Virgo. Mercury was the almuten, or most dignified planet, in his chart. Other dignified astrological bodies are scattered around this image - which will be discussed in the post concerning his nativity.
Behind Heydon are two bookshelves. The lower of these holds books relating to law that were written by himself. Above that is a shelf containing his Rosicrucian treatises - The Harmony of the World, The Temple of Wisdom and The Holy Guide. The placing of these books above his treatises on law may indicate that he considered them works of either greater importance or relating to 'higher' matters. Both portraits also show Heydon's coat of arms and motto - Gaudet patientia duris: Patience rejoices in hardships.
Most intriguing is the dog in the lower-left, above which has been written the name 'Lilly'. This is probably a reference to the 'English Merlin,' William Lilly. Heydon launches various attacks on the "flattering, lying" Lilly in his works - perhaps this enmity was due to political concerns. Some years hence, Lilly had been taken to court making anti-parlimentary predictions. Heydon, on the other hand, was a Royalist, friend to various minor members of parliament and the royal household and was even imprisoned for his allegiances during Cromwell's reign. In Theomagia he relates certain 'astromantic' and geomantic readings that he gave fellow political prisoners concerning Cromwell, apparently accurately predicting his death on September 3rd 1658. He also makes frequent references to time spent in Whitehall, while elsewhere making disparaging remarks about Lilly's social status as the son of a lower-class farmer from an obscure midlands village. Cromwell died in 1658, and in 1661 was exhumed and subjected to posthumous execution. During the time in which Heydon published his Rosicrucian works, Cromwell's head was enjoying a four-year residency on a pole outside the Westminster Abbey. Perhaps the significance of the dog was to indicate to his readers, at a glance, his continuing Royalist affiliation and opposition to the 'cur' Lilly. In the light of this, it is worth noting that Heydon's sternest critic was Elias Ashmole, a friend of Lilly, who called him an "ignoramus and a cheat."
I think Heydon deserves a re-evaluation instead of being dismissed as some kind of sham-Rosicrucian fraud. He was essentially a compiler lifting chunks of other authors and occasionally interpolating them with obsessive and idiosyncratic references to genii and spirits. Since Heydon wrote these treatises during his holidays from serving as a London clerk, the lengthy lifts from other authorities are often eccentrically and confusingly stitched together - for example a large portion of his Theomagia is lifted from a text by Christopher Cattan published 70 years earlier, although interspersed with typically Heydonian tangents concerning 'genii' which often serve to completely obscure the text at hand. Heydon did not compose great works of esoteric literature (although he may have deluded himself that he did), but rather provided idiosyncratic and well-illustrated compilations brimming with an at times misguided Rosicrucian enthusiasm.
So, here are two portraits of our Rosicrucian philosopher - the first from the 1662 edition of The Holy Guide, and the second from his Theomagia: The Temple of Wisdom (1664).
The second portrait is the most interesting since it depicts many aspects of his astrological natal chart. The sun is shown in the top-left, along with Mercury and Virgo. Mercury was the almuten, or most dignified planet, in his chart. Other dignified astrological bodies are scattered around this image - which will be discussed in the post concerning his nativity.
Behind Heydon are two bookshelves. The lower of these holds books relating to law that were written by himself. Above that is a shelf containing his Rosicrucian treatises - The Harmony of the World, The Temple of Wisdom and The Holy Guide. The placing of these books above his treatises on law may indicate that he considered them works of either greater importance or relating to 'higher' matters. Both portraits also show Heydon's coat of arms and motto - Gaudet patientia duris: Patience rejoices in hardships.
Most intriguing is the dog in the lower-left, above which has been written the name 'Lilly'. This is probably a reference to the 'English Merlin,' William Lilly. Heydon launches various attacks on the "flattering, lying" Lilly in his works - perhaps this enmity was due to political concerns. Some years hence, Lilly had been taken to court making anti-parlimentary predictions. Heydon, on the other hand, was a Royalist, friend to various minor members of parliament and the royal household and was even imprisoned for his allegiances during Cromwell's reign. In Theomagia he relates certain 'astromantic' and geomantic readings that he gave fellow political prisoners concerning Cromwell, apparently accurately predicting his death on September 3rd 1658. He also makes frequent references to time spent in Whitehall, while elsewhere making disparaging remarks about Lilly's social status as the son of a lower-class farmer from an obscure midlands village. Cromwell died in 1658, and in 1661 was exhumed and subjected to posthumous execution. During the time in which Heydon published his Rosicrucian works, Cromwell's head was enjoying a four-year residency on a pole outside the Westminster Abbey. Perhaps the significance of the dog was to indicate to his readers, at a glance, his continuing Royalist affiliation and opposition to the 'cur' Lilly. In the light of this, it is worth noting that Heydon's sternest critic was Elias Ashmole, a friend of Lilly, who called him an "ignoramus and a cheat."