Into the Mystic

Jakob Böhme (1575-1624) was a German mystic theologian and prolific writer but few of his works were published during his lifetime. This was at least partly because he was accused of being a heretic by the chief Pastor Gregorius Richter of Görlitz. [fabulous name]


The Tree of Faith from Philosophia Revelata 1730

His theosophical writings were framed by mystical speculation and alchemical traditions and although obscure and difficult to interpret into a rational philosophy, they had a widespread direct and indirect effect upon the development of western philosophy. It is beyond my knowledge and the scope of this entry to attempt to distil out his thoughts other than to observe that there was an emphasis on individual development. Carl Jung particularly, mentions Böhme often in his writings.


Supersensual Soul from Philosophia Revelata 1730

There is a lot of material devoted to Böhme on the web but I abandoned the search to find the engraver of the images here. The publication history associated with Böhme's works is very convoluted.

• Many images from the 1730 edition of Theosophia Revelata are available online from the University of Michigan's esoterica website.
• An essay about Böhme (1878 Brittanica)
• Bibliography of his works
• The definitive webpage linkset
• An account about the earliest publications