Notes & Resources for “Mons Philosophorum”

Allegory of the Mountain

Thomas Vaughan (17 April 1621 − 27 February 1666) was a Welsh clergyman, philosopher, and alchemist. He is reported as having confessed that he had "long sought and long missed... the philosopher's stone."

The Mountain as a Symbol of Ascent

1. The mountain itself represents the alchemical process of spiritual ascent and self-perfection. It is a journey from the base material world (the lower realms) to the pinnacle of enlightenment and divine unity (the summit).
2. Climbing the mountain mirrors the alchemist's inner journey through the stages of Nigredo (blackening), Albedo (whitening), and Rubedo (reddening).
3. The mountain also symbolizes the integration of opposites—Earth below and Heaven above. This ascent reflects the unification of the material and spiritual realms.

This Mountain of the Adepts represents the arduous spiritual and physical journey of the alchemist toward enlightenment, transformation, and the completion of the Great Work (Magnum Opus).

The alchemical mountain represents the journey upward toward spiritual realization, paralleling the alchemical process of refining matter from impurity to purity.

• As the alchemist climbs, they leave behind the material and base concerns of the lower world (the "profane") to approach the sacred and divine realms at the summit.

The Lion

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Symbolism of the Mountain

Nature and Transformation

• The mountain is often depicted as having distinct regions, representing stages of the alchemical process. For example:
• The base: Dense, chaotic, and ruled by material concerns (nigredo stage).
• The middle: Areas of clarity and purification (albedo and citrinitas).
• The summit: A radiant peak, symbolizing union with the divine and the Philosopher’s Stone (rubedo).
• The mountain is also a place where nature itself is refined, as the alchemist seeks to uncover its secrets and mirror its processes.
• linked to the myth of the cosmic mountain, such as Mount Meru (Hindu cosmology) or Mount Sinai (biblical), places where the divine and earthly realms meet.

The alchemical mountain is often surrounded by dense forests, thorns, or wild beasts, representing the obstacles, fears, and distractions that the alchemist must overcome. This represents the wilderness and the jungle and the wasteland of the mundane world, which keeps most people lost within it and unable to even see, let alone find, the Alchemical Mountain.

Prima Materia

“The prima materia comes from the mountain. This is where everything is upside down: ‘And the top of this rock is confused with its base, and its nearest part reaches to its farthest, and its head is in the place of its back and vice versa’”

• Jung

The alchemists found it symbolic and meaningful that mountains contain hidden treasures of nature, such as mineral deposits or springs, which can be used in their work.

Alchemical texts often describe the mountain as the place where the lapis philosophorum (Philosopher’s Stone) is found.

Depictions of the Alchemical Mountain:

1. Basil Valentine’s Azoth of the Philosophers (1613)
• This famous engraving includes a mountain with various symbols representing the alchemical stages. At the summit is the radiant light of spiritual realization and the attainment of the Philosopher’s Stone.
2. Johann Daniel Mylius’ Philosophia Reformata (1622)
• This work includes an image of an alchemist ascending a mountain toward a celestial sphere. The journey is framed by symbols of planetary influences and the stages of alchemical transformation.
3. The Rosarium Philosophorum
• This text includes images of the mountain in connection with the sacred marriage (coniunctio)—the union of opposites (sulfur and mercury, Sun and Moon)—taking place at its summit.
4. illustration from the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians the Mons Philosophorom, the Mountain of the Philosophers.
5. Alchemical Emblems Stefan Michelspacher Alchemical Mountain - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuZW-4BtqTo

Approaching The Mountain

“To this Mountain you shall go in a certain night—when it comes—most long and most dark, and see that you prepare yourselves by prayer. Insist upon the way that leads to the Mountain, but ask not of any man where the way lies. Only follow your Guide, who will offer himself to you and will meet you in the way.” - Thomas Vaughan, “Allegory of the Mountain”

The Path of Ascent to the Summit

“individuation is a complex endeavor that initially takes one down instead of up. In other words, to climb the mountain is to encounter the prima materia, to come face to face with one's shadow, and to take the many unforeseen detours away from the ego's fixed goals. In the end, what is discovered is that one never attains the mystery (or reaches the top) by strength and will alone, but rather by divine grace, which the alchemical literature describes as the aqua permanens, the “stream of living water from the summit of the mountain.””

• Climbing the Alchemical Mountain. Betsy Perluss

The path up the mountain is winding and treacherous.

At times you will need to go deep within the mountain - you will need to go down in order to rise up.

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Accompanying Text in “Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians”

Between 1785 and 1788 an unknown Rosicrucian compiled text and images from earlier materials that deal with Alchemy, Mysticism and other Rosicrucian themes. written by an anonymous author who identifies himself only as ""A Brother of the Fraternity."

MONS PHILOSPHORUM The soul of men everywhere was lost through a fall, and the health of the body suffered through a fall, Salvation came to the human soul through IEHOVA, Jesus Christ. The bodily health is brought back through a thing not good to look at. It is hidden in this painting, the highest treasure in this world, in which is the highest medicine and the greatest parts of the riches of nature, given to us by the Lord IEHOVA. It is called Pator Metallorum, well known to the philosopher sitting in front of the mountain-cave, easy to obtain for anybody. But the sophists in their sophistic garb, tapping on the walls, recognise him not. At the right is to be seen Lepus, representing the art of chemistry, marvellously white, the secrets of which with fire's heat are being explored. To the left one can see freely what the right Clavis artis is; one cannot be too subtle with it, like a hen hatching a chicken. In the midst of the mountain, before the door stands a courageous Lion in all its pride, whose noble blood the monster-dragon is going to shed; throwing him into a deep grave, out of it comes forth a black raven, then called Ianua artis, out of that comes Aquila alba. Even the crystal refined in the furnace will quickly show you on inspection Servum fugitivum, a wonder-child to many artists. The one effecting this all is Principium laboris. On the right hand in the barrel are Sol and Luna, the intelligence of the firmament. The Senior plants in it Rad. Rubeam and albam. Now you proceed with constancy and Arbor artis appears to you, with its blossoms it announces now Lapidem Philosophorum. Over all, the crown of the glory, ruling over all treasures. Be diligent, peaceful, constant and pious, pray that God may help thee. And if thou attain, never forget the poor. Then thou wilt praise God with the legion of the angels, now and forever.

• From Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians

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Thomas Vaughan's Allegory of the Mountain

A short allegory from Thomas Vaughan Lumen de Lumine, or a New Magical Light, London, 1651.

Every man naturally desires a superiority, to have treasures of gold and silver, and to seem great in the eyes of the world. God indeed created all things for the use of man, that he might rule over them and acknowledge therein the singular goodness and omnipotence of God, give Him thanks for His benefits, honor Him and praise Him. But there is no man looks after these things otherwise than by spending his days idly. They would enjoy them without any previous labor and danger; neither do they look for them in that place where God has treasured them up, Who expects also that man should seek for them there, and to those that seek will He give them.

But there is not any that labors for a possession in that place, and therefore these riches are not found. For the way to this place - and the place itself - have been unknown for a long time, and it is hidden from the greatest part of the world. But notwithstanding that it be difficult and laborious to discover this way and place, yet the place should be sought after. But it is not the will of God to conceal anything from those that are His; and therefore in this last age - before the final judgement comes - all these things shall be manifested to those that are worthy.

As He Himself - though obscurely, lest it should be manifested to the unworthy - has spoken in a certain place, "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hidden that shall not be known." We therefore, being moved by the Spirit of God, do declare the will of God to the world, which we have also already performed and published in several languages. But most men either revile or condemn our Manifesto, or else - waiving the Spirit of God - they expect the proposals thereof from us, supposing that we will straightway teach them how to make gold by art, or furnish them with ample treasures, whereby they may live pompously in the face of the world, swagger and make wars, turn usurers, gluttons and drunkards, live unchastely and defile their whole life with several other sins - all of which are contrary to the blessed will of God.

These men should have learned from those ten Virgins - whereof five that were foolish demanded oil for their lamps from those five that were wise - how that the case is much otherwise. It is expedient that every man should labor for this treasure by the assistance of God and his own particular search and industry. But the perverse intentions of these fellows we understand out of their own writings, by the singular grace and revelation of God. We do stop our ears and wrap ourselves, as it were, in clouds to avoid the bellowings and howlings of those men who cry out in vain for gold. And thus indeed it comes about that they brand us with infinite calumnies and slanders, which nevertheless we do not resent; but God in His good time will judge them for it. But after we had known well - though unknown to you - and perceived by your writing how diligent you are to pursue the Holy Scripture and seek the true knowledge of God, we have out of many thousands thought you worthy of some answer; and we signify this much to you by the will of God and the admonition of the Holy Spirit.

There is a Mountain situated in the midst of the earth or center of the world, which is both small and great. It is soft, also above measure hard and stony. It is far off and near at hand, but by the providence of God invisible. In it are hidden the most ample treasures, which the world is not able to value. This mountain - by envy of the devil, who always opposes the glory of God and the happiness of man - is compassed about with very cruel beasts and ravening birds - which make the way thither both difficult and dangerous. And therefore until now - because the time is not yet come - the way thither could not be sought after nor found out. But now at last the way is to be found by those that are worthy - but nonetheless by every man's self-labor and endeavors.

To this Mountain you shall go in a certain night - when it comes - most long and most dark, and see that you prepare yourselves by prayer. Insist upon the way that leads to the Mountain, but ask not of any man where the way lies. Only follow your Guide, who will offer himself to you and will meet you in the way. But you are not to know him. This Guide will bring you to the Mountain at midnight, when all things are silent and dark. It is necessary that you arm yourselves with a resolute, heroic courage, lest you fear those things that will happen, and so fall back. You need no sword nor any other bodily weapons; only call upon God sincerely and heartily.

When you have discovered the Mountain the first miracle that will appear is this: A most vehement and very great wind that will shake the Mountain and shatter the rocks to pieces. You will be encountered also by lions and dragons and other terrible beasts; but fear not any of these things. Be resolute and take heed that you turn not back, for your Guide - who brought you thither - will not suffer any evil to befall you. As for the treasure, it is not yet found, but it is very near.

After this wind will come an earthquake that will overthrow those things which the wind has left, and will make all flat. But be sure that you do not fall off. The earthquake being past, there will follow a fire that will consume the earthly rubbish and disclose the treasure. But as yet you cannot see it.

After these things and near the daybreak there will be a great calm, and you will see the Day-star arise, the dawn will appear, and you will perceive a great treasure. The most important thing in it and the most perfect is a certain exalted Tincture, with which the world - if it served God and were worthy of such gifts - might be touched and turned into most pure gold.

This Tincture being used as your Guide shall teach you will make you young when you are old, and you will perceive no disease in any part of your bodies. By means of this Tincture also you will find pearls of an excellence which cannot be imagined. But do not you arrogate anything to yourselves because of your present power, but be contented with what your Guide shall communicate to you. Praise God perpetually for this His gift, and have a special care that you do not use it for worldly pride, but employ it in such works as are contrary to the world. Use it rightly and enjoy it as if you had it not. Live a temperate life and beware of all sin. Otherwise your Guide will forsake you and you will be deprived of this happiness. For know of a truth: whosoever abuses this Tincture and does not live exemplarly, purely and devoutly before men, will lose this benefit and scarcely any hope will be left of recovering it afterward.

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The Mountain of the Adepts

"The temple of the wise ("House of the Gathering" or of "Self-Collection"), lit by the sun and moon, stands on the seven stages, surmounted by the phoenix. The temple is hidden in the mountain—a hint that the philosophers' stone lies buried in the earth and must be extracted and cleansed. The zodiac in the background symbolizes the duration of the opus, while the four elements indicate wholeness. In the foreground, blindfolded man and the investigator who follows his natural instinct." ― C.G. Jung

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The Mountain of the Philosophers

• Zoran Perowanowitsch, FRC The Rose+Croix Journal 2011—Vol 8

The Mountain of the Philosophers In the center of the lower half of the image (Figure 1) sits a naked man at the entrance of a cave that leads into a mountain. The entire mountain is surrounded by a wall, which divides the realm of involvement into an inner and an outer part. In front of the wall, we identify three figures that are clad in the colors green, red, and blue. Between them, we see a leaping hare. The heads of the man and the hare are pictured on the vertical axis of the image and point to the first step on the way to enlightenment when the ego (man) enters into an objective relationship with his soul powers. The hare stands for the randomly roaming thoughts that may quickly change from one direction to another. This inner unrest is the cause of the disorderly interaction of our different soul qualities. The more the randomness of our imagination is settled, the more the different soul parts of thinking (green), wanting (red), and feeling (blue) move into the service of self. The blinders over the eyes of the green figure (thinking) mean the surrender of personal arbitrariness in favor of the guidance of the self. This is how we may understand the gestures of the three figures in front of the mountain, as they respectfully bow to the man who has shed his old clothes on the way to purification, through which he has learned to differentiate the powers of the soul and to bring them into his service. According to their nature, they will be placed into their corresponding plane and only then become fruitful to the inner and outer life. This first step is of importance because, to a certain degree, the three soul powers will be “released” to the outer life and will not become an obstacle to the further inner evolvement. Within the wall, to the right of the man, we again see a hare and to the left of it a hen, brooding near the water. They stand for powers of the soul that, in equal measure, unfold themselves within ourselves when the ready-to-serve thinking (green figure) and wanting (red figure, left in the picture) unite to the spiritual power of alertness (hare-inside). The purified sensitivity to the right of the picture (blue figure) changes into the soul power of devotion (hen). Those soul qualities create the condition of every inner development and will accompany us on our entire further inner path. Always further evolving, they lead to further sublimation of thought (gilded green dragon), through which the second step of the picture is revealed to us and which is introduced by the black raven and the white (silver) eagle.

Baptism The black raven over the green dragon is the symbol of a mind, a self, which, though it has separated from the identification with the intellect, hasn’t discarded it but rather has ennobled it. However, this self is still tied to the head and experiences itself still through the first plane of polarity of inside and outside. Thus, the black raven symbolizes the old, completed path of the intelligence that is bound to the senses, while the white eagle introduces the new path of humility and devotion. The transition to the new path begins at the moment when the self “reaches” the “place” between the horizontal, polar swing of the pendulum from inside to outside. Between the black raven and the white eagle is shown a white surface, which reminds us that only those that are of the purity of an “empty page” will be admitted entry to the tower. Those, in other words, who will no longer be mainly guided by the imaginations and inclinations of the first polar plane. The white eagle stands for the purified thinking, which introduces the further development on the vertical axis of the picture and with that the opening of the gate at the bottom of the tower. This depicts a special point of inner development, in which the consciousness, following the inner growth process of the plant, begins to unfold. Since the self has overcome the reference point to the head, yet is still tied to the body, a change of “place” has occurred. The self-consciousness “falls” along the axis of the body of the tower. An interment occurs, which may be likened to the planting of a seed in the darkness of the earth. The process that now ensues corresponds to a “chaos,” a “bath,” or a “baptismal,” in which occurs a synthesis of polarities, and out of which derives a liberated self. On the tower above the raven, we see depicted the symbols of the Sun, the Moon, and Mercury. In the teachings of the Rosicrucians, Mercury (Hermes) is also described as the child of the Sun and the Moon, that is, the newborn self derived from the synthesis of the polarities of the Sun (male) and the Moon (female) at the base of the tower, as we also find it expressed in the Tabula Smaragdina: “Its father is the sun, his mother the moon. The wind has carried it in its belly.”

Ascension After the self has experienced “interment” (seed) and “baptism” (bath) in the darkness at the base of the physical and has sprouted new roots in the united, each supplementing qualities of the Sun and the Moon, it now experiences the second vertical plane of polarity, that of heaven and Earth. Now, in order to initiate the vertical unfolding, the powers of heaven through the “ascension” cause the physical limitation to be overcome in their “blossoming.” These are the steps of the tower that lead up to the “tree of stars.” To the left of the tower, the Sun and the Moon are united in a bath, and from the furnace to the right rises the spirit, in the form of smoke, overcoming the physical. Inside the furnace may be seen a vessel that symbolizes the process that we have shown within the physicality, and which is depicted in detail in figure 3. It is the union between male (Sun) and female (Moon) enacted in the bath, as seen on the bottom of the vessel. Out of this synthesis derives the newborn self (Mercury), which then blossoms in the ascension on the other side of the vessel and beyond the physical. Mercury (Hermes) is the messenger of the deities between heaven and Earth. In figure 3, he bears in his right hand the key to the sphere of cosmic wisdom, Sophia, who will be intuitively realized beyond the seventh planet Saturn. In his left hand, he holds the staff of Mercury as a sign of conquest of the vertical physicality, which then leads to Jupiter, the planet of wisdom. After the horizontal polar view of the inner and outer was harmonized, the vertical polarity of above and below is now also overcome. Thus, the gate of the seventh planet opens, and the sphere of the fixed stars is intuitively realized.

The Cosmic Virgin Sophia This level beyond Saturn, beyond the seven planets is depicted by the star-covered tree on the mountain, to which our changed, purified soul-self is led. It is the intuitive experience of pure consciousness, the “cosmic bubble” of our polar space-time-world. For the first time, we experience “being” in the all-one-being, here beyond all objects of sensual polarity. It is the experience of the purified soul, which in the Rosicrucian Tradition is expressed by the starry sphere and in depictions of the “Virgin Mary” in her star-spangled mantle. Similarly, Christian Rosenkreuz is invited to the king’s wedding by a “magnificently beautiful woman in an all-blue dress, covered like the sky with golden stars.” These images are not selected randomly, but correspond to the experience of the sphere beyond the polarity of male-king and female-queen.

The Temptation of Emptiness In the intuitive experience of pure consciousness as “emptiness,” there lies the great temptation to separate from the common evolution of Earth in the belief to have already reached “the goal” in this emptiness of consciousness. Such a belief will lead to the regard of all phenomena as mere dreams or illusions. Many people who are connected to Eastern wisdom will already see this plane as the end goal of inner evolvement. If, however, our spirit does not yet become self-satisfied at this level, then we may meet our “higher self,” the Christ, who will clarify for us the meaning of experience at this plane but also, through the vision of selfless love, reveal something in the making that can only be realized through turning to Earth.

Turning to Earth After meeting Christ, the man on the tower did not build his house under the starry tree (Sophia) but below the summit. In regard to inner evolution, this expresses an essential step. On the first step sits the naked man who, in order to meet the Cosmic Virgin Sophia on the way to purification, had to shed his clothes. He had to be naked to meet her, but the man on the mountain is clothed again. After we have lived the rebirth of the self in baptism and the experience of the Sophia, we may once again don our old clothes, without sliding back into the old person. We can step in front of the Christ as we are. Thus, through the Christ, we will be changed and don’t have to burden those who come after us with our old clothes. Solely through reaching the plane of pure consciousness, we cannot accomplish this fundamental change.

Elevation of the Earth As the alchemists express it, in the realization of the Sophia, we have learned to make silver from base metals. We experience a change of consciousness that happens step by step and which, in the tradition of the Rosicrucians and following the language of the alchemists, is described as the three steps of change from nigredo (blackening), to albedo (whitening/silver), and finally rubedo (reddening/gold). This corresponds to the pictorial change from the black raven into the white eagle. When, further on, the beauty of consciousness is not held in a self-centered way, but turns once more towards Earth and surrounds the heart in its purity, then, because the door to the heart is opening, our true essence will reveal itself in the Christ. The more we will be permeated by the Christ, the more we will obtain the elixir for transformation, for the elevation of matter to gold. This is symbolized by the man on the mountain, who is immersing the roots of the tree in the united qualities of the Sun and the Moon, and who preserves the elixir in the little flask in the crown of the tree. While we have in the starry tree the six-pointed stars as the symbols for the sphere of fixed stars, the leaves of the tree that the man holds, along with the elixir flask, show a seven-pointed star.

The Golden Lion In the center of the entire picture stands a golden lion on an island-like knoll, symbolizing one who has passed through the steps of evolvement of the “philosophical mountain.” He harmonizes in himself the polarities of left and right, above-heaven and below-Earth, and female (feeling-blue, hen-devotion, starry tree-Sophia) and male (thinking-green, wanting-red, hare-alertness, dragon-gilded, man-active). It is the symbol of the Sun, the ego which, after crossing through the portal of Saturn, does not pause but, having met the “higher self,” the Christ, turns humbly once again to Earth. In meeting the Sophia, everything is taken from us, even our physical self, so that all that is left of us is virgin consciousness and our experience of all-oneness. As in a further initiation, we cross into the portal of the heart and behold the Christ, our true being. Then we experience a “resurrection” and receive a new “body,” which is made from qualities of the heart, of fire, light, and love. This affords us a faint foreboding of the immeasurable mystery that knows no answer and which silences any imagination of an already-reached goal.

The Seven-Pointed Star and Elixir Through the elixir that we see in the crown of the tree with the seven-pointed star, which the man holds in his hands, we have gained the ability to cooperate with the Christ in the transmutation of Earth through the seven planetary steps, as it also finds expression in the seven-pointed star in the Tabula Smaragdina. Through the red orb with the golden band, topped by the golden cross, below the crown, is expressed the gilding of the permutation of Earth by the Christ.

Harmonization of Heaven and Earth Rosicrucian spirituality can only be thoroughly understood if the inner evolvement is not seen as a linear one that only follows the ascending path, but as an up-and-down movement or as a harmonization of the powers of heaven and Earth. Though this requires the unfolding of individuality, it is not a final goal but again, the precondition to cooperate on the “Great Work,” as the Rosicrucians call it. This follows the realization that individual evolvement, in the deepest sense, is impossible without the inclusion of all of creation, down into the material.

The Crown The crown hovers over the mountain, pointing to the highest spirituality that flows to us from the cosmic. It is the mystery of the Father of whom no mortal may form an image.

Closing Remarks The visual examination of the individual symbols in Mons Philosophorum, the Mountain of the Philosophers, leads to the realization that here the same meaning has come down to us as in the emblem Tabula Smaragdina Hermetis, with reference to the Rosicrucian teachings. Thus, we have shown in the Mountain of the Philosophers, as well as in the Tabula Smaragdina from the book Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians, the “royal path” of inner evolvement, which lets us connect to the roots of Rosicrucian spirituality to fulfill the task that falls to it within evolution.