Eco: Foucalt's Pendulum by eco foucault (ebook smartphone .txt) 📕

by Fama Fra-ternitatis of the Honorable Confraternity ofthe Rosy-Cross, addressed to all learned Men and Sovereigns ofEurope, together with a brief Reply by Herr Haselmeyer, who forthis Reason was cast into Prison by the Jesuits and then placed inIrons on a Galley. Now printed and made known to all the sincere ofHeart. Published in Cassel by Wilhelm Wessel.''

"A little long, isn'tit?"

"Apparently all titleswere like that in the seventeenth century. Lina Wertmuller wrotethem, too. Anyway, this was a satirical work, a fairy tale about ageneral reform of mankind, partly plagiarized from TraianoBoccalini's Ragguagli di Par-naso. But it contained a manifesto ofabout a dozen pages¡Xthe Fama Fratemitatis¡Xwhich was republishedseparately a year later, at the same time as another manifesto,this one in Latin: Confessio fraternitatis Roseae Crucis, aderuditos Europae. Both present the Confraternity of the Rosy Crossand talk about its founder, a mysterious C.R. Only later¡Xand fromother sources¡X was it learned, or presumed, that C.R. was oneChristian Ro-sencreutz."

"Why didn't they use thefull name?"

"The whole thing's fullof initials; they didn't use anybody's full name. They're allG.G.M.P.I.; one is called P.O., an affectionate nickname. Anyway,the pamphlet tells of the formative years of C.R., who firstvisited the Holy Sepulcher, then set off for Damascus, moved on toEgypt, and from there went to Fez, which must have been one of thesanctuaries of Moslem wisdom at the time. There, our Christian, whoalready knew Greek and Latin, learned Oriental languages, physics,mathematics, andthe sciences of nature, accumulating all themillennial wisdom of the Arabs and Africans, as well as cabala andmagic. He also translated a mysterious Liber M into Latin, and thuscame to know all the secrets of the macrocosm and microcosm. Fortwo centuries, everything Oriental had been fashionable, especiallyif it was incomprehensible."

"They always go forthat. Hungry? Frustrated? Exploited? Mystery cocktail coming up.Here..." She passed me a joint. "This is good stuff."

"See? You also seek tolose yourself."

"Except that I know it'sonly chemical. No mystery at all. It works even if you don't knowHebrew. Come here."

"Wait. Next Rosencreutzwent to Spain, where he picked up more occult doctrines, claimingthat he was drawing closer to the center of all knowledge. In thecourse of these travels¡Xwhich for an intellectual of the time wasa sort of total-wisdom trip-he realized that what was needed inEurope was an association that would guide rulers along the pathsof wisdom and good."

"Very original. Wellworth it, all that studying. I want some cold mamaia."

"In the fridge. Do me afavor. You go. I'm working."

"If you're working, thatmakes you the ant. So be a good ant and get someprovisions."

"Mamaia is pleasure, sothe grasshopper should go. Otherwise I'll go, and youread."

"No. Jesus, I hate thewhite man's culture. I'll go."

Amparo went to thelittle kitchen, and I enjoyed seeing her against the light.Meanwhile, C.R. was on his way back from Germany, but instead ofdevoting himself to the transmutation of metals, of which his nowimmense knowledge made him capable, he decided to dedicate himselfto spiritual reformation. He therefore founded the confraternity,inventing a language and magic writing that would be the foundationof the wisdom of generations of brothers to come.

"No, I'll spill it onthe book. Put it in my mouth. Come on, no tricks, silly. That'sright...God, how good mamaia is, rosencreutzlischeMutti-ja-ja...Anyway, what the first Rosicrucians wrote in thefirst few years could have enlightened the world."

"Why? What did theywrite?"

"There's the rub. Themanifesto doesn't say; it leaves you with your mouth watering. Butit was important; so important, it had to remainsecret."

"Thebastards."

"No! Hey, cut that out!Well, as the Rosicrucians gained more and more members, theydecided to spread to the four corners of the earth, vowing to healthe sick without charging, to dress according to the customs ofeach country (never wearing clothes that would identify them), tomeet once a year, and to remain secret for a hundredyears."

"Tell me: what kind ofreformation were they after? I mean, hadn't there just been one?What was Luther then? Shit?"

"No, you're wrong. Thiswas before the Protestant Reformation. There's a note here; it saysthat a thorough reading of the Fama and the Confessioevinces¡X"

"Evinces?"

"Evinces. Shows, makesevident. Stop that, I'm trying to talk about the Rosy Cross. It'sserious."

"It evinces."

"Rosencreutz was born in1378 and died in 1484, at the ripe old age of a hundred and six.And it's not hard to guess that the secret confraternity made aconsiderable contribution to the Reformation that celebrated itscentenary in 1615. In fact, Luther's coat of arms includes a roseand a cross."

"Someimagination."

"You expect Luther touse a burning giraffe or a limp watch? We're all children of ourown time. I've found out whose child I am, so shut up and let me goon. Around 1604 the brethren of the Rosy Cross were rebuilding apart of their palace or secret castle, and they came across aplaque with a big nail driven into it. When they pulled out thenail, part of the wall collapsed, and they saw a door withsomething written on it in big letters: POST CXX ANNOSPATEBO..."

I had already learnedthis from Belbo's letter, but still couldn't help reacting. "MyGod..."

"What is it?"

"It's like a Templardocument that...A story I never told you, about a colonelwho¡X"

"What of it? TheTemplars must have copied from the Rosi-crucians."

"But the Templars camefirst."

"Then the Rosicrucianscopied from the Templars."

"What would I do withoutyou, darling?"

"That Aglie's ruinedyou. You're looking everywhere for revelation."

"Me? I'm not looking foranything."

"And a good thing, too.Watch out for the opiate of the masses."

"El pueblo unido jamassera vencido."

"Go ahead, laugh. Sowhat did those idiots say?"

"Those idiots learnedeverything they knew in Africa, weren't you listening?"

"And while they were inAfrica, they started packing us up and sending us here."

"Thank God. Otherwiseyou might have been born in Pretoria." I kissed her. "Beyond thedoor," I went on, "they found a sepulcher with seven sides andseven corners, miraculously illuminated by an artificial sun. Inthe middle was a circular altar decorated with various mottoes oremblems, on the order of NEQUAQUAM VACUUM...."

"Quack quack what?Signed, Donald Duck?"

"It's Latin. It means¡¥the void does not exist.' "

"That's good to know.Otherwise, think of the horror¡X"

"Do me a favor and turnon the fan, animula vagula blan-dula."

"But it'swinter."

"Only for you people ofthe wrong hemisphere, darling. For me it's July. Please, the fan.It's not because you're a woman;