The Ritman Library

BPH Highlight: Chymica Vannus (1666) 🌞

Happy Jupiter Day! ♃

As explored by in this month’s Codex Hermeticus newsletter, the 1666 Chymica Vannus presents a beautiful sequence of seven classical planetary deities, each corresponding to a day of the week.

The week begins with Sunday, which belongs to Solis, the Sun - embodied by Apollo, god of harmony, music, rationality, and consciousness. Monday follows with Luna, the Moon: Diana/Artemis, huntress and sister of Apollo, associated with the shifting powers of the mind.

Tuesday derives from Mars, “god of war and governor of the ‘martial’ arts.” Wednesday belongs to thieving Mercury, the winged trickster and patron of merchants, communication, and cunning.

Thursday is Jove’s day: Jupiter/Zeus, ruler of the heavens, rendered in the north as Thor’s Day and preserved in Dutch as Donderdag (“Thunder Day”). Friday is Venus day, everbody’s favorite: embodied by the goddess of love, beauty, and desire, the English name for this day derives from Freya, a Nordic counterpart to the Roman Venus.

Finally comes Saturday: Saturn, or Kronos, embodiment of time itself, who is often depicted eating his children, as a reminder that “tempus fugit”, meaning “time flies” - and consumes all things ⏳

BPH Highlight: The Perfect Way or The Finding of Christ (1882) by Dr. Anna Kingsford (1846-1888)

Dr. Anna Kingsford (1846-1888) is one of the most important female voices in Theosophy. Besides being one of the first English women to receive a medical degree, she was a Theosophist and a fierce activist for women’s rights and animal rights. As the first medical student of the time to graduate without experimenting on a single live animal, her medical thesis advocated for the benefits of vegetarianism, published in English as ‘The Perfect Way in Diet’ (1881).

The books seen here, a first edition (blue) and second edition (yellow) of ‘The Perfect Way or The Finding of Christ’, were originally a series of lectures delivered “for a private audience” in May, June, and July of 1881. Her long-time collaborator, English writer Edward Maitland (1824-1897), assisted Kingsford in writing and publishing them (the second edition posthumously).

The book begins with a preface retelling the classic legend of Medusa, Perseus, and Andromeda as an allegory of humanity’s crisis: the conflict between established, rigid religion and emerging scientific reason. Calling for a reconciliation of intellect with spiritual intuition to restore a fuller truth, this harmony is not only philosophical but ethical as well in its insistence that the “feminine” principle of intuition and spiritual wisdom is essential, not secondary, to humanity’s renewal.

First published in 1882, The Perfect Way presents a theosophical philosophy that treats religious traditions as expressions of a shared underlying truth. Here, “Christ” is not to be understood as a single (historical) figure, but as a spiritual condition that any individual may attain - through inner transformation and alignment with the divine...🪽

We’re very proud to have these two treasures in our collection!