The Most Holy Trinosophia
Encyclopedia
Count of St Germain
The Count of St. Germain has been variously described as a courtier, adventurer, charlatan, inventor, alchemist, pianist, violinist and an amateur composer. He achieved great prominence in European high society of the mid-1700s, and since then various scholars have linked him to mysticism,...
. Dated to the late 18th century, the 96-page book is divided into twelve sections representing the twelve zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
al signs. The veiled content is said to refer to an allegorical initiation, detailing many kabbalistic
Cabala
Cabala may refer to one of several systems of Mysticism:* Kabbalah, the religious mystical system of Judaism...
, alchemical and mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
ic mysteries. The original MS 2400 at the Library of Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
is richly illustrated with numerous symbolical plates.
Contents
In a self-published 1933 translation featuring parallel French and English texts, Manly Palmer Hall wrote:Manly Palmer Hall then cites Dr. Edward C. Getsinger, "an eminent authority on ancient alphabets and languages," in emphasizing that La Très Sainte Trinosophie is couched in secret codes intended to conceal its contents from the profane.
Disposition
Two copies of this work were held by the Philosophical Research SocietyPhilosophical Research Society
The Philosophical Research Society is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1934, by the prolific author and scholar Manly Palmer Hall, which provides learning and development of a philosophy of life which embraces conciliation of religion and science and higher understandings of life...
until the death of Manly Palmer Hall
Manly Palmer Hall
Manly Palmer Hall was a Canadian-born author and mystic. He is perhaps most famous for his 1928 work The Secret Teachings of All Ages.-Early years:...
, at which time they were purchased, along with other Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
manuscripts, by the Getty Museum. They remain in boxes 34 and 35 of the Manly Palmer Hall collection of alchemical manuscripts, 1500-1825, as MS 209 and 210, preserving the manuscript numbering of Ron Charles Hogart's Alchemy, a comprehensive bibliography of the Manly Palmer Hall Collection of books and manuscripts: Including related material on Rosicrucianism and the writings of Jacob Böhme.
The original copy remains in the Library at Troyes, designated as MS 2400.
Format
The manuscript copies are triangular in form, presumably "for magickal reasons."In a discussion preserved in the archives of the Alchemy Web Site, Mr. Robert Word stated:
Authorship Controversy
Some controversy persists over the authorship of the work. Ascribing authorship to the Count of St. Germain rests on a "bookseller's note" pasted to the front of the MS in Troyes, as well as Manly Palmer Hall's own statements, which have been described as partisan. Indeed, Mr. Hall states that the MS was very much in the possession of Cagliostro, who is alleged to be one potential author of the manuscript, but that "the InquisitionInquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
had seized it" when Cagliostro was arrested in Rome in 1789.
External links
- La Très Sainte Trinosophie. Most color plates depicted.
- La Très Sainte Trinosophie. English version adapted from Manly Palmer Hall's edition of 1933.
- Count St. Germain, The Most Holy Trinosophia, with Introductory Material and Commentary by Manly Hall (Los Angeles: The Phoenix Press, 1933)
- La Très Sainte Trinosophie, Google Books version in Italian.
- Webversion in German and English