Forwarded from Ahnenerbe
Windhoek Oktoberfest Brings Germany to Africa (Namibia Board of Tourism)
Mormon Apostle and theologian Orson Pratt chose this unusual emblem (B) -- the All-Seeing Eye within a heart -- for the banner head of his paper, The Seer, published at Washington D.C. in 1853-4. The figure is a near-exact replication of a Rosicrucian emblem (A) from Daniel Cramer's Latin work, The True Society of Jesus and the Rosy Cross, published at Frankfurt in 1617. This small work contained forty allegorical engravings developing Rosicrucian themes, each associated with a scriptural verse and a motto. To this emblem was associated the verse "In thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9), and the motto, "I see the light in your light, let darkness be far away. He is wise who gains wisdom from the book of the Lord."
Daniel Cramer, Iesu et Roseæ Crucis Vera: Decades quatuor emblematum sacrorum... (Frankfurt, 1617), reproduced in, The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1991), 29.) The image of the Eye within the Heart again appeared in the 1682 edition of Jacob Boehme's collected works. (Frontispiece to Von Christi Testamenten, in Jacob Böhme, Theosophishe Wercken [Amsterdam, 1682].)
Daniel Cramer, Iesu et Roseæ Crucis Vera: Decades quatuor emblematum sacrorum... (Frankfurt, 1617), reproduced in, The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1991), 29.) The image of the Eye within the Heart again appeared in the 1682 edition of Jacob Boehme's collected works. (Frontispiece to Von Christi Testamenten, in Jacob Böhme, Theosophishe Wercken [Amsterdam, 1682].)
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"The Seal of the Priesthood" consists of a phrygian cap or crown over the All-Seeing Eye of God; the private seal of the Twelve Apostles is composed of this same emblem surrounded by sixteen letters, an abbreviation for "Private Seal of the Twelve Apostles, Priests of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in the Last Dispensation All Over the World." The seal was apparently first engraven in Nauvoo under the guidance of John Taylor and Brigham Young in January of 1845. (Dean C. Jesse, ed., "Nauvoo Dairy of John Taylor", BYU Studies 23 [Summer 1983]: 34.) It subsequently appeared on the first gold coins minted in Utah in 1849 and 1850, as illustrated here. This same relatively rare symbol is found in a superior positon on the title page of the 1682 edition of Jacob Boehme's collected "Theosophical Works" published at Amsterdam, a book important to German Pietist, strongly influenced by Rosicrucianism
and by Boehme's kabbalistically toned writings, who immigrating to Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century. Jacob Böhme, Theosophishe Wercken (Amsterdam, 1682).