The Garden of Cyrus
The Garden of Cyrus, or The Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the Ancients, naturally, artificially, mystically considered, is a discourse by Sir Thomas Browne. First published in 1658, along with its diptych companion Urn-Burial, in modern times it has been recognised as Browne's major literary contribution to Hermetic wisdom.[1][2]
Written during a time when restrictions on publishing became more relaxed during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, The Garden of Cyrus (1658) is Browne's contribution to a "boom period" decade of interest in esoterica in England.[3] Browne's discourse is a Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean vision of the interconnection of art and nature via the inter-related symbols of the number five and the quincunx pattern, along with the figure X and the lattice design.[4] Its fundamental quest was of primary concern to Hermetic philosophy: proof of the wisdom of God, and demonstrable evidence of intelligent design. The Discourse includes early recorded usage of the words "prototype" and "archetype" in English.
References
- ↑ http://aquariumofvulcan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/what-is-more-beautiful-than-quincunx.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.alchemywebsite.com/eng_bks.html.
- ↑ Frank Huntley Sir Thomas Browne: a Biographical and Critical Study Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1962
External links
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Complete text of The Garden of Cyrus
- Essay on Browne and Hermeticism
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