Jacob Boehme

Jacob Boehme — Aurora, The Day-Spring (trad. John Sparrow; ed. Dekton Publishing, 2022) [DECLARADA]

Jacob Boehme — Ein gründlicher Bericht / A Fundamental Report (ed. Günther Bonheim; trad. y comentario de Andrew Weeks; Brill, 2013) [DECLARADA]

Jacob Boehme — The Way to Christ (trad. Peter Erb, Paulist Press, 1978) [DECLARADA]

Cristianismo · Miembro

Rosacruces · Comentarista

«COURTEOUS Reader, I compare the whole Philosophy, Astrology, and Theology, together with their mother, to a goodly tree which grows in a fair garden of pleasure.» — abre el prefacio de la Aurora dirigido al lector cortés, comparando la filosofía, la astrología y la teología con su madre a un árbol de un jardín de deleite.

«Thirdly, he will say that I am not learned enough. Fourthly, he will say that I do it in a vainglorious way. Fifthly, he will be much offended at the simplicity of the author» — enumera las objeciones que espera, y la tercera es la de no ser bastante docto; la quinta, el escándalo ante la simplicidad del autor.

«So neither can I say anything of myself, nor boast or write of anything, save this: that I am a simple man, and, besides, a poor sinner, and have need to pray daily, Lord, forgive us our sins ; and to say with the Apostle, O Lord, thou hast redeemed us with thy blood.» — se sitúa a sí mismo al defender la obra de sus objetores: hombre sencillo y pecador que ha de pedir perdón cada día.

«You should not here scorn my spirit, for it is not sprung forth from the wild beast, but is generated from my power and virtue, and enlightened by the Holy Ghost.» — sale al paso del desprecio previsible y adjudica su espíritu al Espíritu Santo, no a lo bestial.

«I do not write this for my own praise, but to that end that the Reader may know wherein my knowledge stands, that he might not seek that from me which I have not, or think me to be what I am not» — dice para qué escribe: no para alabanza propia, sino para que el lector sepa dónde está su conocimiento y no le pida lo que no tiene.

«Also I have not gone up to heaven, and beheld it with my fleshly eyes, much less has any told it me; for though an angel should come and tell it me, yet I could not apprehend or conceive it without enlightenment from God, much less believe it» — acota el alcance de lo que dice haber visto: no subió al cielo ni lo vio con ojos de carne, y sin iluminación de Dios no podría entenderlo ni aunque se lo dijera un ángel.

«Although the devil will raise scorners and mockers to vilify it, I do not much regard that; I am satisfied with this gracious, amiable and blessed revelation of God; they may mock so long till they find it by experience with eternal shame, then the fountain of remorse or shame will surely gnaw them.» — cuenta de antemano con los burladores y dice quedarse con la revelación.

«In this combat I had many hard trials to my heart's grief: My sun was often eclipsed or extinguished, but did rise again; and the oftener it was eclipsed or put out, the brighter and clearer was its rising again.» — cuenta su propia pelea interior con el símil del sol eclipsado que vuelve a salir más claro.

«I do not write this for my own glory; for my glory stands in my hope of that which is to come: I am a poor sinner as well as other men, and I also ought to come before this glass.» — se pone él mismo delante del espejo que ofrece al lector, como pecador igual que los demás.

«I have no use for their tables, formulae or schemes, rules and ways, for I have not learned from them, but I have another teacher or schoolmaster, which is the whole or total NATURE. From that whole nature, together with its innate, instant birth or geniture, have I studied and learned my philosophy, astrology, and theology, and not from men, or by men» — declara de quién aprendió: no de los libros de los doctos sino de la naturaleza entera como maestro, y de ahí, dice, su filosofía, astrología y teología.

«Though I have not studied nor learned their arts, neither do I know how to go about to measure their circles; I take no great care about that» — declara a la vez que no estudió las artes de los doctos ni sabe medir sus círculos, y que no le importa.

«Neither is it my purpose to write of the branches of the tree, and to invert or disprove their knowledge; neither do I build upon their ground, but I leave their knowledge to sit in its own seat, seeing I have not studied it» — acota su propósito: no escribir de las ramas del árbol ni desmentir el saber de los doctos, cuya ciencia deja en su propio asiento.

«Whereby I understand that the spirit must be tried through the cross and affliction, and I have not failed of bodily temptation, but was fain always to stand ready for an encounter, so much has the devil set himself against this» — adjudica a la cruz y a la aflicción el examen del espíritu, y dice no haberse librado de la tentación corporal.

«I do not write of my own accord but by the witness of the Spirit which no one can withstand. It stands in its own strength and does not depend on our desire or will» — su voz llega aquí por mano de Peter Erb, que lo cita desplazando la autoría al Espíritu: escribe, dice, no por decisión propia.

«Because I may learn to know and understand that I am a sinner, and that Christ has killed my sins on the cross and shed His blood for me, this in no way makes a Christian out of me» — niega que el conocimiento correcto de la doctrina baste para hacer a un cristiano.

«The mystery resides in the apparent incongruity of an uneducated shoemaker and self-professed “simple” man whose ingenious writings were nonetheless capable of influencing poets and philosophers for centuries to come» — Andrew Weeks nombra el enigma de que parte su edición: un zapatero sin estudios que se declara hombre simple y cuyos escritos influyeron en poetas y filósofos por siglos.

«The unstudied eloquence of his German writing owes much to his reading of the Bible and attendance of sermons» — Weeks hace venir de la Biblia y de los sermones la elocuencia no estudiada de su alemán.

«establishing residence and citizenship as a self-employed shoemaker in Görlitz, where he acquired the rights of a citizen in 1599. By the turn of the century, Boehme was a burgher with a livelihood, house, wife, and first-born son» — Weeks data en 1599 el derecho de ciudadanía y el taller propio en Görlitz.

«As a man of middle years, Boehme committed to paper the extended but incomplete draft of Aurora reproduced here, evidently breaking it off on June 12, 1612, before completion. Over a year later, on July 26, 1613, he was summoned to the Görlitz city hall and ordered to desist from writing» — Weeks fecha la redacción y su corte el 12 de junio de 1612, y la citación al ayuntamiento de Görlitz el 26 de julio de 1613 con la orden de dejar de escribir.

«Jacob Boehme was born in 1574 or 15751 in Alt-Seidenberg, a village near Görlitz. He was the fourth of five children of a prosperous peasant family. His father was also a lay jurist (Gerichtsschöppe), a circumstance reflected in the author’s predilection for legal rhetoric.» — Andrew Weeks, en el comentario introductorio de su edición, abre la vida: nacido en 1574 o 1575 en Alt-Seidenberg, cerca de Görlitz, cuarto de cinco hijos de familia campesina acomodada, con un padre juez lego. El 1 pegado a 15751 es la llamada de nota.

«pastor of Görlitz, Gregor Richter, who denounced Boehme from the pulpit. The original of Aurora was seized and not returned, though it was preserved by others. Boehme seems to have complied with his order to desist, writing nothing for approximately five years» — Weeks nombra al pastor Gregor Richter como quien lo denunció desde el púlpito, registra la incautación del original y le adjudica unos cinco años de silencio.

«Numerous men in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, by themselves or in small groups, found in the thought of the quiet Gorlitz shoemaker and in his writings a depth of piety which they often missed in the orthodox proclamation of the church of that day» — Winfried Zeller explica su difusión por un déficit percibido en la predicación ortodoxa de la época.

«In 1599, Boehme became a citizen in Gorlitz and entered into business there as a shoemaker. In May of that year he married a local butcher’s daughter, Catharina Kuntzschmann, and shortly thereafter purchased a home» — Peter Erb fecha la ciudadanía, el taller y el matrimonio con Catharina Kuntzschmann; la capa de texto imprime Gorlitz sin diéresis.

«The spark that ignited this environment for Boehme was provided with the arrival of Martin Moller (d. 1606) who came to the city as a Lutheran pastor in 1600» — Erb fija en la llegada del pastor luterano Martin Moller en 1600 el detonante de ese ambiente.

«He had Boehme’s book confiscated and on July 30, 1613, its author was banned from further writing» — Erb fecha la confiscación y la prohibición de escribir dictadas a instancias del pastor principal de Görlitz.

«Boehme’s probing of the nature of the universe with alchemical tools came to an end and from then to the end of his life he reformulated the main patterns of his thoughts within the more common themes and images of traditional Christianity» — Erb pone en 1622 el final del uso de herramientas alquímicas y sitúa después los tratados de The Way to Christ.

«In spite of Boehme’s insistence to the contrary, he was clearly influenced much by earlier material. See studies cited above n. 5. Boehme’s statement that he did not take his material “from any other masters” (Bohme Schriften, 1, Aurora. 3:48) is not a denial of his own indebtedness to the many ideas that he must have learned in Gorlitz’ circles of Paracelsians and others, but an insistence that what he had used was used only under the Spirit’s guidance. Earlier Boehmists who emphasized too strongly his “inspiration” did not take seriously enough his learning» — Erb objeta en nota la insistencia de Boehme en no deber su materia a otros maestros, y a la vez objeta a los boehmistas tempranos haber subrayado demasiado la inspiración.

«Boehme was the son of a farmer who lived the first part of his life as a shepherd and later became a shoemaker. He claimed that his writings reflect only what he was taught through the direct experience of God» — la solapa del volumen de Paulist Press resume su biografía y su pretensión sobre el origen de sus escritos; es solapa, no voz de la obra.

«Boehme, Jacob, * ca. 24.4.1575 Alt-Seidenberg, ¢ 17.11.1624 Gorlitz 1. LIFE 2. BOEHME’S PERSPECTIVE 3. AURORA 4. THREE PRINCIPLES 5. SUBSEQUENT WRITINGS 6. CONCLUSION Shoemaker, Lutheran dissenter, and author of numerous writings that exercised a profound and lasting influence on German Spiritualism and > Pietism and its equivalents in other countries, on German literature and philosophy, as well as on mysticism and > Christian Theosophy» — la entrada del Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, firmada por Andrew Weeks, da las fechas y el oficio, y le adjudica influencia sobre el espiritualismo alemán, el pietismo, la literatura y la filosofía alemanas y la teosofía cristiana. La capa de texto imprime como ¢ el signo de defunción y Gorlitz sin diéresis; el tramo se extrajo sin la guarda anticosido por ser cabecera de artículo, releída entera.

«Despite a rich mythic and legendary overlay, the salient facts of Boehme’s life are largely documented. He was born into a prosperous and respected Lutheran peasant family. As a young man, he was given the relatively thorough elementary school education that is reflected by his fine writing skills in German» — el mismo artículo declara documentados los hechos salientes de su vida pese a la capa mítica y legendaria, y le adjudica una educación elemental relativamente completa.

«the young shoemaker was seated in his shop when the gleam of light (presumably a reflection of the sun) in a tin or pewter vessel gave him the impression of looking into a concealed “center of nature”, a sense that seemed confirmed during a walk out into the countryside» — el artículo recuenta la versión de Franckenberg: el destello en un vaso de estaño o peltre y la impresión de mirar dentro de un centro oculto de la naturaleza.

«Boehme’s own account in chapter nineteen of Aurora recollects a prior melancholy sense that God was remotely situated in the heavens above and that the poor human beings were abandoned in a harsh world down below, in which true piety was not requited. Upon realizing that the “true heavens” were everywhere, he felt himself joyously embraced by divine love» — el artículo contrapone el propio relato de Boehme en el capítulo diecinueve de la Aurora, que parte de una melancolía por un Dios remoto y termina en el abrazo del amor divino.

«The two parallel strands — involvement in the life of his times and apparent singularity of inspiration — traverse his career and constitute the central challenge to scholarship» — el artículo nombra el desafío que la obra plantea al estudio: dos hilos paralelos, la implicación en su tiempo y la aparente singularidad de su inspiración.

«When a copy of the manuscript came to the attention of the Lutheran chief pastor of Gorlitz, Gregor Richter, the humble shoemaker was formally reprimanded by the city council for his unauthorized religious publication. Authorial silence was imposed and apparently maintained until around 1618» — el artículo registra la reprimenda formal del consejo municipal por publicación religiosa no autorizada y el silencio impuesto hasta hacia 1618.

«Fabre d’Olivet’s Illuminism, set out in a series of works published between 1813 and 1824, belongs to the esoteric tradition of thought that in its modern western form derives above all from > Jakob Boehme (1575-1624).» — Arthur McCalla, en el mismo diccionario, inscribe la obra madura de Fabre d'Olivet en la línea que hace derivar sobre todo de Boehme.

«but wishing to see in Boehme an original prophet, he refused to recognize that the cobbler from Gorlitz had also been influenced by Paracelsus and the kabbalah» — el Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism registra el punto ciego que adjudica a Oetinger: por querer ver en Boehme un profeta original, no reconoció sus deudas con Paracelso y la cábala.

«Boehme's theosophy always starts with Nature, which he conceives as essentially celestial and divine.» — el rasgo que Faivre le atribuye: su teosofía parte siempre de la naturaleza, concebida como esencialmente celeste y divina.

«Let us cite Boehme once more for he is characteristic of this form, this current of thought, while at the same time he is a model, at least in a poetic mode, for modern theosophy.» — el estatuto que Faivre le da: característico de esa corriente y a la vez modelo, al menos en modo poético, de la teosofía moderna.

«In its place we find a form of theosophy whose original stem was Paracelsism, and whose main offshoots were such intellectual currents as Boehmenism or Rosicrucianism.» — Faivre hace del boehmenismo una de las dos ramas principales de una teosofía cuyo tronco original es el paracelsismo.

«Originally a shoemaker from Goerlitz in Silesia, Boehme had a visionary experience in 1610 that was brought on by contemplation of a pewter vessel, an experience that determined his spiritual vocation as well as his vocation as author.» — Antoine Faivre data en 1610 la experiencia visionaria ante un vaso de peltre y le adjudica haber decidido su vocación espiritual y de autor.

«But again it was in Germany that another great strain of theosophy emerged with Jacob Boehme (1575-1624). Even before Boehme arrived, Valentin Weigel (1533-1588), a pastor from the vicinity of Chemnitz, effected a fusion of the RhinishFlemish mystical tradition with the downto-earth thinking of Paracelsus.» — Faivre lo pone como el otro gran filón de la teosofía alemana y le antepone a Valentin Weigel.

«However, the most typical representative of this approach is often considered to be the self-taught philosopher Jacob Böhme from Görlitz, who developed his highly poetically imaginative religious-philosophical-theosophical system in his immensely influential works.» — el volumen sobre Khunrath señala a quién da la bibliografía como representante más típico de la teosofía: el filósofo autodidacta de Görlitz.

«Granted, there is no shortage of old folktales involving magical fairy, elf, or gnome gold secreted away in forgotten mines and caverns. Although, the line, “amongst great red Stones," immediately garners our attention. Where Franckenberg reads in this fantastic anecdote a "Sort of emblematic Omen, or Presage of [Böhme's] future spiritual Admission to the Sight of the hidden Treasury of the Wisdom and Mysteries of God and Nature," we may well opt to interpret the tale as an alchemical allegory, likely concocted by the Teutonic Philosopher and projected by him into the days of his youth, for the purpose of communicating something of the key to this "hidden Treasury of the Wisdom and Mysteries of God and Nature" to those with "ears to hear."» — el volumen sobre el círculo de Ashmole opone dos lecturas del relato juvenil del tesoro: la de Franckenberg, biógrafo temprano, como presagio, y la propia, como alegoría alquímica.

«(El manuscrito fue incautado por orden del párroco de Gorlitz, Gregor Richter, y a Bohme se le prohibió en lo sucesivo escribir, orden que cumplió hasta 1619.)» — la enciclopedia de Priesner y Figala registra la incautación y la obediencia hasta 1619; es la única de las fuentes en español.

«It is impossible to overlook the fact that this doctrine, whose fascinating profundity is undeniable, found a highly remarkable parallel in the ideas of the great theosophist Jacob Boehme (1575–1624), the shoemaker of Goerlitz whose thoughts exercised so great an influence on many Christian mystics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in Germany, Holland and England. Boehme’s doctrine of the origins of evil, which created such a stir, indeed bears all the traits of Kabbalistic thought. He, too, defines evil as a dark and negative principle of wrath in God, albeit eternally transfigured into light in the theosophical organism of divine life. In general if one abstracts from the Christian metaphors in which he tried, in part at least, to express his intuitions, Boehme, more than any other Christian mystic, shows the closest affinity to Kabbalism precisely where he is most original. He has, as it were, discovered the world of Sefiroth all over again.» — Gershom Scholem traza el paralelo entre la doctrina cabalística del mal y la de Boehme, y le adjudica todos los rasgos del pensamiento cabalístico.

«As to the magnitude of the work and its attribution to a single individual, Scholem was consoled by historical parallels, particularly that of Jakob Boehme, a seventeenth-century German shoemaker, originally illiterate, who had composed a vast corpus of writings under the force of mystical inspiration.» — Arthur Green consigna el paralelo con que Scholem se explicaba una obra vastísima en un solo autor.

«It is not difficult to find examples from early modern Europe of shoemakers who did not stick to their last. Jakob Boehme of Görlitz in Lusatia is no doubt the most famous heterodox shoemaker of the period, along with the Portuguese Gonçalo Anes Bandarra, whose prophecies were taken seriously for centuries, despite his arrest by the Inquisition and his abjuration of his errors.» — Peter Burke lo nombra el zapatero heterodoxo más famoso del periodo, junto al portugués Gonçalo Anes Bandarra.

«The history of psychology teems with examples in illustration of this point, among which that of Boehme, the inspired but ignorant shoemaker, and our own Davis, are conspicuous» — Helena Blavatsky lo usa como contraejemplo contra la explicación del médium por incultura: el zapatero inspirado pero ignorante.

«anecdotes relates how Swedenborg was asked whether his views were compatible with those of the German mystic Jacob Boehme (1575–1624). “He was a good man, answered Swedenborg; it is a pity that some errors crept into his writings, especially with regard to the Trinity» — la anécdota que el volumen de Swedenborg recoge sobre su juicio acerca de Boehme: hombre bueno, con errores colados sobre la Trinidad.

«We find mention of theosophy and anthroposophy as early as the sixteenth century. Jakob Bohme in particular has been designated a theosophist, but there were also Franz Xaver von Baader (1765-1841) and others.» — Erik Hornung retrocede al siglo XVI y lo cuenta entre los designados teósofos; la grafía Bohme es la de la capa de texto.

«But Eriugena's work did filter down through the centuries of philosophy, perhaps by way of Jacob Boehme (1575—1624) in particular, into German idealism including G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831).» — Paul Rorem traza la vía larga de Eriúgena al idealismo alemán pasando por Boehme.

«Something eerily similar happened to a German Lutheran shoe cobbler by the name of Jacob Boehme in the year 1600. Jacob was staring at a beam of sunlight bouncing off a pewter dish.» — Jeffrey Kripal pone el episodio del plato de peltre en serie con otros casos y lo fecha en 1600.

«Of the thirty books written by Boehme, the most influential are: Aurora, oder Morgenroethe im Aufgang (Aurora, or Morning Redness in the Rising of the Sun, 1612), Das Klavis (The Key, 1618), Mysterium Magnum (The Great Mystery, 1623), and Von der Gnadenwahl (On the Election of Grace, 1623).» — Dennis William Hauck cifra en treinta sus libros y da por más influyentes cuatro, con la Aurora fechada en 1612.