the star royal summer palace in prague

7/29/2019 The Star Royal Summer Palace in Prague

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Philosophy stone - Max Ernst

The Star Royal Summer Palace in Prague(Letohradek Hvezda)

T h e S t a r ( H v e z d a ) R o y a l S u m m e r P a l b u i l d i n g s t h e p r i m a r y p u r p o s e o f " w l o c a t i o n , l a y o u t a n d t h e s u r v i v i n g i

Fulcanelli called such building"the dwellings of the philosophers.'1s It is a buildingdesigned and built with an inner, more or less hidden idea of" initiatory content.

Consequently, its mysterious radiation over the years attracted curious onlookers as wellas inspired artists.

However, it was only a handful of people in contrast to the general indolence of thetimes to come. A mere century later not even the pundits knew what to do with the Starand they made up fairytales about its origins. During the 'Thirty Years' War the Star wasransacked several limes; in the 18th century it was used to store gunpowder, and afterthat it was forgotten and inaccessible. It was like a magic palace under a spell and noone was aware of its riches.

Only after the middle of the 19th century, when the Innsbruck archivist David vonSchonherr studied the Tyrolean archives, did the sun start to rise over the Star again.The gunpowder storage was discontinued and the Star opened to the public.

On the basis of the study of the Ambras Palace documents, it became clear that theSummer Palace was carefully designed by its builder and founder, the ArchdukeFerdinand of Tyrol, who served as a viceroy of Bohemia between 1548 and 1567, duringthe reign of his royal father. He belonged to a circle of educated men influenced by theideas of Neo-Platonism and by Hermeticism, which was brought to life again at that

time. They ranked harmony, proportions, symmetry, mutual correspondence andnumerical symbolism among their creative principles. They viewed architecture as asmall-scale analogical reflection of macrocosmic events in the work of man. Their credowas the fulfilment of the old Hermetic notion, according to which as above, so belowand vice versa.

The architectural form revolving around a centre was equally important to them. Itcorresponded to old heliocentric as well as to metaphysical and Hermetic ideasconcerning the composition of the world's matter. These ideas had been applied in the16th century both in the construction of secular buildings with central axes and in theidealized allegorical engravings such as the "alchemical citadel," "the temple of thePhilosophers' Stone," or the cabalistic "Mountain of Adepts.

However, one had to wait until the mid-20th century for an important event to take placein the National Library in Vienna that would enhance our understanding of the foundingof the Star. There, the original folio comprising the first plans for the Summer Palacewas "rediscovered." It consists of seven paper sheets. Drawn in ink, they contain the

ground plans of the underground, the ground floor, and the two upper floors as well as awater-colour drawing depicting a cross section of the entire building. ArchdukeFerdinand drew them himself in his own hand. Above the first building plan of theunderground premises we find a passage in Italian, most probably written by one of theItalian builders of the Summer Palace:

La Casa dil Barcho nuouo fatta fare il ser(enissi)mo Principe Ferdinando miogratiosissimo Principe et signore ne fondame(n)ti alleguali sono statte poste vna grandeguantita di Medaglie diuerse et monete moderne di varia sorti tutte di oro et Argentofino per assai buona summa di valore poste p(er) mano di sua Altezza sotto la primeraPietra delli fondamenti me p(resen)te adi 25 Junio 1555 co(n) gli epitaphii in(scri)tti.

(The house in the new game park was built by the Archduke Ferdinand, my mostgracious Lord, at the place where there was no building before and he put many variousmedals and current coins of great value made of pure gold and silver into thefoundations; on June 25 (sic?), 1555, in my presence his Majesty laid in the firstfundamental stone by his hand with carved epitaphs.)

Moreover, we learn from the note that somewhere in the Star's underground lies thestone on which the founder's inscriptions in Latin are carved. They run as follows:

Cum lustra viderat tercentu(m) et vndecim Aetas

A Jesu nobis data salute Nato Sola me finxit Fondato lapide primo Fernandi ArchiducisDiua Minerua manus Me vt vides finxit posuitque dexter a sacra Fernandi RegisRomanorum filii

et gueste littere anchora (accompanied by capital letters)

F. F. F. A. M. D. L. V. (That is, "Fieri Fecit Ferdinandus Anno MDLV".)

The text makes it quite clear and indisputable that the foundation stone was laid byFerdinand himself. It happened on either June 28 (as many commentators maintain) oron June 25 (as we can read on the inscription). However, the first verse of theinscription is of more interest. The word lustrum means a five-year period in Latin, after

which in ancient Rome the purging sacrifices were made. The verse specifies that thefoundation stone was laid exactly on the 311th cluster (5 x 300 +11) after the birth ofJesus, which gives the year 1555, without it being explicitly mentioned.

In view of the fact that the building also contains many other echoes in its proportions aswell as interior decorations, it possible to interpret the first verse of the carvedinscription rather differently.

One could take the group of three fives in the year of the building commencement

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(1555) as a possible connecting-key between the Star Royal Summer Palace, the dateand the numerical rebus of the first verse in the inscription. In 311 AD, Roman EmperorGalerius published the first and most important edict extending religious freedom toChristians. This occurred even before Constantine's famous Edict of Milan. This yearmultiplied by five gives us exactly the year of the construction commencement. Its threefives correspond to the number of the pointed rooms (if we exclude the staircase) in thefirst three levels of the building; and one corresponds to the large hall on the third floor.

The second verse mentions the famous birth of our Jesus. This mysterious date wasasis well-known anticipated by the appearance of a star that took the Magi to his cradle.In the following verses, the stone itself "speaks," confirming that the building wasmeasured and allowed to be built by the son of the Roman Emperor with the help fromgoddess Minerva.

From the plans it follows that the Archduke based the design of the building on theground plan of the so-called Star of Solomon, the magic image of two intersectingequilateral triangles. In its totality the image expressed the perfect coupling of the fourelements. Undoubtedly, the building was an expression of both a Hermetically conceivedanalogy, in which an element (star) represents the whole (cosmos), and a syncretisminterconnecting individual branches of traditional sciences, such as astrology andalchemy, with the mythological concepts of the ideas of the pantheon of the Antiquity.

Sometimes it is maintained that the Star Royal Summer Palace was to serve as ahunting palace in the park, which was rich in game. One is also reminded of Ferdinand'saffair with beautiful Philipina Welser, a woman of low birth, whom he later married, andof the possibility that he built the Star for her. Undeniably Ferdinand had plenty ofreasons to build his Summer Palace, but the most significant ones appear to be themotivations of a philosophical nature.

The Summer Palace was built within one year. The Italian builders of the royal court,

Giovanni Maria Aostalli and Giovanni Lucchese, participated in its construction at firstunder the supervision of Hans Tirol and then in 1556 under Bonjfaz Wohlmut.

In contrast to the higher floors, in which we encounter several inscribed dodecagons ofvarious sizes and rhombic rooms in the points, the underground is designed on acircular ground plan with two different diameters creating a gallery around the centralvault with protruding entrances into the triangular rooms in the points. The staircaseruns through one of them. The massive stone mass of the underground creates a dimmeditative grotto in the "entrails of the Earth," which are, according to a famousalchemical axiom (V. 1. T. R. 1. O. L.), to be visited first before going anywhere else.

The Star's three aboveground levels and the one in the underground can he understoodas an echo of the four traditional elements of the ancient laboratoriesas is alreadyexpressed by the ground plan itself. The element of the Earth () corresponds to theunderground labyrinth; the motifs belonging to the element of Water (V) arepreponderant in the changeable and multifaceted decorations of the ground floor; thesecond floor is dedicated to Air (A); and, finally, the large hall of the third floor, over the

ceiling of which towers the pyramids] spire of the roof, corresponds to Fire (A).Individual levels in the building also represent the group of four characteristic phases,through which the spiritualizing matter gradually passes in the course of the OpusMagnum. Accordingly, black goes with the underground, as it is the place of the initiationand symbolical death. On the ground floor, the alabaster stucco directly insinuates thestate of the so-called albedo, the attainment of the Philosophers' ''white stone. Norecords concerning the original colours of the other two floors have survived. However,according to traditional symbolism, lemon yellow would correspond to the second floor,and the purple of royal power, the colour of the Philosophers' Stone, or the prevailingred on the original tiles of the hall (rubedo) would correspond to the unpartitioned thirdfloor.

Contemporary generations have grown used to the obtuse angle of the roof that theStar has borne since the late 18th century. But one does not have to go too far for proofthat it fundamentally disrupted the esoteric poise of the building, and thereby also itssymbolic proportions. If we erect vertically the distance of one side of its triangles fromthe ground plan, its height exactly corresponds to the summit of the original narrowhexagon of the roof. The mutual interconnectedness of the proportions can beanticipated in this kind of building in the same manner as its numerological symbolism.We have already suggested the possible relationship between the year when theconstruction was commenced and the inscription on the foundation stone. All thatremains to say is that apart from the omnipotent presence of the number twelve, whichappears as a module in several locations of the ground floor and second floor (whichnaturally stems from the original hexagon), one can meet here with the number twenty-one, usually associated with the sum of the Hebrew alphabet (three times seven spaceson the first three levels) and with the number twenty-two of the major Arcanum of theTarot (if we add to it the large hall on the third floor).

No documents that would directly attest to the esoteric inclination of the founder havesurvived. All that is known of him is that later he asked Emperor Rudolph II to providehim some information about the major alchemists working at his court.2/

The Star's interior stucco and painted decorations were created between 1556 and

1560; the hall on the third floor was painted only in 1562. The fragile alabaster stuccoembellishing the walls and ceiling on the first floor ranks among the most precious thathave been preserved in the Star. It was prepared by the Italian guild workshop andinspired by the Roman stucco of the Antiquity. The spreading of these motifs, at firstthroughout Renaissance Italy and then to the north of the Alps, occurred in the early16th century after the uncovering of the underground grottos of the Roman Antiquity.The works of Giovanni da Udine, a worker in stucco in Raffael's workshop, are mostoften listed among the inspirational models for the Star in Prague. The main figurative

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motifs drew on the mythology of Antiquity and on the legendary history of Romeas itwas described by Titus Livy in his work Ad urbe condita. (We should bear in mind thatFerdinand of Tyrol was a son of a Roman emperor who claimed succession after theRoman Empire.)

The small quadrangular salons in the points were dedicated to the main Roman gods.They are depicted in the central section of the ceiling. Accordingly, we can speak ofJupiter's, Mercury's, or Diana's salons. In the context of the hexagram it would benatural to think of a probable link with the traditional planets. However, the design andthe concept of the stuccos are far more subtle. With certain degree of probability, onecould ascribe the fourth small salon to Saturn; however, the depiction is notunequivocal in terms of its iconography. In line with traditional opinion, theremaining two rooms should be dedicated to Mars and Venus, the divine

antagonistic pair. These are at exactly opposite points; the undecorated staircase islocated in one of them, and in the other there is the learned centaur Cheiron, carryinghis pupil on his back The pupil could be one of the legendary heroes (Jason on Achilles),of whom it is said that Cheiron was their teacher. Surprisingly, this motif is placed on thespot where we would expect one of the major gods; it could indicate the initiationceremony function of the Summer Palace, because this is exactly what Cheiron didthrough his centaur-like languagethe cabala.

These six premises are separated from each other by six radial hallways, into whichopen the entrances of individual salons. It is this very layout that creates the network ofseveral inscribed dodecagons of various sizes. Like the rooms, the hallways aredecorated with numerous figures and ornamental motifs. The entrance corridor isgoverned by the allegory of Purity (a woman with her leg on the head of a boar) as agentle reminder of the necessary precondition (above all in the spiritual sense) for thepenetration to the "mystical centre".

Venus, lacking in the salons, is placed (along with Minerva) in the fourth hallway,

opposite the entrance hallway and at the same time adjoining the room with centaurCheiron. From the other side of this salon the third hallway is adjoined. It also containsa woman's motif (Prudence or Cleopatra with the serpent). This could justify theassumption that the whole area around the third salon is dedicated to Venus andthrough the language of associated symbols expresses the "love for wisdom." Buildingsconstructed around a centre, and especially those built on the ground plan of a star, areoften connected by a very subtle network of relations and correspondences betweenthe meanings of stars with various numbers of points. If we for the moment discountthe point designed for the staircase on all floors, the Summer Palace's ground plan canbe perceived as that of a five-pointed star, with the summit ascribed to Venus.Traditionally, an image of a man with his arms spread wide and his head receiving thecosmic rays whose inserted into such a star. "Wherever a pentagram is found, it needbe replaced with Venus."3/ This quotation only accentuates the previous findings.

The opposite sixth space without decorations next to the entrance could belong to Mars;this is attested by the placement of the relief of a Roman soldier or even the god of war

in the adjoining entrance of the fifth hallway. The aforementioned concept of the roomscould also express Ferdinand's personal creed: on the most honourable place, in thefirst room, Jupiter's splendour as an homage to the royal power; Mercury in the secondand Cheiron in the third salon (representing his espousal of the esoteric initiatorycurrent); the "area of Venus" as a subtly hidden homage to his unequal but burninglove; finally, Diana in the fifth and last salon, as a reminder of his passion for huntingand the recreational function of the Summer Palace.

Apart from the mentioned gods, there are a dozen other gods, demigods and fabulousheroes, some of whom we have already met on our way. Noted randomly: Minerva,Nike, Bacchus with the procession of maenads and satyrs, Ceres, Aiolos, Alpheus,Ganymede, Perseus, Zephyr, Hercules, Leda, Europa, Lachesis, Centaurs fighting theLapiths and, above all, Neptune with the cohort of Tritons and Nereides. Also very typicalare the accompanying decorations of the intertwined dolphins, ships with bows turnedinto imaginary birds, winged gryphons and dragons, more than one Pegasus, birds,goats, dogs, lions and many other specimens of more or less imaginary fauna inheraldic positions which one can encounter on the pages of alchemical treatises. This

deluge of widely varied symbols and allegories within a relative small area of the ceilingis somehow reminiscent of a Mannerist comic strip, on which some fight each other,while others attract each another. They all dance in a seemingly chaotic whirl. In spite ofthis, we suspect a deeper and well-concealed idea behind this mythological gathering. Itis hard to imagine that the stucco decoration or at least its fundamental design wascreated without the Archduke's active participation, as he himself was already theauthor of the building's basic ground plan, the magic seal of the Star. Also the richpresence of masks in the decorative motifs would not be just a matter of chance. Thismakes it clear that behind the depiction of the conventional allegories there are hiddenesoteric meanings. As is well-known, the gods of Antiquity did not have their parallelsonly in planets, but also in metals. The six-pointed radial dispositions of the rooms witha seventh central hall echo the group of seven traditional metals with gold as the centralruler. The old alchemist works depicted them in exactly the same manner. The vault ofthe central hall represents the non-stabilized iconographic concept of the so-calledSpeculum Virtutis, the Mirror of the Virtues, composed by scenes from the legendaryhistory of Rome. In the first three rectangular relieves placed on the left from the

entrance on the back, walls of the radial salons there are gradually depicted Mucius

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Scaevola, burning his hand over the flame, Horatius Codes defending the bridge acrossthe Tiber against attackers, and Cimon drinking from the breast or his daughter Pero. Inthe right group of three fields toward the entrance there is the Consul Atilius Regulustortured in a barrel and Marcus Curtius leaping on his horse into the abyss on theRoman forum. Surprisingly, the sixth motif rounding out the whole is not another of theRoman virtues, but the oriental theme of the illness incurred from love which befell theroyal son Antioch I vis-a-vis his stepmother Stratonike. It must be mentioned once againthat Ferdinand's family, as a long-time ruler of the "Holy Roman Empire", considereditself the inheritor of these virtues. The sixth oriental motif could be an allusion to therelatively unattainable object of Ferdinand's desire, Philipina Welser.

However, the depicted deeds of heroism on the first four fields can also be perceived astransmutations of the secret element, Mercury, during a laboratory process, as well as

of fundamental values of the laboratory himself. The first two relieves closest to theentrance depict elements already encountered on our journey. On the first relief it is thebarrel, the hieroglyph of the alchemical furnace, the athanor, in which the hero AtiliusRegulus, our small king of the Opus, is being subjected to the effects of fire. In anotherfacet, Mucius Scaevola represents the regime of the secret fire in the first relief on theleft.4/ On the spiritual level the legends about Scaevola put an especially heavyemphasis on silence, even at the price of a horrible sacrifice. Horatius Cocles symbolizesthe individual defence of the most precious possessions "upon which he stands, even ifthe bridges were torn down." The story of the military leader Atilius Regulus stressesthe importance of the value of the given word and keeping one's promise, even to anextreme degree. Finally, Marcus Curtius accents sacrifice and extreme courage in facingthe metaphysical abyss.

Further from the entrance, but exactly facing it, there are the last two relieves, placedsymmetrically and thereby underscoring the twin perceptions of love. In contrast to thefirst four, in which the individual hero is a martyr and an image of martyrdom of gradualtransformation of a single matter (fire, barrel), both these fields are polarized by pairsof two individuals of opposite sex. On the relief on the left, we see the motif of Cimonand Pero. Usually, it is interpreted as a moral paradigm of the grateful love for one'sparents, but this explanation, in the context of the strangeness of the depicted scene, isfar from satisfactory. According to the legend, Pero, daughter of Cimon, visited herfather in prison, where he was condemned to death by starvation, and nourished himfrom her breast. It is difficult within this context not to remember the perpetuallyrepeated alchemist command, "Nourish your old man with the milk of a virgin!" - a motifwe have already encountered in this book. 5/

The relief opposite on the right depicts Antioch as he lies observing his stepmotherStratonike. According to the myth, the royal son Antioch fell madly in love with her. In hisbelief that his sinful love was hopeless, he ceased to eat and fell ill. The court physicianuncovered the true cause of his illness by observing his behaviour during various callsfrom different women. He reported it to his father, King Seleucus, who upon hearing ithanded over to his son not only his kingdom, but also his wife Stratonike. A very strangestory, indeed!

Both of the depicted scenes are clearly linked by the latent motif of incest. It can beuncovered at the base of every hierogram, every sacred union. However, what is lessknown is that a chemical wedding is always celebrated by two pairs at one time... It isworth mentioning that both motifs are linked by the element of hunger. In the first caseit is involuntary but materially satisfied, and in the second case it is self-inflicted hungerstemming from passion but nourished, though at first only metaphysically.

The symbolic patron of this group of four is the goddess of love, Venus, placed in theSummer Palace exactly in between them, in the fourth hallway opposite the entrance.Accordingly, both relieves thus become the subjects of the imaginary corridor of our"journey after the star," which we continuously refer to in this book.

The central circular field of the stucco vault in the central hall depicts the legendaryancestor of the Roman nation, Aeneas, bringing out his father Anchises from the flamesof burning Troy. The motif is supplemented by the Aeneas' son Ascanius and wifeCreusa. As is well-known, most heroes from the mythology of the Antiquity display solar

characteristics. Just on the basis of a formal comparison it is obvious that this circularcentral stucco work is more than just a representation of an old graphical sign for theSun-Gold.

This motif of a grateful son's love ranked among the frequently depicted series of motifsallegorizing the virtues. But why is it dominating the entire Star? There is an explanationat hand, even though it is not very convincing, according to which the Archduke wantedto please his royal father through this manifestation of a loyal son's love. In this case, itwould be probably better to look at that which can connect the star conceived as ageneral symbol with the myth of Aeneas. In his Mystery of the Cathedrals, Fulcanelliwrites: "Varro in his Antiquates rerum humanorum makes a remark concerning thelegend about Aeneas saving his father and his family's penates from flames of Troy,finding the goal of his journey on the Laurentian Fields after a long pilgrimage. Thecause of that was the following: Since leaving Troy Aeneas saw all time even during theday the star of Venus, until he reached the Laurentian Fields, where he lost it from hissight. And that was the sign that he had reached the land cast for him by Destiny.6/

Fulcanelli in his own note on the words "Laurentian Fields" makes the point that fromthe cabalistic perspective they mean "grafted gold" (L or ente, greffe). Even the StarSummer Palace offers us a possible interpretation of this dark place. The name"Laurentian Fields" may not be necessarily related to any locality in the Italian Latio, butthe gold could have been carried over by means of a "philosophical graft" or implantedon a similarly marked place. As one can see, we are again in the midst of alchemicalsymbolism. The previous quotation speaks of a star Venus that could be seen evenduring the day. Well, if we are standing under the Star's central relief, we can see that

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Aeneas is turned in that direction and does really walk after Venus who lights up hisskies from the vault of the fourth hallway He can really "see" her from his place evenduring the day! From here we can watch Venus on the stucco as well as the EveningStar (with some good luck) as the hallway continues westward through the window intothe place where the Evening star usually rises. Is it one of the reasons that could haveled the builder not to hide it inside of one of the salons from where Aeneas could notsee it? The relationship between the archetype of the star and the myth wasexpressed here beyond any doubt. Aeneas, this true solar hero, walks westward andfollows Venus, just as the Sun, in its everyday run, rises after the Morning Star whichsubsequently dissolves itself in the Sun's glare. Let us add that in the Summer Palacethe star "literally and allegorically brings in the myth. The local main motif of Aeneascould be interpreted as a conspicuous reminder of the "pilgrimage of the Magi after thestar." of the philosophical navigation after knowledge.

The placing of this motif exactly in the centre of the Star was also achieved by thealtogether special dynamism of this whole gamut of symbols, in principle akin to theeternal hunger of the serpent Ouroboros which devours its own tail. The hero pursuesthe star in which he is already fully contained, just as his star of love, grown in hisheart, commands him to set out on this journey.

"Our star is a single one, and yet a double. Learn to recognize its real impression fromits image and observe that it glares with more intensity during the daylight than atnight." With these words Fulcanelli described the character of the philosophical star,which is one and at the same time double. It can be related to our Summer Palace. Thetwin shining of the star attests to this as well as its subsequent perception: on the onehand, although material, it appears to be reduced to a mere "image," on the other, anancient archetype clearly emanates from herthe impression, the only real andpermanent one. Let us remind ourselves how Venus' double identity materializes in theimage of the Evening Star and Morning Star. Finally, the comment concerning its

different glare throughout time can be related to historical periods in which the glow ofempathy followed the Cimmerian shadows of the aphelion.

The east-west direction of the Summer Palace design is supported also by thecomposition of the surviving original floor tiles in the large hall on the third floor.7/ Wefind here the clear duality aligned with this axis, suggested by two large empty fields inthe southern and northern summit of the star. It divides the tiles into the daily (south)and nocturnal (northern half) while the southern part is clearly composed in a morecomplex manner. The more detailed division of this daily half corresponds to the layoutof the stucco on the first floor. Accordingly, for example, the celestial area of Venus islaid out here (even more unequivocally than on the first floor) and that not only by thethree lines of bluish "verdigris" tiles, but also by the four adjoining fields which are theonly ones of the entire mosaic to be fitted with partitioned tiles. If we synthesize thelayout of both floors, then Jupiter, Mercury and Venus belong to the daily metals of theStar, while Saturn, Luna and Mars belong to the nocturnal. This layout further divides ona more detailed level the southern half into the east and west. Generally speaking, ahexagram is inscribed into the ground plan of the "big star" (with tops in the points of

the star) and into it is inscribed a smaller hexagram, positioned as the big star. Theimage of the above mentioned two stars in one is also manifested here.

Owing to this initiation, the Summer Palace became a sort of a Hermetic aggregate witha potential magnetic power which later could inevitably attract to it some historicalturning points that take place on the local "surface of the solution," in the meltingcrucible of the Czech Lands.

This double and yet single star should appear to the laboratory above the surface of thecanonically prepared solution as its magnetic seal and the pledge of a successfulcompletion of the Opus Magnum. The solar sulphur is born from an infinitesimal seed.The wise ones have been watching out for the sign of the star which it is necessary tofollow.8/ In the alchemist treatises it took on the form of a hexagram star of Solomon.We think that Ferdinand's conscious deedthat is, visibly inserting the star into theconstruction of the buildingaimed toward the fulfilment of a secret intention, whichwas to let shine the Golden Star in the place of the first one on the philosophical sky ofKnowledge. As the statement from Basil Valentine's The Twelve Keys of Philosophy

bears witness: "God had lent to me two stars in order to lead him to a great Wisdom;man: observe and follow day and night their glare with endurance, because the Wisdomis to be found in it."9/

Notes:

1/ The Star has always attracted the scouts of magic. The French surrealist poet AndreBreton recognized its esoteric quality in 1935 during his stay in Czechoslovakia. The

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passage from the book whose first published in Minotaure already in 1935, accompaniedby an imaginary painting of the Star by Marx Ernst. On a different occasion, AndreBreton said of Prague that it was "a magic metropolis of old Europe."

5/ Between 1560 and 1570, Leonhard Thurneysser (1530-1596), a major Renaissancealchemist, worked for Archduke Ferdinand. Ferdinand's permission allowed him toconduct an experimental vivisection on a condemned man. Later Ferdinand put him incharge of collecting alchemical secrets during his travels around the Middle East andEthiopia. Jacques van Lennep: Alchymie, (Brussels: Dervy Livres, 1985), p. 159.

3/ H. Hunwald, Les Origines Cosmiques du Pentagramme, p. 15.

4/ On the general alchemical meaning of the barrel, see the chapter The Cabala ofMinerals and the Unicorn. Here we shall only pass a remark that regulus, bunny rabbit

was often used as a synonym for young sulphur. For the meaning of the bridge (fromthe legend about Horatius Codes), see the chapter Splendor Solis. The hero's namemeans one-eyed; just like the three giant Cyclops who hammered lightning for Zeus. Forthe legend about Mucius Scaevola and his personified left hand, see the chapter TheAncient Chivalric War. Another depiction of Scaevola can be found on the southern sideof the lower row on the Royal Summer Palace of Queen Anne, as well as Curtius' Leapinto the Abyss.

5/ For the description of the colour illustration from Aurora consurgens in which thepersonified Wisdom nurses two old men, see the chapter The Ancient Chivalric War.

6/ Fulcanelli, Tajemstvi katedral {The Mystery of the Cathedrals), (Prague: Trigon,1992), p. 62.

7/I want to extend my thanks to Mr. Vladimir Adamczyk, the director of the departmentof the Memorial of National Literature at the Star Summer Palace, for the kindness withwhich he lent us the diagram of the floor tiles on the third floor of the Star Summer

Palace as well as other materials.

8/ The name of Epiphanythe celebration to commemorate the visit of the Persian Magiwho followed the star to Bethlehemis derived from the Greek words epi {on thesurface) and phany {appearance).

9/ In Prague, stars appeared on house signs, for example, on the house At the GoldenStar {U zlate hvezdy) at Rytirska Street No. 10. Now it can be seen in the MunicipalMuseum of Prague. It was also on the house of the same name that stood on the OldTown Square and was torn down. In the Lesser Town there is the house At the GoldenStar {U zlate hvezdy) at U luzickeho seminare Street No. 9 and also the house At theStar {U hvezdy) at Zamecke schody Street No. 10.

Martin Stejskal was born in 1944 on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces. Since the 1960s he has participated in the activities of thesurrealist movement. He paints, writes and translates from French.

He is the author of Through the Labyrinth of Mystery, A Guide to the Magical Locations in Czechoslovakia; The Star/An Attempt toDefine the Prague Summer Palace as a Dwelling of Philosophers; Journeys After the Star A Mirror of Hermeticism in the CzechLandscape.

The autor of Letohradek Hvezda texts is Martin Stejskal.

All these texts are published with the coordination and an agreement of the author.

STEJSKAL, M.: Praga Hermetica, An Esoteric Guide to The Royal Route; Eminent 2003; ISBN 80-7281-164-9

Date determinationday: 25 month: 6 year: 1555

LinksWikipedia - in czechLetohrdek Hvzda stavbou pipomn pevnostLetohrdek Hvzda - a lot of imagespraha.zazrcadlem.cz - photo

Letohrdek Hvzda na Hrady.cz - in czechLetohrdek Hvzda na Bl hoe Praha 6, LibocPRAGUE SIGHTSEEING SEARCH

KeywordsArt, Arts / Concept, Cite ideal, History, Chimrisation, Immortality, Planning and architecture, Science, Sciences, Symbolicsystem, Theory, Thought, Town, Universe of the Utopias, Urban, Urbanism, Utopian

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the star royal summer palace in prague

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