Tree of Knowledge | Poster

Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer, manuscript 1943 (M308)

Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica Collection

This image is based on an engraving from 1698 from a book by Valentin Weigel entitled Studium universale. The message of this book and its illustration is that simply plucking the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge only amounts to a ‘studium particulare’, a study that can only yield pieces of the puzzle of life. The real goal, however, should be to engage in a ‘studium universale’, a comprehensive knowledge that leads to peace and understanding. Its symbol is the inner eye of wisdom gazing at us from the place where the three circles converge. The hand from the cloud above is not the hand of God, as Weigel explains. It is the hand of a seeker after truth, who already possesses a more encompassing view of things.