Johann Von Essente, The Alchemist (1498-1563) Johann Von Essence belonged to a brotherhood of Alchemists and Philosophers, who met nightly to study and discuss the secret knowledge they believed was hidden in Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Such secret knowledge, they imagined, not only would tell them how to turn lead into gold and how to create the sphinx-like panacea for immortality, but how to read the minds of others. In the spring of 1554, the brotherhood was visited by the alchemist Lothair Koch, who had gained notoriety denouncing the work of Paracelsus. One evening, while talking with Lothair, Johann confided that the cryptic pictographs he copied out ritualistically each evening had begun to whisper others' thoughts into his ear. Lothair was intrigued, and together they wrote a manifesto and formed the Order of Invisible Knowledge . The manifesto was rediscovered in the 18 th century. It was, however, so full of puzzling hermetic illustrations, and cryptic verses and recipes, that no one to date, has been able to decipher them. The only thing that is known is that The Order believed that the feminine element of the human mind, or Venus , could hear other's thoughts if cultured in a precise way. It is well documented that The Order's original 13 members became wealthy and powerful men of their time, no doubt helped by their secret knowledge. Johann became an advisor to the Tsar Ivan IV, in 1562. He died a year later of ergot poisoning. |