Spiritiual Rebirth

Johann Georg Gichtel, Eine kurtze Eroeffnung und Anweisung der dreyen Principien und Welten im Menschen. N.p., n.n.,, 1723.

The German Gichtel settled in Amsterdam and became a devoted and enthusiastic follower of the ideas of his compatriot Jacob Böhme. Gichtel’s own work develops Böhme’s speculations regarding the original androgynous nature of the heavenly Adam and the Sophia myth. The engravings to the posthumously published Eroeffnung show the process of spiritual rebirth taking place in man. Rather than being subjected to the planets, symbolizing the material world, man will come to be under the influence of the Divine.

On the second copy in loose sheets, we see that the four illustrations were engraved on one copperplate, which was printed on one sheet of paper and then cut into four.