Whereby elsewhere Cagliostro became cause for a conspiracy theory, in "Old Diary Leaves", the first President of the Theosophical Society Olcott, wrote that the TS was to be a repetition of Cagliostro's Egyptian Lodge in the eighteenth century. (Old Diary Leaves, 1:46-69.)

Co-founder of the TS Charles Sotheran also mentioned the connection between the TS, Blavatsky and Cagliostro's Egyptian Rite. See Sotheran, "Honors to Madame Blavatsky," Banner of Light 42, no.19 (February 2, 1878): 3.

However the "Egyptian Rite" of Cagliostro represented in the best case an "invented Egypt" and in the more likely case other than some of the costumes used in the secret rituals, its teachings belonged  entirely to the so called "Christian Cabbalah" (also spelled Kabbalah, or Cabalah). It was a complete and very poor, invention.

Cagliostro drew his inspiration from the "Order of the African Architects" and a book written by its founder Koeppen, the the "Crata Repoa" that describes the "seven Grades of Egyptian Initiation". Through the gateway of the profane, the neophyte arrived at the first degree as a Pastophoris, or apprentice. After being questioned by the hierophant, he had to withstand the test of the four elements and also to pledge loyalty and secrecy. He was initiated into the sciences and into the "common hieroglyphic writing system" and then clad in an "Egyptian" fashion with a pyramid-shaped cap, apron, and collar. Guided by a rope, he then reached the fourth degree, that of a Christophoris, was given a bitter drink and new garments, and stood face to face with the royal lord of the association. The password yoa was reminiscent of the gnostic name of God, and in the fifth degree, that of Balahate, he received the password chymia and was familiarized with alchemy.

Cagliostro incorporated his "secret" teachings in the so called Arcana Arcanorum  consisting of Kaballistic practices that stressed "internal alchemy". Each of the stages of alchemy found its correspondence in the body of the follower. Not unlike Swedenborg and his Masonic colleagues in London who assimilated their sexual theories into a special order of Freemasonry, the "Royal Order of Heredom of Kilwinning" or "Rite of Seven Degrees."

Taking advantage of the great interest in Asian culture generated by the Swedish East India Company (which secretly employed Swedenborg), he argued that the Yogis of Great Tartary discovered the secrets of Kabbalism long before the Jews.

Which Cagliostro probably came to know during his visit to London. Connections might also have existed with Order of the Initiated Brothers of Asia a split of  from the  German Masonic Rosicrucians  of the 17th Century that also incorporated a lot of frince Kaballistic teachings. No doubt Cagliostro's system was related to the hermetic system of correspondences between man and the microcosmos with each planet related to an organ in the body. The goal is the separation in the human body of the small divine spark (pneuma) from the matter in which it has fallen. This separation permits the (re)construction of the "body of glory".

Siv Ellen Kraft mentioned in her 2001 Dr. dissertation about the TS and Blavatsky that there appears to have existed a version of heterosexual magic in the early TS, possibly inspired by the teachings of the Brotherhood of Luxor.

However Cagliostro used the various bits and pieces of information he obtained clearly to defraud people as we shall see:

'No one should dare to practise any kind of sorcery, or be involved in it, or imitate any form of it; anyone found guilty of practising any of these sorceries, or commissioning such practices to others, will be condemned to row on the galleys for five years. The same punishment will be meted out to those goldsmiths and silversmiths who dare receive or work any kind of metal for alchemy, without earning any exemption of the penalty on the plea of ignorance.' (1)

This extract from statutes of the Order of St John indicates how strictly the practice of alchemy and sorcery was forbidden in Malta during the time Cagliostro was living there. Still this 'business' and belief in miraculous healing and sorcery must have been deeply ingrained in Maltese society, as can be seen in various examples. Most of the practising healers and sorcerers until the end of the eighteenth century on the island were Muslim slaves or Turks. (2) That a man like Cagliostro would have found a ready market for drugs from Orvieto in Malta' (3) or 'l'eau des jeunesse'and 'vin egyptien', (4) as claimed by many contemporary sources, cannot be questioned.

This belief in superstition and sorcery in Malta was not limited to the common people. The upper classes knew of the most recent theories and ideas in Rome or Paris. Many of the members of the higher circles of the Order in the eighteenth century had long lost their zeal for their statutes and their vows. Pinto himself seemed to have followed the habits of a long list of seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century absolutist monarchs and more or less secretly promoted alchemists and sorcerers. Doublet, who as Grand Master Rohan's secretary had good access to the archives and private documents, wrote:

'Mais si dans ces divers occasions le grand maitre Pinto a merite des eloges, cela ne saurait lefaire absoudre de torts graves qu' on a eu a lui reprocher: . . . 3. d'avoirdissipe des sommes immenses soit a la recherche de la pierre philosophale ... on assure qu'il a sacrificie plus d'un million d'ecus pour courir inutilment pres cette chimere.' (5)

Pinto's interest in alchemy and spiritism is referred to in other more or less reliable contemporary writings. (6) That Pinto still stuck to the old alchemical search for the philosophers' stone must, however, be questioned. Interestingly none of Cagliostro's critics nor those who were sceptical of his claims of being Pinto's son ever questioned the existence of a laboratory for alchemy in the palace in Valletta. (7) Since the existence of this laboratory seems to have been quite well known in Europe, the recent publication by Virginia M. Fellows of excerpts from a deciphered manuscript which seem to reveal Pinto as the mastermind and leader of a circle of twentythree specially chosen young noblemen to learn 'the secrets of the cabbala, the mysteries of divination, the science of alchemy, and other areas of arcane practice' is somewhat surprising, to say the least. (8) This claim was made by the Scottish nobleman and traveller William Baird who visited Malta in 1770 together with his friend Ian Douglas. These two claimed to have participated in the meetings of this group which were always presided by the old Grand Master himself. Pinto's instructions to his students and the subject of his lectures seem to confirm the claim that Cagliostro received his final education in alchemy and the cabbala in Malta. Fellows quotes the Grand Master as reported by Baird:

'When you leave this isle, you will be skilled and skilful and very formidable practitioners of the hermetic arts. Nothing happens by accident, except disasters. If you are here tonight, it is because you were drawn by that great emanation of God that attracts all who desire wisdom. It is because of willingness to learn that you have been chosen to receive the teachings of the most benevolent wizards (magi) of yore. Over the next few years all of your questions will be answered.... When you leave Malta you will understand why events happen or not. You will be able to shape happenings toward the good of humanity.' (9)

All this sounds quite similar to Althotas's words spoken on his death bed. Baird's account of his encounter with Pinto becomes even more more fascinating when it mentions that the Grand Master claimed to be 'at the same level' with one of the great figures of contemporary European alchemy, the 'Great Count Saint Germain' who had achieved considerable fame in the cabbalistic arts and had attracted a large number of followers towards the middle of the eighteenth century.

According to his contemporaries, Saint Germain spoke all the European languages together with Sanskrit and Arabic. His critics called him a Portuguese Jew who had made himself a master in the art of imposture. According to his many influential friends and followers, including Louis XV and his mistress Madame Pompadour, he was more than 300 years old (sic) and could make artificial diamonds. In 1759 Saint Germain left France and retired to the court of the Landgrave of Hesse with whom he furthered his studies in the occult sciences. According to Baird, Pinto and Saint Germain together seemed to have set up a secret society with members from all over Europe which was later threatened by the founder of the Order of the Illuminists, Adam Weishaupt, 'who attempted to infiltrate and dominate the ranks of Pinto's and St Germain's secret society for sinister political purposes'. (10)

All this seems to reflect the new Zeitgeist which was marked by heterogeneity and great uncertainty. The new phenomenon of secret societies intermingled desires for political reform, questions about society and social attitudes, a new approach to morality, and anti-clericalism. On the other hand, there was still the conflict with the archaic conservative and mystic form of alchemy. As for Cagliostro, it is quoted that Pinto had a very low opinion of Cagliostro and 'considered him a fraud, and claimed that he had stolen alchemical secrets from his deceased friend [Althotas]'. (11) The story told here about Cagliostro's Malta visit is therefore different from the other versions. Cagliostro is said to have met Althotas, 'a person of singular dress and countenance and accompanied by an Albanian greyhound', while walking one day by the sea. Althotas invited him to his residence, a place furnished with everything necessary for the practice of alchemy. Finally Althotas invited Cagliostro to accompany him to Malta. In Malta, they were received by Pinto who was 'avidly experimenting with alchemy'. (12) After the death of Althotas, Cagliostro, left for Europe to, as 'Pinto said, 'defraud people with his false Egyptian Mysteries'. (13) The Grand Master 'promised that these would be exposed in time'.

Fellows claims to be quoting from the deciphered version of Baird's voluminous manuscript, which was later inherited by his relative John Baird, --although there are some serious questions about its authenticity. In fact some statements are definitely false and even a eighteenth-century Scottish traveller, unfamiliar with the situation in Hospitaller Malta and its statutes, could hardly be so mistaken to describe a 'Grand Duchess of Malta' (sic) and 'arbiter of local society' who refused to receive Pinto because of his 6 reputation for fearful mystical powers'. (14) Even more irritating are the stories which Baird reported about Pinto. That Pinto was born at Lamego on 24 May 1681 to Miguel Alvaro da Fonseca and Anna Teixeira Pinto and had died on 24 January 1773 in the palace in Valletta was then well known throughout Europe. (15) According to Baird, however, there was a mystery about the Grand Master's life:

'Although his name was known throughout Europe, very little was known about the man himself Pinto was a master alchemist on equal footing with the Count of Saint Germain. And, like the illustrious Count, Pinto's past and identity are points of much dispute. Some claim him to be the son of a wealthy Venetian merchant (sic) who learned the magical Arts while travelling throughout Asia. Others were of the opinion that Pinto was the illegitimate son of a certain Spanish prince and had learned magic and mystery in Africa.' (16)

That such rumours, not recorded anywhere else, were spread about a grand master of the Order of St John and a descendant of a high aristocratic Portuguese family is most unlikely. Similarly unlikely and far-fetched is the report which Baird gave of Pinto's death:

'The most disquieting thing about the rumours of Pinto were those of his death. Some said he was executed (sic) for heresy while teaching in Spain. Others said he died of a strange fever in Egypt. Many of the natives considered Pinto to be a vampire who could not die.' (17)

This belief of Pinto as an immortal vampire seems to recall various Maltese folk tales which cropped up because of Pinto's old age - he died at the age of 92 - and his 'endless' reign of almost 32 years (1741-73). In fact, as a result of a bizarre joke engineered by some knights against the unpopular Grand Master, a Parisian newspaper had announced Pinto's death in 1758. (18) All in all, the excerpts of the manuscript published by Fellows have to be taken with the utmost care; indeed, contrary to what the editor claims, they do not seem at least entirely - to derive from an original contemporary source.

For More on Cagliostro continue to P 5 of  Russian Masonry.

Cagliostro Theosophical Charlatan P.1

Cagliostro Theosophical Charlatan P.2

Cagliostro Theosophical Charlatan P.4

Cagliostro Theosophical Charlatan P.5

Bibliography

 

(1) 'Nessuna Persona ardisca lavorare, ne mettere in opera sorte alcuna d'alchimia, ne esercitarsi in quella, ne dare principio alla fabrica d'essa sotto pena di vogare il remo in Galera per anni cinque, nella quale incorrano cosi quei, che lavoreranno, coma qualsiasi altro, che commettesse, o ordinasse ed altri simili lavori: Nell'istessa pena incorrano gl'Orefici, ed Argentieri, se presurneranno ricevere, e lavorare qualunque metallo d'alchimia, senza che gli possa suffragare qualunque scusa d'ignoranza.' Leggi, e costituzioni prammaticali. rinovate, riformate, ed ampliate dal Serenissimo, ed eminentissimo signor Fra. D. Antonio Manoel de Vilhena de Conti di Villaflor Gran Maestro della Sacra Religione Gerosolimitana (Malta, 1724), 132.

(2) Cf. Paul Cassar, 'Healing by sorcery in 17th and 18th century Malta', The St Luke's Hospital Gazette (Malta, 1976), xi, No. 2, 79-88. For the late eighteenth century, cf. especially Francis Ciappara, 'Lay Healers and Sorcerers in Malta (1770-1798)', Stoija 78, 60-78.

(3) Cf. 'Affiche' circulating in Strasbourg in August 178 1. Here quoted from the reprint in Kiefer, 659.

(4) Cf. Malthe, Corse, Minorque et Gibraltar .... 148 et seq., 150.

(5) Doublet, 5.

(6) CL 'Leben und Thaten Joseph Balsamos, des so genannten Grafen Cagliostro', Neuer Teutscher Merkur (179 1), ii, 188, see also the joint work by several members of the Masonic lodge from Lyon, L'Ordre de Malte devoili. . . , and the German translation published under the more precise title Lebensart und schlechte Sitten der Ritter auf Malta ... 2 Vols. (Leipzig, 1793).

(7) Cf. the contemporary source 'Etwas ueiber Cagliostro' (1786), here quoted from Kiefer, 281-2.

(8) Virginia M. Fellows, 'Secrets of Malta', Gnosis Magazine (Summer 1996), 42-9, here 47 et seq. The author wishes to express his thanks to Mr Stephen Degiorgio who drew his attention to this article.

(9) Ibid., 48.

(10) Ibid.

(11) Ibid., 46 et seq.

(12) Ibid., 47.

(13) Ibid.

(14) Ibid.

(15) For the most extensive monograph about Grand Master Pinto de Fonseca, see Carmel Testa, The life and times of Grand Master Pinto] 741-1773 (Malta, 1989). Testa, who based his book entirely on the archives in Malta, does not mention any connection between Pinto and Cagliostro.

(16) Fellows, 47.

(17) Ibid., 47.

(18) This was recorded by the contemporary diarist Ignazio Saverio Mifsud; cf. NLM, Libr. MS. 12; diary entries, 21-25 December 1758.
 

 

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