#kelpius

[niknyk]

Hermit's Cave - Tour & Lore of Mystic's Doomsday Cult in 1700's Philly 

Happy Friday the 13th!My New Film project, enjoy Hike & tour of 'Hermit's Cave' Mysterious Doomsday Cult 'Cave of Kelpius' 1690's Philly I've studied years on this tale!I manage the 3 official pages For this historic landmark site,Located in Fairmount Park. It's on Fb, Insta & Google I work to promote & share,The amazing, mystical story!America's first Doomsday Cult,In the 1700's, in a log tabernacle,Woods of Wissahickon Creek,The Occult & mystic 40 monks,Practicing alchemy, art, music,Science, astrometry & astrology!Building a dream of comminty,Many parts are odd but real,Exploding Philosopher's Stone,Magical golden sun dail bowl.The first observatory in the US Spiritual beliefs & forgotten lore.Such a fascinating unique tale,It's a passion project of my life.like a 'Lord of the rings' fantasy,40 mystic monks lost in history!Enjoy my latest film & thanks!!

[4chanmusic]

https://soundcloud.com/kelpius/meandering

[hspdigitallibrary]

In 1694, Johannes Kelpius and about forty other German Pietists set sail for the recently established colony of Pennsylvania. Unlike others who flocked to the new world to escape religious persecution or in the hopes of new opportunities, Kelpius and his followers came to await the end of days.

University educated scholars and astronomers, the group that called themselves the Society of the Woman in the Wilderness (but came to be known by other colonists as the Hermits or Mystics of the Wissahickon) had determined through extensive study of the Book of Revelations that the second coming would occur in 1694.

Philadelphia was chosen as the ideal location to wait for the heavenly kingdom due to its proximity to the wilderness which allowed the group the isolation they needed to purify their souls through meditation and observation of the heavens. They set up a rudimentary settlement near the banks of the Wissahickon Creek, near present-day Roxburough. When the year passed, the hermits continued to wait through several more years and some even continued to wait after Kelpius’ death in 1708, though most grew disaffected and were eventually absorbed into the nearby settlement of Germantown.

HSP is home to some of the few surviving relics of the Kelpius community, including Kelpius’ own journal from 1694 documenting the group’s hazardous 10-week Atlantic crossing. The journal entries recount their ship’s encounters with impress gangs, battles with hostile French vessels, perilous storms, and even divine intervention. For this ‪#‎FridayReads‬, check out the digitized journal in HSP's Digital Library: http://ow.ly/UCe9u

If your Latin and German are a bit rusty, check out this English translation:http://ow.ly/UCed8

[cathrynmary]

Went for a hike today near my house.  Discovered this and a bearded man with his children who acted as my personal tour guide to the Cave of Kelpius' history.  

From ushistory.org: 

This is one of the more difficult sites to find. Located on a hillside above the Wissahickon Creek near Hermit Lane, it may simply be an old springhouse. But tradition and a marker placed by the Rosicrucians brotherhood proclaims that this is where Philadelphia's first mystical guru came to meditate and await the Second Coming. Johannes Kelpius and his followers arrived in newly-founded Philadelphia from Germany in 1694 and chose the wild and beautiful Wissahickon as the best place to await the millennium. The mystics became known as "the Hermits of the Wissahickon," "The Society of the Woman in the Wilderness" or the "Mystic Brotherhood."

Today we might term them a "Dooms Day cult," but they were frequently sought out by the settlers. The monks were skilled in medicine and instrumental music, and Kelpius was a respected scholar. Numerology was big among the monks and 40 was a key number. The 40 mystics built a 40-foot square "tabernacle" as a communal residence which has now disappeared. The cult broke up as various dates, including 1700, came and went without producing the End of Days.

The marker at the cave declares that Kelpius was the first Rosicrucian master in America. The Rosicrucians (meaning rose and cross) are a worldwide brotherhood that claims to have secret wisdom dating to ancient Egypt. The group describes itself as a philosophy and fraternity but not a religion.