In the Rosicrucian manifesto, Fama Fraternitatis, the young Christian Rosenkreutz acquires his knowledge of mysticism during a trip to the Holy Land, in a place called “Damcar”, described as a city in Arabia. While today the word “Arabia” tends to refer to the Arabian Peninsula, Fame is probably using it simply to refer to lands inhabited by Arabs. Throughout four centuries, scholars have tried to identify the city of Damcar, but without success.
The likely reason for using Damcar, rather than the actual name of the mystical city, is that the actual name would openly identify one of the founders of the Rosicrucian brotherhood, something they surely wanted to keep secret. In 1652, the first English translator of Fama, Thomas Vaughan (quoted below), was totally confused by the meaning of Damcar, but seeing an apparent reference to Damascus and thinking that Damcar might be the same place, he opted to translate all with the absurd “Damascus”. The original German words are in parentheses:
“Brother CR.. went to Damascus [Damascum], thinking from there to go to Jerusalem; but because of the weakness of the body he still remained there, and by his skill in Physick he obtained much favor with the Turks: Meanwhile, he happened to meet the wise men of Damascus. [Damcar] in Arabia, and I saw what great wonders they did, and how nature was revealed to them.”
Here we learn that Damcar was a city of mystically active wise men. Since brother CR met them in Damascus, Syria, we must assume that the city of Damcar is relatively close to the city of Damascus.
Fame continues: “behold, that high and noble Spirit of brother CR [C.R.C] so agitated, that Jerusalem was now not so much on his mind as Damascus [Damcar]; he could not restrain his wishes any longer, but made a deal with the Arabs, who would take him for a certain sum of money to Damascus. [Damcar]; he was only sixteen when he got there, but of strong Dutch descent. [teutschen] Constitution.”
First of all, we note that brother CR and brother CRC cannot be the same person because brother CR is afflicted with “the weakness of his body,” but brother CRC is only 16 years old and of strong build. Thus, while brother CR is stuck in Damascus, brother CRC has to be in Jerusalem. Since brother CRC pays the Arabs to take him to Damcar, we must assume that Damcar is relatively close to Jerusalem.
Therefore, the city of Damcar is close to Damascus and it is also close to Jerusalem. Where is it located? Obviously, the city of Damcar has to be located in the north of Israel.
Now we must focus on the word “Dutch” towards the end of the last quote. Since “Damcar” is an enigma, could it be an anagram of a Dutch word? Let’s try DRAKEN, rearranged as Denkar, pronounced Damcar. dragons. Yes, dragons. But a better translation of “teutschen” might be “german” instead of “dutch”. The German word for dragon is “Drachen”, which is quite similar because the Germanic letters “c”, “ch” and “k” have similar sounds and all the same arguments apply.
To the Christian mind of the early 17th century, the words “dragon” and “Arabia” would quickly evoke only one thing: Saint George. Everyone knew that Saint George slew the dragon, from some legends near the Bay of Beirut, and from other legends in the Holy Land or in Libya, but nevertheless all the Arab places.
Next, we should take note of Brother CRC’s noble “Spirit”, which reminds us of the two “Sancti Spiritus” and the “Spiritum Sanctum” from other places of Fame. So the Fame probably wants us to see only the “Saint” as a clue (and rule out the “George” except to work in English since this was England’s patron saint!). “Holy” is a word that has five letters and begins with the letter “S”.
In short: Damcar is a mystical city known for its sages. It is located in the north of Israel, and the actual name of this city has five letters and begins with the letter “S”.
Safed, a city in northern Israel, was the originating city of modern mysticism, known as Kabbalah. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Magi came from many places -from as far away as Spain- to congregate there. There can be no doubt that the indicated city is Safed because the Fama refers to the Kabbalah (Kabbalah) or Kabbalists in four different places.
Isaac Luria, famous founder of Lurianic Kabbalah, was 36 years old (16 plus 20 or the “XX” part of “CXX” in Fame) when he arrived in Safed in 1570 after receiving a cold reception in Jerusalem (“Jerusalem was not so much now in his mind”). In stark contrast, at Safed he was welcomed with open arms (“there the Magi received him not as a stranger (as he himself attests) but as one they had long awaited”).
Isaac Luria’s story continues in Nova Atlantis, Rosicrucian “fragments” attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, where we meet the mysterious “Aegyptio priest.” These are Spanish words inexplicably inserted into an entirely Latin text. The distinction can be significant: while the Latin “sacerdos” generally refers to a priest, the Spanish “sacerdote” can refer to a person who performs the rites of any religion. Later, Nova Atlantis proclaims “Erat autem Iudaeus”. Isaac Luria was in fact an Egyptian rabbi.
Nova Atlantis goes on to say that it was sometimes called the Milky Way (“Vocabat eum etiam quandoque viam lacteam”). Luria was widely known as ha-Ari, the Lion, where Leo is a constellation in the Milky Way. And she was sometimes called the Elias of the Messiah (“when Eliam Messiae”); Luria was noted for her frequent conversations with Elijah the prophet. And there were many other names that pointed to her greatness (“aliis compluribus nominibus magnum eum insigniebat”): Ha’ARI Hakadosh, ARIZal, Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi. Above all, these words are quickly followed by a direct reference to Kabbalah (“per secretam quandam cabalam”).
In conclusion, there are ample reasons to suspect that Rosicrucian mysticism is a historical derivative of the Lurianic Kabbalah. In fact, there seem to be many parallels in the teachings and beliefs of both.
