The mystical heart diagrams of Paul Kaym

The Helleleuchtender Hertzens-Spiegel, Amsterdam and Gdansk, Heinrich Betkius,1680, is thought have been been compiled and edited by Paul Kaym from writings of Abraham von Franckenberg . The title page indicates that it is written following the deep principles and powerful doctrine of the highly illumined Johannes Tauler (the 14th century German mystic), however, it owes much to the mystical philosophy of Jakob Boehme. Paul Kaym had written to Boehme in 1620 asking him about the 'end of time', and was answered in letters 8 and 11 of Boehme's, later published, Epistles. Kaym also wrote learned commentaries on the Song of Songs and the Book of Revelation. He was a chiliast, believing in an immanent end of the world, though he faced this calmly. He saw no place for the organised Church and the rituals of religion in the quest for God, believing that inward illumination was the only basis for spiritual growth. Thus he believed in internal absolution, inward Baptism, and inner union with the divine. The Helleleuchtender Hertzens-Spiegel, was a popular work, in which Kaym leads us upon a spiritual journey of the human heart and the obstacles it meets on its quest for spiritual enlightenment. The series of sixteen images were most likely engraved by Nicolaus Häublin, who illustrated a number of works for the German followers of Jakob Boehme.

Paul Kaym