Goethe’s Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily

HERMETIC/PHILOSOPHY/LITERATURE/SYMBOLISM/ALCHEMY

GOETHE'S FAIRY TALE OF THE GREEN SNAKE AND THE BEAUTIFUL LILY

If one deals with the poetic side of Alchemy, as we may well call it, with an open mind, it leads to very pleasant reflections; indeed, we arrive at a parable springing from universal conceptions and built upon the proper foundations of natural phenomena.

-Goethe

Goethe's dream-like and enchanting fairy tale of "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily" is an allegory of transformation based on the symbolism of alchemy. While it has fascinated readers for nearly two centuries, few possessed the background knowledge to decode the alchemical symbolism which forms the core of the allegory.

This volume contains a complete English language translation of Goethe's story of "The Green Snake and Beautiful Lily" made by Donald Maclean. Included is an extensive commentary by Adam McLean which, while preserving the work's sense of mystery, shows how Goethe's fairy tale is also a profound Hermetic allegory.

Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks Series Editor: Adam McLean

The Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks series is a long-term pub- lishing project which aims to make available, in a uniform series, some of the most important texts of the Hermetic tradition which have previously been unavailable except in special collections and libraries. The cream of Hermetic material is included in this series, drawing from texts on occult and magical symbolism, and important alchemical, Rosicrucian, mystical and allegorical material of the 16th and early 17th centuries. These are not merely reprints of early books, but new translations of original Latin or German texts with extensive commen tary and historical notes. Limited edition printing.