Gichtel, Johann Georg

(1638–1710)

   Mystic and Sect Founder.

   Gichtel was born in Regensberg, Germany, and was educated at the University of Strasbourg. He was brought up a Lutheran, but was influenced by the mystical writings of Jakob Boehme and broke away from the Church. He got into difficulties with the authorities and eventually he settled in Amsterdam. There he produced the first complete edition of Boehme’s works and developed his own doctrines, which involved a mystical marriage between divine wisdom and the human soul. His followers became known as the Angelic Brethren. They esteemed Boehme’s writings as highly as the Bible and they renounced earthly marriage. Gottfried Arnold, the German devotional writer, was among those whom he influenced. The sect continued to exist in the Netherlands and Germany until the end of the nineteenth century.

   G.C.A. von Harless, Jakob Boehme und die Alchymisten (1870) [no English translation available].