<P> The manifestos were and are not taken literally by many but rather regarded either as hoaxes or as allegorical statements . The manifestos directly state: "We speak unto you by parables, but would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy, and ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets ." </P> <P> It is evident that the first Rosicrucian manifesto was influenced by the work of the respected hermetic philosopher Heinrich Khunrath, of Hamburg, author of the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1609), who was in turn influenced by John Dee, author of the Monas Hieroglyphica (1564). The invitation to the royal wedding in the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz opens with Dee's philosophical key, the Monas Hieroglyphica symbol . The writer also claimed the brotherhood possessed a book that resembled the works of Paracelsus . </P> <P> Their literature announced them as moral and religious reformers . They used the techniques of chemistry (alchemy) and of the sciences generally as media through which to publicize their opinions and beliefs . </P> <P> In his autobiography, Johann Valentin Andreae (1586--1654) claimed that the anonymously published Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz was one of his works, and he subsequently described it as a ludibrium . In his later works, he makes alchemy an object of ridicule and places it along with music, art, theater and astrology in the category of less serious sciences . According to some sources, his role in the origin of the Rosicrucian legend is controversial . However, it was generally accepted according to others . </P>

For we be brethren of the rosy cross