  
Karl von Eckartshausen was among the most unusual mystics of his day. He was both a fervent Catholic and a Theosophist in the tradition of Jacob Boehme. A convinced believer in the 'Interior Church' -that mystical body of true believers, linked by spiritual experience rather than by doctrine - Eckartshausen sought to broadcast his unique understanding of the Way of Regeneration in Christ. In The Cloud upon the Sanctuary, he succeeds beyond expectation. Paradoxically, for a work of mysticism, The Cloud upon the Sanctuary is also a quintessential text of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: translation, annotation, preface, and introduction are all the work of Adepts of the Order. When the translation first appeared in 1896, A. E. Waite recommended it to the young Aleister Crowley who was drawn by its influence into the Golden Dawn. In this new issue of the third and best edition, J.W. Brodie-lnnes' preface is reprinted, together with the two introductions that A.E. Waite wrote for the editions of 1903 and 1909.
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