# Ludibrium

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Latin word

**Ludibrium** is a word derived from [Latin](/source/Latin_language) *ludus* (plural *[ludi](/source/Ludi)*), meaning a plaything or a trivial [game](/source/Game). In Latin *ludibrium* denotes an object of fun, and at the same time, of scorn and derision, and it also denotes a capricious game itself: e.g., *ludibria ventis* ([Virgil](/source/Virgil)), "the playthings of the winds", *ludibrium pelagis* ([Lucretius](/source/Lucretius)), "the plaything of the waves"; *Ludibrio me adhuc habuisti* ([Plautus](/source/Plautus)), "Until now you have been toying with me."

The term "ludibrium" was used frequently by [Johann Valentin Andreae](/source/Johann_Valentin_Andreae) (1587–1654) in phrases like "the ludibrium of the fictitious Rosicrucian Fraternity" when describing the [Rosicrucian Order](/source/Rosicrucianism), most notably in his *[Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz](/source/Chymical_Wedding_of_Christian_Rosenkreutz)*, published anonymously in 1616, of which Andreae subsequently claimed to be the author and which has been taken seriously, as virtually a third of the [Rosicrucian Manifestos](/source/Rosicrucian_Manifestos).[1] However, in his *Peregrini in Patria errores* (1618) Andreae compares the world to an amphitheatre where no one is seen in their true light.

Paul Arnold translated Andreae's usage as *[farce](/source/Farce)*,[2] but this conception has been contested by [Frances Yates](/source/Frances_Yates), who took Rosicrucianism seriously and who suggested that Andreae's use of the term implied more nearly some sort of "[Divine Comedy](/source/Divine_Comedy)", a dramatic allegory played in the political domain during the tumult which preceded the [Thirty Years' War](/source/Thirty_Years'_War) in [Germany](/source/Germany).

[Robert Anton Wilson](/source/Robert_Anton_Wilson) has suggested that the [Priory of Sion](/source/Priory_of_Sion) is a modern ludibrium:

The Priory of Sion fascinates me, because it has all the appearances of being a real conspiracy, and yet if you look at the elements another way, it looks like a very complicated practical joke by a bunch of intellectual French aristocrats. And half of the time I believe it really is a practical joke by a bunch of intellectual French aristocrats. And then part of the time I think it is a real conspiracy.[3]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Frances Amelia Yates, *The Rosicrucian Enlightenment* (Taylor & Francis) 1999:50.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Arnold, *Histoire des Rose-Croix* (Paris) 1935:50

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*Innerview*: Robert Anton Wilson, in interview](http://rawilsonfans.com/dangermedia-innerview/) [Deprecated link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Archive.today_guidance) archived 2013-06-29 at [archive.today](/source/Archive.today); Robert Anton Wilson, ["Mary Mary Quite Contrary"](http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/mary.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20071105230221/http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/mary.htm) 2007-11-05 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ludibrium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludibrium) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludibrium?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.