while in mauritius, bacstrom was initiated and admitted into the fraternity of rosicrucians. on 12 september 1794 by the comte louis de chazal this comte de chazal is said to have been 96 years old at the time of bacstroms initiation according to mclean. his alchemical knowledge is said to have been transmitted to him in 1740 in paris, and john w. hamilton jones suggests in the introduction to bacstroms alchemical anthology that chazal's teacher is said to have been none other than the count of st. germain.