Winter 2015, Volume 10, Number 4

The Esoteric Quarterly An independent publication dedicated to the trans-disciplinary investigation of the esoteric spiritual tradition. ______Esoteric philosophy and its applications to individual and group service and the expansion of human consciousness.

Washington, DC, USA. www.esotericsquarterly.com e-mail: [email protected]

The Esoteric Quarterly

The Esoteric Quarterly is an online, peer-reviewed, international journal, published by The Esoteric Quarterly Inc., a non-profit corporation based in Washington, DC. It is registered as an online journal with the National Serials Data Program of the Library of Congress. International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) 1551-3874.

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Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief: Donna M. Brown (United States) Editor Emeritus: John F. Nash (United States)

Alison Deadman (United States) Celeste Jamerson (United States) Jef Bartow (United States) Katherine O'Brien (New Zealand) Kevin Hataley (Canada) Miguel Malagreca (Italy)

Facebook Administrator Miguel Malagreca (Italy)

Copies of the complete journal or articles contained therein may be made for personal use on condition that copyright statements are included. Commercial use or redistribution without the permission of The Esoteric Quarterly is strictly prohibited. Note that volumes 1 thru 8 that copyright remains with the School for Esoteric Studies Winter 2015 The Esoteric Quarterly

Contents Volume 10, Number 4. Winter 2015 ______

FEATURES Editorial 4 Publication Policies 5 Poems of the Quarter A selection of poems from “Gifts with No Giver” by Nirmala 6 Pictures of the Quarter “The Diamond Path,” “Vajrayana,” “Invocation to the Adi Buddha” and “Offering to the Universe” by Charmion von Wiegand 7 Quotes of the Quarter 10 Advertising 12 ARTICLES The Tibetan Tetralogy of W.Y. Evans-Wentz: A Retrospective Assessment, by Iván Kovács 15 Journeys of the Soul in the Afterlife: Egyptian Books of the Afterlife and Greek Orphic Mysteries, by Aaron J. French 35 The Apocalypse of St. John, by Dorje Jinpa 45 Richard Wagner: An Esoteric Perspective, by Donna M. Brown 55 BOOK REVIEWS The Path to Higher States of Consciousness: A Collection of Esoteric Essays, by Iván Kovács 84 Nicholas & Helena Roerich: The Spiritual Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemakers, by Ruth A. Drayer 86

The mission of the Esoteric Quarterly is to provide a forum for the exploration of esoteric philosophy and its applications. Full-length articles and student papers are solicited pertaining to both eastern and western esoteric traditions. We also encourage feedback from readers. Comments of general interest will be published as Letters to the Editor. All communications should be sent to:

[email protected].

Editorial

The Afterlife, the Apocalypse and Musical Esotericism

he great religions are in accord in their The second article also examines systems of T beliefs about the immortality of the Soul belief regarding death and the afterlife. The and its posthumous journey into the afterlife. article, Journey of the Soul in the Afterlife, by Eschatological concerns about death and Aaron French, compares ancient Egyptian dying, the end of ordinary reality and safe visions for living and dying with the Greek passage to a nether world played an especially Mystery Cults. French begins his investigation important role in Egypt, Tibet and ancient with one of the most famous funerary texts, the Greece and resulted in various manuals such as so called Egyptian Book of the Dead, which the Egyptian and Tibetan Books of the Dead, consists of a group of mortuary spells, rituals, or in the case of the Orphic Mysteries, the prayers and hymns designed to help both the Gold-leaf instructions for dealing with the living and the dead confront, prepare and pass rulers of the underworld. Christianity is also through the dangers of the underworld to concerned with the theme of death and the attain an afterlife of immortality and bliss. The afterlife as evidenced by Apocalypse of St. article also examines the initiatory practices John. However, these texts have been and afterlife conceptions of the ancient Greek frequently misunderstood due to the general Orphic Cults and Dionysian Mysteries. disregard given to the mystical and esoteric Although the ancient Egyptian and Greek symbolism they contain, omissions which the funerary customs are usually viewed as being first three articles in this issue seek to redress. significantly different, this comparison uncovers the marked parallels and motives Our first article in this issue is part of a series behind the various beliefs and practices they by Iván Kovács exploring several early 20th both share. century Tibetologists. The initial article, which appeared in the Winter 2013 issue, surveyed Our next article, from Dorje Jinpa, provides an the life and works of the French Tibetologist, alternative interpretation of one of the least Alexandria David-Neel. This work examines understood and most controversial books in the the life and works of W. Y. Evans-Wentz, the Christian Bible—The Apocalypse of St. John. American anthropologist and pioneer in the The article draws upon the new Terra Lucida study of Tibetan Buddhism and its teachings and the writings of both the Tibetan transmission to the West. The article begins by Master Djwhal Khul and Rudolf Steiner to touching on Evans-Wentz’s scholarship, his demonstrate that John’s secret and sacred influences and his travels. This is followed by vision concerns a great event in which the a brief summary of his Tibetan tetralogy and physical substance of the Earth together with then a more in-depth discussion of the first of all its beings will be alchemicalized into a these four books, the famous Tibetan death heavenly body or “Body of Light.” Jinpa’s text, the Bardo Tö-dröl, which Evans-Wentz decoding of the archetypal images and christened, The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The symbolism in the Apocalypse gives credence to article also includes a discussion of the book’s an entirely different futurist view of a new commentaries and forewords by such notable evolutionary impulse resulting in the initiation figures as C. G. Jung and Lama Anagarika and the spiritualization of the world. Govinda highlighting the fact that the Bardo The last article in this issue examines the life Tö-dröl was much more than a funerary text. and works of Richard Wagner, one of the most

4 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015 Winter 2015 controversial and misunderstood figures of the through stages toward higher states of nineteenth century. The article explores the consciousness.” For more information on Von psychological, political, philosophical and Wiegland’s abstract mandalas we encourage sociological foundations of Wagner’s creative you to visit: www.michaelrosenfeld.com. genius in both his written works and his music Donna M. Brown dramas along with his interest in myth and Editor-in-Chief metahistorical processes. The composer’s anti- Semitism and his attitude toward the Jews are Publication Policies also discussed. Although the article touches Articles are selected for publication in the upon the complex and enigmatic world of Esoteric Quarterly because we believe they allegory and symbolism embedded in his represent a sincere search for truth, support the operas, its primary focus is the astonishing service mission to which we aspire, and/or range of esoteric and spiritual ideas which both contribute to the expansion of human inform and emanate from the temple of his consciousness. music. More importantly, the article shows that Wagner’s greatest concern was humanity’s Publication of an article does not necessarily innermost soul and the creation of an all- imply that the Editorial Board agrees with the embracing form of art that would transform its views expressed. Nor do we have the means to perilous social, spiritual and political state. verify all facts stated in published articles. In addition to the featured articles, this issue We encourage critical thinking and analysis includes two book reviews. They are: The Path from a wide range of perspectives and to Higher States of Consciousness: A traditions. We discourage dogmatism or any Collection of Esoteric Essays, by Iván Kovács, view that characterizes any tradition as having and Nicholas & Helena Roerich: The Spiritual greater truth than a competing system. Journey of Two Great Artists and Peace- Neither will we allow our journal to be used as makers, by Ruth A. Drayer. a platform for attacks on individuals, groups, We also include several inspirational poems. institutions, or nations. This policy applies to The “Poems of the Quarter” offered in this articles and features as well as to letters to the issue are by Nirmala, a spiritual teacher and editor. In turn, we understand that the author of poet in the Advaita Vedantic tradition, whose an article may not necessarily agree with the works also appeared in the Fall 2011 edition of views, attitudes, or values expressed by a this journal. The poems featured here are from referenced source. Indeed, serious scholarship a collection of works titled Gifts with No sometimes requires reference to work that an Giver: A Love Affair with Truth. author finds abhorrent. We will not reject an article for publication simply on the grounds Finally, we draw your attention to our that it contains a reference to an objectionable “Pictures of the Quarter” featuring the source. paintings of Charmion von Wiegand (1896- 1983), which were generously contributed by An issue of concern in all online journals is the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York. potential volatility of content. Conceivably, Von Wiegand, an American journalist, painter articles could be modified after the publication and art critic, drew inspiration for these date because authors changed their minds paintings from eastern philosophies, especially about what had been written. Accordingly, we Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese astrology, tantric wish to make our policy clear: We reserve the yoga, and Theosophy. According to Dr. right to correct minor typographical errors, but Jennifer Newton Hersh, “Von Wiegand’s we will not make any substantive alteration to mature works reflect her core beliefs: the an article after it “goes to press.” universe is a single living substance; life is the We also want to acknowledge that as the expression of a dialectic process based on original sponsor of the Esoteric Quarterly, the opposites; the goal of living is to achieve School for Esoteric Studies retains the oneness; and reality is reached by progressing copyright of the material in volumes 1-8.

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Poems of the Quarter by Nirmala

A selection of poems from: “Gifts with No Giver”

where is absence of desire once I dreamed there would only be bliss now I am in awe of the ordinary now I am content with longing or no longing desires do not disturb the source of all desire life and death carry on as they always have and always will only the dreamer is gone behind the flow of imagination beyond any effort to be still dancing in the ebb and flow of attention more present than the breath I find the origins of my illusions only the dreamer is gone the dream never ends

why fear this moment when no thoughts come at last I lie naked in the arms of experience why fear this moment when no words come at last I find rest in the lap of silence why fear this moment when love finds itself alone at last I am embraced by infinity itself why fear this moment when judgment falls away at last my defenses fail to keep intimacy at bay why fear this moment when hope is lost at last my foolish dreams are surrendered to perfection

Pictures of the Quarter by Charmion von Wiegand (1896-1983)

Charmion von Wiegand The Diamond Path, 1966-1967 1966-67, gouache on paper, 28 1/4" x 21 1/4", signed and dated Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015. 7

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Charmion von Wiegand (1896-1983) Vajrayana, 1969 oil on canvas 48" x 36", signed and dated. Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY’

Charmion von Wiegand (1896-1983) On the right, Invocation to The Adi-Buddha, 1968-70 oil on canvas, 50" x 27", signed and dated. On the left, Offering of the Universe, 1964 oil on canvas, 72" x 28", signed and dated. All paintings courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY.

The Esoteric Quarterly

Quotes of the Quarter

______

he importance of the Tibetan tradition for Robert Wicks, The Therapeutic Psychology of T our time, and for the spiritual development “The Tibetan Book of the Dead,” Philosophy of humanity, lies in the fact that Tibet is the East and West, Vol. 47, No.4 (Honolulu, HI, last living link that connects us with the University of Hawaii, 1997), 494. civilizations of the distant past. The mystery- cults of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, of he question of the pagan or Christian Incas and Mayas, have perished with the T origin of the Book of Revelation is…of destruction of their civilizations and are little importance. The intrinsic value of the forever lost to our knowledge except for some book lies in its magnificent epitome of the scanty fragments. Universal Mystery—an observation which led St. Jerome to declare that it is susceptible of The old civilizations of India and China, seven entirely different interpretations. though well preserved in their ancient art and Untrained in the reaches of ancient thought, literature, and still glowing here and there the modem theologian cannot possibly cope under the ashes of modern thought, are buried with the complexities of the Apocalypse, for to and penetrated by so many strata of different him this mystic writing is but a cultural influences, that it is difficult, if not phantasmagoria the divine inspiration of which impossible, to separate the various elements he is sorely tempted to question. and to recognize their original nature. Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teaching of all Ages Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Foundations of (Los Angeles, CA: The Theosophical Research Tibetan Buddhism (York Beach, ME: Red Society, Inc., 1988), 185. Wheel/Weiser, 1969), 13. n the hypothesis that the Bible, as divine he Tibetan Book for the Dead is a book revelation, contains a record of God’s written especially for benighted and O T dealings with mankind throughout the ages, the bewildered souls. It acknowledges that historical element has been unduly enlightenment is difficult, and that it takes emphasized, while books that are purely many repetitions of the key message for there allegorical and mystical have been construed to be any significant spiritual effect. It repeats as history. For several centuries it was its message that we, and only we, are the attempted to give the Apocalypse an historical source of our desires, our interpretations, our presentation; and failing this, through the lack evaluations, our pleasures, and our fears, and of any record of past events that would serve that we can render such sources of suffering this purpose, it was next interpreted as a ineffectual, if we were only to interpret the history of the future, that is prophecy. At the apparent seriousness and significance of the present time, the Apocalypse is the despair of world as the play of our own creation. In this theology; the ablest scholars in the ranks of the respect, The Tibetan Book for the Dead is a orthodoxy frankly admit that it must be book of practical wisdom comparable to regarded as an unsolved and possibly insoluble Epictetus' Handbook; it offers a set of enigma. They translate its title “Revelation,” advisories intended to reduce suffering and to yet it reveals nothing to them. Literally guide all people, not just the select initiates, “ἀποκάλυψιν” means “disrobing” or “un- toward a rebirth of personality and veiling;” but Isis in her peplum was not more composure—a rebirth to take place not within safe from profane gaze than the Apocalypse, a life after clinical death but within our very nor is any book in all of literature more heavily present life. veiled.

John M. Pryse, The Apocalypse Unsealed Stanislav Grof, Books of the Dead: Manuals (New York, John M. Pryse, 1910), 2. for Living and Dying (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1994), 11. hen the ancient books of the dead first W came to the attention of Western e see through Wagner’s art, a glimpse of scholars, they were considered to be fictitious W this world as it is and are released from descriptions of the posthumous journey of the our blinkered human-centric viewpoint even soul, and as such, wishful fabrications of for a fleeting moment, where the world people who were unable to accept the grim appears as one undifferentiated whole, where reality of death. They were put in the same there is no distinction between the entity doing category as fairy tales- imaginary creations of the thinking and the things being thought human fantasy that had definite artistic beauty, about, where philosophy, music, voice, stage but no relevance for everyday reality. performance and set meld into an indescribable Whole, greater than the sum of its parts, taking However, a deeper study of these texts us out of and beyond ourselves, obliterating revealed that they had been used as guides in the distinction between subject and object and the context of sacred mysteries and of spiritual conveying something of the Ultimate to us. practice and very likely described the experiences of the initiates and practitioners. Kenneth Hutton, Schopenhauer, Wagner From this new perspective, presenting the Society of the United Kingdom, August 2006, books of the dead as manuals for the dying 10. appeared to be simply a clever disguise invented by the priests to obscure their real he musician is controlled, as it where, by function and protect their deeper esoteric T an urgent impulse to impart the vision of meaning and message from the uninitiated. his inmost dreams…Only from an awkward side of consciousness can the intellect derive Stanislav Grof, The Experience of Death and its ability to seize the Character of things… Dying: Psychological, Philosophical, and We are conscious of the existence of a second Spiritual Aspects. Online at: world, perceptible only through the ear, www.stanislavgrof.com/pdf/Death%20and%20 manifesting itself through sound… It is this Dying.pdf. inner life through which we are directly allied with the whole of Nature and these are brought n the mystical tradition of Egypt, the into relation with the Essence of things that experience of death and rebirth was not I eludes the forms of outer knowledge, time and necessarily bound to the time of the biological space… Music draws us at once from any demise. The sacred temple mysteries of Isis concern with the relation of things outside us and Osiris gave neophytes the opportunity long and—as pure form set free from Matter—shuts before old age to confront death before old age us off from the outside world as it were, to let or disease made it mandatory, and to conquer it us gaze into the inmost Essence of ourselves and discover their own immorality. In and of all things… initiatory procedures of this kind, neophytes not only lost their fear of death, but also We are given an image almost as timeless as it profoundly changes their way of being in the is spaceless, an altogether spiritual revelation; world. The ancient Egyptians saw such close and the reason why it moves us so invisibly is parallels between the archetypal adventures of that, more plainly than all other things, it the sun god during his diurnal-nocturnal brings to our consciousness the inner most journey, the states associated with biological Essence of Religion free from all dogmatic death, and the experiences of neophytes in the fictions. sacred mysteries, that they considered them Richard Wagner, Beethoven, 1870, Richard effectively equivalent. Wagner’s Prose Works, trans. by William Ashton Ellis (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Truener and Co., Inc., 1896), 68-79.

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The Path to Higher States of Consciousness ______

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The Tibetan Tetralogy of W. Y. Evans-Wentz: A Retrospective Assessment - Part I Iván Kovács

1 The Dharma-Kaya of thine own mind thou shalt see; and seeing That, thou shalt have seen the All – The Vision Infinite, the Round of Death and Birth and the State of Freedom. Milarepa, Jetsun-Khabum2

Abstract Woodroffe, and W. Y. Evans-Wentz’s own comments. When appropriate, excerpts from his article is part of a series of articles the texts of the translations are themselves th T dealing with four early 20 century Tibet- sampled and discussed, and often comparisons ologists. The first article of the series dealt and parallels drawn between various schools of with the life and work of the French Tibetolo- thinking, so that the texts are thereby more gist, Alexandra David-Néel, and was published colorfully elucidated. The conclusion briefly in the Winter 2014 issue of the Esoteric Quar- discusses the merits and sincerity of Evans- terly. The present article takes a closer look at the life and work of the American Tibetologist, ______W. Y. Evans-Wentz. It begins with his biog- About the Author raphy, which mainly deals with his travels and Iván Kovács is qualified as a fine artist. As a writer the circumstances of his scholarship and writ- he has published art criticism, short stories and po- ing. This is followed by a short summary of his ems, and more recently, articles of an esoteric na- Tibetan tetralogy. Then each of his four books ture. He is a reader of the classics and modern clas- is discussed in greater detail, including the sics, a lover of world cinema, as well as classical commentaries and forewords by scholars and and contemporary music. His lifelong interest in commentators such as Donald S. Lopez, Jr., C. Esotericism was rounded off with several years of G. Jung, Lama Anagarika Govinda, Sir John intensive study with the Arcane School.

Wentz’s scholarship and his importance as a ans-Wentz, M.A., D. Litt., D. Sc., Jesus Col- pioneering Tibetologist. Due to the length of lege, Oxford.”4 this article it was found to be more practicable One of Evans-Wentz’s biographers, David to publish it in two parts, Part I concluding Guy, describes Evans-Wentz as “a dreamy, with the discussion of the first book of Evans- lonely youth, who liked to spend his after- Wentz’s tetralogy, The Tibetan Book of the noons lazing beside the Delaware River, some- Dead. The remaining three books and the con- times (surprisingly, for a lifelong prude) with- clusion to this article will be discussed in a out his clothes.”5 He goes on to say that it was forthcoming issue of the Esoteric Quarterly on one of those afternoons that Evans-Wentz under Part II. had what he described an ecstatic-like vision. W. Y. Evans-Wentz: The He had been “haunted” with the conviction Biography of an “that this was not the first time that [he] had possessed a human body, but now there came a Eccentric Orientalist flashing into [his] mind with such authority n the photograph preceding the frontispiece that [he] never thought of doubting it, a mind I to the Oxford University Press edition of picture of things past and to come. [He] knew The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Walter Evans- from that night [his] life was to be that of a Wentz is posing with the book’s translator, world pilgrim, wandering from country to Kazi Dawa Samdup, dressed in the costume of country, over seas, across continents and a Tibetan nobleman. This is a somewhat osten- mountains, through deserts to the end of the earth, seeking, seeking for [he] knew not tatious way of showing his alliance to, and 6 admiration for, Tibetan culture and its philo- what.” sophical and religious traditions. In many re- Regarding Evans-Wentz’s religious upbring- spects, Evans-Wentz’s personality remains an ing, biographer David Guy writes that he was enigma. From what little can be deduced from raised a Baptist.7 But another source, a brief the variety of fragmented biographies that have biographical history written by Thomas V. Pe- been written about him, one imagines him to terson and William A. Clebsch, compiled from be rather reserved and impersonal in his deal- the Evans-Wentz Papers of Stanford Universi- ings with people. It appears as if no one knew ty, states that Evans-Wentz had been raised a him intimately enough to provide a detailed Unitarian in the tradition of Ralph Waldo Em- character sketch, which tends to add to the erson.8 Regardless of which version is correct, mystery of his personality. This allows for lit- David Guy goes on to say that as Evans-Wentz tle else than access to the workings of his mind grew older, the family began to embrace the as they are revealed from his copious writings. ideas of the spiritualists and freethinkers, and Evans-Wentz developed a particular interest in He was born as Walter Yeeling Wentz on Feb- 9 ruary 2, 1878, in Trenton, New Jersey. He only the occult. He was still a teenager when he added his mother’s surname, Evans, which is read Madame Blavatsky’s Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine and thereby became inter- of Welsh origin, to his existing surname while 10 studying at Jesus College, Oxford.3 He did ested in the teachings of Theosophy. this because it brought him closer to the British Having developed an interest in theosophical tradition that prevailed at such a typically Eng- literature early in his life, it was little wonder lish university as Oxford. His father’s sur- that Evans-Wentz found his way to the Ameri- name, Wentz, which is of German origin, was can Section of the Theosophical Society, thus cleverly supplemented to achieve this. which had its headquarters in Point Loma, Cal- The truth is that he spent a much shorter time ifornia. This happened at the turn of the centu- at Oxford than he did at Stanford University, ry when he became a member, and made the where he received both his B. A. and M.A. acquaintance of Katherine Tingley, who head- However, he liked to project the image of an ed the Society. Tingley encouraged Evans- Oxford man by signing his books “W. Y. Ev- Wentz to enroll at Stanford University, where

16 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015. Winter 2015 he had the privilege to study with William which was a large amount of money in those James and William Butler Yeats.11 When Ev- days.17 ans-Wentz made their acquaintance, both Also, in late 1913, Evans-Wentz traveled to James and Yeats were authorities in their own Ireland and visited the painter, poet and mystic right. James was occupied at the time with his AE (G. W. Russell) and W. B. Yeats, who Gifford Lectures, which would later be pub- were both living in Dublin. Next he visited the lished in book form as The Varieties of Reli- Latin countries, but was appalled by the lack of gious Experience,12and Yeats was an estab- public morals in such metropolitan cities as lished Irish poet who in 1903 had become Rome. When he crossed over to Greece he ex- President of the Irish National Theatre Society perienced it as a calmer interlude and found his and was making his first American lecture visit to Delphi highly inspiring. “It is a rare tour.13 privilege” he admitted, “to visit the sites where Evans-Wentz appeared to be cut out for an ac- great souls of past times have lived and ademic career. At Stanford, he first obtained thought.”18 his B.A. majoring in English and then did his After a short sojourn, Evans-Wentz’s next ma- M.A. under William James, from whom he jor stop was in Egypt. Although he did not in- developed an interest in the study of religious tend to stay there long either, he was caught up experience and the philosophical idea of a pan- in the frenzy that was caused by the First psychic reality that permeates all of human World War, and he was held up in Egypt for existence. After he finished his studies at Stan- 29 months. He kept himself busy by exploring ford, Evans-Wentz went to Europe, and in the major sites on the shores of the Nile. Ken 1909, earned the Docteur-es-Lettres at the Winkler writes the following about him at this University of Rennes for literary studies deal- particular stage of his life: “For several months ing with Celtic folk-lore. It was at this stage he just drifted along, visiting Luxor and Aby- that he added Evans to his name, and thereby dos, the home of the original cult of Osiris, the affirmed his own part-Celtic ancestry. No temple of the seven shrines and the temple of sooner had he finished in Rennes, than he the ‘mysteries of antiquity.’”19 earned the Bachelor of Science in Anthropolo- gy from Oxford University for work done on Towards the end of 1915, Evans-Wentz went the Celtic fairy-faith, which led to the publica- to Alexandria, where he was detained under tion of his first book, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic suspicion of being a German spy, and had to Countries (London: Oxford University Press, insist on an official investigation to clear his 1911).14 It was during his practical research for name. By this stage, his intention was to move the material of this book that Evans-Wentz on and sail for India. It was an old Oxford ac- traveled extensively through Wales, Scotland, quaintance, T. E. Lawrence, later more popu- Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of larly known as Lawrence of Arabia, who Man collecting stories from the locals about helped him realize his intention. A letter dated pixies, fairies, and goblins.15 12/10/16, which was written by Lawrence, reads as follows: “Dear Wentz, there is no dif- It might well be asked at this stage how Evans- ficulty about getting to India. To be on the safe Wentz managed to finance his extensive trav- side we have wired to ask if they can allow els. The truth is that he had followed in his you to wander about as you please.”20 father’s footsteps in the real estate business and was unusually successful. He made great In India an array of new opportunities awaited profits from quick sales, mortgages and land Evans-Wentz. His first major stop was the transfers.16 By late 1913, his finances were in headquarters of the Theosophical Society in such a good state that he could allow himself a Adyar where he visited with Annie Besant, gentleman’s existence. For this he had his fa- who was then President of the Society. Then ther to thank, who had renegotiated his leases, he headed north and visited Amritsar and stud- and his monthly income had risen to $1600, ied the Sikhs.21 He also visited many ashrams

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 17 The Esoteric Quarterly and met with several sadhus, the most promi- Liberation (1954). Upon completion of the nent among them Swami Syamananda Brah- translations, Evans-Wentz moved back to the machary; Sri Yukteswar Giri,22 who was the ashram of Swami Satyananda to practice yoga. guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Kazi Dawa Samdup and Evans-Wentz met one Autobiography of a Yogi;23 and Swami more time before the former’s appointment to Satyananda, who would prove to be quite in- the post of Lecturer in Tibetan at the Universi- strumental in Evans- ty of Calcutta in 1920, but Wentz’s spiritual devel- The late Lama Kazi it was a short-lived career 24 opment. Dawa Samdup was of the because Kazi Dawa Sam- dup died in 1922. Evans- In 1919, Evans-Wentz opinion that, despite the Wentz went to visit his arrived in Darjeeling, a family in 1924, and re- British hill station on the adverse criticisms di- ceived from them a manu- southern slopes of the rected against H. P. Bla- script translation of Rje Himalayas, where he ac- vatsky’s works, there is btsun bka’ bum (The Hun- quired a worn Tibetan dred Thousand Words of manuscript. Some sources adequate internal evi- the Master), which Evans- state that it was from a dence in them of their au- Wentz edited and published monk, others that he ac- thor’s intimate acquaint- as Tibet’s Great Yogi Mi- quired it in the bazaar. larepa (1928).27 Eager to have the manu- ance with the higher la- script translated into Eng- mastic teachings, into After Kazi Dawa Samdup’s lish, Evans-Wentz made death and prior to the out- the acquaintance of the which she claimed to break of World War II, Ev- local superintendent of have been initiated. ans-Wentz spent time trav- police, Sardar Bahadur eling between the three Laden La, who provided him with a letter of places that had meant the most to him, namely introduction to Kazi Dawa Samdup, who was India, England, and California. Then his life the headmaster of the Maharaja’s Boy’s took a bizarre turn. He settled down in a small School in Gangkok.25 room in the Keystone Hotel in San Diego, where he would spend the next 23 years of his Making the acquaintance of Kazi Dawa Sam- life. He chose this place because it was near dup proved to be the turning point in Evans- the city’s only vegetarian restaurant and the Wentz’s life, as it would lead to the com- public library. There remained one passion in mencement of his magnum opus. The manu- his life, the discovery of his own sacred space: script that Evans-Wentz showed to Kazi Dawa which was Mount Cuchama, a few miles away Samdup was nothing less than the Bar do thos near the Mexican border. (It needs to be men- grol chen mo, which under their joint handi- tioned that Mount Cuchama, “the exalted high work would become The Tibetan Book of the place,” was once used by the Diegueno Indians Dead. This was to be followed by the conse- as a restorative pilgrimage center.)28 Having quent publication of other Tibetan sacred texts been a real estate speculator all his life, he which he also edited and annotated, and which bought up as much of the land as he could, and in their totality would become his Tibetan te- occasionally spent some time there to practice tralogy.26 “the Dharma, the Buddhist ‘way of truth.’”29 The time that Evans-Wentz and Kazi Dawa In a late diary, Evans-Wentz wrote: “I am Samdup spent together amounted to no more haunted by the realisation of the illusion of all than a few months, but their collaboration human endeavours. As Milarepa taught; build- would, nevertheless, produce material for three ings end in ruin; meetings in separation; accu- books, namely The Tibetan Book of the Dead mulation in dispersion and life in death. (1927), Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines Whether it is better to go on here in California (1935), and The Tibetan Book of the Great where I am lost in the midst of the busy multi-

18 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015. Winter 2015 tude or return to the Himalayas is now a ques- or she will hear how to find liberation in the tion difficult to answer correctly.”30 intermediate state between death and rebirth or, if that is not possible, to find an auspicious Evans-Wentz died on July 17, 1965, at the age place to reincarnate in, preferably in a land that of 87. During the funeral service held for him, is characterized by purity.35 The title of this the traditional liturgy from The Tibetan Book book was inspired by another funerary text, of the Dead was recited.31 The Egyptian Book of the Dead, because Ev- A short summary of the Tibetan ans-Wentz perceived parallels between the two tetralogy texts, and saw in them evidence of an ancient “art of dying” which he supposed had once In a little more than a decade it will be a hun- existed among the Egyptians, the initiates of dred years since the first volume of W. Y. Ev- the “Mysteries of Antiquity," and Christians of ans-Wentz’s Tibetan tetralogy, The Tibetan the Middle Ages.36 Book of the Dead, was published. This Tibetan Buddhist text was the first ever to be translated Donald S Lopez, Jr., Professor of Buddhist and into English, and published for the first time by Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, Oxford University Press in 1927. It was close- in his new foreword to Tibet’s Great Yogi Mi- ly followed by Tibet’s Great Yogi Milarepa in larepa, writes as follows: “Despite the greater 1928, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines in fame of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is the 1935, and The Tibetan Book of the Great Lib- second volume in the tetralogy, Tibet’s Great eration in 1954.32 Yogi Milarepa that is the most successful in the series. It has been widely used in college The way in which Walter Evans-Wentz’s name classes on Buddhism for decades, and excerpts relates to his Tibetan tetralogy is neither that of from the book have appeared in numerous an- author nor even as translator, but as a studious, thologies of Buddhist texts, often as the sole and dare one say, somewhat obsessive compil- Tibetan selection.” Rather bluntly, and clearly er and editor, who wrote lengthy introductions to the discredit of Evans-Wentz, he adds: “One and numerous annotations to the books that reason for its success is that Evans-Wentz ex- appeared under his name. He also worked hand ercised more restraint in the editing of this in hand with the translator, Kazi Dawa Sam- volume than the others.”37 Tibet’s Great Yogi dup, and in his own words describes himself as Milarepa was not the result of Evans-Wentz’s Kazi Dawa Samdup’s “living English diction- and Kazi Dawa Samdup’s collaboration, but ary." There is no record regarding their precise the single-handed work of Dawa Samdup, who manner of collaboration, but one can assume translated it in the period between the years that Kazi Dawa Samdup’s knowledge of Ti- 1902 and 1917, two years before Dawa Sam- betan was more comprehensive than that of dup and Evans-Wentz had actually met.38 It is English, and that much of the actual phrasing needless to say that this book is a biography, and terminology of the translation must have but important to point out that Milarepa is an come from Evans-Wentz himself. eleventh-century yogi and poet, and the most Although Kazi Dawa Samdup was responsible legendary saint in Tibetan Buddhist history. for all the translations of the first three vol- Unlike the first two volumes of the tetralogy, umes of the tetralogy, in volume four, or The which are the result of single texts, the third Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, his volume, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines is handiwork only extends to Book III, which a translation of seven separate texts. The first adds up to no more than 14 pages out of a total 33 four texts originated in the Kagyu sect of Ti- of 261. betan Buddhism, which is the sect of Marpa The most famous volume of the tetralogy is and Milarepa. The first of these contains apho- undoubtedly the first, The Tibetan Book of the risms by Milarepa’s renowned disciple Sgam Dead, or as it is known in Tibet, the Bar do po pa, entitled A Garland of Jewels [of] the thos grol.34 It is a funerary text, that is intended Supreme Path.39 This work is followed by a to be read to a dead or dying person so that he series of texts that are very different in nature

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 19 The Esoteric Quarterly to the prosaic tone of the aphorisms, and con- material which amounts to more than half of tain advanced tantric instructions that are nor- the entire book. Firstly, there is the new fore- mally intended for initiates and that often re- word and afterword by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., quire considerable preparatory practice.40 The Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies; last, or seventh text, is one of the most famous four prefaces written for various editions of the Buddhist sutras, called the Heart Sutra, which book by W. Y. Evans-Wentz; a psychological contains the renowned doctrine of emptiness. It commentary by the famous Swiss psychiatrist, is no longer than a page in length and most Dr. C. G. Jung; an introductory foreword by Buddhists know it by heart and can recite it on the well-known expositor of Tibetan Bud- demand. dhism, Lama Anagavika Govinda; a foreword by Sir John Woodroffe, British Orientalist and The fourth volume of the tetralogy, The Tibet- author of The Serpent Power; and finally a an Book of the Great Liberation, was translat- lengthy introduction with 15 subsections by ed by several different people. It consists of Evans-Wentz himself. To do proper justice to three sections or books. Book I is an English this book it is necessary to comment on the summary of portions of a work entitled the above aspects, even if briefly, and thereby es- Injunctions of Padma (Padma bka’i thang yig). tablish how they manage to provide a clearer It is a biography of Padmasambhava, the Indi- understanding of the translated text. an tantric yogi who is credited with introducing Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. Donald S. Lopez, Jr.’s Foreword The book is the result of the combined efforts The contemporary scholar and up-to-date Ti- of the police chief, Sardar Bahadur S. W. Lad- betologist, Professor Donald S. Lopez, Jr. has en La; a Sakya monk named Bsod nams seng 41 provided much valuable information about ge; and Evans-Wentz. Book II, consists of a text which was translated by the two Sikki- Evans-Wentz’s tetralogy. As regards Evans- Wentz himself, Lopez points out the following: mese monks Lama Karma Sumdhon Paul and “He never learned to read Tibetan; perhaps he Lama Lobzang Mingyur Dorje. Its authorship did not feel it necessary, almost as if he al- is ascribed to Padasambhava and is entitled ready knew what the texts must say. And if The [Yoga of] Knowing the Mind, Seeing of Reality, Called Self-Liberation, From ‘The they did not say that, there was always re- course to their esoteric meaning, something he Profound Doctrine of Self-Liberation by Medi- discusses in length in his introduction to The tation Upon the Peaceful and Wrathful Dei- Tibetan Book of the Dead.”45 Lopez, neverthe- ties.’ It is part of the larger work that also con- less, acknowledges the importance of the te- tains the Bar do thos grol, or as it is known in English, The Tibetan Book of the Dead.42 The tralogy by classifying it as holding an important place in Tibetan Buddhism in the West. last book, Book III, is also the shortest, and is He also regards the tetralogy as pioneering entitled The Last Testamentary Teachings of 43 work, not only due to the chosen texts, but also the Guru Phadampa Sangay. Phadampa due to the mode of their creation. He points out Sangay was a contemporary of Milarepa, who went from India to Tibet to teach the dharma.44 that Evans-Wentz consulted with Tibetan scholars as regards the translations, something The text, as mentioned above, was translated that only became common after the Tibetan by Kazi Dawa Samdup. diaspora which began in 1957.46 The First Book of the Tetralogy: The Regarding Evans-Wentz’s attitude towards the Tibetan Book of the Dead creation of his books, Lopez calls him auda- When one takes a closer look at the most- cious. Lopez says that “Evans-Wentz thought recent publication of the Oxford University that he understood what he read, and reading, Press edition of W. Y. Evans-Wentz’s The Ti- as he did, through his bifocals of Theosophy 47 betan Book of the Dead (2000), it becomes and Hindu Yoga.” As a consequence, Lopez apparent that apart from the translation of the accuses Evans-Wentz of departing on interpre- basic text, and the meticulous footnotes that go tative flights, which were influenced not only with it, there is an accumulation of additional by his lifelong allegiance to Theosophy, but

20 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015. Winter 2015 also from his understanding of yoga, which he mal’s consciousness is by far more limited and gained from his tutelage under various Hindu restrictive, thereby rendering any retributive neo-Vedantin teachers between the two world aims of an adjustment orientated karma abso- wars. These factors caused Evans-Wentz to lutely futile. take unjustified liberties with the texts, such as Despite his criticism of Evans-Wentz’s ap- his continued references to the need to break proach and working methods, Lopez ends his through the illusion of Maya, a concept widely foreword on the following positive note: known in Hinduism, but a rhetoric which is “Whatever Evans-Wentz’s motivations may largely absent in the Tibetan texts that form the have been in creating The Tibetan Book of the subject of his books.48 Dead, he produced a work of vast cultural in- Another important point that Lopez brings to fluence. For contained within Evans-Wentz’s the reader’s attention as regards The Tibetan book is Kazi Dawa Samdup’s translation of the Book of the Dead is the issue of karma and Bar do thos grol, a translation that has contin- reincarnation. He points out the controversial ued, over the years and across the continents, views that are held, on the one hand, by The- to provide both insight and inspiration.”52 osophy and, on the other hand, by Tibetan Buddhism and how Evans-Wentz attempts to Dr. C. G. Jung’s Psychological Com- explain the reason for this controversy. Ac- mentary cording to the Theosophical view, which Ev- Before commencing with a discussion of ans-Wentz also regarded as intended for the Jung’s commentary of The Tibetan Book of the initiated few, he believed that just as “it is im- Dead, it is necessary to describe briefly the possible for an animal or plant to devolve into three distinct phases of the bardo, which in one of its previous forms, so it is impossible context of the Tibetan Buddhist belief in rein- for ‘a human life-flux to flow into the physical carnation is understood as the intermediate form of a dog, or a fowl, or insect, or state between death and rebirth. Once this is 49 worm.’” In contradistinction the Buddhist done, attention will be paid to how Jung points view is that “sentient beings wander up and out some important parallels between Eastern down through the six realms of rebirth, blown and Western concepts as they relate to the spir- helplessly by the winds of karma,” a view that itual aspects of their respective metaphysics. Evans-Wentz considered nothing more than There are three major parallels in Jung’s com- 50 the popular view intended for the masses. mentary, namely those between Jung’s concept Defending the Theosophical view, Evans- of the Collective Unconscious and the Chikhai Wentz went so far as to claim “that it is a view Bardo; Jung’s archetypes and the Chönyid that Kazi Dawa Samdup also endorsed, ‘The Bardo; and Freudian Psychoanalysis and the late Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup was of the opin- Sidpa Bardo. Lastly, Jung’s own unique view ion that, despite the adverse criticisms directed of the Tibetan Book of the Dead will be dis- against H. P. Blavatsky’s works, there is ade- cussed, and how it can be put to use by West- quate internal evidence in them of their au- erners as an initiatory rather than a funerary thor’s intimate acquaintance with the higher text. This can be achieved by reversing the lamastic teachings, into which she claimed to sequence, and starting with the third phase of 51 have been initiated.’” the bardo and ending with the first, and there- Regarding the issue of bad karma and reincar- by arriving at the recognition of that most ele- nation, one can well imagine that retribution vated state of consciousness, which is symbol- may be exacted by having to undergo several ized by the clear light, and known as the incarnations of an unfavourable nature, but Dharma-Kaya. most, if not all, esotericists would agree that In broad outlines, the three phases of the bardo reincarnation in such cases into a lower life can be defined as follows: form, such as, a lowly animal would not only The first phase of the bardo, the Chikhai Bar- be ridiculous, but pointless. Compared to the do, is the recognition of that state of con- consciousness of a human being, a lowly ani- sciousness which transcends all other states of

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 21 The Esoteric Quarterly consciousness, and its successful attainment Reality, symbolized in the feminine, or shakti makes any association with lesser types of aspect.” It goes on, to state rather boldly, that consciousness unnecessary and redundant. It is “(i)n psychological language it represents the symbolized by the image of the clear light, in Collective Unconscious, as being the matrix of itself an image of untarnished purity, and can everything. It is the womb of everything, even confidently be identified with the Dharma- of the Dharma-Kaya; it is the Dharma-Kaya Kaya, the state of consciousness which is also itself.”57 characteristic of a Buddha.53 A comparison such as the above is always The second phase of the bardo, the Chönyid risky, and can, at best, only partially be true. Bardo, is also called the bardo of the experi- Admittedly, the Collective Unconscious is encing of reality.54 In this bardo the deceased equated with the “Ultimate Reality” and the person is confronted, firstly by a group of “matrix of everything,” but it is also under- peaceful deities and, secondly a group of stood as being rich in psychic contents and the wrathful deities, in the form of visual and audi- product of ancestral experience that contains tory projections. These projections are symbol- such concepts as science, religion and morali- ic of the person’s karma, and when rightfully ty.58 The Dharma-Kaya, on the other hand, can meditated upon by the deceased, still allow for only find its parallels with the Collective Un- the regaining of the clear light, and thus libera- conscious to a point. It is true that it is equated tion from rebirth. If, however, the concentra- with the Absolute, and considered as “the es- tion, and consequent insights gained by medi- sence of the universe” and “the unity of all tation upon these deities is unsuccessful, the things and beings,” but it is “unmanifested.” deceased looses yet another opportunity, and is “The dharmakaya is beyond existence or non- drawn into the third phase, the Sidpa Bardo.55 existence, and beyond (all) concepts. . .”59 The third phase, or Sidpa Bardo, is known as a Perhaps the fundamental difference between hallucinatory state, where the dead person, the Western and Eastern understanding of the who was unable to avail himself of the oppor- Ultimate Reality can be ascribed to the fact tunities in the Chikhai Bardo and the Chönyid that Westerners are by nature suspicious of any Bardo, now becomes a victim of sexual fanta- type of consciousness that is devoid of con- sies and “is attracted by the vision of mating tents. Easterners, on the other hand, don’t couples. Eventually he is caught by a womb equate the Absolute with consciousness at all, and born into the earthly world again.”56 but rather consider it in terms of pure being, which transcends any type of consciousness Now that the three distinct phases of the bardo that might limit or distort its reality by distinct have been defined, they can serve as a basis for qualities or concepts. some comparisons that can be drawn between them and those Western concepts with which The essence of the Chikhai Bardo, as it is re- they appear to be in agreement. cited by the presiding lama to the dead person, is contained in the following words: The first comparison to be made is that between Jung’s understanding of the soul and the O nobly-born (so and so), listen. Now thou Dharma-Kaya of the Chikhai Bardo. Accord- art experiencing the Radiance of the Clear ing to Jung’s Germanic background, the soul Light of Pure Reality. Recognise it. O no- (Seele) is not to be confused with its English bly-born, thy present intellect, in real nature meaning, which is very different, but needs to void, not formed into anything as regards be equated with his concept of the Collective characteristics or colour, naturally void, is Psyche, or Collective Unconscious. The first the very Reality, the All-Good. footnote of Jung’s commentary describes Thine own intellect, which is now voidness, ‘Seele’ as an ancient word, “sanctioned by yet not to be regarded as the voidness of Germanic tradition and used, by outstanding nothingness, but as being the intellect itself, German mystics like Eckhart and great Ger- unobstructed, shining, thrilling, and bliss- man poets like Goethe, to signify the Ultimate

ful, is the very consciousness, the All-good mind organizes its contents. One could also Buddha.60 describe these forms as categories analogous to the logical categories which are al- Apart from its sheer exuberance and poetic ways and everywhere present as the basic beauty, the above quotation is almost an une- postulates of reason. Only, in the case of quivocal guarantee to the deceased of the true our ‘forms,’ we are not dealing with catego- nature, the Buddha-nature, of his or her being, ries of reason but with categories of the im- provided that he or she can remain single- agination.63 minded, and without wavering, identify with the Clear Light, and thereby gain liberation. In the above context the Chönyid Bardo and Life, when stripped of all its entanglements the deceased’s confrontation with the peaceful and ramifications, becomes nothing more and and wrathful deities, (the success or failure of nothing less than the bliss of pure being. Jung, this confrontation being determined by the de- however, who obviously was able to appreciate ceased person’s individual karma), is a process the implications of the above passage, foresees whereby the deities or archetypes help to de- problems as regards the mentality of the con- termine where exactly the deceased stands as ventional Westerner, and remarks upon it as regards his own status in terms of his or her follows: psychic reality. Jung elaborates on this as follows: The soul [or as here, one’s own consciousness] is assuredly not small, but the radiant Here (in the Chönyid Bardo) we seek and Godhead itself. The West finds this state- find our difficulties, here we seek and find ment either very dangerous, if not down- our enemy, here we seek and find what is right blasphemous, or else accepts it un- dear and precious to us; and it is comforting thinkingly and then suffers from a theo- to know that all evil and all good is to be sophical inflation. But if we can master found out there, in the visible object, where ourselves far enough to refrain from our it can be conquered, punished, destroyed or chief error of always wanting to do some- enjoyed. But nature herself does not allow thing with things and put them to practical this paradisal state of innocence to continue use, we may perhaps succeed in learning an forever. There are, and always have been, important lesson from these teachings, or at those who cannot help but see that the least in appreciating the greatness of the world and its experiences are in the nature Bardo Thodol, which vouchsafes to the of a symbol, and that it really reflects some- dead man the ultimate and highest truth, thing that lies hidden in the subject himself, that even the gods are the radiance and rein his own transubjective reality. It is from flection of our own souls.61 this profound intuition, according to lamaist doctrine, that the Chönyid state derives its The next item under consideration is the com- true meaning, which is why the Chönyid parison between Jung’s archetypes and the two Bardo is entitled ‘The Bardo of the Experi- groups of deities, the first peaceful, the second encing of Reality.’64 wrathful, which the deceased encounters in the second, or Chönyid Bardo. Lastly, the comparison between Freudian Psy- choanalysis and the Sidpa Bardo, as under- An archetype, as Jung understands it, is de- stood by Jung, needs to be discussed. If Freud- fined as “a collectively inherited unconscious ian psychoanalysis is understood as simply idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universal- dealing with problems that are related to basic ly present in individual psyches.”62 Jung ex- drives and urges of a physical nature, with par- pands on this basic concept in his own words ticular emphasis on the sexual, its relevance to as follows: the Sidpa Bardo becomes clearer and more These (the archetypes) are the universal obvious. Jung elucidates on this as follows: dispositions of the mind, and they are to be Freudian psychoanalysis, in all essential as- understood as analogous to Plato’s forms pects, never went beyond the experiences (eidola), in accordance with which the

of the Sidpa Bardo; that is, it was unable to to substitute Christian symbols for the gods extricate itself from sexual fantasies and of the Chönyid Bardo.68 similar “incompatible” tendencies which cause anxiety and other affective states. Lama Anagarika Govinda’s Introducto- Nevertheless, Freud’s theory is the first at- ry Foreword tempt made by the West to investigate, as if The author of the Introductory Foreword to from below, from the animal sphere of in- The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Lama Anagari- stinct, the psychic territory that corresponds ka Govinda, was a Tibetologist and practition- 65 in Tantric Lamaism to the Sidpa Bardo. er of Tibetan Buddhism. Of German origin, he In contradistinction to his own theory of the was born in Waldheim, Germany in 1898. He collective unconscious, which clearly makes was known to be one of the most revered Western interpreters of Buddhism and the tra- allowance for all types of psychic contents, 69 including the spiritual, Jung considers Freud’s ditional Tibetan way of life. He died in 1985. unconscious to be limited to biological needs Lama Govinda begins his discussion of The and urges, thus unable to advance beyond the Tibetan Book of the Dead with the general as- instinctual sphere. “It is therefore not possible sumption that nobody is able to talk about for Freudian theory to reach anything except death with authority unless they have died, and an essentially negative valuation of the uncon- that since nobody, apparently, has returned 66 scious. It is a ‘nothing but.’” Jung elaborates from the dead, we cannot know what death is, on this as follows: or what happens after it.70 However, Lama I think, then, we can state it as a fact that Govinda also gives an alternate view held by with the aid of psychoanalysis the rational- the Tibetans, who will respond to the above izing mind of the West has pushed forward assumption as follows: into what one might call the neuroticism of There is not one person, indeed, not one liv- the Sidpa Bardo state, and has there been ing being, that has not returned from death. brought to an inevitable standstill by the In fact, we have all died many deaths, be- uncritical assumption that everything psy- fore we came into this incarnation. And chological is subjective and personal. Even what we call birth is merely the reverse side so, this advance has been a great gain, in- of death, like one of the two sides of a coin, asmuch as it has enabled us to take one or like a door which we call “entrance” 67 more step behind our conscious lives. from outside and “exit” from inside a 71 Having summarized Jung’s views of the three room. distinct phases of the bardo in terms of his own Lama Govinda reconciles these opposing system of psychology, one can now examine views by stating that not everybody remembers and appreciate his most innovative suggestion his or her previous death, and due to this lack why the Bardo Thödol should be read back- of remembering, most people do not believe wards. Jung justifies this suggestion with the that there was a previous death. He points out following: that “they forget that active memory only The book describes a way of initiation in forms a small part of our consciousness, and reverse, which unlike the eschatological that our subconscious memory registers and preserves every past impression and experi- expectations of Christianity, prepares the 72 soul for a descent into physical being. The ence which our waking mind fails to recall.” thoroughly intellectualistic and rationalistic Govinda elaborates on this by referring to peo- worldly-mindedness of the European makes ple who by means of concentration and other it advisable for us to reverse the sequence yogic practices are able to access the subcon- of the Bardo Thödol and to regard it as an scious and bring it into the realm of the dis- account of Eastern initiation experiences, criminative consciousness. Such people can though one is perfectly free, if one chooses, consequently access the unrestricted treasury of subconscious memory, which contains the

24 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015. Winter 2015 records not only of our past lives, but also the read or recited on the occasion of death, it was records of the history of our race. Taken to its originally written as a guide not only for the extreme, subconscious memory can potentially dying or dead, but also for the living. It is pre- access not only our human past, but “all pre- cisely this that justifies its accessibility to a human forms of life, if not the very conscious- wider public.77 ness that makes life possible in the universe.”73 Lama Govinda stresses that despite its appar- Lama Govinda argues that there is a good rea- ent purpose as a funerary text, the Bardo son why the subconscious cannot readily be Thodol only has value for those who practice made conscious: its teaching during their life-time. Once this is realised the element of death in this sacred text If, through some trick of nature, the gates of takes on a new meaning, namely “that it is one an individual’s subconsciousness were sud- of the oldest and most universal practices for denly to spring open, the unprepared mind the initiate to go through the experience of would be overwhelmed and crushed. There- death before he can be spiritually reborn.” The fore, the gates of the subconscious are initiates need to die symbolically both as re- guarded, by all initiates, and hidden behind gards their past, as well as their old ego, before the veil of mysteries and symbols.74 they can take their place in the new spiritual From this point onwards Lama Govinda dis- life into which they have been initiated.78 cusses the significance of The Tibetan Book of The correct application of the bardo teachings the Dead, and how it relates to his foregoing depends upon remembering the right thing at argument. He explains that the reason why the the right moment, and to achieve this, it is nec- Tibetan Book of the Dead is couched in sym- essary to prepare oneself during one’s life- bolic language is due to the fact that it was time. Lama Govinda points out that “one must written for initiates, and thus “sealed with the create, build up, and cultivate those faculties seven seals of silence, - not because its which one desires to be of deciding influence knowledge should be withheld from the unini- at death and in the after-death —in order never tiated, but because its knowledge would be to be taken unawares, and to be able to react, misunderstood," and thus possibly mislead and spontaneously, in the right way, when the criti- even harm those who are not intended to re- cal moment of death has come.”79 ceive it. However, he thinks that the time has come to break the seals of silence, because Lama Govinda reminds the reader that all who humanity has reached the point where it needs are familiar with Buddhist philosophy recog- to decide whether to be satisfied by merely nize that birth and death succeed each other subjugating the material world, or whether it repeatedly and uninterruptedly, and that every should strive after the conquest of the spiritual moment of our lives something within us dies world, by subjugating its selfish desires and and something is reborn.80 He elaborates on transcending its self-imposed limitations.75 this as follows: Lama Govinda emphatically states that it is the The different bardos, therefore, represent spiritual point of view that makes the Bardo different states of consciousness of our life: Thodol important for the majority of readers. If the state of waking consciousness, the nor- it were merely based upon folklore, or reli- mal consciousness of a being born into our gious speculation about death and a hypothet- human world, known in Tibetan as the ical after-death state, it would only be of inter- skyes-nas bar-do; the state of dream- est to anthropologists and students of religion. consciousness (rmi-lam bar-do); the state Lama Govinda explains that it is far more than of dhyana, or trance-consciousness, in pro- that: “It is a key to the innermost recesses of found meditation (bsam-gtan bar-do); the the human mind, and a guide for initiates, and state of experiencing of death (huchhi-kha for those who are seeking the spiritual path of bar-do); the state of experiencing of Reality liberation.”76 Although the Bardo Thodol is (chhos-nyid bar-do); the state of rebirth- generally used in Tibet as a breviary, to be consciousness (srid-pa bar-do).81

Referring to the teachings of the Buddha, La- Thus it is that the profound psychology set ma Govinda points out that it is a privilege to forth by the Bardo Thodol constitutes an be born as a human being, because it allows important contribution to our knowledge of for the rare opportunity of liberating oneself the human mind and the path that leads be- through one’s decisive effort “through a ‘turn- yond it. Under the guise of a science of ing-about in the deepest seat of consciousness’, death, the Bardo Thodol reveals the secret as the Lankavatara Sutra puts it.”82Lama Go- of life; and therein lies its spiritual value vinda specifies that “(a)ccordingly, The Root and its universal appeal.87 Verses of the Six Bardos open with the words: Sir John Woodroffe’s Foreword ‘O that now, when the Bardo of Life is Sir John Woodroffe introduces his foreword dawning upon me, with two salient questions regarding the con- - After having given up indolence, since cept of death. His first question is how one there is no time to waste in life - may avoid death, except when death is desired; May I undistractedly enter the path of lis- and the second, how to accept death and die.88 tening, reflecting, and meditating, He answers the first question by pointing out So that, . . . once having attained human that “the avoidance of death is the aim when embodiment, Hathayoga is used to prolong present life in No time may be squandered through useless 89 83 the flesh.” He explains that this is not, in the distractions.’ Western sense, an affirmation of life, but, for Returning to the subject of death, Lama Go- the time being, to a particular form of life. He vinda points out that its illusoriness can be as- points out that in context of The Tibetan Book cribed to the fact that the individual identifies of the Dead, death comes to all, and that hu- with his or her temporal, transitory form, mans are not to cling to life on earth with its whether physical, emotional, or mental, which ceaseless wandering in the worlds of birth and is the reason for the mistaken notion that there death. They should rather “implore the aid of exists a personal, separate egohood of one’s the Divine Mother for a safe passage through own, and the fear of losing it.84 The remedy for the fearful state following the body’s dissolu- this Lama Govinda explains as follows: tion, and that they may at length attain all- perfect Buddhahood.”90 If, however, the disciple has learned, as the Bardo Thodol directs, to identify him- Regarding the second question, “How to ac- self with the Eternal . . . then the fears of cept death and die,” Woodroffe answers as death are dissipated like a cloud before follows: “Here (i.e. The Tibetan Book of the the rising sun. Then he knows that what- Dead) the technique of dying makes Death the ever he may see, hear, or feel, in the hour entrance to good future lives, at first out of, of his departure from this life, is but a re- and then again in, the flesh, unless and until flection of his own conscious and subcon- liberation (Nirvana) from the wandering scious mental content; and no mind- (Sangsara) is attained.”91 created illusion can then have power over Woodroffe identifies both the original text and him if he knows its origin and is able to 85 Evans-Wentz’s introduction as valuable con- recognize it. tributions to the Science of Death from the Lama Govinda concludes his discussion of the standpoint of the Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism Bardo Thodol by pointing out that the illusory of the Tantric type,92 (Tantra being understood bardo visions vary according to the religious or as a technique which transforms desire into cultural tradition in which the percipient has enlightenment).93 He welcomes the book not grown up, but that their underlying motive- only in virtue of its particular subject matter, power is shared by all human beings.86 His but also because he considers the ritual works final words regarding the nature of the Bardo of any religion to enable us more fully to un- and its significance read as follows: derstand the philosophy and psychology of the system to which we belong.94

More specifically, Woodroffe defines The Ti- At the moment of death the empiric con- betan Book of the Dead in terms of three char- sciousness, or consciousness of objects, is acteristics, namely as a work on the Art of Dy- lost. There is what is popularly called a ing; “for Death, as well as Life, is an Art, “swoon,” which is, however, the corollary though both are often enough muddled of super-consciousness itself, or the Clear through.”95 Secondly, he Light of the Void; for considers the book as a As regards the parallels that the swoon is in, and manual of religious ther- can be drawn between the of, the Consciousness apeutic for the last mo- as knower of objects ments; and thirdly as a various funerary texts, Evans- (Vijnana Skandha). description of the experi- Wentz concludes that they This empiric con- ences of the deceased tend to strengthen the opinion sciousness disappears, during the intermediate unveiling Pure Con- period between death and that the greater part of the sciousness, which is rebirth, and thus as a symbolism which is nowadays ever ready to be guide whereby the de- regarded as peculiarly Chris- discovered by those ceased can relate there- who have the will to to.96 tian or Jewish seems to be due seek and the power to find It.99 Woodroffe points out to adaptations from Egyptian that the chief difference and Eastern religions. …they Defining the Clear between the four leading also suggest a close resem- Light of the Void, religions, i.e. Brahman- Woodroffe writes that ism, Buddhism, Christi- blance between the thought- it is not “nothing- anity and Islam, is the forms and thought-processes ness,” but “the Alogi- doctrine of reincarnation of the Orient and the Occi- cal (sic), to which no and resurrection. He categories drawn from writes that Christianity dent, and that despite differ- the world of name and recognizes one universe ences…the various nations of form apply.”100 He only, and two lives, one mankind are, and have been states that a Vedantist here in the natural body, would affirm that and one hereafter, the since time immemorial, men- “Being,” or “Is-ness,” resurrection body. Just as tally and spiritually one. is still applicable as metempsychosis makes regards the Void, and the same soul, so resurrection uses the same would be experienced as “is” (asti). According body for more than one life, but Christianity to this view, the Void is the negation of all de- limits man’s lives to two in number, of which terminations, but not of “Is-ness,” as has been the first forever determines the nature of the supposed in accounts that are given of Bud- second.97 dhist “Nihilism,” but it is not anything known to finite experience in form, and thus, for those Woodroffe explains that for “each of the four who have had no other experience, it is no- religions . . . there is a subtle and death- thing.101 surviving element,” and “to none of these Faiths is death an absolute ending, but to all it In context of the Buddhist Mayayana teach- is only the separation of the Psyche from the ings, and more specifically in the Tibetan gross body . . . In other words, Death is itself work, The Path of Good Wishes of Samanta only an initiation into another form of life than Bhadra, 102 Woodroffe identifies the All as that of which it is the ending.”98 either Sangsara or Nirvana, Sangsara being the world of finite experience, and Nirvana being Regarding the moment of death, Woodroffe the release from such experience, and thus comments as follows:

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 27 The Esoteric Quarterly consciousness freed of all limitation. From an destroyed, but in which he may suffer atro- emotional aspect, this is experienced as pure cious pain. Or he may go to the Heaven- bliss that is unaffected by sorrow, and from a world or other Loka, to return at length and volitional aspect it is freedom of action and in all cases (for neither punishment nor re- almighty power. The realization of Nirvana, or ward are eternal) to earth, whereon only can the Void, is synonymous with the conscious- new Karma be made. Such return takes ness of a Buddha, or a “Knower;” the absence place after expiation of his sins in Hell, ex- of such realisation is to be an “ignorant being” piration of the term of enjoyment in Heaven in the Sangsara.103 which his Karma has gained for him.106 Taking his examples from The Path of Good Woodroffe points out that in some cases the Wishes of Samanta Bhadra, and obviously in- deceased’s lot is immediate rebirth on earth, in tending to draw parallels with those to be which case he or she will see visions of mating found in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, men and women, and at this final stage of Woodroffe continues his discussion by point- awakening to earth-life, is now aware of the ing out that ignorance in the individual is in its fact that he or she does not have a physical cosmic aspect Maya, which in Tibetan body, and urgently desires to have one, so that (sGyuma) means a magical show. More spe- he or she may again enjoy physical life on the cifically “(i)n its most generic form, the former earth-world.107 is that which produces the pragmatic, but, in a Woodroffe’s conclusive remarks leave his dis- transcendental sense, the ‘unreal’ notion of self cussion open ended. Instead of a definitive and otherness.”104 Woodroffe identifies this as statement, he hypothesizes with some pertinent the root cause of error, which becomes mani- questions. He proposes that if the series of fest as the “Six Poisons” of Sangsara – pride, conscious states are determined by the past jealousy, sloth, anger, greed, and lust. At this Karma, it may well be asked how that liberty point Woodroffe points out that the Text (i.e. of choice exists which the whole text of The The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and more spe- Tibetan Book of the Dead assumes by its in- cifically the section dealing with the Chönyid junctions to the deceased to do this or to avoid Bardo) constantly urges upon the dying person that.108 He points out that even in one individu- to recognize in the apparitions, which he is al there are diverse tendencies, but the question about to see, the creatures of his own maya- still remains, and “if the Karma ready to ripen governed mind, which obstructs him or her determines the action, then advice to the ac- from recognizing the Clear Light of the Void. cused is useless. If the ‘soul’ is free to choose, If, however, this recognition is successful, the there is no determination by Karma.”109 person can be liberated at any stage.105 Woodroffe proposes that the answer to these As regards the third and final stage of the in- questions appears to be twofold. On the one termediate state between death and rebirth, the hand, the instructions given may, by their sug- passage into the Sidpa Bardo, Woodroffe ex- gestions, call up that one of several tendencies plains that the past life of the deceased be- which tends towards the action counselled. On comes dim, and “(t)hat of the future is indicat- the other hand, this system allows that one ed by certain premonitory signs which repre- “soul” can help another. In this regard, there sent the first movements of desire towards ful- are prayers for, and application of merits to, filment.” In accordance with the deceased’s the deceased, just as one finds in Hinduism the karma, his or her “soul-complex” now takes on Pretashraddha, in Catholicism the Requiem the color of the Loka (i.e. world) in which it is Mass, and in Islam the Moslem’s Fatiha. destined to be born. More specifically this is Woodroffe concludes that “(i)n this and other explained by Woodroffe as follows: matters one mind can, it is alleged, influence another otherwise than through the ordinary If the deceased’s Karma leads him to Hell, sense channels whether before or after thither he goes after the Judgement, in a death.”110 subtle body which cannot be injured or

Walter Evans-Wentz’s comment on the night and death, and ruler of the underworld.115 Judgment in The Tibetan Book of the Parallels such as these can only be explained Dead when we accept the reality of Jung’s Collective Unconscious and its dominant archetypes, as it Instead of a lengthy summary, and the unnec- was discussed under Jung’s Psychological essary repetition of much that has been dis- Commentary. cussed under the forewords, commentaries and introductions in the above summaries, this par- Evans-Wentz continues his comparison as fol- ticular summary will deal with only one of lows: several aspects of Evans-Wentz’s Introduction, In both versions alike there is a symbolical namely the one which is subtitled The Judge- weighing: before Dharma-Raja there are 111 ment. Its importance needs to be pointed out placed on one side of the balance black for the reason that the knowledge of the after pebbles and on the other side white pebbles, death state, or bardo, appears to have its paral- symbolizing evil and good deeds; and simi- lels not only between the two funerary texts larly, before Osiris, the heart and the feath- such as The Egyptian Book of the Dead and the er (or else in the place of the feather an im- Tibetan Book of the Dead, but also a Medieval age of the Goddess of Truth which it sym- Christian treatise entitled The Lamentation of bolizes) are weighed one against the other, the Dying Creature, the dating of which is un- the heart representing the conduct of con- certain, but probably falls within the period of science of the deceased and the feather th th 112 the 14 and 15 centuries. Furthermore, Ev- righteousness or truth. ans-Wentz also makes brief mention of Plato’s tenth book of the Republic, in which a striking- Regarding the above quotation, the symbol of ly similar judgement of the human soul is de- the balance or scales, is not unique to Egypt scribed as in the Egyptian, Tibetan and Chris- and Tibet, but acknowledged universally as an tian examples. His first comparison is that be- emblem of harmony and justice, and thus an tween the Tibetan and Egyptian texts, and be- ideal instrument in the judgement of a human gins as follows: being at the termination of his or her earthly life. The heart is, likewise, a universal symbol The Judgement Scene as described in our of a human being’s conscience, and brings to text and that described in the Egyptian mind the words from the Old Testament in the Book of the Dead seem so much alike in es- book of Proverbs, (Chapter 23, verse 7), which sentials as to suggest that common origin, read as follows: “For as (a man) thinketh in his at present unknown, to which we have al- heart, so is he . . .”116 A light heart, counter- ready made reference. In the Tibetan ver- balanced by a feather, suggests the nature of a sion, Dharma-Raja (Tib. Shinje-chho-gyal) person who holds back nothing, and thus char- King of the Dead (commonly known to acterized by the virtue of compassion and gen- Theravadists as Yama-Raja), the Buddhist erosity, while a heavy heart, often referred to and Hindu Pluto, as a Judge of the Dead, as a “heart of stone,” is descriptive of someone correspond to Osiris in the Egyptian ver- who is cold and devoid of true neighborly feel- 113 sion. ings. Even in this brief quotation one cannot help The Egyptian Judgement Scene is presided noticing the reference to Pluto, whom every over by the ape-headed, and sometimes more person with a basic knowledge of mythology rarely, by the ibis-headed Thoth, who is the will identify as the god of the underworld both god of wisdom.117 As the weighing process of in Greek and Roman mythology. In fact, a the deceased’s heart is about to proceed, the king, or god of death and the underworld is so deceased addresses his own heart as follows: universal, that one encounters him in mytholo- ‘Raise not thyself in evidence against me. Be gies as far afield as the Incas and the Aztecs, as not mine adversary before the Divine Circle; well as the Pacific Islands, where, among the let there be no fall of the scale against me in Maori, this deity is female rather than male, the presence of the great god, Lord of Amen- and known as Hine-nui-te-po,114 the goddess of

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 29 The Esoteric Quarterly ta.’118 The Tibetan Judgment Scene also has a The above quotation paints a vivid picture of presiding god, the monkey-headed Shinje; and the state of mind of a deceased person who in both the Egyptian and Tibetan scenes, the suddenly realizes the gravity and inevitability jury is made up of animal-headed and human- of having to face up to his evil deeds which he headed gods. The Egyptian version has a mon- or she has committed while still alive. Dread- strous creature awaiting the deceased if he or ing the consequences to be visited upon him, she should be condemned, while the Tibetan the deceased desperately appeals to his Good version has devils awaiting the evil-doer ready Angel: to conduct him or her to the hell-world of pur- “O my good Angel, to whom our Lord took gation. The record-board of the deceased’s me to keep, where be thee now? Me deeds, which the god Thoth is sometimes de- thinketh ye should be here, and answer for picted as holding, parallels the Mirror of Kar- me; for the dread of death distroubleth me, ma held by the Dharma-Raja.119As regards the so that I cannot answer for myself. Here is “Mirror of Karma,” Evans-Wentz makes the my bad angel ready, and is one of my chief following observation: “(T)his seems to be accusers, with legions of fiends with him. I distinctly an Indian and Buddhist addition to have no creature to answer for me. Alas it is the hypothetical pre-historic version, whence an heavy case!”123 arose the Egyptian and the Tibetan versions, the Egyptian being the less affected.”120 The Good Angel, an obvious personification of the voice of conscience, makes it clear to the Evans-Wentz’s reference to Plato’s tenth book deceased that his intercession at this stage of the Republic describes a similar judgement would be unjust and useless: “. . . (I) coun- as in the Egyptian and Tibetan funerary texts, selled thee to flee the place of peril, and the which also employs judges and makes use of company that should stir or move you thereto. karmic record boards that are affixed to the Can ye say nay thereto? How can you think souls being judged, and two paths, one for the that I should answer for you?”124 In despera- good which leads to heaven, and one for the tion the deceased now “appeals for assistance evil that leads to hell. Like in the Tibetan ver- to Reason, to Dread, to Conscience, and to the sion, the condemned souls are carried off by Five Wits – (but) none can succour him.”125 demons to the place of punishment.121 His final appeal is to the Virgin, whose inter- For a more detailed comparison between the cession to Jesus, her son, now introduces the texts dealing with the after-death state already uniquely Christian doctrine of the forgiveness treated so far and the Medieval Christian trea- of sins, which clearly differs from the doctrine tise, The Lamentation of the Dying Creature, of karma as it is expounded in the Buddhist one needs to turn to Evans-Wentz’s Addenda teachings of The Tibetan Book of the Dead.126 VII entitled The Medieval Christian Judge- Evans-Wentz’s own comment on the above is ment, in which the deceased is recorded to say: as follows: “Alas that ever I sinned in my life. To me is Such introduction suggests that this curious come this day the dreadfullest tidings that Christian version of the Judgment may have ever I had. Here hath been with me a ser- had a pre-Christian and non-Jewish Orien- geant of arms whose name is Cruelty, from tal source, wherein the doctrine of karma the King of Kings, Lord of all Lords, and (and the correlated doctrine of rebirth) re- Judge of all Judges, laying on me the mace mained unmodified by the European medi- of His office, saying unto me: ‘I arrest thee evalism which shaped The Lamentation of and warn thee to make ready . . . The Judge the Dying Creature. The ancient doctrine of that shall sit upon thee, He shall not be par- karma (to which the primitive, or Gnostic, tial, nor He will not be corrupt with goods, Christians adhered, were Church-council but He will minister to thee justice and eq- Christianity took shape), being taught in the uity . . .”122 following answer to the Dying Creature,

gives some plausibility, even from internal evidence, to this purely tentative view: 1 Walter Evans-Wentz and Lama Kazi Dawa Conscience: ‘Ye must sorrowfully and Samdup photographed circa 1919, from the meekly suffer the judgements that ye have Wikimedia Commons, the free media reposi- deserved.’ tory. 2 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the The Five Wits: ‘Therefore of your necessity Dead (1960; reprint; London: Oxford Univer- your defaults must be laid upon you . . . sity Press, 2000), 82. 3 Wherefore of right the peril must be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Evans- yours.127 Wentz (accessed November 27, 2013.) 4 http://www.tricycle.com/ancestors/the-hermit- In his final remarks as regards the parallels that who-owned-his-mountain-a-profile-wy-evans- can be drawn between the various funerary wentz?page=0,0 (accessed November 27, texts, Evans-Wentz concludes that they tend to 2013.) 5 strengthen the opinion that the greater part of Ibid. (accessed November 27, 2013.) 6 Ibid. (accessed November 27, 2013.) the symbolism which is nowadays regarded as 7 peculiarly Christian or Jewish seems to be due Ibid. (accessed November 27, 2013.) 8 http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/ to adaptations from Egyptian and Eastern reli- view?docId=evans-wentz-w-y-walter-yeeling- gions. He observes that they also suggest a 1878-1965-cr.xml (accessed November 27, close resemblance between the thought-forms 2013.) and thought-processes of the Orient and the 9 http://www.tricycle.com/ancestors/the-hermit- Occident, and that despite differences of race who-owned-his-mountain-a-profile-wy-evans- and creed, and of physical and social environ- wentz?page=0,0 (accessed November 27, ment, the various nations of mankind are, and 2013.) 10 have been since time immemorial, mentally http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Evans- and spiritually one.128 Wentz (accessed November 27, 2013.) 11 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the Conclusion Dead, D. 12 William James, The Principles of Psychology, rom the above discussion and summaries, ((1952; reprint; Chicago: Encyclopaedia Bri- F the reader must, at this stage, have formed tannica, Inc., 1980), vi. a fairly comprehensive view of what The Ti- 13 David Ross, W. B. Yeats, (New Lanark: Ged- betan Book of the Dead is about. One can now des & Grosset, 2001), 182. 14 come to the conclusion that The Tibetan Book http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/ of the Dead is much more than a funerary text, view?docId=evans-wentz-w-y-walter-yeeling- and is, in fact, also a means to an initiation that 1878-1965-cr.xml (accessed November 29, 2013.) opens the treasury to various types of con- 15 http://www.tricycle.com/ancestors/the-hermit- sciousness. These types of consciousness are who-owned-his-mountain-a-profile-wy-evans- accessible to those who, like the higher lamas, wentz (accessed December 4, 2013.) are able to open the portals to such a treasury, 16 http://www.tricycle.com/ancestors/the-hermit- and thereby experience the entire range of con- who-owned-his-mountain-a-profile-wy-evans- sciousness, from the lowest to the highest, or wentz (accessed December 5, 2013.) from the most basic and instinctual all the way 17 Ken Winkler, Pilgrim of the Clear Light, (2nd to that sublime state which is known as the Kindle edition 2013; published by: www.booksmango.com) Chapter Three. Ultimate Reality or the Absolute. It is recom- 18 mended that the reader considers all the above Ibid., Chapter Three. 19 Ibid., Chapter Four. summaries merely as a pointer to Evans- 20 Ibid., Chapter Four. Wentz’s book, and that he or she has been suf- 21 Ibid., Chapter Five. ficiently persuaded to take the trouble to read 22 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret and study the original. Doctrines, (New Delhi: Munshiram Manohar- lal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2000), xviii.

23 ParamahansaYogananda, Autobiography of a 53 http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhism glos- Yogi, (1998; reprint; Kolkata: Yogoda Satsan- saryd/g/dharmakaya.htm (accessed January ga Society of India, 2002), vii-viii. 31, 2014.) 24 Ken Winkler, Pilgrim of the Clear Light, (2nd 54 Ibid., 101. Kindle edition 2013; published by: 55 http://www.virtualsynapses.com/2011/06/ www.booksmango.com) Chapter Five. chonyid-bardo-vision-of- 25 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the peaceful.html#.Ut6Qo-oaLIU (accessed Janu- Dead, (1960; reprint; London: Oxford Univer- ary 21, 2014.) sity Press, 2000), D, E. 56 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 26 Ibid., E. Dead, xli. 27 Ibid., E. 57 Ibid., xxxv. 28 Ken Winkler, Pilgrim of the Clear Light, (2nd 58 http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhism glos- Kindle edition 2013; published by: saryd/g/dharmakaya.htm (accessed January www.booksmango.com) Chapter Eleven. 31, 2014.) 29 http://www.tricycle.com/ancestors/the-hermit- 59 http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhism glos- who-owned-his-mountain-a-profile-wy-evans- saryd/g/dharmakaya.htm (accessed January wentz (accessed December 12, 2013.) 19, 2014.) 30 Ibid. (accessed December 12, 2013.) 60 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 31 Ken Winkler, Pilgrim of the Clear Light, (2nd Dead, xxxviii – xxxix. Kindle edition 2013; published by: 61 Ibid., xxxix. www.booksmango.com) Chapter Twelve. 62 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetype (ac- 32 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the cessed February 2, 2014.) Dead, (1960; reprint; London: Oxford Univer- 63 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the sity Press, 2000), A, E. Dead, xliv. 33 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 64 Ibid., xlvii - xlviii. Great Liberation, (1954; reprint; New York: 65 Ibid., xlii. Oxford University Press, 1971), 241-254. 66 Ibid., xlii - xliii. 34 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 67 Ibid., xliii. Dead, I. 68 Ibid., xlix. 35 Ibid., J. 69 Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Way of the 36 Ibid., K. White Clouds (1966; reprint; London: Rider, 37 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibet’s Great Yogi Mi- 2006). Biographical summary following title larepa, (1969; reprint; New York: Oxford page. University Press, 2000), H. 70 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 38 Ibid., H. Dead, liii. 39 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret 71 Ibid., liii. Doctrines, (1958; reprint; New York: Oxford 72 Ibid., liii. University Press, 2000), H. 73 Ibid., liii. 40 Ibid., H-I. 74 Ibid., liii. 41 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 75 Ibid., liv. Great Liberation (1954; reprint; New York: 76 Ibid., lix. Oxford University Press, 2000), I. 77 Ibid., lix. 42 Ibid., I-J. 78 Ibid., lix - lx. 43 Ibid., J. 79 Ibid., lx. 44 Ibid., 241-242 80 Ibid., lx - lxi. 45 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 81 Ibid., lxi. Dead, G. 82 Ibid., lxi. 46 Ibid., G. 83 Ibid., lxi. 47 Ibid., G - H. 84 Ibid., lxii. 48 Ibid., K. 85 Ibid., lxii. 49 Ibid., O. 86 Ibid., lxii. 50 Ibid., N. 87 Ibid., lxii - lxiii. 51 Ibid., O. 88 Ibid., lxv. 52 Ibid., Q. 89 Ibid., lxv. 90 Ibid., lxv.

91 Ibid., lxv. 111 Ibid., 35 - 39. 92 Ibid., lxvi. 112 Ibid., 238. 93 http://buddhism.about.com/od/vajrayana bud- 113 Ibid., 35. dhism/a/tantra101.htm (accessed March 8, 114 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_death_ 2014.) deities (accessed May 23, 2014.) 94 W. Y. Evans-Wents, The Tibetan Book of the 115 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hine-nui-te- Dead, lxvi. p%C5%8D (accessed May 23, 2014.) 95 Ibid., lxvi - lxvii 116 The Holy Bible (1977; New York: Thomas 96 Ibid., lxvii. Nelson Publishers, 1984), 398. 97 Ibid., lxvii. 117 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the 98 Ibid., lxviii. Dead, 36. 99 Ibid., lxxi. 118 Ibid., 35 -36. 100 Ibid., lxxi. 119 Ibid., 36. 101 Ibid., lxxi. 120 Ibid., 36. 102 Ibid., lxxi. 121 Ibid., 36. 103 Ibid., lxxii. 122 Ibid., 238. 104 Ibid., lxxii - lxxiii. 123 Ibid., 238 - 239. 105 Ibid., lxxiii. 124 Ibid., 239. 106 Ibid., lxxix. 125 Ibid., 239. 107 Ibid., lxxix - lxxx. 126 Ibid., 239. 108 Ibid., lxxxii - lxxxiii. 127 Ibid., 239 - 240. 109 Ibid., lxxxiii. 128 Ibid., 241. 110 Ibid., lxxxiii.

Winter 2015

Journeys of the Soul in the Afterlife: Egyptian Books of the Afterlife and Greek Orphic Mysteries

Aaron J. French

Abstract ticularly in mystery religions such as the Or- phic cults. However, the Greeks were more lthough studies in the ancient Greek and secretive concerning their practices. Orphic A Egyptian conception of the afterlife may and Egyptian death cults offered spells, rituals, be extensive, the two systems of belief are and passwords for successfully traversing the rarely set against each other using the compar- afterlife, and both propounded penalties for ative method. To that end, this paper will focus failing to perform these actions at the proper on the afterlife conceptions of both of these time. Although these civilizations are seldom ancient cultures, exclusively comparing their dealt with in the same forum, striking similari- ideas, images, and practices pertaining to life ties emerge when the two are compared. Paral- after death. Additionally, the extent to which lels exist between Egyptian and Greek beliefs these cultures promoted postmortem gnosis in the afterlife, in periods far earlier than the and/or wisdom, as opposed to moral scrutiny Hellenization of Egypt by Alexander the of individual life-choices, will be explored. Great. While these two civilizations never ful- The paper seeks to investigate motivations be- ly merged with respect to their religious and hind this emphasis on afterlife behavior, recita- philosophical views pertaining to the afterlife, tion, and right-ritual, which both ancient Egypt ancient Egypt and Greece did cross-pollinate th and Greece share. The works of two early 20 in the years leading up to Alexander’s takeover century scholars of religion, W. Brede Kristen- around 333 BCE. This induces the conclusion sen and G. R. S. Mead, will form the academic that the ancient peoples emphasized their con- basis, as well as the Egyptian Book of the duct and behavior after death, as opposed to Dead and the more recent archeological dis- the moral scrutiny placed upon our corporeal coveries known as the Orphic Gold Tablets. lives in modern-day society. Introduction A principal text that will be utilized is Life out of Death: Studies in the Religions of Egypt and n ancient times, the human being’s fate after of Ancient Greece by W. Brede Kristensen death occupied a significant amount of focus I (1867-1953), first published in 1925. The rea- and attention. The journey of a soul through son for relying on this somewhat dated text is the afterlife was not merely some imaginative best described by Jean Jacques Waardenburg: flight of fancy or speculative conjecture, but a living part of the cultural milieu. For ancient ______peoples, the afterlife and their place in it offered a possible scenario for their future, and About the Author without the aid of modern science to temper Aaron J. French is a Religious Studies and Creative that view, they were less disposed to balancing Writing undergraduate student at the University of their ideas against the hard data of material Arizona, where his main areas of interest and re- reality. In Egypt, especially, cults of the after- search include Anthroposophy, Freemasonry, and life flourished and were a prominent aspect of Christianity. He is also a writer and editor. You can the community. Their beliefs dominated archi- read his online column “Letters from the Edge” in tecture and religious philosophy, and culmi- Nameless Digest, where he focuses on the occult, nated in ritual burials. Similarly, in Greece we spirituality, rogue scholarship, esotericism, and find the same obsession with the afterlife, par- speculative fiction. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Kristensen made the attempt to come to an ‘absolute life,’ which appears in the subtitle understanding of the religious documents of that chapter, really means. As Waarden- on the basis of religious values which, in burg has well noted: Kristensen ‘could not his view, were proper to the religion stud- express himself well abstractly and what he ied. He was attentive to the symbolism of wrote about his method appears rather the studied religions, in particular to what opaque.’2 related to the problem of life and death. Now on to Kristensen: “The relationship be- Kristensen was opposed to evolutionary tween the Greek religion and eastern religions views on the development of religion, pre- [can] no longer be denied. Recent archeologi- ferred to study the texts apart from their cal discoveries have shown this in the case of time sequence, and to concentrate on their many Greek gods. On Crete, in Asia Minor, ideational content.1 Egypt, Syria, and Babylonia—not to mention Kristensen appropriately analyzed the material Thrace—one finds sources of what used to be relevant to this study in such a context that it is called Greek cults.”3 suitable to utilize his work as a handbook. The In other words, a common thread exists be- decision is based in part on the general way in tween the two cultures, which justifies their which he handled the symbolism and primary pairing together. When surveyed according to texts, framing his thoughts around the question Kristensen’s method, a number of similarities of life after death, and not subscribing too crop up, particularly among afterlife images, dogmatically to the overtly materialistic meth- exclusive religious cults, and burial rites. Ico- odology of his time. Instead, he retained a por- nography such as the snake, bird, and boat re- tion of the original esotericism of religion. cur among the vast array of images utilized by Like minded scholars such as G. R. S. Mead both groups. (1863-1933) have been selected for this article under the same pretense. In his book, Kristensen strongly asserts that Egypt and Greece share a similar attitude con- On the other hand, contemporaneous scholars cerning the afterlife and what awaits human like E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934) who em- beings there. This attitude exerted a “penetrat- ployed similar academic processes were omit- ing influence on … the spiritual life of these ted, owing to Kristensen’s ability to consistent- people.”4 Kristensen believes that although the ly compare afterlife themes in both ancient two religions are not without their immediate Egypt and Greece in a single volume. While differences, those differences do not “neces- subsequent related studies have been carried sarily exclude an equally real similarity.”5 For out more recently, the goal here is to extend Kristensen, various aspects such as the con- back in scholarship before a rigid, materialistic struction of sacred temples and sites, the ico- methodology took over. nography, and the correlation between myths However, to show the author is no mere connects the two cultures in a special way; and spokesperson for Kristensen, the following then there are the Orphic gold leaves and criticism is offered: Egyptian funerary texts, which will be discussed later. The skepticism towards the ruling para- digms of his time could have made Kristen- It is safe to assume that a common current of sen into a scholar with a lasting influence. special knowledge about the afterlife flows into Unfortunately, this has not been the case…. both the ancient Egyptian and Greek religions; Whichever god he approached, whichever though veiled at first glance, this relationship ritual he analyzed, he always found ‘abso- manifests itself in the myths of Osiris and the lute life’ and/or ‘absolute wisdom,’ without myths of Orpheus in the underworld, both of ever supplying a detailed argument for this which impart a kind of hidden mystery code leading principle. Even in the first, intro- intended to transmit instructions about entering ductory chapter of his Life out of Death the the afterlife properly. curious reader is left in the cold as to what

Winter 2015

In addition to these myths, certain texts were Even the annual flooding of the Nile had a prepared to help facilitate the deceased’s pas- double meaning for them, bringing both life sage through the afterlife. In both cases ritual with the crops and death from the dangerous burial and preparation of the dead body played floods.8 a key role, including the mummification pro- Osiris, ruler of the underworld, was one of the cess and the placing of engraved golden main deities associated with the afterlife and “leaves” in the tombs of dead Orphic initiates. the dead. He had already undergone death and We see an emphasis placed on the conduct of resurrection owing to the well-known myth the deceased’s burial, instead of a concern for where his brother Set conspired to have him how they lived their life, morally speaking, killed, cut him apart, and dispersed him.9 But which is the dominant paradigm of today. he was then put back together via the mummi- Judging from the similarities between Egypt fication process and brought to life by his wife and Greece, we may presume the afterlife jour- Isis, at which point he assumed rule over the ney was of significant importance to these an- underworld. cient peoples, exerting a greater command over “Look: I have found you lying on your side, everyday conduct and suggesting a superiority O completely inert one! My sister, said Isis of death over one’s life experiences. However, to Nepthys, it is our brother, this. Come as Kristensen states: that we may lift up his head! Come that we … many will think it strange that ethic con- may reassemble his bones! … Let this not siderations manifestly were not determina- remain inert in our hands! … Osiris, live, tive in forming man’s image of eternal life Osiris! May the completely inert one who … [and yet] it will be seen that according is on his side rise. I am Isis."10 to Egyptian and also Greek beliefs ethical Many cults were formed around this crucial law was contained in the cosmic order of figure, and thus when the deceased was faced life.6 with his journey in the underworld it was nec- Ancient Egypt essary for him to identify himself as Osiris, which we find in the Egyptian Book of the o study of ancient Egypt can begin with- Dead. The aspect of the being which embarked N out briefly mentioning Egyptian living upon this journey was even known as the Osi- conditions along the Nile banks as so much of ris-Soul. Therefore, identification with the king their religion and cosmology was derived Osiris was critical for the deceased to survive therefrom. Being situated along the mighty the underworld.11 And such identification, or river, Egyptian society regularly awaited the spells, needed vociferation because for the annual overflowing of its banks for the purpos- Egyptians the spoken word was seen as magi- es of agriculture and farming. For the Egyp- cal; it was the ordering component out of tians, this was seen as an act of fertility, the which chaos was forced into logical order—i.e. upsurge of water saturating the parched, recep- the word is what causes the divine act of creative earth and generating new life for the crops tion, of giving life.12 This concept is highly and plant life. Thus, for the Egyptians, “the related to the ancient Greek idea of the logos sky, Nut, was a woman, while Earth, Geb, was of reasoning capabilities. For example, “… 5 a man, since the earth carried the Nile flood.” stoics based their notion of the material cos- Above all, one thing is certain of this ancient mos on a divine fire called logos. This material society, which is that they possessed more suffused the universe with a reasoning pow- 13 thoughts about death than thoughts about life.7 er.” Thus, the logos was seen as ordering cre- And they upheld a belief in the divine nature of ation out of formlessness and chaos. deceased human beings. Thus death had a With this type of magical protection, especially double meaning for them. It was their enemy as laid down in funerary texts such as The in some respects, but it was, likewise, the Book of the Dead (New Kingdom 1540-1075 source of their eternal life. The reasoning for B.C.E.), recently deceased souls could reach their preoccupation with the subject is clear.

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 37 The Esoteric Quarterly the fields of Aaru, or the Field of Reeds, an were in the underworld at night, when Ra was Egyptian version of Heaven or Paradise. This riding his solar disk from west to east, prepar- also parallels directly with Elysium or the Ely- ing to arise again with the dawn. sian Fields, which was the ancient Greek varia- The type of divine self-identification mention of the same place. tioned here also appears in the Orphic “gold Other predominant Egyptian deities included leaves” found in ancient Greece, where pro- Ra, the sun god, and then his opposite, the claiming oneself as an equal to the gods has the symbol of evil incarnate known as the Apep effect of granting certain allowances in the snake. Like Osiris, this snake was viewed as afterlife. Moreover, these “leaves” were dis- the sign of death and renewal14 due to its annu- covered along with the remains of the deal skin shedding; however, it did not contain ceased, meaning they were placed in the cof- the quality of resurrection as did the king of the fins or burial plots at the time of interment. As underworld, whose very existence offered the such, they function as a symbolic reminder, living a possibility of transcending death. notes taken for a post-mortem exam, which Moreover, the Apep snake was specifically will assist the deceased to pass the challenges identified as the enemy of Ra. When the sun they encounter while traveling in the under- god traveled from west to east after nightfall, world. he traveled through the Kingdom of the Dead Burial rituals and symbolically cartographic and symbolically battled and defeated Apep. hieroglyphs were very important for ancient This battle was considered inspiration for the Egyptians when burying their deceased. This recently deceased and was depicted on tomb began with the act of mummification, in which walls and within funerary texts. The image of the dead body was bound up with cloth. Sym- the snake turns up again when we explore an- bolically, the bandages or cloth represented the cient Greece, and it will also be recognizable magical knot, seen in some images as looking from the Genesis story. Apep was the source of like the mathematical infinity symbol, also chaos and together with Ra the typical enemy called a lemniscate in algebraic geometry, and of the deceased. recognizable as the numerical figure 8 laying In the hereafter the deceased (like the gods on its side. This symbol was often placed in- and usually together with them) carries on side the hand of the deceased, which was to his victorious battle against the powers of indicate the resurrection of both man and gods death. Numerous texts deal with the dan- in universal life.18 By binding the entire body gers and the enemies which there threaten- in this symbolic cloth, it is possible the priests ing him with total annihilation so that he were hoping to wrap up the deceased within ‘dies the second death,’ thus dying in the the folds of eternity. Important spell books absolute sense of the word never to rise up such as The Book of the Dead and the New again … The dead man like Ra travels dur- Kingdom Books of the Netherworld were in- ing the night across the back of Apep and scribed on scrolls and illustrated on the walls defeats the snake be it in the depth of the of tombs and coffins, replete with instructions Kingdom of Death or at the eastern hori- and magical pronouncements meant to facili- zon.15 tate safe passage to the Field of Reeds. Other items of importance included the Canopic Jars Thus, another prescribed formula for the de- which held the deceased’s organs, humanoid ceased to emerge victorious from their afterlife coffins, geometrically aligned tombs, the burial journey was to utter the words “I am the sun masks, and some of the deceased’s personal god Ra, Atum, Khepera” time and time again effects. to the many foes of the underworld, including Apep, as cited in funerary texts.16 Both Osiris Once the deceased was prepared and placed and Ra were seen as separate and yet intercon- into his elaborate death chamber, the journey nected, as Egyptian cosmology and myth are of the afterlife began in earnest. His soul exited far from being cohesive.17 One reason for this the tomb in the form of an anthropomorphized may be attributed to the fact that Ra and Osiris bird known as the Ba-bird, of which there are 38 Copyright© The Esoteric Quarterly

Winter 2015 countless hieroglyphic representations. Ac- of nature) and ethical law as totally differ- cording to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the ent ideas … The judgment of the deceased goal was to accompany Ra in his solar barque before Osiris, after his heart has been and enter into the cyclic circle of the sun, thus weighed on Ma’at’s scale, was not an ethi- transcending death and then, presumably, en- cal judgment in our sense of the word.20 tering the Field of Reeds. But numerous trials Thus, the Egyptian view of the afterlife did not and obstacles were situated in the way. Most depend on moral actions performed during this notably, the 125th chapter of the Book of the life, but rather on the “purity” or harmonious Dead, where the deceased comes before Osiris orderliness of the soul of the deceased, which and is “judged” before the 42 judges. His heart determined whether or not he was fit to enter is placed upon a giant scale, with the symbol of into the fields of immortality. This worthiness justice or ma’at as a counterweight. He must was largely determined by proper burial prac- then utter the prescribed dialogue lines both to tices having been performed, as well as the Osiris and the 42 judges. He is questioned and proper spells and magical words uttered at the must recite a litany of proclamations to prove prescribed times. his purity to the judges (which include other gods, such as Thoth). The goal of this line of Those not found “pure” ran the risk of being questioning is to give the deceased a chance to devoured by crocodiles, snakes, and other wild reveal his righteousness and assume the title of beasts, and certain spells in the Book of the “Osiris,” which is conferred upon those who Dead, such as spells 31-35, are directed against go forward into immortality, as Osiris did be- these adversaries. If the deceased is determined fore them. This is why the dead soul is always to be worthy, passage may be possible, but his referred to as Osiris throughout the Book of the or her journey is still not over, as there are Dead. many more gateways through which to pass, and each one is guarded by still more fearsome Thus speaks the famous litany of the 125th beasts that can only be overcome by knowing chapter: and uttering their names and reciting the cor- O Wide-strider who came forth from Heli- rect spells.21 Other penalties for “impurity” or opolis, I have not done wrong … O Fire- not being duly prepared include a lake of fire, embracer who came forth from Kheraha, I another “second death” (this one total oblitera- have not robbed … O Nosey who came tion), and being devoured by Apep, the enemy forth from Hermopolis, I have not stolen … of the sun god. O Swallower of Shades who came forth Here we find a crucial distinction between the from Kernet, I have not slain people … O way these ancient peoples viewed the afterlife Burning One who came forth from back- and our own, current views. Our modern con- wards, I have not told lies … O Doubly ception, more or less, is that the afterlife is a Evil One who came forth from Busirite portal into heaven (or hell), into which the de- Nome, I have not had intercourse with a ceased passes, and then time and activity just married woman … [etc.] … [etc.] …19 cease—the story ends. Your fate is thus deter- If the deceased performs all this correctly, and mined by the life that you lived: you were if his heart is judged as “pure,” then he is al- good, you go to heaven; bad, you go to hell. lowed to proceed. While this imagery will With the ancient Egyptians, as well as with the sound familiar to modern religious views of ancient Greeks, as we shall see, it was not that the afterlife, and is even known in some circles simple. as the Ten Commandments of the Book of the Although the moral life of the deceased was Dead, Kristensen adjures us to be cautious: not entirely dismissed, it was not the be-all and … ma’at has little or nothing to do with end-all of the story. Instead, a complex journey ethical standards. Its life is the mystery of awaited, rife with dangers and challenges, to spontaneous life, i.e. the mystery of resur- which the deceased was subjected. This, then, rection … We consider cosmic law (the law became the most important aspect of the after-

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 39 The Esoteric Quarterly life, which these people expressed in every Beliefs like these, couched in highly symbolic nuance of their society and culture. language and iconography, are what link the ancient Greeks with the ancient Egyptians, Ultimately, for the ancient Egyptians the desti- more so than any exoteric pantheon. While the nation of their journey through the afterlife was mystery religions were practiced only by initi- resurrection and eternal life in the Field of ated members, their existence and their beliefs Reeds where once and for all they entered the occupied much of the cultural imagination. realm of the gods, not merely as faithful sub- Myths were the most important part of ancient jects but truly as one of them, one of the im- Greek religion—indeed, of all religions—and mortal creative divinities who could never die. these mystery myths interwove in and out of As we shall see, this concept is strikingly simi- the exoteric polytheism. Many of the dramatic lar to the one held by the Orphic Mystery cults works of that time also mentioned mystery of ancient Greece—as both religious systems religions or dealt with them directly, and some emphasized what to do in the afterlife, rather of the individualities surrounding these esoter- than how to act in this life. ic religions were very popular, such as Diony- Ancient Greece sus, Orpheus, and Persephone. Though much of ancient Greek life championed material ex- ith Greece, we are primarily interested pressiveness within the sensible, the mystery W in the mystery religions, particularly religions took up the other end, concerning with the Orphic cults. Admittedly Zeus and his themselves with death, the afterlife, and the pantheon of Greek gods, and their respective underworld. mythologies, would seem to parallel Egyptian mythologies, though these Greek myths were Principal among these were the Dionysian more of an exoteric form of religion—exoteric Mysteries, which exalted the death and rebirth taken from the Greek exōterikos literally of Dionysus, similar to the Cult of Osiris in meaning external and according to Merriam- ancient Egypt. Within this mystery were still Webster: “suitable to be imparted to the public more esoteric practices such as the Orphic. [only].” Orpheus, while related to Dionysus, offered his own unique example for the safe journey in the On the other hand, the mystery religions con- afterlife, and it was very common to have both cerned themselves with mystic experience, i.e. Dionysus and Orpheus present in the same direct contact with the divine, offered only to mystery system.24 Herodotus, the historian, the exclusive, initiated members. Kristensen uses them synonymously, and asserts that the defines the mystery religions as “initiation into rites for both were virtually identical. Wor- eternal life, which is to say the mystery of 22 shipers of the Dionysian mysteries claimed death.” The experience of initiation into one their ritual came from Orpheus, owing to the of these religions conferred what Greeks called fact that he was the god of poetry and a song- gnosis, special knowledge of the divine, and writing lyricist, and so they based their beliefs wiped out fears of death. For initiates, the ritu- on the poetic writings of Orpheus.24 The fol- al experience of being admitted into these cults lowing is a brief summary of the Orpheus leg- took them bodily into the underworld, so that end sketched by G.R.S. Mead in his 1896 book afterward their conviction about the possibility Orpheus: of an afterlife became unshakable, and the rest of their life was devoted to pursuing immor- Son of Calliope (one of the muses) and Eagrus, tality and godhood in the afterlife. In the words King of Thrace, Orpheus was the first singer, of Plutarch, “… the initiate, perfect by now, set poet, and divine singer. With his seven- free and loose from all bondage, walks about, stringed lyre, he played the songs of harmony, crowned with a wreath, celebrating the festival and all manner of men flocked to hear him together with the other pure people, and he play, and wild beasts lay down at his feet, so looks down on the uninitiated, unpurified beautiful was his music, of which Apollo had crowd in this world in mud and fog beneath his been his instructor. But great tragedy was in feet.”23 store for Orpheus. His beloved, Eurydice, was

Winter 2015 bitten by a serpent lurking in the high grass. looking at two elitist funerary religions, since Orpheus desperately tries to relieve the pain of in Egypt the elite was based on social class, his beloved, and his music was said to resound while in Greece it stemmed from initiation into through the hills, yet in vain. Eurydice eventu- the mysteries. ally dies and goes to Hades in the underworld. However, there did occur in Egypt what J. Compelled, Orpheus follows after her and per- Edward Wright refers to in his book The Early suades the king of death to release Eurydice. History of Heaven as So impressed is Hades the democratization of with Orpheus’s lyre Thus with the ancient Greeks, heaven, where this pri- music that she is per- as with the Egyptians, death vate knowledge of the mitted once again to afterlife gradually return to the earth—but was viewed as both the great passed down from on one condition: Or- enemy and the sublime libera- pharaoh exclusivity pheus must not look tor, conferring upon the de- with the Pyramid back as together they Texts, to monarch ex- travel out of the un- ceased eternal life, as well as clusivity with the Cof- derworld. But when admission into the paradisia- fin Texts, and finally to they almost reach the cal fields of the afterlife. For larger accessibility boundary of death, his with the economical anxiety becomes so them, the idea of cosmic im- Book of the Dead.26 great that he turns to mortality was no mere meta- Similarly, there are see if his beloved is accounts of Orpheus still following him. At phor, but a true destination to being engaged in a that moment, she is be reached via an arduous similar dissemination instantly taken from his route of distractions, penalties, of knowledge, and in sight. Orpheus dies one myth he is said to thereafter from grief, and gateways. have been killed by a possibly torn into bits by the Bacchanals (a lightning bolt from Zeus for just this reason.27 popular death in Greece), and the muses collect Thus we find a parallel stream running through his remains and bury them, yet his head con- both cultures, one that confines itself primarily tinues to sing on the island of Lesbos.25 to life after death and knowledge thereof. What this myth has to tell us about ancient One of the greatest discoveries in recent arche- Greece and its mystery religions is that Orphe- ology and epigraphy is just these golden leaves us journeyed to the underworld and returned which were buried with the initiates of the Or- with special knowledge about how to pass suc- phic-Bacchic mystery religions. The research cessfully through it. This information was then and scholarship surrounding these artifacts is revealed to members of the Orphic mystery similar to that which has been done on ancient cults and, as we shall see, inscribed upon Egypt—that of characterizing beliefs and an “golden leaves” known also as the “golden approach to the afterlife of the ancient Greeks. tablets” and interred within the tombs of dead The first of the leaves was found in the early initiates. 1800s, slightly damaged in what is now called In Egypt, only a fraction of the population was Stongoli, Italy, but which used to be known as literate, few could access the Book of the Dead Petelia. Since nothing of these tablets was ever reproduced on tomb walls, and still fewer had mentioned in ancient Greek texts, they were access to the papyrus manuscript. The elite of something of a curiosity. Over the course of Egyptian society, the pharaohs, had strong be- the late 1800s and early 1900s, more of them liefs regarding the afterlife, but possession of a were discovered, both in Greece and Italy soul and expectation of immortality depended (what was ancient Rome). However, due to on social status. The majority were forgotten their oddity and specialty, not much was after their deaths. So it would seem that we are known about them outside of certain academic

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 41 The Esoteric Quarterly circles, and it is only recently, after a long to be recited, which grants the deceased admis- challenge of handling the translation, that the sion into paradise. We also have a central fig- materials and scholarship have been made ure or a guide: Osiris in Egypt, and Orpheus- available in English.28 The insights into the Bacchius in Greece. Consider the following afterlife these amazing artifacts offer us are from a tablet found inside a sarcophagus in strikingly similar to some of the beliefs held by Macedonia: ancient Egyptians. I am parched with thirst and am dying … I These leaves or tablets were usually made of am a son of Earth and starry Sky … gold, small and very thin, often folded into a But my race is heavenly … Pure and sacred tiny envelope-like shape, and sometimes worn to Dionysus … Bacchius am I …30 as necklaces or amulets. Inscribed in Greek Still other tablets are even more elaborate and letters, they offered a summary or a reminder announce the attainment of immortality of of what the deceased must say in order to pass godhood for the deceased: “Happy and through the afterlife safely and reach the Ely- blessed, you will be a god instead of a mortal,” sium (or the Elysian Fields), which is the and, “…accept this gift of Memory, sung of Greek version of the Field of Reeds. And just among mortals … come, by law grown to be as in Egypt, there were numerous hazards fac- divine.” And the litanies often end thus: “A kid ing the deceased, obstacles that strove to pre- I fell into milk.”30 This latter is perhaps a ref- vent the unworthy from entering that divine erence to the milk and honey of heaven, and destination. The following passage is taken the kid being the soul returned to its infant, from a golden tablet found in the cist-grave of original state, that of purity and innocence. We a woman in 400 B.C.E. in Calabria. The tablet might conjecture about the Lake of Memory, was rectangular, folded, and placed upon the and to drink therefrom is to recall one’s own upper chest of the deceased, suggesting the divinity, which is forgotten while being incar- possibility of a necklace. Notice the similari- nated on the physical plane, this inner divinity ties between the proclamations here and those being an important principle of all mystery that we encountered in the Egyptian Book of religions. the Dead. After being properly buried and bestowed with This is the work of memory, when you are a golden leaf, the deceased initiate entered into about to die … down to the well-built the underworld and there encountered the same house of Hades. There is a spring to the imagery as we encountered in ancient Egypt. right side, and standing by it a white cy- They travel over water in a cosmic boat: the press … Do not even go near this spring! Nile in Egypt and the River Styx in Greece Ahead you will find from the Lake of (also the forbidden spring and the Lake of Memory, cold water pouring forth; there Memory, as mentioned in the Orphic Gold are guardians before it. They will ask you Tablets). The snake makes an appearance, … what you are seeking in the darkness of symbolized in Orphic iconography as the ser- murky Hades. Say, “I am a son of Earth pent crawling out from under the half-open lid and starry Sky, I am parched with thirst and of the Dionysian mystery casket. The snake am dying; but quickly grant me cold water represented the demon of the earth, Dionysus, from the Lake of Memory to drink” … and and the chest his dwelling place, the symbol of they will grant you to drink, and you, too, the grave and the land of the dead. The owl of having drunk will go along the sacred road Athena, goddess of wisdom, is also depicted on which other glorious initiates and bachoi on pottery and on burial mound steles, along travel.29 with the snake and boat, these three images Many of the other golden tablets reveal similar coalescing into something that would seem instructions, specifically what to do and what Egyptian. The presence of her owl suggests to say, and when. So again we find in ancient that somehow wisdom dwelled in the land of Greece, as in Egypt, not a judgment of moral the dead, dwelled in death. deeds done in life, but rather a specific litany 42 Copyright© The Esoteric Quarterly

Winter 2015

Thus with the ancient Greeks, as with the wonder why they placed such importance on Egyptians, death was viewed as both the great the afterlife, and why it was more important enemy and the sublime liberator, conferring than life itself, and to be taken literally. These upon the deceased eternal life, as well as ad- were by no means unintelligent people, and mission into the paradisiacal fields of the after- their level of insight into the workings of na- life. For them, the idea of cosmic immortality ture, life, and death, though represented sym- was no mere metaphor, but a true destination bolically, is more literal than our present inter- to be reached via an arduous route of distrac- pretation. It would seem dismissive to label tions, penalties, and gateways. Immortality them as merely ignorant because they lacked was not granted to the deceased because he or the scientific knowledge we today possess. she lived a moral life while here on earth. The This is clear from the level of mathematical, deceased were required to know certain infor- architectural, astronomical, philosophical and mation, even to memorize it; also to be pre- linguistical prowess they displayed, all of pared accordingly before death—all this result- which are still being studied today. There ing in the means by which to successfully enter would seem to be some other reason, some the paradisiacal fields of immortality. Unlike deeper truth, which they had tapped into, but today the afterlife was an active event, instead which is now lost. The persistence and univer- of passive ideology. sality of heaven and the afterlife in humanity's worldview reminds us that this concept is not Conclusion going away, that humanity is unlikely to give or ancient peoples such as the Egyptians up its belief in the idea that there is a meaning- F and the Greeks, the afterlife occupied a ful existence succeeding physical death. central focus in their thoughts and beliefs. Not Therefore, it is of benefit to look at these an- only that, it played a key role in their daily cient practices with a fresh eye as to their va- lives, as every moment was a preparatory lidity, instead of placing all of our emphasis on movement toward that final journey. Accord- the present moment-by-moment living. Losing ing to Kristensen, “[these] people were pos- our belief in the reality of the afterlife might sessed more by thoughts about death than have global consequences, for which we are thoughts about life…. Clearly the Egyptian not prepared. It is possible to envision a world kings like all Egyptians were more concerned that is totally and compulsively obsessed with about their dwellings in the afterlife than those material existence and material goods, having 31 in this life.” done away with postmortem ideals. Yet with For these people, the afterlife journey was not these material goods becoming more and more some imaginative vision, serving more as a depleted, a war over resources would result. didactic allegory or instructive narrative, but a Thus, there must be something held aloft that serious reality. Dedication, knowledge, focus, will inspire us away from complete material- and study for that important moment demand- ism. There would be nothing more unfortunate ed the utmost solemnity. As is clearly present than to wrap up this life, only to find that those in the iconography, ritual texts, and burial innumerable gates, tests, dangers, and practiced structures of the two cultures, the afterlife recitals awaited us on the other side. Sadly, we played a prominent role within their societies. have no scientific methodology available to Judging from the text of the Egyptian Book of determine whether or not this is the case, and the Dead and the Orphic Gold Tablets, it can so visionary speculation, unfortunately, is one be concluded that these ancient peoples em- of the few means we currently have at our dis- phasized their conduct and postmortem behav- posal. However, possibilities might exist for ior, as opposed to the moral scrutiny placed on today’s students and spiritual seekers in study- corporeal deeds in modern culture. ing some of these ancient texts, which could lead to a greater spiritual understanding. Based on the abundance of archeological evidence these cultures left behind, one could

1 Jacque Waardenburg, Classical Approaches to 16 Ibid. the Study of Religion: Aims, Methods, and 17 Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Theories of Research (New York: De Gruyter, Afterlife, 85. 1999), 390. 18 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 46-47. 2 Jan N. Bremmer, ed. Sigurd Hjelde, “W. 19 The Papyrus of Ani, Brede Kristensen and the Religions of Greece Eva Von Dassow, and Rome.” Man, Meaning, and Mystery: 100 ed., conceived by Years of History of Religions in Norway. The James Wasserman, Heritage of W. Brede Kristensen (Leiden, NL: Plate 31. 19 Koninlijke Brill NV, 2000), 122-123. Kristensen, 3 W. Brede Kristensen, trans., Hendricus Jaco- Life out of Death, bus Franken, George R. H. Wright, Life out of 61. Death: Studies in the Religions of Egypt and 20 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 61. of Ancient Greece (Leuven, BD: Peters Press, 21 Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the 1992), 195. Afterlife, Book of the Dead, 21. 4 Ibid., 3. 22 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 177. 5 Ibid., 114. 23 Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, 91-92. 6 Ibid., 29. 24 Graf and Johnston, Ritual Texts for the After- 5 Alan F. Segal, Life after Death: A History of life, 142. the Afterlife in the Religions of the West (New 24 Ibid., 142. York, NY: Doubleday, 2004), 33. 25 George R.S. Mead, Orpheus (London, UK: 7 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 5. Theosophical Publishing Society, 1896), 13- 8 Ibid., 75. 14. 9 Segal, Life after Death, 39. 26 J. Edward Wright, The Early History of Heav- 10 Dimitri Meeks and Christine Favard-Meeks, en (New York: Oxford UP, 2000), 6. Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods (Ithaca, NY: 27 Mead, Orpheus, 14. Cornell UP, 1996), 142. 28 Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, Ritual 11 Erik Hornung and David Lorton, The Ancient Texts for the Afterlife (Abington, UK: Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, Pyramid Texts Routledge, 2013), 52-53. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1999), 6. 29 Graf and Johnston, Ritual Texts for the After- 12 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 35-38. life, 5. 13 Segal, Life after Death, 223. 30 Ibid., 41. 14 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 21. 30 Ibid., 13, 19. 15 Ibid., 26. 31 Kristensen, Life out of Death, 5.

Winter 2015

The Apocalypse of St. John

Dorje Jinpa

In the New Testament, John, the beloved disciple, was privileged to gain a cosmic picture and a true prophetic vision which he embodied in the Apocalypse...1

Abstract visited by a great angel who took him up in spirit where, under the direction of the Christ, his article provides an esoteric interpreta- he was able to read clairvoyantly the archetyp- T tion of The Apocalypse of St. John. Draw- al images concerning a major world event soon ing upon the works of Master Djwhal Khul, the 2 to take place. These archetypal images express new Terra Lucida teachings, and the writings pictorially a portion of the incoming currents of Rudolf Steiner it attempts to unveil the hid- of evolution, symbolized in the text as a “river den archetypal symbolism used by St. John to of living water” that flows out from the Throne express a portion of the incoming currents of of God, carrying the fiery impulse of the divine evolution as they apply to the spiritualization, Plan, the will of the Father, to the Earth. Be- initiation and alchemical transformation of the cause the images of the divine Plan appear in Earth into a “Body of Light.” the spiritual worlds long before they manifest in the physical world, St. John was able to read Introduction the future simply by reading these symbolic he Master Djwhal Khul, whose writings images. appear under the name of his amanuensis, T To read these archetypal symbols accurately Alice A. Bailey, and Rudolf Steiner, a seer of more than the intellect is required. They must remarkable abilities, both state that St. John, be approached through a refined esoteric sense, the author of The Book of Revelation, was an a spiritual intuition that stems from the heart initiate of the Mysteries. This is confirmed essence of wisdom. Master Djwhal Khul in- from the symbolism he uses throughout this forms us that one of the best ways to develop work to veil higher truth, and from the name this spiritual intuition is through the study and “Revelation,” which in the mystery traditions accurate interpretation of symbols.5 was used to represent a divine pronouncement or disclosure. Rudolf Steiner maintained that the images of the Apocalypse were given by John in much Like many great initiates, the death of St. John the same form as he saw them. They were giv- at Ephesus is shrouded in mystery. According en without much interpretation to prevent them to Calmet, the 17th century monk and professor from being distorted and misused by those who of Biblical exegesis, St. John in his old age, are not yet ready spiritually to receive them. “after bidding farewell to his disciples, entered The deeper arcane teachings of the great alive into his own open tomb, and disappeared ______to someplace unknown to mortals.”3 This belief is shared by the Masons, an offspring of About the Author the ancient mystery schools, who hold that both St. Johns—St. John the Baptist and St. Dorje Jinpa is the author of A Synthesis of Alchemy 4 (out of print), Mysteries of the Heart, The Coming John the Evangelist —whose festivals they Avatar of Synthesis (free pamphlet), and Heart Es- celebrate at the two solstices, are alive and ac- sence, a translation of two of the five treatises by tive in the Great Work of spiritual evolution. Bodhisattva Maitreya and the recently published In the Book of Revelation, St. John tells us that Sensa: The Lost Language of the Ancient Mysteries. He may be reached at [email protected]. while he was on the island of Patmos he was

Mysteries are not yet ready spiritually to re- tiation,8 though of course the latter occurs on a ceive them. The deeper arcane teachings of the much higher turn of the spiral. Our Planetary great Mystery Schools have always been Logos, he tells us, is in the process of taking veiled to ensure that only those who had at- the fourth cosmic initiation and is therefore in tained a certain degree of spiritual conscious- the process of transforming His body of mani- ness would understand the hidden meaning. festation, the Earth, into a highly purified ethe- Such a veiling also prevents, to some degree, real form.9 The statement made by St. John the destructive tendency to crystallize and that “the Earth was made bright,” probably dogmatize the sacred teachings, a tendency refers to this process.10 which results in arrested growth, decline and In a veiled manner, Master Djwhal Khul states retrogression. in at least two places in his writings that a sa- According to Steiner, the Book of Revelation cred planet is an etheric planet, one without a concerns both the initiation and spiritualization lower dense counterpart. “The etheric plane- of the Earth, but because these two activities tary body is fundamentally the body in the case pertain to the secrets of initiation, he states that of the sacred planets…”11 he cannot reveal their deeper significance to He indicates some of the effects that this initia- the public. However, in a series of lectures on tion of the Logos will have upon the world: the Apocalypse of St. John, he gives this hint: “The Earth together with all its beings will be The Logos of our scheme is preparing for changed into a heavenly body and physical initiation [the fourth] and hence the terrific substance as such will disappear.”6 With the tests and trials incident to life on our plan- support of the esoteric writings of Djwhal Khul et.”12 “This [cosmic] initiation requires the and the new Terra Lucida Revelation, it would reorganization of the energies through and seem that this great coming event pertains to composing that ‘center which we call the the alchemical transformation of the Earth into race of man…. As our planetary Logos a spiritualized “Body of Light.” The cause of nears the climaxing point of the initiation the event, we are told, is the cosmic initiation He is now undergoing… [it] will bring of our Planetary Logos, the Lord of the World. about great, necessary and unexpected The Apocalypse of St. John, therefore, can be changes.13 seen as a highly veiled prophecy revealing to This cosmic initiation is having a profound “those with eyes to see,” the effects we can effect upon the evolution of all the life-forms expect as the direct result of this cosmic initia- on the planet. We are told that when a human tion. This then, might well be the meaning of being takes the fourth initiation the dense the prophesy in the Book of Revelation con- physical body as well as the soul body is concerning the descent of a “New Heaven and a sumed in the united three fires of the body, New Earth.” mind, and spirit, leaving behind a spiritualized From the writings of Djwhal Khul we learn etheric body of light from which a new physi- that the Earth is fast becoming a “sacred plan- cal body can be created, or not, as needed. If et.” The reason for this, we are told, is because we apply the law of analogy, “as above so be- our Planetary Logos is in the process of taking low,” we see that in the process of the Plane- a cosmic initiation. He also states that when a tary Logos taking the fourth cosmic initiation Planetary Logos reaches the status of a sacred and becoming a sacred planet, the dense physi- planet transfiguration occurs.7 Transfiguration cal body of the Earth would also be trans- is a technical term meaning the transformation formed in the Sacred Fire into its spiritualized of the consciousness and its vehicles of expres- etheric counterpart. sion, including the body, into their higher In February 1949, Alice Bailey asked the Mas- counterparts. He goes on to say that this trans- ter Djwhal Khul what he considered to be “the figuration process, which takes place at the most important and significant events from the third initiation, becomes complete, for either a spiritual angle at the present time.”14 He an- disciple or a Planetary Logos, at the fourth ini- swered by giving the following veiled hint:

This question highlights a theme which I to be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. have just given anent the Great Renuncia- The fine linen is due to the righteous deeds tion [the fourth initiation] and its conse- of the saints.18 quent Revelation or (as the Christian The “Bride” can be interpreted as the “New churches call them) the Crucifixion and Earth.” The “husband” and “Lamb” as the Resurrection….15 Christ and His Church, the spiritual Hierarchy, The fact that Djwhal Khul is applying the who will descend to and unite with the New fourth initiation to the most important world Earth on etheric levels making of it a heaven events of the present time would certainly on earth. According to Rudolf Steiner and the seem to suggest that he is referring to the plan- Terra Lucida Revelation, this externalization etary initiation of the Logos. The Tibetan Mas- of the spiritual Hierarchy will take place pri- ter continues: marily upon etheric levels. “The Holy One will come,” says Enoch, “and the Earth shall be There are five great spiritual events in rent asunder! He cometh with ten thousand of which all humanity is today sharing, and his holy ones!”19 two which will take place later, when the first five have established their lasting ef- In the Mysteries this level of spiritual initiation fects. These events are based upon a forced is called the “alchemical wedding,” for through and not upon a spontaneous renunciation the close union of the down-flowing spiritual (as is the case in the true experience of the energies with the essential energies of the hu- Renunciation Initiation); they will lead man being on the physical plane; the vehicles nevertheless to a revelation which is immi- involved are quickened and intensified to a nent in its dawning and which will confront point where transmutation occurs. humanity before so very long.16 The Bride The fact that these events are forced may be due to the present extremely unhealthy state of Then came one of the seven angels… saying the earth and to the preponderance of negative ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife human karma. of the Lamb.’ And the spirit carried me away to a great high mountain and showed A New Heaven on a New Earth me the Holy City and Jerusalem coming down from heaven from God, having the t the conclusion of the fourth initiation, glory of God, its radiance like a most rare whether human or planetary, the etheric A jewel…clear as crystal.20 body that remains is refined and spiritualized through the descent of spiritual energies from Blessed are those who are invited to the above and from the ascent of the subterranean marriage supper of the Lamb.21 fires from below. For a human being this pro- he Bride is the New World of Ethereal cess has been referred to as the “descent of the Light into which will descend the heaven- Holy Spirit” and the “rising of the kundalini.” T ly Bridegroom, Christ and His Church, the In the Book of Revelation the spiritualization of spiritual Hierarchy. That She will “have the the ethereal body of the Earth, the future home glory of God like the radiance of a rare jewel of the faithful, is symbolically depicted in the clear as crystal,” that “the Earth was made following words: bright,” and “it is granted Her to be clothed in I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth; for fine linen, bright and pure,” can be taken as the first heaven and earth had passed away, symbolic references to the fact that the “New and the sea [the water element] was no Earth” will be ethereal, radiant with light. The more. And I saw the Holy City and the New words of St. John concerning “the rainbow Jerusalem, descending from heaven as a around the throne,” and the “Sea of Glass” bride adorned for her husband.17 The mar- would also refer to the radiant light of the ethe- riage of the Lamb has come and his Bride real plane. The fact that those who will some- has made Herself ready. It is granted Her day live in these cities will be “clad in white

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 47 The Esoteric Quarterly garments,” can be taken to mean that they will being the River of Life is the Antahkarana, the be living in their etheric bodies. connecting link between the pilgrim in the body and the three-fold Spirit. Master Djwhal This new ethereal world, we are told, will have Khul informs us that: three primary cities or centers, which in the Book of Revelation are called the Holy City, Upon the Path of Initiation, the monadic the New Jerusalem, and the City Foursquare. will (of which the Egoic will is the reflec- According to Djwhal Khul, the “Holy City” tion and the individual self-will is the dis- represents the head center of the planetary tortion) is gradually transmitted, via the etheric body and is also called Shamballa. The antahkarana, direct to the man upon the “New Jerusalem,” he says, is the planetary physical plane. This produces the higher heart center, the future home of the Christ and correspondence of… transmutation and His Church (the spiritual Hierarchy and the transformation…. This is the ‘burning seven ashrams). The “City Foursquare,” he bush’ or the burning Tree of Life of Bibli- tells us, refers to the planetary throat center.22 cal symbolism.24 The River of Living Water and During planetary initiation the spiritual Fire descends to the Holy City, the planetary the Tree of Life Crown Chakra, and from there continues down Then he showed me the River of the Living through the Tree of Life to all the centers, Water, bright as crystal, flowing from the where cyclically, once a month at the time of throne of God and the Lamb through the the full moon, it flows out to humanity and the middle of the street of the [Holy] City, on nations of the world. either side of the river the Tree of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit The Inner Government of the each month, and the leaves of the tree for World the healing of nations.23 he invisible government of the world, the he River of Living Water can be said to T spiritual Hierarchy, is represented in the T symbolize the incoming flow of spiritual Book of the Revelation as: energies as a mighty evolutionary current 1) He who sits upon the throne of God, streaming forth from the Throne of God, elsewhere known as the Lord of the World. Shamballa, and from the Lamb, the Christ, into manifestation on the earth. The living water 2) The Lamb of God, the Christ, the head of contains the “fiery impulse” to evolve accord- the spiritual Hierarchy. ing to the divine Plan. The river of life carries 3) The seven Spirits before the throne, refer the Plan, the will of the Logos, into manifesta- to the seven Planetary Logoi, the seven tion on the earth. Heavenly Men, the Lords of the Seven The Tree of Life, which has its roots in heaven Rays, the seven Chohans and seven church- and its fruit on the etheric levels, is the path- es or ashrams. way along which the River of Living Water 4) The twenty-four Elders around the descends. It represents the planetary corre- throne of God. spondences to the sutratma and sushumna of a human being, the subtle life thread that con- 5) The four angels who dispense divine jus- nects the etheric body with its higher self in the tice also called the “four creatures,” the higher worlds. The twelve pieces of fruit may “four horsemen,” the “four Maharajas,” and represent twelve planetary etheric centers. the four Lords of Karma. During initiation, whether human or planetary, Lord of the World the water of life, the Fire of the Holy Spirit, descends along the trunk of the tree, through At once I was in the spirit and lo, a throne the crown center (the Holy City) to the centers stood in heaven… and He who sat upon it and the etheric body as a whole. For a human appeared like jasper and carnelian, and

round the throne was a rainbow that shone The Four Angels of the Four like an emerald…. And the twenty-four El- Directions ders and the four creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated upon the And around the Throne on each side are throne.25 four living creatures, full of eyes, in front and back: the first like a lion [♌], the sec- ccording to Djwhal Khul the term “God” A here pertains to Sanat Kumara, the Lord ond like an ox [♉], the third with the face of the World, the Eternal Youth and the Crea- of a man [♒], and the fourth flying like an tor. His throne is the Holy City, Shamballa, the eagle [♏]. Each of the four living creatures crown center of the etheric body of the Earth. had six wings….”27 He goes on to say that Sanat Kumara is mani- he four creatures (elsewhere in the Book of festing on the etheric Earth through a very high Revelation they are called “the four an- level etheric vehicle in Shamballa. T gels”) symbolically represent the four Lipikas, The Seven Spirits before the the four Lords of Karma, who are responsible for enforcing spiritual law, administering jus-

Throne tice according to the divine Plan, and keeping a I saw a Lamb standing as though it has certain level of equilibrium for the Earth. In been slain, with seven horns and seven their capacity as dispensers of divine Justice eyes, which are the seven spirits of God they are also called the “four horsemen” who sent out to the earth.26 fly out on the four winds (energy currents) from the four directions to “square” things he Lamb of God is the Christ. The seven with the divine Plan. They have eyes in front horns are the seven powers, one for each T and back as they see both the future and the of the seven rays. The seven eyes symbolize past. Their 24 wings (6 x 4), sometime called the seven watchful Chohans, the lords of the the “wings of time,” may pertain to the cycles seven rays who are also the heads of the seven of time from which we derive the 24-hour day. churches or ashrams. These seven spirits of The symbolism of wings becomes apparent God, as the seven powers and the seven eyes through the clairvoyant perception of the lower of the Christ, are to be “sent out to the earth.” correspondence of these light rays as issuing In the writings of Alice A. Bailey, this event is from the shoulder centers of initiates and devas called the “externalization of the Hierarchy.” (angels) of a certain degree.

28 Figure 1. A depiction of a winged Deva by Godfrey Hodson

In the Mysteries these four creatures, which sition in consciousness and an initiation of the are under the rule of four zodiacal signs, Leo, soul by the fires of God. It is called the Fixed Aquarius, Scorpio, and Taurus, represent the Cross because the man is stretched upon it by Fixed Cross upon which the disciple is karmi- the directed choice and immovable intent of cally tested before he or she can take initiation. his soul. The Fixed Cross has been described as a tran-

29 Figure 2. The Fixed Cross

In the Egyptian Mysteries the mystical four is 3. The participation in solar councils. They symbolized by the Sphinx, who guards the en- alone have the right during the world cycle trance to the house of initiation, the Great Pyr- to pass beyond the periphery of the plane- amid. tary scheme, and participate in the councils of the Solar Logos. Thus they are literally The Master Djwhal Khul gives us the follow- planetary mediators, representing our Plan- ing information concerning these four spiritual etary Logos and all that concerns Him in agents or dispensers of the law. the greater scheme of which He is but a Besides these main presiding Personalities part. Co-operating with these karmic Lords in the Council Chamber at Shamballa, there are the large groups of initiates and devas is a group of four Beings Who are the rep- who occupy themselves with the right ad- resentatives upon the planet of the four justment of, a) World karma, b) Racial Maharajas, or the four Lords of Karma in karma, c) National karma, d) Group karma, the solar system, who are specifically con- e) Individual karma, and who are responsi- cerned with the evolution of the human ble to the Planetary Logos for the correct kingdom at the present time. These four are manipulation of those forces and building connected with: agencies which bring in the right Egos on the different rays at the correct times and 1. The distribution of karma, or human des- 30 tiny, as it affects individuals, and through seasons. the individuals, the groups. The Seven Churches 2. The care and tabulation of the akashic I heard a great voice saying, “What thou records. They are concerned with the Halls seest, write in a book and send it to the sev- of Records, or with the "keeping of the en churches which are in Asia.”31 book," as it is called in the Christian Bible; they are known in the Christian world as he “seven churches,” though veiled behind the recording angels. T the names of the seven towns that formed

50 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2015. Winter 2015 a circle near Patmos, symbolically represent “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain [the what Djwhal Khul calls the “seven ashrams of Christ].”34 the spiritual Hierarchy.” In the ancient myster- he “seven seals” express the seven stages ies, they were called the seven Mystery of the application of the divine Plan as it Schools and the seven Lodges of the Great T pertains to the transformation of the world. To White Brotherhood. They represent the outer open a seal is to reveal that stage of the pro- expressions of the seven evolutionary currents cess. While we don’t know the time frame for or rays, each ruled by a sacred planet and each this event, the stages may correspond some- governed by an angel and a Chohan or Ray what as follows: Lord. In St. John’s time the religion in the area around the island of Patmos was a Phrygian 1. Opening the first seal reveals that due to sect of the Greek Mysteries. Christian churches negative karma the bodies of approximately had not yet been established to any degree in one-fourth of the people will be destroyed the seven towns that carry the names of the from famine, poverty, wars, and natural disas- seven churches. ters. The letters to the seven churches or ashrams 2. The opening of the second seal reveals that show the strengths and weaknesses of the the elect of those who pass on will be given brethren of these seven schools or ashrams white robes (pure, spiritualized etheric bodies) according to the ray qualities that govern them. to await their comrades who are still living in The term “Asia” is a blind for the “East,” a dense physical bodies, who will also receive directional symbol meaning the source of the white garments, etheric bodies, when their turn rising sun, the source of wisdom. comes. Everything that is seen and heard in St. John’s 3. A great earthquake will occur. It will seem vision is thought to pertain to the future. This like all the stars are falling from the sky, the includes the seven Ashrams of the Hierarchy, sun will turn black, the moon red, and all the which according to Master Djwhal Khul are mountains, land, and sky will disappear from only accessible to initiates of the third degree, view. The elect will then be given white (ether- but which will in the future appear on the New ic) garments to stand before the throne of God. Earth with the return of the Christ. These se- 4. All 144,000 will stand together in white cret Lodges will, we are told, provide the train- robes (bodies of light) before the throne of the ing ground for disciples of the Great Brother- Logos. They will experience no more hunger hood, to prepare them for initiation. Therefore, or thirst but will be given nourishment as liv- “What thou seest, write in a book for the seven ing waters (prana) directly from the sun. churches,” refers to that which was written specifically for disciples of these seven ash- 5. Those that remain on the dying dense physi- rams. cal earth will experience the fire of karmic retribution. A deeper understanding of the seven churches can be gained by comparing them with the The New Jerusalem which cometh down seven ashrams and the corresponding seven from heaven, first in the hearts and lives of rays, which define them, as explained by Mas- the followers of the Christ and latter for ter Djwhal Khul.32 humanity and the world.35 Opening the Seven Seals Conclusion And I saw in the right hand of Him who was e might conclude from this article that seated on the throne a scroll written within W The Book of Revelation and the Scroll and on the back. It was sealed with seven with Seven Seals, which it contains, gives in seals. And I saw a powerful angel pro- symbols the blueprints for the divine Plan con- claiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy cerning the initiation of the Planetary Logos as to open the scroll and break its seals?”33 well as the effects that this profound event will

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 51 The Esoteric Quarterly have upon humanity and the world. And while the intensity and frequency of world upheavals 8 Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and Initiations and natural cataclysms seems to indicate that (1961; reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1989), we are approaching close to this event the 354. timetable is not given. There is some indica- 9 Alice A Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic tion in the Terra Lucida teachings that this (1961; reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1989), event will coincide with the beginning of the 331. new age. This probably refers to the Age of 10 Revelation 18:1, (NOAB). 11 Aquarius, which according to my best calcula- Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire tions begins sometime in the first half of the (1951; reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1979), twenty-first century. Master Djwhal Khul men- 104-105. (Emphasis in the original). 12 Ibid., 374 tions the year 2025 several times throughout 13 Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, his writing as a time of major importance in 238-239 the history of humanity. He also states that the 14 Ibid., 741 externalization of the Hierarchy, the coming 15 Ibid. Avatar of Synthesis,36 the reappearance of 16 Ibid. 741 Christ, and the ‘restoration of the Mysteries are 17 Revelation 21:1, (NOAB). all a part of the one great event for which all 18 Revelation 19:7, (NOAB). 19 men wait. He adds further: “It will be obvious, The Book of Enoch, XC 18, Joseph Lumpkin if you have considered my words carefully, (Blountsville, AL: Fifth Estate, Inc., 2011). 20 Revelation 9:1-1, (NOAB). that a great spiritual movement is under way— 21 37 Revelation 19:10, (NOAB). perhaps the greatest of all time!” 22 Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of The Hierarchy (1961; reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1989), 107. 23 1 Alice A. Bailey, Glamour: A Word Problem Revelation 22:1, (NOAB). 24 (1950: reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1978) Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and Initiations, 31. 25 173. Revelation 6:16, (NOAB). 26 2 Terra Lucida (World of Light) is the name Revelation 5:6, (NOAB). 27 given to a series of texts about the ascension Revelation 4: 6, (NOAB). 28 of the Earth into a subtler realm for the com- “A Deva or “Mountain God,” as perceived by ing cycle of evolution. Based on transmis- Geoffrey Hodson, in The Kingdom of the sions from the inner world, these texts address Gods (1952: reprint; Adyar India: The Theo- some of the effects of the Initiation now being sophical Publishing House, 1987), 220. This taken by Sanat Kumara, including a shift into image is in the public domain. 29 the etheric plane for the continued unfoldment P. Christian, Histoire de la magie et du monde of human and planetary consciousness. (For surnaturel 1890 page 170. The letters depicted more information contact Nancy Seifer: on this ‘Rose-Cross’ are taken from ‘Alphabet [email protected]) of the Magi’ where each letter represents a 3 See Mankind: Their Origin and Destiny, by principle. The letters on the four arms of the Arthur Dyot Thomson (1872; reprint; Charles- cross find a correspondence in the letters IN- ton, SC: Nabu Press, 2010), 310. RI. 30 4 See for example, The Two St. John’s at: Alice A. Bailey, Initiation Human and Solar http://www.themasonictrowel.com/Articles/Sy (1961; reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1989), mbolism/st_johns_files/two_st_johns.htm (ac- 40-41. 31 cessed November 18, 2014). Revelation 1:1, (NOAB). 32 5 Alice A. Bailey, Glamour: A World Problem See Esoteric Psychology, vol. I & II, by Alice (1950: reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1978), A. Bailey. 33 9. Revelation 5:1-2, (NOAB). 34 6 Rudolf Steiner, Apocalypse of Saint John Revelation 5:12, (NOAB). 35 (1943; reprint; London: Anthroposophic Harriette Augusta Curtiss, The Key to the Uni- Press, 1961), 145. verse (1917; reprint; Charleston, SC: Nabu 7 Alice A. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology (1951, Press, 2011), 142 reprint; New York: Lucis Trust, 1979), 207.

36 See my article, the Coming Avatar of Synthe- 37 Alice Bailey, Externalization of the Hierar- sis at: http://www.souledout.org/newworld chy, 649. religion/avatars/avatarofsynthesis.pdf.

Winter 2015

Richard Wagner: An Esoteric Perspective Donna M. Brown

(Figure 1. Portrait of Richard Wagner)1 I have found true Art to be at one with true Religion.2 I believe that this Art proceeds from God, and lives within the hearts of all illumined men; - I believe that he who once has bathed in the sublime delights of this high Art, is consecrate to Her forever, and never can deny Her; - I believe that through Art all men are saved.3 (Richard Wagner)

Abstract was the “innermost Soul” and his desire to shed an initiating light on “the dark night that his article seeks to familiarize the reader envelops men’s Souls.”4 T with the multi-leveled complex of ideas underlying the artistic works of Richard Wag- Introduction ner, one of the most influential, but hotly- ichard Wagner has been described by both debated composers who ever lived. The article R his admirers and his critics as one of the touches upon Wagner’s early life and the psy- most revolutionary figures in the history of chological types that qualified his psycho- music. At one end of the spectrum, he is spiritual field. The political, philosophical and viewed as being “a New Age Messenger of religious underpinnings of his creative genius Music, whose operas play upon the inner vehi- as expressed in his various operas and written cles of man, awakening and stimulating certain works are also discussed. In view of the con- latent centers.”5 On the other, he is seen as a troversy over the composer’s anti-Semitism, a repugnant musical genius whose writings pro- brief section on Wagner’s attitude toward the vided the framework for Hitler’s ideology and Jews is included as well as a section on his ______anarchist activities. The main thrust of the article explores Wagner’s involvement with Greek About the Author and Teutonic myth, with metahistorical processes and his ever-evolving interest in a wide- Donna M. Brown is a long-time student and teacher of esoteric philosophy. Her background includes a range of spiritual and esoteric ideas, which career in the arts and election to public office in the both inform and emanate from his transcendent District of Columbia. She has served as commenta- music dramas. To this end, the article seeks to tor and Board Member for The School for Esoteric show that one of Wagner’s foremost concerns Studies.

one of the darkest periods in human history. bodiment of the German Spirit,7 was not only No other composer is so adored or reviled; one of the most consequential and innovative likewise, no other music induces such intense figures of nineteenth-century music, he was emotional reactions of either love or hate. Put- also an important figure in nineteenth-century ting all questions about Wagner the man aside, cultural history for both his criticism and po- listeners are either enraptured by the expres- lemical writing. He penned over 230 books, sive beauty of his musical creations and their articles and essays, in addition to over 10,000 immense spiritual depth, or they tend to view letters on a diverse range of topics. His writ- his artistic works as flamboyant and tediously ings have been associated with everything drawn-out displays of self-indulgence. from racism, anti-clericalism, anti-capitalism, and even with nationalist and proto-fascist cur- While aspects of Wagner’s legacy remain in rents of thought. Moreover, he has tended to question to this day, his titanic profligacy and serve as something of a scapegoat or lightning unequaled influence over the development of rod for all that went wrong with the German classical music are indisputable. Indeed, system at the turn of the twentieth century. Wagner’s influence on music was enormous. As a composer, he altered the rules for opera, In addition to the political, philosophical, soci- introducing new ideas in harmony, melodic ological and psychological dimensions to process (leitmotif) and operatic structure. Wagner’s written work and his music dramas, These achievements resulted in what has been one of the other enthralling elements that one described as “dazzling and unforgettable tapes- encounters when entering the complex world tries that melded orchestral magnificence with of his musical creations is the intricate level of the soaring beauty of the human voice.”6 Fur- allegory and the archetypal symbolism they thermore, he envisioned a bold new conception contain. These elements can be depicted in of opera that synthesized the many different ways that range from the commonplace to the forms into one all-embracing art form which deeply esoteric, although the esoteric elements some of his earliest detractors sarcastically yet are seldom discussed. While this article will aptly termed “the art work of the future.” touch upon the vast world of allegory and symbolism that is embedded in the operas of The timelessness and universality of his music Richard Wagner, its primary focus will center dramas and their ability to be understood on the surprising range of esoteric and spiritual through such a variety of perspectives is re- ideas that informed the life of the man and the markable. There are a myriad of books inter- temple of his music. In so doing, it is hoped preting Wagner’s work, so many in fact that that the reader will gain some insight into the only Shakespeare and Jesus Christ are thought composer’s life purpose and will begin to un- to have had more books penned about them. derstand why Wagner has been called the One finds, for example, countless treatises on “Apostle of Music” whose operas should be Wagner’s work based on the philosophy of studied by every serious student of the Myster- Kant, Hegel, Sartre, Schopenhauer and Rous- ies.8 seau, to name a few. Others provide interpretations based on the works of Sigmund Freud, Wagner’s Personality Typology Carl Jung and feminist psychology. Still others examine the composer’s works from the angle n an effort to provide the reader with some of their anti-Semitism or from a mythological, I insight into the personality and character of sociological and/or political point of view. All Richard Wagner, this article provides an out- this is to say nothing of the many volumes that line of the psychological attitudes that quali- have been written about Wagner’s fascinating fied or conditioned his makeup. The outline is and scandal-laden life or those dedicated solely based on the application of the seven archetyp- to a musical analysis of his operatic works. al currents hypothesis that was originally given by Helena Blavatsky, but which was subse- The composer, who considered himself to be quently and significantly expanded by Alice A. the most German of all men and the very em- Bailey. These seven types provide an integral

psychological approach to understanding what this type are arrogance, self-centeredness, animates an individual and makes him/her pride, impatience, irritability, destructiveness what s/he is. The seven psychological types and a controlling nature. represent the seven predominant characteristics Type Six - Idealistic/Committed. The Sixth or modifications which condition a human be- Psychological Type had primary influence over ing. As such, they are the primary psychologi- Wagner’s Emotional Field. This type can be cal archetypes. But rather than offer a detailed distinguished by idealism, persistence, self- analysis, this article will be limited to a few abnegation, intense focus and commitment. examples, leaving it to the readers who have Individuals qualified by Type Six tend to be some understanding of this psychological ty- passionately motivated by an inspiring vision pology to ferret out further examples for them- or strong belief. The negative attributes of this selves. type can express as emotional intensity, a lack The seven psychological types as redefined by of sensitivity, tunnel vision, intolerance, ex- the Canadian psychologist and psychosynthe- tremism and militancy. sis practitioner, René Fugère, are as follows: Type Seven - Organizing/Ordering. Wagner’s 1. Willful/Determined physical body was most likely qualified by the 2. Sensitive and Humanist Organizing/Ordering type. A Type Seven 3. Strategic/Active/Adaptable physical body places an emphasis on formality, 4. Creative/Harmonizer is attentive to rhythmic cycles and physical 5. Analytical/Practical order and detail in his or her environment. The 6. Idealistic/Committed physical body is often extremely sensitive and 7. Organizer/Ordering prone to illness, but is easily trained and capa- ble of great stamina or endurance. The following types are thought to have played a distinct role in Richard Wagner’s adaption Formative Years and orientation toward life. One supreme fact which I have discovered is Type Four - The Creative/Harmonizer. Both that it is not willpower, but fantasy- the Essential Self or Soul and the Mental Fac- imagination that creates. Imagination is the ulties of Richard Wagner were governed by the creative force. Imagination creates reality. Fourth Psychological Type. This type can be (Richard Wagner) described as having a strong artistic and aesthetic sense and the ability to create beauty, ilhelm Richard Wagner—born in Leip- harmony and equilibrium. A person qualified W zig, Germany on May 22, 1813, into a by this type tends to be dramatic, expressive, middle-class, theatrical family—was a quick- especially musical, imaginative and intuitive. witted, mischievous child. He resisted all au- The Type Four individual tends toward a thority and was so self-assertive, rebellious and fighting spirit which eventually results in rec- unruly that his stepfather, Ludwig Geyer, a onciliation as well as strength and poise. Some painter and playwright, called him “the Cos- 9 of the weaknesses of the Fourth Type are con- sack.” In speaking of his childhood, Wagner stant conflict, ambivalence, worry, agitation, says: “I grew up in the wildest of anarchy; it excessive moodiness, a tendency to exaggerate had to be, for then as later no known method as well as instability and improvidence. ever fitted me, but how much should I have been spared if I had been accustomed to obey- Type One - Will/Power/Determination. Wag- ing!”10 ner’s Personality was conditioned by the will and power type. This type is characterized by In addition to being a strong-willed and lonely qualities of leadership, the power to liberate, non-conformist—life-long qualities indicative courage, determination, audacity, self- of his Type One personality—the young Wag- confidence, synthesis, one-pointed focus and ner was a sickly and extremely emotional child clarity of purpose. Some of the weaknesses of who was plagued by acute shyness, a host of

fears, ghostly dreams and ruminations.11 From with it is awakened the consciousness that his youth onward, Wagner seemed to live in the sacrifice of one of our near kin is, in a two worlds: an ordinary human world and a manner, the slaughter of one of ourselves; numinous world. His experiences of “the other that the non-human animal is separated world” are evidenced in some of his many from man only by the degree of mental en- childhood fears, such as his fear that mundane, dowment, that it has the faculties of pleas- inanimate objects contained “spirits” and could ure and pain, has the same desire for life as become living things.12 Such fear and sensitivi- the most reason-endowed portion of man- ty must surely have been engendered, at least kind.15 in part, by the loss of his father Carl, shortly The attribute of compassion born out of the after his birth, and then by the traumatizing throes of suffering and pain that we see in death of his beloved stepfather, Ludwig Geyer, Wagner (along with his ability to create and just seven years later. Added to this was a cold, express beauty) are a few of the impulses that overwhelmed mother, who grossly neglected eventually prompted him to try to change the the troublesome child and is said to have “al- world through a combination of revolutionary most wished him dead.”13 Wagner’s strong (First Type) and artistic and harmonizing imagination, excessive inner and outer agita- (Fourth Type) means. As he wrote in a letter to tion, along with his acute sense of abandon- his friend, Franz Liszt: “In all my relations to ment, life-long illnesses and frequent desire to the suffering world I feel led and guided by kill himself, would also seem to be indicative one thing alone — Compassion.” No doubt of the Fourth Psychological Type, which is Wagner also understood the value of voluntary thought to have conditioned both his essential suffering and renunciation as it affects man’s Self and mental faculties. The Seventh Psycho- ego when he goes on to say, “If only I could logical Type governing his physical body give myself thereto without reserve, then all would have contributed to some of the prob- my private woes would be overcome.” lems just described. There are other instances of Wagner’s compas- Despite a number of pronounced weaknesses sionate nature. Maurice Kufferath, one of the in character, such as his many indiscretions,14 most ardent admirers of Wagner, speaks first moodiness, fierce self-assertiveness, pomposi- hand of how, despite his own poverty and suf- ty and his need to be the center of attention, fering, “the young man was continually shar- there are quite a few examples of Wagner’s ing his last shilling with a more-needy broth- compassionate heart— compassion or sympa- er.”16 Kufferath goes on to say that it was thy born of suffering and pain (which contin- Wagner who said: “No individual can be hap- ued into his final days) being one of the virtues py until we are all happy; for no individual can or strengths of the Fourth Type. This quality or be free until all are free.”17 Other examples attribute was evidenced in the young Wagner’s from Wagner’s early childhood show how the sensitivity to the suffering of people and ani- very young boy tried to cheer up his stepfather mals. His compassion for the suffering of ani- as he lay dying, and how he gave away one of mals was especially pronounced and developed the boots he was wearing to his sister whose later in life into a strong support for animal feet were cold, so they could each hop on one rights and a vegetarian diet. An example of foot and keep the other one warm and dry. Wagner’s mature views on the subject can be seen in the following excerpt from his 1880 Because Wagner was such a sensitive child, essay titled Art and Religion. with extreme moods and a number of other temperamentally bothersome traits, he was This teaching [of the sinfulness of murder- repeatedly “exiled” (a pattern that would con- ing and living upon our fellow beings] was tinue throughout his life) and sent away from the result of a deep metaphysical recogni- his family.18 At the age of seven, he was sent tion of a truth; and, if the Brahman has away yet again, this time to attend Pastor Wet- brought to us the consciousness of the most zel’s Kreuzschule near Dresden. manifold phenomenon of the living world,

During his early years at the school Wagner of this and other events in his life, point to a received piano instruction. His interests, how- pattern typical of the Fourth Psychological ever, lay elsewhere, and according to Wagner Type, which seeks to dramatize and even fic- in Mein Leben,19 his mythologized autobiog- tionalize events in order to craft or burnish an raphy, filled with after-the fact edits, he “never image. learned to play the piano properly.” He goes on Nevertheless, given Wagner’s Type One per- to allege that his piano teacher thought “noth- sonality and his Type Four Soul and mental ing would come of him.” Despite being an un- field, it is perhaps not at all surprising that disciplined student, Wagner developed a deep Wagner’s soul destiny was revealed to him and abiding interest in Greek and Latin as well through the music of Beethoven, whose Soul as Mythology and Ancient History. He claims and personality types were identical to his own to have translated the first 12 books of the Od- (and to those of the German nation), and yssey into German at the age of thirteen, alt- whose musical contributions were also to have hough only three translations are on record. a spiritual and psychological impact for centu- Wagner’s devotion to the Greek mystery plays ries to come. As his sense of purpose matured, was to significantly influence his conception of Wagner’s passionate interests were united in a opera as a reinvigorated “mystic play” or “ini- Gesamtkunstwerk or a “total work of art:” a tiating ritual.” His avidity to read Shakespeare conception of music drama or opera that was prompted him to learn English20 and helped to be the German equivalent of the Eleusinian him to become a dramatist. mysteries, but which integrated a wide range With his stepfather’s encouragement, the of metaphysical, political, philosophical, and young Wagner also developed a fascination psychological elements. with the theatre. He wrote his first play at the age of fifteen and has been described as being Mythic Influences a “theatre brat.” But by the time Wagner left Wagner’s appropriation of myth is not merely the Kreuzschule in 1827, he resolved to be- a matter of one person’s moral and artistic come a poet. Although the aforementioned credo. It is also one of the great intellectual studies and interests persisted, Wagner became 21 advances of modern times: the ancestor and more and more drawn to music. The deter- inspiration of comparative anthropology, sym- mining factor in his decision to make a career bolist poetry, psychoanalysis and many aes- of music came as a result of a performance he thetic and theological doctrines that are now attended. Wagner says: “I only remember that common currency.25 (Roger Scruton) one evening I heard a symphony of Beetho- ven’s for the first time; that I fell ill of a fever; n order to understand the man and his music and that when I recovered I had become a mu- I dramas, it’s necessary to take a closer look sician.”22 at the layered complex of ideas that informed his work. It is well-known that Richard Wag- As John Runciman, an early and rather fanciful ner was an intellectual who took a serious in- chronicler of the composer explains: terest in a wide range of ideas that lay outside His purpose was set. … Beethoven’s music of the usual purview of his work as a compos- touched his young being and fermentation er. Ernest Newman, one of the most celebrated began which drove him forthwith to make musicologists and critics in the first half of the himself a perfectly equipped musician. Al- 20th century, said that no other composer pos- most like … St, Paul, he was “converted” in sessed such a combination of musical genius a twinkling of an eye.23 and intellectual gravitas.26 However, rather than detail Wagner’s diverse and considerable In actuality, “it was not one particular con- intellectual interests, the focus of this article cert,” as Klaus Kropfinger and others have dis- will be limited to those interests that contribut- covered, but several experiences with the mu- ed to the esoteric or metaphysical dimensions sic of Beethoven “that fired the young man’s of Wagner’s thought process and his artistic enthusiasm.”24 Wagner’s poetical description

works, although none of Wagner’s large- metahistory— the “transcendental framework minded interests, so characteristic of the First within which history unfolds.”32 Additionally, Psychological Type, lay outside of his creative he believed that mythic drama was able to endeavors. communicate the intuitive wisdom of the past, the evolutionary stages in humanity’s devel- As previously noted, Wagner developed an opment along with the insight needed for its early and profound involvement in mythology. future growth. He was drawn to myth, especially Greek and Norse mythologies, for a number of reasons. Greek drama and the mystery plays employed There seems to be little doubt, as Robert Don- all of the arts—instrumental music, verse, nar- ington reveals in Wagner’s Ring and its Sym- ration, singing, dance and mime—in a single bols,27 that myth reinforced the numinous as- composite form which Wagner believed pect of Wagner’s personality and gave him brought the entire community into a conscious access to unconscious parts of his own psyche. relationship with itself and its own essence. As such, it provided the more mature Wagner Financed and sustained entirely by the state with a vehicle by which he could come to and accorded the utmost importance, these an- terms with the long-standing conflict between cient plays overshadowed and informed the his own rationally formed ideas and the more civilizations of the time, introducing them to intuitive elements that fueled his artistic crea- the beauty of philosophical concepts, high tions.28 Wagner also held a passionate belief standards of morality and Nature’s most pre- about myth’s capacity to embody deep and cious secrets. As such, the ancient rites and hidden archetypal truths that needed to be plays stood in stark contrast to the commercial- cloaked or veiled in riddles or symbols so that ized art, anti-communal trends and degenerate they could gradually bring the unconscious bourgeois society in which Wagner lived.33 part of human nature into consciousness. He As the classics and music scholar Father Owen maintained that myth represented “the poem of Lee reveals throughout his Athena Sings: a life-view” that “was true for all time and its Wagner and the Greeks,34 the composer’s op- content inexhaustible throughout the ages.” eras “make extensive use of Greek elements to “The poet’s task,” he claimed, “was simply to give dramatic credibility and structural unity to interpret it.”29 More importantly, Wagner un- his Nordic and German Myths.”35 Father Lee derstood that saga and myth could purposeful- also demonstrates how countless details in ly reflect the universal and metahistorical con- Wagner’s operas, especially in his Der Ring cerns of humanity,30 concerns which were to des Nibelungen or Ring of the Nibelung, pro- figure prominently in the composer’s vide Germanic characterizations of Greek worldview and music dramas. mythical figures. For example, Wotan (the Wagner and the Greeks chief God, associated with inspiration, order and law) and Fricka (guardian of marriage and For Wagner, the only time and place that art women) are shown to be German versions of was able to wholly embody profound Univer- Zeus and Hera. Brünnhilde (the noble heroine), sal truths was in Athens, during the golden age one of Wotan’s daughters, becomes an Ice- of ancient Greece;31 an age, it might be noted landic Athena, “the warlike daughter of Wotan here, which was given expression under the the father god and the feminine embodiment of impulse of the Fourth archetypal current. 36 his masculine will” who seeks to solicit the Greek myth, like all myth, provides a cosmo- aid of the heroic Siegfried or Achilles. Lee logical and historical framework by which civ- goes on to describe how Wagner’s various op- ilizations summarized their beliefs and eras correspond to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, knowledge of the past, and offered guidance to as well as Aeschylus’s Oresteia and Prome- humanity about its own nature and its relation- theus. ship to the larger whole of which it is a part. Wagner saw the experience of mythic theatre Michael Besack also explores a great many of as a kind of spiritual activity that dealt with these influences and symbols in his perceptive

and highly informative book—The Esoteric The following quote from Wagner’s Art and Wagner: An Introduction to Der Ring Des Ni- Revolution—one of his many prose works— belungen.37 For example, Loge’s authority as a provides some insight into the composer’s negotiator with mortals on behalf of Wotan, as thoughts about the great Festival Plays in An- Besack states, “mirrors the Greek classical ar- cient Greece, specifically Prometheus: rangement between Zeus and Prometheus.”38 To see the most pregnant of all tragedies, The Tarnhelm, the magic helmet used by the the Prometheus, came they; in this Titanic subterranean villain Alberich in Das masterpiece to see the image of themselves, Rheingold, the first opera in The Ring, and lat- to read the riddle of their own actions, to er by the hero Siegfried, in the third opera that fuse their own being and their own com- takes the hero’s name, can be likened to the munion with that of their god . . . For in the cap of invisibility given to Hades by Cyclops.39 Tragedy the Greek found himself again, — Wagner no doubt drew upon the Old Norse nay found the noblest parts of his own na- legend of Wayland the Smith in drawing up ture united with the noblest characteristics the story lines for both Das Rheingold and of the whole nation; and from his inmost Siegfried, two operas in which the forge and soul, as it there unfolded itself to him, pro- the smith figure prominently. However, he was claimed the Pythian oracle.43 undoubtedly aware of Hephaestus, the Greek god of the forge and the artist/blacksmith, as Besack provides additional insight about the well as his sons, the chthonic Kabiri or Cabrie. composer’s ideas on Greek drama and his me- The Kabiri, were masters of volcanic energies tahistorical worldview in the following passage and the keepers of the Mysteries. According to from The Esoteric Wagner: Helena Blavatsky, “they are beneficent Entities Dramatic art, for Wagner, was an excep- who, symbolized in Prometheus, brought light 40 tional communal medium through which to the world.” the ground of being was given a voice. The The influence of ancient Greek drama on ancient Greeks had worked this out in their Wagner was, in fact, so pervasive that Fredrick dealing with Tragedy, and Wagner was rea- Nietzsche (a once great friend) thought that he sonably clear on the objective to be was “Aeschylus come alive again.” Father Lee achieved. The ground of being represented describes how, on several occasions, “Wagner the foundation on which cultures were built imagined a performance of Aeschylus’ The in the past. The universal recognition this Oresteia in his mind, reading it aloud to his foundation pointed to the existence of an friends, providing his own commentary, and underlying unity that had to be preserved at relating the Greek classic drama to his own all cost.44 41 worldview.” Wagner’s deep interest in clas- For Wagner then, Greek myth and drama, with sical Greek drama, such as The Oresteia and its metahistorical basis, was a means by which Prometheus— which he thought was the most the archetypal patterns that ensure lucidity and profound work of art dealing as it does with stability for human society over the long term the “Lighting up of Manas” or mind—were could be revealed. These same myths and ritu- rooted, at least in part, by his understanding of al dramas were also the primary means by their emphasis on the seemingly endless cycle which interaction with the ground of being or of karma, the idea of divine or heroic interven- the underlying unity could be maintained.45 tion, which alchemicalizes the old pattern and Importantly, for Wagner, this interaction could humanity’s need to recognize and abide by 42 be maintained without the aid of a formalized universal laws. Such tragic masterpieces, he religious structure or corporate hierarchy. maintained, spoke to man’s inner consciousness and through them he was in communion Teutonic Mythological Influences with his God; he was in the universe and the Norse or Teutonic mythology, most notably, universe was in him. the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Volsung Saga

and the Nibelungenlied, were among the other or heroine, as Michael Besack explains, has formative influences on Wagner’s worldview always been an exemplary individual who and his music dramas. Germanic and Norse serves as a bridge or pontifex between the myth served as a vehicle by which Wagner temporal world in which humanity lives and could move away from the Italian and French the higher world of guiding influences.47 operas that were dominat- Of particular interest to ing the operatic stage. Greek myth and drama, Wagner were the Old These legends and myths with its metahistorical ba- Norse ideas concerning also allowed him to give sis, was a means by which evolutionary growth via expression to the most the World hero or hero- ardent political and social the archetypal patterns that ine, the Ur-Kinghood sentiments; sentiments ensure lucidity and stability and the maintenance of that are indicative of the for human society over the sacral-political power.48 zealous idealism of the The Ur-Kinghood repre- Sixth Psychological long term could be re- sented the ancestral seat Type—the qualifier of vealed. These same myths of all religions and the Wagner’s emotional field. union of royal and In appropriating Viking and ritual dramas were also priestly power sprung and Norse myth, Wagner the primary means by from the formless Val- was able to create a more which interaction with the Father (or All-Father) volkish or home-grown and passed on, after the operatic form that served ground of being or the un- great flood, via various as a medium through derlying unity could be avatars and/or heroes which he could comment maintained. Importantly, from the Asiatic-Ur and upon what he perceived kings of pre-Greek his- as humanity's perilous for Wagner, this interaction tory.49 Reaching west- social, religious and polit- could be maintained with- ward into Europe, the ical state. Many of the out the aid of a formalized stem-branch and seat of symbolic, allegorical and divine power, ur- archetypal elements of religious structure or cor- conscience and wisdom these myths, which have porate hierarchy. were thought to manifest strong metapolitical, me- most clearly in the ancient royal lineage of the tahistorical and metaphysical parallels with the German confederation of the Franks under the mystery rites of antiquity, were consciously name Wibelingen or Gibelingen50 from which employed by Wagner to create a new mytholo- the pure of blood Volk or Folk had sprung. gy that would provide the much needed insight into the unconscious or subconscious part of The Ur-Kinghood was the means by which the the human psyche. world was able to positively interact with the Val-Father or the ground of being. Such an Norse sagas depicted the interplay and conflict interaction was not only responsible for estab- between spirit and matter, i.e., between the lishing a correspondence or higher unity be- Gods and Giants of the Hyperborean and/or tween the macrocosmic and microcosmic Lemurian race. These ancient sagas focused on spheres; it was necessary for the correct devel- the role of courage, will and sacrifice, as well opment and initiation of cyclic processes of as cycles of creation and destruction and other creation and destruction.51 The higher unity cosmological and evolutionary themes. Like remained “as long as the earthly king acknowl- the ancient mystery rites, the Norse and Teu- edged the ruling house in the heavens and tonic hero myths were thought to contain a timed his actions to coincide with celestial complete “system of initiation,” but one based harmonies.”52 However, as Besack points out, on the descent of the World hero,46 and his or the ancient cosmologists knew the association her death and spiritual rebirth. This world hero between the Ur-Kinghood and the heavens was

never completely persistent. As the poles shift- independence and other democratic rights. It ed, due to the precessional pattern, the world was in this atmosphere of war and insurrection, axis or pillar (symbolized by the king as the and in the years which followed, that Wagner sacred principle of world organization) would developed his utopian-socialistic vision and his break down, creating a world crisis and the hopes that the repressive German rulers, the need for a catharsis.53 A new world order old gods, and the anti-communal values that would follow in which the earth would be in- were beginning to dominate Germany and habited by a new generation of aesirs or gods54 much of Europe, would be re-organized along who would take up the task of world repair and more democratic and aesthetic lines. renewal. This new world order, born of neces- Wagner’s political and social attitudes were sity and built upon the ashes of the old cycle, also influenced by various philosophers, such preoccupied Wagner’s thoughts and found its as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Ludwig Feuer- way into a number of his operas. His fascina- bach. Proudhoun was a libertarian socialist and tion with the Ur-Kinghood found its initial ex- one of the so-called fathers of anarchism. Feu- pression in 1842, in Rienze (The Last of the erbach could be described as a secular human- Tribunes), his tragic opera about a heroic lead- ist who believed that the concept of God was a er of veiled and kingly descent, who, as human projection, and advocated that humani- Besack explains, “raises his people from their ty take charge of its own destiny and the fate deep existential sleep.”55 The opera was based of the world,57 ideas that Wagner incorporated on a book by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, whose into the Ring as well as his three-part pose po- recurrent esoteric works influenced the likes of em, Jesus of Nazareth, which this article will Annie Besant and Helena Blavatsky. But the discuss below. Feuerbach’s critique of Chris- operas which focus most forcefully on the Ur- tianity and his belief that “assertions we make Kinghood, the interplay of polarities or forces about God are, in fact, assertions about our- of being and non-being, the rule of law, the selves,” were adopted by Wagner, who came major steps in human evolution, as well as the to believe that no religion was “true,” but had great epoch or cycles of time after “the fall” immense value as a tool for what it revealed when the present Aryan race was just begin- about its practitioners. ning, is Wagner’s apocalyptic, four-part magnum opus— Der Ring des Nibelungen. The composer’s views were influenced further by his various political activist friends, most Wagner as Anarchist notably the Russian Prince Mikhail Bakunin and August Röckel. Bakunin formulated a the- Whence [will come] the manly strength against ory of freedom based on the destruction of the the crushing pressure of a civilisation which state and the creation of a new society built by disowns all mankind, against the arrogance of federations of free workers. Bakunin was a key a culture which employs the human mind as figure in the emerging socialist movement, naught but steam power for its machinery? along with Karl Marx. Although the two men Whence the light to illumine the gruesome hu- had common aims and enemies, their philoso- man heresy that this civilisation and this cul- phies eventually came into conflict. Wagner ture are of more value in themselves than the 56 rejected Marx’s theories in favor of Bakunin’s true living man? (Richard Wagner) anarcho-collectivism, due in part to his belief ichard Wagner was born into a world that that Marxism was just another form of totali- R was undergoing dramatic change. His tarianism. Marx’s rejection of aesthetics and world was churning with deep disruptions and his contempt for aristocrats, landowners and power struggles between the upper and middle artists were also contributing factors.58 Baku- class, liberals, socialists, conservatives and nin’s utopian ideals, his antagonism for ac- communists. In Germany and the rest of Eu- cepted ideas and laws along with his belief that rope, barriers were breaking down and the “established society served only to oppress and public was rising up against oppression, insist- extort from the people it claimed to serve,”59 ing upon greater freedom, political unification, had tremendous appeal for Wagner. So too did

the revolutionary theories of Röckel, the Ger- ewish Emancipation had been one of the man conductor and composer, whom the twen- J primary reasons for the revolution in 1848, ty-year old Wagner met in Dresden in 1843, along with the calls for greater freedom among when he was conducting the Flying Dutchman, the middle class. Wagner, as we know, enthu- his opera on redemptive love. According to siastically supported the cause. He was, as pre- Wagner, Röckel’s views were based “on the viously shown, deeply concerned with the socialist theories of Proudhon and others per- plight of the working class and the degradation taining to the annihilation of the power of capi- of society, especially the growing corruption of tal by direct productive labour.” He goes on to poetry and music. His belief that revolution say that Röckel’s ideas represented the “con- would bring about a much-needed change nev- struction of a whole new moral order,”60 which er materialized, and he quickly came to see in turn inspired him to develop conceptions of that it had been a mistake—indeed one that a possible form of human society that reflected caused even greater damage to art and artists. his own high artistic ideas.61 In Art and Revolution, he lamented: Wagner’s concerns for what he saw as Germa- It is not the battles of the “barricades,” not ny’s Faustian bargain, which surrendered aes- the sudden mighty shattering of the pillars thetic values and communal rituals for money, of the State, not the hasty change of Gov- status and power,62 along with his belief in the ernments,—that is bewailed; for the im- absolute necessity for a complete regeneration pression left behind by such capital events of society, were the prime factors fueling both as these, is for the most part disproportion- his artistic expression and left-wing revolu- ately fleeting, and short-lived in its vio- tionary activities. The combination of his Type lence. But it is the protracted character of Four essential Self and mind, and his Type the latest convulsions that is so mortally af- One personality, which provided him with an fecting the artistic efforts of the day.63 uncompromising sense of values, his fighting In Wagner’s mind, one of the groups responsi- spirit, strength of will and purpose, his keen ble for the alarming degradation of society and interest in political activity and social reform art, were the Jewish elites (along with the Jesu- along with his large-minded approach toward its), who had aligned themselves with the En- humanity’s problems, expressed as a powerful lightenment and its materialistic ideals.64 De- mix of creative genius and destructive energy. spite this obsessive belief, Wagner made it This culminated in the creation of some of the clear in a letter to his wife Cosima that: “not greatest musical creations of the human spirit, just the Jews, but every creature seeks to fur- and the desire to liberate humanity from the ther their own interest. It is us, we of the state, bondage of ignorance and materiality regard- who condone such things.”65 less of the cost. To this end, Wagner, along with Bakunin and Röckel, became part of an Before 1850, when Wagner penned his offen- inner group of leaders who were actively en- sive Judaism in Music, there is no record of his gaged in the Dresden insurrection in May of espousing anti-Semitic sentiments. But it 1849. would be an understatement to say that anti- Semitism was anything but the order of the day Their efforts to “set all men free” and produce in Germany and most of Europe. Indeed, such a much-needed catharsis were unsuccessful. sentiments were rampant and deep-seated. Wagner had to escape from Dresden to Swit- Wagner’s views on the Jews coincided with zerland in order to avoid arrest, where he lived those of the masses, with the utopian, anti- in exile for the next twelve years. His co- clerical thinking held by the likes of Karl Marx conspirators were sentenced to death, sentenc- and Bruno Bauer as well as the evolutionist es that were later commuted to long prison and race theories that were prevalent at the terms. time. While there is no denying his compulsive Wagner and the Jews and odious criticism of the Jews, there are, as Michael Besack points out, various ways of

regarding Wagner. A more balanced approach was, in fact, surrounded by so many Jews that has shown that Wagner was not a “hidebound rumors spread throughout Germany and else- hater of Jews, driven by notions of German where that the composer was of Jewish de- racial superiority.”66 On the one hand, Wagner scent. Stereotypical cartoon characterizations perceived the Jews to be a foreign and corro- mocking Wagner and his network of Jewish sive force, a fiendish enemy that threatened friends with their crowning adulation and sup- Germany’s highest cultural goals. On the other port were published in the press. hand, many of his best friends were Jews. He

(Figure 2. A cartoon appearing in the German press mocking Wagner’s many Jewish friends, and close associates.)67

Although a good deal of the prevailing schol- this perspective, as Besack maintains, Wag- arship still tends to portray Wagner’s anti- ner’s complex and controversial attitudes to- Semitism as having its roots in “Jew-hatred,” ward Judaism and Germanism “can be tied to German racial superiority, or as some critics complex metahistorical developments that he believe, in his feeling that he could not succeed followed very closely.”70 in the business of music because it was under These ideas are substantiated in the following the control of Jews who conspired against him; passage from Dr. Irad Atir, a young Israeli mu- “what Wagner really objected to,” as Besack sician and scholar who states that Wagner’s explains, “were certain aspects of Jewish emancipation, which he felt had a strong nega- ... opposition to Jewishness was part of his tive impact on the communal foundation of opposition to the sociopolitical and cultural German culture.”68 The worst of the negative reality of the period in general, including influences in what Wagner called “Jewish na- the non-Jewish German reality… He criti- ture” were the “promotion of individualistic cized certain aspects of Germanism; for ex- ideals”69 which threatened the faint vestiges of ample, the conservatism, religiosity, pride German communal unity. For Wagner and in aristocratic origins, and militarism. He many others in the first third of the nineteenth also criticized Jewish separatism and lust century, anti-Semitism was coupled with criti- for money. For him, there were good Ger- cism of modernism, and with the idea that mans and bad Germans, good Jews and bad Jews were one of the principal agents of a new, Jews.71 industrial-capitalist era. When viewed from

Like Besack, Atir goes on to say that “the only agner’s deep absorption with philosoph- way to understand Wagner’s art, which ex- W ical and spiritual questions began at an presses political, sociological and musicologi- early age. In My Life, he describes being a cal ideology, is to approach it neutrally”72 and young boy who “gazed and agonized with to realize that Wagner held inconsistent or am- sympathy on the altarpiece in the Kreuzkirche bivalent views of both Jews and Judaism. (Church of the Holy Cross), and yearned, with ecstatic fervor, to hang upon the Cross in the Besack and Atir, along with a growing chorus 78 of other scholars73 maintain that Wagner’s art place of the Saviour.” But by the time he was must be divorced from the will to power of ready to be confirmed in 1827, Wagner had Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler, since Wag- begun to turn away from his conservative Lu- ner died fifty years before Hitler’s regime and theran upbringing, disallowing its puritanical had condemned racist worldviews as “totally attitudes and finding it intellectually and tem- immoral.” Therefore, Wagner cannot be held peramentally inadequate. responsible for the fact his music was eventu- Nevertheless, his interest in religion and the ally appropriated by the Nazis with the aid of numinous continued, engendered, in large part, several heirs and other racist thinkers.74 Alt- by nineteenth century Romantic ideals that hough the psychologically dwarfed Hitler cher- rejected the social and political norms of the ished Wagner’s music and identified with the Enlightenment, and which treasured instead: morally ambiguous God Wotan or “Wolfe,” as heroic striving, the imagination, the mystical he was sometimes called; he missed The Ring over the mundane, and spiritual transcendence. of the Nibelung’s central message about the No artist expressed Romanticism (an expres- destruction that inevitably ensues when the sion of the Sixth archetypal current) more in- love of power replaces the power of love as tensely than Wagner, whose emotional field, as ruling principle. Any rational individual who is previously stated, was qualified by the Sixth familiar with the composer’s Ring Cycle can Psychological Type. clearly see that it represents a complete repudi- Yet, Wagner seems not to have taken religion ation of the will to power and the abuses to and the spiritual world seriously until he en- which the selfish use of the will must inevita- countered the music of Beethoven. The first bly lead. experience, in Leipzig in 1827, where the Additionally, it is important to note that Wag- young Wagner saw “mystical constellations ner believed that assimilation and intermixing and weird shapes without meaning,” prompted would make everyone equal and lead to a har- him to become a musician. Another, in Paris, 75 monious and aesthetically ordered world. in 1839, might be categorized as the first of The idea of Jewish and Christian reconciliation several mystical experiences that would occur and assimilation, along with his rejection of during his lifetime. Of this experience, Wagner German imperialism, were reflected in the says: “I now found flowing from innumerable composer’s comedic opera—Die Meistersinger sources, streams of the most touching and von Nürnberg, which ends with “a utopian vi- heavenly melodies which delighted my heart.” sion of love and a community united by holy He goes on to describe how it resulted in an 76 German art.” “inner change” or “upheaval” and a renewed dedication to music. More importantly, Wag- Wagner’s Spiritual Philosophy ner came away with a new belief in himself—a Religion lives, but only in its primal source belief that “God dwelled within his own and sole-true dwelling place, within the inner breast,” and was both transcendent and imma- chamber of the individual… for this is the es- nent. It also resulted in an “intense spiritual sence of true religion…it shines in the night of questioning that became a part of every subse- 79 man’s inner most heart, with a light quite other quent work.” than the world’s sunlight, and visible nowhere As Alan David Aberbach explains in Richard 77 save from out of that depth. Wagner’s Religious Ideas, during each of these (Richard Wagner)

spiritual or mystical experiences Wagner demning sexual desire and the body as sinful “seemed to intuit some element of knowledge and shameful; for the meaningful uniting of a transcending direct sense perception, although man and woman was to him a loving and life- not one necessarily connected or associated creating act. with any specific religion.”80 Roman Catholicism came in for special criti- In fact, over the course of the years, Wagner’s cism, especially the institution of the Papacy views on traditional religion had become high- and the Society of Jesus. Wagner saw the pa- ly idiosyncratic. They were sometimes accom- pacy, which acted as if it were infallible and panied by harsh denouncements of traditional the exclusive representative of God, as psycho- religion, especially Christianity and Judaism, logically controlling. He viewed the Jesuits as whose “dogmas and rituals interpose them- the distrustful corrupters of Christianity and selves between man and his creation.”81 “Reli- European culture who degraded man and life gion,” he thought—especially Christianity— by viewing them as inherently sinful, and who “had become crystalized and artificial. It had spent their lives manipulating for position and to keep heaping on incredible saints, fetishes, riches. Eventually, Wagner came to be even and idols instead of fulfilling its true vocation more contemptuous of the Jesuits than the to disclose the inner kernel of its origins in an Jews and went so far as to claim that “wherev- allegorical presentation of the truth.”82 It was er society tried to accommodate this group… reserved for art, he claimed, to save the spirit the result had been disastrous for humanity and of religion by recognizing the figurative or the state.”88 metaphorical value of mythic symbols in order Since both Judaism and Christianity advocated to reveal their deep and hidden truths.83 for their own spiritual interests, and neither The Jewish God, Wagner believed, was a petty embraced the idea of the brotherhood of hu- tribal god who promised the Jewish nation su- mankind as part of a living practice, Wagner preme mastery over other races and the peo- appealed for a revolt against the Judeo- ples of the world. He deplored the wrathful and Christian inheritance,89 calling instead for “The punitive God of the Old Testament who Religion of the Future, the Religion of Univer- seemed more concerned with maintaining sal Brotherhood,” based on Love, the fellow- power than helping the poor. Christianity, he ship of man and the life-need for man to give opined, “is derived from the Jewish religion of himself to other men.90 and that is its dilemma… the Jewish religion Wagner cannot be viewed as a religious man in has been grafted on to Christianity and has the traditional sense of the word. He was, for completely spoiled it.”84 “It’s connection to all practical purposes an atheist or, at the very Judaism,” he maintained, “transformed origi- least, an anti-clerical agnostic. Nevertheless, nal Christianity into a creed of aggressive as the aforementioned comments reveal, he greed and domination which does not reflect was a highly intuitive, intensely introspective, the loving and humble teachings of Jesus the spiritual man who supported the need for a Christ, the Redeemer, as much as Jehovah who direct relationship with God. He did not, how- wished the other Gods to be subjugated by his ever, specifically embrace the idea of “God,” faithful people.”85 but said that the traditional terminology was a In the same vein, Wagner claimed that Christi- useful symbol for the general public. Despite anity “denied the world, seeing it as a fleeting his punitive invectives against organized reli- and dreamlike illusion where one must prepare gion, the composer’s interest in religious and for renunciation by Faith.”86 Christianity, he spiritual matters persisted with great force. claimed, “sets man’s goals entirely outside his As Alan Aberbach describes: earthly being.” “Religion (like art),” he decried, “should not lead us out of life, but lift us Wagner would spend more time working up within it.”87 The Judeo-Christian religion, out answers to questions about God, reli- he also believed, had grievously erred in con- gion, and the nature and meaning of spiritu-

ality, than any other subject. Even musical as”94—Tannhäuser, which depicts, among oth- theory and composition did not appear to er things, the conflict between the animal and consume so much of his time, energy and divine souls, and Lohengrin, an opera that attention. From his earliest days in Paris, deals with the concept of higher justice, the until the end of his life, he talked, wrote idea of world repair and invisible aid. and conversed about religion.91 Various scholars have acknowledged that Kabbalistic Currents of Wagner seems to have been acquainted with the Talmud and had knowledge of Safed Kab- Thought balistic thought.95 Some, like Dieter Borch- n keeping with the self-contradictory and meyer, claim that Wagner gained familiarity ambivalent nature of the Fourth Psychologi- with Kabbalistic teachings from August Frie- I drick Gfrörer’s writings on the influence of cal Type, Wagner seems to have been both 96 repelled and attracted by the Jewish Faith. He Judaism in early Christianity. Others, like disdained the Old Testament and the Ten Besack, say that while confusion over this is- Commandments; Judaism, he thought, was sue abounds, Wagner’s knowledge of the Kab- flawed because it stressed the idea that the balistic notions relating to the duality of the Jews were the chosen people of God and de- soul—the divine soul and the animal soul— and to ideas about the evolving and devolving nied the idea of a universal spirituality or reli- 97 gion. Nevertheless, Wagner had many genuine nature of universal harmony seems to have Jewish friends and close associates who influ- come from Lehrs. However, Wagner certainly enced his attitudes in paradoxical and conflict- came across the concept of cyclic existence ing ways. Many of his most ardent devotees from previously mentioned Nordic sources, were Jews who gave him crucial fiscal and such as the Ragnarok, as well as Vedic and artistic support. Although there were a number Buddhist notions of Samsara, at various peri- of Jews who, at least in Wagner’s mind, were ods in his long and sustained spiritual journey. responsible for his early lack of success, and Wagner’s concerns about the inner most soul also for the degradation and commercialization and humanity’s loose connection to the ground of society and his beloved art, there were many of being were co-mingled with his revolution- others he admired and some who had a pro- ary zeal and his belief that art could salvage or found impact on his worldview and his crea- “repair” a broken and crumbling world. The tive endeavors. idea of world repair that so consumed Wagner, According to both Besack and Aberbach92 an as Besack maintains, corresponds to other ele- early and important source of spiritual inspira- ments in esoteric Judaism, specifically Isaac tion seems to have come from one of Wagner’s Luria’s postulations on the Tsimtsum or pri- three closest friends, the struggling Jewish phi- mordial retraction of the light in the creation, lologist and philosopher, Samuel Lehrs, who as well as his ideas about the need for a Tikkun Wagner first met in Paris in the early 1840’s, or healing of the world. He notes further that and whose friendship the composer described “Lurianic ideas of repair are dependent on as “the most beautiful friendship of my life.” messianic or heroic action” a concept Wagner Lehrs is known to have helped deepen the was drawn to early on from his exposure to twenty-year-old Wagner’s intense absorption Greek and Norse myth. These ideas and those in philosophy and medieval poetry with its pertaining to the need for a cosmic repair or heroic legends and German Hohenstaufen em- Tikkun were to be realized in one way or an- perors who were seen as the last representa- other in Wagner’s anarchist zeal and in a num- tives of the Ur-Kinghood. And it was Lehrs, ber of Wagner’s operas, such as the previously as Besack and others claim, who discoursed mentioned Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Der Ring with Wagner about death, life after death, and Des Nibuelungen as well as Parsifal. Howev- the innermost soul,93 and who “furnished him er, it should be noted here that Wagner aban- the source material for two of his early oper- doned the idea of repair in favor of destruction in the Ring cycle, particularly Götterdämmer-

ung (Twilight of the Gods), the final opera in I go.” In Wagner’s case, the interplay between the four-part series, only to take it up again these two psychological types resulted in a with sublime force in Parsifal, the very last desire to bring about a Menscheitsrevolution, opera he completed. or “a revolution of mankind, particularly in the sphere of art.” 104 Therefore, Wagner came to Wagner and believe that, like Jesus, he too had a redemp- Jesus von Nazareth tive purpose, albeit one that functioned through the medium of salvific art. Give your Savior my greetings, even if from the beginning he has caused a lot of confusion. In writing Jesus of Nazareth, Wagner intended (Richard Wagner to his wife Cosima before to write an anti-Catholic drama, where, accord- she left for church.)98 ing to Giessel, Jesus engaged in kind of creative destruction.105 Wagner depicts “Jesus the espite Wagner’s lifelong hostility toward man,” who is distinguished from the cosmic D Christianity, he was intrigued by its un- Christ, as the embodiment of Love and wis- derlying message concerning the power of in- dom. However, Wagner thought that Jesus’ finite love and was drawn by the mystical and mission, as Giessel explains, had earthly rather 99 intuitive approach to God and Jesus. After than transcendental applications.106 reading the Gospels and the New Testament in late 1848, the thirty-five-year-old Wagner, Wagner has his Jesus of Nazareth say: who was becoming progressively enmeshed in I bring man back unto himself, in that he the revolutionary movements in Europe, began apprehendeth God as he is in himself, and to inquire into the ideas and character of the not outside himself... for God is knowledge historical Jesus. This resulted in a three part of self.107 prose poem—Jesus von Nazareth.100 From these remarks, it is clear that Wagner According to Aberbach, Wagner’s attraction to took Jesus’ words in Luke 17:21 to heart: “The Jesus was due in part to the fact that Jesus Kingdom of God is within you,” and used lived in a corrupt and degenerate world that them in support of the idea that it was possible was much like the mid-nineteenth-century Eu- for humanity to build a better world where it rope of Wagner’s time. Although Wagner was neither shackled nor degraded by institu- thought Jesus’s mission had failed, he won- tionalized religion. In Wagner’s sketch, Jesus’ dered if there might be something more to be mission is the redemption of all the Volk or learned from Jesus’s life and teachings that peoples of the earth through the practice of could result in a fundamental world repair, and Love and receptivity to Knowledge. Wagner’s prevent a catastrophic upheaval in Germany Jesus also takes up the decidedly Feuerbachian and the rest of Europe.101 As the scholar theme when he states that: “From man must Mathew Giessel explains, Jesus of Nazareth come the force to help himself.”108 Such a also served as a means by which Wagner’s force, Jesus claims, is based on the knowledge own “ideology of social revolution could be of one’s own innate Godliness or divinity, his reflected.”102 Giessel goes on to say that Wag- direct connection to Spirit and his free will. ner conceived of his prose poem as a vehicle Not only did Wagner’s Jesus claim, like Feu- through which he could “question religious erbach, that man is God unto himself, he also dogma and create a kind of art-religion that proclaimed that there is one Universal Soul bridged the religious-dramatic aesthetic 103 and that each individual is a corporate part of gap.” Jesus of Nazareth, therefore, provides the whole—of the All-Soul.109 The path to further evidence of the Fourth Psychological freedom— Jesus of Nazareth says in a quote Type’s desire to harmonize and create at-one- from Corinthians — is not the body, but the ment between seemingly irreconcilable ele- innermost soul. For “Your body, you know, is ments. Additionally, it reflects the First Type’s the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you craving, as Wagner said in a letter to Theodor since you received him from God.”110 Uhlig in 1849, “to create a revolution wherever

In keeping with his antagonism toward religion great avatar of Love and ethics, the one who and the state, and his desire to do away with was connected to the Ur-Kinghood and the theistic dogmas, Wagner’s Jesus goes on to say ground of being, could not prompt humanity to that “the Law,” as it was given hitherto, is to examine the hollowness of materialism and be replaced by the Law of Love and the Law build a new world based on spiritual values of the Spirit, which are “eternally generative, and his Soul’s high desire.116 Wagner’s sketch fluent and mobile.” Love is Eternal, unlike of Jesus of Nazareth, as Aberbach contends, tribal codes or societal and religious Law, was an attempt to work out some of these which are at variance with man’s true nature questions in his own mind. The prose poem and limited by time and the whims of men.111 also provided Wagner with a means to express Jesus states further, that he comes to abrogate his own spiritual and revolutionary ideals— the law which restricts human nature and ideals that he believed were commensurate makes humankind believe it is inherently sin- with those of the true Jesus, who struggled ful. Drawing again upon a quote from the Gos- against tyranny and crystalized traditions, and pel of John, Wagner has his Jesus exclaim: who came to reinstate the “ur-old notions” that had been lost when the Germanic peoples, who I bring you not a new commandment, but represented the stem-branch of the Ur-royal the old commandment which ye had from lineage, were forced to convert to Christian the beginning, whosoever is born of God faith. committeth no sin, for his seed remains in him for he is born of God.112 Jesus of Nazareth was never completed or published. Aberbach thinks that Wagner may have Man’s suffering, as Wagner’s Jesus states, is abandoned the work because he came to con- his clash against the law which has turned clude that Christianity’s doctrines had become against God himself and the Ur-law of Motion. so exclusive and restrictive that it might never “It is the suffering of God himself, who has not become a truly universal religion.117 Although come as yet to consciousness in men”113—a Wagner knew that it was not just the church, consciousness that can only be attained when with its false hierarchy and the faults of the humanity realizes that it and God are One, and Law, but also the human element, its lack of “the selfsame creative force.” love, self-interest, and egotistic desires that Not surprisingly, Wagner’s Jesus does not be- were responsible for the dark night enveloping lieve that a connection to God is the result of men’s souls. Nevertheless, Jesus of Nazareth, prayer, ceremony or ritual performance. God as Giessel demonstrates, “served as an im- must be searched for within, and “seen through portant lens in which Wagner’s ideas of re- the inner eye,” for the “temple of God is Man- demption and spirituality were developed and kind.”114 Furthermore, we must be prepared to eventually subtly refracted in his later thought die, after the heroic model of Jesus and other and works, particularly in Wagner’s growing saviors of humankind, to release the innermost transformation and conception of himself into Soul from egotism, the world of the senses and a redemptive force.”118 the mind. These must be left behind. Only through “the perfect riddance of Death, the The Influence of Freemasonry giving up of the body, of the hearth and home and other of egotism,”115 can the last obstacle to a person’s ascent into the generality of the One be Secret Society Models overcome. lthough Wagner's knowledge of occultism These passages show that Wagner thought of A is rarely discussed, it is known that he Jesus as a hero-soul, a remarkable individual— was acquainted—through both family and a divine/human incarnation on earth—whose friends— with the Freemasons and a number sphere of influence was far-reaching, but of other secret societies such as the Rosicru- whose purpose was not brought to fruition. He cians, the Schiller Society and the Tunnel über was unable to comprehend why Jesus, the der Spree.119 Given Wagner’s early experienc-

es as a child of war, his more mature desires to Proudhoun, Bakunin and Wagner, were all liberate and remake what he saw as a crystal- captivated by the philosophical ideas of Johann ized and decaying world and his belief about a Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), who was a War- spiritual aristocracy that maintained a ritual den in the Lodge Pythagoras of the Blazing connection to the Ur-ground of being, it is not Star and the author of Discourses in Freema- surprising that he was inspired by certain se- sonry. Besack, in The Esoteric Wagner lists cret society models. seven main points that have been abstracted from Fichte’s lectures. Several points relevant Inspiration along these lines is thought to have to this discussion are included here: begun very early in life. Wagner’s father, Carl, had been a Freemason, and after his 1) Greek philosophy must be acknowledged death, the Masons attended to the grief- as the essential channel for the transmission stricken family. His stepfather, Ludwig Geyer, of western thought. was also a member of the lodge Ferdinand zur 2) Humanism is to be achieved through a Glückseligkeit in Madgeburg, and one of his confrontation of the different types of hu- brothers was educated at the Institute of Free- manity. masons in Dresden through a scholarship obtained by the Masons.120 Further influence is 3) The “secret” tradition leading up to thought to have come from his brother-in-law, Freemasonry is universal in scope. Professor Oswald Marbach, who was the 4) Man can access humanist philosophy Grand Master of the chapter Baiduin, Zur without the help of any religion. Linde in Leipzig for more than 30 years.121 Marbach was the honorary member of 50 A comparison between Fichte’s ideas and lodges and authored many articles on Freema- those ideas reflected in Richard Wagner’s own sonry. Jacques Chailley, in what is considered philosophy are clearly evident. by some academic scholars to be a controver- Another close friend and Freemason whose sial book on the Masonic and initiatory ele- spiritual ideas might have influenced Wagner’s ments of Wagner’s work, maintains that Mar- worldview, was the composer and pianist, bach was Wagner’s principal source on Free- 122 Franz Liszt, whose daughter, Cosima, was masonry. It is of further interest to note that married to Richard Wagner. Liszt was a mem- Wagner’s sister Rosalie and his piano teacher ber of the Loge zur Einigkeit or “Unity” lodge, Christian Theodore Weinlig were involved 123 in Frankfurt, where he was promoted to the with the radical para-Masonic “Tunnel.” second degree. He was eventually elected mas- Rosalie, with whom Wagner was quite close, ter of the same lodge in Berlin and held honor- was married to Professor Marbach. However, able memberships in Zurich and Pest (Buda- whether either Rosalie or Weinlig actually ex- pest-Hungary).125 Although Liszt and Wagner erted any Masonic influence on Wagner is not exchanged numerous letters, no explicit refer- known. ence to Freemasonry has surfaced of which Several of Wagner’s anarchist friends, the pre- this author is aware. viously mentioned Pierre-Joseph Proudhoun Yet another intimate friend was the civic lead- and Mikhail Bakunin, were also members of er and banker, Frederick von Feustel. Feustel Masonic lodges in Paris and elsewhere. Baku- was Grand Master of the lodge Zur Sonne in nin founded a secret society called the Pro- Bayreuth from 1863–1869, and a key figure in gram of the Revolutionary Brotherhood that proposing that the restrictions on admitting was conceived on the Masonic model. Howev- non-Christian members to the lodge be abol- er, he thought that the world was largely be- ished.126 Inspired by his friend and the ideas yond repair and wanted to make men free by Freemasonry espoused; Wagner communicated establishing a community of uninhibited and his desire to become a member of the lodge independent beings. Bakunin’s world, as Eleusis zur Verschwiegenheit in Bayreuth. Besack notes, is not unlike the apocalyptic However, his admission was blocked by some world of Wagner’s Ring.124

members of the lodge who were concerned and Wagnerian philosophy. Many of Wag- about the composer’s troubled and unsavory ner’s philosophical ideas—the concept of a personal life. Wagner’s revolutionary past, union of the arts, notions of ancient racial many outstanding debts, sexual indiscretions pride, social and intellectual reform, and most and harsh invectives against various individu- importantly glorification of the artist in society als and groups, would have been some of the and the belief that the most direct route to the contributing factors. soul was through symbol—“read like para- phrases of the Rosicrucian Manifesto.”130 Although Wagner was not a Freemason and Wagner would have come across these ideas did not belong to any known esoteric order, from various sources. One source of note there are numerous hints and associations to be would have likely been Johann Wolfgang von found in his prose works and operas that con- Goethe, whom he read widely. Goethe was tain Masonic and other esoteric symbols. For greatly interested in the Rosicrucians and ex- example, his Die Meistersinger deals with the pressed a good deal of Hermetic and Rosicru- “Mastersingers” or troubadours who inherited cian wisdom in various works such as “The the Bardic Mysteries. Among its many esoteric Mysteries,” “Fairy Tale of the Green Snake themes are the various degrees, steps and and the Beautiful Lily” and “Faust.” So taken grades within the Guild of Mastersingers. was Wagner with Goethe’s most famous occult Tannhäuser, an opera about a Knight- drama—“Faust”— that he intended to com- Troubadour and “Love-Singer” is thought by pose a Faust symphony. He abandoned the various scholars127 to represent the Hermetic symphony, but managed to complete a beauti- and Masonic first degree of purification. fully expressive overture that portrays the These themes are also prevalent in Lohengrin, soul’s aspirations and labors to perfect itself. Wagner’s opera about the “Swan Knight” or emissary of the White Brotherhood who seeks Wagner espoused many of these same ideas to bring in a new civilization. The figure of throughout his prose works and operas. His Lohengrin, represents the second degree of belief in the knowledge and wisdom of ancient service. Greece, his utopian views of the world, his alternative views on politics and religion, his The rituals observed in Wagner’s Parsifal are universalism, anti-clericalism and his ideas also filled with Masonic and other esoteric about a spiritual aristocracy mesh easily with symbolism. The American author, Christian the notions and aims of secret societies like the mystic and occultist Corinne Heline, divides Freemasons, which are qualified by the First this opera into the three Masonic degrees of archetypal current. Key Masonic phrases such Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master, or the as the “Temple of Humanity,” “Building of the Student, Probationer, and Disciple of the more Temple,” and the “Brotherhood of Man,” are modern esoteric schools.128 Parsifal is the used throughout his written works. In speaking “Widow’s Son” and a type of Redeemer. He of “universal currents of Divine Thought that can be seen as the hero-representative who vibrate through the ether,” the “great cosmic “magically rejuvenates the Hyperborean order law” and the idea that “Imagination creates from its immortal roots”129 through the control reality,” he embraced ideas that are similar to of instinctual passion and its transmutation into those found in the Theosophical works of Hel- the healing power of great compassion, the ena Blavatsky and the Ageless Wisdom phi- highest aspect of Love. Other figures in the losophy.131 But as will be seen even more opera, such as Titurel and Amfortas, serve as clearly as this article progresses, it would be a Grand Masters of the Grail. mistake to claim that Wagner’s prose works or The figures of Lohengrin and Parsifal—both operas can be interpreted in terms of one par- guardians of the Grail—were early role models ticular set of ideas. The composer drew upon a for the Rosicrucians, as Gabriel P. Weisberg broad range of religious, spiritual, mythic and and Laurinda S. Dixon point out. Indeed, there esoteric influences and sought to combine and are numerous ideas shared by the Rose+Croix reconcile them into a unique but concordant

whole. And in this can be seen the harmoniz- uct of the Orient, with its self-assured and ing influence of the Fourth Psychological Type sublime tranquility of the mind.134 as well as the synthesizing aspects of the First. In a letter to another friend, Theodore Uhlig, The Inspiration of Hafiz132 Wagner says that “Hafis is the greatest poet that ever lived and sang.”135 He goes on to tell n addition to the influences discussed thus his friend that he must instantly procure a copy I far, Wagner’s interest in religion, spirituality of the poet’s work and should: and mysticism extended to Eastern and Middle Study Hafis properly, he is the greatest and Eastern sources. With regard to Middle Eastern the most sublime philosopher. No one else inspiration, it is possible that Wagner was has gone to the root of the matter so surely aware of the parallels between the Parsifal and incontestably as he. There is only one myth and the earlier Persian Fal Parsi (Pure thing he lauds: and all the rest is worth not Fool), as well as Persian Shia chivalry and its a farthing, however high and loft it may associations with the Knights Templar. Given dub itself. —Something similar will also his interest in myth and metahistory, he may become clear in my Nibelungen.136 also have had some understanding of Mazdean doctrines and beliefs and their innumerable One of the few scholars to explore the link be- connections to Norse tradition. One early tween Hafiz and Wagner’s music dramas in source may have been Goethe who considered depth, is the previously mentioned, Alan Persian literature to be one of the four main Aberbach. According to Alberbach, what bodies of world literature. Another likely Wagner found in the works of Hafiz were con- source was his brother- in-law, Herman cepts that built upon and expanded some of the Brockhaus who specialized in Persian and ideas he had earlier explored in his Jesus of Sanskrit literature at Leipzig University. Nazareth and elsewhere. These ideas con- Fredrick Nietzsche, whose relationship with cerned such themes as the philosophy of love Wagner was quasi-familial and intense, could and aesthetics, the nature of the soul and the have been a later influence.133 It is also quite unfathomable nature of free will and destiny. possible that Wagner intuited the equivalences Wagner believed that neither the mind nor the between the Norse and Mazdean traditions that intellect could explain the mysteries of the appear in his various music dramas. Neverthe- universe. Hafiz reiterates this idea in saying, less, in various letters, Wagner unambiguously “Love has a wisdom, wisdom cannot prove— connects elements of the Ring, especially Das Reason knows nothing of things divine.”137 Rheingold, to the writings of the Persian mys- Like Hafiz, the composer thought that all crea- tical poet, Hafiz. Wagner probably came tion was an expression of God, that man was across the work of Hafiz by way of Goethe, essentially one with the Universe or God, and who has been described as a disciple of the that the kingdom of God existed within.138 great Persian poet. Each believed in the universality of the Soul The first mention by Wagner of the great four- and decried the narrowness of dogmatic Law teenth-century Sufi Master is contained in a as well as the formal aspects of religion; and letter to August Röckel, dated September 12, each held that Love, the eternal Law of Love, 1852, who was still in prison for his role in the was the universal key to God realization. 1849 Dresden revolution: Love, especially redemptive love, is one of the primary themes in Wagner’s Jesus of Nazareth I would like to introduce you to a poet and in a number of his operas. The ghazals of whom I have recently recognized to be the Hafiz, which by definition, are verses that deal greatest of them all; it is the Persian with the great theme of Love and the need for Hafis… Familiarity with this poet has filled Love to take precedence over Law and Power. me with a real sense of terror: we with our Other similarities between Hafiz and Wagner pompous European intellectual culture must abound. The Sufi poet’s belief that “Where stand abashed in the presence of this prod- love is, there is no need for covenant hell”139

corresponds to Wagner’s ideas in Jesus of Walküre (The Valkyrie). The heroic struggle Nazareth about the Law of Love abrogating for Love and for Freedom from the ego, nature religious or Mosaic Law. Hafiz, also like and the rule of the old Gods continues with Wagner, commented at length upon the hypoc- Siegfried, the third opera in the series. This risy, perfidy and deceit that existed in society struggle culminates in Götterdämmerung (The and within certain religious circles. Twilight of the Gods) which depicts the destruction of the Old Order as well as the possi- These same themes also make their appearance bility of an entirely new cycle brought about in Wagner’s Ring. For example, the conflict through the keynote of Sacrificial or Redemp- between Love (self-giving) and Power (self- tive Love. This last theme is also one of the seeking), which coincides with the develop- primary themes in Wagner’s Tristan and Isol- ment of the human ego, are some of the domi- de, which, like the poems of Hafiz and other nant themes in Das Rheingold (Rhinegold), the Sufi mystical poets, draws upon the metaphors first opera in the composer’s four-part cycle. of erotic imagery to express sacrificial love Love (as embodied in the divine feminine), leading to union, as well as oneness with the versus the Law, is one of the overarching divine. themes of the second music drama—Die

Schopenhauer and Buddhist Doctrine

(Figure 4. Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788–1860)140

Will power is to the mind like a strong blind ed in what Magee perceptively describes as a man who carries on his shoulders a lame man “decisive detachment from the world outside who can see.141 (Arthur Schopenhauer) himself,” brought on by the recognition that he had been submerged in a “veritable bonfire of ot long after the failed uprising in Dres- illusions.”144 But in 1854, at the age of forty- den in 1849, Wagner had fallen prey to a N one, the composer underwent a pivotal experi- profound loss of faith and disillusionment with ence when he discovered the philosopher Ar- the underlying principles of anarchist poli- thur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer’s book, The tics.142 In The Tristan Chord, Bryan Magee World as Will and Representation, altered says that this was a traumatic experience for Wagner’s understanding of himself and the the composer because he believed if there was universe by helping him to shift his focus away no hope for German renewal via political or from the socio-political and historical view of revolutionary means, there was no hope for the the world to an understanding that was more in future of art or Richard Wagner.143 This result- keeping with his unconscious and intuitive in-

stincts.145 In a letter written to the conductor can acquaint us with the will since it is a direct Hans Von Bülow, Wagner reveals that he was expression of the world’s essence or impulsive so taken with Schopenhauer’s philosophy that will. He went so far as to claim that “music is he read the book four times in the same year, the voice of the metaphysical will.”146 Given in addition to reading it again and again (along Wagner’s own theories about how selfish de- with his other works) sire corrupted civiliza- over a period of many Wagner’s concerns about tion, his unrelenting years. the inner most soul and hu- questions about free will and predestination One of the central con- manity’s loose connection to (themes that reoccur cepts articulated in The the ground of being were co- throughout The Ring), World as Will and Rep- and his wish to redeem resentation, was the the- mingled with his revolution- humanity by way of a ory that the only essential ary zeal and his belief that reinvigorated form of reality in the world is the music drama that stimu- will, and that it was the art could salvage or “related the free heroic im- key to human existence pair” a broken and crum- pulse, many of these and the ground of all life bling world. The idea of ideas had immense ap- and being. This theory, peal. Indeed, “it was which built upon but al- world repair that so con- Schopenhauer,” says tered the philosophy of sumed Wagner . . . corre- Thomas Mann—the No- Emmanuel Kant, goes on sponds to other elements in bel-prize winning Ger- to state that the world of man novelist—“that phenomena is nothing esoteric Judaism, specifical- freed Wagner from more than the subjective ly Isaac Luria’s postulations bondage and gave his representation of the will on the Tsimtsum or pri- music the courage to be or the Kantian “thing-in- fully itself.”147 itself.” To state this idea mordial retraction of the another way: the empiri- light in the creation, as well Among the other aspects cal or phenomenal world of Schopenhauer’s met- is a relative reality or an as his ideas about the need aphysical philosophy illusory perceived exist- for a Tikkun or healing of that resonated with ence, in contrast to the the world. Richard Wagner and essential reality which which were in keeping exists outside of space and time. Unlike Kant, with the views he espoused in Jesus of Naza- who held that this essential reality or thing-in- reth, was the belief that it was compassion or itself was unknowable, Schopenhauer claimed love, and not reason, as Kant argued, that that we can and must penetrate this deeper re- serves as the moral bond uniting human be- ality. But to do so inevitably invites suffering ings. The plurality and differences which sepa- and unrelenting dissatisfaction since the will rate human beings from each other belong to almost always manifests as desire or selfish the world of phenomenon or appearances. will. These differences, he thought, were an illusion or mirage based on the ego and the inability to While Schopenhauer believed that suffering recognize the ultimate essence or ground of was a permanent feature of existence, he being that manifests in all living things.148 thought that art, and especially music, could Since “All is One,” the only actions that have provide a temporary release or escape from the moral value are those which have sprung from endless promptings of desire/will and the veil compassion and the desire to eradicate suffer- of illusion it creates. The will, he believed, ing. And only to the extent that we have identi- cannot be known by concepts or representa- fied ourselves with another can the ego or the tions; however, music, which is non- little self be momentarily abolished.149 conceptual and exists in the noumenal realm,

Schopenhauer’s thoughts on erotic love also therefore more authentic than the corrupted had immense appeal for Wagner. His essay, religions of the Jews and Christians.151 “The Metaphysics of Sexual Love”—one of In letters to Franz Liszt, Mathilde Wesendonck the chapters in the aforementioned World as and August Röckel, Wagner wrote with great Will and Representation— contains the idea excitement and understanding about the sub- that erotic love, which is related to the will to limity of Buddhist doctrine, with its concepts survive or the will to life (Wille zum Leben), of reincarnation and metempsychosis, saying takes precedence over reason. For this reason, that the Buddha’s teaching on these matters erotic love and the will to survive is the cause “must certainly express the truth.” Wagner was of much suffering and pain. Yet, paradoxically, so drawn to Buddhist teachings that he planned Schopenhauer believed that a loving sexual an opera—Die Sieger (The Victors)—based on relationship was a means by which the imped- an avadana (a series of heroic tales and mirac- iments to selfhood could be temporarily trans- ulous acts as told by the Buddha or performed cended, and the individual could “lose his by him in his various incarnations). He drafted sense of self and experience oneness with an- a sketch for the opera between 1856 -1858, and other person in the sexual act.”150 thought about it over a span of 12 years, but As the reader can no doubt discern from the the opera was never brought to fruition. few examples offered here, Schopenhauer’s Nevertheless, various features of Schopenhau- ideas have an affinity with Hindu and Buddhist erian and Buddhist doctrine undoubtedly found teachings. However, it should be noted that their way into Wagner’s ensuing music dramas the main ideas in Schopenhauer’s philosophy and libretti. With respect to Wagner’s Ring of were worked out before he discovered that the Nibelung, which was written over a period they echoed Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. of twenty-six years, it must be said that a pre- Unfortunately, he misunderstood key aspects occupation with the evolution of conscious- of these teachings, such as the concept of Ma- ness, the will in its various facets as well as the ya or world as illusion, which resulted in his concept of cyclic existence, i.e., the Buddhist decidedly pessimistic outlook on life. Scho- wheel of life, death and rebirth, were present in penhauer also failed to grasp the concept of the libretti in advance of his having come un- Nirvana or Non-Being, which he wrongly as- der the influence of Indian thought. However, sociated with the death-wish. Wagner’s first Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Professor Carl introduction to Buddhism came through Scho- Suneson has suggested that Buddhist and penhauer’s books, and some of these misun- Brahmin ideas caused Wagner to alter the end- derstandings were passed on. Later, however, ing of Götterdämmerung by giving Brünnhilde Wagner read Eugène Burnouf's influential and a role akin to a bodhisattva.152 highly informative Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism, as well as the Upanishads One of the most Kantian/Schopenhaureian of and other oriental literature and these no doubt all Wagner’s operas is his allegorical tragedy, strengthened his grasp of both Vedic and Bud- Tristan and Isolde (1859). Though in some dhist thought. circles, the opera still tends to be thought of as a sublimation of the composer’s love for an- In addition to the ideas touched on above, other woman to whom he was not married, Wagner's interest in Buddhism, like Schopen- more perceptive analyses understand the opera hauer’s, was surely encouraged by the atheis- to be a profoundly moving meditation on tic, or more accurately, non-theistic concepts death, erotic love and the sacred.153 The two contained therein, as well as Buddhist ideas lovers are redeemed, not by other-worldly about the elimination of ego, the nature of suf- means, but through an erotically transcendent fering, the idea of enlightenment, the doctrine love based on the renunciation of selfish desire of metempsychosis, karma and the heroic acts and a shift from the Schopenhauerian Phenom- of the Buddha. He might also have been enal “world of day” or Maya, to the unifying drawn to Buddhist and Brahmin philosophy Noumenal “world of night” or Nirvana. Their because its doctrine was more ancient and

shared death is means of self-sacralization, the Christ… whom we want to protect in His which in turn sacralizes their world.154 The pristine purity… so that we can take him with erotic love between Tristan (Tantris)155 and us into those terrible times that will probably Isolde can also be likened to a tantric practice follow the inevitable destruction of all that based not on the sexual act, but on complete now exits.”158 Thus, from one perspective, identification with the other, i.e., the renuncia- Wagner intended Parsifal as the one who tion of the flesh and the soul’s dying to all but could salvage a decaying world and bring a divine love. From this perspective, Tristan and much needed “Redemption to the Redeemer.” Isolde represents the inner life of man who One of the Christian mystics who inspired the brings together the polarities of male and fe- composer’s thoughts on Parsifal was Meister male or spirit and matter into a balance that Eckhart (1260–1388), the man who Schopen- finds its ultimate consummation in the Mystic hauer called “the father of German mysticism. Marriage or conscious union with the World There were many ideas in Eckhart’s sermons Soul.156 that appealed to Wagner and which corre- Parsifal: A Great Synthesis sponded with his own mystical inclinations. One finds, for example, that both Eckhart and arsifal, written in the last years of Wag- Wagner thought that the teachings of Jesus P ner’s life when he was suffering from ex- were universal and that his message applied to haustion and worsening health, is often viewed everyone. Eckhart believed that prayer consist- as the most Christian of Wagner’s operas. The ed of opening the heart and mind to God. The opera utilizes quite a bit of Christian imagery, most powerful form of prayer, he thought, such as the Knights of Grail, the Grail cup and comes from the person who seeks no gain, but the spear that wounded Jesus’s side, as well as abandons all self-will to the Will of God. Eck- a Eucharistic reenactment or communion. At hart, like Wagner, thought that the great need the time of its completion in 1882, the opera for man was to unite his Soul with Deity. But was seen as a capitulation to traditional Chris- for the Soul to know Him, “he must not seek tian doctrine by a composer who had previous- Deity outside himself.” Eckhart speaks further ly seen himself as something of a pagan spir- of the need for breaking through to the noth- itual hero for the new age. Nietzsche, who ingness of God, likening the breakthrough to a came to believe that the Schopenhaurerian “fundamental death.” Additionally, Eckhart, metaphysical world was nonexistent, went so like Wagner’s Jesus of Nazareth, thought that far as to claim that in Parsifal, Wagner “fell this was possible for anyone— for all are sons kneeling and hopeless before the cross.” He of the Father. Consequently, what is possible went on to say that Wagner “flatters every ni- for one Son is possible for all without distinc- hilistic (Buddhistic) instinct and disguises it in tion.159 music; he flatters everything Christian, every Although the Christian element in Parsifal religious expression of decadence. Open your cannot be denied, it must be viewed in a larger, ears: everything that ever grew on the soil of more inclusive context. One could say for ex- impoverished life, all of the counterfeiting of ample, that the opera concerns “the Christing transcendence and beyond, has found its most 157 of man.” But this is not to imply that one is sublime advocate in Wagner’s art.” made or becomes a Christian. The operas pur- Parsifal was certainly inspired by the teach- pose, so states the English author and Freema- ings of Jesus, as well as by a number of Ger- son, W. L. Wilmhurst, goes beyond any specif- man Christian mystics. But, before exploring ic doctrine in an effort to reveal “an inward these influences, it is vital to note, as Wagner way of reintegration, the engrafting of the new did in a letter to a friend about the meaning of self upon the old, the unifying of the personal his so called “stage-consecrating ritual,” that will with the universal will and the transfor- he “mercilessly relinquishes the Church, and mation of one’s natural manhood into God.”160 the whole phenomena Christianity in history.” As the distinguished theosophist and author, He exhorts further: “we do it for the sake of Basil Crump evinces in a series of articles on

Wagner’s mythic dramas, “Parsifal presents Prodigal Son, Ulysses returning from war or the essential truths of the great World- the Soul seeking its heavenly state. Although Religions in a form especially adapted to the the opera contains a fusion of elements, it is Western world of today where Christianity is also clearly intended to articulate Schopenhau- the ruling religion.”161 Crump maintains fur- erian, and therefore, Buddhist themes. For it is ther that Wagner blended the historical Jesus here that Buddhist and Indian ideas related to and Buddha into the mythical Parsifal,162 suffering and compassion as well as the will to whose legends, we must recall, already con- self-abnegation, are most prominent. Yet, the tained Manichaean ideas about the transfor- primary message of Parsifal— which Wagner mation of evil, as well as Islamic, Masonic and called his “sacred festival play”—is that indi- Celtic elements. vidual transmutation, transcendence and redemption are possible without the aid of su- Therefore, Parsifal might be seen as Wagner’s pernatural intervention or any organized reli- great synthesis and the culmination of all his gious hierarchy or structure. Redemption and mystical works. Parsifal is a mythical and me- access to the inner hidden reality behind phe- tahistorical figure who fuses the Love of Jesus nomenal appearance come not by way of a and the Compassionate Wisdom of the Buddha temple made by the hands of men, but via a (resulting in the highest aspect of the will),163 self-initiated effort to purify the heart, illumi- into a new type of hero-soul who reestablishes nate the mind and live a life of complete self- the lost connection to the ground of being. offering. Crump identifies him with the seeker, the

(Richard Wagner at the piano in 1871)164

Conclusion unapologetic firebrand”165 whose powerful ideas inspired generations of thinkers and “left his article demonstrates that Richard few aspects of the Western approach to music T Wagner was more than an illustrious but untouched;”166 he was, despite his numerous controversial composer known for his anti- flaws, a musical Initiate and an emissary of a Semitism and his crisis filled life, as well as new Spiritual Science who applied himself to for his complex and dramatic operas. Wagner the study of humankind, its place in the world was a fierce and courageous “Übermensch” and its growth and development. who fought against extraordinary obstacles to From his youth onward, Wagner yearned for a reconcile a dying culture, wrought with anti- numinous world that existed outside of time communal trends and rampant individualism, and space. However, he also longed passion- with the path of higher unity or wholeness. Not ately for a brotherhood of man, for a new only was Wagner a “cultural visionary and world and for a new communal art—a intellectual artist, an iconoclastic genius and

Gesamtkunstwerk or a “total work of art,” that for bringing about a much-needed Tikkun or would touch the deeper recesses of the human world repair. In each of his operas, the com- psyche and awaken it to a new level of truth poser consciously employed a multi-level and meaning. Like no other composer, Wagner complex of ideas and allegory to convey the was determined to fathom the depths of the essential steps in humanity’s development in a world’s religious and mystical traditions, phi- way that bypasses the need for religious and losophy and myth in an effort to create a rein- hierarchical structures and places the emphasis vigorated form of ritual where the religious or on the individual’s own self-initiated effort. spiritual experience was “transferred to the A metaphysical examination of Wagner’s most aesthetic sphere.”167 Working with clear intent complex and influential work, his metahistori- and strategic purpose, Wagner was able to cal tetralogy, Der Ring Des Nibelungen, tells a draw upon the inspiration of his creative and cosmic story about the conflict between the harmonizing mind and essential Self, to clothe forces of being and non- being in which the diverse religious and philosophical ideas in the past, present and future development of human garb of poetry, drama and beautiful music— freedom and consciousness are portrayed. music that expressed in an endless stream of Some of his other music dramas deal with the harmony and poignant melody that, according themes of purification, sexual transmutation, to one Wagnerite, seems to engender an invisi- individuation and the marriage of the oppo- ble magnetic field that extends into the reaches sites. The concept of invisible aid and inspira- of space and penetrates to the very heart of the tion as well as redemptive love and self- listener.168 offering to those in need are also prominent Yet, the composer seldom used any of these themes. Other works highlight the distinction ideas or influences in their original forms. Ra- between the right-hand and left-hand paths, the ther, the inner realities and archetypal truths development of the will, and complete self- that all of his music dramas contain, were crea- mastery. tively refashioned and shrouded within an in- As such, Wagner’s aesthetically redemptive tricate, multi-layered poetic veil.169 “From music dramas are examples of how high art, these often contradictory and frequently myste- when it is informed by a large measure of spir- rious sources,” as Wentzel van Huyessteen, the itual insight and power, can reverse harmful Princeton Professor of Theology explains, and regressive tendencies and lead the individ- “Wagner was able, with astonishing insight ual and the masses out of the darkness and and serendipity, to assemble narratives that bondage of its mortal house into the realms of make sense on every level of interpretation: the innermost Soul. literal, metaphorical, symbolic and mythical.”170 While these dramatic creations, which For students of the perennial philosophy, and contain so many symbolic layers, arduous nar- the world at large in acute need of complete ratives and dialogues, are not easy to penetrate, catharsis and regeneration, the music dramas like all initiating rituals, they reveal the neces- of Richard Wagner, with their great variety sity and the methods for self-recreation to all and depth of meaning, have as much and per- those who can look behind the kaleidoscopic haps even more relevance today as they did in mantle in which they are disguised. Wagner’s day. Furthermore, his masterworks can tell us a great deal about the deep signifi- In examining the mystical and religious ideas cance of beauty and harmony in the develop- that underpin Richard Wagner’s music dramas ment of consciousness and thier role in helping and in touching briefly upon the many half- humanity establish a connection with the cur- concealed and half-revealed methods and rents of evolution. truths contained therein, this article has intended to show that the composer’s greatest concerns were for humanity's perilous social, spir- 1 Portrait of Richard Wagner, photograph, 1871, itual and political state. Wagner saw pure art, image in the public domain. specifically music-drama, as a vital medium

2 Richard Wagner, Religion and Art, 1800, 21 Howard Gray, Wagner (London: Omnibus trans., William Ashton Ellis (Lincoln, NE: Press, 1990), 121. University of Nebraska Press, 1994), 228. 22 Richard Wagner, “A Pilgrimage to Beetho- 3 Richard Wagner, “An End in Paris,” 1841 The ven,” 1840, The Wagner Library, Edition 9. Wagner Library, Edition 7. http://users. bel- http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ gacom.net/wagner/prose/wagnedpa.htm. (ac- wagpilg.htm#d0e980 (accessed November 5, cessed November 3, 2013). 2013). 4 Richard Wagner, “Rienzi’s Prayer,” Act V, 23 Runciman, Richard Wagner Composer of Op- Rienzi, the Last of the Tribune. http://www. eras (1913; reprint; Hamburg: Tredition Clas- aria-database.com/cgi-bin/aria-search.pl%3 sics, 2012), 11. Fopera%3DRienzi%26a (accessed July 27, 24 Klaus Kropfinger, Wagner and Beethoven: 2014). The quote, “Lord, dissolve the dark Richard Wagner's Reception of Beethoven night that envelops men’s soul,” is from the (Cambridge, ENG: Cambridge University libretto of Rienzi, an early opera dealing with Press, 1991), 15-16. the liberal ethos of the hero Cola Rienzi, lead- 25 Roger Scruton, “Desecrating Wagner,” Pro- er of the Volk or Folk, and the political inter- spect Magazine (London: Prospect Publishing, vention of a reactionary clergy. April 20, 2003), 14. 5 Corinne Heline, Esoteric Music Based on the 26 Ernest Newman, The Life of Richard Wagner Musical Seership of Richard Wagner (La (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Canada, CA: New Age Press Inc., 1948), 11. 2013), 403. 6 Richard Greenberg, “Music of Richard Wag- 27 Robert Donington, Wagner’s Ring and its ner,” The Great Composers (Chantilly, VA: Symbols (London: Faber and Faber Ltd. The Teaching Company). 1963). 7 Richard Wagner, The Diary of Richard Wag- 28 Ibid., 31. ner, 1865-1882; trans., George Byrd (London, 29 Richard Wagner, “Opera and Drama,” 1852, UK: Cambridge University Press 1980), 73. The Wagner Library, Edition 1.0. 8 Heline, The Esoteric Music of Richard Wag- http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ ner, 11. wlpr0063.htm (accessed November 19, 2013). 9 Barry Millington, Wagner (Princeton, NJ: 30 Michael Besack, The Esoteric Wagner: An Princeton University Press, 1984), 3. Introduction to Der Ring Des Nibelungen 10 Cosima Wagner, Cosima Wagner's Diaries (Oakland CA: Regent Press, 2004), 13. 1869-1883 (Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jo- 31 Bryan Magee, The Tristan Chord (New York: vanovich, 1978), July 5, 1871. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Co., 11 Richard Wagner, My Life: Part 1 (Middlesex, 2000) 86. UK: Echo Library, 1992), 10. 32 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 12. 12 Cosmia Wagner, Cosima Wagner's Diaries 33 Ibid. 1869-1883, July 5, 1871. 34 Father Owen Lee, Athena Sings (Toronto, 13 Richard Wagner, Mein Liben, 5. CAN: University of Toronto Press, 2003). 14 Wagner’s reputation was marred by a number Cover page. of outstanding debts and romantic relation- 35 Ibid. ships with married women. 36 Lee, Athena Sings, 68. 15 Wagner, Religion and Art, 198. 37 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner. 16 Maurice Kupperath, The Parsifal of Richard 38 Ibid., 57 Wagner, (1892; reprint; Ithaca, NY: Cornell 39 Ibid., 191. University Library, 2009), 214. 40 Helena Blavatsky, “The Collected Writings,” 17 Ibid. Electronic Books Edition (Wheaton, IL: Theo- 18 See for example, Wagner, The Last of the Ti- sophical Publishing House, 2003) 49-50. tans, by Joachim Köhler 41 Lee, Athena Sings, 69. 19 Richard Wagner, “Autobiographical Sketch,” 42 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 13. 1843, The Wagner Library, Edition 9. 43 Richard Wagner, The Artwork of the Future, http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ 1849, The Wagner Library, Edition 1.09. wagauto.htm (accessed October 3, 2013). http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ 20 Ibid. wagartfut.htm (accessed January, 18, 2014). 44 Bessak, The Esoteric Wagner, 2.

45 Ibid., 33. bad Jews.” The Wagnerian, February 11, 46 Manly P. Hall, The Symbolism of the Great 2013. http://www.the-wagnerian.com/2013/02 Operas, Audio Cassette published by Philo- /for-wagner-there-were-good-germans-and.ht sophical Research Society (January 1, 1993). ml?goback=%2 Egde_4792528_member_212 47 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 64. 789491#%21. Also see: Haggai Hitron, 48 See Wagner’s essay on the “Wibelungen” for “Wagner didn’t hate all Jews, just the bad more detailed information on World History ones, argues Israeli scholar,” Haaretz Digital as Saga at: http://users.belgacom.net/wagner Edition, January 1, 2013. http://www.haaretz. library/prose/wagwibel.htm. com/culture/arts-leisure/wagner-didn-t-hate- 49 Manly P. Hall, The Symbolism of the Great all-jews-just-bad-ones-argues-israeli-scholar. Operas. premium-1.496698 (accessed April 11, 2014). 50 Wagner, “Wibelungen,” 1848, The Wagner 72 Ibid. Library, Edition 1.0. http://users.belgacom. 73 See for example, Richard Wagner: New Light net/wagnerlibrary/prose/wagwibel.htm (ac- on a Music Life, by John Louis Digaetani. cessed May 2, 2014). 74 Two individuals who had a notable influence 51 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 16. on Adolph Hitler’s racial theories were Guido 52 Ibid., 37. von List and Jörg Lanz von Libenfels, who 53 Ibid distorted Helena Blavatsky’s theories on the 54 Ibid. Sub-Races into a racial, anti-Semitic occult- 55 Ibid., 226. ism called “Ariosophy.” For additional infor- 56 Richard Wagner, “Art and Revolution,” 1849, mation on Hitler’s racist appropriation of oc- The Wagner Library, Edition 0.9. cult theories see: Madame Blavatsky: The http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ Mother of Modern Spirituality, by Gary wagartrev.htm (accessed May 8, 2014). Lachman. 57 Aaron Green, A Look at Wagner’s Ring Cycle: 75 Richard Wagner, “Heldentum und Christen- http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/opera/a/wa tum,” Bayreuther Blätter (1881). gnerimpact.htm (accessed January8, 2014). 76 John Louis Digaetani, Richard Wagner: New 58 See for example, “Wagner as a Metapolitical Light on a Musical Life, 164-165. Revolutionary.” The article, by Kerry Bolton, 77 Richard Wagner, “On State and Religion, was written for the Wagner Bicentennial Sym- 1864, The Wagner Library, Edition 1.1. posium and was posted in May 2013 on the http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ following website: http://www.counter-cur wagstarel.htm (accessed May 7, 2014) rents.com/2013/05/wagner-bicentennial-symp 78 Richard Wagner, My Life, Vol. 1, (Cambridge, osiumwagner-as-metapolitical-revolutionary/ Mass: DeCapo, 1992), 23. print/ (accessed July 30, 2014). 79 Alan Aberbach, Richard Wagner's Religious 59 Ibid. Ideas: A Spiritual Journey (Lewiston, NY: 60 Wagner, My Life, 347. Edwin Mellen Press, 1996), 4. 61 Ibid. 80 Ibid. 62 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 8. 81 Ibid., Introduction. 63 Wagner, “Art and Revolution,” 12. 82 Ibid., 130. 64 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 18. 83 Richard Wagner, “Religion and Art”, 1880, 65 Cosima Wagner’s Diaries, Vol. 1, 1869–1877 The Wagner Library, Edition 1.1. (San Diego, CA: Harcourt, 1978). http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ 66 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 2. wlpr0126.htm (accessed February 2, 2014). 67 This cartoon, which appeared in a 19th century 84 Cosima Wagner’s Diaries, Vol.1, 1869–1877. newspaper, mocks Richard Wagner’s Jewish 85 Wagner, “Religion and Art.” friends and supporters. The Jewish Standard. 86 Ibid. http://jstandard. com/content/tag/anti-semitism 87 Ibid. (accessed January 28, 2014). 88 Aberbach, Richard Wagner’s Religious Ideas, 68 Ibid. 17. 69 Ibid., 5. 89 Richard Wagner, “The Art Work of the Fu- 70 Ibid., 2. ture,” 1849, The Wagner Library, Edition 1.0. 71 Haggai Hitron, “For Wagner, there were good http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/ Germans and bad Germans, good Jews and wagartfut.htm (accessed February 5, 2014).

90 Wagner, “The Art Work of the Future.” 119 Both the Schiller Society and the Tunnel über 91 Aberbach, Richard Wagner's Religious Ideas, der Spree were organizations that cultivated Introduction. the spirit of liberation that would lead to the 92 See The Esoteric Wagner, 5 and Richard coming revolution. Wagner’s Religious Ideas, 233- 234. 120 Max Graft, “Wagner and Freemasonry,” 1939, 93 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 5, 28. The Ottawa Evening Citizen. 94 Milton E. Brener, Richard Wagner and the 121 Ibid. Jews (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005), 92. 122 Jacques Chailley, Parsifal, de Richard Wag- 95 Ibid., 293. See also, Michael Besack, The ner: Opera Initiatique, (Paris, France: Buchet Esoteric Wagner, Alan D. Aberbach’s, Rich- Chastel, 1994), 192. ard Wagner’s Religious Ideas. 123 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 12. 96 See: Drama and the World of Richard Wag- 124 Ibid., 251. ner, by Dieter Borchmeyer and Daphne Ellis 125 Graft, Wagner and Freemasonry. (Oxford, K: Oxford University Press, 2003). 126 Ibid. 97 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 5. 127 See for example, “The Ceremony of Pass- 98 Alan David Aberbach, Richard Wagner’s Re- ing,”1933, by W. L. Wilmshurst. Made avail- ligious Ideas, 205. able through the University of Bradford, UK, 99 Ibid., 98. via The Web of Hiram. http://www.brad. 100 There is some speculation that Jesus of Naza- ac.uk/webofhiram/?section=walter_leslie_wil reth was originally intended to be a three-part mshurst&page=Passing.html. music drama, but that idea was ultimately 128 Corinne Heline, Esoteric Music of Richard abandoned. Wagner, 150. 101 Aberbach, Richard Wagner’s Religious Ideas, 129 Besack, The Esoteric Wagner, 44. 121-122. 130 Gabriel P. Weisberg and Laurinda S. Dixon, 102 Mathew Giessel, “Richard Wagner's Jesus von The Documented Image: Visions in Art Histo- Nazareth,” Virginia Commonwealth Universi- ry (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, ty, 2013, 6. 1987), 168-169. 103 Ibid., 10. 131 Ibid. 104 Richard Wagner, Richard Wagner’s Briefe an 132 This article uses the German spelling “Hafiz” Theodor Uhlig, Wilhelm Fischer, Ferdinand as opposed to “Hafez.” Heine (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1888), 133 In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche pays letter to Uhlig of December 27, 1849, no. 5. tribute to Zarathustra/Zoroaster. Nietzsche 20. https://archive.org/ details/richardwagner states explicitly “I must pay tribute to Zara- sb00wagn (accessed August 22, 2014). thustra, a Persian. Persians were the first who 105 Giessel, “Richard Wagner’s Jesus von Naza- thought of history in its full entirety.” reth,” 31. 134 Richard Wagner to August Röckel, September 106 Ibid., 5. 12, 1852, Selected Letters of Richard Wagner; 107 Ibid., 312. trans., and ed., Stewart Spencer and Barry 108 Ibid., 298. Millington (New York, NY: J. M. Dent & 109 Aberbach, Richard Wagner’s Religious Ideas, Sons, 1987), 270. 98. 135 William Ashton Ellis, “Richard Wagner to 110 The Jerusalem Bible, 1 Corinthians. 6:19-20, Theodore Uhlig,” The Life of Richard Wag- as cited by Wagner in Jesus of Nazareth. ner, September 12, 1852 (New York, NY: Da 111 Wagner, Jesus of Nazareth, 302. Capo Press, 1977), 3:427. 112 The Jerusalem Bible, John 13:34-3, as cited 136 William Ashton Ellis, “Richard Wagner to by Wagner in Jesus of Nazareth. Theodore Uhlig,” The Life of Richard Wag- 113 Wagner, Jesus of Nazareth, 311. ner, September 27, 3:427-428. 114 Ibid., 304. 137 Paul Smith, Odes from the Divan of Hafiz, 115 Ibid., vol.1 (Melbourne: New Humanity Books, 116 Aberbach, Richard Wagner’s Religious Ideas, 1986), 60. 92. 138 Abreact, Richard Wagner’s Religious Ideas, 117 Ibid., 130. 135. 118 Giessel, “Richard Wagner’s Jesus von Naza- 139 Smith, Odes from the Divan of Hafiz, 60. reth,” 209.

140 “Jules Lunteschütz. “Arthur Schopenhauer,” Basic Writings of Nietzsche, trans., Walter painting, 1855, image in the public domain. Kaufmann (New York: The Modern Library, 141 Evan Star, One Hundred Quips and Quotes, 1967), 639. (Lyndhurst, NJ: Barnes and Noble Books, 158 Cosima’s Diaries, January 1882. Inc., 1995), 870. 159 Alan Aberbach, Richard Wagner’s Spiritual 142 Bryan Magee, The Tristan Chord, 126-127. Ideas, 199. 143 Ibid. 160 William Leslie Wilmhusrt, Parsifal, A Study 144 Ibid. of Wagner’s Music Drama, (London, ENG: 145 Ibid., 154. Percy Lund and Humphries, 1922), 6. 146 Harlow Gale, “Schopenhauer's Metaphysics of 161 Basil Crump, Richard Wagner’s Music Dra- Music,” 1888, The Wagner Library, Edition. mas: VII-1. http://www.theosociety.org/pas 1.0. http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary adena/ub/v12n12p262_richard-wagners-music /articles/ney48218.htm (accessed April 21, -dramas.htm (accessed May 3, 2014). 2014). 162 Ibid. 147 Thomas Mann, “Sufferings and Greatness,” in 163 Ibid. Essays of Three Decades (Gütersloh, DE: 164 Portrait of Richard Wagner, 1871, Opera di Random House, 1947), 330, Firenze, Fondazione Teatro del Maggio Musi- 148 These ideas are derived from On the Basis of cale Fiorentino, 2014. https://www.operadi fi- Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer. renze.it/en/pages/richard-wagner (accessed 149 Ibid. June 2, 2014). 150 Brain Magee, The Tristan Chord, 170. 165 Gavin Schriver, “Unendlich Melodie and the 151 “Wagner and Buddhism.” http://www.mon Twilight of Opera by Numbers: The Funda- salvat.no/india.htm (accessed April 30, 2014). mental Revolution of Richard Wagner’s Rede- 152 See “Ideas from Indian Religion, Philosophy fined Operatic Orchestra.” https://www.utexas and Literature in Parsifal,” by Carl Suneson. .edu/.../pdf/Schriver.pdf (accessed May 3, www.monsalvat.no/suneson.htm (accessed 2014). April 3, 2014). 166 Ibid. 153 Roger Scruton, Death Devoted Heart: Sex and 167 Roger Scruton, Death Devoted Heart: Sex and the Sacred in Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde the Sacred in Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004), 161. 180. 168 Anatoly Lunacharsky, “Richard Wagner” in 154 Ibid., 183. Literature and Art 1933. https://www.marxists 155 In the various legends about Tristan and Isol- .org/archive/-lunachar1933/wagner.htm (ac- de, “Tantris” is the name Tristan initially cessed June 7, 2014). gives to Isolde as he lay dying from a poi- 169 J. Wentzel van Huyessteen, “Building Effec- soned wound in the bottom of his boat. Later tive Bridges to Culture: God and Redemption in the drama as he points to his weapon, he in the Work of Richard Wagner. tells Isolde that “Tristan and Tantris are the http://www.vanhuyssteen.org/wp-content/up same and both shall die from this sword.” loads/2007/12/buildingbridges.pdf (accessed 156 Corinne Heline, Esoteric Music of Wagner, March 17, 2014). 130-131. 170 Ibid. 157 Fredrick Nietzsche, “The Case of Wagner,” in

Book Reviews

The Path to Higher States of Consciousness: development and looks forward to a “new the- A Collection of Esoteric Essays, by Iván Ko- ology.” vács, 200 pages, $15.93, ISBN-10: 149960872. Another essay considers the three-fold rela- Available at: http//: www.Amazon.com. tionship between the soul-infused personality, he Path to Higher States of Consciousness discipleship and the construction of the T is a collection of nine essays, previously Antahkarana, while a fifth essay discusses lan- published in either the Beacon or The Esoteric guage and mantra as causal forces with enor- Quarterly, in which various aspects of the mous creative and transformative power. Ageless Wisdom are discussed. Bringing to- The sixth article in this collection explores the gether the esoteric philosophy of east and west, various incarnations of one of the ‘flowers of with the teachings of Helena Blavatsky, Hele- humanity”—the Master Rakoczi, one of the na Roerich and Alice A. Bailey, Kovács pre- most mysterious and important members of the sents a wide range of insightful and informa- Planetary Hierarchy. The article examines the tive essays that invite deep reflection. activities of the Master Rakoczi in his present The title essay—Esotericism and the Feminine role as the Lord of Civilization and head of the Principle—begins with an historical overview now incoming Seventh Ray, as well as his pre- of the feminine principle showing how the per- vious incarnations as Roger Bacon, Francis ception of women has changed throughout the Bacon, Francis Rakozci II, and the Comte de ages. The article demonstrates that while the St. Germain. In recounting the lives of these feminine principle’s life-sustaining approach distinguished individuals and by establishing a has fluctuated overtime, it has never ceased to clear link between them, Kovács gives us a exert a valuable and important influence on fuller picture of some of the divine characteris- society. The article then singles out the lives of tics that constitute a perfected Soul, a Master the three aforementioned women whose influ- of the Wisdom and senior member of the Spir- ence carried substantial weight in inaugurating itual Hierarchy. the New Age. Following Kovács’ informative essay on the The next article discusses The Apu Trilogy, a Master Rakoczi, is an article that looks beyond set of three films by the Indian filmmaker, the generally accepted rendering of “dharma” Satyajit Ray. Kovács’ examination of the trilo- as it appears in the Mahabharata. The article gy touches on the story from both the literal provides some background on the text for and metaphysical levels. On the surface, the those who might not be familiar with this sa- trilogy traces the epic journey of Apu, from his cred Sanskrit epic. After touching on the main impoverished beginnings to his marriage and narrative in the story, Kovács discusses the fatherhood. On an esoteric level, as Kovács’ centrality of dharma from which many of the retelling shows, the three films contain many other values and principles in Hinduism flow. spiritual lessons. Ultimately, The Apu Trilogy However, the author’s principle emphasis is on depicts the initiatory journey toward simplicity the symbolism and significance of dharma as it and truth and the eternal existence of the hu- pertains to the “spiritual warrior” or striving man soul. Soul. In addition to his examination of the The third article in this series provides a selec- theme within the context of the Bhagavad Gita tive historical overview of Christianity in and the Dharma of Kings, the author draws which several of its obvious problems and upon the writings of Alice A. Bailey and others flaws are discussed. The essay also posits an to “illuminate these verses in such a way that alternative or esoteric view of Christianity’s they can be of practical use to the modern-day disciple.”

The second to last article in this collection, In addition to the themes discussed above, the surveys the ways in which knowledge of the book contains appendices consisting of four Seven Rays is being disseminated by individu- brief informal papers. The first of these—The als in the esoteric community, the psychologi- Kundalini Syndrome—investigates the trau- cal profession and elsewhere. Since the article matic and often misunderstood experience of is written for those who are relative newcom- kundalini arousal. In addition to examining the ers to esoteric teachings and the Science of the all-important requirements for a timely Seven Rays, the article does not provide com- kundalini awakening, Kovács also outlines the prehensive information about each ray; rather, the numerous symptoms accompanying such it examines the latest material written after an awakening. Alice Bailey’s pivotal exegesis on the theme. The next paper, Genius, Insanity and the Noble However, the article does include a concise Middle Path, is an intriguing commentary on introduction and description of the rays, fol- the thin line between genius and insanity. The lowed by a discussion of the rays from Rosi- paper examines the lives of a number of indi- crucian, Anthroposophical, Theosophical and viduals who exhibited qualities that are charac- Psychological perspectives. Kovács stresses teristic of both extremes. It also reflects upon the contributions of Kurt Abraham and Mi- genius in its purest form as seen in those who chael Robbins whose work serves as the most have learned to tread the path of balance or important adjunct to Bailey’s teachings to date. equilibrium between the pairs of opposites. The article concludes with some practical examples of how to think more creatively about In another paper —The Energy of Love— the rays. Kovács attempts to probe the deeper meaning of Love as a “thing in itself” without necessari- The Path to Higher States of Consciousness as ly linking it to a specific act of compassion or Perceived in the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, charity. and the books of Alice A. Bailey is Kovács final full length contribution to the book. In this In the concluding paper, the author considers article, Kovács presents an overview of the the genius of Jan Smuts and the Concept of tiered and evolving levels of consciousness as Holism. The article touches upon Smuts’ form- they are understood in the Vedas, the works of ative years, his years as statesman, scholar and Patanjali and the teachings of Alice A. Bailey. a true spiritual visionary who developed the In order to familiarize the reader with the vari- theory of “holism” in 1926 and a related theory ous degrees of consciousness as they are re- of evolution. The paper concludes with a brief flected from the macrocosmic whole into the discussion about how Smuts' theories have human microcosm, the author opens with a been validated today. discussion of the Human Constitution as it is In this interesting and accessible anthology of presented in Bailey’s work. The author also essays, Kovács shares his knowledge and in- draws upon numerous passages from the sights into some of the many facets of the Age- Upanishads which focus on Self-realization less Wisdom teachings, making The Path to and the relationship between the universal and Higher States of Consciousness a valuable re- individual Soul, as well as Bailey’s commen- source for all those who have set their foot on taries on the Yoga Sutras and Raja Yoga. A the spiritual path. section on the Antahkarana as a means of ap- The Editorial Staff proach to the Spiritual Triad is included. The Esoteric Quarterly

Nicholas & Helena Roerich: The Spiritual wealthy supporters. It was to be an institution Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemak- in which all the arts, along with their creators ers, by Ruth A. Drayer, Wheaton, IL: Quest or performers, could be brought together in the Books, 2003/2005, 360 pages. List price service of world peace. US$21.95. At the Masters’, or Mahatmas’, urging, how- icholas and Helena Roerich are revered ever, the Roerichs were drawn to Asia, with N by millions of people for their contribu- another vision: “to establish and lead . . . the tions to modern esotericism. Along with Hele- ‘New Russia,’ a Buddhist spiritual state in the na Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Alice Bailey, and areas surrounding the Altai Mountains, Mon- a handful of others, they were selected by the golia, and the Gobi [Desert]” (p. 65). This sec- Planetary Hierarchy to receive what we now ond vision and the related quest to find the call the Trans-Himalayan teachings, during mythical Shamballa were the driving forces that pivotal period in world history from 1875 behind the expeditions that occupied the latter to 1950. Nicholas is best-remembered for his part of the 1920s. George Roerich accompa- legacy of spiritual art, though he did much nied his parents on the expeditions, and his more, while Helena served as amanuensis to knowledge of local languages was an enor- the Master Morya to produce the Agni Yoga mous asset. teachings. Drayer gives a good account of the hardships Ruth Drayer’s valuable—though in some ways of the expeditions, on which Helena—whose disappointing—book was first published more health was always fragile—bravely accompa- than ten years ago, but a review at this time is nied her husband. They traversed frigid high appropriate in the light of recent attention on mountain ranges, blistering deserts, and areas social media. Drayer’s research, extending roamed by brigands or controlled by hostile over fourteen years, is impressive. Much of the warlords. In several instances, they were de- material she presents was not previously avail- layed for weeks or months by the petty bu- able, and original sources and private letters reaucracy of one country or another, and in one are quoted at length. Her writing style is lively, instance they nearly perished while confined enabling her to hold the reader’s attention. over the winter months in a mountainous area on the border of Tibet because officials in the Like Blavatsky, the Roerichs were Russian: British Raj suspected that they were Bolshevik Helena of noble birth, Nicholas from a wealthy spies or revolutionaries (pp. 231ff). family that played prominent roles in the pro- fessions, politics, and the military. They grew Despite the hardships, the Roerich’s experi- up in positions of privilege in the highly strati- enced and recorded the beauty of Asia, made fied society of Tsarist Russia, blessed with op- numerous archeological discoveries, and estab- portunities to travel, read, and learn. By any lished lasting contacts with Buddhists, Mus- measure, they put those gifts to good use lims, Christians, and members of numerous throughout their full lives together. The Roe- ethnic groups. They were struck by the perva- richs had two sons: George, who became an siveness of legends, throughout Central Asia, expert in oriental languages; and Svetoslav, an of Jesus’ travels to the Himalayas during the artist and architect. gospels’ “silent years.” And they learned much Nicholas & Helena Roerich focuses on Nicho- about Shamballa. las’ art, his peacemaking efforts, and most im- Ever promoting peace among nations, ethnic portantly on the explorations of central and groups, and religions, Nicholas Roerich was eastern Asia. Nicholas first established himself nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929. as an artist and was widely acclaimed in his The following year he proposed an interna- native Russia and, after the Revolution of tional treaty, the Roerich Peace Pact, to protect 1917, in the West. He conceived of the Master art treasures and scientific discovery in the School of United Arts, which came to fruition event of war. The treaty was signed by Presi- in 1921, in New York City, with the backing of dent Franklin D. Roosevelt and twenty-two

other world leaders (p. xiii). Thirty-two coun- from the Institutions and who succeeded in tries were represented at the Second Interna- winning the courts and the judges over to their tional Peace Banner Conference in 1932 (pp. side.” 272-281). These were just some of the setbacks and dis- The Great Depression struck in 1929, followed appointments that plagued the last years of the in 1934 by the Dust Bowl in the American and Roerichs’ lives. Nicholas never reached Lhasa, Canadian prairies. U.S. Secretary of Agricul- the capital of Tibet; he never found Shamballa, ture Henry A. Wallace, who at that time ad- at least on the dense physical plane; and his mired Roerich, devised a plan to send him to vision of a Buddhist state—which he firmly East Asia to bring back samples of drought- believed had the support of the Mahatmas— tolerant grass which might restore fertility to was unrealized. Betrayed by friends and gov- the affected areas. Nicholas agreed, seeing the ernments, the Roerichs retired to northern In- expedition not just in terms of its botanical dia, to live in relative seclusion. There they objectives but also as a fresh opportunity to remained during World War II. They lived to promote his vision of a New Russia. But the see India and Pakistan win their long-sought expedition was doomed almost from the outset. independence from British rule. But Nicholas, It became caught up in the political standoff who had worked so hard to bring people to- between China and Japanese-occupied Man- gether, did not live to see peace in his adopted churia (Manchukuo). Japan—which the U.S. country. He made his transition in December distrusted—was accommodating of the Roe- 1947, as the two new nations went to war richs and their mission. But the Chinese au- against each other. Helena continued her work thorities were even more obstructive than they for another eight years, at the urging of the had been during the earlier expeditions. Masters, before she too passed away. Suspicions about his alleged ties with Bolshe- Like many world disciples, the Roerichs faced vism also surfaced again among U.S. officials, many challenges, not least from some of their Wallace turned against his former friend, and closest disciples. But their legacy speaks for the expedition was terminated (pp. 290-302). itself. Drayer sums up their achievement thus: In a climate of accusations and outright lies, “Spiritual pioneers, searching for something the Roerichs became persona non grata in greater than themselves, the Roerichs cut a America. Helena Roerich who had corre- path through the darkness for all of us” (p. sponded with Roosevelt, was forbidden to con- 336). tinue doing so. A new Roerich Museum was chartered in New Louis Horch, who had been a close friend and York City in 1958, containing 200 of Nicho- financial supporter, and to whom operation of las’s paintings and an extensive archive of his the Master School of United Arts had been and Helena’s writings. It flourishes today and entrusted, also turned against the Roerichs, is visited by pilgrims from every part of the accusing Nicholas of being “an imposter and a world. The Roerichs’ work also found favor in cheat,” and “a dangerous person who mixed the Soviet Union in the 1980s, under the new “politics with art and would be a troublemaker political climate of perestroika. Svestoslav wherever he went” (p. 319). Horch even man- Roerich met with Soviet premier Mikhail Gor- aged to oust Nicholas Roerich as a trustee of bachev and his wife Raisa, herself a student of the School—the very institution that Nicholas Agni Yoga (pp. 339-340). Many of Nicholas’s had conceived of and founded. Priceless works paintings are now on permanent exhibition at of art and Helena’s private diaries were seized. museums in Russia, including the Nicholas Drayer quotes a harsh but accurate judgment Roerich Museum in Moscow. Other paintings by one of the Roerich’s loyal disciples: “[T]he found their way to museums around the world. entire Museum was stolen by criminals, people Ruth Drayer’s Nicholas & Helena Roerich without any scruples, people who deliberately makes a valuable contribution to the literature, ousted the rightful shareholders and trustees and this reviewer has no hesitation in recom-

mending it to readers of The Esoteric Quarter- cooperation, and compassion” (frontispiece). ly. But readers need to be aware that the Helena is at Nicholas’ side throughout the sto- book’s title, subtitle and dedication do not ac- ry, and certainly her courage and cooperation curately describe what it achieves. The book is with her husband comes across. But little is a biography of Nicholas Roerich, rather than said about her other than the brief account of Nicholas and Helena. Moreover, its subtitle her childhood, in the first chapter, and an speaks of a “spiritual journey.” The expedi- equally brief account of her life after Nicholas’ tions certainly merit that description, but Nich- death. Even a single chapter would have been olas’ inner journey is not discussed at any welcome, recalling her work with the Master length. More attention is paid to political mat- Morya, the development of the Agni Yoga ters, and to interactions with friends and foes, teachings, and her contribution to modern eso- than to the spiritual message of his paintings or tericism. As it is, we must turn elsewhere to to his writings. find out why she could be called “Light of the Star of the Morning.” The book, we are told, is “[d]edicated to Hele- na Ivanovna Roerich, Urusvati, the Light of the John F. Nash Star of the Morning, who foresaw the ‘Era of Johnson City, Tennessee the Woman’ as a time requiring great courage,