Martinus Cosmology

254 Bertelsen Chapter 32 Martinus Martinus Cosmology Helle Bertelsen Introduction Martinus Thomsen, who was later to be known by his first name only, was born in humble circumstances on 11 August 1890 in Sindal, a small provincial town in the Northern part of the Danish peninsula of Jutland. His schooling was limited to a few years at the village school, in which teaching took place twice a week during summer and autumn. At the age of twelve he became a herd boy, and four years later he began his apprenticeship as a dairyman. He worked in various dairies in different parts of Denmark. Later on he became a watchman, and in 1920 he was employed as an office clerk at the dairy Enigheden in Copenhagen. During two days in 1921, Martinus Thomsen, then aged thirty, had two spiritual revelations. He had borrowed a book on Theosophical meditation practices and reincarnation from a friend, Lars Nibelvang (1879–1948). Guided by the directions on how to meditate found in the book, Martinus began meditating on the concept of God. During the first meditation, Martinus suddenly had some extraordinary experiences, which he later called “the white baptism of fire”. It was succeeded the next day by “the golden baptism of fire”. The allusion to the concept of “fire” refers to the luminous states in these revelations and the “baptism” to the divine initiation that Martinus recorded had taken place. Martinus felt a unity with God during these meditations, and he had the impression that the very consciousness of God was incarnated in him. He described this experience as a profound transformation of consciousness, a permanent state that never left him, a state in which he had direct access to divine knowledge and in which he was able ‘to apprehend all the main spiritual forces, invisible causes, eternal world laws, basic energies, and basic principles behind the physical world. The mystery of existence was therefore no longer a mystery to me. I had become conscious of the life of the whole Universe, and had been initiated into the “Divine Creative Principle”’ (Martinus, On the Birth of my Mission, ch. 20). According to the traditions of the Martinus movement, this decisive initiation into cosmic consciousness took place on 24 March 1921, and therefore this date is regarded as the birthday of the Martinus mission or “The Cause”. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004325968_034 Martinus 255 Biographical accounts of Martinus Thomsen are inconclusive about the Theosophical inspiration for Martinus’ spiritual revelation. Martinus himself rejected any suggestion that his revelations were inspired by Theosophy. It is emphasised that Martinus never finished reading the Theosophical book on meditation, and that he was not at all well read at the time of his spiritual experiences. To put it another way, it is an important part of the self-image of the Martinus circle that there is one source only for his insight and calling, namely God. The only mundane inspiration openly acknowledged by Martinus was his Christian childhood education. Elsewhere, however, one can read that Nibel- vang had introduced Martinus to Theosophy just before Martinus received his revelations (Kosmos 1948–01, available online at <http://www.martinus.dk/da/ kosmos/kosmos/1948/kos1948–01–013.php>). No matter what the true sequence of events may have been, it is a fact that Martinus moved in Theosophical and Anthroposophical circles and communi- cated his teachings there in the period immediately after his spiritual revelation. From the middle of the twentieth century, however, the connections with these milieus were severed. Martinus insisted on his spiritual affinity to the Christian tradition in spite of many elements of ultimately Indian origin but probably mediated by Theosophical, Anthroposophical, and other esoteric sources. For instance, Martinus’ teaching incorporates conceptions of karma, reincarnation, energies, and levels of energy. Martinus’ Writings and Message A few years were to pass, though, before Martinus could devote himself entirely to his mission. Of crucial importance was the fact that Lars Nibelvang from the very beginning was convinced that Martinus had gained access to a form of cosmic consciousness. As a consequence, he became Martinus’ first intellec- tual and financial supporter. Later on, other friends helped with economic support, and Martinus could therefore devote himself entirely to his spiritual work from the autumn of 1922. It was a challenge from the outset that Martinus was not thoroughly familiar with a conceptual framework capable of communicating his metaphysical experiences in writing. Therefore, the first medium for communicating his message was to draw and colour geometrical symbols of what he saw as the true cosmic structure of the universe. These characteris- tic symbols can be seen as conspicuous symbols of his life work and function even today as important didactic tools or “maps” for presenting Martinus’ cosmology..

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