St. Germain (also sometimes referred to as Master Rakoczi) is a legendary spiritual master of the ancient wisdom in the Theosophical and post-Theosophical teachings ...
St. Germain (Theosophy)
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St. Germain (also sometimes referred to as
Master Rakoczi) is a legendary spiritual master of the ancient wisdom in the
Theosophical and post-Theosophical teachings of
C. W. Leadbeater,
Alice A. Bailey,
Benjamin Creme, the
White Eagle Lodge, modern
Rosicrucianism and the
Ascended Master Teachings, responsible for the
New Age culture of the
Age of Aquarius and identified with the
Count of St. Germain (
fl. 1710–1784), who has been variously described as a
courtier,
adventurer,
charlatan, inventor,
alchemist, pianist, violinist and amateur composer. He is of central importance to the
Saint Germain Foundation.
Legend
St. Germain, as one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, is credited with near god-like powers and with longevity. It is believed that
Sir Francis Bacon faked his own death on
Easter Sunday, 9 April 1626, attended his own funeral and made his way from England to
Transylvania where he found lodging in a castle owned by the
Rakóczi family. There, on 1 May 1684, Bacon, by using
alchemy, became an
immortal occult master and adopted the name
Saint Germain
and became one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, a group of beings
that, Theosophists believe, form a Spiritual Hierarchy of planet
Earth sometimes called the
Ascended Masters.
Thus, according to these beliefs, St. Germain was a mysterious
manifestation of the "resurrected form" (or "resurrection body") of Sir
Francis Bacon.
Some write that his name St. Germain was invented by him as a French version of the Latin
Sanctus Germanus, meaning "Holy Brother."
[1][2][3] In the Ascended Master Teachings (but not in traditional Theosophy), the
Master R, or the
Master Rakóczi, also known as the
Great Divine Director (a term introduced by
Guy Ballard
in the 1930s) is a separate and distinct being from St. Germain – the
Master Rakoczi is regarded in the Ascended Master Teachings as a name
used by the Great Divine Director when he was functioning as Saint
Germain's teacher in the Great White Brotherhood of Ascended Masters.
[4]
Literature about St. Germain
Biographies
There are several "authoritative" biographers who usually do not
agree with one another. Probably the two best-known biographies are
Isabel Cooper-Oakley's
The Count of St. Germain (1912) and
Jean Overton-Fuller's
The Comte de Saint-Germain: Last Scion of the House of Rakoczy
(1988). The former is a compilation of letters, diaries and private
records written about the Count by members of the French aristocracy who
knew him in the 18th century. Dr. Raymond Bernard's book
The Great Secret – St. Germain is biographical and covers many aspects of the Counts' life including his conflation with Sir
Francis Bacon and the author of the
Shakespearean opus.
Manly Palmer Hall in his
The Secret Teachings of All Ages,
describes some of the same attributes as Dr. Bernard, including the
attribution of the writings of Shakespeare to a great adept like Francis
Bacon, who could be amalgamated with the Count of St. Germain.
There have also been numerous French and German biographies, among them
Der Wiedergänger: Das zeitlose Leben des Grafen von Saint-Germain by
Peter Krassa,
Le Comte de Saint-Germain by
Marie-Raymonde Delorme and
L'énigmatique Comte De Saint-Germain by
Pierre Ceria and
François Ethuin.
Occult biography
A book titled
The Great Secret, Count St. Germain, by Dr. Raymond Bernard purports that St. Germain was actually
Francis Bacon by birth, and later
authored the complete Plays attributed to Shakespeare. He also contends, as does the
Saint Germain Foundation in Schaumburg, Illinois, that
Francis Bacon was the child of
Queen Elizabeth and
Lord Dudley but that it was kept quiet. According to the theory, Francis was raised by the Bacon family. Yet, throughout the
Shakespearean
canon, there are numerous hints that the author knows of his true
birth, as revealed in the explicit clues in the text of the plays
themselves, in pictures, as well as the
cipher code that he employed.
Books claimed by Guy Ballard to have been dictated to him by Saint Germain
Saint Germain is the central figure in the Saint Germain Series of
Books published by the Saint Germain Press (the publishing arm of the
Saint Germain Foundation). The first two volumes,
Unveiled Mysteries and
The Magic Presence, written by
Godfre Ray King, describe Saint Germain as an
Ascended Master, like
Jesus, who is assisting humanity. Godfre Ray King is the pen-name for
Guy Warren Ballard.
In these first two books, he discusses his personal experiences with
Saint Germain and reveals many teachings that are in harmony with
Theosophy and some other works referenced above. The third volume,
The 'I AM' Discourses, contains material that is foundational to the
sacred scriptures of the "I AM" Religious Activity, founded in 1930, the first of the Ascended Master Teachings religions.
There are 20 Volumes in the Saint Germain Series of Books, which are
also referred to as the "Green Books." Another work of great importance,
the
Comte de Gabalis,
is said to be from the hand of Sir Francis Bacon before he Ascended and
returned as Sanctus Germanus, the "Holy Brother Herman," or Saint
Germain. First printed in 1670, the book includes a picture of the
Polish Rider, a famous painting at the
Frick Collection in New York City, which is said to be of Sir Francis Bacon,
a.k.a. the
Comte de Gabalis, or the Count of the
Cabala. Lotus Ray King (Edna Ballard's pen name), wife of
Guy Ballard,
talked about this book having been authored by the Ascended Master
Saint Germain in the Round Table Talks of the "I AM" Religious Activity.
Claimed encounters with Saint Germain
Several
Theosophists
and practitioners of alternate esoteric traditions have claimed to have
met Saint Germain in the late 19th or early 20th centuries:
- Annie Besant said that she met the Count in 1896.
- C. W. Leadbeater claimed to have met him in Rome in 1926 and gave a physical description of him as having brown eyes, olive colored skin, and a pointed beard; according to Leadbeater, "the splendour of his Presence impels men to make obeisance".[5] Leadbeater said that Saint Germain showed him a robe that had been previously owned by a Roman Emperor and that Saint Germain told him that one of his residences was a castle in Transylvania. According to Leadbeater, when performing magical rituals in his castle in Transylvania, Saint Germain wears "a suit of golden chain-mail which once belonged to a Roman Emperor; over it is thrown a magnificent cloak of Tyrian purple, with on its clasp a seven-pointed star in diamond and amethyst, and sometimes he wears a glorious robe of violet."[6]
- Guy Ballard, founder of the "I AM" Activity, claimed that he met Saint Germain on Mount Shasta in California in August 1930, and that this initiated his "training" and experiences with other Ascended Masters in various parts of the world.[7]
- Edgar Cayce,
the "Sleeping Prophet", was asked while in trance if Saint Germain was
present. Cayce's reply was: "When needed." (From reading # 254–83 on
2/14/1935.)
- Paul Foster Case, founder of Builders of the Adytum claimed to have met the Count, in his incarnation as "Master R" in New York in 1921.
- Dorothy Leon, living author, has claimed to have had several encounters with Saint Germain and is an avowed disciple of his.
- Miroslav Zimmer, living poet, claim to have met St Germain in the Mala Fatry mountains in 2011 in the company of a Sam Bennett.
- David Narozny, living Czech music composer, claims to have met St Germain in Pruhonice 23.5.2014.
- Peter Mt. Shasta,
living spiritual teacher, claims that in 1973 St. Germain materialized
before him in Muir Woods, Marin County, California, USA .[8]
Esoteric activities
Many groups honor Saint Germain as a
supernatural being called a Master of the Ancient Wisdom or an
Ascended master. In the Ascended Master Teachings he is referred to simply as
Saint Germain, or as the
Ascended Master Saint Germain [1]. As an Ascended Master, Saint Germain is believed to have many
magical powers such as the ability to teleport,
levitate, walk through walls, and to inspire people by
telepathy, among others.
Theosophists consider him to be a
Mahatma, Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or Adept.
Helena Blavatsky said that he was one of her Masters of Wisdom and hinted that he had given her secret documents. Some
esoteric groups credit him with inspiring the
Founding Fathers to draft the
United States Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution, as well as providing the design of the
Great Seal of the United States. (See
Manly Palmer Hall's
Secret Teachings of All Ages.)
[9] In
New Age beliefs, Saint Germain is always associated with the color violet, the jewel
amethyst, and the
Maltese cross rendered in violet (usually the
iron cross style cross patee version). He is also regarded as the "Chohan of the Seventh Ray"
[10] According to
Theosophy, the
Seven Rays are seven metaphysical principles that govern both individual souls and the unfolding of each 2,158-year-long
Astrological Age. Since according to Theosophy the next
Astrological Age, the
Age of Aquarius,
will be governed by the Seventh (Violet) Ray (the Ray of Ceremonial
Order), Saint Germain is sometimes called "The Hierarch of the Age of
Aquarius". According to the Ascended Master Teachings, Saint Germain is
"The God of Freedom for
this system of worlds."
According to the Ascended Master Teachings, the preliminary lead-up to
the beginning of the Age of Aquarius began on 1 July 1956, when Ascended
Master Saint Germain became the Hierarch of the Age of Aquarius,
replacing the former
Astrological Age Hierarch, the Ascended Master Jesus, who had been for almost 2,000 years the "Hierarch of the
Age of Pisces".
In the works authored by Alice A. Bailey, Saint Germain is called
Master Rakóczi or the
Master R.[11]
(In the Ascended Master Teachings, the Master Rakoczi [ otherwise known
as the Great Divine Director ] is regarded as Saint Germain's teacher
in the Great White Brotherhood of Ascended Masters.) Alice A. Bailey's
book
The Externalisation of the Hierarchy (a compilation of
earlier revelations published posthumously in 1957) gives the most
information about his reputed role as a Spiritual Master. Saint
Germain's spiritual title is said to be
Lord of Civilization, and his task is the establishment of the new civilization of the Age of Aquarius.
[12]
He is said to telepathically influence people who are seen by him as
being instrumental in bringing about the new civilization of the Age of
Aquarius. Alice A. Bailey stated that "sometime after AD 2025," the
Jesus, the Master Rakóczi (Saint Germain), Kuthumi, and others in the
Spiritual Hierarchy would "externalise", i.e., descend from the
spiritual worlds, and interact in visible tangible bodies on the Earth
in
ashrams, surrounded by their disciples.
[13] Alice A. Bailey said that St. Germain is the "manager of the executive council of the Christ"
[14](Theosophists regard "the Master Jesus" and "Christ" as two separate and distinct beings. They believe in the
Gnostic Christology espoused by
Cerinthus (
fl. c. 100 AD), according to which "Christ" is a being who was incarnated in Jesus only during the three years of the
ministry of Jesus).
According to certain Theosophists, "Christ" is identified as being a
highly developed spiritual entity whose actual name is Maitreya. This
Maitreya is the same being known in Buddhism as the Bodhisattva
Maitreya, who is in training to become the next Buddha on Earth.
According to Alice A. Bailey, the "executive council of the Christ" is a
specific subgroup of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, charged with
preparing the way for the
Second Coming of Christ and the consequent inauguration of the Age of Aquarius.
According to
Benjamin Creme, when Ascended Master Saint Germain externalizes on the
physical plane, one of the major activities of his ashram will be developing new forms of
New Age music.
[15]
Previous incarnations
According to
Theosophy and the
Ascended Master Teachings,
Saint Germain was incarnated as: (see notes 1, 2, and 3 for sources):
(Note: Not all Theosophical and Ascended Master Teaching groups accept
all of these incarnations as valid. St. Germain's incarnations as St.
Alban, Proclus, Roger Bacon and Sir Francis Bacon are universally
accepted.)
- Ruler of a Golden Age civilization centered in a city called "The City of the Sun" 70,000 years ago located in the then lush and verdant area that is now the Sahara Desert, originally a colony sent out from Atlantis.
- High priest in the civilization of Atlantis 13,000 years ago, serving in the Order of Lord Zadkiel in the Temple of Purification, located in an Atlantean colony that had been sent out from the main island of Atlantis that had been established on the island now called Cuba.
- Samuel, 11th-century BC religious leader in Israel who served as prophet, priest, and last of the Hebrew judges.
- Hesiod, Greek poet whose writings serve as a major source of insight into Greek mythology and cosmology (c. 700 BC).
- Plato,
Philosopher who studied with students of Pythagoras and scholars in
Egypt. He established his own school of philosophy at the Academy in
Athens. (427–347 BC).
- Saint Joseph, 1st century AD, Nazareth. Husband of Mary and guardian of Jesus.
- Saint Alban,
late 3rd or early 4th century, town of Verulamium, renamed St. Albans,
Hertfordshire, England. First British martyr – he had sheltered a
fugitive priest, became a devout convert, and was put to death for
disguising himself as the priest so that he could die in his place.
- Proclus,
c. 410 – 485 AD. Athens. The last major Greek Neoplatonic philosopher.
He headed the Platonic Academy and wrote extensively on philosophy,
astronomy, mathematics, and grammar.
- Merlin,
c. 5th or 6th century, Britain. Magician and counselor at King Arthur's
Camelot who inspired the establishment of the Order of the Knights of
the Round Table.
- Roger Bacon,
c. 1220–1292 AD, England. Philosopher, educational reformer, and
experimental scientist. Forerunner of modern science renowned for his
exhaustive investigations into alchemy, optics, mathematics, and
languages.[16]
- Organizer behind the scenes for the Secret Societies in Germany in
the late 14th and early 15th centuries. The creation of a possibly
fictional character named "Christian Rosenkreuz" was inspired by his efforts.
- Christopher Columbus,
1451–1506 AD. Believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy and settled in
Portugal. Landed in America in 1492 during the first of four voyages to
the New World sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
- Francis Bacon, 1561–1626, England. Philosopher, statesman, essayist and literary master, author of the Shakespearean plays (according to the Ascended Master Teachings), father of inductive science, and herald of the scientific revolution.
Ascension into masterhood
According to the Ascended Master Teachings, Francis Bacon made it
appear that he died on Easter Sunday, 9 April 1626, and he even attended
his own "funeral" in disguise. It is believed by the adherents of the
Ascended Master Teachings that he then traveled secretly to
Transylvania (then part of
Hungary, now part of
Romania) to the Rakoczy Mansion of the
royal family of Hungary. Finally on 1 May 1684 he is believed to have attained (by his knowledge of
alchemy) his physical Ascension (attaining
immortality and eternal youth [ the sixth level of Initiation]) at which time Francis Bacon adopted the name "Saint Germain."
[17]
St. Germain in popular culture
Anime
Comic Books
Film
Literature
- In the urban fantasy Dreams of Darkness by Barry James, Saint-Germain is an immortal sorcerer living in Seattle, who helps the main character avoid the coming apocalypse.
- St. Germain also appears in Michael Scott's Nicholas Flamel series, in the novel The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
as an immortal alchemyst and "this century", a rock star married to
Joan of Arc. This may be a reference to the contemporary musician of the same name.
- Alexandre Dumas' fictional Count of Monte Cristo
may have been inspired by Le Comte St. Germain. The two share many
characteristics, including attire, appearance, wealth, alchemical
capabilities, and mysterious origin. One of the characters even remarks
to Monte Cristo, "[Y]ou still remain an enigma, do not fear. My mother
is only astonished that you remain so long unsolved. I believe, while
the Countess G---- takes you for Lord Ruthven, my mother imagines you to
be Cagliostro or the Count Saint-Germain."
- Umberto Eco's satirical work involving conspiracy theories, Foucault's Pendulum, features a putative St. Germain as the antagonist.
- During a darts match in the novel "The Brentford Triangle",
Professor Slocombe, a recurring character in the Brentford novels of Robert Rankin, is implied to have been Saint-Germain.
- Diana Gabaldon's novel Dragonfly in Amber
features St. Germain as a French nobleman and wine merchant dealing in
the darker side of Parisian politics and high society in 1745. In her
book, the Count is not immortal.
- The author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has written (as of 2006) two dozen fantasy books (including spin offs) concerning a vampiric character modeled after St. Germain.
- St. Germain appears in Aleksandr Pushkin's short novel The Queen of Spades.
- Author Katherine Kurtz featured Saint-Germain as the esoteric Master behind the scenes orchestrating the American Revolution in the novel Two Crowns for America (1996).
- Fictional details of St. Germain's journey to Russia form part of the novel Wheel of Fortune (1970–75) by the Russian writer Nikolay Dubov. [2]
- In the novel The Red Lion: The Elixir of Eternal Life by the Hungarian writer Mária Szepes, St. Germain appears as a companion the protagonist. He is "the man that never dies".
- The Comte de St. Germain(e) appears (also called Master Rakoczi) in Traci Harding's novel about magic and metaphysics called The Cosmic Logos.
- The Comte is a persona adopted by one of the long-lived mystery characters in Raymond Khoury's 2007 novel The Sanctuary.
- St. Germain appears in the head of Billy Ballantine in Tor Åge
Bringsværd's "Den som har begge beina på jorda står stille" AKA "Den som
har begge beina på jorda står stille (eller: Alveolene kommer!). Om de
merkelige hendelsene som rystet London den 26. og 27. mai 1973. En
digresjonsroman. Vel blåst!" St. Germain proves his ability to make
gold, by turning a criminal into a golden statue and a preacher into a golden calf.
- A figure who identifies himself as St. Germain appears in the Mircea Eliade novella Youth without Youth.
- In Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red (book), St. Germain is able to travel in time.
Manga
- The author of the Japanese manga D.Gray-man, Katsura Hoshino, has heavily implied that the demonic villain of the series, the Millennium Earl, is based upon St. Germain.
- The Comte de St. Germain is the main character in a series of historical-fiction books by the author, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
- In the fifth volume of the manga Rozen Maiden, one identity of "The Father" who created the magical doll protagonists is revealed to be St. Germain.
Music
- In Act I, scene 1 of Tchaikowsky's penultimate opera, The Queen of Spades
(1890), based (loosely) on Pushkin's short story, Tomsky attributes the
Countess's knowledge of the secret of the Three Cards that always win
to a bargain with the Count Saint-Germain, who thus rescued her from
bankruptcy at the court of Versailles. (The libretto implies that she
spent a night with the Count, and that the secret is of satanic origin –
neither of these things being true in Pushkin's story.) This story
causes Ghermann to break into the Countess's bedroom to learn the
secret; instead, she dies of shock. But her ghost later appears to him
and names the cards – only to betray him to Hell in the end.
- Canibus makes a reference to the Comte de St. Germaine in the song "Poet Laureate Infinity".
- A plea to St. Germain features in the lyrics of the song "I'm So Free" by Lou Reed on his 1972 album Transformer.[18]
- Christmas mention the Comte in "Iron Anniversary" on their 1993 album Vortex.
- French Nu Jazz and House DJ Ludovic Navarre has released three albums under the name Saint Germain.
- There is a series of compilations of acid jazz influenced electronica called Saint-Germain-des-Prés Café.
- The 2008 album Angélique by the Spanish symphonic metal band
Angeldark features the two-part song "Saint-Germain (The Man Who Killed
Death)".
- The 2009 song Bàdê Gotów by the polish musician Stachursky contains the mentioning of Saint Germain.
Role-Playing Games
- The role-playing game Unknown Armies features St. Germain as an immortal yet very human, enigmatic and complex figure also referred to as "The First and Last Man".
Television
Video Games
- St. Germain appears in the video game Castlevania: Curse of Darkness as an unlikely ally attempting to oppose Death's plans for the resurrection of Dracula, he has the ability to manipulate time, and acts as a mysterious immortal enigma who sides with apparently no one.
- St. Germain appears in the BL game Animamundi: Dark Alchemist as the fiancé to the main character's sister.
- St. Germain appears as an NPC in the online game "Shin Megami
Tensei: Imagine" who teaches players of occultism, magic control, and
blessing.
- A major setting in the browser-based MMORPG Nexus War is St. Germaine Island, almost certainly a reference to the Count, given the game's heavy magical elements.
Skeptical view
The scholar
K. Paul Johnson maintains that the "Masters" that
Madame Blavatsky wrote about and produced letters from were actually idealizations of people who were her
mentors.
[20]
Also see the article “Talking to the Dead and Other Amusements” by Paul Zweig
New York Times 5 October 1980, which maintains that Madame Blavatsky's revelations were fraudulent.
See also
Notes
![[1]](http://www.sacredimages-ami.com/images/sg2.jpg){kind=link}
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