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| Apr 2 2008, 12:29 AM EDT (current) | daath | 1274 words added |
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This is a paraphrase of a snippet of the book I am reading. I found it entertaining to read the two different portrayals of Faustus.
The tale of Faustus has been told in many different forms. It first appeared in 1587 as a German booklet entitled Historia von D. Iohan Fausten. In 1592 it was translated into English with a title that leaves little to the imagination of the reader: , Newly imprinted. This booklet was the basis of all the Faustus books, plays, and poems, until Goethe made a big change, but we'll get to that momentarily. Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus is similar to the booklet and the following is a summary of Marlowe's tale.
Faustus (Faust in Goethe's version of the story) was an established Doctor of Theology at a German University. Whether or not he was a real man is still unclear, although there were a few men of the fifteenth century who fit his description. Doctor Faustus was dissatisfied with the knowledge available and looked to the occult to find the truths of the universe. He is said to have studied various forms of magic, but the only apparent success he ever had was when he summoned the demon Mephistopheles (Mephisto in Goethe's version).
Mephistopheles promises Faustus all the knowledge of the universe, transportation to any place in the world, riches, and his own personal obedience to Faustus. In exchange Faustus must make a pact that after twenty-four years of life in this manner, the Devil could come and take his soul. Faustus makes this pact and comments on how he doesn't believe in Hell or damnation. Here Mephistopheles tells him, "Aye, think so still-till experience change thy mind!"
For the rest of the tale, Faustus revels in small feats of magic. He conjures spirits for the pleasure of nobility and friends, discusses metaphysics with the Pope in a magical disguise, makes a castle appear to the Duke, causes horns to grow from an insulting soldier's head, and flies over the world, learning all the mysteries of the universe, as promised.
When Faustus summons the spirit or "shadow" of Helen of Troy, however, it seems his fascination with his new powers gets the best of him. Upon seeing her he recites the famous lines: "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." Many critics have commented that Faustus damned himself by becoming obsessed with this specter. When he has the opportunity to repent later on in the story, he finds it impossible to do so, possibly because he is in love with Helen. Whatever the reason, Faustus does not renounce the pact, and at the agreed time, the demons come and carry away the screaming soul of Faustus. When his colleagues come to his chambers later, they find his corpse terribly mangled.
This version of Faustus went a long way in enforcing the Roman Catholic Church's anti-magic laws. People were afraid of ending up like Faustus and believed that magic was the work of the Devil because of tales like this one. But before I go into some other "historical" tales of evocation, I want to first deal with Goethe's Faust, which contains some very interesting differences from previous Faustus tales.
The Faust theme in Johann Wolfgang Goethe's work is that of eternal striving. When Faust made a pact with Mephisto, he didn't agree to a certain date. The terms of the agreement were as follows: If Faust should ever stop striving to become a better person, then Mephisto would get his soul. From this comes the famous quote Zum hochsten Dasein immerfort zu streben, or "To strive for the highest life with all my powers."
Aside from this inspirational theme, Goethe's Faust has several other differences from the Marlowe play and other previous Faustus stories. Faust does not summon Mephisto in this story. The only evocation Faust performs is the evocation of the Erdgeist, or "earth spirit." It is interesting to note that this evocation performed by Faust is actually very similar to a method of evocation I'll be dealing with later on. Faust meditates on the symbol of the spirit in a book and utters an impromptu conjuration, which causes the spirit to appear. Suffice it to say, many magicians simply meditate on spirit sigils and use them to open doorways to the astral plane and the realm of the entity. This is a type of evocation to the astral plane discussed in great detail later on.
Rather than being evoked, the spirit Mephisto is attracted to Faust because of a "bet" Mephisto made with God. Mephisto thinks he can tempt Faust away from becoming an advanced being, or adept of sorts. God doesn't seem to think this is possible and tells Mephisto: "A good man in his darkling aspiration remembers the right road throughout his quest."
After the pact is made, Faust leads a somewhat evil life, and for a while it seems as if Mephisto will win the bet. But Faust ends up striving to become better. He meets Gretchen, who pulls Faust away from his evil aspirations to some extent. She grounds Faust in a way that becomes instrumental to his salvation at the end of the story. Faust starts to perform good deeds, such as draining the sea away from a stretch of land so people could reside there.
While performing these generous acts, Faust reflects on how this feat of his is the best humanity ever knew. But instead of being satisfied, he thinks of how even better achievements are possible. In fact, while Mephisto's demons are preparing Faust's grave, Faust contemplates a more perfect state of being and saves himself with his last words spoken on the earth plane: "As I presage a happiness so high, I now enjoy the highest moment." The fact that Faust's last words were ones of aspiration angers Mephisto. He had lost his bet with God because Faust refused to be satisfied with the greatness of the moment. He strived for excellence even at the end. As Faust ascends into heaven, he is greeted by his lost love, Gretchen, who helps Faust rise up to higher "spheres."
By now you may be wondering why I included both versions of the Faust tale. I had a very good reason for doing this. Before practicing any form of magic, you should remember that the source of that magic is Divine and all uses of that magic should be to better oneself and make oneself closer to the Creator. While Marlowe's Doctor Faustus presents evocation and magic in an evil light, Goethe's Faust goes a long way in dispelling the teachings of the Church that say all occult practice has to be evil. In the Western Ceremonial Tradition, the whole point of practicing magic is to obtain conversation with your Holy Guardian Angel and eventually reunite with God. This is also the underlying theme in Faust, as the phrases "highest life" and "higher spheres" can only mean one thing-a union with the Godhead.
Goethe was very well read in the occult, and most people in Western Magickal circles agree that he was a true initiate. I highly recommend a careful reading of some of his works. You'll be surprised to find just how much practical occult knowledge is contained in them. One of the most important lessons of Faust, and the reason I included Helen of Troy and Gretchen in this synopsis, is a lesson every magician should learn before he or she tries evocations:
Never become obsessed with an entity!
ShareFaustus (Faust in Goethe's version of the story) was an established Doctor of Theology at a German University. Whether or not he was a real man is still unclear, although there were a few men of the fifteenth century who fit his description. Doctor Faustus was dissatisfied with the knowledge available and looked to the occult to find the truths of the universe. He is said to have studied various forms of magic, but the only apparent success he ever had was when he summoned the demon Mephistopheles (Mephisto in Goethe's version).
Mephistopheles promises Faustus all the knowledge of the universe, transportation to any place in the world, riches, and his own personal obedience to Faustus. In exchange Faustus must make a pact that after twenty-four years of life in this manner, the Devil could come and take his soul. Faustus makes this pact and comments on how he doesn't believe in Hell or damnation. Here Mephistopheles tells him, "Aye, think so still-till experience change thy mind!"
For the rest of the tale, Faustus revels in small feats of magic. He conjures spirits for the pleasure of nobility and friends, discusses metaphysics with the Pope in a magical disguise, makes a castle appear to the Duke, causes horns to grow from an insulting soldier's head, and flies over the world, learning all the mysteries of the universe, as promised.
When Faustus summons the spirit or "shadow" of Helen of Troy, however, it seems his fascination with his new powers gets the best of him. Upon seeing her he recites the famous lines: "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." Many critics have commented that Faustus damned himself by becoming obsessed with this specter. When he has the opportunity to repent later on in the story, he finds it impossible to do so, possibly because he is in love with Helen. Whatever the reason, Faustus does not renounce the pact, and at the agreed time, the demons come and carry away the screaming soul of Faustus. When his colleagues come to his chambers later, they find his corpse terribly mangled.
This version of Faustus went a long way in enforcing the Roman Catholic Church's anti-magic laws. People were afraid of ending up like Faustus and believed that magic was the work of the Devil because of tales like this one. But before I go into some other "historical" tales of evocation, I want to first deal with Goethe's Faust, which contains some very interesting differences from previous Faustus tales.
The Faust theme in Johann Wolfgang Goethe's work is that of eternal striving. When Faust made a pact with Mephisto, he didn't agree to a certain date. The terms of the agreement were as follows: If Faust should ever stop striving to become a better person, then Mephisto would get his soul. From this comes the famous quote Zum hochsten Dasein immerfort zu streben, or "To strive for the highest life with all my powers."
Aside from this inspirational theme, Goethe's Faust has several other differences from the Marlowe play and other previous Faustus stories. Faust does not summon Mephisto in this story. The only evocation Faust performs is the evocation of the Erdgeist, or "earth spirit." It is interesting to note that this evocation performed by Faust is actually very similar to a method of evocation I'll be dealing with later on. Faust meditates on the symbol of the spirit in a book and utters an impromptu conjuration, which causes the spirit to appear. Suffice it to say, many magicians simply meditate on spirit sigils and use them to open doorways to the astral plane and the realm of the entity. This is a type of evocation to the astral plane discussed in great detail later on.
Rather than being evoked, the spirit Mephisto is attracted to Faust because of a "bet" Mephisto made with God. Mephisto thinks he can tempt Faust away from becoming an advanced being, or adept of sorts. God doesn't seem to think this is possible and tells Mephisto: "A good man in his darkling aspiration remembers the right road throughout his quest."
After the pact is made, Faust leads a somewhat evil life, and for a while it seems as if Mephisto will win the bet. But Faust ends up striving to become better. He meets Gretchen, who pulls Faust away from his evil aspirations to some extent. She grounds Faust in a way that becomes instrumental to his salvation at the end of the story. Faust starts to perform good deeds, such as draining the sea away from a stretch of land so people could reside there.
While performing these generous acts, Faust reflects on how this feat of his is the best humanity ever knew. But instead of being satisfied, he thinks of how even better achievements are possible. In fact, while Mephisto's demons are preparing Faust's grave, Faust contemplates a more perfect state of being and saves himself with his last words spoken on the earth plane: "As I presage a happiness so high, I now enjoy the highest moment." The fact that Faust's last words were ones of aspiration angers Mephisto. He had lost his bet with God because Faust refused to be satisfied with the greatness of the moment. He strived for excellence even at the end. As Faust ascends into heaven, he is greeted by his lost love, Gretchen, who helps Faust rise up to higher "spheres."
By now you may be wondering why I included both versions of the Faust tale. I had a very good reason for doing this. Before practicing any form of magic, you should remember that the source of that magic is Divine and all uses of that magic should be to better oneself and make oneself closer to the Creator. While Marlowe's Doctor Faustus presents evocation and magic in an evil light, Goethe's Faust goes a long way in dispelling the teachings of the Church that say all occult practice has to be evil. In the Western Ceremonial Tradition, the whole point of practicing magic is to obtain conversation with your Holy Guardian Angel and eventually reunite with God. This is also the underlying theme in Faust, as the phrases "highest life" and "higher spheres" can only mean one thing-a union with the Godhead.
Goethe was very well read in the occult, and most people in Western Magickal circles agree that he was a true initiate. I highly recommend a careful reading of some of his works. You'll be surprised to find just how much practical occult knowledge is contained in them. One of the most important lessons of Faust, and the reason I included Helen of Troy and Gretchen in this synopsis, is a lesson every magician should learn before he or she tries evocations:
Never become obsessed with an entity!
