The count who lives forever
(Published in GralsWelt 70/201
“Little is known what his secret was. Only that it was an embodied puzzle went into consciousness. "
J. Lenz ("Under the wings of the phoenix", page 38)
Thanks to an elixir that gives eternal youth, he supposedly looked back on a life of 2,000 years; he was a doctor, composer, secret agent - and much more. One of the most enigmatic figures in the history of occultism, which developed in the shadow of the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, is the Count of Saint Germain, which is trusted in some esoteric books the more the less real facts about it are verifiable.
The big riddles about the “magician” Saint Germain already include the questions about his ancestry and the origin of his great fortune. The encyclopedia "Wikipedia" lists assumptions about his parents: son of a tax collector, Italian violin player named Catalani, illegitimate child of a royal family, son of a prince. After Irene Tetzlaff came the Count of Saint Germain as Leopold Georg Prince of Transylvania (born May 28, 1696) to the world. As a four-year-old, the Hereditary Prince was brought to Italy anonymously to avoid persecution by the Habsburgs. His family has been ostracized since they took part in the Hungarian struggle for freedom.
When two impostors meet ...
The ancient Romans were of the opinion that two augurs (= members of a Roman college of priests who were supposed to investigate the will of the gods during important state acts) who met on the street had great difficulty not breaking out into laughter. Everyone knew the other's tricks with which he sold “divine oracles” to the public. It may have been similar at the meeting of two famous impostors. Casanova describes his first meeting with the Count of Saint-Germain as follows:
“I had the most pleasant meal in the company of Frau de Gergi, who came with the adventurer famous under the name of Count St. Germain. He did not eat, but spoke from the beginning of the meal to the end, and I almost did part of the same thing as he did, for I did not eat anything either, but listened to him with the utmost attention. It was difficult, however, to find someone who would have spoken better than him. St. Germain pretended to be a miracle worker; he wanted to amaze, and often he succeeded. He spoke in a firm tone, but so carefully that he was not displeased. He was learned, spoke most languages perfectly; he was a great musician and chemist; had a pleasant face and knew how to make all women submissive; for he gave them make-up and cosmetics and aroused in them the hope of not making them younger - for he was so modest after all that he confessed that this was impossible for him - but of keeping them in the condition in which he was found it, namely by means of a water which, according to him, cost him a lot of money, but which he only gave away.
He had managed to win the favor of the wife of Pompadour; she had got him to talk to the king (Louis XV. 1710–1774), and he had set up a nice laboratory for him; for the amiable monarch, who was bored everywhere, thought he was entertaining himself or at least driving away boredom a little by making paints. The king had assigned him an apartment in Chambord and given him a hundred thousand francs to build a laboratory; According to St. Germain's assertion, the king wanted all French factories to flourish with his chemical products.
This peculiar man, who was made to be a deceiver of the very first order, said in the most confident tone and so quite casually that he was three hundred years old, had the panacea, and did what he would with nature; he had the secret of melting diamonds and making ten or twelve small ones into a large one of the purest water without any weight loss. All of these operations were minor to him. Despite his boastfulness, ridiculous lies, and exaggerated weirdness, I couldn't bring myself to find him impudent. To be sure, I did not find it worthy of attention either, but almost unwillingly and unconsciously I found it astonishing; because I was really amazed at him. "
Casanova, Giovanni Giacomo (from "Memoiren", Goldmann, Munich, 1960, pages 290/91)
The alleged last residence of the Count of Saint-Germain was the court of Landgrave of Hesse-Kasselwho was an avid alchemist. There Saint-Germain died in the absence of the Landgrave on February 27, 1784 in Eckernförde in the arms of two chambermaids. His death and burial on March 2nd are recorded in the death register of the St. Nicholas Church. But when the landgrave returned and had the coffin opened, it was supposedly empty. So was the Count of Saint Germain's death only faked?
A year later, in February 1785, Freemasons, Illuminati, Rosicrucians and Kabbalists met in Wilhelmsbad (near Hanau). Saint-Germain should like before this gathering Peter Krassa in his book "The Revenant", gave a speech.
The life of the adventurer, alchemist, doctor, secret agent, composer, occultist and Rosicrucian is distorted by many legends, some of which he created himself. This includes the unbelievable claim that Saint Germain was not only in Egypt but also in India and China. Or that he has lived for more than 2000 years, thanks to a mysterious elixir that extends life and gives eternal youth.
The count could tell amusing stories of gossip at the court of Babylon (which should not have been very different from that at the Paris court), of conversations with the Queen of Sheba, or of the wedding of Canaan. His knowledge of history was so good that he fluent about Henry IV (1589-1610) and Franz I. (1494–1547) was able to chat about France and describe it as precisely as if he had known her personally. Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764), mistress of the French King Louis XV, did not succeed in embarrassing him with questions about historical figures.
Adventurer, globetrotter, secret agent
Saint-Germain dressed luxuriously and had jewels glittering on his clothes. He was universally educated and supposedly had a command of Arabic, German, English, French, Greek, Latin, Portuguese and Spanish in language and writing. He was also a talented painter and a virtuoso on the violin and harpsichord. He composed songs and operas. In chemistry and as a doctor he seemed superior to most of his contemporaries, and if he could actually, as he was said, remove stains from diamonds, melt small diamonds into large ones, or turn lead into gold, then he had lost knowledge.
"The most beautiful secrets of nature"
“Saint Germain looks like a hefty forty-five, but he himself makes it clear that he doesn't eat meat, just some chicken, fish and vegetables. If I succeed in coaxing his secret of living a long life from him, I will not withhold it from the King (August III of Poland, Elector of Saxony). Saint Germain knows the most beautiful secrets of nature and knows how to convert or convince unbelievers ...
He does not care about wealth and earthly greatness, it is enough for him if he can claim the title of 'citizen of the state'. He also discussed the fate of France. The origin of the malady is the weakness of the prince and the disunity of the court. He speaks freely about the conditions at the French court: from the king to the buffoon. It sometimes happens that he is careless in his expressions ... "
From a letter from the Saxon ambassador Kauderbach to the Minister Wackerbarth in Dresden on March 14, 1760. (Quoted from: Teztlaff Irene, Under the wings of the phoenix, page 35)
There is no shortage of fantastic exaggerations about the capabilities of the mysterious count, but nobody is compelled to believe what is rumored about him. However, one cannot avoid seeing him as an exceptional talent, not to be compared with other contemporary impostors, such as the famous Cagliostro, who lacked education and who barely spoke his Italian mother tongue.
Travel through Europe
The first reasonably reliable reports about the Count of Saint Germain come from London, from the year 1745. They speak of an excellent violin player who composed, had an Italian collection of songs and violin sonatas printed. He also owned a select collection of jewels. Due to the Jacobean uprising in Scotland, Catholics in England were viewed with great suspicion, so that after two years Saint-Germain was compelled to leave England.
Since he often changed his name (Irene Tetzlaff mentions 32 pseudonyms in her book), his travel routes can hardly be traced. But he was in Berlin, Paris, Saint Petersburg, Vienna. He lived like a nobleman of high rank and found his way into the relevant circles - perhaps as a diplomat, agent on a secret mission, alchemist? Or as a member of the nobility? How else would Louis XV. graciously received?
There is some evidence that he worked for Frederick the Great, who called him the "Man Who Couldn't Die" described. It is unlikely that the skeptical Prussian king believed in Saint Germain's immortality. But perhaps he was interested in the mysterious aura of his spy? Was he the one who financed him?
The man who never dies - live on French TV?
There are reports from three centuries of people who want to have met the Count of Saint-Germain. In Masonic esotericism he is considered to be the reincarnation of Christian Rosencreutz and Hiram Abif, the builder of the Temple of Solomon (2, p. 565). Today it is even suspected that he was a time traveler (see Internet links). According to my research "Last public appearance of the count" took place in a Parisian television studio: In January 1972, a man by name appeared on French television Richard Chanfray who turned a lump of lead into gold in front of the camera with the help of a primitive camping stove and a mysterious elixir of life. Neither the cameramen nor the experts present could convict him of a fraud. When the perplexed and somewhat perplexed moderator asked how he had come to his knowledge, the studio guest replied laconically: “I have mastered all of this for many centuries. So don't let my real name confuse you, because in truth I am - the Count of Saint-Germain. " (3, p. 171 f.). An impressive example of the “immortal” fascination that the occult still exerts today.
Still a mystery
Of all the questionable personalities of the Baroque period, the Count of Saint-Germain is the most colorful and the most difficult to classify. Some esotericists trust him to do everything possible and impossible, from making gold to time travel, and still admire him today. Even with the predicate “impostor” it is difficult. Saint-Germain is the name of a French noble family to which our enigmatic count did not belong; to that extent one may perhaps call him a con man. In my opinion, there is a well-researched and reasonably credible biography of Saint Germain by Irene Tetzlaff: “Under the wings of the phoenix”. Accordingly, he took the name "San Germano" or "Saint Germain" as a confirmation in Florence.
But he was not accused of fraudulent activities; in any case, as far as is known, no one felt harmed by him. There seems to be evidence that he conducted secret negotiations for the King of France - without the knowledge of the Foreign Minister, who wanted to imprison him for them. (3, p. 112).
Was the Count of Saint-Germain a secret diplomat, perhaps a double agent, for whom his Rosicrucianism, his miracle drugs or his occupation with the secret sciences served as a camouflage? Some see him as a forerunner of the idea of the European Union and praise his commitment to peace. He supposedly foresaw the French Revolution with its terrible accompanying circumstances and warned against it in vain.
Kurt Seligmann is of the opinion that the count contributed to solving the riddles about himself: “With his astonishing stories, Saint-Germain reveals his political past as a diplomat. Since he had access to secret files, he could devote himself thoroughly and systematically to the study of history, while his other gifts, whatever may be told about them, were amateurish. His operas are worthless; his talent as a painter cannot have been significant, as none of his works have survived. His chemical discoveries consisted only of painkillers - nothing is known about them anymore ... " (“The Empire of Magic”, p. 380).
Continued "The Dark Side of Enlightenment" Part 6.
L.iterature:
(1) Casanova Giovanni Giacomo, Memoiren, Goldmann, Munich 1960.
(2) Black Jonathan, The Secret History of the World, Goldmann, Munich 2008.
(3) Krassa Peter, The Revenant, Herbig, Munich 1998.
(4) Seligmann Kurt, Das Weltreich der Magie, Bechtermünz, Eltville 1988. (5) Teztlaff Irene, Under the wings of the phoenix, Mellinger, Stuttgart 1992.
www ...
The Count of Saint Germain:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graf_von_Saint_Germain.
http://www.ta7.de/txt/mystik/myst0007.htm.
