The Esoteric Wagner: An Introduction to Der Ring Des NibelungenWagner's Ring is one of the most complex dramatic creations of modern times and its stage presentation requires impossible resources. It also demands an educated audience, without which there is not much justification for a performance. The tetralogy is full of difficult narratives and dialogues that make a prior, in depth reading of the libretto a must. It is not just a matter of figuring out the plot, as in other operas, but of exploring the many levels of meaning through which the Ring unfolds. In addition, the cycle incorporates esoteric themes that have seldom been discussed in connection with Wagner. This background is unknown territory to most people and it is unrealistic to expect sudden enlightenment from the Ring's libretto alone. Every classical journey deals with the promise of a homecoming and it is therefore not surprising that Wotan, the main protagonist in the Ring, eventually reemerges in the Land of the Grail, where he is converted into Titurel by Wagner's poetic imagination. Ernest Newman, Wagner's quintessential biographer, had already noted this odd development, but did not pause long enough to consider the startling implications. One should not look at Wagner in disconnected, narrow ways. The dismal level of today's intellectual discourse on Tragedy makes it impossible to do justice to the composer's apocalyptic vision. In that context, it is important to address the increasingly popular contention that Wagner was Hitler's spiritual father and that the Ring is a dangerous anti-Semitic fantasy. The Holocaust is indeed tragic, but its reduction to a moral failure on the part of Germanic culture understates the metahistorical significance of what actually happened.C.J. Jung once tried to tackle these issues directly in his study of the Wotan archetype (1936), but his analysis has since been buried under the weight of more detailed but less perceptive commentaries. A vigorous reassessment is long overdue. |
Contents
Metahistory and the Genesis of Wagners | 1 |
Wotan and the UrKinghood | 63 |
Apocalyptic Notions and the Secret Society Model | 101 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Adonis Alberich ancient apocalyptic Apollo Atlakviða Bakunin battle become Bernard Brünnhilde Brünnhilde's century Christian conception cosmic culture Dante Das Rheingold death Die Walküre Dionysus divine Emperor esoteric Evola Fafner father fire forge Freemasonry Freia Fricka Friedrich Heer German Ghibelline Goddess gods gold Golden Götterdämmerung Grail Greek Gunther Gutrune Hagen Hamlet's Mill heavenly pillar Hegel hermetic hero heroic Hoard Holy Roman Empire human Hunding Hyperborean Ibid important Jean-Jacques Nattiez Jesuits Jewish Jews Julius Evola Kabbalah Kabbalistic Kabiric Karl Kerényi Kerényi King language legend Loge Ludwig magic Masonic metahistorical Michael Besack Mime myth mythical mythology New-York Nibelung Nibelungen Nothung occult pattern race René Guénon revolutionary Rheingold Rhinemaidens Richard Wagner Ring ritual saga sexual Siegfried Siegfried's Sieglinde Siegmund spear spirit sword symbolic Tantric Tarnhelm tells Titurel tradition Ur-Kinghood Valhala Volsungs Wagner Essays Wanderer wants warriors Welf Wieland wolf words world-age Wotan