Count of St Germain

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Count of St Germain by unknown artist
Count of St Germain by unknown artist

The Count of St. Germain (fl. 1710–1784) was a mysterious gentleman variously described as a courtier, adventurer, inventor, amateur scientist, painter, pianist, violinist and amateur composer. He was also described as displaying skills with the practice of alchemy.[1] According to some sources, his name does not refer to a familial title or lands, but was invented by him as a French version of the Latin Sanctus Germanus, meaning "Holy Brother".[2][3][4][5] He also went by a number of other names, including the Marquis de Montferrat, Comte Bellamarre or Aymar, Chevalier Schoening, Chevalier Weldon (Welldone), Comte Soltikoff, Graf Tzarogy, and Prinz Ragoczy.

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[edit] Life

St. Germain's background and identity are shrouded in mystery, leading to many speculations about his origin and ancestry. According to Prince Charles of Hesse, St. Germain claimed, toward the end of his life, to be the son of Francis II Rákóczi, the Prince of Transylvania, by Rákóczi's first wife. This seems to be the prevailing theory. Another theory says St. Germain was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna of Pfalz-Neuburg, the widow of Charles II of Spain; while still another believes him to have been the son of the king of Portugal.

St. Germain may have studied in Italy at Siena University, possibly as a protégé of Grand Duke Gian Gastone (the last of the Medici line).

The first "sighting" of St. Germain was in 1710, according to Baron de Gleichen, who says St. Germain was in Venice at that time. Other chronicled appearances include London in 1743 and in Edinburgh in 1745, where he was placed under house arrest for being suspected of espionage during the Jacobite revolution. He was released when no evidence was produced, and soon acquired a reputation as a great violinist — as good as Paganini, according to one account. During this time he met Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In 1746 he disappeared. Horace Walpole, who knew him from about 1745 in London, described him thus: "He sings, plays the violin wonderfully, composes, is mad and not very sensible".

He reappeared in Versailles in 1758. The old portrait of him dates from these years. He claimed to have had recipes for dyes, and was given quarters in the Chateau de Chambord by Louis XV, with whom he spent a great deal of time, along with Louis' mistress, Madame de Pompadour. During this time in Paris, St. Germain liberally gave diamonds, of which he had many, as gifts. The Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova says he personally witnessed St. Germain turning silver into gold, but adds that he suspected it was done by sleight of hand. It is said St. Germain sometimes hinted he was centuries old. At the time a mime, who called himself Lord Gower, began to mimic his mannerism in salons, joking that St. Germain had advised Jesus. In 1760 St. Germain left for England through Holland on a mission for Louis XV, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Duke of Choiseul, tried to have him arrested.

After that the Count passed through the Netherlands into Russia and apparently was in St Petersburg when the Russian army coup put Catherine the Great on the throne. Later conspiracy theories credit him for causing it. The next year he turned up in the Southern Netherlands (now Belgium), bought land and took the name Surmount. He tried to offer his processes — treatments of wood, leather, oil paint — to the state. During his negotiations — that came to nothing — with Belgian minister Karl Cobenzl he hinted at a royal birth. He then disappeared for 11 years.

In 1774 he resurfaced, and apparently tried to present himself to a count in Bavaria as Freiherr Reinhard Gemmingen-Guttenberg, the Count Tsarogy. In 1776 the Count was in Germany, calling himself Chevalier Welldone, and again offered recipes — cosmetics, wines, liqueurs, treatments of bone, paper and ivory. He alienated King Frederick's emissaries by his claims of transmutation of gold. To Frederick he claimed to have been a Freemason. He settled in a house of Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel, governor of Schleswig-Holstein, and studied herbal remedies and chemistry to give to the poor. To him he claimed he was a Francis Rakoczy II, Prince of Transylvania. 1784 is when the Count supposedly died, probably of pneumonia. He left very little behind.

There were rumors of him alive in Paris in 1835, in Milan in 1867, and in Egypt during Napoleon's campaign. Napoleon III kept a dossier on him but it was destroyed in a fire that gutted the Hotel de Ville in 1871. Theosophist Annie Besant said that she met the Count in 1896. Theosophist C. W. Leadbeater claimed to have met him in Rome in 1926, and said that St. Germain showed him a robe that had been previously owned by a Roman Emperor and that St. Germain told him that one of his residences was a castle in Transylvania. Theosophist Guy Ballard claimed he met the Count on Mt. Shasta and he introduced him to visitors from Venus and published a book series about his channelings; Ballard founded the "I AM" Activity.

On January 28, 1972, ex-convict and lover of singing star Dalida, Richard Chanfray claimed to be the Count of St. Germain on French television. He also claimed that Louis XV was still alive.

[edit] 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 Rakockzy (1988). His ancestry is a matter of much speculation. Theosophists consider him to be a Mahatma, Master or adept. Aleister Crowley identified with him. Helena Blavatsky said he was one of her Masters of Wisdom and hinted at secret documents.

Several books on palmistry and astrology have been published in his name, though it is not clear whether he actually wrote them. The Most Holy Trinosophia of the Comte de St. Germain is said to have been written by him.

[edit] Legends

During the centuries after his death, numerous myths, legends and speculations have surfaced. He has been attributed with occult practices like snake charming and ventriloquism. There are stories about an affair between him and Madame de Pompadour. Other legends report that he was immortal, the Wandering Jew, an alchemist with the elixir of life, a Rosicrucian or an ousted king, a bastard of Queen Maria Anna of Spain, that he prophesied the French Revolution. Casanova called him the violinist Catlini. Count Cagliostro was rumored to be his pupil. The fact that the name "St. Germain" was not exactly uncommon confuses the matters even more.

[edit] Occult and New Age views about St. Germain

Many groups in occultism honor St. Germain as an Ascended Master. As such, he is believed to have many magical powers such as the ability to teleport, levitate, walk through walls, influence people telepathically, etc. 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.

In the New Age beliefs regarding him, 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 "Cosmic Master of the Seventh (violet) Ray" — 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 Cosmic Master of the Age of Aquarius".

[edit] According to Max Heindel

In Rosicrucian Max Heindel's writings, the Count of St Germain (18th century) is described as one of the later incarnations of Christian Rosenkreuz, an enigmatic individual born in the 14th century and the Head of the Rosicrucian Order. According to this author, Rosenkreuz had been Lazarus in a previous life, a biblical character in the New Testament (this would contradict the idea that he was Joseph, since they both lived at the same time) and Hiram Abiff, the Widow's Son of Freemasonry, in an earlier existence.[6]

[edit] According to C.W. Leadbeater

In the 1925 book The Masters and the Path by C.W. Leadbeater, an adherent of Theosophy, St. Germain is called both the "Comte de St. Germain" and the "Master Rakoczi". His previous incarnations are enumerated (the same ones as noted below in the Ascended Master Teachings). On page 240 of The Masters and the Path it is stated that when performing magical rituals in his castle in Transylvania, St. Germain wears "a suit of golden chain-mail which once belonged to a Roman Emperor; over it is thrown a magnificent cloak of crimson, with on its clasp a seven-pointed star in diamond and amethyst, and sometimes he wears a glorious robe of violet."

[edit] According to Alice Bailey

In Alice A. Bailey's books, St. Germain is referred to as the "Master Rakoczi" or the "Master R." Alice A. Bailey's book The Externalisation of the Hierarchy (1934) gives the most information about his reputed role as a spiritual Master. His title is said to be the "Lord of Civilization". 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 said that "sometime after AD 2025" Master Jesus, Master Rakoczi, Kuthumi, and the others in the Spiritual Hierarchy (except Gautama Buddha) would "externalise", i.e., descend from the spiritual worlds, and live physically on Earth in ashrams surrounded by their disciples.

[edit] According to Samael Aun Weor

In the 1953 book The Seven Words by Samael Aun Weor, Saint Germain is considered as being the ruler of the world's politics, since he belongs to the Jupiter's Ray, the Ray of Politics. Samael Aun Weor considers Saint Germain as an Immortal, a Son of Resurrection, someone who, using the Art of Alchemy, has overcome death. In this same book, the author claims that Saint Germain is Master Rakoczy, and the same Roger Bacon, Francis Bacon, and that he is still alive, living in Tibet with the same physical body from the medievals.

In the 1969 book Esoteric Course of Kabbalah, Samael Aun Weor tells that Saint Germain was the musical rival of Paganini. He also states that Saint Germain is able to speak any language, and is also able to make diamonds through the Art of Alchemy. Indeed, the author claims that Saint Germain knew and worked with the secret of Alchemy, the sexual transmutation enabled by white sexual magic. According to the same book, Cagliostro would have been the best disciple of Saint Germain.

[edit] According to Ascended Master Teachings

According to The "I AM" Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, and The Temple of The Presence, Saint Germain was embodied as:

  • Ruler of a Golden Age civilization in the area of the Sahara Desert 70,000 years ago
  • High priest on Atlantis 13,000 years ago, serving in the Order of Lord Zadkiel in the Temple of Purification, located where the island of Cuba is now located
  • Samuel, eleventh century B.C. Religious leader in Israel who served as prophet, priest, and last of the Hebrew judges
  • Saint Joseph, first century A.D., Nazareth. Husband of Mary and Guardian of Jesus
  • Saint Alban, late third or early fourth 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 he could die in his place
  • Proclus, c. 410 - 485 A.D. Athens. The last major Greek Neoplatonic philosopher, headed the Platonic Academy and wrote extensively on philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and grammar
  • Merlin, c. fifth or sixth 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 A.D., England. Philosopher, educational reformer, and experimental scientist; forerunner of modern science renowned for his exhaustive investigations into alchemy, optics, mathematics, and languages
  • Organizer behind the scenes for the Secret Societies in Germany in the late fourteen and early fifteenth centuries. The creation of a fictional character named "Christian Rosenkreuz" was inspired by his efforts.
  • Christopher Columbus, 1451–1506 A.D. Believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy and settled in Portugal. Discovered America in 1492 during 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 I AM teachings), father of inductive science and herald of the scientific revolution. The claim is that Sir Francis Bacon made it appear that he died in 1626, arranging for another person's body to be placed his coffin, and that he even attended his own "funeral". He then supposedly traveled secretly to Transylvania (now part of Romania) to the Rakoczy Mansion, where he is said to have continued preparations for his physical Ascension under the direct training of the Master R (Great Divine Director). He had reportedly incarnated in that area a number of times in previous lifetimes and felt particularly at home there. Since Francis Bacon was sighted in the area at various times over the following decades, the local people concluded that he must be a member of the Rakoczy family (possibly related to Prince Ferenc Rakoczy II of Transylvania). Finally on May 1, 1684 he is believed to have attained his physical Ascension. Not wanting to leave humanity in the physical octave without his direct visible assistance, he asked the Karmic Board for a special Dispensation to allow him to function in a physical tangible body among embodied mankind for a limited time period — even though he was already an Ascended Master. He was granted his request at the direct intercession of the Goddess of Liberty, and reappeared as:
  • Le Comte de Saint Germain, the "Wonderman of Europe" in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He developed a reputation of being an outstanding alchemist, scholar, linguist, musician, artist and diplomat. He worked behind the scenes to try to establish a United States of Europe and to prevent the bloodshed of violent revolution. His powers included bilocation, appearing at court and then dissolving his form at will, removing flaws from diamonds and other precious stones, and precipitating an elixir that prevented aging. He was also ambidextrous and could compose simultaneously a letter with one hand and poetry with the other, or two identical pieces of writing with each hand. He visited Marie Antoinette and her intimate friend, Madame d'Adhémar, who later wrote the story of his abilities as an Adept, and that he had warned of the coming debacle and death of the king and queen. He also reportedly worked behind the scenes with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to establish the United States of America.
  • Ascended Master Saint Germain is now known as "The God of Freedom" for the Earth and, since May 1, 1954, the Hierarch for the current 2150 year cycle of the Age of Aquarius. The name "Saint Germain" is the name that Francis Bacon chose as his Ascended Master name upon his physical Ascension from the Rakoczy Mansion in Transylvania. It comes from the Latin Sanctus Germanus, meaning "Holy Brother".
  • Conspiracy theorists who believe in NESARA, a purported secret law that the U.S. government denies the existence of, believe that St. Germain is still alive and is actively working with Jesus Christ and with benevolent space aliens to get the law enacted.

[edit] St. Germain in popular culture

  • 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 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".
  • 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).
  • The Comte de St. Germain(e) appears (also called Master Rakoczi) in Traci Harding's book The Cosmic Logos.
  • 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 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.
  • The author of the Japanese manga D.Gray-man has heavily implied that the demonic villain of the series, the Millennium Earl, is based upon St. Germain.
  • Fictional details of St. Germain's jorney to Russia form part of the novel Wheel of Fortune (Колесо Фортуны) (1970–75) by the Russian writer Nikolay Dubov (Николай Иванович Дубов).
  • In the novel The Red Lion: The Elixir of Eternal Life by the hungarian writer Mária Szepes, St. Germain appears as a companion of the protagonist. He is "the man that never dies".

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Cooper-Oakley, Isabel, The Comte de St. Germain, 1912
  2. ^ Schroeder, Werner Ascended Masters and Their Retreats Ascended Master Teaching Foundation 2004, pages 250 - 255
  3. ^ Luk, A.D.K.. Law of Life — Book II. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D.K. Luk Publications 1989, pages 254 - 267
  4. ^ Booth, Annice The Masters and Their Retreats Summit Lighthouse Library June 2003, pages 312 - 322
  5. ^ Saint Germain Embodiments from The Temple of The Presence
  6. ^ Heindel, Max, Freemasonry and Catholicism, ISBN 0-911274-04-9

He is revealed to be using the names Malcolm Richads and Richard Malcolm in the novel and the TV movie THE NIGHT STRANGLER.

[edit] Further reading

  • Bernard, Raymond.Great Secret Count St. Germain. Mokelumne Hill, California: Mokelumne Hill Press, 1993 (reprint ed.). ISBN 0-7873-0095-0.
  • Fuller, Jean Overton. The Comte de Saint-Germain: Last Scion of the House of Rakockzy. London: East-West Publications, 1988. ISBN 0-85692-114-9.
  • Prophet, Elizabeth Clare. Saint Germain: Master Alchemist. Gardiner, Montana: Summit University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-922729-95-6.
  • Prophet, Elizabeth Clare. Saint Germain's Prophecy for the New Millennium: Includes Dramatic Prophecies from Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and Mother Mary. Gardiner, Montana: Summit University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-922729-45-X.
  • Prophet, Elizabeth Clare. Violet Flame to Heal Body, Mind and Soul. Gardiner, Montana: Summit University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-922729-37-9.
  • Saint Germain. Saint Germain on Alchemy: Formulas for Self-Transformation. Gardiner, Montana: Summit University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-916766-68-3.

[edit] External links

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