“never ending sacrifice”:

reference to the Roman Catholic Mass

see Chapter V, Makrokosmos(1) page 167

 

Edda:

collectively refers to The Poetic Edda and Elder Edda; the Poetic manuscript dates last half 13th century, but with older materials;  the Elder is a collection of mythological & heroic poems of unknown authorship, composed 800–1100 AD; dramatic dialogues in a terse, simple, archaic style in contrast to the artful poetry of the skalds.

 

Anglo Saxon missionaries:

missionaries instrumental in spreading Christianity to the Frankish Empire in the 8th century, continuing 6th century work of Irish-Scot missionaries.  In the late 7th century Boniface urged monks to go on missions to Old Saxony, from where their forebears had come.  These missions, which drew on the energy & initiative of the English church, spread south & east & soon came into contact with the Pippinids (the Arnulfings) the dominant family in Empire having supplanted the Merovingian.

 

Winfried:

(675-754 AD) aka St.Boniface; Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Germanic region of Frankish Empire; organized churches, made archbishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III; martyred in Frisia in 754 with 52 others, remains were returned to Fulda, where they became a site for pilgrims.  His life & death are well known.  Prominent owing to: missionary work, a German, a unifier of Europe; his reorganization & regulation of the Frankish church shaped Western Christianity & promoted alliance between the papacy & the Carolingian family.

 

organ fugue: * see Endnote <A>

a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) & which recurs frequently in the course of the composition.

 

cantata & Mass: * see Endnote<B>

Cantata: vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically several movements, often with a choir.  It has evolved, from a simple single voice madrigal (early 17th century), to a multi-voice "cantata da camera" & the "cantata da chiesa"  (late 17th century), to a dramatic form (18th century) & finally to the sacred-text 19th-century form, which is a short oratorio.  If used in church services it is called sacred cantata.  Several cantatas were written for special occasions, such as Christmas cantatas and Bach’s cycles of church cantatas.

the Mass. form of sacred choral composition, setting the Eucharistic liturgy to music, usually in Latin (in Protestant countries written in the vernacular).  May be a cappella (without an independent accompaniment) or accompanied by instrumental obbligatos including a full orchestra.  Many Masses, especially later ones, never intended to be performed during the celebration of an actual mass.

 

Edda (figures of):

characters include: Valkyries, Loki, the three Norns, Odin, the giants, the dwarfs, Baldr, Freyja

 

saints (9-11 century legends of): * see Endnote <C>

a person recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness or closeness to God.  According to the Catholic Church, a "saint" is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not, who form the "great cloud of witnesses".  They may have not always lived perfect lives but "amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord".  There are over 10,000 named saints from history; Wikipedia lists 483 saints for the 300 year period 800 to 1100 AD

 

Classical deities (of early Empire):

The Late Empire (4th century AD) saw a proliferation of gods & religions.  There are several main threads.  First the continuation of traditional cults of ancient Greece & Rome, the Olympian gods.  Secondly the official Roman imperial cult.  Thirdly the popularity of “mystery” religions, such as the Eleusinian mysteries & the mystery cults of Cybele, Mithras & the syncretized Isis.  Many of the pagan cults were not exclusive (for example the cult of Mithras).  Eastern sun worship religions (e.g. Mithras) were popular in the Roman Army; under Emperors Septimius Severus, Elagabalus & Aurelian they enjoyed official recognition & patronage.  We also see the growth of early Christianity from the 1st to 4th centuries; legally tolerated in 313, by 380 the state church (Edict of Thessalonica). 

 

Deism (of 18th century Faustian Culture):

philosophical belief that posits God’s existence & is responsibility for creation, but who does not interfere directly in the world; a belief systems which posits God's existence as the cause of all things, and admits its perfection while rejecting divine revelation or direct intervention by God; asserts reason and observation of the natural world are sufficient to determine the existence of a single creator or absolute principle of the universe.  This system gained prominence among intellectuals in Enlightenment, notably in UK, France, Germany & US, in many cases leaders of the American & French Revolutions.  Often raised as Christians, believing in 1 God, but disenchanted with organized religion, orthodox teachings such as the Trinity, Biblical accuracy, supernatural interpretation of events, especially miracles.

 

Magian religion (hierarchy of):

reference to the religious characters of the Primitive & Early Church: the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Ghost), angels & archangels, Gabriel, Michael & the saints.  Spengler regards early Christianity as religious manifestations of the Magian, not Classical or Faustian Culture.

 

pseudomorphism:

a geological term (of mineralogy), a pseudomorph is a mineral that appears in an atypical form (crystal system), the result of a substitution process where the appearance & dimensions remain constant, but the original mineral is replaced by another; the name literally means "false form".  Spengler’s historical term defines this (page 189, Vol 2) as cases where an older alien Culture so dominates the land that a young Culture, born in this same land, cannot get its breath & fails to achieve pure, specific expression-forms, or even its own self-consciousness.  The young soul’s creativity is cast in the old moulds & in senile works, instead of growing within its own creative power, it can only hate the distant power with a hate that grows to be monstrous.

 

duality:

Magian religious characteristic, alien to the Faustian soul.  Spengler associates the following dualistic religions with Magian Culture:  Mazdaism, Mazdean Zoroastrianism (dualistic & monotheistic since God the Creator is purely good, the antithesis which is also uncreated, is an absolute one), Zurvanism, Zurvanite Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Mandaeism (dualistic & monist, with a supreme & transcendental First Principle from which 2 equal-but-opposite entities emanate) and Christian gnostic religions (also dualistic).

 

music (late 17th century instrumental): * see Endnote <D>

known for its grandiose, dramatic & energetic spirit & stylistic diversity.  A turning points in Western music.  Italy led the way as the 16th century polyphonic style continued but was now reserved for sacred music, while the nuove musiche emerged, developed for secular usage with emphasis on solo voice, polarity of the melody and the bass line, and interest in expressive harmony.  These developments allowed for a clearer distinction between sacred & secular music and between vocal & instrumental idioms.  National differences in musical styles & taste also became more pronounced.

 

altarpiece to oratorio:

Spengler uses an analogy between the Catholic altarpiece and the Protestant musical oratorio to show the progressive disembodiment of the Faustian soul, from material pictorial representation to bodiless music as the artistic expression of the godhead.

 

altarpiece: * see Endnote <E>

artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject placed behind the altar of a Christian church; commonly refers to a single work of art or a set of the, it may also refer to the whole ensemble behind the altar, known as a reredos.  One of them important products of Christian art from the late Middle Ages to the Counter-Reformation.

 

oratorio:

see above

 

Wotan:

aka Odin; revered god in Norse mythology, associated with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, battle, sorcery, poetry, frenzy & the runic alphabet, husband of the goddess Frigg; depicted as 1-eyed & long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear & wearing a cloak & broad hat; accompanied by his animal companions, 2 wolves & 2 ravens, rides the flying, 8-legged steed Sleipnir across the sky & into the underworld; has many sons - the gods Thor (with Jörð) and Baldr (with Frigg); frequently seeks knowledge, often travelling in disguise, makes wagers with Frigg over the outcome of exploits & takes part in creation of the world by way of slaying the primordial being & gave gift of life to the first 2 humans, associated with Yule & man’s knowledge of runes and poetry

 

Baldur:

god in Norse mythology, son of god Odin & goddess Frigg, with numerous brothers, such as Thor & Váli.  Known primarily for his death, seen as the first in a chain of events ultimately leading to the destruction of the gods at Ragnarök.  Baldr will be reborn in the new world, according to Völuspá.  He dreamed of his own death, this depressed him.  Frigg, his mother had the same dreams & made every object on earth vow never to hurt Baldr, all but the unimportant & nonthreatening mistletoe.  Upon hearing of this Loki, the mischief-maker, made a magical spear from this plant; he hurried to the place where the gods were indulging in their new pastime of hurling objects at Baldr, which would bounce off without harming him.  Loki gave the spear to Baldr's brother, the blind god Höðr, who then inadvertently killed Baldr. 

 

Freya:

Old Norse goddess associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, sorcery, war & death; owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni,  possesses a cloak of falcon feathers.  With husband Odin, she is the mother of 2 daughters, Hnoss & Gersemi.  With her brother Freyr, father Njörðr, and her mother she is a member of the Vanir.  She rules over her heavenly field Fólkvangr, receiving half of the dead in battle.  Within Fólkvangr lies her hall, Sessrúmnir. She assists other deities by allowing them to use her feathered cloak, is invoked in matters of fertility and love.

 

Euclidean form:

Spengler associates this concept, Euclidean plane geometry with Apollonian corporality

 

Gods of India (Vedic): * See Endnote <F>

main deities of the Vedic pantheon were Indra, Agni (the sacrificial fire) & Soma and some deities of social order such as Mitra–Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga & Amsa, further nature deities such as Surya (the Sun), Vayu (the wind) & Prithivi (the earth).  Goddesses included Ushas (the dawn), Prithvi, and Aditi (the mother of the Aditya gods).  Rivers, especially Saraswati, were considered goddesses.  Deities were not viewed as all-powerful; relationships between humans and the deity was one of transaction, with Agni (the sacrificial fire) taking the role of messenger between the two.