Wolfram von Eschenbach:

(1160-1220) German knight, epic poet, composer & Minnesinger; most famous work was Parzival

and see Chapter IV, pages 142, Chapter VI page 186

 

Tristan:

(aka Tristan und Isolde) opera by Wagner composed between 1857 & 1859, premiered 1865; inspired by Schopenhauer; notable for the unprecedented use of chromaticism, tonal ambiguity, orchestral colour & harmonic suspension.

and see Chapter I page 45, Chapter VII, page 220 and Chapter X page 370

 

schwebend:

German, adjective, in general usage- undecided, pending, floating or hovering; in Chemistry it means suspended; in music floating

 

percipient:

a person or thing that perceives (having perception)

 

numina:

Latin, singular Numen, meaning divinity, or a divine presence, divine will.

 

elucidations:

the act of explaining or making something clear

 

name-magic:

Spengler is referring to the “true name” idea, that a name of a thing is somehow identical to its true nature.  The notion that language can refer to things by their true names has been central to philosophical study, traditions of magic, religious invocation & mysticism since antiquity.  In Egyptian myth Isis tricks the god Ra into revealing his true name & this gives her power.  Socrates in Plato's Cratylus considers the idea of the "True name".  Hellenistic Judaism emphasized the divine nature of logos, an idea later adopted by the Gospel of John.  The true name of God plays a central role in Kabbalism & It can also be found in Chinese Daoist traditions & in Sufism.  .

 

Deus:

Latin for "god" or "deity"; in Classical Latin, deus (feminine dea) was a general noun referring to a deity, in Late Latin, it came to be used mostly for the Christian God.

 

Latium:

region of central W. Italy where Rome was founded; a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil where the Latins tribe lived; located on the left bank (E & S) of the Tiber, extending north to the River Anio & south to the Pontine Marshes; the right bank of the Tiber was occupied by the Etruscan city of Veii & the other borders were occupied by Italic tribes.

 

Ceres:

goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility & motherly relationships in Roman religion, only agricultural deity listed among 12 honoured gods of the Roman pantheon & originally the central deity in Rome's Aventine Triad, paired with her daughter Proserpina.  Her 7 day April festival of Cerealia included the popular Ceres' games; also honoured in the May lustratio of the fields at the Ambarvalia festival, at harvest-time, during Roman marriages & funeral rites.

 

Consus:

a god in Roman religion, protector of grains represented by a grain seed; he was a subterranean god, his alter was located at the first meta of the Circus Maximus; his festivals were on August 21, December 15 & July 7, when the pontiffs held a sacrifice there

 

Janus:

In Roman religion and myth, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings; usually depicted as having 2 faces.

 

Vesta:

in Roman religion the virgin goddess of the hearth, home & family; 1 of the 12 most honoured gods in the Roman pantheon; rarely depicted in human form, often represented by the fire of her temple in the Forum Romanum, into which entry was permitted only to her priestesses, the Vestals.  Considered a guardian of the Roman people, her festival, the Vestalia was one of the most important Roman holidays.