The land which is not

"Vägen till landet som icke är" is a book unfortunately available only in Swedish. The author, Jan Häll, is a scholar of intellectual history. His book analyzes a somewhat obscure subject: the real or perceived influence of Rudolf Steiner on the Swedish-speaking Finnish poet Edith Södergran (who died in 1923).

I admit that I'm not much for poetry, but most people in Sweden are familiar with Södergran's poem "Landet som icke är" (The land which is not). The poem, which deals with life after death, was - fittingly or otherwise - published posthumously! Häll's book is titled after a line in this particular poem.

Apparently, Södergran was originally a Nietzschean and an atheist. I admit that the Nietzschean outpourings quoted by Häll sound near-pathological. Södergran was physically weak and frequently ill, yet harboured dreams of world conquest (both poetical and political) and admired the French "bellicist" poets, who glorified war. It seems that already this is controversial: the Wiki entry on Södergran claims that she could differentiate between the heroic characters of her poems and her own persona. Well, obviously, but only because she wanted to *be* like the personages in her poems! Södergran's political sympathies have also been a matter of contention. She seems to have supported Germany during World War I. In a semi-official entry in an encylopaedia of Finnish poets, Södergran stated her political affiliation as "Swedish People's Party", a conservative party which supported the Whites during the Finnish Civil War. Her attempts to aid the survivors of the Bolshevik attack on Kronstadt, who had fled to Finland, also suggests White sympathies (this time in the Russian Civil War), since she had been alerted of their plight by the local Russian priest. On the other hand, Södergran's private letters contain positive references to Swedish Social Democracy, Henri Barbusse and Clarté.

Later, Södergran turned to religion and spirituality, leading to a lot of psychological turmoil clearly visible in her preserved correspondence. But what kind of spirituality? Häll believes that Södergran was seriously interested in and to some extent influenced by the Anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. This has been strongly de-emphasized by most scholars studying her work. Häll refrains from speculating about the causes, at one point suggesting that perhaps Steiner is just to obscure and "esoteric" to be readily understandable to the average scholar of literature. Perhaps. However, another possibility could be a general tendency among secular scholars to look the other way when famous writers turn out to be occult. Wordsworth and Yeats have been subjected to the same treatment, so why not Södergran? The Wiki entry doesn't even mention Steiner!

Häll's research in Södergran's private papers show a woman who for several years was deeply preoccupied with studying Steiner's works, including the esoteric lecture cycles (at the time only available to members of the Anthroposophical Society itself). She was almost infatuated with the man and his message, treated a portrait of him almost as an idol, and attempted to "convert" her close friend Hagar Olsson to Steiner's message. Olsson actually visited Goetheanum, the international headquarter of the Anthroposophical Society in Switzerland, but never got the chance to speak directly to Steiner. It seems that Södergran got access to Steiner's secret writings through a Finnish Anthroposophist who lent her the material already before the poet became a formal member of the Society. She also attempted to practice the spiritual disciplines described by Steiner in his books. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know how far Södergren was "initiated" into the mysteries of Anthroposophy, but she does claim to have "seen the Sun" and "met her double", the double being the Guardian on the Threshold. She composed a somewhat flamboyant letter in which she asked Steiner directly to make her one of his students (and hence part of the inner circle), but the letter was probably never sent.

The letters also reveal that Södergran was a troubled soul who never completely accepted Steiner's esoteric Christianity. She was also influenced by evangelical Christianity through a Christian missionary who frequently visited her house at Raivola. What she lacked in Steiner was the idea of grace and a "religion of the heart". To Södergran, Anthroposophy was too cerebral. She also had a pessimistic, escapist tendency absent from the optimistic evolutionism of Steiner's speculations. Since both Steiner and evangelicalism emphasizes Christ, Södergran's statements can sometimes be spun either way. What did she mean when she said that "Christ is coming soon"? Steiner believed that the Christ Being would soon appear "in the etheric"...

The letters also mention several "Dionysian" (i.e. Nietzschean) relapses. It's interesting that Södergran at one point attempted to combine Anthroposophy with her fantasies about world conquest. After World War I, Steiner enjoyed momentary success with a political proposal for a "threefold society". Södergran was excited, and expressed hopes that both literati and politicians (including Social Democrats) could be won for the idea. Some politicians and industrialists *did* express some interest in "the threefold society", including Axel Lille, the leader of the Swedish People's Party in Finland. There were also bizarre rumours that Swedish Social Democratic leader Hjalmar Branting had made a two-week visit to Goetheanum and discussed Steiner's political visions directly with Steiner himself! Curiously, Häll takes the rumour seriously, but his only source is a book written by Hagar Olsson, who presumably heard it during her own visit to Goetheanum. (On the web, I only found this rumour on a Swedish Anthroposophical blog, which also claims that Olof Palme knew all about Branting's visit and was very familiar with Steiner's work! Clearly, this is some kind of Anthroposophical urban legend.)

Judging by the posthumously published poem "Landet som icke är", Södergran eventually resolved her psychological struggles in a non-Anthroposophical direction. The poem is pessimistic in its take on the material world. Salvation lies in the beyond. It portrays "the land which is not" (i.e. Heaven) as a final resting place from the woes of earthly existence, and there is no mention of cosmic evolution or reincarnation. The final lines are obviously about Christ, who is approached in a child-like manner. I would argue that the poem is traditionally Christian, rather than Anthroposophical. Interestingly, Häll argues the opposite. He points out that the last line contains what could be a mysterious code: "I am the one you love and the one you will always love". The phrase "I am" (I AM) played an important role in Steiner's comments to the Gospel of John, which Södergran had carefully studied. However, it seems that our scholarly author has forgotten that, of course, I AM also plays an important role in traditional Christianity, including in the aforementioned gospel...

As already mentioned, "Vägen till landet som icke är" is only available in Swedish. With that little caveat, I give the book four stars.