The Gospel of Martinus

Martinus Thomsen (usually just called Martinus) was a Danish neo-Theosophist. His message is known as Martinus Kosmologi, and his writings collectively as "The Third Testament". Of these, the seven-volume "Livets Bog" (Book of Life) is the most important. One obvious difference between Martinus Kosmologi and standard Theosophy is the strong emphasis on Christ found in the former. I recently looked at two shorter pieces by Martinus on that very topic. Both are available in Swedish translation. "Påsk: Världsåterlösaren och mänskligheten" (Easter: The World Redeemer and Humanity) was originally published in 1942. "Julevangeliet" (The Christmas Gospel) is originally from 1949.

It's not entirely clear to the present reviewer whether Martinus regarded Jesus as a real historical person or as mere allegory. The booklet on Easter suggests the former, whereas the piece on the meaning of Christmas strongly implies the latter.

To Martinus, Jesus Christ didn't appear on Earth to "atone" for anyone's "sins", a notion he considers absurd and barbaric. Rather, Jesus is the great example of divine love and forgiveness, who showed humanity how to truly live (and die) in order to manifest the Light. He represents an entirely new spiritual impulse in cosmic evolution, indeed, the highest one, being "one with the Father" and a direct emanation from the spiritual realm. It will take a long time before the Christ impulse works itself out on Earth and in human consciousness.

"Påsk" contains Martinus' retelling of the passion and resurrection of the Christ. Most of the events are taken from the Biblical narrative, but one is presumably a new revelation. Martinus claims that Jesus forgave and saved Judas in the astral world!

One annoying tendency with both booklets is Martinus' attempts to reinterpret the Bible in a "rational" manner. Annoying since it doesn't really help, Martinus Kosmologi being just as "supernatural" as any other religion. The virgin birth is declared to be impossible, Joseph being the real father of Jesus. The resurrection was a "materialization" of Jesus' astral body, while his physical body remained in the tomb, until it was "dematerialized" and stoved away at a secure location. The Second Coming of Christ is wholly allegorical. Another text by this author strongly suggests that *he* is the Second Coming!

"Julevangeliet" allegorizes virtually the entire infancy narrative. That Jesus was born in a manger with animals is a symbol of our animalistic natures. The three Magi are Muhammad, the adult Jesus and the Buddha, representing "the three world religions". By giving the infant precious gifts, they make possible his escape into Egypt (the domain of Light) from Herod (the realm of darkness). 

The piece on the Christmas Gospel also contain digressions on art, homosexuality and the plight of German refugees after World War II. The author attacks both capitalism and Communism. 

I admit that I wasn't *that* thrilled by this gospel according to Martinus Thomsen. Somehow, the original version makes more sense... 

A frustrated prophet?

Martinus Thomsen (usually just called Martinus) was a Danish spiritual teacher with a message similar to Theosophy. His magnum opus is known as "Livets Bog" (The Book of Life). The message itself is called Martinus Kosmologi. Most of Martinus' writings are only available in Danish and Swedish. 

"Kring min missions födelse" is an undated text, translated to Swedish in 1975. In it, Martinus tries to explain his prophetic mission and how it came about. The author sounds surprisingly frustrated. Apparently, Christians in Denmark had sharply criticized him, accusing the new prophet of being "possesed by the Devil", "megalomaniacal" or simply "blasphemous". Unless they saw him as the Anti-Christ, of course! While this is of course absurd, Martinus *does* have pretty high ideas about his mission. He claims to be the Paraclete, the Second Coming of Christ, a new Moses or Paul. His new revelation is a form of "mathematical" or "scientific" *knowledge*, and a man of pure faith therefore cannot judge him. Indeed, the veracity of his message can only be judged by those who live by it! Only the Spirit can comprehendeth Spirit, it seems. 

That being said, I should perhaps point out that Martinus didn't want to suppress any religion or worldview, and regarded his revelation as just a small step in a millennia-long evolution of human society towards perfection. I never heard any cult-accusations against Martinus Kosmologi. 

Martinus' description of the origins of his mission is interesting. He claims to have been a very simple Christian, completely untutored in theology, when a friend recommended him to study the material of the Theosophical Society. The effect was dramatic. When Martinus tried a certain meditation technique, he literally saw a Christ-like figure surrounded by white and blue light moving towards him and *merging* with his soul. In another vision, the heavens were open and Martinus could feel the perfect love of the Father, the life-force in the cosmos, and so on. 

The author emphasizes that the only thing in the Theosophical literature he ever studied was that one meditation technique. I admit this is hard to believe, since "Livets Bog" sounds very much like Theosophy, minus the difficult Sanskrit terminology. And why establish an indirect chain of transmission from Theosophy in the first place, if the "mission" is supposedly unique? It's also intriguing that Martinus calls the supernatural personage he merged with "a Christ being" rather than explicitly Jesus Christ, although that must be whom he has in mind. The author freely uses Christian and Biblical terminology, after all. 

With that reflection, I end this little review. 

Theosophy made in Denmark?

Martinus Thomsen (1890-1981) was a Danish spiritual teacher. He is usually just called Martinus. His supporters often refer to Martinus' worldview as "Martinus Cosmology". They seem to be heavily concentrated in Denmark and Sweden. Martinus Kosmologi should *not* be confused with Martinism, a French occult current named after the 18th century mystic Saint-Martin.

I haven't read all of Martinus' writings, (collectively known as the Third Testament) so the following review should be condidered preliminary. It's wholly based on the first volume of "Livets Bog" (The Book of Life), Martinus' seven-volume magnum opus. The first volume was originally published in 1932. The Swedish translation (and all others) have kept the Danish original title.

I think it's obvious that Martinus' cosmic worldview is really a form of Theosophy. It could be described as Theosophy minus the exotic pseudo-Hindu-Buddhist terminology. Theosophy in plain Danish, perhaps? Martinus claims that the work is the result of supersensible revelation. It was apparently first published with financial backing from a Danish Anthroposophist. I admit that Martinus, while boring, is a better and more lucid writer than Steiner (although I suppose Steiner's forbidding style could be an artefact of bad translation).

Everything in the universe is alive, including planets, stars and galaxies. Everything is also constantly changing and evolving towards higher forms of life and existence. Like in Theosophy, there are Masters, here called World Redeemers, but at least in this book, they are strangely anonymous. Instead, I get the impression that the cosmic evolution is wholly pantheistic and automatic, propelled forward by entirely impersonal forces. It's not clear to me if the souls really have freedom of will to opt out of the cosmic cycles (or speed up their own evolution).

That Martinus was very much a product of his time is obvious at several points in "Livets Bog". He strongly believes in the Western idea of Progress, including technological and scientific progress. Martinus also turns out to be a very literal socialist. The society of the future is a world government which owns the means of production and administers them through central planning. High technology will abolish all human wants and give everyone enough spare time for artistic and other pursuits. And yes, people will be paid in labor vouchers...

Martinus is no revolutionary, however. Instead, he supports what we would call a welfare state, and believe it should gradually expand its power over the economy. In fact, he seems very positive towards the state in general, perhaps because it's a collective and hence potentially collectivist organ. What is lacking is a concrete political program. Martinus states that the ideal world society won't be established until 3,000 years into the future by a new "cosmic impulse".

Another tendency visible in the book is the idea that all competing worldviews are really part of the grand cosmic plan, and represent distinct stages or functions along the way. Martinus can therefore sound surprisingly positive when discussing Catholicism, Islam, "idolatry", materialistic science or secular socialist movements. An integral theory if I ever saw one! However, there is also a strong dose of condescention towards those not spiritually enlightened enough. They should be forgiven since they simply don't know better, and even their incomprehension is somehow necessary in the bigger scheme of things.

The central idea of "Livets Bog" is that evil is inevitable, necessary and wholly integrated into the divine plan. Evil doesn't seem to be an illusion (like in ACIM), but everything in the cosmos is "wholly good" in the sense that evil and suffering is what makes the souls turn towards the light in the first place. Creation itself has two phases, with the "dark" phase being the first, devolving the souls more and more into dense matter and individuality. The fall of man is the moment when humans become conscious of their "animal" suffering, while not yet being enlightened enough to enter "the real human kingdom" of love and foregiveness. This creates the impression that humans are "worse" than animals - we haven't learned how to be real humans, while all animals are perfect as animals. Of course, the fall is necessary for our future evolution.

Taking a cue from Theosophy and Anthroposophy, Martinus' view of evolution is non-Darwinian. All living organisms don't share a single ancestor. Rather, there are many parallel lines of evolution. Martinus seems fascinated by social insects, and believes that the class of Insecta must originally have come from another planet than the spiritual ancestors of Mammalia. In the distant future, some of the social insects may evolve into creatures on the "human" level of evolution. Plants are also strange. On the one hand, their consciousness is less developed than that of animals and humans. Yet, they nevertheless stand closer to the spiritual dimension, which explains why they can inspire great human artists, and so on.

One thing never explained in this first volume of "Livets Bog" is what practice we should follow to become more enlightened beings. What is Martinus' yoga? He does explain the ideal we should strive for. The spiritual man is wise, loving, humble, celibate, vegetarian, works in a lowly position (perhaps as a worker or janitor), doesn't proselytize, and so on. 

In other words, he is like Martinus himself...

Stay tuned for more cosmic cycles! 

En preliminär rapport

Den bok jag till sist satte mig för att läsa i helgen blev "Tredje Testamentet. Livets Bog. Del 1" av Martinus. Jag har bara läst en fjärdedel, men eftersom jag känner att jag behöver en paus kommer här en liten preliminär rapport.

Martinus Thomsen var en dansk författare och andlig lärare. Han grundade en egen nyreligiös grupp, Martinus Kosmologi. Första bandet av "Livets Bog" kom ut 1932. Den danska titeln har behållits även i svensk översättning - egentligen borde den ju heta "Livets Bok". Det är ganska uppenbart att Martinus tagit starka intryck av teosoferna och teosofin, även om terminologin är annorlunda. Den exotiska hindu-buddhismen är som bortblåst. Annars är mycket sig likt.

Allt i universum är levande, inklusive planeter, solar och vintergator. Allt utvecklas ständigt mot allt högre former genom gigantiska kosmiska cykler. Åtminstone i den del av materialet jag läst, spelar de upphöjda mästarna en relativt undanskymd roll. De kallas "världsåterlösare" och presenteras aldrig närmare, men bokens framsida antyder starkt att Kristus trots allt är central.

Boken präglas av en stark utvecklingsoptimism. Förutom teosofi kan någon form av liberal protestantism och postmillenarism vara inspirationskällor. Martinus visar sig vara socialist. Han förespråkar upprättandet av en socialistisk världsregering med statligt ägande och planekonomi! Hur detta ska gå till rent praktiskt är dock väldigt oklart. Författaren menar att nya andliga impulser snart kommer över världen och på något sätt övervinner kapitalismen.

Martinus är förvånansvärt positiv till statsmakten som sådan. Han låter som en väldigt märklig socialdemokrat. Staten sägs stå för rätten och utgör en motvikt mot egoismen och den rena marknadsekonomin. Trodde Martinus ens på klasskamp? Den konflikt han beskriver står mellan staten och kapitalisterna, och staten utgår som segrare genom att grunda statsföretag, konkurrera ut privatföretagen och lägga ekonomin under sig.

Den centrala dogmen hos Martinus är tanken att "allting är mycket gott". Ondskan och lidandet är förvisso inga illusioner, men de är egentligen förtäckta välsignelser. Ondskan är en oundviklig, nödvändig och integrerad del av själva den gudomliga skapelse- och evolutionsprocessen. Den första "utstrålningen" från det gudomliga i varje cykel är alltid "mörk". Vi kan inte känna ljuset förrän vi först har upplevt mörkret. Dessutom är mörkret en tuktande lärare som ser till att vi lider för att på så sätt ge oss erfarenheter och leda oss in på den rätta vägen. 

In other words, the usual bullshit.

Ett annat viktigt inslag hos Martinus är en serie särpräglade illustrationer med ett symboliskt budskap. Dessa är tydligen målade av Martinus själv. Bokens fransida visar alltså Kristus i mitten av ett cykliskt världsförlopp i regnbågens färger, medan baksidan visar ett stort skelett omgärdat av ett vulkanutbrott som förstört en stor stad. Hela cykeln är "mörk". Betyder detta att evolutionen faktiskt kan slå fel? 

Kanske får jag svaret nästa vecka... 

 

I valet och värsta kvalet

Credit: Lestat

Jag vet inte riktigt vad jag ska läsa i helgen. Det står och väger mellan "Shri Ramanuja Gita Bhashya", "Livets Bog. Tredje Testamentet. Band 1" av Martinus, "The Philosophy of Vishishtadvaita" av P N Srinivasachari, "Mystikern på Karlaplan" av Pertti Spets, "Profeter mot strömmen" av Olav Hammer, eller något om Akbar den store. Eller så skiter jag i alltihop och går en långpromenad istället! 

The only source

Poul Fersling's Danish book "Mystikkens verden" is probably well nigh unknown outside Scandinavia, but in Sweden it's a virtual classic, naturally in a Swedish translation titled "Naturligt Övernaturligt". Several different editions exist. The original edition must be extremely old, perhaps from 1975 or thereabouts.

When I grew up, Fersling's book was more or less the only source available in Sweden on obscure topics such as Theosophy, Rudolf Steiner, Mesmerism, Satanism, etc. Or at least the only widely available source, sold in regular bookshops and carried by many libraries. The book is a mini-encyclopaedia covering all things occult, from "respectable" research into parapsychology to less respectable characters such as Aleister Crowley or L. Ron Hubbard. There are also chapters on ritual magick, dream interpretation, Tarot, the Loch Ness monster and the inevitable UFOs. And yes, the home-grown Danish Theosophist Martinus Thomsen! While Fersling is a non-believer, his style of writing is neutral, except when he writes about UFOs, a phenomenon he apparently scorns.

As a teenager, I was fascinated by this book, and in a sense, I still am. For all I know, Fersling's book is more or less factually correct. Not bad for a Danish work of the 1970's. The Swedish translation of "Mystikkens verden" has probably inspired many young seekers to become full-blown occultists. Thus, the founder of the Hermetic Order of the Dragon Rouge admits becoming interested in occultism after reading Fersling's work. Writing in a neutral vain about these matters, can have its unintended consequences, it seems...

Personally, I found the book extremely entertaining, but I suppose I was an early GenXer!