THE MAGIC FLUTE
by Frater
S.A.
About this lecture
The subject of this lecture is "Die Zauberflöte" or "The Magic
Flute", written in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The Magic Flute is arguably the most well-known and loved opera in the
history of music, probably because it has a simple fairy-tale type of plot and
because the music is easy to listen to and to "understand". There is a kind of
lightness to it that makes it, in fact, ideal as an introduction to opera in
general, or as a family-type entertainment.
But beneath this apparent simplicity can be found several deeper layers of
meaning. This is often the case with great works of art: they can be enjoyed and
understood on several levels depending on your experience and insight. Some are
fascinated by the fairy-tale dimension of The Magic Flute, others might
just enjoy the great music. Still others will see it as a love story. Yet others
might regard it as a parable dealing with the ideals of the Age of
Enlightenment.
A story of Initiation
But I'm going to speak about something deeper still - for the story told in
The Magic Flute is really a story of Initiation. And it is, in fact, the
only opera which deals with this particular subject. It does so quite openly, if
you have ears to hear and eyes to see. Behind the apparent naïvety can be found
a quite profound statement about the importance of the initiatory process,
disguised as a fairy-tale. The characters are deliberately chosen to demonstrate
and underline this main theme, but in themselves, they are totally subordinate
to the main idea: the soul's advancement through initiation.
So why did Mozart choose to write an opera about Initiation? He didn't - the
text - the libretto -was written by a friend of his by the name of Emanuel
Schikaneder. He was a singer and an actor, as well as the General Manager of the
Opera where The Magic Flute was first performed, but far more important
than this was the fact that both he and Mozart were Freemasons. And that is
very, very important indeed. But let us first take a quick look at the time in
which Mozart lived.
The Age of Enlightenment
The Magic Flute was composed in 1791, right at the end of the Age of
Enlightenment, which had started in the early years of the 18th century. The
Enlightenment was an intellectual movement, strongly influenced by the rise
of modern science and by the the long religious conflict that had followed the
Reformation. The philosophers believed that science could reveal nature as it
truly is and show how it could be controlled and manipulated. Modern science has
its roots here.
Also, the enlightened understanding of human nature was one that emphasized
the right to self-expression and human fulfillment, the right to think freely
and express one's views publicly without censorship or fear of repression.
Everywhere the Enlightenment produced restless men (because they were mostly
men) impatient for change. All this was eventually to lead to the French
Revolution, and with the birth of the Napoleonic era, the Enlightenment came to
an end, roughly in 1815. The ideals of Enlightened Harmony and Peace were
utterly disrupted, and history took another turn.
In other quarters, the idea of Enlightenment meant something different, but
closely akin to the secular ideas of the movement: the advancement of human
consciousness through education. To these people education was of two kinds:
secular education on one hand, and spiritual education on the other. These two
ingredients are strongly present in Freemasonry, which like the movement of
Enlightenment is based on the idea of the essential brotherhood of humankind.
The secular education has its parallel in the charitable activities of the
Masons, and the spiritual education in their system of initiation, which uses
builder's tools as symbols to teach basic moral truths. So, the ideas of
Freemasonry were very much in line with the spirit of the times.
Mozart the Mason
Let's return to Mozart as a Mason and to The Magic Flute. We don't
know if Mozart and Schikaneder belonged to the same Masonic Lodge, but we do
know that both of them were Masons, and that they were familiar with Masonic
Symbolism and with the general ideals of Freemasonry. So, when Tamino, who is
the main character of The Magic Flute, enters the Temple of Wisdom, he is
in fact being initiated into the Masonic Mysteries, or into a mythical version
of it: as you will see, there is a lot of talk about Isis and Osiris, of
pyramids and sphinxes, etc. Now, this was very fashionable and modern in those
days - exotism was quite the thing - but, equally, as anybody with a bit of
insight into the Masonic Tradition knows, there are many Egyptian elements in
Freemasonry proper, even today. Before we go into all that, let me describe what
goes on in The Magic Flute.
The Story
The story, in condensed form, goes roughly like this:
Tamino, a prince, happens onto a wild landscape where he is rescued from a
gigantic serpent by Three Veiled Ladies - servants of the Queen of the Night.
The Queen, also called Flaming Star, has a daughter - Pamina, and, as the
Queen herself tells Tamino, the girl has been abducted by a cruel magician,
Sarastro. If the prince can rescue Pamina, he may then marry her.
During his adventures Tamino is joined by a youth of contrasting qualities:
Papageno, a bird catcher, jovial and earthy. Fortified with a magic flute and
a set of bells, they set out in search of Pamina. They find that things are
often not what they seem. The Queen, in reality, is a destructive plotter;
Sarastro, a spiritual leader, has abstracted the Queen's daughter to free the
girl of a wicked influence.
Gradually both the prince and Pamina, who meet, undergo rites of
purification that enable them together to enter the temple of Sarastro as
enlightened servants. Tamino plays the magic flute as he passes through the
ordeals of fire and water. At the same time, Papageno achieves his heart's
desire: "a bride, Papagena, very much like his earthy self."
The Analysis
So let's try to analyse the story of the opera in Mystery terms. The first
thing we must remember is that in Mozart's time, most of the psychological terms
we now use were not invented yet. The concepts were of course familiar to
what we loosely may term "the wise", but the terminology was different.
We talk, for instance, about "integrating the Higher and the Lower Selves".
They might have referred to the same thing under the name of "The Conjoining of
the Sun and the Moon". The integration of two aspects of consciousness was
frequently termed "a Marriage", for instance, and images and symbols from
earth-level marriage ceremonies were employed.
They certainly didn't talk about "The Shadow of the Psyche" or about
"repressed material", but of "demons". In fact, it is possible, indeed very
likely, that we have lost something in dropping this colourful vocabulary. It is
entirely possible that they used the term "demon", not out of ignorance, but
because their basic way of thinking was different: it might have allowed for
this kind of interpretation of the psychic facts. Certainly, what we coolly
might term "a repressed complex" -thereby reducing it to a neat, easily handled
object - frequently takes on an independent psychic existence, sometimes even
outside the psyche itself. The old term "demon" is perhaps, in such cases, a
more accurate term, simply because it is evocative to our mind and not dry and
clinical. The mind is never dry, nor is it clinical.
The symbolism employed in The Magic Flute is not known to us in its
entirety. However, the story is a spiritual one, and many of the symbols
employed are known to us: they are still employed in a spiritual context; they
are still in use Freemasonry and within the occult. As Masons, Schikaneder and
Mozart must have been familiar with basic occult history and symbology; elements
of the Kabbalah and of Alchemy were certainly known to them. It is very easy to
understand some of the more obvious symbols. I'm not saying that Mozart was a
Kabbalist; in fact, there is nothing to support such an idea. It is possible,
however, to interpret the story of The Magic Flute in the light of
general kabbalistic symbolism, because most of it is archetypal anyway: for
instance, the symbol of, say, a forest means much the same thing in Western
Kabbalah as it does in Jungian analysis or, indeed, in Dante's Divine Comedy.
There is a common layer of meaning which runs through all of them, but equally,
I don't think that Mozart was, for instance, into Gematria, Notariqon or any of
the more abstruse Kabbalistic disciplines.
As an occultist, it is always wise to remember the story of Procrustes, who
used to solve the problem with houseguests being too tall or too short for the
beds he provided for them by simply cutting off their legs or racking them until
they fitted! As occultists we are equally prone to make the same mistake -
forcing the facts fit our theories.
I shall try to avoid this particular trap, but don't be surprised if you,
after the end of this lecture, find the odd toe lying about this room. Shoot me,
not Mozart! I will simply try to use the basic elements of Western Qabalah to
demonstrate how the Magic Flute might be interpreted in the light of esoteric
symbolism. Mozart and Schikaneder might not agree with every detail in this
particular interpretation. However, archetypes being what they are - common to
all humankind - I think they would agree in principle.
The Overture
To quote from Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music: "Let's start from
the very beginning". So let's start, therefore, with the Overture. An overture
is usually a kind of collection of orchestral highlights from the opera which
follows: it's a potpourri or a medley as it were. The overture of The Magic
Flute is different, however: not a single bar of it is taken from the opera
itself. It is a separate piece altogether. Now, this has caused some
musicologists to believe that it has nothing to do with the opera, and that it
perhaps was added afterwards.
This is not true, and there are two strong points of evidence which
demonstrate this. Firstly, the key of the overture is E flat major, which acts
as a kind of central key throughout the entire opera. E flat major is a key
which has a special Masonic significance; one reason for this is that E flat
major is written with three flats, symbolic of the Trinity, and also of a
certain group of three men which is very central to the basic "Masonic myth", if
I may call it so. Mozart was not alone in using E flat major in this way - other
composers have used it as well, notably Beethoven, who also was a Mason, and
there are plenty of other examples.
Secondly, the overture begins with three chords, three heavy, accented,
majestic chords - in E flat major. These three chords are separated by long
pauses which makes them stand out like three great pillars. Indeed, this is
exactly what they represent. In a Masonic Lodge of a certain degree, there are
three Pillars: one in each Quarter, next to each major Officer: East, South and
West (there is no Officer of the North). Note that we are not talking about
Jakin & Boaz, the usual black and silver pillars so familiar to us today,
but something totally different: the Pillars of the Three Officers, who have
high-sounding titles like Worshipful Master. Those familiar with the
rituals of the Golden Dawn will recognize these titles, because the Golden Dawn
was founded by Masons (three Masons, in fact!) and much of the Masonic
symbolism was carried over into that of the Golden Dawn.
So these three chords symbolize the Three Officers - or the Three Masonic
Pillars. They are the Three that rule the Lodge. Indeed, throughout the score of
The Magic Flute, attention is constantly drawn to the number three in
various ways.
So Mozart, by choosing E flat major - a Masonic key - and by opening the
entire opera with a reference to the Three Who Rule The Lodge (the
"Masonic Trinity" if you like), is by this very act symbolically asserting that
what is to take place is under the aegis, as it were, of the Masters of the
Lodge. It's rather like opening Lodge, declaring that everything that is to take
place therein will be under the protection of the Light, under the protection of
the Most High, whatever name you choose to recognize It by.
The Trombones
In the overture, Mozart also draws special attention to the trombones. It's
as if he wants to emphasize that they have a special function. Indeed, they do:
throughout the rest of the opera, fanfares or chords for the three trombones
(there's that number three again) announce the next stage or phase of the
process of initiation. They urge the protagonists on, they make things happen.
Trombones are extremely ancient instruments. The name is Italian for "large
trumpet", but whereas trumpets are martial instruments - having to do with the
forces of Mars: energy, courage, war, and so forth - the trombones, on the other
hand, are particularly royal instruments. Traditionally, trombones and their
ancestors were mainly used in religious ceremony. They represented the majesty
and divinity of the King; compared to the trumpets, their sound is heavier,
calmer, more dignified and expansive: all qualities of Jupiter. So we might say
that trumpets belong to the Sphere of Gevurah on the Tree of Life, and
trombones belong to the Sphere of Chesed.
However, we might also put the trombones in Tifaret, the Royal Sephira
above all others, the Sphere of the King. Tifaret is also the Sphere of
Sacrifice and of Higher Initiation, and since The Magic Flute is an opera
about initiation and the trombones are given the task of summoning the
characters to their initiation, we can regard the trombones as symbols of
Tifaret, the Sphere of the Sun and of the Higher Self.
If you listen to the second half of the overture, try to identify what the
trombones are doing; there is one place where they very clearly are "sounding
the summons", and towards the end you can hear them stand out clearly as they
are playing very loud, off-beat accents; it's like Mozart is telling us:
"Look: take note of the trombones; they have a special significance!"
Scene 1 - the Main Characters
When the First Act begins, we find ourselves in the wilderness, in a large
forest. At the back is a circular or roundish temple (though I very much suspect
it is nine-sided, but more of that later on). Tamino enters, pursued by a large
serpent which is threatening to kill him. He faints, but as he does so, the
doors of the temple open and three veiled ladies rush out to kill the beast with
spears of silver.
A forest - a classic symbol of the unconscious; also a symbol of life itself,
the tangled circumstances we frequently find ourselves in. Another forest which
immediately comes to mind is the one in which Dante finds himself at the
beginning of his Divine Comedy: he was also threatened by various wild animals.
In fact this forest, this wilderness, is nothing other than Yesod, the
Sphere of the Moon and of the unconscious, which is further borne out by the
fact that the three veiled Ladies are servants of the Queen of the Night: they
are Priestesses of the Moon, as witness their silver spears. Three, of course,
being the number of the Great Mother, Binah: the black veils refer to the
Veiled Isis.
Tamino, on the other hand, is a Prince. What, then, is a Prince? A
Prince is a King's son, a young man, whose destiny is to succeed his father and
become the Ruler of the Land. Seen microcosmically, a King (or a Queen, for that
matter) is a balanced human being, in command of his own inner Kingdom and
thereby of his own circumstances: he has achieved integration of his Lower and
Higher Selves: he is a true Initiate in the deepest sense of the word. A Prince
is someone who is still aspiring to all this: he is a candidate, seeking
Initiation.
It is also very important to keep in mind that a Prince is an educated
person. He has prepared himself for Kingship through studies in many fields and
disciplines. This is a prerequisite for a good ruler: only a person with
knowledge can rule well; therefore, he who wants to be King must first educate
himself. In the language of the Mysteries, this means that in order to become
eligible for Initiation, we must have reached the point where we have mastered
the exoteric sciences, which train our minds and give us the tools to understand
the inner knowledge. There must be some degree of inner balance, otherwise we
won't perceive the inner teachings. There must be enough data in the mind,
otherwise we won't understand their import.
There is much preliminary work to be done before Initiation becomes possible.
Dion Fortune
says (in The Initiate, His Training and Work):
"The emotions must flow freely, without conflict or distortion, in
the channels which Nature has appointed for them before they can be lifted to
a higher level. You cannot sublimate a pathology.
[...]
The professors of a university are not willing to ground students in the
elements of knowledge that belong to the schoolroom, and when the student
wishes to undertake the higher studies of esoteric science, he should come as
completely equipped as exoteric studies can make him."
This is the true meaning of Princehood. Tamino fulfils all these
requirements: he is reasonably balanced, he is brave and knowledgeable; he has
stamina and self-control. In fact, Tamino may be regarded as an image of the
rational conscious mind itself, rather like "The Magician" of the Tarot. The
Kabbalists of old called this aspect of the microcosm, Ruach. A
modern-day term is the Ego.
But right now Tamino, the conscious mind, is out of action, lying unconscious
on the ground. The Three Ladies, after some debate, all decide to return to the
temple to inform the Queen of the Night, so the Prince is just left there, but
not for long.
A curious figure enters - Papageno, the Bird Catcher. In fact, it is
difficult to tell whether he is human or not: he is covered in feathers, and in
one place he talks about something being "so horrible it makes him moult"!
His feathers are, in fact, not worn like a coat that can be taken off at will,
but are part of him. He is actually part human, part bird or animal. Papageno is
a simple soul, a good-natured, earthy character. He is not exactly what you
would term an intellectual. He likes simple things; if he lived today, his
intellectual pursuits would limit themselves to comic books, TV soaps and a pint
at the pub. As he enters, he sings a simple little tune, very typical of him.
He operates at an instinctual level, and it is not surprising to learn that
he is employed by the Temple of the Moon where he, in exchange for the birds he
catches, is given wine, figs and sponge-cake - all sweet and pleasurable things.
A little further on in The Initiate, His Training and Work
Dion Fortune writes the following:
"The direction of the energies of life must be removed from the
domain of the desires to that of the will. Until this is done there can be no
steady progression in any direction, for the desires are called forth from
without, not directed from within, and vary with the external stimulus."
It is almost as if the character of Papageno was invented to illustrate this
point. He is much more interested in good food than in danger and adventure. He
is basically a coward, has absolutely no self-control, he rarely stops to think
at all, but there is nothing evil in him. He is the personification of the
instincts, that part of the Ruach (the Ego) which Kabbalists term the
Nefesch or the animal soul, that part of us that connects us to
Nature. It is interesting to note that he carries a set of pipes, a Pan
Flute.
Aspects of one Person
As we go along, you will note that all the characters may be regarded as
aspects of one person: Tamino and Papageno are one. Tamino is the conscious mind
of the person that is to be initiated, Papageno is his unconscious animal soul.
He is the Nefesch part of the Ruach, for the instincts can never
entirely be separated from the Ego. Treating persons in a drama or a myth as
sub-personalities can often reveal very interesting things.
Tamino wakes up
Tamino regains consciousness and assumes that Papageno is the one who has
saved him from the serpent, something Papageno doesn't particularly mind: in
fact, he takes full credit for it - very typical of the Nefesh, the
instinctual level! However, the Three Ladies return and put a padlock on his
mouth, "to teach him not to lie to strange people, and to stop him from
bragging about heroic deeds done by others". So what we are seeing here is
the Yesodic subconscious level disciplining the instincts. Training such as this
comes from many levels, not just the conscious one. In fact, the instincts are
much better disciplined by the unconscious than by the conscious mind.
The Three Ladies then present Prince Tamino with a small portrait of the
daughter of the Queen of the Night. And of course it's love at first sight -
what else, especially since her name is "Pamina", a simple variation on his own
name, Tamino. This shows the basic unity between the two. Pamina can be regarded
as an aspect of himself which he has to reclaim in order to reach maturity and
integration. In fact, Pamina is his contrasexual image - or to use a
Jungian term, his anima.
It is it not surprising to us, then, when we learn from the Three Priestesses
that Pamina has been abducted by a powerful evil sorcerer - the anima is in a
fallen, captive state. Naturally, Tamino promptly swears that he will save her.
The Queen of the Night
At this point, the scenery suddenly changes: it becomes dark, and the Queen
of the Night appears. She is sitting on a silver throne, decorated with silver
stars. Under her feet is a silver crescent. You will note that the imagery used
by Mozart and Schikaneder is very similar to that in the tarot card of "The High
Priestess", which isn't very surprising: there are strong links between this
card, the Moon and the Goddess. Up until now we've encountered her in her Triple
form, as the Three Ladies, but now she reveals herself fully as the
Star-Crowned Isis of the Moon, of the subconscious, of Yesod. In a
slow, plaintive aria, she tells Tamino that if he saves Pamina from the evil
magician, Sarastro, he will then be free to marry her. Then she disappears, and
the scenery changes back to normal, leaving Tamino wondering if it was a vision
or a dream - so typical of an encounter with the astral levels of Yesod
where everything is fluid and dream-like.
The Mission
Papageno's padlock is removed by the Three Ladies. He promises never to lie
again. Tamino is given a magic flute with protective properties to help him on
his rescue mission. Papageno, not wanting to get involved, decides that this is
a probably a good time to vanish, but the Ladies stop him, saying that the Queen
has decreed that he is to follow Tamino to Sarastro's castle. Understandably, he
is not too happy about this, but agrees when he is given a set of silver bells,
also with magical properties.
The Higher Genii
Tamino and Papageno are also assigned Three Guides to show them the way to
Sarastro's castle:
Three boys will hover near you on your journey;
They will be your guides,
Follow only their advice.
These three boys, hovering nearby, are the Guardian Angels of Tamino and
Papageno - they are three in number for the sake of consistency, and also
because they are assigned to watch over them by the Temple of the Queen of the
Night, and as children they symbolise the purity of the Higher Self.
We might also regard them as personifications of the Tifaret consciousness
which now has begun to overshadow, or "hover over", the person who is to be
initiated, even if that person does not realise it. This is always the case when
we are reaching the stage where initiation takes place - the Higher
Consciousness will overshadow us to a certain extent, but very often it isn't
until long afterwards that we recognize this fact. And in yet another and third
sense, in the early stages the mystical consciousness is like a child, requiring
care, love and protection.
Monostatos
In the next scene, which is very brief, we're in Sarastro's palace. Slaves
are are laughing, because Pamina has escaped from her jailer, Monostatos. His
name could be taken to mean "of a single state", "Single-minded" or perhaps
"One-Track minded". He is a Moor - in other words, he is black. Monostatos is a
cruel, embittered person who lusts after Pamina and is just about to rape her
when he suddenly sees Papageno through a window. Frightened by one another's
appearance - "surely this is the Devil" - they both run off in opposite
directions.
Microcosmically speaking, Monostatos can perhaps be said to represent the
Shadow, the complex of repressed psychic material in our subconscious; our
psychic "dustbin" if you like, or, using an old Mystery term - the dreaded
Dweller on the Threshold.
We, as moderns, cannot but help come up against the idea of racism here. We
must keep in mind that 200 years ago, the so-called supremacy of the white races
was rarely questioned. Therefore, it is very interesting to note that
Schikaneder and Mozart have assigned an aria to Monostatos in which he sings,
"skin colour matters not when one is in love". This might, perhaps, be seen as a
reflection of the Masonic ideals of the essential brotherhood of all humankind.
The Finale of Act I
After this short scene follows the Finale of the first act. The Three Boys,
or Higher Genii, have guided Tamino to the gates of Sarastro's temple
complex. The layout is interesting: we see three portals. The left one leads to
the Temple of Reason, the right one to the Temple of Nature, and
in the middle, another portal leads to the Temple of Wisdom.
Remember that we started in the forest of Yesod, in front of the
Temple of the Moon? We'll, we're still in Yesod, but Tamino is getting
ready to leave the Sphere of the Moon, and as you know, on the Tree of Life
there are three paths leading upwards from Yesod: the 30th Path,
leading to Hod; the 28th Path, which leads to Netzach, and
the 25th Path, leading to Tifaret. It just happens that these
three paths correspond exactly to the three Temple Gates: In Hod is the
Temple of Reason, of course; in Netzach is the Temple of Nature, and in
Tifaret, which is the Sphere of the Sun, the Higher Self and of Higher
Initiation, is the Temple of Wisdom! One begins to wonder if Schikaneder wasn't,
after all, familiar with the Kabbalah...
Anyway, Tamino, who is of course firmly set upon rescuing Pamina from the
evil sorcerer, Sarastro, boldly knocks on the right portal. From beyond it a
chorus of priests replies "Stand back!". Puzzled, he tries the left one,
with the same result: "Stand back!" He then tries the middle portal, and
an old priest appears.
He asks him,
- "Where are you bound for, bold stranger? What do you seek in this holy
place?".
- Pamino answers, "That which is love's and virtue's".
- The priest replies, "Those are noble words - But how are you to find
it? You are not guided by love and virtue, because you are inflamed by death
and revenge."
Now, at this point something very interesting happens. Tamino, and the
audience, discover that Sarastro is no evil-doer at all, but a Priest of the
Sun, a Holy Man, and that the Queen of the Night is a false and treacherous
woman who has plotted against him. Sarastro has indeed abducted Pamina from her
mother, but only in order to protect Pamina from her mother's evil influence.
This might sound a bit puzzling, and it has indeed puzzled musicologists
since The Magic Flute was first performed, but it is in a way typical of
the reversal of values that is said to take place as we leave the subjective
consciousness of Yesod, the Moon-consciousness, and enter the objective
solar consciousness of Tifaret. Tamino is simply advancing on his path of
initiation. He is leaving the shadowy, ever-shifting world of Yesod, and
is preparing to fully enter the higher consciousness of Tifaret.
The priest has left Tamino at the gate. In despair he asks if Pamina is still
alive, and a hidden chorus of priests reply "Pamina still lives!". He
decides to play his flute - perhaps its magic will lead him to her - and after a
few moments he hears Papagenos pipes in reply. Pamina and Papageno use the
enchanted bells to escape from Monostato's slaves, and then join Tamino at the
portal of the Temple of Wisdom.
A procession appears: Sarastro comes riding a chariot, drawn by six lions -
the symbolism of this is perfectly obvious: six is the number of Tifaret;
lions are solar symbols as well as symbols of royalty. Sarastro is indeed a
Priest-King, in fact, his name is probably an allusion to Zoroaster (or "Zarathustra"),
which further underlines his essential solar nature. There is no doubt about it:
all this symbolism shows us that Sarastro is the Higher Self, or, as
Kabbalists term it, the Neschamah.
Sarastro sentences Monostatos to receive 77 strokes of the bastinado. Tamino
and Papageno are taken into the Temple of Trial to be purified, and the First
Act ends with a chorus:
When virtue and justice
have strewn the path of the great with glory,
Then will the earth be the kingdom of heaven
And mortals will be like gods!
Act II
The second act begins with another march as the College of Priests process
into a courtyard inside the Temple of the Sun. There is a grove of palm trees -
symbols of victory - with golden leaves. There is reason to assume that the palm
trees stand in for akacias, which have a deep symbolic significance within
Freemasonry. There are also eighteen seats or sieges; on each siege stands a
pyramid and a large black horn, set in gold. The pyramids puzzled me a great
deal, until someone remarked that the 18 four-sided pyramids make a total of 72
sides, which is the number of the Schemhamforasch, the Great Name of God,
which is inextricably linked to the Rosicrucian Mysteries. Each priest is
holding a palm (read, akacia) twig in his hand. Sarastro opens the meeting,
saying,
"Brethren! Initiates of the Temple of Wisdom; Servants of Isis and Osiris!
Tamino, who is waiting at the Northern Gate of the Temple, is yearning to be
free of the veil of the night, he wants to behold the sanctuary of Light."
It's spelled out for us here: the candidate is about to raise his
consciousness from the shadowy realms of Yesod to Tifaret, where
the Sun never sets, where, in fact, the Sun can be seen at Midnight.
We also learn that Pamina is destined for Tamino, and that this is the real
reason for her abduction from the Queen of the Night, who is described as being
full of deceit, seeking to mislead the people with illusion and superstition -
glamour or maya - typical properties of an unbalanced Yesod.
Also note that the Moon Temple is served only by women, and the Sun Temple
only by men. Thus, what we have got here is actually a polarity between the Moon
and the Sun, between the subconscious and the conscious - and the Age of
Enlightenment was very much in favour of the conscious mind as a guiding
principle. Remember, the previous period of political and spiritual unrest
(religious wars, witch hunts, etc) had indeed proved to be a time of "lunacy"
(and the word "lunacy" is derived from the latin name for the Moon, Luna).
Therefore, Reason, as symbolised by the Sun, was perceived as the only
alternative.
However, we also learn that Sarastro is Pamina's father! Thus she is,
in fact, the daughter of the Moon and the Sun: pure alchemy. And by the way,
during the priestly deliberations we hear, three times, the initiation trombones
sound their three-chord fanfare.
The First Test
Meanwhile, Tamino and Papageno are brought into a dark chamber by two
priests. Papageno is afraid. Solemnly the first priest asks them: "Strangers,
what do you seek or demand of us?" Tamino answers: "Friendship and love".
He is willing to undergo any ordeal, no matter how painful, in order to win
Pamina. Now the other priest questions Papageno about his ideals and hears, to
his displeasure, that he is not at all anxious to aquire wisdom; all he wants is
sleep, food and drink, and if only it were possible, a pretty young wife, but
that he does not intend to undergo ordeals and mortal danger to this end: "I
think I'll stay single". On being promised a young pretty Papagena who
matches him in everything, he is prepared to at least attempt the ordeal of
silence.
They are told that they will be left alone, and that they, no matter what
happens, may not speak. If they do, all is lost. The first test is to be
able to resist the guiles of women: this is the beginning of wisdom.
Sexism
To modern ears this sounds decidedly sexist, so let me rephrase it slightly.
The beginning of wisdom is to be able to liberate yourself from being dominated
by the forces of the subjective and subconsious mind as represented by the Moon.
It also has to do with controlling your sexuality; the Initiate is not ruled by
his passions. There is nothing wrong with having passions, not at all,
but to advance on the Path, your passions must not control you, you must
rule over them; you must not suppress them, but rule them wisely. Note,
also, that Tamino and Papageno are not being told to give up women: it is
a simply a test, and as such is limited in time. Neither are women decried
anywhere in the text, nor is the female principle. We are simply talking about
aspects of the soul. It has nothing to do with physical gender. Let's not
confuse the map with the terrain. This is extremely important in all occultism.
Suddenly, the Tree Ladies appear, seemingly out of nowhere. They try
everything in order to make Tamino and Papageno speak to them. Papageno, who has
no self-control, can barely keep himself from talking; Tamino constantly has to
tell him to shut up. Finally, a chorus of Initiates proclaims: "The holy
threshold has been desecrated! Away with the women to Hell!". The Ladies
vanish, but the Queen of Night is still at large in the Temple...
The Queen of the Night's Aria
She is furious because Tamino has chosen to become an Initiate of the Sun.
She appears in her daughter's chamber and calls upon her to kill Sarastro and to
hand her the powerful Disc of the Sun. Otherwise she will forever be disowned.
So, the forces of Night are indeed threatening to overtake the Realms of the
Sun.
So, an uprush of subconscious force, working through the anima of the
candidate, is threatening to flood the conscious mind, thereby cutting off all
contact with the superconscious levels of Tifaret. It is in fact a
classic reaction from the subconscious: it does not want to change, it wants to
stay the way it is, and it will go to great lengths to prevent any change in
consciousness. This applies to quite mundane things, like giving up smoking, and
it also applies to Initiation. Here, though, we see it in a very dramatic and
extreme form: by acquiring the Disc of the Sun, the subconscious would overthrow
the superconscious and rule supreme - a very serious mental condition, if not a
total dissolution of the entire psyche.
But of course, the Higher Self cannot be killed. When the Queen of the Night
has vanished, Sarastro appears, comforting Pamina: "in these halls no
traitors can lurk, for here we all forgive our enemies." Very typical of the
Higher Self, which is one with all other Higher Selves.
The Second Test
Meanwhile, it's time for the Tamino's and Papageno's second test. The two
priests lead them into a vast hall. Papageno chatters and complains that he is
hungry. Their Guardian Angels, the Three Boys, appear from on high bringing the
Magic Flute and the Magic Bells. They also bring a table full of food - Papageno
immediately proceeds to stuff himself. Tamino plays his flute, and Pamina is
attracted by its sounds. Tamino turns away, since he has been forbidden to
speak. Pamina cannot understand this and thinks Pamino has stopped loving her.
This is the second test, one which Tamino just barely is able to pass.
Papageno doesn't notice: he's too busy chewing. Then the trombones call on the
two men to continue on their way.
In preparation for the final Test
Sarastro praises Tamino for his calm. Pamina, who by now is quite beside
herself and even has contemplated suicide, is brought in. Sarastro bids the two
say farewell, for it is time for the final test.
Papageno, meanwhile, has lost his way. He can't pass into the next hall:
wherever he goes, he hears "Stand back!" He cries. One of the priests
arrives and chides him, telling him that if he goes on like this, he will never
attain to the celestial joy of the Initiates. This doesn't bother Papageno a
bit: what he'd like just now is a glass of wine. And as he wishes, so it is.
The Third Test
Pamino is ready to undertake the third and final test: the Trial by
Water and Fire. Once again, the key switches to the Masonic key of E flat major.
We can see two mountains on either side of the stage: through two openings can
be seen black mist and glowing fire, respectively. Two men in black armour,
wearing helmets with burning crests, read from a pyramid:
He who treads the road full of care,
Is purified by fire, water, air and earth.
If he can overcome the fear of death,
he soars heavenwards away from earth!
Enlightened, he will then be able
To dedicate himself entirely to the mysteries of Isis.
Oh, yes, the Mysteries of Isis: those who are not able to think in
symbols and would like to accuse The Magic Flute of being sexist might
have a slight problem here. The two men's hymn is one of the most evocative
passages in the opera: very suitable, by the way, for Lodge initiations.
Just as Tamino is about to enter the first cave, he hears the voice of Pamina,
who has been given permission to join him as an Initiate: they can now undergo
the final test together. I rather like that: remember that the Sun temple is a
male temple, a temple of the Sun: only men are allowed as Initiates. By letting
Tamino and Pamina undergo the tests together, as one unit if you like - a
syzygy - both principles are joined together. This is a sure proof of
balance and of a successful initiation. Anyone who still thinks The Magic
Flute is sexist?
They pass through the portal, which closes behind them. The music during the
actual test is very quiet: Tamino plays his magic flute, accompanied only by
soft trombones (what else?) and kettle drums.
We do not see the actual tests - they remain secret and withdrawn - but
finally Tamino and Pamina emerge from the cave and the stage transforms into a
brightly lit hall. A chorus greets them triumphantly and bids them enter the
Temple as full Initiates.
This is basically the whole story. After this, the Queen of the Night and
Monostatos make an abortive attempt to storm the Sun Temple: but of course the
Sun cannot be conquered; the Queen of the Night and her followers are thrown
into the abyss, and immediately the stage transforms into a gigantic Sun.
Sarastro stands exalted; Tamino and Pamina are now wearing priestly robes. They
are surrounded by Egyptian priests on either side, and the Three Boys are
holding flowers in their hands. The chorus sings:
Hail to you who are blest!
You came through the night!
Thanks! Thanks! Thanks be to you, Osiris!
And thanks be to you, Isis!
Strength has conquered
And crowned as a reward
Beauty and Wisdom
With an everlasting crown!
And Papageno? He never became an initiate, having chosen the wine instead
(what else would you expect from the instincts?), but he did get his girl,
Papagena, in the end. So everybody was happily mated, each principle of the soul
on its own level: Papageno - the instincts - "marries" (is integrated with)
Papagena. Tamino - the conscious mind-marries Pamina, the Anima; and the Higher
Self, Sarastro, through whom all of this came about, watches over them all. And
Sarastro is the King that Tamino is destined to succeed, in a higher initiation
still. But that is another story
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