Πέμπτη 31 Ιανουαρίου 2013

H αγάπη περιμένει, όχι όμως για πάντα


H αγάπη περιμένει, όχι όμως για πάντα
Αφιερώνεται στον φίλο μου Jamuraa

Με την αγάπη οικοδομείς μέσα στην ψυχή ενός άλλου ανθρώπου μια επιφάνεια πνεύματος.

Με το μίσος καταστρέφεις την δική σου ψυχή κατά ένα ανεπανόρθωτο τρόπο.

Το αποτέλεσμα στην πρώτη περίπτωση είναι η ομορφιά της αληθινής ζωής.

Το αποτέλεσμα στην δεύτερη περίπτωση είναι η οσμή του θανάτου.

Αν και οι άνθρωποι κατανοούν και όπως λένε αναζητούν την αγάπη επιλέγουν όμως την απώλεια, ζώντας μέσα στην σήψη του σκοταδιού.

Σκέψου, νιώσε και επέλεξε σωστά, η αγάπη περιμένει, όχι όμως για πάντα.



Ροδον





Τετάρτη 30 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Θα ήθελα να ευχαριστήσω ....



Θα ήθελα να ευχαριστήσω την διεύθυνση της διέλευσης που μας παραχώρησε δωρεάν την αίθουσα για τις σημερινές ομιλίες όπως και τους 35 αγαπητούς φίλους που παρευρέθησαν.

Κατόπιν απαίτησης, το περιεχόμενο της ομιλίας μου θα αναρτηθεί στο blog μου άμεσα, για όσους φίλους δεν μπορούσαν λόγο απόστασης να έρθουν.Gregory

Δευτέρα 28 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Ο άνθρωπος δεν θα καταστεί ποτέ ικανός να αγγίξει ούτε το 1/1000 των χαρισμάτων και των δυνάμεων του Νέου ανθρώπου


 Ο άνθρωπος δεν θα καταστεί ποτέ ικανός 
να αγγίξει ούτε το 1/1000 των χαρισμάτων και των δυνάμεων 
του Νέου ανθρώπου

Δεκάδες απόψεις και προτάσεις και φόρμουλες και τεχνικές για να καταπιαστεί κανείς με τον υποτιθέμενο και αμφιλεγόμενο ανώτερο εαυτό, πως θα προσεγγίσει δηλαδή τα ύψη μιας τρομερής ανάπτυξης και θα γίνει έτσι ένας superman αποκτώντας ισορροπία και αρμονία και τρομερές δυνάμεις στο να λυγίζει μέταλλα και να βλέπει αύρες.

Μα τι αστεία είναι όλα αυτά αγαπητοί φίλοι.
Δεν καταλαβαίνεται την αυταπάτη όλων αυτών των προσπαθειών και των ατόμων που τα υποστηρίζουνε όλα αυτά?

Ο άνθρωπος μέσα από τις φανερές ή τις κρυφές του δυνατότητες   δεν θα καταστεί
ποτέ ικανός να αγγίξει ούτε το 1/1000 των χαρισμάτων και των δυνάμεων του Νέου ανθρώπου γιατί αυτός δεν λειτουργεί πια με τις περιορισμένες δυνάμεις και ουσίες της υλικής φύσης.

Ο μεγαλύτερος κίνδυνος που οι σκοτεινοί αποκρυφιστές μας προκαλούν είναι το να προσπαθούν να αφυπνίσουν ικανότητες και δυνάμεις που υπάρχουν μέσα στον άνθρωπο και που δικαιολογημένα δεν ενεργούν μέσα σε αυτόν, γιατί για να συμβεί αυτό χρειάζεται πρώτα ένας καθαρισμός του σώματος, μια ανώτερη ηθική, μια αναγέννηση της ψυχής και μια πλήρη μεταλλαγή της συνείδησης.

Ακόμα και στα αρχαία χρόνια που η μαγεία είχε μια άλλη χρησιμότητα, πιο 'κοινωνικής φύσης' και προσφοράς, ήτανε καλά ασφαλισμένη μέσα από μια κάστα ατόμων που προϋπόθεταν αυτές τις ιδιότητες της ανάπτυξης ως προς μια ανώτερη, πιο πνευματική φύση,  και το έργο τους είχε μια σημαντική χρησιμότητα για τον λαό, προξενώντας ένα ιδιαίτερο σεβασμό και εκτίμηση.

Βέβαια τότε ήταν διαφορετική  και η φυσιολογία του ανθρώπου όπως μας εξηγεί και Max Heindel, μιας και η ικανότητα της διαισθητικής επικοινωνίας μέσα από το αστρικό τους σώμα ήτανε πάρα πολύ ισχυρή σε αντίθεση με εμάς που μετά από 2000 χρόνια όχι την έχουμε μόνο χάσει αλλά έχουμε εξελιχθεί περισσότερο μέσα στην ύλη δημιουργώντας ένα σχεδόν Πλήρες Εγώ και μια ανώτερη διανοητική ικανότητα που όμως δεν μπορεί, δεν έχει τα κατάλληλα κλειδιά να προσεγγίσει τον πνευματικό κόσμο παρά μόνο  να τον αντιληφθεί  διανοητικά.

Όμως με αυτήν την ικανότητα της νόησης και την βοήθεια του Πνεύματος μπορεί να συλλάβει την ουσία αυτής της φύσης και το πεπερασμένο της, όπως και την ύπαρξη του κόσμου του Πνευματικού Βασιλείου σαν στόχο και μετάβαση.

Και έτσι η θαυμαστή εργασία της μεταμόρφωσης να μπορεί να αρχίσει με πλήρη συνείδηση και συμφωνία του Εγώ και αυτό είναι κάτι το συγκλονιστικό και μοναδικό στην ανθρώπινη ιστορία.

Δεν θα ήθελα εδώ να επεκταθώ άλλο εδώ ως προς αυτό το θέμα εξηγώντας σε εσάς τις συνέπειες αυτής της ερασιτεχνικής μαγείας από όλους αυτούς τους απατεώνες και καταχραστές της ανθρώπινης ουσίας παρά μόνον να σας τονίσω τα αποτελέσματα που δεν είναι άλλο παρά μεγάλες σωματικές βλάβες, παράνοια, απώλεια συνείδησης και ζωτικών ουσιών , αυτοκτονία και ώθηση σε ακατονόμαστες πράξεις βίας και ανηθικότητας. 

Θα συνεχίσω αυτό το θέμα σύντομα. G.J.P.

Σάββατο 26 Ιανουαρίου 2013

What Jesus Christ is ? - Τι ο Ιησούς Χριστός είναι;

 
El Greco - Madonna and Child with St. Martina and St. Agnes

What Jesus Christ is ? - Τι ο Ιησούς Χριστός είναι;

Jesus is Our Savior
“Savior of the World”—1 John 4; Luke 2:11; 2 Timothy 1; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1

Jesus is Our Redeemer
Christ has redeemed us—Galatians 3:13; Revelation 5:9; Titus 2:14; Luke 24:21.

Jesus is Our Creator
All things were made by Him—John 1:3 All were created by Him—Colossians 1:16

Jesus is Our Source of Life
He gives life to the world—John 6:33 I am the life—John 14:6; 11:25; 6:27-47

Jesus is Our Father
Father of Eternity—Isaiah 9:6

Jesus is The I AM
Before Abraham was, I AM—John 8:58 Who is, was, and is to come—Revelation 1:8

Jesus is Lord of Lords
Revelation 17:14.

Jesus is Our Shepherd
I am the Good Shepherd—John 10:11

Jesus is The Almighty
The Almighty—Revelation 1:8 The Mighty God—Isaiah 9:6
He has all power in heaven and earth—Matthew 28:18.

Jesus is The Holy One
The Holy One—Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; Acts 3:14
   
Jesus is Our Light
The Light of the world—John 8:12; 1:9

Jesus is Our Rock
Christ is the Rock—1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Peter 2:8

Jesus is Our King
King of Kings—Rev. 17:14; Matt. 21:5

Jesus is The First and Last
Rev. 22:13; 1:8

Jesus is Our Hope
Jesus Christ our Hope - 1
Tim. 1:1

*******

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Σωτήρας μας
"Σωτήρας του Κόσμου" -1
Ιωάννης 4 Λουκάς  2:11 2 Τιμόθεος 1 Τίτος 2:13? 2 Πέτρου 1:1

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Λυτρωτής μας
Ο Χριστός μας λύτρωσε -  Γαλάτες 3:13? Αποκάλυψη 5:9? Τίτος 2:14
Λουκάς 24:21.

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Δημιουργός μας
Όλα έγιναν από Αυτόν -
Ιωάννης 1:3 Όλα δημιουργήθηκαν από Αυτόν - Κολοσσαείς 1:16

Ο Ιησούς είναι η Πηγή της Ζωής μας
Δίνει ζωή στον κόσμο-Ιωάννης 6:33 Εγώ είμαι η ζωή - Ιωάννης 14:6 11:25 6:27-47

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Πατέρας μας
Ο πατέρας της αιωνιότητας - Ησαΐας 9:6

Ο Ιησούς είναι το ΕΓΩ ΕΙΜΑΙ
Πριν Αβραάμ ήταν, ΕΓΩ ΕΙΜΑΙ - Ιωάννης 8:58 Ποιος είναι, ήταν, και είναι να έρθει-Αποκάλυψη 1:08

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Κύριος των Κυρίων
Αποκάλυψη 17:14.

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο ποιμένας μας
Είμαι ο Καλός Ποιμένας - Ιωάννης 10:11

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Παντοδύναμος
Ο Παντοδύναμος-Αποκάλυψη 1:8 Ο Ισχυρός Θεός-Ησαΐας 9:6
Έχει όλη τη δύναμη στον ουρανό και τη γη - Ματθαίος 28:18.

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Άγιος
Ο Άγιος-Μάρκου 1:24 Λουκάς 4:34 Πράξεις 3:14

Ο Ιησούς είναι Φως μας
Το φως του κόσμου-Ιωάννης 8:12 1:09

Ο Ιησούς είναι βράχου μας
Ο Χριστός είναι ο βράχος -1 Κορινθίους 10:04 1 Πέτρου 2:08

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο βασιλιάς μας
Βασιλεύς των Βασιλέων -
Αποκάλυψη 17:14 Ματθαίος 21:05

Ο Ιησούς είναι ο Πρώτος και ο Τελευταίος
Αποκάλυψη 22:13 1:08

Ο Ιησούς είναι η ελπίδα μας
Ο Ιησούς Χριστός Ελπίδα -1
Τιμόθεος 1:01

Προστατευθείτε από τους απατεώνες


Richard Redgrave - The Awakened Conscience

Είναι αξιοπερίεργο στην σημερινή Ελληνική κοινωνία με τα γνωστά προβλήματα ηθικής η άνθηση και ο φοβερός αριθμός των διαφόρων λεγόμενον θεραπευτών κάθε λογής και ιδιότητας.

Αν ανοίξει κάποιος ειδικότερα το internet θα τα χάσει όχι μόνο από την πληθώρα όλων αυτών αλλά και από την πολλαπλότητα και διαφορετικότητα που υπάρχει.


Βέβαια όλα αυτά φυσιολογικά μας κάνουν να αναρωτηθούμε ή απλά αυτοί είναι λίγο αμφιβόλου ποιότητας ή αλήθειας ή απλά οι μέθοδοι τους δεν αποδίδουν.


Με λίγα λόγια αγαπητοί φίλοι προστατευτείτε από όλος αυτούς που διασύρουν την ψυχή σας και αδειάζουν το πορτοφόλι σας. Σημεία των καιρών.

Παρασκευή 25 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Το Πνεύμα μιλάει ξανά στους ανθρώπους μιλάει μέσα από τους ανθρώπους


Veronese - The Marriage at Cana (1560)

 Το Πνεύμα μιλάει ξανά στους ανθρώπους μιλάει μέσα από τους ανθρώπους

Περπάτησα
και περπατώ ανάμεσα σας.

Σας μίλησα για την Αγάπη
και τον κρυφό πόθο του Πατέρα
να αγκαλιάσει τον χαμένο υιό του
και εσείς με αποστραφήκατε
γυρίσατε το βλέμμα σας αλλού
κλείσατε τα αυτιά σας
και η καρδιά σας σκληρύνθηκε σαν πέτρα.

Ματαιόδοξε άνθρωπε
όπως σου απονεμήθηκε η Χάρη
και η Αγάπη
και η Ελπίδα
και η Γνώση 
που ήτανε καλά φυλαγμένη 
μέσα στους αιώνες
τώρα ήρθε η ώρα 
να γνωρίσεις την Οργή μου
που σαν κοφτερή ρομφαία 
θα αφανίσει το κακό.

Κάποιος θα ρωτήσει
είναι ο θεός εκδικητικός?

Αδαή άνθρωπε
ο Πατέρας είναι ο μεγάλος Ισορροπιστής.

Το σκοτάδι μέσα στην καρδιά σου
είναι και η τελική σου τιμωρία
που επιφύλαξες για σένα
εσύ ο ίδιος
λίγο πριν την μεγάλη κρίση.

Εγώ σου μίλησα για την Αγάπη
και εσύ με περιφρόνησες
με έφτυσες
με χτύπησες
μου είπες ψέματα
με αρνήθηκες
μου έσκισες τα ρούχα
και με έσυρες στον δρόμο 
χλευάζοντας με
δεν με πίστεψες
δεν με βοήθησες
δεν με τάισες
δεν με πότισες
δεν ενδιαφέρθηκες για μένα
ούτε μια καλή πράξη
ούτε ένας καλός λόγος
μόνο σκοτάδι
να που το σκοτάδι θα πνίξει την ψυχή σου.

Λίγο πριν την μεγάλη κρίση
των ζωντανών και των νεκρών
να που το Φως γίνετε Φως
και το σκοτάδι διαλύεται μέσα στο σκοτάδι.

Εγώ σε περίμενα καρτερικά
αλλά εσύ με πρόδωσες 
με εγκατέλειψες.

Όταν ο κόσμος σειστεί
και η οργή Μου πέσει πάνω σου
δεν θα μπορέσεις να κρυφτής
δεν θα μπορέσεις να αλλάξεις γνώμη
για αυτό άκου προσεκτικά
και μετανόησε στα λόγια και τις πράξεις σου.

Λίγο πριν την πρώτη μεγάλη κρίση
το Πνεύμα μιλάει ξανά στους ανθρώπους
 
μιλάει μέσα από τους ανθρώπους
όποιος έχει αυτιά ας ακούσει.


*******
  The Spirit speaks again to people speaks through the people

I walked
and I walk among you.

I talked to you about Love
and the secret wish of the Father
to embrace his lost son
and you disgusted me
you turned you look elsewhere
you closed your ears
and your heart was hardened like a stone.

Conceited man
as  the grace was given to you
and Love
and Hope
and Knowledge
which was well hidden
through the centuries
Now it's time
to know my wrath
as sharp as a sword
will destroy evil.

Someone will ask
God is vengeful;

Ignorant man
Father is the great Balancer.

The darkness in your heart
is your ultimate punishment
that you reserve for you
yourself
just before the big judgment.

I talk to you about Love
and you contempt me
you spit me
you hit me
You lied to me
you denied me
you tore my clothes
and dragged me on the road
you mock me
you didn't believe me
you didn't help me
you didn't fed me
you didn't watering me
you didn't cared about me
neither one good deed
neither a good deed
only darkness
see that darkness will drown your soul.

Just before the great judgment
of the living and the dead
the Light becomes Light
and the darkness dissolved into the darkness.

I was waiting patiently
but you betrayed me
abandon me.

When the world will shake
and My wrath fall upon you
will not be able to hide
will not be able to change your mind
so listen carefully
and repent in words and deeds.

Shortly before the first great judgment
the Spirit speaks again to people
speaks through the people
Whoever has ears, let him hear.

Το My Friend Mahlatse Mashala

Πέμπτη 24 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Δεν υπάρχει μέρος πια που το κακό να μπορεί να κρυφτεί


Vincent van Gogh - The Sower (Sower with Setting Sun)1888

Δεν υπάρχει μέρος πια  που το κακό να μπορεί να κρυφτεί

Δεν υπάρχει μέρος πια
που το κακό να μπορεί να κρυφτεί
στο νέο Φως της μέρας
όλα αποκαλύπτονται.

Αν κάποιος δεν μπορεί να δει
την λάμψη της νέας ψυχής
να ακτινοβολεί σαν ένας εκτυφλωτικός Ήλιος
τότε ψεύδεται στον ίδιο του τον εαυτό.

Ας ακούσουν όσοι έχουνε αυτιά
και όσοι έχουν τα μάτια τους ανοίξει
ο Ήλιος είναι στο ζενίθ
ποιο λαμπρός από ποτέ
μέσα στην καρδιά μας ευωδιάζει.

Ναι πορεύομαι προς Αυτόν
Ναι γίνομε ένα με Αυτόν
Ναι Αυτός και Εγώ είμαστε ένα.

*******

There is no place anymore
that evil can hide
in the new daylight
all revealed.

If someone can not see
the glow of the new soul
radiating like a blinding sun
then he is lying to himself.

Let those who have ears hear
and those who have their eyes open
the Sun is at its zenith
more brilliant as ever
 
within our heart fragrant.

Yes I march toward Him
Yes I become one with Him
Yes He and I are one.

Αναφλέξτε το Φως μέσα στην λυχνία σας


Αναφλέξτε το Φως μέσα στην λυχνία σας

Ζούμε σε μια περίοδο καθοριστικών αλλαγών, όχι μόνο σε ένα κοινωνικό οικονομικό πλαίσιο αλλά ευρύτερα όσον αφορά το εξελικτικό σχέδιο που ο Δημιουργός έχει προσχεδιάσει για εμάς μέσα από αυτό το ένδοξο Θεϊκό αρχέτυπο.

Διανύοντας τρεισήμισι περιόδους εκδήλωσης οδηγούμαστε συστηματικά σε μια ολοκληρωτική ανάπτυξη του υλικού μας φορέα μέσα στην ύλη ώστε με αυτό το θαυμάσιο εργαλείο να μπορέσουμε να συνειδητοποιήσουμε και να επιλέξουμε μια πορεία προς το Φως της Γνώσης, να γίνουμε ένα με αυτό.

Ο καιρός για την εργασία αυτή είναι ο ιδανικός, αλλά μην αναβάλλεται αυτό το ταξίδι της επιστροφής προς την πατρική Ιθάκη αγαπητοί φίλοι γιατί οι ατμοσφαιρικές συνθήκες όλο ένα και δυσκολεύουν ολόγυρα μας όπως και η αρνητικότητα και η έπαρση του Εγώ που θα οδηγήσει σε ακατονόμαστες πράξεις και ατέλειωτο πόνο.

Αναφλέξτε το Φως μέσα στην λυχνία σας ειλικρινά δεν ξέρετε πότε
Αυτός θα σας χτυπήσει την πόρτα.

Τετάρτη 23 Ιανουαρίου 2013

The Rape of Europa Trailer


Τα Ελευσίνια μυστήρια και η προέλευσή τους & Γιατί η Χριστική αρχή δεν πρόκειται να έρθει ξανά μέσα σε ένα φυσικό σώμα



Τετάρτη 30 Ιανουαρίου 2013, 19:30

19:30 - Η Φωτεινή Κακογιάννου θα παρουσιάσει το εξής θέμα:
Τα Ελευσίνια μυστήρια και η προέλευσή τους

20:30 - Ο G.J.P. θα παρουσιάσει τα εξής θέματα:
Α. Γιατί η Χριστική αρχή δεν πρόκειται να έρθει ξανά μέσα σε ένα φυσικό σώμα.
Β. Η αιώνια ζωή έχει ήδη αρχίσει.

21:30 - Special Guest:
H τραγουδίστρια Γεωργία Μπαλαμπίνη θα μας ταξιδέψει σε γνώριμα μονοπάτια της Ανατολής 
μέσα από το λόγο και τη μουσική
Διέλευσις
Πολυχώρος Πολιτισμού, Λέσβου 15 & Πόρου Κυψέλη
Μεταφορά προς Διέλευση > Λεωφορεία 608 - Τρόλεϊ 11,3, 5,13 (Στάση Καλιφρονά)

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες: http://www.dieleusis.gr

Mozart The Mason (Matt Haimovitz 2006 Oxingale Records CD)



Mozart The Mason (Matt Haimovitz)

Please don't stay on the title enjoy the music

Jonathan Crow, violin, Douglas McNabney, viola, Matt Haimovitz, cello with artwork by Michael Kuch

On January 24, in celebration of W. A. Mozart’s 250th anniversary year, Oxingale Records presents Mozart the Mason. Released just 3 days before the composer’s January 27th birth date, this tribute includes arresting performances of one of Mozart’s most important chamber works, the seldom heard Divertimento for String Trio, K 563, as well as three sets of Mozart’s Preludes and Fugues K 404a.
Mozart was indeed a Freemason, and he wrote music, including "The Magic Flute," that was directly related to Masonic ideas and rituals. 

Two works are included on this album; one, the "Divertimento for string trio, K. 563," has a tenuous connection to Freemasonry in that Mozart wrote it for a friend, Michael Puchberg, who was a fellow Mason and often lent Mozart money. It supposedly contains patterns and proportions of threes and sixes that relate to Masonic symbolism, but groups of two and three in Mozartian structures.

Free link in request to soundzgreg@gmail.com

Buy :
http://www.amazon.com/Matt-Haimovitz-Mozart-The-Mason/dp/B000CC4W4Q

Τρίτη 22 Ιανουαρίου 2013

The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz


The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz

The Seventh Day

After eight o’clock I woke up, and quickly made myself ready, wanting to return again into the Tower; but the dark passages in the wall were so many and various, that I wandered a good while before I could fi nd the way out. The same happened to the rest too, till at last we all met again in the nethermost vault, and entirely yellow apparel was given to us, together with our golden fleeces. At this time the Virgin declared to us that we were Knights of the Golden Stone, of which we were before ignorant.

After we had made ourselves ready, and taken our breakfast, the old man presented each of us with a medal of gold.

 On one side were these words:
AR. NAT. MI.
(Art is the Priestess of Nature)

On the other these:
TEM. NA. F.
(Nature is the Daughter of Time.)


He exhorted us moreover that we should try to take nothing more than this token of remembrance. Herewith we went forth to the sea, where our ships lay, so richly equipped that it was not possible but that such amazing things must first have been brought there. 
The ships were twelve in number, six of ours, and six of the old lord’s, who caused his ships to be freighted with well appointed soldiers. But he himself came to us in our ship, where we were all together. In the fi rst the musicians, of which the old lord also had a great number, seated themselves; they sailed before us to shorten the time. Our flags were the twelve celestial signs, and we sat in Libra. Besides other things our ship also had a noble and curious clock, which showed us all the minutes. 
The sea was so calm, too, that it was a singular pleasure to sail. 
But what surpassed all the rest was the old man’s discourse; he knew so well how to pass away our time with wonderful stories, that I could have been content to sail with him all my life long.

Meanwhile the ships passed on in haste, for before we had sailed two hours the mariner told us that he already saw the whole lake almost covered with ships, by which we could conjecture that they had come out to meet us, which proved true. For as soon as we had come out of the sea into the lake by the aforementioned river, there before us were five hundred ships, one of which sparkled with gold and precious stones, and in which sat the King and Queen, together with other lords, ladies, and virgins of high birth. 
As soon as they were well in sight of us the pieces were discharged on both sides, and there was such a din of trumpets, shalms, and kettle drums that all the ships upon the sea capered again. Finally, as soon as we came near they brought our ships together, and so made a stand.

Immediately the old Atlas stepped forth on the King’s behalf, making a short but handsome oration, in which he welcomed us, and asked whether the Royal Presents were ready. The rest of my companions were in great amazement, where this King should come from, for they imagined nothing other than that they would have to awaken him again. We allowed them to continue in their amazement, and acted as if it seemed strange to us too. 
After Atlas’ oration out stepped our old man, making a rather longer reply, in which he wished the King and Queen all happiness and increase, after which he delivered up a curious small casket. What was in it, I do not know, but it was committed to Cupid to keep, who hovered between the King and Queen.

After the oration was finished, they again let off  a joyful volley of shot, and so we sailed on a good time together, till at length we arrived at another shore. This was near the first gate at which I first entered. At this place again there attended a great multitude of the King’s family together with some hundreds of horses. 
Now as soon as we came to shore, and disembarked, the King and Queen presented their hands to all of us, every one, with singular kindness; and so we were to get up on horseback.

Here I wish to friendlily entreat the reader not to interpret the following narration as any vain glory or pride of mine, but to credit me this much, that if there had not been a special necessity for it, I could very well have utterly concealed this honor which was shown me. We were all one after another distributed amongst the lords. But our old lord, and I, most unworthy, were to ride alongside the King, each of us bearing a snowwhite ensign with a red cross. Indeed, I was made use of because of my age, for we both had long grey beards and hair. I had also fastened my tokens about my hat, which the young King soon noticed, and asked if I were he who could redeem these tokens at the gate?



I answered in most humble manner, “Yes”. But he laughed at me, saying, “There was no need for ceremony; I was HIS father”.
Then he asked me with what I had redeemed them? I replied, “With Water and Salt”. Whereupon he wondered who had made me so wise; upon which I grew a bit more confi dent, and recounted to him how it had happened with my bread, the Dove and the Raven, and he was pleased with it and said expressly that it must be that God had herein vouchsafed me a singular happiness.

With this we came to the first gate where the Porter with the blue clothes waited, bearing in his hand a supplication. 
Now as soon as he saw me alongside the King, he delivered me the supplication, most humbly beseeching me to mention his ingenuity to the King. Now in the first place I asked the King what the condition of this porter was. He friendlily answered me, that he was a very famous and rare astrologer, and always in high regard with the Lord his Father, but having once committed a fault against Venus, and seen her in her bed of rest, this punishment was therefore imposed upon him, that he should wait at the first gate for so long until someone should release him from it.
I replied, “May he then be released?” “Yes,” said the King, “if anyone can be found that has transgressed as highly as himself, he must take his place, and the other shall be free.” This went to my heart, for my conscience convinced me that I was the offender, yet I kept quiet, and herewith delivered the supplication. 
As soon as he had read it, he was greatly terrified, so that the Queen (who with our virgins, and that other Duchess as well - whom I mentioned at the hanging of the weights - rode just behind us) observed this, and therefore asked him what this letter might mean. But he had no mind to take any notice of it, and putting away the paper, began to talk about other matters, till thus in about three hours’ time we came to the castle, where we alighted, and waited upon the King as he went into his hall.

Immediately the King called for the old Atlas to come to him in a little closet, and showed him the writing, and Atlas did not tarry, but rode out again to the Porter to get more information on the matter. After this the young King, with his spouse, and the other lords, ladies and virgins, sat down.
Then our Virgin began to highly commend the diligence we had shown, and the pains and labour we had undergone, requesting that we might be royally rewarded, and that she might be permitted to enjoy the benefit of her commission from then on. 

Then the old lord stood up too, and attested that all the Virgin had said was true, and that it was only just that we should both be contented on both our parts. 
Hereupon we were to step forward a little, and it was concluded that each man should make some possible wish, and accordingly obtain it; for it was not to be doubted that those of understanding would also make the best wish.
So we were to consider it until after supper.

Meantime the King and Queen, for recreation’s sake, began to play together, at something which looked not unlike chess, only it had different rules; for it was the Virtues and Vices one against another, and it might ingeniously be observed with what plots the Vices lay in wait for the Virtues, and how to re-encounter them again.
This was so properly and cleverly performed, that it is to be wished that we had the same game too. During the game, in came Atlas again, and made his report in private, but I blushed all over, for my conscience gave me no rest.

After this the King gave me the supplication to read, and the contents of it were much to this purpose.
First he (the doorkeeper) wished the King prosperity, and increase, and that his seed might be spread abroad far and wide.


Afterwards he remonstrated that the time was now come in which according to the royal promise he ought to be released, because Venus had already been uncovered by one of his guests, for his observations could not lie to him.
And that if his Majesty would be pleased to make a strict and diligent inquiry, he would find that she had been uncovered, and if this should not prove to be so, he would be content to remain before the gate all the days of his life.


Then he asked in the most humble manner, that upon peril of body and life he might be permitted to be present at this night’s supper. He was hoping to seek out the very offender, and obtain his desired freedom. This was expressly and handsomely indicated, by which I could well perceive his ingenuity, but it was too sharp for me, and I would not have minded if I had never seen it. Now I was wondering whether he might perhaps be helped through my wish, so I asked the King whether he might not be released some other way.


“No,” replied the King, “because there is a special consideration in the business. However, for this night, we may well gratify him in his desire.” So he sent someone to fetch him in. Meanwhile the tables were prepared in a spacious room, in which we had never been before, which was so perfect, and contrived in such a manner, that it is not possible for me even to begin to describe it. 
We were conducted into this with singular pomp and ceremony. Cupid was not at this time present, for (as I was informed) the disgrace which had happened to his mother had somewhat angered him. In brief, my offence, and the supplication which was delivered, were an occasion of much sadness, for the King was in perplexity how to make inquisition amongst his guests, and the more so because through this, even they who were yet ignorant of the matter would come to know about it. So he caused the Porter himself, who had already arrived, to make his strict survey, and he himself acted as pleasantly as he was able.


However, eventually they all began to be merry again, and to talk to one another with all sorts of recreative and profitable discourses. Now, how the treatment and other ceremonies were then performed, it is not necessary to declare, since it is neither the reader’s concern, nor serviceable to my design. 
But all exceeded more in art, and human invention, than we exceeded in drinking! And this was the last and noblest meal at which I was present. After the banquet the tables were suddenly taken away, and certain curious chairs placed round about in a circle, in which we, together with the King and Queen, and both their old men and the ladies and virgins, were to sit.

After this, a very handsome page opened the above-mentioned glorious little book, and Atlas immediately placed himself in the midst, and began to speak to this purpose: that his Royal Majesty had not forgotten the service we had done him, and how carefully we had attended to our duty, and therefore by way of retribution had elected all and each of us Knights of the Golden Stone. And that it was therefore further necessary not only once again to oblige ourselves towards his Royal Majesty, but also to vow to the following articles; and then his Royal Majesty would likewise know how to behave himself towards his liege people. Upon which he caused the page to read over the articles, which were these.

(I) You my lords the Knights shall swear that you shall at no time ascribe your order to any devil or spirit, but only to God your Creator, and his handmaid Nature.
(2) That you will abominate all whoredom, incontinency and uncleanness, and not defile your order with such vices.
(3) That you through your talents will be ready to assist all that are worthy, and have need of them.
(4) That you desire not to employ this honour to worldly pride and high authority.
(5) That you shall not be willing to live longer than God will have you do. At this last article we could not choose but laugh, and it may well have been placed after the rest only for a conceit. Now after vowing to them all by the King’s sceptre, we were afterwards installed Knights with the usual ceremonies, and amongst other privileges set over Ignorance, Poverty, and Sickness, to handle them at our pleasure. And this was afterwards ratified in a little chapel (to which we were conducted in procession) and thanks returned to God for it. I also hung up there at that time my golden fleece and hat, and left them there for an eternal memorial, to the honour of God. And because everyone had to write his name there, I wrote thus:

The highest wisdom is to know nothing.
Brother Christian Rosenkreutz
Knight of the Golden Stone
A.D. 1459.

Others wrote likewise, each as it seemed good to him. After this, we were again brought into the hall, where, having sat down, we were admonished quickly to think what we each one would wish. But the King and his party retired into a little closet, there to give audience to our wishes. Now each man was called in separately, so that I cannot speak of any man’s own wish. I thought nothing could be more praiseworthy than to demonstrate some laudable virtue in honour of my order, and found too that none at present could be better, and cost me more trouble, than Gratitude. Wherefore in spite of the fact that I might well have wished something more dear and agreeable to myself, I vanquished myself, and concluded, even at my own peril, to free the Porter, my benefactor. 


So as I was now called in, I was first of all asked whether, having read the supplication, I had observed or suspected nothing concerning the offender? Upon which I began undauntedly to relate how all the business had passed, how through ignorance I fell into that mistake, and so offered myself to undergo all that I had thereby deserved. The King, and the rest of the lords, wondered greatly at so unexpected a confession, and so asked me to step aside a little.

Now as soon as I was called in again, Atlas declared to me that although it was grievous to the King’s Majesty that I, whom he loved above others, had fallen into such a mischance, yet because it was not possible for him to transgress his ancient usages, he did not know how to absolve me; the other must be at liberty, and I put in his place; yet he would hope that some other would be apprehended, so that I might be able to go home again. However, no release was to be hoped for, till the marriage feast of his future son. 

This sentence had nearly cost me my life, and I first hated myself and my twaddling tongue, in that I could not keep quiet; yet at last I took courage,and because I thought there was no remedy, I related how this Porter had bestowed a token on me, and commended me to the other, by whose assistance I stood upon the scale, and so was made partaker of all the honour and joy already received. And therefore now it was but fair that I should show myself grateful to my benefactor, and because this could not be done in any other way, I returned thanks for the sentence, and was willing gladly to bear some inconvenience for the sake of he who had been helpful to me in coming to such a high place. 

But if by my wish anything might be effected, I wished myself at home again, so that he by me, and I by my wish might be at liberty. Answer was made me, that the wishing did not stretch so far. However, I might wish him free. Yet it was very pleasing to his Royal Majesty that I had behaved myself so generously in this, but he was afraid I might still be ignorant of what a miserable condition I had plunged myself into through my curiosity. Hereupon the good man was pronounced free, and I with a sad heart had to step aside.

After me the rest were called for too, and came jocundly out again, which pained me still more, for I imagined nothing other than that I must finish my life under the gate. I also had many pensive thoughts running up and down in my head, what I should do, and how to spend the time. At length I considered that I was now old, and according to the course of nature, had few years more to live. And that this anguished and melancholy life would quickly send me from this world, and then my door-keeping would be at an end, and by a most happy sleep I might quickly bring myself to the grave. I had many of these thoughts. Sometimes it vexed me that I had seen such gallant things, and must be robbed of them.
Sometimes I rejoiced that still, before my end, I had been accepted to all joy, and should not be forced to depart shamefully. This was the last and worst shock that I sustained.


During my cogitations the rest had got ready. So after they had received a good night from the King and lords, each one was conducted into his lodging. But I, most wretched man, had nobody to show me the way, and must moreover suffer myself to be tormented; and so that I might be certain of my future function, I had to put on the ring which the other had worn before. Finally, the King exhorted me that since this was now the last time I was likely to see him in this manner, I should behave myself according to my place, and not against the order. 

Upon which he took me in his arms, and kissed me, all which I understood to mean that in the morning I must sit at my gate. Now after they had all spoken friendlily to me for a while, and at last given their hands, committing me to the Divine protection, I was conducted by both the old men, the Lord of the Tower, and Atlas, into a glorious lodging, in which stood three beds, and each of us lay in one of them, where we spent almost two, &c.....


(Here about two leaves in quarto are missing, and he (the author of this), whereas he imagined he must in the morning be doorkeeper, returned home.)

Δευτέρα 21 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Johann Sebastian Bach : Biography & best recordings


Johann Sebastian Bach
Born: March 21, 1685, Eisenach, Germany Died: July 28, 1750, Leipzig, Germany

Seven generations of Bachs were professional musicians and their north German dynasty can be traced back to the early 16th century and beyond. None of them earned more than a local reputation and, surprising as it may seem, ‘the supreme arbiter and law-giver of music’, Johann Sebastian himself, achieved only limited fame during his lifetime. Music was in the blood, his musical gifts taken for granted by his family and himself. He never saw himself as exceptional, just a pious Lutheran artisan doing his best with a gift that was as much a part of him as his unquestioning religious belief.

Bach had little systematic training in his youth. It’s said that at nine he almost ruined his eyesight from secretly copying out by moonlight an entire library of instrumental music to which he had been denied access. He was nine when both his parents died (his father was a respected violinist) and he was sent to live with his older brother Johann Christoph. None too happy at having an extra mouth to feed, Johann Christoph treated his new charge peremptorily and without much sympathy, though grudgingly gave him lessons on the harpsichord.

At 15, Johann Sebastian gained a position in the choir at Lüneburg where he was able at last to indulge in every possible musical pursuit, soaking up scores, composing and studying the organ, clavichord and violin. Several times he tramped the 30 miles to Hamburg to hear the greatest organist of the day, Johann Adam Reincken, and he travelled the 60 miles to Celle for his first experience of French music. Though Bach led an unadventurous and parochial life, his thirst for every musical experience open to him, his curiosity and his willingness to absorb what other practitioners of the art were involved in, played an important part in the extraordinary diversity of the great music he was to write. His most famous journey was to Lübeck where the celebrated organist Dieterich Buxtehude gave recitals and a weekly instrumental concert.

At the time, Bach had obtained an appointment as organist at Arnstadt, aged just 19. He obtained leave of absence and, so legend has it, walked to Lübeck, a distance of 213 miles. The outcome, anyway, was a prolonged absence of four months which did not endear him any to the burghers of Arnstadt; neither did the strange music that young Bach returned with, for, perhaps recalling Buxtehude’s playing, he began interpolating elaborate cadenzas and variations into the staid chorales.

Soon he was off. In June 1707 he went to Mühlhausen as organist and four months later, at the age of 22, married his cousin Maria Barbara. The following year saw the very first publication of a piece of his own music, the cantata Gott ist mein König; at the same time he left Mühlhausen to become court organist to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar. Here he stayed more or less contentedly, was made Konzertmeister (conductor) of the court orchestra in 1714 and composed some of his finest organ works including the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor and many of the great preludes and fugues. Here, too, the future King Frederick I of Sweden heard him, recording that Bach’s feet ‘flew over the pedalboard as if they had wings’. In 1717 came further advancement when he accepted the position of music director to Prince Leopold of Anhalt in Cöthen. Duke Wilhelm, for some reason, at first refused to allow Bach to take up his new post and held him under arrest for a month. When at last Bach arrived in Cöthen, it was the start of one of his most fruitful periods as a composer, one which saw the appearance of the Brandenburg Concertos and the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. In 1720 he accompanied the Prince on a visit to Karlsbad and it was there that he learnt of his wife’s death.

He lived as a widower for a year with his seven children before marrying his second wife, Anna Magdalena Wilcken, a daughter of the court trumpeter at Weissenfels, now immortalised in The Little Clavier Book of Anna Magdalena, the short pieces which Bach wrote for her study of the harpsichord. Is there a budding young pianist anywhere who hasn’t played at least one of them? During their happy married life, she bore him a further 13 children, though no fewer than six of Bach’s 20 children did not survive into adulthood.

In 1722 the cantor of Leipzig died and Bach applied for this prestigious post. The authorities first offered it to Telemann (who declined it) and then to Christoph Graupner (who was unable to take up the appointment). Third choice Bach succeeded to the title in April 1723. This was the job he retained for the rest of his life. His arduous duties as cantor involved playing the organ, teaching Latin and music in the Thomasschule, writing music for the services of two churches (Nikolaikirche and Thomaskirche) and directing the music and training the musicians of a further two. The living conditions were cold and damp, the salary parsimonious and Bach found himself fighting a running battle with the church authorities who were always trying to defraud him. Yet the music that flowed from his pen – and there was a great deal – is some of the greatest spiritual music ever written, including the Mass in B minor, the St John and St Matthew Passions and the Christmas Oratorio, as well as nearly 300 church cantatas. From this period, too, come the Goldberg Variations, the Italian Concerto, the Partitas and the Second Book of The Well-Tempered Clavier.

One of Bach’s sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel, was Kapellmeister to King Frederick the Great and Bach visited him in Potsdam in 1747. The story goes that when Bach arrived, Frederick broke off the music-making and exclaimed, ‘Old Bach is here!’ and without permitting him to change his clothes, plonked Bach down at the keyboard. Later, Bach composed a six-part fugue on a theme of Frederick the Great – this was The Musical Offering, written in gratitude for his welcome.

By the end of his life, Bach’s eyesight was failing due to cataracts. In the spring of 1749 he was persuaded to have an operation performed on them by the same British optician, John Taylor, who had earlier treated Handel for the same affliction unsuccessfully. It left Bach almost completely blind. His sight then miraculously returned (possibly the cataract receded spontaneously), allowing him feverishly to copy and revise what was to be his final work, The Art of Fugue. Ten days later he died of a cerebral haemorrhage. He was 65 years old.

Bach was buried in the churchyard of St John in Leipzig. No identification marked the spot. Then, in 1895, his body was exhumed and photographs taken of his skeleton. On July 28, 1949, on the 199th anniversary of his death, Bach’s coffin was transferred to the choir room of the Thomaskirche.

Bach is to music what Leonardo da Vinci is to art and Aristotle is to philosophy, one of the supreme creative geniuses of history. The amazing fact is that he was essentially a self-taught, provincial musician; he did not write music in a fever of inspiration like Beethoven, say, nor was he motivated by the same holy dedication to art as Wagner. For Bach, it was always ‘For the glory of the most high God alone’, as he wrote. ‘I was obliged to work hard; whoever is equally industrious will succeed just as well.’ He wasn’t considered to be anything special in his day. His son Carl Philipp Emanuel referred to him as ‘old peruke’ – he was an old fogey, writing in a style that was already going out of fashion, the Baroque polyphonic school. He made little impression in the way of developing existing forms or inventing new ones. Little of his music was published or performed after his death and, though it was by no means completely ignored as is often stated (we know that Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, for instance, all played his keyboard works), it was not until Mendelssohn’s revival of the St Matthew Passion in Berlin in 1829 that the gradual reassessment of Bach’s true worth was begun.

It wasn’t as though he was a sophisticated intellectual either. Far from it. His letters and notes betray an uneducated hand and mind – his German is littered with grammatical mistakes, he knew little of the other arts and read mainly theological books. It is one of the most extraordinary paradoxes in musical history that a mind of such low culture could produce music of such unparalleled assurance, beauty and, yes, complexity. As the critic Ernest Newman observed: ‘Truly, we have as yet barely the glimmer of an understanding of what the musical faculty is, and how it works.’

What makes Bach the great composer that he unarguably is? If we say that the Baroque era began (roughly) in 1600 with Monteverdi and ended in 1750, then Johann Sebastian represented the inevitable culmination of all Baroque styles: the contrapuntal German school, the melodic, singing Italian school and the elegant dance-based French school. As a young man he had absorbed the works of Palestrina and Frescobaldi, knew the more recent works of Vivaldi and Albinoni, of Froberger, Pachelbel and Buxtehude, and, as we’ve seen, made strenuous efforts to acquaint himself with all the great German musicians of the day. It is not just his extraordinary capacity to think in counterpoint (its combined musicality, ingenuity and unforced complexity  are of a different order to anything else being written) but his superior harmonic sense that set him apart. A Vivaldi concerto bowls along on fairly predictable lines; Bach was daring, taking the music into unexpected areas. It made people complain, so curious did it sound to contemporary ears.

The word ‘Bach’ itself means ‘stream’ in German. Hence Beethoven’s famous saying: ‘Nicht Bach aber Meer haben wir hier’ (‘Not a stream but a whole ocean’). Two further curiosities: Bach’s very name is a musical theme. Our note B natural is the note H in German nomenclature; our note B flat is known as B in Germany. Thus the surname produces its own four-note motif. In The Art of Fugue, Bach produced an encyclopaedic work using every contrapuntal device imaginable based on a single theme. It was calculated to appeal to the visual senses as well as the aural and it’s a moot point whether Bach ever intended the cycle to be performed. The work remained unfinished at his death. On the very last page, Bach had begun a fugue adding his name as one of the themes - B flat, A, C, B natural. It was the final thing he wrote.

Unlike Handel, who wrote for his patrons and his public, Bach was motivated only by a need to express himself. It is deeply personal music which yet speaks to mankind at large and the amount he wrote is simply staggering. When the task of gathering together and publishing all his music was undertaken, the project took 46 years to complete. Someone once calculated that if a present day copyist were to write out all of Bach’s music (including all the parts, as Bach did) it would take 70 years. How he did it, with all his other duties of conducting, teaching, playing the organ and (an old but pertinent chestnut) fathering 20 children, he explained himself with characteristic modesty: ‘I worked hard.’ Jeremy Nicholas

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/Composer/Bach/Biography

And 
The Gramophone guide to the best Bach recordings

Bach – 10 Essential Recordings

New to Bach? Here's a list of the top 10 recordings to help start your collection...

01. Brandenburg Concertos – Concerto Italiano / Alessandrini
02. Cello Suites – Pierre Fournier (vc)
03. Mass in B minor – Collegium Vocale, Ghent / Herreweghe
04. St Matthew Passion – Arnold Schoenberg Choir; Concentus Musicus Wien / Harnoncourt
05. Well-Tempered Clavier – Edwin Fischer (pf)
06. Magnificat – Ricercar Consort / Pierlot
07. Goldberg Variations – Glenn Gould (pf)
08. Orchestral Suites – Freiburg Baroque Orchestra / von der Goltz
09. Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas – Rachel Podger (vn)
10. Cantatas – Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists / Gardiner

Much more here :
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/johann-sebastian-bach-1685-1750?