Journey to the East
'All Along Down the Ancient Highway'
“Once in their youth the light shone for them; they saw the light and followed the star, but then came reason and the mockery of the world; then came faint-heartedness and apparent failure; then came weariness and disillusionment, and so they lost their way again, they became blind again.
Some of them have spent the rest of their lives looking for us again, but could not find us. They have then told the world that our League is only a pretty legend and people should not be misled by it. ”
― Hermann Hesse The Journey to the East
During the spring of this year I had a dream in which I was living in a bleak 1984 type Orwellian world. I'd got a secret meeting planned with a friend in a nearby park. We were going to read one of the books that had suddenly been banned. It was very reminiscent of the scene in Orwell's dystopia where the couple meet to secretly read Shakespeare and where the girl puts on lipstick, also forbidden. The book I had brought with me - though I had no clue until I pulled it from my bag - was "Journey to the East" by Herman Hesse.
First published in 1932, it charts the course of a mystical journey that transcends both time and space and which includes illustrious participants like Plato, Mozart, Pythagoras, and modern artists like Paul Klee & Tristan Klingsor. Rather unwittingly it seems H.H. the protagonist, a humble choir-master becomes part of this great clandestine company. Each traveller has his or her own unique goal, their own hearts- desire, their own light toward which they are powerfully drawn. H.H. himself seeks for the beautiful princess Fatima.
We moved toward the East - he tells us - but we also travelled into the Middle Ages and the Golden Age; we roamed through Italy and Switzerland, but at times we also spent the night in the tenth century and dwelt with the patriarchs or the fairies.
Sometimes they would meet other questers along the way and there would be great, golden days of feasting and sweet celebration, with music and poetry and deep camaraderie - dream like days that H.H. would always cherish - when the company was united and free and wonderfully inspired. At other times the travellers went on alone - each following their own unique course.
I also walked alone at times, he tells us - without a tent, without a leader, without a speaker.
Paul Klee (1879-1940)
- fictional companion to H.H. in Journey to the East
- fictional companion to H.H. in Journey to the East
During such times I often found again the places and people of my own past. Sometimes my company consisted of the beloved characters of my books; Almansor, Parsifal, Witiko or Goldmund rode by my side, or Sancho.
When I found my way back to our group in some valley or other, heard the league songs and camped by their leaders' tents, it was immediately clear to me that my excursions into my childhood and my ride with Sancho belonged essentially to this journey.
For our goal was not only the East, or rather the East was not only a country and something geographical, but it was the home and youth of the soul, it was everywhere and nowhere, it was the union of all times.
― Hermann Hesse, Journey to the East
But then somehow the dream was fractured - and no one knew quite how or why. There were rumours of betrayals and the disappearance of an especially beloved companion. Afterwards everything seemed to unravel- and the company dis-banded and many of the travellers ceased in their endeavours. In the end it seemed like only H.H. remained true to the high ideals of the company.
Yet as time passed, even his memories began to dwindle and fade and fearing the story might be lost altogether, he resolved to set it down in a great history of the league and the journey. And yet - even in his wish to record it - he became progressively estranged from it's enthral. And when he looked back to the days at the very peak of his experience he was riddled with doubt.
Did they even really happen?
Yet as time passed, even his memories began to dwindle and fade and fearing the story might be lost altogether, he resolved to set it down in a great history of the league and the journey. And yet - even in his wish to record it - he became progressively estranged from it's enthral. And when he looked back to the days at the very peak of his experience he was riddled with doubt.
Did they even really happen?
“Everything becomes questionable as soon as I consider it closely, he explains, everything slips away and dissolves.”
― Hermann Hesse, Journey to the East
But there’s a clever twist in the tale you see - for it turns out that the league hasn’t disbanded at all - it’s just H.H. whose fallen out of alignment with it. It’s still there - still going on - in all its wonder! And this is the great surprize, the great lesson & insight of the tale.
Forgetfulness afflicts us all of course - especially as we grow - especially when times are hard - & we too fall out of alignment with what Jung might call the Archetype of the Child - or the Golden One within – and of course - there’s nothing greater than fear and doubt to drive this part of the self into the shadows.
Forgetfulness afflicts us all of course - especially as we grow - especially when times are hard - & we too fall out of alignment with what Jung might call the Archetype of the Child - or the Golden One within – and of course - there’s nothing greater than fear and doubt to drive this part of the self into the shadows.
Paul Klee - Fairytale
So what does it mean to dream about such a book at such a time as this? What does Hesse's choice of characters reveal? Plato and Socrates from long ago; H.H. obviously Hesse himself, & contemporary artists Paul Klee and Klinsgor.
Looking into some of the biographies - especially of his own contemporaries - unexpected links quickly became apparent which threw the relationship between Journey to the East and 1984 into a whole new light. I followed the scent - not really wanting to unearth what I suspected but it was soon clear that Hesse and several of his semi-fictional companions had lived through terrible times of censorship during which the works of numerous artists, thinkers, writers, musicians, philosophers, analysts, and scientists were smeared, disparaged and often silenced by the Nazi authorities of their day.
Hitler had risen to power amidst a great blossoming of modern art and science. Cubism, Surrealism and Expressionism were all busy pushing the boundaries of what had gone before, blurring the edges you might say, peering beneath the surface, challenging accustomed ways of thinking and perceiving. Many too expressed anti-war sentiments. Psychoanalysis was flourishing, especially in Germany and neighbouring countries, and in physics too - even the core assumptions of Newtonian Mechanics had quietly been overturned by game-changing developments in Quantum Theory.
Hitler distrusted all of this, believing such developments partly responsible for Germany’s economic troubles and what he saw as moral decline. He wanted to return the nation to its former glory, to it's trusted, traditional values.
Looking into some of the biographies - especially of his own contemporaries - unexpected links quickly became apparent which threw the relationship between Journey to the East and 1984 into a whole new light. I followed the scent - not really wanting to unearth what I suspected but it was soon clear that Hesse and several of his semi-fictional companions had lived through terrible times of censorship during which the works of numerous artists, thinkers, writers, musicians, philosophers, analysts, and scientists were smeared, disparaged and often silenced by the Nazi authorities of their day.
Hitler had risen to power amidst a great blossoming of modern art and science. Cubism, Surrealism and Expressionism were all busy pushing the boundaries of what had gone before, blurring the edges you might say, peering beneath the surface, challenging accustomed ways of thinking and perceiving. Many too expressed anti-war sentiments. Psychoanalysis was flourishing, especially in Germany and neighbouring countries, and in physics too - even the core assumptions of Newtonian Mechanics had quietly been overturned by game-changing developments in Quantum Theory.
Hitler distrusted all of this, believing such developments partly responsible for Germany’s economic troubles and what he saw as moral decline. He wanted to return the nation to its former glory, to it's trusted, traditional values.
To this end a series of book burnings was orchestrated across university campuses. Paul Klee found himself among an increasing number of university staff sacked and disgraced and in 1937 seventeen of his previously acclaimed paintings were displayed at the infamous Nazi "Degenerate Art" exhibition in Munich where observers were encouraged to ridicule and pour scorn on the exhibits.
Hesse himself tried to rise above the fray when the crack-downs first began and
tried to warn German intellectuals to retain their humanity and to turn away from the increasingly dominant nationalist and popularist rhetoric that was spreading throughout the population like wild fire.
"Oh friends, he wrote in an article at the outbreak of war - not these sounds."
But it wasn’t long before he too became blacklisted. Partly because his wife was Jewish and partly because of his association with Freud, with whom he had been in analysis.
In a letter reprinted in the Jewish Press - the Nazi condemnation of him is clear.
Hesse himself tried to rise above the fray when the crack-downs first began and
tried to warn German intellectuals to retain their humanity and to turn away from the increasingly dominant nationalist and popularist rhetoric that was spreading throughout the population like wild fire.
"Oh friends, he wrote in an article at the outbreak of war - not these sounds."
But it wasn’t long before he too became blacklisted. Partly because his wife was Jewish and partly because of his association with Freud, with whom he had been in analysis.
In a letter reprinted in the Jewish Press - the Nazi condemnation of him is clear.
Once and for all, it must be made public that Hesse is a classic example of how the Jew can poison the soul of the German people. For if at that time, when he took no delight in the war…he had not fallen into the clutches of the Jew Freud and his psychoanalysis, he would have remained the German writer we all loved so well. The warping of his soul can only be ascribed to this Jewish influence.
The Jewish Press
Throughout the entire war, & from the relative safety of his home in Switzerland, Hesse supported numerous German artists & refugees, including Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht, as they fled from persecution.
Tragically however he could not save his wife's immediate family, all of whom were murdered in the concentration camps - a horror we are told that haunted him for the rest of his life.
Tragically however he could not save his wife's immediate family, all of whom were murdered in the concentration camps - a horror we are told that haunted him for the rest of his life.
The Scream Edvard Munch 1893
also black-listed in Germany
also black-listed in Germany
Carl Jung intimated of those times that Germany was undergoing some kind of collective psychosis and retrospectively it seems to have been so.
For those who didn't escape - those who were effectively silenced and broken - trapped within the nightmare - the Journey to the East - the journey beyond time and space - must have seemed as if it had indeed been just a pretty legend - not to trusted.
Was it still there -was it still going on? The hope is that it was - in some way - that it always is - no matter what - which was surely the reason Hesse tried to warn his contemporaries not to get drawn in - not to get over-shadowed, and forget, like his own character H.H. had done. He wanted to remind them - that the dream is eternal. Always here. Always now - however crazy or naive that might seem, even for those dear ones who tragically lost their lives.
Maybe this is why Journey to the East was the book the dreamer took to the secret meeting - because it points a way back out of darkness - the return to innocence and wonder - to the - the home and youth of the soul ....that is everywhere and nowhere - as Hesse so eloquently wrote - the union of all times.
These artists, writers, and scientists, together with all those from times gone by were all part of this eternal journey - all luminaries - midst a great personal and collective forgetting - diamonds in the night, as the poet sings, all along down the ancient highway.
Anne Maria
x x x
For those who didn't escape - those who were effectively silenced and broken - trapped within the nightmare - the Journey to the East - the journey beyond time and space - must have seemed as if it had indeed been just a pretty legend - not to trusted.
Was it still there -was it still going on? The hope is that it was - in some way - that it always is - no matter what - which was surely the reason Hesse tried to warn his contemporaries not to get drawn in - not to get over-shadowed, and forget, like his own character H.H. had done. He wanted to remind them - that the dream is eternal. Always here. Always now - however crazy or naive that might seem, even for those dear ones who tragically lost their lives.
Maybe this is why Journey to the East was the book the dreamer took to the secret meeting - because it points a way back out of darkness - the return to innocence and wonder - to the - the home and youth of the soul ....that is everywhere and nowhere - as Hesse so eloquently wrote - the union of all times.
These artists, writers, and scientists, together with all those from times gone by were all part of this eternal journey - all luminaries - midst a great personal and collective forgetting - diamonds in the night, as the poet sings, all along down the ancient highway.
Anne Maria
x x x
Diamonds in the Night
Authors, artists, composers, philosophers, scientists, sociologists & politicians
suppressed by Nazi Germany
Ernest Hemingway,
Bertolt Brecht,
Thomas Mann,
John Dos Passos,
H. G. Wells
Herman Hesse
Artists
Paul Klee
Matiise
Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler
Pablo Picasso
Claude Monet
Vincent van Gogh
Composers
Gustav Mahler
Felix Mendelsohn
Arnold Schoenberg
Philosophers, scientists, and sociologists
Albert Einstein,
Niels Bohr,
Edmund Husserl,
Karl Marx,
Friedrich Engels,
Friedrich Nietzsche,
Sigmund Freud,
Max Scheler
Politicians
Konrad Adenauer,
Theodor Heuss
Hermann Karl Hesse (German: 1877 – 1962) was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, The Glass Bead Game, and "Journey to the East" each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Authors, artists, composers, philosophers, scientists, sociologists & politicians
suppressed by Nazi Germany
Ernest Hemingway,
Bertolt Brecht,
Thomas Mann,
John Dos Passos,
H. G. Wells
Herman Hesse
Artists
Paul Klee
Matiise
Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler
Pablo Picasso
Claude Monet
Vincent van Gogh
Composers
Gustav Mahler
Felix Mendelsohn
Arnold Schoenberg
Philosophers, scientists, and sociologists
Albert Einstein,
Niels Bohr,
Edmund Husserl,
Karl Marx,
Friedrich Engels,
Friedrich Nietzsche,
Sigmund Freud,
Max Scheler
Politicians
Konrad Adenauer,
Theodor Heuss
Hermann Karl Hesse (German: 1877 – 1962) was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, The Glass Bead Game, and "Journey to the East" each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Coming Soon: Christmas & beyond
Dear Friends, For those of you who might be following this blog & are awaiting the arrival of the final instalment of the little series on the Mature Archetypes of the Masculine - I wanted to say it will be along in the New Year. I have chosen Tolkien's Aragorn as The Lover, to me the perfect embodiment of qualities described by Moore & Gilette in their book, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover.
There are several other projects in the pipeline - at various stages of completion including a new exploration of Dante Alighieri, his Divine Comedy & the soul's journey of transformation. It will coincide with a series of zoom presentations I have been asked to present in January. But before that I very much hope to publish a Christmas blog. Fingers crossed as always.
Much love
Anne Maria
x x x
There are several other projects in the pipeline - at various stages of completion including a new exploration of Dante Alighieri, his Divine Comedy & the soul's journey of transformation. It will coincide with a series of zoom presentations I have been asked to present in January. But before that I very much hope to publish a Christmas blog. Fingers crossed as always.
Much love
Anne Maria
x x x
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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
http://www.archivepublishing.co.uk/Transpersonal Books - Transpersonal Psychology. Understanding the Soul - Expanding Consciousness
https://twitter.com/MariaClarke
www.annemariaclarke.net
Hold the Light/blog @ http://www.annemariaclarke.net/blog
http://www.youtube.com/c/annemariaclarke
More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
http://www.archivepublishing.co.uk/Transpersonal Books - Transpersonal Psychology. Understanding the Soul - Expanding Consciousness
https://twitter.com/MariaClarke
www.annemariaclarke.net
Hold the Light/blog @ http://www.annemariaclarke.net/blog
