ESOTERIC ENCOUNTERS: QUEEN OF SHEBA IN SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

Dr. Andreas Önnerforsandreas.onnerfors@gu.se

First edition 1851,

Nervaltravelled to Lebanon and Turkey in 1843

Frame narrative (recurs and

breaks into the chapters): ‘Une

légende dans un café'

1 Adoniram

2 Balkis

3 Le Temple

4 Mello

5 La Mer d’Airain

6 L’ Apparition

7 Le Monde Souterrain

8 Le Lavoire de Siloe

9 Le trois Compagnons

10 L’Entrevue

11 Le Souper du Roi

12 Makbénach

BALKIS:descendent of Noah

SOLOMON: descendent of

Abel

ADONIRAMdescendent of

Tubal-Kain / Kain / Satan?

Orpheus/Prometheus/the Artist, Nerval himself?

The Temple

A play written by playwright

Peter Oswald (2009)

(1843) 1851 1875 / 1897 1904 / 2009

What are Nerval’s potential motives and the potential of the legend’s motifs?

◦ Simply recounts a novel told in an Istanbul café? (frame narrative creates the impression that it is just documentary, spontaneous and performative)

◦ Makes a statement about the source of the Hiramic legend in freemasonry? Oriental and links to Islamic mysticism?

◦ Or: re-introducing the figure of Balkis into the story (which is present rudimentary in some masonic traditions and moreover has a strong Renaissance legacy) brings the occult dimensions of the conflict between Cain and Abel to life.

◦ In extension: re-charging the legend with a theosophical/mystical/esoteric dimension opens up for performance and expression => literature as inspiration for esoteric practices

◦ Picked up in anthroposophy, it served Steiner as a vehicle of addressing gender-specific qualities in his teachings, potentially as an element in his Esoteric School

◦ Nerval transformed into a theatre play, The Temple, in 2008/2009 by renown English playwright Peter Oswald, which highlights its performative potential.