Mystical content. Mystery genre: features of working on mystical stories. II. distinctive features of mysticism. functions

03.03.2020

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

For my work, I chose the topic “Mysticism in literature as a reflection of the world of the human soul.” Human psychology is based on a keen interest in everything mysterious and inexplicable, and I am no exception. This topic has aroused my interest since childhood. I read a series literary works containing elements of mysticism, I already have some reading experience behind me, which is enough to conduct a comparative analysis.

In my work I want to pay Special attention the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The choice of the author is not accidental, since he is the most prominent representative of the mystical trend in Russian literature. His life and work are inextricably linked with everything mysterious and inexplicable. In my work, I pay special attention to such works of his as “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, “Viy”, “Nose”, “Overcoat”, “Portrait”.

The main goal of my work is to determine the place of mystical literature, its functions and significance for humans.

The tasks that I set for myself are: studying literary works of a mystical orientation by both Russian and foreign authors; search for common distinctive features of mysticism; identification of the sources of mysticism and its functions.

I. MYSTICISM AND ITS ORIGINS

The purpose of my work is not to study mysticism from a philosophical, scientific or theological point of view. Therefore, I do not consider the definitions of mysticism given by philosophers, scientists and religious leaders. Moreover, the debate about the nature and essence of mysticism is still going on in these areas.

From the point of view of literature, mysticism (from the Greek mystikos - mysterious) is:

something incomprehensible, inexplicable, mysterious (source: dictionary by T. F. Efremova);

teaching, belief, concept or inclination towards mysterious interpretation and ritualism (source: V. Dahl's dictionary);

something mysterious, incomprehensible, inexplicable (source: D. N. Ushakov’s dictionary);

belief in the existence of supernatural forces with which man is mysteriously connected and capable of communicating (source: www.wikipedia.ru);

something that is beyond human understanding, but carries a special hidden meaning (source: www.onlinedics.ru).

Mystics contrast “reality” and “appearance.” The word “reality” has not a logical, but an emotional meaning (source: www.onlinedics.ru).

All these definitions highlight the main features of mysticism. First of all, an appeal to the world of supernatural forces, the nature of which lies beyond the boundaries of the human mind and which are perceived by man at the level of spiritual sensations.

Humanity has always shown interest in mysticism, including in painting, sculpture, music, alchemy, and literature. But if we see a picture, hear music, then we can only imagine what is described in words, understand it with our minds; It is important to perceive mystical literature not only with the five basic senses, but also with the sixth - the soul.

Mysticism originates in folk ethnicity and religion. From there he borrows the theme, characters, symbols, as well as the way of conveying sensations, feelings and emotions.

The main theme is the eternal conflict of good and evil and man's personal choice.

A striking example is Johann Goethe's tragedy "Faust". The main character, Doctor Faustus, is a man who has lived a long life, his mind is jaded. He tries to understand the world, but all attempts are fruitless. For a long time, Faust lived as a recluse in his office, and he wants to taste the delights of life. His mind is strong, but his soul is weak, empty and helpless, as evidenced by disappointment in science, to which he devoted his whole life, an attempt at suicide and agreement to a deal with Mephistopheles. The weakness of Faust's soul is contrasted with the strength of Margarita's soul, which is able to forgive and beg forgiveness for him.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde has similar features to Goethe's tragedy, it is sometimes called the "new Faust". The main character Dorian, a young talented youth, succumbs to the influence of Lord Henry. One after another, he commits terrible acts, destroying loved ones. Dorian's greatest fear is of growing old and losing his extraordinary beauty. When his artist friend draws his portrait, the young man says: “Oh, if only it could be the other way around! If the portrait grew old, and I remained young forever!” And his wish comes true. The portrait not only takes away the “extra” years, but also takes upon itself all of Dorian’s sins and misdeeds. Sometimes the hero tries to improve, but his thoughts are guided only by vanity. His soul is as weak as Faust's soul. She is unable to make her own choice and fight for it.

In Vasily Zhukovsky's ballads "Lyudmila" and "Svetlana" the heroes also stand before moral choice. The main characters of both ballads are waiting for the return of their lovers. One receives terrible news, and the other has a disturbing dream. Lyudmila begins to grumble at God: “No, the Creator is unmerciful; forgive everything; everything.” And in return she gets what she asks for - the girl is taken away by her dead groom: “The Creator heard your groan; your hour has struck, the end has come.” Svetlana is submissive to fate, she asks God to help her: “I pray and shed tears! Quench my sadness, comforter angel.” And her sweetheart comes to her, alive and still loving. “Our best friend in life is faith in providence.”

The struggle between good and evil is clearly shown in Nikolai Gumilyov's story "Black Dick". The main character is the embodiment of evil, he commits extremely base acts. The pastor is trying to fight him, to guide the people around him to the right path. But then the priest realizes that it is impossible to fight violence with violence and that he should not have gone against Dick and awakened the evil hidden in him: “Everyone is given his own destiny, and it is not appropriate for us, people who know nothing, to arbitrarily interfere in the work of God’s Providence.” . At the end, Black Dick, having assumed his real form, turns into a terrible beast and dies. But evil is defeated at the cost of the life of an innocent girl, who is the embodiment of good in the story.

Many characters and symbols came to mysticism from ethnicity and religion. Not only fantastic, but also real creatures endowed with unusual properties are borrowed from there.

The black raven appears in many works. The bird symbolizes evil, death, desolation on the one hand, and longevity and wisdom on the other. "The raven croaks: sadness!" - says the ballad “Svetlana”. In his poem “The Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe calls the bird “the proud Raven of old days,” “a terrible spirit,” “the dauntless prophet,” “the prophetic.”

The raven is contrasted with the dove - a symbol of peace, love, purity, hope. In the ballad "Svetlana" he is shown as a defender. The same work mentions another bird - a rooster, a symbol of the sun, dawn.

Not only living creatures, but even stones are a kind of sign, symbolizing the cult of fire, as in the story “Black Dick”. Other symbols are also mentioned in the same work: caves, as a way of entering another world in Celtic mythology; black stones are a sign of the presence of ancient dark forces, etc. The ballad “Svetlana” talks about another symbol - a mirror into which the heroine looks during fortune telling. A mirror is a symbol of eternity, spiritual purity, a reflection of supernatural intelligence.

The themes of mysticism are often drawn to biblical subjects, and the heroes of the works are Jesus Christ and Satan in different guises. Vivid examples are the tragedy “Faust” by Johann Goethe and the novel “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mysticism, following folk ethnicity and religion, has its own ways of conveying sensations, feelings and emotions, reflecting the world into which the reader must immerse himself. First of all, this is a borderline state of human consciousness, when his mind is dulled and sensory sensations come to the fore. These are the state of sleep, immersion in detachment, and the state of drug and alcohol intoxication. At these moments, a person is deprived of the ability to adequately perceive reality and can go beyond the boundaries of reality.

This technique is used in the ballad "Svetlana". On the night before Epiphany, the heroine has a disturbing dream. Dreams that occurred this night are considered prophetic. Svetlana overcomes all obstacles and dangers in a dream, after which she awakens, and in reality everything turns out to be fine. “Here misfortune is a false dream; happiness is awakening.”

In the short story “Ligeia,” the hero is under the influence of opium, trying to at least temporarily get rid of the mental anguish caused by the death of his beloved wife. He is so immersed in himself and his visions that when his second wife, a living person, dies in his arms, the hero is not so worried about her, he sees ghosts, and the image of Ligeia appears before him.

In the story "The Black Cat" by Edgar Poe, the hero becomes an alcoholic and slowly begins to lose himself. His behavior changes for the worse, he hurts those he loves, and in a fit of anger kills his wife: “My soul seemed to suddenly leave my body; and anger, fiercer than the devil, inflamed by the gin, instantly overwhelmed my entire being.” He is haunted by terrible visions caused by remorse.

The technique of referring to the past is also often used. The stories “Black Dick” by Nikolai Gumilyov and “Metzengerstein” by Edgar Poe tell about events of past years that have been turned into legends. According to the authors, these events cannot happen now, and that their contemporary would hardly believe in them.

In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Poe, the hero describes the past in a song: “Where angels fluttered through the grass of their native valleys, the proud giant castle illuminated with brilliance.” The joyful beginning of the song is contrasted by its ending: “The abode of black troubles; ominous laughter hovers in the darkness, there are no more smiles,” as well as the whole atmosphere of the story, in which the narration is about the present moment. The author is looking for that good in the past, that light that he does not see in the present. The future oppresses him, it seems terrible, fatal and irreversible.

Another interesting way is to conduct rituals. The ballad Svetlana describes Christmas fortune-telling. In Faust, the hero appeals to the spirits, wanting to comprehend the secrets of nature. Magic rituals seem to be a means of connecting a person with the world of supernatural forces, an opportunity to cognize it.

The main function of a folk ethnic group and religion is educational, as well as the need to preserve in history the names of heroes and their exploits, which could serve as an example for future generations.

II. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF MYSTICISM. FUNCTIONS

Mysticism not only absorbs all these functions, but also goes further, acquiring its own distinctive features. The educational function is gradually losing its significance. Other goals come first:

exploration of the world of supernatural forces beyond the control of human consciousness;

attempts to determine the place and capabilities of man in a world beyond his understanding;

revealing the eternal conflict between good and evil;

the reader’s perception of the world is from the soul, not from the mind;

veiled description of reality with the help of fantastic characters and phenomena;

creating a background and special coloring;

attracting reader interest.

III. WORK OF NIKOLAI VASILIEVICH GOGOL

Now I want to turn directly to the work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. I chose this author not by chance. His mystical works are a whole world, multifaceted, bright and colorful.

The writer’s entire life, creativity, death and even the reburial of his remains are associated with many inexplicable facts. The author's personal attitude towards mysticism is peculiar. Throughout his life and career, he turns to mysticism less and less, as if afraid of its influence on his destiny. But the more diligently Gogol moves away from mysticism in his work, the more strongly it manifests itself in the writer’s fate. We will never know the contents of the second volume of Dead Souls and the reasons for its burning. However, it can be assumed that the answer lies in the same mysticism.

The reason for the contradictory views of Gogol, both on the real world and on the world of supernatural forces, mental unrest, in my opinion, should be sought in the author’s childhood.

His mother, Maria Ivanovna, was deeply religious. However, her fate was not easy. She was orphaned early, married early, and lost many of her children. Nicholas was the only surviving son and first child. Her care and guardianship towards her son was special. She put her whole soul into it and conveyed religiosity the way she perceived it herself. For this woman, faith was associated, first of all, with the fear of sin and the inevitability of punishment. Therefore, Gogol, following her, does not find in faith the boundless love, happiness and joy that his soul needs. And the soul tries to find peace in the pictures native nature, rich, colorful, in folk color - legends, rituals and, finally, in mysticism. By the writer’s own admission, scary fairy tales interested and excited him greatly. It is no coincidence that the images of heroines who are associated with the world of supernatural forces are attractive. What a sad and beautiful image of a drowned woman Gogol draws in the story “May Night, or the Drowned Woman.” Depicting the witch lady from Viy, the author writes: “before him lay a beauty such as had ever been on earth. It seemed that never before had the features been formed in such sharp and at the same time harmonious beauty. She lay there as if alive.”

But mysticism cannot replace faith. Gogol doesn't find peace of mind in nothing, and this one internal conflict is reflected in his works.

The collection “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” was published in 1831-1832. This is the time when the ideas of populism appeared in the social and political life of the country, and appeals to the themes and characters of the national ethnic group were very popular in culture. However, in my opinion, Gogol does not follow fashion, but takes on a topic that is interesting to him, not fully understood and studied. All the complexities of his perception of folk ethnicity and mysticism are reflected in a bright kaleidoscope of stories.

With all the differences in the plots, the personal choice of a person comes to the fore in determining the eternal issues of good and evil, which he makes with his heart and his soul.

“Sorochinskaya Fair”, “The Missing Letter” and “The Enchanted Place” are funny, comic stories where the heroes of the works are cheerful, reckless, and sometimes just stupid people. They are afraid of evil spirits, but at the same time they enter into an argument with it and turn out to be stronger. In “Sorochinskaya Fair” there is no devil himself, there is only a legend about him, faith in which leads, on the contrary, to a good and happy ending. And in the other two works, evil spirits can only do minor dirty tricks.

In two other stories, “May Night, or the Drowned Woman” and “The Night Before Christmas,” evil spirits are directly involved in the fate of the main characters. The drowned lady helps lovers Levko and Ganna find happiness. Like the devil, he ultimately helps Vakula, the hero of the story “The Night Before Christmas.” Vakula is a real Ukrainian guy who works and lives honestly, his love for Oksana is pure and real. He was not afraid to go on a dangerous journey, to appear before the empress, to fight the devil. Vakula punished the devil, and did not sell his human soul to evil spirits. Therefore, he acquired the happiness he deserved.

The heroes of “A Terrible Vengeance” and “The Night Before Ivan Kupala” make a different choice.

In the first case, the main character is a hereditary sorcerer, whose ancestor treacherously killed his best friend along with his son, is himself the embodiment of evil and destroys people close to him. Biblical motives are also present here, since children also bear the price for the sins of the fathers. Evil is defeated in the end, but at a very high cost - the cost of the lives of innocent people.

In the second case, the desire to get the girl he loves as a wife and the thirst for profit, due to the slander of the witches, push the main character Petrus to kill a child - his own brother. But what you want, obtained in this way, does not bring happiness. Petrus goes crazy, turns into a handful of ashes, and the money into broken shards.

The second collection “Mirgorod” includes the story “Viy”.

In my opinion, “Viy” is Gogol’s most striking mystical work. The ominous action unfolds either against the backdrop of bright nature, the calm and measured life of the Ukrainian village, or against the backdrop of nature that inspires mystical horror. Gogol creates these mise-en-scenes for a reason. A bright and quiet world is easy to destroy; it turns out to be fragile. Only a truly strong and bright person is able to challenge the dark forces and protect his world. But is this what Khoma Brut turns out to be? Khoma is the darling of fate, he is a pragmatist and a fatalist, in addition, he is phlegmatic and lazy. This is the main one life principle: “What happens, cannot be avoided.” Cheerful drinking bouts, hearty food, fun in women's company - everything that fills Khoma's usual life - sins that make his soul weaker and weaker. The meeting with the lady and the performance of the funeral rites over her are a test for his faith and soul. Did the main character survive? There is no clear answer to this. Having defeated the dark forces, he himself dies. The reader can only hope that his soul was saved, he atoned for his sins.

When describing the three nights when Khoma performed the funeral service for the deceased lady, Gogol uses a technique traditional for mystics. The state of the main character is close to hallucinations or sleep, when everything around is perceived by the soul, and not by the mind.

One cannot help but mention the images of the lady and Viy.

Pannochka is a cruel, insidious witch who can take the form of animals. She tortures people, drinks their blood. However, the image of the lady created by the author is not devoid of not only mystery, but also a certain attractiveness. Compassion arises in the reader's soul. What made the lady become a witch? The author does not give an answer, allowing you to make your own choice.

The image of Viy arose from ancient folk beliefs. An old invincible evil lurks in the depths of the earth, and people with their unreasonable behavior can always awaken it.

In his later works from the collection “Petersburg Tales”, the writer turns to the topic of mysticism for the last time. But only now these heroes are close to the reader and are ordinary people; the action of the works has been transferred from the Ukrainian hinterland to St. Petersburg. The heroes are far from the people, but they have the same weaknesses and vices.

In the story “The Nose,” the hero loses his nose on the night from Thursday to Friday, when folk beliefs Dark forces rule, which is why dreams turn out to be prophetic. Also, according to dream books, a nose, especially a large one, means importance in society, well-being and success. Thus, Gogol characterizes his character. His soul is empty, it does not strive for a high goal. All the efforts of the protagonist are aimed at creating his social status, which, in addition to specific name it does not matter. The hero is punished with his own nose, because its absence deprives his life of all meaning.

Of course, the image of the collegiate assessor Kovalev is comical, but the essence of the work is to reveal the flaws in the public consciousness not only of that era, but also, unfortunately, of subsequent generations. At the same time, the methods and methods of mystical literature are ideally suited to in this case to create images of heroes.

The story “Portrait” is not like Gogol’s other mystical works; here the philosophical and religious aspects come to the fore. The choice of the artist and creator. Firstly, is it worthy for a true creator to engage in art for enrichment and, secondly, how to avoid the dark side of talent and not succumb to the temptation of creating images that have demonic power.

The heroes of both the first and second parts of the work succumbed to temptation, although for different reasons. Their souls sided with evil, and evil manifested itself and affected the destinies of many people.

In his further work, Gogol refuses to turn to mysticism, although the fate of the heroes of his realistic works is influenced in one way or another by conduct. And the title of the novel “Dead Souls” is a response to mysticism.

I repeat that we do not know the content of the second volume of the novel, but perhaps the author nevertheless decided to return to the theme of supernatural forces. What was written became a terrible revelation for him, which he considered necessary to destroy. The world of supernatural forces and its ability to influence a person’s fate remained unsolved for Gogol. Originally the basis of the writer’s spiritual contradictions, mysticism became a test and punishment for him.

Perhaps this is why the mysticism in Gogol’s work is so unique, inventive and multifaceted. The images he created still attract and excite the reader. And this is obvious. Man will always be interested in what is beyond his mind. A person’s desire to feel and experience the mysterious and inexplicable world will always be alive. But I want to believe that, perceiving other people’s experience, the human soul will improve and turn into a world of light and goodness, into a world where love and harmony triumph.

LIST OF LITERARY WORKS

Johann Goethe "Faust"

Oscar Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

Edgar Poe "The Raven", "Ligeia", "The Black Cat", "Metzengerstein", "The Fall of the House of Usher"

Vasily Zhukovsky "Lyudmila", "Svetlana"

Nikolai Gumilyov "Black Dick"

Mikhail Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita"

Nikolai Gogol “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, “Viy”, “Nose”, “Portrait”, “Dead Souls”

LITERATURE

www.wikipedia.ru

www.onlinedics.ru

www.gogol.biografy.ru

dictionary by T. F. Efremova

V. Dahl's dictionary

dictionary by D. N. Ushakov

"Goethe's tragedy Faust." The image of Faust. Analysis of the work" I V. Kabanova

Mysticism is a mystery

In general, today’s use of the words “mysticism” and “mystical” is completely vague and unclear. If Orthodox Christians strictly distinguish the mysticism of the Uncreated Light and Divine Energies from eastern or magical mysticism, then for a non-church agnostic the Light of Tabor will be on a par with Islamic Sufism, Buddhist Nirvana, astral experiences and evocation of spirits, etc. The word “mystical” "is often synonymous with something unscientific, mysterious and vaguely sublime. When I first entered the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University many years ago, one of our teachers on the theory of knowledge, hearing sublime speeches on abstract topics from yesterday’s schoolchildren, used to ironically raise an eyebrow and chuckle:

- Well, this is already mystic!

Nevertheless, it is still possible to give a more or less correct, most general definition the word “mysticism” and what can be considered a mystical experience: this is the experience of direct communication and unity with God, Communion with God. And then we can talk about Christian mysticism, strictly distinguishing it from other “mystical experiences.”

The word “mysticism” itself comes from the ancient Greek language. In Greek μυστικός (mysticos) means mysterious, related to the mysteries or, more simply put, mysterious.Tό μυστήριον (mystērion) or τὰ μυστήρια - this is how the ancient Greeks in Athens called secret sacred rites or sacraments in honor of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone, to which the uninitiated had no access. So general meaning ancient Greek word τ ό μυστήριον – secret, secret.

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From the history of symbolism

Symbolism (from the Greek sumbolon - “sign”, “symbol”) is an international phenomenon in literature that has become widespread in Europe. The foundations of the aesthetics of symbolism were formed in France in the 60-70s of the 19th century in the works of Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé. Trying to comprehend the secret in the universe, trying to penetrate the subconscious, where ordinary language is powerless, symbolists turn to emotions, feelings, intuition, and not to reason. In Russia, symbolism was formed in the early 1890s and existed until approximately 1917. In the development of Russian symbolism, two stages are distinguished: “senior symbolists” and “young symbolists” at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. Historical events this time they invade daily life people, breaking the usual foundations. Everything has changed in Russia: political beliefs, moral principles, culture, art. New aesthetic phenomena arise against the backdrop of a strong rise in philosophical thought. A system of views is born, called “decadence” (from the French “decline”). Poetry developed especially dynamically at this time, which later received the name “poetic renaissance” or “Silver Age”.

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Symbolism as a worldviewRealists are always simple observers, symbolists are always thinkers. K. Balmont

The theoretical foundations of Russian symbolism were formulated literary critic, by the poet D. Merezhkovsky in the book “On the Causes of Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Literature” (1893), in the article by K. Balmont “Elementary words about symbolist poetry”, in the work of Vyacheslav Ivanov “Thoughts on Symbolism”. Three main components of the new movement: mystical content, symbols, expansion of artistic impressionability. Symbolists widely used motifs and images from different cultures. Greek and Roman mythologies were favorite sources.

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Mystical content

At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. Electricity and steam heating appeared, scientists are making great discoveries in medicine, but wars do not stop, there is no cure for cruelty, envy and loneliness. Russia was experiencing a crisis. Interest in the mysterious and mystical is growing. “And here modern people stand, defenseless, face to face with unspeakable darkness... Wherever we go, wherever we hide behind the dam of scientific criticism, with our whole being we feel the closeness of the mystery, the ocean,” wrote D. Merezhkovsky in his book. Mystical content is declared to be the main subject of the new art. The abstract is sweet to me. Through him I create life... I love everything solitary, I love the implicit. I am a slave to my mysterious, extraordinary dreams... Z. Gippius “Inscription on a book” 1896

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The symbol is the key to the secret. Where there is no secret in feeling, there is no art. For whom everything in the world is simple, understandable, comprehensible, he cannot be an artist. B, Bryusov “Keys of Secrets”

Symbol is the main category of Symbolist poetics. A symbol is a sign of a different reality. Symbols are designed to help penetrate into the essence of hidden phenomena. The symbol increases and expands the meaning of each word. Context plays an important role in understanding symbols. The symbol is associated with the area of the secret. The symbol invites the reader to co-creation. The poet in his poems addresses the “initiates.” The secrets of created creatures caress me with affection, And the shadow of patches trembles on the enamel wall. V. Bryusov “Creativity” 1895

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From the “Explanatory Dictionary” of the Symbolists

Evening is a symbol of mystery and mystical charms. Smoke is a symbol of unknowability, mystery. The earth is a gray ordinariness. A boat, a canoe is a symbol of earthly existence. Night is the dark mystery of existence. Sleep is a sweet moment of revelation. The sun is a distant light, an incomprehensible ideal. Twilight is a crack between worlds. Death is deliverance from the heaviness of the vulgar world.

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Expansion of artistic impressionability And I call the dreamers... I am not calling you! K. Balmont

A symbol, expanding the meaning of a word, becomes the most important means of conveying the feeling and mood of the author’s intention. The listener or reader perceives the text in all its ambiguity. Co-creation begins. Words-symbols awaken in the reader his own thoughts and feelings. Each symbolist poet has his own path in art, but they are all united by the worship of high dreams and feelings, the desire to change the world, to make it beautiful. I do not know wisdom suitable for others, I only impart verse to fleeting things. In every fleetingness I see worlds, Full of variability of rainbow play. Do not curse, wise ones, what do you care about me? I'm just a cloud full of fire. I'm just a cloud. You see: I’m floating. And I call the dreamers... I’m not calling you! K. Balmont 1902

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Poetics of Symbolism

Poems of Russian symbolists - “poetry of shades” (V. Bryusov). The symbol as the main category is the link between the material and ideal world. The worldview can shrink within a symbol or expand to the Universe. The reader is given the opportunity to complete only the image outlined by the poet. The artistic image is relegated to the background, as is the direct meaning of the word. The image is absent as a visual reality. Striving for musicality and harmony. Musicality is the most important principle of symbolism. Freedom of perception by the reader of images and symbols. Mobility and ambiguity of the word. The rhythmic possibilities of Russian verse have been expanded.

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"Senior Symbolists" and "Young Symbolists"

In the early 1890s, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, Fyodor Sologub, Zinaida Gippius and others announced new ways of developing literature. Hopelessness, denial of existing existence, isolation, loneliness and insecurity, increased attention to mystical philosophy and aesthetic modernism - direct path to symbolism. The "Senior Symbolists" are often called impressionists and decadents. In 1901 - 1905, “young symbolists” Andrei Bely, Alexander Blok, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Sergei Solovyov and others declared themselves in poetic circles. Followers of the philosopher and poet Vladimir Solovyov, they argued that the world would be saved by Divine beauty, Eternal femininity. Divine beauty is harmony between the spiritual and the material, between the external and the internal. The “Young Symbolists,” denying the modern world, believed in its transformation with the help of Love, Beauty, and Art.

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Glossary

Decadence (from the French “decline”) is a general designation for crisis phenomena in the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modernism (the newest) is a philosophical and aesthetic movement based on the denial of the traditions of classical culture and the desire to create a fundamentally new art. Poetics (poetic art) is the doctrine of the construction of different types of literary works (the poetics of the novel, the poetics of Pushkin). Renaissance (from the French “rebirth”) - the Renaissance era was marked by great discoveries, as well as the awakening of interest in literature and art. “Silver Age” - the concept goes back to ancient literature. Geosid believed that the life of mankind begins with the “Golden” Age and ends with the “Iron” Age. In the modern historical and literary tradition, the Pushkin era is considered to be the “golden age” (P.A. Vyazemsky “Three Ages of Poets”), and the time of 1890 – 1920 – the “silver age”. An artistic image is one of the means of knowing and changing the world, a synthetic form of reflection and expression of feelings, thoughts and aesthetic emotions of the artist. The artistic image refers to spiritual human activity.

Slide 11

Literature

The Silver Age of Russian Poetry: Problems, documents. M., 1996. Russian poetry of the Silver Age. 1890 - 1917. M., 1993. Ermilova E.V. Theory and figurative world of Russian symbolism. M., 1989. A.A. Murashov. The all-pervading magic of words. Russian language and literature. 1991. V. P. Kryuchkov. Russian poetry of the 20th century. Saratov, 2002.

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Keywords

ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR / ANARCH-MYSTICISM/CHIVALRY/ ETHICAL-MYSTICAL CONCEPT / IMPROVING THE SOUL WAREHOUSE/ SUFFERING / ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR / ANARCHO-MYSTICISM / CHIVALRY / AN ETHICAL AND MYSTICAL CONCEPT / IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOUL""S STOREHOUSE/SUFFERING

annotation scientific article on philosophy, ethics, religious studies, author of the scientific work - Yulia Vladimirovna Nazarova

The article analyzes the little-known concept of a mystical society " Order of the Knights Templar", which existed in the Soviet Union in the 20-30s of the twentieth century. A philosophical analysis of the mystical and ethical elements of the Order's worldview is carried out. The fact that the socio-political views of the Templars were based on anarchism allows us to conclude that the main goal of the Templars was to improve the individual in order to build a further anarchic (akratic) ideal: a society of spiritually and morally developed individuals, free from any power. This fact determines the further conclusion about the priority of the ethical in the concept of the Order; An ethical analysis of some categories of this concept is carried out. Thus, the ethical content of the concept of “knight” in the concept of the Templars is determined through a comparative analysis of the understanding of the knight as a representative of the knightly ethos, and the knight as a warrior of the spirit. It is established that the central concept, carrying a deep ethical and mystical meaning in the concept of the Order, was the concept of suffering. The relationship between the ethical and the mystical is examined, resulting in the conclusion that in the concept of the Order, the ethical was seen as the goal of serving humanity, and the mystical as a means of achieving this goal, through the acquisition of knowledge and subsequent spiritual development.

Text of scientific work on the topic “Ethical and mystical content of the concept of the Russian Order of the Templars”

PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES

Yu. V. Nazarova

Tula State Pedagogical University

them. L. N. Tolstoy

ETHICAL AND MYSTICAL CONTENT OF THE CONCEPT OF THE RUSSIAN ORDER OF THE TEMPLIERS

The article analyzes the little-known concept of the mystical society "Order of the Templars", which existed in the Soviet Union in the 20-30s of the twentieth century. A philosophical analysis of the mystical and ethical elements of the Order's worldview is carried out. The fact that the socio-political views of the Templars were based on anarchism allows us to conclude that the main goal of the Templars was to improve the individual in order to build a further anarchic (akratic) ideal: a society of spiritually and morally developed individuals, free from any power. This fact determines the further conclusion about the priority of the ethical in the concept of the Order; An ethical analysis of some categories of this concept is carried out. Thus, the ethical content of the concept of “knight” in the concept of the Templars is determined through a comparative analysis of the understanding of the knight as a representative of the knightly ethos, and the knight as a warrior of the spirit. It is established that the central concept, carrying a deep ethical and mystical meaning in the concept of the Order, was the concept of suffering. The relationship between the ethical and the mystical is examined, resulting in the conclusion that in the concept of the Order the ethical was seen as the goal of serving humanity, and the mystical as a means of achieving this goal, through the acquisition of knowledge and subsequent spiritual development.

Key words: Templar Order; anarcho-mysticism; chivalry; ethical-mystical concept; improvement of the soul; suffering.

TSPU (Tula, Russia)

ETHICAL AND MYSTERY CONTENT OF THE CONCEPT OF THE ORDER OF THE RUSSIAN KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

knight's understanding as a representative of knightly ethos, and a knight as a warrior of the spirit. It is established that the concept of suffering was the central concept bearing a deep ethical and mystical meaning, in the concept of the Order. The relationship between the ethical and the mystical is considered, which leads to the conclusion that in the concept of the Order the ethical was considered as the goal of serving humanity, and the mystical as a means of achieving this goal, through mastering knowledge and subsequent spiritual development .

Keywords: Order of the Knights Templar; anarcho-mysticism; chivalry; an ethical and mystical concept; improvement of the soul's storehouse; suffering.

Secret societies of a mystical nature that existed in the Soviet Union, such as the Masons, Templars, Rosicrucians, are a little-studied topic, shrouded in an aura of legends, prejudices and speculation. Meanwhile, it requires careful study, not only from the historical point of view, but also from the philosophical point vision. It should be taken into account that, unlike European or Russian (pre-revolutionary) secret communities, Soviet ones developed in a unique environment, which could not but leave an imprint on their concepts: in the conditions of a totalitarian and atheistic society with a single ideology. For such a society, a Mason, a Templar, a Rosicrucian was, at best, a fantastic figure, and at worst, he was associated with religious fanaticism or an anti-Soviet conspiracy. Nevertheless, mystical communities in the Soviet Union, despite persecution, trials and partial oblivion, left a very important mark. According to A.L. Nikitin, who studied the mystical societies of Soviet Russia, “there is a vast area of cultural life of the 20s and 30s of the last century, which had a powerful, and most importantly, ongoing influence on the process of spiritual development of the Russian intelligentsia in almost all areas of science , art and life itself, which until recently remained completely unknown. We are talking about mystical societies, mystical movements and orders, the existence of which was kept in deep secret both by the initiates themselves, who survived years of imprisonment and concentration camps, and by the official authorities, who simply forgot about their existence.” This phrase from a famous researcher confirms the relevance of the philosophical study of the legacy of secret mystical communities of the Soviet period: after all, in our time, in a crisis of values, surrounded by new challenges of the information society, in the process of mixing cultures and religions, the Russian intelligentsia is being transformed (or has already been transformed), defining new goals and meanings of moral and social responsibility. In such conditions, it is very important to understand the degree of influence of the legacy of secret mystical communities (whose members were the best representatives of the intelligentsia) on this transformation, which will help to look at what is happening in modern Russia from an unusual perspective and predict further processes of the spiritual development of society.

The worldview of mystical communities in the context of philosophical analysis can be considered from different points of view, however, in this article we will set a goal to consider the ethical aspects of this worldview using the example of the Templar Order. Philosophical analysis in an ethical context

will help to understand the roots of the socio-political views of the Templars of the Soviet period, the ethical content, goals and principles of their activities.

It seems quite important in this article to obtain an answer to the question of the relationship between the mystical and the ethical in the concept of the Templars. This will help determine the ultimate goal and meaning of the Order's activities.

The Order of the Soviet Templars was founded by A. A. Karelin, one of the ideologists of the anarchist movement, according to some sources, no later than 1919, according to other statements - in 1920, after the period of Karelin’s forced emigration to France. There is an opinion that the Order of the Templars was created by Karelin precisely for the dissemination of anarchist ideas, and members of the Order were often called anarcho-mystics, but, on the other hand, anarchism could serve as a cover for the mystical tasks of the Order. In any case, the worldview of the members of the Order was based on anarchism, or akratia - non-recognition of any authority (any authority is considered immoral, since it is a form of violence against the individual). This point of view can be traced in the legends of the Soviet Templars, in particular, in one of the basic legends - about Atlantis (“About Atlantis”). The main values in anarchism can be called the values of freedom and equality, however, unlike liberalism, these values are formed not through a “social contract”, but through the creation of a society without any power, based on the equal interaction of free individuals. In the process of forming such a society, the spiritual development and moral improvement of the individual comes to the fore, thanks to which the need not only for authoritarian power, but also for a “social contract” disappears. The spiritual development of the individual in the view of the Templars was carried out through the study of the mystical side of the order's teachings; moral improvement, “improvement of the soul” - thanks to following certain ethical models that were presented in the order’s legends; the main goal of the Russian Templars of the Soviet period was “to promote the movement of humanity in a form of existence and consciousness that would be determined by the highest spiritual principles.” Thus, mysticism and ethics were at the center of the Templar concept, and ethics is presented not as a means, but as the final goal of the order movement. It is noteworthy that, for example, Russian Freemasonry, which had a longer history than the Templar Order, was also distinguished by the predominance of ethical ideas over mystical ones, in contrast to Western Freemasonry, which suggests that the ethical nature of the worldview was a distinctive feature of Russian mystical communities.

Just as in Russian Freemasonry, in the Order of the Templars great attention was paid to the moral improvement of the individual, which is generally uncharacteristic of the Russian mentality with its ideal of “community”, public moral responsibility, and, even more so, was uncharacteristic of the Soviet value system. ideal. Moral ideal personality for a Templar is a knight, however, this is very conditional, allegorical

Name. The knight of the spirit is not the same as the warrior knight of the Middle Ages. Thus, the latter, according to M. Ossovskaya, existed in two parallel systems of values - the values of military valor and Christian values, and the values of both systems could come into conflict with each other. The knightly ideal of the Middle Ages is associated with the military virtues of courage, honor, loyalty, etc., as well as with the idea of worship of the eternally feminine (the cult of the Beautiful Lady). Ideas about the knightly ideal at the beginning of the twentieth century have a more pronounced mystical-romantic connotation; this is superbly shown, for example, in A. Blok’s play “The Rose and the Cross” (the creation and production of which may also have been associated with mystical communities, however, it would be better to devote a separate study to this topic). Thus, in the ideas of the knightly ideal among the Templars of the twentieth century, the medieval military virtues of honor, courage and loyalty acquire the character of means for serving humanity in influencing its spiritual transformation and are transformed, filled with a broader ethical meaning (which is implied in the texts of initiation to various levels Order): honor - as following the only purpose in the matter of spiritual improvement on the basis of knowledge and value ideals; loyalty - as loyalty to the ideas of the Order; courage - as perseverance in upholding principles and achieving goals, as readiness to accept suffering in the name of humanity.

The question of suffering is connected, firstly, with the text of one of the levels of initiation, secondly, with the legend of the Chalice, and thirdly, with the tragic history of the Order during the Soviet period:

1. It is characteristic that when a Templar was introduced to the highest, third degree of the Order, the following was said: “Not a crown, not a scepter, but a crown of thorns and a tunic drenched in blood - this is now your true attire, knight.” For comparison, the first degree of initiation began with the phrase: “...Be strong, be brave, be a knight without fear or reproach.” Second degree: “Go to the heights, overtake all the spirits, striving in a powerful impulse towards the creator!” In the first stage of initiation, we are talking about ethics - as improving the disposition of the soul; in the second - about knowledge leading to spiritual improvement. Identification with the Lamb, who suffers for the sins of man, came after these two stages of initiation; Thus, suffering and redemption occurred among the Templars at the highest stage of spiritual development; the right to suffering had to be earned by the moral and spiritual transformation of the soul.

2. The issue of suffering is closely related to the legend of the Grail, which reveals the moral and mystical meaning of suffering. According to legend, the Chalice is the vessel in which the blood of Christ was collected after the execution, and this Chalice is kept by the initiates. The full history of the Grail as interpreted by the Templars is given in the legend "Appius Claudius", which, among other things, explains the origin of the Rosicrucians and their connection with the Templar Order, and also indicates that it was the Rosicrucians who were the guardians of the true Christian teaching. The Rosicrucians and Templars formed

the “new Grail”, uniting their orders, since the Grail, in which the blood of Christ was collected, began to dry up, just as the grace of God on earth began to dry up. The Knights decided to fill the new Grail with their blood, in order to become like Christ, increase the grace of God and save humanity: “And the Order decided that in order to become a worthy guardian of Christ’s teaching, the Order must join the living Grail, nourished by the blood of the martyrs; the holy of holies of Christ's teachings must be kept in it, and the blood stored in it must be shed not only on the battlefields, but also at the hands of the executioners... not only must their blood be shed, but the bodies of those knights who , having decided to imitate Christ, are ready to repeat his feat, suffering no less than he suffered” (my italics - Yu.N).

3. The very history of the Templar Order in the Soviet period is presented as suffering incarnate: it is not only arrests, interrogations, persecutions and punishments, but also, ultimately, oblivion.

Ethics in the worldview of the Templars of the Soviet period has great prospects for study, and, limited by the scope of the article, we have identified, in our opinion, the central points of the ethics of the Templars, which are subsequently interesting to study, recreating the holistic ethical and mystical system of the concept of the Order. Let's summarize, focusing on the most important conclusions.

1. A significant part of the concept of the Templars of the Soviet period can be characterized as ethical-mystical, where ethics is the goal, and mysticism is the means of achieving spiritual and moral perfection.

2. Templar ethics is aimed at improving the mentality of each individual person: personal improvement leads to the improvement of all humanity

3. The concept of “knight” is allegorical: it is painted in a mystical connotation, and implies not only the Templar as a “knight of the temple”, but also the Templar as a “knight of the spirit”, who, at the first stage of initiation, is improved morally - through ethics; on the second - spiritually - through mystical knowledge, and on the third, highest, one is ready to be transformed through suffering.

4. The knight’s suffering fills the Grail, replacing the waning blood of Christ - this allegory emphasizes the deep moral meaning of suffering, or rather co-suffering (suffering with Christ); thus, the Templar sacrifices himself for the good of all mankind. But first he must earn the right to suffer by going through the first two stages of initiation.

The peculiarities of the Russian Order of the Templars in the Soviet period were such features as the predominance of ethics over mysticism, the category of suffering, which stood at the center of the ethical-mystical concept of the Templars, and the very embodiment of suffering, expressed in their tragic story. Further philosophical analysis of the worldview of the Templars could expand the understanding of the ethical meanings of their concept, which is of undoubted importance for modern Russian spiritual culture.

Literature

1. Nazarova Yu. V. Ethics of Russian Freemasonry // Izvestia Tul. state un-ta. Series: Humanities. 2012. No. 2. P. 44-52.

2. Ossovskaya M. Knight and bourgeois: studies in the history of morality. M.: Progress, 1987. 528 p.

3. Order of the Russian Templars. In 3 volumes. Documents 1922-1930. / publ., inst. Art., decree. A. L. Nikitina. M.: The Past, 2003.

1. Nazarova Yu. V. Etika russkogo masonstva // Izvestiya Tul. gos. un-ta. Seriya: Humanitarian science. 2012. No. 2. P. 44-52.

2. Ossovskaya M. Rytsar "i burzhua: issledovaniya po istorii morali. Moscow: Progress, 1987. 528 p.

3. Order rossiyskikh tampliyerov. In 3 vols. Dokumenty 1922-1930 gg / publ., foreword art., append. by A. L. Nikitin. Moscow: Minuvshee, 2003.

Mystical in the narrow sense is Greek mysticism associated with the cults of Demeter and Dionysus. In a broader sense - a supersensible way of knowing existence, as well as the results of this knowledge. “Mystical,” wrote Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, “is called internal (mystical) experience, which gives us contact with the spiritual, Divine world, as well as internal (and not just external) comprehension of our natural world.” Mystical experience should be distinguished from a simple mental state, a mood, which, according to Bulgakov, is limited to “the obviously subjective area, psychologism.” “On the contrary,” the philosopher emphasized, “mystical experience has an objective character, it involves going out of oneself, a spiritual touch or meeting.” It is this semantic specificity that determines the aesthetic refraction of mysticism in literature. Mysticism must be separated from fantasy, which can also be mystical in form. Science fiction presupposes purposeful invention, deliberate fiction. Mysticism is experienced by the subject as genuine reality, although it takes bizarre forms. The forms of mystical experience are of two types: external and internal. External mystical experience is revealed as visions, visual representations. Internal experience is experienced as special psychophysical states, perceived without visual impressions, as a special kind of feeling. Western Christian mysticism focused on the first type of experience, Eastern - on the second. The most famous mystics in Western Christianity were Francis of Assisi, who was stigmatized as a manifestation of mystical influence, and Ignatius of Loyola, who developed a system of meditative exercises aimed specifically at visual images. In Eastern Christianity, a tradition of inner mysticism developed. It was carried out as an experience of “smart doing”, in which the central place is occupied by the so-called Jesus Prayer. The highest result of internal activity becomes “hesychia” (silence), in which the individual spirit unites with God and enters into direct energetic communication with Him (the theological justification for hesychasm was given by Gregory Palamas, 1296-1359). In some cases, it can be realized in the form of verbal communication, accompanied by a visible phenomenon spiritual world. An example of such a mystical ascent is the story St. Sergius Radonezhsky (1314-92) and Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833). The centuries-old experience of prayer is collected in the multi-volume anthology of asceticism “Philokalia”, translated into Church Slavonic by the Moldavian monk Paisius Velichkovsky (1722-94). An original mystical monument is the “Ladder” of St. John, abbot of Mount Sinai (7th century). The experience of inner work in Eastern, and in particular Russian Christianity, gave rise to the phenomenon of the so-called eldership. The internal mysticism of Eastern Christianity is realized in the apophatic theology of Dionysius (Pseudo-Dionysius) the Areopagite (5th - early 6th centuries, “Mystical Theology”, “Divine Names”, “Heavenly Hierarchy”, etc.).

In addition to Christian mysticism, the practice and theory of spiritual ascension developed at different times and in different cultures. The most famous of them are: the Upanishads, a speculative part of the Vedic sacred collections; An ancient Chinese mystical text created by Laozi; in ancient Greek culture - the teachings of Heraclitus, Pythagoreans, Empedocles, Plato; Judeo-Hellenic teaching of Philo of Alexandria; in Egyptian-Hellenic speculation - the so-called “Hermetic books” associated with the name of Hermes Trismegistus; the teachings of the Neoplatonists and Gnostics; Jewish Kabbalism; Sufism among Muslim Persians. Original mystical teachings were also developed by the mystics Paracelsus (1493-1541), Jacob Boehme (“Aurora, or Dawn in the Ascent”, 1612), Emmanuel Swedenborg (“Heavenly Mysteries”, 1749-56), Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), Heinrich Suso (1295-1366), Johann Tauler (1300-61). A special place belongs to female mysticism, where spiritual experience sometimes takes on sacred erotic forms. This is Angela of Folino, Margaret of Cortona (13th century); Theresa the Great (15th century, "Autobiography"). In Russia, a similar experience is associated with the name of A.N. Schmidt (1851-1905), who experienced the mysticism of Eternal Femininity. In the 20th century, the theosophy of Helena Blavatsky (The Secret Doctrine, 1888) and the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner, which modernized the so-called occultism, were widespread. A major figure in Russian mysticism was V.S. Solovyov, who created the sophiological (S.N. Bulgakov, P.A. Florensky) and eschatological (N.A. Berdyaev) directions of religious philosophy of the 20th century. A unique mystical work of the 20th century is “The Rose of the World” (1958) by Daniil Andreev. Anglo-American culture of the 20th century was also influenced by the mysticism of the Indians, described by Carlos Castaneda (“The Teachings of Don Juan. The Way of Knowledge of the Yaqui Indians,” 1968).

A complex of sensations is associated with mystical states, which can become the subject of artistic expression. First of all, the mystical state is associated with an unusual experience of space-time connections, a chronotope. In art, such a psychophysical state often precedes creativity and is called inspiration. In fact, inspiration in art is a mystical transcendence, a touch of another world, a spiritual otherness. The artist consciously or unconsciously strives to embody this experience in art forms. We can also talk about stable mystical motives. They are epistemological in nature and embody the results of the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the cosmos, cosmosophy - where natural phenomena become symbols supreme reality. Such, for example, is the rose of Paracelsus and the diverse cosmological symbols of world myths. The only mystical experience that gives a sense of the spiritual and is perceived as beauty can be specified depending on the content of spirituality. Divine spirituality is recognized psychologically as love, and physically as light. Divine spirituality is opposed to demonic. She egocentrically absorbs her surroundings into herself. Physically, such anti-divine spirituality is experienced as darkness, and in the moral realm as evil and lies, which do not have their own metaphysical content, but are the destruction of good and truth. The mysticism of beauty was best formulated by F.M. Dostoevsky, saying about its duality: “Here the devil fights with God, and the battlefield is the hearts of people” (“The Brothers Karamazov”). Divine, genuine beauty has great theurgic power, because it transfers spiritual creative energies into the material world, gives birth to love as an experience in the human soul upper world, changing it from the inside, and with it surrounding reality. This is the mystical meaning of the famous aphorism in Dostoevsky’s novel “The Idiot” by Dostoevsky: “Beauty will save the world.”

In the history of world literature, the mystical has been revealed in various aesthetic forms. The oldest and most complete form of the mystical in literature is myth. The uniqueness of mythological mysticism is that it is revealed in full-fledged, sensory-physical forms of the material world; this is a wonderful reality. Some figurative units, and especially personification and symbol, have a mythological nature. In the medieval literature of Western Europe, Byzantium, and Ancient Rus', the mystical was the basis of worldview and aesthetics. However, it was developed in literature only within the framework of religious genres. IN Western Europe The most developed genres of mystical-religious literature were mysteries that emerged from the temple liturgical action and were dramatizations of biblical stories, as well as miracles - poetic dramas with a plot based on a miracle performed by a saint or the Virgin Mary. In the mysteries and miracles, the situation of the intervention of heavenly forces in earthly events was recreated, thereby realizing mystical presence of another world. The mystical nature distinguished these genres from morality plays, where the emphasis was on the earthly situation itself and had a moral and didactic orientation.

In Russian medieval literature the mystical was revealed in the genres of chronicle, hagiography, teaching. The chronicle not only recorded events, but also indicated their historiosophical perspective. Intuitively, the chronicle was based on those books of the Bible that are understood as Sacred History. The mystical purpose of these works is to indicate the participation of Divine forces in the historical process, and the didactic in them, as in the teachings, had an eschatological character. The lives combined the mystical, ethical and aesthetic. The criterion for holiness was a miracle, a physically manifested mystical event. The author of the life experienced the spiritual as beauty. A special place in religious culture and literature was occupied by religious folklore, largely free from dogmatic institutions. Among the genres of religious folklore, legends are especially mystically rich, including echoes of pagan mythology (dragons, goblin, water creatures), and the so-called spiritual poems - poetic works of mystical-cosmological and hagiographic, but not canonical, but apocryphal content. In Western literature, the most significant monument of this type is the “Golden Legend” (13th century), which became the basis of chivalric romance, liturgical drama, lyrics and iconography. In Russian literature, this is a circle of texts associated with the so-called “Pigeon Book” (13th century).

It is generally accepted that in the literature of the Renaissance, the mystical in the proper sense of the word is relegated to the background. However, the return to the aesthetic consciousness of antiquity with its cult of the body does not absorb the mystical in principle. Ancient physicality had a mythological - spiritual-physical - nature. It is significant that the Christian revelation about the God-man Christ was perceived precisely by Hellenic, and not by Jewish culture. In addition to the mystical overtones associated with an anti-ascetic attitude towards the body, mysticism was realized in the Renaissance in religious themes and images. Particularly noteworthy are “The Divine Comedy” (1307-21) by Dante, “Jerusalem Liberated” (1580) by T. Tasso, “Paradise Lost” (1667), “Paradise Regained” (1671) by J. Milton. The new aesthetic consciousness is united here with the traditions of Catholic mysticism and theology. The mystical plays an important role in the poetics of the tragedies of W. Shakespeare, who in his own way revived the tradition of the ancient tragedy of fate, where a person found himself powerless before the mysterious forces of fate. However, the mystical was experienced rather in subtext and was perceived more broadly - as irrational. Mysticism is refracted in a unique way in the Baroque era, striving for the “union of the incompatible,” which was artistically realized in the collision of fantasy and reality, ancient mythology and Christian symbolism. Baroque poetics gravitated towards everything whimsical, sophisticated imagery developed the art of perception (treatise “Wit or the Art of a Sophisticated Mind”, 1642, B. Graciani-Morales). The mystical as irrational was excluded from the rationalistic, normative aesthetics of classicism. As the extra-rational, the mystical partly appears in the aesthetics of sentimentalism. The mystical overtones were outlined here by the theme of death and the intuition of fate, included in the emotional model of “sacred melancholy.” A revival of interest in the mystical occurs in the works of the Romantics. The universal intuition of dual worlds includes metaphysical and mystical dual worlds. This explains the attraction of romantics to folk folklore and mythological culture. The work of J.V. Goethe had a decisive influence on the formation of the mystical worldview in the literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His dramatic poem “Faust” (1808-31) realizes the unity of the mystical and empirical, characteristic of mythological imagery. The mystical is depicted here as a type of reality. A similar type of figurative thinking is concretized in its own way in the works of European and Russian writers: Novalis, E.T. A. Hoffman, J. Byron, W. Whitman, W. Wordsworth, S. T. Coleridge, W. Blake, R. Southey, V. A. Zhukovsky, N. V. Gogol and others. Gnostic character and philosophical understanding mystic gets off late romantics E.A. Po, V.F. Odoevsky (short stories), M.Yu. Lermontov (poem “Demon”, 1829-39; poems of mystical and religious content). Within the framework of realism, the mystical becomes a method of romantic defamiliarization, a means of philosophical and psychological analysis of reality and comes closer to fantasy (Gogol. Nose, 1836; I.S. Turgenev. Clara Milich, 1883; N.A. Nekrasov. Railway, 1864; Dostoevsky. Double, 1846). The mystical as irrational is actively used by Dostoevsky in his novels (The Brothers Karamazov, 1879-80). In Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, N.S. Leskov, V.V. Rozanov, the mystical is realized through the development of religious and philosophical issues. The mystical as philosophical, psychological and aesthetic becomes the basis of the aesthetics of symbolism. Theorists of symbolism develop the concept of the mystical at all stages creative process; immersion in mystical world- gnostics, anamnesis (Vyach. Ivanov, A. Bely, A. Blok, M. Voloshin); artistic embodiment - symbol, music as a means of consolidating and transmitting the mystical; theurgy is the level of artistic realization and perception. Some symbolists were influenced by the occult teachings of E. Blavatsky, A. Besant, R. Steiner (primarily A. Bely and M. Voloshin). The mythological mysticism of F.I. Tyutchev and V.S. Solovyov developed in symbolism. Russian symbolists of the second wave (Bely, Blok, Voloshin) artistically developed mystical mythologies: Eternal femininity, World Soul, Motherland, God-Man, God-Land. Mythologems of symbolism develop in the unique mystical-artistic, mythological world of D. Andreev - the treatise “Rose of the World”, the poetic ensemble “Russian Gods” (1933-56). Andreev himself defines his type of symbolism as metarealism. This is mystical, mythological realism in its original understanding.

Mystical content. Mystery genre: features of working on mystical stories. II. distinctive features of mysticism. functions

Mysticism is a mystery

From the history of symbolism

Mystical content

From the “Explanatory Dictionary” of the Symbolists

Poetics of Symbolism

"Senior Symbolists" and "Young Symbolists"

Glossary

Literature

annotation scientific article on philosophy, ethics, religious studies, author of the scientific work - Yulia Vladimirovna Nazarova

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Text of scientific work on the topic “Ethical and mystical content of the concept of the Russian Order of the Templars”