Rudolf Steiner on Orpheus

 

(1) "Orpheus...belongs to an age immediately preceding that of Christianity. It was Orpheus who inaugurated the Grecian Mysteries."  -Rudolf Steiner, 

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA124/English/RSPC1937/19110116p01.html

 

 

(2) "‘Orpheus’—the name given to the reincarnated Apollo, or “Son of Apollo.”  This tragedy of the soul is represented in a marvelous way in the figures of ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’. Eurydice was soon torn from Orpheus. She dwelt in another world; but Orpheus still had the power, through his music, of teaching the beings of the nether world." -Rudolf Steiner, The Christ Impulse and the Development of the Ego Consciousness, GA 116, I. The Sphere of the Bodhisattvas

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA116/English/APC1926/19091025p01.html

 

 

(3) "The coming of Christ-Jesus was prepared for by the sequence of the founders of religions, by Zarathustra, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras. All their teachings pursue the same aim: To let wisdom flow into humanity, but in every case, in the form most suited to each people respectively." -Rudolf Steiner, The Christian Mystery, GA 97, XII. Adept Schools of the Distant Past,   

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA097/English/CMP2000/19070307p02.html

 

 

*A "Son of Apollo" in ancient Greece was also referred to as a "Son of the Sun" or "Son of Zeus." This term refers to someone who has attained his or her spiritual initiation. Heracles, Theseus, and Perseus were "Sons of the Sun." A "Son of Zeus" was the same concept that applied to someone who had attained the lofty stage of human transformation. 

 

The following selected verses have been slightly modified by me based on my limited knowledge of Mystery Wisdom. In my view, some of the vernacular used in translation is perhaps a little off. Regardless, the essential meaning is the same. Thus, there is a degree of subjectivity that goes into my alterations. I allowed my intuition to work into the verse and chose suitable vernacular where I felt it was appropriate. Source: https://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html#33

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Orphic Hymn No 3. To God of the Sky (Heaven)

 

Great God of Heaven, whose mighty frame no respite knows, 

Father of all, from whom the world arose.
Hear bounteous parent, source and end of all

Forever whirling round this earthly ball.

 

Abode of Gods, whose guardian power surrounds 

The eternal world of enduring and limitless bounds
Whose ample bosom and encircling folds 

The dire necessity of nature holds.

 

Ethereal, earthly, whose eternal-changing frame 

Azure and full of forms, no power can tame.

All-seeing Heaven, progenitor of Time, 

Forever blessed, God sublime.

 

Auspicious to prose, 

your mystic shines

And crown his wishes, 

with life divine.

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Orphic Hymn No. 4. For Fire (Warmth Ether)

 

O Ever untamed Fire-Ether, who reigns on high 

In Jove's dominions, ruler of the sky.

The glorious sun with dazzling luster so bright,

And moon and stars from thee derive their light.

All taming power, ethereal shining fire, 

Whose vivid gales of light and warmth, of life is inspired.

The world's best element, light-bearing power

With starry radiance shining, of splendid flowers.

O, hear my prayer, 

And may thy eternal frame

Be forever innocent, 

Serene and tame.

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Orphic Hymn 7. To the Stars (Astron)

With holy voice I call the stars on high, 

Pure sacred lights and genii of the sky.
Celestial stars, the progeny of Night, 

In whirling circles beaming far, your light.

Luminous rays, around the heavens ye throw, 

Eternal fires, the source of all below.
With flames significant, of Fate ye shine,

And oversee to men, a path divine.

In seven bright spheres ye move with wandering flames, 

And heaven and earth compose your lucid frames.
With course unwearied, pure and fiery bright, 

Forever shining through the veil of Night.

 

Hail twinkling, joyful, ever-conscious fires! 

Abundantly shine on my pure desires,
These sacred rites, regard with sentient rays, 

We end our work, devoted to your praise.

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Orphic Hymn 8. To the Moon

Hear, Goddess queen, 

Diffusing silver light, 

Bull-horned and wandering through 

The gloom of Night.

With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide 

Night's torch extending, through the heavens you ride
Female and Male, with borrowed rays you shine, 

When fully orbed, tending to decline.

Mother of ages, 

Force-creative Moon, 

Whose amber orb makes 

Night's reflected noon.

Lover of horses, 

Splendid Queen of Night, 

All-seeing power bedecked 

With starry light.

Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, 

In peace rejoicing, and a prudent life
Fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend, 

Who gives to Nature's works their destined end.

Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail! 

Decked with a graceful robe and shining veil
Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, 

Come moon-lamp with chaste and splendid light.

 

Shine on these sacred rites

With prosperous rays 

And pleased, accept 

Our prayer and mystic praise.

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Orphic Hymn 11. To Heracles (Hercules)

 

Hear, powerful Heracles, untamed and strong, 

To whom vast hands and mighty works belong.
Almighty Titan, prudent and benign, 

Of diverse forms, eternal and divine.

Father of Time, the theme of praise, 

Ineffable and adored in many ways.
Magnanimous, in the sacred arts are you skilled 

And the athletic labors of the field.

The strong archer, all things to devour, 

Supreme, all-helping, all-bearing power.
To thee, mankind as their deliverer do pray, 

Whose arm can chase the savage tribes away. 

 

Untiring, earth's best blossom, offspring fair, 

To whom calm peace, and peaceful works are dear.
Self-born, with divine and eternal fires you shine, 

Various names and strength of heart are thine.

Thy mighty mind supports the morning light, 

And bears untamed, the silent gloomy night.
From east to west ye endured with strength divine, 

The twelve glorious labors to absolve is thine.

Supremely skilled, you reign in heaven's abodes, 

As a part of Heaven, amidst the Gods.
With arms unshaken, infinite, divine, 

Come blessed forces, to our sacred rites be inclined.

Alleviations of illness do you convey, 

And drive disastrous maladies away.

Come, shake the branch with thy almighty arm, 

To darts and harmful fates, ye disarm.

 

 

*Dr. Steiner lectured on Heracles and his true mission in light of initiation and the ancient Greek Mysteries. Refer to Rudolf Steiner, Christianity as Mystical Fact, GA 8, 4. Mystery Wisdom and Myth,   https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA008/English/AP1947/GA008_c05.html. Also refer also to the article on this website under "Aspects & Topics" called "Heracles, Son of the Sun."

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Orphic Hymn 18. To Thundering Jove (Zeus Keraunos)

 

O Father Jove (Zeus), who resonates with fiery light 

The world-depths resounding, from thy lofty height
From thee proceeds ethereal lightning's ablaze, 

Flashing around intolerable rays.

 

Thy sacred thunderings shake blessed abodes, 

The shining regions of the immortal Gods
Thy power divine, the flaming lightning shrouds, 

With dark investiture, in aqueous clouds.

 

'Tis thine to brandish thunders 

Strong and dire, 

To scatter storms, 

And dreadful darts of fire. 

 

With roaring flames all around, 

And bolts of thunder of tremendous sound.
Thy rapid dart can raise the hair upright, 

And shake the hearts of men with ferocious fright.

 

Sudden, holy, thundering God, 

With noise unbounded, flying all-abroad
With all-permeating force, entire and strong, 

Without constraint, thou rollest the flames along.

 

Swift ethereal bolts, descending spirit-fire, 

The earth parent, trembles at thy ire

The sea all-shining and each beast 

That hears the mighty tones, with dreadful fears.

When Nature's face is bright with flashing fire, 

The heavens resound with thy thunders dire.
Thy thunders white, the azure garments tear, 

And pierce the veil of the surrounding air.

O Jove [Zeus], all-blessed, may thy wrath severe

Hurled in the bosom of the deep appear
And on the tops of mountains be revealed

For thy strong arm is not concealed.

Propitious to these sacred rites incline, 

And crown my wishes with a life divine
Add royal health, and gentle peace beside, 

With equal reason, be my perpetual guide.

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Orphic Hymn 21. To the Sea (Tethys)

 

To Tethys I call, 

With eyes cerulean bright, 

Hidden in a veil, 

Obscure from human sight.

 

The Great Ocean's empress, 

Wandering through the deep, 

And pleased with gentle gales, 

The earth to sweep.

 

Whose blessed waves in swift succession go, 

And lash the rocky shore with endless flow.
Delighting in the Sea, serene to play, 

In ships exulting, the watery way.

Whose blessed waves in swift succession go, 

And lash the rocky shore with endless flow.
Delighting in the Sea, serene to play, 

In ships exulting, the watery way.

Mother of Venus, 

And of clouds obscure, 

Great nurse of beasts, 

And source of fountains pure.

 

O venerable Goddess, 

Hear my prayer, 

And make benevolent, 

My life in thy care.

 

Send, blessed queen, 

To ships a prosperous breeze, 

And waft them safely over 

The stormy seas.

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Orphic Hymn 24. To Proteus (The Old Man of the Sea)

To Proteus I call, whom Fate decrees, to keep the keys 

Which lock the chambers of the deep;
First-born, by whose illustrious forces alone 

All of nature's principles are clearly shown.

Matter to change with dynamic forms is thine, 

Matter unformed, spacious, and divine.
Eternally honored, prudent, whose sagacious mind 

Knows all that was, and is, of every kind.

With all that shall be in succeeding time,

So vast thy wisdom, wonderous, and sublime.
For all things Nature first to thee consigned, 

And in thy essence, all form was defined.

Come, blessed Father, 

To our mystic rites attend,

And grant our happy lives 

a prosperous end.

 

*Proteus was a prophetic God of the Sea and Waters; one of several deities and whom Homer referred to as "The Old Man of the Sea."

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Orphic Hymn 32. To Victory (Nike)

 

O Powerful Victory, by men desired, 

With adverse breasts to dreadful fury fired.
Thee I invoke, whose might alone can quell 

Contending rage, and molestation fell.

It is yours in battle to confer the crown, 

The victor's prize, the mark of sweet renown.
For thou rule all things, Victory divine! 

And glorious strife, and joyful shouts are thine.

Come, mighty Goddess, thy petition bless, 

With sparkling eye, elated with success.
May deeds illustrious, thy protection claim, 

And find, led on by thee immortal Fame.

 

 

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Orphic Hymn 40. To the Ceralian Mother (Antaia)

 

Ceralian queen, of celebrated name, 

From whom both men and Gods immortal came
Who widely wandering once, oppressed with grief, 

In Eleusina's valley, found relief.*

 

Discovering Proserpine [Persephone], thy daughter pure 

In dread Avernus**, dismal and obscure
A sacred youth while through the world you stray 

Bacchus (Dysaulos), attending leader of the way.

The holy marriage of terrestrial Jove-Zeus relating, 

While oppressed with grief you rove
Come, much invoked and to these rites inclined, 

Thy mystic servant bless, with favoring mind.

 

 

*Author's note: Or initiation. The region of Eleusina (Eleusis) was one of the centers of the ancient Greek Mysteries and was connected to several leading personalities of Greece including Heracles. The myth of Persephone was lectured upon by Dr. Rudolf Steiner and I recommend a search on www.rsarchives.com for insights on this mystery which the Greeks held sacred.

 

**Avernus was an ancient name for a volcanic crater located near Cumae, Italy which the Romans believed was the entrance to the underworld.

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Orphic Hymn 42: To the Seasons (Horai)

Daughters of Zeus and Themis, 

Seasons bright,
Justice, and blessed Peace, 

And lawful Right.

 

Vernal and grassy, vivid, holy powers, 

Whose balmy breath exhales in lovely flowers.
All-colored seasons, with increase is your care, 

Circling, forever flourishing, and fair.

 

Invested with a veil of shining dew, 

A flowery veil delightful to view.
Attending Persephone, when back from night,
The Fates and Graces lead her up to light.

 

When in a perfect symphony they advance, 

And joyful round her, form the solemn dance.
With Ceres triumphing, and Zeus divine,

Great fortune come, and our incense shine.

 

Give to earth, 

A reserve of fruits to bear

And a good mystic's life, 

Into your eternal care.​​​