The mystical consciousness is an integral part of the Russian mentality. Without it, it is impossible to fully imagine our unique national flavor, which, of course, manifests itself in many ancient Russian literary monuments, works of Russian literature from the 17th to the 21st century inclusive; scientific theosophical works of H. P. Blavatsky, N. Roerich, providential treatises by V. V. Rozanov, D. S. Merezhkovsky, N. A. Berdyaev, Fr. S. Bulgakov, Fr. P. Florensky and other Russian philosophers of the late XIX - early XX centuries.
It should be noted that mysticism is a historically longstanding and diverse phenomenon. It is woven into the fabric of human culture, not torn away from it. It is impossible to imagine the initial ascent to knowledge without mystery science, ancient culture - without the mysteries, the Middle Ages - without Gnostic esotericism. It is known that the mystical spiritual tradition is the oldest and most valuable layer of world culture. But this tradition is not at all archaic, past. It accompanies the history of the human race from its origins to the present day.
Studying the history of Russian literature of the 20th century, it is imperative to focus on the fact that the image of Atlantis in its context occupies one of the most significant places. Why did this happen? One of the reasons is that Russian writers, who knew the history of philosophy not only from gymnasium and university textbooks, but who breathed and lived it, considered Plato's thought to be one of its greatest peaks. It should also be pointed out that the very image of Atlantis, to which, since the Silver Age, many prominent Russian writers have constantly turned in their work, is also deeply mystical by its spiritual nature. The mystery of the mystical nature of the image of Atlantis in the context of Russian literature of the XX century. consists, it must be assumed, first of all, in the fact that it contains a certain prophetic principle. It is common knowledge that Russian people always,throughout their centuries-old history, they believed the prophecies.
Prophecy has become an ideological banner and at the same time one of the main symbols of the Symbolist religion. This can be explained by the crisis situation of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, which influenced the entire European culture, generated a wave of decadence in European literature, which subsequently evolved into symbolism. A deep spiritual crisis, in turn, was the result of disillusionment with previous ideals and a feeling of approaching death of the existing socio-political system.
But the same crisis gave birth to a great era - the era of the Russian cultural renaissance at the beginning of the century - one of the most refined eras in the history of Russian culture. It was an era of creative upsurge in poetry and philosophy after a period of decline. At the same time, it was the era of the emergence of new souls, new sensitivity. Souls opened up for all kinds of mystical trends, both positive and negative. All kinds of seduction and confusion have never been so strong in our country. At the same time, Russian souls were seized by premonitions of impending catastrophes. The poets saw not only the coming dawns, but something terrible approaching Russia and the world … Religious philosophers were imbued with apocalyptic moods. The prophecies about the approaching end of the world, perhaps, really meant not the approach of the end of the world, but the approach of the end of old, imperial Russia. Our cultural renaissance took place in the pre-revolutionary era, in the atmosphere of an impending huge war and a huge revolution. There was nothing more stable. The historical bodies have melted. Not only Russia, but the whole world passed into a liquid state … During these years, many gifts were sent to Russia. This was the era of the awakening of independent philosophical thought in Russia, the flourishing of poetry and the heightened aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and occultism. New souls appeared, new sources of creative life were discovered, they saw new dawns, combined the feelings of sunset and death with the feeling of sunrise and with the hope for the transformation of life”[1]. Not only Russia, but the whole world passed into a liquid state … During these years, many gifts were sent to Russia. This was the era of the awakening of independent philosophical thought in Russia, the flowering of poetry and the heightened aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and occultism. New souls appeared, new sources of creative life were discovered, they saw new dawns, combined the feelings of sunset and death with the feeling of sunrise and the hope for the transformation of life”[1]. Not only Russia, but the whole world passed into a liquid state … During these years, many gifts were sent to Russia. This was the era of the awakening of independent philosophical thought in Russia, the flourishing of poetry and the exacerbation of aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and seeking, interest in mysticism and the occult. New souls appeared, new sources of creative life were discovered, they saw new dawns, combined the feelings of sunset and death with the feeling of sunrise and the hope for the transformation of life”[1].they saw new dawns, combined the feelings of sunset and death with the feeling of sunrise and with the hope for the transformation of life”[1].they saw new dawns, combined the feelings of sunset and death with the feeling of sunrise and with the hope for the transformation of life”[1].
There are many definitions of the category of prophecy. For this study, it is not the theological definition of “prophecy” that is of interest, although it is primary, but the philological one [2]. Based on it, you can imagine the further picture.
Senior Symbolists - Petersburgers - D. S. Merezhkovsky, Z. N. Gippius, K. D. Balmont, F. K. Sologub; Muscovites - V. Ya. Bryusov, Yu. K. Baltrushaitis, S. A. Polyakov; young symbols - Petersburgers - V. V. Ivanov, A. A. Blok; Muscovites - A. N. Bely, S. S. Soloviev did not escape the theme of Atlantis in their work. Although DS Merezhkovsky created his famous work “The Secret of the West. Atlantis - Europe”in the 30s. XX century, being in emigration, but with a careful study it reveals that, considering and comprehensively analyzing the question of the existence of Atlantis, he remained faithful to the symbolistic ideals to the end. It is also necessary to mention the fact that, in addition to scientific research, D. S. Merezhkovsky abundantly equipped his work with theosophical theories that are built around mysticism and Christianity.
Directly for Atlantology, DS Merezhkovsky's attempt to reconstruct the spiritual image and everyday life of the Atlanteans is of particular scientific value. True, it is imperative to point out that distinctive feature of the author's scientific searches, which nevertheless prevented him from finally freeing himself from theological blinders. This feature was clearly expressed in the purely Christian orientation of the researcher. Thanks to her, the mysticism of Atlantis was invariably explained by the presence of a certain pro-religion, which became the prototype of Christianity. However, if you do not pay attention to this component of the work of D. S. Merezhkovsky, then his reflections on such questions: “why did Atlantis die?” “White and black magic”, “the birth of war” will turn out to be very fruitful and, in modern language, knowledge-intensive and relevant. It should also be noted that the work “Secret of the West. Atlantis - Europe”has not yet been thoroughly commented on and studied. This direction in the work of the greatest Russian thinker of the XX century. undoubtedly of interest to both literary historians and atlantologists.
Promotional video:
KD Balmont addresses the theme of Atlantis in the poetic cycle “The Builder” from the collection “The White Architect”. The cycle opens with a poem:
From the text of the poem it becomes clear: the poet does not doubt the existence of Atlantis, just as V. Ya. Bryusov and V. I. Ivanov did not doubt the existence of Atlantis.
“Atlantis” by V. I. Ivanov is completely different from the Atlantis of KD Balmont.
In the context of Ivanov's poem, we see Atlantis, ready to return to people. V. Ya. Bryusov, as is known, devoted not only poetry to Atlantis. He assigned her the main role in the process of shaping the civilization and culture of mankind, which is clearly evident from his work "Teacher of Teachers". Atlantis did not leave indifferent MA Voloshin either. MA Voloshin did not divide Atlantis and prophecy. He saw in them a kind of mystical unity.
The Atlantean theme is dissolved in many poems by M. A. Voloshin, which is beyond doubt, since the poet himself builds his poetics on those images and symbols that are the most characteristic and integral elements of the ancient culture of interest to us.
The prophecy was no less significant and important for the Acmeists. They also used it as an artistic trail. Undoubtedly, he could not ignore Atlantis as a prophecy, as a fateful sign, as an image and a symbol, and N. S. Gumilyov, as eloquently testified by A. N. Tolstoy in his memoir “N. Gumilyov ":" We met and often met and talked - about poetry, about our future glory, about travels to tropical countries, about monkeys, about searching for the remains of Atlantis on the islands near the South Pole, about how good it would be to get a sailing ship and sail on it under the black flag …”. The memoir testimony of A. N. Tolstoy fully corresponds to the truth. Indeed, NS Gumilev, like Atlantis, himself became a mythological, legendary figure in the history of Russian literature.
Speaking about N. S. Gumilyov, we invariably imagine not only a subtle lyric poet, which he certainly was, but also a fearless warrior, a tireless traveler, an inquisitive researcher.
According to the memoirs of the poet's contemporaries, he also dreamed of finding Atlantis, like Schliemann Troy.
As mentioned above, the theme of Atlantis runs like a red thread through all Russian literature of the 20th century … I will make a reservation that I deliberately do not consider here the work of the most prominent representatives of the literature of the Russian diaspora, not to mention the expeditions of Professor A. V. Barchenko.
The most curious thing is that echoes of the Atlantean theme are found even in those works and among those writers who, it would seem, have no direct relation to it. For many of them, Atlantis acts as the highest moral yardstick by which the rest are equal. So its mystical influence has formed certain spiritual values and artistic and aesthetic principles inherent in Russian literature - and more broadly - in the culture of the 20th century.
Therefore, it is not by chance that in this atlantological context the names of A. N. Tolstoy, A. B. Belyaev (the novel “The Amphibian Man”, the story “The Last Man from Atlantis”), A. S. Green (the novels “The Shining World”, "Running on the waves", etc.); the names of some of the leading Russian poets of the 20-90s. XX century and, of course, the names of L. N. Martynov and I. A. Brodsky.
LN Martynov's poetry is all filled with the air of Atlantis. Especially indicative in this series are the poems: “Temple of Melpomene”, “Hyperborea”, “Lukomorye”, “Voice of Nature”, “If you blindly believe Herodotus”, “Aeolian harp”, “Gift of Prometheus”, “Something the prophetic birds shouted … "," Swan Country ". From them it becomes clear how deeply and accurately the poet perceived and reproduced the image of Atlantis in his consciousness.
IA Brodsky, like many major Russian poets of the 20th century, did not escape the mystical influence of Atlantis. Confirmation of this is his poetic book "On the outskirts of Atlantis" (1992), as well as the indicative poem of 1993 "In the vicinity of Atlantis".
The spiritual and mystical connection between the two cultures, outlined here on the example of specific literary works, remains to be studied in detail and commented on.
In this regard, in conclusion I would like to draw your attention to a very accurate and at the same time bitter parallel, confirming and vividly illustrating the mystical connection of Atlantis with Russian culture, cited by the modern historian and literary theorist M. Kapustin in one of his scientific works: “I want to say that now we all, the intelligentsia, are living, as it were, after DEATH, i.e. after our great Russian culture went to the bottom, it sank like the second Atlantis (or in our Russian tradition - Kitezh)”.
1. Berdyaev N. Self-knowledge. M., 1990, p. 129, 153.
2. In SI Ozhegov's dictionary, “prophecy” is also defined as “prediction”. The following is said about "prediction": "That which is foretold." In the dictionary entries “predictor” and “predict” more detailed definitions are given: “FORECASTER, -I, m. The person who foresees, predicts something. He turned out to be a good predictor. II f. fortune teller, s. FORECAST ′ TH, -I think, -you, -azanny; sov. that. Say in advance what will happen in the future. Correctly the weather. II nes. to predict, -I, -you. II noun prediction, -I, cf. “(2, 471).
Afterword
Dedicated to Alexander Voronin and all fellow Atlantologists …
All you need is to look closely - my God!
All you need is to take a close look …
Yu. Levitansky
O. O. STOLYAROV