We will leave Surya's account of modern rosicrucian Lord E. here, and we are left to ponder upon his expression "Master of the World." For Jules Verne wrote a tale involving a powerful airship having that very title, and thus we are left in uncertainty if with this particular expression Surya provided a clue, meaning that he merely employed Vernean trickery, a fictionalized account, or wrote about a real incident involving a real person and having to do with real etheric engines. And although as we will see in the last chapter, the very mention of Verne might yield another explanation, we must also take into account that Surya's most singular book featured on its title page the subscript "an occult-scientific romance." Thus Surya more or less admitted to having employed the same literary procede as Bulwer-Lytton had done with his Zanoni and The Coming Race, that is, to divulge to the reader certain information, carefully hidden in what outwardly seems a fanciful tale, a work of fiction. As an afterthought we might remark that Surya's descriptions of the reaction-tubes of the Sirius somewhat resemble a certain passage in Greg's Across the Zodiac: ".. .1 went on deck.. .to examine the construction of the vessel. ...Her electric machinery drew in and drove out with great force currents of water which propelled her with a speed greater than that afforded by the most powerful paddles."78
Surya's book also featured an advertisement on one of the last pages with the slogan "fight materialism!" that rallied any interested person to join a group called "Der Deutsche Neugeistbund," claiming that the group was "a member of the enormous chain of new spiritual movements which nowadays circumvent the globe," the Tibetan equivalent called "Swastika." Mention is made of "Ortsgruppen," or "local chapters" and the "Neugeist Centrale" or "New spirit central point." From the advertisement it is clear that some sort of neo-Rosicru-cian movement is meant: "Germany can only then be saved and made ready for a new rise when the world view of the Rosicrucians is lit over the soul of this country!" it exclaims.
Stripped of its choosing occult sides, it sounds similar to the ambitious plans of the 18th century Parisian magnetic freemasons to create "radiant healing centers" to promote Mesmefs techniques, and to the statements of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft that labeled itself as "not political," claiming that "in every German city units are created" and stating that "knowing ones point the roads to the practical education of the Uranian radiant people." The question then is, did the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft belong to a hidden or largely kept underground tradition, having as its more important philosophical stations Mesmer, Reichenbach, the Rosicrucians, Bulwer-Lytton and Keely? And were the plans of the "Deutsche Neugeistbund" and the "Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft Das Kommende Deutschland" part of a grandiose national or perhaps ultranational scheme or on the contrary quite competing in nature? Again, when we return to the writings of the "Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft Das Kommende Deutschland," nothing in that respect is found. What the writings of the Pansophia lodge, the Fraternitas Saturni, Surya's and Georg's books do demonstrate, however, are the occult surroundings in which these philosophies matured and that gave birth to the elusive Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft .
About the booklets of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft, Bahn aptly remarks that "not one word is being said about Bulwer-Lytton and his novel The Coming Race, although the connection of the term 'Ubermensch' and the display of vril as a powerful energy reminds one about the description of the Vril-ya in Bulwer-Lytton's novel." We may add such an omission also applies for the curious vision of the coming new race of man that the Pansophia lodge had printed five years before in the same city. Bahn also points out that "in the writings of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft remarks on such other societies as the Thule society lack completely, and the group seems to have had a positive attitude towards Christianity, a clear difference from the most volkische-esoteric movements with affinities to National Socialism,"79 neither are such references found in the writings of Pansophia, Fratres Saturni or Surya.
We can further conclude that, aside from having seen how Surya hinted at Keely by pointing towards Blavatsky's chapter, nowhere in the writings of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft is Keely or his discoveries mentioned. There is a connection between the latter two, however frail. Not surprisingly, this link is to be found in early theosophy. The German publisher, Wilhelm Becker — who issued the first booklet of the mysterious German group — belonged to the leading German astrological scene long before World War I. Becker stayed in London for several years as a student of Alan Leo (1860-1917), one of the most important astrologists of late Victorian England. Initiated and prepared by Leo, Becker opened up a flourishing astrologer's shop in Berlin in 1910.80
Leo was introduced to theosophical gatherings led by Blavatsky in London in 1889 by Sepharial, yet another influential astrologer. The following May, Leo formally joined the Theosophical Society and remained a devoted member for the rest of his life. His membership overlapped briefly with that of William Butler Yeats, who resigned the same year to become a member of the Golden Dawn. The cofounder of the Golden Dawn, William Wynn Westcott, was a colleague of Sepharial in Blavatsky's Inner Circle that only counted 12 members.81 Of Leo it was said that he was "a serious and hard working man," who never read many books except Raphael's Guides and Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine with all the references to Keely. These books he studied "seriously."82 There is circumstantial evidence that shows something of the range of his occult interests; in the writings of his wife, Bessie Leo, one encounters the terms Mesmerism and animal magnetism.83 There are other connections; in an occult magazine published by Otto Wilhelm Barth who also published the second booklet of the mysterious Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft, the official organ of the Pansophia lodge was announced.84
The Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft, who conveniently chose to publish their booklet with Becker's and Barth's publishing houses, saw the earth as having "the same structure as an apple sliced vertically in two halves." As Keely saw half a century before them, and what was termed the cosmic motor by the Pansophia lodge in accordance with Keely's views, the group saw in the north pole the anode, or positive, and in the south pole of the magnetic axis the cathode, or negative. From this, the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft drew certain technical and physical conclusions for the usage of vril-energy, which it also called "the all-force of the forces of nature." Certain devices, described as "ball shaped power generators" would "channel the constant flow of free radiant energy between outer space and the earth" and would enable a "specific use" of this energy.85
These ball-shaped devices, in which two bar-shaped magnets stuck, were conceived as small "world globes." In the interior of such a device was the "electrovital filling mass," and through an impulse a "grounded earth element" would be activated and electrically charged. The energy thus created could be tapped and could be used to drive engines. The used energy would be renewed through the grounding of the earth force field, the voltage in the ball aggregate would remain the same, and Balm concludes that "we deal here with a sort of converter for radiation energy." The impulse however was given through radio technical means by a so-called "primal machine." Only one on the whole of the earth was needed. Here the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft becomes suitably vague in its description; the "primal machine" is described as a configuration of seven ball-shaped cells, but nothing more is said about its exact function.86
How then does all of this tally with Keely's visionary concepts? In order to establish this and by any absence of reference to Keely — except for Surya's hint — we must follow strange trails, and take into account that the techno-magicians of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft possibly meant that the description of the primal machine was to be taken as a metaphor, or else their ideas on technology were so avant-garde in concept that these traversed the boundaries of the material and space-time. For as an echo of that age-old Indian cyclical doctrine that would lead to the perpetuum mobile, 19th century theosophical literature of influence speaks of "seven globes" that "form the field of our system of development. Our earth is the fourth globe in this chain. Around this cha
in of worlds the life-wave travels seven times and this traverse is called a Manvantara."87
These and other theosophical concepts proved so powerful that a contemporary of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft, theosophist and astrologer A.C. Libra saw the planetary system as one "etheric body," in which the sun, the planets, the moons and the comets are "the material organs or the centers of power."88 That idea sounds remarkably similar to that of the Pansophia lodge who saw the solar system as "one ether globe," and the occult order of the Fratres Saturni who held it that "our starry worlds" are in fact "one giant organ." Libra's books were published by the same company that issued the book by Dutch astrologer and theosophist Thierens, whose thoughts on Keely's supposed psychic ability we encountered in chapter 7.
Libra was well read in Germany89 and could therefore be another influence to the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft or perhaps the techno-alchemists and occultists of the Pansophia lodge and the Fratres Saturni. Also, we must not forget how one of the booklets of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft was issued by publisher Becker who specialized in astrology, and the other by publisher Barth, who in his occult magazine devoted a laudatory article to Libra's books.90
Much in the style of the Pansophia lodge, Libra also explains that according to him, the sun emitted ether rays, "called prana by the old Indian adepts," which were transformed on the planets into light and heat.91 The driving force of the cosmos is "the centrifugal electric solar force," which is in balance with the resistance of the center-searching magnetic currents of space.92 "In the same manner," Libra continues, "the heart of every micro-chasm is the sun of this world in miniature." The heart is, according to Libra, the cave of Bethlehem in which the godly spark, Christ, is being born.93
Steiner, too, undoubtedly exerted his influence on the doctrine of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft. In 1908, he gave a cycle of 12 lectures about the apocalypse of St. John. The number 12 was significant because it was also the number of the houses of the zodiac. In the third and fourth lectures — which added together form the number seven — Steiner digressed on "John's letter to the seven communities in Asia," and on "the unveiling of the seven seals." If all this number dissecting sounds as if too much is being made of mere coincidences, that indeed might be the case. On the other hand it is a well-documented fact that to a learned occultist, a high initiate, there is no such thing as coincidence and the slightest detail might be the cache that holds an important message. After all, the symbolism and meaning of numbers and measures are of the greatest importance to occult doctrine. Steiner also made it clear to his audiences that "in the occult.. .one never has expressed himself clearly, but has created something that should conceal the true nature."94
Thus, according to Steiner, the contents of an initiation and the prophecy of the cycles of the development of mankind in which he had adorned Keely with a brilliant role are carefully hidden in the apocalypse of St. John. The importance that Steiner saw in the apocalypse of St. John, and Libra's writings on the godly spark, help to explain the pseudonym of "Johannes Taufer" or "John Baptist" — the biblical figure who baptized Jesus — that the author of the booklet Vril. Die Kosmische Urkraft chose.
Reading how Libra informs us of the essence of "cosmic man," with "seven nerve-centers that correspond with certain zodiacal signs," sheds perhaps some light on the hidden meaning of the phrase "Uranian radiant people."95 Also, a year after Steiner's lectures, a New York theosophical publisher issued a book that purports to be the real message according to St. John. In it we read that the term "radiance" denotes "the luminous cloud or aura enveloping the purified man or Initiate, and which is visible only to the inner sight."96
Perhaps amidst all this we glimpse the real symbolism of the primal machine of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft: the primal machine is man itself. Man that has evolved and has become truly the fulfillment of itself, only one on the face of the earth is needed, man as a brilliant embodiment of the cosmic motor. Possibly with this metaphorical interpretation we also perceive what Keely ultimately foresaw with his line of research that would enable him to link his devices to the waves of the brain, what Steiner was driving at in his 1918 lecture, or how it came to be that Blavatsky explained Keely as one who was paranormally gifted. We may even venture so far as to think twice of the apparent symbolism of the street number of the address of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft in Berlin, which was seven. There is another slight reference in Libra's writing that helps us to follow the hidden trail and chart the occult substrata; while digressing on the meaning of the zodiac, Libra refers to Burgoyne's The Light of Egypt.
Burgoyne, who we met in the previous chapter, was heavily influenced by Bulwer-Lytton. Bulwer-Lytton's intriguing concept of vril was a major influence on Blavatsky, who in turn became a friend of Bloomfield-Moore and one of the most prominent occultists to write about Keely. Steiner was also impressed by the writings of learned initiate Bulwer-Lytton and had studied Blavatsky's writings. He lectured on Keely and even stated what he held as the real nature and significance in his Mystery Plays. In his third lecture on the apocalypse of St. John, entitled "a letter to the seven communities," Steiner alleged that a certain community is a representative of the sixth time-period (Steiner thought there were seven), a time-period in which mankind's spiritual life is being prepared. Amazingly, or perhaps not, since all could be a matter of coincidence, the name of this community is Philadelphia, the place where Keely lived.97
Bulwer-Lytton's concept of vril was also a major influence on the philosophies of the Fratres Saturni, and it is almost too convenient that the year that the Fraternitas Saturni went underground, the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft made itself publicly known. The former, evolving from the Pansophia lodge, could therefore very well have provided the latter with a legacy of inspiration, sharing as they did the same geographic locale and in all probability the same occult substratum. Bahn however points towards another and almost certain source of the ideas of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft. "Everything mat the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft stated in 1930 on the subject of 'primal force,' the 'primal machine' and 'ball-shaped aggregates' stated, was already published two years before in a book about the 'Raumkraft' or space force-theory by the Austrian inventor Karl Schappeller."98
Schappeller (1875-1947) is certainly one of the most mysterious persons of the 20th century free-energy scene. It is alleged that his work on free-energy philosophy started around 1894. This coincidentally was the year that both Colville's and Astor's books were published in America, Pape discovered his life-wave in Holland, in France the Golden Dawn opened a temple, and Zanne started to rewrite history to fit his occult insight.
Information about Schappeller's early years is hard — if not impossible — to obtain, and we can only speculate to what degree he was influenced by Keely. It is possible that a certain connection existed between Keely and Schappeller; Schappeller stayed in Vienna in the 1920s where he undoubtedly would have mingled with the esoteric coterie surrounding occult neo-templarist Liebenfels, who in turn was connected to Hartmann. And three decades before Schappeller's arrival in Vienna, a Viennese paper published several articles about Keely, and Bloomfield-Moore visited that city and was questioned about her support of Keely. Whatever the influence of ideas that might have resulted from such connections, Shappeller's ideas themselves show a remarkable similarity to those that Keely had half a century before him.
In Vienna, Schappeller collected a menage, many of whom where young engineers. He developed new ideas on the suppliance of energy and found financial backers, even in industrial and clerical circles. In 1925, he bought an old castle in his hometown of Aurolzmunster, where he led a luxurious lifestyle that often brought him in financial difficulties. While this led to a negative image, his labors at the castle were of a different nature. There he had Franz Wetzel, one of the leading radiestesists of his time, amongst his co-operators. Schappeller also received financial backings from industrial companies such as the Siegerlan-der industrialist Fritz Klein, and through middlemen
from the German emperor Wilhelm II, living in exile in Holland.
An English shipping company was interested in Schappellers "Raumkraft" aggregates, and at one time conducted serious negotiations about a ship's engine that was to be derived from his "Raumkraft" aggregates, evoking Surya's anecdote of Lord E.'s ether-driven vessels, the Sirius and the Dependence of Sirius. Schappeller's wanderings during the Second World War are uncertain, and indications on the use of his research are completely lacking. When he died, all of his research papers and documents disappeared," and it is asserted that, as a strange and haunting echo of Steiner's remarks, certain interested parties and international control aspects made every effort to banish Schappeller's ideas and plans on his energy-converter from the pages of history.100
Schappeller considered the primal force as "that which holds the earth in its inner together,"101 a statement remarkably similar to Keely's, and Newbrough's for that matter. Schappeller stated that "in the whole of nature, there is no nothing, no useless space. Where there is no matter, there is energy, a so called empty space is therefore a space filled with force. ...Space controlling is energy, space filling is matter. Because the cosmos is a closed vacuum, it is an immense space of energy."102 This line of thought is analog to that of Belinfante when he wrote 23 years before Schappeller that "space between the heavenly bodies is filled with ether,"103 or in fact any other ether-theorist.
Schappeller's aim was to create a "constant discharge" between the cosmos and earth, which he considered to be a reservoir of force, and the cosmos. Since the word "plasma" was still unknown at the time that he conducted his experiments and formulated his theories, he called a similar phenomenon "electrical vapor," "luminous magnetism" or "luminous ether." The use of the dynamic principles of the ether led to the construction of a ball-shaped device in which the "luminous magnetism" was created that could be held permanently and was used as the conductor between the earth and the cosmos.
Free Energy Pioneer- John Worrell Keely Page 43
