Secret Incarnations of St. Germain

St. Germain is a mysterious and enigmatic character whose history has been scorned and, at other times, praised with respect and wonder, making him out to be a master of some kind. Spiritual history is replete with historical anecdotes of St. Germain as a master of music, alchemy, Freemasonry, science, diplomacy, education, and dozens of other areas of human endeavor. Hundreds of people claim to have met and spoken with St. Germain over the centuries.

One of the earliest accounts was given by the Abbe de Villars who met with the mysterious Count of Gabalis in the seventeenth century, long before the more commonly known Comte de St. Germain was born. The tradition of a master coming to visit a philosopher is so common that it has become second nature with modern day New Age channelers who claim to talk with Germain and a host of other so-called masters. St. Germain stories build on the legends of Christian Rosenkreutz who was written about as a world traveler versed in the wisdom of the East and the West. And like Rosenkreutz or Leonardo de Vinci, St. Germain has a reputation for a universal ability to apply his wisdom in practical ways.

St. Germain historically was a real person whose birth is cloaked in mystery. He seems to have been some degree of royalty who was too removed by lineage to be able to assume a throne. He was welcomed in every court of Europe and Russia and was a noted diplomat who represented different monarchs in diplomatic missions. This type of intrigue added to his stature. Every court he visited, so the legends indicate, he helped solve the major problem of the day. In one court he purified and enhanced the luster of precious stones; in another he helped create a new way to tan reindeer hide. In France, while a member of the Nine Muses Lodge, he helped rewrite and renew Freemasonry and even wrote a new rite of initiation himself called, The Most Holy Trinosophia. Some courts claimed that he wrote beautiful music and played violin and piano like a master. Others contend that he restructured the education of the country based upon unique pedagogical principles. Whatever the problem, the wisdom insight of St. Germain earned him the right of being called “Master” many times over.

Some historians suggest that St. Germain was the motive force of Freemasonry that inspired and directed the American and French Revolutions. Indeed, history shows that St. Germain warned the French monarchy what was about to happen far in advance, but they took no heed. St. Germain was also allegedly at the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

St. Germain was attributed with being able to see the future, prolong his life to age 105, write with each hand independently different letters at one time, have “all knowledge” available to him, read the Akashic Records, bi-locate, inspire people at a distance and consciously reincarnate and remember his previous wisdom. Known as a courtier, adventurer, charlatan, inventor, alchemist, pianist, violinist and composer, St. Germain has been attributed with being St. Alban, Proclus, Roger Bacon and Sir Francis Bacon, Samuel, Hesiod, Plato, Saint Joseph, Merlin, Roger Bacon, Christopher Columbus, and Shakespeare, among others.

From these foundations, every imaginable story has been appropriated to St. Germain, and more words have been “attributed” to him from those who say he “appeared” to them than one can read in a lifetime. Certainly a discerning spiritual researcher must ask the question: “What part of St. Germain’s history is true and what part is legend attached to him by devoted admirers?”

The author believes researchers find similar streams of wisdom and common ideas more so than the actual incarnations of a being. For this reason, the spiritual researcher must work with clarity and discernment while researching the karma and reincarnation of any individual. This research is important as it can reveal the pathways of the spirit acting with providence, wisdom, and love to create the individual’s personal karmic path.

St. Germain Traveled Far and Wide

Many of St. Germain’s travels have been documented by others in history. In 1760, King Louis XV of France sent St. Germain on a diplomatic mission to the Netherlands, and from there he went to England. Two years later he was in St. Petersburg, Russia, and at the end of 1763 he met Casanova in Belgium. Count Cobenzl in a letter written in 1763 said that St. Germain had performed “under my own eyes … the transmutation of iron into a metal as beautiful as gold.”

From 1764 to 1768 Germain was in Berlin. In 1770, he went to Tunis with the Comte Maximilian de Lamberg and to Leghorn. In 1773, he traveled to Mantua after meeting his pupil Cagliostro in Paris. In 1774, after the death of Louis XV, the Count went to The Hague again as diplomat representing several governments. From there he made a trip to Schwalbach and returned to Holland.

In 1779, he was in Hamburg and then he visited the home of Prince Karl of Hesse, who was then the Grand Master of the Rosicrucians in Germany. In 1785 and 1786, he had a conference with the Empress of Russia. In 1788, according to the Comte de Challons, St. Germain conversed with him in St. Mark’s square in Venice.

St. Germain as a Spiritual Master

St. Germain is most noted as a legendary spiritual master of ancient wisdom of unequaled renown. It has been claimed that he was the inspiration for many Theosophical and post-Theosophical writers, such as H. P. Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, C. W. Leadbeater, Alice A. Bailey, Benjamin Creme, the White Eagle Lodge, Rosicrucianism, the Summit Lighthouse, Guy Ballard (Godfre Ray King), and the Ascended Master Teachings. Some believe that St. Germain is one of the Masters of Wisdom, a group of beings Theosophists call the Great White Brotherhood.

There are several "authoritative" biographers who usually do not agree with one another. Probably the two best-known biographies are Isabel Cooper-Oakley's, The Count of St. Germain (1912) and Jean Overton-Fuller's, The Comte de Saint-Germain: Last Scion of the House of Rakoczy (1988). Another work of great importance, The Comte de Gabalis, is said to have come from conversations with Gabalis, who was Saint Germain in a later incarnation. First printed in 1670, the book includes a picture of the Polish Rider by Rembrandt, which is said to be the Comte de Gabalis.

As written by Abbe N. De Montfaucon de Villars in The Comte de Gabalis, he was “a nobleman of high rank and a great Cabalist, whose lands lie towards the frontiers of Poland.” The picture of Rembrandt van Rijn’s The Polish Rider is included in the front pages of the book.

Tradition has it that this is a portrait of Christian Rosenkreutz. Rembrandt wrote on the back side of the frame: “This is the man who taught me about Light and Darkness.” Some viewers claim to see partial forms of the first and second Goetheanum in the buildings on the hill.

Rembrandt, who claimed to be a direct pupil of Rosenkreutz, also painted Rosenkreutz as the Armoured Man in the picture below.

Rembrandt van Rijn: Armoured Man. Likely a portrait of Christian Rosenkreutz when Rembrandt met him as his personal student.

As a Master, St. Germain is believed to have many magical powers such as the ability to teleport, levitate, walk through walls, and to inspire people by telepathy, among others. Theosophists consider him to be a mahatma or adept. Helena Blavatsky said that he was one of her Masters of Wisdom and hinted that he had given her secret documents. Some esoteric groups credit him with inspiring the Founding Fathers to draft the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, as well as providing the design of the Great Seal of the United States. He is said to telepathically influence people who are seen by him as being instrumental in bringing about the new civilization.

Originally presented by Helena P. Blavatsky in the 1870s, the idea of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or Mahatmas was adopted by people who at some point claimed connection with the Theosophical movement, such as Alice Bailey, Helena Roerich, and Manly P. Hall. Later on many other organizations, especially in the United States, developed the concept of Ascended Masters, which departs from the theosophical one in several aspects.

The founder of the Theosophical Society, Madame H. P. Blavatsky, in the late 19th century brought attention to the idea of secret initiatory knowledge, by claiming her ideas were based on traditions taught to her by a group of highly enlightened yogis which she called the Mahatmas or Masters of the Ancient Wisdom. These Mahatmas, she claimed, were physical beings living in the Himalayas, usually understood as Tibet. Blavatsky explains that they “Are living men, born as we are born, and doomed to die like every mortal. We call them ‘masters because they are our teachers; and because from them we have derived all the Theosophical truths. They are men of great learning, whom we call Initiates, and still greater holiness of life.”

There is considerable difference between the concept of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Theosophy (as described by Blavatsky, Olcott, Sinnett, and others) and the current concept of Ascended Masters, developed by Guy Ballard and Elizabeth Clare Prophet many years after the Theosophical Society was founded. The Ascended Masters groups added more than 200 new masters that they claimed to receive dictations from, in addition to receiving dictations from the original Masters of the Ancient Wisdom of Theosophy.

The Ascended Masters, as their name suggests, are supposed to be Masters who have experienced the miracle of ascension. However, their teaching of ascension is in direct opposition to the Theosophical teachings. Blavatsky also rejects ascension as a fact, calling it “an allegory as old as the world.” In the Theosophical view, the Masters of Ancient Wisdom retain their physical bodies. The Masters of the Ancient Wisdom (Theosophical) are not like the Ascended Masters (New Age) who are Godlike, all-powerful beings beyond the laws of nature.

In Theosophical and New Age belief systems, there is a group called the Great White Brotherhood. They are said to be supernatural beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans. The members of the Brotherhood may be known as the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or the Ascended Masters. Various people have said they have received messages from these beings, including most notably Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Theosophy), Aleister Crowley (Golden Dawn), Alice A. Bailey (Lucis Trust), Guy Ballard ("I AM" Discourses), Geraldine Innocente (The Bridge to Freedom), Mark L. Prophet (Summit Lighthouse), Elizabeth Clare Prophet (Church Universal and Triumphant) and Benjamin Creme (Share International), Keith Rhinehart (Aquarian Foundation).

St. Germain: Incarnation of Christian Rosenkreutz

Through the work of Rudolf Steiner we find that St. Germain has a long history of incarnations that explain why he is held in such esteem by so many spiritual researchers. Once the history of St. Germain is explained, the history of human spiritual development becomes much clearer and we can see that the same individuals who were involved in the “Fall”, or Garden of Eden, are also directly involved with the redemption of the Fall through the Mystery of Golgotha, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was the same handful of people who have lead humanity’s spiritual evolution through the millennia.

It is the spiritual insight of Rudolf Steiner that tells us that St. Germain was the reincarnated Christian Rosenkreutz, the legendary founder of the Rosicrucians. This insight sheds much light on the spiritual evolution of St. Germain and explains where some of his capabilities originate. Christian Rosenkreutz, like St. Germain, was attributed with having tremendous wisdom and practical knowledge derived from research and a life of travel. Steiner gives great details about the life of Rosenkreutz and the subsequent work of the Rosicrucians.

The Temple Legend, The Mystery Known to Rosicrucians, by Rudolf Steiner, Lecture 5, Berlin, November 4, 1904. GA 93

Before the outbreak of the French Revolution a personality appeared to Madame d'Adhemar, the lady-in-waiting of Marie-Antoinette, who prophesied all the important events of the coming strife, in order to warn against them. It was the Count of St. Germain, the same as he who, in a former incarnation, had founded the Rosicrucian Order. He subscribed to the view that mankind at that time must be led in all tranquility from a worldly view of life to a truly Christian culture. Worldly powers, however, desired to gain freedom for themselves by material violent means. Christian Rosenkreutz foresaw the French Revolution as a necessary consequence of this, but warned against it. He, Christian Rosenkreutz, in his incarnation in the eighteenth century, as guardian of the innermost secrets of the Molten Sea and the Golden Triangle, appeared with the warning that mankind should develop slowly. But he also saw what was to happen.

Lazarus/St. John: Incarnation of Christian Rosenkreutz

Realizing that St. Germain was Christian Rosenkreutz is a particular insight of Steiner’s and one that few spiritual researchers know about. But it is a long tradition among Rosicrucians to consider Christian Rosenkreutz as the same individuality as Lazarus who became St. John the Evangelist.

Steiner’s contributed to the old Rosicrucian tradition by providing explanations of how Lazarus was raised by Jesus Christ as the first Christian initiate, who would be named St. John after his resurrection. Lazarus/St. John would lead humanity as an example of an initiate who has taken on the same “I” that Jesus took on: “Not I but Christ in me.” Lazarus/St. John became the ‘one Jesus loved.’ This insight is somewhat shocking to many who have not heard this or read it before, but anthroposophical research has revealed this to be accurate.

Lazarus/St. John was told by Jesus Christ, as he hung from the cross at Golgotha, to behold Mary as his own mother and from that day John watched over Mary until her dormition. St. John was given the wisdom legacy of Jesus Christ to carry on and teach to the world through his Gospel of John, Epistles, and Apocalypse. St. John spiritually merged with John the Baptist at the crucifixion, and together, as one being under the cross, St. John was the only apostle able to witness the crucifixion. St. John then became the “group soul” of the apostles and helped lead them from that time forward.

Knowing about the secret incarnation of St. Germain as Rosenkreutz is helpful, but knowing that St. Germain/Rosenkreutz was also St. John the Divine (Lazarus raised) opens doors of insight that make a great deal of sense when considering the overall history of humanity. The next few insights of Rudolf Steiner make the picture complete. Lazarus was raised from the dead as a new type of initiation with Christ as the hierophant. Previous “raising from the dead” initiations found in Freemasonry name the master who was raised as Hiram Abif, the master builder who built the Temple of Solomon. This ancient tradition of Hiram being raised from the dead is enacted anew through the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus was Hiram, reincarnated. So this is what we have so far:

Cain and Abel under the Cross

The next step in our discovery will open the doors of history to show how beings are connected and how they are reincarnated until resolution is completed. According to Steiner, St. Germain/

Rosenkreutz/Lazarus-John/Hiram was originally Cain, the child of Adam and Eve. Thus, the original person who brought death into the world, Cain, had to die as the reincarnated Lazarus and be raised again by Jesus Christ to create the redemption for the “Mark of Cain.” Upon Lazarus’ resurrection, he receives the name St. John.

One then might assume that if the redeemed Cain as St. John was under the cross that Abel, in his reincarnated form, would also be present for an event that would redeem the original sin of man and heal the wounds that eating the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil created.

Steiner tells us that Mary Magdalene was the reincarnated Abel. Mary, who was also called ‘the one the Lord loved’ was held dear in the heart of Jesus. Both St. John and Mary Magdalene are seen as the most intimate and beloved of those around Christ. Ultimately, St. John ends up taking care of all “three Marys” who are under the cross. Cain truly learns to love Abel, and sees that she has special wisdom and insight into the nature of Jesus Christ and his cosmic mission. Cain and Abel in their reincarnated forms stood under the cross which was seen as the New Tree of Life that redeemed the transgression through the Tree of Knowledge.

There are other incarnations of St. Germain that are given by Rudolf Steiner, but these few mentioned above are so powerful and insightful for mapping the spiritual evolution of humanity through key individuals that the whole cosmological picture starts to come into focus. You can feel the perfection of karma working through these reincarnations.

Two Jesus Boys and Two Marys

A spiritual researcher can grasp all of spiritual evolution if he can understand who witnessed the Mystery of Golgotha. To understand the next level of Cain and Abel’s karma we need the insight of Steiner to illuminate who else stood beneath the cross. To do this we must go back to the creation of Adam and Eve. At the time of creation, a copy of Adam and Eve were made and held back in paradise until the time was needed for perfected bodies for Jesus of Nazareth and his mother, Mary of Nazareth. These two paradisical bodies (held back in paradise) were reserved for these perfected beings who had not gone through the Fall.

At the same time, Eve was incarnated as the second Mary spoken of the Gospels, the Mary who gave birth to a second Jesus child in Jerusalem. As Bible readers know, but do not pay close attention to, there are two entirely different birth stories in the Bible—the one in the Gospel of Luke and the other in Matthew. There are two Jesus boys, with two separate births and childhood stories up to the event of Jesus at age twelve speaking to the temple priests.

It may come as a shock to many to be told that the Bible gives two entirely different genealogies for the “two Jesus boys.” This secret of the “Two Jesus Boys” has been known by many spiritual groups throughout history, but has remained an “open secret.” The Gospel of Matthew gives a genealogy that goes back to Abraham, whereas the Luke Gospel goes back to Adam as the son of God. Matthew lists forty-two generations from Abraham, whereas Luke lists seventy-seven from Adam, with fifty-seven of them being from Abraham. Matthew shows the descent through David’s son Solomon, whereas Luke shows the descent through David’s son, Nathan. These are entirely different and show that two different boys are being described.

There are many incongruences in the two accounts we have from Matthew and Luke. If you read them side by side, they simply don’t agree and it is obvious that two different boys and their parents are being described. For instance, in Matthew the parents live in Bethlehem (Jerusalem) before the conception and birth but in Luke they live in Nazareth. Matthew places the birth in a house but Luke places it in a stable with the infant in a manger. In Matthew the announcing angel appears to Joseph, but in Luke it appears to Mary. Matthew tells of the visit of the Magi to house where they gave three gifts. Luke tells of the angels singing and the visit of the shepherds and their gifts. These are but a few of the endless differences between the two accounts. Since we are told that every word in the Bible is true, then it appears self-evident that there were two Jesus boys.

This painting by Raphael, entitled Terranuovo Madonna, the children are commonly identified as Jesus, John the Baptist, and a Child Saint. As spiritual research shows us, this is actually a picture of John the Baptist and the two Jesus boys—Jesus of Jerusalem who leaves his body to enter Jesus of Nazareth at age twelve, and Jesus of Nazareth who lives until age 30 whereupon he offers his body for the descent of Christ for three years until the crucifixion.

There were two Jesus boys and two Marys. At age twelve, the two Jesus boys merged into one body as the Jesus of Jerusalem, who was the incarnation of Zarathustra, died but continued to work with Jesus of Nazareth. This is why the spectacle at the temple was so profound to the priests and rabbis that listened to the young Jesus of Nazareth speak. Little did they know that a profound spiritual event had taken place when the wisdom body of Zarathustra left the body of Jesus of Jerusalem and entered into the paradisical, pure, and innocent body and soul of twelve year old Jesus of Nazareth. Standing before the most learned men of the temple was a young boy with the wisdom of kings and scholars.

Mary of Nazareth, the Mary we know as the Virgin Mary, died shortly thereafter and Mary of Jerusalem adopted Jesus of Nazareth after her son died. It is Jesus’ stepmother, the mother of Jesus of Jerusalem, who was Mother Mary under the cross at the crucifixion. Upon his death at age twelve, Jesus of Jerusalem poured his wisdom, gleaned from many incarnations, into Jesus of Nazareth. Both beings grew within the soul of Jesus of Nazareth until the baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, where Jesus of Nazareth would offer his bodily sheaths in order to hold the being of Christ over the next three years.

Indeed, it took the wisdom stream of Zarathustra that came through Jesus of Jerusalem and the purity of a being never incarnated before, Jesus of Nazareth and his paradisical body and soul, to merge in order to create a human vessel pure and wise enough to hold the lofty being of Christ.

And who was John the Baptist? He was the reincarnated Adam, who would later, after his death demanded by Salome, worked closely from the spiritual world with St. John who physically stood under the cross.

It can be confusing when so many of the beings described have similar names, but to break it down as simply as possible, the Adam and Eve that we know from Genesis each had a part of themselves held back in the spiritual world, or paradise. These are the paradisical bodies of Adam and Eve that stay held back in the spiritual world until the appearance of the Virgin Mary and Jesus of Nazareth.

The Adam and Eve of Genesis later reincarnate as such (abbreviated version of incarnations depicted):

Here we have Mary of Jerusalem (Eve) and St. John the Divine merged with John the Baptist (Adam) standing under the cross with Cain (Lazarus raised) and Abel (Mary Magdalene). Through the transformations that Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and the Paradisical Adam and Eve all made through the death of Jesus Christ, the transgression of the Garden of Eden was redeemed. The sin that Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel brought into the world was redeemed through the willing death of the New Adam (Jesus Christ) and the suffering of the New Eve (Mary united with the Paradisical Eve-Mary of Nazareth). Adam (John the Baptist) and Eve (Mary of Jerusalem) and their children Cain (Lazarus-John) and Abel (Mary Magdalene) all were transformed and renewed by the cosmic deeds of the Mystery of Golgotha.

Why Multiple Incarnations are Needed

We can now see that the “Secret Incarnations of St. Germain” are a critical piece of Christian Cosmology that show the “truly human path” of one of the most misunderstood initiates in history – Cain/St. Germain. Seeing the transformation from Cain to Hiram to Lazarus/St. John to St. Germain is most remarkable and is exclusively presented by Rudolf Steiner in his Rosicrucian Spiritual Science. One can see that an archetypal initiate like St. Germain needed to evolve throughout all of his/her incarnations. Growth and development along a spiritually “logical” path of incarnations that has its peaks and valleys are shown throughout the full picture of what a great initiate might suffer to become a being who is ascending. It is a beautiful example of the hope and mercy that is found in providence.

Understanding that Cain created and used the first weapon tool that would eventually bring so much murder into the world is a profound insight. Cain becoming Hiram, the slain master builder, seems to be the karmic results of killing another, Abel. Then when Jesus Christ raised Lazarus through a new type of initiation based upon the Mystery of Golgotha, Lazarus became Jesus Christ’s closest disciple, taking the place of Judas among the twelve.

The “secret incarnations” of St. Germain, especially as presented by Rudolf Seiner, show two steps in this cosmic drama of Cain-Lazarus being raised from the dead to become the beloved discipline who was charged with caring for Mary by Jesus Christ on the cross. St. Germain in his incarnation as Christian Rosenkreutz was endowed with a copy of one the perfected bodies of Jesus Christ that exist in the etheric realm surrounding the earth. Through this “merging” with Jesus Christ’s perfected body, Christian Rosenkreutz becomes a beautiful example of a human being climbing the steps of ascension from one life to the next. Christian Rosenkreutz founded the school of Rosicrucianism, which points the way for an individual to follow the path of ascension, through his life and teachings. Those teachings were continued and incorporated into many of the rites of Freemansonry through the Comte de Saint Germain. The teachings of Rosicruicanism were updated and renewed by the same person who created them. This type of spiritual development and continuity is worth contemplation so that an understanding of karma and reincarnation might grow in the soul.

The chart below displays some of the more notable incarnations of St. Germain. For a complete listing of his indications given by Rudolf Steiner and his pupils, the advanced esoteric student may want to review John Barnwell’s compilation on this website.

From Solomon through Golgotha to Rosenkreutz

We know that parts of this cosmic story are told through a painting that Rudolf Steiner gave indications for to the artist Anna May von Rychter which is entitled, From Solomon through Golgotha to Christian Rosenkreutz. This painting is most instructive and the written interpretation by Anna May concurs with these incarnations of St. Germain through what is depicted in the three panels. St. Germain as Hiram Abif in the left panel is interacting with Solomon (who was Abel/Mary Magdalene) and the Queen of Sheba (Eve reincarnated, Mary of Jerusalem). The mysteries of the grail are interwoven from panel to panel.

In the central panel, St. John (St. Germain/Rosenkreutz/Hiram/Cain) is seen under the cross with Mary (Eve/Queen of Sheba) and Mary Magdalene (Solomon/Abel).

The third panel depicts the mysterious initiation of Christian Rosenkreutz in the 13th Century that Steiner exclusively describes. From Cain to Rosenkreutz (St. Germain) we have one continuous stream of consciousness whether as a tradition, lineage or individual incarnations. The stream of these incarnations is quite clearly indicated.

From Solomon through Golgotha to Christian Rosenkreutz by Anna May von Rychter

From indications of Rudolf Steiner

Through these insights of Steiner’s we can see that St. Germain (Rosenkreutz) is definitely a different person than the Master Jesus who was the “second” Jesus boy. This child had previously been the great initiate Zarathustra whose pupils Hermes and Moses helped prepare the Hebrew people for the incarnation of the Paradisical Adam. The second Jesus boy is eventually called the Master Jesus to distinguish him completely from the being of Christ or the being of the Paradisical Adam who provided the body for Jesus of Nazareth.

The complicated incarnations of these principle players in human spiritual history are explained in full in the book, The Gospel of Sophia: The Biographies of the Divine Feminine Trinity. The two great masters, St. Germain and Master Jesus continue to incarnate even into our own time. Rudolf Steiner says he was initiated by both of them as demonstrated in the quote below.

From: Walter Johannes Stein, July 9th, 1924.

“Rittelmeyer says that when he was going to write a biographical sketch of Dr. Steiner, the latter told him, in the presence of Frau Dr. Steiner, that two individualities had initiated him: Christian Rosenkreutz and the Master Jesus (Zarathustra). The latter pointed him towards Fichte while the first worked through ‘Felix Balde.’”

There is a poem attributed to St. Germain called, The Philosophic Sonnet, that sums up philosophy, alchemy, and the meaning of life. All beings are ascending the ladder of spiritual development through a time of alchemy and this poem tells us what we might have to experience along the way. This sonnet is proof enough of St. Germain’s great wisdom and insight and shows why he is used as the example of the archetypal human becoming a master. Let’s read how a master describes life.

Philosophical Sonnet by Saint-Germain Curious scrutator of all nature, I have seen gold thick in the depths of the double mercury. I have seized its substance and surprised its changing. I explain by that art the soul with the womb of a mother, Make its home, take it away, and as a kernel Placed against a grain of wheat, under the humid pollen; The one plant and the other vine-stock, are the bread and wine. Nothing was, God willing, nothing became something, I doubted it, I sought that on which the universe rests, Nothing preserves the equilibrium and serves to sustain. Then, with the weight of praise and of blame. I weighed the eternal, it called my soul, I died, I adored, I knew nothing more.

This poem demonstrates that St. Germain is the archetypal human soul becoming a master being on the path of ascension. He is called an ascended master, or one who has made it back to heaven and yet stays at the threshold to heaven helping everyone across the bridge and through the gate. Steiner’s insights about St. Germain fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle of the human drama of spiritual evolution from Eden to New Jerusalem. For truly Christian Rosenkreutz’s initiation in the 13th Century by the twelve great initiates was a personal example of New Jerusalem descending from the heavens and was a model for each spiritual aspirant to emulate.

This special initiation of Christian Rosenkreutz is spoken of exclusively by Rudolf Steiner. He tells us that the “perfected vehicle” that was created during this initiation in the 13th Century was then available for Christian Rosenkreutz in the 14th Century and St. Germain in the 18th. St. Germain’s incredible abilities are explained through this insight from the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.

Some incarnations of St. Germain are “secret,” or at least, little known. Their knowledge completes the cycle of spiritual evolution, and the Temple Legend concerning Cain and Abel is finally resolved. It was the Sophian Star wisdom of the Queen of Sheba that helped heal the wound of Cain and Abel during the time of Solomon and Hiram. It was Christ who finished healing the wounds between Mary Magdalene (Abel) and St. John (Cain). Adam and Eve and their struggle was also resolved under the cross – the new Tree of Life. It is the quest for the development of the human “I” that comprises the quest for the Holy Grail.

Like the blood of Christ that brings forth the human “I”, the Holy Grail for each individual is found in the human heart that can change the “Fall” into the “Ascent.” The transgressions of Adam and Eve, Cain, and Abel are the same transgressions of all aspirants on the path. It is the understanding of the Mystery of the Cosmic Christ, the development of the human “I”, that is the key to healing the rift of selfishness that was created between Cain and Abel and healed by the profound love of Jesus Christ for Mary Magdalene and John the Beloved.

The Comte de St. Germain is the picture of the initiate who has united the twelve world religions into one that is the composite of all and yet a new and unique view of the Cosmic Christ and Sophia the being of Wisdom. Cosmic wisdom and human wisdom united in St. Germain, giving us the new Christian path of initiation called Rosicrucianism. Christian Rosenkreutz taught this new living wisdom to his followers, who were the initiates that had been with him before in the 13th Century. This living wisdom was passed along through many streams and came to rest in Rudolf Steiner’s teachings. Anthroposophy is a type of Rosicrucianism, according to Steiner, and we have Christian Rosenkreutz and the Comte de St. Germain to thank for its conception.

Confusion around St. Germain’s Incarnations

Rudolf Steiner clears up a great deal of confusion around the question: Was Bacon actually Shakespeare? St. Germain has been claimed to be both Francis Bacon and Shakespeare by some Theosophists and the debate has never ended. The quote below shows that, indeed, Bacon, Shakespeare, Jacob Boehme, and Jacob Balde had an initiate who “stood behind” them. It is likely that James I was also influenced by that initiate or was, in fact, that initiate himself. Steiner did not say who specifically that initiate was but it is possible that Christian Rosenkreutz may have inspired all of them in some way.

Karmic Relationships, Rudolf Steiner, Volume II: Lecture II, 12th April, 1924. GA

All these things — working with external methods, seeking out similarities in the way of thought in Shakespeare's dramas and Bacon's philosophic works — all these are barren superficialities. They do not get at the real truth. For the truth is that at the time when Bacon, Shakespeare, Jacob Boehme, and a fourth were working on the earth, there was one Initiate who really spoke through all four. Hence their kinship, for in reality it all goes back to one and the same source. Of course, these people who dispute and argue do not argue about the Initiate who stood behind, especially as this Initiate — like many a modern Initiate — is described to us in history as a rather intolerable fellow. But he was not merely so. No doubt he was so sometimes in his external actions, but he was not merely so. He was an individuality from whom immense forces proceeded, and to whom were really due Bacon's philosophic works as well as Shakespeare's dramas and the works of Jacob Boehme, and also the works of the Jesuit, Jacob Balde.