44 – The Number of Glory or Defeat? History behind theory by Piotr Grzywacz
Piotr Grzywacz – author (independent writer and journalist) philosopher, humanist, satiric and innovator.
* Poland – losing wars but winning the battle * Over 150 years in fight for freedom * The darkest period in the history of the nation, the brightest spot in history of art * The Forefathers’ Eve the book of spells * Jacob Frank God or Charlatan? * Sexual promiscuity as a form of liberation * Mark Twin versus Adam Mickiewicz * Who is the 44? *
It seems there is nothing ultimately good or bad. A knife can be used by a doctor to save life. Killer may use it to end it. I would not prejudge. I would not limit. I would never stop watching.
Having a thought or idea is not a bad thing. What counts is what you will do with it.
Adam Mickiewicz 1897 portrait by S.Chejmann. Reproduction: Marek Skorupski / FORUM
“(…) Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 1798 – 26 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator, professor of Slavic literature, and a political activist. He is well known in Poland, Lithuani, and Belarus. A principal figure in the Polish Romanticism, he is counted one of the Poland’s “Three Bards” and is widely regarded as Poland’s greatest poet. He is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets and had been dubbed the “Slavic bard”. A leading Romantic dramatist, has been compared in Poland and Europe to Byron and Goethe.”(…)
Because of terrible internal and external politics of the Polish rulers, greed, lack of care for common good, we lost our freedom. It took us 123 years and an enormous sacrifice of Polish patriots to recreate Poland as a country. This period – most difficult for our nation – produced one of the best periods in our literature – the Romanticism.
The Deluge by Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz
Our nation during the time of disparity fought for freedom on various fronts. We were bitten severely many times paying the highest price in lives of our best sons and daughters. It was a hopeless struggle with no end. Nevertheless, we put our future in the hands of the Polish Church that was never broken. Our faith in Jesus Christ and his mercy saved our psyche and allowed us to carry on in the most difficult times.
As much as we were losing and living without hope, there was a space that was never jeopardized – the space of our dreams. We needed to have the hope in the hopeless times so that is how in response to that desire, the dream of Poland as a Christ of the Nations was born.
Adam Mickiewicz delivered this message in one of his works named The Forefathers’ Eve.
The Forefathers’ Eve is a mystical work that has all the elements to be considered a book of magic where the Almighty God of David is the front and center figure. Basically, Forefathers’ Eve is a combination of spells that should trigger a positive up-rise and the creation of Polish State. Forefathers’ Eve was also used during the latest communist occupation of Poland (1945-1980) which finally resulted in the creation of the Solidarity Movement and the collapse of Marxist Empire in Europe.
The Forefathers’ Eve, beside its inner active abilities, is an excellently, perfectly written poem which makes it one of the best works in history of literature.
Adam Mickiewicz delivered its Evangelion (good news) in the form of two archetypes:
Archetype No 1. Poland, The Christ of the Nations,
Archetype No 2. The arrival of a mysterious figure that could be considered the next Messiah.
“The Son of a foreign mother, in his blood old heroes and his name will be forty and four.”
(excerpt – The Forefathers’ Eve, Adam Mickiewicz
The Forefathers’ Eve Part III Staging – Poland
Number 40 and 4
During our study of Polish literature, we learnt that number 44 was one associated with a number that would be given to some community (Polish name – gmina) or district, possibly created and governed in a new, modern and social way. However, you should know that this theory was pronounced during communist occupation (1945 – 1981).
It is quite certain that 40 and 4 could mean something else. There is nothing for sure in this story but I would like you to present the climate in which The Forefathers’ Eve was created.
First, we have to understand how desperate Mickiewicz was in order to change the unfavourable condition for the Polish nation. To underestand it better, we have to take a closer look into the poet’s life.
Next we have to understand Adam Mickiewicz as an artist and a poet. In his works, he is using a common procedure used often in history of literature and especially of that period.
Please see how other works, like Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or Divina Comédia by Dante Alighieri are built from similar dramatic ingredients.
Apart from many comparisons between the just mentioned masterpiece,s the one is obvious – building a dramatic atmosphere on the poles of the sacrum and profane. Mickiewicz dances between heaven and hell, good and bad, right and wrong, to finally allows his character to define himself: who he is and what he is fighting for.
So let’s look into life of the most important and celebrated Polish poet.
The key person in Adam Mickiewicz’ spiritual development was probably Jacob Frank. However, besides what has been whispered by people over generations links established here for the purpose of this theory can’t be proven.
Jakob Frank
“(…) Some sources assert that Mickiewicz’s mother was descended from a converted, Frankist Jewish family. Others view this as improbable. (…)”
Wikipedia
“(…) Jacob Frank was an 18-century Jewish religious leader who claimed to be a reincarnation of the self-proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Zevi and also of the biblical patriarch Jacob. The Jewish authorities in Poland excommunicated Frank and his followers due to his heretical doctrines that included deification of himself as a part of the Trinity and other concepts such as neo-Carpocration “purification through transgression”.
Frank arguably has created a new religion, now referred as Frankism, which incorporates some aspects of Christianity into Judaism. The development of Frankism was one of the consequences of the messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi, the religious mysticism that followed violent prosecution and socioeconomic upheavals among Jews of Poland and Ukraine. (…)”
The spirituality of Adam Mickiewicz can also be argued by the choice he made marrying Celina Szymanowska.
Celina Szymanowska
“Celina roused the dislike of other emigres. She was accused of extravagance, poor cooking skills, a desire to dominate her husband, and mental instability.
In 1838, Celina declared herself a prophet, an incarnation of the Mother of God, and redeemer of Poland, of Polish emigres and of the Jews. She also claimed to possess a power to heal, which she said she had successfully applied to the gravely ill Adolf Zalewski.
For a time, Adam Mickiewicz cared for his wife himself but marital discord and Celina’s mental illness drove him to attempt suicide on the 17 or 18 December 1838 by jumping out a window.(…)”
According to some statements made these days Jacob Frank is considered to be pure evil who is responsible for birth of every evil in our modern world like communism, fascism ext.
On the other hand, we can find much more balanced statements showing Jacob Frank in a different light.
In Adam Mickiewicz’ writings, number forty and four represents all goods, hope and real salvation. It seems that the best Polish bard followed finally the path of love discovered in Andrzej Towianski’s teachings.
Sadly, it is believed Mickiewicz died of syphilis.
“Towianski was an charismatic leader of the Towianskiite sect, known also as the Circle of God’s Cause. In 1839, he experienced a vision in which the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary urged him to act as a messenger of the Apocalypse. The Poles and the French – particularly Napoleon – and Jews were to play leading roles. Unfortunately some members of Polish emigrés accused him of being a Russian agent. (…)”
However in the works of Mark Twain, number 44 represents Satan.The origin of this number in Twain’s wrtings has many theories behind. One of them links it with activities of Adam Mickiewicz ( see below).
LOUIS J. BUDD’S THEORY (1989)
“Dziady” by Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) – excerpt
(…) In the July-August 1989 issue of the MARK TWAIN CIRCULAR, Louis J. Budd presented his theory in an article entitled “Another Stab at the Origin of No. 44 as a Name.” Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz’s play “Dziady” (which can be translated as “Ancestors”; also translated as “The Forefathers’ Eve”) written between 1822-1832 features a Polish priest who has a vision of a national hero who will be named “forty-four.” Mickiewicz’s “forty-four” appears in Part Three, Act One, Scene Five of the dramatic production of “Dziady.”
Mark Twain was in Vienna in the fall of 1897 and in frequent contact with Professor Theodore Leschetizky, a Polish teacher who taught music to Twain’s daughter Clara. Budd has no proof that Leschetizky introduced Twain to the writings of Mickiewicz but points out that Twain’s first use of “No. 44” as a name came no earlier than November 1898, a year after moving to Vienna.
According to Budd, Polish scholars have attempted to find the source for Mickiewicz’s “forty-four.” Budd presents one theory is that the name is “Possibly the numerical value of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet which spell out Mickiewicz’s first name, Adam. A prophetic numerology typical of the Cabala” (Budd, p. 2). Budd concludes Twain did show an interest in the Jewish lore during his stay in Austria, and he could have picked up forty-four as a name for a quasi-god that existed prior to the Old Testament fall of Adam and Eve. (…)
As we see, the above story has many twists. I wrote it to show a hidden world of the titans that changed the outcome of our history to entertain my readers and emphasize very old wisdom:
Don’t judge if you don’t wish to be judged.
Even if our restraint from judgment is impossible (if I will say: this is pink, wet and sweet – I did already judge) I believe keeping in mind non-judgmental attitude is very valuable.
I would like to finish this divagation with this enlightening thought.
Books or ideas don’t kill people… People kill people.
The Forefathers’ Eve Part III Staging – Poland
it feels good plus 