Autumn Leaf Performance


in cooperation with the du Maurier World Stage Festival 1992

 

The Alchemical Theatre of Hermes Trismegistos (Patria 4)

Composed by R. Murray Schafer

Staged inside Toronto's Union Station
June 10th to June 20th, 1992 at Midnight

Creative Team:

 

Soloists:

 

Alchemical Brotherhood:

 

Dancers:

 

Chorus:

 

Musicians:

 

 

Introduction

The subject dealt with in THE BLACK THEATRE OF HERMES TRISMEGISTOS is the Chymical Marriage as described in the writings of the medieval alchemists. The minerals, whose solutions, crystalizations, smeltings and burnings fill the alchemists' notebooks, describe the separation and coagulation (solve et coagula) of chemical substances in the search for precious metals such as gold and silver; but as Jung and others have been able to show, they also refer symbolically to the transformation of the soul, suggesting that the real goal of the alchemical process was the discovery of spiritual harmony. But this harmony was not produced without great difficulty.

Just as the outward work of the metallurgist with ore and fire has something violent about it, so also the influences which bear back on the spirit and the soul -and are inescapable in this calling - must be of a dangerous and two-sided nature. In particular, the extraction of the noble metals from impure ores by means of solvent and purifying agents such as mercury and antimony and in conjunction with fire, is inevitably carried out against the resistance of the darksome and chaotic forces of nature, just as the achievement of "inward silver" or "inward gold" - in their immutable purity and luminosity - demands the conquest of all the dark and irrational impulses of the soul.

Titus Burkhardt, Alchemy, London 1967, p. 13.

Psychologically considered, the alchemical operation consisted of separating and distilling the basic elements (sometimes called the prima materia) then reuniting them in purified form in the coniunctio or chymical marriage. This conjunction was personified as a ritual cohabitation of gold and silver or sol and luna (sun and moon). From this sprang the filius sapientiae, the transformed Mercurius, who was thought of as hermaphroditic because of his rounded perfection. This in essence was the shape of events; but the subject was never stated so simply. The doctrine of al-Kimika hides in riddles because it is not intended for everyone. As the alchemist Artephius wrote: "Is it not recognized that ours is a cabbalistic art? By this I mean that it is passed on orally and is full of secrets... I assure you in good faith that whoever would take literally what the alchemists have written will lose himself in the recesses of a labyrinth from which he will never escape."

The alchemists employed colourful imagery to describe chemical processes partly to disguise their work from insincere quacks (the "puffers" as they were contemptuously called) and also to protect it from intervention by the Church. For instance:

 

I have personified some of these images in HERMES. The metals with which they worked were given additional resonance by associating them with the heavens, thus:

 

Mineral embryology coupled with Babylonian astrological speculations produced in the alchemist a feeling that he was working co-operatively with the heavens towards the improvement of nature, including human nature.

We know also that the days of the week are derived from the sam sources: Sunday and Monday from the sun and moon, Tuesday (mardi) from Mars, Wednesday (mercredi) from Mercury, Thursday (jeudi - jovis dies) from Jupiter, Friday (vendredi - veneris dies) from Venus, Saturday from Saturn.

As in astrology, time had great significance for the alchemists, who regarded their work as an acceleration of nature, the control of which made them masters of time. The furnace or athanor in which the gestation of the ores was accelerated and perfected was an artificial womb or uterus; hence the precautions, taboos and ritual acts which accompanied the smelting.

Hermes was the Greek name for the Egyptian god Thoth and Trismegistos means "thrice great." Hermes Trismegistos was believed to have been a historic personage of great antiquity, whose grave was discovered by Alexander the Great. That he was an alchemist is demonstrated by his famous Tabula Smaragdina (The Emerald Tablet) which I have incorporated in the text. This work was almost a credo for the medieval alchemists since it describes both the physical processes of the operation and relates them to the higher wisdom of the aspiring soul.

I call this a Black Theatre because it is against the foundation of darkness and silence that the events take place. Often the speakers will whisper; often they are heard in darkness. The whispering is complemented by very soft sounds - I cannot say precisely what sounds - as the orchestra interprets the yantras of the elements.

Colours emanating from the athanor should provide an almost violent contrast to this atmosphere. The phases of the alchemical operation are themselves very suggestive in this respect: nigredo (the blackening), albedo (the whitening), citrinitas (the yellowing), rubedo (the reddening) and cauda pavonis (the peacock's tail) - a rapid and transitory fluctuation of all the colours during certain stages leading to the completion of the work. To this I have suggested green as the colour Hermes Trismegistos, blue as Ariadne's colour and gold as the colour of the Chymical Marriage. The colours are also accompanied by stronger sound from the orchestra, the Mysterious Choir and the voices of the solo singers.

HERMES TRISMEGISTOS belongs to the Patria cycle of works, where it will follow The Greatest Show, a work which in some ways it parallels. The Greatest Show took the form of a carnival in which the hero (Wolf) is lost and the heroine (Ariadne) is dismembered through acts of magic. Both Wolf and Ariadne appear in The Black Theatre and although they make a real contribution to the conjunction of Sol and Luna, they are not themselves conjoined here. It is rather as if the Chymical Marriage is a simulacrum to which they bear witness, a pointer towards their own eventual union.

 

The Stage for HERMES TRISMEGISTOS

The time and place of the performance of HERMES TRISMEGISTOS are important. The starting time should be midnight and the location should emphatically not be a conventional theatre. A deserted mine would be excellent. Or a deserted factory. One should never underestimate the value of an alien location for a work of this kind. The producer should also think of ways of disorienting the audience before their arrival: for instance, they may be blind- folded and transported to the site by bus; or they may be asked to meet at an assembly place some distance from the actual venue and be led there in darkness.

The actual site chosen should consist of two spaces, a preparation area and the alchemical theatre. The preparation area should be reached, if possible, by a labyrinthine tunnel (suggestive of the underground passages of a mine) which should open into a large but oppressive space lit by candlelight. The area should be large enough to accommodate the recommended audience of 150 in 8 groups, some distance from one another. The ceiling should be low and the atmosphere damp.

Adjacent to this is the alchemical theatre, which is large and reverberent with enough height for Hermes Trismegistos to "fly" well above the heads of the spectators. This area could also be damp and from somewhere might be heard the continuous dripping of water - a feature of all mines. The space could also contain a few birds or bats so that in the dark and quiet moments one might hear their flapping wings or shrill cries (a matter which the Magister alludes to in Editing Unit 5).

In the centre of the playing area is a circular dais, large enough for all the members of the Alchemical Brotherhood to move around on it comfortably. The dais is about a metre above the floor area. Four long, sloped ramps connect the floor area to the dais. The performers enter and exit down these ramps. The ramps divide the alchemical theatre into four equal areas. The audience, which should number approximately 150 - 200, is seated in three of these areas. The remaining area is reserved for the musicians and the Mysterious Choir.

In the centre of the dais is the athanor, the crucible in which the elements are fired. This is an egg-shaped bubble of translucent material which rises about a metre above the dais. It is constructed in such a way that it can open to allow performers to emerge from it or descend into it. They reach it by means of a passageway under the dais from the musician's area. The designer should note that the athanor must glow like a furnace from within and may also serve as a reflecting surface for projected images from inside or outside.

Hermes Trismegistos appears and sings from a grid directly above the athanor or slightly behind it. His robe and hair are blown by the wind. The grid also supports guide wires along which the crescent of the moon and the circle of the sun will travel in Editing Unit 18.

Since the musicians will require stand lighting, every attempt possible should be made to keep the light spill to a minimum. When not required the stand lights should dim to darkness.

R. Murray Schafer