A lecture on Nerval's version of the Hiramic legend

1. ESOTERIC ENCOUNTERS:
QUEEN OF SHEBA IN
SOLOMON’S TEMPLE
Dr. Andreas Önnerfors
andreas.onnerfors@gu.se

2. First edition
1851,
Nerval
travelled to
Lebanon and
Turkey in 1843

3. Frame narrative (recurs and
breaks into the chapters): ‘Une
légende dans un café'
1 Adoniram
2 Balkis
3 Le Temple
4 Mello
5 La Mer d’Airain
6 L’ Apparition
7 Le Monde Souterrain
8 Le Lavoire de Siloe
9 Le trois Compagnons
10 L’Entrevue
11 Le Souper du Roi
12 Makbénach

17. BALKIS:
descendent of Noah
SOLOMON:
descendent of
Abel
ADONIRAM
descendent of
Tubal-Kain / Kain
/ Satan?
Orpheus/Prometheus/the
Artist, Nerval himself?

18. The Temple
A play written by
playwright
Peter Oswald
(2009)
(1843) 1851 1875 / 1897 1904 / 2009

19. What are Nerval’s potential motives and the
potential of the legend’s motifs?
◦ Simply recounts a novel told in an Istanbul café? (frame narrative creates the impression that it is just
documentary, spontaneous and performative)
◦ Makes a statement about the source of the Hiramic legend in freemasonry? Oriental and links to
Islamic mysticism?
◦ Or: re-introducing the figure of Balkis into the story (which is present rudimentary in some masonic
traditions and moreover has a strong Renaissance legacy) brings the occult dimensions of the
conflict between Cain and Abel to life.
◦ In extension: re-charging the legend with a theosophical/mystical/esoteric dimension opens up for
performance and expression => literature as inspiration for esoteric practices
◦ Picked up in anthroposophy, it served Steiner as a vehicle of addressing gender-specific qualities in
his teachings, potentially as an element in his Esoteric School
◦ Nerval transformed into a theatre play, The Temple, in 2008/2009 by renown English playwright
Peter Oswald, which highlights its performative potential.