Thank you for posting a pdf of the lyrics to Carmina Burana. I did a bit pf research and discovered that there were in fact 254 poems and texts not just the 25 verses shown in the pdf.
Carmina Burana (Latin for "Songs from
Benediktbeuern" [
Buria in Latin]) is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent, and satirical. They were written principally in Medieval Latin, a few in
Middle High German and old
Arpitan. Some are
macaronic, a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular.
Carmina Burana (CB) is a manuscript written in 1230 by two different scribes in an early gothic
minuscule on 119 sheets of
parchment. A number of free pages, cut of a slightly different size, were attached at the end of the text in the 14th century. At some point in the
Late Middle Ages, the handwritten pages were bound into a small folder called the
Codex Buranus. However, in the process of binding, the text was placed partially out of order, and some pages were most likely lost, as well. The manuscript contains eight
miniatures: the
rota fortunae (which actually is an illustration from songs CB 14–18, but was placed by the book binder as the cover), an imaginative forest, a pair of lovers, scenes from the story of
Dido and
Aeneas, a scene of drinking beer, and three scenes of playing dice, tables, and chess.
The first verse has the title
Fortune Empress of the World and starts with the words in Latin "
O Fortuna", meaning "O Fortune", which obviously matches up with the name the Cassiopaean chose for this session of
Fortunaea. This is close to the Latin word "Fortunae" meaning "fortunate" in English. It may also provide a link with the Roman Goddess
Fortuna, the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author
Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the
Renaissance. Fortuna is often depicted with a
gubernaculum (ship's rudder), a ball or
Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune, first mentioned by
Cicero) and a
cornucopia (horn of plenty). The ubiquitous image of the Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of
Boethius's Consolation. She might bring good or bad luck: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of
Lady Justice, except that Fortuna does not hold a balance. Fortuna came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate: as
Atrox Fortuna.
There were a number of posts on the thread for that session which may be of interest to those who have not read them before. The first I am providing a link to is from the late Pierre: See:
Session 09 June 2009
Some of the comments made by Thorbiorn in this post are of great relevance at this moment in time, given what is currently happening in the Middle East:
Session Date: July 4th 2009:
Q: This is 4th of July, 2009. 4, 7, 09. (DD) 11-11. (L) 9-11, or 11-9. It's an eleven. That's creepy.
A: It's creepy for the USA in any event. 5D city on a hill!
Q: (laughter) (L) Okay. What do we have in the way of questions? (J) What does "5D city on a hill" mean?
A: The metaphor of the fundies [
Christian fundamentalists who view America as a shining city on a hill, a beacon to the world]
with a twist of truth.
Q: (J) City on a hill - is that in the bible or something? (Allen) Yeah. Old Testament. (Ark) Does it mean like capitol? (L) Yeah. (J) It was prefaced by, "It's creepy for the USA in any event." So maybe that means a city on a hill in the USA. (L) Well, the USA has always considered itself the new city on a hill. (Allen) But 5D city on a hill, does that mean the USA is headed for destruction?
A: More than likely.
And
In hindsight, June 2009 was five years before the events in Ukraine with the Maidan coup, the secession of Crimea, the declarations of independence of the LNR and DPR in Eastern Ukraine and the beginning of the proxy war between Russia and NATO. Also, five years from 2009 had not made the US and allies much wiser. In
Session 30 August 2014 there was:
MJF: Are we fast approaching this rude and painful awakening?
And finally
almost seven years from the sessions in 2009, one finds in
Session 6 February 2016:
MJF: Are we about to see this global destruction of an empire play out again?
As to how ancient the lyrics of Carmina Burana might be, Thorbiorn provided the following speculation:
The answers in this session "Fortunaea which reminds us that you might like that from Carmina Burana." and "Some of those lyrics are truly ancient" led to discovering in one poem the reference to Queen Hecuba from the Iliad. In more recent sessions, the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey have come up again in relation to the Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, and this allows us to come with a guess at what might be behind "truly ancient". It might go back to Atlantean times, 50k years ago.
He also made a link between the Wheel of Fortune and St. Catherine of Alexandria in this post:
Session 09 June 2009
From the Wiki about the Carmina Burana:
The above star, ', after the numbers refers to poems found in the latter part of the book, as seen in the Latin repository which one can translate using Google Translate. The veneration of Catherine of Alexandria among the authors of the Carmina Burana can be explained because this saint was reputed to have been very knowledgeable:
Catherine of Alexandria went through many trials, and each time her virtue and knowledge protected her, even if Maxentius eventually succeeded, though it did not happen the way he had imagined:
The spiked breaking wheel, was supposed to break Catherine, but Catherine broke the wheel. A version of this wheel is known as a Catherine Wheel, found among Saint's Crosses in the Wiki for Christian Cross variants:
The Catherine Wheel is also associated with the Wheel of Fortune, which was a popular theme in the ancient and medieval times. In the Wiki for the Wheel of Fortune, (Rota Fortunae), there is an image from Carmina Burana with this text:
Given that Fortuna and Saint Catherina had prominent places in the poems of the Carmina Burana, and considering that the educated and virtuous Saint Catherine in the myth broke the spiked wheel, which was meant to break her, one could come to the concept that the impact of the wheel of fortune, also important as a theme in the Carmina Burana, could be lessened by acquiring knowledge, or as the Cs say knowledge protects.
However, it is the 24th verse of the Carmina Burana that particularly intrigues me.
24. Ave formosissima (Hail, most beautiful one)
Ave formosissima, | Hail, most beautiful one, |
gemma pretiosa, | precious jewel, |
ave decus virginum, | Hail, pride among virgins, |
virgo gloriosa, | glorious virgin, |
ave mundi luminar, | Hail, light of the world, |
ave mundi rosa, | Hail, rose of the world, |
Blanziflor et Helena, | Blanchefleur and Helen, |
Venus generosa! | noble Venus! |
At first sight, this could be taken as a pious poem that might be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose titles include "Virgin of Virgins" and "Mystical Rose" for example. But here we also see references to Venus (the Roman goddess of love), Blanchefleur and Helen (which may be a reference to the beautiful Helen of Troy), which rather rules out a link to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Although, this verse is supposedly linked with songs of morals and mockery, to me it has a certain alchemical feel to it along the lines I discussed in my previous post on the alchemical symbolism found in the artwork at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. For example, "rose of the world" could be a reference to the Rose of Sharon from
the Song of Songs in the Bible, also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon. It is unique within the
Hebrew Bible as it shows no interest in Law or Covenant or the God of Israel, nor does it teach or explore wisdom like
Proverbs or
Ecclesiastes (although it does have some affinities to
wisdom literature, as the ascription to the 10th century BCE King of Israel
Solomon indicates). Instead, it celebrates sexual love, giving "the voices of two lovers, praising each other, yearning for each other, proffering invitations to enjoy. Literally interpreted, the
Song of Songs is an erotic poem. On the surface, this reference would possibly make a good fit with
the Carmina Buran, as this is a work replete with love songs.
The name "Rose of Sharon" first appears in Hebrew in the
Tanakh. In the
Shir Hashirim (
'Song of Songs' or 'Song of Solomon')
2:1, the speaker (the beloved) says "
I am the rose of Sharon, a rose of the valley". The Hebrew phrase חבצלת השרון (
ḥăḇaṣṣeleṯ haššārōn) was translated by the editors of the King James version of the Bible as "rose of Sharon"; however, previous translations had rendered it simply as "the flower of the field".
However,
Song of Songs is one of the
overtly mystical Biblical texts for the
Kabbalah, which gave esoteric interpretation on all the Hebrew Bible. Following the dissemination of the
Zohar in the 13th century, Jewish mysticism took on a metaphorically anthropomorphic erotic element, and
Song of Songs is an example of this. In Zoharic Kabbalah, God is represented by a system of ten
sephirot emanations, each symbolizing a different attribute of God, comprising both male and female. The
Shechina (indwelling Divine presence) was identified with the feminine sephira
Malchut, the vessel of Kingship. This symbolises the Jewish people, and in the body, the female form, identified with the woman in
Song of Songs. Her beloved was identified with the male sephira
Tiferet, the "Holy One Blessed be He", central principle in the beneficent heavenly flow of divine emotion. In the body, this represents the male torso, uniting through the sephira
Yesod of the male
sign of the covenant organ of procreation.
It may be for these esoteric reasons that St Bernard of Clairvaux, a major instigator of the Knights Templar (who wrote their Rule or constitution), would wroie dozens of sermons on the
Song of Songs. And, of course, as we know the Knights Templar were much influenced by esotericism, including the Jewish Kabbalah and were also known to be practitioners of alchemy. Hence, did St Bernard and the Templars discern the Hermetic themes disguised in the
Song of Songs? If so, did the person who wrote this 24th verse of the
Carmina Burana (who may well have been a contemporary of St Bernard and the Templars) intend making the same connection? Let us not also forget that the later Rosicrucians, who were heavily into Hermeticism, adopted the rose as their symbol. For me, the Rosicrucians choice of the rose on a cross as their symbol may be linked to the Grail, which might have been stored within the Great Pyramid at Giza at one time (we know from the C's that Akhenaten possessed it before Nefertiti/Sarah stole it and gave it to Abraham):
Q: Now, supposedly, this area, Giza, was originally called Rostau. It took me awhile to realize that this is, literally, Ros-Tau, or Rose-Cross.
A: Yet another connection, but why?
Q: Well, I don't know! Rostau! That was even before it was called Giza. That is ANCIENT!
A: Yes.
And
Q: In reading the transcripts, I came across a reference to a 'pact' made by a group of STS individuals, and it was called 'Rosteem,' and that this was the origin of the Rosicrucians. In the book 'The Orion Mystery,' it talks about the fact that Giza was formerly known as RosTau, which is 'Rose Cross.' Essentially, I would like to understand the symbology of the Rose affixed to the Cross. It seems to me that the imagery of Jesus nailed to the Cross is actually the Rose affixed to the Cross. How does Jesus relate to the Rose?
A: No, it is from the Rose arose the Cross.
Q: Oh.... I see...
A: Said the blind man.
At the same time, the name Blanchefleur, meaning "White Flower" in English, establishes a possible link back to the Rose of Sharon and Song of Songs theme. However, even this choice of name, which was a common female name in the Middle Ages, may have hidden esoteric significance. Well known medieval fictional characters with the name include:
1. Tristan, also known as
Tristram,
Tristyn or
Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of
Tristan and Iseult. The character's first recorded appearance is in retellings of British mythology from the 12th century by
Thomas of Britain and
Gottfried von Strassburg (died c. 1210) who was the author of the
Middle High German courtly romance Tristan (which given it was written in Middle High German and falls within the timescale of the
Carmina Burana, his work may have been known to those who compiled the collection of poems in circa 1230 AD). More importantly for our purposes, Gottfried appears to have been influenced by the writings of contemporary Christian mystics, in particular
Bernard of Clairvaux (who we learned above was fascinated by Solomon's
Song of Songs). Moreover, the publication of Gottfried's tale coincided with the publication of the first Grail stories, which may well have been inspired by the Knights Templar behind the scenes. In this last connection, it is interesting to note that Tristan is featured in
Arthurian legends, including the seminal text
Le Morte d'Arthur, as a skilled knight and a friend of Sir Lancelot. And, of course, the Arthurian legends are heavily linked to the Grail. So where does Blanchefleur fit into the picture?
The story of
Tristan starts with the courtship of Tristan's parents. Riwalin, King of
Parmenie, travels to the court of King Marke in
Cornwall, where he and Marke's sister,
Blanschefleur, fall in love. Blanschfleur becomes pregnant and the couple steal back to Parmenie, but Riwalin is killed in battle. When she hears the news, Blanschfleur dies, but the baby is delivered and survives. He is named Tristan because of the sorrowful circumstances of his birth.
Curiously, Arthurian romancer
Chrétien de Troyes mentioned in his poem
Cligès that he composed his own account of the story; however, there are no surviving copies or records of any such text. In the 13th century, during the great period of prose romances,
Tristan en prose or
Prose Tristan became one of the most popular romances of its time. This long, sprawling, and often lyrical work follows Tristan from the traditional legend into the realm of King Arthur where Tristan participates in the Quest for the Holy Grail.
2. Floris and Blancheflour is the name of a popular romantic story that was told in the Middle Ages in many different vernacular languages and versions. It first appeared in Europe around 1160 in "aristocratic" French and there was also a Middle High German version called
Florie und Blansheflur, ca. 1220 written by
Konrad Fleck (both versions thus falling within the dating of the
Carmina Burana's compilation). Roughly between the period 1200 and 1350, it was one of the most popular of all the romantic plots, which means it would have been well known to the compilers of the
Carmina Burana. For details of the plot, see:
Floris and Blancheflour - Wikipedia
3. The 12th-century chanson de geste of
Garin le Loherain ('Garin the Lotharingian'), together with the slightly later
Girbert de Metz (written at the end of 12th or early 13th century), form the core and initial parts of the so-called
Lorraine cycle, which was expanded in the 13th century by a prequel and three sequels. Although the actions in the story as recorded cannot be identified with specific historical events, the poems are valuable depictions of the savage feudal wars in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Hervis of Metz was the son of a citizen to whom the
duke of Lorraine had married his daughter Aelis, and his sons Garin and Begue are the heroes of the
chanson, which gives its name to the cycle. The dying king Thierry had desired that his daughter
Blanchefleur should marry Garin, but when Garin prefers his suit at the court of Pippin [
i.e.,
Pepin the Short, King of the Franks from 751 to768 AD]. Fromont of Bordeaux puts himself forward as his rival and Hardré, Fromont's father, is slain by Garin. The rest of the poem is taken up with the war that ensues between the Lorrainers and the men of Bordeaux. They finally submit their differences to the king, only to begin their disputes once more. Blanchefleur becomes the wife of Pippin, while Garin remains her faithful servant.
4. Gornemant de Gohort (
Gorneman[s/z]; -
de Goort,
de Gorhaut) is the knight best known as Percival's old mentor. He is mentioned in a few early romances and is prominent in
Chrétien de Troyes's
Perceval, the Story of the Grail, in which he instructs the young hero in the ways of knighthood. There,
Gornemant is also the uncle of Blanchefleur, whom Percival later marries after successfully defending her city against attackers. Medieval German author
Wolfram von Eschenbach gives
Gurnemans three sons named Gurzgi, Lascoyt and Schentefleurs, as well as a daughter named Liaze who falls in love with Percival but he declines to marry her. In the later Italian
Tristan romances, he appears under the name
Governale, entrusted by
Merlino to care for and educate the young Cornish prince Tristano.
So, we find the name Blanchefleur appearing in a number of medieval romances, any of which may have been the source for the reference to Blanchefleur in the 24th verse of the
Carmina Burana. It is interesting to note though that two of these stories (or their variants) have connections to the Arthurian legends and thus by extension to the Holy Grail. Let us also recall here that
Wolfram von Eschenbach in his Grail story Parzival maintained that the Knights Templar (with whom he had fought in the Holy Land) actually possessed the Holy Grail.
And then we have a reference to Helen in verse 24, which, as I said above may be to Helen of Troy, whose seizure by Prince Paris of Troy led to the famous Siege of Troy (which may be a cover story for the Grail). However, as I discussed recently elsewhere, Helen may have really been
Helle as in in Greek myth of 'Helle and Phrixus' and their flight on the Golden Ram (whose fleece is a metaphor for the Grail), who the C's have hinted was Hagar or Kore, cover names for Princess Meritaten of Egypt, who as the daughter of Pharoah Akhenaten and his Queen Nefertiti, may have had an intimate connection to the Grail. If I am right in my theory that she fled the Middle East and eventually landed in the British Isles, she may well have become the basis for:
(1) the deified
Brigid of the Irish Tuatha de Danaan (known as Bride in Scotland) who was a triple goddess figure, whose father the Dagda possessed a magic cauldron that could raise the dead back to life again, just as in legend the Grail was supposed to have been able to resurrect the dead;
(2) the goddess
Elen of the Ways or of
the Hosts, probably the most ancient female goddess known in mainland Britain today who was a British form of Isis or Venus, who was subsequently subsumed by the Church into the person of
St Helen; and
(3) Hel who in Norse mythology is the queen of the underworld, ruling over the realm of the dead known as Helheim. In some versions of Norse mythology, it is said that Hel can raise the dead who fell in
battle as her undead warriors [
MJF: sounds familiar given what the C's said about soldiers killed in action being resurrected by the Orion STS and taken underground]. These warriors are said to serve her in the afterlife and are loyal to her above all else. However, as mentioned above, the Grail is also said to have been able to resurrect the dead back to life, which provides us with a link back to Meritaten again.
It is said of Hel that she is half blue-black and rotten like a corpse, and half flesh-coloured like a living human. Her name has also given rise to the word "hell". As I have mentioned elsewhere, Leprosy was rife in Egypt and the Middle East at the end of Akhenaten's reign and many of his family seemed to have died from it (save for his wife Nefertiti who seemed to be immune). Indeed, this outbreak of leprosy on a huge scale may be what lies behind the biblical final plague of Egypt, that of the angel of death who visited the first born of every household. It could therefore be the case that Meritaten had the disease herself and this is preserved in Norse mythology by Hel's appearance as a half-rotting corpse, which is a reasonable description of the later stages of the disease. Alternatively, she may have been a carrier of the disease and spread it to others with whom she came into contact.
Thus, on one level this verse may be seen as merely that of a romantic lover extolling the virtues and beauty of his female love, but on another level it may well be a disguised poem in honour of the Grail. The C's said above that some of the lyrics of
Carmina Burana are truly ancient and we know that the Grail is really ancient, since the C's told us that over 80,000 years ago it transported a group of Kantekkians to Earth before their planet exploded. Could the lyrics of this verse therefore be based on an ancient poem in praise of the Grail, whose origins may go all the way back to Atlantis? And could the rose in "Rostau" (ros-tau or rose-cross) the former name of Giza, as adopted by the Roscirucians, whose forerunners we were told were the Rosteem, have been aware of this connection to the Grail - "the rose of the world"?
It is curious thought that if you take the red cross of St George, as used in Sweden and Finland, which is similar to the Templar Cross or
Cross Pattée, it looks like a flattened pyramid in two dimensions. If you then three-dimensionalise it and bring the four sides together, you will get a pyramid.
Which in a funny way leads us back to
prime numbers again:
Q: Just a little while ago, we looked at the image of the prime number designs that were like interlocking pieces of...
A: Flattened pyramids.
Q: That’s exactly what they looked like. Okay, if you take your series of sound from those that form a three dimensional pyramid by the proximity based on the flattened pyramids... it really doesn’t matter where you start? You pick one, and take the ones that are connected, is that the idea?