Faust and Mephistopheles.
Franz Hartmann, M.D.[1]
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl
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Notes by the Translator, Robert Hutwohl
The text explores the deeper meaning of Goethe’s “Faust,” interpreting it as an occult work about the human soul’s struggle for redemption. Faust embodies the human soul’s desire for freedom and spiritual enlightenment, while Mephistopheles represents the egoistic and self-willed forces that hinder this journey. The poem illustrates the eternal conflict between the higher and lower aspects of the human soul, ultimately leading to Faust’s redemption.
Faust, seeking eternal truth, is misled by Mephistopheles, representing earthly reason and the astral world. Despite his errors, Faust’s pursuit of knowledge and desire to transcend humanity lead him towards the divine. True knowledge and immortality are not found in external pursuits or egoism, but through self-renunciation and union with the divine Self.
Faust, driven by a thirst for knowledge, makes a pact with Mephistopheles, leading to a life of deceit and moral corruption. Despite his initial success, Faust realizes the emptiness of his pursuits and the need for self-denial and self-sacrifice to attain true fulfillment. Ultimately, Faust’s redemption comes through selfless love and his soul’s journey towards divine self-knowledge.
There are few poems as universally known and appreciated as Goethe’s “Faust.” What makes the Faust poem so popular is the idea embodied in the person of Faust. There is something mysterious about the entire poem. One can rightly say that the Faust tragedy is an occult work, because this greatest creation of Goethe’s relates to events and experiences that belong to the inner or spiritual life of man and arise from the poet’s own experience, not from his intellectual speculation or imagination.—
End.
The subject of the Faust poem is mankind’s struggle for redemption. In it, Goethe describes the dangers and obstacles that confront every human being who fights for freedom and immortality.[2] An attempt will now be made to provide an explanation of the Faust poem from the standpoint of occult science. Dozens of commentaries on Goethe’s “Faust” have already been written. The explanation given here does not claim to be the only correct one.[3] The truth of the poem will only be recognized by those who have experienced it within themselves; for spiritual states can only be perceived and recognized spiritually.—
Faust is the main character of the poem, and the subject is Faust’s struggle for spiritual freedom. Goethe calls the hostile force with which Faust fights “Mephistopheles.” We ask:
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- Who is Faust? and
- Who is this Mephistopheles?
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The poem also deals with:
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- Faust under Mephistopheles’ spell;
- Faust’s redemption.
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I. Who is Heinrich Faust?
Certainly, Heinrich Faust is not a specific historical figure. There have been many Fausts throughout human history, and there are still many today. The figure of Faust is typical. Every person carries Faust within them, but in the majority of people, it has not yet awakened to consciousness. The name “Heinrich Faust” itself indicates this typical character. The name “Heinrich” is said to mean “master of the house,” and the word “Faust,” which refers to the clenched hand, denotes a “fighter.” According to this, Faust is the human soul fighting for its rule and freedom, which should be the master in the physical body, which the person inhabits as a house during his life on earth. Faust is the individual ray (manas) of the world soul (ātma-buddhi), which has its dwelling in heaven, its home, and is divine and omniscient by nature, but is not yet pure enough to recognize its unity with the universal spirit, and therefore has to descend again and again from time to time into the hell of earthly life in order to experience all the joys and sorrows of worldly existence during many world periods.
The human souls left their heavenly home and descended to earth in order to achieve freedom and dominion over matter in the struggle with it, but those souls that were not yet strong and wise enough were defeated in the struggle and were increasingly obscured by matter until they forgot their divine origin and home and identified themselves completely with the body, as is the case with the majority of civilized people today.
During incarnation, the soul splits into two parts. The higher part, or the true self, of the person remains forever in the spiritual world, even during incarnation, and with each incarnation sends the lower part of their being, the lower force (the lower manas), down into the realm of matter, where it clothes itself with the substance of the lower plane of the planet. First, the soul descends into the intellectual zone of the planet and envelops itself there in the thought body; then it penetrates the world of desire, clothes itself in a garment woven from the desires it itself called into existence in the last life, and finally, with the help of human parents, attains physical incarnation.
The higher, immortal part of the human soul overshadows every human personality and constantly strives to draw the lower part, its own child and creature, to itself. This can only happen when the lower manas is purified and freed from all dross, earthly inclinations and desires. In the course of development, which lasts many world periods (kalpas), the moment comes for the soul when the higher self succeeds in making itself known to the person imprisoned in the physical body, illuminating him with his knowledge and imparting a portion of his power.
From this moment on, there is no more rest for the person who has seen the true light. The desire for knowledge, power, and freedom has awakened within him; he now strives to extricate himself from the mire of sensual life. With this, however, begins the struggle depicted in the sacred (occult) scriptures of all religions: the struggle of man with his virtues and vices.
ere begins the tragedy of Goethe’s “Faust.” In Faust, his higher nature has awakened, filling him with that unconscious longing for something higher. However, there is still no clear insight within him, only a dark urge. Dark clouds of passion still surround his head, so that he cannot see the full truth. Faust is the lost son who sets out to go to his father, but is repeatedly pulled away from his goal by his lower powers until he succeeds in freeing himself from them completely. The soul of a normal person has two poles, like a magnet, one of which strives upwards, the other downwards. Faust expresses this in the following words:
“Two souls dwell, alas, in my breast,
One seeks to separate from the other;
One, in the lust of love,
Clings to the world with clinging organs;
The other violently lifts itself from the dust
To the realms of high ancestors.”
The lower soul forces have their center of gravity in the material, the higher in the spiritual; each part gravitates toward where its own nature draws it and where it belongs. The body is attracted to the earth by its gravity and finds its rest in the grave; the heavenly soul, through love of the highest, strives toward the realm of the gods and ultimately finds its rest in God. Spirit and matter are wed on this earth, but they do not remain united forever. Each ultimately returns to its source. Faust exclaims:
“What am I if it is not possible
to win the crown of humanity?”
And Mephistopheles says of him:
“Fate has given him a spirit that,
untamed, always pushes forward.”
Faust’s aspiration is expressed in the following words:
“If I ever lie down on a lazy bed in peace,
then let it be done for me at once!
If you can ever lie to me with flattery,
so that I may please myself,
If you can ever deceive me with pleasure,
that shall be my last day!”—
And Faust says to Mephistopheles:
“You hear, there’s no mention of joy;
I dedicate myself to intoxication, to the most painful pleasure,
to hatred in love, to refreshing annoyance.
My breast, healed by the thirst for knowledge,
shall never be closed to pain in the future,
and what is allotted to all humanity,
I will enjoy in my inner self,
grasp the highest and the deepest with my spirit,
heap their weal and sorrow upon my breast,
and thus expand my own self to their self,
and, like them, in the end, I too will shatter.”[4]
We now come to the second part of our consideration, to answer the question:
II. Who is Mephistopheles?
“It makes no difference whether we consider Faust, Mephistopheles, Gretchen, and others as historical figures or as symbols of universally active forces; for every human being is nothing other than a personification of a sum of forces active in all of nature and an outwardly visible symbol of qualities that are invisible in themselves.”
Mephistopheles calls himself “a part of that force which always wills evil and always creates good” and adds: “I am the spirit which always denies!” He expresses his abilities: “I am not omniscient, but I am aware of much,” and Faust says of him: “Has the spirit of man in his lofty striving ever been grasped by your kind?” In “Prologue in Heaven” it is said:
“Man’s activity can all too easily slacken,
He soon loves absolute rest;
Therefore, I gladly give him the companion,
Who excites and influences, and must create like a devil.”
“Mephistopheles is the product of egoism, the conceit that seeks to equate itself with God, and the self-will that arises from the “non-knowledge of truth” that is connected with error.”
“Mephistopheles, considered the intellectual principle in man, can know nothing higher than (earthly) reason, because he is not illuminated by grace, i.e., by the light of truth.” “The (earthly) reason of man (thus Mephistopheles) is, on the one hand, the protector, but, on the other, also the seductress of man.”
We can also consider Mephistopheles as an elemental being. We always attract those spirits of the surrounding nature that are related to our own nature. Every thought animated by the will is a “spirit,” which represents an independent being in the inner world. Such thoughts and forms of will can unite with other, related “spirits” and then represent strong, powerful beings. While they may grant power and diverse knowledge to the person with whom they are temporarily connected, they pose a great danger to everyone; for they hold people back from striving toward the divine. They themselves cannot recognize the divine and cannot grant them immortality and wisdom. Therefore, it is said in all great religions: “You shall have no other gods before ME!” The ONE God whom everyone should honor is the Logos, the divine Word, which constitutes the essence of every thing in the universe. Only through union with the divine Self can man attain immortality, freedom, and omniscience.
III. Faust under the spell of Mephistopheles.
It would now be our task to describe the perplexities Faust goes through. Faust searches for that which is permanent and eternal in the “non-permanent and transient” and cannot find the eternal, because only that which is eternal in the Self can know the eternal. He searches for truth in external things and does not find it, because the knowledge of truth can only be attained within oneself.
First, we find the man “Faust” occupied in his “brain-box,” in his own study, surrounded by scholarly stuff, searching in vain for the ONE. Faust, the soul, has not yet freed himself from the delusion of individuality, and therefore he cannot grasp the truth. He, like millions of other people, considers the human personality to be something essential, and therefore he personally desires to know, personally possess, and have it. The endeavor of most thinking people is to convince themselves of the immortality of their own personality. Egoism underlies this endeavor, and it does not achieve its goal because egoism hinders the awakening of the consciousness of the impersonal, and because there is no immortality for the personal, animal human being.
For a moment, when Faust, filled with the feeling of his own nothingness, experienced true human greatness, he attained the consciousness of immortality; but soon he sank back to the consciousness of his personal self; now he is an ordinary human being again. He now casts aside the laboriously acquired scholarly stuff and surrenders to the enthusiasm for nature. Now he learns to know nature in its unvarnished simplicity and finds satisfaction in it. However, even this pleasure is not lasting; for it belongs to the realm of sensations.
Faust now wishes to learn about the spirit world, and since he himself is not yet capable of rising to the highest and grasping it, he wishes to establish a connection with the “spirits” of the middle region, the astral world. The opportunity for this immediately presents itself; for it is much easier to invite the devil than to keep him away. The fruit of his obsession with nature is that Faust has brought the devil into his “house.” His better nature tells Faust that the devil, who has taken possession of him, is merely a corrupter and a liar. Nevertheless, scientific curiosity stirs within him, and he wishes to bind him to himself. The natural consequence of this wish is that the Devil succeeds in lulling Faust, that is, in numbing his conscience, and sinking him into that “sea of delusion” in which most people constantly swim. From a human perspective, Mephistopheles (the earthbound intelligence) is not to be despised; for without him, man would be an idiot and would remain an idiot. But above the realm of external observation and logical speculation, there is a higher realm, that of true, religious knowledge. Faust is like millions of his fellow human beings; he considers himself a whole in his personality, yet he is only a part.
True knowledge cannot be achieved through empty enthusiasm for ideals. Everything that the imagination presents to us is nothing but acting and pastime. All church-going, all ceremonies, all outward prayer and singing is far from being religion, but rather a game with religion. True religion does not consist in belonging to any church, advocating dogmas, finding edifying texts beautiful, or being enthusiastic about religious things. All these are at most means to attain religion, which only begins when the knowledge of the divine awakens in the heart. The egoist considers himself the center of the world and seeks to satisfy his desires. He wants to possess the truth for himself. But no one can appropriate the truth; for it is not objective; one must enter into the truth and dwell in it. This serves no purpose when Faust curses the world by exclaiming:
“Cursed be the dazzling apparition
that forces itself upon our senses.”
One must first become human and feel at one with humanity before one can transcend “humanity” and absorb the divine within oneself. The world is not there to be destroyed or to live in solitude, but to “grow out” of it. Whoever overcomes his lower “self” overcomes the world.—
Love for family or nature should not be suppressed or rejected, but should still grow above all things until it extends across humanity as a whole and finally finds its perfection in the eternal Spirit.—
Mephistopheles promises Faust all kinds of sensual pleasure, but Faust doesn’t desire it for the sake of sensual pleasure; he doesn’t want to amuse himself, but rather he wants to enjoy himself in order to learn. Despite his errors, he is on the right path.
Whoever shares in the sufferings and joys of humanity thereby learns to know humanity; whoever does good in the power of selfless love thereby strengthens this power within himself and thus benefits himself most of all —
But man cannot reach the goal. Mephistopheles speaks the truth when he says: “Believe, this whole was made only for one God.” Only when man has died to his own will can God rise in him and attain self-knowledge. — The goal is not, as Mephistopheles writes in the student’s diary: “Eritis sicut Deus” (you will be like God), but “Eritis Deus” (you will be God); “for whoever arrogantly wants to become like God in his own self will fall, but whoever renounces his self and enters into God no longer exists as a human being, but becomes God, and his is God’s omnipotence, wisdom, and glory.” Mephistopheles is further right when he says:
“Just despise reason and science,
man’s supreme power,
Just let the spirit of lies strengthen you with illusions and magic,
and I’ll have you unconditionally.”
Reason and science are the highest powers of mortal man, and whoever despises them sinks even below the level of irrational animals. It is not a matter of ignoring and despising science, but of learning about its errors in order to overcome them.
Animals always act naturally and therefore rationally; humans alone have the power to abuse their reason and act contrary to it.
Faust, of course, could not find the truth in the realm of the intellectual, because it stands above the intellectual. Tired of the aimless search and still unable to rise to the spirit, he sinks down to sensuality. He finds the lower natural force embodied in the students. In Auerbach’s Cellar,[5] they sit together, and
“Quite cannibalistic, I suppose.
Like five hundred pigs.”
Faust is already too high up in the world to find pleasure in this activity, which can satisfy a pig but not a human being in the long run, because within him, even if unconsciously to himself, there is a striving for something higher.
Mephistopheles now leads Faust into the witches’ kitchen. Behind all the hocus-pocus presented here, we find a profound truth. Faust is meant to rejuvenate himself; he needs youthful strength to plunge into the fullness of human life. The true alchemist possesses the art of making himself immortal by transforming the lower natural force residing within him into higher, spiritual power. No external tools are necessary for this. Man himself is the vessel, the pot, in which both the natural force and the power of God work; he himself is the fire, the furnace, and the retort, but he constantly seeks in external things the strength he can find only within himself.
The witch is right when she says:
“The sublime power of science,
Hidden from the whole world!
And to him who does not think, it is given;
He has it without worry.”
One attains immortality not through pondering and reasoning, but through entering into the truth revealed within. “For the immature, however, the awakening of divine powers is a devilish gift,” for with it awakens the entire nature within man, not only his good but also his evil tendencies. Therefore, every student of occult science should beware of venturing into the realm of magic before he has attained the necessary maturity, purity, and self-control. Therefore, in the Christian Church, the ceremony of baptism, as the symbol of purification, precedes all others. — Whoever absorbs the Spirit of God and then misuses it brings judgment upon himself. —
Faust is a man obsessed with a thirst for knowledge and completely subjugated to it, who imagines he can subjugate the realm of “spirits” to his will. How deeply he deludes himself about his own power becomes apparent when he sees Gretchen. It is not love that drives Faust and Gretchen to crime, but lust, a love devoid of knowledge. True love drives no one to crime. It knows no selfishness or greed. It demands nothing for itself, but gives itself completely. Gretchen’s love, although selfless, is imprudent and therefore blind. She wants nothing but to fulfill her lover’s wishes and entrusts herself completely to his “wisdom.” This is her downfall, but it grants her a much-needed experience.
Faust briefly realizes that sensual life cannot satisfy his higher nature, but it is difficult for man to separate himself from his animal nature once he has intimately connected with it and it has completely taken over him. Therefore, Faust laments:
“Great, glorious spirit, you who deigned to appear to me, you who know my heart and my soul, why bind me to the scoundrel who revels in harm and succumbs to ruin?”
“Sublime spirit, you gave me this bliss,
which brings me ever closer to the gods,
the companion I can no longer
do without, even though he, cold and impudent,
humiliates me before myself and, with a whisper, transforms your gifts into nothing.”
But without the knowledge and mastery of evil, one could not attain the knowledge of good; without error, one could not attain truth; without doubt, one could not attain conscience. The devil is our savior if we overcome him.
When Faust learns of Gretchen’s fate, he is seized by disgust with Mephistopheles, i.e., with himself. He would like to rid himself of the evil spirit he has absorbed, but he can no longer do without it. He does not repent of the injustice he has committed, but only of its consequences, and wishes to prevent them. To do so, he again needs the power of evil. He attempts to free Margaret, but she recognizes the evil associated with him and repels her. By refusing to follow him, she is saved, while Faust, driven by egoism, seeks safety.
Second part.
The first part of the poem describes how Faust studies the small world, the microcosm, and, driven by his thirst for knowledge, stops at no means to achieve his goal. In his association with Margarete, he has come to know the human heart and tasted sensual love, and has been driven by the passion that controls him to lies, deceit, poisoning, and murder. Now he longs to learn about the big world, to achieve honor, wealth, and power, and since the usual path to this is far too long, the power of evil is required here as well: deceit, illusion, and sorcery. Faust’s main passion is not crude sensuality, but a greedy thirst for knowledge, the impetuous desire to satisfy his scientific curiosity. This leads those who follow him to ruin, because it gives rise to disregard for the sanctity of life, desecration, cruelty, and brutality.[6]
Faust’s aim is not to attain the knowledge of truth through inner purification and sanctification, but rather through contemplation of the shadow play of nature. Disguised as a fool, he sneaks into the emperor’s court, arouses the admiration of the curious crowd through his magic tricks, exposes the ideal to ridicule, and wins the emperor’s favor. He seeks to grasp the essence of the empty illusion.
The poet of the Faust tragedy now introduces us to the realm of that perverse science that considers the mind a product of mindless forms. Wagner seeks to create a human being by mixing various substances. But he creates nothing more than a fantasy animated by himself.
Faust then goes to the “classical Walpurgis Night” and searches for the realization of his ideal among the figures of Greek mythology. Helen then appears with her retinue. The poet demonstrates that man can only attain possession of his ideal if it is realized within himself; for everything one possesses externally is only an apparent possession. The realization of the divine ideal in man is possible only through self-denial and self-sacrifice.
After the disappearance of his ideal, Faust is left with a desolation and emptiness. Mephistopheles tries to tempt him to indulge in hedonism, but Faust resists.
Instead, a thirst for action awakens within him. He wants to accomplish something great and, to do so, needs possessions. Through deceit, he wins the emperor’s battle and is rewarded with land. He has now become ruler of an entire country, but his desires are insatiable. He has achieved much, but he wants everything. The fact that a small estate is not yet his, causes him great distress; he takes possession of it by force, murdering the inhabitants in the process.—
Now he is overcome with remorse. He curses his alliance with evil and the possessions he has acquired through it. He realizes that one must first become a human being before one can become a “superman,” and that everything that springs from human conceit is worthless and brings ruin.
Faust goes blind, but within him, the realization dawns that true human happiness does not consist in possessing and enjoying for oneself, but in recognizing the spirit of the whole within oneself and, in this spirit, working selflessly for the common good as a part of the whole. Through this, the consciousness of humanity and the anticipation of the happiness he has created through his work for a part of humanity and consequently also for himself, as a part of it, awaken within him. Thus, his self-delusion and egotism are over, and he has no need to continue living as an individual, as a creature separate from the ONE humanity. Faust dies.—
Faust’s redemption.
The good that was in Faust has triumphed over evil. The devil can take nothing from man except that which corresponds to his own being and is of a devilish nature. Faust’s soul frees itself from all impurity, frees itself from all earthly bonds that belonged to the personal self, and Faust’s immortality is lifted to higher consciousness by the angels, i.e., by the heavenly powers that dwell within him.
In heaven, he also finds the immortal part of Margaret; for both are bound together by what was ideal and immortal in their love. They are one in this love and cannot be separated. There, his soul also attains a transfigured body, in which it reappears in the “prime vigor of youth.” This will enable Faust’s soul, after a period of rest in which he has enjoyed heavenly bliss, to rebuild a new physical organism for himself, in order to continue on the path of progress upon his reappearance on earth.
The purpose of all evolution and involution is to transform humanity’s un-insightful love into one of insight. What saved Faust’s soul was the selfless love of good. Therefore, the angels sing:
“The noble member of the spirit world is saved from evil:
Whoever aspires and strives,
We can redeem him;
And if love has truly shared in him
from above,
the blessed host meets him
with a warm welcome.”
Only love can separate the lower nature from the higher.
“No angel could separate the united nature of these two;
only eternal love can separate them.”
But heaven, or the world of the gods (Devachan), into which Faust’s soul entered, is not yet the highest. Although the soul in this state of consciousness is much closer to God, i.e., to the knowledge of eternal unity, than it was when it was still held captive by the personal, the idea of form still exists, thus an illusion that only completely disappears when the soul has entered Nirvana.
What draws man upward is, as Goethe calls it, the Eternal Feminine (the will of God, the love which is true life itself). Goethe’s “Faust” is a textbook that shows how man attains divine self-knowledge (Theosophy) through experience.
The poem ends with the words with which we also want to conclude our reflection:
“Everything transitory
Is only a parable;
The inadequate,
Here it becomes an event;
The indescribable,
Here it is accomplished,
The eternal feminine,
Draws us onward.”
Notes:
[1] Faust and Mephistopheles. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Theosophischer Wegweiser 8, no, 7 (April 1907), 193-212. [Based on Dr. Franz Hartmann’s “Mysticism in Goethe’s Faust.” [“Mystik in Goethes Faust.”]] [Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025]
[2] The same subject is also dealt with, for example, in the New Testament, Shakespeare’s Hamlet tragedy, Wagner’s musical dramas, and many fairy tales.
[3] Franz Hartmann’s explanations are true insofar as they correspond to human nature.
[4] Humanity and with it every human being find their end in God.
[5] [R.H.—Mentioned in Faust. It is the first place Mephistopheles takes Faust on their travels.]
[6] This includes, for example, “scientific” animal torture (vivisection).