The Egyptian Postures

The Everyday Press 7-10 Occupation Road London SE17 3BE www.theeverydaypress.net Copyright © The Everyday Press 2017 Copyright © Ian Whittlesea 2017 Copyright © Pádraic E. Moore 2017 All rights reserved Published in London an edition of 1000 copies ISBN 978-0-9561738-9-8 Printed and bound in Europe by SYL Barcelona The Egyptian Postures Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha’nish Edited and illustrated by Ian Whittlesea with images of Ery Nzaramba demonstrating the postures and an essay by Pádraic E. Moore. INTRODUCTION 8 Ian Whittlesea My interest in Mazdaznan began with a photograph. It was widely reproduced in publications about the Bauhaus and generally titled Morning exercises on the roof of the Itten school but I had never found a satisfactory explanation of just what the young people in white coats were doing on that rooftop. After a little work, and a fortuitous purchase on eBay of a book from the 1930s, I learnt that it showed Johannes Itten and his students practicing not just any morning exercises but very specifically Mazdaznan breathing exercises. It was a discovery that inspired my book Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture. That book, like this, explores the intimate relationship between Johannes Itten, Mazdaznan and the Bauhaus. Itten was a renowned colour theorist, artist and teacher who was among the first faculty of the newly formed Bauhaus from 1919 until he resigned as director of the Vorkurs (preliminary course) in 1923, his position made untenable by a conflict between his mysticism and director Walter Gropius’s move towards an active engagement with mass production. Itten’s departure has been seen by some as the triumph of the rational, epitomised by Gropius and his machine-age aesthetic, and by others as emblematic of the rupture between modernism and its roots, with the associated dismissal of the conscious body as a denial of transcendence, sensuality and occult energy. Itten was a devout Mazdaznan, a follower of the self-named Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha’nish and his Chicago-based global religion. Ha’nish advocated a strict vegetarian diet, breath control, tantric sexual techniques and a form of pseudo-yoga as a means of self-realisation. Many of Itten’s students converted to Mazdaznan and together they practiced the breathing exercises at the centre of Ha’nish’s teachings. My first book on Mazdaznan was based on the assumption that Itten would only have taught the simplest exercises to his students. Just after that book was published I came across a second photograph, obviously taken at the same time as the first, and titled Relaxation exercises on the roof of the Itten school. The same group of students are shown assisting each other into 9 Morning exercises on the roof of the Itten School, 1931 Johannes-Itten-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern © DACS 2017 Relaxation exercises on the roof of the Itten School, 1931 Johannes-Itten-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern © DACS 2017 10 a variety of positions obviously taken from the most advanced series of Mazdaznan exercises. These were The Egyptian Postures, a group of bending, stretching and posing movements that Ha’nish claimed to be descended directly from those used by the Pharaohs. They were designed to activate glands and re-channel internal energies, stirring the blood in ways that contributed to the perpetual evolution of humanity. They were also said to lead to auto-illumination, the participant’s body generating light from within visible to any onlooker. I described Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture as ‘a practical guide to performing the exercises that Itten taught at the Bauhaus and a celebration of a moment of mysticism at the heart of modernism’ and while the same could be said of The Egyptian Postures, it also explores the much more difficult questions of why modernism’s early adherents felt it necessary to banish the esoteric and occult from their midst. My drawings of the postures and photographs of the finger exercises are an attempt at clarity. They seek to honour Ha’nish’s instructions that the postures are timeless and need no special clothes or apparatus, and to provide an alternative to the often difficult to follow illustrations that are printed in many Mazdaznan publications. I am indebted to Pádraic E. Moore, whose essay insightfully and sensitively unpicks some of the conflicts of Itten’s time at the Bauhaus and deals unflinchingly with Mazdaznan’s adherence to theories of race evolution. I am also grateful to Ery Nzaramba for a brief but essential discussion of the politics of history, as well as his exemplary demonstration of The Egyptian Postures. 11 Illustrations of The Egyptian Postures taken from Dr. O. Z. Ha’nish, Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture (Chicago, Mazdaznan Press 1914) and Dr. O. Z. Ha’nish & Carlos Bungé, L’art de la Respiration (Paris, Les Editions Mazdéennes 1935) THE EGYPTIAN POSTURES FOREWORD FOR many years, and ever since the introduction of HEALTH AND BREATH CULTURE we have been prevailed upon to publish and illustrate EGYPTIAN POSTURES, that the farther advanced pupils may follow the trend of their promptings unto still higher attainments, since upon the Plains of Progression there can be no final, but a continuity of efforts. But, as repeatedly assuring our Students, we have never had an intention of directing our talents toward literary pursuits, our intention has been to simply voice subjects of interest and value, leaving the wording, arranging, transcribing and systematizing to those, who have been particularly gifted in that direction. True, some have made an attempt, but insufficiently versed in Subjects of Scientific Principles and Measure, have too hurriedly offered to the world what they themselves have never tested or experienced, thus creating a mass of complications. The Spirit of our Times demands thoroughly tried, efficient, demonstrable and simple methods, be it on lines of physical, mental or spiritual development. Physical culture, Body culture, Swedish and Rhythmic movements may be practically new to us, and be more or less unscientific in theory and practice, but Scientific Gymnastics have run parallel with people of a civilized type. Wherever Scientific Gymnastics became a part of daily regime, whether observed by the stalwart Roman for physical handsomeness, the Greek for philosophical reasons, the Egyptian unto higher spiritual attainments, matters little, as in either and all cases the pneuma, the spiritus, or the breath constituted the impetus unto bodily movements or pantomime. The Romans copied the Greeks, the latter the Egyptians, and into Egypt everything of note and value poured, as streams empty into the mighty ocean that receives them with open arms, since Egyptians believed in absorption. Here then are found the higher and refined schools in scientific healing, philosophy and religion, where 15 the system of education is brought down to a minimum, meeting the demands of the threefold nature of man. The curriculum of academic learning consisted of evolutionary developments and innocent sports rather than the sweating system of lecture torture. Even in our days the students follow sports, although crude in nature, because of the little interest shown by the faculty, and we can thus account for the lack of scientific measures. In offering the EGYPTIAN POSTURES we hope to fill a longfelt want, meeting the demand in part at least, if not in whole. True, we do not enter into any details, satisfying the unsatiable critic, who confines himself largely to theory and surface. To meet every invalid mind, with the purpose of sweeping off cobwebs of antiquated learning, would require volumes of writings. Suffice it to say, that after thorough practice of the Twelve Lessons in HEALTH AND BREATH CULTURE the EGYPTIAN POSTURES will more than convince the most sceptic of their efficacy, and although simple in their appearance, the execution of each Posture, in their order as given, will prove their worth better than all the spear-pointed arguments. In taking these Postures we should always bear in mind, that in as much as all the exercises in HEALTH AND BREATH CULTURE must be taken on the breath, if good results are to be immediately obtained, even so the EGYPTIAN POSTURES are not only to be taken on the breath, but be accompanied by music and song in the higher or mental sense at least, applying humming, that the more difficult poses may be readily mastered. All POSTURES are poses, more or less, and it is necessary that the gymnast remain in each pose long enough to feel perfectly relaxed, 16 poised and confident. Before attempting the practice of EGYPTIAN POSTURES it may be well for the gymnast to study the illustrations carefully and recall to memory all he has learned in anatomy and physiology. Thereafter take the positions in the order given and in the manner described. Students of Egyptology will recall to mind some of the Postures and remember that the Egyptian Physician, Priest or Judge prescribed to the needy POSTURES for the healing of sickness, sin or deficiencies. Although lost sight of for a time, the study of Archeology has revealed many treasures of former accomplishments, and what heretofore appeared as mere embellishments, or meaningless idols of stone or wood, now disclose their original purpose, posing as Saints in their sacred attitudes assuring perfection in all things by following in their divine footsteps, thus fulfilling the part we have so long sought. May then the Ideals (idols) of the Ancients, born of good endeavor, prove unto mutual understanding and wrought in us the gold of virtue that alone can free us from entanglements of error, and place us where talents may be utilized to best advantage. With showers of Blessings, OTOMAN, PRINCE OF ADUSHT. 17 POSTURE LESSON EVERY RACE has its sports, its religious rites or its entertainments, calculated to stir the mind and stimulate the body to greater action through the circulatory and nervous system. Every phase has much in its favor when rationally considered, and discloses great wisdom on the part of Nature to further the change in the blood that made the anthropological developments possible, to the extent of sharp lines of demarcation, separating one race from another not only as to color but as to mental possibilities, so much so that with the development of each successive race greater endowments become embodied, making life’s most perplexing problems as solveable as the fading of stars at the break of day. Up to the Aryan race this blood purifying process has become quite evident and wherever ambition unto higher attainments asserted itself, there man would seek to discover Nature’s only and infallible means unto ethnological developments conducive to higher culture. The Egyptians, although a mixed type, recognized the importance of the blood through dynamic action and discovered in a more general way the necessity of equal and corresponding development of the mental inclinations to that of the bodily functions, not only to assure health of body and mind, but to gain control over all the spiritual attributes, assuring perfection. The heart, as the center of the circulatory system, with the dynamics directing the ganglionic operations, distributes the blood in accordance to the fineness of its texture to whatever part desired, and according to the chemical operations induces thought waves communicative with mind and its concept. The Ancients seemed to have understood the physiological modus operandi of heart and mind when they said: ‘’From an impure heart flow evil thoughts.’’ 19 Father Ammann in “The Coming Race and Race Hygiene” gives to the scientific world the key to life when he says: “Blood is the original matter which influences all outer manifestations and formations and changes them in the course of development. Blood is the essential race builder. The consistency of the blood determines the infallible sign of racial relation. The purer the blood, the clearer the pigment. The darker the skin, the lower the race. Blood is not only the carrier of the inherited, but also the progenitor to all the attainable spiritual tendencies.” The Egyptian Postures have it for their purpose to increase chemicalization of Thought-waves and with it the refining of the Blood, which assures refinement of the Heart so necessary unto higher culture and greater attainments. Not enough can be said about the value of Egyptian Postures. Suffice it to say that the diverse positions taken and the rhythmic breath applied will send the blood to every part of the body and release sub-luxations to an extent of eradicating adhesions, making it possible for the nervous system to gain absolute freedom, promoting brain development. Before taking the Postures proper we would advise the Finger Exercises as given in the plate and follow them in regular order down to the Fist exercise, applying the Rhythmic Breath at all change of positions. Retain each position long enough to feel that the exercise is aiding you in conquering weakness. Use every relaxed effort to hold all other fingers in perfect line, while the one finger points into “the hollow of thy hand.” Best results from these exercises are obtained in the early morning and upon an empty stomach, adding greatly to the development if taken in the open and in concerted action, where harmonic surroundings may be 20 observed. After some attention to the various positions of the fingers, the fist, the wrist, the elbow and the arm it will be found that in the waking state the muscles readily tense more, and that for this reason we have to arouse ourselves to adjustment. A tense state means loss of energy. Scientific exercises, prompted by good judgement and reason, are calculated to check undue loss and build up the human mechanism to an extent of assuring satisfaction and success. Further attention to the diverse postures will reveal to the religious practitioner that diverse organs of the body are quickened to a more normal action assuring stimulation and with it further development of bodily and mental functions, in which the epiphysis, or pineal gland, the spinal cord, the solar plexus and the sympathetic nerves play an important part. The Egyptian Postures in this Series assure the physical and intellectual development in the gray matter, touching the spiritual side only to the extent inherent. As the Fist predominates in these Postures observe position of fingers; draw them in closely, so as to fold the tips with the mounts over the heart line and lastly head line. Set them firm and tight. Now press the thumb upon the second phalanx of the second, third and lastly the fourth finger, at the same time keeping the fingers in their original position. The thumb is to press tightly, while fingers, hand, wrist, elbow, arm and shoulder relax that the bicepts and tricepts may have freedom of control and the mind become at ease to use its talents and gifts. 21 THE FINGER EXERCISES THE POSTURES POSTURE SET ONE Fig. 1) Is the introductory position used in all Kneeling Postures. The features in this position are the perfect lines drawn by deflation of abdomen until the floating ribs are drawn to a tightness, compelling the chest to expand to the utmost point. This gives freedom to the lungs to move in the immovable chest cavity at will, eradicating all adhesions, assuring limberness to shoulder joints and arm sockets, giving the face a most pleasant expression; for pleasant we must look and pleasant we must feel. The next point to be observed is the looseness and freedom of the neck. Then the placing of the fist according to fist illustration on page 25, taking care that every hint is followed, as much depends upon the right setting of the fingers and the thumb of both hands, owing to the fact that the nerves are not only stimulated through these positions but quickened to a more normal and eventually a greater ganglionic generation, charging the system with healthier chemicals, inducing better thinking. 38 Fig. 1 Fig. 2) Kneel down, make fists, and place them close to neck, but resting upon shoulder groove. Empty the lungs to the utmost; arrest all action for a few moments. Now fill the lungs and while retaining the breath, bend the body forward, touching the floor with forehead at first and later with chin, remaining in that position as long as possible. Returning to original position, exhale and run off the scale ha, hä, he, hi, hü, hu, ho, hö, according to the French or German, using no effort whatsoever. Release the hold of fist only when prompted to do so, and then relax the fingers just for a few moments. 40 Fig. 2 Fig. 3) Retaining the same position as in Fig. 2, inhale, retain the breath, and bend as far back as you can, exhaling as you return to original position, while humming a tune. It may be well to pile a stack of books behind one, removing one book after another each day, and until head comes to rest upon the floor. With each day lengthen the time of retentment. 42 Fig. 3 Fig. 4) Take to original kneeling position and keep fists in same place, taking care that fingers and thumbs are placed tightly. After thorough emptying of the lungs, which should be done by humming an appropriate Health or Peace tune, arrest all breath action for a few seconds and then fill the lungs to the utmost; arrest all breath action and bend body as far to the right as possible and until the right elbow touches the floor, retaining gracefulness as to the lines of the body and expression upon the face. Returning to the original kneeling position, empty the lungs while humming the Harmonic scale or an appropriate tune. 44 Fig. 4 Fig. 5) Same kneeling Position; keeping the clenched fists tight against the shoulder joint. Always empty lungs thoroughly, arrest breath action for a few moments. Fill lungs with ease, while chest is well set. Arrest all action and bend body to the left and until left elbow touches the floor. Hum a sweet tune when returning to original kneeling position. Do not release fists from their position. Continue to clench fingers and press thumbs. Having gone through these positions until they become easy, take all four positions in rapid succession and upon one inhalation. This done, take each position upon an exhalation; and thereafter all four positions upon one exhalation, which means to say, you hum a melody until lungs are thoroughly emptied and then go through the movement and movements. 46 Fig. 5 POSTURE SET TWO Fig. 6) This position is identified with Fig. 2 in POSTURE SET ONE but constitutes a new series owing to the difference in the effect upon the nerves. Here the fists are placed and dug deep into the arm pits, controlling and keeping thumbs tightly to the lines set. Study the illustration carefully. The emptying of the lungs upon a melody and filling same remains like in former POSTURE. 48 Fig. 6 Fig. 7) All the former instructions are to be observed. After the Forward movement the Backward movement follows. Then the Side movement with right elbow touching the floor, followed by the left elbow. Note the difference in the lines of muscles when compared with Fig. 4, where the fists rest upon the shoulders instead of under armpits. 50 Fig. 7 POSTURE SET THREE Fig. 8) Applying all previous instructions, place first one fist, then the other between shoulder blades and until both fists meet. The nearer the shoulder tips the better. As soon as fists are adjusted to the highest possible point take the Forward movement with chin touching the floor, followed by the Backward movement, the back of head or crown touching the floor; then the Side movement in which the right elbow touches the floor, followed by the Side movement where the left elbow touches the floor; applying further instructions as given in the last two paragraphs of Fig. 5. Remember that all tension is due to inattention. If chest is kept in place and neck held freely, while all the muscular force remains in the fists, a strange relaxation throughout the body will be observed. The cracking of joints need not alarm us. 52 Fig. 8 POSTURE SET FOUR Fig. 9) While the right fist rests between shoulder blades the left arm is swung in front while the left hand reaches the left ear from behind, giving it a yank as the head turns and chin rests on left shoulder. Now reverse fist and hand, chin resting upon right shoulder. These two features accomplished, perform same while taking the Forward body movement, the Backward, left and right Side movements described in POSTURE SET ONE. 54 Fig. 9 POSTURE SET FIVE Fig. 10) Run up the spinal column with right fist, the elbow resting in the palm of left hand, which is to push the right arm toward the seventh vertebræ, remaining in that position for at least one minute, humming a sweet tune. Reverse arm and hand, adding the four positions given in POSTURE SET ONE. This done, relax arms and hands quickly; lift arms high above head and take the quick wrist shake, moving wrists to right and left for at least twelve times. Then bring arm horizontally in front of you and shake hands which must be limp from the wrists down. Now draw arms toward yourself, shaking hands before your face as if fanning. Take both, the right and left wrist movement. 56 Fig. 10 POSTURE SET SIX Fig. 11) Place left fist under arm pit. The right fist as far up the spinal column as possible. Pound along the spine, from fifth vertebrae down to coccyx, and all over the back; then reverse position of fists. Go through the four positions described in SET ONE and TWO. With face on floor, as in Fig. 10, attempt to touch shoulder with your chin, using effort, if needs be, to pound the back. 58 Fig. 11 POSTURE SET SEVEN Fig. 12) Left fist up the back, while the right pounds the nape and all of the back of neck, the shoulder blades and between them. Reverse positions of fists. Add positions of SET ONE, TWO and FIVE. Finish up with last paragraph of SET FIVE. For especial stimulating effects which will prove nerve quickening, place the elbow of the right arm into the hand of the left arm which is brought around to the right side of the body across the back. With the right fist manipulate every part of the body, even down to the knees, calves and ankles. Reverse position; also adding Forward, Backward, left and right Side movements, and finish up with last paragraph in SET FIVE. 60 Fig. 12 POSTURE SET EIGHT Fig. 13) Kneeling posture. Bring left arm under left shoulder and up the spine, while the right arm is brought over the right shoulder, and between shoulder blades. Here one finger of each hand link, going through linking with all the fingers; then all the fingers of both hands grip tightly into one another. This accomplished reverse positions of arms. This done take the Forward, Backward, the left and right Side movements, while hands are linked. 62 Fig. 13 Fig. 14) Standing position at first. Place arms and fists as in Fig. 13. Have corresponding knuckles of fists brace each other tightly. As soon as successful in this feat, perform this knuckle bracing in the Kneeling posture, taking the Forward, Backward, the left and right Side movements. 64 Fig. 14 POSTURE SET NINE Fig. 15) Kneeling position. Place elbows tightly into hips; with fists hit chest harder and harder, using no tension. Add Forward, Backward, left and right Side Movements. Now place elbows behind as far as possible, touching each other with fists pounding the chest. Add the Forward, Backward, left and right Side movements. While elbows rest tightly against hips stretch forearms in front of you, upward and downward. Do this quickly and systematically. Add the Forward, Backward, left and right Side movements. Finish up with last paragraph in SET FIVE. 66 Fig. 15 Fig. 16) Kneeling position. Fists clenching. Arms thrown out in front but not tensing. The drawing out is effected from shoulder sockets, as if to strike a hard blow while perfectly relaxed. Add the four movements of Forward, Backward, left and right Side, throwing both arms as far behind as possible, when taking the Forward movement; throw arms out in front of you when going through the Backward movement. In both of the Side movements the arms are to be thrown high above head. Be sure to observe the humming of a tune or running off the musical scale while going through these exercises. Go through the maneuver of Fig. 16 in standing position, adding the Forward, Backward, left and right Side movements, taking care that the chest is kept in an immovable position, yet exerting no tension. Watch yourself. Adjust your positions to as perfect lines as possible before going through the movements. 68 Fig. 16 POSTURE SET TEN Fig. 17) Place bend in forefinger as given in ILLUSTRATION of Hand 4 upon atlas, while forefinger of other hand rests upon chest. Now press fingers tightly into the parts touched, vibrating gently at first, gradually increasing the pressure to a vigorous point, immediately relaxing and reversing hands. Having succeeded with the forefinger exercise, now use middlefinger, third and little finger, making sure that fingers not in use are kept in perfect line. 70 Fig. 17 POSTURE SET ELEVEN Fig. 18) Kneel upon left knee; the right limb is placed on an angle. Place palms of hands tightly together; the left thumb placed over the right. Press hands tightly against the heart. Bend body forward, backward and either side. Reverse position of limbs. 72 Fig. 18 Fig. 19) Place tightened hands behind so as to rest thumbs between shoulder blades. While left knee rests upon floor, stretch the right limb behind as far as possible. Take Forward, Backward, left and right Side movements. Now reverse limbs and go through same movements. Keep hands in same position as above. Place right limb in front of you while left knee rests on floor. Go through Forward, Backward, left and right Side movements. Now reverse position of limbs and pass through the same movements. 74 Fig. 19 Fig. 20) Place arms and hands high above head while the knee of one limb rests upon the floor, the other limb straightened out in front of you. Bend body Forward, Backward and either Side. Reverse the position of the limbs and go through the four movements. Keep hands above head; right knee to floor; left limb in front of you; while humming or singing a sweet melody, Spenta Ainyahita preferred, draw the left limb slowly into an angle and gradually behind as in Fig. 19, returning limb to a position as in Fig. 18. Now reverse positions of limbs; place left knee on the floor; set the right limb on an angle as in Fig. 18; keep hands high above head; now move right limb in front, back to an angle; move limb slowly as far behind as possible, and back to an angle as in Fig. 18. Now take limb position as in Fig. 18 and arm position of Fig. 20. While moving the right limb in front of you bend body backward and return to limb position of Fig. 18. Move right limb as far behind as possible, while body and arms move forward. Reverse movements. Attempt Side movement with limbs moving into position as described. 76 Fig. 20 POSTURE SET TWELVE Fig. 21) Kneeling position. Both elbows set tight into hips. Fold hands; one set of fingers at a time and until all fingers are folded. Clench hands tighter and tighter; draw them close to body: imploringly lift them up and away from body, swaying the body backward and forward, touching the floor while hands are held tightly to chest. Rising from this position separate the hands quickly and double your fists, placing the left over small of the back while with the right fist strike rigorously the chest nine times and cross your body by striking the forehead, left shoulder, right shoulder and the pit of the stomach. 78 Fig. 21 POSTURE SET THIRTEEN Fig. 22) Take an erect position. Place fists upon shoulders. Dig them into the grooves. Keep elbows in perfect line. Bend the body forward as far as possible and immediately as far backward, quickly returning to the erect position. Knees must not move a hair breadth; the movements must be from the hips. 80 Fig. 22 Fig. 23) Position the same as Fig. 22. Upon humming bend body to one side and in so doing, gradually rise upon toe-tips. Draw up the body as if attempting to sever part upon part and bend to one side as if determined to touch the hip. Be sure that arms and elbows remain in perfect line as given in illustration. As soon as one has become quite proficient in these movements it is well to sway the body rapidly from side to side, for a half a dozen times, always humming a tune or running off the musical scale. 82 Fig. 23 POSTURE SET FOURTEEN Fig. 24) Procure two celluloid or poplar balls the size of walnuts and attach to them willow or any other elastic sticks, long enough to manipulate them with ease. Start working the spine as if sounding an Xylophone, starting with the little mallet to manipulate the one side of the spinal column from above, the other side from below, both mallets striking in concerted action, each attempting to reach the farthest end of the spinal column, working in opposite directions. The kneeling erect position is to be taken first, followed by the forward bend, the backward and either side. In this way every part of the body may be touched up; lastly the arms, the thighs, calves and feet. The most awkward positions will prove most effective. The benefits from this exercise alone will be so great that we fear the enmity of the Healing craft, but we hope that their largeness of heart and perfect culture of mind will out-balance these simple efforts. 84 Fig. 24 POSTURE SET FIFTEEN Fig. 25) Take an imaginary sitting posture. At first you may have to use a toadstool seat. One limb remains on an angle, with foot placed flat upon the ground; the other limb is straightened out in front, at first with foot supported against some convenient object, later on levitated. Place elbows upon knees, taking care not to curve the spine. While one arm remains perpendicular, the other is slowly placed horizontally. Now reverse the positions of the arms, and begin to swing arms alternately, slow at first, then more and more rapidly. When successful with movements while fisted, add the various finger exercises given in the ILLUSTRATION OF HANDS. 86 Fig. 25 Fig. 26) Position is like the former, only that the foot of the right limb is placed upon the floor, while the heel of the left rests upon a thin rod. The chest has to be raised to a high point to make the resting of the elbows upon knees possible and not curve the spine. With one fist at a time, at first, and then with both fists at the same time strike the shoulders slowly, and more swiftly as you gain more confidence in yourself. 88 Fig. 26 POSTURE SET SIXTEEN Fig. 27) Kneel down. Draw shoulder blades tightly together. Place fists upon chest which bulges out to the utmost. Now raise your right foot slowly from floor and with the heel manipulate the sciatic nerve the same as if using a mallet. Having done so for at least a dozen times, drop foot slowly to the floor and raise the left foot until the heel touches the sciatic nerve, going through the same maneuvers as with the right foot. After some time it will be possible to take this manipulating exercise while the trunk of the body sways forward and backward. 90 Fig. 27 Fig. 28) Kneeling position the same as in Fig. 27. Arms and fists in the same order. First lift the left foot with heel resting upon the sciatic nerve followed slowly by the right foot. Then lift the right foot first and have the left foot follow. The difficulty in performing this exercise may be partly overcome by resting the back of the head against a solid railing, but care should be taken not to tense the muscles of the neck. One should study all the lines of this Posture first, as we would read over a difficult piece of music before attempting to execute it. The mind must go through it all and once the lines become vivid it will go a long ways toward realization of even the most difficult exercises. Humming a tune will aid greatly in checking tension. But during the performance of the most difficult part of the exercise the breath will be suspended. 92 Fig. 28 POSTURE SET SEVENTEEN Fig. 29) Lie down on back. Straighten out all of your body with chest raised high. While knees are being raised draw feet so close to body that heels touch the sciatic nerve and the toe-tips the floor. The arms remain relaxed while an effort is made to apparently pull them out of their sockets. The fists are tightly clenched. As soon as position seems to be satisfactorily adjusted the attempt is to be made to touch the knees with chin or forehead, immediately to return to original lying position. Three attempts to touch knees with chin will suffice within six hours. 94 Fig. 29 POSTURE SET EIGHTEEN Fig. 30) Kneel down. Bring fists to armpits. Now bend backwards slowly, keeping feet in close touch until the seat of the body rests within the soles of the feet and the head slowly and gently sinks into a few pillows and later, after several successful attempts, upon the floor. The same position may be taken while fists are placed upon shoulders, later over-head and beside body as in Fig. 29. 96 Fig. 30 POSTURE SET NINETEEN Fig. 31) This position is to be practiced upon the floor at first, so as to insure perfect control of muscles. Learn to keep the kneecap well drawn in. Shoulder blades and arms must keep free from any support. Use several books for the support of the neck, grading the sizes of books in such a way that the smallest and narrowest book comes on top for the neck to rest upon. Use the same height for the heels to rest upon. After some practice neck and heels may rest upon a set of wooden railings and lastly upon earthenware vessels as the Egyptians used them. As soon as the body feels firm lift your arms, which until now hung beside the body. Be sure fists are properly 98 clenched. As soon as arms stand perpendicular, slowly draw them higher as if attempting to pull them out of their sockets. This accomplished, move arms over-head, and until in a perfect horizontal line with the body. Now return arms to their perpendicular position and lastly draw arms beside the body. The limbs too, but only one limb at a time may be raised into a perpendicular position; lastly alternating with one foot and one arm at a time. Fig. 31 AFTERWORD May perseverance and good judgement bring to you as many blessings as have been and are being showered upon the Faithful. OTOMAN ZAR-ADUSHT. ONE COULD ALMOST CALL IT HOLINESS...1 Pádraic E. Moore Since the 1960s significant art historical research has revealed the extent to which many visual artists of the 20th century were influenced by esoteric philosophies. Some of these instances have brought to light the work of artists who were previously unknown. In recent years the paintings of Georgiana Houghton (1814-1884), Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) and Alfred Jensen (1903-1981) have gained considerable attention, while the research of individuals such as Sixten Ringbom has provided a different lens for interpreting the work of already known artists such as Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944).2 The atmosphere of the early 20th century was ripe for the emergence and embracement of new doctrines, many of which were founded upon elements of 19th century metaphysical movements such as Theosophy. One such doctrine was Mazdaznan, a particularly popular Lebensreform or ‘life reform’ movement of body consciousness, strict vegetarian diet and esoteric leanings. Mazdaznan had a crucial, often misunderstood, impact upon the life and work of Johannes Itten (1888-1967) a key figure in the development of the Weimar Bauhaus. Itten was a devout disciple of Mazdaznan and responsible for introducing it to his students at the Bauhaus in the early 1920s. In its infancy the Bauhaus was an experimental centre of avant-garde activities in several disciplines very different from the later Bauhaus of industrial modernism that came to have a particular focus upon technical innovation in the realms of design and mass production. Itten and Mazdaznan brought to the early years of the Bauhaus a set of ideological tendencies and pedagogical techniques that can, from the perspective of today, seem simultaneously arcane, messianic, inspirational and morally repugnant. Mazdaznan is a syncretic system founded in the U.S.A. in the 1890s by Otto Hanisch (?–1936) who later became known as 1 - Paul Citroen, Mazdaznan at the Bauhaus in Eckhard Neumann, Bauhaus and Bauhaus People (New York, Van Nostrand & Reinhold and London, Chapman Hall 1993) p47 2 - The work of Finnish art historian Sixten Ringbom (1935-1992) was pioneering in this field. His 1970 study The Sounding Cosmos claims that Theosophy had a decisive influence on Wassily Kandinsky and on the genesis of modern abstract art. 105 Portrait of Johannes Itten, 1923 Photographer unknown Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin © DACS 2017 106 Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha’nish.3 While it is confirmed that Ha’nish died in 1936, the date of his birth, like many other details of his life, are shrouded in mystery. The ‘official’ narrative, disseminated by those directly affiliated with the movement, claims Ha’nish was born in 1844 in Tehran where his father was a Russian diplomat. According to Mazdaznan disciples, Ha’nish was born with health problems and as a result was sent by his parents to live with a mysterious Zoroastrian sect in a remote mountain monastery. There the initiates who were his guardians schooled him in breathing techniques and various forms of asceticism that ultimately enabled him to triumph over his potentially fatal illness. Other sources suggest that Ha’nish had been a typographer in Leipzig but relocated to Chicago and reinvented himself in a new guise as a spiritual guru. It was claimed by Upton Sinclair in his book The Profits of Religion that Ha’nish was merely a fraud.4 In Sinclair’s scathing account of Mazdaznan he proposes that the movement was founded with the sole intention of providing Ha’nish with a means of income, and that he was actually the son of a grocer from Illinois who had been involved with Mormons and various other fringe Christian communities before establishing his own religious order or ‘cult’. What is known is that Ha’nish began propagating Mazdaznan in the U.S.A. in the 1890s via public lectures and a monthly magazine. In the latter, he presented some of the material that would eventually be published as Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture and Inner Studies, both first printed in 1902. These two books underscore the extent to which Mazdaznan combines a diverse range of ideas regarding spiritual and physical well-being taken from numerous sources and re-presents them all within the frame of Zoroastrian mythology. Indeed, Ha’nish claimed Mazdaznan was the modern inheritor of Zoroastrianism and that its connection to that ancient tradition was proof of its authenticity. In some ways, the movement might be considered as an emulation of its precursor, the Theosophical Society. 3 - Ha’nish inserted Zar-Adusht into his name to elevate his status as a spiritual leader. The name has associations with Zoroaster and underscored his allegedly noble birth: the word zar means ‘prince’ in Arabic. 4 - Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion (Pasadena, self-published 1918) p251-254 107 Portrait of Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha’nish used in Mazdaznan publications from 1908 to 1940 Photographer unknown 108 The establishment of the Theosophical Society in 1875 and its subsequent flourishing resulted in a surge of interest in esotericism and a fascination with various forms of Eastern thought. A spectrum of concepts from Hinduism (including reincarnation and karma) was introduced by figures associated with Theosophy and gained traction at this time. From Yoga, Theosophy took the concept that freedom of thought and spirit could be achieved through various bodily processes and exercises. The foundations, and the ultimate impact, of the Theosophical Society have more significance than Mazdaznan but both the movements share the characteristic of being an amalgamation of diverse elements from numerous sources. Both Theosophy and Mazdaznan have been viewed as modern responses to the Western processes of rationalisation and secularisation, something Wouter Hanegraaff referred to as representing a decisive watershed in the history of western esotericism.5 The initial success of both can be attributed in part to the fact that they provided a means to counter the growing materialism of the late 19th and early 20th century. Perhaps another comparison to be made between Mazdaznan and Theosophy is the way in which the charismatic leaders of both movements are said to have acquired their wisdom. Like Ha’nish, Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-1891), one of the three founders of the Theosophical Society, claimed to have acquired vast swathes of knowledge via mysterious modes of communication with ascended masters and unseen intelligences. In The Secret Doctrine Blavatsky maintains that there were centres of esoteric learning and initiation in the East, describes how she first read the stanzas of Dzyan in a Himalayan Lamasery and explains that there were many similar centres of learning and initiation elsewhere.6 According to Blavatsky, there were magnificent libraries and fabulous monasteries in mountain caves and underground labyrinths throughout central Asia. Comparisons can be also be made between Ha’nish, Blavatsky and George Gurdjieff (?-1949) 5 - Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought (New York, State University of New York Press 1998) p406 6 - Helena P. Blavatsky, Cosmogenesis: The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy (London, Theosophical Publishing Company 1888) 109 the proponent of The Fourth Way whose early life is similarly shrouded in mystery. All were adept at self-mythologising and purposefully generating enigma. Much like Theosophy, which Blavatsky acknowledged was comprised of multiple spiritual paths, Mazdaznan combined numerous sources. However, a significant difference between the two is that while Blavatsky suggests that a certain divine wisdom unites all spiritual traditions Ha’nish makes the claim that it was Mazdaznan specifically that was the supreme source of occult knowledge and that it had been plagiarised for aggrandisement by (other) individuals and schools.7 Ultimately, according to Ha’nish there was almost no system of thought that had not benefited in some way from Mazdaznan and it was therefore the most worthy path to follow. Yet paradoxically, the aspects of Mazdaznan that pertain to spiritual doctrine are notably vague and disparate. The main emphasis of the movement seems to be upon a vegetarian dietary regime, breathing exercises, physical postures and other forms of body related therapeutics, particularly colonic flushing and intestinal care. Inner Studies details the stringent hygiene and dietary routine that practitioners were expected to follow in order to ensure that they would attain both physical and spiritual purity. The focus on dietary discipline, frequent enemas and exercises, such as The Egyptian Postures depicted in this publication, has been succinctly described as medical occultism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke.8 Throughout Inner Studies Ha’nish claims that certain exercises and physical postures can ‘stir negative forces’ within the body and change currents into positive actions. The exercises are said to act particularly on the glands, stimulating the epiphysis, or pineal gland, the spinal cord, the solar plexus and the sympathetic nerves. Although Ha’nish always referred to himself as Dr. or M.D. this title seems to have been added at the same time, and in the same way, as the honorific Otoman Zar-Adusht. It is evident from Mazdaznan literature that Ha’nish seems to conflate bodily 7 - Dr. O. Z. Ha’nish, Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture (Chicago, Mazdaznan Press 1914) p1 8 - Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890-1935 (New York University Press, 1992) 110 purification with states of spiritual transcendence. In Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture Ha’nish claims that: by controlling the flow of ether in the pituitary gland, one’s perceptions expand and the liquid of the optic nerve increases its operations equal to the travels of the cosmic ray: disclosing the pathway revealing greater possibilities. There is a recurring preoccupation with purging the body in a variety of ways and this obsession was occasionally taken to extremes. Some branches of the group practiced dermal piercing, using needles to prick the skin and cause blisters that would erupt and ‘release toxins’ that had accumulated beneath the epidermis.9 As one might expect from a movement that advised abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and meat, Mazdaznan literature also suggests that sexual abstinence outside marriage should be practiced. In Inner Studies sexual arousal and appetites are explained as the psychological symptoms of bowel problems that should be remedied with a particularly thorough enema. The importance of enemas to good health appears to be a central tenet of Mazdaznan culture. For those who chose to engage in sexual intercourse Ha’nish also provided instructions on how the body should be controlled. The retention of the seminal fluid by men is advised, the suggestion being that abstaining from ejaculation was the key to living for many hundreds of years. In The Profits of Religion Sinclair describes how Ha’nish regularly claimed to be thirty years older than he actually was, his wrinkle free face and youthful walk supposed evidence of the efficacy of his dietary and breathing habits. While some aspects of Mazdaznan doctrine may today seem rather restrictive and disciplinarian, there were progressive facets to the movement. This is most apparent in the emphasis upon sex and sexual equality. In Inner Studies Ha’nish writes at length on the importance of the sexual satisfaction of women within marriage, which lead to the book being declared obscene and 9 - Mel Gordon, Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin (Los Angeles, Feral House 2000) p41 111 Mazdaznan Magazine, Vol. VII - Maz-Daz-Nan: the thought that masters creation and evolution Printed on blue card and cream paper in white, red, blue and black inks Chicago, 1908 112 Ha’nish’s arrest and brief imprisonment. Mazdaznan was equally strident about women’s place within society: It is proper that man should understand woman as women understand men, for when the line between them can no longer exist and the barrier broken down the unveiled mystery conceived to keep mankind in a condition of deep ignorance will lose its charm…that woman will steadily come to the front and the day is not too far distant when she will. Man has nothing to fear. He should call this day welcome for through it salvation will come to him as well.10 These progressive elements co-existed with strict rules against miscegenation, along with other views influenced by one of the more abhorrent trends of the era; eugenics. As the history of the eugenics movement reveals, it flourished to an astounding degree in the late 19th and early 20th century. Early Mazdaznan literature has a preoccupation with race evolution, racial superiority and anti-Semitism, and propagates the idea that the earth should be ruled by the ‘true Aryan race’, a position that gained support a few decades later in the Third Reich. This aspect of the movement’s philosophies garnered varying levels of popularity in different locations and appears to have been eliminated from Mazdaznan as it was modernised over the years. Indeed, contemporary Mazdaznan literature makes no reference to these eugenicist elements that will be discussed in greater detail later. The establishment of the German branch of the Theosophical Society in 1884 can be considered as constituting the dawn of an occult revival in Germany. This period was characterised by a sense of growing disillusionment with orthodox religion, hastened by the demystifying progress of science that left many suffering from a form of spiritual hunger. Ultimately, the zeitgeist was ripe for the flourishing of movements like Mazdaznan that appeared to offer an antidote to the spiritual bankruptcy of the era. In addition, the Lebensreform groups promoted an interest in body culture, advocating novel forms of physical exercises which they 10 - Dr. O. Z. Ha’nish, Inner Studies (Chicago, Sun-Worshiper Publishing Company 1902) p104 113 claimed would restore ‘well-being’ to those who practiced them. Mazdaznan was exported to Europe from the U.S.A. via Germany in 1907 by David Ammann (1855-1923) and subsequently popularised by Ha’nish himself through a series of lecture tours. Mazdaznan proved particularly popular in Germany and Switzerland where it appealed predominantly to the burgeoning middle classes, many of whom viewed industrialisation and the expansion of urban living as destructive, and idealised the tenets of the back-to-nature trend. The movement spread quickly in its initial phase with Mazdaznan vegetarian restaurants established in Berlin, Leipzig, Weimar and other German cities. This success can be connected with the widespread adoption of Lebensreform that was manifest most visibly in the emergence of many alternative communities in rural areas. These groups sought to practice natural medicine, vegetarianism, nudism and other restorative pursuits believing this would aid them in their return to a pre-industrial idyll.11 Johannes Itten is thought to have become aware of Mazdaznan as early as 1912 in Bern and is known to have been a member of the Aryana Mazdaznan temple community that existed in Herrliberg by Lake Zurich. From 1918 Itten was a devotee and was producing work which displays a direct influence of the ideas and symbolism that are central to Mazdaznan.12 The fact that Itten was deeply engaged with the organisation before joining the Bauhaus is an important detail, revealing the extent of his involvement with the esoteric organization. It also suggests that involvement in such organisations would not have been considered outlandish at this time. Indeed, Itten was recommended to Walter Gropius (1883-1969) the director of the Weimar Bauhaus, by Gropius’s wife Alma Mahler (1879-1964) who was then an ardent Theosophist. By the time Gropius encountered Itten he already had a reputation as a highly respected teacher. Having trained in Geneva and Stuttgart, Itten worked as a primary school teacher 11 - It should be noted that this romantic idealisation of nature which distinguished the Lebensreform was never an ideal advocated at the Bauhaus. In fact Gropius actively opposed it. 12 - Christoph Wagner, Bauhaus Before the Bauhaus - Johannes Itten’s Painting The Encounter http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/2173/1/Wagner_Bauhaus_before_the_Bauhaus_2009.pdf (accessed January 2017) 114 and received several degrees before opening his own art school in Vienna where he was said to have been worshipped by his students. Ironically, while this popularity among students initially appealed to Gropius, it would eventually be one of the reasons for Itten’s departure from the Bauhaus just a few years later. Itten was appointed as one of the first masters of the Bauhaus in October 1919 and used his wealth of experience to develop the renowned Vorkurs, the preliminary course, which was the fundamental foundation of learning at the school. The magnitude of this role cannot be over-emphasised and gives some indication of Itten’s influence as a pedagogue. Itten sought to foster an intuitive approach in each of his students and was significantly influenced by the theories of Friedrich Froebel (17821852) a German educator who introduced the concept of the kindergarten and pioneered the integration of active play into the learning process. The preliminary course consisted of a six-month programme that was compulsory for Bauhaus students to attend. The idea was to provide a shared foundation and unburden or uncondition students of their preconceived knowledge and assumptions regarding artistic production. Students would explore the standard subjects of form and colour but Itten also introduced them to particular types of exercise, meditation, breathing techniques and concentration methods, many of which were directly taken from Mazdaznan practices. Personal accounts from the time indicate that these additional elements were significantly influenced by Itten’s desire to promulgate the ideas of Ha’nish to his own students. Itten later wrote: It is not only a religious custom to start instruction with a prayer or a song but it also serves to concentrate the students’ wandering thoughts. At the start of the morning I brought my classes to mental and physical readiness for intensive work through relaxing, breathing and concentration exercises. The training of the body as an instrument of the mind is of the greatest importance for creative man.13 13 - Johannes Itten, Design and Form, the Basic Course at the Bauhaus (London, Thames and Hudson 1964) p11 115 Oskar Schlemmer visiting Itten’s Stuttgart studio, 1916 Johannes-Itten-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern © DACS 2017 116 Initially, Itten’s practices and zealous nature were tolerated at the Bauhaus and he converted many of his students to Mazdaznan. There was what Peter Staudenmaier refers to as a bewildering array of ideologies and esoteric paths available at that time, combinations of which would be viewed as incompatible today.14 The desire to find new spiritual paths and modes of living was in no small way a manifestation of the aftermath of WW1. Itten’s charisma and messianic approach must have seemed reassuring to those who sought some form of guidance. Writing in the early 1920s about how students responded to the regime he promoted, Itten acknowledges that while students would initially express a certain amount of resistance they would, after a few days, join in with enthusiasm. One can imagine a coterie of enthused students meeting for Mazdaznan meetings in Itten’s studio, a studio appropriately located in a building that had formerly been used by the Knights Templar as a lodge house.15 Itten’s practices as a teacher were motivated by the aim of expanding his students’ range of perception; to widen their awareness with a particular focus upon colour. In these efforts he recruited Gertrud Grunow (1870–1944). Grunow taught her course on the Theory of Harmony at the Bauhaus from 1919 to 1923 as part of the Vorkurs and claimed she was capable of using music and trance to harmonise the latent creative powers of students.16 It is useful to read accounts of those who had direct experience of what it was like to work under Itten and Grunow. The reports of Paul Citroen (1896-1983), whose own work was significantly influenced by Itten, are particularly insightful: I was, like all the new entrants, a pupil on the Vorkurs, which Itten taught. At that time Itten was so full of Mazdaznan, expected so much from a deep immersion in the teachings, 14 - Peter Staudenmaier, Between Occultism and Fascism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race and Nation in Germany and Italy, 1900-1945 (Unpublished dissertation, Cornell University 2010) p80 15 - Appropriately, this building possessed several structural elements conceived by Goethe during his time in Weimar. The Tempelherrenhaus was almost completely destroyed by the bombing of Weimar in 1945 and is now a ruin. However, the pentagram windows and the sculptural figures of the Knights Templar are still intact. 16 - From the early 1910s Grunow was exploring the fundamental relationships of sound, colour and movement. She continued her teaching activities from 1926 to 1934 in Hamburg and subsequently worked for several months in England and Switzerland before returning to Germany during the war. Gertrud Grunow died in Leverkusen in 1944. 117 Postcard showing Tempelherrenhaus, Weimar Circa 1935 Photographer unknown 118 that soon after the beginning of the course he took several months leave in order to be fully initiated into this doctrine at Herrliberg on Lake Zurich, the European seat at the centre of Mazdaznan…Itten knew how to inflame us, shake us up, break down all the dikes and plunge us into a veritable frenzy of production, and still become one of us. We had the greatest respect for him. There was something demonic about Itten. As a master he was either ardently admired or just as ardently as hated by his opponents, of whom there were many. At all events it was impossible to ignore him. For those of us who belonged to the Mazdaznan group - a unique community within the student body - Itten exuded a special radiance. One could almost call it holiness…Itten, entrusted with the mysteries of reincarnation and other secrets of doctrine by virtue of his weeks in Herrliberg, was our undisputed master and leader.17 As the coterie around Itten became increasingly cultish and fanatical, the presence of Mazdaznan within the Bauhaus grew more divisive. In another account Citroen details how the Mazdaznan group distanced themselves from other students. He and his fellow disciples practiced aloofness and soon the clique began to consider themselves superior, the doctrine making them despise the uninitiated.18 Eventually, Itten’s methodology and mystical tendencies were viewed as incompatible with the direction the Bauhaus was being steered in by Gropius. In an attempt to lessen the dominance of Itten’s influence, Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943) and Paul Klee (1879-1940) were employed to assume some of Itten’s responsibilities, therein reducing the extent of his leadership. Schlemmer describes how Itten and Gropius represented two opposing alternatives: ...on the one hand the influence of oriental culture, the cult of India, a return to the Wandervogel movement...communes, vegetarianism, Tolstoyism, reaction against the war and on the other hand the American spirit, progress, the marvels 17 - Excerpted from Paul Citroen, Mazdaznan at the Bauhaus in Eckhard Neumann, Bauhaus and Bauhaus People (New York, Van Nostrand & Reinhold and London, Chapman Hall 1993) p44-50 18 - Magdalena Droste, Bauhaus, 1919-1933 (Berlin, Bauhaus-Archiv and London, Taschen 2002) p30 119 of technology and invention, the urban environment... progress, expansion and self fulfilment.19 In her study of the early years of the Bauhaus, Éva Forgács characterises the school as suffering from a type of schizophrenia, exemplified by the relationship between Gropius and Itten. However, the discord was not just a result of the differing dispositions between the rationally minded and the cosmically inclined. Personal letters from Itten at the time reveal that he viewed Gropius as a bureaucrat and that he wished to assume the role of director of the institution himself. So, one can view the rupture as resulting from Itten’s aspirations for increased authority as much as ideological differences. Students and colleagues alike had issues with Itten and accused him of splitting the Bauhaus into two camps. Indeed, the fact that Itten was infringing upon the constitution of the Bauhaus by involving Mazdaznan in his teaching is confirmed by several accounts from this time. Students also found it difficult to work with figures like Grunow, whose approaches were viewed not only as unorthodox but excessively bizarre. These tensions within the Bauhaus led to Itten’s departure in 1923, an event that is a key turning point in the history of the school and precipitated a radical shift in its direction. In the same year, Gertrud Grunow also ceased teaching and Gropius dismissed Lothar Schreyer (1886-1966) who had been employed only two years previously to coordinate the Bauhaus theatre program.20 Schreyer was a mystic, fascinated with archaic Christianity and was himself developing a group of followers around him. Presumably, Gropius was compelled to eliminate the risk of another fanatical cult emerging at the Bauhaus. Expelling individuals with esoteric tendencies was intended not only to maintain a sense of internal harmony but also to assuage citizens of Weimar, some of whom viewed the school with disdain and were outwardly critical of it as a suspect and wayward institution.21 19 - Éva Forgács, The Bauhaus Idea And Bauhaus Politics (Oxford University Press 1995) p78 20 - Lothar Schreyer coordinated the Bauhaus theatre program from 1921 to 1923. Gropius initially regarded Schreyer as a prophet of performance art. Schreyer announced that expressionistic performance had nothing to do with theatre but was a completely different stage artwork. 21 - An article in The Weimarische Zeitung from June 1924 claimed that licentiousness was rife at the Bauhaus, that one student had become pregnant and another had an affair with a master. It warned that people must be prevented from sending their sons and daughters there. 120 Whereas the beginnings of the Bauhaus in Weimar were shaped by an array of influences, of which Itten’s esotericism was key, the elimination of these elements was an effort to steer the school into less controversial territories and increase its status as an organisation of practical and applicable artworks. By 1923 mystical modes of thought were replaced by a more outwardly rational and ultimately materialistic approach. It may have also been that Gropius had become uncomfortable with certain socio-political alignments within the wider movement. Perhaps he recognised that the racial mysticism and body culture promoted by Mazdaznan was strikingly similar to that being advocated by the early Nazi Party. From its inception Mazdaznan was distinguished by a recurring obsession with attempts to achieve physical and spiritual purity. Mazdaznan literature conflates theories gleaned from Theosophy regarding ‘root races’ with racist ideas concerning the racial superiority - and the spiritual advancement - of certain cultures.22 It endorsed pseudo-scientific theories regarding the relationship between ethnicity and notions of physical and spiritual purity. In the Mazdaznan system of evolution the soul progressed through a variety of stages and was at its most advanced when manifest in the Aryan race. The belief was that even this state was transitory and the physical body would itself eventually be completely jettisoned and the soul would continue its path toward a higher level of divine being and intelligence. The ultimate stage of this evolution was a being composed entirely of pure light. Although Ha’nish was not personally affiliated with any fascist organisation his literature contains repeated references to a desire to maintain the inherent ‘purity’ of certain racial types. This is exemplified in several sections of Inner Studies and publications such as Yehoshua (1917) in which Ha’nish argues that Jesus could not have been a Jew because ...as a Jew He would have been compelled to parade tribal limitation. Ha’nish’s preoccupation 22 - A number of scandals also led to the movement being represented in a negative light in the media. In 1912 Mazdaznan was the focus of a particularly high profile court case in the U.S.A. that became known as the Billy Lindsay Case. It centred around a twelve-year-old heir who was ‘rescued’ from the ‘immoral cult’ by a concerned relative. 121 Postcard showing Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha’nish Circa 1930 Photographer unknown 122 with racial purity is also evident in passages such as: Each race must keep itself free from intermixing with other races, that each may bring out the best so they won’t interfere with each other. It is not a teaching of race hatred but a teaching of race respect.23 The early 20th century was distinguished by extremes in social, political and cultural spheres. The atmosphere was conducive to the emergence of organisations whose dogmas contained sets of ideas that can today appear contradictory. This is apparent in the convoluted alignments between esoteric organisations and right-wing movements exemplified in Mazdaznan but to a much greater extent Armanism, Ariosophy and Theozoology.24 The existence of these movements and indeed the racial theories espoused by certain Theosophists and Anthroposophists underscore how widely racist ideas were integrated into spiritual movements in the interwar years. Historian Paul Staudenmeier notes that the support and involvement of several Nazi leaders meant that a number of esoteric organisations were not merely tolerated but were in fact initially embraced by the Third Reich.25 Movements such as Mazdaznan cultivated pastoral ways of living which were compatible with certain Nazi visions of a ‘modern’ future. Staudenmaier suggests that the alignments that emerged during the European occult revival were the manifestations of pan-European forms of social modernism bent on resolving the spiritual crisis of the West created by materialism and rationalism. In the post-war years there has been a retrospective attempt to revise and sanitise the repugnant aspects of Mazdaznan, and assessing Mazdaznan in its current attenuated form, one would never suspect it once advocated eugenics in the hope that the world might one day be ruled by an ‘Aryan master race’. Today Mazdaznan appears to have been cleansed of its more sectarian elements and is claimed to be no more than a holistic health 23 - Dr. O. Z. Ha’nish, Yehoshua Nazir - The Life of Christ (California, Mazdaznan Press 1917) p172 24 - Armansim, founded by Guido von List, and Ariosophy and Theozoology, founded by Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, were esoteric systems present in Austria between 1890 and 1930. They can be viewed as part of the occult revival which occurred in Austria and Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, combining concepts of German romanticism with pseudo-scientific ideas concerning the pre-eminence of the Aryan race. 25 - Peter Staudenmaier, Between Occultism and Fascism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race and Nation in Germany and Italy, 1900-1945 (Unpublished dissertation, Cornell University 2010) p520 123 movement or a life science of ancient Persian origin, similar to the training system of Indian Yoga or Ayurveda.26 It should also be noted that the extent to which these racial aspects of the movement were embraced varied in different locations. Although some followers in the U.S.A. held racist and anti-Semitic principles it was in Germany and Switzerland where völkisch ideals proved particularly popular.27 The literature produced by the movement in the U.S.A. and Britain is for the most part devoted to breath, diet and self-help and is devoid of overtly prejudicial material. The major exception is a passage in the Posture Lesson that follows the Introduction to The Egyptian Postures, and that appears at the beginning of this book. It is worth quoting this in full: The Ancients seemed to have understood the physiological modus operandi of heart and mind when they said: ‘’From an impure heart flow evil thoughts.’’ Father Ammann in “The Coming Race and Race Hygiene” gives to the scientific world the key to life when he says: “Blood is the original matter which influences all outer manifestations and formations and changes them in the course of development. Blood is the essential race builder. The consistency of the blood determines the infallible sign of racial relation. The purer the blood, the clearer the pigment. The darker the skin, the lower the race. Blood is not only the carrier of the inherited, but also the progenitor to all the attainable spiritual tendencies. It is interesting that Ha’nish attributes this most extreme and disturbing statement of racial superiority to his disciple based in Germany. While several books solely on Mazdaznan theories of race and eugenics were published in German by Ammann they seem to have no English equivalent. The later alliance between esoteric organisations and the Nazi party should not, however, be viewed as anything but tenuous 26 - Quote from a website of Mazdaznan movement: http://mazdaznan.ca/history_of_mazdaznan.php 27 - Constantine Leon de Aryan (1886-1935) was a notorious right-wing anti-Semite who championed Mazdaznan in the U.S.A. and who stood for Mayor of San Deigo in 1932. 124 and temporary. Despite contemporaneous reports of swastikas hanging in its Leipzig headquarters, Mazdaznan was one of many esoteric organisations banned by the Ministry of Interior in 1935, part of a purge of similar groups that resulted in an elimination of much occult activity in the Third Reich. The anti-Semitic magazine Judenkenner described Mazdaznan as a mask for International Jewry while an SS memo concluded that it denies all Nazi principles. It must be destroyed.28 Itten was never affiliated directly with the Nazi party, unlike Lothar Schreyer who became involved with the party after his departure from the Bauhaus. The fact that the private art school which Itten established independently in Berlin after his resignation from the Bauhaus was shut down by the party in 1934 might be seen as evidence that he did not subscribe to Nazi ideals. Indeed, that Itten’s paintings were included in the Entartete Kunst exhibition of 1937 demonstrates that he and his work were viewed - or at least came to be viewed - as degenerate by the establishment. Nevertheless, it can be argued that Itten’s lithograph House of the White Man from the first portfolio produced by the Bauhaus masters in 1921 not only represents one of the first depictions of an overtly modernist and constructivist building but also suggests that he openly subscribed to the religio-racist beliefs of Mazdaznan. Magdalena Droste describes how Itten made several contributions to art magazines at the time discussing theories of racial evolution and arguing that the ‘white race’ represented the highest form of civilisation.29 In the long-term the presence of malevolent elements within Mazdaznan corrupted the movement and tainted some of those affiliated with it. However, in the early years Mazdaznan seems to have functioned as a revelation for some and, in the case of Itten, as a catalyst for the formation of a new aesthetics. This is exemplified in his Tower of Fire, the no longer extant abstract work that may have been a sculpture or perhaps a maquette for a prospective architectural structure. Much like Monument to 28 - Corinna Treitel, A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the German Modern (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press 2004) p229 29 - Magdalena Droste, Bauhaus, 1919-1933 (Berlin, Bauhaus-Archiv and London, Taschen 2002) p32 125 House of the White Man (Haus des weißen Mannes) from the portfolio New European Graphics, 1st Portfolio: Masters of the State Bauhaus, Weimar, 1921 (Neue europäische Graphik, 1. Mappe: Meister des Staatlichen Bauhauses in Weimar, 1921) Johannes Itten Johannes-Itten-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern © DACS 2017 126 the Third International (1919–20) by Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953) Itten’s Tower of Fire is known today only via photo documentation, sketches and later reconstructions.30 The structural elements of Itten’s tower can be read according to their formal and numeric symbolism. For example, the spiral that constitutes the backbone of the tower represents the possibility of achieving ascended states and spiritual evolution, aims that are central to Mazdaznan. The same symbolism is also seen in Itten’s painting Die Begegnung (The Encounter) which dates from 1916 and can be viewed as a demonstration of the artist’s exploration of colour theory and his experiments with colour rhythms and contrast. The structure is replete with numeric symbolism, the number twelve recurring throughout the tower in glass and metal forms. This connects with the diagrammatic star of twelve colours devised by Itten as a means of introducing his Bauhaus students to colour theory. This recurrence of the number twelve can be linked to Itten’s preoccupation with the zodiac but is also related to the artist’s investigations into twelve-tone music and harmonies at this time. Constructed from an array of multi-coloured glass panels, the tower tapered toward the top like a conical shell. Black and white images can offer only a limited idea of how striking this monumental prismatic minaret must have appeared. Moreover, since Itten envisaged the tower as a kinetic gesamtkunstwerk in which all art forms were unified it would have also emitted light and sound. Of all the ways that Mazdaznan influenced Itten the most positive, and indeed the most historically significant, was the way in which it informed his teaching techniques. Itten’s development of a holistic educational programme that sought to activate the body and the mind of his students through physical and mental exercises was influenced directly by his desire to synthesise Mazdaznan into the curriculum. The fact that Itten’s pedagogical system remained a key element of the Bauhaus syllabus after his departure and is still in use today is a testament to the affirmative elements of the ideas propagated by Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht 30 - It has been suggested by several art historians that Tower of Fire was in fact intended as an airport building for Weimar. 127 Turm des Feuers, Aufnahme vor dem Tempelherrenhaus in Weimar (Tower of Fire photographed outside the Tempelherrenhaus in Weimar) 1920 Photo: Paula Stockmar Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin © DACS 2017 128 Ha’nish. Éva Forgács argues that Mazdaznan was a readymade philosophy of life that students could passively adopt. She focuses upon the negative aspects of the movement, suggesting Itten used his esoteric system as a means of dominating his students and gaining the position of unofficial director at the Bauhaus. However, according to Itten, his incorporation of these elements into his teaching methods actually had the opposite effect upon his students and was intended to empower them by equipping them with physical and mental agency. Speaking later about his methods of teaching, Itten acknowledged that there was much that occurred between him and his students that could not be successfully described. He wrote: ...the description of my teaching seems to me poor compared with what actually happened. The tone, the rhythm, the sequence of words, place and time, the mood of the students, and all the other circumstances which make for a vital atmosphere cannot be reproduced; yet it is the ineffable which helps form a climate of creativity. My teaching was intuitive finding. My own emotion gave me the power which produced the student’s readiness to learn. To teach out of inner enthusiasm is the opposite of a mere pre-planned method of instruction.31 Although Itten’s unorthodox methods came under criticism in the interwar years, the passing of time saw many of the ideas and exercises he applied being integrated into mainstream pedagogical practice. Several elements from Itten’s Vorkurs programme remain integral to the foundations of teaching art and design. Itten’s devotion to Mazdaznan, as well as his own experience as a teacher, instilled within him the desire and ability to enable his students to heighten their power of perception, intuition and bodily awareness. Itten used exercises outlined in Mazdaznan literature as a means of promoting a more holistic approach that sought to integrate body, mind and spirit. There can be no doubt that his methodology was hugely successful in 31 - Roger Lipsey, An Art of Our Own - The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art (Boston, Shambhala Inc 1988) p201 129 enabling many of his students at the Bauhaus (and later at his own school in Berlin) to realise their creative potential and question preconceived notions regarding their artistic or technical skills. Under Itten’s direction students were introduced to consciousness expanding ideas and possibilities a more conventional education would never have offered. The case of Josef Albers who began his dynamic career under Itten’s tutelage exemplifies this.32 Itten’s declaration that Color is life; for a world without color appears to us as dead. Colors are primordial ideas, the children of light...33 must have had an impact upon Albers who although first and foremost an artist might also be considered a scientist of the spectrum. Following his time working under Itten, Albers spent his entire career meditating upon the possibilities of colour.34 In 1926 Itten founded his own art private art school in Berlin. The iconic photograph included in this publication of him and his students practicing The Egyptian Postures was taken on the roof of this arts building in 1931. The school lasted until 1934 when it was shut down, viewed as symptomatic of ‘Cultural Bolshevism’ by an increasingly conservative state. Although Itten remained extremely active after this date and worked in a variety of capacities he has become a somewhat marginal figure.35 While his books on colour theory are familiar to many, few people would be aware of the extent of his role in the early phase of the Bauhaus. Undoubtedly, this has much to do with the transformation of the Bauhaus in the years after Itten’s departure. Inevitable changes occurred as the school evolved under new directors and adapted to an increasingly inhospitable political climate. There was a desire for the organisation to focus upon quantifiable research and industrial production and mystical or outré elements were eliminated. Unfortunately, a similar process occurred in the sphere of art history. The case of the Bauhaus exemplifies how 32 - Albers would later go on to be a professor at the Bauhaus in 1925. 33 - Johannes Itten, The Elements of Color (New York, John Wiley and Sons 1970) p8 34 - Albers’ commitment to investigating the properties of colour is exemplified in his Homage to the Square series which he began in 1949 and consists of over a thousand artworks, all of which are ultimately the components of a single prolonged investigation of colour interaction. 35 - In 1932 Itten became the director of the Textile Design School in Krefeld, Germany and held this post until 1938 before emigrating to the Netherlands. From 1949 Itten was involved in the creation of the Rietberg Museum in Zurich in which Asian, African, American and Oceanian art were displayed. In 1961 Itten published Art and Color and has been more known since then as an influential colour theorist. 130 contradictions and complications within historical narratives are often eliminated over time in order to form the canonical history that is written retrospectively and obscures particular details. It has only been in recent decades that the real impact - and indeed value - of these artists’ esoteric leanings has begun to be acknowledged. It seems possible that Itten himself may have contributed to the rewriting of history that has obscured the true nature of Mazdaznan at the Bauhaus. In his later autobiographical texts he also seeks to downplay the importance that Mazdaznan held for him and for his students at the Bauhaus: The terrible events and shattering losses of the war had brought chaos and confusion in all fields. Among the students there were endless discussions and eager searching for a new mental attitude. My attention was drawn to Spengler’s book, “The Decline of the West.” I became conscious that our scientific-technical civilization had come to a critical point. The slogans “Back to Handicraft” or “Unity of Art and Technology” did not seem to me to solve the problems. I studied oriental philosophy and concerned myself with Persian Mazdaism and Early Christianity. Thus I realized that our outward-directed scientific research and technology must be balanced by inward-directed thought and forces of the soul. Georg Muche had come to similar conclusions through his war experiences, and we worked in friendly cooperation. We sought the foundations of a new way of life for ourselves and our work. At that time we were ridiculed because we did breathing and concentration exercises. Today the study of oriental philosophy is widespread and many people practice yoga. These first Weimar years are wrongly described as the romantic period of the Bauhaus. In my opinion, these were the years of universal interests. Certainly mistakes were 131 Portrait of Johannes Itten in Bauhaus-Tracht, 1921 Photo: Paula Stockmar Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin © DACS 2017 132 made in the exuberance of feverish search and practice. We all lacked a great teacher who could have guided us through the ebullient confusion.36 Itten cannot bring himself to even correctly name Mazdaznan, and while the final line may refer to Gropius it also suggests that Itten came to feel that Ha’nish, who signed himself Master, was ultimately a false idol, far from the great teacher the world sought. Nevertheless, it is inescapable that the esoteric systems that form a key aspect of Mazdaznan provided an impetus for Itten’s pedagogical, aesthetic and psychological innovation and development. In this way the movement, or at least Itten’s synthesis of it, shaped how art is still taught and learnt in the west and how modernism came into being. Roger Lipsey writes, it is a matter of lasting astonishment that the Bauhaus began with a medievalizing, romantic self-image and emerged in a few short years as the principal artisan of design principles that are the essence of ‘modern’ and the hallmark of the century.37 While this statement registers to some degree the diverse elements that made up the Bauhaus in its initial phase it also underscores how history has been streamlined. Both Itten’s pedagogical approach and the abstract aesthetic that he developed were shaped directly by his engagement with esoteric doctrine. The complexities and the significance of those esoteric elements have thus far been neglected and relegated to little more than a footnote. From the perspective of the 21st century the objectionable aspects of Mazdaznan seem glaringly obvious. The anti-Semitic and Aryan supremacist elements that are present within Mazdaznan literature and advocated by prominent individuals have tainted the movement irrevocably and it now seems ideologically aligned with the forces that put an end to the Bauhaus in 1935. Indeed it seems probable these elements have contributed to Itten’s key role in the development of the Bauhaus being minimised. However the 36 - Johannes Itten, Design and Form - The Basic Course at the Bauhaus (New York, Reinhold 1964) p11-12 37 - Roger Lipsey, An Art of Our Own - The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art (Boston, Shambhala Inc 1988) p201 133 Bauhaus in its first phases, and the artworks which emerged from that context, cannot be properly understood without knowledge of the Mazdaznan movement. NOTES This book is set in Pabst Old Style, which approximates the fonts used for the first Bauhaus manifestos, and Futura, which can be seen as the logical outcome of the modernist and constructivist ideals of the later Bauhaus. The cover font is Atkinson Eccentric and the cover design, and that of the inside pages, draws on a range of Mazdaznan publications from the late 1890s to the 1940s. The endpapers are reproduced from those of Selbst-Diagnostik by Dr. O. Z. Ha’nish, Frieda Ammann and Otto Rauth published by the Mazdaznan Press, Leipzig in 1933. Dr. Ha’nish’s instructions for The Egyptian Postures are taken from the revised and enlarged edition of Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture published in Chicago by the Mazdaznan Press in 1914 and retain the spelling and grammatical idiosyncrasies of the original text. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Egyptian Postures has been several years in the making, and its publication is the result of the work of many people. The photographs on which the drawings of Ery Nzaramba are based, and of his hands performing the Finger Exercises, were taken in 2014 with the help of Derek Smudge Smith, and the drawings made very slowly over the following three years. They were only completed due to the generosity of Cove Park, Scotland where I spent two weeks with Pádraic E. Moore on a One-to-One Residency. My understanding of the exercises was helped by Allen Pittman’s research and enhanced by collaborating with yoga teacher Nicola Harpin on a workshop to practice The Egyptian Postures at Site Gallery, Sheffield organised by Sara Cluggish to accompany the exhibition Exercises in Empathy in 2015. I would like to thank Arnaud Desjardin and Zoé Quentel of The Everyday Press for their Gallic shrugs at passing deadlines, Amy Winkelgrund for her careful attention to the text, Andrew Renton, Sam Breuer & Francesco Dama at Marlborough Contemporary for their valiant support over the years, and Naomi, Agnes & Martha, without whom nothing would be possible, for their continued tolerance of all things Mazdaznan. Pádraic E. Moore would like to thank Lucy Andrews. Instructions by Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha’nish Postures demonstrated by Ery Nzaramba Illustrated & edited by Ian Whittlesea Essay by Pádraic E. Moore All rights reserved. Except for the purposes of review or criticism, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form by electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording and information storage or retrieval, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in London 2017 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-9933728-5-8 Printed and bound in Europe The editor and publisher gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to reproduce the copyright material in this book. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.