THE MAN WHO LIVED FOREVER: COUNT SAINT GERMAIN

By Dr. Abner Mality

"He is a man who knows everything and who does not die."--Voltaire

Throughout the history of mankind, there have been extraordinary individuals who seem to transcend ordinary humanity. Some are elevated to godhood (Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed), others become demons (Vlad Tepes, Attila, Hitler). And others remain as men of mystery, seeming to be a little bit of both. They appear and reappear again throughout the centuries, becoming the stuff of legend.

Such a transcendent individual was the Count Saint Germain. Perhaps the greatest of history's "mystery men", much has been written of him, but little is actually known. Was he the greatest con artist of all time? Or was he instead a truly immortal man possessed of incredible insight and wisdom? Did he work for good? Or evil? No definitive answers shall be forthcoming from Good Doctor Mality, but instead let me give you a brief overview of "the man who could not die".

The man who called himself St. Germain first appeared in Paris in the year 1740 and he attracted the attention of every aristocrat in the city with his noble bearing and his immense collection of fabulous jewelry. Who was this dashing fellow that seemed to be so obviously a member of the upper classes and yet who belonged to no known aristocratic family? Speculation began immediately and St. Germain did nothing to dissuade it. It became clear that he was a man who liked to be the center of attention.

Soon the Count's amazing variety of talents became apparent. His skill with the violin and piano was such that everyone who heard him play was convinced he was the greatest of virtuosos. He was also an accomplished artist of whom his acquaintence Baron von Gleichen said " the paintings he showed me all bore a stamp of singularity or perfection which made them more interesting than many artworks of the highest order". His knowledge of history was so acute that he spoke of ancient events as if he has actually witnessed them. At one Parisian dinner party, a melancholy St. Germain described in great detail the last days of Jesus and wept as he added "I always knew Christ would come to a bad end".

When St. Germain was challenged on his knowledge, he demonstrated more of his uncanny talents, including the ability to speak perfect Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, French, English, Chinese and several archaic tongues which no one else could recognize.

There were many who felt the silver-tongued stranger was a skilled charlatan adept at misleading the gullible. And indeed, many still feel that much of St. Germain's legend was balderdash. But the Count himself was aware of this and commented on it: "These foolish Parisians believe that I am 500 years old. I confirm them in this idea because I see that it gives them much pleasure...not that I am not infinitely older than I appear."

Rumors of the occult always swirled around the Count. Who but a great alchemist would have such an abundance of jewels as St. Germain? He never visited a bank yet he always had a vast fortune upon him. Diamonds and emeralds were woven into the very fabric of his clothes. Although he admitted he did not have the secret of turning base metals to gold, he did nothing else to divest people of the idea he was an alchemist and mystic of great skill. He was very involved with the Freemasonry movement and also founded an elite society known as "The Philalethes"...the lovers of truth. The Philalethes tried to guide the course of human events into a more tolerant and philosophical level, but apparently failed. St. Germain was an opponent of the French Revolution and believed its masterminds to be vulgar anarchists.

By far the most amazing attribute of St. Germain was his unchanging youthfulness and his seeming immunity to age and the passage of time. More than anything else, these rumors of immortality have made him an infamous character in history.

Madam de Gergy, an amorous French noblewoman once courted by Casanova, swore that she had met St. Germain in 1710. He was then calling himself the Marquis of Montferrat and appeared to be a man of between 40 and 50 years of age. When de Gergy saw him again, it was in 1775 and she was an old woman. But she had no doubt that St. Germain was the man she knew as the Marquis, even though he appeared to be the same age.

The Count seemed to be a globe-trotting spy of some kind, but whether working for France or his own agenda was unknown. He was a close associate of King Louis XV and was under the King's protection. The two had many secret meetings and St. Germain was often dispatched to foreign countries on missions of some kind. In 1745, he was arrested in England and suspected of trying to overthrow the English government. But he was released under mysterious circumstances. In 1756, he was seen in India by ambassador Sir Robert Clive, but what he was doing there was a mystery. In 1760, he acted as a diplomat in the dispute between Prussia and Austria. In 1762, he was actively involved in putting Catherine the Great on the throne of Russia. The good Count was a man who always seemed to be "where the action was", yet he did not seem an official representative of the French Government. And always he looked the same...between the ages of 40 and 50.

What was the secret to the Count's eternal youth and vigor? Many suspected that his diet had something to do with it. St. Germain attended many dinner parties and luncheons, but curiously enough, he was never seen to actually eat. He would sip red wine or drink mineral water, but nothing more. He often claimed to be a vegetarian and said his diet chiefly consisted of a special kind of oatmeal. But always he ate in private. He dined with others chiefly because he enjoyed conversation and never seemed to pass up an opportunity to impress others.

He was also never observed sleeping and seemed to keep any sort of hours that struck his fancy. His demeanor was always level-headed and never prone to any outbursts. St. Germain was heard to say that the avoidance of strong emotions was key to his great physical and mental achievements. And indeed, in many ways, he is reminiscent of those "holy men" of the Far East who seemed to be virtually immortal and who were capable of amazing feats. The Count did say that he was a frequent visitor to such exotic locales as Tibet and the Himalayas.

After a long period away from France, St. Germain returned there. His benefactor Louis XV had died and St. Germain had some dire warnings for his successor, Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie Antoinette. He said that a "giant conspiracy" was soon coming that would topple the monarchs from their throne and upset the order of Royal Europe. A new republic would arise, whose "scepter will be the executioner's blade". The King's minister Maurepas regarded St. Germain as a scoundral and a charlatan and threatened to have him arrested. The Count escaped, but the nobility of France did not. Revolution came and one of the last entries in Marie Antoinette's diary tells of her regret that she did not heed the warnings of Count St. Germain.

The next major news of the enigmatic nobleman was grim: in 1784, not long after the chaos of the French Revolution, Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel, a German duchy, and a well-known friend of the Count, announced that St. Germain had died. Melancholy and tired of life, the adventurer simply "passed away". Prince Charles said nothing more of the manner of St. Germain's death and refused to answer questions. A burial attended by the elite of Europe was held in the village of Eckenforn but no one ever gazed on the Count's body. Some were suspicious already but for many, one of the most fascinating men in Europe has passed away.

Now speculation began on exactly who St. Germain was. There were many theories of his birth. One popular theory had him as the son of Marie de Neurbourg, widow of King Charles II of Spain, and a lower level nobleman named Count Adanero. Labelling St. Germain a bastard was not enough insult for his detractors...many believed him to be of Jewish descent, son of either a Portuguese Jew or an Alsatian one. In later years, the founder of the Theosophist movement, Annie Besant, said he was a son of a Transylvanian Prince named Francis Racoczi. This would make St. Germain a powerful man indeed, as the sons of Racoczi were held in high esteem by the Emperors of Austria.

But in the end, there was no hard and fast documentation as to the Count's origins. He remained a man of mystery. And the mystery would become even deeper when he suddenly began to appear after his own "death".

Despite being buried in 1784, official Freemason documents show Count St. Germain present at the great Freemason Convention held in Paris next year. Famous attendees such as Anton Mesmer, the inventor of hypnotism, and Louis St. Martin, well-known philosopher, recalled seeing him there. In 1786, a man greatly resembling the description of St. Germain met with Catherine of Russia, whom the Count had helped place on the throne. As always, he appeared to be a man between 40 and 50...having scarcely aged at all since his initial appearance in 1740.

By now, rumors swirled that "St. Germain" might be a clever imposter trying to cash in on the Count's reputation. But all who met the man were convinced he was the same St. Germain that they had known before. If so, then he was not merely well-preserved, but immortal.

Sightings of the mystery man continued. In 1821...more than 80 years after his first appearance and forty years after his "burial",...he was seen by Countess d'Adhemar, who had met him in 1789, and also Mademoiselle de Genlis. Wild tales of an immortal Count, who seemed to appear at events of great significance such as the Treaty of Versailles, grew more and more bizarre. Emperor Napoleon III was so intrigued by the tales that he appointed a special commission to examine all information on St. Germain. The Commission found many documents, particularly amongst secret societies such as the Freemasons, but a mysterious fire in 1870 burned down the hotel where they were kept and every last document was destroyed.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, an enigmatic stranger named "Major Fraser" appeared in Paris. Other than the fact that he seemed to be English, there were many similarities between "Major Fraser" and Count St. Germain. Both appeared to be around 45 years old, both were fabulously wealthy though the source of the wealth was unknown and both had incredible knowledge of history. "Major Fraser" soon disappeared and never reappeared. Was he St. Germain...or merely somebody trying to ape the Count's legend?

The mystical Theosophist movement has long claimed special knowledge of St. Germain. Madame Blavatsky, the head of the Theosophists in 1897, said that St. Germain had spoken to her. He revealed that he really came from an unknown land called Shambhala far below the Himalayan Mountains, where descendants of the lost city of Atlantis dwelled. From time to time, "agents" of Shambhala walked abroad in the world, trying to turn mankind to a more spiritual development. Christ, Buddha and Mohammed were some of these "agents" and so was St. Germain. Blavatsky added, "This pupil of Hindu and Egyptian hierophants, this holder of the secret knowledge of the East, was not appreciated for who he truly was."

St. Germain then did not appear for many years, but during World War I, a strange babbling Frenchman was caught by German soldiers in Alsatia. The Frenchman started making wild prophecies about the future, saying that "everyone will be a millionaire after the war and then will come the Antichrist, who will lead Germany to war again but be defeated after murdering millions". The soldiers laughed and finally let the poor madman go. It was only years later that one of them, Andreas Rill, recalled the incident, shuddering at how accurate the strange Frenchman's prophecies were. Perhaps this was St. Germain? Or maybe some other prophet?

Finally, a man named Richard Chanfray appeared on French television in 1972 and claimed that not only was he St. Germain but that he would transform lead into gold on national television. Chanfray's attempt failed and he later committed suicide in 1983. This incident shows that charlatans could certainly be responsible for some of the Count's appearances after 1800.

Some claim he is still among us. Even today, the Theosophists say he lives in Europe. One claim is that he is quietly living in Belgium as a botanist. But now there is so much balderash and unprovable nonsense swirling about the name of Count St. Germain that the very genuine historical mystery of this extraordinary man is being overlooked by sceptics.

There is no doubt that a man named St. Germain had a great part in European affairs in the mid and late 1700's and that this man impressed all who met him with his intelligence, his wealth and his aura of mystery. Those impressed included such figures as the brilliant philosophers Voltaire and St. Martin. There is also no doubt that St. Germain seemed to be a perpetually youthful man and the circumstances of his "death" were most mysterious. These facts are not in dispute.

Who was this man? The greatest con man in the history of Europe? The most brilliant alchemist and philosopher of all time? A true immortal? One of the last survivors of Atlantis? Indeed, was he even human?

Only one work written by St. Germain has survived. Entitled " La Tres Sainte Trinosophie", it is written in such a cryptic fashion that it seems almost indecipherable. But parts of it have been translated. The following passage may give us a clue as to who and WHAT St. Germain might have been:

"We moved through space at a speed that can be compared with nothing but itself. Within a fraction of a second, the plains below us were out of sight and the Earth had become but a faint Nebula".

A description of space travel can hardly be bettered. Yet it was written in the 1700's. With that little tidbit, the Good Doctor shall bid you farewell.

This is Dr. Abner Mality, turning out the lights.