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= Vril =
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Introduction
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'Vril: The Power of the Coming Race', originally published as 'The
Coming Race', is a novel by English politician and writer Edward
Bulwer-Lytton, published anonymously in 1871.
Some readers have believed the account of a superior subterranean
master race and the energy-form called "Vril", at least in part; some
theosophists, notably Helena Blavatsky, William Scott-Elliot, and
Rudolf Steiner, accepted the book as based on occult truth, in part.
One 1960 book, 'The Morning of the Magicians' by Jacques Bergier and
Louis Pauwels, suggested that a secret Vril Society existed in Weimar
Berlin.
The name "Vril" may be based on the word 'virile'.
History
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The original, British, edition titled as 'The Coming Race' was
published anonymously in May 1871 by Blackwood and Sons of Edinburgh
and London. Blackwood published four more impressions in 1871.
Anonymous American and Canadian editions were published in August 1871
as 'The Coming Race or The New Utopia ,' by Francis B. Felt & Co.
in New York and by Copp, Clark & Co. in Toronto, respectively.
'Erewhon', which was published anonymously in March 1872, was
initially assumed to be a sequel to 'The Coming Race', which by then
Bulwer-Lytton was known to have written. When it was revealed that
Samuel Butler was the author of 'Erewhon' in the 25 May 1872 issue of
the 'Athenaeum', sales dropped by 90 percent.
Plot summary
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A young, independent, wealthy traveller (the Narrator) visits a
friend, a mining engineer. They explore a natural chasm in a mine
which has been exposed by an exploratory shaft. Using a grappling hook
and rope, the Narrator reaches the bottom of the chasm safely, but as
the engineer follows, the hook dislodges and the engineer falls to his
death. The Narrator is unable to ascend back up the chasm, so makes
his way into a subterranean world occupied by beings who in some ways
seem to resemble angels and their face that of a sphinx. They have a
skin tone similar to that of Amerindians, however "richer and softer",
large black eyes, and "brows arched as a semicircle". He befriends the
first being he meets, who guides him around a city that is reminiscent
of ancient Egyptian architecture. The Narrator meets his host's wife,
two sons and daughter who learn to speak English by way of a makeshift
dictionary during which the narrator unconsciously teaches them the
language.
The Narrator discovers that these beings, who call themselves Vril-ya,
have great telepathic and other parapsychological abilities, such as
being able to transmit information, get rid of pain, and put others to
sleep. The Narrator is offended by the idea that the Vril-ya are
better adapted to learn about him than he is to learn about them.
Nevertheless, the guide (who turns out to be a magistrate) and his son
Taë behave kindly towards him.
The Narrator soon discovers that the Vril-ya are descendants of an
antediluvian civilization called the Ana, who live in networks of
caverns linked by tunnels. Originally surface dwellers, they fled
underground thousands of years ago to escape a massive flood and
gained greater power by facing and dominating the harsh conditions of
the Earth. The place where the Narrator descended houses 12,000
families, one of the largest groups and at the upper limit of
population size before a chunk of the population will be splintered
off and sent to build a new city on un-inhabited land. Their society
is a technologically supported Utopia, chief among their tools being
an "all-permeating fluid" called "Vril", a latent source of energy
that the spiritually elevated hosts are able to master through
training of their will, to a degree that depends on their hereditary
constitution. This mastery gives them access to an extraordinary force
that can be controlled at will. It is this fluid that the Vril-ya
employ to communicate with the Narrator. The powers of the Vril
include the ability to heal, change, and destroy beings and things;
the destructive powers in particular are immense, allowing a few young
Vril-ya children to destroy entire cities if necessary.
Men (called An, pronounced "Arn") and women (called Gy, pronounced
"Gee") have equal rights. The women are stronger, larger, and more
sensitive to Vril than the men. The women are also the pursuing party
in romantic relationships. They marry for three years, after which the
men choose whether to remain married, or be single. The female may
then pursue a new husband. However, they seldom make the choice to
remarry.
Their religion posits the existence of a superior being but does not
dwell on his nature. The Vril-ya believe in the permanence of life,
which according to them is not destroyed but merely changes form.
The Narrator adopts the attire of his hosts and begins also to adopt
their customs. The guide's daughter, Zee is a researcher and enjoys
spending time with the Narrator in order to learn about the inferior
"barbarian". Over time, Zee begins to feel affection for the Narrator
and this affection develops into love. Zee becomes possessive and
begins to openly court the Narrator. Instinctively understanding that
he may be in danger, the Narrator asks Zee's father to intervene. Due
to societal customs, Zee's father refuses the request; however, the
guide informs the narrator unequivocally that if he succumbs to Zee's
seduction, he will be killed in order to prevent the contamination of
the genetics of the Vril-ya. To further complicate matters, a young
Vril-ya princess also falls in love with the Narrator, and she too
aggressively pursues the Narrator, creating a rivalry between the two
Gy and deepening the Narrator's predicament. The princess eventually
confesses her infatuation and intentions to her father creating an
untenable threat to the common good of the Vril-ya society. Taë is
instructed to take the Narrator back to the location where he had
originally entered the realm and to kill him with his staff. The
Narrator is able to plead for reprieve and eventually both Taë and Zee
conspire against the murderous plan. Zee uses her powers of flight to
carry the Narrator up through the same chasm which he first descended.
As they part, Zee tells the Narrator to think of her once in a while
and that she will search for him in the next life, then departs,
leaving the Narrator to make his way out of the mine shaft alone.
After safely returning to the surface, the Narrator resumes a normal
life without disclosing the existence of the Vril-ya. After he has
retired, he finds himself diagnosed with an undisclosed fatal disease.
At that point he then decides to record his experiences and warns that
in time the Vril-ya will run out of habitable space underground and
will claim the surface of the Earth, destroying mankind in the
process, if necessary.
Vril in the novel
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The uses of Vril in the novel amongst the Vril-ya vary from
destruction to healing. According to Zee, the daughter of the
narrator's host, Vril can be changed into the mightiest agency over
all types of matter, both animate and inanimate. It can destroy like
lightning or replenish life, heal, or cure. It is used to rend ways
through solid matter. Its light is said to be steadier, softer and
healthier than that from any flammable material. It can also be used
as a power source for animating mechanisms. Vril can be harnessed by
use of the Vril staff or mental concentration.
A Vril staff is an object in the shape of a wand or a staff which is
used as a channel for Vril. The narrator describes it as hollow with
"stops", "keys", or "springs" in which Vril can be altered, modified,
or directed to either destroy or heal. The staff is about the size of
a walking stick but can be lengthened or shortened according to the
user's preferences. The appearance and function of the Vril staff
differs according to gender, age, etc. Some staves are more potent for
destruction; others, for healing. The staves of children are said to
be much simpler than those of sages; in those of wives and mothers,
the destructive part is removed while the healing aspects are
emphasised.
Literary significance and reception
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The book was popular in the late 19th century, and for a time the word
"Vril" came to be associated with "life-giving elixirs". An example is
in the name of Bovril, coined as a blend word of Bovine and Vril.
There was a Vril-ya Bazaar held at the Royal Albert Hall in London in
March 1891. The same year, a sequel named 'The Vril Staff: A Romance'
was published, written by an unknown author using the pseudonym XYZ.
It also had a strong influence on other contemporary authors. When H.
G. Wells' novella 'The Time Machine' was published in 1895, 'The
Guardian' wrote in its review: "The influence of the author of 'The
Coming Race' is still powerful, and no year passes without the
appearance of stories which describe the manners and customs of
peoples in imaginary worlds, sometimes in the stars above, sometimes
in the heart of unknown continents in Australia or at the Pole, and
sometimes below the waters under the earth. The latest effort in this
class of fiction is 'The Time Machine', by H. G. Wells."
It has been suggested that Bulwer-Lytton developed his ideas about
"Vril" against the background of his long preoccupation with occult
natural forces, which were widely discussed at that time, especially
in relation to animal magnetism, or later, spiritualism. In his
earlier novels 'Zanoni' (1842) and 'A Strange Story' (1862),
Bulwer-Lytton had discussed electricity and other "material agents" as
the possible natural causes for occult phenomena. In 'The Coming
Race', those ideas are continued in the context of a satirical
critique of contemporary philosophical, scientific, and political
currents. In a letter to his friend John Forster, Bulwer-Lytton
explained his motives:
Bulwer-Lytton has been regarded as an "initiate" or "adept" by
esotericists, especially because of his Rosicrucian novel 'Zanoni'
(1842). However, there is no historical evidence that suggests that
Bulwer-Lytton can be seen as an occultist, or that he was a member of
any kind of esoteric association. Instead, it has been shown that
Bulwer-Lytton has been "esotericized" since the 1870s. In 1870, the
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia appointed Bulwer-Lytton as its "Grand
Patron". Although Bulwer-Lytton complained about this by letter in
1872, the claim was never revoked. Other claims, such as his supposed
membership in the German Masonic lodge 'Zur aufgehenden Morgenröthe',
have been proven wrong.
Those claims, as well as the recurrent esoteric topics in
Bulwer-Lytton's works, convinced some commentators that the
fictionalised Vril was based on a real magical force. Helena
Blavatsky, the founder of theosophy, endorsed this view in her book
'Isis Unveiled' (1877) and again in 'The Secret Doctrine' (1888). In
Blavatsky's writing, the Vril power and its attainment by a superhuman
elite are worked into a mystical doctrine of race. However, the
character of the subterranean people was transformed. Instead of
potential conquerors, they were benevolent (if mysterious) spiritual
guides. Blavatsky's recurrent homage to Bulwer-Lytton and the Vril
force has exerted a lasting influence on other esoteric authors.
When the theosophist William Scott-Elliot described life in Atlantis
in , he mentioned Atlantean aircraft propelled by Vril-force. His
books are still published by the Theosophical Society. Scott-Elliot's
description of Atlantean aircraft has been identified as an early
inspiration for authors who have related the Vril force to UFOs after
World War II.
George Bernard Shaw read the book and was attracted to the idea of
Vril, according to Michael Holroyd's biography of him.
French writer Jules Lermina included a Vril-powered flying machine in
his 1910 novel 'L'Effrayante Aventure (Panic in Paris)'.
David Bowie's 1971 song "Oh! You Pretty Things" makes reference to the
novel.
Stage adaptation
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A stage adaptation of the book was written by journalist David
Christie Murray and magician Nevil Maskelyne. The production premiered
at Saint George's Hall in London on 2 January 1905. Both Nevil
Maskelyne and his father John Nevil Maskelyne collaborated on the
special effects for the play. The play did not meet with success and
closed after a run of eight weeks.
Willy Ley
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Willy Ley was a German rocket engineer who had emigrated to the United
States in 1937. In 1947, he published an article titled "Pseudoscience
in Naziland" in the magazine 'Astounding Science Fiction'. He wrote
that the high popularity of irrational convictions in Germany at that
time explained how Nazism could have fallen on such fertile ground.
Among various pseudoscientific groups he mentions one that looked for
the Vril:
"The next group was literally founded upon a novel. That group which I
think called itself 'Wahrheitsgesellschaft' - Society for Truth - and
which was more or less localised in Berlin, devoted its spare time
looking for Vril."
Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels
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The existence of a Vril Society was alleged in 1960 by Jacques Bergier
and Louis Pauwels. In their book 'The Morning of the Magicians', they
claimed that the Vril-Society was a secret community of occultists in
pre-Nazi Berlin that was a sort of inner circle of the Thule Society.
They also thought that it was in close contact with the English group
known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Vril information
takes up about a tenth of the volume, the remainder of which details
other esoteric speculations, but the authors fail to clearly explain
whether this section is fact or fiction. Historians have shown that
there has been no actual historical foundation for the claims of
Pauwels and Bergier, and that the article of Willy Ley has only been a
vague inspiration for their own ideas. Nevertheless, Pauwels and
Bergier have influenced a whole new literary genre dealing with the
alleged occult influences on Nazis which have often been related to
the fictional Vril Society.
In his book 'Monsieur Gurdjieff', Louis Pauwels claimed that a Vril
Society had been founded by General Karl Haushofer, a student of
Russian magician and metaphysician Georges Gurdjieff.
Publications on the Vril Society in German
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A book by Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels was published in German
with the title: 'Aufbruch ins dritte Jahrtausend: von der Zukunft der
phantastischen Vernunft' (literally 'Departure into the Third
Millennium: The Future of the Fantastic Reason') in 1969.
In his book 'Black Sun', Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke refers to
the research of the German author Peter Bahn. Bahn writes in his 1996
essay, "Das Geheimnis der Vril-Energie" ("The Secret of Vril Energy"),
of his discovery of an obscure esoteric group calling itself the
"Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft", which revealed itself in a rare 1930
publication 'Vril. Die Kosmische Urkraft' (Vril, the cosmic elementary
power) written by a member of this Berlin-based group, under the
pseudonym "Johannes Täufer" (German: "John [the] Baptist"). Published
by the influential astrological publisher, Otto Wilhelm Barth (whom
Bahn believes was "Täufer"), the 60-page pamphlet says little of the
group other than that it was founded in 1925 to study the uses of Vril
energy. The German historian Julian Strube has argued that the
historical existence of the "Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft" can be
regarded as irrelevant to the post-war invention of the Vril Society,
as Pauwels and Bergier have developed their ideas without any
knowledge of that actual association. Strube has also shown that the
Vril force has been irrelevant to the other members of the
"Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft," who were supporters of the theories of
the Austrian inventor Karl Schappeller (1875-1947).
Esoteric neo-Nazism
=====================
After World War II, a group referred to by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke as
the Vienna Circle elaborated an esoteric neo-Nazism that contributed
to the circulation of the Vril theme in a new context. In their
writings, Vril is associated with Nazi UFOs and the Black Sun concept.
Julian Strube wrote that a younger generation related to the
Tempelhofgesellschaft, has continued the work of the Vienna Circle and
exerts a continuous influence on the most common notions of Vril.
Those notions are not only popular in neo-Nazi circles but also in
movies or computer games, such as 'Iron Sky', 'Wolfenstein', and 'Call
of Duty'.
See also
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* Aether (classical element)
* Aether theories
*Agartha, a legendary kingdom that is said to be located in the
Earth's core popular with 19th- and 20th-century occultists
theosophists.
* Animal magnetism
* Energy (esotericism)
* Etheric body (spirituality)
* Etheric plane (spirituality)
* Jules Verne
* Kerry Bolton, author of 'The Nexus'
*"The Mound" by H. P. Lovecraft from a short description by Zealia
Bishop-- underground civilization fiction apparently clearly inspired
by Lytton set in the southwestern U.S.; part of the Cthulhu Mythos
* Mysticism
* Nazism and occultism
* Nazi UFOs
* Odic fluid
*'The Phantom Empire'-- film serial with a similar theme that was
perhaps inspired by Lytton and in turn an inspiration on Richard
Sharpe Shaver's work
* Prana
* Qi
* Richard Shaver -- claimed to know of a civilization such as that
depicted in 'Vril'
* 'Supermale' (1902) by Alfred Jarry ('perpetual-motion food')
* Stanislav Szukalski developed strange theories about Earth being
ruled by a race called the Sons of Yeti.
* 'Us' (2019 film) directed by Jordan Peele depicts a race of
subterranean machine-like humans designed to copy their counterparts
on the surface.
* Wilhelm Reich's Orgone energy
* Southern Television broadcast interruption (Vrillon television hoax)
References
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Notes
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
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*
* - transcript of unidentified edition that was published as "by
Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton"
* - transcript of another unidentified edition
*
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* .
* .
* .
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License
=========
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License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vril
