In the Last Days (Eschatological Fantasy)

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Preface

In front of us is the last completed work of Tikhomirov, known to his researchers today. Judging by the author's notes at the beginning of the text, Lev Aleksandrovich worked on it in 1919-1920. There is information that in the early 1920s Tikhomirov arranged a reading of a certain "Apocalyptic Story" for a small circle of former friends at his home in Sergiev Posad (see: S. Fudel, "Memoirs," Novy Mir. 1991, No. 4, p. 183), it is quite obvious that that it was the "Last Days." In the "eschatological fantasy" the thinker continues (or rather, completes) the theme of the "end of time", which is so important to him, but this time he puts his reflections in the form of a philosophical and artistic work. In "The Last Days" Tikhomirov quite consciously orients himself to the famous "Short Tale of the Antichrist" from "Three Conversations..." V. S. Solovyov, even the supreme magician in "The Last Days" bears the same name as in "The Tale...", Apollonius; in both works, the Antichrist is a "great man." But at the same time, the "eschatological fantasy" has significant differences from the "Tale..." - both formal and ideological. In the Last Days", firstly, is far superior to "The Tale of..." In terms of volume, and in terms of genre, it is closer to an adventurous novel than to a lapidary Solovyov's text. In contrast to Solovyov, Tikhomirov unfolds the action of "fantasy" in strict accordance with the Revelation, which is generously quoted by the author. The following detail is curious: Tikhomirov completely lacks Protestantism as an opponent of the Antichrist, moreover, there is no mention of this branch of Christianity in the text at all; In Solovyov's case, Protestantism, in the person of Dr. Pauli, is an active opponent of the "superman." On the other hand, in "The Last Days" there are Muslims, some of whom are fighting against the Antichrist, about which Solovyov does not say a word. Tikhomirov prescribes the Jewish theme more carefully than Solovyov, although its interpretation by both thinkers is almost identical. Finally, the most important thing is that Solovyov does not have the Last Judgment, all the dead are in the "Tale..." resurrected and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, here one can clearly hear the echo of Solovyov's chiliasm, which has never been completely overcome. Tikhomirov, on the other hand, finishes his work quite in the spirit of Orthodox orthodoxy. Printed for the first time according to the manuscript: GA RF, f. 634, op. 1, f. 58.

In recent days. (Eschatological Fantasy)

Dedicated to E. D. T [1]. One more and last tale - And my chronicle is over. [2]. It was started on November 18, 1919. Finished on January 28, 1920. It was rewritten on March 15, 1920. The great man sat motionless, immersed in a deep reverie, which might have been mistaken for a dream if his face had not been stamped with the expression of such intense energy. All was quiet in this midnight hour. The luxurious office was buried in the semi-darkness of the yellowish light of electric stars, outlining the mysterious outlines of unprecedented constellations on the high ceiling. The silence was broken only by the measured clatter of a clock with a huge phosphorically luminous dial and a softly ringing monotonous melody, pouring sound waves from the constellations of the ceiling. It was the "music of the spheres" recently established by the Great Magician, to the soothing sounds of which the Great Man liked to sink into nocturnal contemplation or half-slumber. He did not know a real dream at all, and his meditation and mystical slumber merged into a state of peculiar peace. In the far corner of the study, a golden altar in front of the statue of the Lord of the Future shone faintly, and on the altar, like clouds of swamp mist, a figure of vague outlines wavered. The great man turned to her: "Zerefer, call the Magician. The figure spread from the altar in wide clouds, and a minute later a man entered, tall and sturdy with an unforgettable appearance. He was covered with hair. A thick beard shrouded his face. Her eyes glowed with a cat-like gleam from deep hollows covered by thick curtains of eyebrows. Nervous force oozed from every vein of the imperious face. Sensual lips were pursed into energetic folds. But the wide silk chlamys could not hide the sagging abdomen, and the tall cap with golden figures barely disguised the baldness, which clearly captured the head. Huge feet protruded from under the chlamys, and hands with thick fingers and rough nails resembled rather an animal's paw. The nature of the beast was peculiarly combined in the wizard with the features of human nervous energy, in contrast to the strong and muscular, but bony and lean figure of his master. "May the Lord of the Future protect you," he said as he approached. "What care has interrupted your peace, Great Organizer?" "Could I ever have more care than I do now?" - I don't understand you. Haven't you slain all your enemies? There is no one on the globe more powerful than you. The eyes of all mankind look upon you with hope. You are the President of the World Union of Powers. Even the church of the so-called Christ has abandoned his teachings. If the sect of fanatics who call themselves Philadelphians has not yet disappeared, what is the meaning of this handful of rebellious people who take refuge in their underground from the light of progress directed by you? What can be troubling you at the height of power and glory? The great organizer, however, remained thoughtful. "Do not fall into careless optimism, friend Apollonius. Even on the globe, not all is well. I confess that I often think about Central Jewry, Kol Yisroel Haberim. Again they imagined that I would be their obedient creature, and now they consider me a traitor... Fools! Kol Yisroel Haberim wants the earthly domination of the Jews and knows nothing higher. I am a Jew myself, but I go endlessly further. I want to dominate the universe! I am a god, and they imagine that I am their servant. And you can always expect an insidious blow from them. They can let the Freemasons on me. This must not be forgotten... But I was not thinking about them now, but about the struggle I was waging against God. You, Apollonius, are my best friend, but you don't seem to know how to rise to the height of events either. There was no magician in the world stronger than you, no one had such a powerful command of the forces of nature. But you are too material, too full of the animal element. You do not rise above the astral plane, and it is only for this reason that you comfort yourself with the thought of our power. But if, like me, you had risen to the spiritual plane, your mood would have changed greatly, and you would not have enjoyed earthly blessings so calmly. Listen, friend and comrade. You need to know this, because you must develop all your strength at this critical moment of our struggle. -Critical?! - Yes, it is critical. We have done a lot, we have conquered a lot, and we seem to be the conquerors of the world. But all our greatness can crumble much sooner than it was created... not so much by us as by the Lord of the Future, Lucifer, by his millennia-long mighty struggle against God. Outwardly, we seemed to have achieved something, but these concessions, while greatly irritating the enemy, did not in the least crush his forces. Think, then, that if he now comes out of his carelessness and moves against us, we will be able to repel his onslaught. Earthly Enhanced Weapons have no effect on angels; They are above your astral powers. After all, the power of Christ is enormous. Remember the two defeats in Lucifer's struggle against him. Now we have the third and decisive moment. Either we take everything, or the enemy will lead us to powerless nothingness, as John boasted in his Apocalypse. We need to gather all our forces, but real forces, with which we can make an offensive against the spiritual world, which is the mainstay of Christ's sovereignty. We own the land. A miserable possession that can always be wrested from us by those who possess Heaven, the higher world of spirits. From this world flow all the forces by which the material and astral world lives and moves. It is enough to stir the forces of the spiritual world, and the whole local world will shake, and its very laws are capable of changing if the play of the higher spiritual forces leads to this. God defeated Lucifer only because He took possession of the higher spiritual world, from which Lucifer had inadvertently led his legions. Lucifer himself is stronger than God, but he has taken a disadvantage in the struggle, standing outside the source of the world's power. He relied too much on himself, and he was punished for it. When Christ came to earth the second time, He was victorious also because, because of His connection with God, He had a foothold in the possession of Heaven. But past mistakes are understood by Lucifer. Now the task is to take possession of Heaven, to oust God and Christ from it, to take their place. Do you understand? And in this task we, people, are of great importance, because the higher spiritual world is formed from our own higher souls. Heaven influences us, but we also influence it. That is why God tries to keep us in His hands. This is the supreme mystery of the world's existence. Lucifer is also aware of this, and he himself says that he needs us, our psychic power. We must now take advantage of the years remaining before the decisive clash to concentrate all the spiritual forces of humanity to the aid of Lucifer. He will take care of the angels himself. We have to prepare people. So you see, dear Apollonius, that we have no time for careless rest now. - Antiochus, I'm sorry, I still don't understand... But isn't all of humanity in our hands? Are not all his impulses, all his spiritual powers, already directed against God, against His power? Do people not glorify Lucifer under various names, who only out of modesty calls himself the Lord of the Future, but in reality has already become the Lord of the Present? Watch and listen... He made several magical passes with his hands, and Antiochus saw the vast hall of the restored temple of the Templars. Clerics and knights of the Order surrounded the statue of Buffomet,[6] singing hymns of praise to him. Then the whole crowd with furious curses knocked over the Cross to the ground and began to spit and trample under foot... A few more magical passes, and Antiochus was filled with scenes of faithful mass, in which the desecration of Christ and the worship of Messire Leonard of the Middle Ages, now glorified under his real name of Lucifer, unfolded even more terribly. Apollonius waved his hand, and all was gone. The Great Man's study was plunged into its former half-light and deep silence. "Well, Antiochus, do you want me to summon here the hundreds of pictures that are going on at this hour in the corners of the whole earth?" Their meaning is the same: everywhere there is a denial of Christ, everywhere glory and love are given to the Lord of the Future. What more do you want? "Apollonius, you understand that I know all this well. But I also know and see how insignificant and powerless are the souls of these frenzied supporters of ours. You can see in the astral spectrum of their soul bands that it is not their colours that reveal their power. The spiritual eye, if you were more capable of it, would show you still more clearly that such souls are powerless to influence angelic beings. A myriad of them cannot be compared with one soul rich in spirit. Their psychic influences also bounce off the shields of the angels, like a handful of peas from a huge rock. And among the hundreds of millions of people we have conquered, where are the souls of the strong in spirit who can shake an angel? Is it possible to count at least dozens of them? They are not to be found in us, but in these mad Philadelphians. The fanatics have been clearly defeated, they are hiding underground, but they are capturing all the strong souls that can compete with the angels... And they will not go with us at the moment of decisive clash! "So you want to transfer these souls to our ranks?" -Certainly. Without that, we risk losing again. "But that's just a dream. You know they're all drawn to Christ. I don't know what attracts them to him, why they don't want Lucifer, but they don't want to break away from Christ, and I don't see how you can force them to do that. - And yet it has to be done. I'm not saying all of them, but maybe more. And you, the great magician, the master of astral forces, the connoisseur of all things seductive, the mechanic of hypnosis, you must solve this problem. Spirit in general is capable of being passionately attached to matter and obeying it. So there are ways to get him to do it. Lucifer achieved such success with Adam and Eve... The mage thought for a moment, and his face cleared up a little. - Yes, of course, we have the funds. They won't always work, but you can often count on success. Even the mere fear of torment is already something, and the temptation of sensuality is still greater, and the temptation of pride is still stronger. The main thing here is to divert the feeling from the love for the Crucified, to arouse doubt about his love, about his desire or ability to support the person. And once hesitating, the soul will begin to reach out to Lucifer, may wish to give its strength to help him... Yes, you're right, as always. "That's not just my thought. Lucifer fully approved of it. "Very well," said the amused Apollonius, "let us get to work. You're the only one who has to seriously disturb the Philadelphians. They need to be taken out of their hiding places and given to my psychic laboratories. I am thinking of resorting to the strongest means of hypnosis, and on this basis to dispose of other influences. Let your police go into action, and I'll set about changing your mental moods. It takes a lot of experiments... But, of course, my elixirs and astral spirits will also come in handy. In the meantime, then, goodbye. After all, I'm not you, and I like to sleep." "Wait," Antiochus stopped him. "Do you remember Lydia?" - Sorbonne? Of course. She was remarkably good. It once stirred my heart. Yes, a very big untouchable! I don't like those. - My heart was moving! I was once in love as a boy. It is a soul of precious power. It almost shook my resolve to fight against Christ. But I was stronger than her, even though I couldn't drag her along. I don't know if Valentin was happier than me... Remember Valentine? Do you remember our Sorbonne company? Where did Valentine, my friend at the time, go? And Jani Kleft remained my loyal subject. Oh, what children we were, what watercolor happiness we thought about.. Isn't it ridiculous to say that the current pretender to the Kingdom of the Universe once dreamed of a girl's blue eyes?.. However, that's not the point. I just thought it wouldn't hurt to bring in Lydia. Such strong souls are few and far between. I'll try to find it, and you make an effort to process it. Well, you can go to your bed. Adieu! The dedication is addressed to Ekaterina Dmitrievna Tikhomirova (nee Sergeeva), the faithful wife and assistant of Lev Alexandrovich, the mother of his four children ^ A.S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov". The words of the chronicler Pimen ("Night. A cell in the Chudov Monastery") ^ I.e., members of the Philadelphia Church, about which Tikhomirov wrote in more detail in his "Apocalyptic Teaching"... ^ Translated from Hebrew as "All Jews are brothers". The Hebrew name for the World Union of Israelites (see note 14) ^ The Templars, or Templars, were a spiritual and chivalric order founded in the twelfth century, and which took its name from the castle of Tamp in Jerusalem, which belonged to them, and was situated near the site of Solomon's temple. At the beginning of the 14th century, the French king Philip IV the Fair initiated an inquisitorial process against the Templars. They were accused of denying Christ, idolatry, sodomy, etc. In May 1310, the Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, and several other knights were burned at the stake in Paris. In 1312, by virtue of a bull of Pope Clement V, the Templars were declared heretics. Many secret societies (including the Freemasons) insisted that they traced their lineage back to the Templars ^ Buffomet (or Baphomet) is a head-shaped idol supposedly worshipped by the Templars. Buffomet, in their view, was a god who gives all earthly blessings (See: L. A. Tikhomirov, Religious and Philosophical Foundations of History, pp. 415-416) ^ Messire Leonard is the name of Satan on witches' sabbats ^