The fairy tale "The Tinderbox"

Seen and evaluated in four basic significance levels

The painter and artist Vilhelm Pedersen (1820-59) was the first Danish illustrator of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. That he began in 1849 and continued until his death in 1859. He used only pencil and lead stick to draw his illustrations with, which afterwards had to be transferred to woodcuts, to be reproduced. Wood engraving was then a widely used method for the production of printing line blocks. A recent advanced printing technique has been able to reproduce Pedersen's original drawings, so their sensitive line came into its own, as seen in the above illustration for the fairy tale "The Tinderbox". Re. Vilhelm Pedersen: See Niels Th. Mortensen: The H.C.Andersen illustrator Vilhelm Pedersen. Publisher Ejnar Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 1949. - See also: Erik Dal: Danish H.C.Andersen illustrations from 1835 to 1975. The publisher Forum, Copenhagen, 1975.

The fairy tale The Tinderbox, 1835, begins, as you might know, Hans Christian Andersen's 'official' fairy tale cycle, as he himself chose to edit this. But he had written at least, one fairy tale already around 1829, namely The Ghost, which was first published in Poems 1830. This fairy tale had been in his thoughts as early as in 1822, when he planned the publication of his first book, Youthful Attempts. But for unknown reason it was not printed on that occasion, and it is possible that Andersen did not have written it on paper at that time, but only had intention to do it, if that was needed. Sales of the book, however, went so badly that it made a loss, why it did not come off with the release of the planned second volume of "Youthful Attempts". (Note 1)

The fairy tale or adventure genre was well known in Hans Christian Andersen's childhood and youth, partly in the form of folk tales, and partly in the form of art fairy tales, of which include poet B.S.Ingemann had written several. The idea of self to write fairy tales, undoubtedly has been simmered in Andersen's consciousness, probably ever since he was a little boy and have heard his father, Hans Andersen, read aloud the book of fairy tales Thousand and One Nights. Moreover, the fascination of the adventure or fairy tale genre allegedly has been strengthened in him by hearing the glorious old folktales retold by helpful wives in Odense Franciscan Hospital’s spinning room and during hop picking in the country, as his mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, in his childhood took him to. (Note 2)

Andersen itself has stated that some of his fairy tales are retellings of fairy tales and folk tales he had heard as a child, but as he recounted in his own style, primarily such that tell the way approaching the common spoken language. And although his fairy tales are sought told in everyday language that children - especially then - immediately were able to perceive and understand, the writer had, however, also the adult listeners or readers in mind, when he wrote his adventures. He appealed therefore indirectly also to the child's mind that despite the experience over the years, are still preserved deep down in most adults, and those in fortunate moments yet is able to recall from their own childhood. Andersen also knew that memory’s gilding ability eventually transforms both pleasant and perhaps especially less pleasant experience into golden copies of the original underlying experiences, and that these "gold copies" in principle corresponds to the child-mind’s conception of life and the world, although at a higher plane or level. Therefore, not so strange that Jesus-words: "Unless ye become as little children, ye shall not enter God's kingdom!", was almost a kind of motto for Andersen. He knew better than anyone that it is on the basis of the child within the adult with his life experience, large or small store, may be able to experience life itself as the biggest adventure that exists and that it is in and with this experience, that the Kingdom of God becomes present for the individual. (Note 3)

The fairy tale or adventure "The Tinderbox" belongs to the group of folk tales, Andersen had heard in his childhood, and he as an adult then recounted in his own style. The Andersen’s research has therefore naturally sought to identify the literary sources that inspired the poet to his own work, and it has been noted that especially the tale of Aladdin from the "Thousand and One Nights", which constitutes the deeper source of inspiration for Andersen’s "The Tinderbox". "Thousand and One Nights" is a collection of Indian, Persian and Arabic folk tales, believed to have occurred around the time of 500-1500 AD, and which for generations has been handed down through oral tradition. The first known written version of the fairy tale collection is from the 9th century, and it contains about 300 individual stories. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was reproduced in several variations, and its content greatly influenced the Renaissance short stories and adventure literature.

The first European translation of the "Thousand and One Nights" was released in the years 1702-12 by Frenchman Jean-Antoine Galland. This edition was translated into Danish, but by whom and when the first edition was published, is not available in the printed sources I have availed myself of. By contrast, it is known that the 2nd edition of his three volumes appeared in Copenhagen 1757-58 and that a new Danish translation (from German) in four volumes was published 1813-17. But it is likely to be the former translation’s 2nd Edition, Hans Christian Andersen's father has owned and which he often read aloud from for his small son. (Note 4)

But the glorious story of happiness child Aladdin has in the past also been told and retold in various popular variants, such as The Ghost in the Light and The blue Light. However, in such a way, that the main features in the adventures in all cases are identical. But it can be established that it is not least is the fairy tale "The blue Light" found in Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale collection, which in many respects seems to have been a source of inspiration for Andersen's "The Tinderbox". (Note 5)

However, it is probably particularly the dramatisation of the story of Aladdin as Danish Golden Age literature prime mover, the poet and dramatist Adam Oehlenschläger, had made, that had an effect on Andersen, both as a person and as a writer. Later, when the two met each other, got the much older Oehlenschläger status for Andersen as both friend and role model, in particular, for a considerable literary influence on the young poet. Oehlenschläger’s "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. A comedy", was first published in Poetic Works, Vol. 2, which was released in July 1805, that is, while the only about three or four months old baby boy, Hans Christian Andersen, was still at his mother's breast. (Note 6)

It is not known by me, when Andersen became acquainted with Oehlenschläger’s play "Aladdin", but it probably only happened after he had come to Copenhagen in September 1819. However, there is first a written documentation of Andersen's knowledge of the adventure play in 1825, and it is also in this context that we for the first time will be announced with that Andersen identified himself with the Aladdin-figure, such as exposed in just Oehlenschläger’s adventure play. (Note7)

As you know, the then 17-year-old Andersen was admitted as a student in Slagelse grammar School, and here he began his schooling in late October 1822. In April 1826 he moved, together with his headmaster, Simon Meisling, and the latter’s family, to Elsinore, and continued his education in this city’s grammar school. Its Christmas holidays 1822-25 he spent with friendly and helpful families in Copenhagen, which apparently was very fond of the odd aspiring writer, and therefore invited him to stay with them during his stay of several days in the capital. Christmas 1825, Andersen was invited to spend with the family Wulff, who lived at the Naval Academy, which from 1788 to 1827 was housed in the Brockdorff Palace at Amalienborg. To this place Andersen arrived Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. in the evening, and accordingly he notes in his diary for this date include following that, however, is reproduced with modern spelling:

I have got 2 rooms next to the square, one to sleep in, another hot where I want to read in the morning, the ceiling arching high above me so I can quite imagine being on a knightly castle; - I was now a given a gift from Wulff the 3 Volume plays he has translated of Shakespeare. They are on writing paper and so brilliantly bound as a Shakespearean piece deserves, now I am alone in my chamber - thousands emotions flowing through me - o what God has done for me, it bothers me as Aladdin says at the end of the play, as he looks out the window from the castle: for a 5 a 6 years ago I went down there, did not know a man here in town and now I can at a dear and esteemed family up there gloat me with my Shakespeare - o God is good, a drop of joy honey brings me to forget all bitterness, God will not leave me – he made me so happy. (Note 8)

The place in Oehlenschläger plays, Andersen refers to in the diary note, occurs in the play's very last scene, which takes place in the Great Hall of Aladdin's magnificent palace. All the previous opposition to Aladdin's appointment, as the country's head (sultan) is ended, and Aladdin has been reunited with his wife, Gulnare. Having great cheers from the assembled crowd at the Palace Square, is Aladdin just been crowned by the Grand Vizier and appointed sultan, and he is now standing at a window and sees a long time in silence the joyful and jubilant crowd down there in the palace square. Finally, he exclaims:

Down I went, like a little boy,

every Sunday when I had been allowed,

and so puzzled up to Sultan’s Palace,

and could not comprehend how though

you could build that sort of a tower from the ground;

down there threw’ I in rage

a stone among the crowd who persecuted me,

and mocked' insensible my hard fate;

down there now proclaim me all

for their sultan, their great sultan.

How strange is, however, human life!

[...] (Note 9)

What Andersen otherwise have had in mind, when he wrote the above mentioned and partially quoted diary entry is undoubtedly the situation he had been in after he September 6, 1819, had arrived in Copenhagen from his hometown Odense. The small sum save money he had brought from home, was, despite his caution quickly spent, and his compulsive attempts to get a job as a labourer, were not successful. In the following three years he was therefore obliged to do so well as he could, and partly for the small fee he received as a pupil and extra at the Royal Theatre and partly for money, which he actually had to beg for from "noble-minded human friends.” It became three cramped years of great deprivation, particularly as food and clothing was concerned, he had to live through and endure until fate would have it, he through desperate but unsuccessful attempt to get approved a play for the performing of the theatre, aroused the theatre Directors interest in his person. It led to one partly set him to an apprenticeship at one of the country's grammar schools, and others recommending that a public fund supported him financially during the school years. King Frederick VI granted both, but in practice it was the theatre’s economic director, Jonas Collin, who served as administrator and guardian of the young Andersen. (Note 10)

1st Significance level: The plot of "The Tinderbox"

Hans Christian Andersen's relationship with the Aladdin myth, and his self-identification with the Aladdin-figure, we shall look at a little later and in a different context. But here we will now turn to consider the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" in relation to the four significance plans or levels, the first of which is the so-called action level. That is, the significance or interpretation, which is about the literal wording and the content, that is immediately apparent in the given text.

In the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" is the immediate action the following: A soldier has been dismissed from war service, and we meet him in the summer landscape as he marches briskly off down the road. He is on his way to the big city, which he would like to reach within nightfall, because when closing the city gates, so that no one can come either in or out until the next morning. But along the way he comes across a large, gnarled oak tree by the roadside, and in front of this is standing an ugly old witch. She shouts him an, as he approaches, and ask immediately if he will not do her a favour and crawl into the large hollow tree and get an old tinderbox, as her grandmother had once forgotten, when she last time was down there. In return promise the witch, that the soldier must take as many copper, silver and gold coins, he can carry. The fact is that, beneath the old hollow tree is a large hall, illuminated by hundreds of lights, and in this hall there are three doors, one larger than the other, which leads to each separate chamber. In each of the chambers is a treasure chest, which is guarded by a dog. In the first chamber is the chest full of coppers, and the dog that sits on top of the cover, has eyes as large as teacups. In the second chamber is the chest full of silver, and the dog, such as a guardian is greater than the first dog and has eyes as large as mill wheels. In the third and final chamber, there is a chest full of gold coins, and the dog who guard them are huge and have eyes as big as the Round Tower in Copenhagen. But for that the dogs must obey the soldier and not harm him, when he comes in to them, giving the witch him her blue chequered apron with which the dogs apparently can recognise and to reassure them. (Note 11)

With a rope around the waist the soldier was hoisted into the hollow tree, and when he has come into the first chamber and has got the dog to sit on the witch's apron, which the soldier has put on the floor next to the treasure chest, he looks to his delight the many shiny copper coins. He hurries then to fill his knapsack with so many coins that may be in it. But when he immediately after entered in the second chamber and has got the dog there to sit on the witch's apron on the floor and open the lid to the treasure chest and watching the many shiny silver coins, he empty his knapsack and fill it instead with silver coins. When he came into the third and final chamber and with some difficulty has got the huge dog down from the lid to the treasure chest, he is about to fall backwards by surprise by seeing the many glittering gold coins. Again he empties the knapsack, this time for silver coins, and fills both it and his pockets with gold coins. But as busy the soldier has been to take care of all the wealth, he sees before his eyes, he forget to comply with the witch's desire to find the old tinderbox and bring it up to her. When he yells at her to be hoisted up again, she asked immediately if he remembered the tinderbox. He must therefore go back and into the great hall at the end of which there is a niche, and on a rise here is the tinderbox in one for that purpose prepared leather bag. The soldier put the bag with the tinderbox in his pocket and now demands that to come up. (Note 12)

Well up in the open again, he asks the expectant witch what she will be with the old tinderbox, but she answers surly that it does not concern him. When he repeated his question and still gets no response, he draws his sword and cut off without hesitation her head. And as if nothing had happened, he goes then cheerfully on to his goal: the great city. Soon after he passes through the gate into the city, where he immediately moves to the best lodging house that exist there, and lease a large and well-furnished room. After a good meal and a cheerful drinking with the inn's other guests, he goes to bed, tired from the long march and other events. Before he settles, he places as usual its dusty and worn-out boots outside the door, as he expects they will be cleaned and polished until the next morning. The waiter wonders well enough that the rich soldier is wearing a uniform and included a pair of old, worn boots, but dismisses it with that the soldier is probably a bit of an original. The soldier, however, is pretty unhappy with his old uniform and his worn boots, and immediately the next day he goes out in town and buys neat civilian clothes and gorgeous new boots, and the Draper takes his old uniform and boots as partly payment.

The soldier soon got friends among the other guests at the inn, but mostly because he is extremely generous to entertain them. Then one day he sits in the cheerful company among friends, they tell him about the beautiful princess, who lives up on the copper castle with the many towers and thick walls around to protect her. It is been prophesied that she will be married to an ordinary or common soldier, and to avoid this the royal couple has commanded, that the princess must be guarded around the clock. Much against his wills must the soldier therefore initially abandon the idea to get her to see.

Every day goes faster than the other, and soon the soldier's money depleted and friends fall away one by one. The before so fine and generous gentleman is compelled to exchange the fine clothes and beautiful boots with his old uniform and his worn boots, which he had sold to the hand dealer for almost no money. When he comes back to the inn, wearing his old clothes and boots, and the host sees how bad it is with his guest and furthermore learns, that this hardly have money left of its assets, the host will not give him credit, but assigns the soldier a Spartan equipped small chamber at the top under the roof.

Now the soldier must brush and repair his boots and mend them with a darning. One evening, just as he is about to stop a hole in one boot, he dropped the needle on the floor, but could not find it in the semi-darkness. However, he remembers that there is a stump of a candle in the bag with the tinderbox, as he still has with him, but not yet found it necessary to use. As he stroke the steel against the flint, so that sparks and fire, jumps the door open and the dog with eyes as teacups are suddenly standing in front of him, and offering service. The soldier is obviously pleased and surprised and commands the dog to get him some money. Barely has he expressed his desire before the dog disappears and in a few seconds is back with a big bag full of copper money. So could the soldier figure out, that when he stroke the tinderbox once, came the dog that guards copper money, when he stroke twice, the dog came who guard silver money, and when he stroke three times, came the dog guarding gold money.

But copper money was plenty for him to again be able to exchange his simple uniform and old boots with fine clothes and patent leather boots. Moreover, he could move back to the big room on the first floor, and now he could again splurge on his old friends, who promptly returned, now that he was rich again. On the way, he resumed soon his previous profligate life, as though this time it was planned to be able to continue, thanks to the magic tinderbox. Often he went to the theatre, for he was very fond of comedy, but forgot, however, not the city's poor, the beggars and the destitute, and those were many.

Despite his wealth and large base of friends, thought the soldier nevertheless that there was something missing in his life. His longing applied the beautiful princess, who lived in hiding and was guarded up on the large castle with the many towers, which he so terribly wanted to see and was not allowed. But he wonders, however, if not the tinderbox could also help him get this ultimate dream fulfilled? - It was worth a try, thought the soldier, and a late evening when all the people of the city lay in their deepest sleep, he stroke the tinderbox once and immediately came the dog from earlier in the room with him. As soon as it had heard the soldier's command it disappeared and returned immediately after with the sleeping princess on its back. The soldier, who thought she was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen, could not resist the temptation to kiss her right on the mouth. The princess moved a little, but did not wake up, and immediately after the dog disappeared again and brought it still sleeping princess back to her bed up at the palace.

When the princess the next morning had breakfast with her parents, the king and queen, she told them that she had had a strange dream in the night. In the dream she rode on a big dog that led her to a soldier, who kissed her right on the mouth. Bearing in mind the prophecy, the queen now decided that one of the old ladies of the court every night should keep watch over the princess's bed, to be able to find out whether there now just was talk about a dream or something entirely else.

However the soldier soon longed to see the beautiful princess again, and a night he stroke the tinderbox, to summon the dog, which he immediately commanded to fetch the princess. But as soon as the dog arrived at the castle tower room, where the princess slept in her bed, woke the watching court lady who had sat and dozed, and she hurried to take seven-league boots on, so she could better follow the dog, as left the place with the still sleeping princess in blistering speed and disappeared into the house, where the soldier lived. When the court lady saw this, she was smart enough with a piece of white chalk to draw a large cross on the front door, so she could recognise the place. But there she was deceived, for having brought the princess back to the palace, the dog turned back and drew crosses on all the doors nearby that the court lady would not be able to identify the place where the soldier lived. So when the lady, followed by the king and queen and a platoon of soldiers, immediately the next morning went out to find the place, there was obviously great confusion over the many crosses, which meant that the court lady did not recognise where the soldier lived, why they had to give up to get him this time.

But the Queen found however soon a cunning solution, as she filled a small silk bag with small fine buckwheat grains, and tied it around the neck of the sleeping princess. Then she cut a small hole in the bag, so that the grains could linger out and leave a trail, when the dog ran away with the princess to the Soldier. In this way it managed to finally find him, and the morning after he was arrested and put in the law-courts jail.

The same day the soldier was brought for the judges, who found him guilty of the charge and solemnly condemned him to death by hanging. The verdict had already to be executed the following day, but unfortunately for the soldier, he had forgotten the tinderbox home at the lodging house. The prison cell, he was inserted into, had one little bar window, which turned out to the street, and here he could stand and keep up with what was going on outside. Early in the morning the next day swarmed the streets with busy people, who all were heading out to the place of execution outside the city. The soldier stood at the window and watched the many people who hurried by, and in the same landed a slipper right in front of him. It belonged to a shoemaker's boy, who also had a hurry to get out to the place of execution. The soldier invoked the boy, and said that it was not to be so busy, there would of course not happen anything before he, the soldier, had been brought out there too. The soldier then asked the boy whether this would make him the service, against a payment of four shillings, to pick up his tinderbox at the inn. To this is the sharp and healthy boy immediately ready, and it does not take many minutes before he is back with the leather bag with the magic tinderbox. The boy gets his payment and hurries on.

Shortly after, the soldier is picked up, handcuffed and in open-cart driven out to the place of execution outside the city, where for the purpose is erected a gallows. Around this there are a large and close-packed crowd, as in nervous strained excitement is awaiting the execution to take place. Close to is erected a beautifully decorated stand with thrones for the King and Queen, and upholstered chairs for the judges and ministers.

There was a protracted and high thrill through the crowd, when the soldier, led by the executioner, was led up the ladder to the raised platform, where the gallows were erected. But just before the executioner was about to put the rope round the neck of the soldier, addressed this to the king and asked that he according to custom, had to get a very last wish: He wanted very much to smoke himself a pipe tobacco! When the king did not suspect anything, he gave without any further ceremony his permission. And under the pretext of wanting to light a pipe, stroke the soldier the tinderbox, first once, then a second time and a third time, and immediately, the three dogs stood in front of him, awaiting his command. And the soldier commanded of course the dogs to help him, so he could avoid being hanged, in which these immediately rushed at the judges and ministers and threw them high up in the air, so that they fell down and was hurt themselves thoroughly. The largest of the dogs grabbed both the king and queen at once and threw them the same way. At this sight did a mixture of fright and admiration grip the crowd for the soldier, and they cried in chorus therefore, that he should have the princess and be their king.

A few days later, there was a large and festive wedding for the soldier and the princess, who was now the queen, and she liked that, as Andersen enjoyable adds. The wedding lasted for eight days, and the entire population hailed the new royal couple.

This is prosaic and perhaps a little fussy told the action and content of the fairy tale "The Tinderbox", which, however, I would especially recommend the Danish reader to refresh acquaintance with. Andersen's narrative style is quite his own and deserves to be heard or read in his own Danish words. In this context one should remember that he especially is telling for the child or children as sitting or standing and listening to. (Note 13)

Above is another drawing of Vilhelm Pedersen to the fairy tale "The Tinderbox". It shows a situation from the wedding feast at the palace, where the dogs sit at the table. One of these is seen to the right, as it apparently look at the footmen haste to bring food on the table. At about the middle of the image background you can see the outlines of the bridal couple: The Soldier and the Princess, both with crowns on their heads as a sign of their lofty position.

2nd Significance level: The moral of the tale "The Tinderbox"

As already mentioned, the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" is a tale that is indebted to several literary models. But it is not the task or intention here to go into detail on that side of the case, which also have long since been thoroughly considered by literary scholars, especially of the literature researchers, whose books and papers, are referenced in the attached note. (Note 14)

However, here shall initially be pointed to the close correspondence, which despite the thirty years of age difference there is between Oehlenschläger’s play "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" from 1805 and Andersen's fairy tale "The Tinderbox" from 1835. The cast of characters in the play and in the fairy tale are virtually identical, although there are some differences between the individual performers' names and profession. In the fairy tale is the spectacle Aladdin and sorcerer Noureddin respectively become the soldier and the witch, Aladdin's cave of the rich and splendid, fruit-shaped stones, diamonds, etc., are respectively become the hollow tree and copper, silver and gold money. The spectacle's magic lamp is in the fairy tale becomes the tinderbox, and the ministering spirits are the three dogs. Sultan has become the king and princess Gulnare the unnamed princess, which, however, is equally coveted by the soldier as Gulnare is by Aladdin. And the action in the story basically follows the plot of the play, but where the latter takes place in the exotic Arabia, the action in the fairy tale alleged and unmistakably takes places in Denmark and more specifically in Copenhagen.

We must now go further and seek to illuminate the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" based on Significance level no. 2: the so-called ideas or moral level. The question is therefore which is the idea or moral, i.e. the lessons or education, you may be able to draw from this fairy tale or adventure?

It can be stated from the outset, that the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" will not be called a moral concept in the traditional sense, perhaps rather the contrary. For example, the soldier turns relentlessly the somewhat innocent witch to death. She has done nothing to him, but even paid him precious, to pick up the old tinderbox to her. And moreover he does not even deserve the luxury life, as the much easy money enables him to live. Moreover, it is not very honest or honourable that he cheats to get the princess to look, even while she sleeps and therefore are not aware of what's going on with her. Nor is it neither benevolent or considerate of him, that he let the dogs maltreating all the people, who are against his rightly considered undeserved desire to want to marry the princess, just as his title to carry the country's crown is very questionable. The king and queen have as good, responsible parents only their only child's welfare and future prospects in mind, when they will prevent her to fall into the arms of a rating and unemployed soldier, as they have every reason to believe that he neither is worthy or will be able to provide for their dear daughter’s in a manner consistent with her rank.

With the above outlined and traditionally immoral content considered, it is understandable that the contemporary educational-moral-oriented literary criticism found an adventure such. as "The Tinderbox" unsuitable as edifying tale or reading for children. There were also critics, who actually recommended Andersen not to write the kind of substandard and morally reprehensible literature for the youngest listeners or readers, which of course for good reasons not yet have the experience and knowledge to put it heard or read in the right perspective. (Note 15)

The content of ideas in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox"

If we now look at the purely conceptual content in a fairy tale like "The Tinderbox", we note that its basic idea is about a human being, in this case, a male, which totally unprepared and unexpected breaks some rich skills (the rich treasures in the hollow tree = the spiritual powers, by means of which to include can achieve increasing degrees of insight into the mystery of life), which enabled him to delight and benefit both themselves and others. It is required that the individual does away with the superstition (symbolised here by the witch, as the soldier eventually kill). But without even knowing it, is that while also obtained a special ability (the tinderbox) to communicate with the supernatural or spiritual forces (the three dogs). This ability is, however, still unused (the tinderbox lies in the bag on the soldier's room).

However, the rich skills or abilities, he has been gifted with, are not in itself enough for him. He feels namely only as a half-human, and therefore longs to become united with his other half, or his female aspect (the princess), but so far unattainable (the princess is trapped behind the castle's thick walls). But his unsatisfied longing he translates in a wasteful luxury life in which he consumes its resources and lives his life as if these are limitless. And since he has not thought about renewing or supplements them, it ends with the skills are used too much and are decreased, and that the will is powerless (the soldier stands empty-handed and friendless back). In this emergency, in which the man by his lack of experience and care has been put into a humble and contrite position, is awakened by an impulse the ability to induce and communicate with the spiritual forces, that enabled him to fulfil his natural desires and needs, so that it again becomes possible to live a rich and fulfilling life experience (the soldier remember the tinderbox and use it, in the first place without knowing its specific nature). And when he has regained his healthy mental feasibility, it is time to re-think and yearn for the missing half party, which, thanks to the new-found ability, is now possible for him to get occasional glimpses of (the soldier gets thanks to the tinderbox and the dog once in a while the sleeping princess to see). Although not even the authorities or the rulers are successfully in an attempt to prevent such intimate meetings, here in the guise of the court lady, who draw a cross on the gate to the inn, but the soldier's 'servant', the dog, tricks by drawing cross on all gates in the neighbourhood, why the authorities of the first instance are not able to identify the location, where the soldier is staying, so that one can arrest him.

But this situation is unsustainable in the long run, because he does not have legal and normal access to get his other half to see, and not to unite with her. And when the soldier on his way cheat to get glimpses of communion with his female half, the possibility to get in touch with her is deprived him completely (the soldier is arrested and put in prison). His life seems thus failed and lost (the soldier is sentenced to death). But the loneliness and isolation develops at some point the realisation, that he has 'forgotten' his special ability to communicate with the spiritual forces (the tinderbox is at home on the soldier's room at the inn). When, however, to think back on his childhood, he recalls the child mind (the cobbler boy), and it enables him to re-activate and use his magical ability (the cobbler boy picks up the tinderbox). Then he is ready to do away with all the obstacles and barriers (the authorities in the form of the king, the queen and others, are dethroned) that is between him and his longings, his female half or its feminine aspect (the princess). This makes it possible for him to unite with her in her full waking state, so that the two together can form the unit or whole, that has perfected the ability and power to control the mind and the action life (the soldier becomes king and the princess queen and together they govern the whole country, i.e. the whole personality).

As the reader may already here have been thinking about, then the basic content in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" is actually identical to the main features in many folk tales and also in many of the so-called art adventures, including several of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. But in some folk tales is the protagonist however, female, such as. in "Cinderella," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Beauty and the Beast". It is also the case in some of Andersen's fairy tales like. "Princess and the Pea," "Thumbelina", "The Little Mermaid," "The Wild Swans", "The Dryad" and "The Marsh King's Daughter", which does not make any significant difference, because it simply 'replace' the feminine aspect "princess" with the male aspect "prince". The plot of "The Tinderbox" is, as mentioned, close to an adventure as "Aladdin and the marvellous lamp" and "The Blue Light", and with specific allusions to Oehlenschläger’s play "Aladdin or the marvellous lamp", as it had already been highlighted. The basic idea behind these adventures are, in principle, the myth of the eternal return, which in turn has significant similarity to Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. (Note 16)

The reader will probably already here have noted that "The Tinderbox", like many other art fairy tales and folk tales, basically is about the so-called sexual pole principle and the pole transformation, and in particular on the faculty of intuition, which is identical to the magic lamp in the adventure about Aladdin, which again is identical to the magic tinderbox. This interpretation of the fairy tale fall under significance level no. 4, the cosmic idea level, as we must look at a little later below.

3rd Significance level: The autobiographical content of "The Tinderbox"

Hereafter we will preliminary deal with an interpretation of the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" according to the third significance level or the autobiographical dimension in the tale of the brave and lucky soldier. And the designation 'soldier', brings us right into the autobiographical element in Andersen's work, for there can be little doubt that he in association with the concept of soldier in particular have thought of his own father, Hans Andersen, which of course was a soldier and as such at a time was appointed together with his company to Holstein, which at that time was part of Denmark, and therefore should be defended. It was during the Napoleonic wars time and that as France's allies stayed a number of Danish troops in the border regions, where they came in combat with German forces and their Swedish auxiliaries. The company, Hans Andersen stood by, did not come in direct conflict with the enemy, but the march along the alternately dry and dusty and wet and muddy roads, and stay in the open air in all weathers conditions for months, was too much for his - and probably many others - physics and health, and after returning, he was both physically and mentally broken. A few years after the disease - probably tuberculosis - seriously broke out, and after three days sickbed he died, only 34 years old. The son was then 11 years, and his father's death was understandably a deeply traumatic experience for him.

But in the younger Andersen's recollection was the father a brave and proud soldier, who had mild to laughter and wits, and it is this figure he has transposed into its adventures. It is also in that figure, you meet the father in the story "The Travelling Companion", 1835, where the boy Johannes is experiencing the death of his father in a dream: "... he saw his father alive and well, and heard him laugh as he always laughed when he was very happy." Andersen identified for the rest himself with his late father, which large parts of his writings clearly demonstrate. As a student he had, moreover, himself been a soldier, which he curiously enough has passed to mention directly in his autobiographies and in his writing. In his “My Biography” (Levnedsbogen, 1832) he mentions when writing about the wise woman, who in his childhood predicted about his future, that the woman saw him "with a rifle on his back (and the wise woman had seen right, it was as a student!)". After well over baccalaureate he stood from October 23, 1828 to February 28, 1834, a total of approximately six years enrolled at The King's Regiment and participated, often in full equipment, in the 2nd Company's drill, which took place at Rosenborg Barracks parade ground in central Copenhagen. Andersen achieved even by a vote among colleagues, to be appointed as non-commissioned officer, which officially took place Sunday, April 4, 1830, two days after his 25th birthday. But one year later, April 20, 1831, he retired from the post of active commissioned officer, and was now called "the complete no. 22", before he February 28, 1834 received his usual dismissal. Soldiers’ craftsmanship has hardly been particularly attractive or lying for him, who had a completely different intention and goal in life: to live by and for writing prose as well as write poetry. But despite this, there can be no doubt that he in very great extent identified himself with the soldier in "The Tinderbox", which, as mentioned of course on top of that is an image of Aladdin, or, as the poet in another context called the figure "Johannes" (in the fairy tales "The Ghost" and "The Travelling Companion"), "Clumsy Hans" (in the fairy tale of the same name) or "Lucky Peer" (in the novel with this title).

His fairy tale’s witch had Andersen actually met in real life, partly in the form of the aforementioned wise woman, who in his childhood predicted that he would become a celebrity as an adult, and who once would be hailed and honoured by his hometown, Odense. And secondly, he had met her in another guise, when his father was on his deathbed and his mother sent her son off to the wise woman who lived in Ejby, to ask if his father would survive his illness. So he knew quite well informed about what a witch was for a character and that it was connected with magic and supernatural or spiritual principalities and powers. His own mother had actually greater confidence in wise women, than to the learned doctors, but his rationalistic minded father saw in contrast with great scepticism and even scorn and contempt on any kind of superstition, which he found was an expression of an unforgivable naiveté or stupidity, and he, like the soldier in "the Tinderbox", therefore made short process of when he met it.

Hans Christian Andersen was fascinated by the world of superstition and magic, but did not blindly believe in the authenticity of everything that claimed to be supernatural forces and phenomena. In accordance with his father, he believed, however, that there is a natural and rational explanation, even at these phenomena and forces, although we currently may not know the logical or scientific explanation for them. (Note 17)

As the soldier in the adventure or fairy tale came to the big city and was spending his relatively easily obtained wealth, such was the young aspiring Andersen gone the long way from Odense to the capital, Copenhagen, where he quickly got used its packed save money and also tried to realise the rich creative abilities, he was gifted with. But as the soldier spent and wasted his fortune away, such squandered young Andersen also his skill and effort and wasted them aimlessly in different directions. Hans 'life compass' was at the time only prepared to accept that he would be famous, as he had heard and read about the many great men in history had been. It was in this context that he appropriated the motto that you only go trough so terribly much suffering, and since becoming famous.

It took some time before it became the young Andersen clear what it was, he had to deal with and concentrate on to achieve his dream destination. When it finally dawned on him, he dreamed like the soldier in "The Tinderbox" about meeting the 'princess', but really not only in a real live woman's figure, but enough so largely in the form of poetry’s beautiful muse, that would inspire him to make himself worthy of the crown of poetry. But this was not obtainable at first. The rich abilities were not yet matured, and was therefore initially tentatively used as a singer, dancer and actor, but neither was quite right and natural for him, though he after several contemporaries’ statements actually was a good singer. He was, however, meeting many acquaintances and few real friends in this period. But some 'friends' like. poet Frederik Høgh Guldberg, left or rejected him, when they saw that he was wasting his time and theirs. Poetry’s muse visited him only in occasional glimpses, but he was too powerless to maintain 'her' (the inspirational intuition) for extended periods of time. Yet he was infected with an almost holy zeal to be a poet and playwright, why he began to write poems and plays, and tried on the way to maintain his muse while he spent much of his time visiting the theatre, to which he as a pupil at the Royal. Theatre had free access. It should be added that he also wrote, hoping to get his poems published and his plays performed on stage, as this also would mean a much needed and necessary source of income for him. The latter did not succeed in the first place.

The then about 14-year-old poet sprout had his first arrival in the capital on Sept. 6, 1819, received a rather modest lodging with the house owner Madame Thorgesen in the infamous Ulkegade no. 8, 1st floor. The at that time rather narrow street, which was especially notorious for its many pubs and its prostitutes women was years later renamed the equally infamous Holmensgade and even later to the current Bremerholm, however, eventually got a good and respectable reputation. It was the apartment's former pantry, which at one point had apparently been furnished to the maid's room and now should be the framework for the poor Odense boy's daily life in the vibrant metropolis. The small room, he had got, was without windows, but in the door to the kitchen there was a small window, and it served to let a bit of light from the outside shine into the dark chamber. It was probably his traveller escort from Odense, Madam Hermansen, who had arranged the contact to Madam Thorgesen and together with her husband, freelance shoemaker H.D. Hermansen, have themselves moved into the property in 1821. After two years of residence at Widow Madame Thorgesen moved Andersen the 1st of September same year up on the 2nd floor to the family Henckel. This was because Mrs. Thorgesen, who was a nurse and midwife by training, had sought and obtained a post as a midwife in Frederiksted on the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean. Her husband, superior cutter by Guldhuset in Copenhagen, Knud Thorgesen, died in May 1818 and therefore before the young Andersen was drawn to the capital. (Note 18)

During his first three years in Copenhagen had the young Andersen constant great difficulty in raising money for a living, but, although he found it humiliating, he would often beg his way through petitions to "magnanimous human friends." But when it looked darkest for him, he got one day the impulse (of his muse!) that there was a precious treasure in the depths of his own consciousness, namely the memories of the folk tales he had heard as a child. But he was at this time unable to realise the idea of reviving for the time being one of the old fairy tales and legends, by retelling this on his own original way. It was about "The Ghost", but it only came to fruition a few years later. But with his muse’s help and inspiration, meaning: with its intuitive artistic abilities, combined with his childhood experiences and memories, he wrote for the present some poems, several plays and a short story, which foreshadowed what would later come from his spirit and hand. It was also his first book, which he modestly called "Youthful Attempts" (1822).

But soon his fortunes, in terms of the environment (in the adventure: the King and Queen), would it different, and the powerful and influential forces would prevent his access to poetry’s muse (in the tale: access to see the princess) and for his theatre dreams, as they thought was an inappropriate and ineffective employment in his case. It did this by sending him far away from the capital and put him to school in a remote provincial town, Slagelse, of Andersen soon renamed Plagelse (i.e. Torment), from where it then was not so easy and convenient to come to the capital and its convivial pleasures and the theatre (in the adventure: the soldier is arrested and put in prison).

The opportunity and the inspiration to write poems he had, so to speak to leave in Copenhagen (in the adventure: the soldier had left the tinderbox in his room in the inn), because it was directly ordered him to concentrate all his forces and faculties on the sensible and necessary school studies and not waste his time on pointless and immature poetry either. But his Christmas holidays he spent in Copenhagen with families, who had invited him to live with them. At the sight of and idea of what was going on behind the Royal. Theatre's walls, and by meeting with several cultural personalities, it happened that the inspiration came in glimpses back to him. Therefore, it could, after all, be unavoidable that the muse occasionally peeped out from its hiding (in the adventure: the soldier get by the tinderbox’ and the dog’s help briefly the sleeping princess to see), but the big and poetic inspiration did not materialise largely under the imposed restrictions, that had been marked out for the young poet sprout’s opportunities. One fact is that in any event, that during that period he did not wrote anything of particular value, perhaps with a simple, particularly notable exception, namely the poem The Dying Child, 1826. The memory of childhood and maternal love comforted Andersen in his 'prison life' (in the tale: the cobbler boy helps the imprisoned soldier in the law-courts basement).

The duties of the School life and the stay as a lodger at the strict, capricious and unpredictable headmaster Meisling, who often railed at his pupil and called this the stupid and incompetent, and with searing irony for "Shakespeare with vampire eyes", did the sensitive and vulnerable young Andersen get more and more desperate and depressed. And particularly the forthcoming annual exams could fill him with discouragement and despair, though he usually did amazingly well and got good grades.

Eventually, he felt that it was too much that was demanded and expected of him and that he could not endure more. During this period of his life he felt every day more and more that death awaited him shortly (the soldier must recognise that he probably will be sentenced to death). This desperate situation of spiritual isolation and despair, as he found himself in, evoked automatically his memories from his childhood in Odense, where the loving father had read stories and fairy tales to him and often took him out in the open countryside outside the city. And it just so caring and loving mother, who had told him about that heavenly kingdom and the angels and Jesus, and sung hymns to him when he was going to sleep. Since he was a shoemaker's son who ran around in the streets of Odense with clogs and felt secure and happy in life (the soldier contacts the cobbler boy who accidentally pass by his prison window, and as he ask to pick up the tinderbox). And again returned the poetical inspiration back to him, and it was several poems, which focused in particular on his childhood in his native town, as seen in the light of his current circumstances seemed both happy and carefree. But poetry’s muse visited him only really after he had come to Elsinore, even if the school situation and the relationship with the headmaster had been disastrously worse (in the adventure: the strict authority in the form of, inter alia, judges, that treat the accusation against the soldier) or perhaps therefore.

But in the midst of the deepest mental darkness, if only for a few moments in his otherwise despondent and depressed situation, appeared his muse up and enabled him to feel like the child under his loving mother's tender care. It was in this at once elated and heavy mood that the barely 22-year-old Andersen wrote his perhaps most inspired, most beautiful and most important poem from his school days: "The Dying Child". The intuitive inspiration and creativity he had now got back, although he has not yet had the chance or opportunity to use it more permanent (the soldier has been in possession of the tinderbox again, but had so far let it lie idle in his pocket). As fate would then, that Andersen's desperate situation - so to speak at the last minute - was perceived and taken seriously by one of his teachers, the approximate peers Chr. Werliin (1804-1866), who introduced the seriousness of the school boy’s situation to the guardian, Jonas Collin, and shortly after became one of a happy young man delivered from his 'captivity' and his views to death (the soldier uses in the last minute the tinder-box, which he stroked three times, after which the three dogs come to his aid and rescue).

In return felt Andersen now jubilant free as a bird in the air, even if school studies was not quite over, and since the poetical joy’s and inspiration’s muse now more frequently visited him, he managed to combine study duties with the poetic urge to create. This resulted especially in the youth playful, fantastic, self-mocking and partly autobiographical novel Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager in the years 1828-1829. As the soldier in the fairy tale longed to be reunited with his princess, so yearned Andersen after being permanently united with his poetic muse and maintain its intuitive artistic abilities (the tinderbox), as in real life derives its strength from the intuition of inspiration (the muse), and making it more stable and permanent. This muse had he even as a boy experienced in a dream in which she appeared as "a lovely girl with a golden crown on her long, beautiful hair," which gave him his hand, "and his since late father said to him in a dream: "see what a bride you have won? She is the loveliest in the world. "(Source: "The Ghost", 1830 and "The Travelling Companion", 1835). The muse was henceforth again come near him, as she so to speak, stayed in his subconscious, and from there she visited him also, increasingly in the following years, but he has so far only been allowed to see her in shorter moments at a time, before she again retired to the 'private residence'. But the ideas and inspirations, she at these times gave to him, he could live long and suck poet nourishment of. In that sense, he had, as the soldier in "The Tinderbox", got his princess.

But since Andersen was a man of flesh and blood, he thought at a time, of course, that it should be possible for him to find a carnal copy of his poetic muse. His own inner picture of her, his anima, i.e. his feminine spiritual aspect, he projected first out on Riborg Voigt and later on Louise Collin. But these two women could - as little as later in life, for example. Jenny Lind - see their dreams hero or fairy tale prince in the person of the physical and spiritual distinctive and feminine Andersen, and therefore refused his otherwise indirect and somewhat awkward courtship. Deep down, they probably had a sense or feeling that he was not what you knew and understood by a "real" man. But no doubt that these women also felt flattered by his interest in each of them. In fact, was the case also that Andersen with its special psyche and sexual pole-constellation, which meant that he equally felt erotically attracted to men as well as to women, would hardly have been any good lover or husband. Gradually he realised also clearer and clearer, that his life was indisputably devoted to poetry’s muse, and he had to live his life without a carnal counterpart to her. (Note 19)

In the following years almost strewed Andersen generously of themselves with a series of humorous and lyrical poems, collected and published under the title Poems 1830, and at the same time he wrote several plays, as well as the delicate and imaginative travelogue Shadow Images of a Travel to the Harz, the Saxon Switzerland etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831, published in 1833, he tried a new kind of retelling of the Aladdin adventure, and so he had found the subject and substance of the ballad about "Agnete and the Merman", a title, Andersen also gave his partly autobiographical dramatic poem, however, in spite of a good paper and good intentions are not completely redeemed, what he and his muse had at heart. They managed rather to do this a few years later in and with the tale of "The Little Mermaid" in 1837, which also contains clear autobiographical elements. Both Agnete as well as the Little Mermaid is precisely the expression of Andersen's spiritual feminine aspect, which he in these cases fully identified with.

But Andersen's personal spiritual breakthrough came, when he was on his first major Italian journey 1833-34 and had reached the island of Capri, and here he went down to the Blue Grotto (= The Aladdin Cave), which, with its intense and brilliant bluish colours, seemed to him as the spirit’s own mysterious kingdom. There he experienced a kind of initiation and spiritual fusion with poetry’s muse, his own soul anima, the fairy tale princess, which he named Lara, and in this union he felt that the physical world and the spirit world is one connected whole, the spirit and nature are one and that everything, from the Flower seed to our immortal soul is a divine wonder and adventure. The outer result of the journey and of his spiritual ‘rebirth’ was the novel The Improvisatore as very significant is a glowing tribute to the life and the world as a divine and magical wonder. In addition, he wrote at least four fairy tales, "The Tinderbox" was one of these, and that was by them, that Andersen began his official adventure or fairy tale series. "The Improvisatore" was released April 9, 1835, i.e. shortly after his 30th birthday on April 2 same year, and the first book with the four adventures or fairy tales was released one month later, on May 8, 1835. By then Andersen actually launched its first steps to conquer the poet crown and become a kind of 'king' in adventure poem's kingdom, as the faithful muse took place and queen dignity by his side. His own life adventure until then, he recounted in poetic form in the novel "The Improvisatore", and in the short and concentrated symbolic form in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox".

In the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" you can recognise, for example some of the more concrete experiences, the only 14-year-old Andersen had had, when he September 6, 1819 for the first time came to Copenhagen. Also he came 'marching' into the city, from Valby Hill, where he left the stagecoach, and went to the relatively long stretch through Frederiksberg Gardens and continued along the rural Frederiksberg Allé and Vesterbros Passage (later called Vesterbrogade) and the ramparts Vester Port, as he passed through on its way further into Vestergade, where he was looking into the guesthouse "Gardergaarden". The soldier's worn uniform, Andersen also was inspired to from his own life, as one of his fellow soldiers, later Colonel Søren Chr. Barth, who in his life memories have described how it appeared: "an old one, which he had purchased from a junk dealer, which has not only too short sleeves and too narrow in life, but the tails straddled in the rear; the shako was too small and sat behind the neck". (Note 20)

It is also a realistic youth remembrance, Andersen has used in his description of the chamber in which the soldier is referred to, after having spent almost all his money. It is nothing less than the student chamber, Andersen had rented from Mrs. Schwartz in 6 Vingårdsstræde in the attic, which for many years now has been incorporated in Magasin du Nord’s building complex, where it was first used as a sewing room and later as executive office. But on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth, was the room or chamber brought back to the look as it had at the time when Andersen lodged there, and along with a newly furnished showroom in Mrs. Schwartz' previous occasion was as well the chamber as the showroom opened for the audience at the end of 2004. Interested could here satisfy itself that the very small chamber of just over 6 m2, was very modest, well, almost frugally furnished, with an alcove that had hardly length enough for the "long Andersen" could be extended in the bed. The chamber also contained a small stove, however, which certainly has been great enough, that it could heat the place, even despite the fact that the sloping wall towards the outside was not isolated, but only consisted of roof trusses, wood studs and bare tiles. And the simple table in front of the attic chamber’s only window, from which was then a clear view of Nikolaj Church’s spireless tower, has served many purposes in the time young Andersen lodged there. It was here at this table, he ate his meagre lunch, made his homework, probably occasionally interrupted by writing poems, and here, he - like the soldier in "The Tinderbox" - even had to repair his clothes and his boots, but when he was skilled with needle and thread, has the latter probably not caused him major problems. But this extremely modest garret where young Andersen lodged from April 19, 1827 to October moving day 1828 go back many places in his writing. (Note 21)

The castle with the many towers and the verdigris copper-plated roof is a mixture of Rosenborg Castle in Royal Gardens and the old Copenhagen Castle on the castle islet. At Andersen’s time resided the royal family still at Christiansborg Slot, also known as Frederik VI’s castle, inaugurated in 1828, which was a sequel of "the second Christiansborg", which was burned down in 1794. And Comediehuset (The Comedy House) that the soldier also visited, it was the older Royal Theatre from 1748, which in 1874 was replaced by the present theatre. The Royal. Theatre was the then 14-year-old Hans Christian Andersen's first goal after his arrival in Copenhagen in early September 1819, because he dreamed of becoming a pupil at the theatre, what actually succeeded him. But that's another story. But the royal family with the popular and mundane King Frederik VI in the lead, and the very vivid picture of life in the royal apartments, Andersen is accounting in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" and elsewhere, he had a vivid impression during several visits to the castle, which he initially gained access to through his acquaintance with his Odense pal Laura Tønder Lund and her family on old Mrs Colbiørnsen, whose daughter was lady-in-waiting with Princess Caroline. For the rest a significant, albeit indirect cause of Hans Christian Andersen and the royal family became acquainted with each other.

The three dogs in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" must first and foremost be seen as magical creatures or spiritual forces, but in real life resembled Andersen certainly not the sharp and brave soldier who could say to the middle dog: "You had better not look much to me! You could make your eyes!” Andersen was not in fact much for dogs as he usually was actually afraid of, and therefore usually tried to avoid meeting, but this was not always possible, for many of the people he visited during his life, had a dog or even several dogs.

The "kachot" that the soldier was left in after his arrest, must have been the arrest in connection to Copenhagen Courthouse on Nytorv, built after that the old town hall, which was the centre of the square between Gl. Torv and Nytorv, was burned in the 1795, here it is, the cobbler boy, again a picture of the cobbler's son, Hans Christian Andersen, comes running over and lose its one slipper and the soldier will give four shillings, if the boy will pick up his tinderbox, which lies in his room in the inn (in Vestergade). And the gallows, where it was supposed that the soldier should be hanged, was probably raised in the current Fælledparken in Copenhagen. This execution form was first abolished in Denmark in 1866, but was fallen into disuse long before. Andersen had at least in one occasion witnessed an execution. It was when headmaster Meisling organised a 'learning' outing for Andersen's class to Skelskør, where they April 8, 1825 witnessed the execution by beheading of a younger woman and her boyfriend and another man (compare with the soldier, who chops off the head of the witch). The woman was pregnant with a man her father did not like, and he refused the couple to marry. She therefore sought to kill her father by putting rat poison in his coffee, but in vain. Thereafter, the pair using an acquaintance that with her boyfriend lured her father in an ambush, killing him with several stab wounds. After the execution, the two men's heads were put on stake and their corpses on steep and wheels, while the girl's body was laid in a coffin. The deeply shocked Andersen years later described this gruesome execution quite detailed in his autobiography “Levnedsbogen” and in The Fairy Tale of My Life. (Note 22)

But all in all one must, as already noted, ascertain that Hans Christian Andersen on a personal level had a fate, that in principle and essentially shared the life course, as the soldier in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox”. Well, he was not himself getting a 'princess' in real life, but in and with the ‘marriage’ with his poetic muse, his feminine pole, Andersen became 'poet king' in life’s fairy-tale kingdom.

The cosmic ideas involved in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox"

As already indicated in the description of the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" in relation to the significance level no. 2, the ideas and morals level, is in this adventure - and several more of Andersen's fairy tales - basically about the sexual pole-principle and the sexual pole-transformation. And "basically" would have to say, cosmically speaking, which in turn will say: seen from the eternal world view’s - and thus the eternal world order’s - point of view, such as especially Martinus has made this in his cosmology.

The reader have already been introduced to the fundamentals and efforts in the in good sense fantastic world view, that Martinus on the basis of its highly developed intuition or his so-called cosmic consciousness, and its well-developed analytical intelligence, presented in the form of a comprehensive range of cosmic analyses. That is, logical, deductive and inductive analysis, among other things, using analogies, seeks to illustrate the high-psychic factors in the form of the I and the over-consciousness and the universal laws, the so-called divine creative principles underlying the phenomenal world, right which sought presented justification of the abstract intuitive 'function results', to which the cosmic consciousness gives access. Nevertheless, for the reader, here recapitulates the factors and laws, that particularly applies in relation to the sexual pole-principle and the sexual pole-transformation:

According to the cosmic world view’s analysis of the underlying intuitive 'function results' or ‘answer results’, are some of the main factors and regularities in the living being's psyche and appearance, the sexual pole-principle and the sexual pole-transformation. Martinus even go so far as to say and bluntly characterises the sexual pole-principle, which he also describes as "the highest fire" as "the steering wheel of creation", that is, the 'instrument', through which everything is controlled in the universe. (LB V paragraph. 1858). The concept of "the highest fire" is in principle similar to the concept of "Eros" in classical Greek philosophy, mythology and poetry. The term pole-principle indicates that there are two opposite but complementary 'poles', namely the sexual feminine pole and the sexual masculine pole. These two 'poles' are considered as two high-psychic powerhouses with opposing 'electric' charges, respectively, with 'negative' and 'positive' charge, why the two poles also respectively are characterised as the pole for receiving energy (the feminine pole) and the pole for sending of energy (the masculine pole).

However, these two poles are separately subject to a process of co-ordinated growth and degeneration, also called the pole-transformation, which in interaction with the principle of contrast is controlled by the circuit and spiral circuit principle, which takes place on the basis of the principle of hunger and satiation. The process of pole-transformation is especially characterised by the two contrary sexual poles undergoing a process of change or transformation process, during which one of the poles from a functionally fully active stage, gradually 'degenerates' or is reduced to an inactive or latent stage, while the opposite pole virtually still retains its near-optimal performance. The individuals in whom it is the feminine pole, which is reduced, while the masculine pole in the same individual still retains its full functionality, develop as male beings, and those individuals in whom it is the masculine pole, which is reduced, while the feminine pole in the same individual still retains its functionality, develops as female beings. This transformation process is beginning some time inside the plant kingdom and culminates in the actual animal kingdom in which individuals appear as distinct male and female beings, and these are basically characterised by a mutual attraction and addiction, with all that entails.

In the last part of the animal kingdom, there is then exactly the opposite process, namely that the latent or inactive pole again begin to assert themselves, gradually grows or evolves forward to renewed full functionality, on an equal level with the previously-bearing active pole. And as this process of transformation, changes and blurring the individual's decidedly sexual characteristics respectively as male and female beings, and mutual biological mental-physical attraction and dependence decreases as the individuals are 'finished' and itself become independent as so-called 'real' people, for which charity commandment is ethical and moral beacon, in contrast to the decidedly 'earthly' people in whom selfish love or selfishness sits in the high seat. This process begins slowly with civilised 'earthly' man, and accelerates in the more developed cultural human, such as is the case in our own time. But one should realise that the process of pole-transformation is not progressing at the same time or in the same way for all humans, on the contrary it forms with large individual differences and variations.

The process of pole-transformation is then in principle characterised by the fact, that the individuals from a bipolar mode, in which the two poles are equal in their function and appearance, gradually 'degenerate' or are reduced to a state in which only one of the two poles act and influences the individual's consciousness and action life. But from this so-called monopoly mode develops the individuals themselves again to represent a double-poled state in which the two poles functionally are on par with each other. But, as said, the process proceeds not completely uniformly and simultaneously to all individuals concerned, although there obviously are fundamental similarities in the different stages of development. When the transformation process until the double pole mode is largely enforced, are humans in principle in the realm or living area, Martinus describes as the real human kingdom. One should in this context note, that the six cosmic realms or life zones, Martinus' cosmology operates, has no boundaries in the same way as happens in the physical world’s kingdoms. It is rather the case that the cosmic realms in their respective border areas 'overlap' each other, basically the same way, for example. as the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom do it. This comparison is probably valid, since those three kingdoms precisely constitutes the cosmic world view’s three physical realms, while the real human kingdom, the kingdom of wisdom and the divine world, represents the same world view’s three spiritual realms. It can also be expressed such, that where the natural kingdoms are characterised by being subject to the classical physics laws, including distances in time and space, and causality, they spiritual kingdoms are characterised by being pure state of worlds with their own unique laws, that have nothing with classical physics to do. (Note 23)

The double pole mode exist or persist in the individuals' successive passage through the spiritual realms mentioned above, and it remains so for some time into the new spiral section’s plant kingdom. Here begin a new pole separation, but this time with the crucial difference that it will be the pole, that was bearing of the subject in the previous plant and animal kingdom, that degenerates, while the so far degenerated pole now will become the principal and dominant. This means that the individual, who appeared as a male subject in the previous developmental spiral’s plant and animal kingdom, now presents as female beings, and corresponding to the individual being as appeared to be the female sex, now appear as male subject. These were based on cosmic laws that we do not need to go into here, but which has been discussed in the previous sections on this site. (Note 24)

The two sexual pole-organs

In order not to inconvenience the reader having to refresh the topic of re-reading the previous sections, we shall here briefly repeat what the two pole-organs are for kind of sizes. With these is the situation in accordance with Martinus (and Per Bruus-Jensen) such that they both occur in the same individual, as is the case with the two sexual poles. But while the latter organic seen are in the individual's under-consciousness region, the two former are organic seen localised in a spiritual border area between the over-consciousness region and the under-conscious region, the latter as a region that is functionally subordinate to the over-consciousness. The two pole-organs can be perceived as sensory and manifestation converting tools for the two over-consciousness poles. Most importantly is it, however, not to perceive neither poles nor pole organs as physical structures like e.g. liver, kidney, etc., but rather envisage that these structures are related to electric fields.

The two pole-organs appear respectively as the emotional pole-organ and the intellectual pole-organ, and as the names suggests, carries each completely different areas and functions of the individual's consciousness and action life. The former pole-organ is thus responsible for the emotional (feeling-related) moments of consciousness and action life, while the latter pole-organ is responsible for the intellectual (rational-related) factors in the same mind and action life.

However, the linkage relationship between the two pole-organs on the one hand and the two over-consciousness poles on the other hand, really is not immediately obvious. You would perhaps have expected, that the emotional pole-organ would always be associated with the feminine pole, while the intellectual pole-organ reversibly would always be associated with the masculine pole, but such is not the case. However, it is the case that the emotional pole-organ will always be associated with the individual’s bearing or dominant pole, so the feminine pole in the female being and the masculine pole in the male being. The intellectual pole-organ will in turn always be attached to the pole, which at one point is in its functional latent stage. Which means that the intellectual pole-organ at the same time operates only minimal, which in practice means: not at all. It also implies that this pole-organ therefore will be assigned respectively to the female being’s masculine pole and to the male being’s feminine pole. As a direct result of its relationship with the individual's latent pole, is the intellectual pole-organ primarily responsible for the side of the same individual's consciousness and action life, that develops simultaneously with the emergence of the 'sleeping' over-consciousness pole and it thereby gradually established double pole state. (Note 25)

The pole principle and the fairy tale "The Tinderbox"

With the foregoing relatively succinct summary of what the pole-principle and the pole-transformation under Martinus concerned, we are probably now well equipped to embark on analysing the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" in the light of the fourth interpretative plan or significance level. This plan or level provides, of course, among other things precisely the cosmic factors and key features that include the sexual pole-principle and sexual pole-transformation process and associated forces, laws and the conclusions.

It may be pointed out here and revealed that in relation to the fairy-tale universe, the latent pole could be described as either "the sleeping princess" (the latent feminine pole in the male) or "the sleeping prince" (the latent masculine pole in the female), which must be awakened or called to live and unite respectively with the "prince" (the acting, masculine pole in the male) or the "princess" (the acting, feminine pole in the female) to 'pair', i.e. joined two poles and hence the 'whole person', can inherit all the 'Kingdom' (The Kingdom of God). This means that the individual can only win its potential and full faculties in step with the 'sleeping' pole awakened and given a decisive influence on the individual's consciousness and action life in the broadest sense. Among the skills that especially come with the transformation to double pole mode, is the growth of the faculty of intuition, which in turn is the basis for higher-consciousness, and all forms of particular artistic creation, including literature, poetry, inventions, etc.

In folk tales and other related stories, myths and legends, it seems there is usually a main character, either a man or a woman, a girl or a boy, who longs to be united (married) each with its female or male counterpart. But this cannot normally be possible, because of some obstacles that are usually provided by a wicked witch or an equally malevolent wizard and as the protagonist must overcome before he or she can get their lover. In some fairy tales, like. "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty", the witch poison the princess, so she falls into a deep, deathlike sleep, in other cases, the princess is just trapped by the evil power, as is the case for example. in the tale of "Cinderella". But in some fairy tales there is even talk about a sorcerer or witch, who transforms the protagonist into a disagreeable animal, a beast, a toad or the like, in other cases, for example. a black swan, who wanders restlessly about. This 'enchantment' is a symbolic expression of the double-poled being's transformation into a single pole being, which has to live an alternative life of animals under one form or another. The point now is that this enchantment or sorcery, of what kind it may be, should be held for the main character male or female counterpart has made an effort to deliver its beloved of 'magic power'. So to the opposite pole, and with this the intellectual pole organ, gradually transforms the animal, first to mortal man and next to the 'real' human person. (Note 26)

According to Martinus, the primary issue in all the classic fairy tales is that the 'princes' and the ‘princesses' comes in witches or goblins influence, which means that they are 'bewitched’ by the power of darkness or transformed into apparently dead, sleeping or fossilised creatures. He regularly leads also these fairy tale protagonists with the biblical myth of Adam and Eve. Accordingly he writes.:

"[...] The "enchanted princes and princesses" symbolises "Adam" and "Eve" in their brutish, physical organisms and their totally lost awareness of their own higher ancestry or identity as eternal, time and space swollen, sons of God. Their "Father," "the King" is the Godhead. "The Wizard", "witch" or source of darkness is "the devil", which again only is the beings' "bewitched" or darkened vision of their Eternal Father. "(Note 27)

For the one who is even moderately familiar with the cosmic world view’s factors, regularities and function results, it is immediately evident, that behind fairy tales, myths and legends figures and action is an insight into and knowledge of, inter alia, the pole-principle and the process of pole-transformation. According to Martinus confirms his cosmic analyses essentially the classic fairy tales’ identity as symbolic stories of real-life adventure. The knowledge and insight that underlies it is, according to him, more or less consciously been inserted in the legends, myths and fairy tales, usually by way of an incentive or intuitive inspiration from the author or authors, often philosophers, prophets, and the like, without them necessarily even completely have been aware of the depth herein. But it is in all cases made in pursuance of the cosmic factor, Martinus describes as the world redemption. This principle is responsible overall to lead, guide and inspire humanity's cosmic entanglement and development through the spiral cycle stages of transition from animals to humans via mortal man to the 'real' human person. But the critical and important for us is, that the cosmic content present in what I refer to as the fourth interpretative plan or significance level, and that the person, who has qualifications and ability to take it to light, could only pick it up.

4th Significance level in Andersen's work

For those of Andersen's fairy tales that could be described as cosmic, and it is indeed a significant part, the fact are by all accounts so that they approximately equally are the result of his personal experiences, knowledge and insight, and of inspirational promptings, that came to him via his intuitive contact, partly with its own fund of gold copy memories, and partly with the universal ocean of wisdom, which of course includes all living beings gold copy memories in the form of cosmic function results, and are therefore identical with God's own total sum of gold copy-function results, which together constitute the highest wisdom about life in general.

Andersen, in a slightly different context, namely at work on his fourth novel, "Only a Fiddler", in 1837, expressed his view of how and where he often got his inspiration. He tells about this in a letter dated February 11, 1837 to his friend and poet B. S. Ingemann, and herein he writes:

[...] In the "O.T" [his third novel] I had a definite plan before I wrote a word; this time on the other hand I let God make sure it all. I have two specific characters; their lives will I give; but how they end - yes, that I commend you - I do not even know yet, though the second part is towards the end. People say it's my best novel; basically it is no great compliment to me; for with the last I thought and wondered; this time I do not write a word without it being given to me, like forced on me. It is, like the memory of an old fairy tale came to my mind and I had to tell it. If it was not too profane to say, so I said that I now comprehend the Bible passage: "the whole scripture is inspired by God!" - [...] (Note 28)

In his breakthrough novel, "The Improvisatore", as Andersen wrote in 1834 but first was published in April 1835, he has in the guise of the protagonist Antonio alias himself, at one time a profound conversation with the little abbess, Flaminia, including discussing what is the poet's task and from where this derives its insight and inspiration. She believes that the poet should portray the eternal God and the divine in His world and in the human heart, and the joy and happiness of the spiritual worlds, and not instead of predilection write about the mundane life’s struggles and troubles. He believes, however, that the poet as a prophet of God should portray and celebrate God through His creatures and creation. She understands well enough that the thought and the idea of a literary work or parts of it may come as an inspiration from God and born of the soul, but the way in which the poet is able to provide the inspired expression, she does not understand. For this responds Antonio alias Andersen include the following:

     "Have not you?" I asked, "often in the monastery learned some beautiful hymn or sacred legend that was put into verse; often as the least thought then is in some cases, an idea emerged from you, whereby the mind is aroused about this or that time, they have since been able to write it on paper; the verse, the rhyme itself, has led you to remind the following as the thought, the contents were you clearly; so it goes also the Improvisatore and poet, me at least! Often, I think it's memories, lullabies from another world that wake up in my soul and as I must repeat. "(Note 29)

In this quote, Andersen has given a precise description of how the faculty of intuition in principle works and manifests itself, and from what source it gets its 'material', namely in the form of "memories, lullabies from another world". Or in other words: Gold Copy memories, either from the individual's own over-consciousness archive, or from the locality in the Godhead’s 'heart' (the divine world), that appear in the form of the ocean of wisdom, which in turn is the total fund of all living beings gold copy memories. (Note 30)

The cosmic dimension of the fairy tale "The Tinderbox"

Although one may argue that the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" has come to Andersen as a remembrance or “lullabies from another world”, namely as a memory from his childhood, oh yeah, it discusses the extent to which Andersen in this case possibly has used his own personal stock of gold copy memories, and of the universal gold copy storage, the wisdom ocean. The fact is that the basic features and the main ingredients of the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" had been pre-determined and given in the adventures, which form models and external inspiration for it. However, it is more likely that Andersen has seemed that here was a pre-present literary material, the basic ideas and action, he intuitively and empirically knew about himself and his own life, and which he therefore readily was able to identify with and watch as his own. To this 'material' has he probably meant to add his personal experiences and knowledge, and retell it in his own original way. What he also could bring the classical models was experiences and learning’s from his own life, which we have already been made aware of during the discussion of the autobiographical features and elements of the fairy tale "The Tinderbox".

In Andersen's "The Tinderbox" is the hero as you know, a younger man, a cocky soldier that in the tale’s cosmic aspect is identical to the fully active masculine pole, while the princess, which of course is locked up and guarded behind the palace’s high, thick walls, so that the soldier can not or may not get to see her, is identical to the feminine pole, which in this case is latent (hidden or 'sleeping'). The fairy tale is therefore based on a decidedly unipolar situation, and derive from his protagonist through various crucial events or stages of life, and until fully recognised association (wedding) with the chosen one, hence here would say the opposite, feminine pole. But this association implies and requires that the 'hero' must undergo a maturation and consecration ritual, that can qualify 'him' to achieve this 'fusion' with its opposite. This 'fusion', which has the character of a spiritual birth process, by Martinus called "the great birth", takes the form of an extension of the field of consciousness, which now includes the maximum spectrum of emotional as well as intellectual and intuitive moments in life. This mode Martinus describes as a permanent cosmic consciousness, which in principle is identical with God's primary consciousness.

But before the individual has reached that far, it said through a spiritual maturation and development process, wherein the consciousness’ content of base, inhumane forces and inclinations, or in short egoism or selfishness, gradually are been purged and removed, primarily with the aim of making the individual qualified (again) to be a double pole being, that is a whole being. It is in the later stages of this spiritual maturation and purification process, that the individual will be enabled to experience occasional or glimpses 'visit' of its latent pole. These short-term 'visit's does Martinus describe as "cosmic glimpses", that is "glimpses” or "fragments" of the 'pattern', made up of the cosmic reality or whole. Namely, the whole that the individual will not be able to experience and comprehend, before it approaches the double-poled state. To begin with, therefore, only in relatively rare "glimpses", the duration and intensity, however, which gradually are getting bigger and bigger, while the intervals corresponding are getting shorter and shorter, and hence less and less as "glimpses" eventually 'merge' and are replaced by a permanent cosmic consciousness. The latter is based on the faculty of intuition in its mature stage, which in a sense is composed of a single huge permanent 'vision' of the real world.

The reader has probably already been able to guess that the "cosmic glimpse" is found in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox", namely in the form of the sleeping princess’ occasional and brief visits to the soldier. These 'visits' are moreover happening on the soldier's own initiative and request, while the princess so far remains passive and inactive, expressed in her sleeping state. What makes it possible for the soldier to get - admittedly short - visits of the princess, is the fact that he is in possession of the magic tinderbox (the faculty of intuition) that could bring him in contact with the forces or spiritual powers (represented by the ministering spirit, symbolised by the servile dog), who is able to carry the princess to him. This or these skills and powers are cosmic identical, respectively, to the feeling energy, the intelligence energy and the energy of intuition. But before all this can happen, the soldier (the single-pole individual) must first undergo an initiation process: It must ally itself with the spiritual force, that could just as well serve the life-giving as the killing principle. This force is represented in this case by the witch, which is more accurately identified with the energy of gravity, which is also the lead force behind the killing principle in all its degrees and manifestations, and that he therefore must covenant with, to descend in the hollow tree. Cosmic seen must the individual ally with the circuit and contrast principle and descend into the 'darkness' or 'Hades', that is, engage in the physical, material world, where death and the killing principle prevails. It will again say in the kingdom or the state in which the energy of gravity and the associated skills and powers are dominant.

But to preserve 'in touch' with reality, that is, with the cosmic consciousness world, the individual must on its journey through life's dark zone or 'Hades' have a kind of 'lifeline' to the latent sexual pole and the related intellectual pole organ. This 'lifeline' consists of the pole-transformation in association with the circuit and contrast principle and the hunger and satiation principle. In the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" binds the witch a robe around the soldier’s waist, almost analogous to what happens in the myth of Ariadne from Naxos, in which the princess Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of yarn with him into the labyrinth. The intention is that he must kill the monster Minotaur (the gravitational energy), and then follow the guide wire back to the outside world. Theseus (the masculine pole) is all throughout his perilous journey through the labyrinth (the physical world) connected with the outside world (the cosmic world) as Ariadne (the feminine pole) holds on to the loose end of the ball of yarn. For the rest again a classic example of the sexual pole principle and the two sexual poles.

But in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" provides the witch additionally, the soldier her blue-chequered apron with down in the hollow tree, so the dogs will obey Him and His commandments and do not add him harm. The apron therefore acts in a way as talisman, like the magic ring in the play "Aladdin", i.e. as a 'consecrated object' that ensures its wearer protection and good luck. Cosmic speaking, the blue-chequered apron probably can be seen as a symbol of the 'covenant', the individual and humanity in some early and relatively primitive stages of development have made with superstition and paganism - in this case, the agreement the soldier has made with the witch. This 'pact' or 'agreement' is magic.

Equipped with these magical 'talismans': the rope and the blue-chequered apron, let the brave and adventurous soldier with large and fearless daring himself to be hoist into the deep hollow tree, but to the soldier's surprise, there is light at the end of the hollow tree’s dark shaft, namely in the form of the lighted hall with the hundreds of shiny lights and the three doors, behind which the precious treasures are. In the cosmic perspective, there is 'light' in the dark, by the gravitational energy dominated physical world, in the form of spiritual light, which is represented by the individual's opposite pole and the intellectual pole organ. Access to this 'light' is done through three 'doors' or degrees of initiation, as we shall return to shortly. But down in the 'darkness' is all information to be gained in terms of experience, knowledge and deeper insight (the illuminated vault and the three treasuries). In the culmination of darkness, i.e. in the single pole state’s culmination, which takes place in the physical world, particularly in the animal kingdom, what happens is that the hitherto inactive, latent pole and the related intellectual pole organ, gradually (again) starts to assert itself in the mental life. That is why the magic tinderbox, which here is the symbol of the faculty of intuition, just is to be found deepest inside the magic cave.

But before man has acquired enough experience and knowledge (i.e. scientific and spiritual scientific insight and general human experience) to fend for themselves, it must have means of 'external' forces of magic and religion. Both forces represent the world redemption (in the form of "the divine suggestion"), subsidiary the parental and protection principle, and thus in the last - or both in the first and last - instance: God. The magic’s express image is precisely the witch. But when man made the discovery and experience that the phenomena, life and the world have natural causes and causal explanations, it needs no longer magic help. Man is therefore settling with the superstition that magic or to some extent mystery in itself is, and rejects it as a useful method to obtain crystal-clear, true knowledge and understanding of the world. Just as the fairy-tale soldier who after stamping with a large amount of money, first copper, then silver and finally gold coins (experience of progressively increasing value) and got the tinderbox (made contact with his intuition), resolutely decapitates of the Witch (deprives the magic its authority and power), and itself keep the magic tinderbox, whose characteristics and power, of which he so far not yet is fully conscious or aware of.

The three basic degrees of initiation

From the great ancient mystery religions such as Isis mysteries, the Eleusinian mysteries and Mithra mysteries, one know the three real mystery degrees, as poetically are called the higher mysteries crown. These three degrees of initiation that the mystery aspirant, the mystic, in advance had qualified to review, represents in fact three degrees of insight or expansions of consciousness. In the 1st degree was the mystic inaugurated in the personal unconscious, which includes knowledge of human nature and cosmic structure, in the 2nd degree of initiation was the mystic obtaining knowledge of the collective unconscious, with the corresponding spiritual forces that govern human beings, and in the 3rd and last inauguration degree was the mystic realistic inaugurated in cosmic consciousness cognition and perception, that the individual soul is identical with the universal soul, or with the one and universal Deity. This cognition is for example also fundamental within Indian monistic identity learns, Vedanta, and is expressed in the words: Atman (the individual soul) and Brahman (the universal soul) are one.

The process of being initiated, i.e. primarily, is to move into ones own self, through the combined experiential and analytical process, which thus generally involves three steps or three successive degrees of initiation. Seen from this model of interpretation, the fairy tale soldier's descent into the hollow tree, is a descent into the soul’s unconscious deep, and deep down in this are in the form of the personal unconscious, a 'Treasury', which contains the individual's personal experiences (the copper coins), and then a 'Treasury' in the form of the collective unconscious, which contains the personal memoirs translated into refined copies of the original underlying and experiences (the silver coins), and finally a third 'Treasury', which contains a vast fund of knowledge about both nature’s, life’s, time’s, space’s and eternity’s hidden aspects (the gold coins). This 'Treasury' is described within the framework of Martinus' cosmology as "the wisdom ocean". This latter knowledge - or rather wisdom - it is not possible for the mystic (the soldier) at this stage, to take advantage of, since this has not yet been conscious of the force or forces (the tinderbox and the three dogs), he potentially is in possession of (the soldier is not yet using the tinderbox). But what the day-conscious brain and consciousness cannot accommodate or intellectually grasp, it has the mystic now have an intuitive sense of (the soldier has the tinderbox on him).

The descent into the collective unconscious (the hollow tree) is in a sense at the same time a kind of 'death', namely the personal ego’s self-selected dethronement and self-sacrifice, while the ascent from the consciousness’ collective unconscious depths opposite is a kind of resurrection or rebirth, namely a new spiritual birth, during which the mystic have been aware of his or hers own cosmic unity with the divine All-Being, and thus of his or her own immortality.

The three degrees of initiation or 'access' to the physical experience, spiritual experience and insight that is identical with wisdom, will also be identified with the three awareness abilities or -forces, namely with the instinct/feeling (= copper treasury), with the intelligence/reason (= the silver treasury) and with intuition/inspiration (= the gold treasury). In other words, again saying the instinct/feeling energy and the energy of intuition, which thus represents the "ministering spirits" or spiritual forces in the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" symbolised by the three dogs.

"Life's temple"

According to Martinus, the concept of "Life's temple" is identical to the concept of "the Father's house", which in turn is a symbolic expression of the cosmic universe, the universe that is "Life’s residence". This universe, or this property is identical with God's eternal organism, which in turn contains the sensory organs and manifestation tools through which God expresses its will and intention, and not least his mighty power of creation. These organs and tools consists in reality of living beings or individuals, including humans, some of whom are aware of this identity relationship between themselves and the Godhead, while another part - after much judging the majority – are still unaware of this fact. (Note 31)

Life's temple is in the Mosaic religion symbolised by the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. This temple was divided into four parts: the outer court, to which everyone - including the so-called pagans - had access. In this forecourt there was an inner court, where only Jews might come. Then there was the sanctuary to which only the priests had access, and finally: the inner sanctum of "Ark of the Covenant", a distinguished shrine of acacia wood, interior and exterior coated with gold, and symbolically guarded by two golden cherubs on the lid. In this shrine that was and is Israel's most sacred cult object, were the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments are kept. But to this most holy temple room, had only the high-priest access.

In the Initiation’s "outer court", which Martinus also calls "God's work room and hall of education", are all the people who still primarily live on the animal kingdom's terms and conditions and are therefore more or less consciously acting as instruments of the manifestations, that in short can be assigned to the area of the killing principle. That's the area of life that is characterised by that the power constitutes the right, and according to which only the strongest survive. However, it is also the seat of religious orthodoxy or fundamentalist and zealous fanaticism, and at the same time it is the domain of envy, jealousy, competition, hate, vengeance, strife, manslaughter and war, and hence also atheism’s and materialism’s domain.

But the Initiation of first degree begins until the "inner court", and this Martinus describes as "God's reception room." In addition, only the people have access, who have crossed life's dark zone and having freed itself of revenge and the killing mentality and the materialistic view of life, and who have been found to be conscious tools for the life-giving principle. As a result, these people can therefore not envy, hate or kill other creatures, either human or animal, but may forgive and wish peace, tolerance and co-operation among people and for whom the all-loving, all-wise and all-powerful God has been again an intimate reality.

Initiation’s second degree is in this analogy identical to the "shrine", to which only such people as those who seek the truth and who have acquired a theoretical knowledge, that is in harmony with the cosmic analyses and also see it as a mission in life and the purpose of life, to serve God and neighbour in its broadest sense in their daily life and behaviour.

Initiation’s third and last degree, is happening in and with man's entry into the "holy of holiest", and there has only in ethical-moral sense the perfect human access. The perfect man is it that observes Jesus' words about being perfect as God, who make his sun to rise on the good as well as on the bad, and sends rain as well on the righteous and the unrighteous. This is the man who does unto others, as you want them to be doing against yourself. It is also the man, who has become God's "high-priest", which therefore means an individual in which the charity law is inscribed in the spinal cord, and as in his daily life demonstrates as an obvious and natural way of being that loves his neighbour as itself. Then does man no longer belong to the animal kingdom and its traditions, but to the real human kingdom.

According to Martinus' cosmic analyses, is "a high-priest" in fact identical to the concept of "a king". The kingdom, as now through the centuries has only been a matter of inheritance or membership of a royal or noble family, was originally a dignity which only fell specially upon chosen and consecrated people of high ethical and moral standard, and who had achieved "cosmic consciousness" alias "royal consciousness" and therefore served as God's deputies in the divine direction and guidance of the development of mankind. Such a "royal consciousness" was possessed especially by Jesus Christ, which therefore also was called a king, more precisely "King of the Jews", although this expression was partly probably ironically meant from the Roman governor Pilate's side. (Note 32)

The Jewish people are according to Martinus' cosmic analyses, developmentally seen the Earth’s spiritually most advanced people, and to be king over this people is the same as being the king of "all nations". This royal power is identical with God's power, as with certain time intervals are delegated to the so-called "world redeemers" that just serves as mankind's spiritual guides, inspirers and helpers. These mentors and inspirators occurs in two categories, namely as 'dark' world redeemers, whose task is to lead the people in the involution epoch, i.e. from animal to mortal man, a process that takes place in the first half of the spiral cycle, and 'bright' world redeemers, whose task it is to lead mankind in the spiral cycle’s evolution era, i.e. from mortal man to the real human. As an example of a 'dark' world redeemer include Moses, and as an example of a 'bright' redeemed, may be as the most brilliant and unparalleled mentioned Jesus Christ. (Note 33)

But the God-given and true "kingship" that is consistent with the principle of world redemption, can not be acquired or possessed by succession or kinship, but only for personal merit. And at least for the 'bright' world redeemers, they are not being born in castles, but in the 'stables', and it does not bear golden crown, but the crown of thorns, for it is not the power’s, but the mercy’s kingship.

For the one who not by own merit possessed the cosmic kingship, and therefore not was a carrier of the "royal coat" or "the high-priest dress", it was directly dangerous to tread the temple's inner sanctum, which were monitored and protected by the "Spirit of God" or "God’s force". This "spirit" or "force" prove to be the same as the power we in daily life know in the form of electricity. But spiritual scientific seen, electricity is a living organic force in our macro being, the Earth, and Martinus consider it highly likely, that in the temple's inner sanctum was installed an 'apparatus' with such a powerful electrical current, that whoever unprotected came in contact with it, would be immediately killed. However, when the chief priests could go unharmed into the holy of holiest, it was because they wore a special insulated suit, cloak or robe, which protected them from coming into direct contact with the high electrical voltage.

Like the temple's inner sanctum, the higher spiritual realms are protected against 'unfinished' human attempts at artificial roads, for example through intense meditation, contemplation and the like, or worse: through the use of drugs, to penetrate into those higher worlds, whose energy vibrates in a special, 'tense' wavelength, which the ordinary human mind and consciousness are not able to receive or tolerate. This consciousness is according to the cosmic analyses identical to the Consciousness of God, which is indeed "the life temple’s sanctum". When and if an unfinished human attempts to get in conscious contact with this high consciousness, it can result in such severe impacts of the high psychic forces or energies of consciousness and brain, that the consequence may be nervous breakdown and insanity for the individual, and in particular cases may even cause death.

The only natural, normal and thus harmless way to enter the life temple’s sanctum, prove to be the developments that cleans individual's consciousness for all animal, 'evil' inclinations, that is, for selfishness or egotism, so that an unconditional charity becomes the same individual’s natural and obvious way of being.

Based on the above outlined review of the three degrees of initiation, partly as those are described in the mystery tradition, and partly as they are interpreted in Martinus' cosmic analyses, it should now be possible again to draw parallels to the fairy tale "The Tinderbox". The three degrees of initiation, providing access respectively to the 'temple's inner court", "the sanctuary" and the "holy of holiest ", will immediately could be recognisable herein, namely that the three chambers with respectively the copper treasure, guarded by the dog with eyes as big as teacups, the silver treasure, guarded by the dog with eyes as big as mill wheels, and the gold treasure, guarded by the dog with eyes the size of the Round Tower. The order of the three metals: copper, silver and gold, are clearly related to their respective 'nobility' and value. Symbolically speaking corresponds the chamber with copper money for the first inauguration degree or "the inner court," the chamber with silver money corresponding to the second inauguration degree or "the sanctuary", and the chamber with gold money corresponding to the third and final consecration degree or "The Most Holy". When the soldier can and dare go into these chambers, and not least in the third chamber, where the treasure is guarded by a mighty force, namely the dog with eyes as big as towers, it is because he has "a special suit", not quite shown, but with them, namely in the form of the witch’s blue-chequered apron. For the rest, you can also see the sequence and size of the three dogs' eyes, as an expression of three degrees of "see-ability", recognition or insight.

What drives the individual to go through the three degrees of initiation or temple degrees, it is primarily the sexual pole-principle and the process of the sexual pole-transformation, and both are in the fairy tale represented by the soldier (the masculine pole) and the princess (the feminine pole) and their 'story'. This is primarily to establish a sufficiently harmonious relationship between emotion and intellect, so that the gravity energy (the witch or the inhuman forces) is brought to co-operate in service of the human forces. This situation 'gives' the individual 'the magic tinderbox' that exactly symbolises the intuition ability, whose function is precisely the subject of that harmonisation, which in turn is contingent upon contact with the individual's opposite pole. But since this pole at this stage of development yet is predominantly inactive (latent), it means that the contact with this can only be established in sporadic glimpses. This is symbolised in "The Tinderbox" by the princess (the latent pole) is sleeping, when the soldier gets to see her, and knows that he can only get to see her occasionally and for short bursts, the so-called cosmic glimpses. In the intervals between the princess’ involuntary visits, the soldier must live with his need and his longing again to see her. Missing and longing feels like painful 'dark', but where there is darkness, there is also hope and 'light' ahead, for darkness is lights complementary counterpart, and the two presupposes and condition mutually each other. And that's just 'down' at the end of the cosmic dark zone’s 'chute' (the animal kingdom and its deadly traditions) that the upcoming new light zone (the real human kingdom and its compliance with the life-giving principle), is being prepared, and this is where the individual's latent pole and the related intellectual pole organ again begins to come to life, and therefore it is also here that the faculty of intuition is ready cosmically speaking to approaching usage.

As previously mentioned, the animal kingdom’s dark 'chute' is symbolically identical with 'the hollow tree' in the fairy tale, and mankind 'way out' of the animal kingdom is due to its members' making aware as culture people. Cultural awareness can also be seen as spiritual enlightenment, and this is symbolised in the story as the illuminated vault deep beneath the tree (= the animal kingdom). Same enlightenment are signs and stated that the hitherto latent pole, in this case the fairy tale’s Sleeping Princess, begins to wake up and use its influence in the consciousness of life, including by virtue of the faculty of intuition, the fairy tale’s magic tinderbox. In and with this ability, life is experienced as the divine wonder and adventure it has always been and will forever remain. But what makes the individual to descend into the physical world, and thus, among other things into the animal kingdom, is the principle of hunger and satiation, which is a variant of the dominant main principle: the circuit and contrast principle. This dual principle’s 'dark side', the so-called 'evil', as in the biblical creation myth is symbolised by the 'serpent', which tempts Eve and Adam, appears in the fairy tale in the guise of the witch, as well entice the soldier to descend in the hollow tree and get themselves all the wealth, he can carry with him.

As also mentioned earlier, the soldier’s subsequent killing of the witch, darkness’ and evil’s representative, as he no longer needs her. It can in this context symbolise that the individual now has passed the culmination of the spiral cycle’s dark zone, the animal kingdom, and then both in principle and in practice is slowly moving into the light zone, toward the real human kingdom, but still only glimpsed this as a faint light of humanity and longing for love and peace in the distant horizon. In the tale is the soldier on his way to the big city, where his newly acquired wealth (abilities) is to be used for the benefit of himself and his friends. But here, among people of all kinds, good and evil, just as unjust, gifted as less gifted, he must pass the test as a partial consecrated man, who has yet to be united with the princess, his opposite sexual pole, and thus missing to achieve permanent cosmic consciousness and be proclaimed king.

However, the latent sexual pole is beginning to 'wake' of its passive state, and including it is automatically restoring connecting links to the active sexual pole. The intellectual pole organ provides this connection line, which is close to the awakening pole. This situation is symbolised in the fairy tale first by a court lady, who of course is the princess near, but as admittedly in vain draw cross on the door, and then by the Queen, who is the princess even closer, using a guide track (the buckwheat grains) creates a 'connection line’ to the soldier, with the aim to 'capture' him in her 'court sphere'. (Note 34)

But with the soldier's togetherness and handling of its fiduciary abilities or talents, and with other people, it turns out that he still has some unfinished aspects of his mentality, who have not yet mastered the energy of gravity so much, that this only serves the human ability. It remains however, that he is able to occasionally contact the spiritual forces of harmonised feeling and intelligence, which is an essential condition, that he can get acquainted with its other pole, the princess. But the unfinished sides with him must first be removed (acted out and stopped) before he can hope to be finally united and devoted to his feminine pole, i.e. the princess. One of these unfinished mental sides, is his impatience to get cosmic consciousness, i.e. get the princess to see as often as possible, by which he actually is abusing his intuition, the tinderbox, and this brings him heading straight down into the 'darkness', as he is arrested and put in prison. It comes as a surprise to him that he forgets to take 'the tinderbox' with him, implying that he was for a time completely lose of the ability to use this precious ability, namely as a consequence or 'punishment' for him for a time not to be able to mobilise the harmonious state of mind, which is the condition for that the faculty of intuition at all can be used. This is symbolised in the fairy tale by that the soldier as mentioned have gone to jail, and that he has forgotten the tinderbox home in his guesthouse room.

As repeatedly mentioned the convicted soldier is subsequent sentenced to death by hanging, and in this unfortunate situation, it is fortunately, that the cobbler boy comes by his prison window so he could ask him to pick up the tinderbox for themselves. This can be seen as a symbolic expression of that the individual in the deep 'dark' regains the child mind, without which one cannot enter the kingdom of God, and in and with this mind or in terms of that gets the individual its intuition ability back. At a later stage, the individual is definitely made up with all the unfinished aspects and adverse forces, habits and inclinations of his being, and one day the same individual is experiencing, the permanent union with its opposite pole, the great birth is thus obtained and the individual has now received permanent cosmic consciousness, and thus genuine sovereignty. In "The Tinderbox" symbolises all this by that the soldier through his alliance with the spiritual, magical powers (the three dogs) puts an end to and remove all authority and power symbols: the king, the queen, the judges, the executioner and others, and thus can the wedding with the princess be accomplished and the soldier enter his well-deserved kingship. Therefore nothing to say to, that the wedding and coronation was celebrated with pomp and circumstance for many days.

Finally it should be pointed out that the fairy tale "The Tinderbox", and thus it therein indirectly described sexual pole-transformation, might as well have had the princess, i.e. a person of the female sex, as the protagonist, as is the case in fairy tales like The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Wild Swans, etc. But in that case, would the story have got a course that in its external action would be characterised by the feminine pole and hence the feminine traits. Those adventures and several others of Andersen's fairy tales, which can be described as 'cosmic', we incidentally also shall look at later.

© 2006. Harry Rasmussen. December 2014 translated into English by the author.

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Notes and sources: The fairy tale "The Tinderbox"

- seen and evaluated in four basic significance levels:

Note 1: H.C.Andersen: Youthful Attempts (1822). Published by Christtreus Bogtrykkeri. Copenhagen 1956. With Postscript: Hans Christian Andersen's first book. A little about the book's release and fate, by Cai M. Woel. In the preface to a small font, Woel published in 1960, he said that the epilogue to the 1956 edition of "Youthful Attempts" was originally written for the 1940 edition of "The Ghost at Palnatoke’s Grave", published by the publishing house Poul Carit Andersen, Copenhagen. Postscript 1956, however, has been elaborated with more historical details about the book's shadowy origins, than it was possible to produce in 1940. With the self-printed paper in 1960, Woel is looking to "gather the possible information about this famous set of books, with its deficiencies and imperfections so vividly has collected interest on for more than a hundred years." The dissertation is titled: "Hans Christian Andersen's first book. "Youthful Attempts" 1822. "Midtsjællands Publishing. Ladager – Lille Skensved 1960. - In Harry Rasmussen: Thoughts about a waste paper. Anderseniana 1998, highlights the places in Andersen's works in which there are direct or indirect allusions to the misfortune that befell "Youthful Attempts", or at least the parts of the book or its printed sheets, that were sold as waste paper to f. ex. the drysalter and used as wrapping paper for salted herring, butter, cheese and the like.

Note 2: The Biography (Levnedsbogen), p. 28; MeE, p. 16; MLE I, p. 34, 44.

Note 3: See. With the fairy tale The Snow Queen (1844) and the novel "To be or not to be" (1857), the latter in particular the chapter The new Aladdin. Compare any. Articles with 3.06. "To be or not to be" - Hans Christian Andersen's views on materialism, and 3.24. The new Aladdin. - Hans Christian Andersen and cosmology 2. - Sorry, but these two articles are not yet translatet into English.

Note 4: The Biography, p. 27; MLE I, p. 28 - In recent times "Thousand and One Nights" is published in Danish translation by Mogens Boisen on Lademanns Publishing 1967-69, Volume 1 to 16, where "The story of Aladdin and the wonderful lamp" is found in Volume 12. The same publishing house published in 1970 ”thousand and one nights for children”, Vol. 1-2, in the retelling by Poul Sorensen, and herein has the adventure entitled "Aladdin and the wonder lamp".

Note 5: The tale The blue light is available pp. 397-399 in Grimm’s Collected Adventures. On the Danish by Carl Ewald. Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck. Copenhagen 1975. 4th edition 1982.

Note 6: Adam Oehlenschläger: Aladdin or The marvellous lamp. A comedy. Gyldendals Library 1964.

Note 7: The first time Andersen mentions Oehlenschläger’s Aladdin in his Diaries, is on October 5, 1825, where he in Slagelse is visiting "Fuglesangs" and here reads aloud of the adventure play. Diaries I, p. 9.

Note 8: Diaries I, pp. 31-32; The Biography, p. 134-135; MeE, p. 56; MLE I, p. 94.

The quote is from the Diaries I, pp. 31-32, December 19, 1825; Andersen mentions Oehlenschläger’s Aladdin on October 5 same year Diaries, p. 9; The Biography, p. 134-135; MeE, p. 56; MLE I, p. 94. Personally, I find it interesting that my friend and colleague for many years, cartoonist and trick cinematographer Jakob Koch, born 1945, is related to Royal. builder and architect Jørgen Hansen Koch and his wife, Ida Koch, born Wulff, the pair is his great-grandparents on the paternal side. Ida Koch was a daughter of Rear Admiral P.F.Wulff and his wife Henriette Wulff, born Weinholdt, and thus the sister of Andersen's diligent letter friend Henriette (Jette) Wulff and his friend, a naval officer Christian Wulff. - See if necessary. Harry Rasmussen & Jacob Koch: Hans Christian Andersen and the families Wulff and Koch - based on a collection of family photographs. Annual Review Anderseniana 2008. The article has no relation to Martinus' cosmology and is so far only available in Danish.

Note 9: Adam Oehlenschläger: The in Note 6 mentioned work p. 277-78.

Note 10: The Biography (Levnedsbogen), p. 83-93; MLE I, pp. 73-78.

Note 11: Nielsen and Dal I, pp. 23-29.

Note 12: There are probably not many contemporary people, who know what a tinderbox really is for a subject, although most actually know the modern equivalent of this, namely the so-called lighter. But from ancient times right up to c. 1840, when the matches were introduced, they used here in Denmark a fire lighting device, called a tinderbox. The words prefix ‘tinder’, equals the Danish ‘fyr’, which comes of German ‘feuer’, and the words substantive equals the Danish ‘tøj’, which means just a tool, such as. the English word ‘toy’ means a plaything. A lighter consisted in principle of a piece of steel, a flint stone and a piece of thrush (rotten wood) or dried sponge. On the one hand to turn the piece of steel hard slanting downwards against the flint, as in the other hand was kept close to the thrush or fungus could produce sparks, that with a little patience ignited the combustible material. And by the flame alight, which of course was fed oxygen, the fire blazed up soon, so, for instance. could ignite a fire, a fireplace, a wax or tallow candles, or his tobacco pipe, or otherwise. Tinderboxes were however gradually produced in several versions, but in principle it was not changed in the centuries in which it existed and was used. It was therefore the above-described type of lighters, the soldier in the adventure made use of, and which were stored in a skin or leather bag, as you could have in your pocket or wear inside the shirt.

Note 13: The tale "The Tinderbox" will be available in most versions of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales and Stories, in Danish especially not least in Nielsen and Dal I, pp. 23-29, and not least in versions for children.

Note 14: As mentioned in the main text the fairy tale "The Tinderbox" has over time been examined and treated by a number of researchers and writers, e.g. by H.Topsøe-Jensen: Bouquet to Andersen. Notes to twenty fairy tales. Publisher G.E.C.Gad, Copenhagen, 1971, pp. 11-23. Moreover, in Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales VII: Flemming Hovmann: Comment. Publisher C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen 1990, s.19-23. - In the book The Transformation’s Price. Hans Christian Andersen and his fairy tales provide the H.C.Andersen researcher Johan De Mylius an excellent analysis of the poet's total fairy tales and stories, including the tale of The Tinderbox. Publisher Høst & Son. Copenhagen 2005.

Note 15: MLE I, pp. 288-294. This was particularly the philosopher and scientist Hans Christian Ørsted, who was one of the first to recognise the fairy tales value, but Andersen did in the beginning not agree with Ørsted, "that when [the novel] Improvisatore make me famous, makes fairy tales me immortal, they are the most complete I've written, but I do think he knows not Italy, can not rejoice in the known air wing book spirits to meet him; [...]” (Andersen wrote in a letter to Henriette Wulff, March 16, 1835. BHW I, p. 211. Since The Improvisatore first published April 9, 1835, and the first fairy tale booklet was published on May 8, same year, why Ørsted thus have had the opportunity to read them before publication. Other literary critics recommended Andersen to abandon this inferior "nursery poetry" and hoped that he "still would not waste his time writing Fairy tales for children." (MLE I, p. 289). Nor fellow poet B.S. Ingemann was immediately excited about Andersen's very first fairy tales, but changed later his view. (Kirsten Dreyer I, pp. 114-115: Letter from BS Ingemann, dated Sorøe Christmas Eve 1835. - Ibid, p. 125-127: Letter to B.S. Ingemann of Febr. 11, 1837) - Re. the relationship between the poet Hans Christian Andersen and the scientist and philosopher Hans Christian Ørsted, see the article 3.14. Poetry and science - the relationship between the poet Hans Christian Andersen and the scientist H.C. Ørsted. – Sorry that this article is not yet translated into English.

Note 16: About the myth of return, see Mircea Eliade: Rites and Symbols of Initiation. The Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth. New York 1965. Danish title: Myten om den evige genkomst.

Note 17: The wise woman in Ejby named Mette Mogens Daughter, and she also appears on several occasions in Andersen's work, such as Metha in the novel fragment of Christian the Second’s Dwarf (1831-32). Annual Review Anderseniana 1935.

Note 18: H.G.Olrik (hence Olrik): Hans Christian Andersen. Studies and Chronicles 1925 - 1944. p. 106. H. Hagerup, Copenhagen 1940th

Note 19: See if necessary. article H.C.Andersen’s sexuality. Annual Review Anderseniana 2004. The article Hans Christian Andersen's sexuality can also be read on this site, but in both cases so far only in Danish.

Note 20: Olrik, p. 158

Note 21: In addition to the fairy tale "The Tinderbox", Andersen also indirectly refers to the garret in adventures like. The Goblin at the Grocer’s (1853) and Auntie Toothache (1872). In addition, he portrayed it in the poem The Student (1829), In the novels Journey on Foot to Amager (1829), O.T. (1836) and Only a Fiddler (1837), and it is in this garret, the moon looks into the young poet in Picture Book Without Pictures (1839) and tells its stories. See also Olrik, pp. 98-105.

Note 22: The Biography (Levnedsbogen), pp. 121-122, 262-263, and the MLE I, p. 88, 403-404.

Note 23: For the six cosmic realms situation is under Martinus such, that the physical mineral kingdom is an 'extension' of the purely spiritual bliss realm. In essentially the same way is the purely spiritual 'real' human kingdom an 'extension' of the physical animal kingdom, more especially of the 'section' of this, we call the human race.

Note 24: The terms 'degenerate' and 'degenerated' must be completely 'neutral' understood as the opposite of 'generate' and 'generated', namely respectively. as 'deterioration' and 'impaired' or reduced function and to 'produce' or 'produced'. There is thus not from Martinus' side any denigration of the concepts of 'degenerate' and 'degenerated'.

Note 25: It must be emphasised here, that when the two pole-organs, the emotional pole organ and the intellectual pole organ, might be associated respectively with the feminine pole and the masculine pole, so there is thus merely a statement of the feminine gender’s relative emotional reactions and the masculine gender’s relative intellectual touch. - For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned here, that the shift between the two sexual poles in the individual consciousness, and the two pole-organ’s change-over switch from one pole to the other, takes place in the divine world’s culmination zone. In other words, it is in this life zone that gender shift from female sex to male beings and vice versa, occurs even though this fact only becomes markedly in the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom, and culminates in and with the earthly human and its sexual constitution and situation. - Subject. the two sexual poles change-over switch, see the article The sexual double circuit

Note 26: In the earthly human stage, the pole-transformation cause some individuals derailed and get what Martinus describes as "devil consciousness", which means a mentality that is characterised by ruthlessness, cruelty and cunning, and the like, such as perhaps especially see grim examples in German as well as Japanese concentration camps during WW2. - Subject. "Devil consciousness", see e.g. articles H1-13. Introduction to "The sexual pole transformation" - the 'wake' and the 'sleeping' sexual 'pole', and H1-14. The sexual categories of pole transformation - from A-to K-human.

Note 27: Martinus: Livets Bog (Book of Life, hence LB) V, paragraph. 1600, 1602, 1604, 1609-10,

Note 28: BfA (Letters from Hans Christian Andersen) I, p. 367.

Note 29: Hans Christian Andersen: The Improvisatore, R & R I, pp. 243-244

Note 30: See. LB I, paragraph. 183

Note 31: LB VI paragraph. 1282.

Note 32: LB IV paragraph. 1506-7; LB VI paragraph. 1988-96, 2034, What is truth, chapters 2-9, 20.

Note 33: LB I, paragraph. 91; LB III paragraph. 863: LB IV paragraph. 1301-9, 1312-3, 1326, 1354, 1429; LB VI paragraph. 1983, 1993-6.

Note 34: Re. Ariadne from Naxos: See for example. Munksgaards Mythology Dictionary. 1964: Gods and heroes of Greek, Roman and Norse mythology. See also. Gyldendals Røde Opslagsbøger (Gyldendal’s Red Reference Books): Finn Stefansson, Asger Sørensen and Else Matthison-Hansen: Religion / philosophy of life. Gyldendal 1979.

© 2006. Harry Rasmussen. December 2014 translated into English by the author.

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