FAUST.

Faust.

 Legend of a learned but arrogant man who

makes a PACT with the DEVIL. The Faust legend was based

on the legend of THEOPHILUS and circulated widely in

Europe in medieval times. It was published as a novel in

the mid-1500s after the Protestant Reformation.

The best-known version of the story was published

in 1587 by a German publisher, Johann Spies. Translated

into English by 1594, the manuscript inspired Christopher

Marlowe to write his play, The Tragicall History of

D. Faustus, around 1601. In the late 18th century, Johann

Wolfgang von Goethe wrote his version of Faust.

The Early Story of Faust

Faust, the son of a husbandman, was born in Roda, Weimar,

Germany. He was raised in a Christian household.

Faust had a superior intellect and earned a doctorate in

theology. But he was vain and arrogant. He indulged in

gluttony and lust.

Faust began dabbling in MAGIC. One night, he went to

a CROSSROADS in the woods, cast a magic circle, and conjured

the Devil. The Devil appeared as a griffon or dragon,

then as fl ying lights, then as a burning man, and fi nally as

a gray friar who asked Faust what he wanted. Faust compelled

him to agree to go to his house the next morning.

By evening, Faust agreed to a pact presented by the

Devil. He agreed to three things:

• Faust would become the Devil’s property after a certain

number of years.

• He would sign an agreement to this effect in his

own BLOOD.

• He would renounce the Christian faith and defy all

believers.

In exchange, the Devil would fulfi ll every lust of

Faust’s heart and grant him the body and powers of a

spirit. In his arrogance, Faust thought the Devil might

not be as bad as others said.

The Devil revealed his name as Mephostophiles (MEPHISTOPHELES).

Faust gave him the following written pact:

I, JOHANN FAUSTUS, Dr.,

Do publicly declare with mine own hand in covenant

& by power of these presents:

Whereas, mine own spiritual faculties having been

exhaustively explored (including the gifts dispensed

from above and graciously imparted to me), I still cannot

comprehend;

And whereas, it being my wish to probe further into

the matter, I do propose to speculate upon the Elementa;

And whereas mankind doth not teach such things;

Now therefore have I summoned the spirit who calleth

himself Mephostophiles, a servant of the Hellish

Prince in Orient, charged with informing and instructing

me, and agreeing against a promissory instrument

hereby transferred unto him to be subservient and obedient

to me in all things.

I do promise him in return that, when I be fully sated

of that which I desire of him, twenty-four years also

being past, ended and expired, he may at such a time

and in whatever manner or wise pleaseth him order,

ordain, reign, rule and possess all that may be mine:

body, property, fl esh, blood, etc., herewith duly bound

over in eternity and surrendered by covenant in mine

own hand by authority and power of these presents, as

well as of my mind, brain, intent, blood and will.

I do now defy all living beings, all the Heavenly Host

and all mankind, and this must be.

In confi rmation and contract whereof I have drawn

out mine own blood for certifi cation in lieu of a seal.

Doctor Faustus, Adept

in the Elementa and in Church Doctrine.

Thus began Faust’s relationship with Mephostophiles,

whom he conjured daily inside his locked study. The DEMON

always appeared in the guise of a friar. Mephostophiles

indulged Faust with the fi nest foods and then an

endless supply of women.

Faust also plied the demon with questions about the

formation of the world, heaven and HELL, and how the

ranks of demons came into being as a result of the fall of

LUCIFER.

After nearly eight years had passed, Faust one day ordered

Mephostophiles to summon his lord, BELIAL, but

BEELZUBUB appeared instead. Faust asked to be taken on

a tour of hell. Beelzebub returned with a bone chair and

whisked Faust away.

It seemed Faust fell asleep, and when he awakened,

he was in the abyss, which was full of contorted animals,

sulfuric stenches, quakes, lightning, fl ames, and tremendous

heat. He also saw many well-known people, including

royalty, suffering in the heat. Faust was returned to

his own bed, but he was certain he could not withstand

hell himself.

Faust then desired to see the heavens, and a coach

drawn by two dragons appeared and took him up into

the sky, 47 miles up. He looked down upon the earth, and

then he was taken into heaven.

In his 16th year of bondage to the Devil, Faust undertook

a pilgrimage to Rome, where he had dinner with the

pope and stole his goblets and fl agons. He then went to

Constantinople and visited the Turkish emperor.

Faust had other adventures, including meeting Emperor

Charles V and the duke of Bavaria.

Faust entertained a group of students by having Mephostophiles

conjure up Helen of Troy.

After Faust had spent 19 years with the Devil, an

old man tried to persuade Faust to repent and return

to Christianity, but Faust renewed his demonic pact by

writing another one in his own blood. He affi rmed that

in another fi ve years, Lucifer would have full sway over

him.

Faust had Helen summoned again and began living

with her. In the 23rd year of his pact, she became pregnant

and bore a son, whom Faust named Justus Faustus.

When Faust’s 24 years were nearly up, he made out a

will. As his end approached, he became depressed and

fearful of his fate. He regretted his pact. He summoned

his students for a fi nal night of dining and company at a

village inn and urged them all to follow a good life.

That night between midnight and one o’clock, a great

storm arose. A hideous music fi lled the inn, along with

Faust’s cries. The students were too frightened to look

into his room.

The next morning, Faust was gone. But a hideous sight

greeted the students:

The parlor was full of blood. Brain clave unto the walls

where the Fiend had dashed him from one to the other.

Here lay his eyes, here a few teeth. O it was a hideous

spectaculum. Then began the students to bewail and

beweep him, seeking him in many places. When they

came out to the dung heap, here they found his corpse.

It was monstrous to behold, for head and limbs were still

twitching.

Helen and Justus were missing, never to be seen

again.

The students obtained permission to bury Faust’s remains

in the village. They discovered Faust’s written record

of all that had happened to him—a sober lesson in

the consequences of dallying with the Devil.

The story of Faust had different versions and grew

in length as time went on. For Faust, there is no redemption;

once the demonic pact is made, the price of

it must be paid. Other stories of demonic pacts allowed

for repentance and redemption, specifi cally through the

intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary (see MARY OF

NEMEGEN).

Goethe’s Faust

Goethe began Faust in 1774 and worked on it for 60 years,

leaving parts of it to be opened posthumously. The story

is of a genius who sells his soul to the Devil, then sins, repents,

dies, and is redeemed. Faust is an aspect of Goethe

himself and shows Goethe’s knowledge of religion and alchemy

and his mystical speculations.

The Prologue in Heaven was probably infl uenced by

Goethe’s reading of Paradise Lost by John Milton. It presents

God with the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

Mephistopheles, the Devil, enters as a court jester

and asks God about mankind’s wretchedness. God mentions

Faust, “my serf,” and agrees to let Mephistopheles

try to sway him. Faust is “doctor” of all knowledge of all

the realms, but he has no solace. He projects a noble aspiration

of the human spirit, despite his sinister side. He

serves as the focal point for the struggle between good

and evil as a necessary part of evolution. In Goethe’s view,

the seeds of good can lie hidden in evil, but at the same

time, there can be something satanic in the loftiest feeling

or the satanic can even grow out of it.

In part 1, Faust is in despair with weariness and emptiness.

He deplores the limitations of book learning and

decides to seek real power through magic, but both his

immense knowledge and magical power have been rebuffed

by the Earth Spirit, the lesser deity that dwells

in the earth. He is miffed that he, “godhead’s likeness,”

“more than cherub,” has been “withered” by the Earth

Spirit’s rejection. Faust is about to commit suicide when

Easter bells and a chorus of ANGELs interrupt him. Mephistopheles—

a symbol of the libido’s greed for gold and

lust—arrives on the scene with attendant spirits he calls

“my airy cherubim.” The seduction of Faust through his

limitations begins, and Faust sells him his soul. His youthful

vigor restored by a witch, he descends into sensuality,

which destroys Gretchen, an innocent woman who

loves him. Faust attends a witches’ sabbat. He watches

Gretchen die and prays to the heavenly hosts for protection.

A heavenly voice proclaims she is redeemed while

Mephistopheles insists she is damned.

As part 2 opens, it seems lifetimes later. Faust wakes

in a charming landscape with FAIRIES and Ariel (the same

spirit of the air from Shakespeare’s play). Mephistopheles

next takes Faust to Greece for an inside view of an emperor,

lovemaking with Helen of Troy, and frolic among

the gods, satyrs, fauns, and nymphs. His steady movement

to damnation contrasts with the glories of knowl-

edge and sensuality. After Faust dies, he is buried by angels

and DEMONs.

In act 5 of part 2, the heavenly angels confront Mephistopheles

and his devils to seize Faust’s soul and carry

it off. In the epilogue, male and female saints and blessed

children sing of God’s plan as the ranks of angels comment

on the ascent of Faust’s immortal essence. Gretchen

is heard among the chorus of penitent women, and Faust’s

soul is received by a Sophia-like “Woman Eternal.”