Who is Count St. Germaine

Who is Count St. Germaine? Well, that depends.... Are the legends about him fact or fiction? We know that he did live, he's a documented historical personage. What we don't know is, did he live more than once? Did he live for centuries? Is he still living? Some people believe each of these theories, and far more. One thing's for sure, Count St. Germain is definitely an enigmatic character in history.

What is known for certain? Not nearly as much as is conjectured, but still the Count's existence has been reliably documented, especially in the 18th century. Certain actual historical figures wrote of meeting him as early as 1710. Those meeting him then described him as a man in his mid-forties. In the 1740s, St. Germaine was a close friend of French King Louis XV and Mme. Pompadour. He was extremely well known in French society, and was described by all who knew him then (at least thirty years after those who first met him) as "a man in his mid forties".

By all accounts, St. Germaine was a fascinating person. An aristocratic man of unknown origin; who possessed a vast fortune, also of unknown origin. He was described as a strongly built striking-looking person of middling height with unusually piercing eyes. He was known to be a virtuoso violinist, a composer of music, a painter of incredible skill, and a linguist, able to speak almost any European language with no trace of an accent. He was also skilled in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Arabic. He had an astonishing knowledge of history, and sometimes spoke of historical events from hundreds of years before as if he'd been an eyewitness. No one ever saw him eat at any social occasion or dinner party, but he did drink a certain herbal tea. He ate only in his own home, and was said to live primarily on oatmeal.

Other attributes the Count was rumored to possess were the ability to "clear" flaws from diamonds, the ability to create unusually large diamonds from several smaller ones, as he could also supposedly do with pearls, He had allegedly mastered the alchemist's quest to turn base metals into gold. The count was said to either possess or create an elixir of life that imparted immortality, eternal youth, or at least delayed aging. He had a photographic memory, was psychic, and was believed by many to be several hundred years old at the time they knew him. He wrote a book called "The Most Holy Trinosophia" which inspired the theosophical movement of the late 19th century, and he is believed to be an "Ascended Master" by believers of that philosophy. St. Germain is known to have engaged in "diplomatic assignments" for Louis XV which were undoubtedly early versions of espionage/ secret agent types of missions. It's said that he was instrumental in the revolution in Russia that placed Catherine the Great on the throne of that country.

He was believed to have studied both medicine and philosophy in India and Persia. He was seen by some as a charlatan and by others as a person of superhuman learning and talent. Voltaire, who met the Count in 1760, described him as "The man who knows everything and never dies"

Although St. Germaine's death, of pneumonia, was officially announced in 1784 (a full 74 years after he was described as being "between 40 and 50 years of age" by those who knew him in 1710), many believe the "death" was a smokescreen. He had been staying in Schleswig, in the remote castle of a friend, and had not been seen for some time prior. Even more compelling is that during his lifetime, Count St. Germaine was instrumental in founding certain "secret societies. One of them, the Freemasons of France, noted in their official records that St. Germaine was the chosen representative to their Great Convention in 1785. This was a year after his alleged death. No burial place was ever found in Schleswig or elsewhere.

Other historical figures write of having seen St. Germaine after his supposed death as well. Comtesse d'Adhemar wrote of meeting him several times before, during and after the French Revolution, with the last meeting occurring in 1821. She, as can by now be expected, described him as looking no different than he had fifty years before.

Who is Count St. Germaine? Well, he's been said to be Prince Rakoczy of Transylvania, Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Bacon, the illegitimate son of the widowed Queen of Spain, a master of alchemy, an immortal, an Ascended Master, and, in a series of modern-day novels, even a vampire.

Only three people may have known exactly who or what St. Germaine really was (is?)--his friend and benefactor, King Louis XV; his other friend , Count Charles of Hesse Cassel, with whom he was staying at the time of his purported death, and to whom he bequeathed his writings and papers, and lastly, Count St. Germaine himself. Neither King Louis nor Count Charles of Hesse could ever be convinced to divulge a word about the true nature and origins of the mysterious St. Germaine, nor could the Count himself.

What do you think?

Photo credit: www.catholicrevelations.org/PR/andreasrill_files/image004