Goethe's Fairy Tale - A modern translation and the first full interpretation.
The Green snake and the beautiful Lily
In 1795 a German writer called Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a Fairy Tale. It was a traditional European Fairy tale that many young and old people have enjoyed over the years. It also became known as his most mystical work as it was deliberately written with a hidden meaning. Goethe intended this meaning to show how the human soul could be set free and how he saw that a new human community could emerge that would enable people to live without war or famine.
He even offered a prize to anyone who managed to correctly interpret his Fairy Tale and show how this human freedom could be achieved. No one, until now, has managed to do this. The one person who came closest was Rudolf Steiner – an Austrian mystic who is best known for starting the very popular Steiner Schools. Steiner saw it as a story about the Power of Love and the need for self-sacrifice in order to achieve this new freedom. He was known to say that Goethe’s Fairy tale was what had inspired him most in his life and work and how it formed the basis of his Anthroposophical movement.
The first part of this book starts with a new modern abridged translation of the Fairy tale by Rory Duff. The second part provides the first complete interpretation which has only just recently become possible due to new evidence emerging that showed what the key symbols of this story really refer to. The third part of this book is an old English translation of the story by Thomas Carlyle.
Reading this old English version, after having read the new interpretation, provides a much fuller flavour to the Fairy tale and it is hoped that it will also leave the reader with an idea on what can be done to help humanity reach the goal of common freedom in a way in which Goethe would have been glad to see.
Goethe’s final vision at the end of the tale begins to make it look as though it was a kind of prophecy. This, along with a greater understanding of the role the Green Snake plays in the timing of when this vision takes place now potentially sets this prophecy within a time scale.