Młodopolscy Wielcy wtajemniczeni. Ezoteryczne konteksty literackie w publikacji Na skrzydłach szału z 1921 roku

Abstract

The group research into Polish esoteric traditions, conducted since 2016, has revealed many unknown and forgotten works from 1890–1939, which belong to currents of Western esotericism. A small booklet, On the Wings of Frenzy, published in Vilnius in 1921, is part of those currents. The composition and a specific ‘textual-graphic’ narrative strategy indicate the initiatory nature of this publication and, at the same time, allow us to treat it as a kind of program of spiritual work, the culmination of which was to become a reborn Poland. One of the essential elements of this program is the hidden message of Polish literature, present mainly in selected works of Young Poland. Their creators become contemporary ‘Great Initiates’, carriers of esoteric ‘Knowledge’ adequate to the needs and requirements of the coming era. The authors discuss the unique structure of this publication. The analysis and interpretation cover the graphic and textual layers of the work, providing a background for considering the place and significance of Young Poland artists in the vision sketched by the author hiding under the pseudonym Jaksa-Mnich.