ABOUT
Welcome to the Gristly History blog. This is where I publish bits and pieces of history, myth and legend that interest me – though usually not my publishers!
I am an academic, but also write popular history books that are based on strong research but presented in a digestible style for general readers (See the Bookshop for some of my titles). My books have won awards in Australia, where I live, and internationally. I am represented by Sarah McKenzie Literary Management, Melbourne.
As well as writing about history and myth I make music in the folk tradition and write songs. I am happily married to Maureen; we have two daughters and five grandchildren.
I hope readers enjoy the site and welcome comments and questions. Please feel free to share any of the posts through your networks, though unless otherwise stated, all contents of this site are © Graham Seal and all rights are reserved.
Graham.
Thank you for your helpful blog!
Esotericism in Waltzing Matilda
A. B Paterson intuitively composed the song Waltzing Matilda anent civil evolution in Australia representing principles of the Ageless Wisdom for the New Age of Aquarius given to the world in the early 1890’s by the Theosophical Society in lectures by President Colonel Olcott attended by Prime Minister’s Barton and Deakin.
Waltzing Matilda’s verse structure reflects the fundamental axiom of the Secret Doctrine outlayed by Mdm. Blavatsky and finalised by Benjamin Creme (1922-2016) of Share International – the 7 Root Races of Human Evolution.
The ‘jolly swagman’ in Verse 1 is the divine spark of God, or Monad, of the first two Root Races of humanity in which Man was on the involutionary arc spiralling into creation within the descent of matter by activity of the devic elementals of the mineral and vegetable kingdoms.
The Monad experiencing creation ‘billy boiling’ and bonding building blocks of matter at the molecular level of gaseous compounds manifesting liquid, etc., and the elements of life, embeds itself within the shadows of the activity of the lower builders of the devic evolution that magically fashion rocks and trees in it’s paradaisical billabong.
The song “You’ ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me”, is a reference to the matter aspect, as Soul’s we have descended, immersed ourselves in matter, and are evolving, spiritualizing matter, having created bodies, physical, mental, astral. The soul makes spiritualization of matter possible. This spiritualizing of matter proceeds through all the kingdoms until the planet is perfected in terms of the Plan in the mind of the Planetary Logos.
In the Aboriginal imagination as ‘a white mist preceding a shower’, the jumbuck, as bunyips, symbolises the oldest living human civilization on Earth, the First Nation’s People of Australia, the 3rd Root Race Lemurian. Their task, set upon 18.5 million years ago, was to develop the physical form, or animal, body of man. The jumbuck-bunyip comes down as the swagman jumps up, and the animal nature of man represented in physicality reaches its deepest point of materialism at 3.5, or halfway through the 3rd Root Race and the ascent into spirituality begins the evolutionary arc of the Path of Return.
The second verse abstracts the universal tradition of a race of cyclopic wheel-like beings ‘shoved in a tuckerbag’ in the form of one-eyed skulls in the fossil record. The inner wisdom ‘third-eye’ of the pineal gland bifurcates semi-spiritual hermaphrodites into the male-female dual sexes of today in the Lemuro-Atlantean root race, and early animal-man with the germ of mind is infused with the fire of consciousness, the energy of manas, mind.
Rhythmically the 2nd verse indicates the 3rd Root Race, the 3rd the 4th Root Race, and the 4th the 5th Root Race. The 1st verse presents the first 2 races; the last verse expresses the freedom of the 5th Race into the yet inexperienced 6th and 7th Root Races. The 2nd verse symbolises in its accruing of possession the glee of matter in involution.
The Atlantean 4th Root Race hears the troopers singing back the swagman’s chorus. The Ageless Wisdom teaches during the Atlantean period a great war played out between the Forces of Light of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Forces of Materialism. The 4th ray of the 7 Rays (corresponding to the 7 Root Races) is the ray of Harmony-Through-Conflict, Beauty, and Art. It is always ‘in the middle’ so it loves pairs of opposites and the glamour of war. The war of a race of giants ended in a ‘stalemate’ in which neither side really won, only now after World War II ending in 1945, with the Masters of our Spiritual Hierarchy returning to the everyday world (100,000 years after the sinking of the last of the Atlantean continent).
Humanity stands ready today on the cusp of the 6th subrace (each root race has 7 subraces) of the 5th Root Race, the Aryan, whose task it is to develop and perfect the mental body.
Maitreya the World Teacher enters the fray as Avatar for the New Age of Aquarius having descended from His ancient retreat in the Himalayas on July 8, 1977 to his ‘point of focus’ in the East End of London, England as Head of the group of Masters of Wisdom externalising onto the everyday, physical plane of Earth. Eventually there will be about 40 perfected Masters living and working openly in the world. The work of the Theosophical Society and Share International all the Prime Ministers of Australia from Edmund Barton to now basically have known.
The service of the soul inspired initiate AB ‘Banjo’ Paterson beautifying the cyclic phenomena of creation through the art of the poetry of Waltzing Matilda left a mark in the consciousness of a new race in the historical evolutionary process leading to Federation of a nation.
The last verse of Banjo’s ‘ghost’, or Hoffmeister’s, of the common man practising detachment from political-economic ‘isms’ for rights to food, shelter, healthcare, and education for all people, sings pain of daily sacrifice of the human Soul in incarnation – “You’ll never impose karmic inertia on my evolutionary advancement!”, laughed he – and to achieve perfection in the union of matter and spirit in the becoming of a Master of Wisdom as we ‘pass by this billabong’.
*Please see Maitreya’s drawing, the Marree Man co-created with the Space Brothers!