Mart Saali ja Lüütsepa Jaani taevaskäigud. Protestantlikest ilmutustest, nende poeesiast ja motiivistikust
Mart Saal's and Lüütsepa Jaan's Visits To Heaven. Revelations In Protestantism: Motives and Poetics

Summary/Abstract: The revelations of two Estonians born at the end of the 18th century are analyzed. Both Mart Saal and Lüütsepa Jaan belonged to the United Brethren. According to the legend they were both taken ill after their religious awakening and received their revelations in a state resembling clinical death. Although the typical visionary of the 18th century is a woman (the so-called 'Heaven-Goers' movement' – young women who received visions, preached in an exalted manner or prophetized), no recordings of female revelations have reached us. In this article, the poetics and motives of the revelations of the two aforementioned visionaries are analyzed, pointing out some characteristic motives in the revelations and their supposed origin. The focus is on the dichotomy of body and soul, of heavenly and earthly matters. The revelations contain several motives from the Bible, which probably originate from chant books, sermons and catechisms. Typically, the visionaries take their visions for real, describe their visits to Heaven and Hell, meetings with Christ and angels. The most important biblical motives are the metaphors describing believers through some feminine aspects, but also certain figures like Christ as Bridegroom, or Mother. Both visions center on Christ, as is common in protestantism. In addition to biblical motives both visions include motives from Estonian traditional folk hymns.

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