Age of Enlightenment
A philosophical and cultural movement in the Modern Era that appealed to rational thought, reason, and democratic societies.
alchemist
A person who deals in chemical and rare substances in order to seek the true nature of life.
Brocken Mountain
The scene of Walpurgis Night.
cauldron
A boiling pot, usually associated with witchcraft or alchemy.
confession
A Catholic ritual in which a person tells all their sins to a priest in order to gain absolution.
equine
Of or relating to horses.
fops
Foolish men or women. A derogatory term.
Job
A character in the Bible whose soul is wagered by God and Satan. Goethe based his "Prelude in Heaven" on the Book of Job.
Leipzig
A city in Germany; called a "little Paris."
libertine
A person with loose or ambivalent morals, especially concerning women.
Lilith
A figure from Rabbinic literature and legend, believed to be Adam's first wife. Lilith has strange powers over men.
Linden Tree
A tree under which townspeople gather for song and dance.
Lord of Flies
A name for the Devil.
macrocosm
A drawing that attempts to place all concepts of the universe in a compact form.
Magister
Latin for "master." A name that Faust was called by others.
malediction
The act of calling down a curse that brings evil.
Mammon
Wealth personified. Mammon is regarded as an evil influence.
Martin Luther
A sixteenth century Protestant Reformer. Began the Protestant Reformation in Germany with his 95 Theses.
Mater Dolorosa
"Our Lady of Sorrows." A visual representation or icon of the Virgin Mary.
Medusa
A woman from Greek mythology. She had snakes for hair and could turn men into stone with her look.
metaphysics
The philosophical study of being and knowing.
Microcosm
A replication in miniature.
Nature
A spiritual sense of the "real" world. This is often a non-materialistic view of what constitutes the world and the human condition.
Nordic
Of or relating to the people of Scandinavia.
Padua
A city in Italy.
pedant
A person who pays more attention to rules and regulations than a situation merits.
pentagram
A drawing of a star with five points. The pentagram is associated with witchcraft, magic, and devil worship.
plague
A disease that swept over Europe during the middle ages, killing over a third of the population.
Prater
A famous public park in Vienna.
Proctophantasmist
A word made up by Goethe that means, approximately, "buttock ghost-imaginer." The name was meant to portray one of Goethe's intellectual rivals.
Promenade
A leisurely walk taken for conversation.
quid pro quo
Something for something; that which a party receives in return for something he does or gives or promises.
Rationalism
A view that appeals to reason as a source of knowledge.
Reformation
The Protestant Reformation, a split in the Christian church in which groups broke off from the Catholic Church to start their own sects and churches.
Saint Anthony
The patron saint of loving wives and brides.
serf
The lowest social class in the feudal system.
sieve
A utensil of wire mesh or closely perforated metal.
Sign
A word or object that signifies a concept or thing.
Signified
A concept or thing pointed to by a sign.
sophist
A person skilled in elaborate or deviant argumentation; also referring to a group of Greek philosophers.
specter
A ghost or spirit.
Strasbourg
A city in Germany, where Goethe attended university.
Sturm und Drang
German for "Storm and Stress." A literary and philosophical movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that sought to elevate human emotion over rationalism.
The Fatherland
A name for the country of Germany.
The Snake
A name for Satan taken from the Book of Genesis.
theology
The study of God.
Thule
A legendary kingdom in Europe. Gretchen sings a song of the King of Thule.
vial
A glass container that holds liquid. Usually used in chemistry.
wager
A bet made between two people.
Walpurgis Night
A night of revelry in which all of the earth's witches, sorcerers, and evil spirits come together on the Brocken Mountain.
