For instance, the victor also says to the vanquished: „Submit!“ In this word lies the meaning: „Surrender yourself to me unconditionally so that I may deal with you as I see fit, even over life and death!“
But in this the victor acts wrongly; for even in victory man has to conform strictly to the Laws of God. Otherwise with every neglect of them he makes himself guilty before the Lord. The reciprocal action will then strike him without fail! This applies to the individual as well as to entire peoples!
(Abd-ru-shin: In the Light of Truth – Grail Message, lecture „Submission“)
This part of the Törni series will be a little different and does not have much to do with Lauri Törni’s time in Germany at all. But I had wanted to do a piece on it for quite some time, so why not now?
As some of my readers know, I am a follower of the Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin. As such, I was very glad to learn of those aspects of Lauri Törni’s story that others might consider a bit… esoteric?
It all started with a passage in Cleverley’s book Born a Soldier:
Finally, Thorne’s only great love: the beautiful Marja Kops who finally left Sweden with the belief that she would never see Larry again. In Spain, she raised her own family, but never forgot the powerful personality she would have married. Following Thorne’s death, she wrote her cousin Riikka Ojanperä: „Do you know that Larry appeared to me twice after the mid-1960’s? He sat on my bedside and we talked together.“
An article from 29 September 2015 in Ilta-Sanomie, „Lauri Törni rakastui kunnolla vain kerran, mutta onnellinen tarina päättyi erittäin lyhyeen“, made it clear that those two visits had occurred in lucid dreams.
Now, some, I am sure, will just skip over that bit and move on. I, on the other hand, believe every word of it. This is one of the most common ways the departed communicate with us, as the ever rational, ever suspicious daytime consciousness is partly inactive during sleep.
I do not subscribe to Kallonen’s sob story of star-crossed lovers. Törni made a choice, whatever his feelings, reasonings and circumstances might have been. He was a certain type of man, and I can understand, without condemning or condoning. In fact, I suspect Marja Kops had a lucky escape. But I also believe Törni did have feelings for her. That certain type of man does not exactly act logically in those things. Abandoning her was an unresolved matter in his life, perhaps a deep regret or feeling of guilt that he took with him into the beyond. And so he sought out Marja after his death.
Riikka Ojanperä explained their unfinished love story without judgment:
„Marja was supposed to follow him to the US, but Törni had such a terrible time there at first. The great hero was a cleaner and who knows what.“
Törni was not able to enlist in the US Army until 1954. It is said that in the late 1950s he went to Sweden to look for Marja – but to no avail, she was already somewhere else.
„A young, beautiful woman doesn’t wait when she doesn’t know anything about the other.“ Riikka Ojanperä says that she moved to Spain.
Marja married a Spanish doctor and had four children. She never met Törni again.
Lauri Törni disappeared, later found to have died in a helicopter crash during the Vietnam War in 1965.
„Marja told me that Törni appeared to her a couple of times in dreams around that time.“
Riikka Ojanperä was deeply involved in anthroposophy and eurhythmy, which might explain why Marja felt comfortable sharing her ghostly encounter with her. Ojanperä taught and wrote on the Finnish language in the context of Rudolf Steiner’s teachings (another Steiner in the Törni story!). Ulrike Wendt wrote a lovely article about a visit to Ojanperä’s home in the Newsletter from the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy, Speech and Music, Michaelmas 2010, „Eine finnische Studienwoche – Osterbesuch bei Riikka Ojanperä“:
A walk of a few hundred metres lies between Raitila, the small mökki that offers accommodation for 4-6 people, and Untola, the home of Riikka Ojanperä and Johannes Linden. A small Finnish road in rural western Finland. Nature – not „special“ at all, yet rich in experiences: The triangular ice crystals on the puddles in the morning, the thick dew drops on the tips of the spruce needles forming a beautiful pattern. A juniper berry, freshly picked from the bush and chewed – a taste explosion. The trickle of the brook, already heard several metres in front of it, which grows into a real murmur in the course of the thaw. Red granite. Snow turning from dazzling white to brown slush – rubber boots are called for! A delicate mist on Easter morning, wide blueness at dusk. The redness of the birches – a Finnish natural magic that delights, in between the white trunks of the aspens, in infinite delicacy. Pines and spruces, providing green continuity. And like every time, Finnish nature touches me deeply. There are no spectacular rock formations or anything sensational like that, but originality and clarity and always something more around… […]
At Villa Untola, treasures are guarded and given away – to anyone who comes and asks. Enormously informative aspects of tone eurythmy and planetary gestures can be learned there, which can be an enrichment for every eurythmy practitioner – even if they are perhaps not quite as enthusiastic about the Finnish language as I am.
Why did I go to Sauvo in April, at a time when nature in Finland is still rather wintry? It’s simple – later in the year, Riikka Ojanperä no longer has time for courses, because she and her husband Johannes Linden work in agriculture. The two of them have spent years building up a small biodynamic farm, which they still run. In case it is not known: Riikka turned 80 in April, and Johannes is not much younger either. What these two people achieve, what enthusiasm, what deep trust in anthroposophy and the principles stated by „Dr. Steiner“ give them the courage and the energy to still put themselves so intensively into active life, can hardly be grasped.
There are people who stand by them and support Riikka in her work on the book mentioned, some of whom I was able to meet during our study week. But what has not been formed so far is a circle of people who will ensure the continuation of the two’s work. Untola could become a small cultural centre – where else in Finland is there a eurythmy stage built exactly to the scale of the first Goetheanum? With rising seats? And an enchanting veranda that invites both study and dreamy lingering? Where can you find this unique combination of art with biodynamic agriculture? Johannes‘ potatoes taste fantastic, as do the carrots. What endless work it may have been to get the soil this far! What is needed now is a small foundation to carry on the legacy of these two people in a dignified way. And what is further needed are a few people who can get such a foundation off the ground with energy and financial help. It would be a huge loss if this incredible life’s work were to simply fade away!
Now, I don’t know much about anthroposophy, but there are some parallels to the teachings of the Grail Message, and there are many aspects that, I suspect, would have overlapped if Abd-ru-shin had had more time to write about all the topics he planned to write about. The language aspect alone (the Goetheanum published a special issue on it, with a contribution by Riikka Ojanperä) likely would have shown strong parallels.
I can’t find anything on Villa Untola in Sauvo these days, so if anyone has more information, please let me know!
But should in future years, within that hero-land,
His exploits fade for memories more royal, –
Should at his name a heart no more with fire expand,
And lonely and unsought, with runes all wasted stand
The grave wherein he sleeps, – this Finn so loyal, –
Still were his praise, his glory, not yet dead;
Then should his spirit sweep the sea, unbidden,
Till proud it reached this land, that him had bred;
Here is he ne’er forgot, here for his folk he bled; –
He here shall live, though there his form be hidden.(Johan Ludvig Runeberg: The Tales of Ensign Stål, Canto XXXV, Adlercreutz; translated by Clement B. Shaw. Read at Lauri Törni’s obsequies.)
The Lauri Törni in Germany 1945 series:
More Törni-related blog content:
„Alles, was ich getan habe, geschah zum Wohle meines Landes.“
Clarissa Schnabel 