The Other Brotherhood
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Disclaimer: All rights pertaining to the 1971 adaptation of "Krabat" belong to Otfried Preußler and his descendants.
Author's notes: Bagheera, dr_zook and, especially, aquila_black, thank you so much for the inspiring and enlightening discussions on all things Krabat. This is for you.
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"Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: "The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you", he said. "They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and … you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.""
Jacob's Ladder (Director: Adrian Lyne)
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One of the many secrets the journeymen at the Black Water don't know about is that there's a second brotherhood at the mill.
It's the brotherhood of the journeymen past.
For those who die in the Koselbruch are not free to leave, not as long as the wheel keeps turning.
The ghosts of the journeymen past watch over the journeymen present. They no longer have to eat, or sleep, or work, except on new moon's nights. They have a lot of time on their hands.
However, they are only permitted to show themselves in dreams, and even then their faces mustn't be seen.
Tonda is not partial in whom he watches over. He had been senior journeyman, after all, so he regards every one of the current mill hands as his responsibility. He spends a little more time with Krabat than with the others though, and with Lyschko as well.
Michal, on the other hand, concerns himself mainly with Merten, while Janko accompanies Juro or Kito most of the times.
There are many more: Jakub, and Wyli, and Měrko, and all of the others, quietly observing – watching, listening.
The ghostly brotherhood as a whole acts indiscriminately: they watch over the current journeymen even if they never knew them in life, or were not on particularly friendly terms with them.
In dreams or in that hazy state between waking and sleeping where the lines get blurred, they do show themselves, and sometimes they also appear as thoughts or feelings the mill hands think their own.
They offer advise to Krabat when he sees no path in the dark. They tell Merten that it will be alright, whatever his choice will be. They whisper words of encouragement to Juro whenever the strain he puts on himself gets too much. They console Lyschko when he cries himself angrily, yet soundlessly to sleep.
The Master is the only one who could see them if he chose to do so, but most times, he doesn't want to. They still visit him though, and when he's plagued by dark dreams about those he already had to sacrifice and those still awaiting their fate, they comfort him just as well. For they are wiser now than they were in life, and know that he's just playing an inevitable part in the circle, aiding Death in his never-ending and unavoidable task.
When the old year dies, the journeymen past form the Wild Hunt and, lead by the Goodman, go to fetch another fellow for their secret brotherhood. With a cry of surprise, the chosen one recognizes the faces of old friends, and dies.
There is a second brotherhood at the mill, and while the number of the first always stays the same, the second keeps growing in its shadow. Not long now, and the dead will outnumber the living.
For the wheel keeps turning, turning, turning …
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The end is only the beginning.
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