A Sound Outlook for To-day and a Genuine Hope for the Future

By Rudolf Steiner The translator is unknown

GA 181
This book is comprised of lectures 15 through 21 of 21 lectures in the lecture series entitled: Dying Earth and Living World/Cosmos. It was published in German as: Erdensterben und Weltleben. Anthroposophische Lebensgaben. Bewustseins-notwendig eiten !uer "egenwart und #u un$t. (vol. 1 1 in the !ibliographic "urve#$. This volume is presented here with the kind permission of the %udolf "teiner &achlassverwaltung' (ornach' "wit)erland.
This e.Te*t edition is provided through the wonderful work of: Various e Te!t Trans"ri#ers

Thanks to an anony$ous donation% this le"ture has #een $ade a&aila#le

'O(T)(TS
+ecture I: +ecture II: +ecture III: +ecture I/: +ecture /I: +ecture /I: +ecture /II: "tates of ,onsciousness The !uilding at (ornach -ast and .est 0istor# and %epeated -arth1+ives The !eing and -volution of 2an 3roblems of the Time (I$ 3roblems of the Time (II$ *une +,% 1-18 *uly ./% 1-18 *uly .-% 1-18 *uly 10% 1-18 *uly +/% 1-18 *uly /.% 1-18

1e"ture 2 States of 'ons"iousness

!erlin' 4une 25' 151 Toda# I should like to look back' drawing together and amplif#ing what has been said here in the past. In this wa# I want to la# a foundation for: carr#ing certain essential themes to a conclusion in the present lectures. In spiritual1scientific in6uiries we encounter besides the two forms of consciousness known to ever#bod# 7 dreaming and ordinar# da#1time life from waking to sleeping 7 a third form' best described perhaps as 8higher perceptive consciousness9. (ream1consciousness we reckon in ordinar# life as merel# a sort of interruption of ordinar# consciousness' but that is because we recall onl# a small part of our dreams. .e are reall# dreaming all the time from falling asleep to waking' and what we commonl# describe as the content of our dream1consciousness is merel# such fragments of dreaming e*perience as we are able to remember when we are awake. :rom the standpoint of "piritual "cience' therefore we must sa#: .e know three stages or kinds of consciousness; that of dreams' that of waking life' and the consciousness in which the spiritual world is open to higher perception. <ou will have no difficult# in recognising that each t#pe of consciousness has a certain 6ualit# in common with the one ne*t above it in rank. :or instance' dream1consciousness gives us pictures 7 we know that our dream1e*periences are pictures. .hen #ou recall them #ou are unable to fit then into the se6uence of ,ause and -ffect in dail# life. To tr# to do that would mean confusing dream life and da#1life' and #ou would become visionaries. (ream1e*periences consist of pictures in contrast to realities' b# which we mean the events e*perienced in waking life. If we now compare our ordinar# waking1e*periences with those of the higher perceptive consciousness' we find an e*actl# similar relationship. 0ere' compared with what is e*perienced b# this higher consciousness as spiritual' supersensible realit#' the e*periences of the da#1time from waking to falling asleep' are pictures. Therefore' to the degree in which the awakened' higher perceptive consciousness is e*perienced' it is possible to sa# (this must be done with prudence$: 8I e*perience in this consciousness a genuine realit#' compared with which ordinar# so1called realit# is onl# a set of pictures9.
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3ut in this abstract wa#' the statement has little value. ?f course' man# people are 6uite content with these abstract phrases' believing that thereb# the riddles of the world can be solved. This is not so. "uch a statement has value onl# when it is applied directl# to the actual practice of life. 0ence it has to be made relevant to certain definite realms of e*perience. There is a realm to which I have alread# drawn attention from time to time' one which we needs must contemplate if we would make progress in "piritual "cience. It lies nearest to us' #et it is often 6uite be#ond our ken 7 the realm of man himself. The common opinion is that though we are ignorant of the supersensible man' we do know the ph#sical man' but this is true onl# up to a certain point. @natom# and ph#siolog#' as usuall# understood' are woven out of countless illusions. To1da# let us start' if onl# apparentl#' from the outer form of man as a ph#sical being and proceed on the lines of the threefold division of his organism to which I have often referred. If he is viewed in relation to the supersensible world' and thus as a picture 7 not as the realit# which ordinar# anatom# and ph#siolog# take him to be 7 he falls into three markedl# different divisions' even as regards his outer ph#sical form: the man of head' chiefl# concentrated there; the breast1man; and the man of the e*tremities or limbs. It must be understood however' that this third man does not consist onl# of arms and legs' but that these limbs have terminations within the bod#' as contrasted with the outside' and that all these together make up the whole third man. These three divisions must be kept in mind. .ithout sinning against the realit# of the supersensible world' we cannot actuall# speak of three 8men9: for' as regards the supersensible being of man' a fundamental distinction e*ists between these three parts. The different forces' or streams of force' which went to build into the structure of these different bodil# parts' come from widel# different sources. If the human form is e*amined with supersensible faculties' the structure of the head is seen to be derived from forces operative before birth or conception. ?ne must go back to the spiritual world' not to the stream of ph#sical heredit#. In the formation of the head one can trace 7 admittedl# in its finer details 7 a share of what belongs' in the spiritual world' to the forces of the human soul before it unites itself with the ph#sical stream of heredit# through birth or conception. The chief shore in the formation of the head' belongs not so much to the outer configuration of what a man lived through in his previous earth1life' but to his behaviour' the character of his actions' and to some e*tent his feelings. .hen supersensible perception has so far advanced as to awaken a sense for this kind of form' it is possible to see' through the formation of the head' into what we call the preceding incarnation. 0ere we touch an e*tremel# significant m#ster# of human development. 2ore than is usuall# supposed b# initiates of a lower grade' the form of the head is linked with a manAs karma 7 with his karma as it comes over from the previous into the present incarnation. +eaving aside the breast1man' let us focus our attention on the limb1man (or 8man1of1e*tremities9$' with the inner terminations I have mentioned. 0ere we find b# no means so decided' so individual a form as in the head. -ach person has his own individual form of head' pointing back to an earlier earth1life. The limb1s#stem' with which the se*1 organisation is essentiall# connected' points forward to future earth1lives. -ver#thing there is still undifferentiated and what corresponds in the soul to this organisation points forward towards lives still to come. To consider the breast man attentivel# is speciall# important. This part of his organism is the combined work of the forces which pla# their part in manAs spiritual life before conception and after death between death and the ne*t birth. .hat has been the soulAs environment between the last death and this conception or birth' acts together with what will surround it between the ne*t death and birth' (or conception$. The two interweave. This interweaving of the two sets of forces works itself out in manAs breast1organisation' and is principall# noticeable in its most conspicuous activit#' the process of breathing. ?ut1breathing gives a picture 7 here again we must use this word 7 of what took place in the soul between the last death and this birth; while in1breathing gives a picture of what will operate in and around the soul between death and the ne*t conception or birth. 0ere is a concrete fact. The procedure of ordinar# anatom# and ph#siolog# is to put things down in a row: 7 head' breast' limbs' and in the same wa# a collection of nerves and blood vessels. "upersensible perception discriminates between them' realising the essential differences of these members of the human form. ?rdinar# anatom# and ph#siolog# see merel# the immediate realities. "piritual "cience sees in the shape of the head a picture of the deeds and feelings of the last incarnation: in the out1breathing' with its distinct individual form in each person (differing in each one according to the particular formation of his head$ a picture of the forces surrounding the soul between the last death and rebirth; in the in1breathing' the forces to be met with b# the soul between the present death and the ne*t birth. The life of the limbs presents a picture of the ne*t earth1life. Thus the vast panorama of supersensible life which lies open to spiritual consciousness is interwoven with pictures' even as da#time1life is in dreams. !ut these pictures represent the realit# of our dail# life. .e arrive at the conclusion that each successive world of phenomena' viewed from the point of view of spiritual consciousness' presents the ne*t to us in pictures. ?ur prosaic realit# is a picture of supersensible realit#' and in dreams we have in picture1form the ordinar# realities grasped in ever#da# life.
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"piritual consciousness is needed to make all this clear' simpl# because the contemplation of the outer form alone is not sufficient for the purpose. "uppose there were a person possessing a low degree of clairvo#ance' of the kind in which there is more 8sensing9 than full perception 7 that might lead him' through the head' breast and limbs' to a dim idea of what has Bust been said' and this would not be at all difficult even to a 6uite low grade of clairvo#ance. !ut there would be no certaint# about it. ,onviction of its accurac# could hardl# be possible without the searching proof ac6uired through clairvo#ance endowed with the states of consciousness connected with those three members of the human organism. :or the head not onl# shows b# its outer form that it points back to a former life; it is clearl# marked out b# its own soul1 6ualities' as well as b# its inner construction' from the other parts of nanAs being. ?rdinar# consciousness is blind to this fact. :or either it dreams' or is occupied with dail# realities and fails to notice something which 8underlies9' so to speak' the activit# of the head. !# this I mean the following. 7 .e go through our dail# e*periences in waking consciousness' we fill our minds' through the medium of the head' with outer perceptions' with the pictures brought to us b# the senses' and the mental conceptions we form about the sense1pictures. :or the ordinar# consciousness' all this is so vivid' so intensel# real' that a subtle undercurrent of finer consciousness' a low1toned background as it were' is overlooked. The truth is that the head is dreaming all the time we are awake. This is the remarkable fact' that behind our waking: consciousness the head has a continual flow of dreams. This we can easil# discover for ourselves; no ver# e*tensive training is needed' onl# an endeavour to attain the stage in which consciousness is 8empt#9 7 awake' but devoid of perceptions' even of thoughts. In ordinar# life we are in some wa# or other bus# with the world of outer perceptions' with memories of them' or with thoughts arising from them. ?ftener than we think we are given up to a pure waking consciousness' unknowingl#. It is dim. .hen we endeavour to attain to the soul1state which can be described as 8nothing but waking9 7 outer perceptions' memories' and thoughts all banished' so that we are tr#ing solel# to be awake 7 perceptions will at once arise which are not to be clothed in ordinar# ideas. The# have' as the# emerge' something of the nature of dim feeling 7 picture1like' #et lacking; the substantial character of pictures. ?ne fre6uentl# meets people who are familiar with this state. The# speak of it' perhaps' as a state of soul in which the# perceive something that defies description; the# perceive it' but it is not like a perception of the outer world. It is not unusual to find people speaking in this wa#' and there are man# more than we suppose who' if we get' to know them well' will tell us about such things. The source of these perceptions is the weaving of the 8underl#ing9 consciousness which I have mentioned' and this is itself a kind of dream. !ut what is the dream aboutC It is actuall# about the former incarnation' the last earth1life. The interpretation is the difficult#. +atent in the consciousness of the head lies this dream of a former life on earth. In this subBective fashion it is possible to arrive at such a dream' although it ma# be hard to interpret. .e shall return to this 6uestion. 0ence #ou will see that what I have described as the human head is' in terms of soul1life' somewhat comple*' inasmuch as two forms of consciousness belong to it' closel# interwoven: the ordinar# waking da#1consciousness and the underl#ing dream1consciousness' which is a kind of reflection of the former incarnation. @nother interesting characteristic of the life of soul concerns the other pole in man' the man of limbs' or e*tremities. This limb1man' too' is e*tremel# complicated ps#chicall# 7 that is' in terms of the corresponding part of the soul. I have often pointed out that we are 8asleep9 as regards this limb1man' although 8awake9 as regards the head; and our will reall# acts as though asleep. @ll that we are able to bring into clear consciousness is what the will accomplishes. &obod# carr#ing out the idea' 8I move m# hand9' perceives how all the bodil# apparatus comes into it. This goes on as unconsciousl# as do the bodil# processes during sleep. "leep continuall# pervades the da#time consciousness of this man of limbs' inasmuch as the will of man is sunk in sleep. The curious thing is that this 8third man9 wakes in a sense at night' when' during sleep' man is outside the ph#sical and etheric bodies' and neither consciousness nor self1consciousness function' or onl# ver# diml#. 2an at his present stage cannot penetrate behind the scenes with his ordinar# consciousness' because this sleep1dimness prevents him from following up the activit# of the limb1man in the night' when self1consciousness is detached from the ph#sical bod#. This activit# is also a sort of dream. The limb1man actuall# 8dreams9 in the night. "o' as the head dreams b# da#' below the clear da#1consciousness' so the limb1man dreams in the night' below the dim sleep1consciousness 7 parallel with it. .hat does he dreamC 0e dreams of the ne*t earth1incarnation. In truth' we not onl# bear the past and future in our outer ph#sical form' but we have within us' as soul1life' in the form of usuall# unrecognised dreams' an ever1present' underl#ing consciousness of our past and future earth1lives. Then' as to the breast1man. @lthough the processes of out1breathing and in1breathing are not followed with an# ' distinctness b# the ordinar# consciousness' our organic functions are closel# bound to them. In the -ast' the processes of out1breathing and in1breathing are so attentivel# followed as to be lifted into consciousness. This procedure is no longer suitable for us; we must attain spiritual consciousness in a different wa#. The -astern seeker tries to dim or suppress the head1consciousness' and to stimulate' to clarif# the breast1consciousness. 0e reall# tries to perform the breathing processes so as to arouse a distinctive t#pe of breath1consciousness. Tracing the inhaled air' as it pervades his organism'
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and the e*haled air as it leaves the bod#' and streams out' he raises to consciousness what would otherwise remain unconscious. In this wa# he attains to a state in which he has a distinct consciousness of the realit# pictured in the breathing1process 7 that is' of the life in the spiritual world between death and birth. This clear knowledge' of which the .est has no conception at all' still 3ersists in the -ast to a much greater e*tent than is supposed' and is one reason wh# understanding between -ast and .est is so difficult. In the -ast it is no theor# that a life of spirit and soul lies before birth and after death' but as clear a certaint# as that the road e*tends before and behind a traveler on the ph#sical plane. 4ust as it is an obvious fact that the road in front and the road behind possess such and such features' so' for the ?riental' what lies before birth or conception and after death is not a theor#' not a result of forming ideas about it; but something perceptible to him through the breathing process raised to consciousness. This breast1part of man never ceases dreaming. It does not entirel# wake with our waking' or sleep with our sleeping; but there is a difference between these two states. The breast1manAs dream1consciousness b# da# is dimmer than in the sleeping1state' when it is rather clearer; the difference is not so ver# great' but there is a slight variation. This all shows us that we have not onl# a threefold man in our outer form' but complicated states of consciousness within us. The# compose our soul1life' as the# interweave and reflect each other. Through the waking1da# consciousness of the head' what we know as the life of perception and thought is made possible; through the unbroken dream1 consciousness of the breast1man' what we call the life of feeling; and through the limb1manAs consciousness 7 asleep b# da#' but awake at night 7 what we call our will. ?ne thing more. .hen we consider merel# the outer aspect of man' we have to do with more than a visible ph#sical organism' for we bear a fine etheric' supersensible organism in us 7 to which in the later issues of the maga)ine 8(as %eich9' I have applied' to avoid misunderstanding' the term 8bod# of formative forces9. It is less differentiated' compared with the ph#sical organism; approaching nearer to a unit#: onl# crude observation will ascribe unit# to manAs outer form. 2anAs proper unit# lies in his etheric bod#' which can be divided into parts like the ph#sical bod#' but not into limbs side b# side. The parts of the etheric bod# call rather for the approach that we have used in speaking of states of consciousness. The etheric bod# also is in a constantl# var#ing state of consciousness 7 a different state between waking and falling asleep from that which prevails between falling asleep and waking. 0ere again' with this supersensible bod#' we carr# something ver# significant in ourselves. "ome theosophical theorists ma# think the# have accomplished something important in dividing manAs being into ph#sical bod#' etheric bod#' astral bod#' etc.' but the# delude themselves. That is reducing it to a kind of s#stem' and s#stematising is never an# good. The onl# wa# to gain insight is to e*amine what is happening in the etheric bod#. If an#one merel# sa#s' 8.e have an etheric bod#'9 that is no more than a phrase' calling up a picture of the thinnest kind of mist' and to take this for the real thing is self1deception. The point is that in the etheric bod# we have something ver# real and substantial' though it is not perceptible in ordinar# life. +iving and weaving in the etheric bod#' ceaselessl# from waking to falling asleep' is the karma of earlier earth1lives. In truth' the etheric bod# weaves in our subconscious' and through its weaving brings to view our karma from previous incarnations. The clairvo#ant knows something of karma because he can make use of his etheric bod# as he does at other tires of his ph#sical bod#. @n#one who has learnt to do this cannot help seeing that karma is a realit#. The etheric bod# as concrete realit# means this 7 from waking to falling asleep' it has the vision of karma from earlier earth1lives' and during sleep' of karma in the making. I am again describing it from a clairvo#antAs point of view. The dreams of the breast1man accordingl#' are not onl# about e*periences between the last death and birth; we look also at what the past has laid upon our shoulders as karma 7 at what is spread out below our normal consciousness b# the functioning of the lower bod#' and viewed b# the etheric bod#' although b# a spiritual e#e' as the karma of the past. &either do we perceive through the consciousness of our e*tremities' as we breathe in' onl# what is bound up with the incarnation to come; for the etheric bod# becomes the e#e of the spirit' giving us' in a fashion unknown to ordinar# life' a vision of karma in the making. It is not eas# for present1da# man to bring the training of his soul to such a point' although it is necessar# for ever#bod# to envisage trul# all that I have described. (There are certain difficulties' discussed in the book 8Enowledge of 0igher .orlds and its @ttainment.9$ It was far easier in b#gone ages. -ven in historical times life has undergone more changes than we think' and one momentous point in human histor# (described in 8?ccult "cience9 and other writings of mine$ is the transition from the third to the fourth post1@tlantean epoch of civilisation' the inception of the Graeco1+atin age. It was at this point that it became so intensel# difficult for civilised humanit# to penetrate into the worlds I have Bust described. !efore this' it had been comparativel# eas#' and ?rientals still retain something of this facilit#. The .estern man doss not possess it; therefore he cannot do the same e*ercises' but must resort to those described in 8Enowledge of 0igher .orlds.9 The period which began about FGG to >GG !.,. marks a deeper descent of man into the ph#sical world. @nother period will dawn' appro*imatel# at the beginning of the third millennium after the 2#ster# of Golgotha' and preparation must be made for it. "omething indefinable will arise in ever# soul 7 ine*plicable save through occult science. It is not merel# a subBective ideal or tendenc# which "piritual "cience has to prepare and establish in readiness for the ne*t millennium; it answers to a need in mankindAs development. The middle of the third millennium will be a critical moment in the development of civilisation' for then a point will be reached when human
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nature will have progressed so far that it will be thrown back into deca# unless it has ac6uired the vision of repeated earth1lives and karma' lost since the seventh or eighth centur# before ,hrist. In earlier times' human nature had a health# power of response; knowledge came naturall# to it. In future it will become diseased unless it takes this teaching into itself. .e understand our age onl# if we keep in mind that it lies between two poles. ?ne pole lies far back' be#ond the seventh or eighth centur# before the 2#ster# of Golgotha. Those were the times when knowledge of the soulAs supersensible e*perience was given b# human nature itself. The other pole will be in the third millennium' when (as described in 8Enowledge of 0igher .orlds9$ man must ac6uire supersensible knowledge in spiritual wa#s' so that health' and not sickness' ma# stream into the bod#. ?ur age can be understood in both its inner and its outer aspects onl# if we keep this in mind. &aturall# the change will be slow and gradual. !ut an#one who does not want to dream through the most important things of our age in a dull' sleep# wa#' but wishes to live in conscious wakefulness 7 it behooves him to mark what is seeking entr# into human life. It will not enter completel# until the middle of the third millennium; but little b# little it will make its presence felt' and humanit# must now consciousl# be alive to and prepare for its inevitable advent. +earn to stud# life' and even outer phenomena 7 especiall# those of human life 7 will #ield a superficial perception of this truth. .ith a brain of the coarse development normal for most people to1da#' it is certainl# not eas# to ac6uire what has to be taken intelligentl# into the mind' as "piritual "cience depicts it. !ut I would like to add this: it is tragic to see what unknown powers (I shall speak of them in the ne*t lecture$ are tr#ing to make of mankind. @t the present da# there are certain sick natures 7 that is wh# I use the word HtragicI 7 which are abnormal for their time; #et the# receive intimations of much that men will encounter normall# in the future. I have often mentioned a ver# well1 known contemporar# whose life ran its course in alternating health and sickness: ?tto .eininger' who wrote the remarkable book' 8"e* and ,haracter9. .eininger was altogether an e*traordinar# man. 3icture someone who in his ver# earl# twenties presented the first chapter of his book as a Jniversit# thesis 7 this book which has roused as much enthusiasm in some 6uarters as fur# in others 7 both ill1founded. !ut something else might well have been noted. :or he came to live more and more into the problems raised in his book. 0e travelled in Ital#' Botted down his e*periences' seeing ver# different things from other travellers in that countr#. I find much that is remarkable in .einigerAs Italian diar#. @s #ou know' I describe much that can be described onl# in Imaginations: concerning the @tlantean and +emurian periods' and the appearance of things in times which to1da# can no longer be followed with ordinar# consciousness or b# historical research. ,ertain concepts and ideas are necessar# in order to present such descriptions to human consciousness. .hen I read .einingerAs notes' something in then strikes me as a fine' artistic caricature of the truth. 0is life is certainl# remarkable. 0e was onl# 2D when a thought struck him which pu))led him terribl#: that he would have to commit suicide lest he should kill somebod# else; he thought that a murderer' a criminal' was latent in his soul 7 a s#mptom easil# to be e*plained b# occultism. -6uall# mingled in his life were greatness' punctiliousness and affectation. 0e left his parentsA house' took a room in !eethovenAs house in /ienna' sta#ed there one night 7 and in the morning shot himself. The characteristic of this soul was that its union with the bod# was never 6uite complete. :or e*ternal ps#cholog#' .eininger was merel# a case of h#steria; but for an#one who appreciates the facts it was obvious that an irregular union between his spiritual 1ps#chic and his ph#sical1bodil# principles must have e*isted. .ith normal present1da# people' the former principles leave the latter at the moment of falling asleep' reBoining it on awaking; but with .eininger it was different. I could show #ou passages from which it is evident that at times his spiritual1ps#chic part was Bust a little outside his ph#sical1bodil# part and then suddenl# dived down into it: as this occurred' a thought flashed through him' which he wrote down often in 6uite a dr# fashion: but of course in diving down he acted imaginativel# 7 and ver# strangel#. To an#bod# who understands the matter it is clear that an irregular union of these principles brings in a remarkable and peculiar wa# a knowledge which humanit# will have in the future. Think 7 in a man labeled 8h#sterical9 b# a clums# ps#cholog#' there arises a knowledge which all humanit# must possess in times to come 7 onl# it is caricatured. :rom what I have said #ou can 6uite understand that through such abnormalities something like pioneers of the future appear amongst us' (Bust as there are 8stragglers9 from the past$: a future in which humanit# will inevitabl# know about recurrent earth1lives' about karma and the dreams of karma. @nd because such people appear as the pioneers of the future' the knowledge makes them ill. "o' b# means of an unhealth# organism' there comes out in caricature what is some da# to be the wisdom of humanit#. +ook for instance at a paragraph in .einingerAs 8+ast Things9' (printed b# his friend %appaport$: 83erhaps no memor# is possible of the state before birth' because we have sunk so deepl# through birth itself; we have lost the consciousness and chosen to be born through impulse alone' without rational decision or knowledge' and that is wh# we know nothing of such a past.9 ?ne thing is clear 7 although the knowledge shining forth in this utterance is a caricature' #et someone writes as though absolutel# convinced: 8Through m# birth I passed from a state' a spiritual life' in which I previousl# lived.9 If that had been written ten or twelve centuries before the birth of ,hrist' or at the time of ?rigen' it would not have been surprising' but here in our time is a man who has set such a thing down in a fashion of his own' full of passionate feeling' as a direct illumination of consciousness' not as a theor#.

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I could adduce man# such instances. .hat do the# meanC The# are presages of the supersensible knowledge which is coming to mankind' and because it is not sought on the path of anthroposophical spiritual science' it comes convulsivel#' shattering human nature' making it sick' as in the case of .eininger. I sa# 8sick9' not in the common sense of the word' but surel# the outer facts show that there is something reall# abnormal when a man of twent#1three shoots himself because he finds a hidden murderer concealed within him' and saves himself from becoming a murderer b# committing suicide. @ hundred' 7 na#' a thousand' 7 e*amples could be given; this knowledge must inevitabl# come; and it be well if as man# souls as possible could be awakened to the fact. In the subconscious of mankind the longing for such knowledge is e*traordinaril# widespread. -*ternal powers' which I have often described' hold it back. .e must ver# carefull# keep in mind what is implied in the close of m# article on ,hristian %osenkreut)' in 8(as %eich.9 .e must remember that what became evident in the seventeenth centur# had been noticeable since the fifteenth' Growing steadil# stronger. In speaking of it now to people of our own time' the customar# scientific formulae must be used. I described in the last number of 8(as %eich9 how it was manifested in the writing of the 8,hemical 2arriage9 of ,hristian %osenkreu) b# 4ohann /alentin @ndreae. 3hilologists have racked their brains about this: 4ohann /alentin @ndreae wrote down the 8,hemical 2arriage9' in which reall# deep occult knowledge was hidden' but behaved afterwards in a ver# remarkable fashion' &ot onl# was he unable to e*plain certain words he had spoken in connection with writings which he had produced at the same time as the 8,hemical 2arriage9' but in spite of having transcribed this great work' he appeared to be entirel# without understanding of it. This bigoted 3astor' who afterwards wrote all kinds of other things' does not understand an#thing of the 8,hemical 2arriage9' nor of the other works composed b# him at the same period. 0e was onl# seventeen when he wrote it. 0e never altered; he remained Bust the same person; but a totall# different power had spoken through him. 3hilologists cudgelled their brains' and corresponded about it. 0is hand wrote it; his bod# was present' assisting; but through his human e6uipment a spiritual power' not then in earthl# incarnation' wished to make it known to mankind' in the st#le of those da#s. Then came the Thirt# <ears .ar' the tomb of much which should then have come to mankind. .hat should have been then understood' was not understood' was even consigned to oblivion. The 8,hemical 2arriage9 was written down about 1>GD' ostensibl# b# one who signed himself 4ohann /alentin @ndreae; little notice was taken of it because in 1>1D the Thirt# <ears .ar began. "uch things often happen before a war. Then one can trul# read in the signs of the times: 8.hat is now planted as a seed' must one da# bear flowers and fruit9. This is all part of what I am now pointing out 7 what is to be read in the signs of the times' in our own catastrophic centur#.

1e"ture + The Buildin3 at 4orna"h

!erlin' Drd 4ul#' 151 !efore proceeding to draw conclusions from our recent considerations' I am going to bring forward something which links them up 7 there is reall# a close connection' though it ma# not seen so 7 with the character of our building at (ornach. Through its special character this building has a part to pla# in what we have come to recognise as the "piritual evolution of humanit#' leading on from the present into the future. This period in human development has a characteristic feature' until now e*isting onl# in germ' which we have tried to illuminate from man# different points of view. To1da# let us consider how particular aims of "piritual "cience can come to e*pression through the building devoted to it. The developments of the present da# can be surve#ed' to some e*tent from outside' as is done b# those who base all their knowledge' all their view of the world' on purel# outward considerations; #et there are cogent reasons to1da# for regarding current events from an inner' "piritual point of view. .e can get a correct picture of these events which have been maturing through long ages' and in another form will have a se6uel in the future' if we observe them "pirituall#. I will start from something apparentl# 6uite material' and tr# to make it a living e*ample of how such impulses as are alwa#s with us' working in the present' can also be viewed spirituall#. @mong those who in the last few decades have occasionall# 7 not ver# often 7 taken a comprehensive view of events' some technicians can be found. ?ne such was %euleau* who from his own materialistic point of view threw out in 1 = some thoughts regarding certain characteristic features of contemporar# culture. 0e divided present1da# mankind
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into two groups. In one group he placed those who are entirel# restricted to a 8natural9 wa# of life; in the other' those who pursued' as he said' a 8manganistic9 wa#. 2anganistic he derived from 8magic9' 7 that which endeavours to bring the forces of the universe into connection with human living. I will briefl# go into the basis of this grouping of mankind' is a present1da# standpoint. In earlier tines all mankind was 8natural9; in a certain sense' and the greater part still is so. The rest' in -urope 7 especiall# in the 2iddle and .est 7 and in @merica' are 8manganistic9 mankind. Eeep in mind that this 8naturalistic9 civilisation is still predominant in the world. It is significant that the so1called 8manganistic9 civilisation has full# developed onl# during the last centur#. The most parado*ical result of this new civilisation one might sa#' is that it has hurried on to the earth man# more 8hands9 than there are men on the globe. This is due to the prodigious e*pansion during the last few decades of mechanism' machines among the minorit# of mankind. It is obvious that a large portion of the work of to1da# is1done b# machiner#; but it is rather astonishing to calculate' as can be done' how great this machine1 work' replacing human toil' reall# is. ?ne can reckon how man# million tons of coal are turned annuall# into machine power. Then' translating this coal1 output into terms of man1power' one can calculate how man# men would be necessar# to carr# out the work. .e find that to accomplish what the machines do would take no less than 5=G million men working twelve hours a da#. It is therefore not 6uite correct to sa# that there are onl# 15GG million inhabitants on the earth' for machines have added 5=G millions to the population. Thus there are present man# more 8hands9 than those of flesh and blood' because for a minorit# of mankind all this 8manganistic9 'work is done b# machines. Indeed' during the last centur#' the human race has not merel# increased to the e*tent shown b# statistics' for the working1power of 5=G million more men must be taken into account. Trul# we -uropean and @merican peoples 7 leaving out -astern -urope are surrounded b# a form of labour which continuall# e*tends its influence over our dail# life more than we think' and takes the place of human strength. The people of the .est are e*tremel# proud of this accomplishment' especiall# the following aspect of it. !# simpl# comparing the output of machiner# with that of the numerous peoples who live more on a natural level and make little use of machines' we find that -urope and @merica produce significantl# more than all the rest of mankind. 0ere we can sa# that to do the work accomplished b# the machines' 5=G million men would have to work twelve hours a da#. That means a great deal. There we have the proud achievement of the new world1civilisation' and it has a variet# of conse6uences. To get an insight into the underl#ing meaning of this' we need onl# look at a case where 8natural9 civilisation proBects deepl# into the 8magical9 7 for instance' with matches. The oldest among us ma# still remember the time when matches were scarce' and flint and steel were used to produce a spark and so to ignite tinder' when fire was wanted. That leads us back to a much older wa# of producing: fire 7 where a great deal of human energ# was used in twisting a burning stick in another piece of wood' to produce the e6uivalent of the fire now engendered b# a bo* of matches. If we compare this 8natural9 method with that of to1da#' another aspect of it comes into view' and we can sa#: The entire 8magical9 civilisation has another special peculiarit#: it puts out of sight' banishes to a distance' the laws with which man was formerl# in touch. To take the e*ample of the primitive wa# of producing fire 7 see how this labour was inwardl# connected with the man himself and his personal achievement. The fire which resulted directl# from his work was intimatel# bound up with the personal deed. @ll this is pushed into the background. !ecause to1da# a ph#sical' mechanical or chemical process takes its place' natureAs own process' in which the "piritual pla#s its part' has become remote from the direct human action. .e constantl# hear the statement: 8Through this new application of science' man has compelled the forces of &ature to serve him9 7 a statement which is 6uite Bustified from one point of view' but is e*tremel# one1sided and incomplete. :or in ever#thing done b# machine1power (taking this in a wider sense' to include its use in the form of chemical energ#$ not onl# is natural energ# pressed into the service of man' but the natural event in its deep connections with the essential impulses of the world is thrust out. In machiner# it is graduall# withdrawn from manAs ken 7 and this means a robber# from man himself. Through technolog#' something deathl# spreads over natureAs living face; the living thrill which formerl# passed directl# from nature into manAs labour is banished. .hen we consider how man e*tracts death out of nature' to incorporate is into his 8magical9 civilisation' it will not seem ver# surprising if I now bring "piritual "cience into connection with what the purel# natural scientist sa#s. %euleau* from his point of view rightl# asserts that manAs latest advance consists in harnessing natureAs forces to his service; but we must' above all' keep in view the fact that machines literall# replace human strength. It is not simpl# a 6uestion of a process provoking visible results; that is ver# important from a spiritual point of view in the creation of 5=G'GGG'GGG imaginar# people. 0uman energ# is cr#stallised in all this; human intellect has been poured into it and works in it' but onl# the intellect. .e are surrounded b# intellect detached from man. (irectl# we set free what should be bound up with man' the forces known to us in "piritual "cience as @hrimanic take possession of it. The 5=G'GGG'GGG imaginar# people on the earth are Bust so man# receptacles for @hrimanic forces; and this must not be overlooked. +inked up with
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the purel# e*ternal advance of our civilisation are the @hrimanic forces 7 the sane which are found in the 2ephistopheles1nature' for this is closel# allied to the @hrimanic. 2oreover' nothing e*ists in the universe without its opposite; never one pole without the other. The @hrimanic in the mechanical forms of industr#' etc.' on the earth' is e*actl# balanced in the spiritual realm b# a +uciferic element. The purel# @hrimanic is never found alone; but to the same degree as it takes visible form on earth' as Bust described' appears the +uciferic element' woven through this entire civilisation' alread# saturated with the @hrimanic. To the same e*tent as the imaginar# 8hands9 are brought into e*istence' and the @hrimanic civilisation hardens on earth' spiritual correlations work into the human will' human intentions' impulses' passions and dispositions. 0ere on earth the @hrimanic machines 7 in the spiritual stream enfolding us' for each machine a +uciferic spiritual beingK @s we produce our machines' we descend into the realm of death' which in this @hrimanic civilisation has for the first tine become outwardl# visible. Invisible to this @hriman1civilisation arises a +uciferic one' like a reflection. This means that to the same degree as machines are made' man on earth is saturated in his moralit#' his ethics' his social impulses' with +uciferAs mode of thought. ?ne cannot arise without the other. That is the pattern of the world. .e can see from this that the point is not to 8flee from @hriman9 or to 8avoid +ucifer9. @ condition of which the# are the opposite poles is necessaril# bound up with the development of modern civilisation. %egarded spirituall#' that is what is active in our culture' and this is the point of view from which things will need to be looked at increasingl# from now onwards. &ow it is ver# remarkable that %euleau*' the engineer' wa*ing enthusiastic over the 8magical advance9 of mankind' (from his standpoint a full# Bustified enthusiasm 7 for as alwa#s emphasise afresh; "piritual "cience has no reason for being reactionar# 7 when he has brought it into bold relief' at the same time he refers to various other things. -speciall# he remarks on the fact that the man of to1da#' especiall# in the -uropean and @merican civilisations' placed as he is in a new world' urgentl# needs stronger forces for the cultivation of spiritual life than did the man of old' who with his 8natural9 culture' stood so much nearer in his personal workmanship to the intimacies of nature. (?f course %euleau* does not sa# 8+uciferic9 and 8@hrimanic9; he describes onl# what I mentioned at the beginning1of this lecture. It is 6uite eas# to discriminate between what I have added and what the scientist of the present1da# materialistic world has to sa#.$ :or instance' %euleau* points out how @rt' for further Growth' needs stronger aesthetic impulses than were re6uired in times of more instinctive development. @ remarkable belief lies at the back of his mind 7 the naive belief' as he puts it' that in face of the assault of machiner#' which destro#s art (he readil# admits that$' the soul will need to attain to a more intensive e*perience of aesthetic laws. The naivet# consists in his having no inkling that before this can happen' stronger artistic forces than those of the past will have to inspire the human soul. The misconception lies in supposing that although mechanical science battles against ever#thing hitherto wrested b# man out of the spiritual' this can be compensated for purel# through an HintensiveI e*perience of the spiritual forces of the past. That is impossible' 6uite impossible. .hat is reall# necessar# is that with the emergence of human civilisation on to the ph#sical plane' other' stronger' and more spiritual forces should pla# into spiritual life; failing that' men will inevitabl# fall victim to materialism in practice' even though in theor# the# ma# strive against it. Thus #ou can see that if one starts from the impulses of contemporar# culture and reflects on the inner nature of present developments' one can reach this conclusion: @rt must receive a new impetus; a new impulse must flow into it. If we are firml# convinced that our anthroposophical "piritual "cience' rightl# directed' will bring a new impulse into the old spiritual culture of humanit#' we are bound to conclude that art' too' will share in this stimulus. This was the aim of the proBect' obviousl# ver# imperfect' for our !uilding at (ornach. @s a matter of course its imperfections must be admitted; it is Bust a first effort. !ut perhaps we are Bustified in believing that it is a first step along a path which must continue. ?thers who follow us in the work' when we ourselves are no longer in the ph#sical bod#' will perhaps do it better; but the impulse for the (ornach !au had to be given at the present time. The !au will be rightl# understood onl# b# someone who' instead of appl#ing an absolute standard to it' familiarises himself a little with its histor#' and this I will relate to1da#' because we are alwa#s being confronted with anti6uated misconceptions. <ou are aware that in 2unich' since 15G5' our work has included the presentation of certain 2#ster# 3la#s' the aim of which is to reveal through dramatic art the forces operative in our view of the world. ,ourses and +ectures' alwa#s strongl# attended' were grouped about these artistic presentations in 2unich' and so among our friends the idea arose of providing an appropriate home for our spiritual endeavours. This suggestion came from them 7 not from me' please remember. The !au reall# started from the shortage of space observed b# a number of our friends' and obviousl#' once such a building had been thought of' it was bound to be fashioned according to our view of the world. In 2unich the# had in view' properl# speaking' onl# an interior structure' for it was to be surrounded b# a number of houses' inhabited b# friends able to' settle there. These houses would have so shut in the building that it would have been as plain as possible' for it would have been hidden from sight among the houses. The whole building was conceived of as a piece of inner architecture. 8Inner architecture9' in such a case' has onl# a meaning when it provides an enclosure' a frame' for what
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goes on inside. !ut it was to be artistic' genuinel# so 7 not a cop#ing' but an artistic e*pression of the activities within. I have alwa#s compared' perhaps triviall# but not inappropriatel#' the architectural idea of our building with that of a cake1 mould. This is made for the sake of the cake inside' and the outer shape is correct onl# if it encloses and moulds the cake rightl#. The 8cake1mould9 is in this case the free for the whole activit# of our "piritual "cience' for the art which belongs to it' and for all that is spoken' heard' e*perienced within it. @ll that is the cake 7 ever#thing else is the mould; and this must be e*pressed in the interior architecture. That was the first idea. 7 @fter much trouble to arrange the building on the site alread# ac6uired in 2unich we discovered that we were opposed' not b# the police or local authorities' but b# the 2unich "ociet# of @rts' and indeed in such a wa# that we felt these worthies obBected to our establishing ourselves in 2unich' but would not tell us what the# wanted. .e were thus continuall# obliged to make changes in our plan' and this reall# night have gone on for a decade. @t last the da# came when we were driven to give up the idea of realising our hopes in 2unich and to make use of a building1site in "olothurn' available through the kind offices of one of our friends. "o it came to pass that in the ,anton of "olothurn' on a hill in (ornach' near !asle' we set about building. The idea of the encircling houses was given up; the building had to be visible from all sides. The impulse arose; and the )eal was there to carr# the matter through 6uickl#. @nd without fundamentall# re1casting the scheme alread# sketched out for the interior' all I could do was to tr# to combine the e*terior with the alread# e*isting plans for the inside. :rom this arose man# defects' of which no one is so conscious as I' but that is not the chief point. The great thing is that' as I have said' a beginning was made with such an enterprise. I would like now to dra# attention to a few thoughts which will make clear what constitutes the peculiar characteristic of this !uilding' so that #ou ma# see the connection between it and our entire movement 7 scientific as well as spiritual. The first thing that will strike an unpreBudiced observer is that the partition walls are 6uite evidentl#' conceived differentl# from those of ordinar# public buildings. .alls enclosing a building' generall# speaking' have hitherto alwa#s been considered' from an artistic point of view' as a 8shutting off9 of space. .alls' boundar# walls' are alwa#s so considered and all architectural and ornamental work on walls has been in connection with this idea' that the function of the outer wall is to enclose. This canon is transgressed in the case of the (ornach buildingK 7 not ph#sicall#' of course' but artisticall#. The conception of the outer wall' as it appears there' is not that it shuts off space' but that it opens the space to the universe' the macrocosm. .hoever stands within this space' should have the feeling' through the ver# walls themselves' that the building e*pands into the universe' the macrocosm. -ver#thing should represent connections with the universe. .hat is the conception in the fashioning of the wall itself; the same with the pillars' accessor# in their several wa#s to the walls 7 so also with the entire carved work' the bases of the pillars' the architraves' capitols. The conception is of a wall which is transparent for the soul 7 the ver# opposite of a space1enclosing wall. @n#one standing inside should feel that he has the freedom of the infinite universe. &aturall#' if an#thing has to be done within this space' ph#sicall# the enclosing is there; but the forms of the ph#sical enclosure can be so taken that' abrogating themselves' the# are annulled through their artistic fashioning. -ver#thing else is related to this. The laws of s#mmetrical proportion' usuall# followed in buildings' have to be disregarded under the influence of this main conception. The (ornach !uilding has' properl# speaking' onl# one a*is of s#mmetr#' which goes straight from .est to -ast; and ever#thing is ordered upon this single a*is. The pillars' at a certain distance from the walls' are not all furnished with the same capitols; onl# b# twos' right and left' the capitols and mouldings are alike. "tarting at the principal entrance' the first two pillars are the same' in capitol' base' and architrave. In the second pair' pillar' capitol' architrave design' are different' and so through the whole length of the building. Thus in the subBects of the capitols and bases it becomes possible to depict -volution. The capitol of each pillar alwa#s evolves from the one before it' Bust as the organicall# complete form develops from the incomplete. The ordinar# s#mmetrical e6ualit# is dissolved into a progressive development. The whole !uilding consists of two principal parts; the# have an essentiall# circular ground1plan' and are closed above with domes; but the domes are so cut as to link into one another' so that the bases form incomplete circles. ?ne circle is short of a small segment in the front' and the other' the larger circle' is Boined on Bust there. The whole is so erected as to form two circular spaces' a larger and a smaller. The larger space is the auditorium' the lesser is for the presentation of the 2#ster# 3la#s' and kindred things. .here the two circles unite' are the rostrum and curtain. It was a ver# interesting piece of work' technicall#' to make the two domes intersect and cut into one another. The !uilding' wholl# of wood' rests on a concrete sub1structure which contains onl# the cloakrooms' with concrete steps leading up to the !uilding itself. @long each wall of the greater space' under the large dome' there are seven pillars; in the smaller' si*; so that in the latter' which forms a kind of platform' there are twelve' as against fourteen in the former. The sculptured designs of the pillars develop progressivel#' in a fashion which ama)ed me m#self' as I worked at them. .hile I was making the model'
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shaping the pillars and their capitols' I was astonished at one thing in particular. There is no 6uestion here of something 8s#mbolical9. 3eople who have spoken and written about the !uilding' sa#ing that all sorts of s#mbols are introduced' and that @nthroposophists work b# means of s#mbols' are wrong. &o s#mbol' such as the# have in mind' is to be found in the whole !uilding; each part of the whole springs out of the conception in its entiret#. &either does the smallest part signif# (I an using 8signif#9 in its worst sense$ an#thing unconnected with the artistic conception. This unbroken development of the designs on the capitols and architraves has been the outcome of artistic perception' one form out of its predecessor; and while' I developed one from the other' there arose' as of itself' a reflection of evolution' of the true evolution of nature' not as understood b# (arwinism. That was not intended' but it arose spontaneousl#' in such a wa# that I could recognise' with ama)ement' how' for instance' certain human organs are simpler than those of certain species of lower animals. I have often pointed out that evolution does not consist in complication; the human e#e is more perfect because it is simpler than the e#e of an animal' reverting to simplicit#. 7 I noticed that after the fourth of these designs a simplification was necessar#. The more perfect one emerged precisel# as the simpler. his was not the onl# thing which struck me. ,omparing the first pillar with the seventh' the second with the si*th' the third with the fifth' I was surprised to see that a remarkable correspondence came to light. In the carvings there are' of course' some raised surfaces and others hollowed out; these were elaborated purel# from intuitive feeling and visual sense. <et' taking the capitol and base of the seventh' and thinking of the whole and its separate parts' one could superimpose the high surfaces of the seventh on the hollow surfaces of the first' and vice versa. The raised surfaces of the first e*actl# fitted the hollow surfaces of the seventh. I mean this as a matter of conve* and concave' of course. "#mmetr#' not merel# e*ternal' but from within' was the result. %eall#' in this interchange and the working of it out in sculpture' something arose that was like bringing architecture into movement and sculpture into repose. It was all at the same time wood1carving and architecture. The whole !uilding has a concrete foundation' with inner motives which will surprise visitors when the# first come there. ?f course the# cone with preconceived notions' compare it with what the# have seen elsewhere' and are astonished. 2an#' not knowing what to make of it' have called it a 8futurist !uilding9. The lines of the concrete part are designed in accordance with the capacities of concrete' the new material' to e*press artistic form; but within the concrete frame an attempt is made to construct pillar1like supports. These came of themselves to look like elementar# beings' gnome1like' growing up out of the fissured earth' while at the same time the# support the weight above 7 so that it can be seen that the# are for support but bear the heavier part' push it' throw it back' and do this in a different wa# f or the lighter parts. "uch is the substructure of the wooden part. In 2unich it would have been a case of inner architecture onl#; windows were necessar# for the (ornach !uilding. To understand these' I would ask #ou first to make the effort to grasp the whole idea of the wooden building. @s it stands' it has reall# no claim to be artistic; it is not a work of art. @s regards pillars' walls' and windows' it is so. The entire !uilding' which is to have no decorative character' to be constructed with no decorative purpose' is meant to arouse' through ever# line and ever# surface1shape' certain e*periences and thoughts in those who behold it. The e#e' the sensitive e#e' must trace the direction of the lines and the surface1shape. .hat is e*perienced in the soul' when oneAs ga)e takes in works of art' this is first aroused b# a 8work of art9 in the wood1carving. It arises first in human feeling. The concrete foundation and the wooden part are the preparation for it. 2an himself must bring into being a work of art through his appreciation of the forms. .hat has been worked into the wood is so to speak' the more 8"piritual9 part of the !uilding. @ work of art reall# cones into e*istence onl# when the soul of the listener or speaker is inwardl# receptive. Then it was necessar# to provide windows for the space between each pair of pillars. If the windows were to carr# out the idea of the !uilding' a distinctive workmanship in glass was needed. "heets of glass in plain colour were taken and the appropriate designs etched into them' so that here we have etchings in glass. .ith an enlarged form of dentistAs drill' enough was ground out of the thick sheet of glass to give var#ing thicknesses to it 7 and this produced the design. -ach sheet of glass is of one colour onl#; the colours are so placed as to #ield a harmon# in their se6uence. /iewed from the entrance' the !uilding shows a window of the same colour on each side of the a*is of s#mmetr#' so that there is colour harmon# in evolution. "till the window' as a 8work of art9' is not complete. It becomes complete onl# when the sun shines through it so that in the scheme of the windows something is created which forms a work of art with the co1 operation of living nature from outside. -tched on these sheets of glass #ou will find much of the content of our "piritual "ciences imaginativel# perceived 7 the dreaming man' the waking man in his real being' various m#steries of creation' and so on. @ll this in terms of perception' not in s#mbols; all artisticall# intended' but complete onl# with the sunlight. 0ence' through #et another means' we have tried here also to surmount the feeling of an enclosed space. In the wood1 carving' architecture and sculptures the pure forms are used to give the soul an impression of overcoming the enclosed space and going out be#ond it. This effect is first conve#ed directl# to the senses through the windows. The union with the sunlight which shines through' streaming from the universe through the visible world' is something belonging to these windows. !etween these two parts of the whole there is a certain correspondence. Through the conBunction of light and
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glass1etching there arises for the soul an e*ternal work of art; while the wood1carving provides a spiritual element which is e*perienced as a work of art within the human soul itself. The third part consists of the paintings in the domes. The subBects of these too' are taken from our "piritual "cience. The paintings e*press the content of our conception of the world' with regard at least to a great macrocosmic stretch of tine. 0ere we have' so to sa#' the ph#sical 8part9 of the thing' because in painting' for certain inner reasons' (to go into them would take us too far$ whatever one wants to present must be presented directl#. ,olour must itself e*press what it has to e*press' and so with the lines. ?nl# through the content can the endeavour be made to go out be#ond the borders of the dome into the macrocosm; that is how one arrives at it @ll that is painted there reall# belongs to the macrocosm' its meaning presented directl# to the e#e 7 .e tried' b# using colours derived from pure vegetable substances which have their own light1force' to produce the light1force necessar# for the painting' of these designs. ?f course' we might have succeeded better' but for the war. 0owever' it is onl# a beginning. &aturall# the whole st#le of painting had to conform to our conception. To paint the spiritual content of the world means that we have to do' not with forms thought of as illuminated from an outside source' but with forms that are self1luminous. Luite a different approach to painting is necessar#. :or instance' the human aura cannot be painted in the same wa# as a ph#sical shape' which is drawn with light and shade' according to the source of light. In the aura we have to do with a self1illumined obBect' and the character of the painting must therefore be 6uite different. "o now I have given #ou' with a few rough strokes' as far as it can be done without a model' some idea of what the !au is meant to be. @s a whole it is oriented from .est to -ast' the a*is of s#mmetr# l#ing in that direction' between the and it cuts into the small circular space' containing the stage' at its eastern end. @t this eastern end' between the si*th pillar on either hand' stands a group of figures carved in wood. Its intention is to present in 'artistic form something 7 I might sa# 7 which lies at the heart of the world1conception which we hold through "piritual "cience; something which must' b# necessit# enter into manAs spiritual outlook now and in the future. 2an must learn to grasp the fact that ever#thing of importance for the shaping of world1destin# and for human life runs its course in these three streams: the normal spiritual stream in which his life is set' the +uciferic' and the @hrimanic. In ever#thing' as much in the foundation of the ph#sical world as in the manifestations of spiritual events' divine evolution is interwoven with the +uciferic and the @hrimanic evolution. This is e*pressed in our carved group' again not s#mbolicall#' but artisticall#. @ group carved in woodK The idea of it came to me' for I believe I have grasped as thought what is not #et clear to me so far as its occult basis is concerned: it ma# well be that future occult investigation will reveal this. "till' it seems to me certainl# right that the ancient themes are better portra#ed in stone or metal' and all ,hristian ones 7 ours being in the most eminent sense ,hristian 7 better in wood. I cannot help confessing that I have alwa#s been obliged to think of the group in "t. 3eterAs at %ome' the 83ieta9 of 2ichael @ngelo' as being made of wood: onl# so' I believe can it represent what it ought to e*press' and the same applies to other ,hristian sculpture I have seen. There is doubtless something behind this feeling; but I have not #et arrived at the reason of it. Therefore our group has been conceived and carried out in wood. The leading figure is a kind of representative of humanit#' a !eing e*pressing 2an in his divine manifestation. I am glad when an#one' looking at this figure' has the feeling that it is a representation of ,hrist 4esus. It seemed to me inartistic to take as the underl#ing impulse: 8I will carve a figure of ,hrist 4esus9. I wanted to produce Bust what I did. The result ma# be a feeling in the beholder that it is ,hrist 4esus. I should be most glad if that were so; but the artistic idea was not to produce a representation of 0im. The idea rests purel# in the artistic form' in its manner of e*pression; to set out to carve a figure of ,hrist 4esus 7 that would have been merel# a descriptive' programmatic idea. The artistic thought must rest in the form' at an# rate in sculpture. The whole group is about eight and a half metres high' and the chief figure is raised' with rocks behind and below it. :rom the rocks below' which are a little hollowed' grows an @hriman1figure. It half lies within a hole of the rock' its head above it. ?n the slightl# hollowed rock stands the chief figure. @bove the @hriman1figure and to the left of the beholder' a second @hriman1figure rears itself from the rocks' so that the @hriman1figure is repeated. @bove the one to the left is a +ucifer1figure. @ sort of artistic connection e*ists between the +ucifer above and the @hriman below. @ short distance awa#' over the chief figure' and on the right of the onlooker' is another +ucifer1figure' so that +ucifer is also twice represented. This other +ucifer is marred' and falls headlong owing to his inBur#. The right hand of the central figure points downwards' the left upwards' and this upward pointing left hand indicates e*actl# the point of the fracture suffered b# +ucifer' through which he is shattered and falls headlong. The right hand and arm point to the @hriman below and bring him to despair. The whole group is so designed 7 I hope it will conve# this e*perience 7 'that this central figure is in no wa# aggressive' but intended b# its gesture tG e*press onl# love. 0owever' neither +ucifer nor @hriman can endure this love. The ,hrist does not 8fight against9 @hriman' but radiates love. +ucifer and @hriman cannot endure this love near them. It comes near them; @hriman feels despair' the destruction of his ver# being' and +ucifer falls headlong. Their inner nature is revealed in their gestures.

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The figures were naturall# not eas# to create' for the reason that' in the case of the chief figure partl#' and in that of +ucifer and @hriman wholl#' the "piritual had to be depicted' and of all things it is most difficult to e*press the "pirit in carving. The endeavour was made' however' to achieve what is especiall# necessar# for our purpose 7 to bring out the significance of the form (although it must remain an artisticall# conceived form$' in gesture and in mien. 0uman beings are reall# able to make use of gesture and mien onl# in a ver# restricted sense. +ucifer and @hriman are entirel# gesture and mien. "piritual figures have not got a limited form; there is no such thins as a complete spiritual figure. To tr# to model the "pirit is Bust like tr#ing to model lightning. The form of a spiritual being chances from moment to moment. That must be taken into account. Tr# to hold a "piritual shape fast even for a moment' as might be done in representing a form at rest' and #ou will not succeed; the result will be onl# a fro)en figure. 0ence' in such a case' gesture alone must be reproduced. This is so with +ucifer and @hriman entirel#' and it had to be partiall# attempted also in the central figure' which is of course a ph#sical form 7 ,hrist14esus. &ow I want to show #ou a few pictures' to give #ou an idea of the principal group. M0ere some lantern slides were shown. The description follows.N The first is of @hrimanAs head' e*actl# as the figure first came to me; as a man (remember the threefold division of man into head' breast' and limb1being$ who is all head' and therefore an instrument for the most consummate cleverness' intellectualit# and craft. The @hriman figure is meant to e*press this: his head' as #ou see it here' is true 8spirit9' to use a parado*; but #ou know how often a parado* results from a spiritual description. 0e is actuall# like the model' faithful in spirit' artisticall# true to nature: he had to sit for his portraitK The ne*t is +ucifer' as seen on the left. To understand him' we must picture what appears as his form in a ver# peculiar wa#. The most @hrimanic characteristic in man must be eliminated: the head vanishes; but the ears and ear1 muscles' the outer ear' substantiall# enlarged and of course spiritualised are depicted as wings and formed into an organ entwined round the bod# with wings at the some time spreading from the lar#n*' so that the head' wings and ears form one organ. These wings' this head1organ' present themselves as the figure of +ucifer. +ucifer is an e*tended lar#n* 7 the lar#n* becomes a whole figure out of which develops' through a sort of wine' a connection with the ear; so that we must imagine +ucifer as a being who receives the music of the spheres' takes it in through this organ of ear combined with wine. .ithout an# help from the individualit#' the cosmos' the music of the spheres itself' speaks through this same organ' of which the e*tension in front is the lar#n*; another metamorphosis of the human form' an organ composed of lar#n*1ear1wing. Therefore the head is onl# indicated. @s to @hriman' #ou will find' when #ou see the figure at (ornach' that it is developed out of what one imagines as form; but what appears as +uciferAs head (although #ou can hardl# picture #our own as being like his$ is something in the highest decree 8beautiful9. The @hrimanic nature is intellectual' clever 7 but appears as ugl# in the world; the +uciferic appears as beautiful in the world. !etween them the# comprise ever#thing in the world. <outh and childhood are more +uciferic' old age is more @hrimanic; the impulses of the past lean to the +uciferic' those of the future to the @hrimanic; women are more inclined to +ucifer' men to @hriman; the two streams embrace ever#thing. @bove +ucifer an elemental being arises as it were out of the rock. The group was complete' but when it was released from its framework' the curious fact was noticed that the centre of gravit# (naturall# as viewed$ seemed too far to the right' and something had to be added to redress the balance 7 evidentl# so brought about b# karma. It was not a case of merel# introducing a mass of rocks' but of following out the idea of the carving; therefore this elemental being sprang into e*istence' in a sense crowing out of the rocks. There is a noticeable thing about this being' although e*pressed onl# in slight indications; in it one can see how an as#mmetr# comes into pla#' directl# spiritual forms are in 6uestion. It finds onl# limited e*pression in the ph#sical' the left e#e is not ver# different from the right; the same with the ear and the nostril; but directl# we enter the spiritual realm' the etheric bod# is seen to work absolutel# differentl# on the two sides. The left side of the etheric bod# is 6uite different from the right: a fact which immediatel# becomes evident in tr#ing to portra# spiritual forms. If #ou walk round this being' #ou will get a different view from ever# point. !ut in the as#mmetr# #ou will see a kind of necessit#; it e*presses the demeanour with which the being peeps over the rocks and looks down with a certain humour at the group below. This looking down over the rocks with a humorous air has a good reason. The right attitude for raising oneself into the higher world is never a sentimental one. 2ere sentimentalit# is of no use for the man who wants to toil up the spiritual heights' in the right wa#' for it alwa#s smacks of egoism. <ou know how often' when the highest spiritual subBects are being discussed' I mi* with our considerations something not designed to take #ou out of the mood' but simpl# to banish an# egoistic sentimentalit# from it. @ genuine ascent to the spiritual must be undertaken in purit# of soul (which is never destitute of humour$' not from a motive of egoistic sentimentalit#. Then' as to the head of the central figure in profile' as of necessit# it revealed itself. The head also had to be as#mmetrical' because in this figure the intention was to show how not onl# the right hand' the left hand' the right arm and so on reflect the inner being of the soul' but how in a being living entirel# in the soul' as ,hrist14esus did' this reflection is seen also in the ver# shape of the brow and in the whole figure' far more than can be the case in the mien of
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the ordinar# man. .e made a trial b# reversing the lantern1slide' (although this was contrar# to realit#$ to see whether the view thus obtained was 6uite different. It proved to be so. The impression made .as different. The artistic intention of the as#mmetr# will be apparent onl# when the head of the central figure is complete. It ma# well be said that in working out such a subBect all artistic 6uestions have to be considered; the smallest has its connection with the far1reaching.' whole. :or instance' the handling of surface. +ife has to be engendered speciall# through this. The surface curved once and the curve curved again 7 this particular handling of it' the doubling of the curve' thus drawing life out of the surface itself' is perceived onl# in fashioning these things. .hat we were aiming at' therefore' consisted not onl# in what was represented but in a certain artistic treatment of the subBect. To achieve a representation of the @hrimanic' the +uciferic' or of human nature b# means of a cop#' in a kind of narrative st#le' was not the intention; rather must it be sei)ed through the fingertips' in the chiselling of the surface' in the entire artistic moulding. The e*pansion which man feels when he e*tends his view into the "piritual' widens out again on the other side into the artistic. This group is placed at the eastern end of the building' in the space provided for the stage. @bove it is spread the vault of the smaller dome' decorated as I have described' in such a wa# as to continue in painting; the theme of the croup. The ,hrist' +ucifer and @hriman are all there' and we have tried to make the colours artisticall# e*pressive in themselves. The variet# of treatment shows how all these things can be brought out purel# b# artistic means. @ll this could be achieved onl# because a number of our friends worked on the !uilding with the greatest devotion. 2ost curious things have been said about the !uilding' but some da#' perhaps' due credit will be given to tag wa# in which the friends in our 2ovement' especiall# the artists' cave themselves with selfless devotion to it' and found their wa# wonderfull# into this clothing of a cosmic conception in artistic form. The !uilding is of course not complete; it might ver# probabl# have been so 7 e*cept for the group 7 if these catastrophic world1events had not hindered it. I wanted to bring before #ou' in these brief' disBointed sentences' an idea of what is intended' and I hope that #ou have at least ac6uired some small notion of the !uilding which' we ma# e*pect' will one da# stand complete in (ornach. The aim of it all is this: to insert an artistic rendering of our cosmic conception into the spiritual life of the present and the future. 3eople will see that this conception is no mere theor#' but is made up of real' living forces. If we had produced something s#mbolical' people could have said: 8That is a theor#.9 !ut as the conception is capable of giving birth to art' it is something different' something vital. It will give birth to #et other things; it must fructif# other domains of life. There is widespread longing for a spiritual life suitable to the present da#' but in this realm we encounter a good deal of visionar#' irrational and barren stuff. 2# hope is that people will learn to distinguish between what is born out of the demands of the present spiritual age' and what arises from confusion and the like. .e see spiritual movements' so1called' sprinting up ever#where like mushrooms. !ut one must learn to distinguish between what springs trul# from the real forces of human spiritual development' and mistaken talk about spiritual things. There are man# forms of this to1da#. &aturall# we notice it' for it shows that men are striving towards the spirit. If we keep our e#es open' we shall ever#where see this desire for "piritual things. @ metaph#sical novel b# a certain 0err Eorf has Bust appeared 7 dreadful stuff; it is reall# more a mischievous piece of propagands for the 8"tar in the -ast9. I hope that such things' which e*press in their own wa# a perversion of manAs metaph#sical aspirations' will be distinguished from those created out of she fundamental strivings of his being' adapted precisel# for our time.

1e"ture / )ast and 5est

!erlin' 4ul# 5' 151 ?ur considerations have shown once more that the soulAs life' in all its aspects' is complicated. Threads unite the soul to numerous realms' farces' and centres in the universe. .e will remind ourselves of what was said a fortnight ago' in order to give us a link with certain truths that we shall begin to consider to1da#' and which will bring a certain aspect of world1happenings before our souls in a wa# that is important for use I will recapitulate ver# briefl# what was said a fortnight ago. I said that to know man in realit#' it is useless merel# to keep to the track of the ordinar# consciousness which predominates in him from waking to falling1asleep' for we must recognise that within it' other states of consciousness e*ist' dim and shadow#' to be fathomed onl# b# looking at man in his threefold division of head' breast' limbs. ?f course
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his whole being makes use of the head' on which depends the famili*e form of consciousness; but we have established the fact that he has also' b# means of his head' a dream1like consciousness which enables him to look back into his earlier earth1lives. In the same wa# we have found that the limb1man' but in conBunction with the whole man' unfolds a continual dream1consciousness of his ne*t life on earth. .hat we bring forward in our "piritual "cience as a theor# of 8repeated earth1lives9 alread# e*ists as a realit# in the human soul. (im and shadow# it is' but nevertheless a realit#. !esides this' it was said that through the process of out1breathing' which belongs to the breast man' a similarl# dream# consciousness develops of the life between the last death and the present birth; and through the process of in1breathing' likewise belonging to the breast1man' a dim consciousness of the life to come after death until the ne*t birth. In short' all these forms of consciousness interweave in man. Thus we see that in the whole an we have to do with a delicatel#1woven organisation' and that what is customaril# dubbed man' what people visualise as man' is in fact onl# a ver# limited part of his whole being' and the coarsest part' at that. This complication comes about through man being embedded with his various members' in worlds which are unknown and 8supersensible9 so far as the ordinar# consciousness is concerned. .hat is embedded in this wa# in a spiritual world' and proves to be not b# an# mans a ver# delicate' refined soul1life 7 as we observe in ordinar# human e*istence if we follow it through different earth1lives 7 that is not so simple. <et the total significance of human life can be arrived at onl# b# observing the complicated human being in his progress through various lives. :or human vision of to1da#' this intricate web is altogether veiled' disguised. (we shall speak further of this HdisguiseI$ @ll that is known of a man' as a rule' is the disguise. :or that which descends from the spiritual world' takes up its abode in ph#sical man and re1enters the spiritual world at death' does not crudel# advertise itself in human life; indeed' much that happens in human life is so crude that the processs whereb# man is led from one earth1life to another are hidden' disguised. @n idea of the complication of human life is arrived at onl# b# tracing it through long periods of time. @nd please observe that this tracing 7 what I have to tell #ou of the true course of human soul1life through long periods' 7 is widel# removed from what outer histor# relates. The reason for this has often been pointed out. (.e will speak of it more e*actl# later on.$ ?ne important epoch in the development of humanit# 7 particularl# of .estern civilised humanit# 7 comprises the seventh and eighth centuries before the 2#ster# of Golgotha. 4ust then' a rapid' significant change took place in human souls' especiall# those of .estern civilisations. .e remember that this was the time when the third post1@tlantean epoch graduall# changed into the fourth. !efore this particular period' (FGG or GG !.,.$ the characteristics of the sentient soul were most conspicuous in humanit#; afterwards' those of the intellectual soul were ac6uired. In the fifteenth centur# after ,hrist' not so ver# far behind us' there was again an important turning point' when the stamp of the consciousness1soul became apparent. (ifferent soul16ualities were ac6uired; there was also a difference in the dreamlike retrospect into an earlier incarnation. :or instance' at the beinning of the Graeco1+atin civilisation' in the third fourth centur# !.,.' a man of normal development in the .est' or thereabouts' manifested the oualities of the intellectual or mind1soul. <et his 8dream9 was concerned with an earlier earth1life in which the characteristics were those of the sentient soul. To be sure' in the course of the fourth 3ost1@tlantean period the facult# of directl# perceiving repeated earth1lives graduall# disappeared' but it remained with a good man# people' and those who had it looked back to see themselves as 8possessors of the sentient soul9. There was a comparativel# great difference between what man met within himself at that particular time' and what he saw when the retrospective dream became obBective to him' and he realised: 8That is what I was in m# last earth1life9. 2an# people saw that the# differed widel# in their present incarnations from what the# had been in the last. !ecause in their then incarnation the# felt according to the intellectual or mind1soul' the# realised that the# had been sentient1soul beings in their earlier life. .hat did it mean to have this feeling: 8I was a sentient1soul in the last incarnation9C It is an impossible feeling for present1da# man' but in the earl# centuries of the fourth post1@tlantean period man could still remember it vividl#. In the third epoch' the -g#pto1,haldean' it was the normal thing to e*perience 7 and it means that man was unaware that he was a thinking being. To have thoughts meant nothing to him; but he had an unbroken' vital feeling of standing' in connection with the outer world 7 an outer world entirel# steeped in spirit. It is e*tremel# difficult to describe this sentient1soul consciousness' because it was so vivid to the senses that reall# a man continuall# felt himself remaining behind as a shadow in each par; of space through which he had passed' :or instance' as we should e*press it' to have sat on a chair and left it for a time' produced the feeling' 8I am still sitting there9. The feeling of union with outer things was ver# vivid. @bove all' a complete' clear view of one own spatial form was continuall# present' and the corresponding feeling of that form. The strength of this feeling made the teaching of reincarnation' at that time consciousl# given' ver# powerful; for looking back' a man saw a vivid image of his spatial form in the dream of his earlier earth1life. 0is veritable self appeared' as it had been in man# different circumstances.

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This living vision of himself was lost to man# during the fourth post1@tlantean epoch. 12an became incapable of producing a force strong enough to grasp what was present in him as dream1like remembrance of a former earth1life 7 chiefl# because men who reincarnated later' did not' in this dream of earlier earth1lives' remember the sentient soul' but an intellectual mind1soul' destitute of this vision' vague and inward and not obBective. 2an could not grasp its the consciousness of earlier earth1lives entirel# ceased. In a 6uite definite wa# it will come back in the fifth post1@tlantean epoch' and no one can trul# understand human development without taking account of such truths as these. .hat arose in humanit# was to be found under varied forms in the most diverse regions of the earth. @s I have often pointed out' we must e*pect that in the future there will again be a time 7 and it will manifest with particular significance in the third millennium when it will be impossible for an#one not to possess a certain power of looking back into earlier earth1lives' and more especiall# also a clear realisation that there are more lives to come. This particular consciousness will appear in varied forms in different regions' a fact which it is speciall# important to understand. +et us consider the main regions where this will come about in various wa#s: the great oriental region' stretching from -astern -urope' into @sia' and then the occidental region' including .estern -urope and @merica. The capacit# of the future for perceiving repeated earth1lives is germinating differentl# in these two regions. In the .est it is alread y clearl# recognised in initiated circles' and the significant thing in the .est is that occult capacities are reckoned with' and their emplo#ment in outer life is contemplated. To omit this from consideration shows a ver# indifferent understanding of the development of the .est and its whole influence on the histor# of mankind. 3recisel# the most important things in the .est' the occurrences due principall# to the @nglo1@merican race' happen under the influence of m#sterious inner knowledge such as this. To describe the things in 6uestion is apt to land us in parado*' because the# are things of which the shrewd observer (he alwa#s is so shrewd and clear1sightedK$ sa#s: 8.ell' wh# do not the initiates know thatC9 .e need onl# recollect what I have told #ou of the activities of +ucifer and @hriman' in the past and present' what the# do and feel and speciall# what the# have done; #et people think themselves cleverer than the#' and claim that the# themselves would have avoided 8remaining behind9' etc. @ correct view of such things is necessar#. ,ertain things can be done b# those who are cleverer than man. There is apparent in the .est' from certain m#sterious depths' a tendenc# to oppose the teaching of repeated earth1 lives. @n opposition to it as regards the future is noticeable in certain ver# enlightened circles amongst the -nglish and @mericas . That is the parado* to be noted. It is desired in certain spiritual centres in the .est to cause the gradual cessation of these repeated earth1lives' alternating between birth and death' death and rebirth' so that in the end a 6uite different arrangement of manAs life ma# be brought about 7 and means do e*ist for achieving such a purpose. The obBect is this: through a certain schooling' a certain ac6uisition of forces' to transpose certain human souls into a condition in which' after death' the# feel themselves more and more akin to the conditions and forces of the earth' ac6uiring almost a mania for the earth1forces 7 of course those of a spiritual nature 7 6uitting the neighbourhood of the earth as little as possible' remaining in close pro*imit# to it' and b# means of this nearness hoping to live on as 8the souls of the dead9 around the earth' e*empt from the necessit# of again entering ph#sical bodies. The @nglo1@merican race is striving after a remarkable and strange ideal: no longer to return into earthl# bodies' but through the souls of the living to have an ever greater influence on the earth' becoming' as souls' more and more earthl#. @ll efforts are thus to be directed to the ideal of making life here on earth and life after death similar to one another. Thus will be attained 7 in our da# onl# b# those instructed according to this rule' which will become more and more the prevailing custom 7 as immeasurabl# greater' stronger' attachment to the earth than the recognised 8normal9 one. !ut for the +uciferic and @hrimanic influence on humanit# Bn +emurian and @tlantean times' the human soul would feel itself less intimatel# connected with the ph#sical bod# than it does to1da#. This would have been shown b# the fact that numerous people' (indeed the maBorit# of mankind$' would have regarded their bodies as belonging to the earth' and would have felt' 8I live within m# bod#9' in the same wa# as we to1da# e*perience' 8I walk on the solid -arth9. Thanks to the +uciferic influence' we feel our bodies nearer to us than the -arth. .e sa# that the earth is 8outside us9' but we reckon our bodies as part of ourselves. :rom a certain loft# spiritual point of view' we are Bust as much outside our bodies' even in waking' as we are outside the earth. In a sense our soul onl# HstandsI upon the brain; the brain is the HfloorI for our thinking. This is no longer recognised because of the effect of the +uciferic and @hrimanic influence. 0ad there been no such influence' we should have felt ourselves as souls' more alien to the bod#; we should have regarded it as a sort of movable hillock' on which we supported ourselves' Bust as we do on a heap of sand. In certain @nglo1@merican circles this is organised into a science. The# cultivate especiall# the powers of perception belonging to the bod# which strengthen the subBection of man to the bod#' through the incoming of forces not belonging entirel# to the bod# but binding it to the earth. /arious practices are intended to bring home vividl# to the man of this race that his bod# belongs to the earth. 0e is to feel not onl#' 8I am m# arm' m# leg9' but 8I am also the force of gravit# passing through m# limbs; I am the weight which encumbers m# hand or arm9. @ strong ph#sical sense of relationship between the human bod# and the earthl# elements is to be ac6uired. This strong feeling of relationship between the
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creature in the ph#sical bod# and the earth e*ists to1da# in certain species of apes' which have it as their soul1life. In them it can be studied ph#siologicall# and )oologicall#. .hat is present there can be graduall# formed into a 8s#stem of instruction for human beings9; all that has to be done is to develop the coarse side of relationship with nature into a s#stem of bodil# education. (In sa#ing this I am neither railing nor criticising; I am merel# stating facts.$ Thus it will be possible to bring about a sort of practical (arwinism' intensif#ing the relation of man to what binds him to the earth in a certain sense' to 8monke#f#9 him. That is the practical side. It will be pursued through the intensive cultivation 7 ostensibl# instinctive but in fact carefull# directed 7 of sports and such1like things. This fetters the soul' drawing it into a sense of kinship with the earthl#' with the earth itself' and so a spiritual ideal such as I have described is set up. !# this means the continuing alternation of spiritual life and ph#sical life will be overcome' and b# degrees the ideal will be realised of living in future periods of earth1evolution as a kind of 8phantom9; of dwelling on earth in this guise. @ ver# interesting point is that this ideal can be appropriatel# followed onl# b# the male population' and hence' in spite of all politicl endeavours' an increasing difference between men and women will arise in @nglo1@merican civili)ation (3olitical endeavours certainl# seem to be aimed in the opposite direction' but in the inner depths of their being men often want sonething 6uite different from what the# are pursuing b# political means.$ @nglo1@merican spiritual life will in essence descend to future ages through woman; while that which lives in male bodies will strive towards such an ideal as I have described. This will set the pattern of the future @nglo1@merican race . If now we look at the -ast' we have an entirel# different picture. 2odern man ma# well look towards the -ast' for what is to develop in -astern -urope is at present entirel# hidden and suppressed. .hat for the moment has taken root there is of course the reverse of what has to come about. In %ussia there is a battle against spiritual life of an# kind' against an# spiritual foundations for humanit#' although it is Bust in the -ast that some of these ought to be laid. .e are nowada#s little inclined to open our e#es and rouse ourselves to an understanding of what is happening. .e sleep and let things pass over us' although it is absolutel# necessar# 7 in our da# particularl# 7 to e*ercise our power of Budgment concerning what is going on. 2en such as +enin' and Trotsk# should be seen b# their contemporaries as the greatest' bitterest enemies of true spiritual development' worse than an# %oman -mperor' however atrocious' or the notorious personages of the %enaissance. The !orgias' for instance' are proved b# historical events as far as the conflict with the spiritual is concerned to have been mere babes compared with +enin and Trotsk#. These are things which people do not observe to1da#' but it is necessar# sometimes to draw attention to such matters. :or one thing surel# should attract the attention of our souls 7 these four #ears (of war$ should have taught us that the old histor#1m#th' elaborated in so man# forms' is no longer tenable. ?nce and for all it should b# recognised that in the light of present events the tales about the %oman -mpire of the %enaissance are worth no more than 8school1girl fiction9' and an#one who clings to them is incapable of being corrected b# what can be learnt through awakening to a real estimate of recent events. "omething escapes the notice of sleeping mankind 7 escapes it more now than it did a short time ago' when the as was Budged more b# its spiritual creations' for in them one could find a true indication of what might be called the elements of a real understanding of -astern -urope; and if we are to look into what is preparing over there we must take account of this. This region 7 -astern -urope 7 will' although not in the ver# near future' produce people who will cultivate a surve# of repeated earth1lives' although in a different wa# from the .est. In the .est a sort of battle against such an idea will be fought' but in the -ast' there will be an adoption' a reception' of this truth. There will be a longing so to educate human souls that the# will become attentive to what lives within them not onl# between birth and death' but between one earth1life and another. (uring this training certain things will be pointed out which these -astern people will e*perience with peculiar force. -ven to children it will be e*plained that man possesses something 7 something he can feel and e*perience 7 which is not accounted for b# the life of the bod#. ?lder people will make the following clear in teaching the #oung; the# will sa#' 8&ow notice; what do #ou feel in #our soul9C .hen this 6uestion is put to him in various wa#s' the pupil will have the idea: 8I feel as if something were there; something has entered m# bod# which was on earth long age' went through death' and will come back again some da# 7 but it is a ver# dim feeling.9 Tnen' bringing it home more closel# to the pupil: 8Tr# to e*plore further behind this: .hat relation does #our dim feeling bear to the rest of #our "oul1 lifeC9 @nd the pupil' going behind the various forms of the Luestion (of which the right one will certainl# be found$ will sa#: 8.hat I feel' what is destined to live again' is something which destro#s m# thinking; it will not let me think' its aim is to sla# m# thoughts9. This will be a ver# important feeling' arising and being inculcated as a natural thing in -astern people. The# will ac6uire a feeling of something within' which endures from life to life' #et deprives them' as earthl#1 beings' of thought; it benumbs them' renders them empt#' deadens them. 8I cannot think correctl#; thought grows blunter when I feel the depths of m# human nature; this part of me entombs m# thought; although I feel something within me which is eternal' I possess it as a sort of inner murderer of m# thought9. That will be the feeling. @mong all e*ceptionall# interesting ps#chic things which the world has #et to learn from the -ast' will be this; and it occurs to me that those who have concerned themselves with the -ast if onl# in the domain of its art and literature' will find that indications of such thins are alread# there. In (ostoevskiAs writings such indications are not lacking' where men strive towards the best and highest within them' onl# to find an inner murderer of their thoughts. The cause is the coming to fruition in a 6uite special form of the ,onsciousness soul' the most earth1bound of all the
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members of the human soul. @s time goes on' and the soul feels the capacit# for e*periencing its repeated earth1lives' it will not feel as in ancient Greece in the da#s before ,hrist' when the sentient1soul was seen in all its vividness; no' the Intellectual soul or mind1soul will graduall# be felt as something l#ing further awa# behind' and as the direct killer of thoughts. The training; will go further. These souls will seem to themselves as an inner tomb for their own being' #et a tomb through which the wa# will be made clear for the manifestation of the spiritual world' and this is the ne*t feeling I will describe. The# will sa#: 8It is true: when I e*perience m# immortal part which goes from life to life' it is as though m# thought1effort died; m# thinking will be put aside' but (ivine thought streams in and spreads over the tomb of m# own thoughts.9 Thus the "pirit1"elf arises: the ,onsciousness or "piritual "oul descends into the grave. &o diagram is needed here 7 the ,onsciousness "oul is superseded b# the "pirit "elf 7 but I want to show how it will be for the human soul when the ego e*periences the gradual transition from the one to the other. In the -ast this e*perience will be like this: 8The -ternal has so developed on earth 7 (descending ever since the Graeco1+atin epoch$ 7 that ordinar# thought' which springs onl# from the human side' is disturbed b# it. 2an becomes empt#' #et not for nothing: into the void graduall# flows the new manifestation of the spirit' in its infant form of the "pirit1"elf' filling the soul of man. (ramas of the soul' tragedies of the soul' necessaril# accompan# the achievement of such a development. In the -ast man# a man will endure deep inner traged# and suffering' because he discovers: 82# inner being kills m# thought9. Those who seek the ideal humanit#' because the first step brings no freedom' will succumb to something akin to inner weariness' deadening' dimness. In order to enable these circumstances to be seen obBectivel#' so that the# can be understood with a proper sense of whither the# are tending' the ,entral -uropean peoples are there. That is their task' but the# will accomplish it onl# if the# recall to mind what I have spoken of in m# book' 8The %iddle of 2an'9 as a forgotten stream of spiritual life. It is ver#' ver# important that this stream' which to1da# is mostl# forgotten but once e*isted as a force of spiritual understanding in relation to the whole world' should be taken hold of again in 2iddle -urope. .ho to1da# realises what a magnificent understanding of all aspects of human culture was evinced b# certain personalities' such as :riedrich "chlegel for e*ampleC ?r the deepl# significant insight into human evolution of such thinkers as "chelling' 0egel' :ichteC 3eople talk a great deal toda# about :ichte' but' needless to sa#' thore who talk most about such great thinkers' understand least. .hat a revival of understanding would be possible if' in the genuine' real sense of the words' 8the Goethe1spirit9 animated mankindK .e are far from that at presentK To keep on sa#ing that the Goethe1spirit must be revived at once' to1da#' is beside the point; what does matter is that in the world we are unBustl# criticised because we give' the impression of no longer possessing it. The connection' for instance' of our !uilding at (ornach with the Goethe1 spirit 7 I do not believe that man# people understand that. &evertheless it is not unimportant. .hat I have been telling #ou to1da# from the aspect of "piritual "cience as to the characteristics of .est and -ast is declared b# the thinkers of .est and -ast alike' onl# it must be correctl# understood. .hat emerges from political discussions of to1da# in the .est must be interpreted in the right wa#' and certain impulses which appear in connection with manAs soul1development must be correctl# perceived. The impulse to con6uer the earth' as it prevails amongst the @nglo1@merican peoples' is inwardl# connected with the ideal of becoming disembodied earthl# beings in the future; and %abindranath TagoreAs remarkable lecture on the 8"pirit of 4apan9' now published in book form' is entirel# impregnated with what is dawning in the -ast. &ot that it contains what I have been sa#ing; but pulsing through it are the e*periences which such an -astern thinker' at an# rate one from the :ar -ast (what dawns in the :ar -ast is more significant$' has to e*press concerning the coming development in -astern -urope. It is' however' necessar# for ever#bod#' whether in the .est or -ast' to recognise the content of the spiritual substance of 2id1-urope. ?f course what people first look at are the outward' ph#sical surroundings. -astern writers 7 I call to mind Eu 0un 2ing 7 are now publishing significant works; but supposing that the name of Goethe comes up for discussion' where can such an -astern turn but to the 8Goethe societ#9' with its head6uarters in the town from which GoetheAs spiritual activities once ra#ed forthC There he would find this Goethean spiritual life cared for in the most remarkable wa# 7 as never before. The opportunit# was presented of making princel# munificence fruitful for a widel#1spread spiritual life; for what the Grand1(uchess "ophie did to encourage the Goethe1cult was immeasurabl# great. That was reall# e6ual to the occasion; but other people were b# no means e6ual to it. @ 8Goethe societ#9 was founded. +ooking at it from outside one must ask 7 who supports it' who represents itC Is there an#one in whom the spirit of Goethe livesC It is ver# characteristic of our time that its representative is a former :inance 2inisterK .e must take into account all the e*periences' the soul1e*periences' which lead to such a thing.The onl# ra# of hope in the concern is his name' 8Ereu)wendedich'9 M &ote 1 N a surname in use for generations. Jsuall# such things are ignored' but the# ought not to be; the great need is for more understanding of what is going on in the world. &ow I pointed out last time that b# reason of the developments of the last centuries' 5=G million e*tra hands' machine1hands' have been added to the earth population of 15GG1million. Through this an @hrimanic element entered into
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human development. It is related to something which has become altogether necessar# 7 the e*ploration of the world b# natural science' as I said before. .ithin the last four centuries this e*ploration has obliged man to stud# nature in detail' to ac6uire knowledge of natural laws and beings. This sort of observation has been carried into ever# possible field' even that of histor#' where it is out of place. &obod# is supposed' in the realm of natural science' to talk for ever about 8&ature' nature' natureK9' as though the idea were to establish a sort of pan1nature' a universal nature. This conception would do little to advance modern culture' but some outlooks are alwa#s inclined to stop short at that point. I will give #ou an e*ample. .hen the investigator of &ineveh' +a#ard' once asked the Eadi of 2osul about the characters of certain of his subBects and the previous histor# of his different states' that was a far too concrete scientific wa# of thinking for the Eadi. 0e could see no reason wh# an#one should need to stud# the characteristics of his subBects as though the# were a landscape' or the histor# of his provinces. That' he supposed' was the foolish -uropean wa# of stud#ing nature; and he said to the e*plorer: 8+isten' m# son; the one and onl# truth is to believe in God' and this truth should restrain a man from wishing to en6uire into 0is deeds. +ook up; #ou see one star circling round another' also a star with a1tail; it has needed man# #ears to get so far; it will need #ears to pass out of our orbit. .ho would be so foolish as to en6uire into the path of this starC The hand that created it will lead it and guide it. +isten' m# son; #ou sa# that it is not curiosit#' but that #ou have a greater craving for knowledge than I have. &ow if #our knowledge has made #ou a better man than #ou were before' #ou are doubl# welcome; but do not ask me to trouble about it. I trouble about no wisdom e*cept that contained in the belief in God. I disdain all other. ?r I ask #ou another Luestion: 7 has #our wisdom' which spies into ever# corner' gifted #ou with a second stomach' or opened #our e#es to paradiseC9 7 Thus the Eadi of 2osul' on the subBect of natural science. It ma# perhaps amuse #ou that the Eadi' a t#pical representative of this view' should give utterance to such sentiments' but "piritual "cience' although in another realm' has to reckon with the same t#pe of thought. There are plent# of Eadis of 2osul. The# are for ever sa#ing' 8It is not at all necessar# to trouble ourselves about the "piritual world or an#thing else' e*cept trust in God.9 @s the Eadi of 2osul declined to know an#thing about natural science' so plent# of people around us 7 eseciall# official representatives of spiritual life 7 reBect "piritual "cience. @ little book has Bust been printed' written from the best of motives' in which is to be read this sentence : 8The wickedness of "piritual "cience lies in the fact that it wishes to know about the "piritual world' whereas the true value of religious life consists in knowing nothing about it 7 to have faith' great faith to believe in what #ou do not know.9 @ man is supposed to be admirable if he can admit 8I know nothing' but I accept the (ivine.9 3eople do not #et see that with regard to the spiritual world this is the same view as the EadiAs 7 which make us smile 7 with regard to the ph#sical sense1world and the knowledge of it. .hat is Bust the point: man must find the transition to knowledge of the spiritual world e*actl# as he found it to knowledge of the natural world. This needs to be clearl# and firml# recognised' for it will determine whether in the future we shall have a view of the universe on which a social structure for humanit# can be founded. "uch a structure cannot be founded on what nowada#s is called the science of political econom#' or something like that. @ll the doctrines and views that make up political econom# are either an inheritance from ancient times' no longer useful' or the# are useless' foolish encumbrances' withered rubbish. @ real political econom# will arise onl# when thought is permeated b# ideas taken from the spiritual world. .hat is taught in official schools as political econom# or as the1science of human happiness gets into the heads of such enemies of mankind as +enin and Trotsk#; the# are the culmination of it. .hat should fill mankind with the creative force of the future must come from knowledge of the spiritual world. It ma# seem parado*ical to speak as I have done about the .est and the -ast' but spiritual realities are contained in this parado*K @thout knowledge of these spiritual realities it will be impossible to find a sound wa# of ordering earthl# conditions' which are inclining more and more towards future chaos. Ideas that not long ago were recognised as significant and valuable are no longer taken seriousl#. -ver#where there will have to be a complete change of outlook. %eligions will mean nothing to humanit# unless the# are vivified b# real knowledge of the spiritual worlds. Their e*ponents will have to learn 7 I am referring not to the content of religions but to the wa# in which the# have cr#stallised into form 7 that these outer forms are not adapted to speak trul# to the inner being of humanit# unless the# appeal to the real forces which come from the "piritual .orld. The counterparts of the Eadi of 2osul can no longer be tolerated in the realm of public life. I speak humbl#' unpretentiousl#; but I believe #ou will feel that there is much' ver# much' in what I am sa#ing. @ distinct 6uestion now remains to be considered. 0ow is it that these metamorphoses of the human soul' accomplished sa#' from the twelfth centur# till now' or in a wider sense between the seventh or eighth centur# !.,. and the present time 7 are so entirel# hidden from humanit# at largeC This depends on the fact that in human nature something still e*ists belonging to another world' and that this remaining part appertains to the ver# deepest m#steries of humanit#. 2an can onl# be understood b# learning something of this other world' which has a continuous interest in not being known. .e will speak of this ne*t time.

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&otes: &ote 1. +iterall#: ,ross' turn th#self aboutK

1e"ture 6 History and Repeated )arth-1i&es

!erlin' 1>th 4ul#' 151 I want to continue the observations I have begun concerning the progress of the human soul through its various earth lives' and to continue them in such a wa# as to make the e*periences referred to useful as regards our Budgment of the immediate present. To1da# I would like to dwell more on the e*ternal side of things' and in the ne*t lecture more on the inner side. .e have traced the path of the human soul in its repeated earth1lives through the three epochs most vitall# concerning us 7 the -g#pto1,haldean' the Graeco1+atin' and our own' during which the human soul 7 looked upon as a self' as an individualit# 7 e*periences sonething different in each incarnation. &ow we need onl# call up before our minds what will happen to those souls who go through earthl# incarnation in our own time' to return after a more or less normal period' as will happen with most people' though not with ever#one. It has often been pointed out' and last time it was repeated' that souls incarnated at thn present time will come back knowing with certaint#' in some form or other 7 and (this I described more closel# last time$ through their own inward e*erience 7 the fact of repeated earth1lives. This momentous step will be accomplished in the ne*t age; souls will advance from their present ignorance to knowledge of reincarnation; but something else needs emphasis. %emember that I laid stress on an important epoch which began with the seventh or eighth centur# before the 2ster# of Golotha. In the earlier centuries of this epoch man# souls were able' in the old clairvo#ant fashion' to look back on their earlier earth1lives; but because the# looked into a time when the sentient soul was speciall# developed' what the# saw was the connection of human beings with the outer world. The# gained a clear picture of manAs proceedings in the outer world' and what happened to him there. To be sure' this will not be so in the ne*t epoch to ours' when the retrospect will be more directed towards aspects of the soul. It will be less concerned with actions and e*periences in space' less like a realistic picture' and more of a looking back into the life of the soul. I mention this again so that #ou ma# see what ver#' ver# different e*periences souls have in their successive earth lives. @nd of course the 6uestion must press upon each one of #ou 7 how has the outside world come to believe that during the course of histor#' human beings have not greatl# changedC Taking the current presentations of histor# (some of which' but not all' are well1intentioned$' we find over and over again that each goes back to a certain point of time' to which the historical accounts and documents e*tend' but the# take for granted that the structure of the human soul has been the same all along. The# grant a certain development' but the# do not think of it in nearl# as radical a wa# as we must do' in the light of the conclusions of spiritual science. The 6uestion forces itself on ever# one of us: 7 0ow is it that there is no proper awareness of 8the metamorphosis of the human soul9C If now we consider historical events from the point of view of spiritual science' we see that for a long time man has reall# been held back from knowledge of himself' rather than led towards it. To discover how the human soul changes from one incarnation to another is possible onl# when self1 knowledge' real self1knowledge' takes root; but this has been driven back through events which we still have to appraise. "ignificant e*amples of this forcing1back process could be found in recent histor#. @ certain fraternit#' known to #ou all' that of the :reemasons' believes 7 honestl# in the case of man# of the brethren 7 that the# can lead members of their circle to self1knowledge. The# have various s#mbols of which it is evident' when the# are approached with spiritual scientific knowledge' that the# are profound' fraught with meaning; all reall# designed to lead to self1knowledge; but the# do not do so. If one reads the official records of :reemasonr#' it is remarkable to find the 8enlightened9 supposing that to understand their craft it is necessar# to go back onl# to the eighteenth or seventeenth centur#. <et what is contained in their s#mbols has been entirel# concealed since the seventeenth centur#' changed into something to be looked at and shared 7 but which it is not felt necessar# to understand. To approach these 2asonic s#mbols with a capacit# for understanding them would provide a path to self1 knowledge' for the# are all designed to that end. The real development of :reemasonr#' however' has taken another path' 7 that of concealing self1knowledge' and b# admitting onl# an outward e*planation of the s#mbolism' to make self1 knowledge impossible. 0ence we can reall# sa#' from the standpoint of truth' that the development of modern :reemasonr# is fundamentall# that of a fraternit# for making incomprehensible the s#mbols to be found within it. It is as though the unconscious purpose was precisel# to make the s#mbols incomprehensible' for the ver# time over which the
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new :reemasonr# has e*tended' (as regards the 8enlightened9' not the m#stical side$' coincides wi th the greatest dread of self1knowledge in menAs minds. There is much talk about it; man must seek 8the divine within him9' 8his higher self9' etc.; but that is all mere talk. It all tends to block up' not to open' the wa# to real self1knowledge; and we must ask: .hence comes this aversion' this terrorC .e will consider this from its outer side to1da#. It is apparent in a ver# remarkable wa#' not onl# in the limited realm of :reemasonr#' but over the whole range of modern culture. .e see how modern culture 7 notabl# in the spreading of ,hristianit# 7 reall# takes the line of concealing and suppressing self1knowledge; a line of e*traordinar# interest and significance. :ew people to1da# take the trouble to compare the best available accounts of widel# separated centuries' and fewer still reflect on the real character of what is described. <ou can make an ee*periment' not ver# revealing but interesting all the same' b# taking such a work as 8The +ife of 2ichelangelo9 b# 0erman Grimm' which deals in fact mainl# with 2ichael @ngeloAs period' the environment from which he emerged. Tr# to realise what the world would be like if one lived in the time which Grimm describes' and tr# to compare it with the world of to1da#. The difference is tremendousK <et that will not mean much' for the centuries in 6uestion are not ver# far apart. "omething else emerges if one gives real thought to stud#ing the epoch 7 including its preparator# stages and its after1effects 7 in which the great transition to modern times was accomplished. +ooking back at the three great epochs which "piritual "cience shows us in our 3resent earth1c#cle' we find that the third ends about the seventh or eighth centur# !.,.' and the fourth with the beginning of the fifteenth centur# @.(. @t this point there lies' not far behind us' an important' significant transition in the soul1life of civilised humanit#. Jsuall# it is hardl# touched upon in histor# 7 and wh#C There' too' is the dread of self1knowledge' and also of knowledge of the human soul. @n interesting e*ample of the time antecedent to the change can be found in accounts of a personalit# such as "t. !ernard ?f ,lairvau*. "t. !ernard' perhaps the most outstanding rersonalit# of the twelfth centur#' and indeed of the age with which the fourth 3ost1@tlantean epoch of civilisation came to an end' manifested a structure of soul which after the fifteenth centur# was no longer possible in -urope. &owada#s it is ver# hard to describe this' because the preconditions for forming the right conceptions are altocether lacking; but I advise #ou to read accounts of the life of "t. !ernard so as to see the impression he made on other peGple. %eading these accounts' one sa#s to oneself: !# the side of these' what are the Gospel stories of 2iraclesC The few sick folk healed b# ,hrist 4esus himself 7 according to the Gospels 7 are a trifle compared with the astonishing wonder1working activities of "t. !ernardK The number of people of whom it is said that he made the blind to see and lame to walk' is be#ond all comparison with the number of similar cases reported in the Gospels. The accounts of the impression made b# his preaching gives one the feeling that what he said acted as a widespread' intensel# active spiritual aura. In the words of this lean there lived a realit# of which we can have no conception at the present da#. If one tried to describe all the effects produced b# his personalit#' people would simpl# not believe it for there is no possibilit# nowada#s of giving an ade6uate idea of how he was then regarded. To penetrate to the inner structure of his soul' is' as I have said' difficult to1da#' because' even in our own circle' theconditions for it are wanting. 0owever' I might hint at one thing: 7 In this personalit# there was an ama)ing devotion to the spiritual world' an absolute absorption in it. If an#one to1da# undertakes something and it fails' he naturall# begins to doubt whether he was right to embark on it. @ personalit# such as "t. !ernard was never doubtful' because he had alwa#s taken counsel with his God in the spiritual worlds before he undertook or advised an#thing. Through all the failures he e*perienced in the ,rusades' when ever#thing he had advised went wrong' he never doubted for a moment that his thoughts were absolutel# correct' and that the discrepanc# between what reall# happened in the outer world and what he had conceived under the influence of the spiritual world would in some wa# be cleared up and accounted for. In choosing out such a personalit#' one is speaking of a single' outstanding figure; but what I have been sa#ing is not restricted to him. It is the signature of the whole age 7 in no wa# confined to him. It is the signature of the epoch which began in -urope about the third or fourth centur# @.(.' and lasted until the thirteenth' fourteenth or fifteenth. ?f course within this age something further was being prepared' but this came to e*pression' as a deep influence' stamping itself on its time' onl# after the fourteenth or fifteenth centur#. The third to the fifteenth centuries was the time of an even more concentrated power of :aith' the age in which the events of the tine came to pass under its impress. In this connection I nus1t beg #ou to retollect what I alwa#s re6uest in these lectures 7 it is particularl# important in passages such as these. I choose m# words in such a wa# that other words cannot be substituted for them. If these carefull# chosen words are replaced b# others' from that moment #our description is no longer historicall# accurate. I said' 8It was the age when the power of :aith1was established9: If that be changed into 8It was the age when 3iet# was established9' that would represent something entirel# untrue' not m# meaning at all. It was the 3ower of :aith I referred to in describing !ernard. 0e was also without doubt a pious nan' but that ma# belong to a manAs personal character. .hat in those da#s worked and lived in outer events was the influence of :aith. The power of :aith is indeed to be found ever#age' but it is not alwa#s decisive in the making of histor#. ?ur present age will be superseded b# one in which :aith
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will again pla# a significant though sporadic part' but it has not #et come to that. "uperstitious belief in medicine for instance' take grotes6ue forms in the future' and :aith will have a great part to pla# in that' but things have not #et gone so far. In humanit# to1da#' a ha)# somnolence as regards historical events pla#s the chief part. &ow we can put the 6uestion: 0ow did it happen that this power of :aith became such an important historical impulse in -urope 7 the ver# impulse which significantl# ushered in what arose in the fifteenth centur# as the fifth post1@tlantean epoch' in which we are now livingC :irst GAf all it was something apparentl# 6uite e*ternal which laid the foundation for the advent of the power of :aith: I mean' the circunstances which brought about the fall of the %oman -mpire. The dominant historical1impulses from the third or fourth centur# up to the fifteenth' took the place of the impulses of the %oman -mpire. ?f course there were ver# man# impulses which contributed to tin fall of the -mpire but one ver# substantial one was that during the course of %oman histor# mone# graduall# flowed awa# towards the -ast. .ith the e*tension of the %oman -mpire the +egions had to be moved further and further to the borders of the huge -mpire; the menAs wages had to be paid in mone# 7 not in kind' as was possible while the -mpire was smaller. Therefore' with the e*tending -mpire' mone#1wealth was graduall# diverted to the -ast; and an essential characteristic of -urope from the earl# part of the third and fourth centuries onward' was its shortage of mone# 7 of coinage' that is. 2an# other things are' involved in this' and it is important to look at them with a sound e#e for realit#' not with m#stical enthusiasm. The art of making gold' alchem#' was partl# conditioned in -urope b# the outflow of gold to the -ast; men believed that if gold could be made' crated' the# could once again be rich. @ fre6uent reason for alchem#' as it was cultivated in the first centuries of the 2iddle @ges' was the shortage of coinage due to the e*tension of the %oman -mpire. +inked up with this was the irruption into the impoverished %oman -mpire' at that period' of the peoples from the north. .ith their pagan ideas' pagan culture and pagan e*periences' the# understood little of the %oman social structure' which had graduall# become more and more powerful under the influence of mone#. The %omans had found things ver# uncomfortable after the diversion of mone# to the -ast' but these conditions suited the invading German races ver# well. The spread of ,hristianit# coincided with this condition of the %oman -mpire. It is a fact' though one no longer recognised' that a profound spiritual perception lived in the spreading waves of ,hristianit# throughout those earl# tines. There is an incurable fear to1da#' especiall# in theological circles' of the sc1called 8Gnosis9. 2an# a time on asking wh# people in such circles dislike' and even fear' "piritual "cience' one receives the answer that 8it lead to a revival of the Gnosis9; that is 6uite a sufficient reason for reBectionK the Gnosis (though of course in our age it would have to make its appearance in a different guise from what it was in the earl# centuries of ,hristianit#$ is nothing else than a positive knowledge of the spiritual world' the human capacit# to attain to vision of spiritual realms' as sight in the ph#sical world is gained b# the senses. ?ne can meet people to1da# vho make fun of the disputes there used to be as to whether the "pirit proceeds from the :ather or from the "on' or is connected in some other wa# with the :ather and the "on. &owada#s people unite no conceptions with these ideas' but the# did in those times. @n#one who writes the histor# of the first ,hristian centuries out of true knowledce' will see that in these origins of dogmas the spirit was active' although men can no longer find it now. @ deepl# significant spiritual outlook was carried on the advancing waves of ,hristianit#' and it lasted on into the ninth centur#. @ stud# of te details of this spreading ,hristianit# shows that the later opinion' accordign to which the religious outlook should be concerned onl# with the strengthening of faith and should meddle as little as possible with tie particulars of the spiritual world' arose from a certain wa#' a right wa#' of regarding the nations from whom the new -urope was to arise. The# were pagan peoples 7 peoples moreover' who had not come far in connected thinking or in the forming of ideas which lead into the spiritual world; the# were strong' forceful' primitivel# sound men' but not e*actl# men of a disposition to form ver# defined conceptions of an#thing spiritual. "o' in order that ,hristianit# might spread' it was made suitable for these peoples. !ecause the# were not great thinkers' more was made of the 8heart9' of the power of faith. "o we find that in the tenth centur# all spiritual vision had more or less disappeared from ,hristianit#; ever#thing was centred in faith 7 and what was then rearded as faith' what was meant b# the term' had graduall# become the soul1content of man. "ouls then lived in a different atmosphere from that of to1da#. ?ne needs to realise what was then e*perienced through legends. I will relate one simple legend' a thoughtful one' which in those da#s was known ever#where. It runs thus: "aint !ernard occasionall# rode on an ass. 0e had a monk with him. This monk suffered from what we call epileps#. 0ewas constantl# falling. "t. !ernard saw this when the monk accompanied him to lead his ass; so he besought his God that in future the monk might never have an attack of epileps# without knowing of it beforehand. The legend goes on to sa# that the monk lived for twent# #ears' but ever# time he had an attack' he knew it was coming so he could sta# in bed' and not bruise his limbs b# falling. This is a simple' unpretentious tale' but it worked deepl# and was told ever#where. 2en felt strong in soul in e*periencing the supporting power of true faith' and the# lived in the aura of such an e*perience.
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&ow it would not have been possible for this power of faith to establish itself in this wa# if -urope had not been to some e*tent isolated during the centuries I have described. 2one# had flowed -astwards; and for this reason' trade had graduall# ceased. -urope was for a time limited to agriculture. The fact that a third of the soil of -urope should have passed over in the course of these centuries to the upholders of the power of faith 7 that is' into the possession of the ,hurch 7 is highl# s#mptomatic. It is as though the whole content of the fourth post1@tlantean period (interrupted onl# b# the %oman element$ had been condensed into this power of :aith. !ut in the course of this strengthening of faith one thing was lost 7 progress in a genuine ,hrist1consciousness. .e must not forget that ,hrist was known in the highest sense during the first ,hristian centuries b# those who knew how the ,hrist1:igure' the ,hrist1!eing' stood in relation to all the forces of the "piritual world. :or those who were first affected b# the ,hrist1:igure' the ground of their emotion was that the# ga)ed up into a spiritual world' and in a sense perceived as it were the approach of the ,hrist1:igure to the -arth through the aeons' and could connect the -vent of Golgotha with all that happened in the ,osmos. This was the grasp of the -vent of Golgotha which led those who first interpreted it to e*plain what had happened on earth as the outcome of event in the worlds of great cosmic happenings. I know ver# well that this is otherwise represented now' but when it is said' 8.e must go back to the plain' simple conceptions of ,hrist 4esus prevailing in the earl# centuries9' that is to speak accords to personal fancies' from a wish to conceal the greatness of the ,hrist1idea and the profound insight of those earl# centuries into the 2#ster# of Golgotha. That is wh# the favourite idea was brought out: ever#thing was made simple' designed to show that ,hrist 4esus was no more than 8the simple man of &a)areth9. It is less surprising to find this view among #oung people. ?lder people' at an# rate' ought to know that in these matters a significant change has taken place in our time. I have often heard that it is said 8These things as presented in "piritual science we simpl# cannot understand; the# are so ver# difficultK If onl# there were not these hindrancesK9 Thirt# #ears ago the simple countr# people would have understood such subBects well' but in course1of the last few decades a great change has come about. ?lder people ma# still know somethineg of how certain writireAs such as those of !Ohme and -ckartshausen' which most strenuousl# endeavoured to open a wa# into the concrete realities of the spiritual world' were then accepted b# the souls of simple peasants. ?ur spiritual life' unfortunatel#' has become superficial' under the influence of the bourgeois mind and the increasing repetition of its favourite idea 7 that truth must be 8simple9' meaning that truth must be eas# for ever#one to grasp in a comfortable wa# without much reflection. ,ertainl#' there are not man# traces left nowada#s 7 even in simple minds 7 of the fact that in the earl# centuries of ,hristianit# it was possible to bring loft# spiritual truths before 6uite simple people when ,hrist 4esus was spoken of. this implies that what occurred in the subseauent centuries was' in a sense' directed primaril# to concealing the knowledge of ,hrist from 2an' to keeping' it at a distance from him. In these matters we must not look at what we imagine' but at the realit#. ?ne of the deepest demands of our age is that we should learn to face realit#. 0ere is an e*ample. I once gave a lecture in ,olmar on the subBect of 8,hristianit# and .isdom9; two ,atholic ecclesiastics were present. &aturall#' the# had never heard an#thing like it before' and on that account the# came to me after the lecture' for what I had said did not seem to them so ver# wicked. It might have seemed so onl# if some of their superiors had previousl# spoken about it' and then the# would probabl# have heard nonsense. The# onl# made one obBection. The# said: 8.hat #ou sa# is all ver# well; it is e*cellent to talk in this wa# about the spiritual world' but people understand none of it. .e talk in such a wa# that people can understand it.9 I said: 8<ou know' reverend sirs' that neither #ou nor I ought to la# down the law as to how we should speak to people. ?ur favourite theories are of no conse6uence; for of course' according to them' the wa# in which #ou speak will please #ou and the wa# in which I speak will please me' but that is not the point. .hat matters is the dut# laid upon us b# the time we live in: 7 1 not to answer such 6uestions as #ou have Bust raised according to our favourite theories' but to let realit# itself give the answer. @nd this is not far to seek. I ask #ou' since #ou believe that #ou speak to ever#bod#' does ever#bod# go to church to hear #ouCP @s truthful men the# could onl# answer: 82an# sta# awa#.9 Then I could sa#: 8That is the answer of realit#K I speak for those who remain outside' who have also the right to find the wa# to ,hrist 4esus.9 +et the 6uestion be asked of realit#' of the age' not of manAs own self' because the answer one can get from oneself is clearl# known to one It seems ver# simple; but to learn to grasp the obligation laid on us b# our age is not a simple matter. ?nl# after deep counsel with himself can a man recognise what reall# lies behind this. 2ankindAs real need to1da# is Bust this: to become obBective' to learn to live with the facts of the world. If we understand how to grasp the impulse which is meant b# this' we shall come to terms with the truth that graduall#' under the influence of the course of events through the centuries' the higher knowledge' the upward ga)e into the connection between the 2#ster# of Golgotha and cosmic events' has been 6uite lost in -urope. ,hrist has been put at a distance 7 from the -uropean soul; 0e has been reduced to what men were willing to grasp and imagine. The important thing' however' is that men should grasp realit#' not merel# what the# would like to grasp. .e often hear it said: 82an should seek his God and he will find 0im within. 0e must unite himself with his inner divine self' then he will find 0im9. 3eople are particularl# shocked when "piritual "cience is impelled to declare: 8If we rise into the spirit from the world in which we live' we find the 80ierarchies9' a richl#1membered hierarchical spiritual world' even as here below we find a richl#1 membered ph#sical world. It is certainl# easier and more comfortable to sa#' 8+et each draw near directl# to the one
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,hrist: ever#one can find 0im.9 !ut it does not matter what men imagine; the point is that the# should recognise what is reall# to be found in the spiritual. .hat do those find who so often sa#' 8I have found an inner connection with m# GodC9 .hat the# call 8God'9 when the# speak like this is in fact often the nearest "piritual !eing belonging to the hierarch# of the @ngels' the Guardian @ngel' who is thus revered as the 8highest being.9 To sa# we 8believe9 we have found God' means nothin; what is necessar# is to understand the realit# of this inner e*perience. .hen an#one believes himself to be permeated inwardl# b# a divine being' he is generall# permeated onl# b# a member of the 0ierarch# of @ngels' or else b# his own -go' as it was between the last death and the present birth' as it lived in the spiritual world before uniting with his ph#sical bod#. Is it not interesting' that there is one word of which the origin is unknownC "earch dictionaries' and #ou will discover fine e*planations of all sorts of words. <et for this one word the most learned dictionar#1makers can find no origin; the# do not know what it means even philologicall# 7 and this is the word' 8God.9 It is the word whose meaning is unknown. /er# significant and ver# suggestiveK :or what people are often reall# talking about' when the# speak so constantl# about their 8God'9 is their own @ngel' or simpl# their own -go in the time between the last death and present birth. .hat is thus actuall# e*perienced 7 (I an thinking onl# of genuine' honest e*periences$ 7 is real enough. The point is not to succumb to the illusion that people are pra#ing to 8one God.9 3eople have onl# one word for the e*perience of their @ngel' or indeed for their own ego' whether embodied or not. It is not uncommon for someone to have a vague foreboding that through "piritual "cience he will get behind the veil of what is constantl# referred to as an 8e*perience of God'9 and this hinders the spread of "piritual "cience' for "piritual "cience is inherentl# inclined to reveal the truth behind the immensel# significant fact to which I have Bust referred. The whole historical trend from the third to the tenth 7 indeed to the fifteenth 7 centur#' tends more to the concealment of the m#steries of ,hrist 4esus than to their becoming manifest. This is not a criticism' but simpl# a characteristisation; and if people are not in a position to take it in obBectivel#' the# will never understand the powers ruling the age that begins with the fifteenth centur#' the age of the 8,onsciousness1"oul.9 This age' I might sa#' 8thunders in'9 and ever#thing in the spiritual world tends to bring out the ,onsciousness "oul' with its two poles' the material and the spiritual. It is from this point of view that the course of historical development must be scrutinised. +et us picture' for e*ample' how the frame of mind which appears at a higher stage in "t !ernard' as the fruit of a strengthened' consolidated faith' produced the -uropean tendenc# to put 4erusalem in the place of %ome' to found an anti1%oman ,hristianit# with its centre in 4erusalem. :or this impulse la# at the root of the ,rusades. Godfre# de !ouillon was no emissar# of the %oman 3ope; on the contrar#' he sei)ed on the ,rusades in order to build in 4erusalem a bulwark against %ome' to make ,hristianit# independent of %ome. It was an idea which held awa# for several centuries. 0enr# the "econd' the "aintl#' gave it out in the form of 8a ,hurch ,atholic but not %oman9. .e see how the faith of -urope sends its aura into the regions where the %omans had sent their goldK In the -ast the ,rusaders came into contact with mone# and its results; with %oman gold on the one hand' with ?riental Gnosis on the other. This aura under which the ,rusades arose must be taken into consideration. It is entirel# the aura of -uropean faith 7 that is uhe one tone' the one colouring the picture. +et us set against this colouring 7 if it were to be painted' it would have to be in this one colour 7 another picture of the dawn of the ,onsciousness "oul. 0ow should this be representedC ,onsider (andolo' (oge of /enice (112GQ12G5$' formerl# in ,onstantinople and blinded there b# the Turks' who was the incarnation of the @hriman1spirit' and' in spite of his blindness' was the ruler /enice 7 that /enice which imported the @hrimanic elenent into the spirit' as I have described. It was a moment of t significance in the histor# of the world when this (o)e con6uered ,onstantinople' and led over the original spirit of the ,rusades into the later ones. 0ow did it happenC In this wa#. The ,rusaders originall# went to the -ast in 6uest of the hol# places and relics' wishing to bring them under the mantle of their faith. That was their aim the# wanted to bring the relics back reverentl# to -urope. The# wished to establish a real link between their faith and the events of he 2#sterg of Golgotha. .hen /enice intervened' what became of the relicsC The# were all collected' but in realit# ever#thing was made a business transactionK Jnder the influence of /enice' the relics were graduall# treated as stocks and shares; the# rose and rose in value. The capitalist aura spread through (andolo' the incarnation of the @hriman1spiritK .e ask ourselves 7 how did /enice succeed in reversing the earlier trend of eventsC /enice led trade back from the -ast to -urope; she rekindled commercial life' which had been impossible before. The 6uestion must arise: 0ow could /enice become so powerful in the realm of commerce' while -urope was fundamentall# so poorC ,ommerce was carried on b# barter. (uring the first part of the period of which I have been speaking' -urope was cut off from the -ast' to which' to begin with' she had given her coinage. In the absence of mone#' barter was substituted. ?ver and over again the historical fact of the wa# in which /enice came into this field must be insisted upon. .e can
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prove that /enice drove a great bargain for the possession of @le*andria and (amieta' in order to barter her goods for the ?riental wares she coveted. .hat was it that /enice soldC ?ne thing can easil# be proved b# documentar# evidence' and man# others could be added to it: investigation in this direction could be carried far. The /enetian wares were menK Thousands of menK The new trade with the :ast was begun with human beings 7 men were sold to the -ast; and an#one who follows up what became of them arrives at a remarkable result' of which outer histor# as #et knows but little. :rom these bartered men sprang the strongest of the warriors with whom the great militar# e*peditions from @sia into -urope were successfull# undertaken. The choicest troops of the @siatic tribes which later fell upon -urope consisted of the descendants of the men sold into slaver# to the -ast b# /enice and other Italian "tates. It is reall# necessar# to look behind the scenes of world1histor#' and not to cling to the legends so often retailed to mankind as the 8histor# of the world.9 These legends must ultimatel# suffer the fate of being dismissed as school1girl tales' even though written b# %anke. The times we live in are much too serious for us to refrain from emphasi)ing what must be learnt; and the most important thing gained from these maters will be the ac6uirement of a Budnment which will awaken manAs consciousness 7 so that he will no longer remain asleep to current tendencies. @ monstrous thing happens in our present time' but men do not' and will not' see it; the# prefer to look at ever#thing in a disguised and confused wa#. If here or there a note is struck' sounding from the depths of human development' it is repulsed with phrases drawn from superficial Bournalism or newspaper articles' which are as far as possible from profitable truth. To1da# I wished to draw #our attention from an e*ternal point of view' to something belonging to the period in which' during the fifteenth centur#' the transition was accomplished from the 2ind1"oul to the ,onsciousness1"oul It is most desirable that such ideas should sink into menAs souls; the# are needed 7 needed in all domains of life. 3eople talk a great deal nowada#s about the wa#s in which the structure of the communit# will develop in the future. This ver# morning I read an article b# a man who esteems himself e*ceptionall# clever' who believes he has reall# grasped the truths of political econom# from their foundations. The profound fact he gives out in his argument is that the communit#' the communal life' must be comprehended as an 8organism.9 "omething reall# significant is supposed to have been advanced when it is said that the life of the communit# must be looked upon as an organism' not as a machine. Thus is the most dreadful .ilsonism rife amongst usK I have often said that the ver# essence of 8.ilsonism9 is its inabilit# to conceive of the life of the communit# e*cept as an 8organism.9 2en must eventuall# learn to emplo# higher concepts than this' in contemplating the social structure. It can never be understood as an 8organism:9 it is an affair of the soul' of the spirit. The "pirit works in ever# human social communit#. ?ur age has become povert#1stricken in conceptions. .e can found no social polic# unless we steep our minds in spiritual knowledge for onl# there can we find the 8meta1 organismK9 which transcends the mere 8organism.9 -ver#where we find unwillingness to penetrate directl# into the spirit; but it must be done' or incalculable effects will follow. ?n this subBect' if #ou remember' I pointed out how' in the seventeenth centur#' 4ohann /alentine @ndreae wrote the stor# of the 8,hemical 2arriage9 of ,hristian %osenkreu)' which contains much that springs from impulses connected with the transition in the fifteenth centur#. The stor# is told as having occurred in that centur#. It is ver# interesting to notice that 4ohann /alentine @ndreae wrote it as a #outh of seventeen' when he was still unripe in e*ternal intelligence' and repudiated it in his later #enrs. @ndreae' the pious theologian of later #ears' wrote ever#thing possible in opposition to it. The interesting fact is that @ndreaeAs life shows no glimmer of understanding the meaning of what he wrote in the 8,hemical 2arriage9. The "piritual worlds desired to reveal to mankind something connected with the entire e*perience of that age. %ecentl# I visited' a castle in ,entral -urope' where there is a chapel in which the ideas of the transition1period of the new age are s#mbolised. 3rimitive paintings adorn the well of the staircase' and what do the# representC The 8,hemical 2arriage9 of ,hristian %osenkeu)K The wa# leads through the ,hemical 2arriage to a ,hapel of the Grail. Then began the Thirt# <earsA .ar' after which the 8,hemical 2arriage9 was written down' but its meaning was lost in the waves of conflict. The lesson to be learnt from this is that the same thing never happens twice. The spiritual development which has been re6uired of humanit# since the fifteenth centur# must make its appearance little b# little. In the ne*t lecture we will speak of this from a deeper aspect.

1e"ture , The Bein3 and )&olution of 7an

!erlin' 2Drd 4ul#' 151
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.e have been tr#ing to come to grips with the following 6uestion: .h# does man not notice how different 7 different spirituall# and in their culture 7 are the several periods in which' during our present earth1c#cle' he has spent his repeated earth1lives. .e need to understand clearl# wh# it is so widel# believed that 2an has altered ver# little during thousands of #ears' since histor# began' whereas "piritual "cience shows how greatl# souls changed in their essential character during the third; fourth and fifth 3ost1@tlantean epochs 7 the fifth being our present one. These changes are confirmed b# "piritual1"cientific knowledge' but we find ver# little trace of them if we scan outer histor#' as usuall# presented and written. I have alread# tried to show' in approaching this 6uestion' that' if one pa#s a little attention to the soul1element in histor# the changes spring to lisht. I have endeavoured to make comprehensible the difference between the feelings of the human soul' in' for instance' the eleventh or twelfth centuries' and those of the of the human soul of to1da#. @s an e*ample I tried to illuminate for #ou the soul of !ernard of ,lairvau* in the twelfth centur#. "uch e*amples might be multiplied' but before we go further in this direction' we will revert once more to the kernel of our 6uestion: .hat is it that prevents man from observing rightl# how his various earth1lives differ in this respectC 0e is chiefl# prevented b# the circumstance that' as constituted in the present earth1era' he has e*ceedingl# little perception of his real ego' his true human self. !ut for certain hindrances' he would have 6uite a different idea of his nature and being' .e will deal with these hindrances presentl#. :or the moment I would like to point out' 7 #ou can take it' to begin with' simpl# as an h#pothesis 7 how man would appear to himself if his real being were revealed to him. If this were possible' he would above all notice a great and constant change in his personal life between birth and death. +ooking back from whatever age 7 2G' DG' or 5G 7 towards his birth' he would see himself in perpetual metamorphosis. 0e would perceive b#1gone changes morn clearl# and realise hopefull# that further changes are in store for him in the future. These I have mentioned in other lectures. !ecause present1da# man is too little inclined to realise himself as a soul1being' he has not much idea of how he has altered in the course of time. "trangel#' but trul#' his idea of himself is divided into two parts. 0e sees his bodil# part on the one hand' a more or less constant factor in his life between birth and death. 0e is conscious' of course' that he 8grows9' that he was tin# and became bigger' but that is almost all he knows consciousl# about his outer ph#sical being. Take a simple e*ample. <ou cut #our nails 7 wh#C !ecause the# grow. That shows' if #ou think about it' that a continual process of shedding takes place in #our organism as regards the outer bodil# part of it. In fact #ou drive that part out' so that in a certain time' at most in si* or seven #ears' the material of the bod# is completel# changed. <ou continuall# get rid of #our material outfit. 2an' however' is not conscious of this outer dissolution and continual reconstruction from within. 4ust fanc#' how differentl# we should know ourselves' if we were conscious of how' as it were' we shed the e*ternal part of our ph#sical bod#' dissolve it' and rebuild ourselves anew from within 7 we should be observing the metamorphosis of our own beingK "omething else would be linked with this. If we reall# took into our consciousness that the bod# we bear is our possession for onl# seven #ears' that we have thrown off all we possessed of it before that' we should appear to ourselves much more spiritual. .e should not have the deceptive notion' 8I was a little child to begin with 7 then I grew bigger and different9 7 but we should know that though the material of the child1substance is somewhere' what has remained is not material' but absolutel# super1substantial. If man could bring this metamorphosis into consciousness' he would be looking back at something retained ever since childhood. 0e would recollect himself as a spiritual being. If we knew what takes place in us' we should have much more spiritual conceptions of ourselves. <et again 7 suppose we looked at ourselves much less abstractl#' we talk about ourselves as though we had a 8"piritual centre.9 .e speak of our -go and we have the idea: 8?ur -go was there in our childhood' and accompanied us further'9 and so on; but we reall# picture it sinpl# as a kind of spiritual centre. If onl# we could rise to the other conception 7 that of outer dissolution and inner reconstruction 7 we could not help regarding the -go as the efficacious' active cause of it. .e should see ourselves as something ver# real and inwardl# active. In short' we would look upon our -go not as something abstract' but would surve# its inwardl# active work on our bod#' leading this from one metamorphosis to another. .e should correct an# erroneous conceptions which we cherish on the subBect at present. The# are even embodied in the e*pression of speech. .e sa# 8we grow'9 because we have the notion that we were to begin with' children' and have grown taller; but the matter is not as simple as that. The truth is that in a tin# child the bodil# and the soul1spiritual activities are e*perienced more as a unit# wherein the head1organism and the reproduction1organism (se*1organism$ are closel# associated. The two e*periences of head and bod# separate later' becoming alien to one another. The material organism of childhood does not increase' for it is thrown off' dissolved; but the two poles of our own being grow wider apart. !# this means' later on' in a full# formed bod#' in which the poles have separated from one another' our substance is organised from within. It seems to us as mere growth' but that is not so; we are organised inwardl#' therefore we are connected with different outward things in earlier and later periods of life. @s time goes on' the
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head1organism needs to move itself further awa# from the immediate earth1forces. The head rises; conseouentl#' we 8grow.9 @ll these conceptions would change if we accepted the actual truth 7 which we do not do. .e leave out of account the constantl# changing bod#' the bod# that is alwa#s becoming differen:t we ignore it and imagine that it grows of itself and becomes larger; and so we fail to notice what a rich' mobile' living' inward entit# is the ego' which works on us unceasingl# between birth and death. "uch a conception would give us a reall# coherent idea of ourselves if we could but grasp it' but modern man is not capable of that. This is to some e*tent connected with the destin# of the human race' with the whole development of our epoch. 2an does not reall# identif# himself with his living' active' ego' which actuall# builds his organism from #ear to #ear' but he divides it; on the one side he looks at his organism' which he imagines to be solid and enduring' and on the other at his ego' which he makes into an abstraction' a figure of straw. "uch a man sa#s: .e have on the one side a sense1organism' a bodil# one' through which we cannot approach things because the# can onl# make 8impressions9 on us: the essential nature of the thing does not reveal itself to us at all; the 8thing1in1itsefK9 cannot be apprehended' we have onl# phenomena. ,ertainl#' to look on the bod# as enduring substance gives this argument some Bustification. Then he looks at this insubstantial ego and sa#s: There' within' there is something like a 8feeling of dut#'9 and he sums it up as the 8categorical imperative.9 The unit# is split up. If we thus divide the unit# in human nature' criticising it from two sides' we become followers of Eant. .hat I am now sa#ing goes into the ver# depths of present1 da# human thought. 2an of this age is little fitted to comprehend himself as a complete being in the word. 0e divides himself in the wa# I have described. The result is that we never contemplate our real soul1being with the e#e of the spirit' or we would see that this part of ourselves is what continuall# works upon and changes the bod#. .e look merel# at the abstract bod# and the abstract ego and do not trouble about what the whole undivided human being ma# be. To become aware of that would at once lead us to recognise that this undivided being is different from incarnation to incarnation. The true' genuine human ego' concealed as it is' hidden at present from the soulAs ga)e' differs from life to life. ?f course' if we are thinking of the abstraction' 8ego'9 not of the concrete human ego' we cannot arrive at the idea of the ego being so different from life to life. The result of thinking abstractl# in this wa# is that things which are in an# wa# similar are ultimatel# reduced to a featureless uniformit#. "ouls of course are similar in successive earth1lives; but on the other hand' the# also differ' because from life to life a man passes through the course of human development. !ecause man does not in truth behold either the mutabilit# of his bod#' or the real' whole activit# of his ego' he does not see his true being. This is' as it were' a golden rule for gaining real knowledge of man and insight into his nature. @nd wh#C The answer to this 6uestion lies in what #ou know of the @hrimanic and +uciferic elements. .e divide our being in such a wa# that on the one side we place our bod#' which we regard as having been small once and having e*panded and grown' whereas it has in realit# continuall# renewed itself. .hat is it that appears to us if we look at the bod# in this wa#C The @hrimanic element' active within ourselves. !ut this @hrimanic element is not our real human being; it belongs to the species and indeed remains the same though all ages. Therefore in looking at the bod#' we are reall# looking at our @hrimanic part' and this is all that modern scientific anthropolog# describes in man. That is one thing we see 7 the corporeal part of ourselves' which we hare conceived of as being dense. The other is the abstract ego' which is in realit# fluctuating' living strongl# within us onl#; while we form a conception of ourselves' between birth and death. There we have our individual education' our uselessness and also our value' 7 there we surve# our own personal life between birth and death; but we do not see our ego as it is in realit#' as it works upon the metamorphoses of our ph#sical bod#; we see it as +ucifer shows it to as' rarified. .e see our ph#sical part materialised' densified b# @hriman; our soul1spiritual part rarified b# +ucifer. If this was not so' if we did not divide ourselves so that one pole of our being is @hrimanic and the other +uciferic' we should have a much more intimate connection with the dead who are alwa#s among us' because we should be more closel# related to the spirituel world. .e should comprehend the complete realit#' to which belongs also the world in which man is after he passes through the gate of death' and before he returns to this world through the gate of conception. Thus we never have our real being before us' but on the one side the ph#sical1corporeal @hrimanic phantom' on the other the soul1spiritual +uciferic phantom; two phantoms' two delusive images of ourselves' #et between that' imperceptible to us' lives the real man' that being to which we must refer when we sa# 8man'9 because this is the true man' progressing from life to life. .e must in all seriousness consider what this means for human knowledge. In this wa# we shall come to understand wh# it could be imagined that throughout the various epochs man remains the same. .hat we see are the incorrect thoughts about man; on the one side the idea of what does remain true to the species through long ages' and on the other' the real soul1spiritual ps#chic being' which is supposed not to e*tend be#ond the life between birth and death. @n understanding of how the soul1spiritual element alters the bod# from #ear to #ear would lead to a grasp of the might#
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transition which occurs when it envelopes itself in the ph#sical1corporeal through conception or leaves it again through death. .e pa# no heed to the work performed b# the soul1"piritual element on the bod#. @ll this can be e*pressed in a different wa#. .hat we conceive of as our complete organism is but a small part of what we are as human beings. .e onl# 8dwell9 in this organism. .hat we are accustomed to look upon as our organism' densified through @hriman as we see it' has its real origin much more in our last incarnation than in this one. :rom the various studies of this #ear and former #ears #ou will gather that #our ph#siognom#' in its present form' results from #our preceding incarnation' #our last earth1life. In a personAs ph#siognom# we can reall# see a connection with his former life. -ver#thing belonging to the ph#sical corporeal organism is much more deepl# connected with the last life than with the present one. 2an of to1da# is easil# beguiled into sa#ing: inasmuch as we have had no previous life' it cannot give us our present form' whether great or small. That is onl# self1persuasion. If we were to understand ourselves correctl#' we should be obliged to look back to a former life. 3a#ing attention to what forms our organism' in the wa# I have set forth' would bring enlightenment. @ sudden light would be thrown on what we ourselves cannot form' and we would see how it has been formed b# an earlier life. .e can reall# have insight into someone if we know how his soul1spiritual part has fashioned his organism. This comes forth' as it were' out of his personalit#' and behind it remains what @hriman makes visible as the result of th earlier embodiment. :or an#one who is accustomed to look upon man as a real living being' it is' when meeting a fellow1man' as though an entit# emerged from him. Ths entit# is his present self: onl# as a rule it is invisible. The other entit# remains a little behind the first' and this it is which was formed from the past life. In the emerging entit# something soon presents itself. @t first' this entit# is' I might sa#' perfectl# transparent' but it rapidl# becomes opa6ue' because the soul1spiritual element' appearing as an active power' densifies the entit# which has Bust emerged. @nd then appears something else' which seems to be a seed for the ensuing earth1life. :or him who can perceive the connections' present1da# man is seen as threefold. @ll sorts of m#ths conve# this in their s#mbols. ,all to mind numerous descriptions in which three consecutive generations are set forth' obviousl# to illustrate the threefold nature of man. %emember man# of the renderings of Isis' also various ,hristian portra#als in which three figures are described as belonging together. 2anAs threeford nature is what is reall# meant. ?f course a materialistic interpretation is possible 7 8Grandmother' 2other and ,hild'9 if #ou like; but the threefold character is put there because it corresponds to a realit# which can be perceived. .e can most trul# picture earlier times if we divest ourselves of the fantastic ideas of modern learning (which alwa#s tries to spin a meaning round pictorial representations$' and take notice of what humanit#As perceptions were in a past not so ver# far behind us' and how these were e*pressed artisticall#. This kind of consideraticn is of the utmost importance. if we are to bring home to ourselves that the ,hrist' .ho went through the 2#ster# of Golgotha' has 0is relation (of which we speak so often$' to the true human ego. If we consider "t. 3aulAs words' 8&ot I' but ,hrist in me'9 this 8in me9 refers to the true' hidden ego' invisible to view as #et. 2an must in a sense look on it as a "piritual being if he would find the right connectiona with the ,hrist. ?ne would like to know how certain passages in the Gospels can possibl# be understood' if this is not taken into account. :or instance' the passage at the ver# beginning of the Gospel of "t. 4ohn' where 4ohn speaks as go the ,hrist came to man as to the abode where 0e belongs. The (German$ translators usuall# construe it 80e came unto 0is own estate' and his own people received 0im not'9 #et the Gospel goes on to sa#: 8!ut to as man# as received 0im' to them gave 0e power to become the children of God' even to them that believe on 0is &ame' which were born' not of blood' nor of the will of man' but of God9 (4ohn I. 12'1D.$. @nd it is made 6uite clear that 0e desired to come to all men who had this consciousness; #et those without' indeed all men' are certainl# born 8of blood9 and 8of the will of man9. The being I have been describing as the 8true man9' not born of blood nor of the will of man' comes indeed from the spiritual world' and clothes himself in ph#sical heredit#. The Gospel is speaking of the man of whom I have told #ou to1da#' and that is wh# it is so difficult to understand and is so erroneousl# e*pounded' fettered as it is b# the conceptions current' to1da#. .ithout the conceptions conve#ed b# "piritual "cience' the underl#ing' aspects of the Gospels cannot be understood; with them' a sudden light breaks in. In respect of all these relationships' something tremendous happened at the 2#ster# of Golgotha for the evolution of humanit#. !efore then' as #ou know' the complete human ego lived differentl# in the bod#. The 2#ster# of Golgotha marked a point of time in which the whole consciousness of man was changed' as the result of the Jnion of the ,hrist1 !eing with earthl# evolution. &ow the time has ' for an increasing comprehension of the 2#ster# of Golotha and its conneetion with mankind. @ knott# point for the man# e*positors of the Gospels' for instance' is the sa#ing which' however epressed or translated.' alwa#s has the same ring 7 the sa#ing that 8The Eingdom of 0eaven has descended.9 @mongst those who have entirel# misconceived this e*pression is 0.3. !lavatsk#' who sei)ed upon it and asserted that ,hristians therefore maintained that with the 2#ster# of Golgotha a sort of heavenl# kingdom had come down to earth' and #et nothing
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different has happened 7 the ears of corn and the cherries have not become twelve times is large' etc.; intimating that on the ph#sical earth nothing is altered. This 8descent of the Eingdom of 0eaven'9 of the spiritual kingdom' crates great difficulties for man# commentators of the Gospels' because the# do not clearl# understand it. The meaning reall# is that until the 2#ster# of Golgotha' men had to e*perience what the# could of the spiritual on the ph#sical plane b# means of atavistic clairvo#ance. @fter that' the# had to lift themselves up to the spiritual' and discern things in the "pirit' which reall# has drawn near to them. There is no need for the word1spinning arguments which are brought forward from all 6uarters; theA truth must be recognised' and this truth is as follows: 7 The effect for men of ,hrist having passed through the 2#ster# of Golgotha is that the# can no longer receive spiritual life mearl# through the fact of their ph#sical e*istence' but onl# b# living in the spiritual world. @n#one who now lives onl# in the ph#sical world' is no longer living on the earth' but below the earth; because from the 2#ster# of Golotha onwards' the possibilit# is given us of living in the spirit. The spiritual kingdom has in truth come among us. Taken in this sense; the e*pression is at once understood' but onl# in connection with the ,hrist. This' however' was to be temporaril# hidden. @s man made the effort to ac6uire it' it would be graduall# communicated to him; and onl# b# gaining insight into it can the real course of' modern histor# since the 2#ster# of Golgotha be understood. ,hristianit#' as it had come into the world through the 2#ster# of Golgotha' was in its earl# centuries implanted in the Gnosis' which was then more or less still in e*istence. It embodied ver# spiritual views of the real nature of ,hrist 4esus. Then the ,hurch took on a defined form. This form can be traced historicall#' but #ou must bear in mind what its task was from the third' fourth' fifth centur# onwards. The e*planation now given must not on an# account be misunderstood. "piritual "cience' as here advocated' stands on the ground of genuine' active tolerance for all e*isting religious revelations. "piritual "cience must therefore be able to discover the relative truth of the different religious creeds. It is not that "piritual "cience leans more or less s#mpatheticall# towards this or that creed; its aim is to distinguish the truth contained in the different religious denominations; it weighs them all with care' and refuses to be one1sided. "piritual "cience must not be proclaimed as leaning towards this or that ,reed: it is the "cience of the "pirit. It can for instance' full# appreciate that it is a pit# that for man# people the inner content of ,atholic ritual is lost. It knows how to appreciate the special virtues of ,atholic ritual in relation to the course of civilisation' and also that a certain artistic output is closel# related to ,atholic ritual' which indeed is onl# a continuation of certain other religious creeds' much more so than is commonl# thought. In this ritual there resides a deep element of the 2#steries. 0owever' what I have to sa# essentiall# concerns sonething else' at all events not the ,atholic ritual' which has its full inner Bustification as an e*traordinar# impulse for human creative achievement. .hat I now have to set forth is this: that ecclesiastical forms were given certain tasks 7 which are indeed still theirs to a certain e*tent' but were given for the most part at the time when such ardent souls as !ernard of ,lairvau* found their wa# to their God through the ,hurch. .e must alwa#s discriminate between the ,hurches and such personalities as !ernard of ,lairvau* and multitudes of others. .hat then' was the task of the ,hurchC Its task was to keep souls as far awa# as possible from an understanding of ,hrist' to bring it about that souls should not approach too near to 0im: The histor# of ,hurch1life in the third or fourth centur#' and later on' is substantiall# the stor# of the estrangement of the human mind from a comprehension of the 2#ster# of Golgotha; in the development of the ,hurch there is a certain antagonism towards an understanding of ,hrist. This negative task of the ,hurch has its Bustification in the fact that men must alwa#s strive anew through the force of their own minds and souls to reach the ,hrist' and fundamentall# through all these centuries man;s approach to the ,hrist has been a continual struggle of the individual against ecclesiasticism. -ven with such men as !ernard of ,lairvau*' it was so. "tud# even Thomas @6uinas. 0e was reckoned a heretic b# the orthodo*; he was interdicted' and onl# later did the ,hurch adopt his teaching. The path to ,hrist was reall# alwa#s a 8defensive action9 against the ,hurch' and onl# slowl# and graduall# could men win their wa# to ,hrist. .e have but to think' for instance' of 3etrus .aldus' the founder of the so1called sect of the 8.aldenses'9 and his associates in the twelfth centur#' none of whom at that time had an# knowledge of the Gospel. The spreading of ,hurch1life had come on without the Gospels. 4ust think of itK :rom those around 3etrus .aldus a few persons were chosen who could translate something of the Gospels; thus the# learnt to know the Gospels' and as the# learnt' a hol#' loft# ,hristian life flowed to them from the Gospels. The outcome was that 3etrus .aldus was declared a heretic b# the 3ope' against the will of his contemporaries. Jp to this time a certain amount of gnostic knowledge had spread even in -urope' as for instance among the 8,atharists9 translated as 83urified ?nes;9 it was directed to ac6uiring concepts' concrete concepts' about the ,hrist and the 2#ster# theof Golgotha. :rom the standpoint of the official ,hurch this was not allowed' therefore the ,atharists were heretics: 8het)er9 (German for 8heretic9$ is onl# an alteration of their neme 7 it is the same word. It is ver# necessar# to take that of which I am now speaking in its full strictness' in order to distinguish the path of ,hristianit# from that of the ,hurch' and thus to grasp how' in our age' through the principles of "piritual "cience' a wa# must be paved tothe true ,hrist' to the real ,hrist1concept. /er# man# features of the present da# become clear when we realise that not all that called itself ,hristian was intended to communicate the understanding of the 2#ster# of Golgotha' but that much was even intended to hinder that understanding' to raise a barrier against it. (oes this barrier e*ist to this da#C Indeed it doesK I would like to give #ou a case in point.
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2anifold endeavours' including that of 3rotestantism' were alwa#s in opposition to the ,hurch' because the ,hurch in man# wa#s had the task of erecting a barrier against the understanding of ,hrist' and men could do no other than strive for that understanding. 3etrus .aldus felt that need when he had recourse to the Gospels. Jntil then' there was onl# the ,hurch 7 not the Gospels. -ven now' man# strange opinions are held about this relation of the ,hurch to the Gospels. I want to read #ou a passage from a modern writer' ver# characteristic of this state of things' from which #ou will recognise that the opinion which condemnned 3etrus .aldus to e*communication is deepl# rooted even now. Take it as an e*ample of what is being said even to1da#: 8The Gospels and -pistles are for us incomparable written records of revelation but the# are neither the foundation on which our :aith was built' nor the uni6ue source from which the content of the latter is spontaneousl# created. In our view the ,hurch is older than the sacred writings; from her hand we receive them' she guarantees their trustworthiness' and as regards the dangers of hand1written transcriptions' and of the changing of the te*t in translation into all languages of the earth' the ,hurch is the onl# authoritative interpreter of the sense and import of ever# particular utterance.9 (8The 3rinciples of ,atholicism and "cience9' b# George von 0ertling' :reiburg 1 55.$ This means that the actual content of the Gospels is irrelevant; all that matters is what the ,hurch declares is to be found in them. I have to sa# this' for the simple reason that even in our own circles there is much simple mindedness on the subBect. @gain and again one hears the view that it would be useful if we could approach the ,atholic ,hurch' sa#ing that our interpretation is entirel# favourable to the ,hrist. !ut that would not help us at all' it would onl# blacken us in the e#es of the ,hurch' because she allows nothing to be upheld about the ,hrist' or about an# conclusions be#ond those of &atural "cience' unless the ,hurch herself recognises it as in agreement with her doctrine. .hoever among us upholds a conception of ,hrist' and believes thereb# to vindicate himself in the e#es of the ,hurch' reall# accuses himself 7 is indeed regarded as having done so' because he has no right to declare an#thing about the ,hrist from an# other source than the ,hurchAs owm doctrine . The same author from whose work I have Bust read' speaks ver# clearl# on the subBect: 8!elievers are in Bust the same position as is the investigator of nature with the facts of e*oerience.9 0e means that the believer must receive what the ,hurch dictates to him about the spiritual world' Bust as the e#es take in the facts of nature. 80e must neither take an#thing awa# nor add an#thing' he must take it as it stands; above all the ver# purest reception of the true content of the matter is e*pected of him. The truths of revelation are something given' for him who grasps them in faith. :or him' the# are conclusive and complete. &o enrichment of them has been possible since ,hrist: their volume cannot to decreased' and an# change in their content is out of the 6uestion9. "o speaks one who subscribes full# to the genuine orthodo* ,atholic view 7 a view which must dissociate itself' for instance' with a certain aversion from an# train of thought such as +essingAs' which leads1towards a renewed search for the "piritual. +essingAs views went as far as to embrace repeated earth1lives; the# are a product of modern spiritual life. The bitterest opposition is bound to e*ist between the ,atholic ,hurch and such ,erman spiritual life as flowed through +essing' 0erder' Goethe and "chiller. This same person (von 0ertling$ writes further: 8The edifice of ,hurch dcctrine' as it appears to the Theologian of to1da# and is presented b# him' was not complete and read#1made from the beginning. .hat ,hrist imparted to the @postles' what the# proclaimed to the world' was not a methodical' full# prepared s#stem' developed at all points: it was a rich store of truths' all united as in a focus in one event of sacred histor#: the stor# of the %edemption' of the Incarnation of the (ivine +ogos; but the instruction of the believers' and the necessar# defence against heathen assaults' as well as against the misrepresentations of heretics' made it necessar# tc unite these truths in a s#stem' to develop their full content' to determine their purport. 7 This was done b# the unwear#ing proclamation of the doctrine b# those speciall# chosen as instruments' according to the ,atholic interpretation under the guidance of the 0ol# "pirit' but at the same time vith the co1operation of the learning of the earl# ,hurch. 8&o new language was creeted b# this revelation' but what was alread# current was used; the sense and meaning of individual words being recoined and heightened. Theolog#' which undertook to think out the content of %evelation while setting it in order for e*positor# purposes' needed for the task certain tools and resources: sharpl# circumscribed ideas for organising the subBect1matter; special e*nression for making comprehensible relationships which far e*ceeded the e*perience of ever#da# life. @ new task in the histor# of the world thereb# devolved upon Greek philosoph#. It had the vessels read# 3repared' into which an infinitel# richer content' springing from a higher source' was to be poured. 3latonism was the first source of this creative work. The drift of its speculation on the supersensible distinctl# singled it out for the task. 2uch later' after the lapse of more than a thousand #ears' when the most important essentials of revelation had at last been formulated in dogma' the close union of theological science with @ristotelian philosoph# was completed and e*ists to this da#9.
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(!ecause' therefore' the philosoph# of @ristotle was united with the ,hurch as long ago as the 2iddle @ges' its value for the ,hurch toda# is be#ond 6uestionK$ 8.ith its help' the sainted Thomas @6uinas' the greatest master of s#stem known in histor#' raised the great edifice of doctrine' which' onl# modified here and there in detail' has determined ,atholic theolog# as to form' e*pression and method of teaching ever since.9 The author in 6uestion regards what he calls ,hurch doctrine as having come about b# means of a certain union between the ,hristian wisdom1element and Greek @ristotelian 3hilosoph#. 0e does recognise the possibilit# that in a ver# distant future' (he sa#s e*pressl# 8in a future b# no means near as #et9$' ,hristianit# might be approached through 6uite different ideas 0e sa#s: "upposing that ,hristianit# had not been spread abroad throurth Greek philosoph#' but as it might have been' through the Indian' it would have come forth in an entirel# different form. 0owever' it must remain in the form it has received: it must not' be changed b# an# novel view' arising in modern times. !ut he in certainl# aware that there are points where he is treading on thin ice: 7 8I am onl# against a spiritual disposition which' in realms where full freedom is accorded to "cientific investigation' is deaf to all the fundamental obBections' and holds fast to tradition.9 <et he holds strongl# enough to traditionK @nd finall#' it is then necessar# to give wa#' as was done in the case of the ,opernican s#stem.P That waseonl# in 1 2FK 0e turns awa# from legitimate endeavours to understand ,hristianit# afresh' with a modern consciousness. That is remarkabl# little to his taste. 0e sa#s: 8I could conceive that a far1distant future might loosen the union of Theolog# and @ristotelian philosoph#' replacing itAs no longer comprehensible or satisf#ing concepts with others' which would correspond to a knowledree improved in man# wa#s.9 0e 8could conceive9 7 that what nobod# in an# case understands to1da# might be replaced b# something e6uall# incomprehensible. 8It would not be offending against the warning of the Gospel' because it would not be pouring new wine into old skins' for on the contrar# new vessels would be produced' to preserve therein the never1failing wine of the doctrine of salvation' in its essential character' and to purve# it to the faithful.9 !ut that must not happen. 0e goes on: 8!ut the vessels must be chosen ones. The attempts made b# ,artesianism in the seventeenth centur#' and b# the philosnph# of Eant and 0egel in the nineteenth' e*hort us to prudence. @ school of ideas which would replace @ristotelianism would have to arise' Bust as that did' :rom fulness of knowledge and contemporar# consciousness.9 Then these same men would oppose it' because the# at an# rate are not the offspring of 8fulness of knowledge and contemporar# consciousness9. 8It would have to ac6uire e6ual authorit# over wide circles of thinking humanit#' and even then its transformation into ecclesiastical theolog# would hardl# be attained without errors and perple*ities on all hands.9 It would be necessar# to 8labour9 to bring about understanding. 8@s' for instance' in the thirteenth centur#' when through the @rabs the complete philosoph# of @ristotle was brought to the ,hristian .est. Its reception aroused severe opposition. -ven a Thomas @6uinas was not spared hostilit#. 0e was held b# man# to be an innovator' against whom the champions of the well1tried old order had to marshal their forces.9 It is remarkable how it is with this principle of over coming an old wa# of understanding. 8,hristianit# 7 men ma# think it 6uite a good principle' but the# absolutel# will not admit its validit# in their own epoch. It cannot be said that such a thing is done in simplict#. It is ver# learned' for the pamphlet concludes with a reall# significant reference 7 a reference to an ?rder which has at all times had reputation for shrewdness 7 a brotherhood which has a different standing from that of !ernard of ,lairvai* or :rancis ef @ssisi' whose reputation rested or a certain m#stical tendenc#. This other ?rder reckoned m#stical piet# aad such1like of less value than a certain shrewdness and understanding of worldl# affairs. 0ence the pamphlet sa#s in conclusion:
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8I end with an utterance of "t. Ignatius of +o#ola' which has been incorporated into the constitution of the 4esuit ?rder' and has ben referred to of late in different 6uarters: 8"cientific pursuits' if the# are undertaken with pure stiving in the service of God' are on that account' because the# comprehend the whole of humanit#' not less' but more pleasing to God than pennance.9 The endeavour has been made in our own time to awaken clear understanding on all sides. I will prove this to #ou b# an e*ample. I have been reading to #ou from this author so that #ou ma# see the position taken up b# those who hold certain views' as regards a movement I was describing. This attitude of theirs was perceived b# a writer who published a short time ago' (it is importent to note that it is of recent date$ an article on the author of this pamphlet. I will read an e*tract from it: 8@t the ,onference in 1 5D' on the subBct of ,atholic "cience and the position of ,atholic savants at the present da# this declaration was made: 8.e ,atholic1"cientists of the nineteenth centur# are convinced that there is no antagonism between "cience and :aith' but that the# are ordained to combine in inner harmon#. .e are convinced that no two sides of truth e*ist' or can e*ist. God is the source of all truth; 0e has spoken to us through the 3rophets and the incararnated +ogos; 0e speaks to us through the ordained ministr# of the ,hurch' and no less in the laws of logic' which we must hold to when we strive for knowledge of the truths of &ature. e!cause God cannot contradict 0inself' therfore no antagonism can e*ist between supernatural and natural truths; between the teachings of revelation and a science which earnestl#' honestl# brings to light the laws and the rules of method.9 8This reall# means' however' that philosoph# is reduced to silence. Its freedom is Bust the same for us as that of a flock of sheep in its enclosure' or the prisoners within walls. 3hilosoph#' as regards its own principles' is Bust as little free under the determining' limiting rule of faith as the# 7 who are allowed to walk about on their own feet' to use their own1 hands and to move as the# like' but in a strictl# 7 enclosed space. The phrase 8,atholic philosoph#9 embodies a direct contradiction' for b# its own account of itself it is not unconditionall# free.9 If our "piritual "cience were not independent' it would not be what it ought to be. 8,atholic philosoph# has to follow a prescribed line of march. @ philosoph# claiming to be based. on scientific method must hold firm' regardless of conse6uences' to nothing outside the results of its own researches and its own thinking. It is bound b# strict rules of investigation and verification' and is forbidden to take its stand within an# particular religion or on an# point of ecclesiastical dogma. ?therwise it is not science but unscientific dogmatism' governed not b# principles of knowledge' but b# faith and the power of faith. In that case it does not go its wa# unhindered and uninfluenced' nor does it follow impartiall# its own laws' but it acknowledges as a matter of course an ordained truth' and' in relation to that' resigns its independence.9 ((r. !ernhard 2Rn). 8The German Imperial ,hancellor as 3hilosopher9 in the 8@ustrian %eview9' 15th @pril 151 .$ That is precisel# the task of the present time' to find the wa# for ever# hman being to stand on his own feet. @ man who maintains such things as #ou have Bust heard 6uoted stands in sharpest contradiction to this task. There are neople who see that such opinions preclude an# possibilit# of a scientific view of the universe; but it seems ver# difficult at the present time to prove the impartialit# of oneAs Budgment' however necessar# it ma# be. The further progress of civilisation will depend on men comin to learn how in their soul1being the# are connected with the "piritual world; whoever shuts his e#es to this' hinders the most important task of his own da#. There is no escape from this conclusion. The remarkable thing to1da# is that people can look at the matter' and in a marvellous wa# draw other conclusions from it. The author of this article writes of the man from whose pamphlet I have read to #ou' which culminated in the confession of 4esuitism. The 8subBect9 of the article is Georg von 0ertling' now 8,ount9 0ertling. 7 The author of the article' however' in spite of having said that the outlook he is criticising 8e*cludes all science9' adds in conclusion: 8,ount 0ertling is a decided' strongl#1marked individualit#. Individualit# literall# means indivisibilit#' but in this case it implies divisibilit#' inner blending' universal organisation. Individual soul' famil# soul' and nation1soul meet and are accentuated side b# side in this man: this trinit#1of soul it is that makes him so strong and stamps him as the predestined ,hancellor of the German -mpire.9 @ need of our time is to find a wa# of touching the nerve through which the current of "piritual "cience must flow' and this can be none other than the one which enables the soul to find its onn wa# to the spiritual world. This must be thoroughl# understood' for it is bound un with the deepest needs' the most indispensible impulses' our age. ?ur time demands of man that he should be able' in noticing a thing' to admit it' and to draw the real conclusions from it. "piritual "cience can be genuine onl# in those who have the courage to face truth and to maintain it; otherwise such e*periences as I have described will become more fre6uent. I must add this' because more and more simple minds are to be found amongst us who hear with Bo# an# praise of "piritual "cience' or what appears
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like it. (iscrimination precisel# in these ver# points is necessar#. 83raise9 can be far more hurtful and run far more counter to our efforts' than adverse criticism' when honestl# meant. 0ermann 0eisler' a protestant theologian' gave seventeen sermons in ,onstance and published them afterwards under the title of 8/ital 6uestions of the (a#9. !# chance a characteristic review of his book fell into m# hands' and our unsophisticated friends would perhaps count it as something to be pleased with' inasmuch as it is unadulterated praise: 8These sermons deserve particular attention' on account of their authorship. 0eisler was for ten #ears an evangelical 3astor in "t#ria and !ohemia' then' alarmed at the danger of becoming numbed b# the routine of his office' resigned it for the time being' in order to devote himself for a #ear to stud#ing the fundamentals of natural science and philosoph#. :inall#' urged b# an inner call' he returned to his spiritual sphere with new Bo#fulness and love. @s he could not serve his countr# with the colours' he offered his spiritual services to the ,hurch of his native !aden' and was entrusted with a cure of souls at ,onstance' where these seventeen addresses were given in 151F. The# are remarkable as regards their substance. The# are all based on deep spiritual effort' and e*pect hearers and readers alike to share in it. The# are not' designed to arouse beautiful feelings but to lead through earnest thinkins to convinced knowledge. The# avoid the sermonising tone' and read almost like scientific treatises developed in a popular wa# about religious problems. I would instance the sermon on that man#1sided conception' freedom. It arrives at the true conclusion: H?f course there alwa#s remains as absolute necessit# which directs us. -ven as free human beings' we still follow the aim which most attracts us; but the divine gift of freedom which ,hrist brings us is that the lower attractions of the sense1world lose their constraining power over our souls' and the maBest# of the spiritual world gains inner sovereignt# over us.I 9 The peculiar feature of 0eislerAs preaching' however' does not lie in the powerful grasp of his thinking' but in its special content: 0eisler is a convinced' inspired Theosophist. 0e himself would rather use the term' 8follower of "piritual "cience9. That must not be confused with the spiritualistic belief in the materialisation of spirits. It calls for a purel# spiritual activit#' bound to no material means. ?ur thoughts are forces' which' invisible #et powerful' stream out from us and impress the seal of our being on the whole of &ature' beneficiall# or the reverse. This belief in the imperishable power of the spirit is set forth for our comfort in the address' H?ur (ead are @live;I it takes an ama)ing form in the one on H(estin#.I !ased on the account in "t. 4ohnAs Gospel of the man born blind' the old Indian and ?rphic doctrines of the soulAs pilgrimage' its reincarnation in an earthl# bod#' is taught; the preacher would thereb# solve the riddle of how fate so often seems unBust' and' like +essing in his 8-ducation of the 0uman %ace'9 would arouse a belief in a carefull# planned divine education of humanit#. .hen I add that 0eisler looks upon this teaching' indeed on all his "piritual "cience' as a return to the &ew Testamet' lecturinrg upon it as science' and consciousl# overstepping the Eantian boundar# between knowledre and faith' I have sketched his schene of thoght it its main features.9 8.ell' we might sa#' what more is wantedK %eall# nothing better could be writtenK !ut the author of the review concludes his considerations thus: 8I m#self reBect this "piritual "cience and abide b# Eant; but after all' the sermons contain so much that is good' and Theosoph# is for the moment agitating theolog# in so significant a wa#' (cf. for e*ample' %ittleme#erAs writings in the ,hristliche .elt$' that I believe I do man# theologians and lait# a service b# drawing attention emphaticall# to these addresses.9 ((. "chuster in 8The 0anover ,ourier9' 1 th 4ul#' 151D.$ That is often the wa# of thought in our age: inner force and courage are lacking in it. The man has 8nothing but good9 to sa#; one notices that he has insight into the good' because he can define it in charming words; but then 7 8I personall# reBect this "piritual "cience9K There #ou have the fruits of what I began b# describing' and much in the present time is connected with these 8fruits9. In the ne*t lecture I will deal further with the tendenc# I have been discussing' and its effpcts in social democac# and !olshevism.

1e"ture 0 8ro#le$s of the Ti$e 92:

!erlin' 4ul# DG' 151 To1da# we will go rather further in outlining the connections we have tried to understand in the course of our recent studies. The present time' with its man# diverse currents' spiritual and material' is e*tremel# difficult to understand; and the effort ends onl# in perple*it# unless we make up our minds to recognise the causes as l#ing far' far back in the womb of histor#. +et us look back' as students of "piritual "cience' at the so1called fourth post1@tlantean period.
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This begins' as we know' somewhere about the #ear F=F before the 2#ster# of Golotha' and closes with the beinning of the fifteenth centur#' about 1=1D @.(. (The figures are of course to be taken appro*imatel#' as alwa#s in matters of this kind.$ .ithin this period' as we observe it' we can perceive certain forces' connected with and related to each other' but differing; fundamentall# from all others working in previous and subse6uent epochs. This period' in which the development of the Intellectual or 2ind1"oul in manAs being took place' can be divided into three smaller ones: the first' between the #ear F=F !.,. (which is the real date of the founding of %ome$' ends about 2F !.,.; the second runs from 2F !.,. until about the end of the Fth centur#; (>5D @.(.$; the third and last from >5D to 1=1D @.(. "ince this date' since about 1=1D' we have the time which brings forth' in its own characteristic wa#' soul1forces alread# known to #ou to some e*tent. 4ust as this fourth 3ost1@tlantean epoch can be clearl# distinguished from the three preceding ones (the ancient Indian' 3ersian' and -g#pto1,haldean$ and must also be sharpl# distinguished from what followed it and what is still to come' so within it the growthn is marked b# noticeable moments' if we consider its progress through these three shorter periods. :rom F=F to 2F !.,. the peoples inhabiting the countries around the 2editerranean come chiefl# into prominence. .e see a distinct form of soul1life developing among them. 0istor# hardl# mentions it' because histor# has no neans of creating the ideas and conceptions which would fit it to deal with the reall# characteristic features. This epoch' which I have marked off' can be characterised b# sa#ing that it is the time when' for inner reasons of human evolution as a whole' the souls of men emancipate themselves from their connection with the universal "piritual world. If we look back into -g#ptian and ,haldean times' during the epoch of the "entient1soul' we find in human consciousness a decided sense of kinship of the soul with the ,osmos. The "entient1"oul in man;s nature was then able to perceive that man is a member of the whole cosnos. .e cannot rightl# estimate what is characteristic of the -g#ptian' ,haldean or !ab#lonian stages' unless we take into account the fact that man at that time actuall# e*perienced a feeling of kinship with the spiritual ,osmos' 4ust as the fingers on our hand feel themselves part of us' as it ware' so the -g#ptian or ,haldean felt himself to be a member of the spiritual ,osmos. @ crisis' a veritable catastrophe' overtook mankind in the th centur# before ,hrist' and respect of this feeling of kinship with the ,osmos human souls had owed their former feeling of belonging to the ,osmos to the atavistic' dream1like clairvo#ance. The# did not perceive as we do to1da#. In the act of sense1perception the# also perceived what profane science ignorantl# calls 8@nimism9 7 the spiritual' the divine; and through this the# felt themselves as belonging to the "pirit of the universe. This relationship disappeared. The conse6uences were' on the one hand' numerous phenomena of decadence' but on the other' the whole marvellous culture of Greece' whose civilisation was founded on what man e*periences when' as man' he begins to stand alone in the universe. .e owe this civilisation to the fact that man no longer felt himself a member of the cosmos' but a totalit# as man' a being complete in himself. 0e had in a sense taken his own place in the cosmos' had begun to live a life of his own. If Greek civilisation had retained the soul1constitution for instance' of the @ncient Indian period' with its feeling of connection with the cosmos' it is impossible to imagine that this beautiful Greek civilisation could ever have arisen. @ll the splendour and glor# displa#ed b# Greek civilisation' une6ualled elsewhere' developed in the time between the eighth and the first centuries before ,hrist. 0umanit# had withdrawn into the citadel of the soul' of the human soul in the true sense. This was the time when humanit# began to move towards the 2#ster# of Golgotha. .e must not forget that there is alwa#s something in the 2#ster# of Golgotha which cannot entirel# dawn on human understending' even supersensible understanding. There will alwa#s be something unconprehended. It is be#ond the power of human conceptions' human feelings' human e*periences' full# to grasp what was achieved b# the entrance of the ,hrist into earthl# evolution. Therefore the 2#ster# had' in a sense' so to take place that while it was in progress' human civilisation was not read# full# to share in it; it had to tale its course separatel#' side b# side with ordinar# human e*perience. That is fairl# evident' even from histor#. 0ow much did human civilisation around the 2editerranean notice of what happened in the far1off 4ewish province of 3alestine' with regard to ,hrist 4esusC 0ow little did it enter into the consciousness of civilised humanit#' even that of Tacitus' who was writing onl# a centur# after the 2#ster# of GolgothaK ?n the one hand we have the current of human civilisation' and on the other the stream which brought with it the 2#ster# of Golgotha: the two run their course side b# side. This could happen onl# because man' civilised man' at the time of the (ivine -vent' was severed from the (ivine' was living a life which had no direct connection with the "piritual. Thus on the earth itself there took place a spiritual event' which went its wa# side b# side with human civilisation. "uch a Bu*taposition of outer civilisation with a 2#ster#1-vent is unthinkable in an# earlier period. It never had happened before' because in earlier times human civilisation knew and recognised itself as being in connection with happenings in the realm of the (ivine1"piritual. It is ver# distinctive' ver# rremarkable' that the secular culture which ran parallel with the 2#ster# of Golotha was remote from it; man had severed himself from it. In the second period' which lasted from about 2F !.,. to >5D @.(.' mid1-uropean civilisation was not of a kind to enable secular culture to come to an understanding; of the 2#ster# of Golgotha. This ma# sound ver# strange' considering that ,hristianit# had made itself at home in this secular culture and had spread over the civilisation of mid1 -urope; but its e*pansion took place in the wa# I have described. The 2#ster# of Golgotha was isolated' was alone.
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,ertainl#' it was accepted as outer dogma to this e*tent: ,hrist had come' had called @postles' had accomplished this or that for humanit#' had said this or that about manAs relation to the (ivine. @ll this was readil# accepted in its outer application b# secular culture' but this outer recognition does not alter the fact that in realit# all those who accepted ,hristianit# in these earl# centuries were far removed from an inner understanding of the 2#ster# of Golgotha. .ith the help of the Gnosis' or of all that had been carried over as treasures of wisdom from the ancient pagan world' the# might have come near to facing the 6uestion: 8.hat reall# happened in the 2#ster# of GolgothaC9 The# did not do so. The# declared ever#thing heres# which might have led to an understanding of it' and tried to accomplish the impossible' to put into trivial forms what never could be confined within such forms' what could be the obBect onl# of wisdomAs highest aspiration 7 the 2#ster# of Golgotha. 0ence the organisations fostered during' the earl# centuries of ,hristianit# were not such as to help people to unite the#eselves with the 2#ster#; their effect was to encourage in the human soul something ver# remote from a genuine inner feeling of understanding and partaking in it. The 8,hurch9 was an organi)ation rather for the non1understandlnu of the 2#ster# of Golgotha. @n#one who follows up what the various councils' and more especiall# the intrigues of the ,hurch' strove to accomplish' will find that all thse efforts went towards getting certain domatic ideas accepted' and towards inducing people co think of ever#thing connected with the 2#ster# of Golgotha as law in no real relationship to the life of the human soul. @ll this led up to a certain point' which can be described' somewhat radicall#' in the following wa#. 2en tried to accommodate themselves' here on earth' to certain ideas concerning the 2#ster# of Golgotha and its effects; but the most important thing was not the e*tent to which the# could come to know about it and to absorb it into their souls. It was that the# should be able to adopt this belief: 8.e grasp the fact that the 2#ster# of Golgotha was accomplished on its own account' independentl# of us' and ,hrist will take care that we are savedK9 This tendenc# gained ground until the realit# of spiritual events was relegated to a region 6uite outside the soul; sacred' spiritual events were not to be thought of as connected with what took place in an# human breast; the two were to be as widel# separated as possible. .ithin' this tendenc# la# the germ of a purpose 7 une*pressed of course' but active subconsciousl# 7 which emerged clearl# for the first time at the ,ouncil of ,onstantinople in >5. The aim was to keep the human spirit awa# from an# individual' personal concern with the spiritual' (which was restricted to the 2#ster# of Golgotha$' and therefore from an# inclination to understand the 2#ster# in terms of personal e*perience. It was to remain incomprehensible. "o the ,hurch was able to include more and more people of a purel# secular frame of mind' who came to believe that the supersensible was be#ond the range of the human soul' and that human thinking should confine itself to the obBects and activities of the ph#sical world. &o forces were to be developed out of the human soul which could lead to an independent understanding of the 2#ster# of Golgotha. In certain decrees of this eighth ,ouncil of ,onstantinople it is clearl# stated that -uropean humanit# might not 7 because the forces of the human soul were not e6ual to it 7 reflect on the realm wherein the life appertaining to the 2#ster# of Golgotha had taken its course. In this middle period of the fourth 3ost1@tlantean epoch' lasting from 2F !.,. until >5D @.(. something was accomplished which ma# be described as the confirming of humanit# in the belief that all human knowledge and e*perience is adapted' onl# for the palpable 8this life9; the impalpable' supGrsensible realm the 8be#ond9 as it is called' must be alwa#s withdrawn from their ken' inaccessible to direct perception. The entire histor# of those centuries can be understood onl# b# keeping this cardinal fact in mind: The whole polic# of the ,atholic ,hurch was directed to bringing men to the belief: 8The soul can know onl# the things of this life; as regards the supersensible' thou must approach this in a wa# which has nothing to do with th# intelligence or personal knowledge9. The effect of this was that after the close of this epoch' in the eighth and ninth centuries' a sort of obscurit# descended on -uropean humanit# as regards the connection of the human soul with the supersensible. @nd certain later phenomena' among which that of !ernard of ,laivrau* is t#pical' can be e*plained onl# b# the fact that such men remained in a sense be#ond the ph#sical' in 8the other world9' their souls absorbed in what is inaccessible to rational human understanding. This enthusiasm for something which undoubtedl# lies be#ond all human comprehension must be seen in the entire disposition of soul in a !ernard of ,lairvau*' if he is to be understood. In his personalit# we find man# traits which are great and powerful in the it effects' for what is capable of a more or less distorted activit# is e6uall# capable of a beautiful' great and glorious one. !ernard had characteristics which clearl# show him to be a product of that disposition of soul which developed in .estern civilisation in the wa# I have described' during these particular centuries. 2an# other men resembled him; he is Bust a t#pical figure 7 as' for instance' when he spoke to his followers (who were ver# numerous$ of all that would be bestowed on humanit# b# the 8,rusade9 he contemplated. Then came the failure of the whole attempt. 0ow did this devout man speak of the failureC "omewhat this wa#: If ever#thing' ever#thing goes wrong' ma# the blame be on me alone' not on the (ivine' which must be alwa#s right. -ven when such a man was convinced of his connection with what he conceived of as the (ivine1"piritual power behind events' he separated the one from the other and said: 8+a# the sin at m# door: 3rovidence is something that takes its own course in a realm be#ond and apart from that of the human soul. "o' at the beginning of the third period of the fourth post1@tlantean epoch of civilisation' somethins akin to a darkening descended on humanit# 7 best e*pressed b# sa#ing; that manAs hori)on no longer e*tended to the idea of a connection with spiritual currents and impulses. In philosoph# of the centuries between the eighth and 15th one finds
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alwa#s the same aim 7 to prove that human ideas and concept should in no case attempts to grasp the course of spiritual realit#' that spiritual realit# can onl# be' and must be' a matter of %evelation' left to the teaching office of the church. 7 this was reduced to a convenient formulaK Thus had the power of the ,hurch been built up. This power of the ,hurch did not derive purel# from theological impulse' but from the fact that man was banished to the ph#sical life of the senses as regards the use of his own forces of knowledge and mental powers' and was not allowed to think of a knowledge of the supersensible. 0ence arose a conception of belief which was not in e*istence in the earl# centuries (although it is sometimes antedated$' but developed later. It took this form: 8,oncerning the (ivine1"piritual onl# faith is possible 7 not knowledge.9 This division between the 8truth of :aith9 and the 8truth of knowledge9 was actuall# made against certain significant historical backgrounds' which should be studied in connection with the things I have indicated. .e have been living since the 15th centur#' appro*imatel# since 1=1D @.(.' during a period (this will become evident in the third millennium$' in which we are concerned in part with the heritage of all that has happened under such influence as I have described. ?n the one hand stand of the legacies from those da#s; on the other we have to deal with something coming to view in this' the fifth post1@tlantean period 7 something entirel# new. In the fourth period' when we look back at it' we see that there was then a kind of severance of the human soul from the (ivine1"piritual' a banishment to purel# e*ternal ph#sical sense1transactions. That was the new thing in the fourth period. It did not e*ist in the -g#pto1,haldean epoch' as I have alread# pointed out. .e now have to deal with an analogous novelt# in our own epoch' and humanit#As task' 7 having entered on an age in which self1consciousness must pla# an ever greater and greater part 7 is to distinguish between what is a legac# from time past' and what is newl# added to it from our own time. +et us first look at the inheritance' legac#. .e have seen that it consists in man having been constrained to develop his soul1life apart from the super1sensible. 2oreover there is another result of this' the more clearl# to be seen the closer the events of histor# are surve#ed; indeed' a searching review shows the facts to be un6uestionable' admitting of no doubt whatsoever. This fact is that man' confining his soul1force to the fence1perceptible' was willing to be severed from the supersensible' and finall# 7 since the 15th centur# 7 arrived at reBecting the supersensible altogether. The eighth ,ouncil of ,onstantinople in >5' is characteri)ed b# the wish to keep man and a super sensible apart; and from this separation' sponsored deliberatel# b# the ,hurch' spra#ing the reBection of the supersensible 7 the believe arose that the supersensible might be onl# a matter of imagination and have no realit#. If one investigates the Genesis of modern materialism from an historical' ps#chological point of view' the ,hurch must be held responsible for it. ?f course the ,hurch is onl# the outer e*pression of deeper forces working in manAs evolution' but to notice how one thing arises from another enables one to understand the course of events. In the fourth post1@tlantean age' the orthodo* man would sa#: 8The human facult# of knowledge is adapted onl# for understanding what is connected with the realm of the senses. The supersensible must be left to revelation' which ma# not be contested; to speak against revelation is heres# and can lead onl# to delusion.9 The modern 2ar*ist' a modern "ocial (emocrat' true scion of this view 7 which is nothing but the conse6uence of the ,atholicism of earlier centuries 7 sa#s: 8@ll knowledge worth# of the name is concerned onl# with sense1 perceptible' ph#sical events; there is no H"piritual "cienceI because there is no such thing as spirit. H"piritualI "cience is' at best' "ocial "cience' the science of human communities9. ?f course this tendenc# has come to fruition differentl# in various parts of the civili)ed world' but the differences are no more than nuances. 0ence' from the ninth centur# onwards' in the central and western countries of -urope' it becomes necessar# to ensure that human soul1life should occup# itself with the supersensible b# 8believing9 in it' but should know of it onl# through revelation. The races and peoples of ,entral -urope were such that the# had to be handled carefull#; the# could not be treated in the same simple wa#. To sa# to people: 8<our human capacities are limited to eating and drinking and things of the outer world; the supersensible is be#ond #ou9 7 that could not be done in .estern -urope; but it was done in -astern -urope' and that is the reason for the cleavage between the -astern and .estern ,hurches. In -astern -urope' people reall# were confined to the sense1world; that was where their capacities had to unfold. That which finall# led to the ?rthodo* religion was to be developed in the 0eights of 2#ster#1e*perience' 6uite untouched b# an#thing to do with the senses. .hat man brought forth out of his human nature was set sharpl# apart from the true spiritual world' which lived onl# in the ritual that hovered loftil# above mankind. .hat was it that had to develop thereC In var#ing shades' the point of view' the perception' better realit# belonged onl# to the ph#sical world of the senses. ?ne might sa# that forces towards which man adopts an attitude of repression' do not develop' but atroph#. If' then' humanit# was restrained for centuries from spirituall# grasping the supersensible' the power of doing so was bound in the end to disappear completel#. This is what we find in the modern socialistic views of life' whose misfortune consists 7 not in their "ocialismK 7 but in the fact that the# entirel# reBect the spiritual1 supersensible' and are therefore obliged to confine themselves to a social structure which takes account onl# of the animal
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side of manAs nature. This was prepared for b# the paral#)ing of manAs supersensible forces; hence it follows that men are driven into sa#ing: 8,are for our salvation shall not in an# wa# make us unite our soulAs knowledge e*perience with e*treme that lives a life on its own 7 The stream which includes the 2#ster# of Golgotha9. 7 .ith what is this connectedC .ith the fact that in the fourth post1@tlantean epoch the +uciferci forces were especiall# active. The# severed man from the cosmos' because their aim is invariabl# to isolate man in selfishness' to cut him off from the whole spiritual universe' as well as from the knowledge of his connection to the ph#sical one. 0ence' when this severance was at its height' there were no natural sciences. This was +uciferAs doing. The activit# which separated sense1knowledge from dogma regarding the supersensible' was therefore a +uciferic one. ?ver against it stands the @hrimanic influence; and these two are the great adversaries of the human soul. The fact that the supersensible forces of humanit# have been allowed to atroph# 7 leading to a purel# animal form of "ocialism' now due to break over humanit# in a devastating and destructive wa# 7 is to be traced to +uciferic forces. The new influence' developing in our age' is of a different nature' more @hrimanic. The +uciferic element would isolate man' cut him off from the spiritual1supersensible' and lead him to e*perience the illusion of being a totalit# in himself. ?n the other hand' the @hrimanic element inspires man with fear of the spiritual' keeps him awa# from it' fosters in him the illusion that the spiritual cannot be attained b# mankind. The +uciferic keeping awa# of man from the supersensible might be described as of an#more educational' cultured kind' whereas the @hrimanic' founded on fear of the spiritual' is more Hnatural'I arising in the age which began with 15th centur#. @nd as the +uciferic severance from the spiritual came especiall# to e*pression under the cover of ?rthodo* ,hristianit# of the -ast' so the @hrimanic fear' the holding back from the spiritual' makes itself felt especiall# in the culture of the .est' and particularl# in the element of @merican civili)ation. "uch truths ma# be unpalatable toda#' but the# are truths nevertheless' and we get ver# little farther b# generali)ing 7 however m#sticall# or theosophicall# 7 about the connection of the human with the (ivine' or whatever it ma# be called. .e can progress onl# b# recogni)ing the realit# as it is. .e can reduce our chaos to order onl# if we recogni)e the true characteristics of the different currents running side1b#1side. These various currents' springing from their several assumptions' spread out locall#' and so ever#thing is confused in the hodgepodge called 8modern civili)ation9. .hat I am now speaking of as 8@mericanism9 (as collective concept' not appl#ing to individual @mericans$' is fear of the spiritual' the longing to live onl# on the ph#sical plane' or at most in what improves into that plane as course "piritualism and such1 like' which is not in the real sense' spiritual at all. The mark of @mericanism is fear of the spiritual; it is b# no means confined to @merica' but there it lives as a social characteristic' not simpl# a human one. @bove all it is predominant in all science. "cience has increasingl# been founded on 8fear of the spiritual9. &othing in science is called 8obBective9 unless it e*cludes as far as possible living conceptions engendered in the inwardness of the soul. &o idea' no conception' engendered in the inwardness of the soul' is permitted to intrude into the observation of nature. This is allowed to embrace onl# what is dead' not the living that is spirit1inwoven. If' in the manner of 0egel' "helling or Goethe 7 those genuine representatives of 2id1-uropean thought 7 an#one introduces the 8concept9 into observation of nature' he is at once thought to be on the road to uncertaint#' for no obBective realit# is ever e*pected to be attained through spiritual comprehension or e*perience. It is assumed that this means bringing in personal bias; that an e*periment ceases to be obBective directl# an#time an#thing subBective enters into it. That is @hrimanic. "cience is universall# 8@merican9 in so far as it clings to the fundamental a*iom' 8-ver#thing subBective must be banished from an observation of &ature9 . This is the fundamental result of the earlier severance from the spiritual in the fourth post1@tlantean period. Thus a new element is added to this legac# 7 a new element which will make itself felt more and more as a destructive force alongside all that has to develop fruitfull# 7 and consciousl# 7 in the future. It is essentiall# of an @hrimanic nature; it is fear of the spiritual' and it brings havoc and disintegration into human civili)ation. @t the transition from the fourth to fifth post1@tlantean epoch' and during the fifth epoch' these impulses became more and more noticeable. .ith the discover# of @merica' and the transplantation into @merica of -uropean wa#s' fear of this spiritual life appeared there' too; but on the other hand there arose what might be called a tension in human souls' for the native forces of the people in -urope were such that the# could not fail to some e*tent to trace their own connection with the spiritualit# of the universe. @ tension arose at the passing of the forth into the fifth post1@tlantean epoch of civili)ation' during the centuries in which what is known as 8modern histor#9 takes shape. Then came this tension caused b# the suppressed spiritual element in the breast of man. ,ertain people decided that a barrier had to be put up against it' partl# because the# understood ver# well what was left of the old inheritance' and partl# because the# had a ver# pertinent grass of the newl# approaching @hrimanic element. This was the genesis of that spiritual current 7 a much more influential one than most people think' as I mentioned from a different point of view in m# last lecture 7 which tries to perpetuate this keeping of the human soul at a distance from the supersensible: in other words 4esuitism. Its inner principle is to do ever#thing possible in human evolution to keep man at a distance from an# real' conscious connection with the supersensible. &aturall#' this was facilitated b# presenting the supersensible dogmaticall# as a realm into which human knowledge could not penetrate. !ut the 4esuit movement knows ver# well how to reckon with the other side; it
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wants no such inner relation between modern science and @mericanism. In that respect 4esuitism is great: it recogni)es the importance of ph#sical science and makes a deep stud# of it. 4esuits are great spirits in the round of ph#sical' material science' for 4esuitism reckons with the elemental tendenc# of mankind to fear the spiritual' a fear which must be overcome b# leading human nature towards the spiritual world; and accounts on being able to impose this fear on societ# I sa#ing to people' in so man# words: 8<ou cannot and shall not approach the spiritual; we are trustees of the spiritual and we will purve# it to #ou in the proper wa#.9 These two currents of thought' @mericanism and 4esuitism' pla# into one another' as it were. This is not something to take casuall#; and all such matters we must look for the deeper impulses which are active in human evolution. If we tr# to identif# the forces which have brought about the present catastrophe' we shall find it remarkable cooperation between @mericanism 7 in a sense here given 7 and 4esuitism. @nd from a wider point of view we see' on the one hand' how the inheritance from earlier times still influences our mental life' and on the other' the advent of something new. If we specif# these two impulses as the +uciferic and @hrimanic' we describe precisel# the opposition towards that which must be introduced into the development of mankind for its salvation as true spiritual life. @n#one who approaches with inner s#mpath# such a figure as !ernard of ,lairvau*' who in a certain sense inclines towards the +uciferic' will take account of the following attitude: 80uman knowledge is after all directed onl# towards the ph#sical1material; therefore we direct the soul to seek the divine1spiritual in the fervor of elemental e*perience.9 This is what kindles enthusiasm in a temperament of that kind. .e might sa# that what lives in human souls as a tendenc# towards this virtual side' lives on in our own time' but there is also the other tendenc# 7 towards the dark and somber side. The 12th centur# had its !ernard of ,lairvau*: ours have such figures as +enin and Trotsk#; as in the former centur# there was an active inclination towards the supersensible' so now we find hatred for it' although e*pressed in different words and substance. That is the dark reverse side of those times: there the pouring of the human soul into the (ivine mould' here the pouring of manAs being into an animal mould' on which alone the social structure is to be built. These matters can be understood onl# if one has a clear grasp of one fact' which is far awa# from present1da# comprehension. ?ur time is credulous in respect of theories' taking the content of ideas and programms as gospel' as I have often remarked. It is realit# that counts' not theories and programms. The modern follower of 2ar*' at the turn of the 15th and 2Gth centuries' before the world1war' would of course have said: 8This is what 2ar* teaches' -ngles teaches' +assalle teaches' and that is all one needs for salvation.9 0e was concerned onl# with the 8content9 of ideas and programms. In realit# it is never a 6uestion of that' for ideas are never carried into life in accordance with their content' but b# means of forces which are 6uite distinct from it. &o one knows the truth unless he knows that ideas often have so little to do with realit# that ma# arise independentl# of their content. @ splendid programme can be devised' established on a sound scientific basis' ferventl# longed for as the 2ar*ists longed for theirs' but all to no purpose. :or an age as unspiritual as ours' this is pla#ing with fire. 2en believe that the# are working to reali)e the content of their ideas' but an#one who knows how things happen in life knows that the realit# is 6uite different. If ideas are not derived from spiritual knowledge the# ma# enter into cultural life as sheer monstrosities 7 and this applies to the ideas of 2ar*' which are intended to banish the spirit. 0owever find the# ma# be' the# become abortions. It is no use asking in the morning: 8.h# has it grown light through what has happened on the earthC9 ?ne has to turn awa# from abstract ideas and sa#: 8(a#light has come because the sun is shining9. In going out be#ond the -arth one sees the reason for the da#light. "imilarl#' if we want to understand 8to1da#9' we must look awa# from what is happening in the immediate present to what took place in a time long past. !olshevism cannot be understood e*cept b# recogni)ing it as an after1the fact of the -ighth -cumenical ,ouncil of >5 @.(. <ou cannot understand it e*cept as a result of the atroph# of the forces which man once had for apprehending the supersensible world. In order reall# to understand the happenings of the outer world' in order to confront them' we must perceive this inner connection. :or an#one observing the relations of events in histor# it is the most fearful thing to see how movements which set out to reform the world are concerned onl# with the 8subBect1 matter9 of ideas' and refuse to reckon with their realit#' which e*ists 6uite independentl# of whether there content is beautiful or not. "uppose a child is born' a beautiful child; his mother ma# be charmed. 2others are sometimes charmed' even when their children are not beautifulK 0e becomes a good for nothing' a neAer1do1well' perhaps even a criminal. Is it therefore untrue to sa# that he was a beautiful childC 0ave people no right to sa# that he wasC (oes his childish beaut# contradict the unforeseen things in his lifeC 4ust so there have been in man# circles men with admirable ideas through which the# wanted to reform the world' and these men were admired; #et the ideas became abortionsK :or ideas of themselves are but dead things; the# must be animated b# being received into the vigorous life of the "pirit. In reading modern socialistic publications one finds 7 if certain differences are left out of account 7 a great similarit# between them and writings which e*press the standpoint of the ,atholic ,hurch' although the latter are differentl# e*pressed and deal with different realms. :or instance' I recentl# read to #ou out of a certain brochure. &otice the kind of thought it' itAs thought1forms; compare what is said there with the rabid tendencies' whether cultured or not' which led graduall# to !olshevism; compared with the beginning of a publication b#Eautsk# or +enin; #ouAll find the same thoughts. ?ne is the development of the other. &owhere does one get a stronger feeling of ,atholicism than in reading certain dogmatic socialist utterances. !ut something which ,atholicism forbids 7 philosophi)ing about certain
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things 7 has become a passion' a principle: the principle of declaring that all learning comes from the bourgeoisie' and all spiritual development from class1warfare. This principle is the effect of the ,atholic principle. !olshevism ma# perhaps' in the form of its inception' have onl# a short e*istence: but all mankind will have to reckon long enough with what stands behind. @n#one who knows how it all hangs together would not be surprised that !olshevism should have donned in the place where this wa# of thinking' in the bestial course it is followed' proceeded under cover of the ?rthodo* religion' so that the two streams were entirel# separate. .e must fathom all these things if we want to be conscious of the necessit# for approaching the spiritual life in the right wa#. 2#stical talk about it is out of place to1da#. .hat is needed to1da# is to appl# spiritual knowledge so as to look into realit# and to discover the connections belonging to it; because from such knowledge alone in the correct grasp of the worldAs events arise; never from a past inheritance' or from fear' or from this elementar# new thing I have described' which can but lead deepl# into chaos. In this animalised "ocialism we see displa#ed one result of what developed in the fourth post1@tlantean epoch. It has a +uciferic element in it; the +uciferic 8?riginal "in9 is within it. !ut what is now developing is the penalt# for that general incapacit# of human faculties for turning to the supersensible. These faculties have become trul# impotent' and hatred and reBection of the supersensible arise in their place. There is not merel# hatred and original sin' but punishment for the forsaking of the supe sensible. (This applies to much that is happening toda#$. The impulses active in human evolution take on various nuances' and events can be understood onl# in this light. The peoples of the Italian and "panish peninsulas have come under the swa# of ,hristianit#' in the course of its e*pansion' as well as the peoples of modern :rance and the !ritish Isles. .e know something of what has been unfolded amongst them. .e know that on the "panish and Italian peninsulas the "entient1"oul has blossomed forth' on :rench soil the Intellectual or 2ind1"oul; here in 2id1-urope the -go; and in -astern -urope in the same wa# a civili)ation of the "pirit1is to be looked for' to be active onl# in the future and at present e*isting in germs which are now entirel# hidden. Good mankind but look at .estern -urope and understand its riddles through "piritual "cience. :or instance' the characteristics of Italian regions (not those of single individuals' which of course grow out ever#where be#ond the common norm$ develop differentl# from those of :rench or !ritish humanit#. This last is so constituted that the nature of the people has a special connection with the ,onsciousness1"oul. Through living in the ,onsciousness1"oul man is banished to the ph#sical plane' although not so strongl# in the !ritish Isles as in @merica. The result is that man' caught off first from the supersensible b# ecclesiastical developments' will be led back to union with the ,osmos; but it is onl# to the outer ,osmos that he is led b# the ,onsciousness1"oul. Therefore the !ritish people' as !ritons' find their union with the cosmos onl# through economic principles. !ritish thought is essentiall# economic' framed on economic lines. @n#one who grasps the connection of the ,onsciousness1"oul with the ph#sical world will see this necessit#; also that the :rench national character (not that of individuals$' having an affinit# with the Intellectual or 2ind1"oul' develops chiefl# political thinking and feeling; while the Italian and "panish in the same wa# have the sensuous side of the mind developed' because the "entient1"oul is directl# connected with the nature of the people. I can onl# outline this' but it gives an idea of what lies in the characters of the peoples themselves. If we look on the German essence' developing as it has in the midst of such a traged#' we see that the -go dwells within it. The whole of German histor# becomes clear if we consider this fact' which is disclosed from the supersensible world. The -go of man is the principle that is leased e*ternall# developed; it has remained a manAs most spiritual member. Thereb# the German' inasmuch as he is connected through the -go with the spiritual world' is linked with it in the most spiritual wa#. 0e cannot achieve an# connection with the cosmos economicall#' politicall#' or sensuousl#; he can achieve it onl# in so far as it manifests in the soul1life of single individuals 7 as the -go invariabl# does 7 and is then poured out over the people. It comes to e*pression most characteristicall# in what ma# be discerned as the essence of GoetheAs genius' of 0erderAs and +essingAs' as something detached' a state higher than the ph#sical1sensible. 0ence comes a certain estrangement from the latter realm' a feeling of not reall# belonging to matter' when the ph#sical1sensible alone is in 6uestion; hence the great amount of 8@mericanism9' and of the elements which I prefer not to particularise' poured out over German# during the last decades' have alienated it from the original activit# destined for its national "oul. In a #et higher wa# -astern -urope will be connected with the spiritual through its national characteristics 7 and will develop a still higher civili)ation and a spiritual sense' as a reaction from what is now taking shape there. !ut that is a matter of the future; it is not #et in evidence and must first evolve out of the animal character in which it is still confined. The .estern countries of -urope are directl# connected b# a lawful inheritance' so to speak' with the fourth post1 @tlantean epoch. "omething more recent' but opposed to 8@mericanism9' lies hidden in the German nature; a certain relation to the spiritual world' sought inwardl# in the spiritual itself. The German "oul following its own peculiar nature' has no fear of the spiritual; rather an inclination towards it' such as is to be found' albeit in a higher form' in Goetheanism. 7 This is plain speaking' of course; but #ou know that these things are brought forward from knowledge 7 not from ,hauvinism' nor said to please an#one here. <ou saw in the last lecture that I understand how not to speak flatteringl#. ?ne thing' however' must be said: within the German soul 7 though this is often forgotten in 2iddle -urope' there is a
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dormant relation of the human spirit to the supersensible world which must be cultivated' and which is the e*act opposite of ever#thing else now manifesting on the earth. ,ould we but have recogni)ed this' if onl#' alas' the last decades had not brought @mericanism and %ussian thoughts into this realm' how differentl# the impulse of science in 2iddle1-urope would have developedK <ou know for m# other lectures that a science of soul and spirit might have flowed from Goetheanism 7 but it remained a disregarded impulseK 0as it reall# been grasped at allC &ot #et 7 although within its depths lies the true being of German#' which is' as #ou will have gathered' a stranger to the others' for the# are still to a great e*tent animated b# the legac# of the old' as well as b# the new. In 2iddle1-urope alone has something developed which has more or less emerged from the old and the new. !# man# indications we see that Goetheanism is untouched b# materialistic science. (Goethe is praised' of course' but an e*1finance 2inister 7 Ereu)wendedich 7 is made 3resident of the Goethe "ociet#K$ .hat e*ists in the true' inner element of the German nature will be e*perienced in other realms as a continual reproach. The easiest wa# to protect oneself against what m# nature one cannot acknowledge' is to slander it. .e must look frankl# at this. "uch a living reproach can be invasivel# described as 8delin6uenc#9. This is a subBective wa# of escaping from the reproach. 0ere we touch upon an important ps#chological fact. The slander will spread further and further' rooted in the uncomfortable feeling that the special relationship of this -go to the "piritual does e*ist. It is necessar#' however' to see clearl# in these domains' not to shun a clear view of them' as is done to1da#. 0ad we not so much conventionalism and @mericanism amongst us' we should discern that German Goetheanism and @mericanism are two opposite poles' and we should know that to regard these two currents of the present da# with an unpreBudiced mind is the onl# correct attitude to maintain. .e should reBect all e*aggerated patriotism and look facts full# in the face. Then we should abBure the apotheosis of @mericanism in which we have so long and old son' and perceive that this particular element will become more and more active is a real' deep1seeded evil' because fear of the "piritual is its main characteristic. Those who sa# otherwise are short1sighted' not Budging things in their real setting. -ver#thing arising from the political attitude of the :rench' from the economic rigidit# natural to the !ritish' or from the elemental sensationalism 7 the so1called 8sacred egoism9of the Italian people 7 all this' in view of the great events now pla#ing their part' is but trivial compared to the especiall# evil element arising from @mericanism. There are three currents which through their inward relationship had the greatest power of destruction in human evolution' due to their having absorbed the inherited and the new' in different wa#s. :irst among them is what I call @mericanism' which tends to produce greater and greater fear of the spirit' making the world a mere opportunit# for living in the ph#sical. It is 6uite different when !ritain wants to make the world into a kind of commercial mart. @mericanism would make it a ph#sical dwelling e6uipped with all possible comfort' in which man can lead and agreeable and wealth# life. That is the political creed of @mericanism' and whoever does not detect it is blind to the facts and merel# shuts his e#es and ears. 2anAs connection with the "piritualist bound to die out under such an influence. In these forces of @mericanism lies what must actuall# bring the earth to them end' destruction dooming it at last to death ' because the "pirit will be shut out from it. The second destructive element is not onl# that of ,atholicism' but all 4esuitism' which in essence is virtuall# allied to @mericanism. If the latter is the cultivation of the impulse to build up fear of the spirit' so the former seeks to awaken the belief that one should not seek contact with the spirit' which it deems impossible; it wishes "piritual blessings to be dispensed b# those who are called into the teaching office of the ,atholic ,hurch. This influence seeks to atroph# forces in human nature which incline to the supersensible. The particular indications of the third stream can be seen arising in a terrible form in the -ast: a social state based on a purel# animal' ph#sical socialism. .ithout plastering it with dogmas' we call it 8!olshevism9' and it will not easil# be overcome b# mankind. These are the three distinctive elements in the modern development of humanit#. To bring knowledge to bear upon them' so that the events of the present da# ma# be met in the right wa#' it is possible onl# through "piritual "cience.

1e"ture ; 8ro#le$s of the Ti$e 922:

!erlin' @ugust >' 151 <ou will have seen in the last lecture that efforts were directed towards presenting certain conceptions (which we can make our own out of "piritual "cience$' in such a wa# that the# can be of service to us in grasping what surrounds us'
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dail# and hourl#' in present1da# civilisation. If .e want to add #et another to these considerations' as a final one' it can be summed up onl# thus: significant characteristics of our present time have been selected and brought into connection in various wa#s with what has sounded forth as the ke#note of these studies. If we determine to keep in mind what seems to stand out particularl# in our time' we shall find that of all the limiting and hindering factors to1da#' the worst is that the mode of thought and comprehension evolved during the recent centuries leads men to have little foresight of coming events. This is shown b# the fact that most events come as a surprise' in the most curious wa#' and it is 6uite impossible to gain credence for an#thing that is foreseen. It is considered inevitable that remarkable events should take people b# surprise. "peak of what is to come' and people are astonished ' or the# make ironical remarks about the apparent longing for some sort of prophec#. "uppose that an#one wished to call attention to conclusions such as ma# result from h#potheses like those we have latel# brought forward here 7 for instance' what now looms over the world from the :ar -ast 7 he would at present encounter little understanding or belief' although the fact alread# throws its shadow all too clearl# before it. :ar too little need is felt for a clear view into things. ,onnected with this is manAs disinclination to admit the truths which' within the onl# circles open to them' point to future events. ?f course there is no 6uestion here of an# kind of 8soothsa#ing9; or of an# sort of prophec# in the bad sense' but alwa#s an earnest' scientific method of thought and conviction derived from "piritual "cience. If we wish to ruminate upon the causes of this trend of the present da# characteristic Bust mentioned' we ma# perhaps have to go far afield for them. 2an as a rule is absolutel# unconscious how far the causes of the thing lie from what appears as its effects . 0e generall# looks for the causes much too near at hand. If we are to look for causes of what has Bust been described' the# must be sought in a tendenc# deepl# ingrained in the human soul at the present time 7 a tendenc# towards dead conceptions and ideas devoid of life and vigor. It should be comprehensible that to think of the future' the imminent' with the same ideas as on the past' the determined' is impossible; but at the present time' value is attached onl# to what' in the current phrase can be 8proved9 and this 6uestion of proof is tied down to the special kind of proof which is popular toda#. @n#one who rightl# understands this kind of proof knows that it applies onl# to truths connected with things in the universe which are in the process of d#ing. Therefore the onl# science or knowledge desired in the present age is concerned with what is d#ing and perishing 7 especiall# so in the case of those who claim to be the most enlightened. The# welcome onl# a will bent in that direction. If we are not conscious of this' we are reall# preferring 7 in the widest sense of the words 7 to deal onl# with what is passing awa#. .e lack the courage to think in terms of growing' becoming' for what is growing refuses to be grasped with the narrow' limited conceptions capable of being 8proved9' which are suitable for what is passing awa#. "o people protect themselves against the reproaches which are reall# implicit in what I have Bust pointed out. To speak against these things' as one must do' involves the danger of incurring the reproach of frightful fantas#' dilettantism' or perhaps even worse. ,onceptions are sought which protect people from the obligation of thinking about an#thing fruitful' or endowed with seeds of life for the future. ?ne idea' according to this view' must be received b# those who hold themselves to be among the reall# intelligent leaders of thought: the idea of 8the conservation of matter and energ#9 as understood at the present time. Luite comprehensibl#' ever#one is adBudged to be a duffer who does not admit this indestructibilit# of force and matter to be a truth underl#ing the whole of science. <et it is a fact that if we sound the depths of a real view of the universe' what we call matter and force are perishable and transitor#; and all science' all knowledge attainable on the subBect' our investigations into the transitor#. !ecause it is insisted that science has to be concerned with that' and that onl#' it is dogmaticall# asserted that something solid' something permanent and there must be: either matter 7 In spite of its being transitor# 7 or energ#. This law of the permanence of matter and energ# pla#s a great part even for those who are not concerned to anal#)e it scientificall#; such a part that is clothes ever#thing with m#ster#. ?ur scientific education is such that the dregs of opinion on the subBect of the conservation of matter and energ# penetrate our popular literature and are treated b# the ordinar# reader as something obvious. &ow we know' through a cold science' of the "aturn' "un' 2oon and -arth1developments. &othing of what is now called matter and energ# will pass be#ond the /enus evolution. 0ence the most lasting kind of matter' that which reaches /enus' will then come to an end. .e have Bust passed the middle of our world1evolution' as we view it' and are in the fifth period of the earth1evolution' be#ond the middle of that; and we are alread# living in the setting.: that is' in the time of devolution' in which the vanishing of matter and energ# comes to pass. The right #ou take as we studied ph#sics and chemistr# would be this 7 that the knowledge ac6uired through these sciences bears onl# upon the transitor#' which at latest will disappear from the universe with the /enus1stage. In the whole purview the present1da# science there is nothing which deals with the permanent; because b# means of the ideas and concepts that can be 8proved9 in a manner favored toda#' it is impossible to discover onl# what in this sense is transitor#. 2an moves onl# in the transitor#.

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@n essential reform is necessar# in our ideas concerning this most essential sphere' and those who consider themselves particularl# scientific have the most to learn before the# can replace their current notions with correct ones. 7 &ow wh# am I sa#ing this' seeing that the matter in its general bearing ma# not perhaps seem particularl# importantC It reall# is important' because according to the concepts which men assimilate in the wa# I have described' other concepts are formed in conformit# with which the# will; the# direct their will1power. :rom the mode of thought thus ac6uired are begotten social and political concepts. These latter shape themselves in accordance with the characteristic use made of such forces 7 a use consisting in this' that onl# the transitor# is dealt with in such conceptions' and this habit spreads into ideas concerned with the living. This crops up in a particularl# striking wa# as we look at the main points of the programms put forth b# man# who confidentl# regard themselves as the ver# last word in advanced thought. :or instance' the schemes of man# "ocialists' ver# much in the public e#e nowada#s' all more or less adopt the theor# of Earl 2ar* as a starting1point. This theor# is the calamit# of %ussia two1da#' because 7 for reasons I e*plained last time 7 what happens there according to historical premises can ensue elsewhere from 2ar*ism. This wa# of looking at things is an e*treme form of the determination to deal onl# with transitor#. @n#one who familiari)es himself with the ideas of this school knows that the fanatical adherents of 2ar*ism imagine themselves to be possessed of the ideas of the future' whereas the# have onl# such as are directed to the transitor#. This stands out naSvel# in the so1called socialist view of life' for throughout it refuses admittance to ideas with a fruitful bearing on the future. It preaches the blessing of having noneK The formula is repeated in man# different wa#s: 7 Get rid of ever#thing at present e*isting; then' of itself' without an# reflection on the matter' something will result from the welter. This is une6uivocall# stated. !ut although it comes from the looks of those who have been brought up in ,hurch doctrines for centuries and who do nothing but trace the events of the last centuries according to the ,hurch' the# must nevertheless sa# the following. 7 In truth this view refuses to entertain ideas with an# germ of life in them: the onl# ones it admits are concerned with what is passing awa#; and the onl# effect of these ideas is to complete the process of destruction. 2en believe the# possess productive thoughts; that is all to no purpose unless the concepts are rooted in realit#. These ideas are useless for establishing an#thing new; all the# can accomplish is to turn destruction into an institution. This "ocialism seems to me like a lad# (a b#gone person to1da#$ who cannot endure a crinoline. "he hates the wide skirt and wants to alter it. !ut what does she doC "he pads it out; so that it looks Bust as before' but is a stuffed out with wadding inside. 4ust so these "ocialists: the# never think of fertili)ing what histor# has achieved with new concepts; the# leave it alone 7 and themselves take the place of the former administrators. The# hang on to the crinoline' but stuff it out. +ook even at e*tremist views 7 the# are simpl# a longing to administer what is perishing and d#ing outK To what is this dueC It is due to the fact that with the concepts of present1da# science' concerned merel# with things of the senses' based on the intellect' taking account onl# of material perception' all that one can encounter is the transitor#' not the living. ?nl# what is alread# d#ing can be grasped; nothing that is seed1bearing' growing. :or the germinating' growing element must be grasped at least through Imagination' the first stage of higher knowledge; as described' for instance' in the book' 8Enowledge of 0igher .orlds.9 @nd to attain to still higher knowledge of the 8becoming9 7 Inspiration and Intuition must be applied. Those who approach such things with the outfit of ideas held hitherto ma# talk as much as the# wish 7 the# are onl# talking of laws which appl# to what is on the wa# to destruction' unless the# let themselves admit what supersensible knowledge alone can reveal as the 8becoming9. Things too1the# are on a ra)orAs edge. It is impossible to know an#thing on certain subBects' and civili)ation must fall into chaos if we are satisfied to live in it without admitting an# vision of the spiritual. .hat we need' and what is striven for through "piritual "cience' is a sort of revival of the 2#steries' in a form adapted to the modern mind. Jnless we understand the meaning of the ancient m#steries' we shall not fathom the meaning of the epoch which is intermediate between them and what must come as the new form of the 2#steries. ,omprehension of all this is necessar#. The most startling e*perience for the pupils of the old 2#steries was to be shown clearl# how the old atavistic' clairvo#ant' hidden knowledge was doomed to e*tinction. This could not be grasped b# observation' it had to be revealed in the 2#steries' where people were shown that something different from the old clairvo#ant vision into the "piritual .orldAs was destined to become manAs possession. There it was disclosed to the pupils of the 2#steries that this old capacit# of the human soul' this vision of cosmic e*panses in Imaginations' was dedicated to death. This was made them somewhat in the following wa#. 7 .hat can be perceived b# ph#sical senses on earth is not the content of the genuine 2#steries of the earth1e*istence; this is revealed onl# when the human soul ascends in the clairvo#ant contemplation to 2#steries of the cosmos' of the super1earthl#' and the cosmic events be#ond the sphere of earth' unfold before it. 7 The ancient seers grasped all that' but not what happened on earth. The pupils of the tapestries were shown depth knowledge of that t#pe' ascending into the ,osmos' would no longer be possible; and still more was disclosed to those who were to penetrate into the ,hrist12#ster#. "omething like this conception came to them: 8@lthough the old seers did not speak of Hthe ,hrist'I their inspirations came from the world in which ,hrist alwa#s was' for 0e is a ,osmic !eing. 0e dwells in ever#thing ,osmic and
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universal' in the whole content of manAs old atavistic clairvo#ant vision; but from the time when the 2#ster# of Golgotha is due to be enacted' all this will be no longer accessible to mankind in the old wa#.9 .hat happenedC The ,hrist descended from the world of the cosmos to the earth. !ecause the cosmos was no longer accessible to men as in ancient times' because ,hrist was no longer to be found in the old wa#' because the kind of knowledge and state of soul with which men had formerl# looked at the world was d#ing out' but ,hrist had to come down to them. 0e came to the earth. -ver#thing' therefore' which enlightened spirits had ever known of the spiritual world in ancient times through the pagan tapestries and through pagan 2#ster#1knowledge' was summed up in the ,hrist' and could be beheld in 0im. The one all1important thing was to recogni)e the ,osmic !eing' .ho in ,hrist descended to the earth from the cosmos. That was one point. The other was this. %emember that through the intellect and of the senses onl# the transitor# can be observed in all the arra# of s#stems' whether of nature' of social structures or of civili)ations' and that transitor# knowledge will endure no farther than the /enus1e*istence. !ut learned men' believing that their ideas point to the future' are ver# often immersed in what is passing awa#. @nd what the senses perceive and the intellect grasps there is no seed of the future; all of it is doomed to perish. If the onl# knowledge were concerned with that' there would be nothing but knowledge of death; because the actualit# which surrounds us is itself doomed to death. .here shall we find the 8enduring9C .here is the imperishable which shall outlast this e*istence' apparentl# permanent but doomed to dieC .hile @damson forces' to which materialistic superstition attributes permanence' betra# their impermanence and fall to ruin' where is the imperishable to be foundC In man aloneK @mongst all the beings' animals' plants' minerals' air' water' and ever#thing that parishes' there is but one thing which will outlast the -arth1evolution and the evolution to follow it 7 that which lives in man himself. 2an alone on earth bears within him an enduring element. ?ne cannot speak of the permanence of atoms' matter' force' but onl# of the permanence of something in 2an. This' however' can be seen onl# through Imagination' Inspiration and Intuition. @ll else' perceived b# our vision' is fleeting. The material' the ph#sical' is entirel# transient; the super1sensible' which outlives it' can be perceived onl# b# super1sensible vision. In man' as he treads the earth' lies all that will be saved out of the entire -arth1e*istence. If we asked: 8.here is the germ of something which will continue to grow on after the -arth' 4upiter' and /enus developments 7 from the present civili)ation into the futureC9 The answer must be: 8In nothing e*ternal on earth; onl# in man9. In the part of his being accessible onl# to supersensible knowledge' man is the cradle of the seed for the future. ?nl# someone who is willing to include the supersensible in his view is able to speak correctl# of the future; otherwise he must err. Thus the ,hrist' dissenting from worlds becoming more and more inaccessible to human knowledge' had unite 0imself with 2ankind 7 to take up 0is abode in 4esus of &a)areth and become ,hrist1 4esus' so that in a human bod# there might well that which bears within it the future of the -arth1development. "o we have in ,hrist the ,osmic !eing' that ,osmic !eing whom ancient knowledge alone could grasp directl#; and in the 4esus to whom the ,hrist came' we have what henceforth bears within it' inhuman will alone' the seed for the future. 0e cannot be comprehended purel# as 8,hrist9' nor as 84esus9. To speak of the 8,hrist9 onl#' is not to comprehend 0im; for the 8,hrist9 of 7 for e*ample 7 the old (ocetics (a certain sect of Gnostics$ belongs to the old atavistic clairvo#ance and can no longer be laid hold of. @nd 84esus9 cannot be understood without taking into account the ,hrist .ho drew into him. Jnless we give due weight to this fact of the ,hrist in 4esus' we cannot grasp that onl# through the human seed on earth can the cosmic be saved for the future. To understand how far ,hrist14esus is this double !eing is a great task; but at the same time man# have taken pains to create obstacles to such an understanding. In modern times it has been a 6uestion of inducing forgetfulness of indwelling of ,hrist in 4esus b# all sorts of means. ?n one hand there is the e*treme theological teaching which onl# and alwa#s speaks of 8the simple man of &a)areth9' the man of ph#sical nature' not of that 2an who has in himself the seed for the future. :urther' there is the "ociet# founded to combat the ,hrist' and with that came to set up a false picture of 4esus: the 4esuit "ociet#' which virtuall# aims at testing out the ,hrist1concept from the ,hrist14esus concept' and to install 4esus alone as an absolute ruler of developing humanit#. .e must see the connection of all this' for the different impulses here pointed out work and present1da# life more than is supposed' and ver# intensel#. .ithout open e#es and a longing to understand the concrete events around one' it is impossible not to be taken b# surprise b# what happens; a clearer view of such things as I have mentioned will be lacking. ?ur own time is in man# respects too indolent to wish to achieve clarit#; the concepts of "piritual "cience are too hard to compass' and are stigmati)ed status dilettante' unscientific' fantastic and the like. The# are condemned for the reason' I have mentioned' because of the determination to take no account of what is reall# significant for the future. Thus we see around us to1da# this drear# waste in the midst of the chaos into which the old religious creeds and currents of thought have led. .ithin this chaos' which people with curious supposed to call 8war9 (a work which has ceased to be applicable for a long time now$' we see an arra# of lifeless' barren thoughts and ideas' because fertile ones can come onl# from comprehension of the supersensible' the spiritual. 2an two1da# has to choose between cultivating the
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vanishing' the d#ing' ending b# becoming a pupil of +enin 7 itAs taking into account the supersensible' wherein abides what has to come in the future. I am not referring simpl# to the +ondon works his mischief now in -astern -urope 7 I taken more as a s#mbol' for we have man# such +enins around us and the whole environment of our dail# life' in one domain or another. <et the world refuses to take in hand an#thing e*cept what is d#ing. %emember something I once pointed out here' Hthe plant lives'I I said; it can be described as a living being. !ut what does ordinar# science describe as the plantC &ot what lives in it' for that of supersensible; but the dead' literal part of it' which 8fills out9 the living element. .e find nothing else described b# modern science but the mineral filling of the living being' which brings death to it. Genuinel# fruitful concepts regarding nature are conse6uentl# unattainable to1da#. The concepts of present1da# botan# have no life. @ll that the# describe as something filled out with a ston# mineral substance' which circulates inside. That can be described e6uall# well in the animal and in man. @ll three kingdoms become entirel# different as soon as one gets awa# from this circulating mineral substance. :or instance' a certain 0err Je*kRll has written an article on 8The ,ontrovers# about the @nimal "oul9. 0e is possessed b# masochistic savager# as regards all knowledge of the soul' or an#thing that suggests it. I said 8masochistic savager#9 because in this article he writes: 8It is impossible to decide whether a soul e*ists or not: all that can be decided is that science can settle nothing on the subBect9 7 an ordinar# savage kills; but an#one who is masochisticall# savage' like this 0err von Je*kRll' onl# 8probes9 the dead and makes sneering remarks. That is thoroughl# t#pical of modern science; but it is not noticed' because nobod# wants to admit it. 3eople refuse to breakthrough the dividing wall between themselves and their environment; hence the# cannot reach the ideas the# reall# need in order to learn once more how to understand their environment. .e know from spiritual science that the essential being of man' the kernel of his life' descends from the spiritual worlds' and unites itself with what surrounds him as a bodil#1material chief between birth and death' or rather between conception and death. The problems of conception' of birth' of embr#olog#' are investigated to1da#; but the# cannot be trul# investigated' because the research is directed onl# to the dead part of man' which is embedded in the living. This path will never lead to a grasp of what alone can make the human being understandable. .hen 2an the "uns in this wa# from the spiritual world' he is 8received9 b# father and mother' and goes through all the stages of his embr#onic development. "cience two1da# assumes that the parents give the child e*istence; and since father and mother are the center of the famil#' and the famil# is the foundation of the communit#' therefore the communities' which are e*tended families' consider men as their own propert#. Thus a galling idea is brought into modern life 7 but it is not reall# true. .hat' then' does the act of conception bestow upon manC .hat does he gainC @ "piritual "cience shows' what he receives is the possibilit# of becoming a mortal being 7 of d#ing. <ou will see' if #ou think of what is to be found in m# various books' that it is the necessar# conse6uence. .ith conception there is implanted in man what makes his death possible here on earth. The whole of life from birth is a development towards death' and the seed of death is implanted at conception. .hat man is as 8man9' as a living being' is not b# an# means engendered at conception; but the possibilit# of death is thereb# grafted onto what would otherwise be immortal. 3arents are called to give death of a childK That is the parado* 7 the# give it a opportunit# of bearing a mortal bod# on earth. .hat lives in that bod# comes from the spiritual world. This is what makes the organism 7 the whole mechanism with which man is clothed and which was received b# him with seed of death at conception 7 capable of life. .e must learn to recogni)e man in his most concrete embodiment as a part of spiritual world1development. Then we shall learn not to stand before the loftiest problems with cowardl# fear' past present1da# science does' but to grasp them positivel#. If we shrink back from them' we shall fail to understand even our immediate environment. %ound about us to1da#' live the most varied peoples. 4ust think of the incorrect ideas' for e*ample' created b# .oodrow .ilson out of his conception of nations and the peoples 7 a theme with which #ou are familiar. .e must be 6uite clear that we cannot understand this conception of the people unless we take in the whole of earth1evolution. .hence comes' then' a division of humanit# into 8peoples9C .e know from "piritual "cience of evolution proceeded through a "aturn1embodiment of the -arth' then the "un1embodiment' with the ancient 2oon following that' and then the present -arth1condition; afterwards will come a 4upiter1embodiment' and so forth. The course of evolution' however' was not so straightforward that the old "aturn1bod# simpl# changed into "un' 2oon' -arth; at one time a severance of the present "un from the -arth took place' then a severance of the present 2oon' so that we have a continuous evolution' and something which was cut off reunited' and once again severed. @ connection with what I have Bust called 8,osmic -volution9 this severance plates part in the old clairvo#ance. @nd for the old clairvo#ance the human seed the future remained 8chthonic9' as it was called in the old clairvo#ance is' 6uite unconscious. :or what comes from the universe was destined to deca#; it was maintained onl# because it had come under the grip of the +uciferic power. In this wa#' out of the cosmos reform the man# variations in the nations and peoples' but the cosmic forces were impregnated with +uciferic forces. ?ver against these diverse peoples stand something which was understood in a better time than this 7 universal humanit#. It has a totall# different origin. It ma# be discussed in the abstract' but can be trul# spoken of onl# as one
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genuinel# understands what the seed of the future in humanit# is . It has no taint of &ation or peoples; for it is that which did not come down from the ,osmos but which the ,hrist came to find' and with which 0e indicted 0imself. ,hrist' unlike the 4ehovah1(eit#' Jnited 0imself with no nation but with universal humanit#. 0e was in the confraternit# of those Gods from whom the nations took their rise' but 0e left that realm when it was read# to pass awa#; 0e came to earth and took up 0is abode in humanit# at large. .hen we sa#' 8&ot I but ,hrist in us9' it is the greatest blasphem# against ,hrist14esus to invoke 0im for an# need other than that of universal humanit#. @ grasp of this fact belongs to the most momentous concepts for the future. .e must perceive the connection of ,hrist 4esus with humanit#' and also how ever#thing purel# national lies outside the realm of ,hrist14esus' for it is the ancient remains of what was right for e*tinction at the time of the 2#ster# of Golgotha. <et' as we see withered fruit in the orchards' so do all things linger on after their right time. "o we were bound to get the science which is concerned onl# with knowledge of what is on the wa# to e*tinction' and which 7 whether it be natural science or social science 7 deals and ideas that appl# onl# to the transient' in nature or in cultural life. ?ften in the histor# of civili)ation one can see the conflict between the tendenc# to cling to what is passing awa#' and to present as important the dead' abstract ideas connected with it' and the wish to grasp that germinal essence of humanit# which alone is pregnant of the future. I have often referred to the significant conversation between Goethe and "chiller when both were in 4ena for a conference of a natural histor# societ#' at which !atsch the botanist had lectured on plants. @s the# left' "chiller said to Goethe' 8The botanistAs outlook dismembers ever#thing; it ignores the connecting links9. Goethe' in a few descriptive sentences' put before "chiller his 82etamorphosis9 of plants' but the latter said' 8That is not an e*perience more observation 7 it is an idea.9 To which Goethe answered 8Then I see m# ideas with m# ver# e#es.9 .hat he had been describing was visible to him' as real as a thing perceptible b# ph#sical senses. The# confronted one another 7 "chiller' representative of the mind unable to look up to the spiritual' bemused b# dead' abstract ideas; and Goethe' who wished to derive from knowledge of nature what is imperishable' vital for the future' the imperishable in humanit#' of which all that is transient is merel# an image. 0e wanted to unite the transient with its archet#pe' the real. 0e was not understood' for he looked on the supersensible' the imperishable' as though it were perceptible to the senses. Thus the urgent need of our time is that GoetheAs teaching should be more widel# developed and further elaborated in its own sphere. Then things will become clearer' and we shall see that the particular creeds' whether 4ewish' or more particularl# the ,atholic' are onl# the presuppositions of what is old and outworn' standing out in evolution as parched remnants' supported onl# from outside; and that side1b#1side with these' interpenetrating them' stands @mericanism' which wishes to carr# the transient into the future. Therein lies the kinship between @mericanism and 4esuitism' of which I spoke last time. "tanding in opposition to all this is Goetheanism. !# this I do not mean an#thing dogmaticall# fi*ed' for we have to use names for things which far transcend them. !# 8Goetheanism9 I do not mean what Goethe brought up to 1 D2' but what will perhaps be thought in the ne*t millennium in the spirit of Goethe; which ma# develop out of GoetheAs views' concepts and sentiments. It ma# be concluded' therefore' that in ever#thing connected with Goetheanism' outworn beliefs sees its particular an#. The most e*treme parado*es are to be found in this sphere. It reall# is a parado* to find that the cleverest book about Goethe whatever ma# be said to the contrar# 7 has been written b# 4esuit' :ather !aumgarten. &o details concerning him is neglected. The usual distinguishing mark of 4esuit work on the subBect is hostilit# to Goethe: but this is a highl# intelligent' painstaking book' not superficiall# written. <et it has happened to Goethe to be portra#ed as an ordinar# citi)en of the 1 th centur#' born in 1F=5 at :rankfort1on1the12ain' who studied at +eip)ig' was given a post in .eimar' traveled in Ital#' live to be old' was incorrectl# called it on both came good to 84ohann .olfgang Goethe;9 this was how he was described in the work of a distinguished -nglish Gentleman' +ewes 7 which was much admired. @ book headed 84ohann .olfgang Goethe'9 describing him as an ordinar# 1 th1centur# citi)en' is no real book. @ cultural parado* lies in the 4esuitAs book on Goethe for the trend of opposing forces in modern times can be seen in it' and where the real ones are to be found. @ small wa# it shows itself amongst us. "o long as we were reckoned a 8hidden sect9' @nthroposoph# was seldom attacked; but when it began to spread a little' virulent attacks began' especiall# from the 4esuits; and the 4ournal' 8/oices from 2aria +each9' now called 8/oices of the Time9' is not content with one article' but contains a whole series about what IAve called @nthroposoph#. I must warn #ou' again and again' attacks come from this side' not to believe that from the point of view of these writers' it is for our good when the# sa# that we 8speak of the ,hrist9' or that we 8promote understanding of ,hrist9. The# forbid that ever#thing; it is e*actl# what must not be done; outside the doctrines of the ,hurch' there must be no assertion about the ,hristK &o1one in our circles need be so naSve as to believe that b# being a good ,hristian' he can propitiate the ,hurch. 4ust because he is a good ,hristian' and does all in his power to advance ,hristianit#' he arra#s ,atholicism against him as a supreme enem#. It becomes more and more necessar# to take care that naSvetT in these contemporar# matters should disappear from amongst us. .e must more and more firml# determined to reali)e what is active in the forces around us' whether the# be in the ascendant or are declining. .e must get be#ond the longing' present among us in so man# forms' simpl# to penetrate a little wa# into an imaginative world. I have often said that we must above all be able to place our "piritual "cience alongside modern concepts' and bring keen observation
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to bear on life as it is in the present age; because to gain true insight into this is possible onl# from the standpoint of "piritual "cience. 0ow man# people come to me and sa#' 8I have seen this or that9. .ell the# ma# well have done so. Imaginations are not so ver# distant. 8.as that the Guardian of the ThresholdC9 man# then ask. @ simple #es and no does not answer 6uestions on such matters' because the answers involve the whole of human development. !ut the answers are given. I am now correcting m# ?ccult "cience' for a new edition. I see that in it ma# be found ever#thing necessar# for the answering of such 6uestions. -ver# precaution' ever# limitation to be observed is e*actl# described; the feelings to be developed' the e*periences to be undergone' are all set forth. To elaborate the whole content of "piritual "cience would have re6uired DG volumes. This one must be read carefull#' drawing the necessar# conclusions 7 and it can be done. I do not like writing thick books. !ut read attentivel# and it will be found that this book indicates clearl# that he endeavors to enter the supersensible world strides towards meeting the Guardian of the Threshold; but the meeting is not so simple a matter as to have a dreamlike imagination. The latter' of course' is the easiest method of entering that world. The meeting with the Guardian of the Threshold is fraught with traged#; it is a vital conflict as regards all intellectual concepts and laws' all manAs connections with this virtual world and with @hriman and +ucifer. This life1and1death struggle must be endured b# him who would meet the Guardian of the Threshold. "hould this e*perience come to a man merel# as a dreamlike imagination' it means that' he wants to slip through comfortabl#' so as to have a dream out of the Guardian of the Threshold as a substitute 7 nowada#s people are fond of substitutes the commissionK 7 for the real thing. .e must think healthil# on the subBects; and it will then become evident that health# thinking can alone provide the basis of a remed# against all superstition' and against all the charges made b# superficial opponents of "piritual "cience. 2oreover' in this kind of thinking' in this raising oneself to e*perience on the spiritual' lie all the necessar# seeds for finding the real wa# out of the present world1catastrophe. The la#out must be grasped 7 not in the realm of the earth and senses' not in institutions which are mismanaged and sucking the life out of what e*ists. The thing to be grasped does not e*istK .e must be stirred with burning )eal for the top attention of what does not #et e*istK This non1e*istent thing can be grasped onl# according to the pattern given b# supersensible knowledge. It cannot be grasped b# looking into the past. "uch men as Eautsk# prefer to look back into the past' finding and 8@nthropolog#9 the ground1plan of mankind. The# tried to stud# conditions at a time when man was hardl# #et created in order to understand the social connections of to1da#. These two sons of a misconceived ,atholicism' such as Eautsk#' want to have it so. !ut one cannot look back to the past' because in the past' those things which have e*tended into the ver# latest present' were created b# means of atavistic forces' instinctivel#. In the future' nothing more will be achieved 8instinctivel#9' and if man holds onl# to the products of ages of instinct' he will never attain to what bears the future within it' and can lead out of this catastrophe. @n active' earnest understanding of the present depends entirel# upon a right attitude to the spiritual world. I should have to sa# much if' continuing in this strain' I were to speak to #ou about man# things closel# related to this present time. <et if' in the weeks while we are separated' #ou will bring rightl# be for #our souls what has been said in these lectures' and which should culminate in reali)ing the necessit# for knowledge of the twofold figure of ,hrist 4esus' #ou will go far this summer in meditative comprehension of the cosmic ,hrist and the earthl# 4esus; remembering that the cosmic ,hrist descended from the spiritual worlds because these worlds were henceforth to be closed to manAs view' and that man must apprehend what lies within him as the seed of the future. In the cosmic ,hrist and the earthl# human 4esus and their union' lies much of the solution of the riddle of the world 7 at least of the riddle of humanit#. In man lies the seed of future; but it must be fructified b# 4esus. If it is not so fructified' it will assume an @hrimanic form' and the earth will end in chaos. In short' in connection with the 2#ster# of ,hrist14esus we can find a solution of man#' man# 6uestions to1da#; that we must endeavor so to seek these solutions as not to be lightl# contented with what is so often taken for 8Theosoph#9 or 82#sticism9or the like 7 a 8Jnion with a spiritual9' and 8entire absorption in the all9 7 .e must reall# visuali)e the true conditions surrounding us' and tr# to permit them with what we gain from "piritual "cience. .e shall then sa# to ourselves over and over again' with regard to the answers to man# 6uestions: trul# man toda# is seeking for something ver# practical' not merel# theoretical; he will find himself in a blind alle# in which he can go no further' if he does not go with the spirit. -ver#thing which does not go forward with the spirit will wither awa#. This is a weight# 6uestion for the future of mankind. 0as man the will to Bourne# with the spiritC I would fain impress this on #our hearts toda# as the feeling which can arise from the reflections we have pursued. 3robabl# we are meeting to1da# for the last time in this room' which we used so gladl# for #ears as a place for our studies. It was one of the first to be arranged in keeping with our own taste' and one can onl# work according to the opportunities that e*ist. .e fitted it up as we did because we were alwa#s convinced that endeavors on behalf of spiritual
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"cience ought not to be mere theor# but should be e*pressed in ever#thing wherein we meet as human beings. The room is now to be taken from us and we must look for another. ?bviousl#' under present conditions' we shall not be able to fit it up as we did this room' but we must be content with it. This room has become dear to us' for we have come to regard it as impossible to speak elsewhere of our relations with the spiritual as we can in this place' where in man# wa#s we have tried to do the same things that are being attempted in (ornach on a larger scale. In times gone b# we had to tr# all sorts of arrangements. 3erhaps there are still a few here who were present when we had to speak in a beer1shop; I stood there' facing the audience' while behind me the landlord or landlad# filled beer1mugs. @nother time we were in a room like a stable: we had booked another' but that was all the# gave us. In other towns I have lectured in places with no boards on the floor' and that too had to be put up with; it is not e*actl# what could be wished for as an outcome of our movement' and it would be a misunderstanding if it were said that we would Bust as soon speak of spiritual things in an# surroundings. The spiritAs task is to penetrate into matter' and to permeate it completel#. That is the sense in which I have been speaking of social and scientific life to1da#. :or all these reasons it will certainl# be ver# hard part in a few weeks from this room' which was fitted up so devotedl# with the help of our anthroposophical friends; but we must look upon such a parting in the right wa#' as a s#mbol. 3eople will be obliged to part from much in the course of the ne*t few decades. The# will be taken b# surprise' although the# do not believe it. ?ne thing will be deepl# rooted in those who have grasped the deepest impulse of "piritual "cience. .hatever ma# be spoken' this cannot be shaken' and that is what we have grasped in the spirit' and what we have determined to do and accomplish in the spirit. &o matter how chaotic ever#thing looks' that will show itself to be the right thing. "o man# leaving this place is s#mbol for us. .e must move into another' but we carried awa# with us something of which we know that it is not simpl# our own deepest inner being' at the deepest inner being of the world' of which man must build if he would build a right. 0e who stands within /irtual "cience is convinced that no one can take awa#' either from us or from humanit#' what we have accomplished through it' and that it must lead to human affairs to a health# condition ; this he knows' to this he clings. .e ma# not as #et be able to sa# how we shall accomplish man# things; but we ma# be sure that we shall accomplish them rightfull# if we steep ourselves in the knowledge of what Goetheanism signifies for "piritual "cience' and if on the other hand we accept what has recentl# been mentioned here 7 thatAs the world stigmati)es and defames all that is connected with 2id1-uropean civili)ation of the 1 th and earl# 15th centuries' and that we' bringing all this before our souls' can nevertheless take our stand on our sure convictions: whatever happens' this 2id1-uropean culture will be fruitful for the future of mankind' which indeed depends upon it. To save their own faces' because the# have no wish for this feature of mankind' the opponents of this particular culture defame it; but let us grasp it in the spirit' recogni)e its inner spiritual content' knowing that we can build upon it. Then we shall be sure that though all devilish powers vow its destruction' #et it will not be destro#edK !ut onl# that can escape destruction which is united with the genuine spiritK

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