Carl Unger Esotericism 4 Lectures
Carl Unger Esotericism 4 Lectures
,I'
ESOTERICISM:
I.',
Four Lectures
by
1930.
H. COLLISON,
27 CLAREVILLE GROVE, S.W.7.
EDITORIAL NOTE.
The traces of this service are to be <lHere are a few words from a letter of
found again in these lectures. One can Carl Unger's dated 16th April, 1928. They
follow their course in the inner susceptibility express the struggle of his spirit which filled
of the soul and receive the seeds which then his work in his last years:
ne~d. ones own labour to bring them to
frUItion. Faith is concerned with the life before
Carl Unger wanted to help mankind to birth, Hope is concerned with the life
clear, strong and real ideas which are " f after death-both raise the soul into the
g00 d. WI,
'11" so t h at Anthroposophy may b~ 0
spiritual world. Love is concerned with
:ecelVed as a revolutionary life-force. Listen- the life between birth and death; it
mg to his last lectures one could feel an brings the spiritual to the soul ; it rises
approach, to something really tangible, a from Faith and flows into Hope; it is
suspens~ of the soul as before the lifting of the final justification of the individual
the veil. Through the strict thought- in the eyes of the IIierarchic Beings."
. sequence "which sought no other end but
to ad~ thought to thought according to their The struggle proceeded round this
meamng poured a wave of spiritual light " justification" of the individual, as cosmic
and warmth like' a proclamation of new experience, as historical event, as a call in
hope and belief." . the loneliness of each separate Ego. In the
. The.complete self-dedication of humanity intimacy of work done among groups of
In. ~he h~e 'Of thought alone can formulate students Carl Unger has welded the thought-
spInt~al Ideas; ideas which have the power substance of which these lectures are built
conscIously to bear the world's past, and up. "J ustified " he approached the spiritual
have the life. A preparer, a colleague in what Rudolf
. courage to will the world's fut ure.
Such Ideas Carl Unger created' the Steiner calls "conquest of evil, conquest of
hungers for them. ,age matter by idea."
6 7
'.
ESOTERICISM
This was in the Beginning with God. ~'Not I, but Christ in me."
It was there where all things were made,
And nothing came into being save through "In the Beginning lives Memory,
the Word. And Memory continues living,
In the Word was life, And Memory is Divine,
And Life was the Light of Men." And Memory is, Life.
" In the Beginning is Thought, And this Life is the Self in Man,
And Thought is with God, That itself streams in Man.
And Thought is a Divinity. Not he alone, but Christ in him.
In it is Life. When he remembers the Divine Life
And Life is to become the Light of my Ego. Christ is in his Memory. '
And may the Divine Thought shine into And Christ will shine into the bright
my Self Memory-Life,
That the Darkness of my Self may Into that directly-present Darkness."
\
comprehend
The Divine Thought." " In the Beginning was the Power of Memory.
The Power of Memory is to become Divine;
" In the Beginning, is Thought, Is to become a Divinity.
And Thought is an Infinity, All that arises in the Ego
And the Life of Thought is the Light of Self. That it consists of Memory pervaded by
May the shining Thought fill the Darkness Christ and by God.
(J)f my Self, In it shall Life be. And in it shall be the
That the darkness of my Self may shining Light
comprehend the living Thought, Which streams out of the Self-remembering
And I may live and have my being in its Thought
Divine Beginning." Into the Darkness of the Present.
10 11
ESOTERICISM .. ESOTERICISM
And may the Darkness, which now is, anew to mankind by opening up to the
comprehend the powers of consciousness of to-day the way to
Light of Memory that has become Divine." the Mystery of Golgotha. ..
Word, Thought, Ego. If you let thIS
Word, Thought, Ego; it is an idea-
idea-sequence sink meditatively into the soul,
sequence, or better, a concept-sequence,
you can realise how it contains broad.
which is taken from the older esoteric
developing lines of the growth of human
connections, in which Rudolf Steiner gave
consciousness. It is a concept-sequence
them as an exercise. These older connections
which contains the march of humanity from
are to-day suspended, but whatever has
......•. security in God to separation of individual
emerged through meditation and study in
. human beings from God: the substance
the way of knowledge and soul-activity
. matter of man's sufferings on the evolutionary
survives, and may rightly, even if only in
. path to the birth of the Ego.
the shape of an address, be translated into
Anthroposophical terms. " Word." Its force worked as an.
inspiration in all that was potent in t~e
Rudolf Steiner's lecture breathes strong
¥ystery-centres of the third post-at1an~lc
hope, and it is hope which always filled the
civilisation. Ephesus stood on the frontler
soul as it contemplated the experience of
facing the oriental Mysteries. Into ~phesus
Pentecost. On the first Pentecost the
poured the different Mystery-revelatlons of
Disciples hoped to recover the living risen
Asia in their final echo. In Ephesus the
Cosmic Word; and hope strengthened the
magic-working Word had its last ~lOme,
Disciples of the first centtuies to partake
In the Ephesian Mysteries one ex~enence~
at Whitsuntide of the PaiIline experience,
in a quite specially intensive way, WIth on~ s
"Not I, but Christ in me." With us hope
whole person, that which later found l~S
may also be associated with the Pentecostal
expression in the opening words of St. John s
experience which Rudolf Steiner brought
Gospel.
12
13
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
still carried a lively memory of the World .There developed later, after Aristotle,
Word. He showed also. how Heraclitus .' broad school of thought called Schola-
fought in his "fiery" way against the rise which had for its object to bring
of thought . :1ife, how he tried "scoldingly" the Logos to the human understanding.
to keep this down, because he discovered ·.l?ut here appeared already the twofold facet
that with it would follow for mankind a . .thought in the struggle of the scholiasts,
further separation from the spiritual co~ .' y in the struggle between Thomas
nection. Heraclitus saw in his lifetime how .Aquinas and Averrhoes. Averrhoes regarded
the Word perishes in Thought, but he was thought in its reality as still being in the
powerless in face of the urgent development sph~re of etheric worlds, an experience that
of man towards individualisation. Aristotle echoed from former ages of cosmic perception.
shut the Temple door on Thought and set it out . Word was for him only a symbol of
on a physical plane. Thus the symbol of the and for him thought had universal
fourth civilisation became the. Sealed Thought. . Individual man descended after
. Then came the Mystery of Golgotha. into the Divine Thought-Sphere; and
i
In Gnosis we see, following Plato, the should strive already on earth to free
thinking consciousness of the fourth civilisa- .u.u.u........
.u, from the Ego. Thomas Aquinas on
tion in intuitive ideas struggling with the other hand fought for the. existence of
Mystery of Golgotha, and we see in the $eparatehuman individuality. He had the
resultant development a mighty battle taking ..'. teness of the Scholastic School, and raised
place over the question of Pentecost-·Are his thought to the threshold of the Spiritual
Father and Son revealed in the Holy Ghost, World. Then he stopped, and sought in
or only the Father Spirit? On that little i revelation, as handed down by Church
word" and" hung immense decisions, which 'tradition, experience of the Spirit of Christ,
led to the separation of the Eastern and -and found preserved in it each human
Western Churches. In this contest there was a
16 17 B
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
great strife concerning the human Ego, which . Unfolding of Materialism. The Ego dies;
must die out if it could find no hope in the thought, according to the modern view,
meaning of Pentecost. only to deny the Spirit. The Ego
In this conflict about man's dying Ego .... deteriorates in the forms of abstract Scholastic
arose the fifth post-atlantian civilisation, our , and becomes Anti-Logos. 'fhe
own age. We have to-day to reckon with stimulus of Thomas Aquinas is
the Averrhoes-experience in its proper up by the German Mystics. They
meaning; every man must go through it. the meaning of Pentecost as a direct
The first part of The Philosophy of Spiritual , for the Ego still stands as
Activity,* which unfolds the contraries of ... receptacle in face of the results ·of thought,
experience as SUbject and Object, leads brings to silence that which through
thought as far as the Averrhoes-phenomenon, tradition speaks as revelation ; the Ego then
viz., the thinking that carries itself in pure .. lit as a spark from the Holy Ghost.
thought. To-day only he can reach it whose This is the position of Cardinal Nicholas
thought is trained. Cusa or Cusanus at the beginning of the
The second part goes beyond Averrhoes, Era. He was a Churchman, but, at
and answers the last question of Thomas same time, a personality who had
. Aquinas-How is thought made Christian ? bed all the knowledge of his day;
Thomas himself could find the answer ortly stood on the sound basis of the Scholiasts'
in the revelation which was lit by ecclesiastical of thought. Nicholas of Cusa
tradition. After him the impulse of Scholas- .appears at the opening of the new Era as
ticism was diverted and led, as the spiritual the bearer of the Ego-doctrine. Alone he
content of tradition failed. to the later sought for the Pentecostal inspiration, and
atthe Council of Basel he wanted to establish
* .. The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity," in one vol., with . jt as a direct experience. He hoped to
.. Truth and Science." by R. Steiner (see advert. at back of
book). overcome . the schism of the Church on the
18 19
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
in council to discuss and form conclusions , the divine spark of the Mystic, awaiting
on spiritual matters, then-so he hoped- . direct spiritual experience the awakening
this communion of the best might possibly, the Holy Ghost, If the Pentecostal
result in the common experiencing .of of the Apostles was that they
Pentecost. as" a community received from without the
Instead of this, at this Council, the: (:otning of Fiery Tongues in order to speak
general question of the receiving of the Holy . all languages to all men, the meaning of
Ghost was taken out of its control and handed was how sought from the starting
over to the College of Cardinals. In 1870 i
of the innermost individual Ego, of
grew out of t'his the Dogma of Papal personality. - From the Ego was to
Infallibility. What Cusanus wished to win up the light of the Holy Ghost. This
back for all men was reserved for one :Li...,.",t><"1£'>1'.r-t> of the Mystic, as the innermost
individual :-when the Pope acts and resolves. of the soul, was safe from all
officially, the Holy Ghost reveals itself Cusanus himself remained a Priest,
through him. his path as a Mystic led him near to
Nicholas of Cusa~ as he could not gain y.
his point, retired, laid aside all he possessed .• • , . Faust originally laying the Bible on
II
as a man of culture and learning, and went :the shelf for a while" set aside the Church,
into solitude. In this step of his lies an j
endless tragedy. He turned his back at the In the book 111ysticism and Modern
same time on the consecration of thought, , "'Thought, * Rudolf Steiner shows how
which he had received as the fruit of the modern Natural Science grew methodically
i
j :
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
'. ". .
and entirely out of' Mysticism. Meditation 'sets'the Ego alight. This Ego thus created
and observation, the two elements of the., , fill itself with new experience, for it
Ego-life, are the bases of Natural Science; into being a self-chosen content of a
It has tended to materialism only through nature, and resting therein,
breaking away from the original spiritual ' the Sealed Thought into actual
impulse. As the Mystic through the deepest' pictorial experience, the Power of Imagina-
exercises of the soul, refusing all knowledge, ,tion.The "Lost Word" calls up the Ego
and all tradition, reaches complete silence ,the ,central part of the soul to new
in the Ego and prepares himself for the ' spiritual birth. In Inspiration Pentecost
direct spiritual revelation, so the Natural, with the soul as a new Word-
Scientist should in the same reverent attitude • as "Sounds of the Voice," as
of soul' receive the revelations of the senses, ' ;, The rustle of Thoughts," as " The lighting
Then observation of Nature becomes spiritual of. the Ego."
knowledge. This path Rudolf Steiner points 'The dying Ego is re-born originally and
out in the second part of The PhilosoPhy Vely out of the Holy Ghost.
ot Spiritual Activity, leading as he does In this way man justifies himself as
the thought of man beyond the Averrhoes- ,: in relation to the beings of
experience and opening up for him in medita- spiritual world .
tion the way to spiritual experience. . Observation .and thought, the elements
If the way out of the past was Word, , , ,his ,experience in the world of senseS, man
Thought, Ego, to-day progress must be based' ~OllCe:lltlrates in his El?o as human reflection
on the reversed order: Ego, Thought, Word. bLthat' which Rudoif Steiner describes as
In meditation it is important to bring' >" the revelation of existence/' and" spiritual
thought as well as observation to the point, " £ulfi1me1).t of the beings of the third Hier-
of silence ; it is into the silence of the soul ,'. archy." 111 the re-birth of the Ego he rea,lises
that the will must enter, it is the will which in himself the Angel or (third Hierarchy).
22 23
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
Thus man purifies himself bit by bit .All else must, in accordance with esoteric
i 1 his existence up to the kind of existence life, be formed anew inl each age. The
of the Hierarchy above him, and becomes a cyc1es* also must not be. obliterated in
member of the fourth or human Hierarchy. tradition. They were established in esoteric
I:ut then a new task is put before him which , connections, and must be taken up in different
Lorn to-day and getting ever more important places with full regard for the requirements
vrith time will face mankind; to invent a .'Of the human soul. They represent at the
language which carries news of human life same time for the whole of ,Anthroposophy
b the Spirit Beings, messages from the Earth . historic wanderings through soul-spheres.
en which Christ suffered death. Word, 'Thought, Ego: the path out of
If the revelation of existence has led the ,the past.
Evolution of mankind out of the past and out Ego, Thought, Word: -the path to hope
cfspiritual worlds, the spiritual communica- 'Of new Pentecostal experience.
t ion of men with Spirit Beings must show
* Refers to the many courses or cycles of lectures g~ven by
the way into the future; they wait for alld Rudolf Steiner at different places. They can be obtaIned at
llunger after the spirit message of man. -the Rudolf Steiner Bookshop (see advt.).
Disciples experienced the Ascension in of Cusa in his time remained without effect ;
gloomy and anxious mood. In the picture and in Mysticism only a few individuals could
of Christ's Ascension the fact stood out as become messengers of the Pentecostal impulse.
a warning to them: what Christ had done Rudolf Steiner describes the new thing
for mankind on earth can also disappear . which man must of his own accord bring to
again from the earth. Before their eyes the the cosmic act of Christ as the road of
spiritual body vanished into the distant meditative exercise to the crossing of the
ether. The question faced the Disciples: threshold in his Knowledge of the Higher
Will map of himself be able to do something Worlds and its Attainment.* It concerns
in order to keep alive the act of Christ? the fact that a man can add to selflessness
Hence the hopeful atmosphere which emanates of. thought, which he can acquire by the
from Whitsuntide. Whitsuntide was the method of Natural Science, selflessness of
affirmative reply to the warning question of feeling and of will. Man must not stand
the Ascension. In the individual Ego man ,still at the "Ego of the Mystic," but if
can kindle the flame, can seize the tongue in the quiet of his soul he has kindled
of flame, to form audibly the" World Word." . his Ego at the spirit then he must let that
For this reason the search for the Pentecostal .' spiritual conte?-t pour forth in picture or
impulse is at the opening of our age so word into his strengthened soul, so that his
significant. thought itself moves in lively pictorial
That which the Disciples experienced creation; in other words that it attains the
at Whitsuntide was afterwards sought by Power of Imagination. 1).e advance into. the
mankind in the most diverse ways. The future is made in the reversed sequence; from
controversy of "Gnosis" and of Scholas- the past to now: Word, Thought, Ego;
ticism round the Mystery of Golgotha was from now to the future: Ego, Thought, Word ..
in vain. The historical impulse of the
, * .. Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment ..
Crusades went awry, the effort of Nicholas by Rudolf Steiner (see advert,).
28 29
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
What Rudolf Steiner would put before highest pleasure would have been connected
us as "Memory" in the further explanation .with every impression. It was then that a
of the Gospel Word is to be understood Spiritual Being, who had not shared human
from the point of view of the imaginative .evolution since the age of Adam, but till
power of experience; the Power of Memory the Luciferic-Ahrimanic temptation had been
which in ordinary experience is exhibited in . kept back" in the lap of the gods "-that
the physical body flames up in the etheric .Being who later was incarnated as the
world into imaginative power. There it is Nathanic Being-permeated himself in
no longer retrospective, but becomes spiritual worlds with Christ, and thus
prospective. harmonised the human senses. *
In the lecture which gives us the variation
.." At the beginning of the Atlantic age the
and continuation of the Gospel Word, Rudolf
'vital functions became disorganised, so that
Steiner pictures in a comprehensive manner
endless greed and' intense horror were
what, cosmically speaking, had been done
inseparable from every taking of food; and
for man before the Mystery of Golgotha.
,:~gain· it was that Spiritual Being who
In doing so he refers to another lecture on
: .permeated himself with Christ and harmonised
the same event which he had given at Stutt..,
vital functions.
gart two days earlier. In this Rudolf Steiner
described how at the beginning of human At the end of the Atlantic age human
evolution-in the Lemurian age-the human thought, feeling, and will tendedin different
organism was disturbed in its functions by . directions, and. a third Clfristianising
v
of that
the Luciferic interference. And, in fact, primeval Spirit Being harmonised these three
had the system of the senses been disorganised human soul-forces.
through it, they would not have led the
perceptions altruistically to the Ego, but the * This and the next two paragraphs are a very epitomized
description of certain lectures by R. Steiner dealing with the
most intense sensations of burning pain or gradual incarnation of Our Lord.
30 31
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
In the Pforzheim lecture the same. down Anthroposophic truth, but to give
arrangement was put by Rudolf Steiner as .~as an. exercise for the. growing, changing,
follows :- to . understand. The attempt
At the end of the Lemurian age man' to grasp the' connection between
found his orientation in space; he achieved two presentations was to lead us to four
the erect posture. At the beginning of the meanings, which preceded the three,
Atlantean age he acquired the capacity to otd;Thought, Ego."
express audibly his inner feelings; he' We can give to what Rudolf Steiner
achieved speech, in so far as speech is the ' in the Stuttgart lecture an expression
expression of the inner feelings of man. . he himself always used in this con-
The third thing was that, at the end of the .u~."."J.VJ.J.·: the harmonising of the human
Atlantean age, he discovered his relationship QI~~aIJ.l~a:r;:·lon so. that the Ego could control it.
to outer things, and created speech so far last step was taken in the Mystery of
as it expresses relationship with the world . There an Ego which contained in
around him. Man could achieve these three the sum of the Spiritual Hierarchies,
steps in spite of the Luciferic-Ahrimanic . to incarnation in a human body
interference only because three times that exterior was provided by that pre-
Spiritual Being was permeated in Spiritual Spirit which in primeval times had
Worlds by Christ. the three-fold permeation of
In this double presentation of one and
the same happening a mighty task and the Pforzheim
.
lecture
v
we meet, in
warning is given us. Realise the great .variation and continuation of the opening
difference in the presentations. You must of St; John's Gospel, the last three
grow into it and create a way from one of civilisation. The procession from
presentation to the other by conscious "Word to Thought to Ego follows the past
practice. Rudolf Steiner did not want to the Egyptian-Chaldean, Epoch to the
32 33 c
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
beginning _of modern times, and contains an ,The Ego-form of man succumbed to the
echo of human evolution from the Lemurian . Luciferic temptation in. the Lemurian age.
age to the end of Atlantis. It was thrown into disorder, but placed in
At the opening of the Lemurian age the ,correct objective relationship to the cosmic
human form had advanced so far that souls ' forces through the act of deliverance by that
could return from the planets into human Spiritual Being, after permeating himself
bodies. At this age the physical body found with the Christ. The human form, with
its orientation in space; man raised up his its twelve senses, was withdrawn from the
head, the concentration point of the twelve earth's gravity and turned, in the resting
sensory powers, to heaven, in order to receive' head, to the cosmos. Here the "Word"
by means of his senses, the cosmic forces from works as a creator of form.
the twelve signs of the Zodiac. He achieved In the third civilisation, which reflected
the erect posture. This orientation of the . its events the previous happenings of these
human figure towards the twelve powers of epochs, "the Word "as a creative force of
stellar space was the work of the ",Spirits '.VV\../U.\"L" is lost; the germ of the human Ego
of Form." From the twelve cosmic directions <by. means of its sense-life psychically becomes
they poured their substance that was to of its surroundings; it learns experience.
become the Ego-force of man. They as a sensitive soul. The" Word" becomes
perfected the spiritual prototype to the the "unutterable Name of God," Who
physical form of man to which the spiritual revealed Himself to Moses in the burning
creative force of all the Hierarchies since '·'bush. .~
Saturn had tended. It is just the human Something new happened at the begin-
physical body-the human form of the Ego .nirig of the Atlantic period. The human
in process of becoming-w1:~ich the Hierarchies ·'.form is strengthened by. the vital functions,
had had as their main object from the be- so as to become independent of its surround-
ginning of the world.-form (physical body). .ings. Organically this was expressed by the
34 35
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
powerful formative force body, which had The Greek exhibits an echo' of these
till then surrounded as it were the, physical 'events; he produced his art from an Ego
body, invading into the individual human ,that lived and developed in the etheric
!:I
I'
i'
shape. It adapted its form to the physical ,body, and his thought from the pictures of
body and regulated the vital functions, bring- the. world that existed in his mind and
ing with it the powers of growth and understanding. But the Greek found him-
reproduction. The individual etheric, body ,.self forsaken by the World-Forming Word,
enters into the physical body. ·"·,and his gods silenced; at the' most, oracles
But that is also the period in which 'and sibyls a110wed him to advance as far as
the human Ego accustoms itself natura11y the gods of Nature. The knowledge of his
to the body possessed of these powers and sages, edged eVer closer to the physical
begins to sound forth its experience from world; the Categories of Aristotle stand at
inner consciousness in first speech-form., ," the turning point of the decline of cosmic
Again, it was the Spirits of Form which gave' thought-experience. Through them thought
men the power of forming life within" and, became sealed. The Greek feared death,
with the power of speech awoke the first : because experience from within in the body
imaginative and thinking powers in man.- i of Power was closed to him. ,
Power (etheric body). After the vital functions had reached
Through Luciferic influence the vital their objective expression; the human Ego
functions and their spiritual activity in began to penetrate more and more into the
speech fe11 into confusion, and speech must ',physical organisation also with his astral
have become ignoble. "Then for the second "body. At the end of the Atlantic era those
time that Spirit-Being of the later Nathan men were most advanced who had the
Jesus, having been permeated in Spirit- strongest Ego-consciousness and retained
Worlds by Christ, brought help to man in .least the atavistic clairvoyance, i.e., dream-
his cosmic life in the universe. ' consciousness. And here we touch on the
36 37
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
secret which it is most difficult to under- :'human intellect sought then to understand
stand, the secret of " Shooting into Number." .the world, and was itself lost. The Spiritual
The human Ego, which was conceived as the .Soul-consciousness created itself from
substance of the Spirits of Form, "shot" < . experience in the outer world, but the Ego
.. Shooting into Number," after the ·.~Which was the Son of Seth, which was the
-Atlantean flood which destroyed everything ,"son of Adam, which was the Son of God."
except Noah whom God found just. At "' 'He was not there to be tempted by Lucifer ,
God's bidding Noah took with him his wife, he was kept back "in the lap of the gods"
his three sons and their wives, and a male "(see above).
and female of all creature, "to keep them In the twelfth year of' His life the
alive with thee." After the Flood God "viduality of Zarathustra was united with
blesses Noah and his sons: " Be fruitful, and the Ego of the Solo monic Jesus-Child
multiply and replenish the earth." If in descent from Abraham can be traced
the first instance it was something human, three times fourteen generations.
a prototype, of all humanity, it is now a The prototype of man, made by the
multiplying in three directions: Shem, Ham, tive Word of the World, which was
Japhet; racial distinction was implanted in Adam in thelapof the gods, combined
human evolution. the bearer of supreme wisdom in the
And we see it happening a third time :corPC)re:l1 shell of the Nathan Jesus in order
with Abraham: "His progeny shall be " offer the three sheaths, after their
divided according to the number of the : permeation with the life of the Zarathustra-
stars." This represents the division into , to Christ in John's baptism.
peoples, i.e., the twelve tribes.
With the Mystery of Golgotha is bound
Out of this current the body of Jesus was
up a big event in the development of the
born, into which entered the Christ. The
• human form. In *Cycle XIX. Rudolf Steiner
Nathan Infant Jesus was the bearer of that
'describes in detail the prototype of' the
pre-Adamite Spirit entity. Of the Nathan
'physical human body, and calls it "the
Entity Jesus jt is said in the third chapter
. phantom." Through' Lucifer's and Ahri-
Df St. Luke's Gospel, after the enumeration
.of births through (7 x 11=77) generations: * ,Cycle ," From Jesus to Christ," see. advt.
40 41
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
man's temptation the astral being of man. eyes the question presented itself:
was suppressed' and thereby the phantom.
man himself grasp the resurrection-
became more and more 0 bscured and pulse in Christ, or will the Mystery Of
hardened. It died away, so that to-day :Golgotha leave the earth, will Christ's
when man dies nothing is left. . sacrifice have been. nlade in vain? Hence
physical body is destroyed by death, leaving'
joyful hope that pervades Pentecost.
no residue behind. With this was bound up . . The certainty of Christ's presence was like
the disappearance of the Ego as a spiritual. ;':3. release to the Disciples. At Pentecost
being. ", they experienced the birth of the Ego out
To save the Ego of man was the act the Spirit of Christ.
of the Mystery of Golgotha. The Christ,
Thus to the thoughtful mind stand
gave resurrection to the original spirit-form
the spiritual contents of Word,
of man, he brought the powers of resurrection
Ego, as a continuation of the
to the spirit-body, the phantom" shot ip.to ,'pr'ece:dulg ideas of Form, Power and Number.
number." He thereby created the possibility
them stands the little word
of resurrection for the Ego of man in his.,
Harmony," unifying human' powers and
Spirit. In the Mystery of Golgotha the Ego .•
. its climax in the act of the Mystery
of the human race was saved in the \.:U;o,HH''- .. , of Golgotha. Out of its spirit the new Ego
sense as a fourth Hierarchy through the
'·of man is born which in its 'next step forms
rebirth of the Phantom. Now it resolves
•. the future force of Memory and Imagination.
itself into a taking part of the individual. Form (Physical Body).
hunian Ego in the Cosmic Act. Power (Etheric. Body).
Here is to be found the reason for the Number (Astral Body).
anxiety of the Disciples when they experienced,
Harmonising Ego.
the Ascension. Sorrowfully they watched. Word (Sentient-Soul).
the Phantom disappearing into space. Before Thought (Intelligence-Soul).
42
43
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
Ego (Consciousness-Soul), Memory. Imagina- ' by his Astral, Etheric, and Physical
tion. .,' body through the temptation of Lucifer~
During the whole of the time of man's IIi this liberated physical body the Christ
controversies on Peritecostal experience," ,Act can operate, His powers of resurrection
though tradition, the Councils, the research' ;c~n seize hold of the Physical body by
.of Scholasticism, and of the Mystics a1l, degrees and can animate the Phantom of
failed, one ritualistic way of mediation had man.
remained open :. the Holy Sacrament. In its Thus, in the sequence of seven spiritual
exoteric meaning the Lord's Supper made, meanings which we created in our soul by
it possible to experie1!-ce the unity of practice of common striving after the
and spirit, to reach the spirit through matter " the image of an ever-growing human-
The resurrection of the body, of the Phan " presents itself to us. Here stand
was retained for the consciousness of :,u.U.u,<;.u. what in the first two lectures seemed
find a way to the innermost essence of the ·performances at Munich. The building of
human soul. This way into the innermost the Goetheanum was origina11y undertaken
part of man can rightly be termed esoteric. for Mystery Plays, and everything else has
In Rudolf Steiner's sense esoteric striving- .,been added later.
means transforming the soul itself gradua11y But what did Rudolf Steiner himself
by practice to see the spiritual; and as this wish to attain through the Mystery Dnpnas?
concerns intimate events in one's experience,. That can be inferred from the addresses
one tries a11 the more not to speak about it~ :which he gave in connection with the Munich
"Can it be of importance· to speak performances. There he te11s us that for
from ordinary consciousness on the Esoteric?", .seven years the important thing in the
I asked Rudolf Steiner this question many Society was the giving of the teachings of
years ago ; and I could read into the answer . . the Spiritual Worlds, i.e., of Spiritual
he gave that it might be not only justifi~d. 'Science, and that its members should
and good, but even necessary. And he' :;incorporate this wisdom as the property of·
added in this connection that one can speak soul. But after these first seven years
from ordinary consciousness on any subject, became necessary to bring together more
if one has studied the contents deeply the people who had met in the
beforehand, so that one can speak from real .i . • later the anthroposophical
experience. But a11 the same one can easily" . Society, because they desired to be brought
understand that one keeps silent for years . nearer to the experience of the Spiritual
and even tens of years. . World. Rudolf Steiner wished to introduce
Two facts induce me to give this address .. into the work an esoteric feature; and he
The first· is that the Goetheanum has been. .,:did that by means of the Mystery Dramas.
dedicated to its purpose: the·presentation. . . To those who on the strength of many
of Rudolf Steiner's Mystery Plays. This years' stuQ-y were in a position to take up
purpose is derived from the Mystery- the Esotericism he presented it through the
48 49 D
ESOTERICISM ESOTE;RICISM
art of his Dramas. Rudolf Steiner displayed Chris.tmas Celebration :. he wanted an esoteric
in them pictures of psychical and spiritual atmosphere to pervade the -society. Those
events just as they stand before the eyes of. '. Rudolf· Steiner's words at Christmas
the spiritual investigator. The spectators 1923.' "
are expected to take a much greater part
.' .. After Rudolf Steiner had left us in the
than is usual at Dramatic. performances : .' •.•. body, the gifts of the spirit which were
in a certain sense the audience belong to ()ffered us by him in such overflowing measure
the total events. It is important to break· ·could not continue. It must now be that
down the barriers between the events on a community of human beings takes over
the stage and the audience, for it is just in results of his research into the spiritual
this mutual inter-dependence that the them in trust in such a way that the;
Esoteric lies .. It is like the character of alive .in the community. People
Johannes Thomasius, who in the first . . .
•must come together in anthroposophical
Mystery Drama is first of all present at the work, in a union of such a sort that Anthro-
psychical events as spectator, though outside . yosophy comes into its own. This union of
the real stage scene, but afterwards, in the .hearts waS alive in the thousands of people
seventh scene, steps into the frame of events ho swarmed up in to the building; these
and becomes himself apIa yer. So it is also. hearts were united by the true Esotericism
for the spectator; he becomes a player. '. as it welled up out of love of Anthroposophy.
The second thing is this, that there is
a fellowship among members through the In this community of life also everything
opening of the Goetheanum, a common· was to find a fruitful reception which the
striving of hearts, in. which the true spiritual.· individual had worked out .for himself
meaning of Anthroposophy lives. And this ,everything which he had won of capabilit;
is something which corresponds with what and experience,. even experience of an
Rudolf Steiner wanted to implant at the ·esoteric kind. . .
50 51
."
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
spiritual training which affected even the know nothing of' the things
organic force-relationships -of their bodies
To this end the unconditional submission: .. '.' Then followed' the Gre~k Period, in
of the pupil to the teacher was a necessity, '" hich the Mystery-Cult was pervaded 'by a
who by manipulation of spiritual forces' partichlarly·· lively memory of Atlantis. It
released their higher membersfronl the. ' . had a. Secret Esotericism" which acted
It
physical body and brought them back again~,; longer indir~ct1y on what concerned the
The initiation could be attained only through -corporeal, but directly on the psychic
the magical co-opetationof the Hierophant, . in the awakening consciousness.
and by means of magical forces and powerful; ... encouraged enthusiasm, the forces of
suggestion the peoples of the Mystery- . , , « the being filled with God," and
Centres were led on to an advanc~ in through Art spirit-creating forces
civilisation. human life.
The Mystery-Centres themselves were .
protected bi magic means against the intru.;.i' In proportion as the power· of protecting
sion 'of the unauthorised. Whoever pushed" Mysteries through Magic was lost, the
in without authority, whoever even did not secrecy of Esotericism was introduced, and
give proof, was smitten dead. '. References to attempt to achieve it' through oaths
this protection of the holy places are found, threats. He who betrayed the Mysteries
even in the Old Testament; .no one but,' vvas pursued and punished with death. We.'
the High Priest may enter the Holy of Holies; , ",have still at present traces of the secret
every uninitiated person Who went near it· .• ' Esotericismin various secret societies ; they
suffered death. I know of course that there .still keep up in fornls and rituals, which they
are materialistic explanations for this even . Jake great care to keep secret, the survivals
to the smallest details ; but they show that····'·. Of:"ancient times. And here also betrayal
those who give them or believe them under- . . .
54 55
ESOT.EinCISM
ESOTERICISM
But to-day we have to deal with quite"
different impulses. We are past the age of .•.• important thing. Rudolf Steiner laid hold
magical activity,and the secret Esotericism, oLthis fact' and during the second period
for the Mystery was conducted in the light , "of, his work in the Anthroposophical Society
of pUblicity. The Mystery of Golgotha " 'led us with the Gospels ever deeper into
brought about the change, for Christ' the Mystery of Golgotha. By communicating
consciously broke through the walls. of ,ito us the spiritual-scientific results of his
ancient activity-and then with His Death : research into the cosmic act of Jesus, Christ,
qnd Resurrection "fulfilled ,i the mystery he opened to us also a new understanding
wisdom of all ages, and indeed, " in the face of the Biblical presentation; genuine awe
of all people." The wise men of that time anew 'in the soul with such a glimpse
recognised it, too, and for that reason -He the sacred documents. Each single
was accused of betraying the Mysteries. of the Bible, placed in such a conjunc-
In the New Testament it is s.aid of Christ regained its holy world-embracing truth,
" For He has made signs before the people" ; single word was vivified in its esoteric
and they sought how "they Inight find"
something against Him." Rudolf Steiner wanted to convey to, the
Rudolf Steiner in his book Christiam:ty pIe who are gathered together in the
as Mystical Fact, and in many. )ectures, ,-Anthroposophical Society an Esotericism
shows just this basic difference between the 'that corresponds with the spjritual ,basis of
act of Christ and all previous Dedications. ".'our Fifth Period of Civilisation. He wanted
The Mystery of Golgotha is meant for the ,,' , show them the way to a Christian esoteric
whole world, it is a cosmic experience; in " development, by using his' understanding
it we have the liberation of the mystery-life. old occult tradition to win the further
Since the Mystery of Golgotha we have to of the transcendental methods
recognise Esotericism as free, that is the ,,'of research 'which correspond with the con-
56
'temporary age of the Consciousne~s Soul.
57
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
I should like to amplify this a little with· But how did Rudolf Steiner cultivate'
words which he hiinself used. Rudolf Steiner· . Esotericismin our Society?
once said: " People don't realise that eacK . ' Whoever has accompanied his progress
of my Lectures, even the public ones, are, S1nce the turn of the century might have
ftill of Esotericism.But one must be able had the following experience : .Rudolf Steiner
to receive and understand .the Lectures ,perpetually sought the right soil for certain
properly." He said this after it had become, presentations, and so it could happen that
impossible during the years of war to stt1dy he communicated-, ... by way of trial-so me-
Esotericism in the same manner as before, .• '.' thing f~om his spiritual research to quit~ a
and members came to him with the request ;small CIrcle, sometimes only to three; two,
to take it up again .. Rudolf Steiner wanted ,a?d even only to one person. At the same
in this saying to define what he wished to 'bme he was making an experiment to see how
be understood to-day by "the Esoteric:", '.'".'., far modern consciousness can bear in such
Another time he said: " I want to draw your .' things. It was some new research which
attention to an esoteric book, which; though (he put, in this way before a few people.
it lies in front of everybody's eyes, is under7" One could ask questions and discuss things.
stood as such by nobodY. namely Fichte's ,But after a time one noticed that he took
'·'Lore of Science." In the same sense : ,. . same . question to a larger circle, e.g.,
Rudolf Steiner described every logarithm to the CIrcle of people who formed an
'. Esoteric Group. ' Then it wotild come about
table as esoteric, i.e., an understanding of it
,that he brought it before all the Members
requires that a man masters through learning ,.
'. of the Anthroposophical Society' and if one
the scientific premises, and must have the
:wait:d a little longer he beg:n to gIve
good will to work out the necessary 'Pubhc Lectures. on the same subject.
preliminaries. It is our duty, to take· such
. You see how Esotericism, 't.e., the
words seriously to heart. Spiritual which is still out of reach of
58
59
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
must be made directly available to each be taken into the Fellowship of the Holy
individual human-being. . The transition was made by John's
The Sacraments of the, Cathohc Church .•.• ptism of Christ, As John baptised Jesus
are as is known, seven in number.. I should '.' the Heavens were opened unto him, and
lik~ to arrange them for the sake of· clearness saw the Spirit of God descending like a .
in a somewhat different order from the .. ' " and lighting upon. him: and 10, a Voice
one: Baptism, Confirmation, Marna~e; '," . heaven, saying, (This is my beloved
Extreme-Unction; then Penance, Commull1otl, <:" .in whom I reveal Myself.' "
and Ordination. I have grouped them thus. , At a later period the baptism of infants
64 introduced by the Church, and with it
65
E
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
the meaning. of Baptism was changed. It ]jut if we speak from the point of view of the
changed in so ·far as Infant-Baptism was.- earth, in the Christian sense, we want to
performed, not in the Name of the Holy . receive on earth the being who is born of the
Ghost, as was the case in Adult-Baptism, Father, in the Name of Christ.
but in the name of Jesus Christ. With this '. Thus we find anthroposophically a
goes also the fact that Baptism was reserved rather different attitude to Baptism from that
to' Priests. By extending Baptism to infants, which is .to-day current in the Church' and
they were justified in baptising in the Name this may become, ·for us, an experien~e of
.' of Christ, for infants were supposed to be. significance,
received in Baptisim on the earth on which.'. If . we look now at the Sacrament of
Christ had dwelt. The sma1l child was to ,{·J:~xt:relm Unction, we find the reve~se
be taken on earth into the 'Fellowship of 'happening .. Here also we must consider
Christ, whereas Baptism in the Name of the has happened froin two aspects. We
Holy Ghost means that the person himself" regard death from the point of view of
has something to say and to do in the matter.,:" man who is about to leave the earth',
.
'If we look at these ,events from ali;l: '::;'''''-V.UU.LJ, how death here connotes birth
anthroposophical point of view , we· shall), the beyond, into the Spiritual World.
be able to perceive that there are two things" . we approach the threshold of death
concerning Baptism which come into question. 'Y'ith the words, "Father, into thy hands I
On one side we must note the manner in, commend my spirit." When one leaves the
which the child is received into human life ;' one gives up the' spirit in the name 6f
and on the other, how man through birth, Father.' One shoUld really consider
emerges from the Spiritual world. If we "·"·H.V1-."o.,.,.,o Unction as' being given on the
look upon pre-natal existence as life in the -principle. If we look, in the moment
spiritual home of the soul, we say: " OU~.J death, on the act of being born in the
God' we are born" out of the Father-Splnt. ,,·'''h....,i-l- t~en we may say "Unless ve become
66 67
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
as little children, ye can in no wise enter into <iirected on to quite specific religious doctrines
the Kingdom of Heaven." and· d()gmas. Originally Confirniation was
This other view we must, from the meant to sanctify the inner creative energies
position of Anthroposophy, add to the," . . of the young, and to point to the acf of
Church's interpretation of Extreme Unction, Christ's Sacrifice, but the Church soon
and express as the spiritual birth in death; tervened with one-sided interests of its own.
"In Christo Morimur:" Against. the' As opposed to this, from his knowledge
Church's interpretation of 'Baptism and human nature, Rudolf Steiner brought
Extreme Unction let us set, from the Anthro~ . into. relationship with the
posophical point of view, the two Rosicrucian' of the young child. If education
definitions: Birth as "Ex Deo nascimur," really enter into those creative powers
"Out of God we are born," and .Death in, stir in a child, which are given their
the sense of the "In. ClIristo Morimur/",;" before birth, then it can address
" In Christ· we die," Only in this way his religious side as such, so that
we reveal the mysteries which lie in the child carries with him the Spiritual into
Sacraments, of Baptism and Extreme' awakening consciousness. That points
Unction. a true sanctification of each individuality.
Let us take the two intermediate steps, .. • the point, qf view of Anthroposophy
Confirmation and Marriage. Confirmation' . shall have to add to Confirmation what
can be traced to the Blessing through the :'; .' Steiner has given Pedagogy in free
laying-on of hands of the. Apostles. unimpeded . Sunday Scripture lessons,
Confirmation the Church 'performs a, rit~ to t.qeage of children. It is not .a
for the adolescent child by means of the: . society; the teachers carry out,
laying-on of the Priest's hands! whereby the, Rudolf Steiner's direction, an education
Holy Ghost is to enter the individual being. the soul. . This free, unfettered religious
The religious feeling of YOung people is to"-day was begun at the request of
68 69
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
children and parents; of children who lo'uged . . .. . One can feel how St. Paul with thesr~
for something religious, and of parents, who': ; words clothes the protot""'pe of a
.Ch .. ' . . .Y
11.
rea T
as Anthroposophists begged Rudolf Steiner·· . r~stlan .ull1~n. A social life together, whicjl
to give religious instruction to .their children; . .carnes. wlth It a freedom which b e1ongs '·t()
In this way this religious instruction came er ery
r . belllg through Christ, cannot h~
proscnbed ~ny further by means of externa l
about like a branGh of the Anthtoposophical
Society in the *Waldorf School at Stuttgart. , a~d s~ St. Paul stamps the secret 0:
We can see how it proceeds, not from a ull1~n 1n pictures which at that timf:
religious act, but rather that it hangs together . . still considered sacred. Marriage i~;
with a growing consciousness of what is· ~sed . as ..an" example of the much wide]'
Anthroposophical. . s~?Jectton, within the Christian com.
Let us look at the Sacrament of Marriage. ,. ~Ull1ty. In this period of his life man seek~
The Church view of it takes its stand on the .>hls relationship to other men, and was i
words of St. Paul in the Epistle to the'" those d~ys .really taken, through marriag:
Ephesians v., "Wives· submit yourselves;: . .. . soclal hfe as it was formed through the
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ,feehngs . of men .among themselves. Fo!
For the husband is the head of the wife, . every step .into this life St. Paul points men
even as Christ is the head of the Church:.· ·to the relatlonshipof Christ to His community:
and he is the Saviour·of the body. Therefore,'; . Paul says: ~'This is a great Mystery; I
as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let; >:speak of Chnst and the community."
the wiyes be to their own husbands in every-: '. In the anthroposophicalmeaning, the
thing. Husbands love your wives, even. as' . Astral. bod~ carries those powers which place
Christ also loved the Church, and gave. ,man 1U. hls relationship with other men
Himself for it." .' Each individual, from his knowledge of
* The Waldorf School for children, founded by Rudolf·': '. 11~man. nature, suchas Anthroposophy gives
Steiner, has been a great success; and the method has drawn the:
attention of educationists throughout the· world.· .
111m; :V111 have much to experience and much
70. 71
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
to work at in himself, in order to purify the .
Astral body up to such impulses as ca,n make " ......,.........·.'-u by the Church entire1y for the narrow
him the bearer of a union based on the spirit of the Pri"ests.
of mankind. .' Penance was taken in the sense of a
So we have in the first four Sacraments tion ,'ofthe passions. Holy Com-
studied religious cultural actions which as a participation of the human
accompany man in his earthly life to the day . Christ's sacrifice, and Ordination
of death, and which are meant to sanctify /:repn~seJl1te~d the highest step of the spiritual
the separate stages of his development. We . ty of the Priests.
can feel how the real nature of man remains If we go back to origins we find, instead
sealed in the Sacraments. Rudolf Steiner . the words "Do penanr::e" the esoteric
released, as it were, also this hidden nature, " Change the disposition." That
by discovering to us the separate parts of man's resolution is called upon to
. human nature in their development. We his inner life. Everything which
learn to understand how in Baptism the to the details of repentance and
physical body of the child is to be surrendered' to-day still bears clearly the
to the earth-forces. Through Confirmation, ·';;~"''''I'>''''''''U.L· marks of conversion; self-knowledge
the life-forces, the etheric b.ody are to be practised as a conversion of the soul.
kept in purity. The .Sacrament of Marriage astral body must be purified from the
is concerned with the nature of the astral point of the ego. The Sacrament of
body; man forms through it. his relationship is in this sense the way to .the
Spirit-Self"· of man.
to other men. Extreme·· Unction was to
lead the human Ego to the awakening in The striving for inner conversion is the
the spirit; .....~'-I'> ..." ...............LF. of the esoteric Hfe, and, therefore,
The three last Sacrame~ts of Penance,. '.' the last three Sacraments especially we
of Communion; and of Ordination, were point to the esoteric element. We tOUch
72 subject which Rudolf Steiner has dealt
73
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
with i~ his book How to Acquire Knowledge good sense, 'a magic creative effect. Per·
of the Higher Worlds. . meated with the power of Christ man is ablE
In the Sacrament of the Last Supper we to accomplish' the 'Transubstantiation. .
have a Sanctification of what can be an In connection with Christmas 1922,
illumination from Spiritual Worlds. When 'Rudolf Steiner spoke on the spiritual com-
man as an "awakened one" receives the "munion of mankind. In his last lecture
power of the Holy Ghost in his Spirit-S~lf. '.' delivered in the old Goetheanum (31st Dec.,
he.is able to impart it to the dead matenal·· 1922), Rudolf Steiner says: "Thus spiritual
. powers by his spirit. and transmute them to . knowledge
-
is rea:1
< \~
communion, the beginning
living ones. " Lifeaspirit" in Anthroposophy for man of a cosmic religion adapted to the
is experiencing Christ with the forces ,~f ~he ... present;" .
etheric body converted by the Ego. Life-, Here Rudolf Steiner. created a new
spirit" is the substance of Christ w~i~h at, religion, which is connected with the old,
the last Supper he distributed t6theDlsclp~es! • .but ill such a manner that individual man can
in the Mysteries of the Bread and Wille. .:find his way through the, old Mysteries,
In Holy Communion man experiences the" by taking up Anthroposophy, and with its
cosmic communion out of the spirit. 1ft ): 'aid transform his Thought, Feeling and Will
Anthroposophy, Holy Communion can . ' into higher powers of knowledge.
longer exist. as a ceremonial religi~us act,:, The last' stage of the Sacraments is
but is a summons to the present consclOUSne~? . •. . .. . Ordination. In the. meaning of the Church
of' man, to raise himself to the cosmlC .' . that is the ceremony by which the Priest
experience in order to receive the gif~ of the .. '" receives spiritual maturity for his service. It
Life-Spirit. In the sense of the Phtloso~hY is not an outward introduction into a teaching
of Spiritual Activity cosmic, c~mmUtii0n office, but the witness of spiritual maturity.
represents the objective of SCientific It is not surprising that this introduction
By the power of the Life-spirit it has the Catholic Church follows from the
74 75
ESOTERICISM
. ESOTERICISM
Hierarchy, for mediatorship in upon him who receives it "a responsibilitr
goes by grades. that passes all measure." ,
We learn· from Rudolf Steiner the .. It is all a question of seeing that in th!
spiritual reality which underlies Ordination. s p1r1tual. call, the Spiritual World speaks to
In the book Theosophy Rudolf Steiner man. Slllce Rudolf Steiner experienced .thi(~
writes about it in the Introduction in a call, the anthroposophical movement wa~,
simple way which can easily be read. Here 'made possible. We all live in Anthro-
he differentiates three stages of experience' phy through the function of this call.
of spiritual events; the vision of the Seer In this way Rudolf Steiner released the
corresponds with the pure sense perception, three higher .elements of the human being
and the knowledge-activity of the spiritual' Were enclosed in the Church Sacra-
researcher with the scientific work on the of Penance, Holy Communion and
earth. But to be a "Teacher" for the u.,u"a"j·,u.lL; the "Spirit-Self," the "Life-
spiritual province of existence ,a "spiritual . " and the" Spirit-Man." He put before
.call" is required. The first favour which eyes the Mysteries of free Esotericism'
can be won by man is the revelation of the anthroposophical esoteric experienc~
Spiritual Beings. One cannot force it, one. .' the Sacraments something of the impulse
must know how to wait for it. ••.• ?f the Mystery of Golgotha is released,
The second stage is that one becol1:ies
·.and can be grasped again by the individual
by means of a step by step effort.
wiser and more initiated. Only then can
. The Esotericism
. of to-day must be free , .
the third step come in, that the Spiritual . .
call up in the t:ight way that which is preserved . :Thought in the age-s~quences· of thE·
in us as memory of the past. All esotericism Egyptians and the Greeks up to our own
is an inner calling up of human nature through •. age were released from the Mystery-existence,
knowledge of the cosmic evolution-processes . . the three spheres, till then aunity, separated.
of the past and their future objective. That· . Rudolf Steiner re,..created them into a new
has been established as far as concerns the . unity, by freeing Science from Dogma; for
different post-Atlantic civilisations. ·The .he pointed out the way for Thought to
Mystery-Life of to-day has nothing more •.• liberate itself from its corporeal fetters,
to repeat; as content and impulse of the and to raise itself by artistically vivid
new Esoteric, Christ "fulfilled" the Mystery . • education to the power of Imagination;
of Golgotha as a divinely free act before all. dead Science was revived through the
men. Rudolf Steiner is the founder of the of Art. But new life grows out of
free Esotericism by revealing to our time. the·. up Art, for man's sense of feeling is
secret of the cosmic origin of the Christ- •.. created the art of speech for spiritual
. Nature. experience; religious power renews the·
But the traces of the old civilisations creation in Art. But Religion is freed from
deeply penetrate our whole life,· whether in •its paralysis, for knowledge of Spiritual
the religious views and dogmas which. Worlds, that is Spiritual Science, takes the
repudiate Science, or in the power of Science place of the, old. beliefs.
which reduces Art to pure Aestheticism, or Thus Rudolf Steiner changed the
even in the fading experience of. the religious . which was hemmed in by· cults
person which still at most shows itself at and secrecy in.to the Science which to-day
work in artistic matters. .•. is alone possible. In place of the protection
In old time religion, art and s9ience through Magic and Oath, we have free self
represented a Spirit-filled unity. As the consciousness and free power of the moral
human soul-forces of Will, Feeling, and. i:espons~l?i1ity which know only one vow ~
78 79
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
that of truthfulness to one's own higher ,.
self. thought wiSdom, in feeling love, and 1:1
Esotericism consists 6f spiritual facts ,will morality. The Cosmic past unfold:;
which, received by the human consciousness' to the earth-bound soul in ordinar: T
work for its recreation. The whole of consciousness as Destiny. In the meditativ/!
Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Science is Esoteric; ·'soul man, led by Michael, experiences Chris1;
-and the product of meditation.. . •. . the Cosmos, experiences how Christ,
. Apart from the content of meditatio.n, . striding through the ranks of the HierarchieE
there is also, and especially, the form. While' the originally divine substance into
in the case of the content it is necessary for . a human body and there revealed it; His
man to shape it with his habitual mental th enabled man to travel back from
faculties, the form of meditation depends Cosmos to his Self, and lends the Ego
·on the soul, completely at rest, opening '., power to maintain itself in the truth
itself to its power of creating super-sensual,. the saying: tt Not I, but Christ in me."
spiritual organs. In this event, of thesom, Every meditation and even every real
strengthening itself, Esotericismstill. has: involves a double journey; a
to-'day a magic element, but in its right '. ----------0 out into the Cosmos in the light
place. Rudolf Steiner. always, in. every idea-carried power of Michael up .to
meditation which he gave, started. from, , and a return to the Ego, through the "
:general human values; for instance, from of Christ; Rudolf Steiner has built
the sun's light flooding the earth or from' . free Esotericism on man's insight into
the warmth quivering in the air.' He sought· . We all see how hard it is to attain
to lead man through the content of insight froni the difficulties we have
.Meditation out of himself into the Cosmos,' our Teacher 'left us. He laid a test
The Cosmic past produces spirituality in . mankind; we must learn to become
'soul at rest in it, and produces in man's" 'of it~· Freedom is not something
80 man has or has not, but something
81
F
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
which has to be won by way of inner .a "plus," over and above what
development. '. . . . the individual can contribute. All Esoteric
'the way to this inner unfoldlllg is s~l~wn effort of an individual is Luciferic ; one can
in The Philosophy of Spiritual Act~v~ty; only complete it if one brings its fruits into
it is an esoteric book through and throug~. ~,so.cial fellowship, so that this fellowship'
In it he leads the human spirit to Cosmic '. is Witness for the message of the shepherds
Communion. People do not notice that in ,which is to last for all time: To-day and here
the Philosophy ot Spiritual Activit~ ?race . :<our Saviour is born! That is the esoteric
is dealt with in ati extremely llltlmate .·.u~".au..LJ.·J.~ of Anthroposophy. It depends on
sense, for they forget that man derives ~1l fellowship whether it can carry this
knowledge out of that which comes to hun. ,:~",'-";:'al;!:C; . through. One can speak only of .
intuitively from above, from Grace. But· anthroposophical work where one can hope
the most important thing for our . ". to find entrance to the heart. .
efforts is that we take our attitude of soul . It was just that which the Sacrament
from 'the Philosophy ot Spiritual Activity. surrounded with the cloak of secrecy. What
So I wanted ,to make an attempt to know cannot be abused; in universal
break the spell which lies on the :w~rd . . lies the protection. I felt. 0 bliged
"Esotericism," to break with everything" say all this in the Society at the moment
which to-day still has influence in the anthro..;· this struggle is put before us in the
, posophical movement· from the cU!ilJtoms' ..rd-"' ...·" Plays in the new Goetheanum.
the 'theosophical Society. One cannot . . .• Mystery Dramas lie open to all beholders,
Esotericism on anyone, nor can one mak: a.'. only those souls which contain in them-
profession of it. In the Anthroposophlcal ves esoteric impulses can break down the
Society can only free insight and ~ree' so that the figures live among
fellowship be sought. It should be .posSlble. in spiritual reality. We are· summoned
in the Society that in its fellowship there take a part in· the Drama. In the
82 83
ESOTERICISM·
...
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
... to the new ; again and again he pictured the
first post-Atlantean civilisations" advance from the third to the fourth and into
1;1
magic power, till, spreading out our fifth post-Atlantean civilisation, so that :]1 1
elemental utterances of the Greek pythian 'j
i, ,
ESO'fERICISM ESO'fERICISM
" In accordance with the quite differently .' . most restricted circles with men whom
constituted temper of mind of. an earlier . they had' previously prepared.
humanity, there has always been a knowledge "And thus it has continued even to
of the spiritual world up to the beginning .thepresent time.
of the modern age, approximately until '.' ." '. '. '.' "Of the persons maintaining such a
the fourteenth century. This knowledge; '1?osition, in relation to .. spiritual knowledge
however, was quite different from Anthro- : whom I have' encountered, I may select one
posophy, which is adapted to the conditions was active within the Viennese circle
of cognition characterising the present day. 'of Frau Lang to which I have referred but
" After the period mentioned, humanity whom I also met in other circles with which
could at first bring forth no knowledge of was. associated in Vienna. This. was
E~kstein, the 'distinguished expert
the spiritual world. .Men could only confirm. ' .l.LU.J.J.LU
the 'ancient knowledge,' which the mind.' • ancient knowledge.' While I was
had beheld in the form of pictures, and which •. with Friedrich Eckstein he had.
was also available later only in symbolic-' written much,but what he did write
. filled with the spirit. No one, however,.
picture form. . . . .:.
" This' ancient-knowledge' was practlsed se::nse:.C1 •fron: his essays the intimate expert
in remote times only within the · mysteries.'" the anClent knowledge.' This was active
It was imparted to those who had first been the background of his spiritual work.
made ripe for it, the 'initiates.' It was not after life had removed me from this
to reach the public because there the tendency also, I' read in a collection of his
was too strong to use it in an unworthy a very significant paper on the
manner. This practice has been maintained ' Brothers.
only by those later personalities who received . •• Friedrich .Eck;stein represented the.
the lore of the • ancient knowledge' and earnest . conviction' that esoteric spiritual
continued to foster it. They did this in ." should not. be publicly propagated
88 89
ESOTItRICISM ESOTItRICISM
like ordinary knowledge. He was. not . . '. . p'ublicity wherever any sort of
in this conviction; it was and is that·· ,,:knowledge appears. The point of view
almost all experts in the ' ancient wisdom .. favouring the preservation of mysteries is
To what extent this conviction of the an . anachronism. The sole and only
dians of' the 'ancient wisdom,' strongly' possibility is that persons should be taught
enforced as a rule, was broken through in . . knowledge by stages, and that no
Theosophical Society, founded by H. ' .• should be admitted to a stage at which
Blavatsky-of this I shall have occasion to , . : higher portions of this knowledge are to
,be imparted until he knows the lower. This,
speak later~
"Friedrich Eckstein wished that ·.p.U.lCCIll.. corresponds with the practice in lower
'initiate in the ancient knowledge,' higher s.c11ools· even of an ordinary sort.
H Moreover, I was uuder no obligation
should clothe what one treats publicly
the force which comes from this ' . anyone to guard mysteries, for I received
but that one should separate the .from the < ancient wisdom' ; what
strictly from the esoteric, which possess of spiritual knowledge is entirely
remain within the most restricted circles , result of my own researches. When any
those who fully understood how to has come to me, only then I set
it whatever of the' ancient knowledge'
it.
" If I was to develop a public acti already been made public from any side,
on behalf of spiritual knowledge, I had. order to point out the harmony in mood, -
determine to break with this tradition. at the same time, the advance which is
found myself faced by the requirements ble to contemporary research.
the contemporary intellectual life. In ~'So, after a certain point of time. it
. '
qUlte clear to me that in coming before
presence of these the preservation of
such as were inevitable in ancient times public with spiritual knowledge I shoUld
an impossibility .. We live in the time be doing the right thing."
90 91
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
perception, and with it the soul beg3:n to Its observation by means ofthesenses
separate itself from the world. Full of deep nothing more of the world, it is
longing the Greek Jelt the duality of sout ective; its thought is human thought,
and world. longer world-thought. So it stands before
In the next epoch the human soul strove, .its own" life as a riddle in nothingness, a
for its self-assertion with the questions of · stranger to the, world both of the body and
Cl 95
94,
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
ness the path to the three-fold division of
of the spirit. It is this proble~ of the
':hu.~an nature based on body, soul and
between worlds with which Philosophy splnt ..
must deal. Philosophy is becoming
Aristotle stood at the completion of the
trichotomy of human nature: that is the first,,'
first tra~sition, the separation of the soul
'Sound of Rudolf Steiner's " ,from the resounding World-Word. He is
language." In the book Theosophy
:thefouuder of the science of thought, of
invokes human nature asbody~soul
; and he created it purely out of the
spirit. He shows the soul's phenomenology of thought, by which he
dependence on the body, but also the '
•. pleted the step from human soul to
of its spirit in the re-incarnation of individu-;"
., spiritual world. Plato still saw the Real
ality. The discovery of the threefold
the spiritual prototypes that hovered
character of human nature gave to'
things, and so turned his face away
sciences a new creative incentive.
,• j, na~ure. Aristotle. seized the spiritual
_ We stand in the turmoil of In thlllgS. Ideasvamsh, through Aristotle
times. Rudolf Steiner's life chanced in the grave of God, into the outer world.
transition where the destiny of gods seals up the ancient wisdom through the
human tragedy meet. The, strife applies o~ thought. In logic, thought senses
to the ,individual. The gods suffer Volce of the vVord, in logic the Logos
destiny, and men too. But destiny "Therefore logic demanded absolute
also the word and conceptions and ideaS. " " and man may not resist it. Its laws
,are the description of thought-phenomena
The loss of the Word, the' sealing
themselves, of, magic word-force. This
Thought, the death of the Ego are
marks in the destiny of the Lopn~~-the , is complete in itself. Till now
advance has been made on Aristotelian
separation of the soul from the world,
In its province it is conclusive.
of the ego from the soul, point out to cotlSCllOU~S"
96 • 97 G
, ESOTERICISM ESOT:ttRICISM
Another individual is witn:ss of the most.. "He represented, quite in the sense of antiquity,
' 'fi nt fight m the second ,', the thought-life as universally cosmic, of
intense and slgnl ca , ,
th Middle Ages: Thomas Aqumas. which only a drop is revealed in the thought
epoc, h e ~ ,, f d to as the
T' M'ddl Ages are often re erre of single men on earth; in the same way the
r!.:k ~ge:, though in that, timeir:~:alm~~:, ,thought of 'each individual man is the
critical questions of, human sp ' e ' " out flowIng of an absolute power. Averrhoes
, d The religious questlOns wer , saw it as flowing out of universal World-
were ralse . f r whiCh
resse'd wl'th a'n l'nwardness of ee . mg ' ," Thought, out of God the Father, and return-
P rdly realise. It IS a ,question
we can,t0- day ha. " to be or not, to b" e ','
:ing again at, death to Him,
for men of an, mner IT' ht was Bttt Thomas wanted the taking up of
r the human personality,J..houg , f'i
fo d 'th 11 the force 0 ,,' :'the "Word" to be through the power of
schooled and inspire w:' a, ,: Son, He, did not wish to give the lie
the soul fighting for its eXlstence. From E ',.
. 'battles the soul wrested the human go. Averrhoes, ,but to prevail over him and
Inner, . f his time Thomas '. , the ancient thought method which left
As representative 0 '
Aquinas stood at the zenith of the "!Jilt of account the Mystery of Golgotha.
school of thought. He fought ;' verrhoes wanted to find the absoluteness
severest spiritual battle for the 0,Oll·Ull,Ua,~·~'., thought in the Ego which had released
of human individuality after death, ,and from the soul, and to regard the coming
1 d his name for all tlme , the I.,ogos in the sense of antiquity, But
fight has coup e ,
that of his opponent Averrhoes. , •the time had already come when the deeper
In order to appreciate the contro forces of the human soul were no longer
look more closely for in' this direction and so it was
properly we must ,
t at the Averrhoes possible for the absoluteness of thought to
momen '. f become' a force which worked inimically
Averrhoes was a representative 0'.
· . m as it had reached Europema ctJ;<:\,H'1;' the reception of the Son-power.
1lanlS , ' '
98 99
ESOTERICISM .
ESOTERICISM
obtained only in thought; he founded the
The Averrhoes-phenomenon of ~hought Logic of . Feeling. In innermost soul-
must be properly understood; we still meet ..... struggles he fought so to refine and clarify
it everywhere to-day, and we must see how . . . . ". feeling that it might attain the certainty of
far it is justified. . . ' thought. and become knowledge-powet. He
brought the .logical knowledge-power that
R u d0 1f Steiner describes this m the first
A ' 't
part of his Philosophy of Spiritttal ctt~t y.' had grown out of the ancient thought-
He pictures it by leading thought, described ... observation to the highest perfection, as we
in the sense of a phenomenon, to pure, '. . meet it in .. the most flourishing period of
thou ht. And there we have the Averrhoes: Scholastic:ism, and then transferred it into
g.. . 'fi d'
experience Just! e m our , ' .
day The content··.
., . heart~power, to revive feeling and purify it
of a conception is absolute, and mferences .• . into universal knowledge-power.
from the absolute are irrefutable; they can As Aristotle had founded the Logic of
have no individuality; as far as ~he contents, so Thomas Aquinas founded the
of the conception are concerned 1t makes no .Logic of . 'Feeling. With this feeling,
difference if 'A or B or C thinks i:. <'permeated by the Logos, he turned to
For this reason Thomas Aqut nas ·.religious revelations, and with his soul glowing
to prevail against Aver~hoes and call ,with the power of Christ, he won in Him
deeper powers of expenence than the vindication of human individuality
'. absolute thought. He wanted to absorb. beyond. death;
the power of the soul, ;Vhich. he had won' That which Thomas had won in untold
by schooling and clarifymg h1S .thought , inner conflict with his own soul resulted,ill
the uttermost, into the very depths of . the course of the following centuries, in the
heart, so that feeling should. . bec?me development of German Mysticism as the
selfless as to be able to practise the.o ". . 1"'1+·'" , fruits qf the life of feeling. Thus Thomas
of thought. He wanted to carry mto / crefLted, in the Logic of Feeling,
the power of .the I{ogos which hitherto had, 101
.100
ESOTERICISM ESOTERICISM
a way to the" "rord" as the power of blem had till now been set out, and makes
Son. . ~n ad vance towards its solution by putting
In modern tim~s however Rudolf . .. thus: What h~ppens to Will when one
stands as the founder of the. Logic of. WilL:, L.llJ.j.U~::; of its nature?
He points out a way by which the Wi~ can At ,the end of the first chapter we must
be translumined by the' Logos and attalUs to <, . notice the' 'paiticularly important turn of
the accuracy and clearness of thought. . . ' sentence, p. 13: "From whatever point
the Philosophy of Spiritual Activity he lays regard the subject, it. becomes more and
down clearly and strongly the' will a.s a new; clear that the question of the nature of
spiritual province. Just as in the ~td4lesol. action presupposes that of the origin
Philosophy he fashioned the. h~story of thought." ,This origin of thought is
philosophic evolution from antiqUity up us in the next chapter, "Why the Desire
to-day for the purpose of stimulating ., . KtlOwledge is Fundamental," as a part
development of our own spiritual l1aturaL:forces in man: "This quality of
ness so, in his method of ~_r,"'''''''''' in us we must seek out (p. 22) I • ••"
ESO'l'ERICISM ESO'l'ERICISM
Greek Oracles were no longer understood.; the expectation of the Son had been
...
Aristotle closed the door to the ancient prop eSled.
. ; h. ' " Here a1so we see later as
knowledge of the gods, to the ancient lndlv.ldual consciousness appears like a seed
"Mythos." He saw the spiritual active in
,gr0.wmg out of ~atiortal feeling, e.g., in Job,
things themselves, atld turned his face .....
... frUltless
n. . .struggling .. 'against the Al mig. h ty
therefore towards the outer world, in ordeJ;'
. . IV1~e Will. Let us look at Greece. What
to fathom the· inevitability of its idea~
. was m Palestine prophecy and expectation
carried behaviour and form. His Logic of
'. appeared there as longing for release from
Thought is witness that.in man a destiny.
destiny.
.can become consciousness-power.
This development from destiny to' . 'Through the Mystery of Golgotha the
consciousness-power showed itself in quite pro~lem of fate and spiritual activity was
another way among· the 'Old Testament ,enhrely changed.· In pre-Christian times fate
peoples. There the all-powerful idea was.·· . ,ru~ed. the "world-the Law as Father-
that of the world derived from t h e ' .~nnclple; in the Mystery of Golgotha the
This race was faced by the revelation of the . . '. Son through Grace released mankind from thE
" Word" through the Law. As a parallel Law. ~egarded with the consciousness oj
to Aristotle's Logic .in this case stands the ,~lder hmes appears next spiritual activity,
Law; Jehovah gives the Law on Sinai;: the power of the Son as Grac~, in the senSE
amid thunder and lightning, to Moses i-the 'ofreleasefrbm the Law. In this sense GracE
Ten Commandments. The Father makes ,~ppeared among the Gnostics who observe<5
terms with the people whom he has . ,the approach of the Son; in this sense J ohI.
chosen.· Just as Logic does for thought,: ,was the first to bear witness :-" And of
so the Law is to preserve the , . F~ness have all we ~eceived, and Grac{!
with the power of the Father for the' J..LLU."''-'''
".' Grace. For theI.aw was given by Mose~l
will flowing in the blood of a people to vvHUHJ.
but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ."
108 109
ESO?,ERICISM.
ESOTERICISlY.[
from the Law; Grace was taken over inb
Rudolf Steiner gives the following the ~eeping of the Church, which meant the
definition of Grace: "One defines Grace in locklllg up of the impulse of spiritual activity.
the Christian sense as the capacity of the." In place of Grace through the Son, the Churc~
free soul, out of its inner self, to do the good. developed. the conception of original sin, out
Grace and Truth that one recognises in of. a destlllY working in thought. pestiny
one's own heart have come through Christ."* mlllUS Grace equals original sin.
"The capacity of the .free 'soul out of its
inner self to do the good "-that means the
,w. e find in Augustine the first repn -
. se~tatlvel of. the doctrine of original sin, 8S
release from the Fall, which- was completed th1S ~onceptlOn. wormed itself deep into th e
in thought. So we can follow the genesis so~-life of the whole Middle Ages. Inb
of a conception to its origin in cosmic history. .th1S .came. theqa.ttle of the Church agaimt
But through the knowledge of good and eVil. the!lberatlon of Grace in the sense of esoteric
the impulse of spiritual activity was implanted· Chnstendom. .
in mankind. The coming.of Grace in Christ' . Later the idea of Predestination, d
completed the freedom of man before the gods. divine preordination of human destiny· in
In the Middle Ages the Church began ·after-death ,experi~nce without man being
the unfolding of its power ; th~ idea of Grace ,.• able to doanythlllg to free himself, w::s
as a freedop1-impulse became an obstacle to " pound ~p. with the idea of original sin. In
it. Therefore the institution of the Church· ·.t~e; doct:llle of Predestination mankind :8
cut off the real impulse of Grace by extending . ,dlvldedmto one part 'to which Gra re ..8
it to include the destiny-law. Long lasted'· d..
. r ~llled, and all. the remaining part
the fight over the question: Does Grace·· Isdoomed to original sin. .
proceed from the Father or theSon ? and the To-day. ma~ carries the· fact of origin:ll
Church always took car~ to attribute it to ..•. . . only In .h1S . consciousness. But old
the Father. It could not· do with release pIctures representing the Judgment with He
.. Cycle III., lecture IV.
III
110
ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM
. .' Since
who the Reforma t'Ion the
Lamb of God in the midst give us a deep , .IC h 'before mostl . 5
question
layed ." . y concerned th.e Churc]
insight into the struggles of that ~time.· P . an lUcreaslUg rt. 1
Science took up A . pa .lU all civilised life.
The Son-power was sealed by the·Aristotelian . . nstotel1an Lo . .
.0 b Jectlve in its ab 1 glC, made 1:
Logic .. In thought which had separated as law to th" so uteness, and applied i-
itself from its cosmic origin, which arose in . e outer ld . -r
created .a metaph sic wor. ' and thereb:
,a world which had become empty of gods, . beyond the b Y ' whIch reached ou·;
we have the rule of original sin. . . A .' . . . 0 served world Th .
'.. nstotle describes as he . at WhlcI t
Thomas Aquinas fought with all his still withil1 h . P ~omenon of thought
. . uman conscIoUs .. . '
being for the originally Christian gift of two concepts f .' . ness, under th(~
cause and
~Clence applied to th . . ' consequence,
• . .' '.' 0
Grace. He was faced with the question:..--,
"How can thought be made Christian? " i.ndependent. obJ' t' e vIsIble world as thE!
o'f cause .. .' ,
and ec lvel y active
ff .' , natural lav.'
'The Father-principle as it held the field in
.thi . .' . e ect. The impU1 f
the Dogmas of his Church had diverted'; .' rd post-Atlantean C' T" se 0 thE:
Grace into the doctrines of original sin and, .. . finds it" ~V1ls.atlon, namely law,
.' . s expressIOn lUn t 1
predestination; but he wanted to have' ,lll the outward f ". a ura sciencE:
, .' . . ". orm naturall , , ' .
preserved the co-operation of individual ,. .. the sense ." . of AntI"tqUI y, law 10' aw. Desttny
"
in Grace. The h~art-forces of man Slll, survlvei'n the th ,gIC, onglllaJ .
be. able to fill themselves with the act . • ~1Uder . the 'concepti oughft of natural SciencE
.. .'. . ons 0 natural nece 't
Christ, who brought " fullness" upon earth,' . ..... lllescapable causalit . T SSl Y:
and with it freedom for . gods ~nd men. '. . nature testify m
.' .
y he modern lawf
ore concernin th' ,
Original sin arose in the individual, its fa ....•. man than .the n t . g e natUrE:
'. " On ...•. a ure of Nature ..
consequences concern all mankind. Grace. .' the other hand th '.
has come to aU men on earth; the individual ''I.)r,eOf,c::t1 t' . e conceptlon of
. .str
Ion 1 changed. It . appeared
must call up in himself the strength to gain, 'ong y in Cal vinisln and ha::
his share of it. 113 H
, 112
ESO'tERICISM
ESO'tEIHCISM
.' . the Ego, which has to be is revealed, Rudolf Steiner discovers the fr =e
become one, ~,e" 'f 1 and creatively by : mysteries of the Holy Ghost ..
1Ve -In thece1!.tral chapter of his book
comprehended intUl y. hurled backinto
the Will, otherwi~e luan 1S fthinkingabbut Theosophy Rudolf Steiner shows modern
, . ':th1s way 0 thought the way to realising the doctrbe
nothlllgness . . d that divides the
thought leads. to the oor of spirit' ego- . of Re;.incarnation, with its Karma activity,
f the wo~ld " by proceeding from the idea of species to tIe
sense wor1d ro~ thought givlllg up
·t'
willing, res ln g. . In pure '
t' . through the idea of, biography which is applicable alo:le
1 d and percep lon to man; Here he arms theconsciousne~s
all know e liSe . new knowledge in
n may recelve a " '1 soul with the means of knowledge so that it .
senses, ma ~ the revelation ofSp1rttua ." '.
the form of Gtace " . 1ft snesS is, the green comprehends its nature in the Ego wi:h
. Where thls se es .' . * .. spirit-strengthened thought, In" ':the Leading
Bemgs, 'the bridge over the stream; .
serpent can bUl1d. l' d to itself leads Thoughts" and letters which he wrote at tIe
The formality of loglC, app le 'f ". observing last we find the most significant: "Anthro-
. . ' "power 0 . ' .•..
to the "format1ve . ' ':the .' real" posophy Js a way of kll10wledge which can
" t n
ImagmatlO " . . . . .;
thought, . o f ' t ;.;day is to kmdle the,; lead the. spiritual in human nature· to t~e
historical lmpulse 0 0 " ... '.• •.• • spiritual in the universe."
.
"free-WI . '11" upon " the Law, , . nd . . ... ' Going beyond the book Knowledge of
. , h h the Law a
Christ entered t roug · . · t . the the Higher Worlds and its Attainment, he
. f 1fi1 ent of the Law on 0 . . ., '. turns. here in a new sense and with a dE ar
brought the u m". lculab'Ie ", as th.e. '
of the Inca ' . . .' '.' .call to the new esoteric power of experien(:e,
earth out . . " u ht the power o f ,
" Son of Man, he bro. g f S irit-Self; . In: ' .to the awakening of our minds to see the
Hol Ghost, the dawn:ng o..p .' ...• . spirittiaLWe can see in it a witness of the
y, w'n t whIch wIthlll the . ' .', ,hour in which we live, That which the seul
the log1C o,f 1 h' 0 fspiritual actiyity .';'
of the ph110soP yo. '. . ." - :' in 'the study of Anthroposophy 'hammered
.
' .
"
S ke See advt; •..•
F' Tale of the Green na .
'" out for it~elf.· as individual" knowledge it
'" Refers to 'Goethe s airy 117
116
"."~,
ESOTERICISM
ESO':rERICISM
" into an active being in cosmic and human history. This
d ingly transfor m W'11 ,insight works to establish new being, and 10
:nust ungru g , ht Feeling and' 1
" t 1 organ. 'fhoug , ., - form the seed for all men who " are of goo d
nplr1 ua , '. th powers of Imagma
:trow in the soul lnto e.. ,. wilL" Let us try by selfless practice to
:> .' t' nand Intult10 tl· make Anthroposophy, our own as the ne'v
tion, Insp1r~ 10 f the Spirit-Self man stands
In the hght 0 ld' the transformed language of knowledge, for then it cannct
then on the thres~o t 111, , he stands in the lead to pride or vanity; it becomes a sou}-
emory JUs as enlightening power. We learn to understan,l
power 0 f m ' icture of memory
life after death bef.orel'fthe pder the " judicial RUcl,olf Steiner's oft repeated warning:
k pon hlS 1 e un . bf 1 , Spiritual knowledge cannot be forced; mall
and 100 s u .. ~h pow,er of falt u,..
eyes " 0 f the "Sp1!ltS, .1. Se irit-Self comes t 0 must learn to wait until it opens itself to
ards hlS own p , him.-This capacity to wait leads the. humalL
nesS tow
hi
him from memory h therwise speaks to will,to'selfless meditations,; opening the soul
And tha~ w cOn inl u1se from his in inner peace lends it moral power and b
him as ' consclence-as a p in his a guard against deception, One must b(~
1 ex erience-changes ' ,. able to wait for Grace with the help of the
pre-nat~, . P, e ower of moral intUltlOn, ,,'
perceptlve wlll to .th P 11 it in his PhilosophY inmost soul.
, Rudolf Ste111er ca s , , The knowledge which in this way grow~
or, as .' the moral fantasy.
ot spiritual Actwdy,. ' . , bear witness , in the soul is spiritual; the spiritually moraJ
and conSclence , ." , 'becomes effeCtive on earth through the free
Memor~ 'r;;, and destiny, working
of repeated 111carnat~on", f human life in the ',' conscious activity of man.
in 'them, is the VOlce 0 d th and re-birth. The Holy Ghost ruled as Comforter over
h s between ea . history of gods and men. In Rudolf
spiritua1 sp ere f' h Logos that lives 1ll
~h power 0 t e . ,t 0 , s "Language of Knowledge" the
.1. e , th expulsion in
h . freed from e ' " ,• ' Word" becomes the mediator between
thoug t lS d . " unsealed thought ,
the grave of t~e .go s. 't the rule of spiritual , ture and spirit. It contains the message
. for itself inSight 1U 0
Wlns 119
118
"ESO'rERICISM
Goethe's
, Secret Revelatlon
- tran 1 . .
t~e Soul, with the Gree! ~ted as Standard of -I
,LIly. 2s. 6d. net. ' nake and Beautiful 1
The Pforzheim
_'" Lecture, published 1930. Is. net.
[Dr. unger's last lecture; exactly a week later he
killed when about to deliver another lecture.]
All Rudolf Steiner's tr 1
:~~ve, can be obtained fr~~ ~~:d ;orks, including the
~~~l
p, 37 Marsham St t udolf Steiner B k
charge of the bookshop b' eglad
Westminster.
to an Thos;o.-
, swer enquiries.
III
e
printed in Great Britain by I,AWRENCE BROS. lweston-super-Mar
e ) I,td.,
North street, Weston-super-Mar -