The Story of My Life
GA 28
Chapter XXXIV
[ 1 ] In the Theosophical Society artistic interests were scarcely fostered at all. From a certain point of view this situation was at that time quite intelligible, but it ought not to have continued if the true sense for the spiritual was to be nurtured. The members of such a society centre all their interests at first upon the reality of the spiritual life. In the sense-world man appears to them only in his transitory existence severed from the spiritual. Art seems to them to have its activity within this severed existence. It seems, therefore, to be apart from the spiritual reality for which they seek.
[ 2 ] Because this was so in the Theosophical Society, artists did not feel at home there.
[ 3 ] To Marie von Sievers and to me it was important to make the artistic also alive within the Society. Spiritual knowledge as an experience takes hold, indeed, of the whole human existence. All the forces of the soul are stimulated. In formative fantasy there shines the light of the experience of spirit when this experience is present.
[ 4 ] But here there enters something which creates hindrances. The artist's temperament feels a certain misgiving in regard to this shining in of the spiritual world in fantasy. He desires unconsciousness in regard to the dominance of the spiritual world in the soul. He is entirely right if what we are concerned with is the “stimulation” of fantasy by means of that element of clear-consciousness which has been dominant in the life of culture since the beginning of the age of consciousness. This “stimulating” by the intellectual in man has a deadly effect upon art.
[ 5 ] But just the opposite occurs when spiritual content which is actually perceived shines through fantasy. It is here that all the formative force in man arises which has ever led to art.
Marie von Sievers had her place in the art of word-shaping; to dramatic representation she had the most beautiful relationship. Here, then, was a sphere of art for anthroposophy in which the fruitfulness of spiritual perception for art might be tested.
[ 6 ] The “word” is the product of two aspects of the experience which may come from the evolution of the consciousness soul. It serves for mutual understanding in social life, and it serves for imparting that which is logically and intellectually known. On both these sides the “word” loses its own value. It must fit the “sense” which it is to express. It must allow the fact to be forgotten that in the tone, in the sound, in the formation of the sound, there lies a reality. Beauty, the shining of the vowels, the characteristics of the consonants are lost from speech. The vowels become soulless, the consonants void of spirit. And so speech leaves entirely the sphere in which it originates – the sphere of the spiritual. It becomes the servant of intellectual knowledge and of the social life which shuns the spiritual. Thus it is snatched wholly out of the sphere of art.
[ 7 ] True spiritual perception falls as if wholly from instinct into the “experience of the word.” It becomes experience in the soul-representing intoning of the vowels and the spiritually empowered colours of the consonants. It attains to an understanding of the secret of the evolution of speech. This secret consists in the fact that divine spiritual beings could once speak to the human soul by means of the word, whereas now the word serves only to make oneself understood in the physical word.
[ 8 ] An enthusiasm kindled by this insight is required to lead the word again into its sphere. Marie von Sievers developed this enthusiasm. So her personality brought to the Anthroposophical Movement the possibility of fostering artistically the word and word-shaping. The cultivation of the art of recitation and declamation grew to be an activity by means of which to impart truth from the spiritual world – an activity which forms a part receiving more and more consideration in the ceremonies which found a place within the Anthroposophical Society.
[ 9 ] The recitations of Marie von Sievers at these ceremonies were the initial point for the entrance of the artistic into the Anthroposophical Society; for a direct line leads from these recitations to the dramatic representations which then took place in Munich along with the course of lectures on anthroposophy.
[ 10 ] By reason of the fact that we were able to unfold art along with spiritual knowledge, we grew more and more into the truth of the modern experience of the spirit. Art has indeed grown out of the primeval dreamlike experience of spirit. At the time in human evolution when the experience of spirit receded, art had to seek a way for itself; it must again find itself united with this experience when this enters in a new form into the evolution of culture.
Chapter XXXIV
[ 1 ] In der Theosophischen Gesellschaft war kaum irgend etwas von Pflege künstlerischer Interessen vorhanden. Das ist von einem gewissen Gesichtspunkte aus damals durchaus begreiflich gewesen, durfte aber nicht so bleiben, wenn die rechte geistige Gesinnung gedeihen sollte. Die Mitglieder einer solchen Gesellschaft haben zunächst alles Interesse für die Wirklichkeit des geistigen Lebens. In der sinnlichen Welt zeigt sich für sie der Mensch nur in seinem vergänglichen, vom Geiste losgelösten Dasein. Kunst scheint ihnen ihre Betätigung innerhalb dieses losgelösten Daseins zu haben. Daher scheint sie außerhalb der gesuchten geistigen Wirklichkeit zu stehen.
[ 2 ] Weil dies in der Theosophischen Gesellschaft so war, fühlten sich Künstler nicht zu Hause in ihr.
[ 3 ] Marie von Sivers und mir kam es darauf an, auch das Künstlerische in der Gesellschaft lebendig zu machen. Geist-Erkenntnis als Erlebnis gewinnt ja im ganzen Menschen Dasein. Alle Seelenkräfte werden angeregt. In die gestaltende Phantasie leuchtet das Licht des Geist-Erlebens herein, wenn dieses Erleben vorhanden ist.
[ 4 ] Aber hier tritt etwas ein, das Hemmungen schafft. Der Künstler hat eine gewisse ängstliche Stimrnung gegenüber diesem Hereinleuchten der Geistwelt in die Phantasie. Er will Unbewußtheit in bezug auf das Walten der geistigen Welt in der Seele. Er hat völlig recht, wenn es sich um die «Anregung» der Phantasie durch dasjenige bewußt-besonnene Element handelt, das seit dem Beginn des Bewußtseins-Zeitalters im Kulturleben das herrschende geworden ist. Diese «Anregung» durch das Intellektuelle im Menschen wirkt ertötend auf die Kunst.
[ 5 ] Aber es tritt das gerade Gegenteil auf, wenn Geistinhalt, der wirklich erschaut ist, die Phantasie durchleuchtet. Da aufersteht wieder alle Bildkraft, die nur je in der Menschheit zur Kunst geführt hat. Marie von Sivers stand in der Kunst der Wortgestaltung darinnen; zu der dramatischen Darstellung hatte sie das schönste Verhältnis. So war für das anthroposophische Wirken ein Kunstgebiet da, an dem die Fruchtbarkeit der Geistanschauung für die Kunst erprobt werden konnte.
[ 6 ] Das «Wort» ist nach zwei Richtungen der Gefahr ausgesetzt, die aus der Entwickelung der Bewußtseinsseele kommen kann. Es dient der Verständigung im sozialen Leben, und es dient der Mitteilung des logisch-intellektuell Erkannten. Nach beiden Seiten hin verliert das «Wort» seine Eigengeltung. Es muß sich dem «Sinn» anpassen, den es ausdrücken soll. Es muß vergessen lassen, wie im Ton, im Laut, und in der Lautgestaltung selbst eine Wirklichkeit liegt. Die Schönheit, das Leuchtende des Vokals, das Charakteristische des Konsonanten verliert sich aus der Sprache. Der Vokal wird seelen-, der Konsonant geistlos. Und so tritt die Sprache aus der Sphäre ganz heraus, aus der sie stammt, aus der Sphäre des Geistigen. Sie wird Dienerin des intellektuell-erkenntnismäßigen, und des geistfliehenden sozialen Lebens. Sie wird aus dem Gebiet der Kunst ganz herausgerissen.
[ 7 ] Wahre Geistanschauung fällt ganz wie instinktiv in das «Erleben des Wortes». Sie lernt auf das seelengetragene Ertönen des Vokals und das geistdurchkraftete Malen des Konsonanten hinempfinden. Sie bekommt Verständnis für das Geheimnis der Sprach-Entwickelung. Dieses Geheimnis besteht darin, daß einst durch das Wort göttlich-geistige Wesen zu der Menschenseele haben sprechen können, während jetzt dieses Wort nur der Verständigung in der physischen Welt dient.
[ 8 ] Man braucht einen an dieser Geisteinsicht entzündeten Enthusiasmus, um das Wort wieder in seine Sphäre zurückzuführen. Marie von Sivers entfaltete diesen Enthusiasmus. Und so brachte ihre Persönlichkeit der anthroposophischen Bewegung die Möglichkeit, Wort und Wortgestaltung künstlerisch zu pflegen. Es wuchs zu der Betätigung für Mitteilung aus der Geistwelt hinzu die Pflege der Rezitations- und Deklamationskunst, die nun immer mehr einen in Betracht kommenden Anteil an den Veranstaltungen bildete, die innerhalb des anthroposophischen Wirkens stattfanden.
[ 9 ] Marie von Sivers' Rezitation bei diesen Veranstaltungen war der Ausgangspunkt für den künstlerischen Einschlag in die anthroposophische Bewegung. Denn es führt eine gerade Linie der Entwickelung von diesen «Rezitationsbeigaben» zu den dramatischen Darstellungen, die dann in München sich neben die anthroposophischen Kurse hinstellten.
[ 10 ] Wir wuchsen dadurch, daß wir mit der Geist-Erkenntnis Kunst entfalten durften, immer mehr in die Wahrheit des modernen Geist-Erlebens hinein. Denn Kunst ist ja aus dem ursprünglichen traumbildhaften Geist-Erleben herausgewachsen. Sie mußte in der Zeit, als in der Menschheitsentwickelung das Geist-Erleben zurücktrat, ihre Wege sich suchen; sie muß sich mit diesem Erleben wieder zusammenfinden, wenn dieses in neuer Gestalt in die Kulturentfaltung eintritt.
Chapter XXXIV
[ 1 ] There was hardly any cultivation of artistic interests in the Theosophical Society. From a certain point of view, this was quite understandable at the time, but it could not remain so if the right spiritual attitude was to flourish. The members of such a society have first and foremost no interest in the reality of spiritual life. In the sensual world, man only shows himself in his transient existence, detached from the spirit. Art seems to them to have its activity within this detached existence. Therefore, it seems to stand outside the spiritual reality they seek.
[ 2 ] Because this was the case in the Theosophical Society, artists did not feel at home in it.
[ 3 ] Marie von Sivers and I also wanted to bring the artistic to life in the Society. Spiritual knowledge as an experience gains existence in the whole person. All the powers of the soul are stimulated. The light of spiritual experience shines into the creative imagination when this experience is present.
[ 4 ] But something occurs here that creates inhibitions. The artist has a certain anxious mood towards this shining of the spirit world into the imagination. He wants unconsciousness in relation to the workings of the spiritual world in the soul. He is quite right when it is a question of the "stimulation" of the imagination by that conscious and reflective element which has become the dominant one in cultural life since the beginning of the age of consciousness. This "stimulation" by the intellectual in man has a deadening effect on art.
[ 5 ] But the exact opposite occurs when spiritual content, which is truly observed, illuminates the imagination. There arises again all the pictorial power that has ever led to art in mankind. Marie von Sivers was a master of the art of creating words; she had the most beautiful relationship to dramatic representation. This provided anthroposophical work with a field of art in which the fruitfulness of the spiritual view for art could be tested.
[ 6 ] The "word" is exposed in two directions to the danger that can come from the development of the consciousness soul. It serves the communication in social life, and it serves the communication of the logically-intellectually recognized. In both directions the "word" loses its own validity. It must adapt to the "meaning" it is supposed to express. It must make us forget how there is a reality in the sound, in the sound, and in the sound itself. The beauty, the brilliance of the vowel, the characteristic of the consonant is lost from the language. The vowel becomes soul-less, the consonant spiritless. And so language steps completely out of the sphere from which it originates, out of the sphere of the spiritual. It becomes the servant of intellectual, cognitive and spiritual social life. It is completely torn out of the realm of art.
[ 7 ] True spirituality falls instinctively into the "experience of the word". It learns to feel the soul-borne sounding of the vowel and the spirit-empowered painting of the consonant. It gains an understanding of the secret of the development of language. This secret consists in the fact that once divine-spiritual beings were able to speak to the human soul through the word, whereas now this word only serves communication in the physical world.
[ 8 ] One needs an enthusiasm kindled by this spiritual insight in order to return the word to its sphere. Marie von Sivers developed this enthusiasm. And so her personality gave the anthroposophical movement the opportunity to cultivate the word and word design artistically. The cultivation of the art of recitation and declamation grew in addition to the activity of communicating from the spiritual world, which now increasingly formed a significant part of the events that took place within the anthroposophical work.
[ 9 ] Marie von Sivers' recitation at these events was the starting point for the artistic influence on the anthroposophical movement. For a straight line of development leads from these "recitation additions" to the dramatic representations that then took their place alongside the anthroposophical courses in Munich.
[ 10 ] We grew more and more into the truth of modern spiritual experience through the fact that we were allowed to develop art with the knowledge of the spirit. After all, art grew out of the original dream-like spiritual experience. It had to find its own way during the time when the spirit-experience receded in the development of mankind; it must find its way back together with this experience when it enters into the development of culture in a new form.