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The Occult Movement in the Nineteenth Century
GA 254

25 October 1915, Dornach

Lecture X

If we are to enter more deeply into the matters which cannot fail to interest us at the present time, it is necessary to keep clearly in mind a certain aspect of human consciousness as it is today. Let us think of certain characteristics of this consciousness of which we have been speaking during the past weeks. This consciousness holds us within a domain shut off on the one side by the veil placed before us by the phenomena of nature through which, to begin with, our consciousness cannot penetrate, and on the other side, by the veil of our own life of soul, of our thinking, feeling and willing. The nature of our consciousness is such that when we look inwards, we are able to a certain extent to experience our thinking, feeling and willing in their human form, to experience them consciously. But again, we cannot penetrate behind the veil. Hence we can say: As regards the veil of the phenomena of nature on the one side, with the objective reality behind, our consciousness is directed towards a veil which, to begin with, may not be pierced. On the other side, there are the manifestations of the life of soul, behind which lies the subjective reality. We contemplate it but we cannot immediately break through the veil. Within these frontiers, within these two parallel lines, as it were, is our present consciousness, to which, when we look out through the sense-organs, the world of nature presents itself; when we look inwards, there is the world of soul. This is how the consciousness we have as human beings today, is organised.

We know that this consciousness differs from man's earlier consciousness with its heritage of ancient clairvoyance; but we know too that this inherited clairvoyance faded away and that our present consciousness, when functioning normally on the physical plane, is as described above.

The question may be asked: Why is it that our consciousness today is constituted as it is? The reason is that during the present cycle of evolution, as well as everything else that has been described, we have to develop the true relationship that should prevail between one human soul and another. Our present form of consciousness, therefore, has a very definite task.

During the earlier periods of Old Saturn, Old Sun and Old Moon we lived in different states of consciousness, and in the future periods of Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan, our consciousness will again be different. We are gradually preparing for these different forms of consciousness. In our present cycle of evolution we have to develop in ourselves, through the way we relate ourselves to the world, the form of consciousness belonging to this cycle; and besides all that must be developed in connection with the moral life, there is also the fact that through this form of consciousness there can unfold the right relationship of one human soul to another, a relationship we had not acquired before the beginning of the Earth-period and without which, if we do not acquire it during the Earth-period, we shall not be able to maintain our existence during the periods of Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan.

In the periods of Old Saturn, Old Sun and Old Moon preceding the Earth-period, man had not, in this sense, acquired the right relationship to other men; in a certain sense he was too close to them. During the Old Moon period, conditions were still such that the will of one had a direct effect upon the other; the other felt, was affected by, the will of his fellow-being. Moreover, this process was regulated and guided by the Spirits of the higher Hierarchies.

Had this guidance by the Spirits of the higher Hierarchies continued, man would never have reached complete freedom in cosmic existence. The guidance had at some point to cease. Hence the necessity of a form of consciousness which as it were makes a frontier possible between one man and another. The fact is that on the one side our vision does not penetrate through nature, and on the other side the world of soul causes the relation of one soul to another to be such that a certain frontier is created between them. That this frontier exists is due to our present form of consciousness, a special characteristic of which is that what we actually experience are reflections, mirror-images. This, of course, applies also to relationships between man and man. Because, when we meet another human being we have in our present form of consciousness a mere reflection, we cannot approach him in so arbitrary a way that we pour the content of our consciousness into his soul. If, therefore, our consciousness is normally developed, this prevents us from coming unduly close to the consciousness of another. I might also put it like this: the forces of our consciousness and intelligence are so organised that we can neither exercise too great an influence upon the other man, nor can he exercise too great an influence upon us—because the fact that our own consciousness is mirrored, separates us from him.

This is a matter of very great importance for the understanding of human evolution. Whenever there is a defect in the normal consciousness, what happens is at once evident. Think of a person whose consciousness is not quite normal, who has a touch of what we have recently encountered in the form of “mystical eccentricity”—to use a rather harsh expression, but one that is often very apt. Suppose such a person is inclined to all sorts of fanciful delusions, based upon certain experiences which are abnormal in our day. You will always find that a person with abnormal consciousness of this kind has a far greater influence upon other souls than one with normal consciousness. To put it rather crudely, a person who is a little mad in one direction or another can have a far stronger influence upon his fellowmen than one who is normal; and by strengthening his consciousness, a normal man must protect himself from the influence of one who is abnormal. An abnormal man, as long as he is not recognised, is always a certain danger to his fellow-men, because they allow themselves to be too strongly influenced by him and because they are too ready to regard him as a rare, out-of-the-common phenomenon. Precisely where there are perforations in the mirror of consciousness, too strong an influence passes over through these perforations to the other person.

Thus in the present epoch of evolution we acquire our particular form of consciousness in order that the right relationship of one human soul to another in the world may be established.

Now, from all that has been said in these lectures, the following is clear: on yonder side of the veil of nature lies the Ahrimanic world with all the beings I have described; on yonder side of the veil of the life of soul lies the Luciferic world with all the characteristic features I have described. Man is, as it were, shut in between the Ahrimanic world and the Luciferic world. If he pierces only a little behind the veil of nature, he cannot help becoming acquainted with the Ahrimanic world. If he pierces a little behind the veil of the life of soul, he will inevitably become acquainted with the Luciferic world.

We have behind us a certain epoch during which man was safeguarded against making too great an advance towards the one side or the other. But we are now living in a time of transition, when human souls needs must advance towards the one side or the other. This must inevitably happen, for again it is demanded by the present phase of man's evolution.

As you know, we are now living in the age of the development of the Consciousness or Spiritual Soul and moving towards that of the development of the Spirit-Self. Such development has a long preparation behind it. When, in the Sixth post-Atlantean epoch of culture, the Spirit-Self is fully developed, man's life of soul will be different in very many respects from what it is today. The human intellect will have a much more objective power than is the case now. Mankind is already approaching this more objective intellectual life. Evidences may be seen on every hand and I have spoken of the matter in many lectures. A life of soul is approaching of which it may be said that the intellect will be outspread as a power to which men must submit—as a power working objectively in a realm outside the souls of men.

We are still living in times when many human beings are safeguarded against this objective power by a strong, assertive individuality. But this protection will be less and less possible the nearer we come to the Sixth post-Atlantean epoch. A time will actually come when phenomena now only in the initial stages will be far, far more strongly in evidence. Even now, one who knows how to assess happenings in the world can form a true judgment in regard to this phenomenon. It is well known, for example, that writers in certain newspapers and periodicals are very far from saying only what springs from their own souls. They represent the intelligence of certain circles, an objective intelligence which rides rough-shod and of which they are only the speaking trumpets. It is extremely important to keep this in mind, for it is a phenomenon which will become more and more prevalent.

Now there is a very definite prospect ahead. When the intelligence of certain people is objectivised—and it has been so objectivised ever since public literature has existed—it becomes more and more possible for Ahriman to take possession of the intelligence of men. That is a prospect which Spiritual Science must place before us, for it is Ahriman's constant and fiercest endeavour to strangle men's individual intelligence and appropriate it for himself, so that it may pass into his power and be used to serve his own purposes. I have told you that there is a mysterious connection between the higher forces of intelligence in the beings who serve Ahriman and the forces of man's lower nature. Ahriman's perpetual endeavour is to appropriate the intelligence of human beings and not allow them to realise what they can achieve through their own intelligence. Think of the last conversation between Benedictus and Ahriman in the Mystery Play The Soul's Awakening. Before Ahriman disappears, he says:

“It is now time for me to haste away
From his environment, for whensoe'er
His sight can think me as I truly am,
He will begin to fashion in his thought
Part of the power which slowly killeth me.”

A profound secret is contained here, a secret of which every student of Spiritual Science should be aware. Men must strive as time goes on to keep their intelligence under their own individual control, to keep unceasing watch over it. This is essential, and it is well that man should know with what enticing and powerful words Ahriman approaches him, trying to wring his intelligence from him.

More and more it will behove men to be alert to such moments. For Ahriman takes full advantage of moments when, in full waking life, a man falls into a state of vertigo or dizziness, into a kind of twilight consciousness, when he feels not quite securely anchored in the physical world and begins to yield himself to the whirl of the universe, when he does not stand firmly and steadily on his own feet as an individuality. These are the moments when it behoves him to be on his guard, for it is then that Ahriman easily gets the upper hand. The best way in which we can protect ourselves is to develop clear, exact thinking, not simply skimming over things in thought as is the general custom today. We should go even farther and try to avoid colloquialisms and current catchwords, for directly we use such words which come, not from thought but from habits of speech, we are not exercising thinking—even if only for a very short time. These are particularly dangerous moments because they are not heeded. We should really be careful to avoid using words behind which there is not sufficient reflection. Such self-training, precisely in these intimate details, should be undertaken by those who are in earnest about the tasks of the age. After all that has been said in these lectures it will not be difficult for you to realise what is necessary.

But Lucifer, too, endeavours by way of the will to bring man into a condition where he does not act out of well-considered impulses, but out of impulses springing merely from temperament and inclination. Here again, Lucifer takes hold and makes us his prey. And it is easiest for him to find his prey when a large number of people give way to such impulses which surge in the dark foundations of the life of soul without rising into the sphere of the individual will. If impulses springing from temperament and vague inclinations bring us into connection with groups of human beings in such a way that we feel ourselves part and parcel of a group, we are at once caught into a whirl in which the judgment of the individual will is wrested from us; and it must not be wrested from us, for if it is, Lucifer gains too great a power over us. We must strive for objectivity in this respect.

Again, when there is some deviation from the sphere of normal consciousness, these are moments favourable for Lucifer. Very radical symptoms may appear, but there are also more intimate phenomena, when, for instance, we allow our actions to be determined by obscure feelings of affiliation and the like. The more flagrant, more radical, deviations of consciousness are those where the will becomes defective or so weak that a man can do no other than surrender himself entirely to his life of soul with what amounts to the exclusion of his will.

Modern psychiatrists have adopted certain technical terms for these particularly radical phenomena. For example, they speak of “imperative” or “insistent” ideas (Zwangsvorstellungen)1Note by translator: According to Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, the more commonly-known term “fixed idea” would not be the correct translation here. The expression “imperative” or “insistent” idea approximates more closely to the example given by Dr. Steiner.. These ideas arise in people whose consciousness is not adjusted in the way that is right and proper for the physical plane. If due strength of will is lacking, ideas arise which a man cannot expel from his consciousness—imperative or insistent ideas, as they are called.

I will give an example that has actually been observed in clinics.—A man once saw another who had a cancerous tumour in the face; he saw the tumour and as he was a man of very weak will, he has believed ever since that cancer germs are everywhere; he is convinced that these germs are present wherever he goes. In other words, his will is not strong enough to drive down into the subconsciousness the idea once aroused in him. That is a particular instance of an imperative or insistent idea. But the same kind of thing makes its appearance in very diverse forms among people whose will is not sufficiently developed, and then it is easy for Lucifer to get power over them. Another aberration of consciousness has been called by modern psychiatrists “a morbid fear of touch” (Berührungsfurcht). The sign of this condition is that people in whom the will is insufficiently developed shrink from every contact with other human beings or objects; they are frightened of being touched by others or by objects. The “morbid fear of touch” is another technical term used in modern psychiatry.

Many other such aberrations of consciousness could be mentioned. These very aberrations show what the normal state of our consciousness should be on the physical plane. But we are now living at a time when certain beings must inevitably become known to us, on the one side beings who are behind the veil of nature, and on the other, behind the veil of the world of soul. If these beings are not made known, the further evolution of mankind will be endangered. If the connection of Ahriman and Lucifer with human evolution is not perceived, danger lies ahead. For it is just when they are not perceived that they can operate most effectively. As an example of the way in which Ahriman works, I will relate an anecdote which presents the unqualified truth.—

To a village there once came a stranger who was an acquaintance of the burgomaster. He arrived on horseback and rode into the village. This was an interesting event for the villagers and they ran out into the street to watch him. He put his horse in the burgomaster's stable and stayed in his house from the Saturday evening over the Sunday. On the Monday he wanted to take his departure, and asked for his horse. The burgomaster said: “You came here on foot; you had no horse.”—To every protest the burgomaster replied: “You had no horse.” Finally he said: “Very well, then, we will ask the people in the village; they must have seen you when you arrived.” Thereupon he called the people together and asked them whether they had not seen the man arrive on foot, and they all said, “Yes”. When everyone had affirmed this, the burgomaster said: “Now swear to me, all of you, that this man came on foot.” And everyone swore that it was so. The man was therefore obliged to leave the village on foot, without his horse. After a short time the burgomaster rode after him, bringing his horse. At this, the man exclaimed: “What was the purpose of this comedy?” To which the burgomaster replied: “I only wanted to present my community to you!”

Naturally, Ahriman was at the bottom of this and he acted effectively as an objective power. The anecdote is “truer than true”, for the same thing is happening among us continually. The whole of human life tends to increase the number of people who swear to the non-existence of the horse.

We must therefore see to it that we have the greatest possible exactitude of consciousness, for that alone is fitting for our present earthly life. If you take all that can be found in my books, Occult Science, The Threshold of the Spiritual World, A Road to Self-Knowledge, in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. How is it achieved? as well as in many Lecture-Courses, you will find that the paths have been indicated whereby men may penetrate behind nature and behind the world of soul in the proper way and with the requisite preparation. The paths are described by which men can penetrate behind the scenes of existence in the right way. But the subjective strivings of very many persons do not, in reality, aim at reaching the goal to be desired. In those books it is clearly indicated that one who wishes to penetrate into the other world must transcend the normal form of consciousness. If the indications given are faithfully followed, it will be clear that one must emerge from the normal consciousness into a different form of consciousness.

It is important to know this, for there is a tendency among most people, indeed among many of our friends too, not to leave the normal form of consciousness at any price but to remain in it and to bring the spiritual world into the ordinary consciousness: that is to say, not to let the Ego emerge but to bring the spiritual world into the Ego. It is knowledge of the spiritual world that should be brought into the ordinary consciousness, not the spiritual world itself. If you faithfully practise what is contained in the books mentioned, you will bring yourself into conditions through which you will experience the spiritual world, conditions through which experiences deriving from that world can be brought into the sphere of the normal consciousness. But there are many who do not want this; they want the experience to be actually in the normal consciousness; whereas it ought to originate from consciousness that is different from the normal and passes into the normal. Many of our friends, however, try to have visions in the normal consciousness, not something that is a reminiscence of a different kind of consciousness. If, however, you have visions in the normal consciousness, that is to say, if you do not really wish to develop a different kind of consciousness, but to keep consciousness in its ordinary form and yet look into the spiritual world, this means that you do not seriously wish to go beyond but to remain in the ordinary consciousness, expecting to see forms and figures there which look like those of the physical world. Many people try hard to see spirits or the activities of spirits, but they want to see them just as they see physical things. They want to see a spirit, but this spirit is expected to have the form of a man or a woman or perhaps a poodle, as these are seen in the physical world. In the other world, however, it is not like this. The process itself lies outside the ordinary consciousness and what enters into the consciousness is at most a picture, an image which appears afterwards. In short, we must not expect the spiritual world to be merely a kind of finer sense-world, nor that it will speak in human words, the only difference being that the words come from the spiritual world. Our friends are often only willing to listen in this way to voices which seem to speak to them; these voices are expected to be similar to those of the physical world, merely giving a different, subtler version of things of the physical world. These people would like to enter the spiritual world with the ordinary consciousness which belongs to the physical world only.

Actually, most of the visions or voices of which one is told are of the character just described. At all events, this much is certain: when we have such visions or hear such voices it is always easy for Lucifer and Ahriman to have an easy game with us; they lay hold of these experiences for themselves, for men are always prone to interpret them incorrectly. If such experiences are rightly interpreted, Lucifer and Ahriman gain nothing from them.

As you see, there are distinctions here which must be kept strictly in mind. We must be fully alive to the possibility that as soon as we bring something else into the ordinary consciousness which is in truth suitable only for the physical world, we come to Scylla and Charybdis—to Lucifer and Ahriman. We must learn to recognise Lucifer and Ahriman as real Powers in this connection. It is for this reason that such emphasis has been laid on the relationship between Ahriman and Lucifer, and the statue in the Goetheanum will be a true representation of this.

Now you might ask: If this is how things are, might it not after all be more sensible to act like the scientists who, although Ahriman is within what they say, are nevertheless unwilling to acknowledge his reality? Or might it perhaps be better to act like the Pastors of various religious communities?—for they present things in such a way that Lucifer is everywhere, but they will not admit it. They would regard it as sinful were anyone to realise that the door there is open for Lucifer. But a person who speaks to this effect today is not being very clever. To say that it is more sensible to act like the scientists and the Pastors of various religious communities would be the same as deliberately refraining from warning someone who has to cross a chasm for some distance on a narrow plank, that he is facing danger. It is obvious that he should be warned. Otherwise it would amount to saying: certainly the man may be in danger, but it is more sensible to say nothing to him about it.—Through knowing how things are—and they will have to be known—the danger becomes no greater and no less.

A time is coming when Ahriman will try to take possession of the intelligence and Lucifer of the will of men. This can be thwarted only if these things are recognised; and recognition can be brought about only by a spiritual-scientific Movement. It is remarkable to see what Ahriman and Lucifer do and yet are not observed. From this point of view it is interesting to study modern psychiatry. Modern psychiatry has actually recognised many things that are facts, but that it cannot interpret correctly because it takes no account of the approach of these spiritual Powers behind the veil. Modern psychiatry regards anything that is not absolutely normal in man, anything that deviates in the slightest degree from a certain average norm, as tending towards insanity. In numerous treatises the Maid of Orleans is held to have been merely an hysteric. Indeed, writings are accumulating in which Christ Jesus Himself is regarded as a not quite normal man. There are also writings which ascribe craziness to Goethe, and so on.

Here we have an unmistakable, but false, Ahrimanic science, a science which is at pains to show that although Goethe was in certain respects a moral genius, this was entirely due to the fact that he had an element of madness in his nature. Socrates, however, knew better; he spoke of his “daimon”, being well aware that his soul bordered on objective spiritual Powers. This was quite clear to him. But the modern psychiatrist sees fit to make out that there was an element of madness or something of the kind in Socrates too. Ahriman must be hidden at all costs—which is exactly what suits him! And the same applies to Lucifer.

The fact of the matter is that if one were simply to cultivate today what purports in certain occult Orders to be secret knowledge, with its accompanying symbolism, it would be very easy to deliver into the hands of Ahriman everything that has been pursued hitherto as occultism. And if the mysticism hitherto pursued were to be encouraged and cultivated in human beings, it would easily be delivered into the hands of Lucifer. The ship of Spiritual Science must be steered between these two dangers. This is extremely important. Spiritual Science must therefore be so constituted that neither mystical nor occult aberrations can take root.

I said yesterday that when man breaks through the veil of nature, he comes into a region where he encounters beings who have a will for destruction, and that this will for destruction is related to the human intellect. I have described what may become of a man who falls prey to these beings. This must not happen. I have also spoken of the fevered, ecstatic condition into which a person may fall in his spiritual life if he indulges in false mystical experiences. This too must be avoided.

I said in an earlier lecture that the esotericists among the occultists tried hard to compel men to apply their intellect to the deciphering of symbols, in order that they should not break through the veil in a wrongful way and become the victim of the Powers encountered in so terrible a form in these border regions. These beings can be held at bay if the intellect is employed in the way it is employed, for example, in deciphering the symbols. This was formerly the practice but it no longer meets the needs of the present time, nor is it a practicable method.

You will find that by the very manner in which Spiritual Science is presented, the aberration leading into the region of Ahriman is avoided in a different way. You must think here about something that is apt to crop up in the life of our own society. When one person or another is beginning to study Spiritual Science, the remark is very frequently to be heard: “I cannot grasp these things until I have seen them myself clairvoyantly, so I take them on trust.” I have emphasised over and over again that, rightly understood, this is not the case. At the present time human beings have sufficient intellectual capacity to understand everything that has been given out. The whole of Spiritual Science in the form it has been presented is within the grasp of the intellectual capacities existing in men at the present time. Spiritual Science cannot, it is true, be discovered by these capacities, but it can be understood. The intellectual capacities are there and can be roused into activity, and those who refuse to admit that it is so are in error. When what has been given in Spiritual Science is really worked upon by the intellect, the intellect is being employed in the right way and it is then impossible to enter into the Ahrimanic realm by an unlawful path. There are two eventualities only.—Either men make strenuous efforts to understand, in which case they are employing the intellect—which could well be misused by the Ahrimanic beings—in order to understand Spiritual Science, and then this intellect cannot be wrung from them. Whatever Ahriman may elect to do, he will never get hold of the intellect which men apply, either in the present age or in the future, to the study of Spiritual Science. Of that you may rest assured. If men make no attempt to understand Spiritual Science, they are not applying their intellect to it—but Spiritual Science cannot be blamed for that! Laziness alone is responsible.

The region of destructive spirits into which a man may come, is disclosed most clearly of all if a soul is observed at the moment of passing through the gate of death. Then these spiritual beings swirl forward in their hosts; nor is this surprising, for they are the spirits of destruction. To work at the destruction of the physical organism is their regular function. It is part of their handiwork—only they must not remain too long.

Men who have attained spiritual understanding keep these beings at bay. But these beings have a great deal of power over souls whose thinking is materialistic, who acquire no understanding of the spiritual world. Souls who disdain any attempt to acquire knowledge of the spiritual world have a great deal to suffer from Ahriman. The Greek myth has depicted this very graphically in the figure of Tantalus. The Gods placed food in front of him but out of his reach and then watched the torments he had to endure.

Many such figures can be seen in the world today. All of them are materialistic souls who have no desire to understand the spiritual world. They are like Tantalus, in the sense that after death, during the period of Kamaloka when they live through their life—for a third of its duration—in backward order, everything is snatched away from them. Again and again they have the feeling: to what purpose did I do this or that? For they see one of the spirits of destruction snatching it away, and then they realise that they really did it to no purpose! That, of course, is an illusion; but such souls suffer the torments of Tantalus because the spirits of destruction are all around them. They do not realise that the whole of earthly life from birth until death would be without purpose or meaning if it were not pervaded by the Spirits of the higher Hierarchies. But these souls cannot see the Spirits of the higher Hierarchies and so everything must seem to them to have been purposeless.

Spiritual Science avoids false occultism in that it applies the ever-increasing intellectual capacity now developing in humanity to the establishment of a science for which more intellect is required than hitherto. The nature of Spiritual Science inevitably demands greater intellectual effort than people have been accustomed to apply. Men like to delude themselves in this respect. Were they really to apply the intellectual capacity at their command today, they would understand Spiritual Science. Through the strong intellectual efforts that are necessary in Spiritual Science, Scylla is avoided and mastered on the one side. The spiritual scientist is well aware why people are disinclined to embark on the study of Spiritual Science. It is because they are too lazy to apply enough intellectual effort. That is why I spoke just now of laziness.

On the other side, the pitfall of false mysticism must be avoided by ceasing to grovel within the purely inner life. This tendency to live and brood continually within one's own soul must be eliminated. The soul must come out of itself and look with eyes of love at the deeper connections manifesting in life outside.

The Mystery Plays were written in order to help people to perceive such connections—which can also be observed externally. Inner processes of the life of soul are portrayed in the Plays. If you learn to understand and perceive what is happening, for example to Capesius, how he passes on from one event to another, the weaving, creative activity there in evidence will help you to release your own inner life, to free it. This is also the essential function of our art. The purpose of our whole Building is that souls shall be set free from themselves and shall not lapse into false mysticism. It is necessary to keep this in mind for we shall thus also avoid the Charybdis of false mysticism.

Every effort we make to explain to ourselves the mysterious connections in the lives of human beings in the world outside protects us from false mysticism. If in this way we follow what happens to Capesius, we live in a weaving life of soul—but we are not huddled up within our own. We attain everything that the mystic attains, but in a different way. So you see, the ship of Spiritual Science must be steered with clear-sighted purpose between the two pitfalls. The teachings given must be of a nature whereby false occultism and false mysticism are both avoided.

It may truly be said that our Spiritual Science is in keeping with the needs and demands of the age. For this reason I have often been obliged to oppose any false simplification or popularisation of Spiritual Science which would do away with the need for strenuous thinking. Equally I have been obliged to oppose everything that tends towards ecstatic, egoistic mysticism, which is always an element of such precepts as: “in your own inmost being you find the reality, the Divine”—and so forth. For in this there is no desire to seek the Divine in outer life by following its phenomena with love and understanding.

I recently said to someone that Spiritual Science may be regarded as of eminently practical usefulness. I did not say this in order to boast about the merits of our Movement but merely in order to show that in it the positive can always be found. I said: even if people accept only what they can recognise, leaving aside what does not interest them, Spiritual Science can nevertheless be of the greatest usefulness. If you think of the way in which we have been working for fifteen years, you will realise that a host of truths belonging to the domains of natural science, art, the history of art and so forth, have been included in the purely spiritual-scientific teachings. Indeed, assuming for a moment that nothing at all of pure Spiritual Science had been given but only truths relating to natural science and art—even this by itself could be of practical use. But whatever is given in this way is given with purpose and deliberation, for thereby the human mind is induced to abandon fanciful speculation. And so in every way we have endeavoured so to form our Movement that it may go forward in the right and healthy way. From the very beginning it was conceived as a kind of organism. And thinking of it as such we may also say that it must grow and develop like an organism, like a human organism which about the seventh year gets its second teeth—and the organism must make use of these second teeth, of the individual teeth it then has at its disposal.

In earlier lectures I have shown why we had to link up with the Theosophical Movement, as we did in the year 1902 by founding the German Section. At the beginning, progress was possible because we developed entirely independently, as I have told you. But then, in the year 1909 (1902 + 7 = 19o9) it was also necessary to get second teeth. You will remember that those were the years when the Leadbeater affair threw everything into the melting-pot. The year 1916 is not far off. We shall then have the second seven years behind us. If with this second period of seven years behind us we think of our Movement as an organism, this organism will then have reached maturity; it must steer its own course and be able to achieve something by itself. After all that has been given, it ought to be possible for the work to go on effectively even without the teacher.

I have spoken to this effect on many occasions. Some time ago in Berlin I said that the “Gesellschaft für Theosophische Art and Kunst”2This was the name of a project which did not continue. ought to be an organisation that leads a life of its own, apart from me. This trend will become more and more necessary. The danger that things go well only as long as something comes from me week after week, must be surmounted. We have now reached the years when the Society ought to be able to show that it can quietly continue to cultivate what has been given, to cultivate it as if I were no longer there.

This is an absolutely necessary thought. The teachings which have been given are of such a nature that if they now work in souls, a great deal can be done for which I am no longer needed. I am not saying that I will not remain, but the test will consist in my becoming more and more superfluous. It is absolutely essential to obviate the possibility—which actually exists—of our members not appreciating one another! For you can realise what ill service would be done to our cause if it were always being said: “He is the Director, and he must be followed”, or “He is the Director and he will see that such-and-such is done”.—That simply will not do. What would happen if one day I were no longer there? The Society would at once fall to pieces! We shall only attain what we ought to attain if, after fourteen years, we have really come to the point of having a life of our own which can in turn bring forth new life. This is not an impossibility if only we are mindful of our real aims. Certainly, there are some difficult years now, but we must surmount such difficulties. And a different value can be placed upon much that I myself have to contribute, if what I have now indicated is fulfilled. Difficulties of many kinds exist at the present time. There are certain things which cannot be said indiscriminately and during the last four days I should have liked to call together a small, restricted group of people in order to speak of matters of which I cannot speak before a whole audience. But I was obliged to abandon the idea because we are living in days when such an arrangement is not feasible. In order to see clearly, what I have been trying to present in these lectures must be kept well in mind. We must also try to understand the inner character of Spiritual Science and then it will be clear to us why on the one side we shall inevitably have opponents in the learned scientists who would like to base a view of the world upon their erudition and, on the other side, in those pastors who desire that what lies behind the everyday life of soul shall remain completely hidden.

We must hold faithfully to our teaching and also steep ourselves deeply in its contents. Let us remember, for example, how the Mystery of Golgotha has constituted the very core of our strivings, how it has been stressed that Christ entered into Jesus of Nazareth in the way so often described, coming from other spheres of consciousness into the sphere of consciousness proper for man's physical life on Earth. Christ-Jesus is a Power on Earth, living on in the earthly consciousness of men and in earthly happenings. For this reason the New Testament can be no natural science, for natural science—the science of what lies behind nature—must, if it makes for reality, go beyond our normal consciousness. Neither can the New Testament be Spiritual Science, for there, too, normal consciousness must have been transcended in the other direction. The marvellous greatness and significance of the New Testament lies precisely in the fact that it aspires neither to be Natural Science nor yet Spiritual Science—but for all that it must not be used to support polemics against Spiritual Science.

Here, however, we perceive the reasons why the representatives of one or another religious body will always rise up in arms against Spiritual Science! It is because they will never be willing to allow man to enter the world they so greatly fear. They are afraid that one day human beings will discover the eternal nature of the soul within them. They want people to realise that only what they already know lives eternally within them. I said yesterday that if a materialistic view of the world were to take root, if such a view alone prevailed and no Spiritual Science were to come into being, things would reach the point where men would be engulfed in scepticism and doubt, for something like an ocean would be created in which souls would inevitably drown. But if it is desired to hold men back lest they penetrate behind the veil of the world of soul, then the only thing to do is to keep them in a state of ignorance. Ignorance which would eventually suffocate men must inevitably spread if those who are often the representatives of religious communities today were to gain their ends. If the scientists were to win the day, human souls would be engulfed in an ocean of doubt; if the pastors of religion who think in the way described were to win the day, human souls would suffocate in an atmosphere of ignorance. The task devolving upon Spiritual Science is serious and grave and we must realise its gravity. We must regard ourselves as individuals who through their karma can be led to Spiritual Science in order that what they possess in the way of intellect and intuitive discernment may be placed at the disposal not actually of Spiritual Science, but of the general progress of humanity. And such progress is a dire necessity for the world.

We see, on the one side, how a materialistic view of the world is trying to get a firm foothold, and how nothing that offers resistance is of any avail! And on the other side we see how efforts are made to spread ignorance, how more and more is done to efface the truths relating to the spiritual world! Just think how every communication from the spiritual world is regarded with downright hatred by the representatives of certain religious communities!

I have given these lectures in order to indicate the direction of the path which must be taken by Spiritual Science, and to help you to realise the following. We must oppose the materialistic scientists, although they really cannot help acting as they do, for Ahriman has them in his power and wishes to hide from them the real motives underlying their activity. And we must oppose the othcrs too—although they again cannot act differently, because they are in the hands of Lucifer. The right way to work is to come to grips with what Spiritual Science can give us. Oh, if only there were a number of people who realised the uniqueness of Spiritual Science, that it must not be confused with other things! That in itself would be a great step forward.

One can also learn a great deal from mistakes, and pay attention to them from this point of view. That is more important than merely to criticise them, although criticism is also sometimes necessary. I said that—to put it in plain words—Ahriman is out to destroy man's intellect in the future; but he combines this with something else as well—because the beings who serve him are related, with their higher forces, to the lower forces in man and because he wants to establish an alliance between the higher and the lower forces. In the normal course, Ahriman has under his direction those things in the world which give rise to illnesses; we know that they too are unavoidable for they bring about death in the physical world. All destruction in the physical world is allotted to him. But the connection must be known and understood. If what is in the lower sphere is taken up into the higher, it is united with these beings of destruction and then man himself gives many opportunities to Ahriman and his hosts. And when he does so he will not fail to notice that certain lower parts of his organism begin to function as higher parts of the organism otherwise function.

If a man has a dread of really exact thinking and yet wishes to enter the spiritual world, well, he may succeed in doing so—he crosses the Threshold and lives in the realm of the powers of destruction. When he comes back again into his body, he has entered into an alliance with these destructive beings and knows nothing about it because he has not developed his own intellect in the right way. He will then feel these beings within him—and instead of thinking, instead of his ears hearing and his eyes seeing, all kinds of hidden powers in the lower organism begin to hear and to see. The body is no longer his own in the sense it was before. On coming back again into the body he finds it filled with all sorts of ingredients. It is something new to him.

This entry into one's own body as into something unfamiliar and containing unknown elements is an experience that may befall those who do not keep faithfully to the right path. For Ahriman strives to establish himself in the human body and to transform certain organs into organs of knowledge. Lucifer, however, incites his fiery spirits of will to take certain forces out of us in order to make these forces independent. And so if we cross the Threshold in the direction of Lucifer's realm and then come back into the body, we feel as if certain parts are hollow, as if something has been taken out of us. Ahriman adds something, because as he enters into us he fills the organs. Lucifer takes away organs, makes what was otherwise part of our own organism, independent of us.

This is one of the aims of Lucifer—to make independent what belongs to us. And that is why in the pursuit of unjustifiable mystical experiences it may so easily happen that mystics, by consolidating and brooding over their own inner life, prepare it for Lucifer who can then draw it out of them. It is really so: Lucifer approaches the human being and draws out something from his brain, namely, the intellect. The intellect is drawn out as part of the etheric brain or of the etheric heart, made independent, and then a man feels that part of him has become hollow and empty. This is actually an experience associated with intensely egotistic individuals who have reached a certain high level of development. It can be seen that certain parts of their forces have been detached and are then, as it were, outside them. Lucifer robs man of certain forces with which he then proceeds to work. This state of things must naturally be prevented and it is prevented by faithful adherence to the right path. It is, however, a Luciferic conception to imagine that something can be taken away from man and then utilised as though he has no longer any part in it—for example, if a man's teaching is stolen from him and then utilised in the world. There you have a hint of the domain where such things actually happen. A great deal can be learnt from an error—above all from the error that teaching can be separated from the teacher. By observing these facts one can learn more than by merely criticising them—justifiable though this may well be. It is not difficult to realise what danger there would be were this kind of thing to become more general in the future. And the danger actually exists!

On the other side man is approaching the danger that in the process of the independent development of the Spirit-Self, Ahriman may take possession of it. Already ncw, those who have an eye for such things perceive how men lose their independence and how Ahriman is actually guiding their hand when they write. That is the one side, and the other is that things are taken and utilised, and it is believed possible to separate them from their originator. But the legitimate and only right way will be for men to accept the guiding principles of Spiritual Science, whereby on the one side the illumination that is shed upon nature safeguards them when they break through its veil. A zoology, a botany, a science of agriculture based on the principles of Spiritual Science must be brought into being; everything, medicine too, must be enriched by these principles. But medicine can be rightly enriched only by those who are not afraid to pierce the veil of nature, to enter right into the Ahrimanic world where they must battle against the spirits of destruction. To discover what is health-bringing for man, one must enter the region of those spirits who destroy all human life, who bring about illness and death; for only in the realm where lie the deeper causes of illness and death can the remedies be found.

Similarly, one who wishes to learn what will be fruitful for the human soul, must not be afraid to battle with the Luciferic beings; he must preserve unshakable moral courage if he wishes to cross the Threshold, he must realise that he is entering a region of spiritual beings where his every thought will tend to produce in him a slight touch of vertigo because it is on the point of being wrested from him, because it is about to flit away and he must swiftly take hold of it lest it escape him. Nobody can penetrate into this region without calmly battling against everything which, when it is out of balance, leads the human being to unhealthy, subjective mysticism.

But Spiritual Science steers us in such a way that, if we understand it, we actually find the strength to combat the Ahrimanic forces of destruction wherever they may be at work. And when, as in the Mystery plays, we apply Spiritual Science to the onflowing development of human life, and to the unfolding life of nature when we portray the forces of nature in the forms of our pillars and architraves, and when we portray the higher secrets of existence by placing Christ over against Lucifer and Ahriman as in our statue, when we approach these things in such a way that the spiritual powers become objective realities to us, then, my dear friends, we find the strength which the mystic does not, as a rule, possess—the strength to battle against the Luciferic powers.

From this you will realise that Spiritual Science was from the outset obliged to take the form in which it has actually been presented, and that what it creates, in addition to its theoretical teachings, is also essentially part of it. Let us try more and more to make our thinking conform with the thinking proper to Spiritual Science, for not until we free ourselves from the prejudices current in the outside world can we have a rightful place in Spiritual Science.

Zehnter Vortrag

Wollen wir auf diejenigen Dinge eingehen, die uns jetzt interessieren müssen, so ist es notwendig, daß wir einmal von einer gewissen Seite her den Begriff des menschlichen Bewußtseins, so wie es heute einmal ist, klar ins Auge fassen. Bringen wir uns einige Eigentümlichkeiten dieses Bewußtseins, von denen wir in den letzten Tagen und Wochen gesprochen haben, vor die Seele. Wir wissen, daß dieses menschliche Bewußtsein zunächst so eingerichtet ist, daß es den Menschen, so wie er gegenwärtig ist, auf dem Gebiete hält, das wir in diesen Tagen in einer gewissen Weise umgrenzt haben. Dieses Bewußtsein hält den Menschen innerhalb eines Gebietes, das auf der einen Seite abgeschlossen ist durch den Schleier, den die Naturerscheinungen vor uns hinstellen — hinter diesen Schleier kann zunächst das menschliche Bewußtsein nicht dringen -, auf der anderen Seite ist der Schleier unserer eigenen Seelenerlebnisse: unseres Denkens, Fühlens und Wollens. Unser Bewußtsein ist nun so eingerichtet, daß wir in der Lage sind, wenn wir uns innerlich anblicken, unser Denken, Fühlen und Wollen bis zu einem gewissen Grade menschlich zu erleben, bewußt zu erleben. Aber hinter den Schleier können wir wiederum nicht dringen. Dahinter liegt dann eine wirkliche Welt. So daß wir sagen können: Wenn wir den Schleier der Naturerscheinungen auf die eine Seite stellen und uns dahinter die objektive Wirklichkeit gesetzt denken, so ist unser Bewußtsein nach dem Schleier hin gerichtet, der zunächst nicht durchstoßen werden soll. Auf der anderen Seite sind die Seelenerscheinungen (siehe Zeichnung Seite 173); dahinter liegt die subjektive Wirklichkeit. Da blicken wir hinein, aber wir können den Schleier nicht ohne weiteres durchstoßen. — Innerhalb dieser Grenzen, innerhalb dieser zwei parallelen Linien liegt also unser gegenwärtiges Bewußtsein, dem auf der einen Seite, indem es hinausblickt durch die Sinnesorgane, die Naturwelt, auf der anderen Seite, indem es in sich hineinblickt, die Seelenwelt gegeben ist; von der Naturwelt also das, was sich als Vorhang zeigt; von der Seelenwelt das, was sich dem unmittelbaren inneren Anblick darbietet. So ist unser Bewußtsein, welches wir als Menschen gegenwärtig haben, eben eingerichtet.

Wir wissen ja, daß sich dieses Bewußtsein unterscheidet von dem früheren Bewußtsein, das noch als altes hellseherisches Erbstück hereinragt; aber wir wissen auch, daß diese alten hellseherischen Erbstücke dem Menschen immer mehr abhanden gekommen sind, daß jetzt unser Bewußtsein, wenn es normal funktioniert auf dem physischen Plane, so beschaffen ist, wie wir es charakterisieren konnten.

Nun kann die Frage aufgeworfen werden: Warum haben wir als Menschen denn gegenwärtig gerade dieses so besonders geartete Bewußtsein? Aus dem Grunde, weil wir während unseres gegenwärtigen Entwickelungszyklus neben alledem, was schon charakterisiert worden ist, uns das richtige Verhältnis anzueignen haben, in dem eine Menschenseele zu der anderen Menschenseele im Weltall stehen soll. Also diese Bewußtseinsform hat eine ganz bestimmte Aufgabe.

Sie wissen, wir sind früher in der Sonnen- und Mondenzeit und so weiter durch andere Bewußtseine durchgegangen und wir werden später, in der Jupiter-, in der Venuszeit durch andere Bewußtseine durchgehen. Wir bereiten uns nach und nach zu den verschiedenen Bewußtseinen vor. Jetzt, im gegenwärtigen Entwickelungszyklus, sollen wir durch die Art, wie wir mit der Welt leben, diese Bewußtseinsform in uns entwickeln; und neben alledem, wozu diese Bewußtseinsform in bezug auf das Moralische herangebildet werden soll, ist auch das, daß wir durch diese Bewußtseinsform in das richtige Verhältnis von Menschenseele zu Menschenseele kommen können, in dem wir vor dem Beginn der Erdenzeit noch nicht waren, und ohne das wir, wenn wir es uns während der Erdenzeit nicht angeeignet haben, während der Jupiter-, Venus-, Vulkanzeit nicht bestehen können. Also wir müssen uns durch diese Bewußtseinsform noch aneignen das richtige Verhältnis von Mensch zu Mensch.

Nehmen wir die Entwickelung, wie sie unserer Erdenzeit voranging in der Saturn-, Sonnen- und Mondenzeit. Da war der Mensch noch nicht in diesem Sinne im richtigen Verhältnisse zu den anderen Menschen. Er stand in gewissem Sinne den anderen Menschen zu nahe. Noch während der Mondenzeit war es so — Sie können das aus verschiedenen Schilderungen, die ich gegeben habe, entnehmen -, daß, wenn einer etwas wollte, das auf den anderen Menschen weiterwirkte. Der andere Mensch verspürte gewissermaßen den Willen seines Nebenmenschen. Und daß es in der richtigen Weise geschah, das regelten die Geister der höheren Hierarchien.

Diese Regelung durch die Geister der höheren Hierarchien würde, wenn sie fortdauerte, den Menschen niemals im Kosmischen ganz zur Freiheit kommen lassen. Es mußte einmal diese Regelung aufhören. Daher mußte eine solche Bewußtseinsform eintreten, die möglich machte, daß zwischen Mensch und Mensch gewissermaßen eine Grenze da war. Dadurch, daß wir auf der einen Seite nicht durch die Natur, auf der anderen Seite nicht durch die Seelenwelt durchschauen, dadurch ist das Verhältnis von einer Seele zur anderen Seele wirklich so, daß auch zwischen zwei Seelen eine gewisse Grenze geschaffen wird. Diese Grenze ist gerade durch unsere gegenwärtige Bewußtseinsform vorhanden. Es ist ja eine besondere, charakteristische Eigenschaft unserer gegenwärtigen Bewußtseinsform, daß wir eigentlich Spiegelungen empfinden. Das gilt natürlich auch für unseren Verkehr zwischen Mensch und Mensch. Dadurch, daß wir, wenn wir dem Menschen gegenübertreten, für unsere gegenwärtige Bewußtseinsform namentlich eine Spiegelung des Bewußtseins in sich selbst haben, können wir nicht so brutal an den Menschen herantreten, daß wir den Inhalt unseres Bewußtseins in seine Seele hineinergießen. Ist also unser Bewußtsein normal gut entwickelt, so verhindert es uns daran, daß wir dem Bewußtsein der anderen zu nahe treten. Ich könnte auch sagen: unsere Bewußtseins- und Intelligenzkräfte sind so angeordnet, daß wir weder einen zu großen Einfluß auf den anderen Menschen nehmen können, noch daß der andere Mensch einen zu großen Einfluß auf uns nehmen kann, weil wir durch die Spiegelung unseres Bewußtseins von dem anderen Menschen getrennt. sind.

Das ist eine sehr bedeutsame Sache, die man recht sehr ins Auge fassen sollte zum Verständnis der menschlichen Entwickelung. Wenn irgendwo ein Defekt im normalen Bewußtsein auftritt, so sehen Sie gleich, wie die Dinge eigentlich stehen. Denken Sie sich einmal nur einen Menschen, dessen Bewußtsein nicht ganz normal entwickelt ist, der, sagen wir, ein bißchen von dem hat, was man vielleicht mit einem ärgerlichen, aber manchmal recht zutreffenden Worte in den letzten Wochen «mystische» oder sonstige «Verschrobenheit» genannt hat. Nehmen wir an, das Bewußtsein wäre nicht ganz normal, sondern neigte zu allerlei Phantasien, die gestützt wären durch gewisse abnorme Bewußtseinserlebnisse, abnorm für unsere Zeit: Sie werden immer wieder erleben, daß solche abnorme Bewußtseine auf andere Seelen einen viel größeren Einfluß haben als das normale Bewußtsein. Ein Mensch, der, wenn ich es etwas grob ausdrücken soll, ein wenig verrückt ist nach irgendeiner Richtung hin, hat auf seine Mitmenschen einen viel größeren Einfluß als ein normaler Mensch; und der Normale muß sich schützen durch Verstärkung seines Bewußtseins, um nicht einen Einfluß von dem Abnormen zu erfahren. Der Abnorme bedeutet immer, solange er nicht erkannt ist, eine gewisse Gefahr für seine Mitmenschen, weil sie sich zu stark von ihm beeinflussen lassen, weil sie ihn zu leicht für etwas Besonderes halten. Gerade da, wo der Spiegel des Bewußtseins etwas durchlöchert ist, wo das Bewußtsein nicht klar sieht, da geht durch das Loch des Bewußtseins ein zu starker Einfluß hinüber auf den anderen Menschen.

Also unser Bewußtsein erwerben wir uns in der gegenwärtigen Entwickelungszeit, um in das richtige Verhältnis von Menschenseele zu

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Nun können wir sagen — aus dem, was ich Ihnen in den letzten Tagen erläutert habe, geht das klärlich hervor: Da, jenseits des Schleiers der Natur, liegt die ahrimanische Welt mit all den Wesenheiten, die ich Ihnen geschildert habe. Da, jenseits des Schleiers des Seelenlebens, liegt die luziferische Welt mit all den Eigentümlichkeiten, die ich Ihnen geschildert habe. Der Mensch ist also gewissermaßen eingeschlossen zwischen der ahrimanischen und luziferischen Welt. Geht er nur ein wenig über sein Bewußtsein hinaus gegen die Natur zu, dann kann er gar nicht anders, als mit der ahrimanischen Welt Bekanntschaft zu machen. Geht er mit seinem Bewußtsein heraus gegen die Seelenwelt hin, so kann er nicht anders, als mit der luziferischen Welt Bekanntschaft zu machen.

Nun haben wir eine gewisse Zeit hinter uns, in der die Menschen davor geschützt waren, nach der einen oder anderen Seite zu stark vorzustoßen. Aber wir leben jetzt wieder in einer Übergangszeit, wo es gar nicht anders sein kann, als daß die Menschenseelen nach der einen oder anderen Seite vorstoßen. Es geht gar nicht anders, als daß solch ein Vorstoß nach der einen oder anderen Seite geschieht. Das läßt sich nicht anders machen; das muß geschehen. Das fordert wieder die Zeitenentwickelung von den Menschen, denn die Sache ist die folgende.

Wir leben jetzt in der Entwickelung der Bewußtseinsseele, wie Sie wissen, und gehen entgegen der Entwickelung des Geistselbst. Solch eine Entwickelung bereitet sich lange vor. Wenn sich dieses Geistselbst einmal vollständig entwickelt haben wird in der sechsten nachatlantischen Kulturperiode, dann wird das menschliche Seelenleben in vieler Beziehung ein anderes sein als jetzt. Es wird der menschliche Intellekt eine viel objektivere Macht haben, als er sie jetzt hat. Er wird viel objektiver leben. Die Menschen gehen schon diesem viel objektiveren Leben des Intellekts entgegen. Man kann das überall sehen. Ich habe das an verschiedenen Stellen meiner Vorträge immer wieder und wieder charakterisiert. Die Menschen gehen einem Seelenleben entgegen, von dem man sagen kann, daß der Intellekt sich wie eine Art öffentlicher Macht unter den Menschen ausbreitet; wirklich wie eine Art öffentlicher Macht, der sich die Menschen fügen sollen, wie eine Art objektiver, außer den Menschenseelen wirkender Macht.

Wir leben jetzt noch in einer Zeit, in der eine ganze Anzahl von Menschen sich durch eine gewisse starke Ausprägung ihrer Individualität vor dieser objektiven Macht schützen. Aber das wird immer weniger und weniger möglich sein, je mehr wir dem sechsten nachatlantischen Zeitraume entgegengehen. Es wird wirklich eine Zeit kommen, in der Erscheinungen, die jetzt erst im Anfange sind, viel, viel stärker auftreten werden. Jetzt schon kann man, wenn man in der Lage ist, die Welterlebnisse in der richtigen Weise zu taxieren in bezug auf diesen Punkt, sich einige richtige Urteile bilden. Man kann zum Beispiel jetzt schon beobachten, wie da oder dort dieses oder jenes geschrieben wird. Man weiß ganz genau, daß die Schreiber gewisser Journale eigentlich weit entfernt davon sind, nur das zu sagen, was aus ihrer Seele entspringt. Sie vertreten die Intelligenz gewisser Kreise, die Intelligenz, die so objektiv wuchert und deren Sprachrohr sie nur sind. Es ist außerordentlich bedeutsam, daß man das ins Auge faßt, denn das ist eine Erscheinung, die immer mehr überhandnehmen wird.

Nun aber besteht eine ganz bestimmte Perspektive. Wenn sich die Intelligenz einiger Menschen objektiviert — und sie objektiviert sich schon, seitdem es eine öffentliche Literatur gibt -, dann bekommt Ahriman immer mehr und mehr die Möglichkeit, sich der Intelligenz der Menschen zu bemächtigen. Das ist eine Perspektive, die uns die Geisteswissenschaft vor die Seele stellen muß, denn Ahriman hat immer das intensivste Bestreben, die Menschen um ihren individuellen Verstand zu bringen und ihn sich selbst anzueignen, so daß der menschliche Verstand nach der Meinung Ahrimans in ahrimanische Gewalt übergehen sollte. Ahriman hat eigentlich — wie ich Ihnen das gesagt habe bei seinen Dienern, deren höhere Intelligenzkräfte mit den nie deren Menschenkräften eine geheimnisvolle Verbindung haben — immer das Bestreben, den Menschenverstand sich anzueignen und den Menschen nicht darauf kommen zu lassen, was alles sein Verstand kann. Nehmen Sie die letzte Szene zwischen Benedictus und Ahriman, in dem Mysteriendrama «Der Seelen Erwachen». Bevor Ahriman verschwindet, sagt er die Worte:

Es ist jetzt Zeit, daß ich aus seinem Kreise
Mich schnellstens wende; denn sobald sein Schauen
Mich auch in meiner Wahrheit denken kann,
Erschafft sich mir in seinem Denken bald
Ein Teil der Kraft, die langsam mich vernichtet.

Darin liegt ein tiefes Geheimnis, das derjenige, der sich für die Geisteswissenschaft interessiert, erkennen soll. Die Menschen müssen sich bestreben, gegen die Zukunft hin ihren Verstand individuell, richtig individuell handhaben zu lernen, ihren Verstand nicht unbewacht zu lassen; ja, ja niemals ihren Verstand unbewacht zu lassen. Das ist sehr notwendig, und es ist gut, wenn man weiß, in wie schönen, starken, vollen Worten Ahriman an die Menschen herantritt und versucht, wenn es auch der Mensch sich nicht gefallen lassen will, aber wie doch Ahriman versucht, den Menschen den Verstand - verzeihen Sie den Ausdruck — wie die Würmer aus der Nase herauszuziehen.

Immer mehr werden die Menschen es nötig haben, auf solche Momente zu achten. Denn gerade solche Momente benutzt Ahriman zu seinem Handwerk, wo der Mensch bei vollem Tagwachen in eine Art von Schwindelzustand kommt, in eine Art von bewußtem Dämmerungszustand, wo er sich nicht recht heimisch fühlt in der physischen Welt, wo er beginnt, sich dem Zirkeltanz des Universums zu überlassen, wo er nicht mehr gehörig als Individualität auf seinen Beinen und Füßen stehen will. Das sind die Momente, wo man sich hüten muß, denn da bekommt Ahriman leicht Oberwasser in unserer Umgebung.

Wir schützen uns am besten dadurch, wenn wir uns immer mehr und mehr bestreben, ein klares und genaues Denken zu entfalten, so genau wie möglich zu denken, nicht einfach so hinzuhuschen im Denken über die Dinge, wie das heute gerade gesellschaftlicher Usus ist. Nicht hinwegspringen über die Dinge, sondern klar denken. Man sollte sogar noch weiter gehen: Man sollte versuchen, sich immer mehr und mehr zu hüten, gangbare Redensarten und Worte zu gebrauchen. Denn in dem Augenblick, wo man gangbare Worte gebraucht, die man nicht aus dem Gedanken, sondern aus der Sprachgewohnheit heraus hat, wird man, wenn auch nur für einen kurzen Moment, gedankenlos. Und das sind ganz besonders gefährliche Momente, weil man nicht darauf achtet. Man sollte darauf achten, daß man es vermeidet, solche Worte, bei denen man nicht genügend nachdenkt, zu gebrauchen. Eine solche Selbsterziehung sollte derjenige, der es mit den Aufgaben der Zeit ernst nimmt, gerade in solchen Intimitäten in ganz hervorragendem Maße in Angriff nehmen, und Sie werden das dazu Nötige leicht zusammendenken können nach dem, was ich in diesen Tagen zum Ausdruck gebracht habe.

Aber auch Luzifer hat das Bestreben, den Menschen durch seinen Willen dahin zu bringen, daß er nicht aus durchdachten, durchgeistigten Impulsen heraus handelt, sondern aus Impulsen, die dem bloßen Temperament, den bloßen Neigungen entspringen. Da wieder greift Luzifer ein und macht uns zu seiner Beute. Und er wird seine Beute am besten finden, wenn möglichst viele Menschen Neigungs-, Temperamentsimpulse entwickeln, die in den dunklen Untergründen des Seelenlebens wirbeln und wurzeln, die nicht in der individuellen Sphäre sind. Wenn wir Temperamentsimpulse und andere dunkle Neigungen in uns gegenwärtig sein lassen, die uns in Zusammenhang bringen mit Menschengruppen, die also sich dadurch charakterisieren, daß man sich als Angehöriger einer Menschengruppe fühlt, dann kommt man gleich in einen Wirbel hinein, in dem einem das individuelle Willensurteil entrissen wird. Und das darf einem nicht entrissen werden, sonst bekommt Luzifer eine zu große Macht über uns. Wir müssen versuchen, uns objektiv zu machen in dieser Beziehung.

Auch das kann für Luzifer günstige Momente entwickeln, wo das Gemüt gewissermaßen aus der Sphäre des normalen Bewußtseins etwas abirrt. Das sind dann radikale Erscheinungen. Aber die intimeren Erscheinungen sind schon diejenigen, wenn wir uns aus dunklen Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühlen und dergleichen bestimmen lassen. Die auffälligeren, radikaleren Abirrungen des Bewußtseins sind diejenigen, wenn der Wille defekt wird, irgendwie schwach wird, wo der Mensch nicht mehr anders kann, als sich seinem Seelenleben hinzugeben, ich möchte sagen, mit partiellem Ausschluß seines Willens.

Diese besonders radikalen Erscheinungen haben die neueren Ärzte sogar schon auf gewisse Termini gebracht. So sprechen die neueren Ärzte schon von Zwangsvorstellungen. Solche Zwangsvorstellungen treten bei den Menschen auf, die ihr Bewußtsein nicht in einer geregelten Form eingerichtet haben, wie es für den physischen Plan sein soll. Wenn nicht das genügende Quantum Wille im Bewußtsein ist, dann treten Vorstellungen auf, die der Mensch nicht aus dem Bewußtsein fortschaffen kann. Zwangsvorstellungen, wie man sie nennt, treten auf. Sagen wir zum Beispiel — ich will ein Beispiel anführen, das in Kliniken beobachtet worden ist —, ein Mensch hat einmal gesehen, wie ein mit Gesichtskarzinom behafteter Mensch in ein Haus gegangen ist. Er hat die Geschwulst im Gesicht gesehen und ist ein schwacher Mensch in bezug auf den Willen; seine Willensimpulse sind nicht stark genug. Seitdem er nun diesen Menschen mit dem Gesichtskrebs gesehen hat, glaubt er, daß überall Krebskeime vorhanden sind, und er kann nicht anders, als überall, wo er hinkommt, Krebskeime zu vermuten, das heißt, er hat nicht genug starken Willen, um diese Vorstellung, die dazumal erregt worden ist, ins Unterbewußtsein hinunterzudrücken. Das ist ein besonderer Fall von Zwangsvorstellung. Aber so etwas tritt in großer Mannigfaltigkeit bei Menschen auf, die in der Willenssphäre nicht genügend entwickelt sind. Da bekommt Luzifer dann leicht über sie Gewalt. Eine andere Abirrung des Bewußtseins haben die neueren Ärzte die Berührungsfurcht genannt, die sich dadurch ausdrückt, daß Menschen, deren Willenssphäre zu wenig stark entwickelt ist, vor jeder Berührung mit anderen Menschen oder Gegenständen zurückschrecken, also nicht berührt sein wollen von anderen Menschen oder Gegenständen. Die Berührungsfurcht ist ein ganz bestimmter Terminus der neueren Psychiatrie.

So könnten wir noch viele solcher Abirrungen des Bewußtseins anführen. In diesen Abirrungen zeigt sich gerade, wie unser Bewußtsein normalerweise beschaffen sein muß für den physischen Plan. Nun sind wir aber einmal in einer Zeit, in der es nicht anders möglich ist, als daß sich uns gewisse Wesen enthüllen, sowohl von der Seite hinter dem Schleier der Natur als auch von der Seite hinter dem Schleier der Seelenwelt. Es müssen sich uns die Dinge enthüllen, denn gerade wenn sich uns die Dinge nicht enthüllen, so wird das für die weitere Entwickelung der Menschen gefährlich. Gerade wenn Ahriman und Luzifer nicht in ihrem Zusammenhange mit der menschlichen Entwickelung bemerkt werden, so wird das eine gefährliche Sache für die Menschen werden. Dann nämlich, wenn sie nicht bemerkt werden, können sie am besten wirtschaften. Ich will Ihnen das in bezug auf das ahrimanische Wirtschaften durch eine kleine Anekdote klarmachen, die wahrer ist als wahr, da sie wahrhaft ist.

In einem Dorfe kam einmal ein Fremder an, der ein Bekannter des Bürgermeisters war. Er kam zu Pferde an und ritt in das Dorf hinein. Dem Dorfe war das eine interessante Erscheinung. Die Leute liefen auf die Straße und sahen dem Fremden nach. Der stellte sein Pferd in dem Stalle des Bürgermeisters ein und verweilte vom Sonnabend über den Sonntag im Hause des Bürgermeisters. Am Montag wollte er abreisen und verlangte sein Pferd. Da sagte der Bürgermeister: Du bist doch zu Fuß gekommen, du hast doch kein Pferd gehabt. — Alle Einwände dagegen wurden von dem Bürgermeister mit den Worten beantwortet: Du hast doch kein Pferd gehabt. — Endlich sagte er: Dann fragen wir doch einmal die Leute im Dorfe, die müssen dich doch gesehen haben, als du ins Dorf hineinrittest. — Er ließ also alle Leute im Dorfe kommen und fragte sie, ob sie den Mann nicht zu Fuß haben kommen sehen, und alle sagten: Ja. - Nachdem alle dieses Zugeständnis gemacht hatten, sagte er: Nun schwört mir alle, daß der Mann zu Fuß gekommen ist. -— Und alle schworen, daß dieser Mann zu Fuß gekommen sei. Er mußte also zu Fuß und ohne Pferd das Dorf wieder verlassen. Nach einiger Zeit ritt der Bürgermeister ihm nach und brachte ihm sein Pferd. Darauf sagte der Mann: Wozu war denn nun diese ganze Komödie? Darauf erwiderte der Bürgermeister: Ich wollte dir nur meine Gemeinde vorstellen!

Selbstverständlich war da Ahriman im Spiele, und er hat als objektive Macht gewirkt; ganz gut hat er gewirtschaftet. Die Anekdote ist wahrer als wahr, denn sie vollzieht sich fortwährend unter uns. Das ganze menschliche Leben tendiert dahin, die Leute, die auf das Nichtvorhandensein des Pferdes schwören, immer zahlreicher zu machen.

Wir müssen also streng darauf achten, daß wir das konkreteste Bewußtsein haben, weil nur das ein gutes, richtiges Bewußtsein für unser Erdenleben jetzt ist. Wenn Sie alles das zusammennehmen, was Sie verfolgen können aus meiner «Geheimwissenschaft im Umriß», aus den acht Meditationen «Ein Weg zur Selbsterkenntnis des Menschen», aus dem Buche «Die Schwelle der geistigen Welt», aus dem Buche «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» und aus manchen Vortragszyklen, dann werden Sie sehen, daß da Wege angegeben werden, um in die entsprechenden Gebiete schon hineinzukommen. Die Wege werden so angegeben, damit die Menschen in der richtigen Weise, gut vorbereitet, hinter die Natur und hinter die Seele kommen. Da werden die Wege beschrieben, durch die man in der richtigen Weise hinter die Kulissen des Daseins kommen kann. Aber die Tendenz, das subjektive Streben sehr vieler Leute geht eigentlich nicht darauf aus, dahin zu gelangen, wohin man gelangen wollen sollte, wenn ich so sagen darf, wenn man das in diesen Schriften Angedeutete treulich befolgt. Denn in diesen Schriften wird klärlich angedeutet, daß man eigentlich aus der normalen Bewußtseinsform herausgehen soll, wenn man in die andere Welt hineingehen will, daß man aus diesen normalen Bewußtseinsformen heraus und zu einer anderen Bewußtseinsform kommen muß.

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Das ist wichtig zu wissen. Denn es besteht eine Tendenz bei den meisten Menschen, auch bei sehr vielen unserer Freunde, nur nicht aus dieser Bewußtseinsform hinauszugehen, sondern darinnen zu bleiben und dennoch die geistige Welt in das gewöhnliche Bewußtsein hereinzubringen: also nicht das Ich hinauszutragen, sondern in das Ich hineinzutragen die geistige Welt. In das gewöhnliche Bewußtsein soll man das Wissen von der geistigen Welt, nicht diese selbst hereintragen wollen. Wenn Sie nun treulich befolgen, was in den angedeuteten Schriften enthalten ist, so geht das so vor sich, daß Sie in Zustände versetzt werden, durch die Sie die geistige Welt erleben, und durch die Sie Erlebnisse aus dieser geistigen Welt in das Normalbewußtsein hereinnehmen können. Und dann erleben Sie nicht, während Sie in einem anderen Bewußtsein sind, dasjenige, worum es sich handelt, in Ihrem Normalbewußtsein, sondern sie erleben es da vielleicht zu einer ganz anderen Zeit. Aber viele wollen das nicht; sie wollen das, um was es sich handelt, einfach im normalen Bewußtsein erleben. Es soll aber aus einem anderen Bewußtsein in das normale treten. Bei vielen unserer Freunde ist aber das Bestreben vorhanden, Visionen im normalen Bewußtsein zu haben und nicht etwas wie eine Art Rückerinnerung an ein anderes Bewußtsein. Haben Sie aber im normalen Bewußtsein Visionen, das heißt, wollen Sie im Grunde genommen nicht ein anderes Bewußtsein entwickeln, sondern das gewöhnliche Bewußtsein beibehalten, aber trotzdem in die geistigen Welten hineinschauen, so bedeutet das: man will eigentlich nicht ernsthaft aus seinem Bewußtsein heraus, sondern man will darinnen bleiben, und da sollen sich einem Gestalten darstellen, die eigentlich so ausschauen wie Gestalten der sinnlichen Welt. Das heißt, es streben viele danach, Geister oder Geistertaten zu sehen, aber diese gar nicht anders zu sehen, als wie sie die sinnlichen Dinge auch sehen. Sie möchten einen Geist sehen, aber dieser Geist soll ein Mann, eine Frau oder ein Tier, zum Beispiel ein Pudel sein. Ein Pudel, ein Mann oder eine Frau, die sind hier in der physischen Welt für das physische Bewußtsein. Aber in der anderen Welt ist es nicht so, daß man eine Frau, einen Mann oder einen Pudel sieht. Da muß man sich klar sein: der eigentliche Vorgang liegt außerhalb des gewöhnlichen Bewußtseins. Das, was ins Bewußtsein eintritt, ist höchstens ein Bildliches, ein Nachbild, das hinterher erscheint. Kurz, man darf nicht das Bestreben haben, in der geistigen Welt gleichsam nur eine Art feinerer Sinnenwelt haben zu wollen. Auf der anderen Seite darf man nicht das Bestreben haben, in der geistigen Welt etwas zu haben, was so spricht, wie Menschenworte auch sprechen, nur daß sie aus der geistigen Welt herauskommen. Die Freunde möchten oftmals nur so zuhören den Stimmen, die zu ihnen sprechen; aber diese Stimmen sollen ähnlich sein denen der physischen Welt, es sollen auch diese nur eine andere Ausgabe, eine feinere Ausgabe der physischen Welt sein. Also es möchten die Freunde hineinkommen in diesem gewöhnlichen Bewußtsein, das nur für die physische Welt ist, in die geistige Welt.

Es sind wirklich die meisten Visionen oder Stimmen, von denen einem erzählt wird, von dieser Art, die ich eben charakterisiert habe. Da liegt aber eine bestimmte Tatsache vor: Wenn wir solche Visionen haben oder solche Stimmen hören, dann haben immer Luzifer und Ahriman ein leichtes Spiel mit uns, dann bemächtigen sie sich dieser Dinge und nehmen sie für sich in Anspruch, denn die Menschen haben das Bestreben, alles das eigentlich ins Unrichtige hinein zu interpretieren. Werden diese Dinge in der richtigen Weise interpretiert, dann haben Luzifer und Ahriman nichts davon.

Sie sehen, da liegen Unterscheidungen vor, die wirklich richtig beachtet werden müssen. Wir müssen also uns ganz bewußt bleiben der Möglichkeit: sobald wir ins gewöhnliche Bewußtsein, das eigentlich nur für die physische Welt geartet ist, irgend etwas anderes hereinbringen, kommen wir zu der Skylla und Charybdis von Ahriman und Luzifer. Ahriman und Luzifer in dieser Beziehung als reale Mächte anzuerkennen, dazu müssen wir uns schon durchringen. Daher wurde ein so großes Gewicht gelegt auf die Beziehung zwischen Ahriman und Luzifer, und deshalb wurde auch unsere Statue so aufgebaut, damit das auch bildlich richtig vorgeführt werde.

Nun könnten Sie sagen: Wenn die Dinge so stehen, wäre es denn wirklich nicht gescheiter, daß man es machen würde wie die Naturforscher, welche die Dinge so darstellen, daß Ahriman zwar in dem darinnen ist, was sie sagen, aber trotzdem Ahriman nicht gelten lassen wollen? Oder es machen wie die gewöhnlichen Seelenpfleger der einzelnen Religionsgemeinschaften, die die Sache so darstellen, daß Luzifer überall darinnen ist, aber es auch nicht sagen? Sie betrachten es als etwas Schlimmes, wenn man erfährt, daß da das Tor ist für Luzifer. - Aber wer so sagt in unserer Zeit, der spricht nicht sehr klug. Denn zu sagen: Dann ist es gescheiter, man macht es so, wie die Naturphilosophen und die Seelsorger der einzelnen Religionsgemeinschaften —, das käme in bezug auf das Seelische dem Verlangen gleich, jemandem, der einen Abgrund überqueren soll auf einem Brett, das nicht sehr breit ist und der eine ziemliche Strecke über dieses Brett gehen soll, nicht zu sagen, daß er sich in Gefahr begibt. Das zu sagen, stellt sich aber als Notwendigkeit heraus. Sonst ist es so, wie wenn man sagen würde: Es ist richtig, daß der Mann in Gefahr kommen kann, es ist aber gescheiter, ihm davon nichts zu sagen. — Dadurch, daß man von den Dingen weiß - und man wird davon wissen müssen -, wird die Gefahr nicht größer und nicht kleiner.

Es wird eine Zeit kommen, wo sich Ahriman des Verstandes und Luzifer des Willens der Menschen wird bemächtigen wollen, und dem kann nur dadurch entgegengearbeitet werden, daß diese Dinge erkannt werden; und erkannt werden können sie nur durch eine entsprechende geisteswissenschaftliche Bewegung. Es ist sehr merkwürdig zu sehen, wie Ahriman und Luzifer am Werke sind, wie sie Dinge vollführen, durch die sie nicht bemerkt werden. Interessant ist es, wenn man die neuere Psychiatrie von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus studiert. Diese moderne Psychiatrie hat wirklich viele Dinge erkannt, die als Tatsachen vorliegen, die aber nicht in der richtigen Weise charakterisiert werden können, weil man nicht in Betracht zieht, daß diese geistigen Gewalten, die hinter der Schwelle liegen, an den Menschen herankommen. Sehen Sie, da will ich Ihnen eine Stelle, die sehr interessant ist, vorlesen aus einem Buche von Cullerre. Der sagt, mit Bezug auf eine gewisse Tendenz der modernen Psychiatrie, eine sehr merkwürdige Sache. Nicht wahr, die moderne Psychiatrie geht darauf aus, alles, was im Menschen nicht ganz durchschnittlich normal ist, was ein gewisses Niveau nach der einen oder anderen Seite verläßt, in die Nähe des Irrsinns zu bringen. So gibt es zahlreiche Abhandlungen, welche in der Jungfrau von Orleans nur eine hysterische Persönlichkeit sehen. Jetzt häufen sich nach und nach auch solche Abhandlungen, welche in dem Christus Jesus einen nicht ganz normalen Menschen sehen. Cullerre sagt also: Es gibt noch Menschen, «die außer sich sind vor Entrüstung bei dem Gedanken, daß die Wissenschaft, welche doch nichts, was sie berührt, entweihen kann, sich imstande glaubt, den Teil Narrheit abzuwägen, welcher sich der Weisheit eines Sokrates oder dem Genie eines Pascal beigemischt finden kann.» Es gibt auch Abhandlungen, die Goethes Narrheit nachweisen und dergleichen.

Da haben wir direkt ahrimanische Wissenschaft, aber falsche ahrimanische Wissenschaft, eine Wissenschaft, die sich bemüht zu zeigen, wie Goethe in gewisser Beziehung zwar ein moralisches Genie ist, aber wie er dazu nur dadurch kommen konnte, daß seinem Wesen ein gewisses Quantum Narrheit beigemischt war. Sokrates hat das besser gewußt: er hat von seinem Dämon gesprochen, er wußte, daß seine Seele angrenzt an objektive geistige Mächte. Für ihn war das klar. Aber der moderne Gelehrte, der moderne Psychiater möchte das so charakterisieren, daß Narrheit beigemischt ist dem Sokrates oder irgendeinem anderen. Ahriman soll verborgen werden, und er will verborgen sein! Und in ähnlicher Weise ist es auch bei Luzifer.

Nun ist es so: Würde man ohne weiteres heute pflegen, was in gewissen okkulten Orden als Geheimwissen figuriert mit all der Symbolik, so würde man sehr leicht, wie ich das schon gestern ausgeführt habe, in die Hände Ahrimans überliefern, was bisher als Okkultismus getrieben worden ist. Würde man das, was bisher als Mystik getrieben worden ist, heute für den Menschen verwenden, so würde man leicht die Mystik den Händen Luzifers überliefern. Zwischen beiden Klippen muß das Schiff der Geisteswissenschaft hindurchgesteuert werden. Das ist außerordentlich wichtig. Es muß also die Geisteswissenschaft so geformt werden, daß weder die mystischen noch die okkulten Abirrungen wirklich Platz greifen können.

Nun habe ich Ihnen gestern gesagt, daß, wenn man den Schleier der Natur durchstößt, man hineinkommt in eine Region, wo Wesen auftreten, die Zerstörungssinn haben. Aber dieser Zerstörungssinn ist gerade verwandt mit dem menschlichen Intellekte. Ich habe geschildert, wie der Mensch werden kann, wenn er diesen Wesen verfällt. Das darf nicht sein. Ich habe Ihnen auch geschildert, wie der Mensch brünstig werden kann in bezug auf seine geistigen Angelegenheiten, wenn er einer falschen Mystik verfällt, also gewissen religiösen Übeln verfallen würde. Beides darf nicht sein. Ich sagte, daß die Esoteriker unter den Okkultisten sich besonders angestrengt haben, die Menschen dazu zu zwingen, ihren Verstand auf die Entzifferung von Symbolen zu verwenden, so daß sie nicht in einer unberechtigten Weise da durchkommen und mißbraucht werden von den Mächten, die einem in diesen Grenzregionen so furchtbar entgegentreten. Man kann diese Wesen dadurch abhalten, daß man in einer solchen Weise den Verstand anwendet, wie es etwa bei der Entzifferung der Symbole geschieht. Das hat man früher getan. Aber es reicht eben für die gegenwärtige Zeit nicht aus. Es ist eigentlich nicht recht anwendbar für die gegenwärtige Zeit.

Und nun werden Sie finden, daß bei der Art und Weise, wie unsere Geisteswissenschaft vor die Menschheit hintritt, in einer anderen Weise die Abirrung in die Region des Ahriman vermieden wird. Da müssen Sie auf eine Eigentümlichkeit in dem Leben unserer Gesellschaft eingehen, insofern unsere Gesellschaft Geisteswissenschaft betreiben will. Es ist ein sehr, sehr häufiges Wort, das einem begegnet, wenn die Geisteswissenschaft an den oder jenen herankommt, das Wort: Begreifen kann ich diese Dinge nicht, bevor ich sie selber hellseherisch sehe. Ich nehme sie auf Treu und Glauben hin. — Ich habe oft betont: Vom richtigen Gesichtspunkte aus gesehen, ist die Sache doch nicht so. Die Menschen haben gegenwärtig dasjenige Maß von Intellekt, durch das alles, was gegeben wird, wirklich erkannt werden kann. Die ganze Geisteswissenschaft, wie sie gegeben ist, kann verstanden werden mit dem Maße von Intellekt, der gegenwärtig unter den Menschen ist. Gefunden kann sie damit nicht werden, aber verstanden werden kann sie. Und wie oft wird an diesen Intellekt appelliert, meine lieben Freunde. Er ist da, dieser Intellekt, er kann aufgebracht werden; und wer das nicht zugeben will, der irrt. Wenn dasjenige, was in der Geisteswissenschaft gegeben ist, so verarbeitet wird, daß der Intellekt auch angewendet wird, dann wird er in der richtigen Weise angewendet. Dann ist es ganz unmöglich, in einer unrechtmäßigen Weise in das ahrimanische Gebiet hineinzukommen. Man kann durch die Geisteswissenschaft, wie sie gegeben wird, nicht auf eine unrechtmäßige Weise in das ahrimanische Gebiet hineinkommen. Denn, es sind nur zwei Fälle möglich. Entweder die Menschen strengen sich an, sie zu verstehen, dann verwenden sie den Intellekt, der mißbraucht werden kann von den ahrimanischen Geistern, auf das Verständnis der Geisteswissenschaft, und dann kann er ihnen nicht entrissen werden. Ahriman kann machen, was er will: den Verstand, den die Menschen in der Gegenwart oder Zukunft anwenden auf das Studium der Geisteswissenschaft, den kriegt er nicht. Dessen können Sie sicher sein. Oder wenn die Menschen nicht darauf ausgehen, die Geisteswissenschaft zu verstehen, dann verwenden sie keinen Intellekt darauf, dann ist aber die Geisteswissenschaft nicht schuld an irgend etwas. Dann kann nur die Trägheit gegenüber der Geisteswissenschaft schuld sein.

Sie sehen, in welche Region von zerstörerischen Geistern man da hineinkommen kann. Das zeigt sich am besten, wenn man eine Seele beobachtet unmittelbar in dem Moment, wo sie durch die Pforte des Todes gegangen ist. In diesem Moment schwirren sie ganz besonders heran, diese geistigen Wesenheiten. Da sind sie in Fülle da, und es ist nicht zu verwundern, daß sie da sind, denn sie sind ja die Geister der Zerstörung. Ihre regelmäßige Tätigkeit ist es, daß sie an der Zerstörung der physischen Organisation arbeiten. Das gehört zu ihrem Handwerk. Sie dürfen nur nicht zu lange dableiben.

Die Menschen nun, welche geistiges Verständnis in sich aufgenommen haben, halten sich diese Wesenheiten vom Leibe. Aber viel Macht haben diese Geister über die materialistisch denkenden Seelen, über die Seelen, die sich kein Verständnis aneignen für die geistige Welt. Und viel leiden von Ahriman diejenigen Seelen, welche es im Leben verschmäht haben, sich geistiges Verständnis anzueignen. Die griechische Mythe hat dieses Verschmähen des Verständnisses der geistigen Welt sehr schön dargestellt in der Gestalt des Tantalus. Das ist derjenige, dem die Götter Speisen vorgesetzt haben, aber so, daß er sie nicht erreichen konnte, und dann zusahen, wie er dadurch Qualen auszustehen hatte.

Solche Tantalusse kann man heute viele sehen. Es sind dies alles materialistische Seelen, die sich kein Verständnis aneignen wollen für die geistige Welt. Das sind alles Tantalusse. Sie sind es in dem Sinne, als ihnen nach dem Tode während der Kamalokazeit, wenn sie ihre Lebenszeit durchgehen - rückwärts in einem Drittel, wie Sie wissen -, alles weggeschnappt wird. Dann haben sie überall, indem sie sehen, in was sie gelebt haben, das Gefühl: Wozu habe ich dies oder das getan? Sie sehen, da kommt gleich einer der zerstörenden Geister und schnappt es ihnen weg, so daß sie finden: Ich habe es eigentlich für nichts getan! - Es ist das natürlich eine Täuschung, aber sie leiden die Tantalusqualen, weil die Geister der Zerstörung in ihrer Nähe sind. Weil sie sich kein Verständnis erworben haben, können sie nicht sehen, daß allerdings unser ganzes Erdenleben von der Geburt bis zum Tode sinnlos wäre, wenn es nicht durchdrungen wäre von den Geistern der höheren Hierarchien. Aber diese Geister der höheren Hierarchien können sienicht sehen beim Zurückleben, und so muß ihnen alles sinnlos erscheinen.

Den falschen Okkultismus vermeidet unsere Geisteswissenschaft dadurch, daß sie wirklich das immer stärker und stärker werdende Quantum von Intellekt, das unter die Menschen kommt, dazu verwendet, eine Wissenschaft zu begründen, zu der eben ein größeres Quantum von Intellekt notwendig ist, als es bisher nötig war. Es muß unsere Wissenschaft so sein, daß sie mehr Verstand notwendig macht, als man bisher anzuwenden gewohnt ist. Wenn man sagt, die Geisteswissenschaft kann man nicht verstehen, so liegt es aber nicht daran, daß man nicht genug Verstand hat, sondern daß man nicht genügend Verstand anwenden will. Darüber möchte man sich gerne täuschen. Würde man so viel Verstand anwenden, wie der Mensch heute schon aufbringen kann, so würde man die Geisteswissenschaft schon verstehen. Und es muß so sein, daß die Geisteswissenschaft mit diesem Verstande rechnet: Dadurch vermeidet man mit unserer Geisteswissenschaft auf der einen Seite die Skylla; dadurch, daß soviel Verstand aufgebracht wird, überwinden wir die Skylla. Der Geisteswissenschafter weiß, warum die Menschen nicht geneigt sind, sich auf die Geisteswissenschaft einzulassen. Es ist deshalb so, weil sie nicht genügend Verstand anwenden wollen, weil sie träge sind. Deshalb habe ich vorhin von der Trägheit gesprochen.

Auf der anderen Seite muß auch die Klippe der falschen Mystik vermieden werden. Das kann dadurch geschehen, daß vermieden wird dieses, ich möchte sagen Zusammenkauern in das bloße menschliche Innere. Dieses fortwährende nur in seiner eigenen Seele leben und spinnen, dieses fortwährende in der eigenen Seele spintisieren, muß überwunden werden. Die eigene Seele muß aus sich herausgehen und auf die tieferen Zusammenhänge im äußeren Leben liebevoll hinschauen.

Daher wurde versucht, die Möglichkeit zu bieten, auf solche Zusammenhänge, die auch äußerlich gesehen werden können, hinschauen zu können; dazu wurden die Mysteriendramen gegeben. Darin zeigen sich Ihnen immer innere Seelenvorgänge. Indem Sie das, was zum Beispiel bei Capesius vorgeht, verstehen lernen und sehen, wie Capesius von Ereignis zu Ereignis geht, dadurch spannen Sie das Innenleben vermöge der gestaltend schaffenden und plastischen Tätigkeit an. Und das ist auch das Wesen unserer Kunst. Das liegt unserem ganzen Bau zugrunde, daß die Seelen von sich loskommen, daß sie nicht in eine falsche Mystik hineinkommen. Es ist nötig, daß dieses ins Auge gefaßt wird, und so werden wir dann auch die Charybdis der falschen Mystik vermeiden.

Alles das, was wir tun, um die geheimen Zusammenhänge des Menschenlebens außer uns zu deuten, das bewahrt uns vor falscher Mystik. Wenn wir so Capesius verfolgen, dann leben wir im seelischen Leben und Weben, aber wir spinnen nicht an unserem eigenen seelischen Leben und Weben, wir gehen aus uns heraus. Zu dem, wozu der Mystiker sonst kommt, kommen wir schon auch. Also es muß wirklich in einer zielbewußten Weise zwischen den beiden Klippen das Schiffchen der Geisteswissenschaft hindurchgeführt werden. Es muß gerade das gegeben werden, was falschen Okkultismus und falsche Mystik vermeidet.

So lebt unsere Geisteswissenschaft wirklich im Einklange mit den Bedürfnissen, mit den Anforderungen unserer Zeit. Es ist wirklich sehr wichtig, daß wir das ins Auge fassen, und deshalb mußte ich mich oftmals wenden gegen eine falsche Popularisierung der Geisteswissenschaft, gegen eine solche Popularisierung, die nicht ein genügend anstrengendes Denken erfordern würde. Und ebenso mußte ich mich wenden gegen alles, was auf eine brünstige, egoistische Mystik hinarbeitet, was immer nur schwimmt in dem, das bezeichnet werden kann mit dem Ausdrucke: In deinem Inneren findest du das Wirkliche, das Göttliche und so weiter -, das nicht das Göttliche suchen will im äußeren Verlaufe des Lebens, indem man liebevoll den Erscheinungen folgt.

Ich habe neulich zu jemandem gesagt, daß die Geisteswissenschaft als etwas sehr Nützliches betrachtet werden könne. Ich sagte es nicht, um in irgendeiner unbescheidenen Weise die Verdienste der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung hervorzuheben, sondern lediglich um zu zeigen, daß in dieser Bewegung wirklich das Positive genommen werden könnte. Ich sagte: Selbst wenn man nur jenes Positive nimmt, das man zugeben kann, und alles andere links liegen läßt, was einen nicht interessiert, könnte unsere Geisteswissenschaft doch als etwas außerordentlich Nützliches angesehen werden. Verfolgen Sie die Art und Weise, wie wir unsere Geisteswissenschaft während eineinhalb Jahrzehnt betrieben haben, dann werden Sie sehen, daß wir neben alledem, was wir geisteswissenschaftlich gegeben haben, mitten darinnen in dem Geisteswissenschaftlichen, eine große Summe von naturwissenschaftlichen Wahrheiten, von kunstgeschichtlichen Wahrheiten gegeben haben, eine ganze Menge solcher Dinge. Man nehme nur einmal hypothetisch an, wir würden gar nichts Geisteswissenschaftliches geben, sondern nur das, was wir an naturwissenschaftlichen und kunstwissenschaftlichen Wahrheiten bringen, so würde man das allein schon als etwas Positives nehmen können. Daß aber Positives geboten wird, das geschieht auch wiederum absichtlich und wohl erwogen, denn dadurch bekommt man eben das menschliche Gemüt von dieser Spintisiererei frei. - Und so wurde in jeder Art gesucht, unsere geisteswissenschaftliche Bewegung so zu gestalten, daß sie in der richtigen Weise vorwärtsrückt. So wurde diese geisteswissenschaftliche Bewegung wirklich als eine Art Organismus aufgefaßt. Und wenn wir sie als einen Organismus auffassen, dann können wir vielleicht auch so denken: dann muß sie auch so heranwachsen wie ein Organismus, wie ein menschlicher Organismus, der gegen das siebente Jahr die zweiten Zähne bekommt. Er muß sich der zweiten Zähne bedienen, seiner individuellen Zähne, die er da bekommt.

Ich habe in früheren Vorträgen auseinandergesetzt, daß wir anknüpfen mußten an die theosophische Bewegung. Im Jahre 1902 begründeten wir die Deutsche Sektion und knüpften damit an die theosophische Bewegung an. Wir konnten anfangs weiterschreiten, indem wir uns durchaus selbständig entwickelten, wie ich es Ihnen gezeigt habe, doch so, daß wir in der theosophischen Bewegung darinnen lebten. Aber dann mußten wir eigene Zähne bekommen. Wir hatten sie sehr notwendig. Im Jahre 1909, 1902 + 7 = 1909, da war es notwendig, auch eigene Zähne zu bekommen. Erinnern Sie sich, daß damals gerade die Jahre waren, in denen die Leadbeater-Affäre alles unsicher machte. Sie sehen, da war es schon notwendig, die eigenen Zähne nach und nach zu entwickeln. Das Jahr 1916 ist nicht mehr weit. Da werden wir dann die zweiten sieben Jahre hinter uns haben. Wenn wir diese zweiten sieben Jahre hinter uns haben und ernstlich an einen Organismus denken, dann muß dieser Organismus reif werden. Nun soll die geisteswissenschaftliche Bewegung, wenn sie ein richtiger Organismus ist, zeigen, daß sie reif geworden ist. Wirklich reif soll sie sein, soll aus sich selbst heraus etwas leisten können. Nach allem, was gegeben worden ist, sollte man nun so weit sein, daß man auch ohne den Lehrer weiter etwas sein könnte, bestehen und wirken könnte. So etwas wollte vorbereitet sein. Ich habe oftmals darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß so etwas notwendig ist. Und in der Tat, wir müssen ins Auge fassen, daß so etwas notwendig ist. Ich habe es auch früher schon in Berlin gesagt: Die Gesellschaft für theosophische Art und Kunst sollte etwas sein, was sich von mir ablöst und ein eigenes Leben führt. — Das aber wird immer mehr und mehr notwendig sein: das Ablösen von mir und das Ein-eigenes-Leben-Führen, wenigstens der Möglichkeit nach. Wir müssen die Gefahr überwinden, die darin liegt, daß die Dinge eigentlich nur gut gehen, insofern dasjenige, was von mir begründet ist, von Woche zu Woche einfließt. Wir sind jetzt in den Jahren, wo die Gesellschaft für sich zeigen müßte, daß sie ebenso friedlich untereinander alles das pflegen könnte, was einmal da ist, es wirklich pflegen könnte so, als ob ich nicht mehr da wäre.

Das ist ein durchaus notwendiger Gedanke. Die Dinge liegen schon so, daß, wenn sie jetzt in den Seelen wirken, doch schon so mancherlei abgelöst werden könnte, wozu man mich nicht mehr braucht. Ich will damit nicht sagen, daß ich nicht dabeibleiben werde. Aber die Probe des Bestehens liegt darin, daß gewissermaßen ich immer mehr überflüssig werde. Wir müssen absolut die Möglichkeit überwinden, die vorhanden ist: daß unsere Mitglieder als solche sich selber untereinander, gewissermaßen einer dem anderen gegenüber, nicht anerkennen! Denn Sie brauchen nur die Hypothese zu setzen und sich klarzumachen, welchen schlimmen Dienst man leisten würde, wenn immer alle so lebten, daß man sagte: Der ist Vorstand, dem muß man folgen -, oder: Der ist Vorstand, der wird die Dinge schon machen. — Das geht nicht. Wohin würde man kommen, wenn ich eines Tages nicht mehr dabei wäre? Da würde ja die Gesellschaft gleich zersplittern. Aber dann nur erreichen wir, was wir erreichen sollen, wenn wir nach vierzehn Jahren wirklich so weit sind, daß wir ein eigenes Leben in uns haben, das wieder ein weiteres hervorbringen kann. Und das ist kein Unmögliches, wenn wir nur auf unser Wollen uns besinnen. Gewiß, es sind jetzt einzelne Jahre schwierig; aber wir müssen auch solche Schwierigkeiten überwinden. Und wir werden manches, was ich Ihnen selber zu bringen habe, in anderer Weise verwerten können, wenn das verwirklicht ist, was ich Ihnen jetzt angedeutet habe. Manches ist jetzt schwierig. Ich will es durch ein Paradoxon sagen, was schwierig ist, worauf aber hingewiesen werden muß: Es gibt gewisse Dinge — das ist schon so —, die man nicht so ohne weiteres sagen kann, so daß ich in den letzten vier Tagen gerne einen kleinen, engeren Kreis zusammengerufen hätte, um gewisse Dinge zu sagen, die ich nicht vor dem ganzen Auditorium sagen kann. Aber ich mußte es wiederum unterlassen, weil wir in einer Zeit leben, wo es eben nicht geht, so etwas zu arrangieren. Es läßt sich nicht machen.

Um klar zu sehen, müssen wir gerade diese Dinge, die ich in diesen Tagen auseinanderzusetzen versuchte, recht gut ins Auge fassen. Wir müssen versuchen, auch den inneren Charakter der Geisteswissenschaft uns recht gut vor Augen zu stellen, dann werden wir schon einsehen, warum wir auf der einen Seite in den Naturgelehrten, die aus der Naturgelehrsamkeit eine Weltanschauung machen möchten, Gegner haben müssen, und auf der anderen Seite in denjenigen Seelenpflegern Gegner haben müssen, die durchaus verhüllt lassen wollen, was hinter dem gewöhnlichen Seelenleben liegt.

Treu festhalten müssen wir an unserer Lehre, wir müssen sie tief in ihrer Eigenart auch durchdringen wollen. Fassen wir zum Beispiel einmal ins Auge, wie wir das Mysterium von Golgatha in die Mitte unserer Bestrebungen gerückt haben und wie wir betonen mußten, daß der Christus in den Jesus von Nazareth auf. die oft geschilderte Weise eingegangen ist, also aus anderen Bewußtseinssphären gerade in die Bewußtseinssphäre, die für das physische Erdenleben des Menschen die richtige Bewußtseinssphäre ist. Damit aber ist schon gegeben, daß der Christus zwar eine kosmische Macht ist, daß aber der Christus Jesus eine irdische Macht ist, die fortlebt in dem irdischen Bewußtsein der Menschen, überhaupt in den irdischen Geschehnissen. Daher kann das Neue Testament keine Naturwissenschaft sein, denn dasjenige, was hinter der Natur liegt, muß, wenn es auf die Wirklichkeit geht, außerhalb unseres Bewußtseins sein; es kann aber auch keine Geisteswissenschaft sein, denn da muß auch hinübergegangen werden nach der anderen Seite. Das ist gerade das wunderbar Große, das Bedeutsame des Neuen Testaments, daß es weder eine Naturwissenschaft noch eine Geisteswissenschaft sein will, daher darf es aber auch nicht gebraucht werden zur Polemik gegen die Geisteswissenschaft.

Darin sehen wir aber auch die Gründe angedeutet, warum immer wieder und wieder gerade die Vertreter dieser oder jener Religionsgemeinschaften sich gegenüber der Geisteswissenschaft auflehnen werden, ganz begreiflicherweise auflehnen werden, weil sie eben den Menschen eigentlich niemals hineinlassen wollen in die Welt, vor der sie sich ungeheuer fürchten. Sie fürchten sich davor, daß der Mensch da hineinkommt und entdecken könnte, was wirklich in ihm als ewige Seelensubstanz liegt. Sie wollen dem Menschen nur klarmachen, daß das, was der Mensch von sich schon weiß, in ihm ewig lebt. Sehen Sie, gestern habe ich schon gesagt: Wenn wirklich eine materialistische Weltanschauung begründet würde, wenn diese allein bestehen würde und keine Geisteswissenschaft unter die Menschen träte, so würde es dahin kommen, daß die Menschen in Skeptizismus und Zweifelsucht ertrinken müßten, denn diese würde etwas wie ein geistiges Meer erzeugen, in dem die Seelen ertrinken müßten. Das aber, was erzeugt werden muß, wenn die Menschen abgehalten werden sollen, den Schleier der Seelenwelten zu durchdringen, das ist die Unwissenheit. Unwissenheit in der der Mensch zuletzt ersticken würde, müßte sich ausbreiten, wenn diejenigen, die heute vielfach die Vertreter der einzelnen Religionsgemeinschaften sind, siegen würden. Würden die Naturgelehrten siegen, so würde sich ein Meer des Zweifels ausbreiten, in dem die Menschen ertrinken würden. Würden diejenigen siegen, die in der angedeuteten Weise denken, Seelenpfleger der einzelnen Religionsgemeinschaften zu sein, so würde sich eine Atmosphäre von Unwissenheit ausbreiten, in der die Menschenseelen ersticken würden. So ernst ist nun einmal die Aufgabe, die der Geisteswissenschaft gestellt ist. Und diesen Ernst der Aufgabe müssen wir ins Auge fassen. Wir müssen uns gewissermaßen als Menschen ansehen, die durch ihr Karma an die Geisteswissenschaft herangeführt werden können, um das, was sie an Intellekt haben, und auch das, was sie an Gemütsinnigkeit haben, zur Verfügung zu stellen, nicht der Geisteswissenschaft, sondern dem allgemeinen Menschenfortschritt. Und die Welt braucht das, braucht das gar sehr.

Sehen Sie doch, wie auf der einen Seite wirklich eine materialistische Weltanschauung Boden fassen will, und wie alles nichts hilft, was sich dagegen auflehnt! Und sehen Sie, wie auf der anderen Seite an der Verbreitung der Unwissenheit gearbeitet wird, wie immer mehr und mehr verwischt wird, was Tatsachen der geistigen Welt sind! Sehen Sie doch, wie von seiten gewisser Pfleger der oder jener Religionsgemeinschaft jede positive Mitteilung aus der geistigen Welt sogar mit einem gewissen Haß verfolgt wird!

Ich habe diese Vorträge gehalten, um auf die Richtung hinzuweisen, welche die Geisteswissenschaft zu nehmen hat; um Ihr Bewußtsein darauf hinzuweisen, daß wir einsehen lernen: jene Naturgelehrten, wir müssen sie bekämpfen; aber sie können nicht anders, denn Ahriman hat sie, und der möchte ihnen verbergen, was die Triebfeder ihres Wirkens ist. Und die anderen, ja, wir müssen sie bekämpfen, aber sie können auch nicht anders, denn Luzifer hat sie. Wir erreichen wirklich das Richtige, wenn wir in positiver Weise auf das eingehen, was die Geisteswissenschaft uns geben kann. Wenn es doch nur einmal eine Anzahl von Menschen gäbe, die dieses Einzigartige der Geisteswissenschaft einsehen würden, die einsehen würden, daß die Geisteswissenschaft nicht verwechselt werden darf mit dem oder jenem; dann genügt das schon wirklich, meine lieben Freunde.

Man kann auch von Irrtümern viel lernen und sich von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus auch mit Irrtümern befassen. Das ist noch wichtiger, als sich zu diesen Irrtümern kritisch zu stellen, was ja zuweilen auch notwendig ist. Ich sagte: Ahriman hat eigentlich, trocken ausgedrückt, das Bestreben, den Menschen in der Zukunft um seinen Verstand zu bringen. — Aber damit verknüpft er — weil seine Geister mit ihren höheren Kräften zu den niederen Kräften des Menschen in Beziehung stehen — noch etwas anderes, indem er einen Bund stiften will zwischen den höheren und niederen Kräften. Ahriman hat normalerweise diejenigen Dinge in der Welt zu leiten, welche Krankheiten hervorbringen. Wir wissen, daß sie auch da sein müssen, da sie den Tod in der physischen Welt hervorbringen. Alles Zerstören in der physischen Welt ist ihm übertragen. Man muß aber nun den Zusammenhang erkennen. Wenn man das, was in der niederen Sphärenwelt ist, heraufhebt in das Höhere, so verbindet man es mit den Wesen, die dahinter sind, mit diesen zerstörenden Wesen. Dann liefert man von sich aus an Ahriman und seine Geister allerlei aus. Und wenn man so an Ahriman und seine Geister mancherlei ausliefert, merkt man schon, daß gewisse niedrigere Partien des Organismus so zu wirken anfangen, wie sonst höhere Partien des Organismus wirken.

Wenn man eine Scheu davor hat, ordentlich exakt zu denken, und trotzdem in die geistige Welt hineingehen will, so ist es so: Man geht hinein in die geistige Welt. Gewiß, man kann objektiv da erleben, man lebt wirklich in diesem Geistgebiete, wo die zerstörerischen Mächte sind, man überschreitet die Schwelle. Man kommt dann wieder zurück in seinen Leib hinein; man hat ein Bündnis geschlossen mit diesen zerstörenden Mächten und weiß nichts davon. Man kennt sich nicht darin aus, wenn man den eigenen Intellekt nicht richtig entfaltet hat. Dann kommt es, daß man diese zerstörerischen Gewalten in sich darinnen fühlt. Und statt daß man denkt, statt daß man mit den Ohren hört und mit den Augen sieht, fangen da allerlei geheime Mächte in unserem untergeordneten Organismus an zu sehen und zu hören. Unser Leib ist uns nicht mehr so gegeben, wie er uns sonst gegeben ist. Wir finden, wenn wir zurückkehren in den Leib, ihn ausgefüllt mit allerlei Ingredienzien. Er ist uns ein neues Wesen.

Diese Unbekanntschaft mit dem eigenen Leibe, dieses Hineinkommen in den Leib wie in ein besonderes Wesen, in dem etwas Unbekanntes sitzt, das ist etwas, das dem passieren kann, der nicht treulich an dem Wege festhält. Denn Ahriman hat das Bestreben, sich festzusetzen in dem menschlichen Leibe und gewisse Organe zu Erkenntnisorganen umzugestalten. Aber Luzifer hat wiederum das Bestreben, daß seine Geister, die so brünstige Geister des Willens sind, gewisse Dinge aus uns herausnehmen, um sie selbständig zu machen; so daß, wenn man nach der luziferischen Seite hin die Schwelle überschreitet und wieder zurückkommt, man sich für gewisse Partien hohl fühlt, wie wenn einem etwas weggenommen wäre. Ahriman gibt einem etwas dazu, weil er hineingeht in einen; er stopft einen voll. Luzifer nimmt die Organe weg und macht selbständig, was sonst zu einem gehört.

Das ist wirklich ein luziferisches Bestreben: selbständig zu machen, was zu uns gehört. Daher ist es auch bei dem, was ich ungerechtfertigte Mystik genannt habe, so leicht, daß solche Mystiker, indem sie ihren freien Willen umwandeln in visionäres Hellsehen, ihr Wissen für Luzifer zubereiten, der es dann herausnehmen kann. Es ist wirklich so: Da ist der Mensch und da kommt Luzifer an, und aus dem Gehirn wird etwas herausgenommen: der Verstand. Der Verstand wird wie ein Stück Äthergehirn herausgenommen, oder aus dem Herzen wird ein Stück ätherisch herausgenommen und verselbständigt, und dann wird man sich da hohl fühlen. Es hat die Tendenz, sich selbständig zu machen, sich von ihm abzusondern. Es ist das wirklich eine Erscheinung bei recht egoistischen Geistern, die eine gewisse Höhe der Entwickelung erlangt haben. Da kann man sehen, wie gewisse Teile ihrer Kräfte losgelöst werden, die dann wie in der Welt draußen sind. Luzifer raubt dem Menschen gewisse Kräfte, durch die er dann wirkt. Das ist seine Neigung. Das muß selbstverständlich verhindert werden, und es wird verhindert durch ein treuliches Befolgen des richtigen Weges. Aber luziferisch bleibt die Anschauung, daß man dem Menschen etwas wegnehmen und es dann wie etwas außer ihm Vorhandenes verwerten kann, zum Beispiel, daß man einem Lehrer seine Lehre wegnimmt und sie objektiv in der Welt verwerten würde. Da haben Sie aber die Region, in der diese Dinge zu suchen sind. Man kann von einem Irrtum sehr viel lernen, von dem Irrtum nämlich, daß losgelöst werden könne die Lehre vom Lehrer. Es kann durch die Beobachtung dieser Tatsachen noch etwas ganz anderes gelernt werden, als was man durch eine gewiß sehr berechtigte Kritik lernen kann. Man kann lernen, welche Gefahr darin liegt, wenn so etwas in der Zukunft der Menschheitsentwickelung mehr usuell würde. Und diese Gefahr besteht!

Auf der anderen Seite geht die Menschheit der Gefahr entgegen, daß bei der selbständigen Entwickelung des Geistselbst Ahriman sich dieses Geistselbstes bemächtigt. Man kann jetzt schon, wenn man eine Empfindung dafür hat, sehen, wie die Menschen unselbständig werden, und wie eigentlich Ahriman ihre Hand führt, wenn sie dies oder jenes schreiben. Das ist die eine Seite und die andere ist diese, daß wiederum die Dinge genommen und verwertet werden und der Glaube besteht, daß man sie abtrennen könnte von ihrem Urheber. Diese beiden Gefahren bestehen.

Das aber wird der rechte und einzig richtige Weg sein, daß die Leitlinien der Geisteswissenschaft von den Menschen angenommen werden: Daß auf der einen Seite die Natur so wird beleuchtet werden, daß man mit den Leitlinien der Geisteswissenschaft die Natur, den Naturvorhang durchstößt. Aufblühen wird müssen eine Zoologie, eine Botanik, eine Landwirtschaft nach den Leitlinien der Geisteswissenschaft. Alles, auch die Medizin, wird von den Leitlinien der Geisteswissenschaft befruchtet werden müssen. Aber nur diejenigen werden die Medizin in richtiger Weise von den Leitlinien der Geisteswissenschaft befruchten können, welche es nicht scheuen, den Schleier der Natur zu durchdringen, so daß man in die ahrimanische Welt hineinkommt und kämpfen muß gegen die Geister der Zerstörung. Um das zu finden, was den Menschen heilsam ist, muß man in die Region derjenigen Geister gehen, die alles Menschenleben auflösen, die Krankheit und Tod bewirken, denn nur da, wo die tieferen Ursachen von Tod und Krankheit sind, können die Heilmittel gesucht werden.

Ebenso darf derjenige, welcher kennenlernen will, was in den menschlichen Seelen fruchtet, sich nicht davor scheuen, den Kampf mit den luziferischen Wesenheiten einzugehen. Er muß moralischen Mut bewahren, wenn er die Schwelle überschreiten will, muß wissen, daß er in eine Region von geistigen Wesen hineinkommt, wo ihn jeder Gedanke fortwährend wie zu einer leisen Ohnmacht geneigt machen will, weil er ihm entrissen werden soll, weil der Gedanke nur so hinhuscht, daß man ihn rasch fassen muß, damit er nicht entschlüpft. Man wird nicht in diese Region eindringen, ohne wirklich in aller Gelassenheit den Kampf aufzunehmen mit alledem, was, wenn es einseitig herauskommt, den Menschen eben zu der einseitig subjektiven Mystik verführt.

Aber die Geisteswissenschaft steuert uns so, daß, wenn wir sie verstehen, wir wirklich die Kraft finden, in jeder Lage die ahrimanischen zerstörenden Mächte zu bekämpfen. Und wenn wir die Geisteswissenschaft anwenden auf das sich entfaltende Menschenleben, wie wir es in den Mysteriendramen tun, und auf das sich entfaltende Naturleben, wie wir es tun, indem wir in unseren Säulen- und Architravformen den Kräften der Natur nachgehen, oder den Geheimnissen der Weltentwickelung nachgehen, indem wir Christus dem Luzifer und Ahriman gegenüberstellen in unserer plastischen Gruppe, wenn wir so an die Dinge herangehen, daß die geistigen Mächte uns gegenständlich werden, so daß sie in der Realität leben, dann finden wir die Kraft, die der einseitige Mystiker zumeist nicht hat: gegen die luziferischen Geister zu kämpfen.

Daraus sehen Sie, daß die Geisteswissenschaft schon gerade so sein mußte, wie sie unter Sie gebracht worden ist, und daß auch dasjenige, was die Geisteswissenschaft noch neben ihrer theoretischen Formierung schafft nach der einen oder anderen Seite, notwendigerweise zu ihr dazu gehört. Versuchen wir immer mehr und mehr unser Denken so zu lenken, wie das geisteswissenschaftliche Denken gelenkt werden muß. Denn nur, wenn wir uns freihalten von den Vorurteilen, die in der äußeren Welt herrschen, können wir richtig in der Geisteswissenschaft stehen.

Tenth Lecture

If we want to address the things that must now interest us, it is necessary that we first clearly consider the concept of human consciousness as it is today from a certain perspective. Let us bring to mind some of the peculiarities of this consciousness that we have been discussing over the last few days and weeks. We know that human consciousness is initially structured in such a way that it keeps human beings, as they are at present, within the realm that we have defined in a certain way over the last few days. This consciousness keeps human beings within a realm that is closed off on one side by the veil that natural phenomena place before us — human consciousness cannot initially penetrate beyond this veil — and on the other side by the veil of our own soul experiences: our thinking, feeling, and willing. Our consciousness is now arranged in such a way that when we look inward, we are able to experience our thinking, feeling, and willing to a certain degree as human, to experience them consciously. But we cannot penetrate behind the veil. Behind it lies a real world. So we can say: if we place the veil of natural phenomena on one side and imagine objective reality behind it, our consciousness is directed toward the veil, which cannot be penetrated at first. On the other side are the soul phenomena (see drawing on page 173); behind them lies subjective reality. We look into it, but we cannot easily pierce the veil. — Within these boundaries, within these two parallel lines, lies our present consciousness, which is given, on the one hand, by looking out through the sense organs, the natural world, and on the other hand, by looking inward, the soul world; from the natural world, that which appears as a curtain; from the soul world, that which presents itself to the immediate inner gaze. This is how our consciousness, which we currently have as human beings, is structured.

We know that this consciousness differs from the earlier consciousness, which still protrudes as an old clairvoyant legacy; but we also know that these old clairvoyant legacies have increasingly been lost to human beings, so that now our consciousness, when it functions normally on the physical plane, is of the nature we have described.

Now the question may be raised: Why do we as human beings currently have this particular type of consciousness? The reason is that during our present cycle of development, in addition to everything that has already been characterized, we must acquire the right relationship that a human soul should have to other human souls in the universe. So this form of consciousness has a very specific task.

You know, we have previously passed through other consciousnesses in the Sun and Moon periods and so on, and we will later pass through other consciousnesses in the Jupiter and Venus periods. We are gradually preparing ourselves for the different consciousnesses. Now, in the present cycle of development, we are to develop this form of consciousness within ourselves through the way we live with the world; and in addition to everything else that this form of consciousness is to be developed for in relation to morality, there is also the fact that through this form of consciousness we can come into the right relationship between human soul and human soul, which we did not have before the beginning of the Earth period, and without which, if we have not acquired it during the Earth period, we will not be able to exist during the Jupiter and Venus periods. So we must still acquire the right relationship between human beings through this form of consciousness.

Let us take the development that preceded our earthly time in the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods. At that time, human beings did not yet have the right relationship to other human beings in this sense. In a certain sense, they were too close to other human beings. Even during the Moon period, it was still the case — as you can gather from various descriptions I have given — that when one person wanted something, it had an effect on other people. The other person felt, as it were, the will of their neighbor. And the spirits of the higher hierarchies regulated that this happened in the right way.

If this regulation by the spirits of the higher hierarchies had continued, it would never have allowed human beings to attain complete freedom in the cosmic realm. This regulation had to come to an end at some point. Therefore, a form of consciousness had to arise that made it possible for there to be a certain boundary between human beings. Because we cannot see through nature on the one hand, nor through the soul world on the other, the relationship between one soul and another is such that a certain boundary is created between two souls. This boundary exists precisely because of our present form of consciousness. It is a special, characteristic feature of our present form of consciousness that we actually perceive reflections. This also applies, of course, to our interactions with other people. Because, when we encounter another person, we have a reflection of consciousness within ourselves, particularly in our present form of consciousness, we cannot approach the other person so brutally that we pour the contents of our consciousness into their soul. So if our consciousness is normally well developed, it prevents us from intruding too closely on the consciousness of others. I could also say that our powers of consciousness and intelligence are arranged in such a way that we cannot exert too great an influence on other people, nor can other people exert too great an influence on us, because we are separated from other people by the reflection of our consciousness.

This is a very important thing to consider in order to understand human development. If there is a defect in normal consciousness somewhere, you can immediately see how things really are. Just imagine a person whose consciousness is not quite normally developed, who has, let's say, a little of what has been called in recent weeks, with an annoying but sometimes quite accurate word, “mystical” or other “eccentricity.” Let us assume that their consciousness is not entirely normal, but tends toward all kinds of fantasies supported by certain abnormal experiences of consciousness, abnormal for our time: you will repeatedly experience that such abnormal consciousnesses have a much greater influence on other souls than normal consciousness. A person who, to put it bluntly, is a little crazy in some way, has a much greater influence on his fellow human beings than a normal person; and the normal person must protect himself by strengthening his consciousness so as not to be influenced by the abnormal. As long as they are not recognized, abnormal people always pose a certain danger to their fellow human beings, because they allow themselves to be influenced too strongly by them, because they too easily consider them to be something special. Precisely where the mirror of consciousness is somewhat perforated, where consciousness does not see clearly, an excessive influence passes through the hole in consciousness to other people.

So we acquire our consciousness in the present period of development in order to establish the right relationship between the human soul and

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Now we can say — from what I have explained to you over the last few days, it is clear: beyond the veil of nature lies the Ahrimanic world with all the beings I have described to you. Beyond the veil of soul life lies the Luciferic world with all the peculiarities I have described to you. Human beings are thus, in a sense, enclosed between the Ahrimanic and Luciferic worlds. If they go just a little beyond their consciousness toward nature, they cannot help but become acquainted with the Ahrimanic world. If they go with their consciousness toward the soul world, they cannot help but become acquainted with the Luciferic world.

Now we have a certain period of time behind us in which people were protected from venturing too far in either direction. But we are now living in a transitional period again, where it cannot be otherwise than that human souls venture in one direction or the other. There is no other way than for such a push to occur on one side or the other. There is no other way; it must happen. This again demands the development of the times from human beings, for the matter is as follows.

As you know, we are now living in the development of the consciousness soul and are moving toward the development of the spirit self. Such a development takes a long time to prepare. Once this spirit self has fully developed in the sixth post-Atlantean cultural period, human soul life will be different in many respects from what it is now. The human intellect will have a much more objective power than it has now. It will live much more objectively. People are already moving towards this much more objective life of the intellect. You can see this everywhere. I have characterized this again and again in various parts of my lectures. People are moving toward a soul life in which the intellect spreads among people like a kind of public power; truly like a kind of public power to which people must submit, like a kind of objective power acting outside of human souls.

We are still living in a time when a whole number of people protect themselves from this objective power through a certain strong expression of their individuality. But this will become less and less possible the more we approach the sixth post-Atlantic epoch. There will indeed come a time when phenomena that are only just beginning now will occur much, much more strongly. Already now, if one is able to assess world events in the right way with regard to this point, one can form some correct judgments. For example, one can already observe how this or that is being written here and there. One knows quite well that the writers of certain journals are actually far from saying only what springs from their souls. They represent the intelligence of certain circles, the intelligence that proliferates so objectively and of which they are merely the mouthpiece. It is extremely important to bear this in mind, for it is a phenomenon that will become increasingly prevalent.

But now there is a very specific perspective. When the intelligence of some people becomes objectified — and it has been objectified ever since public literature has existed — then Ahriman has more and more opportunity to take possession of people's intelligence. This is a perspective that spiritual science must bring before our souls, for Ahriman always strives intensely to rob human beings of their individual intellect and to appropriate it for himself, so that, in Ahriman's opinion, the human intellect should pass into Ahrimanic power. Ahriman actually always strives — as I have told you about his servants, whose higher powers of intelligence have a mysterious connection with their human powers — to appropriate human intellect and prevent people from realizing what their intellect is capable of. Take the last scene between Benedictus and Ahriman in the mystery drama “The Awakening of the Soul.” Before Ahriman disappears, he says the words:

It is now time for me to turn away from his circle
As quickly as possible; for as soon as his gaze
Can also conceive of me in my truth,
He will soon create for himself in his thinking
A part of the power that slowly destroys me.

Therein lies a deep secret that those interested in spiritual science should recognize. People must strive to learn to use their intellect individually, truly individually, in the future, not to leave their intellect unguarded; indeed, never to leave their intellect unguarded. This is very necessary, and it is good to know how beautifully, powerfully, and fully Ahriman approaches people and tries, even if they do not want to accept it, to pull their minds out of their noses, like worms — if you will pardon the expression.

More and more, people will need to pay attention to such moments. For it is precisely such moments that Ahriman uses for his work, when people, fully awake during the day, fall into a kind of dizziness, a kind of conscious twilight state, where they do not feel quite at home in the physical world, where they begin to surrender to the circular dance of the universe, where they no longer want to stand properly on their own two feet as individuals. These are the moments when we must be careful, because that is when Ahriman easily gains the upper hand in our environment.

We protect ourselves best by striving more and more to develop clear and precise thinking, to think as precisely as possible, not simply rushing through our thoughts about things, as is customary in society today. Not jumping over things, but thinking clearly. We should even go further: we should try to be increasingly careful to avoid using common phrases and words. For the moment we use common words that come not from our thoughts but from our linguistic habits, we become thoughtless, even if only for a brief moment. And these are particularly dangerous moments because we are not paying attention. One should take care to avoid using such words, which one does not think about sufficiently. Anyone who takes the tasks of the time seriously should undertake such self-education to a very high degree, especially in such intimate matters, and you will easily be able to think together what is necessary for this, based on what I have expressed in recent days.

But Lucifer also strives to use his will to lead people to act not out of well-considered, spiritual impulses, but out of impulses that spring from mere temperament, mere inclinations. Here again, Lucifer intervenes and makes us his prey. And he will find his prey most easily when as many people as possible develop impulses of inclination and temperament that swirl and take root in the dark depths of the soul life, which are not in the individual sphere. If we allow impulses of temperament and other dark inclinations to be present in us, which connect us with groups of people who are characterized by the feeling of belonging to a group, then we immediately enter a vortex in which our individual will is snatched away from us. And that must not be snatched away from us, otherwise Lucifer will gain too much power over us. We must try to become objective in this regard.

This, too, can create favorable moments for Lucifer, when the mind strays, so to speak, from the sphere of normal consciousness. These are then radical phenomena. But the more intimate phenomena are those that occur when we allow ourselves to be determined by dark feelings of belonging and the like. The more conspicuous, more radical deviations of consciousness are those in which the will becomes defective, somehow weak, where the person can no longer do anything but surrender to his or her soul life, I would say, with partial exclusion of his or her will.

These particularly radical phenomena have even been given certain terms by newer doctors. For example, modern doctors already speak of obsessive thoughts. Such obsessive thoughts occur in people who have not established their consciousness in a regulated form, as it should be for the physical plane. If there is not enough will in the consciousness, then thoughts arise that the person cannot remove from their consciousness. Compulsive ideas, as they are called, arise. Let us say, for example — I will give an example that has been observed in clinics — a person once saw a person with facial carcinoma entering a house. He saw the tumor on the face and is a weak person in terms of will; his impulses of will are not strong enough. Since seeing this person with facial cancer, he believes that cancer germs are everywhere, and he cannot help but suspect cancer germs wherever he goes, that is, he does not have a strong enough will to push this idea, which was aroused at that time, down into his subconscious. This is a special case of obsessive thinking. But such things occur in great variety among people who are not sufficiently developed in the sphere of the will. Lucifer then easily gains power over them. Modern doctors have called another aberration of consciousness “fear of contact,” which is expressed in that people whose sphere of will is not sufficiently developed shy away from any contact with other people or objects, i.e., they do not want to be touched by other people or objects. Fear of contact is a very specific term in modern psychiatry.

We could cite many more such aberrations of consciousness. These aberrations show precisely how our consciousness must normally be constituted for the physical plane. But now we are in a time when it is inevitable that certain beings will reveal themselves to us, both from behind the veil of nature and from behind the veil of the soul world. Things must reveal themselves to us, because if they do not, it will be dangerous for the further development of human beings. Precisely when Ahriman and Lucifer are not noticed in their connection with human development, it becomes a dangerous thing for human beings. For when they are not noticed, they can work most effectively. I will illustrate this to you in relation to Ahriman's work through a little anecdote that is truer than true, because it is true.

A stranger who was an acquaintance of the mayor once arrived in a village. He came on horseback and rode into the village. This was an interesting sight for the villagers. People ran out into the street and watched the stranger. He stabled his horse in the mayor's stable and stayed at the mayor's house from Saturday to Sunday. On Monday, he wanted to leave and asked for his horse. The mayor said, “But you came on foot, you didn't have a horse.” The mayor responded to all objections with the words, “But you didn't have a horse.” Finally, he said, “Let's ask the people in the village, they must have seen you when you rode into the village.” So he summoned all the people in the village and asked them if they had seen the man arrive on foot, and they all said yes. After they had all made this admission, he said: Now swear to me that the man came on foot. — And they all swore that this man had come on foot. So he had to leave the village on foot and without a horse. After some time, the mayor rode after him and brought him his horse. The man then said: What was the point of all this comedy? The mayor replied: I just wanted to introduce you to my community!

Of course, Ahriman was at work here, and he acted as an objective power; he did quite well. The anecdote is truer than true, for it is constantly happening among us. The whole of human life tends to increase the number of people who swear that the horse does not exist.

We must therefore take great care to have the most concrete consciousness, because only that is a good, correct consciousness for our earthly life now. If you take everything you can follow from my “Outline of Esoteric Science,” from the eight meditations “A Path to Self-Knowledge of Man,” from the book “The Threshold of the Spiritual World,” from the book “How to Gain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds,” and from some lecture cycles, you will see that paths are indicated for entering the corresponding realms. The paths are indicated so that people can come behind nature and behind the soul in the right way, well prepared. The paths are described through which one can come behind the scenes of existence in the right way. But the tendency, the subjective striving of very many people, is not actually aimed at getting to where one should get to, if I may say so, if one faithfully follows what is indicated in these writings. For these writings clearly indicate that one must actually leave the normal form of consciousness if one wants to enter the other world, that one must leave these normal forms of consciousness and arrive at another form of consciousness.

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This is important to know. For there is a tendency among most people, including many of our friends, not to leave this form of consciousness, but to remain within it and nevertheless bring the spiritual world into ordinary consciousness: that is, not to carry the ego out, but to carry the spiritual world into the ego. One should bring knowledge of the spiritual world into ordinary consciousness, not the spiritual world itself. If you faithfully follow what is contained in the writings mentioned, you will be transported into states through which you can experience the spiritual world and through which you can bring experiences from this spiritual world into your normal consciousness. And then, while you are in a different consciousness, you do not experience what it is all about in your normal consciousness, but you may experience it there at a completely different time. But many do not want that; they simply want to experience what it is all about in normal consciousness. But it should enter normal consciousness from a different consciousness. Many of our friends, however, strive to have visions in normal consciousness and not something like a kind of recollection of another consciousness. But if you have visions in normal consciousness, that is, if you basically do not want to develop another consciousness, but want to maintain ordinary consciousness and still look into the spiritual worlds, this means that you don't really want to leave your consciousness, but want to remain within it, and there you want to see figures that actually look like figures from the sensory world. That is, many strive to see spirits or spiritual acts, but to see them no differently than they see sensory things. They want to see a spirit, but this spirit should be a man, a woman, or an animal, for example, a poodle. A poodle, a man, or a woman are here in the physical world for physical consciousness. But in the other world, it is not the case that one sees a woman, a man, or a poodle. One must be clear about this: the actual process lies outside of ordinary consciousness. What enters consciousness is at most an image, an afterimage that appears afterwards. In short, one must not strive to have only a kind of finer sensory world in the spiritual world. On the other hand, one must not strive to have something in the spiritual world that speaks like human words, only that they come from the spiritual world. Friends often want to listen to the voices that speak to them, but these voices should be similar to those of the physical world; they should also be just another version, a more refined version of the physical world. So the friends want to enter the spiritual world with this ordinary consciousness that is only for the physical world.

Most of the visions or voices that people tell you about are really of the kind I have just described. But there is a certain fact: when we have such visions or hear such voices, Lucifer and Ahriman always have an easy time with us, then they take possession of these things and claim them for themselves, because people have the tendency to interpret everything in the wrong way. If these things are interpreted in the right way, then Lucifer and Ahriman have nothing to gain from them.

You see, there are distinctions that really need to be taken into account. So we must remain very conscious of the possibility that as soon as we bring anything else into our ordinary consciousness, which is actually only suited to the physical world, we come to the Scylla and Charybdis of Ahriman and Lucifer. We must bring ourselves to recognize Ahriman and Lucifer as real powers in this relationship. That is why such great emphasis has been placed on the relationship between Ahriman and Lucifer, and why our statue has been constructed in such a way that this is also correctly represented visually.

Now you might say: If this is the case, wouldn't it be wiser to do as the natural scientists do, who present things in such a way that Ahriman is indeed present in what they say, but nevertheless do not want to acknowledge Ahriman? Or to do as the ordinary spiritual counselors of the various religious communities do, who present the matter in such a way that Lucifer is everywhere in it, but do not say so? They consider it a bad thing to learn that there is a gateway for Lucifer. But anyone who says so in our time is not speaking very wisely. For to say: Then it is wiser to do as the natural philosophers and the spiritual leaders of the individual religious communities do — that would be equivalent, in relation to the soul, to not telling someone who has to cross an abyss on a plank that is not very wide and who has to walk a considerable distance across this plank that he is putting himself in danger. But saying this turns out to be a necessity. Otherwise, it would be like saying: It is true that the man may be in danger, but it is wiser not to tell him about it. Knowing about these things — and one will have to know about them — does not make the danger any greater or any smaller.

A time will come when Ahriman will want to take control of people's minds and Lucifer their will, and the only way to counteract this is to recognize these things; and they can only be recognized through a corresponding spiritual scientific movement. It is very strange to see how Ahriman and Lucifer are at work, how they do things without being noticed. It is interesting to study modern psychiatry from this point of view. Modern psychiatry has indeed recognized many things that are facts, but they cannot be characterized correctly because it does not take into account that these spiritual forces, which lie behind the threshold, can approach human beings. You see, I would like to read you a very interesting passage from a book by Cullerre. He says something very remarkable with regard to a certain tendency in modern psychiatry. It is true that modern psychiatry tends to regard everything in human beings that is not quite average, that deviates from a certain norm in one direction or another, as bordering on insanity. There are numerous treatises that see the Virgin of Orleans as nothing more than a hysterical personality. Now, little by little, there are also an increasing number of treatises that see Christ Jesus as a person who was not entirely normal. Cullerre says: There are still people “who are beside themselves with indignation at the thought that science, which cannot desecrate anything it touches, believes itself capable of weighing the element of folly that may be mixed with the wisdom of a Socrates or the genius of a Pascal.” There are also treatises that prove Goethe's foolishness and the like.

Here we have directly Ahrimanic science, but false Ahrimanic science, a science that strives to show how Goethe is indeed a moral genius in a certain respect, but how he could only achieve this because his nature was mixed with a certain amount of foolishness. Socrates knew better: he spoke of his daemon, he knew that his soul was connected to objective spiritual powers. For him, this was clear. But the modern scholar, the modern psychiatrist, would characterize this by saying that foolishness is mixed in with Socrates or anyone else. Ahriman is to be hidden, and he wants to be hidden! And it is similar with Lucifer.

Now it is this: if one were to readily cultivate today what appears in certain occult orders as secret knowledge with all its symbolism, one would very easily, as I explained yesterday, deliver into the hands of Ahriman what has hitherto been pursued as occultism. If we were to use what has been practiced as mysticism for the benefit of humanity today, we would easily deliver mysticism into the hands of Lucifer. The ship of spiritual science must be steered between these two cliffs. This is extremely important. Spiritual science must therefore be shaped in such a way that neither mystical nor occult aberrations can really take hold.

Yesterday I told you that when one pierces the veil of nature, one enters a region where beings appear who have a sense of destruction. But this sense of destruction is closely related to the human intellect. I have described what can happen to a person who falls prey to these beings. That must not be allowed to happen. I have also described how human beings can become passionate about their spiritual affairs if they fall prey to false mysticism, that is, if they fall prey to certain religious evils. Neither of these things must be allowed to happen. I said that the esotericists among the occultists have made a special effort to force people to use their intellect to decipher symbols, so that they do not get through in an unjustified way and are abused by the powers that confront one so terribly in these border regions. One can deter these beings by using the intellect in the same way as when deciphering symbols. This was done in the past. But it is not enough for the present time. It is not really applicable to the present time.

And now you will find that in the way our spiritual science approaches humanity, the aberration into the region of Ahriman is avoided in a different way. Here you must address a peculiarity in the life of our society, insofar as our society wants to pursue spiritual science. There is a very, very common phrase that one encounters when spiritual science approaches this or that person, the phrase: I cannot understand these things until I see them myself clairvoyantly. I accept them in good faith. — I have often emphasized: seen from the right point of view, this is not the case. People today have the measure of intellect that is needed to truly understand everything that is given. The whole of spiritual science, as it is given, can be understood with the measure of intellect that is currently present among human beings. It cannot be found with it, but it can be understood. And how often this intellect is appealed to, my dear friends. This intellect is there, it can be brought to bear; and anyone who refuses to admit this is mistaken. If what is given in spiritual science is processed in such a way that the intellect is also applied, then it is applied in the right way. Then it is quite impossible to enter the Ahrimanic realm in an unlawful way. Through spiritual science as it is given, one cannot enter the Ahrimanic realm in an unlawful way. For there are only two possible cases. Either people make an effort to understand it, then they use the intellect, which can be misused by the Ahrimanic spirits, to understand spiritual science, and then it cannot be snatched away from them. Ahriman can do what he wants: he cannot get hold of the intellect that people use in the present or future to study spiritual science. You can be sure of that. Or if people do not set out to understand spiritual science, then they do not use their intellect for it, but then spiritual science is not to blame for anything. Then only laziness towards spiritual science can be to blame.

You see what kind of destructive spirits one can encounter there. This is best seen when observing a soul immediately after it has passed through the gate of death. At that moment, these spiritual beings swarm around in particular. They are there in abundance, and it is not surprising that they are there, for they are the spirits of destruction. Their regular activity is to work on the destruction of the physical organization. That is part of their craft. They just must not stay too long.

People who have acquired spiritual understanding keep these beings at bay. But these spirits have great power over materialistic souls, over souls that have not acquired an understanding of the spiritual world. And those souls who have spurned spiritual understanding in life suffer greatly from Ahriman. Greek mythology has beautifully depicted this spurning of understanding of the spiritual world in the figure of Tantalus. He is the one to whom the gods served food, but in such a way that he could not reach it, and then watched as he suffered torment as a result.

Many such Tantals can be seen today. They are all materialistic souls who do not want to acquire an understanding of the spiritual world. They are all Tantals. They are Tantals in the sense that after death, during the Kamaloka period, when they review their lifetime – backwards in one third, as you know – everything is snatched away from them. Then, seeing what they have lived through, they have the feeling: Why did I do this or that? They see that one of the destructive spirits is coming and snatching it away from them, so that they think: I actually did it for nothing! Of course, this is an illusion, but they suffer the torments of Tantalus because the spirits of destruction are near them. Because they have not acquired understanding, they cannot see that our entire earthly life from birth to death would indeed be meaningless if it were not permeated by the spirits of the higher hierarchies. But they cannot see these spirits of the higher hierarchies when they look back on their lives, and so everything must seem meaningless to them.

Our spiritual science avoids false occultism by using the ever-increasing quantum of intellect that is coming among human beings to establish a science that requires a greater quantum of intellect than was previously necessary. Our science must be such that it requires more understanding than people are accustomed to applying. When people say that spiritual science cannot be understood, it is not because they do not have enough intellect, but because they do not want to apply enough intellect. People like to deceive themselves about this. If people applied as much intellect as they are already capable of today, they would understand spiritual science. And spiritual science must reckon with this intellect: In this way, our spiritual science avoids the Scylla on the one hand; by applying so much intellect, we overcome the Scylla. The spiritual scientist knows why people are not inclined to engage with spiritual science. It is because they do not want to apply enough intellect, because they are lazy. That is why I spoke of laziness earlier.

On the other hand, the cliff of false mysticism must also be avoided. This can be done by avoiding, I would say, cowering into the mere human interior. This constant living and spinning only in one's own soul, this constant spinning in one's own soul, must be overcome. One's own soul must go out of itself and look lovingly at the deeper connections in outer life.

Therefore, an attempt was made to offer the opportunity to look at such connections, which can also be seen externally; for this purpose, the Mystery Dramas were given. In them, inner soul processes are always revealed to you. By learning to understand what is happening in Capesius, for example, and seeing how Capesius moves from event to event, you engage your inner life through creative and plastic activity. And that is also the essence of our art. It is fundamental to our entire structure that souls detach themselves from themselves, that they do not enter into a false mysticism. It is necessary to keep this in mind, and in this way we will also avoid the Charybdis of false mysticism.

Everything we do to interpret the secret connections of human life outside ourselves protects us from false mysticism. When we follow Capesius in this way, we live in the soul life and weaving, but we do not spin our own soul life and weaving; we go out of ourselves. We also arrive at what the mystic otherwise arrives at. So the ship of spiritual science must really be steered between the two cliffs in a purposeful manner. Precisely what avoids false occultism and false mysticism must be given.

In this way, our spiritual science truly lives in harmony with the needs and demands of our time. It is really very important that we bear this in mind, and that is why I have often had to speak out against a false popularization of spiritual science, against a popularization that would not require sufficiently strenuous thinking. And likewise, I have had to speak out against everything that works toward a feverish, egoistic mysticism, which always floats in what can be described with the expression: In your inner being you will find the real, the divine, and so on — which does not seek the divine in the outer course of life by lovingly following appearances.

I recently said to someone that spiritual science can be regarded as something very useful. I did not say this in order to emphasize the merits of the spiritual science movement in any immodest way, but merely to show that the positive aspects of this movement could really be taken. I said: Even if one takes only those positive aspects that one can admit, and leaves aside everything else that does not interest one, our spiritual science could still be regarded as something extraordinarily useful. If you follow the way we have practiced our spiritual science for a decade and a half, you will see that, in addition to everything we have given in terms of spiritual science, we have also given a great deal of scientific truths, art-historical truths, and a whole host of other things. Let us assume hypothetically that we would not offer anything in the way of spiritual science, but only what we offer in terms of scientific and art-historical truths. That alone could be taken as something positive. But the fact that something positive is offered is also deliberate and well considered, because it frees the human mind from this kind of speculation. And so every effort was made to shape our spiritual science movement in such a way that it would progress in the right direction. Thus, this spiritual science movement was truly conceived as a kind of organism. And if we conceive of it as an organism, then perhaps we can also think of it this way: it must also grow like an organism, like a human organism that gets its second teeth around the age of seven. It must make use of its second teeth, its individual teeth, which it gets at that age.

In earlier lectures, I explained that we had to build on the theosophical movement. In 1902, we founded the German Section and thus built on the theosophical movement. At first, we were able to move forward by developing quite independently, as I have shown you, but in such a way that we lived within the theosophical movement. But then we had to get our own teeth. We needed them very much. In 1909, 1902 + 7 = 1909, it was necessary to get our own teeth. Remember that those were the years when the Leadbeater affair made everything uncertain. You see, it was already necessary to develop our own teeth little by little. The year 1916 is not far off. By then we will have the second seven years behind us. When we have these second seven years behind us and seriously think about an organism, then this organism must become mature. Now, if the spiritual scientific movement is a true organism, it must show that it has matured. It must be truly mature, able to achieve something on its own. After all that has been given, we should now be ready to continue to be something, to exist and to work, even without the teacher. Something like this had to be prepared. I have often pointed out that something like this is necessary. And indeed, we must realize that such a thing is necessary. I have said this before in Berlin: The Society for Theosophical Art and Science should be something that detaches itself from me and leads its own life. But this will become more and more necessary: detaching itself from me and leading its own life, at least in principle. We must overcome the danger that lies in the fact that things only go well insofar as what I have established flows in from week to week. We are now in the years when the Society must show that it can cultivate everything that is there just as peacefully among itself, that it can really cultivate it as if I were no longer there.

This is an absolutely necessary thought. Things are already such that, if they now have an effect on people's souls, many things could already be replaced, for which I am no longer needed. I do not mean to say that I will not remain. But the test of existence lies in the fact that, in a sense, I am becoming more and more superfluous. We must absolutely overcome the possibility that exists: that our members as such do not recognize each other, in a sense, one another! For you need only posit the hypothesis and realize what a disservice would be done if everyone always lived in such a way that one said: He is the chairman, he must be followed – or: He is the chairman, he will take care of things. That is not possible. Where would we end up if one day I were no longer here? The society would immediately fall apart. But only then will we achieve what we are supposed to achieve, when after fourteen years we have really reached the point where we have a life of our own within us that can bring forth another. And that is not impossible if we only reflect on our will. Certainly, individual years are difficult now, but we must also overcome such difficulties. And we will be able to use some of the things I have to bring you in a different way when what I have just indicated to you has been realized. Some things are difficult now. I want to express what is difficult, but must be pointed out, in a paradox: there are certain things—that is already the case—that cannot be said so easily, so that in the last four days I would have liked to have called together a small, closer circle to say certain things that I cannot say in front of the entire auditorium. But I had to refrain from doing so because we live in a time when it is simply not possible to arrange such a thing. It cannot be done.

In order to see clearly, we must take a good look at precisely those things that I have been trying to explain these past few days. We must also try to visualize the inner character of spiritual science quite clearly, then we will understand why, on the one hand, we must have opponents in the natural scientists who want to make a worldview out of natural science, and on the other hand, we must have opponents in those spiritual caregivers who want to keep what lies behind ordinary spiritual life completely veiled.

We must hold fast to our teaching; we must want to penetrate deeply into its unique nature. Let us consider, for example, how we have placed the mystery of Golgotha at the center of our endeavors and how we have had to emphasize that Christ entered into Jesus of Nazareth entered in the way often described, that is, from other spheres of consciousness into the sphere of consciousness that is the right sphere of consciousness for the physical earthly life of human beings. But this already implies that Christ is indeed a cosmic power, but that Christ Jesus is an earthly power that lives on in the earthly consciousness of human beings, in earthly events in general. Therefore, the New Testament cannot be a natural science, for that which lies behind nature must, if it is to be real, be outside our consciousness; nor can it be spiritual science, for there too we must cross over to the other side. This is precisely what is so wonderfully great and significant about the New Testament: that it does not seek to be either natural science or spiritual science, and therefore must not be used to polemicize against spiritual science.

In this, however, we also see the reasons why, time and again, the representatives of this or that religious community will rebel against spiritual science, quite understandably rebel, because they never really want to let people into the world they fear so much. They fear that people will enter this world and discover what really lies within them as eternal soul substance. They only want to make it clear to people that what they already know about themselves lives eternally within them. You see, yesterday I already said: if a truly materialistic worldview were to be established, if this alone were to exist and no spiritual science were to enter among human beings, it would come to pass that human beings would drown in skepticism and doubt, for this would create something like a spiritual sea in which souls would have to drown. But what must be created if people are to be prevented from penetrating the veil of the soul worlds is ignorance. Ignorance in which man would ultimately suffocate would have to spread if those who today are often the representatives of the individual religious communities were to prevail. If the natural scientists were to prevail, a sea of doubt would spread in which people would drown. If those who think in the manner indicated, that they are the spiritual guardians of the individual religious communities, were to prevail, an atmosphere of ignorance would spread in which human souls would suffocate. Such is the seriousness of the task set before spiritual science. And we must face up to the seriousness of this task. We must, in a sense, see ourselves as people who, through their karma, can be led to spiritual science in order to make available not only our intellect but also our emotional sensitivity, not to spiritual science, but to the general progress of humanity. And the world needs this, it needs it very much.

See how, on the one hand, a materialistic worldview really wants to gain ground, and how nothing that rebels against it helps! And see how, on the other hand, people are working to spread ignorance, how more and more of the facts of the spiritual world are being blurred! See how certain leaders of this or that religious community persecute every positive message from the spiritual world with a kind of hatred!

I have given these lectures to point out the direction that spiritual science must take; to draw your attention to the fact that we must learn to understand: we must fight those natural scientists; but they cannot help themselves, for Ahriman has them, and he wants to hide from them what is the driving force behind their work. And the others, yes, we must fight them, but they cannot help themselves either, for Lucifer has them. We will truly achieve the right thing if we respond positively to what spiritual science can give us. If only there were a number of people who would recognize the uniqueness of spiritual science, who would recognize that spiritual science must not be confused with this or that; then that would really be enough, my dear friends.

One can also learn a lot from errors and deal with errors from this point of view. This is even more important than taking a critical stance toward these errors, which is sometimes necessary. I said: Ahriman actually has, to put it bluntly, the ambition to rob human beings of their reason in the future. — But because his spirits, with their higher powers, are related to the lower powers of human beings, he links something else to this by wanting to forge a bond between the higher and lower powers. Ahriman normally has to guide those things in the world that cause illness. We know that they must also be there, as they cause death in the physical world. All destruction in the physical world is entrusted to him. But now we must recognize the connection. When we lift up what is in the lower sphere of the world into the higher, we connect it with the beings behind it, with these destructive beings. Then we deliver all kinds of things to Ahriman and his spirits of our own accord. And when one surrenders all kinds of things to Ahriman and his spirits in this way, one already notices that certain lower parts of the organism begin to act in the same way as higher parts of the organism normally do.

If one is afraid to think properly and precisely, and yet still wants to enter the spiritual world, then this is what happens: one enters the spiritual world. Certainly, one can experience it objectively, one really lives in this spiritual realm where the destructive forces are, one crosses the threshold. Then one returns to one's body; one has formed an alliance with these destructive forces and knows nothing about it. One does not know one's way around if one has not properly developed one's own intellect. Then it happens that you feel these destructive forces within yourself. And instead of thinking, instead of hearing with your ears and seeing with your eyes, all kinds of secret powers begin to see and hear in our subordinate organism. Our body is no longer given to us as it usually is. When we return to the body, we find it filled with all kinds of ingredients. It is a new being to us.

This unfamiliarity with one's own body, this entering into the body as if into a special being in which something unknown resides, is something that can happen to those who do not faithfully adhere to the path. For Ahriman strives to establish himself in the human body and to transform certain organs into organs of knowledge. But Lucifer, in turn, strives to have his spirits, who are such ardent spirits of will, take certain things out of us in order to make them independent; so that when one crosses the threshold to the Luciferic side and comes back again, one feels hollow in certain parts, as if something had been taken away. Ahriman gives you something in return because he enters into you; he fills you up. Lucifer takes away the organs and makes independent what otherwise belongs to you.

This is truly a Luciferic endeavor: to make independent what belongs to us. That is why it is so easy, in what I have called unjustified mysticism, for such mystics, by transforming their free will into visionary clairvoyance, to prepare their knowledge for Lucifer, who can then take it away. It is really like this: there is the human being, and then Lucifer arrives, and something is taken out of the brain: the intellect. The intellect is taken out like a piece of etheric brain, or a piece of etheric substance is taken out of the heart and becomes independent, and then one feels hollow there. It has a tendency to become independent, to separate itself from him. This is really a phenomenon in quite selfish spirits who have attained a certain level of development. There you can see how certain parts of their powers are detached and then exist as if they were in the outside world. Lucifer robs human beings of certain powers, through which he then works. That is his inclination. This must of course be prevented, and it is prevented by faithfully following the right path. But the Luciferic view remains that one can take something away from a person and then use it as something existing outside of them, for example, that one can take away a teacher's teaching and use it objectively in the world. But there you have the region in which these things are to be sought. One can learn a great deal from an error, namely the error that teaching can be separated from the teacher. By observing these facts, one can learn something quite different from what one can learn through criticism, which is certainly very justified. One can learn what danger lies in such a thing becoming more common in the future of human development. And this danger exists!

On the other hand, humanity faces the danger that, with the independent development of the spirit self, Ahriman will take possession of this spirit self. If one has a feeling for this, one can already see how people are becoming dependent, and how Ahriman is actually guiding their hands when they write this or that. That is one side of the coin, and the other is that things are taken and exploited, and there is a belief that they can be separated from their originator. These two dangers exist.

But the right and only correct way will be for people to accept the guidelines of spiritual science: that on the one hand, nature will be illuminated in such a way that the guidelines of spiritual science will pierce through nature, the veil of nature. Zoology, botany, and agriculture will have to flourish according to the guidelines of spiritual science. Everything, including medicine, will have to be fertilized by the guidelines of spiritual science. But only those who do not shy away from penetrating the veil of nature, so that one enters the Ahrimanic world and must fight against the spirits of destruction, will be able to fertilize medicine in the right way with the guidelines of spiritual science. In order to find what is healing for human beings, one must go into the realm of those spirits who dissolve all human life, who cause illness and death, for only where the deeper causes of death and illness lie can the remedies be sought.

Likewise, those who want to know what bears fruit in human souls must not shy away from entering into battle with the Luciferic beings. They must maintain moral courage if they want to cross the threshold; they must know that they are entering a region of spiritual beings where every thought will constantly try to make them feel faint, because it is to be snatched away from them, because the thought only flits by so quickly that they must grasp it quickly so that it does not slip away. One cannot enter this realm without truly taking up the fight with all serenity against everything that, if it comes out one-sidedly, seduces people into one-sided subjective mysticism.

But spiritual science guides us in such a way that, if we understand it, we truly find the strength to fight the destructive Ahrimanic forces in every situation. And when we apply spiritual science to unfolding human life, as we do in the Mystery Dramas, and to unfolding natural life, as we do by pursuing the forces of nature in our column and architrave forms, or pursue the mysteries of world development by contrasting Christ with Lucifer and Ahriman in our sculptural group, when we approach things in such a way that the spiritual powers become concrete to us, so that they live in reality, then we find the strength that the one-sided mystic usually lacks: to fight against the Luciferic spirits.

From this you can see that spiritual science had to be exactly as it was brought to you, and that what spiritual science creates alongside its theoretical formation, in one direction or another, necessarily belongs to it. Let us try more and more to direct our thinking in the way that spiritual science thinking must be directed. For only if we free ourselves from the prejudices that prevail in the outer world can we stand correctly in spiritual science.