Man and the World of Stars
GA 219
The Spiritual Communion of Mankind
24 December 1922, Dornach
II. The Mysteries of Man's Nature and the Course of the Year
If we would deepen our thoughts at this time in a manner suitable for the present age, this will best be done in the way indicated yesterday, namely, by looking back over the process of human evolution in order to recognize from the spiritual guidance vouchsafed to mankind hitherto, what tasks devolve upon men today. It must not, of course, be forgotten that the point of salient importance in the Christmas thought is that in the night just beginning the Light of Christ shone into the evolution of humanity at the point of time when through this Event, through this integration, as it were, of the Mystery of Golgotha into earthly life, meaning was given to man's life on Earth, and therewith to the Earth herself.
Yesterday I spoke to you of how in the times before the Mystery of Golgotha an important rôle was played by the festivals that were celebrated in the Mysteries at Midsummer, when man, together with the Earth, opens his being to the Cosmos and when his soul can enter into union with Powers belonging to realms beyond the Earth. We heard how among certain peoples the leaders of the Mysteries, following the path along which, at Midsummer, at our St. John's tide, the human soul can be led into the divine-spiritual worlds, offered up their thoughts and feelings to the divine-spiritual Powers. They did this because they realized that whatever revealed itself to them in the course of the year was exposed to the temptations of the Luciferic powers unless at Midsummer, when the Earth spreads wide her wings into the cosmic expanse, these thoughts were felt to be Grace bestowed by the divine-spiritual Beings.
I went on to show how the evolutionary process brought it about that for a certain section of mankind, the Midwinter festival quite naturally replaced the Midsummer festival. Even in our present vapid Christmas thoughts something is still left of this Midwinter festival. The birth of the Saviour in the Midwinter night is either celebrated in religious communities, or, because a man feels that he must again find the way to the light of the Spirit, he celebrates Christmas in the stillness of his own heart, conscious that at this time of the year he is closest to the Earth and her life when he is alone with himself. For the Earth too, at this time, is shut off from the Cosmos; enveloped in her raiment of snow she lives in cosmic space as a being indrawn and isolated.
Christmas thoughts played a part even in the times when among certain peoples the Midsummer festival was still of paramount importance, but in the pre-Christian era the meaning of the Christmas thought was not the same as it is today. At that time the sublime Sun Spirit still belonged to the Cosmos, had not yet come down to the Earth. The whole condition of the human soul at Midwinter, when together with the Earth man felt himself to be in a kind of cosmic isolation, was different from what it is today. And we learn to know what this condition was if we turn our attention to certain Mysteries that were celebrated mainly in the South in times long, long before the Mystery of Golgotha. Initiation in those Mysteries was conferred upon candidates in the old way, the Initiation-Science of that day was imparted to them. And among certain ancient peoples this Initiation-Science consisted in the candidate learning to read the Book of the World—I do not mean anything that is conveyed by dead letters written on paper, but what the Beings of the universe themselves communicate. Those who have insight into the secrets of the Cosmos know that everything growing and thriving on the Earth is an image of what shines down from the stars out of the cosmic expanse.
A man who learnt this cosmic reading as we today learn the far simpler kind of reading by means of dead letters, knew that he must see in every plant a sign revealing to him something of the secrets of the Universe, and that when he let his gaze survey the world of plants or animals, this survey was itself a form of reading. And it was in such a way that the Initiates of certain ancient Mysteries taught their pupils. They did not read to them out of a book but communicated to them what they experienced under the inspiration of the so-called Year-God concerning the secrets of the course of the year and their significance for human life.
It was in this way that an ancient wisdom related world-beings and world-happenings to what concerned the life of man. When the sages of old communicated such things to their pupils, they were inspired by divine-spiritual Beings such as the Year-God.
Who was this Year-God who belonged to the rank of the Primal Powers, or Archai, in the Hierarchies? Who was this Year-God? He was a Being to whom certain of those who were versed in Initiation-Science lifted their hearts and in so doing were endowed by him with the power and inner light enabling them to read one thing from the budding plants in Spring, another from the ripening of the early fruits in Summer, another when the leaves redden in Autumn and the fruits ripen, and yet another when the trees glitter under the snowflakes and the Earth with her rocks is covered with a veil of snow. This ‘reading’ lasted for a whole year—through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter; and in this reading the secrets of Man himself were unveiled in the intercourse between teachers and pupils. And then the cycle of the year began anew.
Some idea of what these ancient Initiates taught to their pupils under the inspiration of the Year-God may be conveyed in the following way. The attention of the pupils was drawn, first of all, to what is revealed in Spring, when the snow is over and the Sun is gaining strength, when the first buds of the plants are appearing and the forces of the Earth are being renewed. The pupils were made aware of how a plant growing in the meadows and a plant growing in the shade of the trees in a forest, speak differently of the secrets of the universe. They were made aware of how in the various plants the warmth and light of the Sun speak differently from the cosmic expanse in the round or serrated leaves.
And what could be revealed in this way under the influence and inspiration of the Year-God through the the letters budding forth from the Earth herself, unveiled to the pupils of the teachers in the Mysteries, in the manner of that time, secrets of the physical body of man.
The teachers pointed to the physical productiveness of the Earth, to the force of the Earth shooting into the plant. At every single place on the Earth to which the pupil's attention was directed, there was a different ‘letter.’ These letters—which were living plant-beings, or living animal forms—were then combined as we today combine single letters into words. In sharing thus in the life of Spring, man was reading in Nature. The Initiations bestowed by the Year-God consisted in this reading. And when Spring came to an end, at about the time of the month of May, man had the impression: Now I understand how out of the womb of the universe the human physical body takes shape and is formed.
Then came the Summer. The same letters and words of the great cosmic Logos were used, but it was pointed out to the pupils how under the Sun's rays which stream differently now, under its light and warmth which now work in a different way, the letters change their forms, how the first buds, which had spoken of the secrets of the human physical body, open themselves to the Sun in the blossoms. These many-colored blossoms were now letters used by the pupil; each blossom made him feel how the Sun's ray lovingly kisses the plant-forces springing up from the Earth. And in the wonderfully delicate and tender process of the cosmic forces weaving over the Earth-forces in the blossoming plants, he read the words which conveyed to him how the Earth strives outwards into the cosmic expanse. Man lived in union with the Earth as she opened herself to the Cosmos, to the distant stars, lived with the Earth herself in the infinitudes.
What lay hidden in these infinitudes revealed itself to man as he gazed at the letters which were the blossoming plants. He read out of these letters what the conditions of life had been for the human being who has descended from the spiritual worlds to physical existence on the Earth; how he had gathered together etheric substance from every quarter of the heavens to form his own etheric body. Man was thus able to read the secrets enshrined in this etheric body from everything that was now coming to pass again between the Earth and the Cosmos. The signs of the Cosmic Word are inscribed upon the very surface of the Earth when the plants blossom and particular forms of life become manifest in the animal world at the time of Midsummer.
When Autumn approached, men saw how the letters of the Cosmic Word were again changing. At this time the warmth and light of the Sun are withdrawing and the plants are obliged to have recourse to what the Sun itself has conveyed to the Earth during Summer; in return, the Earth breathes out the blossoming life she has received during Summer but at the same time develops within herself the ripening fruit which brings the cycle of plant-life to completion, inasmuch as the plant bears within it the seed, the forces of germination. Again man was able to unveil what the Cosmic Word inscribes on the surface of the Earth herself in the ripening plants; again he was able to unriddle what the forms taken by animal life in the Autumn can reveal. He read very deep secrets of the universe in the flight of birds, in all the changes that take place in the lower animals and in the insect world as Autumn approaches. The way in which the insect world becomes silent and seeks refuge in the Earth, the changes of form it undergoes—all this conveyed to him that in Autumn the Earth is in process of withdrawing into herself, communing with herself.
This was brought to expression in certain festivals that were celebrated in the latter half of September and have still left traces in country districts in the form of the Michaelmas festival. Through these festivals man reminded himself that when all the paths in the Earth which led out into the Cosmos have failed, he must unite himself with something that is not bound up with the happenings of the physical and etheric worlds, he must turn his soul to the spiritual content of the Cosmos. And even in the kind of festival that is now celebrated at Michaelmas, there is still a reminiscence of humanity turning to that Spirit of the Hierarchies who will lead men in a spiritual way when external guidance through the Stars and through the Sun has lost its power.
Through everything that man read in this way in the Autumn—a reading that was also contemplation—he steeped himself in the secrets of the human astral body. Autumn was the season when those who were initiated and inspired by the Year-God read with him the secrets of the human astral body and contemplated them under his inspiration. It was at this Autumn season that the Initiates said to their pupils: “Hold fast to the Being who stands before the Face of the Sun! (The name Micha-el is still reminiscent of this.) Think of this Being, for you will need the power when you have passed through the gate of death into the supersensible worlds, when you have to go through again whatever has remained in your astral being from Earth-existence.” Secrets of the human astral body were thus drawn from what revealed itself not only in the ripening, but also in the withering plants, and in the insects creeping away into the Earth. Man already knew that if they wished to make the astral body worthy of true manhood, their gaze must be turned to the spiritual worlds. It was for this reason that the souls of those who were candidates for Initiation were directed to the Being whom we can commemorate under the name of Micha-el.
But then came the season at the middle of which is our present Christmas. This was the time when those who were inspired and initiated by the Year-God pointed out to their pupils the mysteries that are revealed when water covers the Earth in the beautiful forms of snowflakes. The reading which in Autumn had already become reflection and contemplation, now became inner, active life; what in earlier seasons of the year had been observation, running parallel with the outer physical world, now became inner spiritual effort and activity. Life was deepened inwardly. Man knew that he can only comprehend the deepest essence of his Ego when he listens to the secrets projected by the Cosmic Word, the Cosmic Logos, into everything that takes place in Nature at the time when the Earth is swathed in her mantle of snow and when life around and on the Earth is contracted by cold. It was incumbent upon those who were initiated and inspired by the Year-God to learn to understand his writing from the indications that were given in the season of Winter. Their observation was sharpened so that it could follow the processes at work in the seeds which had been laid into the Earth, and how the insects hibernate within the closely contracting forces of the Earth. Man's gaze was led from physical light into physical darkness.
There were certain Mysteries where the pupils were told: “Now you must gaze at the Midnight Sun! You must behold the Sun through the Earth. If the eyes of your soul are filled with the power which can follow the plants and the lower animals into the Earth, then the Earth herself will become transparent to your inmost soul.” It is at the time when the Earth's forces are most contracted that man can eventually see through the Earth and behold the Sun as the Midnight Sun, for the Earth is now inwardly spiritualized; whereas at Midsummer, he beholds the Sun with his physical senses when he turns his gaze from the Earth to the Cosmos. To behold the Sun at the Midnight Hour in a deep Winter night was something which the pupils of the Initiates of the Year-God must learn. And it was their duty to communicate the secrets revealed to them by the Midnight Sun to those who were faithful followers of the Mysteries but could not themselves become Initiates or actual pupils of the Mysteries.
And more and more it came about in those ancient times that when the Initiates pointed to the Sun at the Midnight Hour in the depth of Winter, they were obliged to make known to their pupils that man on Earth feels his Ego deserted and forsaken in a certain way. The festival of Midwinter became for those possessed of the greatest knowledge more and more a festival of sadness and mourning through which it was to be brought home to man that within earthly existence he cannot find the way to his Ego, that he must learn from what is to be read in the signs written by the Logos on the Earth in Midwinter, how he with his Ego had been forsaken by the Cosmos. For it was the Earth alone of which he was aware at this time, and that for which the Ego yearns—the power of the Sun—was covered by the Earth. The Sun did indeed appear at the Midnight Hour, but man felt that the strength which would enable him to reach the Sun-Being was continually waning. At the same time, the very fact that man was made aware in this way of the loneliness of the human Ego in the Cosmos, was the prophetic indication that the Sun Being would come to the Earth, would in the course of evolution permeate the being of man, would appear in order to heal a humanity ailing on account of its loneliness in the Cosmos.
Thus even in those ancient times, intimation was given of what was to come in the evolution of man, whereby the Winter festival of sorrow and mourning would be changed—especially among the people of the South—to a festival of inner joy through the appearance of Christ upon Earth. And when this revelation descended from the Cosmos into earthly existence, those who announced the Event declared how to all men on Earth the message had gone forth that the ancient festival of mourning was now transformed into a festival of rejoicing. In the inmost depths of the Shepherds' hearts, where their dreams were woven, the words resounded: “The Godhead is revealing Himself in the Heights of the Cosmos, and peace will spring forth on Earth in men who are of good will.” Such was the proclamation in the hearts of simple Shepherds.
And at the other pole, to those who were the most deeply imbued with magical knowledge, there could come from the surviving relics of ancient Star Wisdom, the message of the entry of the Cosmic Spirit into earthly matter.
Today, when we speak of the Christmas Mystery, we must think of all that is experienced through it against the background of the ancient festival of mourning; we must think of how there has entered into the course of human evolution the power by which man can wrest himself free from everything that fetters him to the Earth. We must be able to formulate the Christmas thought in such a way that we say to ourselves: The inspirations of the Year-God which revealed to the old Initiates how in the depths of Winter the Earth withdraws from the Universe and enters into a time of self-contemplation—those inspirations are still true; man can still understand how the secret of the human Ego is connected with this secret of the year. But out of his human insight, out of his discerning feeling, out of the wisdom of his heart, he can surround himself with pictures of Christ Jesus entering into the life of men on Earth, can learn to experience in all its depths the thought of the Holy Night.
But he will only be able to experience it truly if he also has the will to follow the Christ as He reveals Himself through all the ages. The task of the Initiates of the ancient Initiation-Science was to unveil the mysteries of human nature through a profound understanding of the course of the year. We too must understand what the year reveals but we must also be able to penetrate into the inner nature of Man. And when we do this, anthroposophical Spiritual Science shows us how the letters which are written in heart and lungs, in the brain and in every part of the human organism, unveil the secrets of the Cosmos, just as those secrets were unveiled to men inspired by the Year-God in the letters of the Logos which they read in the budding plants, in the animals, and their manner of life on the Earth. We in our time must learn to look into the inner being of Man—which must become for us a script from which we read the course of human evolution, and then devote ourselves to understanding the meaning and purpose of that evolution. Through deepened vision we must unite ourselves with the spiritual forces that weave through the evolution of humanity. And because this evolution is forever advancing, we must experience the Mystery of Golgotha, the Mystery of the Holy Night, anew in every epoch. We must realize the full depth of meaning contained in words spoken by the Spirit who sought out for Himself the body that was born in Bethlehem on Christmas night: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the days of Earth.” We must also have a spiritual ear for the perpetual revelation of the Logos through the being of Man himself. Humanity must learn to listen to the inspirations of this God of mankind, who is Christ Himself, as men learned long ago to listen to the inspirations of the Year-God.
Humanity will then not confine itself to contemplation of what is transmitted in the Bible concerning the spiritual sojourn on Earth of Christ Jesus, but will understand that ever since then, Christ has united Himself with man in earthly life, and that He reveals Himself perpetually to those who are willing to listen. Humanity in our time will then learn to understand that just as the Christmas festival once followed the Michael festival of Autumn, so the Michael-revelation which began at a time in the Autumn in the last third of the 19th century, should be followed by a sacred Christmas festival through which men will come to understand the spirit-birth needed along their path on Earth, in order that the spiritualized Earth may eventually be able to pass into future forms and conditions of existence. We are now living in an age when there should not merely be a yearly Michaelmas festival followed by a yearly Christmas festival, but when we should understand in the depths of our souls, out of our own human nature, the Michael-revelation of the last third of the 19th century, and then seek for the path leading to the true Christmas festival—when with increasing knowledge of the Spirit we shall be permeated by that same spirit.
Then we shall understand the words in the Gospel: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Humanity is so constituted that it is capable of bearing more and more of Christ's teaching. Humanity is not intended only to listen to those who want to hinder progress, who point to what was once written down in barren letters concerning the Mystery of Golgotha, and who do not want the power of that Mystery to reveal itself to men as a living reality through the ages. Today is not the time to listen to those who would like to remain at a standstill in the Springtime of the world, which reveals outer physical nature in its brightest glory, but cannot reveal the Spiritual. Today is the time when the path must be found from the Michael festival to the Midwinter festival, when there should come to pass a Sunrise of the Spirit. We shall never find this path if in the evolution of man on the Earth we surrender to the illusion that there is light in external life, in external civilization, in external culture today; we must realize that in those spheres there is darkness. But in this darkness we must seek for the light which it was Christ's will to bring into the world through Jesus.
Let us then follow, with the same devotion with which the Shepherds and the Magi from the East sought the way to the Manger on that Christmas night—with the same devotion let us follow the signs which can be read in the being of man himself, in letters that are still indistinct, but will become clearer and clearer. Then it will be granted to us to celebrate anew the Christ Mystery of the Holy Night ... but only if we have the will to seek in the darkness for the light.
Today we often call by the name of ‘science,’ not that which explains the world but which instead of bringing light, sheds darkness and obscurity. These darknesses must reach out and take hold of the light!
If men do but try with depth and tenderness of feeling and with strongest power of will to find in the darkness the light of the Spirit, then that light will shine as did the Stars of heaven when the birth of Jesus was announced to the Shepherds and the Magi.
We must learn to place the Christmas thought into the historic evolution of humanity. We have not to wait for a new Messiah, for a new Christ. Much has been revealed to humanity through Nature—which in the course of the last few centuries has been leading men deep into the darkness of matter—and we must wait for what can now be revealed to humanity through understanding of the ever-living Christ Jesus.
We must not fasten the Christmas thought in a conventional yearly festival, but make it fluid and radiant, so that it will shine for us as did the Star at Bethlehem.
It was of this Light, this radiant Star, that I wished to speak to you, my dear friends, on this Christmas Eve. I would like to have done something to ensure that with the will that is inspired in you by anthroposophical Spiritual Science, you will unite that other will to follow the Star which in very truth shines forth to man all through the Holy Night. In deep and intimate stillness to permeate oneself with this Light—that is the deepest and truest Christmas consecration for our time. Everything else is in reality no more than an outward sign for this true Christmas feeling which we can carry over from this Christmas evening to Christmas morning tomorrow. Then this Holy Night can be for us not merely a symbol but a symbol that can become a living force. And we shall also be mindful of how deeply we ought to unite with the spiritual striving that in all good men leads on into the future, and at the same time is the true Christmas striving—the striving towards that Spirit who willed to incarnate in the body born in Bethlehem on the historic Christmas Night.
Neunter Vortrag
Wenn wir der heutigen Zeit gemäß in dieser Festzeit unsere Gedanken vertiefen wollen, so tun wir das wohl am besten in der schon gestern angedeuteten Weise, indem wir den Seelenblick zu der Menschheitsentwickelung hinwenden, um aus der geistigen Führung der Menschheit zu erkennen, welche Aufgaben in der Gegenwart dem Menschen obliegen. Wir dürfen nicht übersehen, wie der wichtigste Teil des Weihnachtsgedankens dieser ist, daß in der Nacht, die eben beginnt, das Licht des Christus in die Menschheitsentwickelung hereingeleuchtet hat in demjenigen Zeitpunkte dieser Menschheitsentwickelung, der durch dieses Ereignis, durch diese Eingliederung des Mysteriums von Golgatha dem Erdenleben, der Menschheit und damit überhaupt dem ganzen Erdenwesen seinen Sinn gibt.
Gestern durfte ich zu Ihnen davon sprechen, wie in den Zeiten, die dem Mysterium von Golgatha vorangegangen sind, jene Mysterienfeste eine bedeutsame Rolle gespielt haben, die in der Hochsommerszeit gefeiert werden, wo der Mensch mit der Erde selbst sein Wesen den kosmischen Weiten öffnet, wo er mit den außerirdischen Mächten in eine Seelenverbindung kommen kann. Und wir haben uns vor unsere Seele gestellt, wie die Führer der Mysterien in vorchristlichen Zeiten bei gewissen Völkern diesen Weg, den die Menschenseele in der Hochsommerszeit, zu unserer Johannizeit, nehmen kann zu den göttlich-geistigen Welten hin, dadurch gegangen sind, daß sie die Gedankenwelt gefühlsdurchdrungen in dieser Zeit gewissermaßen den göttlich-geistigen Mächten geopfert haben, weil sie sich bewußt waren, daß dasjenige, was sich ihnen offenbarte im Laufe des Jahres, den Versuchungen der luziferischen Mächte ausgesetzt ist, wenn nicht in jener Hochsommerszeit, wo gewissermaßen die Erde weit ihre Flügel in die kosmischen Weiten hinaus öffnet, alles, was mit diesen Gedanken zusammenhängt, opfernd empfunden wird als eine von den göttlich-geistigen Mächten der Menschheit verliehene Gnade.
Ich habe dann gestern darauf hingewiesen, wie es durch die Entwickelung der Menschheit in selbstverständlicher Art gekommen ist, daß wiederum bei einem gewissen Teil der Menschheit an die Stelle der Hochsommerfeier die Tiefwinterfeier getreten ist, und wie selbst in unserem verblaßten Weihnachtsgedanken diese Tiefwinterfeier noch darinnensteckt, indem der Mensch entweder, wie es bei gewissen Kultgemeinden ist, in dieser Tiefwinternacht die Geburt des Heilandes festlich begeht, oder auch indem der Mensch, der erst wiederum die Wege zum Geisteslicht suchen muß, diese Weihenacht in der Stille seines Herzens so begeht, daß er sich bewußt wird, daß er in dieser Zeit der Erde und ihrem Leben am ähnlichsten wird, wenn er ganz in sich selber geht. Denn die Erde ist in dieser Zeit auch abgeschlossen von den kosmischen Weiten, lebt durch ihr Schneegewand und die zusammenziehende Kälte in sich selbst gedrängt im Weltenraum.
Aber eine gewisse Rolle haben die Weihnachtsgedanken auch in jenen Zeiten schon gespielt, in denen der Mensch hauptsächlich bei gewissen Völkern das Hochsommerfest feierte. Nur hatte in den vorchristlichen Zeiten der Weihnachtsgedanke einen andern Sinn, als er heute hat. Der hohe Sonnengeist gehörte damals noch den kosmischen Weiten an, war noch nicht heruntergestiegen auf die Erde. Die ganze Lage des Menschen in der Tiefwinterszeit, wenn er sich gewissermaßen mit der Erde selber in kosmischer Einsamkeit fühlte, war eine andere als heute. Und wir lernen diese Lage kennen, wenn wir wiederum einen Blick in gewisse Mysterien tun, die namentlich im Süden in sehr alten Zeiten vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha heimisch waren. In der alten Art wurden in solchen Mysterien diejenigen, die es suchen durften, eingeweiht, bekamen die damalige Initiationswissenschaft. Diese Initiationswissenschaft bestand in gewissen alten Zeiten und bei gewissen alten Völkern darin, daß die Einzuweihenden in der Welt lesen lernten, was nicht tote Buchstaben geben, die auf dem Papiere stehen, sondern was die Wesen der Welt selber geben. Wer die Geheimnisse des Kosmos durchschaut, weiß, daß dasjenige, was auf der Erde wächst und gedeiht, durchaus Bild ist dessen, was von den Sternen aus den kosmischen Weltenweiten herunterleuchtet.
Wer das kosmische Lesen lernt, wie man heute das weit einfachere Lesen durch tote Buchstaben lernt, weiß, daß er in jeglicher Pflanze ein Zeichen zu schauen hat, das ihm irgend etwas von den Geheimnissen des Weltenalls enthüllt, und daß, wenn er den Blick zum Beispiel über die Pflanzenwelt oder auch über die vielfältige Tierwelt schweifen läßt, dieses Schweifen des Blickes ein Lesen ist. Und in solcher Art lasen die alten Eingeweihten gewisser Mysterien ihren Schülern vor. Sie lasen ihnen aber so vor, daß sie nicht aus einem Buche lasen, sondern daß sie ihnen mitteilten, was sie unter der Inspiration des sogenannten Jahr-Gottes über die Geheimnisse des Jahreslaufes und seine Bedeutung für das menschliche Leben erfuhren. Eine uralte Weisheit hat das, was sich auf den Menschen bezieht, in dieser Weise im Weltengeschehen und in den Weltenwesen gelesen. Es empfanden da die alten Weisen, indem sie solches ihren Schülern vorlasen, die Inspiration solcher göttlich-geistigen Wesenheiten wie etwa des Jahr-Gottes.
Was war dieser Jahr-Gott, der innerhalb der Hierarchien stand und etwa zu der Rangordnung der Urkräfte gehörte? Er war ein Wesen, zu dem sich gewisse Besitzer der Initiationswissenschaft erhoben und in dieser Erhebung von ihm die Kraft und das innerliche Licht erhielten, um ein anderes aus den im Frühling aufsprossenden Pflanzen zu lesen, ein anderes beim Heranreifen der Sommerfrüchte zu lesen, ein anderes zu lesen, wenn rot werden die Blätter im Herbste, wenn die Früchte reifen, ein anderes auch zu lesen, wenn die Bäume erglitzern in den Schneeflocken und die Erde mit ihrem Gestein bedeckt ist von der Schneehülle. Ein Jahr lang dauerte dieses Lesen, das da ging durch Frühling, Sommer, Herbst und Winter. Und in diesen; Lesen enthüllten sich zwischen den Lehrern und den Schülern die Geheimnisse des Menschen selber. Dann fing der Kreislauf von neuem an.
Wenn wir uns heute in annähernder Weise eine Vorstellung bilden wollen von dem, was unter der Inspiration des Jahr-Gottes alte Inspirierte und Initiierte ihre Schüler lehrten, so können wir etwa das Folgende sagen: Sie wiesen die Schüler zunächst hin auf dasjenige, was im Frühling, wenn der Schnee abgelaufen ist und die Sonne neue Kraft gewinnt, sich offenbart, indem die ersten Sprossen der Pflanzen aus der wiedererstandenen Erdenkraft herauskommen. Sie machten ihre Schüler darauf aufmerksam, wie anders die Pflanze von dem Geheimnisse des Weltenalls spricht, welche auf der Wiese gedeiht, wie anders diejenige, die im Schatten der Waldbäume wächst. Sie machten ihre Schüler darauf aufmerksam, wie in der einen und in der andern Pflanze die heraufkommende Sonnenwärmeund das heraufkommende Sonnenlicht in den zackigen und den runden Blättern anders aus den Weltenweiten zu den Menschen herein auf dem Erdenrunde spricht. Und was in dieser Weise unter dem Einflusse des Jahr-Gottes durch jene Buchstaben, welche die Erde selbst aus sich heraussprossen läßt, geoffenbart werden konnte, das enthüllte in der damaligen Weise der Mysterienlehrer den Schülern als die Geheimnisse des physischen Menschenleibes.
So war es, daß diese Lehrer hindeuteten auf das physische Hervorbringen der Erde, auf die in die Pflanze hineinsprießende Erdenkraft, an jedem einzelnen Orte des Erdenwachstums, auf den die Schüler hingewiesen wurden, stand ein anderer Buchstabe. Die Buchstaben, die lebendige Pflanzenwesen waren, oder auch lebendige Tierformen hatten, formten sich zusammen, wie wir heute die einzelnen Buchstaben in einem Satze zu Worten zusammenformen, sie wurden gesetzt. Man lebte, indem man den Frühling mitlebte, im Lesen der Natur. Darin bestanden die Einweihungen des Jahr-Gottes. Und man hatte, wenn der Frühling zu Ende gegangen war, etwa im Mai, den Rindruck, jetzt verstehe man, wie der menschliche physische Leib aus dem Schoße des Weltenalls heraus gestaltet, geformt ist.
Dann kam die Sommerszeit. Es wurden dieselben Buchstaben und Worte des großen Weltenlogos in Anspruch genommen, aber es wurde gezeigt, wie unter den anders einfallenden Sonnenstrahlen, dem anders wirkenden Sonnenlicht, der anders wirkenden Sonnenwärme die Buchstaben ihre Formen veränderten, wie die ersten Sprossen, die von dem Geheimnisse des physischen Menschenleibes erzählt haben, sich der Sonne öffnen in den Blüten. Es wurden die vielfarbigen Blüten gelesen, in deren jeder der Sonnenstrahl die aus der Erde sprossenden Pflanzenkräfte in Liebe küßt. Und es wurde aus dem wunderbaren, feinen und zarten Weben der kosmischen Kräfte über den Erdkräften der blühenden Pflanzen jenes Hinausstreben der Erde in die kosmischen Weiten gelesen. Man lebte mit der Erde, die sich öffnete den kosmischen Weiten, den Sternenweiten, man lebte mit dieser Erde selber in den Unendlichkeiten.
Was aber diese Unendlichkeiten bargen, das enthüllte sich, wenn man auf die blühenden Buchstaben der Pflanzen hinschaute. Da las man aus diesen blühenden Buchstaben der Pflanzen, wie sich der Mensch verhalten hat, als er aus den geistigen Welten zum physischen Erdendasein heruntergestiegen ist, wie er aus allen Himmelsrichtungen die ätherische Substanz zusammengezogen hat, um seinen eigenen Ätherleib zu formen. Und die Geheimnisse dieses Ätherleibes las man auf diese Weise ab aus dem, was sich im Ätherleben wieder später zwischen der Erde und dem Weltenall im Weltenlogos ereignet, der seine Zeichen auf die Erdoberfläche selber hinmalt, indem er die Pflanzen blühen läßt, indem er den Tieren gewisse Lebensarten während der Hochsommerszeit verleiht.
Beim Herannahen des Herbstes sah man, wie wiederum diese Buchstaben des Weltenlogos sich veränderten, wie die Sonne zurückzieht ihre Wärme und ihre Lichtkraft, wie die Pflanzen ihre Zuflucht nehmen zu dem, was während des Hochsommers die Sonne selber der Erde mitgeteilt hat, wie sie gewissermaßen das blühende, sprossende Leben, das sie während der Hochsommerszeit bekommen haben, aushauchen, dafür aber in ihrem Schoße die reifenden Früchte entwikkeln, welche das Pflanzenleben wiederum zu sich selbst zurückführen, indem es die Samenkräfte in sich birgt. Wiederum enträtselte man dasjenige, was der Weltenlogos auf die Oberfläche der Erde selbst in den reifenden Pflanzen hingeschrieben hat, wiederum enthüllte und enträtselte man, was die Formen des tierischen Lebens im Herbste enthüllen können. Man las die intimsten Geheimnisse des Weltenalls aus dem Zuge der Vögel. Man las diese intimsten Geheimnisse des Weltenalls aus der Art und Weise, wie sich die kleinere Tierwelt, wenn der Herbst herannaht, verändert. In der Insektenwelt las man. Man las in dem Zufluchtsuchen der Insektenwelt bei der Erde, in der Veränderung der Form der Insektenwelt, das Sich-Zusammennehmen der ganzen Erde gegenüber dem toten Schweigen. Man las dasjenige, was man empfand als ein Auf-sich-selbst-Besinnen der Erde im Kosmos.
Man machte sich dies ganz besonders auch durch gewisse Festlichkeiten klar, welche in der zweiten Hälfte des Septembers gefeiert wurden und welche in bäuerlichen Gegenden noch ihre alten Reste im Michaeli-Fest zurückgelassen haben. Man erinnerte sich durch diese Feste daran, wie man dann, wenn man gewissermaßen als Mensch von allem verlassen ist, was die Menschen in der Erde als Wege in die kosmischen Weiten hinaus finden, wie man sich anschließen muß an etwas, was nicht an das äußere physische und ätherische Geschehen gebunden ist, wie man sich mit seiner Seele an den geistigen Inhalt des Kosmos anlehnen muß. Und noch in dem verblaßten MichaeliFest am Ende des Septembers ist jenes Zufluchtnehmen der Menschheit zu dem Geist der Hierarchien erhalten, der die Menschheit auf geistige Art führen soll, wenn die äußere Führung durch die Sterne und durch die Sonne an Kraft nachgelassen hat.
In alledem, was man da las - ein Lesen, welches sich zu gleicher Zeit in ein Sinnen umwandelte -, durch alles, was man da sann, durchdrang man sich mit den Geheimnissen des menschlichen astralischen Leibes. Und es war in der Herbsteszeit, wo die Inspirierten und Initiierten des Jahr-Gottes aus dem Wesen der Natur heraus lasen und mit ihm zusammen die Geheimnisse des menschlichen astralischen Leibes ersannen. Und in dieser Herbsteszeit war es, wo die Eingeweihten zu ihren Schülern sprachen: Haltet euch an jenes Wesen, das vor dem Antlitz der Sonne steht - an das der Name Michael noch erinnert —, gedenket dieses Wesens, das vor dem Antlitz der Sonne steht. Ihr werdet die Kraft brauchen, wenn ihr durchzugehen habt durch alles das, was ihr in eurem astralischen Wesen zurückbehaltet vom irdischen Dasein, wenn ihr durch die Pforte des Todes eingegangen sein werdet in die übersinnlichen Welten.
Geheimnisse des menschlichen astralischen Leibes wurden herausgeholt aus dem, was als der Logos sich in dem reifenden, aber auch in dem dorrenden Pflanzenwesen offenbarte, in den in die Erde sich verkriechenden Insekten und so weiter. Ja, der Mensch wußte schon, daß er angewiesen war, wenn er für diesen Teil seines Wesens die rechte Menschlichkeit suchen wollte, auf das Hinblicken zur geistigen Welt. Daher richtete man den Seelenblick der zu Initiierenden auf ein solches Wesen, das wir im Namen Michael festhalten können.
Dann aber kam die Zeit, deren Mitte unsere jetzige Weihnachtszeit ist. Es kam die Zeit, in welcher die Initiierten und Inspirierten des Jahr-Gottes ihre Schüler auf das Eigentümliche hinwiesen, was sich enthüllt, wenn das Wasser in den künstlerisch gestalteten Schneeflocken die Erde bedeckt. Da wurde das Lesen, das schon im Herbste zum Sinnen geworden war, zu einem inneren Leben, da wurde das Beobachten der Seele, das in früheren Jahreszeiten parallel gegangen war der äußeren physischen Arbeit, innere geistige Arbeit. Mystik, mystische Vertiefung wurde das Lesen. Der Mensch wußte, daß er sich nur dann in seinem tiefsten Wesen, in seinem Ich-Wesen begreifen kann, wenn er sich über dieses Ich-Wesen sagen läßt, was der Weltenlogos hineingeheimnißt in alles, was mit der Natur vor sich geht, wenn die Schneedecke die Erde zuhüllt und Kälte das Leben zusammenzieht im Umkreise der Erde. Die Initiierten und Inspirierten des JahrGottes sollten seine Schrift kennenlernen aus dieser Schrift der Jahreszeit des Winters heraus. Ihr Blick wurde geschärft, damit er dem Samenkorn nachfolgen konnte, das in die Erde hineingesenkt wurde, damit er den Insektentieren nachfolgen konnte, welche zu überwintern versuchten innerhalb der sich selber zusammenziehenden Erdenkräfte. Aus dem physischen Lichte wurden die Blicke hingeführt in das physische Dunkel.
In gewissen Mysterien war es so, daß den Schülern begreiflich gemacht wurde: Jetzt müßt ihr sehen die Sonne um Mitternacht, die mitternächtige Sonne, jetzt müßt ihr sehen die Sonne durch die Erde hindurch. Dadurch, daß sich euer Seelenauge durchdringt mit der Kraft, die den Pflanzen und dem niederen Getier in die Erde hinein folgt, kann die Erde selber für die innere Seelenkraft durchsichtig werden. — Wenn die Erde ihre Kraft dem Weltenall gegenüber am meisten zusammengenommen hat, dann kann sich der Mensch dazu aufschwingen, durch diese Erde hindurch, weil sie gewissermaßen in sich selber ganz vergeistigt ist, die Sonne als mitternächtige Sonne zu schauen, während er sonst in der Hochsommerszeit die Sonne mit den physischen Sinnen erreicht, wenn er den Blick von der Erde ab ins Weltenall hinauslenkt, ohne durch die Erde hindurchzuschauen.
Die Sonne zu schauen in mitternächtiger Stunde, in einer Tiefwinternacht, das war etwas, was die Schüler der Eingeweihten des Jahr-Gottes lernen sollten. Und sie sollten dann jene Geheimnisse, die sie der mitternächtigen Sonne abschauten, denen mitteilen, die zwar gläubige Bekenner der Mysterien waren, die aber nicht selber Eingeweihte der Mysterien, nicht Schüler der Mysterien werden konnten.
Und immer mehr wurde es so in jenen alten Zeiten, daß die Eingeweihten, indem sie ihre Schüler auf die Sonne zur tiefen Winterszeit in mitternächtiger Stunde hinwiesen, ihnen in einer gewissen Weise künden mußten, wie der Mensch auf der Erde in seinem Ich sich verlassen fühlt. Ein Schmerzensfest wurde immer mehr und mehr gerade bei denjenigen, die zu den Wissendsten gehörten, das Fest der Tiefwinternacht, ein Schmerzens- und ein Leidensfest, durch das der Mensch kennenlernen sollte, wie er innerhalb des physisch-irdischen Daseins zu seinem Ich den Weg nicht finden kann. Lernen sollte er es dadurch, daß er aus den Zeichen ablas, die in der Tiefwinterszeit der Logos auf die Erde schrieb, wie er mit seinem Ich im Weltenlaufe verlassen ist, denn die Erde ward allein empfunden, und wonach sich das Ich sehnen muß, die Sonnenkraft, sie ward dutch die Erde zugedeckt. Es erschien die Sonne zwar in mitternächtiger Stunde, aber der Mensch fühlte immer weniger Kraft, zu diesem Sonnenwesen in mitternächtiger Stunde zu kommen. Aber zu gleicher Zeit war dieses Aufmerksammachen auf die Verlassenheit des Menschen-Ichs im Kosmos der prophetische Hinweis darauf, wie jenes Sonnenwesen an die Erde herankommen sollte, des Menschen Wesen im Lauf der Menschheitsentwickelung durchdringen sollte, erscheinen sollte, um die kranke Menschheit, die am Weltenall in Einsamkeit krankende Menschheit zu heilen.
Damit ist aber schon auf jene Tatsache in der Menschheitsentwickelung hingedeutet, wodurch ein altes Winter-Leidens- und Schmerzensfest gerade bei südlicheren Völkern durch das Erscheinen des Christus auf Erden ein inneres seelisches Freudenfest wurde. Und was sich da geoffenbart hat, indem das Sonnenwesen aus Weltenweiten in das irdische Dasein heruntergestiegen ist, das zeigen die entsprechenden Verkünder dieses Ereignisses noch in den Symbolen an, indem sie darauf hinweisen, daß allen Menschen auf Erden die Botschaft davon erklang, wie sich das alte Schmerzens- und Leidenstest in ein Freudenfest verwandelt hat. In dem tiefen Inneren der Hirtenherzen, durch das den Hirten die Träume gewoben wurden, erklang das Wort:
Es offenbaret sich das Göttliche
In den Höhen der Weltenweiten,
Und Friede wird ersprießen auf der Erde
Den Menschen, die eines guten Willens sind.
So im Inneren des einfachen Hirtenherzens. — Und auf dem andern Pol der Menschheit, da, wo die bis zur eindringlichsten Magie Geteiften waren, konnte aus den Erbstücken der alten Sternenweisheit die Botschaft von diesem Eindringen des Weltengeistes in den Erdenstoff kommen.
Heute, wenn wir von dem Weihnachtsmysterium sprechen, müssen wir das, was wir dabei empfinden, auf dem Hintergrunde jenes alten Leidens- und Schmerzensfestes finden, müssen gedenken, wie innerhalb der Menschheitsentwickelung in diese Entwickelung die Kraft eingetreten ist, durch die der Mensch sich dem entringen kann, was ihn durch die Schwere an die Erde selber fesselt. Wir müssen den Weihnachtsgedanken so gestalten können, daß wir uns sagen: Ja, wahr sind noch immer die Inspirationen des Jahr-Gottes, die er den alten Eingeweihten enthüllte, daß die Erde zu ihrer Selbstbesinnung sich aus dem Weltenall auf sich zurückzieht während der tiefen Winterszeit, daß der Mensch noch immer verstehen kann, wie zusammenhängt mit diesem Jahrgeheimnis das Geheimnis des menschlichen Ichs. Aber aus der menschlichen Einsicht, aus der einsichtsvollen Menschenempfindung, aus der einsichtsvollen menschlichen Herzensweisheit heraus kann sich der Mensch mit den Bildern des in das Erdenmenschenleben einziehenden Christus Jesus umgeben, kann der Mensch den tiefen Gedanken der Weihenacht empfinden lernen. Aber er wird ihn nur in der richtigen Weise empfinden, wenn er auch wirklich den Willen hat, den sich offenbarenden Christus durch alle Zeiten zu verfolgen.
Den alten Eingeweihten der alten Initiationswissenschaft war die Aufgabe, aus dem Kreislauf des Jahres die Geheimnisse der Menschennatur zu enthüllen. Wir müssen verstehen, was das Jahr enthüllt, wir müssen aber auch hineinschauen können in das Innere der Menschennatur. Und wenn man richtig hineinschaut in das Innere der Menschennatur — das zeigt uns anthroposophische Geisteswissenschaft -, dann enthüllen uns die Buchstaben, die in Herz und Lunge, in Hirn und in alle Teile des menschlichen Organismus eingeschrieben sind, die Geheimnisse des Weltenalls, so wie diese Geheimnisse des Weltenalls durch die Zeichen des Logos sich enthüllt hatten den Inspirierten des Jahr-Gottes in den sprießenden Pflanzen, in den geformten Tieren, in dem, was diese geformten Tiere auf dem Erdenrunde erleben. Wir müssen lernen in den Menschen hineinschauen. Das Innere des Menschen selber muß uns Schrift werden. Dann lesen wir aus diesem Inneren des Menschen die Menschheitsentwickelung selber. Dann aber müssen wir uns dem Sinn dieser Menschheitsentwickelung hingeben, dann müssen wir durch eine Innenschau uns mit dem verbinden, was als geistige Kräfte durch die Menschheitsentwickelung hin weben und wallen will. Dann müssen wir, weil diese Menschheitsentwickelung im stetigen Fortschritte ist, das Mysterium von Golgatha, das Mysterium der Weihenacht in jedem Zeitalter neu erleben. Dann müssen wir voll erleben, daß derjenige Geist, der sich ausgesucht hat jenen Organismus, der in der Weihenacht zu Bethlehem geboren ist, daß der gesprochen hat: «Ich bin bei euch alle Tage bis ans Ende der Erdenzeiten.» Dann müssen wir auch ein geistiges Ohr bekommen für die fortdauernde Offenbarung dieses Logos durch das Menschenwesen selber. Hinhorchen auf die Inspirationen dieses Menschheitsgottes, der der Christus selber ist, muß die Menschheit lernen, wie sie einmal gelernt hatte, hinzuhorchen auf die Inspirationen des Jahr-Gottes.
Dann wird die Menschheit nicht dabei stehenbleiben, nur zurückzuschauen auf das, was biblisch überliefert ist über den geistigen Erdenwandel des Christus Jesus, sondern dann wird die Menschheit ein Verständnis, eine Einsicht dafür haben, daß der Christus seit jener Zeit sich mit dem Menschen im Erdenleben verbunden hat und daß er, wenn der Mensch nur hinhorchen will, sich immer offenbart. Dann kann die Menschheit in unserer Zeit ein Verständnis und eine Einsicht dafür gewinnen, daß so, wie einstmals das Weihnachtsfest im Jahreslaufe folgte auf das Michael-Fest des Herbstes, daß auch auf die Michael-Offenbarung, die eingetreten ist in einer Herbsteszeit im letzten Drittel des 19. Jahrhunderts, folgen soll ein Weihefest, ein Weihnachtsfest, durch das wiederum Verständnis für eine Geistgeburt erworben werden soll, für die Geistgeburt, welche die Menschheit braucht, um ihren Erdenweg weiterzuwandeln, damit die Erde einstmals vergeistigt die Umwandelung in künftige Formen finden könne. Jetzt leben wir in einer Zeit, wo gewissermaßen nicht bloß Jahresherbst-, Jahres-Michael-Fest da ist und Jahresweihnachts-Fest da sein soll, jetzt leben wir in einer Zeit, wo wir die Michael-Offenbarung vom letzten Drittel des 19. Jahrhunderts tief in unserer Seele aus dem eigenen Menschenwesen heraus verstehen sollen, und wo wir den Weg zu dem wahren Weihnachtsfeste suchen sollen, nämlich zu der Durchdringung mit dem zu erkennenden Geiste.
Dann werden wir die Worte verstehen, die in dem Evangelium angeführt sind: «Ich hätte euch noch vieles zu sagen, allein ihr könnet es jetzt noch nicht tragen.» Die Menschheit ist dazu veranlagt, immer mehr und mehr zu ertragen von dem, was der Christus ihr zu sagen hat. Die Menschheit ist nicht dazu veranlagt, immer nur auf diejenigen hinzuhorchen, welche den Fortschritt hindern wollen, und die hinweisen auf das, was einmal mit trockenen Buchstaben niedergeschrieben ist über das Mysterium von Golgatha, die nicht wollen, daß die Kraft dieses Mysteriums von Golgatha in lebendiger Art durch alle Zeitenläufe sich dem Menschen offenbart. Heute ist auch nicht die Zeit, wo noch hinzuhorchen ist auf diejenigen, die bloß stehenbleiben wollen bei der Weltenfrühlingszeit, die die äußere physische Natur im hellsten Glanze zeigt, aber das Geistige nicht zeigen kann. Heute ist die Zeit, wo wir von dem Michael-Fest zu dem Tiefwinterfeste, das aber einen Sonnenaufgang des Geistes enthalten soll, den Weg hinfinden sollen. Wir würden diesen Weg nie finden, wenn wir im Menschen-Erdenwerden selber uns der Illusion hingäben, daß es im äußeren Leben, in der äußeren Erdenzivilisation, in der äußeren Erdenkultur heute Licht gibt, sondern nur, wenn wir uns der Wahrheit hingeben, daß es da Finsternis gibt, daß aber in dieser Finsternis jenes Licht gesucht werden muß, das der Christus durch den Jesus in die Welt bringen wollte.
Man folge so mit derselben Andacht, mit der die Hirten, mit der die Magier aus dem Morgenlande einstmals den Weg zur Krippe in der Weihnachtsnacht gesucht haben, man folge so den Spuren, die jetzt in noch verschwommenen Buchstaben, die aber dazu bestimmt sind, immer deutlicher zu werden, aus dem Menschenwesen selber herausgelesen werden können, und man wird das Christus-Geheimnis der Weihenacht wiederum feiern dürfen. Man wird es aber nur feiern dürfen, wenn man in der Finsternis das Licht suchen will.
Heute nennt man vielfach Wissenschaft nicht dasjenige, was die Welt erklärt — «erklären» kommt von der Klarheit des Lichtes -, heute nennt man vielfach Wissenschaft, was nicht erklärt, sondern was erdunkelt, erfinstert. Die Finsternisse müssen das Licht begreifen. Man versuche, in dieser Art aus einer Finsternis, die wirklich vorhanden ist, mit innigster Gemütsstimmung, mit stärkster Willenskraft das Licht des Geistes zu finden, dann wird es leuchten, wie geleuchtet haben die Jesu Geburt verkündenden Sterne den Hirten, den Magiern in der großen Weihenacht.
In das geschichtliche Werden der Menschheit müssen wir den Weihnachtsgedanken hineinstellen lernen. Warten müssen wir nicht etwa auf einen neuen Messias, auf einen neuen Christus, sondern auf dasjenige, was der Menschheit durch die im Laufe der letzten Jahrhunderte tief in das Finstere des Materiellen hineinführende Natur geoffenbart worden ist, was dieser Menschheit geoffenbart werden kann durch den wirklich lebendig verstandenen, lebendig fortwesenden Christus Jesus. So müssen wir den Weihnachtsgedanken nicht verfestigen in einem einmal konventionell im Jahre zu begehenden Feste, so müssen wir ihn flüssig machen, daß er uns leuchte, wie geleuchtet hat der Stern zu Bethlehem.
Von diesem Lichte, von diesem leuchtenden Sterne wollte ich Ihnen am heutigen Weihnachtsabend sprechen und möchte einiges dazu beigetragen haben, daß Sie mit dem Wollen, das in schwacher Weise, aber ernsthaftig anthroposophische Geisteswissenschaft durchseelt, daß Sie mit diesem Wollen jenes andere Wollen verbinden, das da besteht in dem Nachfolgen jenem Sterne, der ganz gewiß die Weihnachtsnacht hindurch in wahrer Weise den Menschen leuchtet.
In der Stille, im Intimen sich mit diesem Lichte zu durchdringen von heute zu morgen, das ist für die heutige Zeit die tiefste Weihnachtsweihe. Alles andere sollte im Grunde genommen nur äußeres Zeichen sein für dieses Weihnachtsempfinden, das wir von dem heutigen Abend zu dem nächsten Morgen hinübernehmen können. Dann wird uns diese Nacht nicht nur Symbolum sein können, sondern das Symbolum wird sich zum Lebendigen erkraften, und wir werden uns vielleicht darauf besinnen, wie innig wir uns mit dem Geiststreben verbinden sollen, das in die Zukunft hineingeht bei allen rechten Menschen, und das zu gleicher Zeit das wahre Weihnachtsstreben ist: das Streben zu demjenigen Geiste hin, der in dem Leibe sich verkörpern wollte, der zu Bethlehem in der weltgeschichtlichen Weihenacht geboren worden ist.
Ninth Lecture
If we want to deepen our thoughts according to the present time in this festive season, we probably do this best in the way already indicated yesterday, by turning the soul's gaze to the development of mankind in order to recognize from the spiritual guidance of mankind what tasks are incumbent on man in the present. We must not overlook the fact that the most important part of the Christmas thought is that in the night which is just beginning, the light of the Christ has shone into human development at that point in time of this human development which, through this event, through this incorporation of the Mystery of Golgotha, gives meaning to earthly life, to humanity and thus to the whole earthly being in general.
Yesterday I was allowed to speak to you about how in the times that preceded the Mystery of Golgotha those mystery festivals played a significant role, which are celebrated in the high summer time, where man with the earth itself opens his being to the cosmic expanses, where he can come into a soul connection with the extraterrestrial powers. And we have placed before our souls how the leaders of the Mysteries in pre-Christian times among certain peoples took this path, which the human soul can take to the divine-spiritual worlds in the high summer time, at our St. John's time, by sacrificing the world of thought, imbued with feeling, to the divine-spiritual powers at this time, so to speak, because they were aware that what was revealed to them in the course of the year was exposed to the temptations of the Luciferic powers, if not in that high summer time, when the earth, as it were, opens its wings wide into the cosmic expanses, everything connected with these thoughts is sacrificially felt as a grace bestowed on humanity by the divine-spiritual powers.
Yesterday I then pointed out how the development of mankind has naturally led to a certain part of mankind replacing the midsummer celebration with the deep winter celebration, and how even in our faded Christmas thought this deep winter celebration is still present, in that man either, as it is the case with certain cult communities, by celebrating the birth of the Savior in this deep winter night, or also by man, who must first again seek the paths to the spiritual light, celebrating this night of consecration in the silence of his heart in such a way that he becomes aware that he becomes most similar to the earth and its life at this time when he goes completely into himself. For at this time the earth is also closed off from the cosmic expanses, living through its snowy cloak and the contracting cold, pressed into itself in world space.
However, the idea of Christmas also played a certain role in those times when people mainly celebrated the midsummer festival among certain peoples. But in pre-Christian times, the idea of Christmas had a different meaning than it has today. At that time, the high spirit of the sun still belonged to the cosmic expanses and had not yet descended to earth. The whole situation of man in the depths of winter, when he felt himself to a certain extent in cosmic solitude with the earth itself, was different from today. And we get to know this situation when we take another look at certain mysteries that were indigenous to the South in very ancient times before the Mystery of Golgotha. In the old way, those who were allowed to seek it were initiated into such mysteries and received the initiation science of that time. In certain ancient times and among certain ancient peoples this initiatory science consisted in the fact that those to be initiated learned to read in the world what is not given by dead letters written on paper, but what is given by the beings of the world themselves. Whoever understands the mysteries of the cosmos knows that what grows and flourishes on earth is definitely an image of what shines down from the stars from the cosmic expanses of the world.
Whoever learns cosmic reading, as one learns today the far simpler reading through dead letters, knows that he has to see in every plant a sign that reveals to him something of the secrets of the universe, and that when he lets his gaze wander, for example, over the plant world or also over the manifold animal world, this wandering of the gaze is a reading. And it was in this way that the ancient initiates of certain mysteries read to their disciples. But they read to them in such a way that they did not read from a book, but that they told them what they had learned under the inspiration of the so-called Year-God about the secrets of the course of the year and its significance for human life. An ancient wisdom has read what relates to man in this way in the world events and in the world beings. By reading such things to their disciples, the ancient sages felt the inspiration of such divine-spiritual beings as the god of the year.
What was this god of the year, who stood within the hierarchies and belonged to the hierarchy of the elemental forces? He was a being to whom certain possessors of the science of initiation elevated themselves and in this elevation received from him the power and the inner light to read another from the plants sprouting in spring, to read another when the summer fruits ripen, to read another when the leaves turn red in autumn, when the fruits ripen, to read another also when the trees glisten in the snowflakes and the earth with its rocks is covered by the snow cover. This reading went on for a year, through spring, summer, fall and winter. And in these readings, the secrets of man himself were revealed between the teachers and the pupils. Then the cycle began anew.
If today we want to form an approximate idea of what the ancient Inspired and Initiated taught their pupils under the inspiration of the Year-God, we can say something like the following: They first pointed out to the pupils what is revealed in spring, when the snow has gone and the sun gains new strength, when the first shoots of the plants emerge from the resurrected earth power. They pointed out to their students how differently the plant that grows in the meadow speaks of the mystery of the universe, how differently the one that grows in the shade of the forest trees. They drew their pupils' attention to the fact that in the one and in the other plant the rising warmth of the sun and the rising sunlight in the jagged and the round leaves speak differently from the world's expanses to the people on the earth's round. And what could be revealed in this way under the influence of the Year-God through those letters which the earth itself lets sprout out of itself, that revealed in the manner of that time the Mystery Teacher to the pupils as the secrets of the physical human body.
So it was that these teachers pointed to the physical bringing forth of the earth, to the earth power sprouting into the plant, at each individual place of earth growth, to which the pupils were pointed, stood a different letter. The letters, which were living plant beings, or also had living animal forms, formed themselves together, just as we today form the individual letters in a sentence into words, they were set. One lived by living the spring, by reading nature. This was the initiation of the god of the year. And when spring had come to an end, around May, one had the impression that one now understood how the human physical body was shaped, formed from the bosom of the universe.
Then came the summer season. The same letters and words of the great world logo were used, but it was shown how the letters changed their forms under the different rays of the sun, the different effect of the sunlight, the different effect of the warmth of the sun, how the first shoots, which told of the mystery of the physical human body, opened to the sun in the blossoms. The multicolored blossoms were read, in each of which the sun's rays kissed the plant forces sprouting from the earth in love. And from the wonderful, fine and delicate weaving of the cosmic forces over the earth forces of the flowering plants, the earth's outward striving into the cosmic expanses was read. One lived with the earth, which opened up to the cosmic expanses, the starry expanses, one lived with this earth itself in the infinities.
But what these infinities contained was revealed when one looked at the blossoming letters of the plants. From these blossoming letters of the plants one read how man behaved when he descended from the spiritual worlds to the physical earthly existence, how he drew together the etheric substance from all directions in order to form his own etheric body. And the secrets of this etheric body were read in this way from what takes place in the etheric life again later between the earth and the universe in the World Logos, which paints its signs on the surface of the earth itself by letting the plants blossom, by giving the animals certain kinds of life during the high summer season.
At the approach of autumn one saw how again these letters of the world logo changed, how the sun withdrew its warmth and its power of light, how the plants took refuge in what the sun itself had communicated to the earth during high summer, how they breathe out, as it were, the blossoming, sprouting life that they received during the height of summer, but instead develop the ripening fruits in their bosom, which in turn lead the plant life back to itself by harboring the seed forces within it. Again we unraveled what the World Logos has written on the surface of the earth itself in the ripening plants, again we revealed and unraveled what the forms of animal life can reveal in autumn. The most intimate secrets of the universe were read from the flight of the birds. These most intimate secrets of the universe were read from the way in which the smaller animal world changes as autumn approaches. One read in the insect world. One read in the insect world's seeking refuge with the earth, in the change of form of the insect world, the coming together of the whole earth in the face of dead silence. One read that which one perceived as a self-reflection of the earth in the cosmos.
This became particularly clear through certain festivities which were celebrated in the second half of September and which in rural areas still left their old remnants in the Michaelmas festival. These festivals reminded us of how, when we as human beings are to a certain extent abandoned by everything that people find in the earth as paths out into the cosmic expanses, we must connect ourselves to something that is not bound to external physical and etheric events, how we must lean with our soul on the spiritual content of the cosmos. And still in the faded Michaelmas festival at the end of September, that taking of refuge of mankind to the spirit of the hierarchies is preserved, which is to lead mankind in a spiritual way, when the outer guidance through the stars and through the sun has diminished in strength.
In all that one read there - a reading which at the same time turned into a sensing - through all that one pondered there, one penetrated oneself with the secrets of the human astral body. And it was in the autumn time that the Inspired and Initiated of the Year-God read out of the essence of nature and together with him conceived the secrets of the human astral body. And it was in this autumn time that the Initiates spoke to their disciples: Keep in mind that being who stands before the face of the sun - whom the name Michael still recalls - remember this being who stands before the face of the sun. You will need the strength when you have to pass through all that you retain in your astral being from your earthly existence, when you will have passed through the gate of death into the supersensible worlds.
Secrets of the human astral body were extracted from that which revealed itself as the Logos in the maturing, but also in the dormant plant being, in the insects crawling into the earth and so on. Indeed, man already knew that if he wanted to seek the right humanity for this part of his being, he had to look towards the spiritual world. Therefore the soul's gaze of those to be initiated was directed towards such a being, which we can hold in the name of Michael.
But then came the time, the middle of which is our present Christmas time. The time came when the Initiates and Inspired of the Year of God pointed out to their pupils the peculiarity of what is revealed when the water covers the earth in artistically formed snowflakes. Then reading, which had already become sensing in autumn, became an inner life, the observation of the soul, which in earlier seasons had gone parallel to outer physical work, became inner spiritual work. Reading became mysticism, mystical deepening. Man knew that he could only comprehend himself in his deepest being, in his ego-being, if he allowed himself to be told through this ego-being what the world-logos secretes into everything that goes on in nature, when the blanket of snow covers the earth and the cold draws life together around the earth. The initiated and inspired of the Year of God were to get to know his scripture from this scripture of the season of winter. Their eyes were sharpened so that they could follow the seed that was sunk into the earth, so that they could follow the insects that tried to hibernate within the self-contracting forces of the earth. From the physical light the gazes were led into the physical darkness.
In certain mysteries it was so that the disciples were made to understand: Now you must see the sun at midnight, the midnight sun, now you must see the sun through the earth. By penetrating your soul's eye with the power that follows the plants and the lower animals into the earth, the earth itself can become transparent to the inner soul power. - When the earth has gathered most of its power towards the universe, then man can rise up to see the sun as a midnight sun through this earth, because it is, so to speak, completely spiritualized in itself, whereas otherwise he reaches the sun with the physical senses in the height of summer, when he directs his gaze from the earth out into the universe without looking through the earth.
To look at the sun in the midnight hour, in a deep winter night, that was something the disciples of the initiates of the Year-God were to learn. And they were then to communicate those secrets which they had learned from the midnight sun to those who were devout confessors of the Mysteries but who could not themselves become initiates of the Mysteries, not disciples of the Mysteries.
And it became more and more so in those ancient times that the initiates, by pointing their disciples to the sun at the deep winter time in the midnight hour, had to announce to them in a certain way how man on earth feels abandoned in his ego. The festival of the deep winter night became more and more a festival of pain and suffering, especially for those who belonged to the most knowledgeable, through which man was to learn how he could not find the way to his ego within the physical-earthly existence. He was to learn this by reading from the signs that the Logos wrote on the earth in the time of deep winter how he is abandoned with his ego in the course of the world, for the earth alone was felt, and what the ego must long for, the power of the sun, was covered by the earth. The sun appeared in the midnight hour, but man felt less and less power to come to this solar being in the midnight hour. But at the same time this drawing attention to the abandonment of the human ego in the cosmos was the prophetic indication of how that solar being was to approach the earth, was to penetrate the human being in the course of human development, was to appear in order to heal sick humanity, humanity suffering in loneliness in the universe.
This, however, already points to that fact in the development of mankind whereby an old winter festival of suffering and pain became an inner spiritual festival of joy, especially for southern peoples, through the appearance of the Christ on earth. And what was revealed there, when the solar being descended from the far reaches of the world into earthly existence, is still indicated by the corresponding heralds of this event in the symbols, by pointing out that all people on earth heard the message of how the old test of pain and suffering was transformed into a festival of joy. In the depths of the shepherds' hearts, through which their dreams were woven, the word rang out:
The divine reveals itself
In the heights of the expanses of the world,
And peace will sprout on earth
To men who are of good will.
So within the simple shepherd's heart. - And on the other pole of humanity, where those who had been hardened to the most intense magic were, the message of this penetration of the spirit of the world into the material of the earth could come from the heirlooms of ancient starry wisdom.
Today, when we speak of the Christmas Mystery, we must find what we feel in it on the background of that ancient feast of suffering and pain, we must remember how within the development of mankind the power entered into this development through which man can wrest himself from that which binds him to the earth itself through heaviness. We must be able to form the Christmas thought in such a way that we can say to ourselves: Yes, the inspirations of the Year-God, which he revealed to the ancient initiates, are still true, that the earth withdraws from the universe to itself for its self-reflection during the deep winter time, that man can still understand how the mystery of the human ego is connected with this mystery of the year. But out of human insight, out of insightful human feeling, out of insightful human wisdom of heart, man can surround himself with the images of Christ Jesus entering into human life on earth, man can learn to feel the deep thought of the consecration night. But he will only feel it in the right way if he really has the will to follow the revealing Christ through all times.
The ancient initiates of the old science of initiation had the task of revealing the secrets of human nature from the cycle of the year. We must understand what the year reveals, but we must also be able to look into the inner workings of human nature. And if we look properly into the inner being of human nature - as anthroposophical spiritual science shows us - then the letters inscribed in the heart and lungs, in the brain and in all parts of the human organism reveal to us the secrets of the universe, just as these secrets of the universe were revealed to the inspired ones of the Year-God through the signs of the Logos in the sprouting plants, in the formed animals, in what these formed animals experience on the earthly round. We must learn to look into the human being. The inner being of man himself must become written to us. Then we can read the development of humanity itself from this inner man. But then we must devote ourselves to the meaning of this human development, then we must connect ourselves through an inner vision with that which wants to weave and flow as spiritual forces through the human development. Then we must, because this human development is in constant progress, experience the Mystery of Golgotha, the Mystery of the Night of Consecration anew in every age. Then we must fully experience that the Spirit who has chosen the organism born on the night of consecration in Bethlehem has spoken: “I am with you always, until the end of time.” Then we must also get a spiritual ear for the continuing revelation of this Logos through the human being himself. Humanity must learn to listen to the inspirations of this God of humanity, who is the Christ himself, just as it once learned to listen to the inspirations of the God of the Year.
Then mankind will not stop at just looking back at what has been handed down in the Bible about the spiritual earth walk of Christ Jesus, but then mankind will have an understanding, an insight that the Christ has connected himself with man in earth life since that time and that he, if man only wants to listen, always reveals himself. Then mankind in our time can gain an understanding and an insight for the fact that just as once the Christmas festival in the course of the year followed the Michael festival of autumn, that also the Michael revelation, which occurred in an autumn time in the last third of the 19th century, should be followed by a consecration festival, a Christmas festival, through which again understanding for a spiritual birth should be acquired, for the spiritual birth, which mankind needs to continue its earthly path, so that the earth can find the transformation into future forms once spiritualized. Now we are living in a time when it is not just the annual autumn festival, the annual Michaelmas festival and the annual Christmas festival, now we are living in a time when we should understand the Michael revelation of the last third of the 19th century deep in our souls out of our own human nature, and when we should seek the path to the true Christmas festival, namely to the penetration with the spirit to be recognized.
Then we will understand the words that are quoted in the Gospel: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Humanity is predisposed to endure more and more of what Christ has to say to it. Mankind is not predisposed to always listen only to those who want to hinder progress and who point to what was once written down in dry letters about the Mystery of Golgotha, who do not want the power of this Mystery of Golgotha to be revealed to man in a living way through all the ages. Today is also not the time to listen to those who merely want to remain in the world springtime, which shows the outer physical nature in its brightest splendor, but cannot show the spiritual. Today is the time when we are to find the way from the Michael festival to the deep winter festival, which, however, is to contain a sunrise of the spirit. We would never find this path if, in becoming human beings ourselves, we gave in to the illusion that there is light in outer life, in outer earth civilization, in outer earth culture today, but only if we surrender to the truth that there is darkness, but that in this darkness that light must be sought which the Christ wanted to bring into the world through Jesus.
So follow with the same devotion with which the shepherds, with which the magi from the Orient once sought the way to the manger on Christmas night, so follow the traces that can now be read out of the human being itself in still blurred letters, but which are destined to become ever clearer, and you will be allowed to celebrate the Christ-mystery of the Holy Night again. But one will only be allowed to celebrate it if one wants to seek the light in the darkness.
Today, science is often not called that which explains the world - “explain” comes from the clarity of light - today, science is often called that which does not explain, but that which darkens, darkens. The darkness must comprehend the light. In this way, try to find the light of the spirit out of a darkness that really exists, with the most intimate mood of mind, with the strongest willpower, then it will shine, just as the stars announcing Jesus' birth shone for the shepherds and magi on the great night of consecration.
We must learn to place the idea of Christmas in the historical development of humanity. We must not wait for a new Messiah, for a new Christ, but for that which has been revealed to mankind through nature, which in the course of the last centuries has led deep into the darkness of the material, that which can be revealed to this mankind through Christ Jesus, who is truly understood to be alive and who continues to live. So we must not solidify the idea of Christmas in a festival that is conventionally celebrated once a year, we must make it fluid so that it shines for us as the star of Bethlehem shone.
I wanted to speak to you of this light, of this shining star this Christmas Eve, and I would like to have contributed a little to the fact that you connect with this will, which in a weak way but seriously pervades anthroposophical spiritual science, that you connect with this will that other will which consists in following that star which certainly shines in a true way for people throughout the Christmas night.
In silence, in intimacy, to permeate oneself with this light from today to tomorrow, that is the deepest Christmas consecration for today. Everything else should basically only be an outward sign of this Christmas feeling, which we can carry over from this evening to the next morning. Then this night will not only be able to be a symbol for us, but the symbol will become a living thing, and we will perhaps reflect on how closely we should connect with the spiritual striving that goes into the future in all right people, and which at the same time is the true Christmas striving: the striving towards the spirit that wanted to embody itself in the body that was born in Bethlehem on the world-historical consecration night.