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The Rudolf Steiner Archive

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Supersensible Knowledge
GA 55

14 February 1907, Berlin

IX. Wisdom and Health

Spiritual science aims to be an influence in practical life, to be a source of strength and confidence. It is for people who wish to be effective in life, not for the merely curious. Knowledge of the spirit has always existed. It has been fostered in circles where it was recognized that human beings are capable of developing spiritual forces of greater capacity than the ordinary intellect. In these circies there was awareness of the fact that healing was connected with holiness; it was felt that the Holy Spirit was the wholly healthy spirit that united itself with mankind's soul to bring healing to the world.

This aspect is the one least understood. Spiritual knowledge guides the human soul away from narrow attitudes and egoistical aims; it points to universal issues that unite the individual with the cosmos. Nevertheless, the higher forces it bestows often are used as an incentive for egoistical striving. It is often made to serve egoism despite the fact that its very nature is to lead human beings away from the personal; people demand that through spiritual science egoistical wishes should be fulfilled from one day to the next.

There once existed in Africa a brotherhood—the Therapeutae, which fostered spiritual knowledge. In the region where Christianity arose, the same sect was known as the Essenes. The narre indicates that the brotherhood was concerned with healing, which they practiced by combining their spiritual insight with knowledge of matter. When spiritual knowledge is absorbed, healing forces are absorbed also. Spiritual science is an elixir of life; though it cannot be proved by argument the proof will be seen when it is assimilated, then applied to life, and health follows.

However, a person might as well know nothing about spiritual science if all that person can do is talk glibly about reincarnation and karma. If its effect is to be experienced, a person's whole inner being must be steeped in spiritual science; one must live it every hour of the day, and calmly be able to wait. In this connection Goethe's saying is apt: "Consider the what, but even more consider the how." Spiritual science is rightly understood if it is assimilated like a spiritual food, and allowed to grow and mature within a person. It is rightly understood if, in moments of sorrow or happiness, of devotion and exaltation, or when life threatens to fall apart, a person experiences the hope, strength and incentive to action it brings.

Spiritual science must become a personal quest. The striving human being, looking at the stars, will recognize the eternal laws that guide them through cosmic space. When clouds sail across the vault of heaven, when the sun rises in splendor, or the moon in silent majesty, a person will see all these phenomena as the expression of soul-spiritual universal life. Just as we recognize the look an a face, or the movement of a hand as the expression of the soul and spirit in human beings, when we look at the past we look at the same time up to the spirit whose imprint in the physical is everywhere in evidence.

Absorb the spirit, and you absorb health-giving forces! Not, however, in lazy comfort; there are people who entertain the most trivial notions while declaring that all one needs is to be in tune with the infinite. That has nothing to do with knowledge of the spirit. Spiritual knowledge must penetrate a human's innermost being. It is not through some magical formula that we discover the spiritual world. What is required is that we enter with patience and love into every being, every event. The spiritual world is there and should not be sought as if it has no connection with the physical. Wherever we find ourselves placed in life, there we must seek it; then spiritual knowledge becomes a personal quest.

There are people who have no sense for music or paintings; likewise there are people with no sense for what is spiritual. The following incident illustrates a common notion of what is spiritual: One evening in a small town, a strange light was noticed to pass across the church wall. Soon it was a topic of conversation all over the town. As no natural explanation was found, it was determined that it was a spiritual phenomenon. Actually, the fact that it was seen by many already made this highly unlikely. If a person was able to perceive a genuine spiritual event, certain spiritual organs and capabilities must first be developed. In our time this is a rare event; so the fact that the strange light was seen by many people is a sure proof that it was not a spiritual manifestation. And indeed an explanation was soon forthcoming: An elderly lady with a lantern was in the habit of walking her dog in the evening. On one particular night the light happened to be noticed. Investigation of such meaningless suppositions was pointless. The most significant spiritual manifestations are to be found in the objects and events around us every day.

Wisdom is science, but also more than science. It is science that is united with, not apart from, reality. At any moment it can become decision and action. Someone who is knowledgeable about scientific laws is a scientist; someone who immediately knows how to apply knowledge so that it becomes reality is wise. Wisdom is science becoming creative. We must so contemplate, so merge with the laws of nature that they become an inner force. Through his contemplation and exact observation of individual plants, Goethe arrived at his inner perception of the archetypal plant. The idea of the archetypal plant is a product of spiritual intuition; it is a plant-image that can come to life within us; from it numberless plants can be derived which do not as yet exist, but could exist. In someone who has become a sage laws are not bound to the particular, they are eternal living entities. This is the realm of Imagination; of ideas that are not abstract but creative images. Abstract concepts and ideas may lead to science, but not to wisdom. Had Goethe remained at the conceptual stage, he would never have discovered the archetypal plant. It must be seen so vividly and so exactly that one can draw it, including root, stem, leaves and fruit, without it resembling any particular plant. Such an image is not a product of fantasy. Fantasy is related to imagination as shadow is to reality; however, it can be transformed and raised to become imagination.

We may not as yet have access to the world of imagination, but it is a world that is attainable.

We must develop soul forces that are objective, comparable to the forces active in our eyes. We would be surrounded by perpetual darkness if the eyes did not transform the light falling upon them into colored images and mental pictures. Anyone who believes we must just wait for some nebulous manifestation of the Spirit to appear has no comprehension of the inner work required of human beings. The soul must become active, as the eyes are active transforming light. Unless the soul creates pictures, and images within itself, the spiritual world cannot stream in. The pictures thus created will maintain objectivity provided they are not prompted by egoistic wishes; when their content is spiritual, then healing forces stream into a person's soul. When the ability is attained to transform the concepts of spiritual science into vivid pictures full of color, sound and life; when the whole world becomes such a picture, then this wisdom becomes in all spheres of life a healing force, not only for ourselves, but for others, for the whole world. Even if the pictures we create in the soul are not accurate, it will not matter; they are corrected by that which guides us. Paracelsus was a sage of this kind. He immersed himself in all aspects of nature and transformed his knowledge into vigorous inner forces. Every plant spoke to him, revealing the wisdom inherent in nature.

Animals have wisdom of a certain kind; their instincts are wise. However, they do not individually possess a soul. Animals share a group soul that as spiritual wisdom influences them from outside. All animals whose blood can be mixed without ill effect have a common soul, that is, a group soul. Wisdom thus acting from outside has become individualized in humans. Every human being has his own

individual soul whose influence comes from within. The price human beings pay is loss of certainty. Uncertainty is characteristic of human knowledge and scientific pursuit. Human beings are obliged to grope their way; they must search, select and experiment. However, they have the possibility to evolve, to reach higher stages; the knowledge they are obliged to attain through effort, through trial and error, they can transform so that it becomes wisdom once more. What is already in existence must, as it were, become recast within human beings, must become color-filled, light-filled, sound-filled imagination; then they attain wisdom.

Paracelsus had attained such wisdom; he approached every plant, every chemical substance and instantly recognized its healing properties. An animal immediately knows, through its unconscious instincts, what is beneficial for it. Paracelsus knew through conscious wisdom that illness would benefit from a particular substance.

The Therapeutae and Essenes1Essenes (200 B.C. to A.D. 100) were a sect that flourished in Palestine. In their monastic community, they strictly observed the law of Moses. had the same kind of wisdom. It is insight that cannot be attained through experiments; knowledge is transformed into imaginative wisdom. The plant then discerns its own image in the human soul and changes it; in that instant the human being not only senses, but also knows what healing properties the plant possesses. Spiritual science has no objections to natural science; in fact, no one who is serious in his spiritual scientific striving will neglect to acquaint himself with the achievements of ordinary science; he will, however, go further; he will transform such knowledge into creative wisdom. We know that the human being consists of physical body, ether body, astral body and the ”I.” Ordinary knowledge penetrates only as far as the astral body of which it becomes a part, whereas imaginative knowledge reaches the ether or life body, filling it with the Life Spirit, making human beings powerful healers.

The immense difference between the effect of abstract concepts and that of imaginative knowledge is easiest to see in an incident where the effect was painful in nature: A man was present when his brother had a leg amputated. As the bone was cut it made a strange sound; at that moment the man felt a fierce pain in his leg at the place corresponding to where his brother's Operation was taking place. For a long time he could not rid himself of the pain, even when his brother no longer felt any. The sound emitted from the bone had, through the Power of imagination, impressed itself deeply into the man's ether body and produced the pain.

A physician in Berne once made an interesting experiment. He took an ordinary horseshoe and connected to it two wires of the type used in electrical machinery. Everyone thought the gadget must be electrified, and those who touched it were certain they felt an electric current; there were even some who were convinced they experienced a violent shock. All these effects were produced simply by what the persons concerned imagined to themselves; no remonstration convinced them otherwise. People became rich by manufacturing pills from ordinary bread. The pills were supposed to cure all kinds of illnesses, but were especially popular for curing sleeplessness. A lady, a patient in a sanatorium, took such a pill regularly every evening and enjoyed sound sleep. One night she decided to take her own life and swallowed as many of these pills as she could lay her hands on. It was discovered, and the doctors were greatly alarmed; she showed all the signs of someone dying. One doctor remained calm, the one who had manufactured the pills.

Human beings have a natural ability to turn the merely known into vivid images. Hypnotism relies on this fact. The hypnotist excludes the astral body and introduces a pictorial content directly into the ether body, but this is an abnormal process. The pictures we ourselves produce are imprinted on the ether body. If they are derived from the spiritual world they have the power to eradicate unhealthy conditions, which means that harmony is brought about with universal spiritual currents. This brings about healing because unhealthy conditions always originate from egoism, and we are now lifted above our ordinary mental life, which is dimmed. This process must occur every so often, for example during sleep; then the astral body, together with the “I,” separates from the physical and etheric bodies and unites with the spirit of the earth. From this spiritual region the astral body imprints health-giving pictures into the ether body. This process is unconscious except in highly evolved human beings.

It was Plato who said that eternal ideas are behind everything. The clairvoyant sees the spiritual in every plant whose very form is built up from such spiritual images. These eternal ideas, these spiritual images, human beings are able to absorb and thus become creative. Their health-giving effect acts throughout nature. Strictly speaking, it is only a human being that becomes ill; only people take the spirit into their inner being and must bring it to life once more. Imaginative wisdom will bring a person health. When knowledge is transformed into wisdom, the spirit creates the imagination. Spiritual science is such wisdom, and has the ability more than anything else to be a healing force, especially in the sense of preventing illness. This, admittedly, is not easy to prove. However, through spiritual science, life-giving forces flow into human beings keeping them youthful and strong.

Wisdom makes a person open and receptive because it is a foundation from which love for all things grows. To preach love is useless. (The Therapeutae and Essenes were wise; they were also most compassionate and loving.) When wisdom warms the soul, love streams forth; thus we can understand that there are people who can heal through the laying on of hands. Wisdom pours forces of love through their limbs. Christ was the wisest and therefore also the greatest healer.

Unless love and compassion unite with wisdom, no genuine help can be forthcoming. If someone lying in the street with a broken leg is surrounded by people full of compassion, but without knowledge, they cannot help. The doctor who comes with knowledge of how to deal with a broken leg can help, for his wisdom transforms his compassion into action. Basic to all help provided by human beings is knowledge, insight and ability.

We are always surrounded by wisdom because wise beings created the world. When this wisdom has reached its climax it will have become all-encompassing love. Love will stream towards us from the world of the future. Love is born of wisdom, and the wisest Spiritual Being is the greatest healer. From Christ is born the Holy, that is, the Healing Spirit.

Weisheit und Gesundheit

Die Geisteswissenschaft will im praktischen Leben wirken, sie will den Menschen Kraft und Sicherheit geben. Sie ist nichts für Neugierige, sondern nur für solche, die tätig sein wollen, die kräftig mitarbeiten wollen im Leben. Geisteswissenschaft hat es zu allen Zeiten gegeben. In den Kreisen, in denen man sie pflegte, hieß es immer, daß der Mensch über die reine Verstandeskraft hinaus sich zu höheren Geisteskräften entwickeln könne, als die des gewöhnlichen Lebens sind. Den Zusammenhang von heilig, heil und heilsam fühlte man dort immer. Der heilige Geist ist der absolut gesunde Geist, der sich in die menschliche Seele senkt, um Heil zu verbreiten in der Welt. Aber gerade von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus wird die Geisteswissenschaft oft mißverstanden. Sie führt den Menschen von endlichen, egoistischen Zielen des Wissens und Strebens zu großen, universellen Gesichtspunkten, zur Verbindung des Einzelnen mit dem Universum. Aber die höheren Kräfte, die die Geisteswissenschaft dadurch verleiht, ziehen so viele Menschen an und reizen sie zu egoistischem Streben. Trotzdem die Geisteswissenschaft in Wahrheit den Menschen am weitesten abführt vom Persönlichen, so wird sie doch gar oft als Dienerin des Egoismus gebraucht. Von heute auf morgen wollen die Menschen ihre egoistischen Wünsche von ihr erfüllt haben.

Es gab Geisteswissenschaft bei einer Brüderschaft in Afrika, den Therapeuten. Dieselbe Sekte hieß in dem Teil der Erde, in dem das Christentum entstand, Essener oder Essäer. Schon der Name «Therapeuten» zeigt ihre Beziehung zum Geiste und zur Gesundheit. Durch Mittel des Geistes, in Verbindung mit materieller Wissenschaft, heilten die Therapeuten oder Essäer. Wer die Geisteswissenschaft aufnimmt, nimmt wirkliche Heilmittel auf: ein Lebenselixier ist die Geisteswissenschaft. Nicht durch Diskussion und logische Gründe soll sie bewiesen werden, sondern ins Leben eingeführt, soll sie diejenigen Menschen, in die sie einfließt, heil und gesund machen. Nur wissen, daß es Reinkarnation und Karma gibt, und in schönen Redensarten davon sprechen können, ist so gut wie Nicht-Geisteswissenschaft. Täglich, stündlich muß man in ihr leben, die Seele ganz damit durchdringen und ruhig abwarten, was geschieht, dann wird man ihre Wirkung sehen. Wer die geisteswissenschaftlichen Gedanken in sich trägt wie Nahrung- und Samengedanken, in Stunden von Leid und Freude, in Stunden der Devotion und Erhebung, in Stunden, wo das Leben zu zerreißen droht, wer fühlt, wie sie Lust zur Arbeit, Kraft und Hoffnung bringen, der hat sie recht erfaßt. Hier gilt das Goethesche Wort: «Das Was bedenke, mehr bedenke Wie!»

Eine ganz individuelle Angelegenheit des einzelnen Menschen muß die Geisteswissenschaft werden. Zu den Sternen schaut der geisteswissenschaftlich strebende Mensch auf und begreift sie nach den Gesetzen des Lebens, die den ganzen Weltenraum durchpulsen. Wenn des Morgens die Sonne in ihrer Herrlichkeit heraufsteigt und am Abend der Mond in seiner stillen Pracht, wenn die Wolken am Himmelsraum dahinziehen, da schaut er hinauf und da werden ihm die Vorgänge am Himmelszelt zum Ausdruck des seelisch-geistigen universellen Lebens, wie wir die Bewegungen eines Gesichtes oder einer Hand als Ausdruck seelisch-geistigen Lebens im Menschen anschauen. Und dann schauen wir in die Vergangenheit, sehen das Wirken der geistigen Welt in der physischen und erheben unseren Sinn zum Geiste. Sauget den Geist ein, und ihr sauget gesundes Leben mit ihm ein! Aber fern sei jegliche Bequemlichkeit. «Erhebung zum Unendlichen begründet die Gesundheit» sagen viele, vertiefen sich aber nur in abstrakte, allgemeine Gedanken. Das ist nicht wahre Geisteswissenschaft. Die wahre Geisteswissenschaft geht aufs einzelne ein, sie fordert, daß wir uns in Geduld und Liebe mit jeder Pflanze, jedem Stein befassen. Nicht durch Zauberei wollen wir die Geisteswelt suchen. Sie ist da. Aber wir sollen sie nicht abseits von der Sinnlichkeit suchen, sondern da, wo wir hingestellt sind zur tüchtigen Arbeit des Tages. So wird die Geisteswissenschaft eine individuelle Angelegenheit. Wie ein Mensch kein Verständnis haben kann für ein Ton- oder Bildwerk, so hat mancher auch kein Verständnis für den Geist. Was manche Menschen sich von Geistererscheinungen für Vorstellungen machen, kann folgendes Beispiel erläutern: In einer kleinen Stadt beobachtete man eines Abends einen merkwürdigen Lichtschein, der sich an der Kirchhofmauer hinzog. Die ganze Stadt sprach bald davon, und da man keine natürliche Erklärung fand, so mußte es eine Geistererscheinung gewesen sein. Mehrere Personen hatten den Lichtschein gesehen, und das gerade machte die Sache zweifelhaft. Um einen wirklichen Geist zu sehen, muß der Mensch gewisse geistige Organe und Fähigkeiten entwickelt haben. In der heutigen Zeit kann das nur ganz vereinzelt vorkommen. Daß mehrere beliebige Personen den Lichtschein sahen, ist der beste Beweis dafür, daß es kein Geist war. Die Sache klärte sich auch bald auf. Eine -alte Dame pflegte allabendlich ihr Hündchen beim Scheine der Laterne herauszuführen. An diesem Abend ward zufällig der Lichtschein bemerkt. Wir sollen nicht derartigen vermeintlichen Geistererscheinungen nachspüren. Die alltäglichen Erscheinungen sind die wichtigsten Manifestationen des Geistes für uns.

Weisheit ist nicht bloß Wissenschaft, doch muß sie die Wissenschaft in sich haben: sie ist ins Leben übergetretene Wissenschaft, die in jedem Augenblick zu Entschluß und Tat werden kann. Wer bloß die Gesetze kennt, ist Wissenschafter. Wer in jedem Augenblick das Wissen so anzuwenden versteht, daß etwas daraus werden kann, ist weise, Weisheit ist fruchtbar gewordene Wissenschaft. Wir müssen vergessen, woher wir die Gesetze gewannen, und uns mit ihnen durchdringen, daß sie in uns eine Kraft werden. Goethe kam von der genauen Betrachtung der einzelnen Pflanze zur Idee der Urpflanze. Das ist ein Gebilde der geistigen Intuition, ein Bild einer Pflanze, das in uns leben kann, nach deren Bild man unzählige Pflanzen erfinden könnte, die noch nicht da sind, die aber lebensfähig sein könnten. Im Weisen werden die Gesetze so, daß sie sich loslösen vom Einzelnen, daß sie leben in Ewigkeit. Dazu gehört aber das, was man Imagination, bildliche Vorstellung nennt. Abstrakte Gedanken und Begriffe können Wissenschaft sein, aber nicht Weisheit. Wäre Goethe bei Begriffen stehengeblieben, so hätte er nicht die Urpflanze gefunden. Die Urpflanze muß man so lebendig vor sich sehen, daß man sie zeichnen kann mit Wurzeln, Stengeln, Blättern und Früchten, ohne daß sie einer anderen Pflanze ähnlich wäre. Das ist kein Spiel der Phantasie. Die Phantasie ist nur ein Schattenbild der Imagination, aber sie kann sich zur Imagination erheben. Noch ist uns die Welt der Imagination nicht zugänglich, aber sie kann es werden. Dunkel wäre es um uns, wenn das Auge das einfallende Licht nicht in Bilder und Farbenvorstellungen umsetzen könnte. So müssen wir, wie im Auge, auch in der Seele Kräfte entwickeln, die gegenständlich sind. Wer glaubt, er müsse warten, bis eine nebelhafte Manifestation eines Geistes ihm erscheint, der hat diese Arbeit nicht erfaßt. Arbeiten muß die Seele, wie das Auge arbeitet, wenn das Licht einfällt. Ohne die Arbeit der Seele kann nie die geistige Welt einströmen. Es müssen Bilder geschaffen werden in der Seele. Die Objektivität bleibt erhalten, wenn man nicht sich Bilder egoistischer Wünsche und so weiter schafft. Wenn der Mensch so seine Seele der geistigen Welt entgegenstreckt, dann strömt die geistige Welt in ihn hinein und wirkt gesundend. Gesundend wirken die Imaginationen, wirken die Bilder. Wenn man die Begriffe der Geisteswissenschaft zu Bildern machen kann, die nicht nur Linien, sondern Leben, Farben und Ton haben, wenn die ganze Welt solch ein Bild wird, dann wird diese Weisheit auf jedem Gebiete des Lebens solch Heilmittel werden, nicht nur für uns selbst, sondern auch für andere, für die ganze Welt. Wenn auch die Bilder zuerst falsch sind, so schadet das nicht. Sie werden berichtigt werden durch die, die uns leiten.

Ein solcher Weiser war Paracelsus, er hat sich durchdrungen mit der ganzen Welt und sie umgewandelt in lebendige Kraft, so daß jede Pflanze ihm etwas zu sagen wußte. Was sagte sie ihm? Sie offenbarte ihm, was Weisheit ist. Das Tier ist in gewissem Sinne weise: im Instinkt des Tieres liegt Weisheit. Aber das Tier hat keine individuelle Seele, sondern eine Gruppenseele, die von außen wirkt, wie eine geistige Wesenheit. Alle Tiere, deren Blut man unbeschadet mischen kann, haben eine gemeinsame Seele, die Gruppenseele. Diese Weisheit der von außen wirkenden Seele ward im Menschen individualisiert. Jeder Mensch hat seine eigene, von innen wirkende, individuelle Seele, aber die Sicherheit des Daseins mußte er dafür einbüßen. Unsicherheit ist das Charakteristische der Wissenschaft. Menschenleben ist Probieren, Wählen, Suchen, Tasten. Aber es gibt eine höhere Entwicklung. Das Wissen, das der Mensch sich mühsam auf dem Probierwege erringt, kann wieder Weisheit werden. Wenn man das Lebendige umschmilzt in ein von Farbe, Ton und Licht Erfülltes, in Imagination, so wird man weise. Das tat Paracelsus. So ging er an jede Pflanze, an jede chemische Substanz heran. Wie das Tier unmittelbar weiß, was ihm heilsam ist, so erkannte auch Paracelsus unmittelbar die Heilkräfte der Pflanzen: aber nicht unbewußt instinktiv, sondern von bewußter Weisheit erfüllt erfaßte er, welchen Kranken das gut sein werde. In diesem Sinne waren auch die Therapeuten und Essäer weise. Das kann man nicht durch Probieren erkennen, sondern nur dann, wenn die Weisheit zur Imagination wird. Die Pflanze spricht dann zu dem Bilde, das von ihr in der Seele lebt und sagt: Ja, dazu bin ich gut. Die Pflanze erkennt ihr Bild in der Seele des Menschen, der sie anschaut, sie verwandelt ihr Bild, und dann weiß und fühlt der Mensch unmittelbar, wozu sie gut ist. Die Geisteswissenschaft hat nichts gegen wirkliche Wissenschaft einzuwenden, und kein wahrhaft geisteswissenschaftlich strebender Mensch wird versäumen, sich mit den Errungenschaften der Wissenschaft bekannt zu machen. Aber er bleibt nicht stehen dabei, und so erhebt er das Wissen zu schöpferischem, weisheitsvollem Erkennen.

Wir wissen, daß die menschliche Wesenheit zunächst zusammengesetzt ist aus physischem Leib, Äther- oder Lebensleib, Astralleib und dem Ich. Das gewöhnliche Wissen nun dringt nur vor bis zum Astralleib und wird ein Glied von ihm. Die Imagination aber dringt bis in den Ätherleib hinein, erfüllt mit Lebensgeist den Lebensleib und macht, daß der Mensch ein lebendiger Heiler wird. Wie groß die Wirkung der Imagination ist gegenüber rein abstrakten Begriffen, können wir zunächst am besten erkennen an den schlimmen Wirkungen, die sie haben kann. Ein Mensch war anwesend, als seinem Bruder das Bein amputiert wurde. Bei der Bearbeitung des Knochens gab es einen merkwürdigen Ton. In demselben Moment fühlte er einen heftigen Schmerz an derselben Stelle des Beines, an der bei seinem Bruder die Operation vorgenommen wurde. Lange Zeit konnte er den Schmerz nicht loswerden, während sein Bruder nichts mehr spürte. Da hatte der Klang des Knochens sich imaginativ in des Menschen Ätherleib eingegraben und die Schmerzen hervorgerufen.

Sehr interessante Versuche machte auch ein Berner Arzt auf diesem Gebiete. Er nahm ein gewöhnliches Hufeisen und befestigte zwei Drähte derartig daran, als seien es die Leitungsdrähte einer Elektrisiermaschine. Jeder, der hinzukam, glaubte, es mit einer solchen zu tun zu haben, und fühlte wirklich, wenn er die Drähte berührte, einen elektrischen Strom. Manche behaupteten sogar, die gräßlichsten Schmerzen zu fühlen. Die ganze Veranstaltung wirkte eben bildlich. Einreden hätte man das den Menschen nicht können. Es gibt gewisse Leute, die reich werden durch die Herstellung von Pillen aus gewöhnlichem Brot. Diese Pillen «heilen» alle möglichen Krankheiten und finden namentlich als Schlafmittel Anwendung. In einem Sanatorium pflegte eine Dame regelmäßig des Abends solche Pillen zu nehmen. Sie schlief stets vortrefflich danach. Da beschloß sie eines Abends, sich das Leben zu nehmen und nahm so viele Pillen, als sie erwischen konnte. Die Sache wurde indes bemerkt und die Arzte der Anstalt gerieten in die größte Aufregung, denn die Dame zeigte alle Symptome des herannahenden Todes. Nur ein Arzt blieb ruhig, und das war der, der die Pillen gemacht hatte.

Der Mensch muß Kraft haben, das bloß Gewußte zum lebendigen Bilde zu machen. Darauf beruht auch die Wirkung der Hypnose. Ausgeschaltet ist in der Hypnose der astralische Leib, und der Hypnotiseur wirkt direkt auf den Ätherleib ein durch Bilder. Aber das ist ein krankhafter Prozeß. Die Bilder, die wir schaffen, drücken sich dem Ätherleib ein. Und sind die Bilder aus der geistigen Welt genommen, so können sie alles Krankhafte aus der geistigen Weltenkraft heraus austilgen, das heißt mit den Weltenströmungen ausgleichen, harmonisieren. Alles Krankhafte stammt aus dem Egoismus. Bei einem solchen Vorgang werden wir über unser gewöhnliches Vorstellungsleben hinausgehoben: Gleichsam ein Herabdämmern der gewöhnlichen Vorstellungen findet dann statt. Und das muß bisweilen eintreten, zum Beispiel im Schlaf, Da trennt sich der Astralleib mit dem Ich ab von dem physischen Leib und Lebensleib und vereint sich mit dem Geiste der Erde. Und von da aus wirkt er gesundend auf den Ätherleib ein, prägt ihm Gesundung bringende Bilder ein. Aber das geschieht unbewußt. Nur der höher Entwickelte tut dies bewußt. Urewige Ideen stehen hinter allem, sagt Plato. Ein Seher sieht das geistige Wesen in jeder Pflanze, die Gestalt der Pflanze ist ja selbst aus solchen geistigen Bildern aufgebaut. Der Mensch kann diese Bilder aufnehmen und dadurch schöpferisch werden. Nur Tiere und Menschen, eigentlich nur Menschen, können erkranken. Die Bilder als Geistiges wirken in der ganzen Natur, wir Menschen aber nehmen den Geist in uns hinein und müssen ihn nun wieder zum Leben erheben. Imaginative Weisheit wird Gesundheit bringen. Was befruchtend wirkt bis zum Bilde, das ist Weisheit. Der Geist schafft die Imagination. Die Geisteswissenschaft, die uns solche Weisheit gibt, kann uns am besten Heilung von Krankheiten bringen, und zwar vor allem — vorbeugend — von solchen, die man noch nicht hat. Aber das ist freilich schwer zu kontrollieren. Die Geisteswissenschaft hat auch die Kraft, die den Menschen verjüngt, kraftvoll und jung erhält, Die Weisheit gießt Lebenskraft in den Menschen, und die Jugendkraft ist etwas, was stark und frisch macht. Solche Weisheit öffnet die Seele. Und Weisheit ist der Same der Liebe. Liebe kann man nicht predigen. Am mitleid- und liebevollsten waren die Therapeuten und Essäer. Weisheit durchwärmt die menschliche Seele, 1äßt die Liebe ausströmen; darum ist es nicht wunderbar, wenn solche Weise durch Handauflegen heilen konnten. Die Weisheit strömt Liebeskraft in die Glieder. Weil Christus der Weiseste war, war er auch der beste Heiler, strömte die Liebe und das Mitleid von ihm aus, was allein helfen kann. Wenn ein Mensch mit gebrochenem Bein auf der Straße liegt, und es stehen die liebevollsten Menschen um ihn herum, so werden sie ihm doch nicht helfen können. Wenn aber ein Arzt kommt, der ein Bein einzurichten versteht, dem seine Weisheit ermöglicht, sein Mitleid zur Tat werden zu lassen, dann wird geholfen werden. Können, erkennen, weise sein ist die Grundlage alles Menschenhelfens. Weisheit ist immer um uns in der Welt, weil weise Wesen sie ausgossen. Wenn die Weisheit auf ihrem Gipfel angekommen ist, wird sie sein die allumfassende Liebe. Liebe wird die zukünftige Welt uns entgegenstrahlen. Weisheit ist die Mutter der Liebe. Der weisheitsvolle Geist ist der große Heiler. Darum ist der Christus, die Liebe, aus dem heiligen, das heißt heilenden Geist geboren.

Wisdom and Health

Spiritual Science wants to have an effect in practical life; it wants to give people strength and security. It is not for the curious, but only for those who want to be active, who want to work hard in life. Spiritual Science has existed at all times. In the circles where it was cultivated, it was always said that human beings could develop higher spiritual powers beyond the pure power of the intellect, powers that are greater than those of ordinary life. The connection between sacred, healing, and wholesome was always felt there. The Holy Spirit is the absolutely healthy spirit that descends into the human soul to spread healing in the world. But it is precisely from this point of view that Spiritual Science is often misunderstood. It leads people away from finite, egoistic goals of knowledge and striving toward great, universal perspectives, toward the connection of the individual with the universe. But the higher powers that Spiritual Science confers in this way attract so many people and incite them to egoistic striving. Although Spiritual Science actually leads people furthest away from the personal, it is often used as a servant of egoism. People want it to fulfill their selfish desires overnight.

Spiritual science existed in a brotherhood in Africa, the Therapeuts. The same sect was called Essenes or Essenians in the part of the world where Christianity originated. The very name “Therapeuts” shows their relationship to the spirit and to health. The Therapeuts or Essenians healed by means of the spirit, in connection with material science. Those who take in Spiritual Science take in real remedies: Spiritual Science is an elixir of life. It should not be proven through discussion and logical reasoning, but rather introduced into life, where it should make those people into whom it flows healthy and whole. Merely knowing that reincarnation and karma exist and being able to speak about them in beautiful phrases is as good as no Spiritual Science at all. One must live in it daily, hourly, permeate the soul completely with it and wait calmly to see what happens, then one will see its effect. Those who carry spiritual scientific thoughts within themselves like thoughts of food and seeds, in hours of suffering and joy, in hours of devotion and exaltation, in hours when life threatens to tear them apart, those who feel how they bring joy in work, strength, and hope, have grasped them correctly. Here, Goethe's words apply: “Consider the what, consider more the how!”

Spiritual Science must become a very individual matter for each person. The person striving for Spiritual Science looks up at the stars and understands them according to the laws of life that pulsate through the entire universe. When the sun rises in its glory in the morning and the moon in its silent splendor in the evening, when the clouds drift across the sky, he looks up and the events in the heavens become an expression of the soul-spiritual universal life, just as we regard the movements of a face or a hand as an expression of the soul-spiritual life in human beings. And then we look into the past, see the workings of the spiritual world in the physical, and lift our senses to the spirit. Absorb the spirit, and you will absorb healthy life with it! But let all comfort be far away. “Elevation to the infinite is the foundation of health,” say many, but they delve only into abstract, general thoughts. That is not true Spiritual Science. True Spiritual Science deals with the individual; it demands that we engage with every plant and every stone with patience and love. We do not want to seek the spiritual world through magic. It is there. But we should not seek it apart from sensuality, but where we are placed for the efficient work of the day. In this way, Spiritual Science becomes an individual matter. Just as a person may have no understanding of a piece of music or a work of art, so too do some people have no understanding of the spirit. The following example illustrates what some people imagine ghostly apparitions to be: One evening in a small town, a strange glow was observed stretching along the churchyard wall. Soon the whole town was talking about it, and since no natural explanation could be found, it must have been a ghostly apparition. Several people had seen the glow, and that was precisely what made the matter doubtful. In order to see a real spirit, a person must have developed certain spiritual organs and abilities. In this day and age, this can only happen in very isolated cases. The fact that several random people saw the glow is the best proof that it was not a spirit. The matter was soon cleared up. An elderly lady used to walk her little dog every evening by the light of a lantern. On this particular evening, the light happened to be noticed. We should not pursue such supposed ghostly apparitions. Everyday phenomena are the most important manifestations of the spirit for us.

Wisdom is not merely science, but it must contain science within itself: it is science that has entered into life and can be transformed into decision and action at any moment. Those who merely know the laws are scientists. Those who know how to apply knowledge at any moment so that something can come of it are wise. Wisdom is science that has become fruitful. We must forget where we obtained the laws and permeate ourselves with them so that they become a force within us. Goethe came to the idea of the archetypal plant from his close observation of individual plants. This is a product of spiritual intuition, an image of a plant that can live within us, an image from which countless plants could be invented that do not yet exist but could be viable. In wisdom, the laws become such that they detach themselves from the individual, that they live in eternity. But this requires what is called imagination, pictorial mental image. Abstract thoughts and concepts can be science, but not wisdom. If Goethe had stopped at concepts, he would not have found the archetypal plant. One must see the primordial plant so vividly before one's eyes that one can draw it with roots, stems, leaves, and fruits, without it resembling any other plant. This is not a game of fantasy. Fantasy is only a shadow image of imagination, but it can rise to the level of imagination. The world of imagination is not yet accessible to us, but it can become so. It would be dark around us if the eye could not translate the incoming light into images and color perceptions. So, as in the eye, we must also develop powers in the soul that are concrete. Anyone who believes that they must wait until a nebulous manifestation of a spirit appears to them has not grasped this work. The soul must work, just as the eye works when light enters. Without the work of the soul, the spiritual world can never flow in. Images must be created in the soul. Objectivity is maintained if one does not create images of selfish desires and so on. When a person stretches out their soul toward the spiritual world in this way, the spiritual world flows into them and has a healing effect. The imaginations and images have a healing effect. If we can turn the concepts of Spiritual Science into images that have not only lines but also life, color, and sound, if the whole world becomes such an image, then this wisdom will become a remedy in every area of life, not only for ourselves but also for others, for the whole world. Even if the images are wrong at first, it does not matter. They will be corrected by those who guide us.

Paracelsus was such a wise man. He immersed himself in the whole world and transformed it into living power, so that every plant had something to say to him. What did it say to him? It revealed to him what wisdom is. Animals are wise in a certain sense: wisdom lies in their instincts. But animals do not have individual souls, but rather a group soul that acts from outside, like a spiritual entity. All animals whose blood can be mixed without harm have a common soul, the group soul. This wisdom of the soul acting from outside was individualized in humans. Every human being has their own individual soul acting from within, but in return they had to sacrifice the security of existence. Uncertainty is the characteristic feature of science. Human life is a process of trying, choosing, searching, and groping. But there is a higher development. The knowledge that humans laboriously acquire through trial and error can become wisdom again. When one recasts the living into something filled with color, sound, and light, into imagination, one becomes wise. That is what Paracelsus did. He approached every plant, every chemical substance in this way. Just as animals know immediately what is healing for them, Paracelsus also recognized the healing powers of plants immediately: but not unconsciously and instinctively, rather, filled with conscious wisdom, he understood which patients would benefit from them. In this sense, the therapists and Essenes were also wise. This cannot be recognized through trial and error, but only when wisdom becomes imagination. The plant then speaks to the image that lives of it in the soul and says: Yes, I am good for that. The plant recognizes its image in the soul of the person who looks at it, it transforms its image, and then the person immediately knows and feels what it is good for. Spiritual science has nothing against real science, and no one who truly strives for spiritual science will fail to familiarize themselves with the achievements of science. But they do not stop there, and so they elevate knowledge to creative, wise recognition.

We know that the human being is composed of the physical body, the etheric or life body, the astral body, and the ego. Ordinary knowledge penetrates only as far as the astral body and becomes a part of it. Imagination, however, penetrates into the etheric body, fills the life body with the spirit of life, and enables the human being to become a living healer. The extent of the effect of imagination compared to purely abstract concepts can best be seen in the terrible effects it can have. A man was present when his brother's leg was amputated. While the bone was being worked on, there was a strange sound. At that very moment, he felt a sharp pain in the same place on his leg where the operation was being performed on his brother. He was unable to get rid of the pain for a long time, while his brother felt nothing more. The sound of the bone had imaginatively dug into the man's etheric body and caused the pain.

A doctor from Bern also conducted some very interesting experiments in this field. He took an ordinary horseshoe and attached two wires to it as if they were the lead wires of an electrifying machine. Everyone who came to see it believed that it was such a machine and really felt an electric current when they touched the wires. Some even claimed to feel the most excruciating pain. The whole event had a vivid effect. It would have been impossible to dissuade people from believing it. There are certain people who get rich by making pills from ordinary bread. These pills “cure” all kinds of illnesses and are used in particular as sleeping pills. In a sanatorium, a lady used to take such pills regularly in the evening. She always slept very well afterwards. Then one evening she decided to take her own life and took as many pills as she could get her hands on. However, this was noticed and the doctors at the institution became extremely agitated, as the lady showed all the symptoms of impending death. Only one doctor remained calm, and that was the one who had made the pills.

Human beings must have the power to transform mere knowledge into living images. This is also the basis of the effect of hypnosis. In hypnosis, the astral body is switched off, and the hypnotist acts directly on the etheric body through images. But this is a pathological process. The images we create are imprinted on the etheric body. And if the images are taken from the spiritual world, they can erase everything pathological from the spiritual world force, that is, balance and harmonize it with the world currents. Everything pathological stems from egoism. In such a process, we are lifted above our ordinary mental images: a kind of dimming of ordinary mental images then takes place. And this must happen from time to time, for example during sleep. Then the astral body with the ego separates from the physical body and the life body and unites with the spirit of the earth. And from there it has a healing effect on the etheric body, imprinting images that bring healing. But this happens unconsciously. Only the more highly developed do this consciously. Eternal ideas are behind everything, says Plato. A seer sees the spiritual essence in every plant; the form of the plant itself is constructed from such spiritual images. Human beings can absorb these images and thereby become creative. Only animals and human beings, actually only human beings, can become ill. The images as spiritual entities work throughout nature, but we human beings take the spirit into ourselves and must now raise it up to life again. Imaginative wisdom will bring health. What has a fertilizing effect on the image is wisdom. The spirit creates the imagination. Spiritual Science, which gives us such wisdom, can best bring us healing from illnesses, especially—preventively—from those we do not yet have. But that is, of course, difficult to control. Spiritual Science also has the power to rejuvenate people, to keep them strong and young. Wisdom pours vitality into people, and youthful energy is something that makes them strong and fresh. Such wisdom opens the soul. And wisdom is the seed of love. Love cannot be preached. The most compassionate and loving were the therapists and Essenes. Wisdom warms the human soul and allows love to flow out; therefore, it is not surprising that such wise people were able to heal by laying on of hands. Wisdom pours the power of love into the limbs. Because Christ was the wisest, he was also the best healer; love and compassion flowed from him, which alone can help. If a person lies on the street with a broken leg and the most loving people stand around him, they will still not be able to help him. But if a doctor comes who knows how to set a leg, whose wisdom enables him to turn his compassion into action, then help will be given. Being able, recognizing, being wise is the basis of all human help. Wisdom is always around us in the world because wise beings poured it out. When wisdom has reached its peak, it will be all-encompassing love. Love will shine upon us in the world of the future. Wisdom is the mother of love. The wise spirit is the great healer. That is why Christ, love, was born of the holy, that is, healing spirit.