The Rudolf Steiner Archive

17. Occult Research into History

Rudolf Steiner's lecture

[ 1 ] Dr. Rudolf Steiner spoke on this topic at the annual meeting of the German Section of the Theosophical Society on October 18, 1903. A very brief summary of the lecture is given here.

[ 2 ] The founder of the “Theosophical Society” gave us the “Secret Doctrine”, in which the foundation for a solution to the great riddles of existence is laid on two sides. In a comprehensive theory of the origin of the world (cosmogenesis), the plan is shown according to which the scene has developed out of the spiritual primal powers of the universe, on which man is responsible for his earthly change. From a second volume (Anthropogenesis) we see the stages through which man himself has passed until he has become a member of the present race. It will depend on the development of the theosophical movement, on when it will have reached a certain state of maturity, in which time the same spiritual forces that have given us the great truths of the first two volumes will also give us the third. This will contain the deeper laws for what the so-called “world history” offers us on the outside. It will deal with “occult historical research”. It will show how the destinies of nations are fulfilled in the true sense, how guilt and atonement are linked in the great life of humanity, how the leading personalities of history arrive at their mission, and how they fulfill it.

[ 3 ] Only someone who understands how the great trinity of body, soul and spirit is interwoven with the wheel of becoming can see through the development of humanity. Above all, one has to realize how physical existence in the broadest sense is conditioned by the great cosmic natural forces, which take on a particular form in racial and national characters and in what is called the “spirit” of an age. One will understand how the material basis comes about, which expresses itself in the fact that people represent certain types (peoples, ages), in which they resemble one another. The generic characters will be more clearly illuminated here, which they cannot receive from the cultural history that is focused on the merely superficial. It will be understood how the influence of the soil, the climate, the economic conditions, and so on, actually takes place on people.

[ 4 ] Then the role that the personal element plays in history will be examined. The drives, instincts, feelings and passions come from this personal element. And they can only be understood by knowing the influence of the world that we call astral or psychic (soul-like) on that which takes place before our physical senses and our minds. This part of occult history will help us to understand what is usually attributed to the arbitrariness of individual personalities. And we will understand the interaction of individual personality, nation and age. The enlightening light will be cast into world history from the astral field.

[ 5 ] Thirdly, it will be learned how the total spirit of the universe intervenes in human destinies, how the life of this total spirit pours into the higher self of a great leader of humanity and in this way, through channels of this higher life, is shared with all humanity. For that is the way this higher life takes: it flows into the higher selves of the leading spirits, and these share it with their brothers. From embodiment to embodiment, the higher selves of human beings develop and learn more and more to make their own selves into missionaries of the divine plan of the world. Through occult historical research, one will recognize how a human leader develops to the point where he can take on a divine mission. One will see how Buddha, Zarathustra, and Christ came to their missions. The lecturer illustrated these general statements by suggesting some examples of how one might think about the development of great leaders of humanity through their reincarnation.

Report (probably by Richard Bresch)

[ 6 ] At half past five, Dr. Steiner gave the announced lecture on occult historical research, which was attended by an audience of 40-50 people. The speaker said something like the following:

[ 7 ] After the Theosophical Society was founded in 1875, H. P. Blavatsky, with the help of her teachers, began to work on the mighty work that we know under the title “The Secret Doctrine” and in which a treasure of the deepest knowledge has been bequeathed to us. This work consists of two parts, the cosmological and the anthropological, the first of which deals with the development of the universe and the second with that of man. In the course of time, this work will be supplemented by a third part, which will deal with what profane science calls “history”. History, whether it likes it or not, must be content with the facts that take place on the physical plane; Theosophy, on the other hand, which goes directly to the causes, finds the answer to all those questions that secular science has so often and so vainly tried to solve.

[ 8 ] If we follow the historical facts, we encounter three things: just as the acting human being is enveloped in a threefold system - the physical, the soul and the spiritual being - so too are historical facts subject to such a threefold division. The external actions that take place before our senses are in the physical; in the soul lies the center where pleasure and displeasure, sympathy and antipathy prevail, and in the spiritual we find the realm where the events of history arise. Here we have to look for the true causes of everything that happens on earth, here the leading figures of history consult eye to eye with the great and invisible leaders of humanity. Only when we explore the intention that drove them to act do we understand the often inexplicable facts of history.

[ 9 ] For example, in the 15th century there lived a Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (Cusanus), who had profound scientific insights. Long before Copernicus, he had recognized and taught the double movement of the earth, without being understood by his contemporaries. It was a kind of preparation for what Copernicus (born 1473) was able to communicate to a more insightful generation (16th century). Occult students now teach unanimously (and H. P. Blavatsky also openly stated this and hinted at it in the third volume of The Secret Doctrine) that Copernicus was none other than Cardinal Cusa reincarnated, who thus brought his work to completion. Thus are tasks set and solved; the soul that prepares something great comes back later to fulfill and complete its mission.

[ 10 ] The speaker gave two more examples to show how occult historical research works in its difficult field, how it connects seemingly unrelated facts in an explanatory way; and with these examples, he also gave a picture of the supplement to The Secret Doctrine that was once to be expected: rounds and races were the subjects of the parts published so far; the third part, the occult research into history, will deal with reincarnation.

[ 11 ] Finally, Dr. Steiner spoke at length about the Theosophical movement. This, he emphasized, is also an enormous necessity in the occult sense; there are many reasons for this, one of the most important of which is as follows:

[ 12 ] A secret is handed down to each human race; we are in the fifth race and with the fifth secret, and although the latter cannot be pronounced today, we are gradually living into it. Paul, who was an initiate, already hints at what it is, but it will only be revealed in the course of our race's development. Premature divination of this secret by purely intellectual abilities would mean an indescribable danger for humanity. Since such divination has almost occurred twice already and will happen again in the foreseeable future, the great teachers of humanity have brought about the theosophical movement. Humanity is to be prepared for the great truth. Theosophy is working towards a certain point in time; a core is to be formed that understands this truth when it emerges undisguised one day – a core that grasps it correctly and uses it not as a curse but as a blessing for humanity. The earlier races were formed from an already existing one, by selecting suitable individuals or families and continuing them through the Manu in suitable deserted landscapes. This procedure is no longer feasible, given the extent of today's global traffic, but it is no longer necessary either; it has been replaced by education through the cosmopolitan International Theosophical Society, of which this core is a part.

Postscript by the editors:

[ 13 ] On November 14, 1903, Günther Wagner of Lugano, who had heard this lecture, wrote to Rudolf Steiner as follows:

[ 14 ] ”... I would be very grateful if you could give me some specific information: the suggestion about a mystery that every race has to solve was completely new to me; I found nothing about it in ‘Secret Doctrine’. Would you be able to tell me the four riddles that the first four races (apparently did) solve? I would also like to read H. P. B.'s allusion to it; perhaps you could give me the exact place.

Rudolf Steiner replied to him on December 24, 1903:

[ 15 ] Dear Mr. Wagner: Page 73 of the (German edition) “Geheimlehre” reads with reference to verse 1,6 (Dzyan): “Of the seven truths or revelations, only four have been handed down to us, since we are still in the fourth round.” When you were in Berlin, I hinted to you, in the sense of a certain occult tradition, that the fourth of the seven truths mentioned above goes back to seven esoteric root truths, and that of these seven partial truths (the fourth regarded as the whole) one is delivered to each race, as a rule. The fifth will be revealed in full when the fifth race has reached its goal of development. Now I would like to answer your question as best I can. At present, the situation is such that the first four partial truths form meditation sentences for the aspirants of the mysteries and that nothing more can be given than these (symbolic) meditation sentences. From them, then, through occult channels, much that is higher emerges for the meditator. I therefore set out the four meditation sentences here, translated into English from the symbolic sign language:

[ 16 ] I. Sense: how the point becomes a sphere and yet remains itself. When you have grasped how the infinite sphere is only a point, then come again, for then the infinite will seem finite to you.

[ 17 ] II. Sense: how the seed becomes an ear of corn, and then come again, for then you will have grasped how the living in number.

[ 18 ] III. Sense: how light longs for darkness, heat for cold, how the male longs for the female, then come again, for then you will have grasped what countenance the great dragon at the threshold will show you.

[ 19 ] IV. Ponder: how one enjoys hospitality in a strange house, then come again, for then you have grasped what befalls him who sees the sun at midnight.

[ 20 ] Now, if the meditation was fruitful, the fifth secret arises from the four. For the time being, let me just say that Theosophy - the partial theosophy that lies, for example, in the “Secret Doctrine” and its esotericism - is a sum of partial truths of the fifth. You will find a hint as to how to go beyond this in the letter from Master K.H. [Kuthumi], quoted by Sinnett, which begins with the following words: “I have read every word...” In the first (German) edition of “Occult World,” it appears on pages 126 and 127.

[ 21 ] I can only assure you that almost the entire fifth secret is hidden in an occult way in the sentence in which K.H. writes (page 127), “When science has learned how impressions of leaves originally came about on stones...”.

[ 22 ] That is all I can say for the present about your questions. More perhaps in answer to further questions.

[ 23 ] The four sentences above are what are called living sentences, i.e., they germinate during meditation and sprouts of knowledge grow out of them.

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