Greek and Germanic Mythology
in the Light of Esotericism
GA 92
28 October 1922, Berlin
IV. The Trojan War
Since there are some newcomers present to-day, I should like briefly to explain that in the course of these lectures I have tried to show how the various myths and sagas are expressions of an esoteric content, and that one only needs to know how to interpret their language to find on occasions deep esoteric truths in them. To-day I should like to speak of one in particular of those sagas which are remarkable in that, while on the one hand they are sagas, yet at the same time they have an external meaning on the physical plane, that is to say, they record quite specific external events.
Before I begin to speak about this saga, I should like to refer to something else that most of you already know, but it is a thing which one has to stress again and again. In the course of our fifth root-race, thus, in the time lying between the end of Atlantis and the beginning of the next, the sixth, root-race, an advance in human evolution of the highest importance will be made; the leaders of mankind, their Manus, will arise in mankind itself. None of the great leaders who brought men forward, the leaders who gave them their important impulses during the earlier root-races, went through their own evolution entirely on earth; they underwent it in part on other planets, and thus they brought from other worlds what they had to give to the earth as great impulses. The Manus of Lemuria and Atlantis, as well as the chief Manu of our fifth root-race, are super-sensible individualities, who underwent the sublime schooling which enabled them to become the leaders of mankind, on other planets. But during the fifth root-race highly developed human individualities have trained themselves so that from the sixth root-race onwards they will be capable of becoming the leaders of mankind. The leader of the sixth root-race, in particular, will be a man as we are, only one of the most advanced, indeed the most advanced among men. He will be a being who began his development when incarnation started, approximately in the middle of Lemuria, one who has always been a man among men, only that he was able to advance more rapidly, and one who has gone through every stage of human evolution. This will be the fundamental characteristic of the Manus of the sixth root-race. Such beings have to undergo all kinds of initiation, they have to be initiated again and again. Hence the fifth root-race from its outset has always had initiates, men who were so initiated as to enable them to walk their own freely-willed path. This was not the case during the Lemurian period, nor even in Atlantis. Both in Lemuria and Atlantis those who helped mankind forward, those who ruled and guided mankind, those who were political leaders and leaders of great religious communities, were under the influence of higher beings. They were directly dependent upon higher Beings, Beings who had gone through their own development on other planets. It is not until the fifth root-race that mankind is left free. Then we have initiates who have a connection with higher Beings, but to whom such comprehensive guidance is not given; more and more freedom is allowed to the initiates of the fifth root-race in matters of detail. Guidance is given on general lines, not only to the initiates, but to those who are stimulated by them. Impulses are given to them, but yet in such a way that it is out of their own spirituality that they have to carry things out.
The five sub-races that we know are: first, the sub-race of Spirituality; this is the sub-race from which the Indian cultural community arose. Then we have the sub-race of the Flame, that is the Persian cultural community. Then we have what we call the ancient Chaldean sub-race, the sub-race of the Stars, of which the Israelite people forms a branch, indeed the most important branch. The fourth cultural community is the one which produced Greece and Rome, the sub-race of Personality. The fifth sub-race is that of the World, the culture within which we ourselves live, the culture of the present stage of evolution, which will be replaced by a cultural community coming from Asia.
Last time I discussed the great initiates of the northern region. On that occasion I pointed to the fact that the initiate, or anyone who is in any way connected with initiation, has a distinguishing mark, and that to be invulnerable is one of these symbolic distinctions. This invulnerability, which we find in Siegfried, is also to be found in Achilles. In fact in the myth with which Achilles is associated, a deep esoteric meaning is hidden. You must realise that what I put before you comes about gradually in the fifth root-race. The Manus so arranged the guidance of the race that the entire leadership of mankind was in the hands of the priesthood, which received its inspiration direct from higher spiritual beings, from super-men. This priesthood could be entrusted with the classification of mankind. It would have been impossible to carry out a division into castes rightly, except in cultural communities guided by priestly rulers. Hence caste is only to be found in the authentic priestly cultures, in ancient India and in Egypt, where initiated priests were at the head of affairs, initiates who followed no impulses derived from kama but only intuitions from above, and they could be trusted to bring about that important classification which in its origin in the Egyptian and the Indian castes was fully justified. When you study these castes, you find that they are an expression of the whole plan of development of the fifth root-race.
According to this plan, the guidance of this fifth root-race should pass over gradually from the priestly outlook to that of the world. A worldly king, a king who was not a priest, would, in the early stages of the fifth root-race, have been quite impossible. It was impossible in Atlantis, when the leader still worked with other forces, when the impulse did not yet pass through the thinking mind. But in the fifth root-race there had to come a halt, guidance had to be entirely withdrawn from cosmic powers and handed over to those who receive divine inspiration. Hence in the Indian and Egyptian cultures we have priestly rulerships. The priest is the Regent, it is from him that everything emanates. The priest belongs to the first caste, the warrior to the second. After that come the castes which follow purely worldly occupations. We come down in stages to those who are concerned with agriculture. Little by little these castes are to attain independence.
Thus the first caste was the priestly one, the second the warrior caste. We never find that the temporal relationships which emerge in the course of evolution are the same as those which show themselves externally in space. I beg you to note that if a spatial relationship is to become a temporal one, it occurs in the ratio of four to seven, occurs in such a way that the fourfold expands to sevenfold. Thus during the fifth root-race the four castes find their outward expression in time in the gradual training to independence of the seven sub-races. The ratio of four to seven comes from a quite specific law. To-day I will merely say that evolution takes place in such a way that in the first sub-race, in all essential matters, guidance is entirely in the hands of the priests In the second sub-race we have one led by the priest-kings. Zarathustra, the true magician, is the counselor of priest-kings. During the third sub-race the rulership is able to pass over to worldly kings, who however still follow the guidance of the priests or the priest-kings. It is only during the fourth sub-race that we find purely worldly kings, kings who are no longer associated with priestly power. This fourth sub-race has its first beginning in the Greek folk. It is in Greece that we first see worldly kings, and, as the Greek colonies become established, in them too we find worldly kings.
The saga of the Trojan War is a representation of the spread of Hellenism; it is the mythical presentation of an esoteric truth, the efflorescence of the fourth sub-race of the fifth root-race, and the replacement of the priestly rulership, now in its last stage, by the purely worldly rulership.
That is very subtly indicated at the beginning of the Trojan saga. You probably know that matter is always represented by water I need only call attention to the familiar Nicene Creed, which says “suffered under Pontius Pilate”. As the esotericist knows, this is an incorrect rendering. What it really says is “suffered in pontoi pilatoi”, which means merely “in compressed water”, and signifies “descended in order to suffer in matter”. This sentence in the Creed which is said all over Christendom has come about through the word “pontoi” having become “Pontius”. When Thales states that everything has originated from water, he is referring to the comprehensive physical matter of which alone we can treat when we would speak of physical things. He is using the term ‘water’ for physical matter. Physical matter is to be the all-important thing for those who now take over guidance. The predominance of physical matter then led to there being worldly kings. Previously there had only been kings who stood in relationship with the Divine. Peleus is the king who is to rule on the physical plane, deriving his strength from the physical plane. This is represented by his marriage with the goddess Thetis—the marriage of the leader of mankind with the matter of the physical plane, with the goddess of water, the goddess of the sea.
And from this union sprang Achilles. He is the first initiate of this kind. Hence he is invulnerable except in the heel. All those who were initiated in the fourth sub-race were vulnerable in some spot. It is only in the fifth sub-race that there will be initiates so advanced as not to be vulnerable anywhere. Achilles is plunged into the Styx. That means to be dead to the earthly and withdrawn to a higher plane of vision.
There we have an important transition. Spiritual life descends for the first time in the middle of the fourth sub-race. For the first time we have to do with physical struggle. Thereby something remarkable comes about. The earlier leaders of the world were free from kama, for they had had to divest themselves of everything connected with kama during their previous initiation stages up to their spiritual initiation. So long as there were priests in the old sense, it was not possible for any trace of kama to enter into the guidance of the world. Kama caused separation, caused beings to turn against one another. Earlier, too, men who were opposed to one another were to be found, but that was not due to kama-manas, but happened because men were not advanced enough to distinguish between good and evil. At that time men could not measure the fight by the standard of good and evil. They could not say “war is good” or “war is bad” any more than they could Say a lion was good or bad; good and evil first began in the moment when kama-manas descended, so that kama worked together with manas, and man became his own master and turned consciously towards or against his fellow man. It was then that conscious war arose. This is indicated in the saga, where we are told that all the gods were present at the marriage of Peleus with the sea-goddess Thetis—except one, a goddess who hitherto had had no influence on the earth, because the stage had not yet been reached when the union of manas with kama occurred. Now on the physical plane the goddess Eris, the goddess of discord, begins to be active. She tosses an apple, discord, into human nature. By so doing she was the sole cause of the first war in the fifth root-race which took place with full human responsibility. In the Trojan war the mythical comes to expression. Before that, strife was determined by instinct.
All that followed, according to the myth, is only a further elaboration of a tendency that was already there. The most beautiful apple is said to be the Eris apple. The three goddesses, Hera, Pallas Athene and Aphrodite—that is to Say, all that earlier was divine soul—disagree among themselves, for the three goddesses signify different stages of soul-life on the higher, spiritual plane. Now things are no longer decided on the higher level, but Paris is called upon to make the decision from the stand-point of the physical plane. Everything descends to the physical plane. The decision too descends to the level of the physical. But something comes about through this. Here lies the crux of the matter, this is where it becomes clear what is at stake. What is it that we have to face because the decision is made from the standpoint of the physical plane? The union of manas with kama. Hitherto man had had a certain relationship with kama, single beings had turned against one another, but this had not yet the significance of good and evil. But now kama unites itself with manas, and the deed becomes conscious. You know that the densest kama fell away from the earth and accompanies it as a satellite which is our moon. Hence in the language of esotericism we might call all that accompanies us to-day in the moon the ‘leitmotif’ of the lower nature; it is what draws us downwards, the great signpost showing us what we can come to if we succumb to our lower nature.
Thus, what is momentous in the union between manas and kama during the fourth sub-race is that the man who has to make the decision unites himself directly with the kama of the moon, with Selene. Selene is none other than Helen. The union of Paris with Helen in the fourth sub-race of the fifth root-race is a symbolical expression of the marriage between kama and manas. The man endowed with manas, finding himself on the physical plane, seizes hold of the moon principle. You meet this everywhere in writings of an esoteric nature. It is also a Helen who drags down Simon Magus and unites him with the element of kama.
Thereby is brought about the full union between the principles of manas and of kama on the fully conscious physical plane. It corresponds not only with what the Trojan War stands for symbolically but also with what really happened. The Trojan War did actually take place. Although it was a series of physical events, these events have a symbolic meaning as well, they are mystical facts. The concept of mystical fact comprehends not merely mystical content, but a mystical content which runs its course outwardly on the physical plane.
Please try to understand this. At the beginning of the sixth root-race an influence will have developed, not in higher spheres, but in the sphere of the present-day conscious mind; in the fifth sub-race this influence is still in its infancy, but it is nevertheless already developing. It is something which emanates from the musical element. For the fifth root-race music will be not merely art, but the means of expression for quite other things than the purely artistic. Here is something that points to the influence of a specific principle on the physical plane. The most significant impulse by those directly initiated in the fifth sub-race will, to begin with, be given solely in the sphere of music. What has to flow in is not astral, but it is something of great significance in the sphere of the mental life of the fifth root-race. It is something that the human intelligence will come to recognise as important, something which has been called the Kundalini fire.1The expression ‘Kundalini fire’ is used by Dr. Steiner in the first edition of his book Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. In later editions he replaced the term by another which is translated in the 1937 English edition as “the spiritual perceptive force in the organ of the heart”, (see p.185). It is a force which to-day still slumbers in man, but which will gradually gain more and more importance. To-day it already has a great importance, it has a great influence upon what we perceive through the sense of hearing. During the further development in the sixth sub-race of the fifth root-race the Kundalini fire will acquire great influence on what lives in the human heart. The human heart will really have this fire. At first this seems to be mere symbolism but man will then really be permeated by a force which will live in his heart, so that during the sixth root-race he will no longer make a distinction between his own well-being and the well-being of the whole. So deeply will man be permeated by the Kundalini fire! He will follow the principle of love as his own innermost nature.
In the seventh sub-race of the fifth root-race the whole of mankind will be in a real chaos, for the root-race will then be near to its collapse. But a small number of the seventh sub-race of the fifth root-race will become the true sons of the Kundalini fire. They will be permeated with its full power. They will provide the material, they will pass it on to the leaders of those who will develop: man further. Thus is the fifth root-race directed to the heights which kindle the divine fire; thus is kindled out of inmost depths with holy fervour the divine principle which no longer separates man from man, but evokes brotherliness as far as the human understanding reaches. And thus far shall brotherliness be quickened in our own root-race and in the next. This fire will live in single individuals; and in those who are initiated in the course of the fifth root-race there already lives a spark of this divine fire which is the capacity for brotherliness and will put an end to separation.
But it is only in its beginning, it is still hidden, veiled by the existing life of separation. The power of kama still conceals the Kundalini fire. And because it emerges in veiled form as premonition, as foreboding, in the immediate future it will assume another character. On the plane of illusion the divine fire is the divine wrath. When the whole of mankind is permeated by this brotherliness it will become the divine love. But so long as it makes itself felt in individuals as zeal, it is the divine wrath. It asserts itself by working with great power in individuals and since the others are not yet ripe enough, it manifests itself as the divine wrath.
The poet, the initiate, who speaks of such things, always expresses this at the outset of his poem. As I pointed out to you in the case of the Odyssey, its main theme is announced in the first lines. And in the Iliad too you will find that the blind poet indicates his theme at the very beginning. “Sing, O Muse, of the wrath of the divine hero Achilles.” It is of the Kundalini fire that the poet speaks when he says this. Only in the fifth race can it be thus spoken of. At the very outset, when the priest Calchas takes the side of the priest-king of Apollo, you see the wrath flare up between Agamemnon and Achilles. And what is it that is overthrown? A priest-king state. Troy is a state in which the king is under the influence of the ancient priestly rulership. The rulership is replaced by the purely worldly principle. There you have a perfect illustration of the fact that what is victorious is nothing else but worldly cleverness. The initiate of the fourth sub-race is Odysseus, the cunning one, who receives initiation in the course of his wanderings. He was not previously an initiate, he became one only as a result of the experiences he went through. In the strangling of the priest of Apollo by the snake you see the same thing symbolised. The snake is the purely worldly cleverness, it ensnares Laocoon, the priest, the representative of the old Trojan priesthood.
If you understand all this you see that the Trojan saga, like so many others, is simply adhering to a true world-historic continuity. This is the secret that the Mysteries have guarded. They have shown the great events in the history of the world to the initiates from this lofty standpoint. In the Mysteries themselves such events were plainly taught, and in the old Greek Mysteries—the ancient ones that long preceded the Eleusinian Mysteries—this important moment, the beginning of the fourth sub-race of the fifth root-race and its whole significance, was among other things brought before the pupils.
To those who are not conversant with theosophical teachings this sounds fantastic. But it is a fact. The Trojan War was shown in the Mysteries before it took place. This is the essential principle of the Mysteries, and it is this which makes it necessary to keep them secret, because they reveal not only the great events of the past, but also events to come. These were not revealed to satisfy curiosity or the undue thirst for knowledge. Those who are initiated into the Mysteries are called upon to take a part in the fashioning of world-history. They have to derive from the Mysteries the forces to enable them to do this. That is the significance of the Mysteries. Hence their betrayal would mean the public announcement by someone of what is to happen in the future Anyone doing this causes utter confusion among his fellow men. Suppose something important is to happen in five hundred years time. In order for this to come about mankind needs to be prepared.
Individuals receive impulses enabling them to bring mankind to the point at which they will live under other conditions, to the point at which they will become ripe enough to adapt themselves to the transformation and to bear it. The initiates are in a position to endure these conditions and to further them. Suppose that one were to bring about an event straightway, years before it was due. Then mankind would not be mature enough for it. Every Mystery will one day under quite different conditions become common property, but it must be under other conditions. To-day there are still Mysteries which will not be revealed until the sixth root-race. The next root-race will live in quite other conditions. Universal brotherhood will then be something quite different. Suppose that to-day someone were to be told a secret that is only suitable for a being with the quality of brotherliness. He would misuse it. There are no absolute Mysteries, there are only things which under certain conditions cannot yet be borne, and men who cannot yet bear them.
That is the essence of the Mystery. It translates itself into the external course of world-history. Those who understand something of this are terribly afraid lest the initiates should in some way, through lack of foresight, betray something too soon. It was always the case that the betrayal of the Mysteries bore the severest penalties. In ancient times the penalty was death. It was not the priests who exacted this, for they knew that a betrayal cannot actually happen. But those who knew something about the matter from the outside, and were not themselves initiated, feared the betrayal of the Mysteries. Socrates himself was a victim of such an attitude.
Der Trojanische Krieg
Da heute einige Neuhinzugekommene hier sind, so möchte ich nur kurz andeuten, daß ich im Verlaufe dieser Stunden versucht habe zu zeigen, wie in den verschiedenen Mythen und Sagen esoterischer Gehalt aufgezeichnet ist und daß man nur die Sprache der Mythen und Sagen handhaben zu können braucht, um in ihnen unter Umständen tiefe esoterische Wahrheiten zu finden. Heute möchte ich im besonderen von einer jener Sagen sprechen, die die merkwürdige Eigentümlichkeit zeigen, daß sie einerseits Sagen sind und auf der anderen Seite einen vollständig äußeren Gehalt von dem physischen Plan her haben, also ein ganz bestimmtes physisches Ereignis zum Ausdruck bringen.
Bevor ich von dieser Sage sprechen werde, will ich noch einer Tatsache Erwähnung tun, die ja die meisten von Ihnen schon kennen, die man sich aber immer wieder einschärfen muß. Das ist die, daß im Verlauf unserer fünften Wurzelrasse, also in der Zeit vom Untergang der Atlantis in der vierten Wurzelrasse bis zur nächsten Wurzelrasse, ein höchst wichtiger Schritt in der ganzen Menschheitsevolution getan wurde, nämlich der, daß aus der Menschheit selbst heraus Führer der Menschheit, die Manus entstehen. Alle die großen Führer, die Manus, welche während der früheren Wurzelrassen die Menschheit weitergebracht haben, welche ihr die großen Impulse gegeben haben, sie haben ihre Entwicklung nicht rein auf der Erde absolviert, sondern zum Teil auf anderen Himmelskörpern zurückgelegt und haben dabei das, was sie der Menschheit an großen Impulsen zu geben hatten, schon von anderen Welten her auf die Erde mitgebracht. Die Manus der lemurischen und auch die der atlantischen Rasse und auch der Stamm-Manu unserer fünften Wurzelrasse sind übermenschliche Individualitäten, die ihre große Schule, durch die sie die Führer der Menschheit werden konnten, auf anderen Planeten durchgemacht haben. Dagegen bildeten sich während unserer fünften Wurzelrasse innerhalb unserer Menschheit selbst so hoch entwickelte Individualitäten heraus, daß sie nunmehr von der sechsten Wurzelrasse ab Führer der Menschheit werden können. Namentlich der Hauptführer der sechsten Wurzelrasse wird ein Mensch sein, wie wir sind, nur eben einer der Vorgeschrittensten, der Vorgeschrittenste geradezu der Menschen. Es wird eine Wesenheit sein, die damals begonnen hat mit der Entwicklung, als in der Mitte der lemurischen Zeit überhaupt die Menschwerdung geschah, die immer Mensch unter Menschen gewesen ist, nur schneller vorschreiten konnte und alle Stufen der menschlichen Entwicklung mitgemacht hat. Das wird der Grundcharakter des Manu der sechsten Wurzelrasse sein. Der Haupt-Manu der sechsten Wurzelrasse und alle, die ihm zur Seite stehen, müssen durch die mannigfaltigsten Initiationen hindurchgehen; sie müssen wiederholt initiiert gewesen sein. Daher hat es in der fünften Wurzelrasse seit ihrer Entstehung immer initiierte Menschen gegeben, Menschen, die sozusagen in der Richtung initiiert waren, daß sie ihren eigenen freiwilligen Weg gehen konnten. Das war während der ganzen lemurischen und auch während der ganzen atlantischen Zeit nicht der Fall. Da standen diejenigen, die der Menschheit weitergeholfen haben, die sie regiert und gelenkt haben, die Staatenlenker und Lenker großer religiöser Gemeinschaften waren, unter dem Einfluß von höheren Wesenheiten. Sie waren während der lemurischen und atlantischen Zeit unmittelbar abhängig von jenen höherentwickelten Wesenheiten, welche ihre Entwicklung auf anderen Planeten durchgemacht hatten. Erst in der fünften Wurzelrasse wird die Menschheit immer mehr freigegeben. Da haben wir Initiierte, die zwar im Zusammenhang stehen mit den höheren Wesenheiten, denen aber nicht so weitgehende Ratschläge gegeben werden, daß sie vollständig ausgearbeitet sind, sondern es wird den Initiierten der fünften Wurzelrasse immer mehr Freiheit gegeben in den Einzelheiten. Im allgemeinen werden den Initiierten zwar Direktiven gegeben, Impulse gegeben, aber doch so, daß sie aus eigener Geistigkeit und Urteilskraft heraus die Dinge ausführen.
Zu unserer fünften Wurzelrasse gehören sieben Unterrassen. Sie nehmen folgende Stellung in der Entwicklung ein: Die erste Unterrasse ist die Rasse der Spiritualität, des Geistes; es ist jene Rasse, aus welcher die indische Kulturgemeinschaft hervorgegangen ist, die Rishi-Kultur, die Veden-Kultur. Dann haben wir die zweite Unterrasse, die Rasse der Flamme, das ist die persische Kulturgemeinschaft, die in der Zarathustra-Religion ihren Ausdruck findet. Dann haben wir die dritte Unterrasse, die wir die Rasse der Sterne nennen, die Urchaldäer, von der das israelitische Volk einen Hauptzweig bildet. Die vierte Unterrasse ist die Kulturgemeinschaft, aus welcher die Griechen und Römer hervorgegangen sind, die Rasse der Persönlichkeit. Die fünfte Unterrasse ist die Rasse der Welt; es ist diejenige, innerhalb welcher wir selbst stehen, die Kulturgemeinschaft der germanisch-angelsächsischen Völker, die gegenwärtig im Stadium der Entwicklung ist und die den Menschen zur freien Persönlichkeit macht, die Rasse, die die Welt erobert. Sie wird abgelöst werden von der slawischen Unterrasse, einer von Asien nachrückenden Kulturgemeinschaft.
In meinem letzten Vortrag habe ich Ihnen von den großen Initiierten in den nordischen Gegenden gesprochen. Ich habe da schon darauf hingedeutet, daß symbolische Bezeichnungen existierten für den Initiierten oder für einen, der mit den Initiationen in irgendeiner Beziehung stand, und daß dafür ein symbolischer Ausdruck ist, daß der Initiierte unverwundbar ist. Diese Unverwundbarkeit, die wir bei Siegfried antrafen, ist auch bei Achilles anzutreffen. In der Tat liegt in dem Mythos, in den Achilles hineingeflochten ist, eine tief esoterische Bedeutung verborgen. Sie müssen bedenken, daß das, was ich auseinandergesetzt habe, gradweise im Verlauf der fünften Wurzelrasse vor sich geht. Die Leitung der Menschheit im Beginn der fünften Wurzelrasse hat der Manu so eingerichtet, daß die Lenkung ganz der Priesterschaft unterstand, die ihre Inspirationen unmittelbar von den höheren göttlichen Wesenheiten, von übermenschlichen Wesenheiten bekam. Dieser initiierten Priesterschaft konnte es überlassen werden, die Menschheit selbst einzuteilen. Es wäre unmöglich gewesen, in anderen Kulturgemeinschaften als solchen, die durch Priesterherrscher gelenkt wurden, eine Einteilung der Menschen in Kasten gerecht durchzuführen. Sie finden daher Kasteneinteilungen auch eigentlich nur in den wirklichen Priesterkulturen, im alten Indien und im alten Ägypten, wo initiierte Priester an der Spitze standen, die keinen kamischen Impulsen folgten, sondern höheren Weisungen. Sie verfuhren unpersönlich, kama-frei, und ihnen konnte es überlassen bleiben, jene schwerwiegende Einteilung der Menschen in Kasten vorzunehmen, die in Ägypten und Indien ursprünglich voll berechtigt war. Wenn Sie diese Kasten betrachten, so finden Sie in denselben ausgeprägt den ganzen Plan zur Entwicklung der fünften Wurzelrasse.
Dieser Plan ist der, daß nach und nach die Führung, die Lenkung dieser fünften Wurzelrasse übergeht von der Priestergesinnung auf die Weltgesinnung, vom Priester auf den König. Ein weltlicher König, der nicht Priester war, wäre in der ersten Zeit der fünften Wurzelrasse noch ganz unmöglich gewesen. Während der atlantischen Zeit, als die Menschen ihre Impulse noch nicht durch den denkenden Verstand erhielten, sondern aus anderen Kräften, und auch noch im Beginn der fünften Wurzelrasse, mußte die Lenkung der Menschheit jeder weltlichen Macht entzogen und denen überlassen werden, welche göttliche Inspirationen empfingen. Daher finden Sie in der indischen und ägyptischen Kultur die reine Priesterherrschaft. Der Priester ist der Regent, er ist derjenige, von dem alles ausgeht. Der Priester gehört der höchsten Kaste an. Die Krieger, die eine rein weltliche Beschäftigung haben, gehören der zweiten Kaste an. Dann geht es herunter zu denen, die sich mit dem Ackerbau befassen.
Nach und nach sollten diese Kasten stufenweise zur Selbständigkeit kommen. In dem, was sich in der Zeitlichkeit entwickelt, haben wir niemals das gegeben, was äußerlich im Raume wirklich vorhanden ist. Das bitte ich zu beachten. Wenn ein räumliches Verhältnis zeitlich werden soll, so geschieht das im Verhältnis von vier zu sieben, in der Weise, daß die Vierheit zur Siebenheit sich erweitert. Die vier im Raum nebeneinanderstehenden Kasten kommen im Verlaufe der fünften Wurzelrasse zeitlich so zur Geltung, daß wir die sieben Unterrassen nach und nach zur Selbständigkeit sich entwickeln sehen. Das Verhältnis von vier zu sieben beruht auf einem ganz bestimmten Gesetz. Heute will ich dazu nur sagen, daß die sieben Unterrassen sich so entwickeln, daß wir es in der ersten Unterrasse im wesentlichen zu tun haben mit der ausschließlichen Lenkung durch Priester, in der zweiten Unterrasse mit der Lenkung durch Priesterkönige und durch Magier. Zarathustra, der eigentliche Magier, ist der Ratgeber des Priesterkönigs. Während der dritten Unterrasse kann die Herrschaft auf die weltlichen Könige übergehen, die noch immer den Ratschlägen der Priester folgen. Erst während der vierten Unterrasse haben wir es mit weltlichen Königen zu tun, die nicht mehr in irgendeiner Beziehung zur priesterlichen Gewalt stehen. Die ersten weltlichen Könige treten zunächst im griechischen Volke auf, und als die griechische Herrschaft befestigt wird, geschieht das durch weltliche Könige.
Die Ausbreitung des Griechentums wird äußerlich - sagenhaft — dargestellt in der Sage vom Trojanischen Krieg. Diese Sage vom Trojanischen Krieg ist nichts anderes als die mythische Darstellung einer esoterischen Wahrheit, nämlich des Aufblühens der vierten Unterrasse der fünften Wurzelrasse und der Ablösung der Priesterherrschaft in ihrem letzten Stadium durch die rein weltliche Herrschaft. Das wird gleich im Beginn der trojanischen Sage in einer außerordentlich feinen Weise angedeutet.
Sie wissen wohl, daß in der Esoterik überall die Materie dargestellt wird durch das Symbol des Wassers. Wasser ist das esoterische Symbol für die Materie. Ich brauche Sie nur auf ein Beispiel aus der Theologie hinzuweisen: In dem Nicaenischen Glaubensbekenntnis, da, wo es heißt «...gelitten unter Pontius Pilatus», da müßte es eigentlich heißen «gelitten in Póntos Pyletós», das bedeutet «in dem zusammengedrückten Wasser». Der Gottessohn ist herabgestiegen, um zu leiden in der auf dem physischen Plan vorhandenen Materie. Im Credo, das wir im christlichen Bekenntnis haben, ist aus «póntos», das Meer, latinisiert «Pontius» geworden, und aus «Pyletós» wurde «Pilatus».
Wenn Thales erklärt, alles sei aus dem Wasser entstanden, so meint er damit in Wahrheit die allumfassende physische Materie. Wir haben es da zu tun mit dem Wasser als physische Materie. Diese physische Materie soll das Maßgebende werden bei denjenigen, die jetzt die Lenkung der Menschheit übernehmen: die weltlichen Könige. Vorher gab es nur Könige, die mit dem Göttlichen in Zusammenhang standen. Peleus ist der König, der herrschen soll auf dem physischen Plan, aus dem physischen Plan selbst die Kraft ziehend. Das wurde in den Mysterien als Mythe dem Volke dadurch dargestellt, daß erzählt wurde: Peleus vermählte sich mit der Meergöttin Thetis. Wir haben es da zu tun mit der Ehe der Menschheitsführung mit der Materie des physischen Planes. Thetis ist die Göttin des Wassers, des Meeres. Und derjenige, der dieser Ehe entsprießt, ist Achilleus. Achilleus ist der erste Initiierte von dieser Art. Er ist daher unverwundbar, bis auf die Ferse. Alle Initiierten der vierten Unterrasse sind noch verwundbar an irgendeiner Stelle. Erst am Ende der fünften Unterrasse wird es so weit fortgeschrittene Initiierte geben, daß sie gar nicht mehr verwundbar sind. Achilleus ist in den Styx getaucht, daß heißt er ist allem Irdischen abgestorben und auf einen höheren Plan entrückt.
Da haben Sie einen wichtigen Abschnitt in der Menschheitsentwicklung. In der Mitte der vierten Unterrasse steigt zuerst das spirituelle Leben herab, da haben wir erst Initiierte des physischen Planes. Damit tritt etwas ganz Besonderes auf. Die früheren Weltenlenker waren kama-frei, sie waren ohne Begierden, sie mußten alles Kamische durch die verschiedenen vorhergehenden Initiationsstufen bis zur spirituellen Initiation abstreifen. Solange es Priester im alten Sinne gab, solange konnte unmöglich etwas von Kama in die Weltenlenkung einfließen. Kama aber bewirkt Sonderheit, Kama macht es möglich, daß die Menschen sich gegeneinander wenden. Früher gab es auch Kampf und Streit, aber die Menschen waren noch nicht so weit, um Gutes und Böses einander gegenüberzustellen. Streit und Krieg unter den damaligen Menschen darf man nicht mit unseren heutigen Maßstäben messen, man muß sie mit demselben Maße messen wie heute die Tierwelt. Man konnte nicht sagen, daß etwas gut oder böse sei, ebensowenig wie ein Löwe oder ein Tiger gut oder böse ist. Das wirkliche Böse fing erst an, als Manas sich mit Kama verband, so daß der Mensch durch Kama dirigiert wurde, und das führte dazu, daß die Menschen mit Bewußtsein gegeneinander kämpften.
Das ist in der Sage dadurch angedeutet, daß bei der Verehelichung des Peleus mit der Meergöttin Thetis alle Götter anwesend sind, aber eine Göttin fehlt. Es fehlt Eris, die Göttin der Zwietracht, weil die Menschheit noch vor dem Stadium war, wo Kama sich mit Manas verband und die Sonderung entstand, durch die die Menschen sich in Gegensatz zueinander stellten. Nun aber erscheint die Göttin Eris; sie wirft einen Apfel unter die Gäste, welcher die Aufschrift trägt «der Schönsten», um Zwietracht herbeizuführen. Damit ist Veranlassung gegeben zu dem erst innerhalb der fünften Wurzelrasse auftretenden, unter voller menschlicher Verantwortung stehenden Krieg. Erst von diesem Zeitpunkt an kann man von einem bewußten Wüten der Menschen gegeneinander sprechen.
Alles weitere im Mythos ist eine Ausgestaltung dessen, was hier begonnen hat. Die Schönste der Göttinnen soll den Apfel der Eris bekommen. Die drei Göttinnen Hera, Pallas Athene und Aphrodite streiten um den Apfel. Die drei Göttinnen bedeuten verschiedene Stufen des Seelenlebens auf den höheren, spirituellen Planen. Jetzt aber soll nicht mehr auf dem spirituellen Plan, sondern auf dem physischen Plan entschieden werden. Deshalb wird Paris gerufen, der entscheiden soll vom physischen Plan aus. Hier liegt die eigentliche Crux, wo man es handgreiflich hat, worauf es ankommt. Was muß uns entgegentreten, wenn vom physischen Plane aus die Entscheidungen herbeigeführt werden?
Als Manas zuerst auf dem physischen Plan auftrat, vermischte es sich mit Kama. Vorher waren die Menschen zwar auch kamisch, aber das hatte noch nicht die Bedeutung von gut und böse. Jetzt aber verbindet Manas sich mit Kama, und daher werden die Menschen sich der Taten bewußt. Manas zieht in das ein, was der Mensch seiner niederen Natur nach ist. Die kamische Entwicklung hatte er sich schon auf dem alten Monde erworben. Das derbste Kamische ist von der Erde abgefallen mit dem Austritt des Mondes und begleitet nun im Monde die Erde als Trabant. Der Mond ist in der Esoterik das Leitmotiv, das Merkzeichen der niederen Natur, für das, was uns hinunterzieht, für das, wohin wir kommen können, wenn wir selbst der niederen Natur verfallen.
Es muß also das Verhängnisvolle in der Verbindung von Manas mit Kama während der vierten Unterrasse darin bestehen, daß sich der Mensch, welcher Entscheidungen zu treffen hat, mit dem Kamischen, mit dem Mondprinzip, mit der Selene verbindet. Aus Selene ist der Name Helena entstanden. In der Verbindung des Paris mit der Helena haben wir die Ehe von Manas mit Kama in der vierten Unterrasse symbolisch ausgedrückt. An sich gerissen hat der auf dem physischen Plane befindliche Mensch das Mondprinzip. Überall können Sie das finden, wenn in der Esoterik vom «Mond» gesprochen wird. Damit, daß unmittelbar auf dem physischen Plan in bewußter Art die ganze Verbindung geschaffen ist vom Manasprinzip mit dem Kamaprinzip, daraus entspringt der Krieg. Der Trojanische Krieg ist zugleich Symbol und Tatsache. Er hat wirklich stattgefunden; die wichtigsten Ereignisse des Trojanischen Krieges spielten sich auf dem physischen Plan ab. Sie haben aber auch symbolische Bedeutung. Die Sage vom Trojanischen Krieg hat einen mystischen Inhalt, aber die Tatsachen sind auch äußerlich auf dem physischen Plan abgelaufen.
Nun bitte ich, noch eines aufzufassen. Wenn die fünfte Wurzelrasse ihr Ende erreicht haben wird und die sechste Wurzelrasse im Aufgang sein wird, wird sich auf dem Gebiete des bewußten Verstandes ein Einfluß herausgebildet haben, der jetzt während der fünften Unterrasse noch sehr zurücktritt, der sich aber bereits herausbildet. Es ist etwas, was vom Musikalischen ausgeht. Die Bedeutung der Musik wird in der fünften Unterrasse immer mehr und mehr zum Ausdruck kommen. Die Musik wird nicht bloß Kunst sein, sondern Ausdrucksmittel werden für ganz andere Dinge als rein Künstlerische. Hier liegt etwas, was hindeutet auf den Einfluß eines ganz bestimmten Prinzipes auf den physischen Plan. Es werden auf dem Gebiete der Musik oder des Musik-Ähnlichen die bedeutsamsten Impulse von den Initiierten der fünften Wurzelrasse gegeben werden. Was einfließen muß in die fünfte Wurzelrasse, und zwar auf dem Gebiete des bewußten Verstandeslebens, das ist das, was man das Kundalinifeuer nennt. Das ist eine Kraft, die jetzt noch im Menschen schlummert, aber immer mehr und mehr Bedeutung gewinnen wird. Heute hat sie schon einen großen Einfluß, eine große Bedeutung in dem, was durch den Sinn des Gehöres wahrgenommen wird. Während der weiteren Entwicklung in der sechsten Unterrasse der fünften Wurzelrasse wird dieses Kundalinifeuer großen Einfluß gewinnen auf das, was im menschlichen Herzen lebt. Das menschliche Herz wird wirklich jenes Kundalinifeuer in sich haben. Der Mensch wird dann durchdrungen sein von einer besonderen Kraft, die in seinem Herzen leben wird, so daß er in der sechsten Wurzelrasse nicht mehr unterscheiden wird sein eigenes Wohl von dem Wohle der Gesamtheit. Der Mensch wird von dem Kundalinilicht so durchdrungen sein, daß er das Prinzip der Liebe als seine ureigenste Natur haben wird.
In der siebenten Unterrasse wird zwar die ganze große Menschheit in einem wahren Chaos sein, denn die Wurzelrasse wird dann nahe dem Untergange sein. Aber ein kleiner Teil der Menschen der siebenten Unterrasse werden die wahren Söhne des Kundalinifeuers sein. Sie werden durchdrungen sein mit allen Kräften des Kundalinifeuers; sie werden den Stoff abgeben zur nächsten Wurzelrasse, für diejenigen, welche die Weiterentwicklung der Menschheit lenken. So steuert die fünfte Wurzelrasse zu jenen Höhen, wo das göttliche Feuer, das Kundalinifeuer, mit heiligem Pathos das göttliche Prinzip im Innern der Menschen anfachen wird, so daß nicht mehr der Mensch vom Menschen getrennt sein wird, sondern, soweit der denkende Verstand reicht, eine Brüderlichkeit herbeigeführt sein wird. Dieses Feuer wird dereinst in den Menschen leben. Und in denjenigen Menschen, welche im Verlaufe der fünften Wurzelrasse initiiert werden, lebt schon eine Andeutung dieses göttlichen Feuers, in dem die Kraft der Brüderlichkeit ist und das die Abgesondertheit der Menschen aufheben wird. Aber es arbeitet sich erst durch, es kommt erst in den Anfängen heraus, es ist noch verhüllt, verschleiert durch das, was die sondernden Leidenschaften der Menschen, die trennenden Gewalten des Kama sind. Und da, wo es als Vorverkünder einer kommenden Zeit im Einzelnen auftritt, nimmt es eine andere Gestalt, einen ganz anderen Charakter an. Auf dem Plane der Täuschung ist das göttliche Feuer der göttliche Zorn. Erst dann, wenn die Brüderlichkeit die ganze Menschheit durchfluten wird, ist es die göttliche Liebe. Solange es aber im Einzelnen als Eifer sich geltend macht, ist es der göttliche Zorn, und er macht sich gerade dadurch als starke Gewalt im Einzelnen geltend, weil die übrige Menschheit noch nicht reif ist.
Dies drückt auch der initiierte Dichter - Homer heißt der «blinde» Dichter, weil er innerlich schaut - in seiner Dichtung aus: «Singe, o Muse, vom Zorn mir, des Peleiden Achilleus». Das ist der göttliche Zorn, von dem der Dichter hier gleich am Anfange der Ilias spricht. In der Ilias wird das Ausleben des Kundalinifeuers auf dem physischen Plan dargestellt. Im Streit zwischen Agamemnon und Achilles flammt der Zorn als göttlicher Zorn auf. In der Sage vom Trojanischen Krieg wird dargestellt, wie der alte Priesterkönigstaat abgelöst wird durch weltliche Königsherrschaft. Denn Troja ist ein Staat, in dem der König unter dem Einfluß der alten Priesterherrschaft steht. Er wird abgelöst von dem Prinzip der weltlichen Klugheit. Das wird sehr schön dargestellt, wie es die weltliche Klugheit ist, die siegt. Odysseus, der listenreiche, siegt. Er ist der Initiierte der fünften Unterrasse, der seine Initiation durch seine Wanderungen empfing. Die Spiritualität der alten Priester wird abgelöst von der Intellektualität. Das wird auch ausgedrückt durch das Bild der Umklammerung des Laokoon durch die Schlangen. Die Schlangen, das Symbol der weltlichen Klugheit, umgarnen den Priester Laokoon, den Repräsentanten der alten Spiritualität.
Wenn Sie dies alles verfolgen, sehen Sie, daß auch in der trojanischen Sage nichts anderes festgehalten ist als ein welthistorischer Zusammenhang. In den Mysterien wurden solche Vorgänge dargestellt. In den älteren Mysterien, die den eleusinischen vorangegangen sind, wurde unter anderen gerade dieser wichtige Moment des Aufganges der vierten Unterrasse der fünften Wurzelrasse dargestellt. Der Trojanische Krieg, der ja tatsächlich stattgefunden hat, wurde in den Mysterien schon dargestellt, bevor er stattgefunden hat. Für denjenigen, der nicht bewandert ist in der Theosophie, ist das ja phantastisch. Es ist aber Mysterienprinzip, neben der Vergangenheit auch Vorgänge der Zukunft darzustellen. Und weil sie Vorgänge der Zukunft vorausnehmen, deshalb mußten sie auch geheimgehalten werden. Nicht um die Neugier der Menschen zu befriedigen, waren die Mysterien da, sondern diejenigen Menschen sollten daran teilnehmen, die berufen waren, mitumgestaltend an der Zukunft zu wirken. Sie sollten sich dort die Impulse für ihre Aufgabe holen. Das ist der Sinn der Mysterien.
Wenn daher jemand ein Mysterium verraten würde, so würde das bedeuten, daß er dasjenige, was in der Zukunft geschehen soll, den Leuten öffentlich sagen würde. Dadurch müßte er unbedingt bei seinen Mitmenschen Verwirrung anrichten. Nur einzelne Vorgeschrittene bekommen dazu die Impulse. Sie haben die Aufgabe, die Menschen langsam dahin zu bringen, wohin sie einst kommen sollen. Nur die wenigen reifen Menschen, die ihren Mitmenschen vielleicht fünfhundert Jahre voraus sind, sind in der Lage, diese Geheimnisse zu ertragen und im Sinne der Mysterien zu wirken. Nehmen Sie einmal an, andere würden davon hören, dann würden sie das gleich herbeiführen wollen, wofür die Menschen noch nicht reif sind. Jedes Mysterium wird unter wesentlich veränderten Verhältnissen einmal öffentliches Gemeingut. Alles wird zu einer bestimmten Zeit offenbar werden. Der Geheimnischarakter liegt nur darin, daß zunächst wenige Einzelne die Zukunft vorzubereiten haben; sie müssen die Lenker werden, um die anderen Menschen zu führen.
Es gibt heute noch Geheimnisse, die erst in der sechsten Wurzelrasse enthüllt werden können, wenn ganz andere Verhältnisse der Brüderlichkeit herrschen werden, die jetzt noch nicht realisiert sind. Diejenigen, die etwas von diesen Tatsachen wußten, hatten natürlich eine furchtbare Angst, daß durch Unvorsichtigkeit etwas von den Mysterien verraten werden könnte. Es war früher so, daß auf Verrat der Mysterien die höchsten Strafen standen; in alten Zeiten war es die Todesstrafe. Nicht die eingeweihten Priester haben die Todesstrafe verhängt, sondern diejenigen, welche von außen her etwas wußten und nicht eingeweiht waren. Die Furcht vor dem Verrat der Mysterien führte das tragische Ende so mancher Großen herbei. Einem solchen Urteile fiel auch Sokrates zum Opfer, obgleich mit Unrecht.
The Trojan War
Since there are some newcomers here today, I would like to briefly mention that in the course of these lectures I have attempted to show how esoteric content is recorded in various myths and legends, and that one need only be able to handle the language of myths and legends in order to find deep esoteric truths in them under certain circumstances. Today I would like to speak in particular about one of those legends that display the remarkable peculiarity of being legends on the one hand and having a completely external content from the physical point of view on the other, that is, expressing a very specific physical event.
Before I speak about this legend, I would like to mention a fact that most of you already know, but which must be repeatedly emphasized. This is that during the course of our fifth root race, that is, in the period from the downfall of Atlantis in the fourth root race to the next root race, a highly important step was taken in the entire evolution of humanity, namely that leaders of humanity, the Manus, arose from within humanity itself. All the great leaders, the Manus, who advanced humanity during the earlier root races, who gave it its great impulses, did not complete their development purely on Earth, but partly on other celestial bodies, and in doing so brought with them to Earth from other worlds the great impulses they had to give to humanity. The Manus of the Lemurian and also of the Atlantean race, as well as the Manu of our fifth root race, are superhuman individualities who underwent their great schooling on other planets, through which they were able to become the leaders of humanity. In contrast, during our fifth root race, such highly developed individualities emerged within humanity itself that they can now become the leaders of humanity from the sixth root race onwards. The main leader of the sixth root race will be a human being like us, only one of the most advanced, the most advanced of all human beings. It will be a being who began its development at the time when human evolution began in the middle of the Lemurian epoch, who has always been human among humans, but who was able to progress more quickly and went through all the stages of human development. This will be the basic character of the Manu of the sixth root race. The main Manu of the sixth root race and all those who stand by his side must go through the most varied initiations; they must have been initiated repeatedly. That is why there have always been initiated people in the fifth root race since its inception, people who were initiated, so to speak, in such a way that they could go their own voluntary path. This was not the case during the entire Lemurian and Atlantean periods. Those who helped humanity, who ruled and guided it, who were the leaders of states and of large religious communities, were under the influence of higher beings. During the Lemurian and Atlantean periods, they were directly dependent on those higher beings who had undergone their development on other planets. Only in the fifth root race is humanity becoming increasingly liberated. There we have initiates who are connected with the higher beings, but who are not given advice that is so detailed that it is completely worked out. Instead, the initiates of the fifth root race are given more and more freedom in the details. In general, the initiates are given directives and impulses, but in such a way that they carry things out out of their own spirituality and power of judgment.
Our fifth root race comprises seven sub-races. They occupy the following positions in the development: The first sub-race is the race of spirituality, of the spirit; it is the race from which the Indian cultural community emerged, the Rishi culture, the Vedic culture. Then we have the second sub-race, the race of the flame, which is the Persian cultural community that finds its expression in the Zarathustra religion. Then we have the third subrace, which we call the race of the stars, the Ur-Chaldeans, of which the Israelite people form a main branch. The fourth subrace is the cultural community from which the Greeks and Romans emerged, the race of personality. The fifth subrace is the race of the world; it is the one within which we ourselves stand, the cultural community of the Germanic-Anglo-Saxon peoples, which is currently in the stage of development and which makes human beings free personalities, the race that conquers the world. It will be replaced by the Slavic subrace, a cultural community advancing from Asia.
In my last lecture, I spoke to you about the great initiates in the Nordic regions. I already pointed out that there were symbolic designations for the initiate or for someone who was in some way connected with the initiations, and that one symbolic expression for this is that the initiate is invulnerable. This invulnerability, which we encountered in Siegfried, can also be found in Achilles. In fact, there is a deeply esoteric meaning hidden in the myth in which Achilles is woven. You must remember that what I have explained is happening gradually in the course of the fifth root race. The Manu established the leadership of humanity at the beginning of the fifth root race in such a way that the guidance was entirely in the hands of the priesthood, who received their inspiration directly from the higher divine beings, from superhuman beings. This initiated priesthood could be entrusted with the task of dividing humanity itself into classes. It would have been impossible to carry out a just division of people into castes in cultural communities other than those ruled by priestly rulers. You therefore find caste divisions only in true priestly cultures, in ancient India and ancient Egypt, where initiated priests were at the top, who did not follow kama impulses but higher instructions. They acted impersonally, free of kama, and it could be left to them to carry out the serious division of people into castes, which was originally fully justified in Egypt and India. If you look at these castes, you will find in them the whole plan for the development of the fifth root race.
This plan is that, little by little, the leadership and guidance of this fifth root race will pass from the priestly mindset to the world mindset, from the priest to the king. A worldly king who was not a priest would have been completely impossible in the early days of the fifth root race. During the Atlantean period, when people did not yet receive their impulses through the thinking mind but from other forces, and also at the beginning of the fifth root race, the guidance of humanity had to be withdrawn from all worldly power and left to those who received divine inspiration. That is why you find pure priestly rule in Indian and Egyptian culture. The priest is the ruler; he is the one from whom everything proceeds. The priest belongs to the highest caste. The warriors, who have a purely worldly occupation, belong to the second caste. Then it goes down to those who are engaged in agriculture.
Gradually, these castes should come to independence. In what develops in time, we have never had what is really present externally in space. Please bear this in mind. When a spatial relationship becomes temporal, it happens in a ratio of four to seven, in such a way that the fourfold expands into the sevenfold. The four castes standing side by side in space come to the fore in the course of the fifth root race in such a way that we see the seven sub-races gradually developing into independence. The ratio of four to seven is based on a very specific law. Today I will only say that the seven sub-races develop in such a way that in the first sub-race we are essentially dealing with exclusive control by priests, in the second sub-race with control by priest-kings and magicians. Zarathustra, the actual magician, is the advisor to the priest-king. During the third subrace, power can pass to worldly kings, who still follow the advice of the priests. Only during the fourth subrace do we have worldly kings who no longer have any connection with priestly power. The first worldly kings appear first among the Greek people, and when Greek rule is established, it is through worldly kings.
The spread of Hellenism is depicted outwardly – in a legendary way – in the legend of the Trojan War. This legend of the Trojan War is nothing other than the mythical representation of an esoteric truth, namely the flowering of the fourth sub-race of the fifth root race and the replacement of priestly rule in its final stage by purely secular rule. This is hinted at in an extraordinarily subtle way right at the beginning of the Trojan legend.
You are well aware that in esotericism, matter is represented everywhere by the symbol of water. Water is the esoteric symbol for matter. I need only refer you to one example from theology: in the Nicene Creed, where it says “...suffered under Pontius Pilate,” it should actually say “suffered in Póntos Pyletós,” which means “in the compressed water.” The Son of God descended to suffer in the matter existing on the physical plane. In the Creed that we have in the Christian confession, “póntos,” the sea, has been Latinized to “Pontius,” and “Pyletós” has become “Pilate.”
When Thales explains that everything originated from water, he actually means the all-encompassing physical matter. We are dealing here with water as physical matter. This physical matter is to become the decisive factor for those who are now taking over the guidance of humanity: the worldly kings. Previously, there were only kings who were connected with the divine. Peleus is the king who is to rule on the physical plane, drawing his power from the physical plane itself. This was presented to the people in the mysteries as a myth, which was told as follows: Peleus married the sea goddess Thetis. We are dealing here with the marriage of the leadership of humanity to the matter of the physical plane. Thetis is the goddess of water, of the sea. And the one who springs from this marriage is Achilles. Achilles is the first initiate of this kind. He is therefore invulnerable, except for his heel. All initiates of the fourth subrace are still vulnerable in some place. Only at the end of the fifth subrace will there be initiates so advanced that they are no longer vulnerable. Achilles was dipped into the Styx, which means that he died to everything earthly and was transported to a higher plane.
This is an important stage in human development. In the middle of the fourth sub-race, spiritual life first descends, and we only have initiates of the physical plane. This brings about something very special. The earlier world leaders were free of kama, they were without desires, they had to strip away everything kamic through the various preceding stages of initiation until they reached spiritual initiation. As long as there were priests in the old sense, it was impossible for anything of kama to flow into world leadership. But Kama causes peculiarity; Kama makes it possible for people to turn against each other. There used to be fighting and strife, but people were not yet ready to contrast good and evil. Strife and war among the people of that time cannot be measured by our standards today; they must be measured by the same standards as the animal world today. One could not say that something was good or evil, any more than a lion or a tiger is good or evil. Real evil only began when Manas united with Kama, so that human beings were directed by Kama, and this led to human beings fighting each other with consciousness.
This is indicated in the legend by the fact that all the gods are present at the marriage of Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, but one goddess is missing. Eris, the goddess of discord, is missing because humanity was not yet at the stage where Kama united with Manas and the separation arose that caused people to oppose each other. But now the goddess Eris appears; she throws an apple among the guests, which bears the inscription “to the most beautiful,” in order to cause discord. This provides the impetus for the war that first occurs within the fifth root race and is entirely the responsibility of humans. Only from this point on can one speak of a conscious rage of humans against each other.
Everything else in the myth is an elaboration of what began here. The most beautiful of the goddesses is to receive Eris' apple. The three goddesses Hera, Pallas Athena, and Aphrodite argue over the apple. The three goddesses represent different stages of soul life on the higher, spiritual planes. Now, however, the decision is to be made not on the spiritual plane, but on the physical plane. Therefore, Paris is called upon to decide from the physical plane. Here lies the real crux of the matter, where we can see clearly what is at stake. What must we face when decisions are made from the physical plane?
When manas first appeared on the physical plane, it mixed with kama. Before that, people were also kamic, but that didn't mean good or evil yet. But now manas connects with kama, and that's why people become aware of their actions. Manas draws into what people are according to their lower nature. He had already acquired his kamic development on the old moon. The coarsest kamic element fell away from the earth when the moon left, and now accompanies the earth as a satellite. In esotericism, the moon is the leitmotif, the mark of the lower nature, of that which pulls us down, of where we can end up if we ourselves fall prey to the lower nature.
The fatal flaw in the connection between Manas and Kama during the fourth subrace must therefore lie in the fact that human beings, who have decisions to make, connect themselves with the kamic, with the lunar principle, with Selene. The name Helena originated from Selene. The connection between Paris and Helen symbolically expresses the marriage of Manas and Kama in the fourth subrace. The human being on the physical plane has seized the lunar principle. You can find this everywhere when esotericism speaks of the “moon.” The fact that the entire connection between the manas principle and the kama principle is consciously created directly on the physical plane gives rise to war. The Trojan War is both a symbol and a fact. It really took place; the most important events of the Trojan War took place on the physical plane. But they also have symbolic meaning. The legend of the Trojan War has a mystical content, but the facts also took place externally on the physical plane.
Now I ask you to understand one more thing. When the fifth root race has reached its end and the sixth root race is on the rise, an influence will have developed in the realm of the conscious mind which is still very much in the background during the fifth sub-race, but which is already emerging. It is something that emanates from music. The significance of music will become more and more apparent in the fifth sub-race. Music will not merely be an art, but will become a means of expression for things quite different from the purely artistic. Here lies something that points to the influence of a very definite principle on the physical plane. The most significant impulses in the field of music or music-like activities will be given by the initiates of the fifth root race. What must flow into the fifth root race, namely in the field of conscious intellectual life, is what is called the kundalini fire. This is a force that is still dormant in human beings, but will become increasingly important. Today it already has a great influence and significance in what is perceived through the sense of hearing. During the further development of the sixth sub-race of the fifth root race, this Kundalini fire will gain great influence over what lives in the human heart. The human heart will truly have this Kundalini fire within itself. Human beings will then be permeated by a special power that will live in their hearts, so that in the sixth root race they will no longer distinguish between their own good and the good of the whole. Human beings will be so permeated by the Kundalini light that they will have the principle of love as their very nature.
In the seventh sub-race, the whole of humanity will be in true chaos, for the root race will then be close to destruction. But a small portion of the people of the seventh sub-race will be the true sons of the Kundalini fire. They will be permeated with all the powers of the Kundalini fire; they will provide the material for the next root race, for those who will guide the further development of humanity. Thus, the fifth root race is heading toward those heights where the divine fire, the Kundalini fire, will fan the divine principle within human beings with holy pathos, so that human beings will no longer be separated from one another, but, as far as the thinking mind can reach, a brotherhood will be brought about. This fire will one day live in human beings. And in those human beings who are initiated during the course of the fifth root race, there already lives a hint of this divine fire, in which is the power of brotherhood and which will remove the separation between human beings. But it is only working its way through, it is only beginning to emerge, it is still veiled, obscured by the divisive passions of human beings, the separating forces of Kama. And where it appears in individuals as a harbinger of a coming age, it takes on a different form, a completely different character. On the plane of deception, the divine fire is divine wrath. Only when brotherhood floods the whole of humanity will it be divine love. But as long as it asserts itself in the individual as zeal, it is divine wrath, and it asserts itself as a powerful force in the individual precisely because the rest of humanity is not yet ripe.
This is also expressed by the initiated poet—Homer is called the “blind” poet because he sees inwardly—in his poetry: “Sing, O Muse, of the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus.” This is the divine wrath of which the poet speaks here at the very beginning of the Iliad. In the Iliad, the expression of the Kundalini fire on the physical plane is depicted. In the dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles, anger flares up as divine wrath. The legend of the Trojan War depicts how the ancient priestly kingdom is replaced by secular kingship. For Troy is a state in which the king is under the influence of the old priestly rule. He is replaced by the principle of worldly wisdom. This is beautifully depicted in the way worldly wisdom triumphs. Odysseus, the cunning one, wins. He is the initiate of the fifth subrace, who received his initiation through his wanderings. The spirituality of the old priests is replaced by intellectuality. This is also expressed by the image of Laocoon being embraced by snakes. The snakes, symbols of worldly wisdom, entangle the priest Laocoon, the representative of the old spirituality.
If you follow all this, you will see that the Trojan legend is nothing more than a world-historical context. Such events were depicted in the mysteries. In the older mysteries that preceded the Eleusinian mysteries, this important moment of the emergence of the fourth subrace of the fifth root race was depicted, among other things. The Trojan War, which actually took place, was already depicted in the mysteries before it happened. For those who are not well versed in theosophy, this is fantastic. However, it is a principle of the mysteries to depict not only the past but also events of the future. And because they anticipate events of the future, they had to be kept secret. The mysteries were not there to satisfy people's curiosity, but rather for those who were called to participate in shaping the future. They were to draw inspiration for their task there. That is the meaning of the mysteries.
If someone were to reveal a mystery, it would mean that they would publicly tell people what is to happen in the future. This would inevitably cause confusion among their fellow human beings. Only a few advanced individuals receive these impulses. They have the task of slowly guiding people to where they are meant to go. Only the few mature individuals who are perhaps five hundred years ahead of their fellow human beings are capable of bearing these secrets and working in accordance with the mysteries. Suppose others were to hear about them, they would immediately want to bring about what people are not yet ready for. Every mystery will one day become public knowledge under significantly changed circumstances. Everything will become apparent at a certain time. The secret nature lies only in the fact that initially only a few individuals have to prepare the future; they must become the leaders in order to guide the other people.
There are still secrets today that can only be revealed in the sixth root race, when completely different conditions of brotherhood prevail, which have not yet been realized. Those who knew something of these facts were naturally terribly afraid that something of the mysteries might be betrayed through carelessness. In the past, the highest penalties were imposed for betraying the mysteries; in ancient times, it was the death penalty. It was not the initiated priests who imposed the death penalty, but those who knew something from outside and were not initiated. The fear of betraying the mysteries brought about the tragic end of many a great man. Socrates also fell victim to such a judgment, albeit unjustly.