The Temple Legend I
GA 93
4 November 1904, Berlin
5. The Mystery known to Rosicrucians
We have spoken about various legends which contain esoteric truths in the pictures which they present. These were given to man in this form at a time when he was not mature enough to receive the truths directly. These pictures took hold of man's ‘causal’ body—that part of man which bore the germ of his future Higher Manas—and thus made him ready to understand the truths directly in a future incarnation.
I would like now to show one such legend as this which dates back only a few centuries and is still extant today in many versions. It is the following.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century 1 At the beginning of the fifteenth century ...
In the original notes this was given as fourteenth century. Rudolf Steiner sometimes reckoned centuries as the Italians do (Quattrocento = fifteenth century). In a handwritten document from 1907, however, Rudolf Steiner writes: ‘In the first half of the fifteenth century Christian Rosenkreutz. ...’ etc. (Letters and Documents 1901–1925). a personality appeared in Europe who had been initiated into certain secrets in the East. This was Christian Rosenkreutz.2 Christian Rosenkreutz is a personality of the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries, not considered historical by modern investigators, who became known through two legendary anonymous writings: Fama Fratemitatis and Confessio Fraternitatis, published in Cassel in 1614 and 1615 respectively, in which it is stated that Christian Rosenkreutz was of German aristocratic descent and lived from 1378 to 1484. The name first became known through an anonymous handwritten document of 1604, which appeared in 1616 under the title: Chymische Hochzeit: Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459, whose author, Johann Valentin Andreae, was declared by Rudolf Steiner to have been inspired by Christian Rosenkreutz himself. According to Rudolf Steiner, Christian Rosenkreutz was a real historical personality.
See: A Commentary on the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Michael Press, 1965. Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, E. Foxcroft translation of 1690, Camphill Village Trust, 1969. A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology, compiled and edited by Paul M. Allen, Rudolf Steiner Publications, Blauvelt, New York, 1968. The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz. A Commentary by E.E. Pfeiffer, The Mercury Press. By the time this incarnation of Christian Rosenkreutz had come to an end, he had initiated about ten other people into such matters as he himself had learned through initiation—in so far as this was possible among Europeans at that time. This small brotherhood called itself ‘Fraternitae Rosae Crucis’, the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross. This small group of people then gave a certain legend to a larger, more exoteric fraternity, through whom it then became generally known to the world.
Christian Rosenkreutz himself had revealed certain deep secrets of the Mysteries to those people who were sufficiently prepared to receive them. But, as I said, there were not more than ten in this small circle, consisting of initiated Rosicrucians. What was taught by Christian Rosenkreutz could not be imparted to many people, but it was embodied in a kind of myth.3 It is worth noting that Rudolf Steiner here attributes the origin of the Temple Legend to Christian Rosenkreutz in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but he never mentions how it came to be transferred to the Freemasons. Among Freemasons themselves its origin remains obscure. It is generally accepted that it arose in the eighteenth century, because that is the time of its first appearance in literature. Even though it is suspected that it formed a part of masonic knowledge at an earlier period, this cannot be proved from documents. For this lecture, too, Rudolf Steiner seems to have made use of the account given by Charles William Heckethorn in his Secret Societies, viz: Quotation from Vol. I. Book VIII, Ch. 1.
The Legend of the Temple
Ancestry of Hiram Abiff.
Solomon, having determined on the erection of the Temple, collected artificers, divided them into companies, and put them under the command of Adoniram or Hiram Abiff, the architect sent to him by his friend and ally Hiram, King of Tyre. According to mythical tradition, the ancestry of the builders of the mystical temple was as follows: One of the Elohim, or primitive genii, married Eve and had a son called Cain; whilst Jehovah or Adonai, another of the Elohim, created Adam and united him with Eve to bring forth the family of Abel, to whom were subjected the sons of Cain, as a punishment for the transgression of Eve. Cain, though industriously cultivating the soil, yet derived little produce from it, whilst Abel leisurely tended his flocks. Adonai rejected the gifts and sacrifices of Cain, and stirred up strife between the sons of the Elohim, generated out of fire, and the sons formed out of the earth only. Cain killed Abel, and Adonai pursuing his sons, subjected to the sons of Abel the noble family that invented the arts and diffused science. Enoch, a son of Cain, taught men to hew stories, construct edifices and form civil societies. Irad and Mehujael, his son and grandson, set boundaries to the waters and fashioned cedars into beams. Methusael, another of his descendants, invented the sacred characters, the books of Tau and the symbolic T, by which the workers descended from the genii of fire recognised each other. Lamech, whose prophecies are inexplicable to the profane, was the father of Jabal, who first taught men how to dress camels' skins; of Jubal, who discovered the harp; of Naamah, who discovered the arts of spinning and weaving; of Tubal-Cain, who first constructed a furnace, worked in metals, and dug subterranean caves in the mountains to save his race during the deluge; but it perished nevertheless, and only Tubal-Cain and his son, the sole survivors of the glorious and gigantic family, came out alive. The wife of Ham, second son of Noah, thought the son of Tubal-Cain handsomer than the sons of men, and he became progenitor of Nimrod, who taught his brethren the art of hunting, and founded Babylon. Adoniram, the descendant of Tubal-Cain, seemed called by God to lead the militia of the free men, connecting the sons of fire with the sons of thought, progress, and truth.
Hiram, Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba.
By Hiram was erected a marvelous building, the Temple of Solomon. He raised the golden throne of Solomon, most beautifully wrought, and built many other glorious edifices. But, melancholy amidst all his greatness, he lived alone, understood and loved by few, hated by many, and among others by Solomon, envious of his genius and glory. Now the fame of the wisdom of Solomon spread to the remotest ends of the earth; and Balkis, the Queen of Sheba, came to Jerusalem, to greet the great king and behold the marvels of his reign. She found Solomon seated on a throne of gilt cedar wood, arrayed in cloth of gold, so that at first she seemed to behold a statue of gold with hands of ivory. Solomon received her with every kind of festive preparation, and led her to behold his palace and then the grand works of the temple; and the queen was lost in admiration. The king was captivated by her beauty, and in a short time offered her his hand, which the queen, pleased at having conquered this proud heart, accepted. But on again visiting the temple, she repeatedly desired to see the architect who had wrought such wondrous things. Solomon delayed as long as possible presenting Hiram Abiff to the queen, but at last he was obliged to do so. The mysterious artificer was brought before her, and cast on the queen a look that penetrated her very heart. Having recovered her composure, she questioned and defended him against the ill will and rising jealousy of the king. When she wished to see the countless host of workmen that wrought at the temple, Solomon protested the impossibility of assembling them all at once; but Hiram, leaping on a stone to be better seen, with his right hand described in the air the symbolical Tau, and immediately the men hastened from all parts of the works into the presence of their master; at this the queen wondered greatly, and secretly repented of the promise she had given the king, for she felt herself in love with the mighty architect. Solomon set himself to destroy this affection, and to prepare his rival's humiliation and ruin. For this purpose, he employed three fellow-craftsmen, envious of -Hiram, because he had refused to raise them to the degree of masters, on account of their want of knowledge and their idleness. They were Fanor, a Syrian and a mason; Amru, a Phoenician and a carpenter; and Metusael, a Hebrew and a miner. The black envy of these three projected that the casting of the brazen sea, which was to raise the glory of Hiram to its utmost height, should turn out a failure. A young workman, Benoni, discovered the plot and revealed it to Solomon, thinking that sufficient. The day for the casting arrived, and Balkis was present. The doors that restrained the molten metal were opened, and torrents of liquid poured into the vast mould wherein the brazen sea was to assume its form. But the burning mass ran over the edges of the mould, and flowed like lava over the adjacent places. The terrified crowd fled from the advancing stream of fire. Hiram, calm, like a god, endeavoured to arrest its advance with ponderous columns of water, but without success. The water and the fire mixed, and the struggle was terrible; the water rose in dense steam and fell down in the shape of fiery rain, spreading terror and death. The dishonoured artificer needed the sympathy of a faithful heart; he sought Benoni, but in vain; the proud youth perished in endeavouring to prevent the horrible catastrophe when he found that Solomon had done nothing to hinder it.
Hiram could not withdraw himself from the scene of his discomfiture. Oppressed with grief, he heeded not the danger, he remembered not that this ocean of fire might speedily engulph him; he thought of the Queen of Sheba, who came to admire and congratulate him on a great triumph, and who saw nothing but a terrible disaster. Suddenly he heard a strange voice coming from above, and crying, “Hiram, Hiram, Hiram!” He raised his eyes and beheld a gigantic human figure. The apparition continued: “Come, my son, be without fear, I have rendered thee incombustible; cast thyself into the flames.” Hiram threw himself into the furnace, and where others would have found death, he tasted ineffable delights; nor could he, drawn by an irresistible force, leave it, and asked him that drew him into the abyss: “Whither do you take me?” “Into the centre of the earth, into the soul of the world, into the kingdom of great Cain, where liberty reigns with him. There the tyrannous envy of Adonai ceases; there can we, despising his anger, taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge; there is the home of thy fathers.” “Who then am I, and who art thou?” “I am the father of thy fathers, I am the son of Lamech, I am Tubal-Cain.”
Tubal-Cain introduced Hiram into the sanctuary of fire, where he expounded to him the weakness of Adonai and the base passions of that god, the enemy of his own creature whom he condemned to the inexorable law of death, to avenge the benefits the genii of fire had bestowed on him. Hiram was led into the presence of the author of his race, Cain. The angel of light that begat Cain was reflected in the beauty of this son of love, whose noble and generous mind roused the envy of Adonai. Cain related to Hiram his experiences, sufferings, and misfortunes, brought upon him by the implacable Adonai. Presently he heard the voice of him who was the offspring of Tubal-Cain and his sister Naamah: “A son shall be born unto thee whom thou shalt indeed not see, but whose numerous descendants shall perpetuate thy race, which, superior to that of Adam, shall acquire the empire of the world; for many centuries they shall consecrate their courage and genius to the service of the ever ungrateful race of Adam, but at last the best shall become the strongest, and restore on the earth the worship of fire. Thy sons, invincible in thy name, shall destroy the power of kings, the ministers of the Adonai's tyranny. Go, my son, the genii of fire are with thee!” Hiram was restored to the earth. Tubal-Cain before quitting him gave him the hammer with which he himself had wrought great things, and said to him: “Thanks to this hammer and the help of the genii of fire, thou shalt speedily accomplish the work left unfinished through man's stupidity and malignity.” Hiram did not hesitate to test the wonderful efficacy of the precious instrument, and the dawn saw the great mass of bronze cast. The artist felt the most lively joy, the queen exulted. The people came running up, astounded at this secret power which in one night had repaired everything.
One day the queen, accompanied by her maids, went beyond Jerusalem, and there encountered Hiram, alone and thoughtful. The encounter was decisive, they mutually confessed their love. Had-Had, the bird who filled with the queen the office of messenger of the genii of fire, seeing Hiram in the air make the sign of the mystic T, flew around his head and settled on his wrist. At this Sarahil, the nurse of the queen, exclaimed: “The oracle is fulfilled. Had-Had recognises the husband which the genii of fire destined for Balkis, whose love alone she dare accept!” They hesitated no longer, but mutually pledged their vows, and deliberated how Balkis could retract the promise given to the king. Hiram was to be the first to quit Jerusalem; the queen, impatient to rejoin him in Arabia, was to elude the vigilance of the king, which she accomplished by withdrawing from his finger, while he was overcome with wine, the ring wherewith she had plighted her troth to him. Solomon hinted to the fellow-craftsmen that the removal of his rival, who refused to give them the master's word, would be acceptable unto himself; so when the architect came into the temple he was assailed and slain by them. Before his death, however, he had time to throw the golden triangle which he wore round his neck, and on which was engraven the master's word, into a deep well. They wrapped up his body, carried it to a solitary hill and buried it, planting over the grave a sprig of acacia.
Hiram not having made his appearance for seven days, Solomon, against his inclination, but to satisfy the clamour of the people, was forced to have him searched for. The body was found by three masters, and they, suspecting that he had been slain by the three fellow-craftsmen for refusing them the master's word, determined nevertheless for greater security to change the word, and that the first word accidentally uttered on raising the body should thenceforth be the word. In the act of raising it, the skin came off the body, so that one of the masters exclaimed “Macbenach!” (the flesh is off the bones!) and this word became the sacred word of the master's degree. The three fellow-craftsmen were traced, but rather than fall into the hands of their pursuers, they committed suicide and their heads were brought to Solomon. The triangle not having been found on the body of Hiram it was sought for and at last discovered in the well into which the architect had cast it. The king caused it to be placed on a triangular altar erected in a secret vault, built under the most retired part of the temple. The triangle was further concealed by a cubical stone, on which had been inscribed the sacred law. The vault, the existence of which was only known to the twenty-seven elect, was then walled up. Since it was first given out in the fifteenth century, it has often been repeated and explained in the various brotherhoods. It was told in larger brotherhoods, but was interpreted only in intimate circles.
This is the approximate content:
There was a time when one of the Elohim created a human being whom he called Eve. That Elohim united himself with Eve and she gave birth to Cain. After this, another Elohim, named Yahveh, created Adam. Adam also united himself with Eve and from this union came Abel.
Thus we see that Cain is a direct descendant of the gods, but Abel is a descendant of Adam and Eve who are human.
Now the myth proceeds:
The sacrifices which Abel made to Yahveh were pleasing to him, but the sacrifices brought by Cain did not please him because the birth of Cain was not ordained by him. The result was that Cain committed fratricide. He killed Abel and for this he was excluded from communion with Yahveh. He went away into distant lands and founded his own race there.
Adam again united himself with Eve and from this union came Seth, also mentioned in the Bible, who took over the role of Abel. Thus we have two generations of mankind: the race of Cain, who was a descendant of Eve and one of the Elohim, and the other race which had human parentage and was brought into existence at the command of Yahveh.
Among the descendants of Cain are all those who have been creators of art and science, as, for instance, Methuselah, the inventor of the Tau script, and Tubal-Cain, who taught the use and working of metal ores and iron. In this line of descent, stemming from the Elohim, were all those who trained themselves in the arts and sciences.
Hiram also descended from the race of Cain, and he was the inheritor of all that had been learned by the others of his line in technology and art. He was the most significant architect we can imagine.
Out of Seth's line came Solomon, who excelled in everything which came from Yahveh. He was endowed with the wisdom of the world and all the attributes of calm,clear, objective wisdom. This wisdom can be expressed in words which go straight to the human heart and can uplift a person, but it is unable to produce anything tangible of a technical nature, in art or science. It is a wisdom which is a directly inspired gift of God and not attained from below through human passions welling up from the human will—that would be the wisdom pertaining to the sons of Cain, a legacy of the other Elohim, not Yahveh. They are the hardworking industrious ones who seek to accomplish everything through their own efforts.
Solomon now decides to build a temple and calls upon Hiram, the descendant of Cain, to be his master builder. It was at the time when Balkis, the Queen of Sheba, was visiting Jerusalem because she had heard of the wisdom of Solomon. And she was certainly impressed and charmed by the exalted and clear wisdom and beauty of the King when she first arrived, and when he made love to her she consented to be his bride. Now she heard about the temple which was being built and she desired to make the acquaintance of the master builder, Hiram. When she first met him she was captivated merely by his glance. As a result, a certain mood of jealousy arose between Hiram and Solomon and the latter wished to do something or other against Hiram, but he was dependent upon him for the completion of the temple.
Now came the following: The temple was almost complete. Only one thing was still lacking, which was to have been Hiram's masterpiece; that was the Molten Sea, which was to represent the ocean cast in bronze and was to have adorned the temple. All the necessary mixtures of ores had been prepared by Hiram in a most wonderful manner, ready to be cast. Now, however, three apprentices got to work, whom Hiram had found so lacking in skill that he had been unable to promote them to become masters. They had therefore sworn to be revenged on him and desired to prevent the casting of the Molten Sea. A friend of Hiram, who got to know about these plans, confided them to Solomon, so that he should prevent their realisation. But Solomon, through jealousy, did nothing to stop them, because he wished to destroy Hiram. The result was that Hiram had to look on while the whole casting disintegrated due to the addition of a wrong ingredient in the mixture by the three apprentices. He tried to quench the bursting flames by pouring water over them, but this only made matters worse. Just as he was on the point of despairing about the work ever being completed, Tubal-Cain, his ancestor, appeared to him and told him that he should not hesitate to cast himself into the fire, as he was invulnerable to the flames. Hiram did as he was advised and came to the centre of the earth. He was led by Tubal-Cain to Cain, who there resided in a condition of pristine divinity. Hiram was thus initiated into the Mystery of Fire and into the secret of bronze casting, receiving from Tubal-Cain a hammer and a Golden Triangle which he was able to carry with him as a pendant round his neck. Then he returned and was able to complete the casting of the Molten Sea and to put everything in order again.
Hereupon the Queen of Sheba consented to become Hiram's bride. He, however, was set upon by the three apprentices and murdered. But before he died, Hiram managed to throw the Golden Triangle into a well. As no one knew where he had disappeared, a search was made. Even Solomon was afraid and was anxious to find out what had happened. It was thought that the ancient Master Word could be betrayed by the apprentices, and therefore another one was devised. The first word to be spoken when Hiram was discovered should be the new Master Word. At last Hiram was found and was able to utter a few last words. He said: ‘Tubal-Cain had promised me that I shall have a son who will be the father of many descendants who will people the earth and bring my work—the building of the Temple—to completion.’ Then he pointed to the place where the Golden Triangle was to be found. This was then collected and brought to the Molten Sea and both were preserved together in the Holy of Holies. They are only to be discovered by those who can understand the meaning of the legend of the Temple of Solomon and its Master Builder Hiram.
Now we shall proceed from the recounting of the legend itself to its interpretation.
This legend portrays the destiny of the third, fourth and fifth Post-Atlantean cultural epochs. The Temple is the Temple of the Occult Societies, that is to say, what is being built up by the whole of mankind belonging to the fourth and fifth cultural epochs. And the Holy of Holies is the place where these Occult Societies have their abode. The latter are aware of what is meant by the Molten Sea and the Golden Triangle.
We are dealing, therefore, with two races of mankind: with those who, like Solomon, are in possession of divine wisdom and with those of the Race of Cain, who are conversant with fire and know how to make use of it. This fire is not physical fire, but the fire of wishes, desires and instincts which bums in the astral world.
Who, then, are the Sons of Cain? In the sense of this legend, the Sons of Cain are the sons of those Elohim who, during the Moon Epoch, were a little retarded in their role of Elohim. We are dealing with Kama, astrality, during the Moon Epoch. This Kama, or fire, was penetrated with wisdom at that time. But there were two kinds of Elohim. The one kind of Elohim did not remain static with the union of wisdom and fire; they went further. And during the creation of man they were no longer filled with desires and so they were able to endow their creation with calm and clear wisdom. That is the essential Jahve—or Jehovah—religion, the wisdom of which is quite without personal desire. The other Elohim, those in whom wisdom was combined with the fire of the Moon Epoch, created the Sons of Cain.
Therefore, in the case of the Sons of Seth, we find representatives of the religious type of human being with detached wisdom, and in the case of the Sons of Cain, we find those who possess an impulsive nature, who are capable of flaring up and showing enthusiasm for wisdom. These two types are creative within all races of mankind and in all periods of history. Out of the desire life of the Sons of Cain, all arts and the sciences originate; out of the Seth-Abel current, all detached piety and wisdom, lacking enthusiasm, has its origin.
These two types were always present and continued thus until the fourth Post-Atlantean cultural epoch.
Then came the founding of Christianity. Through it, the earlier piety, which had been bestowed on mankind from above, became passionless and detached, and was merged with the element which came to the earth through Christ—Christ, who is not only the incarnation of wisdom, but who is also love itself, a supreme being who has so purified his astral body or Kama that it has been changed into Buddhi. A pure flowing Kama which seeks nothing for itself, but turns every passion into unending devotion towards the things outside itself, is inverted Kama. Buddhi is Kama which has been changed into its opposite.
A higher kind of piety is thereby being prepared among those who are of the pious type, the Sons of Wisdom. This new kind of piety can also develop enthusiasm. It is Christian piety, which was prepared during the fourth Post-Atlantean cultural epoch. This whole stream is not yet in a position to unite with the Sons of Cain, however; they remain adversaries. Were Christianity to take hold of human beings too quickly, they would certainly become filled with love, but the individual human heart would not become involved. It would not be a piety springing from freedom. Christ would not be born within man as his brother, but only as the ruler. It is therefore necessary that the Sons of Cain are active throughout the whole of the fifth Post-Atlantean period. They are active in their initiates who build the temple of all mankind, constructed out of worldly art and worldly science.
This worldly element becomes more and more evident in the history of the fourth and fifth cultural epochs, thus making manifest the entire development of world history at the physical level. And alongside this worldly stream of materialism, the personal element of egoism is involved, which leads to the War of All against All. Even though Christianity had come into the world, it was, in a sense, a secret shared by a few. But it made people of the fourth and fifth cultural epochs aware that everyone is equal in the sight of God. That is a basic principle of Christianity, but it cannot be completely understood by man on earth so long as he is enmeshed in materialism and egoism.
The French Revolution drew its conclusion from this Christian doctrine in a worldly sense. The spiritual conception that all are equal in the sight of God was changed into the purely earthly precept that all men are equal here on earth. That is couched in even more physical terms today.
Before the outbreak of the French Revolution a personality appeared to Madame d'Adhemar,4 The historical basis for this lies in the work of the writer, Etienne-Leon, Baron de Lamothe-Langon, who published the Souvenirs sur Marie-Antoinette, Archiduchesse d’Autriche, Reine de France, et sur la cour de Versailles par Madame la Comtesse d’Adhemar, Dame du Palais, Paris, 1836. About fifty years later these memoirs were rescued from oblivion by H.P. Blavatsky and her friends. One of the very rare copies of these memoirs was to be found in the library of H.P. Blavatsky's aunt who lived in Odessa. Henry Steel Olcott, who founded the Theosophical Society with Blavatsky in 1875, wrote in his Old Diary Leaves—the true story of the Theosophical Society, 1895, Vol. 1, p. 24: ‘If Mme. de Fadeef—H.P.B.'s aunt could only be induced to translate and publish certain documents in her famous library, the world would have a nearer approach to a true history of the pre-revolutionary European mission of this Eastern Adept than has until now been available.’
The English theosophist, Isabel Cooper-Oakley, published all the parts of the Souvenirs de Madame d’AdhemarThe Comte of Saint Germain—The Secret of Kings, Milan, 1912. (See also note II to lecture 9 of 16th December 1904). the lady-in-waiting of Marie-Antoinette, who prophesied all the important events of the coming strife, in order to warn against them. It was the Count of St. Germain,5 The spiritual identity of Christian Rosenkreutz and the Count of Saint Germain is a result of Rudolf Steiner's own investigations. See also the lecture of 27th September 1911, translated in the Anthroposophical Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 4, (winter, 1960). the same as he who, in a former incarnation, had founded the Rosicrucian Order. He subscribed to the view that mankind at that time must be led in all tranquillity from a worldly view of life to a truly Christian culture. Worldly powers, however, desired to gain freedom for themselves by material violent means. Christian Rosenkreutz foresaw the French Revolution as a necessary consequence of this, but warned against it. He, Christian Rosenkreutz, in his incarnation in the eighteenth century, as guardian of the innermost secrets of the Molten Sea and the Golden Triangle, appeared with the warning that mankind should develop slowly. But he also saw what was to happen.
That is the course taken by mankind's evolution during the fourth and fifth Post-Atlantean epochs when seen esoterically. The temple of mankind's earthly culture, the great Temple of Solomon, has already been built, but what is to crown it must still remain a secret. That could only be brought into being by an initiate. That initiate was misunderstood, betrayed, killed. The secret may not yet be revealed. It remains the possession of a few initiated Christians. It is sealed up in the casting of the Molten Sea and in the Golden Triangle. It is the same as the secret belonging to Christian Rosenkreutz, who was present in a very highly evolved reincarnation prior to the birth of Christ, and who gave utterance to a remarkable saying at that time.
Let me describe in a few words how this Christian Rosenkreutz came to repeat a certain saying at the time of the outbreak of the French Revolution. He said: ‘For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.’ 6 Quotation from Hosea 8, verse 7. See also note 7 to lecture 9 of 16th December 1904. This was said by him long before it was said by Hosea and written down. It stems, however, from Christian Rosenkreutz.
This saying: ‘For they have sown the wind, and shall reap the whirlwind’, is the leading thought for the fourth and fifth cultural epochs and can be rendered in the following way: ‘Mankind shall be made free. The incarnated Buddhi will unite himself with this your freedom and make you equal in the sight of God, but the spirit (‘wind’ means spirit = Ruach) will first become a whirlwind (the War of All against All).’
At first Christianity had to appear as the Christianity of the Cross, which had to develop through the earthly sphere, through the physical plane. But the crucifix was not the symbol of Christianity from the beginning. It was when Christianity became political that the crucified Son of God was introduced, the Son of God suffering on the Cross of the World Body.7 See note 10 to lecture 12 of 22nd May 1905. It has remained thus to outward sight throughout the rest of the fourth epoch, and will continue to do so during the whole of the fifth epoch of our present Post-Atlantean cycle.
To begin with, Christianity is bound up with the purely materialistic culture of the fourth and fifth epochs, and the true Christianity of the future, which possesses the secret of the Molten Sea and the Golden Triangle, only exists secretly.8 The German rendering is: exists only in between [?] (dazwischen). The sense is somewhat obscure. This Christianity has another symbol—no longer that of the crucified Son of God, but the Cross encircled by roses. This will become the symbol of the new Christianity of the sixth Post-Atlantean epoch. Out of the Mystery of the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross will arise the Christianity of the sixth cultural epoch, which will recognise the significance of the Molten Sea and the Golden Triangle.
Hiram is the representative of the initiates among the Sons of Cain belonging to the fourth and fifth epochs. The Queen of Sheba is the soul of humanity—every female character denotes the soul in esoteric terminology. She has to choose between the detached piety which does not concern itself with worldly conquest, and the masterful wisdom which is achieved through the overcoming of earthly passions and desires. She is the representative of the true human soul, taking her position between Hiram and Solomon and uniting herself with Hiram in the fourth and fifth epochs, because he is still engaged in building the Temple.
The Molten Sea is what is created when the appropriate amounts of water and molten metal are cast. The three apprentices do it wrongly, and the casting is destroyed, but when the mysteries of fire are revealed to Hiram by Tubal-Cain, he is thereby enabled to unite water and fire in the proper way. This brings the Molten Sea into being. This is what the secret of the Rosicrucians is. It is brought about when the water of calm wisdom is united with the fire of the astral world, with the fire of passion and desire. A union must be brought about which is ‘of bronze’, that is to say, is lasting and durable. It must endure into the next epoch, when the secret of the sacred Golden Triangle is added to it; the secret of Atma, Buddhi and Manas. This Triangle, with all which it entails, will form the content of the renewed Christianity of the sixth cultural epoch. That is being prepared by the Rosicrucians and then what is symbolised by the Molten Sea will be united with a knowledge of reincarnation and karma. That is the new occult teaching which will be united again with Christianity. The higher self of man, composed of Atma, Buddhi and Manas, will become an open secret when the man of the sixth epoch has become ripe enough to receive it. Christian Rosenkreutz will then no longer be required to give warning, but everything which signified strife on the outer plane will be resolved in peace through the Molten Sea and the sacred Golden Triangle.
That is the course which world history will take in the future. What was disseminated by Christian Rosenkreutz in the Temple Legend through the Brotherhood, the Rosicrucians have made into their task: to teach not merely religious piety, but also science in an external way; not merely knowledge of the outer world, but knowledge of spiritual forces, too, and from both directions to go forward into the sixth Round of evolution.
5. Das Mysterium Der Rosenkreuzer
Wir haben schon verschiedene Mythen besprochen, deren Bilder esoterische Wahrheiten enthalten. Solche Mythen wurden früher den Menschen gegeben, um ihnen gewisse Wahrheiten - solange sie noch nicht reif waren für die esoterischen Wahrheiten selbst - zuerst in bildlicher Form zu überliefern. Diese Bilder bemächtigten sich des Kausalkörpers und bereiteten so die Menschen vor, in späteren Inkarnationen die esoterischen Wahrheiten selbst zu verstehen.
Nun möchte ich Ihnen heute eine solche esoterische Darstellung zeigen, welche erst vor wenigen Jahrhunderten gegeben wurde und jetzt noch mannigfaltig fortlebt. Das ist die folgende.
Im Beginne des 15. Jahrhunderts erschien in Europa eine Persönlichkeit, welche im Morgenlande in gewisse Geheimnisse eingeweiht worden war. Es war dies Christian Rosenkreutz. Ehe die damalige Inkarnation des Christian Rosenkreutz zu Ende gegangen war, hatte er eine Anzahl von Persönlichkeiten - die kaum die Zahl zehn überstieg in den Gegenstand, in den er eingeweiht worden war, auch eingeweiht, soweit dies mit europäischen Menschen damals möglich war. Diese kleine Bruderschaft, die sich die Bruderschaft der Rosenkreuzer — Fraternitas rosae crucis — nannte, trug durch eine größere, mehr äußerliche Bruderschaft einen gewissen Mythus in die Welt hinaus.
Christian Rosenkreutz selbst hatte damals im tiefsten Inneren der Rosenkreuzermysterien gewisse Geheimnisse dargestellt, wie sie nur wahrgenommen werden konnten von Menschen, die die notwendige Vorbereitung erfahren hatten. Aber, wie gesagt, in der kleinen Bruderschaft waren es nicht mehr wie zehn; das waren die eigentlich eingeweihten Rosenkreuzer. Was von Christian Rosenkreutz gelehrt worden ist, konnte nicht vielen Menschen mitgeteilt werden; aber es wurde dann eingekleidet in eine Art von Mythus. Seit seiner ersten Begründung im Anfang des 15. Jahrhunderts ist dieser Mythus vielfach in Bruderschaften erzählt und interpretiert worden. Erzählt wurde er in größerem Rahmen, interpretiert aber nur im engeren Kreis, denjenigen, die reif dafür waren.
Dieser Mythus hatte ungefähr folgenden Inhalt:
Es gab eine Zeit, da schuf einer der Elohim den Menschen; einen Menschen, den er Eva nannte. Mit Eva verband sich der Elohim selbst und es wurde von Eva Kain geboren. Darauf schuf der Elohim Jahve oder Jehova den Adam. Adam verband sich ebenfalls mit Eva und aus dieser Ehe ging Abel hervor.
Wir haben es also bei Kain mit einem unmittelbaren Göttersohn zu tun und bei Abel mit einem Sprößling des als Mensch geschaffenen Adam und der Eva. Nun geht der Mythus weiter.
Die Opfergaben, welche Abel dem Gotte Jahve darbrachte, waren dem Gotte angenehm. Aber die Opfergaben des Kain nicht, denn Kain war nicht auf direktes Geheiß von Jahve entstanden. Die Folge davon war, daß Kain den Brudermord beging. Er erschlug Abel. Deshalb wurde er von der Gemeinschaft mit Jahve ausgeschlossen. Er ging in entfernte Gegenden und wurde dort der Stammvater eines eigenen Geschlechts.
Adam verband sich weiterhin mit Eva und zum Ersatz von Abel wurde Seth geboren, der auch in der Bibel vorkommt. So entstanden zwei Menschengeschlechter: das erste von Eva und dem Elohim abstammend, das Geschlecht Kains; und das zweite von den bloßen Menschen abstammend, die auf Geheiß des Jahve sich verbunden haben.
Von dem Geschlecht des Kain stammen alle ab, die auf der Erde Künste und Wissenschaften ins Leben gerufen haben, zum Beispiel Methusael, der die Schrift, die Tau-Schrift erfunden hat und TubalKain, der die Bearbeitung der Erze und des Eisens lehrte. So entstand in dieser Linie, direkt von dem Elohim abstammend, die Menschheit, die sich in Künsten und Wissenschaften ausbildet.
Aus diesem Geschlecht der Kains ging auch hervor Hiram. Der war der Erbe alles dessen, was innerhalb der verschiedenen Generationen der Kainssöhne an Wissen, Kunst und Technik aufgespeichert worden war. Hiram war der bedeutendste Baukünstler, den man sich denken kann.
Aus der anderen Linie, aus dem Geschlechte Seths stammte Salomo, der sich auszeichnete in alledem, was von Jahve oder Jehova herrührte. Er war ausgestattet mit der Weisheit der Welt, mit alledem, was die ruhige, klare, abgeklärte Weisheit bei den Jehovasöhnen liefern kann. Dies war eine Weisheit, die man wohl mit Worten aussprechen kann, die dem Menschen tief ins Herz gehen, ihn erheben kann, aber nicht eine solche, welche das unmittelbare Objekt angreifen und etwas Wirkliches an Technik, Kunst und Wissenschaft hervorbringen kann. Es war eine Weisheit, die eine unmittelbare inspirierte Gabe des Gottes ist, nicht eine von unten herausgearbeitete, aus der menschlichen Leidenschaft, aus dem Menschenwollen hervorquillende Weisheit. Die fand sich bei den Kainssöhnen, bei denen, die unmittelbar von dem anderen Elohim abstammten. Das waren die strengen Arbeiter, die alles selbst erarbeiten wollten.
Nun beschloß Salomo einen Tempel zu bauen. Er bestellte dazu als Baumeister den Sprößling der Kainssöhne: Hiram. Es war zu der Zeit, da die Königin von Saba, Balkis, nach Jerusalem kam, weil sie von dem weisen Salomo gehört hatte. Und sie war in der Tat, als sie ankam, entzückt von der erhabenen, klaren Weisheit und Schönheit des Salomo. Er warb um sie und erlangte auch ihr Jawort. Da hörte diese Königin von Saba auch von dem Tempelbau. Nun wollte sie auch den Baumeister Hiram kennenlernen. Als sie ihn sah, machte sein bloßer Blick auf sie einen ungeheuren Eindruck und nahm sie ganz gefangen.
Nun entspann sich etwas wie Eifersuchtsstimmung zwischen Hiram und dem weisen Salomo. Die Folge davon war, daß Salomo gern etwas gegen Hiram getan hätte; aber er mußte ihn behalten, damit der Tempel fertig gebaut werden konnte.
Es kam nun folgendes. Der Tempel war bis zu einer ganz bestimmten Stufe fertig. Nur eines fehlte noch, was das Meisterstück des Hiram sein sollte: nämlich das Eherne Meer. Dieses Meisterstück Hirams sollte darstellen den Ozean, in Erz gegossen, und den Tempel schmücken. Alle Erzmischungen waren in wunderbarer Weise von Hiram veranlagt worden und alles war zu dem Guß vorbereitet. Nun machten sich aber drei Gesellen ans Werk, die Hiram beim Tempelbau für unfähig befunden hatte, zu Meistern ernannt zu werden. Sie hatten ihm deshalb Rache geschworen und wollten die Ausführung des Ehernen Meeres verhindern. Ein Freund Hirams, der davon erfuhr, teilte Salomo diesen Plan der Gesellen mit, damit er ihn vereiteln würde. Aber Salomo ließ aus Eifersucht gegen Hiram der Sache ihren Lauf, weil er Hiram verderben wollte. Die Folge war, daß Hiram zusehen mußte, wie der ganze Guß zerstob, weil die drei Gesellen einen ungehörigen Stoff der Masse zugefügt hatten. Er versuchte noch durch Zugießen von Wasser das aufschäumende Feuer zu löschen, aber es wurde dadurch nur schlimmer. Während er schon nahe daran war, an dem Zustandekommen des Werkes zu verzweifeln, erschien ihm Tubal-Kain selbst, einer seiner Ahnherren. Dieser sagte ihm, er solle sich ruhig in das Feuer hineinstürzen, er sei durch das Feuer nicht verwundbar. Hiram tat es und gelangte bis zum Mittelpunkt der Erde. Tubal-Kain führte ihn zu Kain, der dort im Zustande der ursprünglichen Göttlichkeit war. Hiram wurde nun in das Geheimnis der Feuerschöpfung eingeweiht, in das Geheimnis des Erzgusses und so weiter. Er erhielt von Tubal-Kain noch einen Hammer und ein Goldenes Dreieck, das er am Halse zu tragen habe. Dann kehrte er zurück und war nun imstande, das Eherne Meer wirklich herzustellen, den Guß wieder in Ordnung zu bringen.
Hierauf gewinnt Hiram die Hand der Königin von Saba. Er aber wird von den drei Gesellen überfallen und getötet. Doch ehe er starb, gelang es ihm noch, das Goldene Dreieck in einen Brunnen zu werfen. Als man nun nicht weiß, wo Hiram ist, wird er gesucht. Salomo selbst ist ängstlich und will hinter die Sache kommen. Man fürchtete, die drei Gesellen könnten das alte Meisterwort verraten und es wurde daher ein neues verabredet. Die ersten Worte, die fallen, wenn man Hiram wieder findet, sollten das neue Meisterwort sein. Als Hiram nun aufgefunden wurde, konnte er noch einige Worte sprechen. Er sagte: Tubal-Kain hat mir verheißen, daß ich einen Sohn haben werde, der viele Söhne haben wird, die die Erde bevölkern und mein Werk - den Tempelbau - zu Ende führen werden. Dann bezeichnete er noch den Ort, wo das Goldene Dreieck zu finden sei. Es wurde zu dem Ehernen Meer gebracht und beide an einem besonderen Ort des Tempels, im Allerheiligsten, aufbewahrt. Sie können nur von denen gefunden werden, die Verständnis dafür haben, was diese ganze Tempellegende von dem Tempel des Salomo und seinem Baumeister Hiram zu bedeuten hat.
Nun wollen wir einmal von der Legende selbst übergehen zu einer Interpretation.
Diese Legende stellt dar das Schicksal der dritten, vierten und fünften Unterrasse unserer fünften Wurzelrasse. Der Tempel ist der Tempel der Geheimbruderschaften, respektive dasjenige, was die ganze Menschheit der vierten und fünften Unterrasse baut, und das Allerheiligste ist der Aufenthaltsort der Geheimbruderschaften. Diese wissen, was das Eherne Meer und das Goldene Dreieck bedeuten.
Wir haben es also zu tun mit zweierlei Menschengeschlechtern: mit demjenigen, welches - durch Salomo repräsentiert - im Besitz göttlicher Weisheit ist, und mit dem Kainsgeschlecht, den Abkömmlingen Kains, die sich auf das Feuer verstehen und es zu behandeln wissen. Dieses Feuer ist nicht das physische Feuer, sondern das im Astralraum brennende Feuer der Leidenschaften, Triebe, Begierden.
Wer sind nun die Kainssöhne?? Die Kainssöhne sind - also im Sinne dieser Legende — die Söhne derjenigen Elohim, welche unter der Klasse der Elohim während der Mondepoche ein wenig zurückgeblieben sind. In der Mondepoche haben wir es mit Kama zu tun. Dieses Kama oder Feuer wurde damals durchdrungen mit Weisheit. Nun gab es zwei Arten von Elohim. Die einen Elohim blieben nicht stehen bei der Ehe zwischen Weisheit und Feuer; sie gingen darüber hinaus. Und als sie den Menschen formten, waren sie nicht mehr durchdrungen von Leidenschaften, so daß sie ihn mit ruhiger, abgeklärter Weisheit ausstatteten. Das ist die eigentliche Jahve- oder Jehovareligion, die Weisheit, die ganz leidenschaftslos war. Die anderen Elohim, bei welchen noch die Weisheit mit dem Feuer der Mondperiode verbunden war, sind diejenigen, welche die Kainssöhne schufen.
Daher haben wir in den Söhnen Seths die religiösen Menschen mit der abgeklärten Weisheit und in den Kainssöhnen die, welche das impulsive Element haben, die sich entflammen und Enthusiasmus entwickeln können für Weisheit. Diese zwei Geschlechter schaffen durch alle Rassen hindurch, durch alle Zeiten. Aus der Leidenschaft der Kainssöhne sind alle Künste und Wissenschaften entstanden, aus der Abel-Seth-Strömung alle abgeklärte Frömmigkeit und Weisheit, ohne Enthusiasmus.
Diese zwei Typen waren immer vorhanden und das hat sich so fortgeführt bis zur vierten Unterrasse unserer Wurzelrasse.
Dann kam die Begründung des Christentums. Dadurch wurde die frühere Frömmigkeit, die nur eine Frömmigkeit von oben war, eine Frömmigkeit, die vollständig kamafrei war. Sie wurde getaucht in das Element, das eben durch Christus auf die Erde kam. Christus ist nicht bloß die Weisheit, er ist die inkarnierte Liebe: ein hohes göttliches Kama, das zu gleicher Zeit Buddhi ist; ein rein flutendes Kama, das nichts für sich will, sondern alle Leidenschaften in unendlicher Hingabe nach außen richtet, ein umgekehrtes Kama ist. Buddhi ist umgekehrtes Kama.
Dadurch bereitet sich innerhalb des Typus der Menschen, die fromm sind, innerhalb der Söhne der Weisheit eine höhere Frömmigkeit vor, die nun allerdings enthusiastisch sein kann. Das ist christliche Frömmigkeit. Sie wird zunächst veranlagt in der vierten Unterrasse der fünften Wurzelrasse. Diese ganze Strömung ist aber noch nicht in der Lage, sich mit den Kainssöhnen zu verbinden. Sie sind zunächst noch Gegner. Würde nämlich das Christentum unbedingt schnell alle Menschen ergreifen, so würde es sie zwar mit Liebe erfüllen können, aber das einzelne menschliche Herz, das individuelle menschliche Herz wäre nicht dabei. Es wäre keine freie Frömmigkeit, es wäre nicht das Gebären des Christus in sich selbst als Bruder, sondern bloß als Herrn. Dazu müssen noch durch die ganze fünfte Unterrasse hindurch die Kainssöhne wirken. Sie wirken in ihren Initiierten und bauen den Tempel der Menschheit, aufgebaut aus weltlicher Kunst und weltlicher Wissenschaft.
So sehen wir während der vierten und fünften Unterrasse das weltliche Element immer mehr und mehr sich entwickeln, die ganze weltgeschichtliche Entwickelung auf den physischen Plan heraustreten. Mit dem weltlichen Element des Materialismus entwickelt sich das persönliche, der Egoismus, der zum Kampf aller gegen alle führt. Wenn auch das Christentum da war, so war es in gewisser Weise doch Geheimnis von wenigen. Aber es bewirkte, daß den Menschen während der vierten und fünften Unterrasse aufging: ein jeglicher ist gleich vor Gott. Das ist christlicher Grundsatz. Aber die Menschen können dies nicht ganz verstehen, solange sie im Materialismus und Egoismus befangen sind.
Die Französische Revolution hat dann die Konsequenz der christlichen Lehre im weltlichen Sinne vollzogen. Die spirituelle Lehre des Christentums: alle Menschen sind gleich vor Gott, wurde durch die Französische Revolution in eine rein weltliche Lehre übertragen: alle sind hier gleich. Die neue Zeit hat das noch mehr ins Physische übersetzt.
Vor der Französischen Revolution erschien bei einer Hofdame der Königin Marie-Antoinette, der Madame d’Adhemar, eine Persönlichkeit, die alle wichtigen Szenen der Revolution voraussagte, um davor zu warnen. Es war der Graf von Saint-Germain, dieselbe Persönlichkeit, die in früherer Inkarnation den Orden der Rosenkreuzer gestiftet hat. Er vertrat damals den Standpunkt: die Menschen müßten in ruhiger Weise von der weltlichen Kultur zu der wahren Kultur des Christentums geführt werden. Die weltlichen Mächte wollten sich aber die Freiheit im Sturm, in materieller Weise erobern. Zwar sah er die Revolution als notwendige Konsequenz an, aber er warnte doch davor. Er, Christian Rosenkreutz, in der Inkarnation vom 18. Jahrhundert, als Hüter des innersten Geheimnisses vom Ehernen Meer und vom heiligen Goldenen Dreieck, trat warnend auf: die Menschheit sollte sich langsam entwickeln. Doch schaute er, was vor sich gehen würde.
Das ist der Gang, den die Menschheitsentwickelung, von innen her betrachtet, während der vierten und fünften Unterrasse unserer Wurzelrasse durchmacht. Der menschliche Kulturbau, der große Tempel Salomos wurde gebaut. Aber dasjenige, was ihn eigentlich krönen soll, muß noch ein Geheimnis bleiben. Das kann nur ein Initiierter bauen. Dieser Initiierte wurde mißverstanden, verraten, getötet. Dieses Geheimnis kann noch nicht herauskommen. Es bleibt das Geheimnis von wenigen [Initiierten] des Christentums. In dem Guß des Ehernen Meeres und dem heiligen Dreieck liegt es verschlossen. Es ist kein anderes als das Geheimnis des Christian Rosenkreutz, der vor Christi Geburt in einer sehr hohen Inkarnation verkörpert war und damals einen merkwürdigen Ausspruch getan hat.
Lassen Sie mich nun noch mit einigen Worten die Szene ausmalen, wie jener Christian Rosenkreutz vor der Französischen Revolution diese Äußerung wieder getan hat. Er sagte: Wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten. — Dies hatte er schon damals gesagt, bevor es dann von Hosea gesagt und aufgeschrieben wurde. Aber es ist von Christian Rosenkreutz herrührend.
Dieser Ausspruch: Wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten -, ist der Leitspruch der vierten und fünften Unterrasse unserer Wurzelrasse und sollte bedeuten: Ihr werdet den Menschen frei machen, es wird sich das inkarnierte Buddhi selbst mit dieser eurer Freiheit verbinden und die Menschen gleichmachen vor Gott. Aber der Geist (Wind bedeutet Geist = Ruach), er wird zunächst zum Sturm werden (Kampf aller gegen alle).
Zunächst war das Christentum das des Kreuzes geworden, das sich hindurchentwickeln mußte durch die rein weltliche Sphäre, den physischen Plan. Nicht gleich von Anfang an war Christus am Kreuz das Symbol des Christentums. Aber als das Christentum immer mehr politisch wurde, da wurde das Symbol der gekreuzigte Gottessohn, leidend auf dem Kreuze des Weltenleibes. Das bleibt es äußerlich durch den ganzen Rest der vierten und weiter durch die fünfte Unterrasse hindurch.
Zunächst ist das Christentum gebunden an die rein materielle Kultur der vierten und fünften Unterrasse und nur dazwischen[?] besteht das eigentliche Christentum der Zukunft, das im Besitze der Geheimnisse von dem Ehernen Meer und dem Goldenen Dreieck ist. Dieses Christentum hat ein anderes Symbol; nicht mehr den gekreuzigten Gottessohn, sondern das Kreuz, von Rosen umwunden. Das wird das Symbol des neuen Christentums der sechsten Unterrasse sein. Aus dem Mysterium der Rosenkreuzerbruderschaft wird sich dieses Christentum der sechsten Unterrasse entwickeln, das das Eherne Meer und das Goldene Dreieck kennen wird.
Hiram ist der Repräsentant der Initiierten der Kainssöhne der vierten und fünften Unterrasse. Die Königin von Saba - jede weibliche Figur bedeutet in der esoterischen Sprache die Seele - ist die Seele der Menschheit, die zu entscheiden hat zwischen der abgeklärten, aber nicht die Erde erobernden Frömmigkeit und der die Erde erobernden Weisheit, das heißt, der durch Überwindung der Leidenschaften der Erde verbundenen Weisheit. Sie ist die Repräsentantin der wahren Menschenseele, die zwischen Hiram und Salomo mittendrin steht, und sich mit Hiram in der vierten und fünften Unterrasse verbindet, weil er noch den Tempel baut.
Das Eherne Meer ist jener Guß, der entsteht, wenn in der entsprechenden Weise Wasser mit Erz vermischt ist. Die drei Gesellen machen es falsch, der Guß wird zerstört. Aber indem Tubal-Kain dem Hiram die Mysterien des Feuers enthüllt, ist Hiram imstande, Wasser und Feuer in der richtigen Weise zu verbinden. Dadurch entsteht das Eherne Meer. Es ist das, was das Geheimnis der Rosenkreuzer ist. Es entsteht, wenn das Wasser der ruhigen Weisheit sich verbindet mit dem Feuer des astralen Raumes, dem Feuer der Leidenschaft. Dadurch muß eine Verbindung zustandekommen, die «ehern» ist, die getragen werden kann in die folgenden Zeitalter, wenn hinzukommt das Geheimnis von dem heiligen Goldenen Dreieck, das Geheimnis von Atma-Buddhi-Manas. Dieses Dreieck, mit all dem, was es im Gefolge hat, wird der Inhalt des erneuerten Christentums der sechsten Unterrasse sein. Das wird vorbereitet durch die Rosenkreuzer und dann wird das, was im Ehernen Meer symbolisiert wird, verbunden sein mit der Erkenntnis von Reinkarnation und Karma. Dies ist die neue okkulte Lehre, die dem Christentum wieder eingefügt wird. Atma-Buddhi-Manas, das höhere Selbst, ist das Geheimnis, das offenbar werden wird, wenn die sechste Unterrasse dazu reif sein wird. Dann wird Christian Rosenkreutz nicht mehr als Warner dazustehen brauchen, sondern es wird alles, was Kampf bedeutet hat auf dem äußeren Plan, den Frieden finden durch das Eherne Meer, durch das heilige Goldene Dreieck.
Das ist der Gang der Weltgeschichte in die künftige Zeit hinein. Was Christian Rosenkreutz mit seiner Tempellegende durch die Bruderschaften in die Welt tragen ließ, ist das, was sich die Rosenkreuzer zur Aufgabe gestellt haben: nicht bloß religiöse Frömmigkeit zu lehten, sondern auch Wissenschaft nach außen; aber nicht nur die äußere Welt kennenzulernen, sondern auch die spirituellen Mächte und von beiden Seiten hineinzugehen in die sechste Runde.
5. The Mystery of the Rosicrucians
We have already discussed various myths whose images contain esoteric truths. Such myths were given to people in the past in order to convey certain truths to them in pictorial form, as long as they were not yet ready for the esoteric truths themselves. These images took hold of the causal body and thus prepared people to understand the esoteric truths themselves in later incarnations.
Today I would like to show you one such esoteric representation, which was given only a few centuries ago and still lives on in many forms. It is the following.
At the beginning of the 15th century, a personality appeared in Europe who had been initiated into certain secrets in the East. This was Christian Rosenkreutz. Before the incarnation of Christian Rosenkreutz came to an end, he had initiated a number of personalities—barely more than ten—into the subject in which he had been initiated, as far as this was possible with European people at that time. This small brotherhood, which called itself the Brotherhood of the Rosicrucians — Fraternitas rosae crucis — spread a certain myth throughout the world through a larger, more outwardly visible brotherhood.
Christian Rosicrucius himself had revealed certain secrets at that time in the innermost depths of the Rosicrucian mysteries, which could only be perceived by people who had undergone the necessary preparation. But, as I said, there were no more than ten in the small brotherhood; these were the truly initiated Rosicrucians. What Christian Rosenkreutz taught could not be communicated to many people, but it was then clothed in a kind of myth. Since its inception in the early 15th century, this myth has been told and interpreted many times in brotherhoods. It was told on a larger scale, but interpreted only in a smaller circle, to those who were ready for it.
This myth had approximately the following content:
There was a time when one of the Elohim created man; a man whom he called Eve. The Elohim himself united with Eve, and Cain was born of Eve. Then the Elohim Yahweh or Jehovah created Adam. Adam also united with Eve, and from this marriage Abel was born.
So in Cain we have a direct son of God, and in Abel we have a descendant of Adam and Eve, who were created as humans. Now the myth continues.
The offerings that Abel brought to the god Yahweh were pleasing to the god. But Cain's offerings were not, because Cain had not been created at the direct command of Yahweh. As a result, Cain committed fratricide. He killed Abel. Therefore, he was excluded from the community of Yahweh. He went to distant lands and became the progenitor of his own race.
Adam continued to be with Eve, and Seth was born to replace Abel, who also appears in the Bible. Thus, two human races came into being: the first descended from Eve and the Elohim, the race of Cain; and the second descended from mere humans who united at the behest of Yahweh.
All those who brought arts and sciences to life on earth are descended from the lineage of Cain, for example Methuselah, who invented writing, the Tau script, and Tubal-Cain, who taught the working of ores and iron. Thus, in this line, directly descended from the Elohim, arose the human race, which educated itself in the arts and sciences.
Hiram also came from this lineage of Cain. He was the heir to all the knowledge, art, and technology that had been accumulated over the various generations of Cain's sons. Hiram was the most important architect imaginable.
From the other line, from the lineage of Seth, came Solomon, who excelled in everything that came from Yahweh or Jehovah. He was endowed with the wisdom of the world, with everything that the calm, clear, serene wisdom of the sons of Jehovah can provide. This was a wisdom that could be expressed in words that touched people deeply in their hearts and uplifted them, but not a wisdom that could attack the immediate object and produce something real in technology, art, or science. It was a wisdom that was a direct inspired gift from God, not a wisdom that had been worked out from below, springing from human passion and human will. This was found among the sons of Cain, those who were directly descended from the other Elohim. These were the hard workers who wanted to achieve everything themselves.
Now Solomon decided to build a temple. He appointed the scion of the sons of Cain, Hiram, as the master builder. It was at the time when the Queen of Sheba, Balkis, came to Jerusalem because she had heard of the wise Solomon. And when she arrived, she was indeed enchanted by the sublime, clear wisdom and beauty of Solomon. He courted her and she agreed to marry him. Then the Queen of Sheba also heard about the building of the temple. Now she also wanted to meet the master builder Hiram. When she saw him, his mere glance made a tremendous impression on her and completely captivated her.
Now something like jealousy arose between Hiram and the wise Solomon. The result was that Solomon would have liked to do something against Hiram, but he had to keep him so that the temple could be completed.
The following then happened. The temple had been completed to a certain stage. Only one thing was still missing, which was to be Hiram's masterpiece: the bronze sea. This masterpiece was to represent the ocean, cast in bronze, and adorn the temple. All the bronze alloys had been prepared in a wonderful way by Hiram, and everything was ready for casting. But then three journeymen whom Hiram had deemed unfit to be appointed masters during the construction of the temple set to work. They had sworn revenge on him and wanted to prevent the bronze sea from being made. A friend of Hiram's who learned of this told Solomon of the journeymen's plan so that he could thwart it. But Solomon, out of jealousy toward Hiram, let things take their course because he wanted to ruin Hiram. The result was that Hiram had to watch as the entire casting was destroyed because the three journeymen had added an inappropriate substance to the mixture. He tried to extinguish the foaming fire by pouring water on it, but this only made it worse. Just as he was about to despair of the success of the work, Tubal-Cain himself, one of his ancestors, appeared to him. He told him to calmly throw himself into the fire, for he was invulnerable to it. Hiram did so and reached the center of the earth. Tubal-Cain led him to Cain, who was there in his original divine state. Hiram was now initiated into the secret of the creation of fire, the secret of metal casting, and so on. Tubal-Cain gave him a hammer and a golden triangle to wear around his neck. Then he returned and was now able to truly create the bronze sea and repair the casting.
Hiram then wins the hand of the Queen of Sheba. However, he is attacked and killed by the three journeymen. But before he dies, he manages to throw the golden triangle into a well. When no one knows where Hiram is, a search is launched. Solomon himself is anxious and wants to get to the bottom of the matter. It is feared that the three journeymen might reveal the old master word, so a new one is agreed upon. The first words spoken when Hiram is found are to be the new master word. When Hiram was found, he was still able to speak a few words. He said: Tubal-Cain promised me that I would have a son who would have many sons who would populate the earth and complete my work—the building of the temple. Then he indicated the place where the Golden Triangle could be found. It was taken to the Sea of Brazen and both were kept in a special place in the temple, in the Holy of Holies. They can only be found by those who understand the meaning of this entire temple legend about Solomon's temple and its architect Hiram.
Now let us move on from the legend itself to an interpretation.
This legend represents the fate of the third, fourth, and fifth sub-races of our fifth root race. The temple is the temple of the secret brotherhoods, or rather, that which the entire humanity of the fourth and fifth sub-races is building, and the Holy of Holies is the dwelling place of the secret brotherhoods. They know what the Sea of Bronze and the Golden Triangle mean.
So we are dealing with two kinds of human beings: those who, represented by Solomon, possess divine wisdom, and the descendants of Cain, who understand fire and know how to handle it. This fire is not physical fire, but the fire of passions, instincts, and desires burning in the astral realm.
Who, then, are the sons of Cain? The sons of Cain are — in the sense of this legend — the sons of those Elohim who lagged a little behind the class of Elohim during the lunar epoch. In the lunar epoch, we are dealing with Kama. This Kama, or fire, was imbued with wisdom at that time. Now there were two kinds of Elohim. Some Elohim did not stop at the marriage between wisdom and fire; they went beyond it. And when they formed human beings, they were no longer imbued with passions, so that they endowed them with calm, serene wisdom. This is the actual Yahweh or Jehovah religion, the wisdom that was completely passionless. The other Elohim, in whom wisdom was still connected with the fire of the lunar period, are those who created the sons of Cain.
Therefore, in the sons of Seth we have religious people with serene wisdom, and in the sons of Cain we have those who have the impulsive element, who can become inflamed and develop enthusiasm for wisdom. These two genders create throughout all races and throughout all ages. From the passion of the sons of Cain arose all the arts and sciences, and from the Abel-Seth stream arose all serene piety and wisdom, without enthusiasm.
These two types have always existed, and this has continued until the fourth sub-race of our root race.
Then came the founding of Christianity. This transformed the earlier piety, which was only a piety from above, into a piety that was completely free of kama. It was immersed in the element that came to earth through Christ. Christ is not merely wisdom, he is love incarnate: a high divine Kama, which is at the same time Buddhi; a purely flowing Kama, which wants nothing for itself, but directs all passions outward in infinite devotion, a reversed Kama. Buddhi is reversed Kama.
This prepares a higher piety within the type of people who are pious, within the sons of wisdom, which can now, however, be enthusiastic. This is Christian piety. It is first predisposed in the fourth sub-race of the fifth root race. However, this entire current is not yet able to connect with the sons of Cain. They are still opponents at first. For if Christianity were to take hold of all people quickly, it would indeed be able to fill them with love, but the individual human heart, the individual human heart, would not be involved. It would not be free piety, it would not be the birth of Christ within oneself as a brother, but merely as a lord. For this, the sons of Cain must still work throughout the entire fifth subrace. They work in their initiates and build the temple of humanity, built up from worldly art and worldly science.
Thus, during the fourth and fifth sub-races, we see the worldly element developing more and more, the entire world-historical development emerging on the physical plane. With the worldly element of materialism, the personal element develops, egoism, which leads to the struggle of all against all. Even though Christianity existed, it was in a sense a secret known only to a few. But it caused people during the fourth and fifth sub-races to realize that everyone is equal before God. That is the Christian principle. But people cannot fully understand this as long as they are caught up in materialism and egoism.
The French Revolution then carried out the consequences of Christian teaching in a worldly sense. The spiritual teaching of Christianity—that all people are equal before God—was translated by the French Revolution into a purely worldly teaching: that all are equal here. The new era has translated this even more into the physical realm.
Before the French Revolution, a court lady of Queen Marie Antoinette, Madame d'Adhemar, was visited by a personality who predicted all the important scenes of the revolution in order to warn her. It was the Count of Saint-Germain, the same personality who in a previous incarnation had founded the Order of the Rosicrucians. At that time, he took the view that people had to be led in a peaceful manner from worldly culture to the true culture of Christianity. However, the worldly powers wanted to conquer freedom by storm, in a material way. Although he saw the revolution as a necessary consequence, he nevertheless warned against it. He, Christian Rosenkreutz, in his incarnation in the 18th century, as guardian of the innermost secret of the Iron Sea and the Holy Golden Triangle, warned that humanity should develop slowly. But he saw what was going to happen.
This is the course that human development, viewed from within, is undergoing during the fourth and fifth sub-races of our root race. The human cultural edifice, the great temple of Solomon, was built. But that which is supposed to crown it must remain a secret. Only an initiate can build it. This initiate was misunderstood, betrayed, and killed. This secret cannot yet be revealed. It remains the secret of a few [initiates] of Christianity. It lies locked in the casting of the Sea of Bronze and the Holy Triangle. It is none other than the secret of Christian Rosenkreutz, who was incarnated in a very high incarnation before the birth of Christ and who made a remarkable statement at that time.
Let me now paint a picture with a few words of how Christian Rosenkreutz repeated this statement before the French Revolution. He said: Those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. He had already said this before it was said and written down by Hosea. But it originates from Christian Rosenkreutz.
This saying, “He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind,” is the motto of the fourth and fifth sub-races of our root race and should mean: You will set people free, the incarnated Buddhi itself will connect with this freedom of yours and make people equal before God. But the spirit (wind means spirit = Ruach) will first become a storm (everyone fighting against everyone).
At first, Christianity became that of the cross, which had to develop through the purely worldly sphere, the physical plane. Christ on the cross was not the symbol of Christianity from the beginning. But as Christianity became more and more political, the symbol of the crucified Son of God, suffering on the cross of the world body, emerged. This remains outwardly throughout the rest of the fourth and fifth sub-races.
At first, Christianity is bound to the purely material culture of the fourth and fifth sub-races, and only in between[?] does the actual Christianity of the future exist, which possesses the secrets of the Iron Sea and the Golden Triangle. This Christianity has a different symbol; no longer the crucified Son of God, but the cross entwined with roses. This will be the symbol of the new Christianity of the sixth sub-race. From the mystery of the Rosicrucian brotherhood, this Christianity of the sixth sub-race will develop, which will know the Iron Sea and the Golden Triangle.
Hiram is the representative of the initiates of the sons of Cain of the fourth and fifth sub-races. The Queen of Sheba—every female figure in esoteric language signifies the soul—is the soul of humanity, which must decide between serene piety that does not conquer the earth and wisdom that conquers the earth, that is, wisdom connected with the overcoming of the passions of the earth. She is the representative of the true human soul, which stands between Hiram and Solomon and connects with Hiram in the fourth and fifth sub-races because he is still building the temple.
The Sea of Bronze is the casting that is created when water is mixed with ore in the appropriate manner. The three journeymen do it wrong, and the casting is destroyed. But when Tubal-Cain reveals the mysteries of fire to Hiram, Hiram is able to combine water and fire in the right way. This creates the Brazen Sea. This is the secret of the Rosicrucians. It arises when the water of calm wisdom combines with the fire of the astral space, the fire of passion. This must bring about a connection that is “bronze,” that can be carried into the following ages when the secret of the sacred Golden Triangle, the secret of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, is added. This triangle, with all that it entails, will be the content of the renewed Christianity of the sixth sub-race. This is being prepared by the Rosicrucians, and then what is symbolized in the Iron Sea will be connected with the knowledge of reincarnation and karma. This is the new occult teaching that will be reintroduced into Christianity. Atma-Buddhi-Manas, the higher self, is the secret that will be revealed when the sixth sub-race is ready for it. Then Christian Rosenkreutz will no longer need to stand as a warning, but everything that has meant struggle on the outer plane will find peace through the Iron Sea, through the sacred Golden Triangle.
This is the course of world history into the future. What Christian Rosenkreutz brought into the world through the brotherhoods with his temple legend is what the Rosicrucians have set themselves as their task: not merely to teach religious piety, but also to bring science to the outside world; but not only to get to know the outer world, but also the spiritual powers, and from both sides to enter into the sixth round.