The Temple Legend I
GA 93
9 December 1904, Berlin
8. The Essence and Task of Freemasonry from the Point of View of Spiritual Science II
Last time I spoke about Freemasonry, and today I wish to add something to that. I should like you to consider that I am in a different position with regard to Freemasonry than to the other subjects we have spoken about, or which we still intend to discuss, as I usually only speak about things of which I have personal experience. In the present instance I should stress to you that I am speaking to you as a non-mason1 Rudolf Steiner entered later (1906) into a purely formal relationship with the Memphis-Misraim Freemasonry, cf. The Course of My Life,Chapter 36. and only from a theosophical point of view, whereas to do full justice to the subject of what Freemasonry really is, it should be treated by one who is himself a Freemason. He would not do this, but this is for other reasons which it is best not to discuss. At the same time I would request that you treat what I have to say with reserve.
When I said to you that only a Freemason himself could speak about what it really represents in its innermost core, so I would beg you to take into account that, in spite of that, there is probably no such Freemason in existence in the whole of Europe. This may strike you as odd, but it is so. Since the eighteenth century Freemasonry has been in a very peculiar stage of its development, and I would ask you to regard everything I told you about it last time as being applicable to what it probably would have been like if it had remained as it was in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. As this is not the case, Freemasonry is, so to speak, only a kind of husk devoid of its true content. It can be compared to a petrified plant which is no longer the same as what the plant formed, but is a crust or shell made up by something else.
The ordinary craft masonry does not come into consideration where the things we are going to discuss are concerned, for this craft masonry, with its three degrees of apprentice, journeyman and master, took its start from the Charter of Cologne in 1535.2 According to a work by Friedrich Heldmann, contained in Rudolf Steiner's private library: Die drei ältesten geschichtlichen Denkmäler der teutschen Freymaurerbrüderschaft, (‘The three oldest historical documents of the German Freemasonry Brotherhood’). The Charter of Cologne of 1535, together with the oldest statutes of the Strasbourg Lodge of 1459 and its revision of 1563, form the oldest documents of German Freemasonry, Heckethorn, however, among others, holds it to be apocryphal, otherwise spurious. (See also note 11 of this lecture). Today it is not really anything more than a union for mutual stimulation with regard to higher education and schooling, a union for the purpose of mutual support andstimulation among its members. It is true that these first three degrees are, as it were, only the last remaining vestiges of the original Three Degrees of Freemasonry, and if the ceremonies were to take place as in former times—which they do not—then apprentice, journeyman and master would be initiated in the way I described last time. The regulations are certainly that they should take place in this way, but only a few people know that these regulations exist, and still fewer know the meaning of these things. Everything I have told you about the effect of these ceremonies on the astral plane is something of which craft masonry has no clear understanding.
Now both the British and also the St. John Lodges in Germany possess these three degrees which I have named. And they are actually all in the same state as I have just described. But the possibility is there, within these three degrees, through the very fact that the symbols exist, of penetrating through them to the deeper wisdom which underlies them. A proof of this is provided by the fact that a mason whom you all know well by name has addressed his brother masons in such a way that the germ of his theosophical awareness is thereby revealed; that he was able, in a certain sense, to speak in theosophical terms to an audience of masons. The Freemason of whom I speak is Goethe.3 Goethe became a member of the ‘Amalia’ Lodge in Weimar. See also the commentary on Goethe's relationship to Rosicrucianism at the end of this volume.
As theosophists you will immediately find something very familiar when I read to you two verses of his Freemasonry poem4 The last two verses of his Freemasonry poem, Symbolum. which he intended for his brethren of the Lodge.
Yet call from beyond
The voices of spirits,
The voices of masters:
Omit not to practise
The powers of the good.Crowns here are woven
In quiet eternal
Rewarding with plenty
Those who are active!
We beg you, have hope.
Goethe speaks here of the masters and he speaks of them within the precincts of the Lodge—in spite of the fact that he knows that those sitting around him have no inkling of the profundity of his words—because he is also aware of the fact that through the atmosphere which surrounds a Freemasonry Lodge, through the presence of symbols, vibrations are set in motion which influence the astral body and thereby bring about a certain result. That is something which scarcely enters into the consciousness of Freemasons but upon which those who know can still build today.
Those who are led beyond the first three degrees to the higher degrees possess rather more consciousness. The first of these higher degrees is the Royal Arch degree,5 In his description of this degree Rudolf Steiner is again basing himself on Heckethorn: Secret Societies, Book 8, Chapter 7. the degree of royal art. This degree is distinguished by the fact that its ‘chapter’ or ‘union’ has a special organisation, which is filled with deeper meaning. In their gatherings—especially in those in which a new member is to be initiated into the secrets—never more than twelve fellow members are allowed to be present, so that—after the manner of occult brotherhoods—they really represent something other than themselves, something which lives among them in a mysterious fashion. They are not regarded just as persons, but as the personification of particular qualities.
The first, who represents the most important in the circle of twelve, is called Zerubbabel.6 According to Heckethorn, p. 180, the name Zerubbabel is ‘a compound word, meaning: “the bright Lord, the Sun”. He rebuilds the temple and therefore represents the sun, risen again.’ It supposedly is connected with the Zerubbabel of the Old Testament, a noble from the family of David, who, on return from captivity in Babylon, completed the building of the Temple of Jerusalem. He is a leader, the sun from whom radiates the light which is to illuminate the others. He must needs be the cleverest and has to have a certain knowledge of the essence and meaning of the secret sciences. That is seldom the case with present fashions in the Royal Arch degree. I am talking about an ideal situation, in fact, which only very rarely arises when suitable people happen to be present.7 At the end of this sentence a very unclear statement follows, which could be rendered as follows: ‘Only a kind of memory is there, an indication of a memory of it, but the effect is missing.’
The next officer is Jeshua, the high priest;8 According to Heckethorn, p. 180: ‘The next officer is Jeshua, the high priest; the third, Haggai, the prophet. These three compose the grand council. Principals and senior and junior sojourners form the base; Ezra and Nehemiah, senior and junior scribes, one on each side; janitor or tyler without the door.’ the third, Haggai the prophet. Together with Zerubbabel these three compose the Grand Council. The first and second Principals come next, then the two scribes, Esra and Nehemia and the Janitor or Tyler without the Door. After that come the so-called lesser companions. Not more than twelve people may be present at any time. These twelve represent the twelve signs of the zodiac. The whole is a portrayal of the sun's passage through the twelve signs of the zodiac. That reminds us of what I have told you about the masons having taken their start in reproducing astronomical laws in particular buildings, in churches, cathedrals, etc.
The arrangement of the Lodge—though this is not always the case—is a large square hall with a vaulted ceiling,9 According to Heckethorn, p. 260: ‘The Lodge must have a vaulted ceiling, painted blue and covered with golden stars, to represent the heavens.’ ‘... the brethren take their places according to their rank; the grandmaster in the Last, the master in the south, and the novices at the north.’ painted blue and covered with golden stars to represent the heavens. The positions taken up by the participants is closely prescribed by ceremony. The novices, who are last to enter, take their places in the North, as they are not yet able to endure warmth. In the East stands Zerubbabel. In the West is the High Priest Jeshua, and the Prophet Haggai. And those who take their places in the South are roped together. Each of them has the rope wound around him three times, uniting him with his fellows at a distance of three or four decimeters.10According to Heckethorn, p. 281: ‘Nine companions must be present at the opening of a Royal Arch Chapter; not more nor less than these three are permitted to take this degree at the same time, the two numbers making up the twelve, the number of zodiacal signs. The candidates are prepared by tying a bandage over their eyes, and coiling a rope seven times round the body of each, which unites them together, with three feet of slack rope between them.’
He who is initiated into this Fourth Degree, the first of the higher degrees, which in certain regions still provides an inkling of the significance of the Temple Legend, has to pass three veils.11According to Heckethorn, p. 265: ‘Without the Royal Arch Degree Blue Masonry is incomplete.’ The ‘Blue Masonry’ of Heckethorn is what Rudolf Steiner calls ‘Johannesmaurerei’ (St. John Masonry) and is usually known simply as Craft Masonry in this country. This Order got its name ‘St. John Masonry’ from the Charter of Cologne, 1535 (see note 2). Heckethorn, Book 8, Chapter 2 (end), says: ‘The Freemasons have also frequently been said to be descended from the Knights Templars, and thus to have for their object to avenge the destruction of that Order, and so to be dangerous to Church and State; yet this assertion was repudiated as early as 1535 in the “Charter of Cologne”, wherein the Masons call themselves the Brethren of St. John, because St. John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Light.’ To continue the quotation from Heckethorn regarding ‘Blue Masonry:’ ‘Without the Royal Arch Degree Blue Masonry is incomplete, for we have seen in the Legend of the Temple that, through the murder of Hiram, the Master's word was lost; that word is not recovered in the Master's Degree, its substitute only being given; hence the lost word is recovered in the Royal Arch Degree. Blue Masonry, in fact, answers to the lesser mysteries of the ancients wherein, in reality nothing but the exoteric doctrines were revealed: whilst “spurious Masonry”, or all subsequent degrees—for no one can be initiated into them who has not passed through the first three degrees—answers to the greater mysteries.’ At each passing of a veil one of the secrets is imparted to him. He is told the secret meaning of a particular verse from the Pentateuch. After this the secret of the Tau sign is explained, and the Holy Word, the Master Word, is given him, which is the word by which masons of the Fourth Degree recognise one another. And then, before all else, it is made clear to him in his first instruction how ancient Freemasonry is. The craft masons do not usually get to know that, or if they do hear it, they have not the slightest understanding of these matters. The history of Freemasonry is related to them in the following way: The first true mason was Adam,12According to Heckethorn, p. 248, Freemasons claim to be not contemporary with the creation of man, but with that of the world; because light was before man, and prepared for him a suitable habitation, and light is the scope and symbol of Freemasonry.’ Edward Spratt, an Irish author, described Adam as the first Freemason, who, even after his expulsion from Paradise, possessed great knowledge, especially in the field of geometry. Edward Spratt: Konstitutionenbuch für irländische Logen, (1751). the first man, who had an extraordinary knowledge of geometry at the time of his expulsion from Paradise. He was recognised as the first mason because, being the first man, he was a direct descendant of the Light. The true, deeper origin of Freemasonry, however, pre-dates humanity entirely. It resides in Light itself which existed before mankind.
That is most profound and reveals, for those who can understand it, what theosophical wisdom has again made public through its description of the formation of the earth through the first two Root Races and into the third (the time of Lemuria). Whoever can apprehend this through Freemasonry has received into himself something of tremendous importance. But that takes place in only the rarest cases because Freemasonry is, as it were, degenerate today. This has come about because, since the sixteenth century, man has had little understanding of the true meaning of Freemasonry, namely that a temple has to be built in such a way that its proportions are a reflection of the great cosmic proportions, that a cathedral has to be built in such a way that its acoustics reproduce something of the harmony of the spheres, which is the source of all acoustics in the outer world.
A knowledge of this original insight was gradually lost. Thus it came about that when Desaguliers13John Theophilus Desaguliers, 1683–1744. From 1719 he was the Grand Master of the first English Grand Lodge. Desaguliers passes for the strongest personality of the so-called ‘Revival’ movement in Freemasonry. As a renowned scientist (pupil of Isaac Newton) he is numbered among those who prepared the way for the founding of the theory of electricity. reunited Freemasonry in England during the first half of the eighteenth century, no one had any proper understanding of the fact that the word Freemasonry had to be taken literally; that it really did concern the work of the practising mason and that the mason was one who built churches and temples and other great buildings according to cosmic laws and incorporated into them heavenly and not earthly proportions.
This original insight and its reflection in Freemasonry was lost; there was no longer any conscious appreciation of the transformation wrought by a proper use of acoustics in a building where the speaker's words are thrown back and are thereby changed in their effect. Those who built the great cathedrals of medieval times were the great Freemasons. They were aware of the importance of the fact that what was spoken by the priest should be reflected back from the individual walls and the whole congregation immersed in a sea of sound, breathing and fluctuating in significant vibration which would exercise still greater effect on the astral body than on the physical ear. That has all been lost and it was inevitable that this should be so in the new age. That is what I meant when I told you that what is left of Freemasonry is only the husk of what it was in former times.
Apart from these three degrees there are also the higher degrees. And those are possessed in a fairly complete form by the larger communities of Great Britain, America, Italy, Egypt, and also by eastern Freemasonry—especially that known as Oriental or Memphis Masonry.14See note 1 to next lecture (lecture 9, 16th December). In Germany, where there is a branch of the Memphis-Misraim Freemasonry with world-wide masonic connections,15Rudolf Steiner bases his statement here on an assertion in the Historische Ausgabe der Oriflamme. Der Schottische, Memphisund Misraim-Ritus der Freimaurerei, A.D. 1904, Berlin, according to which, at that time, friendly relationships existed between the twelve Grand Orients and Supreme Grand Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and the Sovereign Sanctuaries of America, Egypt, Rumania, Spain, Cuba, Naples and Palermo. In Germany, however, the Memphis and Misraim Freemasonry was at that time considered ‘irregular’ and was not recognised. the higher degrees are also functioning. But in Germany, within the St. John Freemasonry, there is so little understanding of the real significance of the higher degrees that the St. John masons there generally look upon the higher degrees as nonsense. The Grand Orient of Germany is obliged, for this reason, merely to let the St. John masons in general pass properly as masons.
In this respect there are great differences between the masonry practised in Germany and that of England or Great Britain. In British masonry a kind of reconciliation has been achieved through the Articles of Union of 1813 between craft masonry with its three degrees and those branches of masonry which recognise the higher degrees.16In the last Article of 1st December 1813, it is stated that: ‘It is explained and expressed that the pure and ancient, Freemasonry shall consist of only three Degrees and no more, namely, the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craftsman and Master Mason, with the addition of the High Grades of the Holy Royal Arch. But this Article shall not bind any Lodge or any Chapter to hold a gathering in accordance with the constitution of the said Order.’ (History of Freemasonry, by Heinrich Boos. From Rudolf Steiner's own library). Thus, as an apprentice in craft masonry one is allowed to enter and also graduate into the fourth, fifth and sixth degrees, that is, into the higher degrees. The degrees pertaining to craft masonry are credited to one in England; that is not the case in Germany. The German Grand Orient of the Memphis and Misraim Order undertakes the working of the three lowest degrees itself. The Orient Freemason must therefore have passed the first three degrees at the outset. He must furthermore commit himself to rising at least to the eighteenth degree. He may not rest until he has done so. A German mason of the St. John's Order is therefore never admitted to the higher degrees of Orient masonry [without having attained the three lesser degrees]. The Orient masonry consists of a graded instruction in occultism. As I said last time, it gives a picture of the teaching given in the higher degrees, those which succeed the Royal Arch degree: these provide a kind of astral training which leads up to the eighteenth or twentieth degrees. Then comes that which provides a kind of mental training, a training which leads to a kind of life on the mental plane, and advances to the sixtieth or seventieth degree. Lastly comes the highest training of all, the most profound occult instruction, which can be undertaken in the Grand Orient up to the ninety-sixth degree.
There are only very few in Germany who have advanced to the ninety-sixth degree. But in spite of everything there is something in all this which will presently prove to you how little is left in present-day masonry of what it formerly encompassed. The most interesting point is that those who have progressed to the ninety-sixth degree have not always been through a masonic training, and that there is scarcely anyone at all who has completed the whole gamut of the training. There are indeed a few who have higher degrees. They have been invested with the third or the thirty-third or the ninety-sixth degree, but those who possess these distinctions have not gained them through masonic training but through other occult institutions, and they have allowed their knowledge to be used to bring about the redemption of Freemasonry. If someone has attained to the ninety-sixth degree, it has not been achieved through masonic training. Bluntly, it is considered that in this respect Freemasonry is indebted to the occult training of other schools.
In this sense we have to interpret the manifesto which has been given by the Grand Orient of the Memphis and Misraim rite17Rudolf Steiner read out the whole of the manifesto in the present lecture. as a kind of ideal document. I will read it to you with one or two explanations. What is given here must not be construed as though it could be put into practice in the present day. It must be pointed out today that no Freemason—not even one who has the ninety-sixth degree—would take responsibility for taking another Freemason through these prescriptions, since he himself has not undergone them.
‘Concerning the Secrets of the Higher Occult Degrees of our Order. A Manifesto of the Grand Orient.
‘One of the secrets belonging to the highest degree of our Order consists in providing the appropriately conditioned Brother with the practical means of erecting the true Temple of Solomon within Man; of restoring the ‘Lost Word’, that is, our Order provides the initiated and selected Brother with practical means enabling him to gain proof of pure immortality during his present earthly life.’
That is one of the points which are of utmost importance. The next point is one which exists in all centres of occult training: no calling-up of spirits or spiritualistic activities. Anyone who practises spiritualism is strictly excluded.
‘This secret is one of the true masonic secrets and rests solely in the possession of the higher occult degrees of our Order. It has been handed down by word of mouth in our Order from the ancestors of all true Freemasons, “the Wise Men of the East”, and will only be transmitted by us in like manner.’
That is the practice in occult societies.
‘Naturally, however, the success of this practical instruction for the attainment of this secret again depends entirely on the candidate himself.
‘For of what use are the best and most tested and detailed instructions given to a candidate wishing to learn to swim if he is not himself prepared to move hands and feet when he comes into contact with the water? Or of what use is the most comprehensive guidance in learning to paint, or the exposition of the most vivid colours by way of example, if the candidate to whom painting is being taught will not take the paintbrush into his own hand and seek to mix the colours himself? He will never become an artist unless he does so.
‘Those brothers, the discoverers of this secret, guarded it as a rare, self-acquired possession and, in order not to be misjudged or even derided by the man in the street, they concealed it by means of symbols, as we do to this day.’
These symbols are no longer decipherable for the Freemason of the present day. Such symbols are not arbitrarily chosen. These are not things by means of which someone can portray something, like a professor who says: I will illustrate this graphically. These symbols have been taken from the objects themselves, which have been engraved by Nature. He who recognises them for what they are, who can really read what they contain, comes into contact with their innermost being, he is led by them into their inner nature. These symbols portray the thing itself and do not have a merely symbolical meaning. Within Freemasonry there is no one who is able to give guidance which would enable a person to arrive at the object itself.
‘These symbols are, however, no arbitrarily chosen pictures and they do not rest upon any chance occurrence, but are founded on the attributes of God and of man, and must be regarded as archetypal. But we will never take the form, the vessel, the ritual, the symbols for their content, but will seek the spiritual content within the form’
These words show [Gap] for the symbol itself portrays the object.
‘and when we have found this the spiritual content—and have absorbed it into ourselves, we shall recognise through this spiritual content the absolute necessity of the form, the ritual, the symbolism.
‘Our higher degrees themselves provide the brother with certain proof of the immortality of man.’
This they would do if they were worked.
‘That is and has been the great longing of mankind ever since human beings who could reason existed. Mankind needs to have this assurance of a life after death in order to be truly happy in this present life. Therefore all the mysteries contained in the religions and centres of hidden wisdom have occupied themselves with this question as their highest and principal task. The Church has naturally also occupied itself with this question of the “Lost Word”; the “Lost Immortality”, but it directs the candidate along the path of grace and portrays it as a gift from above and not as something to be achieved by personal effort. Our Order, however, places it within the power of each individual seeker, by practical means, to unite himself consciously and voluntarily with the World Consciousness, with the ultimate forces of Creation.’
That means, therefore, to provide insight into and union with that world which otherwise is only accessible through the portal of death.
From all this you may draw the conclusion that what belongs to the world's profundities was once found in Freemasonry, but is no longer there in the empty husk which it presents today. You must ask yourselves why. Now, the meaning of the Temple Legend, the meaning of operative masonry, like all intuitive knowledge, had to be lost to humanity, because the fifth cultural epoch is actually the epoch of understanding. Intuition had for a time to lie dormant in the world and Freemasonry is intuitive in its whole attitude and manner. I would like to draw your attention to Vitruvius18See note 7 to lecture 7 (2nd December 1904). and to the true symbolical building instructions which he gave. Only those, however, who have the right intuition for it can follow these instructions. Today these symbolical instructions have been replaced by intellectual, rational ones. Reason had to become the keynote of man's development for a while, because everything which has meanwhile come to us through great conquests of nature must be incorporated in the whole organism of human activity.
Understand what it means: the whole of the mineral kingdom will be included in the progress of the world during the present Round of evolution. It will be included in such a way that man will gradually transform the whole of nature through his own spirituality. That is the meaning of the Molten Sea, that the whole of mineral nature will effectively be transformed.
Man works in industry, so as to weave Organisation [his own spirituality?] into mineral nature. If you consider a machine ... [Gap]
In this way man thus works the whole mineral kingdom back and forth with his own spirit. This re-casting of Nature, this re-casting of what is mineral, will be perfected when our present Round of evolution has come to an end. The whole of mineral nature will then have been changed. Man will have put his stamp on it, just as he imprints his stamp on a quantity of metal when, for example, he fashions a watch. Thus, when a new Round of evolution begins, the mineral kingdom can be sucked in, absorbed.
In order completely to finish the development in this sphere, the whole way of thinking which has gripped man since the sixteenth century, must be carried right into the atom. Thus, only when reasoned thinking can grasp the atom can Freemasonry again revive. In the first stage, the outer form will be grasped. The next step will be when man has learned to think right into the mineral atom, when he has an understanding of how to make use of what lives in the atom and place it in the service of the whole. It is true that only now—and perhaps only during the last five years—human thinking has turned to tracing natural forces as far as the atom, and indeed, he who would understand this precisely must follow the latest phase of the various developments in electricity. The speech which the English Prime Minister Balfour has made19The speech made by Balfour to the British Association on 17th August 1904, appeared the same year in translation under the title: Unsere heutige Weltanschauung (‘Our present outlook’), Leipzig 1904. At the time of the present lecture this speech had already been discussed in the November issue of Luzifer-Gnosis, under the heading: ‘Present-day culture as reflected in Theosophy,’ in which the relevant passages from Balfour and Blavatsky are set over against one another. This discussion has been published in German in the complete edition of Rudolf Steiner's works as Volume 34, Luzifer-Gnosis. (For text of Balfour's speech, see note 22 to the next lecture, 16th December 1904). on the subject of our contemporary world outlook is interesting in this connection, albeit only in its outward implications. What he said there [about new electrical theory] is something of enormous importance. He hints at the critical turning point in the development of man's thinking. He is to a certain extent conscious of this and mentions it in one part of his speech. Thus we see how something is dawning in the consciousness of natural science which plays into the future. This has been known to occultists since 1879. I emphasise this, although I cannot prove it.20At a later date Rudolf Steiner has often spoken in greater detail about the decisive importance of the year 1879, as, for instance in: ‘Fall of the Spirits of Darkness’ (typescript translation). The occultist knows that this will come about: a new point of departure from the atom into the mineral-physical world. That will be what will enter into the world in the sixth cultural epoch, and through this Freemasonry will also be regenerated. In Freemasonry the occultist has something very remarkable, something unprecedented, for it has something primeval in its foundation. It belongs to the most ancient of traditions, which has preserved almost a hundred degrees, in a precisely specialised structure, in spite of the fact that it has lost nearly all of its content, and that none of those belonging to it in Europe are able to form an adequate conception of it. But still: the thing is there and one will only need to fill the whole outer husk with new content. The thing is there, waiting to be brought to life again.
Points from the subsequent discussion.
Rites of Memphis, Oriental Rites and Grand Orient Rites. A conference of occultists discussed whether the occult doctrine could be made public or not. From that it became clear that there are two tendencies, a left and a right tendency,21See in this connection Rudolf Steiner's detailed description in: The Occult Movement in the Nineteenth Century. For this statement Rudolf Steiner apparently made use of the publication by the Englishman, C.G. Harrison: The Transcendental Universe. one which is free-thinking and one which is conservative.
8. Wesen Und Aufgabe Der Freimaurerei Vom Gesichtspunkt Der Geisteswissenschaft
Letztes Mal habe ich über Freimaurerei gesprochen und möchte auch heute etwas darüber sagen. Ich bitte dabei zu berücksichtigen, daß ich in einem etwas anderen Falle bin als gegenüber den anderen Materien, die wir abgehandelt haben und die ich noch abhandeln werde, weil ich eigentlich nur über dasjenige zu sprechen pflege, worüber ich ein irgendwie geartetes Wissen eigener Natur habe; während ich hier von vornherein betonen muß, daß ich als Nichtfreimaurer über die Freimaurerei allein vom theosophischen Standpunkte sprechen kann, und daß in Wahrheit über dasjenige, was Freimaurerei wirklich ist, ein Freimaurer sprechen müßte. Er würde es ja nicht tun; aber das ist aus anderen Gründen nicht gut möglich zu erörtern. Gleichzeitig bitte ich, die Dinge, die ich ausspreche, mit Reserve aufzunehmen.
Wenn ich sagte, daß über die Freimaurerei in ihrem innersten Wesen nur ein Freimaurer sprechen könnte, so bitte ich zu berücksichtigen, daß es wahrscheinlich trotz alledem einen solchen Freimaurer auf dem europäischen Kontinent gar nicht gibt. Das mag Ihnen etwas sonderbar erscheinen, aber es ist so. Die Freimaurerei ist schon seit dem 18. Jahrhundert in einem ganz eigentümlichen Stadium, und alles, was ich das letzte Mal erzählt habe, bitte ich so aufzufassen, daß wahrscheinlich die Dinge sich so verhalten würden, wenn die Freimaurerei noch so wäre wie im 16., 17. Jahrhundert. Da dies aber nicht der Fall ist, so ist die Freimaurerei sozusagen nur eine Art Hülse, zu der der richtige Inhalt fehlt. Sie ist zu vergleichen mit einer versteinerten Pflanze, die eigentlich nicht mehr dasjenige ist, was die Pflanze bildet, sondern nur eine Art Schale oder Kruste, die von etwas anderem gebildet wird.
Die gewöhnliche, sogenannte Johannesmaurerei kommt für das, was wir zu besprechen haben, gar nicht in Betracht, denn diese Johannesmaurerei mit ihren drei Graden — Lehrling, Geselle und Meister — hat ihren Anfang genommen durch die Charta in Köln im Jahre 1535. Sie ist eigentlich im Grunde genommen heute nichts anderes als eine Vereinigung zur gegenseitigen Anregung in bezug auf etwas höhere Bildung und Schulung, eine Vereinigung dafür, daß sich die Mitglieder gegenseitig stützen und anregen. Allerdings sind diese drei ersten Grade sozusagen nur noch übriggebliebene Reste der ursprünglichen drei Freimaurergrade. Und wenn es heute noch geschehen würde wie früher - es geschieht nicht -, so würden Lehrling, Geselle und Meister so eingeweiht werden, wie ich es das letzte Mal beschrieben habe. Vorschrift ist es durchaus, daß sie so eingeweiht werden. Aber nur ein kleiner Teil weiß, daß diese Vorschriften bestehen, und ein noch kleinerer Teil weiß die Bedeutung dieser Vorschriften. Alles das, was ich gesagt habe über die Wirkung der Zeremonien auf der Astralebene ist etwas, was der Johannesmaurerei absolut unklar ist.
Nun haben sowohl die großbritannischen wie auch die deutschen Johanneslogen diese drei Grade, die ich genannt habe. Und sie sind eigentlich alle in dem Zustande, den ich eben beschrieben habe. Aber es ist doch eine Möglichkeit vorhanden, schon innerhalb dieser drei Grade, einfach dadurch, daß die Symbole da sind, sozusagen auf den Grund der tieferen Weisheit zu sehen. Ein Beweis dafür mag Ihnen sein, daß ein Maurer, den Sie dem Namen nach sehr gut kennen, in einer Weise auch zu seinen Logenbrüdern gesprochen hat, die im Grunde genommen den Keim von seinem theosophischen Bewußtsein zeigt; daß er in gewissem Sinn theosophische Worte gesprochen hat, die er aber doch anwenden konnte in der damaligen Zeit in einer Freimaurerloge. Dieser Maurer ist Goezhe.
Sie werden als Theosophen sogleich etwas ungeheuer Verwandtes finden, wenn ich Ihnen zwei Strophen aus dem Freimaurergedicht lese, das bestimmt war für seine Logenbrüder:
Doch rufen von drüben
Die Stimmen der Geister
Die Stimmen der Meister:
Versäumt nicht zu üben
Die Kräfte des Guten.
Hier winden sich Kronen
In ewiger Stille,
Die sollen mit Fülle,
Die Tätigen lohnen!
Wir heißen euch hoffen.
Da spricht Goethe von den Meistern und er spricht das innerhalb der Loge, weil er - trotzdem er weiß, daß die, die um ihn sitzen in der Loge, keine Ahnung haben von der Tiefe der Worte -, weil er doch auch weiß, daß durch das Milieu, das eine Freimaurerloge hat, durch die Umgebung von Symbolen, Schwingungen erzeugt werden, die auf den Astralkörper wirken, und daß sie dadurch doch eine gewisse Wirkung haben. Das ist etwas, auf das auch heute noch diejenigen bauen, welche wissen, daß im Bewußtsein der Maurer sehr wenig davon vorhanden ist.
Etwas mehr Bewußtsein haben diejenigen, die über die ersten drei Grade hinaus zu den höheren Graden geführt werden. Der erste dieser Grade ist der Grad der königlichen Kunst, der Royal Arch-Grad. Dieser Grad ist dadurch charakterisiert, daß das betreffende «Kapitel» oder die «Vereinigung» schon eine ganz bestimmte Organisation hat, schon mit einer tieferen Bedeutung erfüllt ist. In diesem Grad können nämlich in den Versammlungen, namentlich in denjenigen, wo ein Neuer in die Geheimnisse eingeweiht werden soll, niemals mehr als zwölf sogenannte Genossen anwesend sein; so daß sie wirklich - in der Art, wie das bei okkulten Bruderschaften der Fall ist - etwas repräsentieren, was nicht sie selbst sind, sondern etwas, was geheimnisvoll unter ihnen lebt. Sie sollen nicht Personen sein, sondern Eigenschaften zepräsentieren.
Den Ersten, der dasjenige repräsentiert, was das Wichtigste im Kreise der Zwölf sein soll, nennt man Zerubabel. Er ist ein Führer gleich der Sonne. Von ihm strahlt das Licht aus, das auf die anderen übergehen soll. Er muß der Klügste sein und sollte auch einigermaßen in das Wesen und die Bedeutung der geheimen Wissenschaften eingeführt sein. Bei den heutigen Kreierungen in den Royal Arch-Grad ist das selten der Fall. Ich erzähle also eigentlich den Idealfall, der in höchst seltenen Fällen - wenn geeignete Leute da sind — eintreten kann.
Dann schließen sich die zwei nächsten Genossen an: der Hohepriester Jeschua und der Prophet Haggai, die zusammen mit Zerubabel den Großrat bilden. Dann kommen der erste und der zweite Hauptgast, dann die beiden Schreiber Esra und Nehemia. Der nächste ist dann der Ziegeldecker oder Logenschließer, und dann kommen die sogenannten minderen Gäste. Nicht mehr als zwölf können es überhaupt sein. Diese Zwölf stellen die zwölf Zeichen des Tierkreises dar. Das Ganze soll darstellen ein Abbild des Ganges der Sonne durch die zwölf Zeichen des Tierkreises. Das erinnert schon an das, was ich Ihnen geschildert habe, daß die Maurer ausgegangen sind von der Nachbildung astronomischer Weltgesetze in einzelnen Bauten, im Dom, in Kathedralen und so weiter.
Der Zusammenkunftsort - wobei es wiederum nicht immer so sein muß - ist ein viereckiger Raum, überwölbt von einem Gewölbe, welches blau ist und mit Sternen bedeckt, eine Art Sternenraum wirklich darstellt. Die Aufstellung der Teilnehmer bei der Zeremonie muß eine ganz bestimmte sein. Die zuletzt Eingetretenen, die Neophyten, stehen im Norden, weil sie die Wärme noch nicht vertragen können. Im Osten steht Zerubabel. Im Westen stehen der Hohepriester Jeschua und der Prophet Haggai. Und im Süden stehen sie so, daß sie ein Seil um sich geschlungen haben; jeder hat dreimal das Seil um sich geschlungen. Es sind drei bis vier Dezimeter Abstand, dann wird das Seil um den nächsten geschlungen und so weiter.
Derjenige, der eingeführt wird in diesen vierten Grad der Maurerei, der der erste der höheren Grade ist und in manchen Gegenden heute noch einen Begriff gibt von dem, was die Tempellegende wirklich bedeutet, der muß drei Vorhänge passieren. Bei jedem der drei Vorhänge wird ihm eines der Geheimnisse mitgeteilt. Es wird dabei auch immer der geheime Sinn bestimmter Verse aus den Büchern Mosis mitgeteilt. Dann, wenn er die drei Vorhänge passiert hat, wird ihm mitgeteilt das Geheimnis des Tau-Zeichens, und dann wird ihm das sogenannte heilige Wort, das Meisterwort, gesagt, an dem sich die betreffenden Mitglieder des vierten Grades erkennen. Es wird ihm dann vor allen Dingen im ersten Unterricht klargemacht, wie alt die Freimaurerei ist. Das erfahren die Johannesmaurer gewöhnlich nicht, oder wenn sie es hören, haben sie nicht das geringste Verständnis für so etwas. Es wird nämlich die Geschichte der Maurerei in der folgenden Weise erzählt: Der erste wirkliche Maurer war Adam, der erste Mensch, der, als er aus dem Paradies gestoßen wurde, eine außerordentliche Kenntnis der Geometrie besaß und der erste Maurer deshalb war, weil er als erster Mensch unmittelbar von dem Licht abstammt. Der eigentliche, tiefere Ursprung liegt aber überhaupt vor der Entstehung der Menschen. Der Ursprung liegt im Lichte, und das Licht geht der Menschheit voran.
Das ist außerordentlich tief und weist für den, der es verstehen kann, auf dasjenige, was die theosophische Weisheit wieder eröffnet hat, indem sie die Entstehung des Irdischen durch die zwei ersten Wurzelrassen bis zur dritten schildert. Wer nun in der Maurerei dieses aufnimmt, nimmt etwas ungeheuer Bedeutungsvolles in sich auf. Aber bei den wenigsten ist das der Fall, weil die Maurerei heute sozusagen entartet ist. Das kommt davon her, daß man schon vom 16. Jahrhundert an wenig verstand von der eigentlichen Bedeutung der Maurerei, nämlich davon, daß ein Tempel so gebaut sein soll, daß seine Abmessungen eine Nachbildung großer himmlischer Verhältnisse sind, daß ein Dom so gebaut sein soll, daß er in seiner Akustik etwas wiedergibt von der Sphärenharmonie, wodurch die Akustik gerade kommt.
Von dieser ursprünglichen Schau hat man allmählich das Bewußtsein verloren. So kam es, daß in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts, als in England Desaguliers die Maurerei wieder vereinigte, man kein rechtes Bewußtsein davon hatte, daß das Wort wörtlich zu nehmen ist, daß es sich wirklich um Werkmaurerei handelt, daß ein Maurer wirklich derjenige war, der nach den Himmelsgesetzen bauen konnte Kirchen und Tempel und höhere Gebäude, denen er nicht irdische, sondern himmlische Verhältnisse einfügte.
Diese intuitive Schau und Wiedergabe in der Maurerei ging verloren; das Bewußtsein davon, daß es etwas anderes ist, in einem Hause zu sprechen, das die Sprache in einer ganz bestimmten Weise akustisch zurückwirft und dadurch anders wirkt, ging verloren. Diejenigen, welche die großen Dome im Mittelalter gebaut haben, das waren die großen Freimaurer. Sie waren sich dessen bewußt, daß es davon abhängt, daß das Wort, das der Priester spricht, in der richtigen Weise von den einzelnen Wänden zurückgeworfen wird, daß dadurch die ganze Gemeinde in einem Lautmeer lebte, das in sinn- und bedeutungsvollen Schwingungen wogte, die eine noch größere Bedeutung hatten für den Astralkörper als für das physische Ohr. Das ist alles verlorengegangen und mußte in der neuen Zeit verlorengehen. Das ist der Sinn dessen, wenn ich sagte, daß heute nur noch eine Hülse vorhanden ist von dem, was die Freimaurerei früher bedeutete.
Außer diesen Johannesgraden existieren auch noch die Hochgrade. Und zwar haben namentlich die größeren Gemeinschaften von Großbritannien, Amerika, Italien, Ägypten und im Orient - namentlich diejenigen, welche man die orientalische Maurerei, die MemphisMaurerei nennt -, diese Hochgrade mit ziemlicher Vollständigkeit. Auch in Deutschland, wo man in der Memphis-Misraim-Maurerei eine Abteilung hat, die in Zusammenhang mit der Maurerei in der ganzen Welt ist, werden die Hochgrade bearbeitet. Nur ist in Deutschland innerhalb der Johannesmaurerei so wenig Bewußtsein vorhanden von der eigentlichen Bedeutung der Hochgrade, daß die Johannesmaurer in Deutschland überhaupt die Hochgrade für einen Unsinn ansehen. Der deutsche Großorient ist daher gezwungen, überhaupt nur die Johannesmaurerei als Maurerei eigentlich gelten zu lassen.
Es sind in bezug darauf große Unterschiede zwischen der deutschen und der englischen oder großbritannischen Maurerei. In der großbritannischen Maurerei ist es so, daß durch den Toleranzvertrag vom Jahre 1813 eine Art von Ausgleich zustandegekommen ist zwischen der Johannesmaurerei mit ihren drei Graden und den Hochgraden, so daß man als Lehrling in die Johannesmaurerei eintreten und dann aufsteigen kann in den vierten, fünften, sechsten Grad, also in die Hochgrade. Die Johannesgrade werden einem in England angerechnet; das ist in Deutschland nicht der Fall. Der deutsche Großorient des Memphis- und Misraim-Ordens bearbeitet daher die drei untersten Grade selbst. Der Orient-Freimaurer muß also von vornherein die ersten drei Grade erworben haben, er muß sich auch verpflichten, bis zum 18. Grade mindestens aufzusteigen. Nicht früher darf er ruhen. Ein deutscher Johannesmaurer wird also nicht zu den Hochgraden der Orientmaurer zugelassen werden können. Diese Orientmaurerei ist eine stufenweise Schulung im Okkultismus. Wie ich das letzte Mal gesagt habe, ist sie ein Abbild für die Schulung der höheren Grade - an den Royal Arch-Grad gliedern sich diese an -, in der man eine Art astraler Schulung durchmacht, die bis zum 18., 20. Grade geht. Dann kommt dasjenige, wo man eine Art mentaler Schulung durchmacht, eine Schulung, die zu einer Art von Leben auf dem Mentalplan führt. Das sind dann die Grade bis in die sechziger, siebziger Grade hinein, und dann kommt die höchste Schulung oder die tiefste okkulte Schulung, die noch vorgenommen werden kann durch den Großorient bis zum 96. Grad.
Es gibt in Deutschland nur wenige, die zum 96. Grad aufgestiegen sind. Aber trotz allem liegt hier etwas vor, was Ihnen gleich beweisen wird, wie wenig die Maurerei heute noch hat von dem, was sie einst war. Das Interessanteste dabei ist, daß diejenigen, welche bis zum 96. Grad graduiert sind, durchwegs nicht durch die maurerische Schulung durchgegangen sind, daß überhaupt kaum irgend jemand sich findet, der die ganze Schulung irgendwie durchgemacht hat. Es gibt also einige, die haben höhere Grade. Es wird ihnen erteilt der 3., der 33., der 96. Grad. Aber die, welche sie haben, haben sie nicht durch die Schulung in der Maurerei erlangt, sondern in anderen okkulten Schulen, und sie haben sich herbeigelassen, in der Maurerei ihre Schulung zum Heile der Maurerei zur Geltung zu bringen. Wenn jemand den 96. Grad hat, so hat er ihn nicht in der Maurerei durchgemacht. Man rechnet geradezu darauf, daß der Maurerei die okkulte Schulung anderer Schulen zugute kommt.
In diesem Sinne ist auch aufzufassen als eine Art ideales Dokument das Manifest, welches der Großorient des Memphis- und MisraimRitus herausgegeben hat. Ich will es Ihnen vorlesen und einige Erklärungen daran knüpfen. Das, was da gesagt wird, ist auch nicht so aufzufassen, als ob es heute durchgeführt werden könnte. Heute wird von vornherein darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß kein Maurer - auch nicht einer des 96. Grades - die Verantwortung übernehmen möchte, die Vorschriften an irgendeinem Maurer durchzuführen, weil er sie selbst nicht durchgemacht hat.
«Von den Geheimnissen der okkulten Hochgrade unseres Ordens. Ein Manifesto des Großorientes.» «Eines der Geheimnisse, die unser Orden in seinem höchsten Grade besitzt, besteht darin, daß er dem gehörig vorbereiteten Bruder die praktischen Mittel liefert, den wahren Tempel Salomos im Menschen aufzurichten, das «verlorene Wort» wiederzufinden, das heißt, daß unser Orden dem eingeweihten und auserwählten Bruder die praktischen Mittel liefert, die ihn in den Stand versetzen, sich schon in diesem irdischen Leben Beweise reiner Unsterblichkeit zu verschaffen.»
Das ist einer derjenigen Punkte, der als wichtigster Punkt existiert. Der nächste Punkt ist auch ein solcher, wie er in allen okkulten Schulen existiert: keine Geisterbeschwörungen und spiritistischen Praktiken. Spiritistische Praktiken sind strengstens ausgeschlossen.
«Dieses Geheimnis ist eines der wahren maurerischen Geheimnisse und eben ausschließlich im Besitze der okkulten Hochgrade unseres Ordens. Es ist auf unseren Orden durch mündliche Überlieferung von den Vätern aller wahren Freimaurerei, den «weisen Männern des Ostens», überkommen und wird auch von uns nur wieder mündlich weitergegeben.»
Das ist die Praxis der okkulten Gesellschaften.
«Selbstverständlich hängt aber der Erfolg dieses praktischen Unterrichts zur Erlangung dieses Geheimnisses wiederum ganz vom Kandidaten selbst ab.»
«Denn was nützt es, einem Schüler, der schwimmen lernen will, die besten, erprobtesten und ausführlichsten Anleitungen zum Schwimmen zu geben, wenn er, einmal ins Wasser gelegt, nicht selbst Hände und Füße bewegt. Oder was nützt es, einem Malschüler die umfangreichste Anleitung zum Malen zu geben und ihm die feurigsten Farbentöne vorzumalen; wenn er nicht selbst den Pinsel in die Hand nimmt und selbst die Mischung der Farben zu erzielen sucht, wird er nie ein Künstler werden.»
«Diejenigen Brüder, welche nun dieses Geheimnis gefunden hatten, bewahrten es als ein köstliches, selbsterrungenes Eigentum, und um von.den Alltagsmenschen nicht verkannt oder gar verspottetzu werden, verbargen sie es unter Symbolen, so wie wir das heute noch tun.»
Diese Symbole sind für die Maurer heute nicht mehr lesbar. Diese Symbole sind nun keine willkürlich gewählten äußeren Symbole. Es sind nicht Dinge, durch die jemand die Sache so darstellt wie ein Professor, der sagt: Ich will Ihnen etwas graphisch darstellen. - Diese Symbole sind den Dingen selbst entnommen, die die Natur selbst schreibt. Der, welcher sie erkennt, welcher wirklich sie zu lesen imstande ist, kommt mit dem Inneren der Dinge in Verbindung, es führt ihn in die Sache selbst hinein. Es gibt die Sache selbst und nicht bloß symbolisiert. In der Maurerei ist niemand, der die Anleitung geben kann, zu den Dingen selbst zu kommen.
«Diese Symbole sind nun keine willkürlich gewählten Bilder, und beruhen nicht auf irgendeinem Zufall, sondern sie sind begründet in den Eigenschaften Gottes und des Menschen, und wir müssen sie als Urbilder betrachten. Wir werden aber nie die Form, das Gefäß, das Ritual, die Symbole für den Inhalt nehmen, sondern in der Form den geistigen Inhalt suchen,» — diese Worte zeigen ... [Lücke], weil das Symbol selbst die Sache darstellt - «und nachdem wir denselben» — den geistigen Inhalt - «gefunden und in uns aufgenommen haben, aus dem geistigen Inhalt die absolute Notwendigkeit der Form, des Rituals, der Symbolik erkennen.»
«Unsere Hochgrade geben daher dem Bruder die Möglichkeit, einen sicheren Beweis für die Unsterblichkeit des Menschen zu erlangen.» — Das würden sie auch tun, wenn sie bearbeitet würden. — «Das ist und war die große Sehnsucht, seitdem denkende Menschen existieren. Der Mensch bedarf dieser Überzeugung von seinem Fortleben nach dem Tode, um in diesem Leben wahrhaft glücklich sein zu können. Es haben daher auch die Mysterien aller Religionen und Weisheitsschulen sich mit dieser Frage als ihrer höchsten und vornehmsten Aufgabe beschäftigt. Das Kirchentum beschäftigt sich naturgemäß auch mit der Lösung dieser Frage «vom verlorenen Wort», dem «verlorenen ewigen Leben», sie verweist den Suchenden aber immer auf den Weg der Gnade und stellt es stets als ein Geschenk und nicht als etwas Selbstzuerwerbendes oder Erworbenes hin. Unser Orden stellt es jedoch in die Möglichkeit eines jeden einzelnen Suchenden, mittels praktischer Mittel sich mit dem Weltbewußtsein, der Urschöpferkraft, bewußt und selbst gewollt schon in diesem Leben zu vereinen.»
Das heißt also, den Einblick in diejenige Welt und die Vereinigung mit ihr zu ermöglichen, die sonst nur durch die Pforte des Todes eröffnet werden kann.
Sie sehen aus alledem, daß das, was zum Tiefsten der Welt gehört, in der Freimaurerei ursprünglich vorhanden war, aber in der leeren Hülse, die sie heute ist, nicht mehr da ist. Sie müssen sich fragen: Warum? Nun: Der Sinn, der sich in der Tempellegende ausspricht, der Sinn der Werkmaurerei, mußte, wie alle intuitive Erkenntnis, verlorengehen, weil die fünfte Unterrasse die eigentliche Verstandesrasse geworden ist. Die Intuition mußte zunächst eine Weile ruhen in der Welt, und die Art und Weise, wie die Freimaurerei wirkt, ist intuitiv. Ich verweise Sie auf Vitrav und auf die wahre symbolische Anweisung zum Bauen. Diese kann aber nur derjenige befolgen, der die Intuition dafür hat. Heute sind diese symbolischen Anweisungen durch verstandesmäßige, rationelle ersetzt. Der Verstand mußte eine Weile die eigentliche Entwickelungsetappe der Menschheit bilden deshalb, weil alles, was mittlerweile an uns herangekommen ist an großen Errungenschaften der Natur, eingefügt werden mußte in den ganzen Organismus des menschlichen Schaffens.
Verstehen Sie nur einmal, was es heißt: das ganze Mineralreich wird während unserer jetzigen Runde einbezogen in den Fortschritt unserer Entwickelung. Es wird einbezogen so, daß der Mensch allmählich mit seiner eigenen Geistigkeit die ganze Natur noch einmal durchorganisiert. Das ist der Sinn des Ehernen Meeres, daß alles in der mineralischen Natur wirklich durchorganisiert ist.
In der Industrie arbeitet die Menschheit, um die Organisation [ev.: eigene Geistigkeit?] in die mineralische Natur hineinzuarbeiten. Wenn Sie eine Maschine betrachten ... [Lücke].
So schafft also der Mensch wirklich durch seinen eigenen Geist das ganze Mineralreich um und um. Diese Umarbeitung der Natur, diese Umarbeitung des Mineralischen wird vollendet sein, wenn unsere Runde zu Ende gegangen sein wird. Dann wird die ganze mineralische Natur umgewandelt sein. Der Mensch wird ihr sein Gepräge gegeben haben, so wie er einer Menge von Metall ein Gepräge gibt, wenn er zum Beispiel eine Uhr arbeitet. Wenn dann wieder ein neuer Kreislauf eintritt, kann das Mineralreich eingesaugt, absorbiert werden.
Um auf diesem Gebiete die Entwickelung vollständig fertig zu machen, muß diese ganze Denkweise, die jetzt - seit dem 16. Jahrhundert — die Menschheit ergriffen hat, bis ins Atom hinein sich fortpflanzen. Erst dann, wenn das verstandesmäßige Denken das Atom ergriffen hat, kann die Maurerei wieder aufleben. Auf der ersten Stufe wird die äußere Form ergriffen. Die nächste Stufe wird die sein, wenn der Mensch bis ins mineralische Atom gelernt hat zu denken, daß er imstande ist, das was im Atom lebt, zu verwenden und in den Dienst des Ganzen zu stellen. Allerdings, heute erst und vielleicht erst seit fünf Jahren hat das menschliche Denken diejenige Richtung angenommen, welche die Naturkraft bis hinein ins Atom verfolgt, und zwar muß derjenige, der das ganz genau verstehen will, die letzte Phase der verschiedenen elektrischen Stadien verfolgen. Interessant in dieser Beziehung, aber auch nur in ganz äußerlichen Andeutungen, ist die Rede, die der englische Premierminister Ba/four gehalten hat über unsere gegenwärtige Weltanschauung. Was er da gesagt hat [über die neue elektrische Theorie], ist etwas ungeheuer Bedeutsames. Es ist da hingedeutet auf den ungeheuer wichtigen Wendepunkt in der Entwickelung des menschlichen Denkens. Er ist sich bis zu einem gewissen Grade dessen bewußt und spricht dies auch an einer Stelle aus. So sehen wir, wie in dem naturwissenschaftlichen Bewußtsein aufdämmert etwas von dem, was in die Zukunft hineinspielt. Der Okkultist weiß das seit 1879. Ich betone das, obwohl ich es nicht weiter begründen kann. Der Okkultist weiß, daß das kommen wird: ein neuer Ausgangspunkt aus dem Atom heraus in die mineralisch-physische Welt hinein. Das wird das sein, was in der sechsten Unterrasse in die Welt hineinkommen wird, und wodurch auch die Maurerei wieder aufleben kann. Der Okkultist hat in der Maurerei etwas ganz Merkwürdiges, etwas Beispielloses, denn sie hat das Uralte als Einrichtung. Sie gehört zu den ältesten Überlieferungen, die sich mit genau spezialisierter Gliederung mit fast hundert Graden erhalten hat, trotzdem sie ihren Inhalt fast ganz verloren hat, trotzdem keiner der der Freimaurerei Angehörigen in Europa einen richtigen Begriff davon zu bilden imstande ist. Trotzdem: Die Sache ist da, so daß einer nur nötig haben wird, die ganze Hülse mit neuem Inhalt zu füllen. Die Sache ist da und wartet, um belebt zu werden.
Stichworte aus der anschließenden Besprechung:
Maurerei von Memphis, Orientalischer Orden und der Großorientorden. Auf einem Okkultistenkongreß wurde darüber gesprochen, ob die okkulten Lehren veröffentlicht werden können oder nicht. Dadurch hat sich herausgestellt, daß zwei Richtungen existieren, eine linksstehende und eine rechtsstehende, eine freisinnige und eine konservative.
8. The Nature and Purpose of Freemasonry from the Perspective of Spiritual Science
Last time I spoke about Freemasonry, and I would like to say something more about it today. Please bear in mind that I am in a somewhat different position here than with the other subjects we have dealt with and will continue to deal with, because I usually only speak about things about which I have some kind of knowledge of my own, whereas here I must emphasize from the outset that, as a non-Freemason, I can only speak about Freemasonry from a theosophical point of view, and that, in truth, a Freemason would have to speak about what Freemasonry really is. He would not do so, but for other reasons it is not possible to discuss this here. At the same time, I ask you to take what I say with a grain of salt.
When I said that only a Freemason could speak about the innermost essence of Freemasonry, I ask you to bear in mind that, despite everything, there is probably no such Freemason on the European continent. This may seem a little strange to you, but it is true. Freemasonry has been in a very peculiar state since the 18th century, and I ask you to understand everything I said last time in the sense that this is probably how things would be if Freemasonry were still as it was in the 16th and 17th centuries. But since this is not the case, Freemasonry is, so to speak, only a kind of shell lacking any real content. It can be compared to a fossilized plant, which is no longer what the plant actually is, but only a kind of shell or crust formed by something else.
Ordinary, so-called Johannine Freemasonry is not relevant to what we are discussing here, because this Johannine Freemasonry with its three degrees—apprentice, journeyman, and master—began with the charter in Cologne in 1535. Today, it is basically nothing more than an association for mutual inspiration with regard to higher education and training, an association for the members to support and inspire each other. However, these first three degrees are, so to speak, only remnants of the original three Masonic degrees. And if it were still done today as it was in the past — which it is not — the apprentice, journeyman, and master would be initiated as I described last time. It is absolutely required that they be initiated in this way. But only a small number of people know that these rules exist, and an even smaller number know the meaning of these rules. Everything I have said about the effect of the ceremonies on the astral plane is something that is completely unclear to Johannine Freemasonry.
Now, both the British and German Johannine lodges have these three degrees that I have mentioned. And they are actually all in the state I have just described. But there is a possibility, even within these three degrees, simply because the symbols are there, to see, so to speak, the foundation of deeper wisdom. Proof of this may be found in the fact that a Mason whom you know very well by name spoke to his lodge brothers in a way that basically reveals the seeds of his theosophical consciousness; that he spoke theosophical words in a certain sense, but was able to use them in a Masonic lodge at that time. This Mason is Goezhe.
As Theosophists, you will immediately find something very familiar when I read you two verses from the Masonic poem that was intended for his lodge brothers:
But from beyond
The voices of the spirits
The voices of the masters call:
Do not neglect to practice
The powers of good.
Here crowns writhe
In eternal silence,
They shall reward with abundance
reward those who are active!
We bid you hope.
Here Goethe speaks of the masters, and he speaks within the lodge because, even though he knows that those sitting around him in the lodge have no idea of the depth of his words, he also knows that the milieu of a Masonic lodge, the surrounding symbols, generate vibrations that affect the astral body and thus have a certain effect. This is something that even today is relied upon by those who know that very little of it exists in the consciousness of the masons.
Those who are led beyond the first three degrees to the higher degrees have a little more awareness. The first of these degrees is the degree of the royal art, the Royal Arch degree. This degree is characterized by the fact that the “chapter” or “association” in question already has a very specific organization and is already imbued with a deeper meaning. In this degree, namely in those meetings where a new member is to be initiated into the secrets, no more than twelve so-called comrades may be present, so that they truly represent – as is the case with occult brotherhoods – something that is not themselves, but something that lives mysteriously among them. They should not be persons, but represent qualities.
The first to represent what is to be the most important in the circle of the twelve is called Zerubbabel. He is a leader like the sun. From him shines the light that is to pass on to the others. He must be the wisest and should also be somewhat initiated into the nature and meaning of the secret sciences. In today's creations in the Royal Arch degree, this is rarely the case. So I am actually describing the ideal case, which can occur in very rare cases—when suitable people are available.
Then the next two comrades join them: the high priest Jeshua and the prophet Haggai, who together with Zerubbabel form the Grand Council. Then come the first and second principal guests, then the two scribes Ezra and Nehemiah. The next is the bricklayer or lodge keeper, and then come the so-called lesser guests. There can be no more than twelve in total. These twelve represent the twelve signs of the zodiac. The whole thing is supposed to represent an image of the sun's passage through the twelve signs of the zodiac. This is reminiscent of what I have already described to you, that the masons started from the reproduction of astronomical laws of the universe in individual buildings, in domes, in cathedrals, and so on.
The meeting place – although this is not always the case – is a square room with a blue vaulted ceiling covered with stars, truly representing a starry sky. The participants must be arranged in a very specific order during the ceremony. Those who enter last, the neophytes, stand in the north because they cannot yet tolerate the heat. Zerubbabel stands in the east. In the west stand the high priest Jeshua and the prophet Haggai. And in the south they stand with a rope wrapped around them; each has wrapped the rope around himself three times. There is a distance of three to four decimeters between them, then the rope is wrapped around the next person, and so on.
The one who is initiated into this fourth degree of Masonry, which is the first of the higher degrees and in some regions still gives an idea of what the Temple legend really means, must pass through three curtains. At each of the three curtains, one of the secrets is revealed to him. The secret meaning of certain verses from the books of Moses is also always revealed. Then, when he has passed through the three curtains, he is told the secret of the sign of the tau, and then he is told the so-called sacred word, the master word, by which the members of the fourth degree recognize each other. In the first lesson, it is made clear to him how old Freemasonry is. The John Mason Freemasons do not usually learn this, or if they hear it, they have not the slightest understanding of such things. For the history of Masonry is told in the following way: The first real Mason was Adam, the first man, who, when he was expelled from Paradise, possessed an extraordinary knowledge of geometry and was the first Mason because he was the first man to descend directly from the light. However, the actual, deeper origin lies before the creation of humankind. The origin lies in the light, and the light precedes humankind.
This is extraordinarily profound and, for those who can understand it, points to what theosophical wisdom has rediscovered by describing the origin of the earthly through the first two root races up to the third. Those who take this into account in Freemasonry absorb something of tremendous significance. But this is the case for very few, because Freemasonry today has, so to speak, degenerated. This stems from the fact that, since the 16th century, little has been understood of the true meaning of Masonry, namely that a temple should be built in such a way that its dimensions are a replica of great heavenly proportions, that a cathedral should be built in such a way that its acoustics reflect something of the harmony of the spheres, which is precisely what gives it its acoustics.
Gradually, people lost awareness of this original view. Thus, in the first half of the 18th century, when Desaguliers reunited Freemasonry in England, there was no real awareness that the word was to be taken literally, that it really meant masonry, that a mason was really someone who, according to the laws of heaven, could build churches, temples, and higher buildings, into which he incorporated not earthly but heavenly conditions.
This intuitive vision and reproduction in masonry was lost; the awareness that it is something different to speak in a house that acoustically reflects language in a very specific way and thus has a different effect was lost. Those who built the great cathedrals in the Middle Ages were the great Freemasons. They were aware that it depended on the words spoken by the priest being reflected back in the right way by the individual walls, so that the whole congregation lived in a sea of sound that swayed in meaningful vibrations that had an even greater significance for the astral body than for the physical ear. All this has been lost and had to be lost in the new age. This is the meaning of what I said when I said that today only a shell remains of what Freemasonry once meant.
In addition to these John degrees, there are also the high degrees. Namely, the larger communities of Great Britain, America, Italy, Egypt, and the Orient—especially those known as Oriental Masonry and Memphis Masonry—have these higher degrees in almost complete form. In Germany, too, where there is a branch of Memphis-Misraim Masonry that is connected with Masonry throughout the world, the higher degrees are studied. However, within Johannine Masonry in Germany, there is so little awareness of the actual significance of the higher degrees that Johannine Masons in Germany generally consider the higher degrees to be nonsense. The German Grand Orient is therefore forced to recognize only Johannine Masonry as true Masonry.
There are major differences between German and English or British Masonry in this regard. In British Freemasonry, the Treaty of Tolerance of 1813 brought about a kind of compromise between Johannite Freemasonry with its three degrees and the higher degrees, so that one can enter Johannite Freemasonry as an apprentice and then advance to the fourth, fifth, and sixth degrees, i.e., the higher degrees. The John degrees are credited in England; this is not the case in Germany. The German Grand Orient of the Memphis and Misraim Order therefore handles the three lowest degrees itself. The Orient Freemason must therefore have acquired the first three degrees from the outset and must also commit himself to advancing to at least the 18th degree. He may not rest before then. A German Johannine Mason will therefore not be admitted to the high degrees of Oriental Freemasonry. This Oriental Freemasonry is a step-by-step training in occultism. As I said last time, it is a reflection of the training of the higher degrees – these are linked to the Royal Arch degree – in which one undergoes a kind of astral training that goes up to the 18th or 20th degree. Then comes the stage where one undergoes a kind of mental training, a training that leads to a kind of life on the mental plane. These are the degrees up to the 60th and 70th degrees, and then comes the highest training or the deepest occult training that can still be undertaken by the Grand Orient up to the 96th degree.
There are only a few in Germany who have risen to the 96th degree. But despite everything, there is something here that will prove to you how little Freemasonry today has of what it once was. The most interesting thing about this is that those who have graduated to the 96th degree have not gone through Masonic training at all, that there is hardly anyone who has gone through the entire training in any way. So there are some who have higher degrees. They are awarded the 3rd, 33rd, and 96th degrees. But those who have them did not obtain them through training in Freemasonry, but in other occult schools, and they have condescended to bring their training to bear in Freemasonry for the good of Freemasonry. If someone has the 96th degree, they did not achieve it in Freemasonry. It is actually expected that Freemasonry will benefit from the occult training of other schools.
In this sense, the manifesto published by the Grand Orient of the Memphis and Misraim Rite can also be regarded as a kind of ideal document. I will read it to you and add a few explanations. What is said there should not be taken to mean that it could be carried out today. Today, it is pointed out from the outset that no Mason—not even one of the 96th degree—would want to take responsibility for enforcing the rules on any Mason because he has not gone through them himself.
“From the secrets of the occult high degrees of our Order. A manifesto of the Grand Orient.” ‘One of the secrets that our Order possesses in its highest degree is that it provides the properly prepared brother with the practical means to erect the true Temple of Solomon in man, to rediscover the ’lost word,' , that is, that our order provides the initiated and chosen brother with the practical means to enable him to obtain proof of pure immortality already in this earthly life.”
This is one of the most important points. The next point is also one that exists in all occult schools: no conjuring of spirits or spiritualistic practices. Spiritualistic practices are strictly prohibited.
“This secret is one of the true Masonic secrets and is exclusively in the possession of the occult high degrees of our Order. It has been handed down to our Order by oral tradition from the fathers of all true Freemasonry, the 'wise men of the East', and is also passed on by us only orally.”
This is the practice of occult societies.
“Of course, the success of this practical instruction in obtaining this secret depends entirely on the candidate himself.”
“For what use is it to give a student who wants to learn to swim the best, most tried and tested, and most detailed instructions on swimming if, once he is in the water, he does not move his hands and feet himself? Or what use is it to give a painting student the most comprehensive instructions on painting and to paint the most fiery colors for him; if he does not take the brush in his own hand and try to achieve the mixture of colors himself, he will never become an artist.”
“Those brothers who had now discovered this secret kept it as a precious, self-earned possession, and in order not to be misunderstood or even mocked by everyday people, they hid it under symbols, as we still do today.”
These symbols are no longer legible to masons today. These symbols are not arbitrarily chosen external symbols. They are not things through which someone represents something like a professor who says: I want to show you something graphically. These symbols are taken from the things themselves, written by nature itself. Those who recognize them, who are truly able to read them, come into contact with the inner nature of things; they lead them into the thing itself. The thing itself exists and is not merely symbolized. In Masonry, there is no one who can give instructions on how to arrive at the things themselves.
“These symbols are not arbitrarily chosen images, nor are they based on any coincidence, but are founded on the attributes of God and man, and we must regard them as archetypes. However, we will never take the form, the vessel, the ritual, the symbols for the content, but will seek the spiritual content in the form,” — these words show ... [gap], because the symbol itself represents the thing—and “after we have found the same”—the spiritual content—"and taken it into ourselves, we recognize from the spiritual content the absolute necessity of the form, the ritual, the symbolism.”
“Our high degrees therefore give the brother the opportunity to obtain certain proof of the immortality of man.” — They would do the same if they were edited. — ”This is and has been the great longing since thinking people have existed. Man needs this conviction of his life after death in order to be truly happy in this life. The mysteries of all religions and schools of wisdom have therefore also dealt with this question as their highest and most noble task. Christianity naturally also deals with the solution to this question of “the lost word,” the “lost eternal life,” but it always refers the seeker to the path of grace and always presents it as a gift and not as something that can be acquired or earned. Our Order, however, places it within the reach of every individual seeker to unite consciously and of their own free will with world consciousness, the original creative power, already in this life by means of practical methods.
This means enabling insight into and union with that world which can otherwise only be opened through the gate of death.
You can see from all this that what belongs to the deepest core of the world was originally present in Freemasonry, but is no longer there in the empty shell that it is today. You must ask yourselves: Why? Well, the meaning expressed in the Temple legend, the meaning of Masonry as a craft, had to be lost, like all intuitive knowledge, because the fifth sub-race became the actual intellectual race. Intuition had to lie dormant in the world for a while, and the way Freemasonry works is intuitive. I refer you to Vitruvius and to the true symbolic instructions for building. However, only those who have the intuition for it can follow these instructions. Today, these symbolic instructions have been replaced by intellectual, rational ones. The intellect had to form the actual stage of human development for a while because everything that has come to us in the meantime in terms of nature's great achievements had to be incorporated into the whole organism of human creativity.
Just understand what it means: the entire mineral kingdom is being incorporated into the progress of our development during our present cycle. It is incorporated in such a way that human beings gradually reorganize the whole of nature with their own spirituality. That is the meaning of the Iron Sea, that everything in mineral nature is truly reorganized.
In industry, humanity works to incorporate organization [ev.: its own spirituality?] into mineral nature. If you look at a machine ... [gap].
Thus, through his own spirit, man truly transforms the entire mineral kingdom. This transformation of nature, this transformation of the mineral kingdom, will be complete when our cycle has come to an end. Then the entire mineral nature will have been transformed. Man will have given it his stamp, just as he gives a stamp to a quantity of metal when he makes a clock, for example. When a new cycle begins, the mineral kingdom can be absorbed.
In order to complete the development in this area, the entire way of thinking that has gripped humanity since the 16th century must continue to spread down to the atom. Only when intellectual thinking has grasped the atom can Freemasonry revive. On the first stage, the outer form is grasped. The next stage will be when human beings have learned to think down to the mineral atom, so that they are able to use what lives in the atom and place it at the service of the whole. However, only today, and perhaps only for the last five years, has human thinking taken the direction that follows the force of nature down to the atom, and those who want to understand this precisely must follow the last phase of the various electrical stages. Interesting in this connection, but only in very external hints, is the speech given by the English Prime Minister Ba/four on our present world view. What he said there [about the new electrical theory] is something tremendously significant. It points to the enormously important turning point in the development of human thinking. He is aware of this to a certain extent and also mentions it at one point. Thus we see how something of what is coming in the future is dawning in scientific consciousness. The occultist has known this since 1879. I emphasize this, although I cannot further justify it. The occultist knows that this will come: a new starting point from the atom into the mineral-physical world. This will be what will come into the world in the sixth subrace, and through which Freemasonry can also be revived. The occultist finds something very strange, something unprecedented in Freemasonry, because it has the ancient as its foundation. It is one of the oldest traditions that has been preserved with a highly specialized structure of almost a hundred degrees, even though it has lost almost all of its content and none of the members of Freemasonry in Europe are able to form a correct concept of it. Nevertheless, the thing is there, so that all that is needed is to fill the empty shell with new content. The thing is there, waiting to be revived.
Keywords from the subsequent discussion:
Masonry of Memphis, Oriental Order, and the Grand Orient. At an occultist congress, there was a discussion about whether occult teachings can be published or not. This revealed that there are two directions, one left-wing and one right-wing, one liberal and one conservative.