The Temple Legend III
GA 93
23 October 1905, Berlin
17. Freemasonry and Human Evolution I (men only)
I have asked you to attend a short discussion on occult questions, because one must acknowledge that anyone participating in the theosophical movement should be clear not only about the outward things that are dealt with in the programme, but also about the direction in which this theosophical movement can lead. Now those occult streams which are living in the theosophical movement are in fact akin, in a particular respect, to earlier occult currents. The topic we mean to broach today concerns precisely one of these, which still persists to the present day: Freemasonry.
You know that, at least until the late seventeenth century, any kind of female member was, for Freemasonry, strictly taboo.1 See note 6. At that time, there was a good reason for this. When the reason for the Freemasons having no female members ceases at some point in world evolution to exist, then the time will have come for the work of Freemasonry on the physical plane to be taken over by the work of theosophy. Pro tem, the work of theosophy is preparatory work. Men and women will participate in the theosophical work on the same basis.
If I were now to be permitted to say briefly why women had to be excluded from the activities of Freemasonry, I could only say that one does not exactly give away one's secrets to the opponent; one hardly sends him one's plan of campaign. That is not done in the conduct of any war. And we will see that Freemasonry is in a particular respect in opposition to the female world.
Freemasonry is the continuation of very ancient secret societies and brotherhoods. Such secret societies—at least in the form in which they survive in Freemasonry originated just at the very beginning of our fourth Post-Atlantean epoch, that is to say in the same epoch in which Christianity later began.
You know that the outward compilation of the Bible is rightly ascribed to only a few hundred years before the birth of Christ.2 This was at the time of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity in the fifth century B.C. by the Hebrew scribe Ezra. But the biblical revelation was a [living] tradition for thousands of years before that. It was not the custom in antiquity to write such things down; they were instead passed on from mouth to mouth. Therefore it can be assumed that the secrets which Moses entrusted to the priesthood were only later written down.
Now in the same period as that when the Bible first made its appearance in world history as a document, what is known as the Freemasonry legend also came to be compiled and to be circulated.
In world evolution it is always to be regarded as a law, that what happened earlier is later briefly recapitulated. Every human being recapitulates, in the maternal womb, the stages through which the [human] race has already passed. Every planet repeats, in its initial stages, the previously completed steps of its evolution. What has already gone before is always briefly recapitulated. So is it with the races, too. Hence, the first, second and third Post-Atlantean races [epochs] are the recapitulation of earlier earthly conditions, only in a specific higher realm.
What began with Lemuria, developed itself throughout Atlantis, and was recapitulated in our three cultural epochs in a specific higher realm. So that we thus have a recapitulation of what occurred earlier, in Lemurian times, in a less-developed realm. Before the system of two sexes originated, there was a kind of bisexuality, a single [combined] sex, in so far as in each individual both sexes were represented. For the separation into two sexes only came later; only then did male-female become male and female. On a spiritual level something similar is recapitulated in our epoch. Actually, that kind of knowledge and wisdom which pertained to pre-Vedic ancient India had a male-female quality, and thereby, at the same time, something quite unconnected with any kind of duality or with any kind of outward principle. Then came the civilisation of the second cultural epoch; this was pre-eminently a spiritual culture having two sexes. Dualism then appeared—Ormuzd and Ahriman, Good and Evil. All this now merged with man's cognition.
Now we want to clarify how that came about. It came about thus: in the beginning, before there was a separate male and female sex, there was a twofold sexuality within each single individual. We must now ask: What was it that could become fertilised, and what was it that did the fertilising, in the one single individual? In ancient Greek mythology Zeus is portrayed with ample female breasts.3 There is a Zeus type, several examples of which are still preserved in Asia Minor, in which the upper part of the body is covered by a number of breasts or humps similar to the famous statue of Artemis Ephesia: e.g., relief sculpture of the ‘Stratios Zeus’ and the figures on coins, among which is the ‘Labrandeus Zeus’ from daria. A truth expresses itself therein, which was known in the old mysteries and which we also learn from the records, that the sex—if I may call it that—which immediately preceded our own, outwardly and physically resembled not the male but the female gender. So that, before the outward separation, we have thus both sexes in one individual that outwardly—in physical expression and in all perceptions and being—was female. Therefore at the beginning of the human race, we have to do with a bisexual individual tending towards the female. Only later did the male sex follow. Now we must be clear that in this individual, which had both sexes in it, a fertilising agent, or male seed, was also present. Woman contained man within her. When we have grasped the fact that the woman had the male principle within her, then we can conceive, with our ordinary scientific concepts, that reproduction was ensured. We want to bear in mind that at this time this happened via the woman.
Now came the time when things had to go their separate ways. What character did the fertilising principle in the woman then have, which on the physical plane would fertilise the female nature? What worked in the female [body] as a seed, was the male; and that was the spiritual, the wisdom. Woman contributed the substance; the spirit gave [it] form. Any structuring of the physical plane is a realisation of wisdom. Wisdom worked in the female. Now the two differentiated themselves, in that the two things which had previously worked as one now appeared as two separated poles. What was previously united in a single human organ, divided itself, whereby a duality in human development originated. This duality came about thus: first, the fertility—the ability of the female egg to fertilise itself—within the one individual, ceased [to function]. The female egg lost the possibility of becoming fertilised from its own body. So we are now dealing with a female which has become infertile and, above everything, the spiritual. The division of the two sexes came about through the separation of the physical organs, and the other sex was now endowed with the possibility of fertilisation. Two individuals appeared, one with physical femininity and the other with physical masculinity. With the man, wisdom has a female character, with the woman, it has a male character.
The separation is a very definite event, that one can follow; we will now have to be satisfied, however, with [just] indications. We are dealing, then, with male-tinged wisdom in the woman and female-tinged wisdom in the man. This female-tinged wisdom is passive, suited to receiving, listening, watching—to taking in from the surroundings. The male-tinged wisdom, the active wisdom, [is suited to] being productive. Thus we have a two-fold wisdom; the female wisdom that is active and that naturally will also be transferred to the men. So that there may indeed be plenty of men who take over the female wisdom, the race [propagates] itself below [on the physical plane]; and above, we are dealing with an active intuition stemming from women, and with a passive cognition, decidedly male in character.
This figures in the old mystery teaching as the antithesis between the Sons of Abel, or Sons of God, and the Sons of Cain, or Sons of Man. Abel represents the female, active intuition. Therefore he is unable to take hold of anything from the outside world which needs to be worked upon. He takes up the divine, which streams through him, that flows into his intuitiveness. The ‘Herdsman’ symbolises that. He tends and nurtures life, while intuition nurtures the divine life of wisdom. Cain has the male wisdom that receives the outward. This [wisdom] espouses the earth in order to till it; the material is outside [himself]. He is the ‘Field-builder’ [Literal meaning of German der Ackerbauer = ‘agriculturalist’]. What does the wisdom of Cain now achieve? This science of Cain's that, being a passive science, only receives—what does it accomplish?
Now there is a very interesting and important legend in which these truths are symbolically expressed for the Freemasons. That is the Temple Legend. And the reason for it is as follows:
The Bible itself, the Old Testament, derives from the female, the intuitive wisdom, and bears its stamp. The Old Testament is female wisdom. Male wisdom was not able to attain to intuition. It confined itself to building and work. It took stones and constructed buildings. It took metals and made implements. The Temple Legend puts it thus:
One of the Elohim impregnated Eve and Cain was born. Afterwards, another of the Elohim, Jehovah, also known as Adonai, created Adam. And Adam begat Abel by Eve. This legend counterposed the wisdom of Cain and the Biblical wisdom, so that, by the beginning of the fourth Post-Atlantean epoch, we have two opposing currents: the Bible, representing womanly wisdom, and the Temple wisdom as its opposing male counterpart. Already, in pre-Christian times, what the man [male wisdom?] wanted stood in opposition to the female wisdom. Moreover, Cain slew his brother Abel. That too comes into the Temple Legend. Jehovah caused strife between the race of Cain and the race of Abel, and Cain killed Abel. That means nothing else ... [Some very obscure sentences follow here in the (German) transcript.]
What was the consequence of the appearance of this Cain wisdom? The outcome of it all was that the fruitfulness that propagated itself through its own wisdom was killed. By killing Abel the male knowledge in Cain killed the possibility of self-propagation, that had been brought into being by the gods. That means it is because knowledge has been transferred to the man, that the Abel in man has been killed.
That is a process in man himself.4 See in this connection the later descriptions which Rudolf Steiner gave in: The Effects of Occult Development Upon the Sheaths of Man. (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Company, London, and Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1945). Through male knowledge the creative force, the Abel [within], has been killed. There now stand in hostile opposition to one another, the descendants of Cain and the race of those who were put in the place of Abel, the descendants of Seth. The descendants of Cain are those who use their masculine wisdom to build up the external world; the passive wisdom is applied to external construction. The divine wisdom does not stream down into it. Out of what is free, it must build in the world. It has no divine intuition. Through trial, through experience, results the harmonising of the purely mineral products of the earth. Thus Tubal-Cain is born out of the race of Cain and thus, later on, will Hiram-Abiff or Adon-Hiram be born from the same lineage.
I have reserved to myself …[See note].5 The shorthand report is unclear at this point. The conclusion of the sentence has two possible renderings:
1. ‘I have reserved to myself confessing (erzihlen) a bias (eine Neigung) about those of Abel's race and those of Cain's race.’
2. ‘I have reserved to myself achieving (erzielen) a unification (eine Einigung) between those of Abel is race and those of Cain's race.’
Among the Abelites, you find the strongest representative in Solomon. During the third cultural epoch all the representatives of the Abel line were priests. The ancient priestly wisdom was the intuitive wisdom which formerly worked in woman as the power of fertilisation, but was then transformed, at a higher level, to spiritual wisdom. Out of this priestly wisdom came the Bible; in this way the Bible came to be a feminine wisdom. This feminine wisdom is able to make great revelations about the Divine; and to say how this relates to the angels and spirits. The business of the Sons of Cain is to shape the earth. Thus the original father of all smiths is indeed Tubal-Cain. Therefore Solomon had to send for Hiram-Abiff, who could build the Temple for him. He built it for King Solomon, the inheritor of the ancient priestly wisdom; for him, for Solomon, who transformed this priestly wisdom into external power. Kingship, as an outward institution, derives from the rule of the priests.
Thus Solomon sent for Hiram-Abiff. And thus Solomon's Temple was built. But now the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon's court and a kind of betrothal was celebrated there between the two. Now the temple was shown to the queen, and she desired to be introduced to the builder of this marvelous temple. When she was introduced to Hiram-Abiff, something quite special happened in her. A glance from Hiram-Abiff fell on her, and that worked in her like fire. And then a second thing happened, as follows: She wanted to see the workers and to be shown how all this was accomplished on the physical plane, so Hiram-Abiff took the Tau Symbol, held it aloft and the workers all came streaming together like ants. Through this she [was so impressed that she] deserted Solomon [for Hiram]. Some of Hiram's apprentices, whom he had refused to make into Masters, came to Solomon's aid. Now they sought to spoil Hiram's masterpiece, the casting of the Molten Sea. Instead of it coming out as a work of art, streams of fire spurted out in every direction. Hiram-Abiff tried to quench it all with water, but all he achieved by this was a complete wreck. A rain of fire sprayed down on everything, including Hiram-Abiff. A voice called to him, however, not to be afraid, for out of this would come his greatest success. Then he was led by a figure to the centre of the earth. There he met Cain himself, to whom he had been led by Tubal-Cain, who founded the art of metal-working. Here an important wisdom was revealed to him. He was told: Now know the true Jehovah, who is the cause of your being here. Jehovah hates the Sons of Fire, and wants to destroy them; he wants to destroy his own creation. But you need have nothing to fear. To you will be born a son, whom you will not yourself see, but from whom shall spring a race, out of which a new fire worship will develop on the earth.—With the hammer which Tubal-Cain gave him, he was able to complete the projected Molten Sea, thereby rising still further in the Queen of Sheba's affections. During a walk, a bird appeared in the air, showing her the mystical Tau sign. From this the Queen's nurse realised that the wisdom of the future was hidden under this sign of the Tau. During a feast, at which Solomon became intoxicated, the Queen of Sheba took the betrothal ring back from his hand. Hiram-Abiff was however set upon by the apprentices and killed. He was only just able to write the secret word on a golden triangle and hide it. It was later retrieved and enclosed in a stone shaped in the form of a cube. The Ten Commandments are inscribed on this stone that conceals the hidden word.
That is the temple wisdom, which male science has counterposed to the female wisdom. These are things that need only to be clarified, to be examined as to their occult meaning, for their deep significance to be recognised.
Consider that Hiram-Abiff was brought before the original father of his race. He was told that Jehovah was the enemy of the Sons of Fire. Who are the Sons of Fire? They are those who could only come into existence after the separation of the sexes, through the penetration of a physical female by a physical male. Fire is the active principle in the male semen. In male semen lives fire, in the occult sense. Jehovah had to create this basic force, so that the race could propagate itself. Jehovah created the Sons of Fire, which was only possible on the basis of this [occult] fire. Hence he is the opponent of change. He it was, who cherished [?] the old kind of propagation. For it was an expedient [?] which had been created, and therefore he turned again to the priests and made them into his preachers. He caused the power and the glory of his own wisdom to be proclaimed through the priestly wisdom; through the priestly wisdom, Jehovah's wisdom came to be made known.
Hiram-Abiff is thus appointed to undertake the Molten Sea, which means the transformation of mineral kingdom through art. He was also told that a son would be born to him, who—even though he would not himself be able to see him—would bring forth a new race. This son is nothing else than the new race which will one day take the place of the old, the present one; the new race for whom it will no longer be necessary for two sexes to unite with one another, but will again be able to bring about propagation through the one human individual. This refers to a far distant future. The old female culture will be relieved by a male culture. The female, as a physical form, will die out. The male must then have the power in itself to produce another individual out of itself. And where is this power located?
Male and female used to be in one individual. And when these two separated themselves, an unfolding of today's individual took place. The upper part [of the human being] was formed. What [today] is the upper part was at that time combined with the sexual organs. The sexual organs of today are only half of the then [procreative] force. The power in the larynx is indeed the other half. Speech is not as yet creative, today. It has to be penetrated by the wisdom of Cain first, and then it must produce. When man has attained the power for his larynx so to develop that his word will be creative, so that he will produce his own kind through the Word, then the whole of the productive force will be transferred to the male. Then [the work of creation] which was once done by the gods, will be given over to man. When did the word come to be lost? When the system of two sexes originated. It was buried, hidden. The Sons of Cain had it only through the original father of their race. Hiram-Abiff was at least to have received the prophecy about it. However, he was killed immediately afterwards.
The Word lies buried, but it is still there. If it were not buried, man would be self-creative, just as the Elohim are self-creative. Therefore the ‘Word,’ of present-day Freemasonry is not the true Word but the false one. The true Word is concealed. The Ten Commandments are inscribed on the stone which contains the hidden Word. What are the Ten Commandments? They are the laws of the moral world order. They regulate the outer intercourse [of mankind], just as it now is—subject to the influence of a race having two sexes. Such laws will not be needed, when there are no longer two sexes. They are that human code which originated in the context of two sexes.
Thus we have, in Freemasonry, the preservation of the remembrance of the Lost Word, that those who work in Freemasonry must strive for, and which can only be gained when the passive male wisdom awakens activity in itself. The Freemasons therefore say: Everything which does not arise out of that generalised knowledge about the world, and proper to it, must then stem from the female priestly rule of ancient times. Rather than contenting ourselves with merely taking this over [conquering it?], we actually want to start on a new spiral of existence; we ourselves must give intuition to the male wisdom of Cain. That would be impossible if one took the female into the secret, which would take man's power from him. It would all be useless, the instant it was discussed in front of women.
It thus became necessary for the whole female sex to be excluded from Freemasonry. This hangs together with the link between the organ of speech and gender or sexuality. Therefore the man changes when he reaches puberty. The change [of voice] is nothing else than the expression of the former connection between the organs of speech and of sexuality. Now you too can grasp what the Freemason is saying: It is only the man who is appointed to utter the Lost Word at all and to re-establish it; only the male form of the larynx is in a position to say, to know, what can be regained through the Lost Word. When we grasp it in this way, one will understand why woman was not permitted to let the new pass her lips.—It is comic to see scholars give as the reason for this that women were not admitted because they blabbered out everything. The female larynx has remained, as a rudiment. It is the male larynx which will however form the organ of the future.
You see that deep and meaningful relationships are involved, and that the expression ‘Mason’ has to be taken as literally as possible. That is why the masons of Greek and Roman times were the builders of things made to express beauty. Cathedrals, temples and other significant buildings were built by these master builders.
The matter rests thus, that a part of what came to be accomplished by the Order of Freemasons had naturally to be taken over again from the old priestly wisdom. So, once again, we have an intermingling of womanly wisdom and male striving. In essence, the secret of Freemasonry is something which has not yet been revealed, which is not even there yet, so that it cannot be revealed, precisely because it does not yet exist. It is something which will be uttered when the word is once more imbued with productive force.
Those are a few words which will clarify the thinking of Freemasonry for the occultist. Up to the eighteenth century it was known that things were so. Only when the connection with higher worlds was lost did the consciousness of what was lost fade from Freemasonry too. And yet again, not so. One watered Freemasonry down, one said that one no longer knew its meaning. One must be clear, however, that everything which existed as symbols, was derived from the old priestly wisdom and that what is implanted therein, in the symbols, must still first come into the open. The true female wisdom is gradually becoming quite lost. Because of that, the so-called Higher Degrees of Freemasonry, which preserved the female wisdom, have been allowed to vanish. All that is still left is what is called Craft Masonry, which only concerns itself with worldly things, and only understands a little about them, in any case.
But that is, after all, quite natural; as materialism developed itself, then the priestly wisdom did indeed have to fade away. What can happen now? The old wisdom has gone away. We have to live in the external. What follows from that? This—that something better can come along again, only when a wisdom arrives which is again asexual, which is connected neither with the male nor with the female wisdom, neither with the female Bible, nor with the male Temple Legend. We find this wisdom in theosophy. In this wisdom both sexes understand each other. In it, the man that is in woman is at work on woman, and what is once more asexual is working on man. Male and female meet each other there in the knowledge of higher planes. It is therefore quite natural that the proper occult basis has come about in Freemasonry, and that a new start has been made. Something such as this is called a ‘vortex:’

In our time these things are thus intertwining in their influence. We must therefore think of them as interacting. Thus, theosophy has relied neither on the Biblical legend, nor on the Temple Legend, but asexually seeks the kernel of wisdom, that has to be restored again, in everything. Now you see how theosophy is the bringer of peace, the harmoniser.
How does this work together in our Root Race? Our Root Race recapitulates what already was there before. It brings the antithesis of what was already there in Lemurian times to meaningful expression in the spiritual realm. An opposition had therefore to come about, because the female sex was there originally, and follows a falling curve, whereas the male sex is in a rising curve, and is seeking in itself the procreative force which the female already has. When we remain in lower spheres, we have to make an exact distinction, through occultism: Whoever is racially an Atlantean man, need not also be Atlantean in his soul [qualities]. Hence, the soul is not tied to [a particular] sex either. The souls of the female gender work themselves through [this] until they can live equally with men in the bodies the latter have made out of and for themselves, and there will [then] be one sex on earth.
As long as men still stood in opposition to the female, they had to hold their tongues. The founding of the Adoption Lodges in the eighteenth century paved the way for the sexes to come together.6 In Secret Societies of all Ages and Countries by Charles William Heckethorn (Book 8, Section 2 1) we learn that:
‘According to one of the fundamental laws of Masonry—and a rule prevailing in the greater mysteries of antiquity—women cannot be received into the order ...
‘But we have seen that Cagliostro admitted women to the Egyptian Rite; and when at the beginning of the eighteenth century several associations sprang up in France, which in their external aspect resembled Freemasonry, but did not exclude women, the ladies naturally were loud in their praise of such institutions, so that the masonic brotherhood, seeing it was becoming unpopular, had recourse to the stratagem of establishing “adoptive” lodges of women, so called because every such lodge had finally to be adopted by some regular masonic lodge. The Grand Orient of France framed laws for their government, and the first lodge of adoption was opened in Paris in 1775 ...
‘Similar lodges spread over Europe, Great Britain excepted; but they soon declined and are at present confined to the place of their origin.’ The first of these was founded in 1775. A Freemasonry was practised in them, which had different symbols from the male Freemasonry. However, the induction of women in such Adoption Lodges of the male Freemasons did pave the way for the sexes to come together. The founder of our Society was indeed a [female] member of such an Adoption Lodge.7 This refers to H.P. Blavatsky (1831–1891) who was awarded the highest adoption degree of the Memphis-Misraim Freemasonry in 1888 by John Yarker (see note 16 to lecture 9 of 16th December 1904) after she had published her first great work: Isis Unveiled. What must be pointed to as the beginning of theosophy did indeed thus play a part in the matter. So, theosophy is a world task, connected with occult currents, and must take over where Freemasonry left off. Freemasonry could indeed still be reawakened, and could help us.
But the more profound thought is this: these one-sided male endeavours must be vanquished in theosophical circles. Throughout the Middle Ages there was a sublime preparation for spiritually engendering the opposite sex in man. Man developed in himself, by concentrating, at first as a thought, what had to become a reality in him later on. Therefore, as a preparation for this, the Cult of Mary resulted during the Middle Ages. This is nothing else than concentrating to engender the female in the male, while for the female the Cult of Jesus served the parallel purpose. The Cult of Mary had its origin in this foundation.
You will now see what confusion must result when an Order arose which broke with all this and sought to regain the female wisdom. It is world dominion which is at stake in this; if anyone wants to leave the old wisdom as it is, he will have to conquer the world for the old powers. There is such an Order: it is the Jesuit Order. It has consciously set itself this task. That is why the Jesuits and the Freemasons confront each other so sourly.
Freimaurerei und Menschheitsentwickelung I
Ich habe Sie gebeten, zu einer kleinen Besprechung über okkulte Fragen zu kommen aus dem Grunde, weil man der Ansicht sein muß, daß derjenige, der sich an der theosophischen Bewegung beteiligt, sich nicht nur über die äußeren Dinge, die in Programmen ausgesprochen sind, klar sein muß, sondern auch darüber, wozu diese theosophische Bewegung führen kann. Nun sind diejenigen okkulten Strömungen, die in der theosophischen Bewegung leben, in der Tat in gewisser Beziehung verwandt mit früheren okkulten Strömungen. Namentlich eine derselben, die noch in die Gegenwart hereinreicht, soll es sein, an die wir heute anknüpfen: die Freimaurerei.
Sie wissen, daß es in der Freimaurerei, wenigstens bis zum Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts, streng verpönt war, irgendwelche weiblichen Mitglieder zu haben. Das hatte damals seinen guten Grund. Wenn nämlich einmal in der Weltentwickelung der Grund wegfallen wird, warum die Freimaurer keine weiblichen Mitglieder hatten, dann wird auch die Zeit gekommen sein, daß die Arbeit der Freimaurerei auf dem physischen Plane abgelöst wird von der theosophischen Arbeit. Vorläufig ist die theosophische Arbeit eine Vorbereitungsarbeit. An der theosophischen Arbeit werden Männer und Frauen in gleichem Maße teilnehmen.
Wenn ich nun kurz sagen möchte, warum die Frauen von der Freimaurerei ausgeschlossen sein sollten, so könnte ich das nur so sagen, daß man seine Geheimnisse nicht gerade dem Gegner verrät; daß man ihm nicht gerade seinen Feldzugsplan schickt. Das tut man in keiner Kriegsführung. Und es wird sich uns zeigen, daß es sich in der Freimaurerei in einer gewissen Beziehung um eine Gegnerschaft gegen die Frauenwelt handelt.
Die Freimaurerei ist die Fortsetzung uralter Geheimbünde und Bruderschaften. Solche Geheimbünde, wenigstens in der Form, in der sie fortleben in der Freimaurerei, haben ihren Ursprung genommen gleich beim ersten Aufgehen der vierten Unterrasse unserer fünften Wurzelrasse, also derselben Unterrasse, aus der später das Christentum entsprungen ist.
Sie wissen, daß man die äußere Abfassung der Bibel nur ein paar Jahrhunderte vor Christi Geburt zurückverlegt, und das mit Recht. Aber Tradition war die biblische Offenbarung jahrtausendelang schon vorher. Früher war es nicht Usus, daß man solche Sachen aufschrieb, sondern daß man sie von Mund zu Mund fortpflanzte. Daher hat es etwas für sich, anzunehmen, daß die Geheimnisse, die von Moses der Priesterschaft anvertraut worden sind, erst später aufgeschrieben wurden.
Nun fällt in die Zeit, in der die Bibel als Dokument aufgetreten ist in der Weltgeschichte, auch die äußere Abfassung und das Auftreten dessen, was man die freimaurerische Legende nennt.
In der Weltentwickelung ist es immer als ein Gesetz zu betrachten, daß das, was früher geschehen ist, später kurz wiederholt wird. Jeder Mensch wiederholt im Mutterleibe die Stadien, die die Rasse bereits durchlaufen hat. Jeder Planet wiederholt in den ersten Stadien die bereits durchlaufenen Entwickelungsstufen. Immer wird kurz wiederholt, was früher schon da war. So ist es auch mit den Rassen. Deshalb sind die erste, zweite, dritte Unterrasse unserer fünften Wurzelrasse die Wiederholung früherer irdischer Verhältnisse, nur auf einem bestimmten höheren Gebiete. Was von der lemurischen Rasse angefangen durch die Atlantis hindurch sich entwickelt hat, wurde auf einem gewissen höheren Gebiete in unseren drei Unterrassen wiederholt. So daß wir also eine Wiederholung dessen haben, was vorher in der lemurischen Zeit auf einem untergeordneten Gebiet vorhanden war. Es war dies —- bevor die Zweigeschlechtlichkeit entstand — eine Art Doppelgeschlechtlichkeit; eine Eingeschlechtlichkeit, insofern als im Einzelwesen beide Geschlechter vertreten waren. Dann folgte erst die Trennung in die zwei Geschlechter. Also Männlich-Weibliches wurde dann erst ein Männliches und Weibliches. Auf geistigem Gebiete wiederholt sich nun etwas Ähnliches in unserer Wurzelrasse. Tatsächlich hat diejenige Erkenntnis, diejenige Weisheit, die dem alten, dem vorvedischen Indien eigen war, etwas Männlich-Weibliches und dadurch zugleich etwas, was ganz unabhängig war von irgendeiner Zweiheit, von irgendeinem äußerlichen Prinzip. Dann kam die Kultur der zweiten Unterrasse. Diese ist eine im eminentesten Sinne zweigeschlechtliche geistige Kultur. Daher tritt da der Dualismus auf: Ormuzd und Ahriman, Gut und Böse. Das alles mischt sich in die Erkenntnisse hinein.
Nun wollen wir uns einmal klar werden, wie das gekommen ist. Das ist so gekommen, daß zunächst, bevor es ein männliches und weibliches Geschlecht gab, eine Zweigeschlechtlichkeit in dem einen Individuum vorhanden war. Wir müssen nun fragen: Was war in dem einen Individuum das Befruchtetwerdende und was war das Befruchtende? In der alten griechischen Mythologie wird Zeus dargestellt mit mächtigen Frauenbrüsten. Es drückt sich darin eine Wahrheit aus, die in den alten Mysterien bekannt war und die uns auch die Urkunden lehren, daß das Geschlecht - wenn ich es so nennen darf -, das unserem unmittelbar vorangegangen ist, äußerlich-physisch nicht dem männlichen, sondern dem weiblichen Geschlecht ähnelte. So daß wir also vor der äußeren Trennung beide Geschlechter in einem Individuum haben, das äußerlich - im physischen Ausdruck und im ganzen Empfinden und Wesen - weiblich war. Wir haben esalsoam Ursprunge des Menschengeschlechtes zu tun mit einem nach der weiblichen Seite hingeneigten, zweigeschlechtlichen Individuum. Das männliche Geschlecht ist erst später hervorgegangen. Nun müssen wir uns klar sein, daß in diesem Individuum, das die beiden Geschlechter in sich selbst hat, auch ein Befruchtendes, ein männlicher Same da war. Das Weib hatte den Mann in sich. Wenn wir uns das klarmachen, daß das Weib den Mann in sich hatte, dann können wir uns auch nach unseren gewöhnlichen naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffen vorstellen, daß die Fortpflanzung gesichert war. Daß dies damals durch das Weib geschehen ist, das wollen wir einmal festhalten.
Nun trat die Zeit ein, in welcher die Dinge auseinandergehen sollten. Welchen Charakter hatte nun im Weibe eigentlich das Befruchtende, das, was die Weibnatur da auf dem physischen Plan befruchtete? Das, was auf das Weibliche als Same wirkte, das war das Männliche; und das war das Geistige, die Weisheit. Das Weib gab den Stoff, der Geist gab die Form. Ausgestaltung auf dem physischen Plan ist verwirklichte Weisheit. Im Weibe wirkte die Weisheit. Nun differenzierten sich die beiden, indem die zwei Dinge, die früher zusammengewirkt hatten, als zwei getrennte Pole auftraten. Was früher in ein einziges Organ des Menschen zusammengedrängt war, trennte sich, und dadurch entstand eine Zweiheit in der Menschenbildung. Diese Zweiheit entstand so, daß zunächst in dem einen Individuum die Fruchtbarkeit, die Möglichkeit, daß das weibliche Ei sich fortpflanzte, aufhörte. Das weibliche Ei verlor die Möglichkeit, aus dem eigenen Körper befruchtet zu werden. So haben wir es zu tun mit einem unfruchtbar gewordenen Weiblichen und einem darüberstehenden Geistigen. Es geschah durch Abspaltung der physischen Organe die Trennung der beiden Geschlechter, und die Möglichkeit der Befruchtung wird nun durch das andere Geschlecht gegeben. Zwei Individuen entstehen, das eine mit physischer Weiblichkeit und das andere mit physischer Männlichkeit: Die Weisheit hat beim Manne weiblichen, beim Weibe männlichen Charakter.
Die Trennung ist ein genauer Vorgang, den man verfolgen kann. Wir müssen uns aber da mit Andeutungen begnügen. Wir haben es also mit männlich gefärbter Weisheit im Weibe und weiblich gefärbter Weisheit im Manne zu tun. Diese weiblich gefärbte Weisheit ist passiv, ist geeignet aufzunehmen, zu hören, zu schauen, aufzunehmen, was ringsherum ist. Die männlich gefärbte Weisheit, die aktive Weisheit, bringt hervor. Daher haben wir eine zweifache Weisheit: die weibliche Weisheit, die aktiv ist und die natürlich auch auf die Männer übertragen wird; so daß es auch genügend Männer gibt, die die weibliche Weisheit übernehmen. Unten schreitet das Geschlecht fort, und oben haben wir es mit einer aktiven Intuition zu tun, die vom Weibe stammt und mit einer passiven Erkenntnis, die entschieden männlichen Charakter trägt.
Das stellt die alte Mysterienlehre dar als den Gegensatz der Abelsöhne oder Göttersöhne und der Kainssöhne oder Menschensöhne. Abel repräsentiert die weibliche aktive Intuition. Daher ist er nicht imstande, etwas von außen aufzunehmen, das verarbeitet werden soll. Er nimmt auf das Göttliche, das ihn durchströmt, das in sein Intuitives einfließt. Das symbolisiert der «Tierhüter»: Er hegt und pflegt das Leben, wie Intuition das göttliche Weisheitsleben pflegt. Kain hat die männliche Weisheit, die von außen aufnimmt. Sie nimmt sich des Erdbodens an, um zu ackern; das Material ist draußen. Er wird der «Ackerbauer». Was vollbringt nun diese Kainsweisheit, diese Kainswissenschaft, da sie als passive Wissenschaft nur aufnehmend ist? Was vollbringt sie?
Es gibt nun eine sehr interessante wichtige Legende, in der diese Wahrheiten für die Freimaurerei symbolisch zum Ausdruck kommen. Das ist die Tempellegende. Und daß es diese gibt, hat folgenden Grund.
Die Bibel selbst, das Alte Testament, ist hervorgegangen aus der weiblichen, der intuitiven Weisheit, sie trägt deren Grundcharakter. Das Alte Testament ist weibliche Weisheit. Die männliche Weisheit brachte es nicht zur Intuition. Sie beschränkte sich auf das Bauen und Arbeiten; sie nahm Steine und machte Gebäude, sie nahm Metalle und machte Gerätschaften. Die Tempellegende stellt das so dar:
Einer der Elohim befruchtete die Eva, und da entstand Kain. Nachher schuf Jehova - ein anderer der Elohim, auch Adonai genannt — den Adam. Und Adam erzeugte mit Eva den Abel. Diese Legende stellt nun die Kainsweisheit der biblischen Weisheit entgegen, so daß wir beim Aufgehen der vierten Unterrasse zwei einander entgegenstehende Strömungen haben: die Bibel als weibliche Weisheit und die 'Tempelweisheit als die männliche Opposition dagegen. Das was der Mann [die männliche Weisheit?] wollte, wurde der weiblichen Weisheit schon in der vorchristlichen Zeit entgegengestellt. Das weitere ist so, daß Kain seinen Bruder Abel erschlägt. Das steht auch in der Tempellegende. Jehova machte Streit zwischen Kains Geschlecht und Abels Geschlecht, und Kain tötete den Abel. Das heißt nichts anderes ... [Hier folgen in der Nachschrift einige sehr unklare Sätze.]
Was war die Folge davon, daß diese Kainsweisheit entstand? Die Folge davon war, daß das Fruchtbare, das sich durch die eigene Weisheit fortpflanzte, getötet wurde. Indem Kain den Abel tötete, tötete männliche Erkenntnis in ihm das, was durch die Götter hervorgebracht worden war: die Möglichkeit der Fortpflanzung aus sich selbst. Das heißt, es wird dadurch, daß auf den Mann die Erkenntnis übergeht, der Abel in ihm ertötet.
Das ist ein Vorgang im Menschen selbst. Durch die männliche Erkenntnis wird die hervorbringende Kraft, wird Abel getötet. Nun stehen einander feindlich gegenüber die Nachkommen des Kain und das Geschlecht derer, die an die Stelle des Abel gesetzt werden, die Nachkommen des Seth. Die Nachkommen des Kain sind diejenigen, welche ihre männliche Weisheit verwenden auf den Bau der äußeren Welt; die passive Weisheit wird zum Bau der äußeren Welt verwendet. Nicht die göttliche Weisheit strömt auf sie hernieder. Aus dem Freien muß sie mauern an der Welt. Sie hat keine göttliche Intuition. Durch Probieren, durch Erfahrung entsteht das Zusammenfügen der rein mineralischen Produkte der Erde. So wird aus diesem Kainsgeschlechte Tubal-Kain geboren, und so wird später Hiram-Abiff oder Adon-Hiram aus diesem Geschlecht geboren.
Ich habe mir vorbehalten ...1Siehe unter Hinweise.
Unter den Abeliten finden Sie den stärksten Repräsentanten in Salomo. In der dritten Unterrasse hatten sie ihre Repräsentanten alle in den Priestern. Die alte Priesterweisheit war die intuitive Weisheit. Diese Weisheit, die vorher im Weibe als Befruchtung gewirkt hat, war umgewandelt auf einer höheren Stufe zu der geistigen Weisheit. Und aus dieser Priesterweisheit ist die Bibel hervorgegangen. Eine weibliche Weisheit ist die Bibel auf diese Weise geworden. Diese weibliche Weisheit ist imstande, über das Göttliche große Offenbarungen zu geben; zu sagen, wie es sich mit den Engeln und Geistern verhält. Zu schaffen auf der Erde ist Sache der Kainssöhne. Darum ist auch Tubal-Kain der Urvater der Schmiede. Daher muß Salomo den Hiram-Abiff berufen, der ihm den Tempel bauen kann. Er baut dem König Salomo, dem Nachfolger der alten Priesterweisheit, den Tempel, ihm, dem Salomo, der die Priesterweisheit umsetzt in äußere Macht. Es ging das Königtum als äußere Institution aus der Priesterherrschaft hervor.
Salomo ließ also den Hiram-Abiff kommen. Und so wird der Salomonische Tempel gebaut. Nun kommt aber die Königin von Saba an den Hof des Königs Salomo, und es wird dort eine Art Verlobung zwischen beiden gefeiert. Es wird ihr auch der Tempel gezeigt, und sie verlangt den Baumeister dieses herrlichen Tempels kennenzulernen. Als sie den Baumeister dieses herrlichen Tempels kennenlernt, da geht in ihr etwas ganz Eigentümliches vor. Ein Blick von Hiram-Abiff fiel auf sie, und das wirkte in ihr entzündend. Und das zweite, was vorging, war das Folgende. Als sie die Arbeiter sehen will und wie das alles vor sich geht auf dem physischen Plan, da nimmt HiramAbiff das Tau-Zeichen, hält es in die Luft empor, und die Arbeiter laufen alle zusammen wie die Ameisen. Sie wird dadurch dem Salomo abtrünnig. Einige Gesellen des Hiram-Abiff, die Hiram nicht zu Meistern machen wollte, kommen dem Salomo zu Hilfe. Und diese wollten nun das Meisterstück des Hiram, den Guß des Ehernen Meeres, verhindern. Statt daß ein Kunstwerk entstand, strömten nun die Feuerströme nach allen Seiten auseinander. Hiram bemühte sich, das Ganze durch Wasser zu dämpfen; aber er brachte es dadurch erst recht in Verwirrung. Ein Feuerregen sprüht hernieder und alle kommen hinein. Auch Hiram-Abiff. Eine Stimme ruft ihm aber zu, keine Angst zu haben, denn daraus werde sein größter Erfolg hervorgehen. Nun wird er von einer Gestalt nach dem Mittelpunkt der Erde geführt. Da trifft er Kain selbst, zu dem er durch Tubal-Kain - den Schöpfer der Schmiedekunst — geführt worden ist. Da wird ihm nun eine wichtige Weisheit offenbart. Es wird ihm gesagt: Erkenne du nun den eigentlichen Jehova, der die Ursache ist, daß du da bist. Aber Jehova haßt die Feuersöhne und will sie vernichten; er will seine eigene Hervorbringung vernichten. Aber ihr habt nichts zu fürchten. Dir wird ein Sohn geboren werden, den du nicht selbst sehen wirst, aus dem aber ein Geschlecht hervorgehen wird, aus dem eine neue Feueranbetung auf der Erde entstehen wird. - Mit dem Hammer, der ihm von Tubal-Kain gegeben wird, ist er daraufhin imstande, das projektierte Eherne Meer zustande zu bringen und sich dadurch noch mehr die Zuneigung der Königin von Saba zu erwerben. Dieser erscheint bei einem Spaziergang ein Vogel in der Luft, der das mystische TauZeichen zeigt. Daran erkennt die Amme der Königin, daß unter diesem Zeichen des Tau die Zukunft der Weisheit verborgen ist. Bei einem Feste, bei dem sich Salomo berauscht hatte, zieht ihm die Königin von Saba den Verlobungsting wieder von der Hand. HiramAbiff aber wird von den Gesellen überfallen und getötet. Er ist nur noch imstande, das verborgene Wort auf ein goldenes Dreieck zu schreiben und dieses zu verbergen. Es wird später gesucht und eingeschlossen in einen Stein, der Würfelgestalt hat. Auf diesem Stein, der das verborgene Wort verhüllt, stehen die Zehn Gebote.
Das ist die Tempelweisheit, welche die männliche Wissenschaft der weiblichen Weisheit entgegengesetzt hat. Das sind Dinge, die nur erklärt, die nur auf ihren okkulten Gehalt hin untersucht zu werden brauchen, um den tiefen Gehalt zu erkennen.
Denken Sie sich, Hiram-Abiff wird zum Urvater seines Geschlechts geführt. Da erhält er eine Instruktion: es wird ihm gesagt, Jehova ist ein Feind der Feuersöhne. Welches sind die Feuersöhne? Das sind die, welche erst entstehen konnten durch die Trennung der Geschlechter, durch die Einwirkung des physischen Mannes auf ein physisches Weib. Das Feuer ist die Wirkungskraft des männlichen Samens. Im männlichen Samen lebt das Feuer im okkulten Sinne. Diese Grundkraft mußte Jehova schaffen, damit das Geschlecht fortgepflanzt werden konnte. Jehova schuf die Feuersöhne, was nur möglich war auf Grund dieses Feuers. Daher ist er der Feind des Neuen. Er war es, der die alte Art der Fortpflanzung fortlebte. Es war also ein Ausfluchtsmittel, was da geschaffen worden ist, und daher hatte er sich wieder den Priestern zugewendet und hat sie zu seinen Verkündigern gemacht. Er hat seine Macht und die Herrlichkeit der eigenen Weisheit durch die Priesterweisheit verkündigen lassen. Durch die Priesterweisheit ist die Weisheit Jehovas verkündigt worden.
Hiram-Abiff ist also dazu berufen, das Eherne Meer, das heißt, die Verwandlung des Mineralreiches durch die Kunst zu übernehmen. Auch wird ihm gesagt, daß ihm ein Sohn geboren werden wird, der, wenn er ihn auch nicht selbst sehen kann, ein neues Geschlecht hervorbringen wird. Dieser Sohn ist nichts anderes als das neue Geschlecht, das einmal treten soll an die Stelle des alten, des jetzigen; das neue Geschlecht, bei dem es nicht mehr nötig ist, daß beide Geschlechter sich miteinander verbinden, sondern wiederum die Fortpflanzung durch das eine menschliche Individuum bewirkt werden kann. Da wird auf eine ferne Zukunft hingewiesen. Die alte weibliche Kultur wurde abgelöst von der männlichen. Das Weibliche als physische Gestalt wird absterben. Dann muß das Männliche eine Kraft in sich haben, ein Individuum aus sich selbst hervorzubringen. Und wo sitzt diese Kraft?
Früher war Männliches und Weibliches in einem Individuum. Und als diese beiden sich trennten, entstand ein Herauswinden des heutigen Individuums. Es entstand der obere Teil. Das was [heute] oberer Teil ist, war damals mit den Sexualorganen vereinigt. Das was heute Sexualorgan ist, ist die Hälfte der damaligen [Hervorbringungs-]Kraft. Daher ist auch die Kraft, die im Kehlkopf sitzt, die andere Hälfte. Die Sprache bringt heute noch nichts hervor. Sie muß erst durchdrungen werden von der Kainsweisheit und muß dann so hervorbringen. Wenn der Mensch die Kraft erlangt haben wird, daß sein Kehlkopf so weit sein wird, daß sein Wort schaffend wird, so daß er durch das Wort seinesgleichen hervorbringen wird, dann wird die ganze produktive Kraft übergehen auf das männliche Geschlecht. Es wird dann auf die Menschen übergehen, was einstmals durch die Götter geschaffen wurde. Wann ist das Wort verlorengegangen? Als die Zweigeschlechtlichkeit entstand. Es ist vergraben, verborgen. Die Kainssöhne haben es nur bei ihrem Urvater gehabt. Hiram-Abiff sollte wenigstens die Prophetie davon erhalten. Er wurde aber gleich darauf getötet.
Das Wort ist vergraben, aber es ist da. Wäre es nicht vergraben, so wäre der Mensch selbstschöpferisch, wie der Elohim selbstschöpferisch ist. Daher ist das «Wort» in der Freimaurerei nicht das richtige, sondern das falsche «Wort». Das richtige Wort ist verborgen. Die Zehn Gebote sind eingegraben auf dem Stein, der das verborgene Wort enthält. Was sind die Zehn Gebote? Das sind die Gesetze der sittlichen Weltordnung. Die halten den äußeren Verkehr aufrecht, wie er jetzt ist unter dem Einfluß von Menschen aus beiden Geschlechtern. Solcher Gebote bedarf es nicht, wenn es keine zwei Geschlechter mehr gibt. Es ist diejenige Menschenordnung, die unter dem Einfluß der beiden Geschlechter entstanden ist.
So haben wir in dem Freimaurertum die Bewahrung des Andenkens an das verlorengegangene Wort, das errungen werden soll innerhalb derjenigen, die in der Freimaurerei arbeiten, und das nur dann errungen werden kann, wenn die passive männliche Weisheit in sich selbst die Aktivität erweckt. Deshalb sagt die Freimaurerei: Alles, was nicht aus der eigenen über die Welt verbreiteten Wissenschaft hervorgebracht wird, stammt noch aus den alten Zeiten weiblicher Priesterherrschaft. Diese wollen wir nicht bloß übernehmen [überwinden?], sondern auch einen neuen Wirbel des Daseins beginnen; wir sollen selbst der männlichen Kainserkenntnis die Intuition geben. Das würde unmöglich sein, wenn man dem Manne die Kraft nehmen würde dadurch, daß man das Weib zum Mitwisser des Geheimnisses machte. In dem Augenblick, wo vor Frauen gesprochen würde, würde das Ganze unwirksam sein müssen.
Es ist also eine Notwendigkeit gewesen, daß das ganze weibliche Geschlecht von der Freimaurerei ausgeschlossen war. Es hängt das damit zusammen, daß das Organ des Wortes mit der Geschlechtlichkeit, der Sexualität zusammenhängt. Deshalb mutiert auch der Mann, wenn er geschlechtsreif wird. Das Mutieren ist nichts anderes als der Ausdruck der alten Zusammengehörigkeit von Sprachorgan und Geschlechtsorgan. Jetzt werden Sie auch fassen, was der Freimaurer sagt: Es ist überhaupt nur der Mann dazu berufen, das verlorengegangene Wort auszusprechen und es umzugießen; nur der männlich gebaute Kehlkopf ist imstande, dasjenige zu sagen und zu wissen, was durch das verlorengegangene Wort wieder erreicht werden kann. Wenn wir es so auffassen, wird man begreifen, daß man es dem Weibe nicht gestattete, das Neue durch den Mund zu führen. — Es ist komisch, von Gelehrten als Grund angeführt zu sehen: die Frauen werden nicht aufgenommen, weil sie alles ausklatschen. — Der weibliche Kehlkopf ist als ein Rudiment stehengeblieben. Der männliche Kehlkopf ist es aber, der sich zum Zukunftsorgan bildet.
Sie sehen, daß es sich um tiefe und bedeutsame Zusammenhänge handelt, und daß der Ausdruck «Maurer» in einem möglichst wörtlichen Sinne zu nehmen ist. Daher waren die Maurer in der griechischen und römischen Zeit die Erbauer dessen, was Schönheit ausdrücken soll. Dome, Tempel und andere bedeutende Bauwerke wurden von diesen Baumeistern erbaut.
Die Sache ist nun so, daß selbstverständlich ein Teil dessen, was geleistet worden ist durch den Freimaurerbund, doch wieder von der alten Priesterweisheit her genommen werden mußte. So haben Sie wieder eine Mischung von weiblicher Weisheit und männlichem Streben. Im Grunde genommen ist das Geheimnis der Freimaurerei dasjenige, was noch nicht enthüllt ist, was noch gar nicht da ist, was man also auch nicht verraten kann, da es noch nicht da ist. Es ist dasjenige, was ausgesprochen werden wird, wenn einmal dem Worte die Produktionskraft innewohnen wird.
Das sind einige Worte, welche dem Okkultisten den Gedanken der Freimaurerei klarmachen werden. Noch bis ins 18. Jahrhundert hinein hat man gewußt, daß die Dinge so sind. Erst als man den Zusammenhang mit den höheren Welten verloren hatte, verlor man auch in der Freimaurerei das Bewußtsein dessen, was man verloren hatte. Und doch wieder nicht. Man verwässerte die Maurerei, man sagte, man wisse nicht mehr die Bedeutung. Man muß sich aber klar sein darüber, daß alles, was da existiert als Symbole, der alten Priesterweisheit entstammt, und daß das, was in den Symbolen darinnensteckt, erst noch herauskommen muß. Die eigentliche weibliche Weisheit geht allmählich ganz verloren. Daher hat man die sogenannten Hochgrade, die Bewahrer der weiblichen Weisheit, verschwinden lassen. Übriggeblieben ist nur noch das, was man die Johannesmaurerei nennt, die sich nur noch mit weltlichen Dingen beschäftigt und nur davon etwas versteht.
Das ist aber doch auch wieder ganz natürlich, denn es mußte ja, indem der Materialismus sich entwickelte, die Priesterweisheit verlorengehen. Was kann nun geschehen? Die alte Weisheit ist fort. Wir sollen im Äußeren leben. Was ist die Folge davon? Dies, daß erst dann wieder etwas Besseres hineinkommen kann, wenn eine Weisheit kommt, die wiederum ungeschlechtlich ist, die nicht mehr zusammenhängt mit der weiblichen und männlichen Weisheit, nicht mehr mit dem weiblichen Bibeltum, nicht mehr mit der männlichen Tempellegende. Dieser Weisheit begegnen wir in der Theosophie. In dieser Weisheit verstehen sich beide Geschlechter. Da arbeitet am Weibe der Mann, der im Weibe ist, und da arbeitet am Mann dasjenige, was wiederum ungeschlechtlich ist. Da begegnen sich in der Erkenntnis des höheren Planes das Männliche und das Weibliche. Es ist also ganz natürlich, daß die eigentliche okkulte Grundlage als Freimaurerei gebracht worden ist, und daß ein neuer Ansatz gemacht worden ist. So etwas nennt man einen «Wirbel»:

So schlingen sich wirklich die Dinge in unserer Zeit zusammen. So müssen wir das ineinanderlaufend denken. Daher hat sich die Theosophie weder gestützt auf die Bibellegende, noch auf die Tempellegende, sondern den Weisheitskern in allem aufgesucht, der wieder hergestellt werden muß, ungeschlechtlich. Nun sehen Sie, wie die Theosophie das Friedenstiftende, das Harmonie-Herbeiführende ist.
Wie ist in unserer Wurzelrasse dies zusammengefügt? Unsere Wurzeltasse wiederholt, was früher schon da war. Den Gegensatz dessen, was in der lemurischen Zeit schon da war, brachte sie zum deutlichen Ausdruck auf geistigem Gebiet. Opposition mußte sich deshalb herausstellen, weil das weibliche Geschlecht früher war und in absteigender Linie ist, während das männliche Geschlecht in aufsteigender Linie ist und die Samenkraft in sich sucht, die das Weib in sich hat. Wenn wir in den unteren Regionen bleiben, so müssen wir durch den Okkultismus genau unterscheiden: Wer Rassenmensch der Atlantier ist, braucht nicht zugleich auch Seelenmensch der Atlantier zu sein. So ist auch die Seele nicht an das Geschlecht gebunden. Die Seelen des weiblichen Geschlechts bewegen sich hindurch, bis sie die von den Männern sich selbst gemachten Körper mitbewohnen können und ein Geschlecht auf der Erde sein wird.
Solange die Männer noch dem Weiblichen in Opposition gegenüberstanden, mußten sie schweigen. Der Zusammenhang der Geschlechter wurde dadurch vorbereitet, daß im 18. Jahrhundert die Adoptionslogen gegründet wurden. Im Jahre 1775 wurde die erste gegründet. Da wurde eine Maurerei getrieben, welche andere Symbole als die männliche Maurerei hatte. Dadurch aber, daß solche Adoptionslogen der männlichen Freimaurer auch Frauen aufnahmen, wurde der Zusammenhang der Geschlechter vorbereitet. Mitglied einer solchen Adoptionsloge war auch die Begründerin unserer Gesellschaft. Da spielt also auch die Sache hinein, die als Anfang der Theosophie bezeichnet werden muß. Die Theosophie ist also eine Weltaufgabe, die mit okkulten Strömungen zusammenhängt und aus dem Freimaurertum heraus arbeiten muß. Es könnte sogar noch einmal aufgeweckt werden und uns helfen können.
Aber das ist der tiefere Gedanke: daß auf theosophischem Gebiete diese einseitige männliche Bestrebung überwunden werden muß. Es gibt schon im ganzen Mittelalter eine großartige Vorbereitung für das Erzeugen des anderen Geschlechts im Manne auf geistige Weise. Der Mann erzeugt durch Konzentration in sich zuerst als Gedanke, was später in ihm als Sein entstehen soll. Daher entstand im ganzen Mittelalter als Vorbereitung dazu der Marien-Kultus. Der ist nichts anderes als die Konzentration zur Erzeugung des Weiblichen im Männlichen, während beim Weibe der Jesus-Kult dem gleichen Zweck dient. Der Marien-Kult hat aus dieser Grundlage seinen Ursprung.
Nun werden Sie einsehen, welche Verwirrung eintreten mußte, als ein Orden auftrat, der mit alle dem brach und die weibliche Weisheit wieder zurückerobern will. Es geht um die Herrschaft der Welt, die erobert werden soll. Will jemand die alte Weisheit lassen, wie sie ist, so muß er die Welt für die alten Kräfte erobern. Einen solchen Orden gibt es: Es ist der Jesuitenorden. Er hat sich bewußt diese Aufgabe gestellt. Daher stehen sich so schroff gegenüber Jesuiten und Freimaurer.
Freemasonry and Human Development I
I have asked you to come to a small discussion on occult questions because it must be considered that anyone who participates in the theosophical movement must be clear not only about the external things that are expressed in programs, but also about what this theosophical movement can lead to. Now, the occult currents that live in the Theosophical Movement are indeed related in a certain way to earlier occult currents. One of these in particular, which still reaches into the present, is the one we will take up today: Freemasonry.
You know that in Freemasonry, at least until the end of the 17th century, it was strictly frowned upon to have any female members. There was a good reason for this at the time. For once the reason why Freemasonry did not have female members ceases to exist in the evolution of the world, the time will also come when the work of Freemasonry on the physical plane will be replaced by theosophical work. For the time being, theosophical work is preparatory work. Men and women will participate equally in theosophical work.
If I were to briefly explain why women should be excluded from Freemasonry, I could only say that one does not reveal one's secrets to one's enemy; one does not send him one's battle plan. That is not done in warfare. And it will become clear to us that Freemasonry, in a certain sense, is opposed to the female world.
Freemasonry is the continuation of ancient secret societies and brotherhoods. Such secret societies, at least in the form in which they survive in Freemasonry, originated at the very beginning of the fourth subrace of our fifth root race, that is, the same subrace from which Christianity later sprang.
You know that the external composition of the Bible can only be traced back a few centuries before the birth of Christ, and rightly so. But the biblical revelation had been tradition for thousands of years before that. In earlier times, it was not customary to write such things down, but to pass them on by word of mouth. Therefore, it makes sense to assume that the secrets entrusted to Moses by the priesthood were not written down until later.
Now, the time when the Bible appeared as a document in world history also coincides with the external composition and appearance of what is called the Masonic legend.
In world evolution, it must always be regarded as a law that what happened earlier is repeated briefly later. Every human being repeats in the womb the stages that the race has already gone through. Every planet repeats in its early stages the stages of development it has already gone through. What was there before is always repeated briefly. The same is true of the races. Therefore, the first, second, and third sub-races of our fifth root race are repetitions of earlier earthly conditions, only on a certain higher plane. What developed from the Lemurian race through Atlantis was repeated on a certain higher plane in our three sub-races. So we have a repetition of what previously existed in the Lemurian epoch on a lower plane. Before dual sex appeared, this was a kind of double sex; a single sex, inasmuch as both sexes were represented in the individual being. Then came the separation into the two sexes. So male and female first became male and female. Something similar is now repeating itself in the spiritual realm in our root race. In fact, the knowledge, the wisdom that was characteristic of ancient, pre-Vedic India had something masculine-feminine and thus something that was completely independent of any duality, of any external principle. Then came the culture of the second subrace. This is a spiritual culture that is dualistic in the most eminent sense. Hence the emergence of dualism: Ormuzd and Ahriman, good and evil. All this mixes into the knowledge.
Now let us try to understand how this came about. It came about because, before there were male and female sexes, there was a dual sexuality within the individual. We must now ask: What was it in the individual that was fertilized and what was it that fertilized? In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus is depicted with powerful female breasts. This expresses a truth that was known in the ancient mysteries and which the documents also teach us, namely that the sex—if I may call it that—that immediately preceded ours did not outwardly resemble the male sex, but rather the female sex. So before the external separation, we had both sexes in one individual who was outwardly—in physical expression and in all feeling and being—female. At the origin of the human race, we are therefore dealing with a dual-sexed individual inclined toward the female side. The male sex emerged later. Now we must be clear that in this individual, which had both sexes within itself, there was also a fertilizing, male seed. The female had the male within herself. If we realize that the female had the male within herself, then we can also imagine, according to our usual scientific concepts, that reproduction was assured. Let us note that this was accomplished by the female at that time.
Now the time came when things were to diverge. What was the nature of the fertilizing element in the female, that which fertilized the female nature on the physical plane? That which acted on the female as seed was the male, and that was the spiritual, the wisdom. The woman provided the substance, the spirit provided the form. Formation on the physical plane is wisdom realized. Wisdom was at work in the woman. Now the two differentiated themselves, in that the two things that had previously worked together appeared as two separate poles. What had previously been compressed into a single organ of the human being separated, and this gave rise to a duality in human formation. This duality arose in such a way that, in the first instance, fertility, the possibility of the female egg reproducing itself, ceased in one individual. The female egg lost the possibility of being fertilized from within its own body. Thus, we are dealing with a female that has become infertile and a spiritual element that stands above it. The separation of the two sexes occurred through the splitting off of the physical organs, and the possibility of fertilization is now provided by the other sex. Two individuals arise, one with physical femininity and the other with physical masculinity: wisdom has a feminine character in men and a masculine character in women.
The separation is a precise process that can be traced. However, we must content ourselves with hints here. We are therefore dealing with male-colored wisdom in women and female-colored wisdom in men. This female-colored wisdom is passive, suited to receiving, hearing, seeing, and taking in what is around us. Male-colored wisdom, active wisdom, brings forth. Hence we have a twofold wisdom: feminine wisdom, which is active and naturally also transferred to men, so that there are also enough men who take on feminine wisdom. Below, the gender progresses, and above we are dealing with an active intuition that comes from women and a passive knowledge that is decidedly masculine in character.
This is represented in the ancient mystery teachings as the contrast between the sons of Abel, or sons of God, and the sons of Cain, or sons of man. Abel represents the active feminine intuition. Therefore, he is incapable of taking in anything from outside that needs to be processed. He takes in the divine that flows through him, that flows into his intuition. This is symbolized by the “shepherd”: he nurtures and cares for life, just as intuition nurtures the divine life of wisdom. Cain has the masculine wisdom that takes in from outside. It takes hold of the earth in order to plow; the material is outside. He becomes the “farmer.” What does this wisdom of Cain, this science of Cain, accomplish, since as a passive science it is only receptive? What does it accomplish?
There is a very interesting and important legend in which these truths are symbolically expressed for Freemasonry. This is the Temple Legend. And there is a reason why it exists.
The Bible itself, the Old Testament, emerged from feminine, intuitive wisdom and bears its fundamental character. The Old Testament is feminine wisdom. Masculine wisdom did not lead to intuition. It limited itself to building and working; it took stones and made buildings, it took metals and made tools. The Temple Legend depicts this as follows:
One of the Elohim fertilized Eve, and Cain was born. Afterwards, Jehovah—another of the Elohim, also called Adonai—created Adam. And Adam begot Abel with Eve. This legend now contrasts Cain's wisdom with biblical wisdom, so that at the dawn of the fourth subrace we have two opposing currents: the Bible as feminine wisdom and the 'temple wisdom' as the masculine opposition to it. What man [masculine wisdom?] wanted was already opposed to feminine wisdom in pre-Christian times. What follows is that Cain kills his brother Abel. This is also in the Temple legend. Jehovah caused strife between Cain's family and Abel's family, and Cain killed Abel. That means nothing else ... [Here follow some very unclear sentences in the postscript.
What was the consequence of the emergence of this wisdom of Cain? The consequence was that the fruitfulness that propagated itself through its own wisdom was killed. By killing Abel, Cain's male knowledge killed what had been brought forth by the gods: the possibility of self-propagation. That is, by passing on to man the knowledge that kills Abel within him, the male knowledge kills Abel.
This is a process within man himself. Through male knowledge, the creative power, Abel, is killed. Now the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth, who took Abel's place, stand in opposition to one another. The descendants of Cain are those who use their male wisdom to build the outer world; passive wisdom is used to build the outer world. Divine wisdom does not flow down upon them. From the open air, they must build walls around the world. They have no divine intuition. Through trial and error, through experience, the purely mineral products of the earth are brought together. Thus Tubal-Cain is born of this line of Cain, and thus Hiram-Abiff or Adon-Hiram is later born of this line.
I have reserved the right ...1See under Notes.
Among the Abelites, you will find the strongest representative in Solomon. In the third sub-race, they all had their representatives in the priests. The ancient priestly wisdom was intuitive wisdom. This wisdom, which previously worked in women as fertilization, was transformed on a higher level into spiritual wisdom. And from this priestly wisdom, the Bible emerged. In this way, the Bible became a female wisdom. This female wisdom is capable of giving great revelations about the divine; of telling how things are with angels and spirits. It is the task of the sons of Cain to create on earth. That is why Tubal-Cain is the forefather of blacksmiths. Therefore, Solomon must call upon Hiram-Abiff, who can build him the temple. He builds the temple for King Solomon, the successor to the ancient priestly wisdom, for Solomon, who transforms priestly wisdom into external power. The kingship as an external institution emerged from the priestly rule.
So Solomon sent for Hiram-Abiff. And so the Temple of Solomon is built. But then the Queen of Sheba arrives at the court of King Solomon, and a kind of engagement is celebrated between the two. She is also shown the temple, and she asks to meet the architect of this magnificent temple. When she meets the architect of this magnificent temple, something very peculiar happens to her. Hiram Abiff cast a glance at her, and this had a fiery effect on her. And the second thing that happened was this. When she wants to see the workers and how everything is going on the physical plane, Hiram Abiff takes the sign of the tau, holds it up in the air, and the workers all run together like ants. This causes her to renounce Solomon. Some of Hiram Abiff's journeymen, whom Hiram did not want to make masters, came to Solomon's aid. And they now wanted to prevent Hiram's masterpiece, the casting of the bronze sea. Instead of a work of art being created, streams of fire now flowed in all directions. Hiram tried to dampen the whole thing with water, but this only caused even more confusion. A rain of fire sprays down and everyone enters. Hiram Abiff too. But a voice calls to him not to be afraid, for this will result in his greatest success. Now he is led by a figure to the center of the earth. There he meets Cain himself, to whom he has been led by Tubal-Cain, the creator of blacksmithing. There an important piece of wisdom is revealed to him. He is told: Now recognize the true Jehovah, who is the cause of your existence. But Jehovah hates the sons of fire and wants to destroy them; he wants to destroy his own creation. But you have nothing to fear. A son will be born to you, whom you will not see yourself, but from whom a race will come forth, from which a new fire worship will arise on earth. With the hammer given to him by Tubal-Cain, he is then able to complete the planned Sea of Bronze and thereby gain even more favor with the Queen of Sheba. While out walking, a bird appears in the air, displaying the mystical sign of the Tau. The queen's nurse recognizes that the future of wisdom is hidden under this sign of the Tau. At a feast where Solomon had become intoxicated, the Queen of Sheba pulls the betrothal ring from his hand. Hiram Abiff, however, is attacked and killed by the journeymen. He is only able to write the hidden word on a golden triangle and hide it. It is later sought and enclosed in a cube-shaped stone. On this stone, which conceals the hidden word, are written the Ten Commandments.
This is the wisdom of the temple, which the male science has opposed to female wisdom. These are things that only need to be explained, that only need to be examined for their occult content in order to recognize their deep meaning.
Imagine that Hiram Abiff is led to the forefather of his lineage. There he receives an instruction: he is told that Jehovah is an enemy of the sons of fire. Who are the sons of fire? They are those who could only come into being through the separation of the sexes, through the influence of the physical man on a physical woman. Fire is the active power of the male seed. In the male seed, fire lives in an occult sense. Jehovah had to create this fundamental force so that the sex could be propagated. Jehovah created the sons of fire, which was only possible because of this fire. Therefore, he is the enemy of the new. It was he who perpetuated the old way of reproduction. What was created was therefore a means of escape, and so he turned again to the priests and made them his proclaimers. He had his power and the glory of his own wisdom proclaimed through the wisdom of the priests. Through the wisdom of the priests, the wisdom of Jehovah was proclaimed.
Hiram-Abiff is therefore called upon to take over the Brazen Sea, that is, the transformation of the mineral kingdom through art. He is also told that a son will be born to him who, even though he cannot see him himself, will bring forth a new race. This son is nothing other than the new race that will one day take the place of the old, the present one; the new race in which it will no longer be necessary for both sexes to unite with each other, but rather procreation can be effected by a single human individual. This points to a distant future. The old female culture was replaced by the male culture. The female as a physical form will die out. Then the male must have a power within itself to produce an individual from itself. And where does this power reside?
In the past, male and female were in one individual. And when these two separated, the present individual emerged. The upper part emerged. What is [today] the upper part was then united with the sexual organs. What is today the sexual organ is half of the [creative] power of that time. Therefore, the power that resides in the larynx is the other half. Language still produces nothing today. It must first be permeated by the wisdom of Cain and then produce something. When humans have attained the power to expand their larynx to such an extent that their words become creative, so that they can bring forth their own kind through their words, then all productive power will pass to the male sex. What was once created by the gods will then pass to humans. When was the word lost? When dual sexuality arose. It is buried, hidden. The sons of Cain only had it with their forefather. Hiram Abiff should at least have received the prophecy about it. But he was killed immediately afterwards.
The word is buried, but it is there. If it were not buried, man would be self-creative, as Elohim is self-creative. Therefore, the “word” in Freemasonry is not the right one, but the wrong “word.” The right word is hidden. The Ten Commandments are engraved on the stone that contains the hidden word. What are the Ten Commandments? They are the laws of the moral world order. They maintain external relations as they are now under the influence of people of both sexes. Such commandments are not necessary when there are no longer two sexes. It is the human order that has arisen under the influence of the two sexes.
Thus, in Freemasonry, we have the preservation of the memory of the lost word, which is to be attained within those who work in Freemasonry, and which can only be attained when passive male wisdom awakens activity within itself. That is why Freemasonry says: Everything that is not produced by our own science spread throughout the world still originates from the ancient times of female priesthood. We do not want to merely take this over [overcome it?], but also begin a new vortex of existence; we ourselves must give intuition to the male Cain knowledge. This would be impossible if men were deprived of their power by making women privy to the secret. The moment one spoke in front of women, the whole thing would have to be ineffective.
It was therefore necessary that the entire female sex be excluded from Freemasonry. This is related to the fact that the organ of speech is connected with sexuality. This is why men also undergo a mutation when they reach sexual maturity. This mutation is nothing other than the expression of the ancient connection between the organ of speech and the sexual organs. Now you will also understand what the Freemason says: only men are called upon to utter the lost word and to recast it; only the male-built larynx is capable of saying and knowing what can be achieved again through the lost word. If we understand it this way, we will comprehend that women were not allowed to utter the new word. It is comical to see scholars cite as a reason that women are not accepted because they gossip. The female larynx has remained a vestigial organ. It is the male larynx, however, that is developing into the organ of the future.
You see that these are deep and significant connections, and that the term “Mason” must be taken in the most literal sense possible. That is why, in Greek and Roman times, the Masons were the builders of what was intended to express beauty. Cathedrals, temples, and other important buildings were constructed by these master builders.
The fact is that, of course, part of what has been achieved by the Masonic Order had to be taken from the ancient wisdom of the priests. So you have again a mixture of feminine wisdom and masculine striving. Basically, the secret of Freemasonry is that which has not yet been revealed, that which does not yet exist, that which cannot be revealed because it does not yet exist. It is that which will be revealed when words acquire the power to create.
These are a few words that will clarify the concept of Freemasonry to the occultist. Until well into the 18th century, people knew that things were this way. Only when they lost their connection to the higher worlds did they also lose awareness of what they had lost in Freemasonry. And yet, this was not entirely the case. Masonry was watered down, and people said they no longer knew its meaning. But it must be clear that everything that exists as symbols originates from the ancient wisdom of the priests, and that what is contained in the symbols must first come out. The true feminine wisdom is gradually being lost. That is why the so-called high degrees, the keepers of feminine wisdom, have been made to disappear. All that remains is what is called Johannine Masonry, which deals only with worldly things and understands only those.
But this is also quite natural, for with the development of materialism, priestly wisdom had to be lost. What can happen now? The old wisdom is gone. We are supposed to live in the outer world. What is the consequence of this? That something better can only come in again when a wisdom arises that is once more genderless, no longer connected with female and male wisdom, no longer with female biblicalism, no longer with male temple legend. We encounter this wisdom in theosophy. In this wisdom, both sexes understand each other. The man who is in the woman works on the woman, and that which is again genderless works on the man. In the knowledge of the higher plan, the masculine and the feminine meet. It is therefore quite natural that the actual occult foundation was brought about as Freemasonry and that a new approach was made. This is called a “vortex”:

This is how things are really intertwined in our time. We must think of this as intertwined. Therefore, Theosophy has not based itself on biblical legends or temple legends, but has sought the core of wisdom in everything that must be restored, genderless. Now you see how Theosophy is the peacemaker, the bringer of harmony.
How is this put together in our root race? Our root race repeats what was already there before. It brought the opposite of what was already there in the Lemurian era to clear expression in the spiritual realm. Opposition had to arise because the female sex was earlier and is in a descending line, while the male sex is in an ascending line and seeks within itself the seed power that the female has within her. If we remain in the lower regions, we must distinguish precisely through occultism: those who are racially Atlantean do not need to be soul-wise Atlanteans as well. Thus, the soul is not bound to the sex. The souls of the female sex move through until they can inhabit the bodies that men have made for themselves and a sex will exist on earth.
As long as men were still in opposition to the female, they had to remain silent. The connection between the sexes was prepared by the founding of the adoption lodges in the 18th century. The first was founded in 1775. A form of Masonry was practiced there that had different symbols from male Masonry. However, because such adoption lodges of male Freemasons also admitted women, the connection between the sexes was prepared. The founder of our society was also a member of such an adoption lodge. So the thing that must be called the beginning of Theosophy also plays a role here. Theosophy is therefore a world task that is connected with occult currents and must work from within Freemasonry. It could even be revived and help us.
But the deeper idea is that in the field of theosophy, this one-sided male striving must be overcome. Throughout the Middle Ages, there was already a magnificent preparation for the spiritual creation of the other sex in man. Through concentration within himself, man first creates as a thought what will later arise in him as being. This is why the cult of Mary arose throughout the Middle Ages as a preparation for this. This is nothing other than the concentration for the creation of the feminine in the masculine, while in women the cult of Jesus serves the same purpose. The cult of Mary has its origin in this foundation.
Now you will understand what confusion must have arisen when an order appeared that broke with all this and wanted to recapture feminine wisdom. It is about the domination of the world, which is to be conquered. If anyone wants to leave the old wisdom as it is, he must conquer the world for the old forces. Such an order exists: it is the Jesuit order. It has consciously set itself this task. That is why Jesuits and Freemasons are so sharply opposed to each other.