The Gospel of St. John
in Relation to the Other Three Gospels
GA 112
4 July 1909, Kassel
11. The Harmonization of the Inner Forces of Man through the Christ-Impulse
The lectures thus far given in this cycle should have made it abundantly clear that spiritual-scientific research reveals the Christ event as the most supremely vital one in the entire evolution of mankind, that we must recognize it as having introduced a wholly new strain into the totality of Earth evolution. We learned that something completely new entered this evolution of mankind through the Mystery of Golgotha, through the event of Palestine and everything connected with it before and after, and that human evolution must needs have taken a totally different course had the Christ event not intervened.—If we are to understand the Mystery of Golgotha we must further examine some of the intimate details of the gradual approach of the Christ Being itself; but naturally, even fourteen lectures do not suffice to tell all there is to be told about a subject embracing the whole world. The author of the John Gospel pointed this out when he said that there was much more to be told, but that the world could not produce enough books to tell it. So you will not expect fourteen lectures to mention everything connected with the Christ event and with its narration in the Gospel of St. John and in the other, related ones.
Yesterday and the day before we learned how the dwelling of the Christ Spirit, the Christ Individuality, in the threefold sheath of Jesus of Nazareth gradually made possible all that is described in the John Gospel up to and including the chapter on the Raising of Lazarus. Thus we saw that Christ's task was the gradual development of the threefold corporeality—the physical, the etheric, and the astral body—that had been offered up to Him by the lofty initiate Jesus of Nazareth. But in order to understand exactly what Christ wrought in this threefold sheath we must first get a clear picture of the interrelationship, in man, of the three principles of his being. Hitherto we have only indicated in rough outline that in the waking state the physical body, the etheric or life body, the astral body, and the ego are seen by clairvoyant conciousness as interpenetrating each other, forming an interpermeating whole, and that at night the physical and etheric bodies remain in bed, while the astral body and the ego are withdrawn. Today, in order to describe the Mystery of Golgotha more closely, we must enquire more fully into the exact nature of this inter-permeation of the four principles of the human being during day consciousness; that is, in just what manner the ego and astral body enter the etheric and physical bodies upon awakening in the morning. I can best make this clear by means of a diagram.

Suppose that in this drawing we had, down here, the physical body, and above it, the etheric body. In the morning, when the astral body and the ego re-enter the physical bodies from the spiritual world, this comes about in such a way that in the main (I beg you to take this qualification seriously) the astral body enters the etheric body, and the ego the physical body. In this drawing, then, the horizontal lines stand for the astral and etheric bodies, the vertical lines for the ego and the physical body.
I said “in the main” because naturally everything in the human being is interpenetrative: the ego, for example, is in the etheric body as well as elsewhere, and so on; but what is referred to here is the principal, the essential interpenetration, and the manner in which the latter prevails most completely can be represented by the diagram.
Next we must enquire, What, exactly, occurred at the Baptism? We have said that the ego of Jesus of Nazareth abandoned His physical, etheric, and astral bodies, leaving this threefold sheath for the Christ Being; so what remained of Jesus of Nazareth we can show in diagram as His physical, etheric, and astral bodies. The ego abandoned the physical body, and in place of the ego of Jesus of Nazareth there entered into this threefold sheath—occupying principally the physical body, though again not exclusively—the Christ Being.

Here we indeed touch the fringe of a deep mystery; for if we consider what really took place at this point we realize that it bears on all the immense complexities of mankind which we have indicated in the last lectures. I told you that everything people have in common, the generic factor, so to speak, in man within a certain group, is to be found in the female element of heredity. I said that the outer facial resemblance among members of the same people is carried down through the generations by woman. The male element, on the other hand, passes on the distinguishing features in man: it is the factor that makes him an individual entity here on earth, that places his ego upon a footing of its own. Great minds who are in touch with the spiritual world have always felt this in the right way, and we can really learn to know and appreciate the utterances of great men who were close to the spiritual world only by penetrating to these depths of cosmic truths.
Look once more at our first diagram and reflect as follows: We have an etheric body, and in it lives the astral body. The astral body is the vehicle of our conceptions, ideas, thoughts, sensations, feelings, and it dwells in the etheric body. But we have learned that it is specifically the task of the etheric body to work upon the physical body effectively, so to say, containing as it does the forces that form it. We must therefore conclude that this etheric body, permeated as it is by the astral body, contains all that makes man a man, all that imprints in him a definite form from within, as it were, proceeding from the spiritual elements. So that whatever produces resemblance among men derives from what works within, and is not merely external; in other words, not from anything bound to his physical body, but from elements associated with his etheric and astral bodies, for these are the inner principles.
For this reason, anyone who can see into such matters will sense that what permeates his etheric and astral bodies comes from the maternal element, whereas all that gives his physical body its peculiar form, imprinted by his ego—the ego dwelling in the physical body—is a paternal heritage.
“My father gave my build to me,
Toward life my sober bearing;
From mother comes my cheerful heart,
My joy in storytelling.”1“Vom Vater hab'ich die Satur,
Des Lebens ernstes Führen,
Vom Mütterchen die Frohnatur,
Und Lust am Fabulieren.”
These words spoken by Goethe are an interpretation of what I showed you in diagram. “From my father I have my stature” refers to what develops from the ego; and the imagination, the gift of storytelling, inherited from the mother, has its being in the etheric and astral bodies. The utterances of great minds are by no means grasped by those who believe to have understood them by means of trivial human concepts.
But now we must apply all this to the Christ event; and from this point of view we must ask, What would have happened to mankind if it had not taken place? If the Christ event had not occurred, the course of human development would have continued as we saw it commence with the post-Atlantean time. We learned that in very old times civilization rested upon a form of love closely linked with tribal relationship, with consanguinity. Those whom people loved were their blood relatives. And we saw how this blood bond kept fraying as humanity progressed.
Now let us pass from the earliest days of human evolution to the time of Christ Jesus' appearance. While in most ancient epochs marriage was always consummated within one and the same tribe, you will find that during the Roman dominion—and that is the time of the Christ event—the custom of endogamy was increasingly ignored, that a great variety of peoples were thrown together as a result of the Roman expeditions, and that the “close marriage” had very largely to give way to exogamy, the “distant marriage.” It was necessary for blood ties to lose their strength in the evolution of mankind because men were destined to take their stand upon their own ego.
Assuming, now, that Christ had not come to provide new forces, to replace the old love engendered by blood ties with a new spiritual love, we ask again, what would have happened? In that case love, the factor that unites men, would gradually have vanished from the face of the earth: that which brings men together in love would have perished in man's nature. Without the Christ the human race would have lived to see the dying out of love for each other: men would have been driven back into their own segregated individualities. Looked at only from the point of view of external science, these things do not disclose the profound truths underlying them. If you were to examine—not chemically, but by the means at the disposal of spiritual research—the blood of present-day man and compare it with that of people who lived several thousand years before the appearance of Christ, you would find that it had changed, had taken on a character tending to make it less and less a vehicle capable of bearing love. Imagine, in ancient times, a man of insight who could see deep into the course of human development, who could foretell what would needs come to pass should only the one antiquated tendency persist without the intervention of the Christ event: how would the course of future evolution present itself to an initiate of that sort? What images would he have to evoke in the human soul to indicate what would happen in the future if love in the soul, the Christ love, failed to replace the love arising from blood ties in the same measure as the latter disappeared? He had to say: If men become ever more isolated, more hardened in their own ego; if the lines separating souls become ever more marked so that souls understand each other less and less, then men of the outer world will fall increasingly into discord and contention, and the war of all against all will usurp the place of love on earth.
And this is indeed what would have ensued if evolution had proceeded on the basis of blood relationship without the intervention of Christ. All men would inevitably have been involved in the war of all against all. This war will come to pass in any case, but only for those who have not become imbued in the right way with the Christ principle. That is what a prophetic seer beheld as the end of the Earth evolution, and well could it fill his soul with terror: souls no longer understand each other, hence they must rage, soul against soul.
I have explained that only gradually can men become united through the Christ principle. In Tolstoi and Solovyev I gave you an example showing how two noble spirits, each thinking to proclaim the real Christ, can hold such contradictory views that one of them considers the other the Antichrist—for that is what Solovyev believed Tolstoi to be. The conflict of beliefs at first present in the souls of men would gradually come to expression in the outer world, that is, men would rage against each other. That would be the inevitable consequence of the development of the blood principle.—It would be pointless to object here that in spite of the Christ event we still see discord and contention on all sides, that we are still far from any realization of Christian love: I have told you that we are only at the beginning of Christian evolution. The great impulse has been given which enabled the Christ to imbue ever more the souls of men in the further course of earth development, and to unite them in a spiritual way. What still exists today in the way of discord and contention—and this will lead to even greater excesses—is a result of the fact that hitherto mankind has become permeated with the real Christ principle only to the most negligible extent: conditions that have existed among men from time immemorial still hold sway and can be overcome only by degrees, inasmuch as the Christ impulse will flow into mankind but slowly and gradually.
That, then, is a picture of what would have been foreseen in pre-Christian times by one who had clairvoyantly penetrated the future course of human evolution. He could have put it this way: I have been vouchsafed a remnant of the old power of clairvoyance. In primeval times all men were able to see into the spiritual world by means of a dim, dull clairvoyance, which has gradually vanished. But the possibility still exists, like a heritage from those ancient times, to penetrate the spiritual world in an abnormal, dreamlike state. In this way there can be seen something of what lies beneath the outer surface of things.
All the old legends, fairy stories, and myths, which truly are fraught with a wisdom deeper than is to be found in modern science, tell us that in the olden times the capacity for entering exceptional states was very wide-spread. Call such states dreams, if you like: they nevertheless heralded events; but they did not provide sufficient wisdom to protect men from the conflict of all against all. The sage of old emphasized this in the strongest possible terms, saying, We are heir to a primeval wisdom which people of the Atlantean era were able to perceive in abnormal states, and even now there are isolated men who can discern it under the same conditions; and what is heralded there is the course the near future will take. But the revelations of those dreams inspired no confidence: they were deceptive and destined to become ever more so. That was the wisdom taught in pre-Christian times, and in that form did the teacher proclaim it to the people.
That is why it is significant that an appreciation of the whole intensity and power of the Christ impulse leads us to the comprehension of a certain great truth: In a world lacking the Christ impulse the isolation and segregation of men, their mutual antagonism, something like a struggle for existence, would be brought about—similar to the materialistic-Darwinistic theory foisted upon us today—a struggle for existence such as reigns in the animal kingdom, but which should have no place in the world of men. Somewhat grotesquely we might say, when the earth has run its course it will present the picture of humanity painted by certain materialists in line with a Darwinistic theory borrowed from the animal world; but today this theory, when applied to mankind, is wrong. It is true in the animal kingdom because there no impulse governs which could transform discord into love. Christ, as a spiritual force in humanity, will confound all materialistic Darwinism.
But in order to grasp this, one must understand that in the outer sense world men can eliminate the antagonistic attitude arising from their differences of opinion, feelings, and actions only by combatting and adjusting within themselves all that would otherwise flow out into the external world. No one is going to quarrel with a different opinion in the soul of another if he first fights against all that must be combatted in himself, if he establishes harmony among the various principles of his being. He will confront the outer world as one who loves, not as one who quarrels. It is all a matter of diverting the conflict from the outer world to the inner man: the forces holding sway in human nature must battle each other within man.
Two conflicting opinions must be looked at as follows: This is one opinion—it is tenable; that is the other—it is also tenable. But if I recognize only the one and consider justifiable only what I want, resisting the other, then I shall be involved in a struggle on the physical plane. To insist on my opinion is to be selfish; to consider my action the only justifiable one means being egotistical. But if I consider the other man's opinion and endeavor to create harmony within myself, my attitude toward the other will then be a very different one; and only then will I begin to understand him. Diverting external strife into another channel—the harmonizing of inner human forces—that would be another way of expressing the idea of progress in the evolution of mankind. The possibility of inner concord, of finding the way to harmonize the resisting forces within, this had to be bestowed upon man by the Christ. Christ gives man the power first of all to eliminate the discord within himself, and without Christ this could never be achieved. In respect of outer strife the ancient, pre-Christian people rightly looked upon one special form of it as the ultimate horror: the child's strife against father and mother. Also, in the days when men knew what course evolution would take lacking the Christ-Impulse, parricide was considered the most terrible and abhorrent of all crimes. That was made very clear by those wise men of old who foresaw the coming of Christ. But they also knew what the inevitable result would be in the outer world if the battle were not first waged in every man's own soul.
Let us examine our own inner nature. We have learned that where the etheric and astral bodies interpenetrate the mother holds sway, while the father comes to expression in the ego-permeated physical body. In other words, the mother, the female element, governs in all that pertains to the traits we share with others, to the generic, to all that constitutes our inner life in so far as it expresses itself in wisdom and in conceptions; whereas every quality arising from a union of the ego and the physical body, in the externally differentiated form—all that makes man an ego—derives from the father, the male element. What is it, then, above all things that the ancient sages who thought along these lines had to demand of men? They had to insist on a clear understanding of the relation of the physical body and the ego to the etheric and astral bodies: on a mental grasp of the maternal and paternal elements. By reason of having an etheric and an astral body man has the mother principle in him: in addition to his outer mother, the mother of the physical plane, he has, so to speak, the maternal element within him—the Mother, and besides his physical father he has within him the paternal element—the Father. The proper adjustment of the relation between this inner father and inner mother is something that was held up to men as a lofty ideal to strive for. Failure to harmonize these two elements inevitably results in spreading discord within men out into the physical world—with devastating consequences. Therefore, said the old sage: Man's task is to bring about harmony within himself between the paternal and the maternal elements. If he does not succeed, there will appear in the world what we must recognize as the ultimate horror.
What we have just expressed in anthroposophical phraseology, so to say, was proclaimed to mankind by the ancient sages somewhat as follows: In primeval times we inherited a primordial wisdom, and even today men can participate in it when in an abnormal state. But the possibility of entering this state is becoming ever more remote, and even the old initiation cannot lead beyond a certain point in human evolution.
Let us once more consider this old initiation as we described it in the last lectures: what occurred there? Out of the complex composed of physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego, the etheric and astral bodies were withdrawn, but the ego remained. Hence there could be no question of self-consciousness during the three and a half days of initiation: it was extinguished; and it was replaced by a form of consciousness from the higher spiritual world, instilled by the priest-initiator who guided the candidate throughout and placed his own ego at the latter's disposal. Now, what exactly was the result of this? Something occurred that was expressed in a formula which will strike you as strange; but when you have understood it, it will no longer seem so. It was expressed as follows: When a man was initiated in the old sense the maternal element withdrew and the paternal element remained; that is, the candidate killed the paternal element and united with the mother element. In other words, he killed his father within him and wedded his mother. So when the old initiate had lain three and a half days in the lethargic state he had united with his mother and had killed the father within himself. He had become fatherless; and that had to occur, because he had to renounce his individuality and dwell in a higher spiritual world. He became one with his people; but the factor inherent in a people was precisely that which was provided by the maternal element. He became one with the entire organism of his people; he became exactly that which Nathanael was, which was always designated by the name of the people in question—in Jewry, an “Israelite,” among Persians a “Persian.”
There can never be any wisdom in the world other than the wisdom proceeding from the Mysteries—no other is possible. Those who learn in the Mysteries what these reveal become messengers, and the outer world learns from them what is beheld in the Mysteries. One of the things acquired in line with the old wisdom was the exact knowledge of what had been achieved by uniting with the inner mother and killing the father. But this hereditary wisdom cannot help man past a certain point in evolution. Something different, something wholly new, had to replace the old wisdom. Had mankind continued indefinitely to receive the old wisdom gained in this way, it would have been driven, as already stated, into the war of all against all. Opinion would be arrayed against opinion, feeling against feeling, will against will; and that terrifying, gruesome image of the future, where man would unite with his mother and kill his father, would come true. All this was portrayed in pregnant pictures, in great and mighty images, by the old initiates who, though initiated, looked for the coming of Christ; and the imprint of this wisdom of the pre-Christian sages has been preserved in the legends and myths.
We need only recall the name of Oedipus and we are in touch with a myth expressing what the ancient sages had to say on this subject. The old Greek legend, presented in so mighty and grandiose a way by the Greek tragedians, runs as follows: There was a king in Thebes, and his name was Laios. His spouse was Iokaste. For a long time they had no progeny. Then Laios enquired of the Oracle of Delphi whether he could not be vouchsafed a son; and the Oracle gave him the answer: If thou wilt have a son it will be one who shall kill thee.—In a state of intoxication—that is, in a state of dimmed consciousness—Laios begot a son. Oedipus was born; and Laios knew that this was the son who would kill him. He therefore resolved to abandon the child; and in order to insure his complete annihilation he caused his feet to be pierced. Then he was left to die; but a shepherd found the child and took pity on him. He brought him to Corinth, and there Oedipus was reared in the royal household. When he was grown he learned of the Oracle's prophesy: that he would kill his father and wed his mother; but there was no escaping it. On account of being taken for the king's son he had to leave the place where he was reared. On his way he met his real father and, without recognizing him, killed him. He came to Thebes; and because he was able to answer the Sphinx' questions and solve the riddle of the grisly monster that led so many to their death, the Sphinx had to kill itself. Thus, for the time being, Oedipus was his country's benefactor. He was made king and received the queen's hand in marriage—his mother's hand! Without knowing it, he had killed his father and united with his mother. He now ruled as king; but by reason of having acquired his rule in this way and of all the dreadful misfortune that clung to him, he brought untold misery upon his country.—In Sophocles' drama we finally encounter him as blinded, as one who has destroyed his own eyesight.
That is a story whose imagery originated in the old temples of wisdom; and what it intended to tell was that in a certain respect Oedipus could still make contact, in the old sense, with the spiritual world. His father had consulted the Oracle. Those oracles were the last heritage of the old clairvoyance, but they were powerless to establish peace in the outer world. They could not provide that harmony of the paternal and the maternal elements which was to be striven for and achieved.
The circumstance that Oedipus solved the Sphinx' riddle indicates that he was intended to represent the sort of man who had acquired a certain old type of clairvoyance simply through heredity; that is, he knew the nature of man to the extent to which the last remnants of the old primordial wisdom could provide such cognition. But never could it suffice to stem the raging of man against man, as symbolized by the parricide and the union with the mother. Although in touch with primordial wisdom, Oedipus is unable, by its means, to see through its complexity. This old wisdom no longer induced seership—that is what the old sages wanted to proclaim. Had it been attended by clairvoyance as in the old way of consanguinity, the blood would have spoken when Oedipus confronted first his father, and later, his mother; but the blood was silent. That is a graphic presentation of the disintegration of primordial wisdom.
What had to happen in order that once and for all the inner harmonious compensation might be found between the maternal and paternal elements, between man's own ego that is of the father, and the mother principle? The Christ impulse had to come.—And now we can peer from still another angle into certain depths of the Marriage in Cana of Galilee. We are told:
The mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Jesus—or better, Christ—was to be the great example for humanity of a being who had achieved the inner concord between himself—that is, his ego—and the mother principle. At the Marriage in Cana of Galilee He indicated:
Something passeth from me to thee.
That was a new sort of passing from one to another: it was no longer as it had been, but implied a renewal of the whole relationship. It meant the lofty and enduring ideal of inner compensation achieved without first killing the father—without withdrawing from the physical body; it meant finding agreement with the maternal principle in the ego. Now the time had come when the human being learned to combat within himself the excessive power of egotism, of the ego principle; when he learned to correlate it with the maternal principle holding sway in the etheric and astral bodies.
So we find in the Marriage in Cana a beautiful image of the relation of the ego, the paternal principle, to the mother principle: it represents the inner harmony, the love, obtained in the outer world between Christ Jesus and His Mother. It was intended as an image of the harmonious compensation between the ego and the maternal principle, achieved inwardly. Such a possibility had not existed previously: it was created by the deed of Christ Jesus. But inasmuch as it came about through the deed of Christ, it brought with it the only possible refutation—that is, through the deed—of all that would inevitably have come to pass under the influence of those remnants of the ancient wisdom which would have led to the killing of the father and the uniting of the mother with her son.
Let us see just what it is that the Christ principle combats. The old sage, contemplating the Christ and comparing the old way with the new, could put it this way: If the union with the mother is sought in the old way, no good can result for humanity. But if sought in the new way, as shown in the Marriage at Cana—if man unites with the astral and etheric bodies dwelling within him—then salvation and peace and fraternity will spread among men more and more as time passes; and the old principle of killing the father and wedding the mother will be resisted.—So the antagonistic element which the Christ had to eradicate was not the ancient wisdom: the latter did not need to be combatted, for it was gradually losing its power and would eventually dry up of itself; and we see how people like Oedipus fall victim to discord precisely by putting their faith in it. On the other hand, the evil would not cease of itself if the new wisdom were ignored; that is, if people clung rigidly to the old principle and remained insensible to the manner in which the Christ impulse acts. Not to ding to the obsolete principle, not to follow the old lines rigidly, but to learn what had come into the world through Christ—that is what was felt to be the greatest step forward.
Do we find this, too, suggested anywhere? We do: legends and myths are indeed fraught with the deepest wisdom. There is a legend you will not find in the Gospels, but it is none the less a Christian legend as well as a Christian truth. It runs this way: Once upon a time there was a married couple, and for a long time this couple had no son. Then it was revealed to the mother in a dream—note this well—that she would have a son, but that this son would first kill his father and then unite with his mother, and that he would bring frightful disaster upon his whole tribe.
Again we have a dream, corresponding to the oracle in the case of Oedipus; that is, we are again dealing with what had come down from primeval clairvoyance. What was to happen was revealed to the mother in the old way. But did this revelation suffice to make her see clearly the conditions governing in the world? to avert the disaster? Let us ask the legend, which informs us further:
Under the influence of the wisdom gleaned in her dream, the mother took the child she had borne to the island of Kariot and there abandoned him. But he was found by the queen of a neighboring realm, who being childless, reared him herself. Later the royal couple had a child of their own, and the foundling soon felt himself discriminated against; and being of a passionate temperament he slew the son of the royal pair. Now he could no longer re-main: he had to flee, and he came to the court of Pilate, the Governor, where he was soon made overseer in the household. But one day he came to blows with his neighbor; and in the struggle he killed him, knowing not that it was his own father. Circumstances later led to his wedding his neighbor's wife, who, unbeknownst to him, was his mother.
This foundling was Judas Iscariot. When he became aware of his terrible position he Red again. And nowhere did he find compassion save in Him Who had mercy for all who approached Him, Who not only sat at the table with publicans and sinners but Who, though seeing all, took unto Himself even this great sinner; for it was His mission to work not only for the righteous, but for all men, and to lead them out of sin to salvation. In this way Judas Iscariot came into the environment of Christ Jesus and to cause the calamity which had been foretold, and which was destined to be fulfilled in the sphere of Christ Jesus. Schiller says:
“An evil deed its own curse bears within:
It multiplies, begetting evil brood.”2“Das eben ist der Fluch der bösen Tat,
Dass sie, fortzeugend, Böses muss gebären.”
Judas became the betrayer of Christ Jesus. True, everything that was destined to come about through him had already been fulfilled in the murder of his father and the wedding of his mother; but he survived, so to speak, as a tool, because he was to be the evil instrument for bringing about good, thereby performing an act of supererogation.
The individuality presented to us in the figure of Oedipus loses his sight, as a result of the evil he has wrought, the moment he realizes what he has done. But the other, whose identical destiny originated in his connection with the inherited primordial wisdom, does not become blind: he was chosen to fulfill destiny, to do the deed that would lead to the Mystery of Golgotha, that would bring about the physical death of Him Who is “the Light of the World” and Who enkindles the Light of the World in healing the man born blind. Oedipus had to lose his sight; to the blind man, Christ gave sight. Yet He died at the hands of one who, like Oedipus, was chosen to exemplify the gradual extinction of the ancient wisdom in mankind, to expose its insufficiency in the matter of bringing salvation and peace and love. For these to come, the Christ-Impulse was indispensable, and the event of Golgotha had to take place. There had first to come about something whose outer reflection is shown us in the relation between the Jesus-Christ Ego and His Mother at the Marriage in Cana of Galilee.
And one thing more was needed as well. The writer of the John Gospel describes it as follows: There beneath the Cross stood the Mother, and there stood the disciple “whom the Lord loved”, Lazarus-John, whom He Himself had initiated and through whom the wisdom of Christianity was to be handed down to posterity; he through whom man's astral body was to be so powerfully influenced as to render it capable of harboring the Christ principle. There in the human astral body the Christ principle was to live, and it was John's mission to pour the Christ principle into this astral body. But in order that this might come to pass, this Christ principle, raying down from the Cross, had still to unite with the etheric principle, with the Mother. That is why from the Cross Christ called down the words:
From this hour forth, this is thy mother—and this is thy son.
That means, He unites His wisdom with the maternal principle.
Thus we see the profundity, not only of the Gospels, but of all the interrelationships in the Mysteries. Truly, the old legends are related to the prophesies and Gospels of more recent times as is presage to fulfillment. In the legends of Oedipus and of Judas we are clearly shown that once upon a time there was a divine, primordial wisdom; that this wisdom vanished; and that a new wisdom had to come. And this new wisdom will carry men forward to a point that would never have been attainable through the old wisdom. The Oedipus legend tells us what must have occurred without the intervention of the Christ impulse; and the nature of the opposition to the Christ, the rigid clinging to the ancient wisdom, is made clear in the Judas legend. But the principle which even the old legends and myths had declared inadequate is brought to us in a new light through the new revelation, through the Gospel. The Gospel gives us the answer to what the old legends expressed in images of the old wisdom. In legends we were told that nevermore can the old wisdom provide what humanity needs for the future; but the Gospel, the new wisdom, says: I bring tidings of what mankind needs, of what could never have come without the influence of the Christ principle, without the event of Golgotha.
Elfter Vortrag
Aus den Vorträgen, die in diesem Zyklus bisher gehalten worden sind, wird Ihnen zur Genüge hervorgegangen sein, daß dutch die geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung das Christus-Ereignis als das Allerwesentlichste in der ganzen Menschheitsentwickelung angesehen werden muß, daß wir in dem Christus-Ereignis etwas zu sehen haben, was einen ganz neuen Einschlag für die Gesamterdenentwickelung gebracht hat. So daß wir also sagen mußten: Es ist durch das Mysterium von Golgatha, durch die Tatsache von Palästina und alles, was damit vorher und nachher zusammenhängt, etwas ganz Neues in diese Menschheitsentwickelung eingetreten, und es hätte die Menschheitsentwickelung wesentlich anders verlaufen müssen, wenn das ChristusEreignis nicht eingetreten wäre. Wollen wir das Mysterium von Golgatha verstehen, dann müssen wir in die intimen Einzelheiten der Christus-Entwickelung selber noch einige Blicke werfen.
Natürlich läßt sich selbst in vierzehn Vorträgen über das, was eine ganze Welt umspannen würde, nicht alles sagen. Das sehen Sie auch schon von dem Schreiber des Johannes-Evangeliums angedeutet: daß noch manches andere zu sagen wäre, aber die Welt würde nicht Bücher genug herstellen können, um alles zu sagen, was zu sagen ist. So werden Sie auch nicht verlangen können, daß in vierzehn Vorträgen alles gesagt werde, was zusammenhängt mit dem Christus-Ereignis und seiner Schilderung durch das Johannes-Evangelium und die anderen, mit ihm verwandten Evangelien.
Wir haben gestern und vorgestern gesehen, wie durch das Wohnen ‚des Christus-Geistes, der Christus-Individualität in der dreifachen Hülle des Jesus von Nazareth allmählich dasjenige hat bewirkt werden können, was unsim Johannes-Evangelium geschildert wird bis einschließlich zu dem Kapitel über die Auferweckung des Lazarus. So haben wir gesehen, daß der Christus nach und nach sich heranzubilden hatte die dreifache Leiblichkeit, den physischen Leib, den Ätherleib und astralischen Leib, die ihm hingeopfert worden waren durch den großen Eingeweihten Jesus von Nazareth. Wir werden aber nur verstehen können, was eigentlich der Christus in der dreifachen Hülle des Jesus von Nazareth bewirkt hat, wenn wir uns zuerst einmal vor die Seele führen, wie überhaupt der Zusammenhang ist im Menschen zwischen den einzelnen Gliedern seiner Wesenheit.
Wir haben ja bisher nur in großen Zügen angedeutet, daß im tagwachenden Zustand der Mensch sich so zeigt für das hellseherische Bewußtsein, daß physischer Leib, Äther- oder Lebensleib, astralischer Leib und Ich sich gegenseitig durchdringen, ein sich durchdringendes Ganzes bilden, daß in der Nacht im Bette liegenbleiben der physische Leib und der Ätherleib, und daß herausgehoben sind der astralische Leib und das Ich. Nun werden wir uns heute, um das Mysterium von Golgatha genauer beschreiben zu können, fragen müssen: Welches ist denn die genauere Durchdringung der vier Glieder des menschlichen Wesens beim tagwachenden Zustand? Das heißt, wie dringen denn das Ich und der astralische Leib in den Ätherleib und den physischen Leib eigentlich am Morgen beim Aufwachen in den Menschen ein? Es wird am besten sein, wenn ich Ihnen das klarmache durch eine schematische Zeichnung.
Nehmen wir einmal an, schematisch gezeichnet, wir hätten hier an dieser Zeichnung unten den physischen Leib des Menschen, und wir hätten oben darüber den Ätherleib des Menschen. Am Morgen, wenn aus der geistigen Welt heraus der astralische Leib und das Ich eindringen in diesen physischen Leib und Ätherleib, so geschieht das so, daß im wesentlichen - ich bitte auf dieses Wort Wert zu legen! — der astralische Leib eindringt in den Ätherleib und das Ich eindringt in den physischen Leib. So daß hier auf der Zeichnung die horizontalen Linien bedeuten astralischen Leib und Ätherleib, und die vertikalen Linien bedeuten Ich und physischen Leib.

Ich sagte «im wesentlichen», weil sich natürlich im Menschen alles durchdringt, so daß man auch sagen kann: Das Ich ist auch im Ätherleibe und so weiter. Wie es hier gemeint ist, ist es mittelbar der Fall, im wesentlichen. Wenn wir die stärkste Durchdringung nehmen, so gilt das, was ich Ihnen hier schematisch gezeichnet habe.
Nunmehr fragen wir uns: Was ist denn eigentlich geschehen bei der Johannes-Taufe? Bei der Johannes-Taufe, haben wir gesagt, drang das Ich des Jesus von Nazareth aus dem physischen Leib, Ätherleib und astralischen Leib heraus und ließ diese dreifache Hülle für die Christus-Wesenheit zurück. So daß wir uns schematisch zeichnen dürfen dasjenige, was dann vorhanden war von dem Jesus von Nazareth, als den physischen Leib, den Ätherleib, den astralischen Leib. Das Ich hat den physischen Leib verlassen. Statt dieses Ich des Jesus von Nazareth zog ein in diese dreifache Hülle — also wiederum im wesentlichen, und zwar hauptsächlich in den physischen Leib — das Christus-Wesen. Damit haben wir allerdings den Rand eines tiefen Geheimnisses berührt. Denn wenn wir jetzt in Betracht ziehen, was da eigentlich geschah, so müssen wir sagen: Was da geschah, berührt alle diese großen menschheitlichen Verhältnisse, die wir in den letzten Tagen angedeutet haben.

Ich habe Ihnen angedeutet in den letzten Tagen, daß alles, was im Menschen generell ist, was sozusagen im Menschen das Gleichmachende innerhalb einer gewissen Gruppe ist, in dem weiblichen Element der Vererbung liegt. Ich habe Ihnen gesagt, daß durch die Frau im Laufe der Generationen dasjenige fortgepflanzt wird, was, wenn wir auf das Äußerliche blicken, innerhalb eines Volkes ein Gesicht dem andern ähnlich machen würde. Durch das männliche Element wird von Generation zu Generation fortgepflanzt, was den einen Menschen von dem anderen Menschen unterscheidet, was ihn zu einer individuellen Wesenheit hier auf der Erde macht, was sein Ich auf einen eigenen Boden stellt. Diejenigen Geister, die mit der geistigen Welt in Berührung stehen, die haben das immer in der richtigen Weise gefühlt. Und der Mensch lernt das, was große Menschen gesagt haben, die ein Verhältnis zur geistigen Welt hatten, erst recht kennen und würdigen, wenn er in diese Tiefen der Weltentatsachen eindringt.
Sehen wir uns noch einmal die erste schematische Figur an. Der Mensch sagt sich: In mir lebt ein Ätherleib, und in diesem Ätherleib ist der astralische Leib. Der astralische Leib ist der Träger der Vorstellungen, der Ideen, Gedanken, der Empfindungen, Gefühle; er lebt im Ätherleib. Nun haben wir aber gesehen, daß der Ätherleib dasjenige ist, was erst den physischen Leib sozusagen in dem vollsten Maße bearbeitet, was die Kräfte enthält, die den physischen Leib gestalten. Wir müssen also sagen: In diesem Ätherleib, wenn er vom astralischen Leib durchdrungen wird, liegt alles das, was den Menschen zum Menschen gestaltet, was ihm eine bestimmte Gestalt sozusagen von innen heraus, von den geistigen Teilen heraus aufdrückt. Das, was den Menschen dem anderen Menschen gleichmacht, das hat er also von dem, was in seinem Innern wirkt, was nicht bloßes Äußerliches ist, was also nicht am physischen Leibe hängt, sondern was am Ätherleib und am astralischen Leib hängt. Denn das sind die innerlichen Glieder. Deshalb wird der Mensch, der in solche Dinge hineinschaut, fühlen, daß er das, was seinen Ätherleib und astralischen Leib durchsetzt, von dem mütterlichen Element hat. Von dem aber, was seinem physischen Leib diese bestimmte Form gibt, die ihm durch das Ich aufgedrückt wird, durch das Ich im physischen Leibe, von dem muß sich der Mensch sagen, daß es väterliches Erbteil ist.
«Vom Vater hab’ ich die Statur,
Des Lebens ernstes Führen,
Vom Mütterchen die Frohnatur
Und Lust zu fabulieren»,
sagt Goethe. Und Sie sehen, das ist eine Interpretation dessen, was ich Ihnen als eine schematische Figur hingezeichnet habe. «Vom Vater hab’ ich die Statur», das heißt dasjenige, was vom Ich sich herausarbeitet; vom Mütterchen die Vorstellungen, die Gabe des Fabulierens — das liegt im Ätherleib und astralischen Leib. Sprüche von großen Geistern sind lange noch nicht begriffen, wenn man sie durch triviale Menschheitsvorstellungen begriffen zu haben glaubt.
Jetzt aber müssen wir das, was wir uns so veranschaulicht haben, anwenden auf das Christus-Ereignis. Wir müssen einmal von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus die Frage aufwerfen: Was wäre mit der Menschheit geschehen, wenn das Christus-Ereignis nicht eingetreten wäre?
Wenn das Christus-Ereignis nicht eingetreten wäre, dann hätte der Gang der Menschheitsentwickelung so fortgedauert, wie wir ihn haben beginnen sehen mit der nachatlantischen Zeit. Wir haben geschen, daß in den uralten Zeiten auf dem Grunde der menschlichen Kultur jene Liebe gewaltet hat, die eng an das Band der Stammesverwandtschaft, der Blutsverwandtschaft sich anschloß. Es liebte sich, was blutsverwandt war. Und wir haben gesehen, wie im Fortgange der Menschheit dieses Band des Blutes immer mehr und mehr zerrissen wurde. Nun gehen Sie einmal herauf von den ältesten Zeiten der Menschheitsentwickelung bis in die Zeit, da der Christus Jesus auftrat.
Während von denältesten Zeiten an überall innerhalb desselben Stammes die Verbindung geschlossen wurde, werden Sie finden, wie zur Zeit der Römerherrschaft - und das ist die Zeit, in welcher das Christus-Ereignis geschah -, die nahe Ehe immer mehr und mehr durchbrochen wurde, wie da die verschiedensten Völker gerade durch die Römerzüge durcheinandergewürfelt wurden, wie da im ausgesprochensten Maße an die Stelle der nahen Ehe die ferne Ehe treten mußte. Die Blutsbande mußten in der Menschheitsentwickelung immer mehr und mehr zerreißen, weil die Menschen dazu bestimmt waren, auf das eigene Ich sich zu stellen.
Nehmen wir an, es wäre nicht der Christus gekommen, um neue Kraft einzugießen, um eine neue, geistige Liebe an die Stelle der alten Blutsliebe zu setzen. Was würde dann geschehen sein? Dann würde das, was die Menschen zusammenbringt, die Liebe, mehr und mehr auf dem Erdkreis geschwunden sein; erstorben wäre in der Menschennatur, was die Menschen eint in Liebe. Ohne den Christus wäre das Menschengeschlecht dahin gekommen, allmählich die Liebe unter sich ersterben zu sehen. Die Menschen würden in die einzelne Individualität hineingetrieben werden. Wenn man nur mit der äußerlichen Wissenschaft die Dinge betrachtet, sieht man natürlich nicht, daß dem tiefe Wahrheiten zugrunde liegen. Wenn Sie — nicht mit chemischen Mitteln, sondern mit den Mitteln, die der Geistesforschung zur Verfügung stehen - untersuchen würden das Blut der Menschen von heute und der Menschen einige Jahrtausende vor der Erscheinung des Christus, da würden Sie finden, daß dieses Blut sich geändert hat, daß es einen Charakter angenommen hat, der es immer weniger zum Träger der Liebe macht.
Wie mußte sich also einem Einsichtigen der alten Zeit, der tief hineinschauen konnte in den Gang der Menschheitsentwickelung, der prophetisch zu sagen wußte, wie alles kommen müßte, wenn nur die eine von alters her sich entwickelnde Richtung ohne das Christus-Ereignis fortbestanden hätte, wie mußte sich einem solchen Fingeweihten der Gang der zukünftigen Entwickelung darstellen? Was mußte er für Bilder vor die Menschenseele hinmalen, wenn er andeuten wollte, was in der Zukunft geschehen würde, wenn nicht in demselben Maße, in dem sich die Blutsliebe verliert, die seelische Liebe, die Christus-Liebe an diese Stelle treten würde? Er mußte sagen: Wenn die Menschen immer mehr und mehr voneinander isoliert werden, ein jeder sich immer mehr in seinem eigenen Ich verhärtet, wenn die Trennungslinien, die Seele von Seele scheiden, immer stärker werden, so daß sich Seele und Seele immer weniger verstehen kann, dann werden die Menschen in der äußeren Welt immer mehr zu Streit und Hader kommen, der Streit aller gegen alle auf der Erde wird an die Stelle der Liebe treten. Das wäre das Ergebnis gewesen, wenn die Entwickelung des Menschenblutes stattgefunden hätte ohne das Christus-Ereignis. Rettungslos wären alle Menschen ausgesetzt gewesen dem Streit aller gegen alle, der ja auch so kommen wird, aber nur für diejenigen, welche sich nicht in der richtigen Weise mit dem Christus-Prinzip durchdrungen haben. So sah ein solcher prophetisch Schauender ein Ende der Erdenentwickelung, das seine Seele mit Schrecken erfüllen konnte. Er sah: Weil Seele nicht mehr Seele verstehen kann, so muß Seele gegen Seele wüten!
Ich habe Ihnen in den letzten Tagen gesagt, daß nur nach und nach die Menschen durch das Christus-Prinzip zusammengeführt werden können. Ich habe Ihnen an einem Beispiel gezeigt, wie zwei edle Geister sich in ihren Meinungen so gegenüberstehen, daß der eine glaubt, den richtigen Christus zu verkünden, Tolstoi, und daß der andere glaubt, den richtigen Christus zu verkünden, Solowjow, und daß der eine dabei den anderen als den Antichrist ansieht. Denn Solowjow sieht Tolstoi als den Antichrist an. Was zunächst zwischen Seele und Seele in den Meinungen hadert, das würde sich nach und nach ausdrücken in der äußeren Welt, das heißt, Mensch gegen Mensch würde wüten. So fordert es die Entwickelung des Blutes.
Werfen Sie nicht ein, daß wir ja trotz des Christus-Ereignisses heute noch Streit und Hader sehen, daß wir weit entfernt sind von irgendwelcher Verwirklichung der christlichen Liebe. Ich habe Ihnen ja schon gesagt, daß wir erst am Anfang der christlichen Entwickelung stehen. Es wurde der große Impuls gegeben, daß sich im weiteren Verlauf der Erdenentwickelung der Christus einleben wird in die Menschenseelen und sie geistig zusammenführen wird. Was heute noch vorhanden ist an Streit und Hader, und was auch noch zu größeren Exzessen führen wird, das rührt davon her, daß eben die Menschheit sich noch im allergeringsten Maße mit dem wirklichen Christus-Prinzip durchdrungen hat. Es herrscht weiter, was von alters her in der Menschheit vorhanden war. Das kann erst langsam und allmählich überwunden werden. Wir sehen eben langsam und allmählich den Christus-Impuls in die Menschheit einfließen.
Das also hätte derjenige vorausgesehen, der in der vorchristlichen Zeit hellseherisch durchschaut hätte den Gang der Menschheitsentwickelung. Er hätte sagen können: Ich habe empfangen letzte Reste der alten Hellseherkraft. Ihr Menschen hattet einst die Möglichkeit in uralten Zeiten, hineinzuschauen in die geistige Welt in dumpfem, dämmerhaftem Hellsehen. Das ist nach und nach geschwunden. Es gibt aber noch, wie Erbstücke aus jenen alten Zeiten, die Möglichkeit, in abnormen Geisteszuständen, in traumähnlichen Zuständen hineinzuschauen in die geistige Welt. Da kann der Mensch noch etwas sehen von dem, was hinter der äußeren Oberfläche der Dinge liegt. — Alle alten Sagen und Märchen und Mythen, die wahrhaftig tiefere Weisheit enthalten als die moderne Wissenschaft, sie erzählen davon, in welch hohem Maße einst die Gabe vorhanden war, in besondere Zustände zu kommen. Man nenne es einen Traum, aber in diesem Traum kündigten sich Ereignisse an. Aber nicht so, daß der Mensch in genügendem Maße durch die alte Weisheit behütet sein würde vor dem Streit aller gegen alle. Das verneinte der alte Weise, und er verneinte es in der denkbar stärksten Weise. Er sagte: Wir haben eine uralte Weisheit erhalten. Damals, in der atlantischen Zeit, haben sie die Menschen wahrgenommen in abnormen Zuständen. Auch jetzt noch können einzelne Menschen sie wahrnehmen, wenn sie in abnorme Zustände versetzt werden. Da kündigt sich an, was in der nächsten Zukunft geschehen wird. — Aber was sich da im Traume ankündigte, das gab den Leuten keine Sicherheit; das war trügerisch und wird immer mehr und mehr trügerisch werden. So lehrte der Lehrer der vorchristlichen Zeit, und so stellte er es hin vor das Volk.
Darum ist es von Wichtigkeit, daß, wenn man die ganze Schärfe und Stärke des Christus-Impulses einsieht, man zu der Erkenntnis einer großen Wahrheit gelangt. Man muß einsehen: Draußen würde ohne den Christus-Impuls durch die Isolierung und Absonderung der Menschen, durch die Gegeneinanderstellung der Menschen etwas herbeigeführt werden wie ein Kampf ums Dasein — was heute dem Menschen auch aufdisputiert wird von einer materialistisch-darwinistischen Theorie —, ein Kampf ums Dasein, wie er in der Tierheit waltet, wie er aber in der Menschenwelt nicht walten sollte. Man könnte grotesk sprechen und sagen: Am Ende der Erdentage wird einmal die Erde das Bild bieten, das gewisse Materialisten im Sinne einer darwinistischen Theorie hinzeichnen von der Menschheit, indem sie es von der Tierwelt entnehmen! Heute aber ist diese Theorie, auf die Menschheit angewendet, falsch. Sie ist richtig für die 'Tierheit, aus dem Grunde, weil eben in der Tierheit kein solcher Impuls waltet, der den Streit in Liebe verwandelt. Christus wird durch die Tat, als geistige Kraft in der Menschheit, widerlegen allen materialistischen Darwinismus!
Damit man aber das einsieht, muß man sich klar machen, daß die Menschen nur dadurch in der sinnlichen Außenwelt davon abkommen können, äußerlich gegeneinander zu stehen durch ihre verschiedenen Meinungen, Gefühle und Taten, wenn sie in sich das bekämpfen, in sich das ausmachen, was sonst in die Außenwelt ausströmen würde. Derjenige wird nicht die andere Meinung in der anderen Seele bekämpfen, der zunächst einmal das, was in ihm zu bekämpfen ist, bekämpft, der in sich die Harmonie herstellt zwischen den verschiedenen Gliedern seiner Wesenheit. Er wird der Außenwelt so gegenübertreten, daß er nicht ein Streitender, sondern ein Liebender ist. Um die Ableitung des Streites von außen in das Innere des Menschen, darum handelt es sich. Die Kräfte, die in der Menschennatur walten, müssen sich innerlich bekämpfen. Zwei sich entgegenstehende Meinungen müssen wir in der Weise ansehen, daß wir sagen: So ist die eine Meinung, man kann sie haben. So ist die andere Meinung, man kann sie haben. Aber wenn ich nur die eine Meinung als berechtigt anerkenne, wenn ich nur das, was ich will, als berechtigt ansehe, und die andere Meinung bekämpfe, so komme ich auf dem physischen Plan in Streit. Nur meine Meinung festigen, heißt egoistisch sein. Meine Handlung als die einzig berechtigte ansehen, heißt egoistisch sein.
Nehmen wir an, ich nehme die Meinung des anderen in mich auf, suche in mir selber Harmonie herzustellen, so werde ich in ganz anderer Weise zu dem anderen stehen. Dann werde ich anfangen, ihn erst zu verstehen. Ableitung des Streites in der Außenwelt in eine Harmonisierung der inneren Kräfte des Menschen, so könnten wir auch ausdrücken den Fortgang in der Menschheitsentwickelung. Durch den Christus mußte dem Menschen die Möglichkeit gegeben werden, in sich harmonisch zu werden, in sich die Möglichkeit zu finden, die widerstrebenden Kräfte in seinem eigenen Innern zu harmonisieren. Der Christus gibt dem Menschen die Kraft, zuerst in sich selbst den Streit zu tilgen. Ohne den Christus ist das nimmermehr möglich. Und die alten, die vorchristlichen Menschen haben in bezug auf den äußeren Streit mit Recht eines als das Furchtbarste angesehen: den Streit des Kindes gegen Vater und Mutter. Und als das schrecklichste und scheußlichste Verbrechen wurde in den Zeiten, in denen man gewußt hat, wie sich die Dinge entwickeln würden ohne den Christus-Impuls, der Vatermord angesehen. Das haben sie klar zu erkennen gegeben, jene alten Weisen, die voraussahen, daß der Christus kommen werde. Aber auch das wußten sie, wozu es in der Außenwelt führen müsse, wenn der Kampf nicht zuerst im eigenen Innern vollzogen würde.
Schauen wir in das eigene Innere. Wir haben gesehen, daß im Innern des Menschen da, wo sich Ätherleib und astralischer Leib durchdringen, die Mutter waltet, daß da, wo in dem physischen Leib das Ich ist, der Vater zum Ausdruck kommt. Das heißt: In unserem Generellen, in dem Gattungsgemäßen, in dem, was unser inneres Weisheitsleben und Vorstellungsleben ist, da waltet die Mutter, da waltet das weibliche Element; in dem, was durch die Vereinigung von Ich und physischem Leib entsteht, in der äußerlich differenzierten Gestalt, in dem, was den Menschen zum «Ich» macht, da waltet der Vater, das männliche Element. Was also mußten die alten Weisen, die in diesem Sinne dachten, vor allen Dingen von den Menschen verlangen? Sie mußten verlangen, daß der Mensch in sich selber zur Klarheit kommt über das Verhältnis vom physischen Leib und Ich zum Ätherleib und astralischen Leib, daß er in sich zur Klarheit kommt über das in ihm waltende Mütterliche und Väterliche. Dadurch, daß der Mensch in sich hat Ätherleib und astralischen Leib, hat er in sich das Mütterliche. Er hat sozusagen außer der äußeren Mutter, die auf dem physischen Plan steht, in sich das mütterliche Element, die Mutter. Und er hat außer dem Vater, der auf dem physischen Plan steht, in sich das väterliche Element, den Vater. Vater in sich und Mutter in sich in das richtige Verhältnis zu bringen, das mußte als ein Ideal erscheinen, als ein groBes Ideal. Geschieht es nicht, daß der Mensch Vater und Mutter in sich zur Harmonisierung bringt, so muß sich die Disharmonie zwischen dem väterlichen und dem mütterlichen Element fortpflanzen von dem Menschen auf den physischen Plan hinaus und draußen Verheerungen anrichten. Also sagte der alte Weise: Der Mensch hat die Aufgabe, in sich eine Harmonie herzustellen zwischen dem väterlichen und dem mütterlichen Element. Gelingt das nicht, so tritt das in die Welt heraus, was uns als das Furchtbarste erscheinen muß.
Wie stellten die alten Weisen das, was wir jetzt eben sozusagen in anthroposophischen Worten ausgesprochen haben, vor die Menschen hin? Sie sagten: Wir haben in uralten Zeiten eine uralte Weisheit geerbt. In diese kann der Mensch heute noch in abnormen Zuständen versetzt werden. Aber die Möglichkeit, in diesen Zustand zu kommen, wird immer schwächer, und selbst die alte Einweihung kann den Menschen nicht hinübertragen über einen gewissen Punkt der Menschheitsentwickelung. — Betrachten wir noch einmal diese alte Einweihung, wie wir sie in den letzten Tagen geschildert haben. Was geschah denn bei einer solchen Initiation?
Bei einer solchen Initiation wurde aus diesem Gefüge von physischem Leib, Ätherleib, astralischem Leib und Ich herausgehoben der Ätherleib und der astralische Leib, aber das Ich blieb zurück. Daher konnte der Mensch auch während der dreieinhalb Tage in der Initiation kein Selbstbewußtsein haben. Es war das Selbstbewußtsein ausgelöscht. Der Mensch bekam ein Bewußtsein aus der höheren geistigen Welt, das ihm durch den Priester-Initiator eingeflößt war, der ihn ganz führte; der stellte ihm sein Ich zur Verfügung. Was geschah dadurch eigentlich? Es geschah etwas, was man durch eine Formel ausdrückte, die Ihnen sonderbar erscheinen wird. Aber wenn Sie diese Formel begreifen, dann wird sie Ihnen nicht mehr sonderbar erscheinen. Man drückte das so aus: Wenn ein Mensch im alten Sinne eingeweiht wurde, dann trat heraus das mütterliche Element, und das väterliche Element blieb zurück. Das heißt, der Mensch tötete in sich das väterliche Element — und vereinigte sich mit seiner Mutter in sich -, mit anderen Worten: Er tötete den Vater in sich und heiratete seine Mutter. Wenn der alte Eingeweihte also in dem dreieinhalbtägigen lethargischen Zustand lag, dann hatte er sich mit der Mutter vereinigt und den Vater in sich getötet. Vaterlos war er geworden. Das mußte auch sein, denn er mußte seine Individualität aufgeben, er mußte in einer höheren geistigen Welt leben. Er wurde eins mit seinem Volke. Aber was in seinem Volke lebte, das war ja gerade in dem mütterlichen Element gegeben. Er wurde eins mit seinem ganzen Volksorganismus. Er wurde das, was Nathanael war, und was immer benannt wurde mit dem Namen des betreffenden Volkes, bei den Juden ein «Israeliter », bei den Persern ein «Perser».
In der Welt kann immer nur die Weisheit sein, die aus den Mysterien herausfließt, keine andere. Diejenigen, welche in den Mysterien das Entsprechende lernen, werden die Boten für die äußere Welt, und die äußere Welt lernt das, was in den Mysterien geschaut wird. Das _ aber wurde gelernt im Sinne der alten Weisheit, was man sich dadurch eroberte, daß man sich mit seiner Mutter in sich vereinigte und den Vater in sich tötete. Aber diese Erb-Weisheit kann den Menschen nicht über einen gewissen Punkt der Entwickelung hinausbringen. An Stelle dieser alten Weisheit mußte etwas anderes, etwas ganz Neues treten. Würde die Menschheit nur immer diese alte Weisheit empfangen, die so gewonnen wurde, dann würde die Menschheit, wie wir schon sagten, hineingetrieben werden in den Streit aller gegen alle. Es würde Meinung gegen Meinung, Gefühl gegen Gefühl, Wille gegen Wille sich auflehnen; und es müßte zu dem schauerlich-grausigen Zukunftsbild kommen, daß der Mensch sich vereinigt mit der Mutter und den Vater tötet. Das aber haben die alten Eingeweihten, die zwar die Einweihung hatten, aber den Christus erwarteten, in bedeutsamen Bildern hingemalt, in großen gewaltigen Bildern hingemalt. Und den Abdruck dieser Anschauung der alten vorchristlichen Weisen haben Sie in den Sagen und Mythen aufbewahrt. Wir brauchen nur an den Namen Oedipus zu erinnern; da können wir anknüpfen an etwas, worin die alten Weisen zum Ausdruck brachten, was sie nach dieser Richtung hin zu sagen hatten. So lautet jene alte griechische Sage, welche die griechischen Tragiker in so großer, gewaltiger Weise darstellen:
Es war ein König in Theben. Laios war sein Name. Iokaste war seine Gattin. Lange hatten sie beide keine Nachkommen. Da fragte Laios an bei dem Orakel zu Delphi, ob er nicht einen Sohn bekommen könne. Und das Orakel gab ihm die Antwort: Wenn du einen Sohn haben willst, so wird es ein solcher sein, der dich selber töten wird! — Und im Rausche, das heißt im herabgeminderten Bewußtseinszustand, da vollführte Laios das, wodurch er zu einem Sohne kam. Oedipus wurde geboren. Laios wußte: Das wird der Sohn sein, der ihn selber tötet, und er beschloß, ihn auszusetzen. Und damit er ganz zugrunde gehe, ließ er ihm die Füße durchbohren; dann wurde er ausgesetzt. Ein Hirt fand das Kind und erbarmte sich seiner. Er brachte es nach Korinth, und dort wurde Oedipus in dem Königshause aufgezogen. Als er herangewachsen war, erfuhr er das Orakel: daß er seinen Vater töten und sich mit seiner Mutter vereinigen würde. Aber es konnte nicht verhindert werden. Fortwandern sollte er aus dem Orte, wo er war, weil man ihn dort für das Königskind hielt. Da traf er auf seinem Wege gerade seinen wirklichen Vater, und ohne ihn zu kennen, tötete er ihn. Er kam nach TTheben. Und weil er die Fragen der Sphinx beantwortete, weil er das Rätsel des grausigen Ungeheuers löste, das so vielen den Tod gebracht hatte, mußte die Sphinx sich töten. Daher war er zunächst ein Wohltäter seines Vaterlandes. Er wurde zum König erhoben und erhielt die Hand der Königin, und das war die Hand seiner Mutter. Ohne daß er es wußte, hatte er seinen Vater getötet und sich mit seiner Mutter verbunden. Jetzt herrschte er als König. Aber dadurch, daß er auf diese Weise zu seiner Herrschaft gekommen war, daß dieses Furchtbare an ihm haftete, dadurch brachte er unsägliches Unglück über sein Land, so daß er uns zuletzt in dem sophokleischen Drama als der Geblendete, der sich selbst das Augenlicht genommen hat, entgegentritt.
Das ist ein Bild, hervorgegangen aus den alten Weisheitsstätten. Und gesagt werden sollte damit, daß Oedipus in gewisser Beziehung im alten Sinne noch in Zusammenhang kommen konnte mit der geistigen Welt. Wie war er in Zusammenhang gekommen mit der geistigen Welt? Sein Vater hatte bei dem Orakel angefragt. Diese Orakel waren die letzten Erbstücke des alten Hellsehertums. Aber diese letzten Erbstücke reichten nicht aus, um in der äußeren Welt Frieden zu stiften. Sie konnten dem Menschen nicht geben, was errungen werden sollte: Harmonie zwischen dem mütterlichen und dem väterlichen Element.
Daß mit Oedipus gemeint ist ein solcher, der einfach durch Vererbung zu einer gewissen hellseherischen Anschauung im alten Sinne gekommen ist, das wird uns dadurch angedeutet, daß er das Rätsel der Sphinx löste, das heißt, er erkannte die Menschennatur so weit, als die letzten Reste der alten Urweisheit solche Erkenntnis geben konnten. Sie konnte nimmermehr dazu führen, hintanzuhalten in der Menschheit das Wüten gegeneinander, das, was im Vatermord und in der Vereinigung mit der Mutter hingestellt wurde. Oedipus, trotzdem er im Zusammenhange stand mit der alten Urweisheit, kann nicht durch diese alte Urweisheit die Zusammenhänge durchschauen. Sie macht nicht mehr sehend, diese alte Weisheit. Das wollten die alten Weisen hinstellen. Hätte sie sehend gemacht im alten Blut-Sinne, so hätte das Blut gesprochen, da Oedipus dem Vater gegenüberstand, und es hätte gesprochen, als er der Mutter gegenübergetreten war. Es sprach nicht mehr das Blut! - So wird uns die Zersetzung der alten Urweisheit anschaulich dargestellt.
Was mußte geschehen, damit es ein für allemal möglich ist, in sich den harmonischen Ausgleich zu finden zwischen dem Mütterlichen und dem Väterlichen, zwischen dem eigenen Ich, das das Väterliche hat, und zwischen dem Mütterlichen? Der Christus-Impuls mußte kommen! Und nun blicken wir von einer noch anderen Seite her in gewisse Tiefen der Hochzeit zu Kana in Gaaliläa.
Es heißt da: «Die Mutter Jesu war da. Jesus aber und seine Jünger wurden auch auf die Hochzeit geladen.» Jesus — besser der Christus — sollte für die Menschen hinstellen das große Vorbild eines Wesens, das in sich selber die Einigung gefunden hat zwischen sich, zwischen dem Ich und zwischen dem mütterlichen Prinzip. Er wies auf der Hochzeit zu Kana in Galiläa gegenüber seiner Mutter darauf hin: «Es geht etwas von mir zu dir.» Das war ein neues Von-mir-zu-dir-Gehen. Das war nicht mehr im alten Sinne, das bedeutete eine Erneuerung des ganzen Verhältnisses. Das war ein für allemal das große Ideal des Ausgleiches in sich selber, ohne erst den Vater zu töten, das heißt, ohne erst aus dem physischen Leibe herauszugehen, den Ausgleich zu finden mit dem mütterlichen Prinzip im Ich. Jetzt war die Zeit gekommen, wo der Mensch in sich selber die zu große Kraft des Egoismus, des Ich-Prinzips, bekämpfen lernt, wo er lernt, es in das richtige Verhältnis zu bringen mit dem, was im Ätherleib und im astralischen Leib als das mütterliche Prinzip waltet. Daher sollte uns ein schönes Abbild dieses Verhältnisses des eigenen Ich, das das väterliche Prinzip ist, zu dem mütterlichen Prinzip hingestellt werden in der Hochzeit zu Kana als die innere Harmonie, als die Liebe, die da waltet in der Außenwelt zwischen dem Christus Jesus und seiner Mutter. Das sollte ein Abbild sein des harmonischen Ausgleiches zwischen dem Ich und dem mütterlichen Element in sich selber. Das war früher nicht da, das kam erst durch die Tat des Christus Jesus. Da es aber durch die Tat des Christus gekommen war, so kam damit die einzig mögliche Widerlegung die Widerlegung durch die Tat — alles dessen, was hätte kommen müssen unter dem Einfluß jener alten Weisheitserbstücke, die dazu geführt hätten, den Vater zu töten und sich mit der Mutter zu vereinigen. Was also wird bekämpft durch das Christus-Prinzip?
Wenn der alte Weise, der den Christus anschaute, nun das Alte und das Neue gegeneinander hielt, so konnte er sagen: Wenn im alten Sinne die Vereinigung mit der Mutter gesucht wird, dann kann nimmermehr über die Menschheit Gutes kommen. Wenn aber im neuen Sinne, wie das gezeigt wird durch die Hochzeit zu Kana, die Vereinigung mit der Mutter gesucht wird, wenn der Mensch sich so mit dem in ihm lebenden astralischen Leib und Ätherleib vereinigt, dann kommt Heil und Frieden und Brüderlichkeit im Laufe der Zeit immer mehr und mehr unter die Menschen, und bekämpft wird dadurch das alte Prinzip des Tötens des Vaters und des Sich-Vereinigens mit der Mutter. — Was also war eigentlich das feindliche Element, das der Christus hinwegzubringen hatte? Nicht die alte Weisheit war es, sie brauchte nicht bekämpft zu werden. Sie verlor ihre Kraft, sie versiegte nach und nach von selber. Und wir sehen, wie diejenigen, die sich ihr anvertrauen, wie Oedipus, gerade durch sie in die Disharmonie verfallen. Aber das Unheil würde nicht von selber versiegen, wenn man sich abwenden wollte von der neuen Weisheit, das heißt von der Art und Weise, wie der Christus-Impuls wirkt, wenn man starr bleiben würde bei dem alten Prinzip. Das wurde empfunden als der größte Fortschritt, daß man nicht bei dem alten Prinzip bleibt, daß man nicht starr festhält an der alten Linie, sondern daß man erkennt, was durch den Christus in die Welt gekommen ist. Ist uns auch das angedeutet? Ja! Sagen und Mythen enthalten die tiefste Weisheit. Es gibt eine Sage - sie steht zwar nicht im Evangelium, aber sie ist darum nicht minder eine christliche Sage und auch eine christliche Wahrheit -, und sie lautet also:
Es lebte ein Ehepaar. Dieses Ehepaar hatte lange keinen Sohn. Da wurde der Mutter im Traum - achten Sie wohl darauf! — offenbart, daß sie einen Sohn erhalten würde, daß dieser Sohn aber erst den Vater töten, sich dann mit der Mutter vereinigen würde und entsetzliches Unheil über seinen ganzen Stamm bringen würde.
Wiederum haben Sie einen Traum, wie bei Oedipus das Orakel, das heißt, wir haben hier ein Erbstück uralten Hellsehens. Der Mutter wurde auf die alte Weise geoffenbart, was geschehen würde. Langt es hin, um zu durchschauen die Verhältnisse der Welt, um das Unheil zu verhindern, was ihr offenbart wurde? Fragen wir die Sage. Die Sage belehrt uns weiter:
Unter dem Eindrucke dieser Weisheit, die ihr aus dem Traum zufloß, brachte die Mutter das Kind, das sie geboren hatte, auf die Insel Kariot. Dort wurde es ausgesetzt, aber von einer benachbarten Königin gefunden. Die nahm das Kind auf und erzog es selber, weil das Ehepaar kinderlos war. In späterer Zeit bekam dann dieses Ehepaar ein eigenes Kind, und da fühlte sich der aufgelesene Findling bald beeinträchtigt, und infolge seines leidenschaftlichen Temperamentes tötete er den Sohn des Königspaares. Jetzt aber konnte er dort nicht mehr bleiben, er mußte fliehen und kam an den Hof des Landpflegers Pilatus. Dort wurde er bald ein Aufseher in dessen Hauswesen. Dann bekam er aber einmal Streit mit seinem Nachbarn, von dem er nur wußte, daß er sein Nachbar war: Im Streit erschlug er ihn - und wußte nicht, daß es sein eigener Vater war. Und darauf ehelichte er die Gattin dieses Nachbars, seine Mutter! Dieser Findling war der Judas aus Kariot. Und als er seine furchtbare Lage gewahr wurde, da flüchtete er wieder. Und er fand nur einzig und allein Erbarmen in seiner Lage bei demjenigen, der das Erbarmen für alle hatte, die in seine Umgebung traten, der nicht nur mit Zöllnern und Sündern an einem Tische saß, sondern der trotz seines tiefen Blickes auch diesen großen Sünder in seine Nähe nahm; denn es war seine Aufgabe, nicht bloß für die Guten, sondern für alle Menschen zu wirken und sie von der Sünde in das Heil zu führen. So kam der Judas aus Kariot in die Umgebung des Christus Jesus. Und nun brachte er das Unheil, das vorausgesagt war, und das - nach dem Schillerschen Spruch: «Das eben ist der Fluch der bösen Tat, daß sie fortzeugend immer Böses muß gebären» - sich auswirken mußte, in den Kreis des Christus Jesus hinein. Er wurde der Verräter des Christus Jesus. Im Grunde genommen war das, was sich an ihm erfüllen sollte, schon erfüllt mit dem Vatermord und der Mutterehe. Aber er blieb sozusagen als ein Werkzeug übrig, weil er Werkzeug sein sollte, das böse Werkzeug, welches das Gute herbeiführen sollte, um damit sozusagen noch eine Tat über die Erfüllung hinaus zu verüben.
Derjenige, welcher uns in dem Oedipus hingestellt wird, der verliert als die Folge des Unheils, das er gebracht hat, von dem Moment an, wo er dieses Unheil gewahr wird, das Augenlicht. Derjenige aber, der das gleiche Schicksal hat durch seine Verbindung mit der alten Urweisheitserbschaft, er erblindet nicht, sondern er ist dazu ausersehen, das Schicksal zu erfüllen und dasjenige zu tun, was das Mysterium von Golgatha herbeiführt, was den physischen Tod dessen bewirkt, der das «Licht der Welt» ist, und der das Licht der Welt bewirkt in der Heilung des Blindgeborenen. Oedipus mußte das Augenlicht verlieren; dem Blindgeborenen gab Christus das Augenlicht. Aber er starb durch denjenigen, welcher vom Charakter des Oedipus war, an dem uns gezeigt sein soll, wie die alte Weisheit allmählich versiegt in der Menschheit, wie sie nicht mehr ausreicht, um den Menschen Heil und Frieden und Liebe zu bringen. Dazu war der Christus-Impuls mit dem Ereignis von Golgatha notwendig. Dazu war notwendig, daß dasjenige erst eintrat, was uns als ein äußeres Abbild des Verhältnisses des Jesus Christus-Ich zu seiner Mutter erscheint bei der Hochzeit zu Kana in Galiläa. Dazu war weiter notwendig, daß noch etwas anderes eintrat, was der Schreiber des Johannes-Evangeliums so schildert:
Da unten am Kreuze stand die Mutter, da unten stand der Jünger, den «der Herr lieb hatte», der Lazarus- Johannes, den er selber initiiert hatte, und durch den die Weisheit des Christentums auf die Nachwelt kommen sollte, der den astralischen Leib der Menschen so beeinflussen sollte, daß in ihnen das Christus-Prinzip leben könne. Da drinnen im menschlichen astralischen Leib sollte das Christus-Prinzip leben, und der Johannes sollte es hineingießen. Dazu mußte aber dieses Christus-Prinzip vom Kreuze herab noch vereinigt werden mit dem ätherischen Prinzip, mit der Mutter. Daher ruft der Christus vom Kreuz herab die Worte: «Von dieser Stunde an ist dies deine Mutter, und dies ist dein Sohn!» Das heißt, er bindet zusammen seine Weisheit mit dem mütterlichen Prinzip!
So sehen wir, wie tief nicht nur die Evangelien sind, sondern wie tief alle Zusammenhänge im Mysterienwesen sind. Ja, die alten Sagen stehen in einem Zusammenhange mit den Verkündigungen und Evangelien der neuen Zeit, wie Voraussagung und Erfüllung! Die alten Sagen zeigen uns an der Oedipus- und an der Judas-Sage klar das eine: Es hat einstmals eine göttliche, uralte Weisheit gegeben. Aber sie versiegte. Und eine neue Weisheit muß kommen. Und diese neue Weisheit wird die Menschen zu dem bringen, wozu sie die alte Weisheit nimmermehr hätte bringen können. Was hätte werden müssen ohne den Christus-Impuls, das sagt uns die Oedipus-Sage. Welches die Gegnerschaft des Christus war, das starre Festhalten an der alten Weisheit, das lehrt uns die Judas-Sage. Das aber, wovon schon die alten Sagen und Mythen erklärten, daß es nicht genüge, das sagt uns in einem neuen Lichte die neue Verkündigung, das Evangelium. Das Evangelium antwortet uns auf das, was die alten Sagen als die Bilder der alten Weisheit ausgesprochen haben. Sie haben gesagt: Aus der alten Weisheit kann nimmermehr kommen, was die Menschheit für die Zukunft braucht. Das Evangelium als die neue Weisheit aber sagt uns: Ich verkündige euch, was die Menschheit braucht, und was nimmermehr hätte kommen können ohne den Einfluß des Christus-Prinzips, ohne das Ereignis von Golgatha.
Eleventh lecture
From the lectures given so far in this cycle, it will have become clear to you that spiritual scientific research must regard the Christ event as the most essential event in the entire development of humanity, that we have to see in the Christ event something that brought a completely new impulse to the entire development of the earth. So we had to say: Through the mystery of Golgotha, through the fact of Palestine and everything connected with it before and after, something entirely new entered into human evolution, and human evolution would have had to take a very different course if the Christ event had not occurred. If we want to understand the mystery of Golgotha, we must take a closer look at the intimate details of Christ's development itself.
Of course, even in fourteen lectures on a subject that would encompass the whole world, it is not possible to say everything. You can see this already in the words of the writer of the Gospel of John: that there is much more to be said, but the world would not be able to produce enough books to say everything that needs to be said. So you cannot expect that everything connected with the Christ event and its description in the Gospel of John and the other related Gospels can be said in fourteen lectures.
Yesterday and the day before yesterday, we saw how, through the dwelling of the Christ Spirit, the Christ Individuality, in the threefold shell of Jesus of Nazareth, it was gradually possible to bring about what is described in the Gospel of John up to and including the chapter on the raising of Lazarus. We have seen that Christ had to gradually develop the threefold body, the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body, which had been sacrificed to him by the great initiate Jesus of Nazareth. However, we will only be able to understand what Christ actually accomplished in the threefold shell of Jesus of Nazareth if we first consider the connection between the individual members of the human being.
So far, we have only indicated in broad strokes that in the waking state, the human being appears to clairvoyant consciousness in such a way that the physical body, etheric or life body, astral body, and I-self interpenetrate each other, forming a permeating whole; that during the night, when we lie in bed, the physical body and the etheric body remain behind, and the astral body and the I-self are lifted out. Now, in order to describe the mystery of Golgotha more precisely, we must ask ourselves: What is the precise interpenetration of the four members of the human being in the waking state? That is, how do the I and the astral body actually penetrate the etheric body and the physical body in the morning when we wake up? It will be best if I clarify this for you with a schematic drawing.
Let us assume, schematically drawn, that we have the physical body of the human being here at the bottom of this drawing, and above it we have the etheric body of the human being. In the morning, when the astral body and the I penetrate from the spiritual world into this physical body and etheric body, this happens in such a way that essentially — please pay attention to this word! — the astral body enters the etheric body and the I enters the physical body. So that here in the drawing, the horizontal lines represent the astral body and the etheric body, and the vertical lines represent the I and the physical body.

I said “essentially” because, of course, everything interpenetrates in human beings, so that one can also say: The I is also in the etheric body, and so on. As it is meant here, this is indirectly the case, essentially. If we take the strongest interpenetration, then what I have drawn schematically here applies.
Now we ask ourselves: What actually happened at the baptism of John? At the baptism of John, we said, the I of Jesus of Nazareth emerged from the physical body, etheric body, and astral body and left this threefold shell behind for the Christ being. So we can schematically draw what was then present in Jesus of Nazareth: the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body. The I left the physical body. Instead of this I of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ being entered into this threefold shell — again essentially, and mainly into the physical body. With this, however, we have touched upon the edge of a profound mystery. For if we now consider what actually happened, we must say: What happened touches all those great human relationships that we have indicated in recent days.

I have indicated to you in recent days that everything that is general in human beings, everything that, so to speak, makes human beings equal within a certain group, lies in the female element of heredity. I have told you that through women, over the course of generations, that which, when we look at the external, would make one face similar to another within a people is passed on. Through the male element, what distinguishes one human being from another is passed on from generation to generation, what makes him an individual being here on earth, what places his ego on its own ground. Those spirits who are in contact with the spiritual world have always felt this in the right way. And human beings learn to truly know and appreciate what great people who had a relationship with the spiritual world have said when they penetrate into these depths of world facts.
Let us look again at the first schematic figure. Human beings say to themselves: An etheric body lives within me, and within this etheric body is the astral body. The astral body is the carrier of ideas, thoughts, feelings, and emotions; it lives in the etheric body. But we have seen that the etheric body is what first works on the physical body to the fullest extent, so to speak, and contains the forces that shape the physical body. We must therefore say: in this etheric body, when it is permeated by the astral body, lies everything that shapes the human being into a human being, everything that gives him a certain form, so to speak, from within, from the spiritual parts. What makes one human being the same as another comes from what works within them, what is not merely external, what is not attached to the physical body, but to the etheric body and the astral body. For these are the inner members. Therefore, the person who looks into such things will feel that what permeates his etheric body and astral body comes from the maternal element. But what gives his physical body its specific form, which is imposed on it by the I, by the I in the physical body, the person must say is his paternal inheritance.
“From my father I have my stature,
The seriousness of life,
From my mother, my cheerful nature
And my love of storytelling,”
says Goethe. And you see, this is an interpretation of what I have sketched out for you as a schematic figure. “From my father I have my stature,” that is, what is worked out by the ego; from my mother, the ideas, the gift of storytelling — that lies in the etheric body and astral body. Sayings of great spirits are far from being understood when one thinks one has understood them through trivial human ideas.
But now we must apply what we have illustrated to the Christ event. We must ask ourselves from this point of view: What would have happened to humanity if the Christ event had not occurred?
If the Christ event had not occurred, the course of human evolution would have continued as we saw it begin in the post-Atlantean era. We have seen that in ancient times, at the foundation of human culture, there was a love that was closely linked to the bond of tribal kinship, of blood kinship. Those who were related by blood loved one another. And we have seen how, in the course of human evolution, this bond of blood was increasingly broken. Now go back from the earliest times of human evolution to the time when Christ Jesus appeared.
While from the earliest times marriages were contracted within the same tribe, you will find how, at the time of Roman rule—and that is the time when the Christ event took place—close marriages were increasingly broken up, how the most diverse peoples were thrown into confusion precisely by the Roman conquests, how, to the greatest extent, distant marriages had to take the place of close marriages. Blood ties had to break down more and more in the course of human evolution because human beings were destined to stand on their own two feet.
Let us assume that Christ had not come to infuse new strength, to replace the old blood love with a new, spiritual love. What would have happened then? Then that which brings people together, love, would have disappeared more and more from the earth; that which unites people in love would have died in human nature. Without Christ, the human race would have gradually seen love die among themselves. People would have been driven into individuality. If one looks at things only with external science, one does not see, of course, that deep truths lie at the foundation. If you were to examine the blood of people today and of people several millennia before the appearance of Christ—not with chemical means, but with the means available to spiritual research—you would find that this blood has changed, that it has taken on a character that makes it less and less a carrier of love.
How, then, must the course of future development have appeared to an insightful person of ancient times, who was able to look deeply into the course of human evolution and who knew prophetically how everything would come to pass if only the one direction that had been developing since time immemorial had continued without the Christ event? What images would he have had to paint before the human soul if he wanted to hint at what would happen in the future if the love of blood were not replaced to the same extent by soul love, by Christ love? He had to say: If people become more and more isolated from one another, if each person becomes more and more hardened in his own ego, if the dividing lines that separate soul from soul become stronger and stronger, so that soul and soul can understand each other less and less, then people in the outer world will increasingly come into conflict and strife, and the conflict of all against all on earth will take the place of love. That would have been the result if the development of human blood had taken place without the Christ event. All human beings would have been hopelessly exposed to strife between all, which will indeed come, but only for those who have not permeated themselves in the right way with the Christ principle. Thus, such a prophetically seeing person saw an end to the earth's development that filled his soul with terror. He saw that because soul can no longer understand soul, soul must rage against soul!
I have told you in recent days that only gradually can human beings be brought together through the Christ principle. I have shown you an example of how two noble spirits are opposed to each other in their opinions, so that one believes he is proclaiming the true Christ, Tolstoy, and the other believes he is proclaiming the true Christ, Solovyov, and that one regards the other as the Antichrist. For Soloviev regards Tolstoy as the Antichrist. What initially struggles between soul and soul in opinions would gradually express itself in the outer world, that is, man would rage against man. This is what the development of the blood demands.
Do not object that, despite the Christ event, we still see strife and discord today, that we are far removed from any realization of Christian love. I have already told you that we are only at the beginning of Christian development. The great impulse was given that, in the further course of Earth's development, Christ will take up residence in human souls and bring them together spiritually. What still exists today in the way of strife and discord, and what will lead to even greater excesses, stems from the fact that humanity has not yet been permeated in the slightest degree by the real Christ principle. What has existed in humanity since time immemorial continues to prevail. This can only be overcome slowly and gradually. We are slowly and gradually seeing the Christ impulse flowing into humanity.
This is what someone who had clairvoyantly seen the course of human development in pre-Christian times would have foreseen. He could have said: I have received the last remnants of the old clairvoyant power. In ancient times, you humans had the opportunity to look into the spiritual world through dull, dim clairvoyance. This has gradually disappeared. However, like heirlooms from those ancient times, there is still the possibility of looking into the spiritual world in abnormal states of mind, in dreamlike states. There, human beings can still see something of what lies behind the outer surface of things. All the old legends, fairy tales, and myths, which truly contain deeper wisdom than modern science, tell of the high degree to which the gift of entering into special states once existed. Call it a dream, but in this dream events were foretold. But not in such a way that human beings would be sufficiently protected by ancient wisdom from conflict between all people. The ancient sage denied this, and he denied it in the strongest possible terms. He said: We have received an ancient wisdom. Back then, in the Atlantean era, people perceived it in abnormal states. Even now, individual people can perceive them when they are placed in abnormal states. There, what will happen in the near future is foreshadowed. — But what was foreshadowed in the dream gave people no security; it was deceptive and will become more and more deceptive. This is what the teacher of the pre-Christian era taught, and this is how he presented it to the people.
That is why it is important that, when one understands the full sharpness and strength of the Christ impulse, one comes to the recognition of a great truth. One must realize that without the Christ impulse, the isolation and separation of human beings, the setting of human beings against one another, would bring about something like a struggle for existence — which is also presented to people today by a materialistic Darwinian theory — a struggle for existence as it prevails in the animal world, but as it should not prevail in the human world. One could speak grotesquely and say: At the end of the earth's days, the earth will present the picture that certain materialists, in the spirit of Darwinian theory, paint of humanity, taking it from the animal world! Today, however, this theory, when applied to humanity, is false. It is correct for animal nature, for the very reason that in animal nature there is no such impulse that transforms strife into love. Christ, through his deeds, as a spiritual force in humanity, will refute all materialistic Darwinism!
But in order to understand this, one must realize that human beings can only avoid standing in opposition to one another in the sensory outer world through their different opinions, feelings, and deeds if they fight within themselves and resolve within themselves what would otherwise flow out into the outer world. Those who first fight against what needs to be fought within themselves, who establish harmony within themselves between the different parts of their being, will not fight against the opinions of others. They will face the external world not as a fighter, but as a lover. This is what it is all about: diverting conflict from the outside to the inside of the human being. The forces at work in human nature must fight each other internally. We must view two opposing opinions in such a way that we say: This is one opinion, and it is valid. This is the other opinion, and it is also valid. But if I only recognize one opinion as valid, if I only consider what I want to be valid and fight against the other opinion, then I enter into conflict on the physical plane. To merely reinforce my opinion is to be selfish. To consider my action as the only valid one is to be selfish.
Let us assume that I accept the opinion of the other person, seek to establish harmony within myself, then I will relate to the other person in a completely different way. Then I will begin to understand him first. By deriving the conflict in the outer world from a harmonization of the inner forces of the human being, we could also express the progress in human evolution. Through Christ, human beings had to be given the opportunity to become harmonious within themselves, to find within themselves the possibility of harmonizing the conflicting forces in their own inner being. Christ gives human beings the strength to first eliminate conflict within themselves. Without Christ, this is no longer possible. And the ancient, pre-Christian people rightly regarded one thing as the most terrible in relation to external conflict: the conflict of the child against its father and mother. And in the times when people knew how things would develop without the Christ impulse, patricide was regarded as the most terrible and abominable crime. The ancient sages who foresaw that Christ would come made this clear. But they also knew what would happen in the outer world if the struggle were not first carried out within ourselves.
Let us look into our own inner selves. We have seen that within the human being, where the etheric body and the astral body interpenetrate, the mother reigns, and that where the I is in the physical body, the father is expressed. This means that in our general nature, in what is common to our species, in our inner life of wisdom and imagination, the mother reigns, the female element reigns; in what arises from the union of the I and the physical body, in the outwardly differentiated form, in what makes the human being an “I,” the father reigns, the male element. What, then, did the ancient sages who thought in this way have to demand above all else from human beings? They had to demand that human beings gain clarity within themselves about the relationship between the physical body and the I, and between the etheric body and the astral body; that they gain clarity within themselves about the maternal and paternal elements at work within them. Because human beings have an etheric body and an astral body within themselves, they have the motherly within themselves. In addition to the outer mother who stands on the physical plane, they have, so to speak, the motherly element, the mother, within themselves. And in addition to the father who stands on the physical plane, they have the fatherly element, the father, within themselves. Bringing the father within oneself and the mother within oneself into the right relationship must appear as an ideal, as a great ideal. If human beings do not bring their father and mother into harmony within themselves, the disharmony between the paternal and maternal elements must spread from the human being out into the physical plane and cause devastation there. So the ancient sage said: The human being has the task of creating harmony within himself between the paternal and maternal elements. If this does not succeed, then what must appear to us as the most terrible thing comes into the world.
How did the ancient sages present to people what we have just expressed, so to speak, in anthroposophical terms? They said: In ancient times we inherited an ancient wisdom. Today, people can still be placed in abnormal states in which they can access this wisdom. But the possibility of reaching this state is becoming increasingly rare, and even the old initiation cannot carry people beyond a certain point in human evolution. Let us consider once again this old initiation as we have described it in recent days. What happened during such an initiation?
In such an initiation, the etheric body and the astral body were lifted out of this structure of physical body, etheric body, astral body, and I, but the I remained behind. Therefore, the human being could have no self-consciousness during the three and a half days of initiation. Self-consciousness was extinguished. The person received consciousness from the higher spiritual world, which was instilled in them by the priest-initiator who guided them completely; he made his ego available to them. What actually happened as a result? Something happened that was expressed by a formula that will seem strange to you. But once you understand this formula, it will no longer seem strange to you. It was expressed as follows: When a person was initiated in the old sense, the maternal element emerged and the paternal element remained behind. This means that the person killed the paternal element within themselves and united with their mother within themselves. In other words, they killed the father within themselves and married their mother. So when the old initiate lay in a three-and-a-half-day lethargic state, he had united with his mother and killed his father within himself. He had become fatherless. This had to be so, because he had to give up his individuality; he had to live in a higher spiritual world. He became one with his people. But what lived in his people was precisely what was given in the maternal element. He became one with the entire organism of his people. He became what Nathanael was, and what was always named with the name of the people in question, among the Jews an “Israelite,” among the Persians a “Persian.”
In the world, there can only ever be wisdom that flows from the mysteries, nothing else. Those who learn the corresponding things in the mysteries become messengers to the outer world, and the outer world learns what is seen in the mysteries. But this was learned in the sense of the ancient wisdom, which was acquired by uniting with one's mother within oneself and killing the father within oneself. But this inherited wisdom cannot take human beings beyond a certain point in their development. Something else, something completely new, had to take the place of this ancient wisdom. If humanity were to receive only this ancient wisdom that was gained in this way, then humanity would, as we have already said, be driven into conflict with everyone else. Opinion would rebel against opinion, feeling against feeling, will against will; and it would lead to the terrifying picture of the future in which the human being unites with the mother and kills the father. But the ancient initiates, who had received initiation but were awaiting Christ, painted this in meaningful images, in great and powerful images. And you have preserved the imprint of this view of the ancient pre-Christian sages in your legends and myths. We need only recall the name Oedipus; there we can pick up on something in which the ancient sages expressed what they had to say in this direction. This is the ancient Greek legend, which the Greek tragedians depict in such a grand and powerful way:
There was a king in Thebes. His name was Laius. Jocasta was his wife. For a long time, they had no children. So Laius asked the Oracle at Delphi if he could have a son. And the Oracle gave him this answer: If you want a son, he will be one who will kill you! — And in a state of intoxication, that is, in a state of diminished consciousness, Laius did what led him to have a son. Oedipus was born. Laius knew that this would be the son who would kill him, and he decided to abandon him. And so that he would be completely destroyed, he had his feet pierced; then he was abandoned. A shepherd found the child and took pity on him. He took him to Corinth, and there Oedipus was raised in the royal household. When he grew up, he learned of the oracle: that he would kill his father and unite with his mother. But it could not be prevented. He was to leave the place where he was, because there he was believed to be the king's son. On his way, he met his real father, and without knowing him, he killed him. He came to Thebes. And because he answered the questions of the Sphinx, because he solved the riddle of the gruesome monster that had brought death to so many, the Sphinx had to kill herself. Therefore, he was initially a benefactor of his fatherland. He was elevated to king and received the hand of the queen, and that was the hand of his mother. Without knowing it, he had killed his father and married his mother. Now he ruled as king. But because he had come to power in this way, because this terrible thing clung to him, he brought unspeakable misfortune upon his country, so that in Sophocles' drama he finally appears as the blind man who has taken his own eyesight.
This is an image that emerged from the ancient centers of wisdom. And it was meant to say that, in a certain sense, Oedipus was still connected to the spiritual world in the old sense. How did he come into contact with the spiritual world? His father had consulted the oracle. These oracles were the last remnants of ancient clairvoyance. But these last remnants were not enough to bring peace to the outer world. They could not give people what needed to be achieved: harmony between the maternal and paternal elements.
That Oedipus is meant to be someone who simply came to a certain clairvoyant view in the old sense through heredity is indicated by the fact that he solved the riddle of the Sphinx, that is, he recognized human nature to the extent that the last remnants of the ancient primordial wisdom could give such knowledge. It could never lead to holding back the rage against one another in humanity, that which was established in patricide and in union with the mother. Oedipus, despite his connection to the ancient primordial wisdom, cannot see through the connections through this ancient primordial wisdom. This ancient wisdom no longer makes one see. That is what the ancient sages wanted to establish. Had it made people see in the old blood sense, then blood would have spoken when Oedipus stood before his father, and it would have spoken when he stood before his mother. But blood no longer spoke! Thus the disintegration of the old primordial wisdom is vividly presented to us.
What had to happen to make it possible once and for all to find within oneself the harmonious balance between the maternal and the paternal, between one's own ego, which has the paternal, and between the maternal? The Christ impulse had to come! And now we look from yet another angle into certain depths of the wedding at Cana in Galilee.
It says there: “The mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.” Jesus — or rather, the Christ — was to present to humanity the great example of a being who had found unity within himself, between himself and the maternal principle. At the wedding in Cana in Galilee, he pointed this out to his mother: “Something is passing from me to you.” This was a new “going from me to you.” It was no longer in the old sense; it meant a renewal of the entire relationship. This was once and for all the great ideal of balance within oneself, without first killing the father, that is, without first leaving the physical body, finding balance with the maternal principle in the I. Now the time had come when human beings learned to fight the excessive power of egoism, of the I principle, within themselves, when they learned to bring it into the right relationship with what reigns in the etheric body and in the astral body as the maternal principle. Therefore, a beautiful image of this relationship between the self, which is the paternal principle, and the maternal principle should be presented to us in the wedding at Cana as the inner harmony, as the love that reigns in the outer world between Christ Jesus and his mother. This should be an image of the harmonious balance between the self and the maternal element within oneself. This did not exist before; it only came about through the deed of Christ Jesus. But since it came about through the deed of Christ, it brought with it the only possible refutation—refutation through deed—of everything that would have had to come about under the influence of those old pieces of wisdom that would have led to the killing of the father and union with the mother. So what is being fought against by the Christ principle?
When the old sage who looked at Christ contrasted the old and the new, he could say: If union with the mother is sought in the old sense, then nothing good can ever come to humanity. But if, in the new sense, as shown by the wedding at Cana, union with the mother is sought, if man unites himself in this way with the astral body and etheric body living within him, then salvation, peace, and brotherhood will come more and more among men in the course of time, and the old principle of killing the father and uniting with the mother will be fought against. — So what was the hostile element that Christ had to remove? It was not the old wisdom; it did not need to be fought against. It lost its power and gradually dried up of its own accord. And we see how those who entrust themselves to it, like Oedipus, fall into disharmony precisely because of it. But the evil would not dry up by itself if people wanted to turn away from the new wisdom, that is, from the way the Christ impulse works, if they remained rigidly attached to the old principle. It was felt to be the greatest progress that people did not remain with the old principle, that they did not cling rigidly to the old line, but that they recognized what had come into the world through Christ. Is this also implied to us? Yes! Sayings and myths contain the deepest wisdom. There is a legend—it is not in the Gospel, but it is no less a Christian legend and also a Christian truth—and it goes like this:
There was a married couple. This couple had no son for a long time. Then the mother was revealed in a dream — pay close attention here! — that she would have a son, but that this son would first kill his father, then unite with his mother, and bring terrible disaster upon his entire tribe.
Once again, we have a dream, as in the case of Oedipus and the oracle, which means that we have here a relic of ancient clairvoyance. The mother was told in the old way what would happen. Is this enough to understand the ways of the world and prevent the disaster that was revealed to her? Let us ask the legend. The legend tells us more:
Under the impression of this wisdom that came to her from the dream, the mother took the child she had given birth to to the island of Kariot. There it was abandoned, but found by a neighboring queen. She took the child in and raised it herself, because the couple had no children. Later, this couple had a child of their own, and the foundling soon felt threatened. As a result of his passionate temperament, he killed the royal couple's son. Now he could no longer stay there; he had to flee and came to the court of the governor Pilate. There he soon became a supervisor in his household. Then he got into a quarrel with his neighbor, whom he knew only as his neighbor. In the quarrel, he killed him, not knowing that it was his own father. And then he married the neighbor's wife, his mother! This foundling was Judas of Kariot. And when he realized his terrible situation, he fled again. And he found mercy in his situation only in the one who had mercy on all who came into his presence, who not only sat at table with tax collectors and sinners, but who, despite his deep insight, also took this great sinner into his company; for it was his task to work not only for the good, but for all people, and to lead them from sin to salvation. Thus Judas of Kariot came into the circle of Christ Jesus. And now he brought the calamity that had been foretold, and which, according to Schiller's saying, “That is the curse of evil deeds, that they must always beget evil,” had to come to pass in the circle of Christ Jesus. He became the traitor of Christ Jesus. Basically, what was to be fulfilled in him had already been fulfilled with the murder of his father and his marriage to his mother. But he remained, so to speak, as a tool, because he was to be a tool, the evil tool that was to bring about the good, in order to commit, so to speak, one more act beyond fulfillment.
The one who is presented to us in Oedipus loses his eyesight as a consequence of the disaster he has brought about, from the moment he becomes aware of this disaster. But the one who has the same fate through his connection with the ancient heritage of wisdom does not go blind, but is chosen to fulfill destiny fulfill destiny and do what the mystery of Golgotha brings about, which causes the physical death of the one who is the “light of the world” and who brings about the light of the world in the healing of the man born blind. Oedipus had to lose his sight; Christ gave sight to the man born blind. But he died at the hands of someone who had the character of Oedipus, who was meant to show us how the old wisdom is gradually drying up in humanity, how it is no longer sufficient to bring salvation, peace, and love to people. For this, the Christ impulse with the event of Golgotha was necessary. For this, it was necessary that what appears to us as an outer image of the relationship between the Jesus Christ I and his mother at the wedding in Cana in Galilee should first take place. For this, it was further necessary that something else should take place, which the writer of the Gospel of John describes as follows:
Down below, at the cross, stood the mother, and down below stood the disciple whom “the Lord loved,” Lazarus John, whom he himself had initiated, and through whom the wisdom of Christianity was to come to posterity, who was to influence the astral body of human beings in such a way that the Christ principle could live in them. The Christ principle was to live within the human astral body, and John was to pour it in. But to do this, the Christ principle had to be united from the cross with the etheric principle, with the mother. That is why Christ calls out from the cross: “From this hour on, this is your mother, and this is your son!” In other words, he binds his wisdom together with the maternal principle!
Thus we see how profound not only the Gospels are, but how profound all connections are in the mystery teachings. Yes, the ancient legends are connected with the proclamations and Gospels of the new age, like predictions and fulfillments! The ancient legends, in the stories of Oedipus and Judas, clearly show us one thing: there was once a divine, ancient wisdom. But it dried up. And a new wisdom must come. And this new wisdom will bring people to what the old wisdom could never have brought them. The legend of Oedipus tells us what would have happened without the Christ impulse. The legend of Judas teaches us what the opposition to Christ was: the rigid adherence to the old wisdom. But what the ancient legends and myths already explained as insufficient is now revealed to us in a new light by the new proclamation, the Gospel. The Gospel answers us what the ancient legends expressed as images of ancient wisdom. They said: What humanity needs for the future can never come from ancient wisdom. But the Gospel, as the new wisdom, tells us: I proclaim to you what humanity needs, and what could never have come without the influence of the Christ principle, without the event of Golgotha.