The Rudolf Steiner Archive

First Lecture

[ 1 ] Anyone who knows a little about human history will know, even without resorting to esotericism, that the word and concept of “history” encompasses many things, especially if one tries to understand the concept of history not merely as something to be observed, but as something that, like all things in spiritual life, must be experienced. But life demands learning in all areas; and learning, in turn, demands patience in all areas. One could — and this may apply particularly to our example — translate the word patience by another; one could translate it by the other “ability to wait.” An attempt has now been made to apply the rule of life contained in the words just spoken to what we were able to accomplish yesterday.

[ 2 ] With our German spiritual scientific movement, we are entering the seventh year of our work. Seven years ago, I gave a lecture in Berlin to a group of people who had heard a whole series of other lectures by me. At that time, it was, in a sense, given as an addition to another series of lectures. So that was a little more than seven years ago. At that time, the task was to find a transition from the feelings and spiritual interests that had arisen from a work that was spiritual scientific, albeit called by another name, to the spiritual scientific movement. And at that time, there was an inner possibility of finding a good transition. The lecture I am referring to was entitled “The Children of Lucifer.” At that time, the audience generally accepted the points of view from a literary perspective; the starting point was also taken from the work we had the privilege of hearing yesterday, Schuré's drama “The Children of Lucifer.” At that time, we began, so to speak, to talk about the “Children of Lucifer,” and in “secret” — and here the word “secret” is meant in the sense in which one speaks of the secret nature of spiritual science — at that time, there was already a secret idea in the background that it might one day be possible to present this work of modern spiritual life in a theatrical form before the eyes of a number of spectators.^{1The use of the word “secret” has brought many accusations against anthroposophy. Here we have one of the cases where this word is used in a completely understandable way. It also occurs in others. But never in the sense of such nonsensical “secretiveness” as some opponents would have people believe. It even happened that when I titled a book “Secret Science,” it was said that there could be no secret science. This is of course as self-evident as the fact that there can be no natural science, but there can be a science of nature. When I publish a “secret science,” I do not want what it says to remain secret.} The underlying idea was that spiritual life is a great unity and harmony, and that it is incumbent upon human beings to recognize and observe the most beautiful blossoms within the spiritual life of a given time. The underlying idea was that modern spiritual life is, in a certain sense, chaotic. But just as the world ultimately arose out of chaos, so too will a kind of cosmos of spiritual life for the future only be able to blossom if we make the effort to select the best fruits from the chaos of modern spiritual life. The underlying idea was that it would be wrong to treat anything other than a modern work of art drawn from the full spiritual life of the present from this point of view. Of course, over the course of centuries, or even millennia, one could find many other works of art, modernize them, and present them to an audience today; but every spirit of the times has its own peculiarity, and that which the spirit of the times itself is capable of creating must, if it is right, speak to that spirit of the times with the greatest warmth and intimacy. If spiritual life is to bear its most beautiful fruits, it will be part of its mission not only to teach people dogmas, not only to proclaim doctrines, but in a certain sense to open their eyes. It is generally not difficult to recognize something that has already gained acceptance over centuries or even decades, but the spiritual life that is brought to bear here should be something that awakens the most original, most elementary forces in the human soul; and one of the most elementary forces in the human soul is the encouragement of an open view of everything that is awakened around us by the sun of spiritual life in the blossoms and fruits of our present spiritual culture. Our movement wants to be an eye-opener.

[ 3 ] But if one grasps the idea and concept of history in a living way, then, as already indicated, something else is needed: patience, or let us say the ability to wait. Haste and impatience prevent many things that should ripen into fruit in life; and it would have been downright foolish seven years ago to think of anything more than a quiet hint of what was to be realized later. What prevented us at that time from immediately proceeding with the execution of the plan we had in mind for a stage embodiment of this spiritual work! It is only necessary to cite a single fact and you will understand what prevented us from proceeding at that time. Anyone who looks into spiritual life knows that there are certain great laws within it. This was also one of the great statements that you heard yesterday in the drama itself: Spiritual life has its laws, which must not be transgressed, which must be observed. And one of the greatest laws of spiritual life, the disregard of which will always be severely avenged, especially in a movement such as ours, is that which is shown to us where the higher spiritual beings illustrate the nature of their work in the workings of nature itself.

[ 4 ] Take a look at the nature of this natural activity; observe nature in its creative work; and you will see that in nature there is always the possibility that countless failures will arise from what has been created. Look at the sea with its countless seeds that are sunk into it, and notice how many of these seeds sprout as living beings. Ask yourself whether the creative beings of nature ever ask themselves: Should we mourn the failures we have when we take so many attempts and see that the fruits of creation wither away before our eyes? Only by contemplating this great law in spiritual life can what is to succeed in this realm succeed as it does in nature, where life sprouts and blossoms because the spirits underlying nature never grieve over their failures. It is solely for this reason that the work to be carried out in nature, that is, in the products of higher spiritual life, succeeds. Success as such is not a measure of what is right and true. That must be a spiritual-scientific law. This law had to be observed within our movement.

[ 5 ] This is truly nothing more than a kind of review of the facts, and at the same time this review is to be placed in connection with some ideas, laws, and facts that are inwardly related to our entire lecture cycle. As I told you, about seven years have passed since the lecture I mentioned, and yesterday we were able to see, to our great satisfaction, the performance of “The Children of Lucifer” before a full house. Over six hundred friends gathered yesterday to listen to “The Children of Lucifer.” How many of those listeners had heard that lecture, the first seed of our work? There was only one lady among yesterday's audience who had heard that lecture at the time and who had not previously been among our ranks. The lecture was not badly attended by the standards of the time. All the other people did not join our movement. But it is the great law of action in the spiritual world that lost seeds are transformed and experience resurrection. And we can see this law confirmed in our example. You see that it is not wrong to connect the word and the idea of the event with the words patience and the ability to wait. Being able to wait until those conditions arise which make it possible to bring forth from the womb of time that which we have allowed to mature. All human work is powerless without patience and the ability to wait accompanying it, without maturation and ripening playing a certain role.

[ 6 ] This is a small proof that certain things are necessary if something is to mature in cultural life. It would, of course, have been a completely disastrous idea to stage “The Children of Lucifer” in any ordinary theater performance. For what is needed to make the whole thing into a unity? The main thing, we must not forget, is not those who perform, not those who make things; the main thing is not the work that is done, neither the preparations nor the finishing touches. Once the work has sprung from the poet's soul, the first act has been performed. What then happens as a means of communication belongs to what I have just said: the performance and the work of performance and everything else are not the main thing; they are completely secondary in a certain sense. The main thing is the listeners and spectators. And the main thing is that a communal life flows through the souls and hearts of the spectators; a life that enables these hearts not only to feel the mysterious currents emanating from the work, but to feel them in community, in inner harmony. Within our movement, we speak of our first principle as the establishment of a core of humanity in which love for humanity and brotherhood live. Oh, this love for humanity and brotherhood is a delicate, though very important plant. And it only blossoms where souls resonate in harmony with one another; that is, where a communal spiritual life vibrates through the souls in a shared manner. This was present yesterday. Our movement should be an instrument for strengthening and at the same time opening up our souls in this way, so that we can allow something spiritual that is meant to flow in to flow in together in harmony. A common breath should be able to pass through the souls. Then the fruit of brotherhood, the fruit of spiritual harmony among people, will be able to ripen.

[ 7 ] And now compare what you saw yesterday with another theater performance, and ask yourself whether it is possible, in the chaos of our spiritual life, for a common feeling to flow down from the stage and find resonance, an echo, in the hearts of people. That is the real work of art that takes place in our hearts. When a work of art springs from the soul of the poet, it goes its own way; and what matters is only fully accomplished when it echoes in so many hearts and souls; and only then does the second of the main things that matter come into play.

[ 8 ] These words have been said only to point out a little how our movement can become an instrument in human culture. In our time, people will never come together to form a society of harmony, love, and unity if harmony, love, and unity remain mere words. There is only one thing that can provide the foundation on which our first principle of universal brotherhood and universal love must mature, and that is communal work. What this means can only ever be realized through individual examples. But if these individual examples continue to have an effect, if they are heeded, then they will spread not only into our spiritual life, but into our entire present life and will fill it. A truly human spirit will enter into human work and thus into human progress. And spiritual science will prove that it is the most practical thing that can exist in life as a ferment. If we give it the opportunity, it can permeate and enliven every branch of our life in the most practical way. Our present age is generally ripe for this in the sense that it demonstrates the necessity of spiritual science in every field. Everywhere we see that the present demands of us: spiritual knowledge must flow into our lives. But understanding of humanity is only slowly creeping behind human needs. Our work may therefore remain pioneering work for a long time, work for the future. But it can wait, it will not impose itself, it has a lot of patience. It will intervene where it is demanded, where it is wanted. Of course, it must first do its work patiently, so that later on people do not demand something in the world that is not yet there. Oh, in the not too distant future there will be many areas of human life where people will thirst for this work. There will also be areas of human life that today despise this work as the wildest reverie, as the worst fantasy. People will demand it in places where they do not even suspect it today, where they dismiss it today as a pipe dream. But for the time being, it will patiently do its work. Nor is it so impractical that it misunderstands our present situation. It wants to be practical, to practice where it really matters, to get involved in every detail. Who could fail to see that the world of contemporary intellectual and cultural life still closes its doors to us in many ways, that it does not want us, that when we come with our practicality, it says: Stay where you are, you dreamers, you dream of all kinds of supernatural worlds, of a spirit that does not exist. We have no use for your practicality! Who could be so self-conscious as not to see this clearly? Is it not natural, then, to first try to be practical where the world of appearances is at work, on the ground that merely signifies the world? If one is only clear that one is presenting a true picture of the real world in the world of appearances, then through this world of appearances, of beautiful appearances, of artistic appearances, that world through which gods surely speak to us, then through this world the first stimulus may be given. Because in art, when it is understood in the true sense, gods truly speak to us, it is through art that we will most surely find the gateway to gradually penetrate with our practice into the so-called practical branches of life. Work is the ground on which our first principle can sprout: brotherly coexistence, brotherly cooperation. If work is carried out in the sense indicated, it can be tested in the most beautiful sense of the word whether it is possible among human beings to cultivate harmony, concord, and brotherhood. What then appears before the eye like a picture, as in yesterday's performance, is preceded by many things; and when it is finished, the viewer sometimes does not have a correct picture of what preceded it. What preceded it in our case can rightly be called work in the sense of the first spiritual scientific principle of harmony and brotherhood, cooperation and collaboration.

[ 9 ] What we had in mind during the preparatory work was freedom of the human soul in the unity of action, in the harmony of action. Perhaps not everything can be achieved at once; but what we had in mind was that we could bring about unity without anyone having to enter into a machinery in which the command is given and then this and that is done and so on. At least that was our idea, and it has certainly been achieved in many respects, that each of the co-workers had the feeling that he was representing his own cause. And that brings me to the point where, because it is, so to speak, part of true spiritual life, a few special words must be said. Not so much to talk about this one example of free spiritual work, but to talk about it as an example of what can be the principle, the guiding principle, and the idea of spiritual coexistence. It has become clear to us that it is possible to release the forces within human souls that can be released when a spiritual idea passes through the hearts and souls, and when the souls are mature enough that each of the participants feels that they are in their right place. It is with deep satisfaction that we can say that those members of our movement who worked together to make yesterday's performance possible did so not only with dedication—I say this with full awareness—but above all with the deepest understanding of the cause; and so it came to pass that not only bring together the performers of the individual characters of the drama into the whole that you saw yesterday, but also to be able to create a whole through the not only dedicated but also understanding work of our artistic members. It would be impossible to list in detail everything that was necessary in the work of this or that member. But if the first costume to the last is to become a whole, something that not only expresses the individual, which is brought to life by the individual actor, but also gives an overall picture, then it is necessary that this part of the work is also inspired by a common idea, and I can say with satisfaction that our esteemed member, who took on the enormously difficult task of creating our costumes in the spirit of the overall performance, worked with the deepest understanding. There was—and I say this with full awareness—an extraordinary genius in the way the individual was placed within the whole. So that, if I may express a personal feeling, yesterday I was truly filled with a deep sense of gratitude toward all those who had contributed with such understanding, each in their own place, a gratitude which I would like to express to each and each one of them today, a gratitude that also has another side, the side that allows this feeling of gratitude to flow back up to the general source of our spiritual life, from which everything that we humans are capable of truly springs. And it is only because this spiritual life was active that we were able to make this weak attempt to bring such a work of art to the stage.

[ 10 ] But we were also able to gather experiences and insights. Those who worked on this in certain areas were able to rejoice in how spiritual life has a victorious power in a certain sense. This gives us confidence and firm faith in the future of our movement. Perhaps we can draw our faith in the greatness and comprehensiveness of our movement from the aperçu of the individual. For example, it was extremely satisfying to see how, over the last ten days, the spiritual power of the artwork we performed not only affected those involved in the production, but also the workers who worked in the theater with hammers and pliers, who worked willingly and happily, right down to the last theater worker. This is something that also belongs to the work of art when the view expands from a narrowly defined framework to where the work of art is supposed to have an effect through its spiritual life and spiritual power, like a sun on the entire cultural life. This gives strength and courage. But it also gives us a glimpse and an indication of the social mission of spiritual science. Yes, it has a social mission, it has a mission for the entire culture of humanity and the entire welfare of humanity. Oh, there are many souls in our time who believe that only through material means and material measures can human welfare and human salvation return to our fractured lives, and who have lost faith and trust in the victorious power of spirituality. But practice teaches us that the spirit has the power to release secret joys, secret devotional delight in the human soul; it teaches us that if we become more and more able to offer the bread of spiritual life to our present age, there will be human souls who will long to eat this bread. Spirituality has a victorious power.

[ 11 ] Such an insight, which can be gained in ten days, such an insight can already be instructive. It can give us faith in what we want as confessors of spiritual science; and it can give us the courage to continue working without ceasing on the work that we have in mind. The spiritual scientist must have this open view of life so that he can learn from life. For it is only by looking back on every step of our life as learners that we can make progress. Just as we were able to wait seven years for this ideal, so we will be able to wait for other things, for many things that are to happen through our movement, until they have matured in the womb of time. We will be able to wait in faith. For if we understand spiritual science correctly in the sense of the present, we have the central point of what is called faith in the highest sense; we have always placed this central point before our eyes; we have always placed before our eyes the one fixed point that confronted us yesterday through the symbol of the cross.

[ 12 ] We know what the cross means for the human soul. And over the years we have endeavored to regard what flows to us as a gift from the spiritual worlds. We have endeavored to make this spiritual-scientific content an instrument for understanding this center of human progress better and better, for understanding Christ and the cross. When we recognize the reality of the Christ principle, we understand that this Christ principle is a force, a living force that has been connected with human life on earth since the beginning of our calendar, when this Christ principle connected itself with a human being in the body of Jesus of Nazareth. Since then, it has been with us humans, working among us, and we can participate in its work if we strive to use all the means at our disposal to understand this Christ principle, to understand it in such a way that we make it the life of our own soul. But then, when we understand this Christ principle in such a way that we know it is in humanity, it is there, we can go to it, we can draw the water of life from this source, then we have that faith which can wait, wait for everything that is to ripen in the womb of time, that will ripen if we have patience. Maturity will come to us from the womb of transience when we grasp within this transience the Christ principle, the imperishable, the eternal, the immortal. From the womb of time, the timeless is born for us humans. When we stand on this firm foundation, then we do not have a blind faith, but one imbued with truth and knowledge, and we say to ourselves: What must be will be, and nothing prevents us from using our best powers for what we believe must be. Faith, on the one hand, is the true fruit of the cross; it is what always calls out to us: Look at your failures, they are the apparent death of your work! Look from your failures to the cross and remember that on the cross was the source of eternal life, which conquered temporal death not only for itself but for all people. And from these two ideas springs our greatest courage to face life. We only need to grasp them in the right way. Oh, it has sometimes been objected by well-meaning people against the spiritual science referred to here that some who come to it because they accept this or that apparently on mere authority make themselves weak, that they lose their strength. But those who make such a claim confuse appearances with reality. Spiritual science as we understand it here does not weaken people; it is a force in which strength lives. What can the freshness, the sprouting and budding of a free, great nature and natural air do when a weakened organism comes into this fresh, joyful air and cannot tolerate it? If it becomes even weaker, is it the fault of the fresh, joyful air of life? Should it be different, or should human beings rather make themselves ready to tolerate the fresh, joyful air of life? Spiritual knowledge requires a healthy air of the spirit. No wonder that sometimes, from the unhealthy air of our spiritual life as it is at present, a weakened organism feels powerless and weak at the beginning of its spiritual scientific career. Patience and courage, which spring from a true understanding of the Christ principle, are the genuine fruits of one part of the spiritual life referred to here. But there is something else that is also necessary. Courage, perseverance, and faith alone are not enough; there is something else that is needed, and it becomes more and more necessary the further we advance toward the future.

[ 13 ] That is: once we have recognized an idea as correct, we must not allow anything to dissuade us from the correctness of this idea. We can tell ourselves a thousand times that it cannot be realized now, that we must wait with patience and perseverance until its realization is possible. If we believe that in the progress of human life it is the Christ force that brings everything to maturity from the womb of time at the right moment, then we must nevertheless have a judgment about the correctness, about the unquestionable correctness of our spiritual content. If we can wait for success, we will be less and less compelled to wait when it comes to recognizing what is right, true, and wise as true, wise, and right. It is only the cross that gives the right understanding courage and faith in life; but it is the star, the star that Lucifer, the light-bearer, once possessed, but which he lost and which passed over to the Christ principle, the star that can enlighten us at every moment, if we surrender ourselves to it, about the correctness, about the indubitable nature of our spiritual content. That is the other point of strength on which we must stand firm. We must be able to acquire a knowledge that goes into the depths of life, that goes behind the outer, material appearances, that shines into where there is light, even when it becomes dark for the human eye, for the human mind, for the outer perception. It was necessary for human development that the Christ event took place in the course of human progress, and in the next few days we will have to point out how necessary it was. It was necessary, as is indicated in such a profound way in the Gospel of John, it was necessary that this darkness came over humanity for a time. What shone into this darkness was what we call the Christ principle, the Christ. It is really as it is described in the Gospel of John. But all life goes on, all life continues. A wonderful, glorious legend of humanity tells that when Lucifer fell from heaven to earth, a precious stone fell from his crown. From this gemstone, the legend tells us, came the vessel in which Christ Jesus took the Last Supper with his disciples; the vessel that caught the blood of Christ that flowed from the cross; the vessel that was brought to the Western world by angels and is received in the Western world by those who want to get to the true understanding of the Christ principle. The Holy Grail was made from the stone that fell from Lucifer's crown.

[ 14 ] What is the Holy Grail? You all know that human beings, as they are today, are fourfold, having a physical, etheric, astral body, and the I, that this I, in the course of human progress, must move toward an ever more fulfilling perfection, that it must rise higher and higher. Lucifer, the fallen ruler of the East, lost the precious stone from his crown; in a certain sense, that precious stone is nothing other than the full power of the human ego. This human ego must first be prepared in darkness in order to see the star of Lucifer shine in a new and worthy manner within the light of Christ. This ego had to raise itself up to the Christ principle, to mature into the precious stone that no longer belongs to Lucifer, who lost it from his crown; that is, it had to mature through wisdom in order to regain the ability to endure the light that does not flow to us from outside, that shines upon us when we ourselves are able to do what is necessary. Thus, spiritual scientific work is work on the human self to make it a vessel that is once again capable of receiving the light that is there where today, for the outer eyes and the outer human mind, there is darkness and night. An ancient legend says that night was the original ruler. But this night is back; it is in everything that is filled with darkness today. But if we fill ourselves with the light that can dawn on us when we understand the star that the light-bearer, the other spirit, Lucifer, has lost, then that night will become day for us. The eyes cease to see when the external light does not illuminate objects; the mind fails when it comes to penetrating beyond the external nature of things; the star that becomes us when clear and well-meaning research speaks illuminates what is only apparently night and makes it day for us. But this is also what takes away all doubts that kill and paralyze us. Then comes the moment when we have the courage to face life and the strength of faith to wait patiently; but we also have the certainty that comes when the world of our spirit is illuminated by that light which tells us: There is no justification for doubt in the Absolute. If, on the one hand, we can wait, if we have the strength to let our intentions mature, and if, on the other hand, we have the absolute inner certainty of the existence of the eternal, the imperishable, of the existence of the light that illuminates the darkness of the mind, then we have the two forces that carry us forward, then we have understood that it is our mission for the future to unite two worlds, then we understand what it means: before our soul and before our spirit stand the signs of two worlds, uniting in love. Then we understand Christ's cross and the star of Lucifer shining in the light of Christ.

[ 15 ] This may be cited as something that, in a certain sense, is the mission of spiritual scientific life for the future: on the one hand, to give us security and strength to stand on the firm ground of spiritual life, to become receptive to the newly born light of the former light-bearer, and on the other hand, to support us on the other foundation of firm faith and firm confidence that what is to happen will happen through the forces that lie in the world. Only through this twofold security will we be able to accomplish what we are meant to accomplish in the world; only through this twofold security will we succeed in bringing spiritual knowledge into life.

[ 16 ] Therefore, we must be clear that we not only have the task of understanding the star as it shone through the becoming of man until the precious stone fell from Lucifer's crown, but we must also understand that we must take up what has become of this precious stone, the Holy Grail, that we must understand the cross in the star, that we must understand that what shone as luminous wisdom in primeval times, what we revere most deeply as the wisdom of pre-Christian times, to which we truly look up with complete devotion, and that we must add to this what the world has been able to become through the mission of the cross. Not the slightest thing should escape us from pre-Christian wisdom, not the slightest thing should escape us from the light of the East. We look to Phosphoros, the light-bearer; yes, we recognize this former light-bearer as the being who can make the whole deep inner meaning of Christ understandable to us; but we see beside Phosphoros Christophoros, the Christ-bearer, and try to understand the spiritual-scientific mission, that it can only be fulfilled when the signs of these two worlds are truly “united in love.” If we understand this mission in this way, then the star will be our ladder to the security of a light-filled spiritual life, then Christ will be our ladder to the inner warmth of our soul in faith and trust that what can be called the birth of the eternal from the temporal will take place. Let us always remember the principle: if what we want is right, nothing can deter us from waiting until the fruits ripen. If we stand firm, looking up at the star that Lucifer lost on one side and at the cross of Christ on the other, then we will penetrate the mission of spiritual knowledge inwardly and vividly, and then we will increasingly strengthen within ourselves the certainty that the light shining from this spiritual knowledge is true starlight. But then we will also have more and more faith and confidence that the fruits of this knowledge will ripen; then nothing will make us timid; then we will be able to accept all failures with patience and perseverance. Looking back on the little we have achieved so far, we will say to ourselves: little by little, through our movement within humanity, we will create a small seed so that the light of the Orient can find its reflection, its powerful, understanding reflection in the Christ principle of the West. Then we will also recognize that there is a light of the Occident that shines to make what comes from the Orient even more luminous than it is by its own power. A thing becomes luminous through the light source that illuminates it. Therefore, let no one say that any distortion of Oriental wisdom occurs when the light of the Occident shines on this Oriental wisdom. It will appear beautiful, great, and sublime. It will appear most beautiful, greatest, and most sublime when illuminated by the noblest light. When this idea, which we intuitively accept in our souls, fills us, then we will be able to learn greater things from small things through our feelings and perceptions; then we will learn to say to ourselves: We stand firm in our truths, and we wait patiently for the realization of these truths; we have the strength not to waver in what comes from the light on one side; but we also have the strength to wait, no matter how long it may take for what we want to sow in the womb of time to bear fruit.

[ 17 ] We were able to wait until we could approach the task so dear to our hearts, to present “The Children of Lucifer” embodied before human eyes. Spiritual science has its great tasks in all directions and in all areas of life. If we are already secure today through the light that these tasks contain, if we have a firm foothold beneath us, then we are also secure in our faith and confidence that the smallest and the greatest tasks must be fulfilled if we devote ourselves to them.

[ 18 ] And so we build on the light that emanates from spiritual knowledge; and so we build on the warmth that emanates from it and fills us, which can fill us with faith and confidence in our mission. And we continue to work in the right sense and in the true manner under the two signs of the star and the cross, the “signs of two worlds uniting in love,” working from moment to moment, working in firm faith that if we correctly understand our task in the course of time, we are working for what human beings are meant to work for, for eternity. For human activity, eternity is the birth of that which matures in time.