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The Christ Impulse and the Development of the Ego-Consciousness
GA 116

2 May 1910, Berlin

VI. The Birth of Conscience

In the course of the lectures given here last winter we considered the Being of Christ from many different aspects and we endeavoured in various ways to point out that what we know as the Christ-Impulse is the most powerful factor for the development of mankind that we have ever possessed in the whole evolution of the earth. It is therefore easy to understand that, in the first place, this subject can never be exhausted, that there could be no end to all one might do to elucidate further the Christ-Impulse from all sides, and moreover, when all is said and done, all that is of profoundest interest to man is really connected with the appearance of Christ. We saw that the Gospels themselves attempted to approach the subject of the Being of Christ from four different sides, and we touched upon several of the secrets contained in the different Gospels. We were only able up to a certain point to throw light on that of St. Matthew. It must be left for the present, and we shall return to the secrets of St. Matthew's Gospel in lectures to be given at a later time, after which we can venture further into the depths of St. Mark's Gospel. If we were now, at the conclusion of our winter lectures in this group, to give more sketchy indications of what remains to be discussed, it would interfere with the harmony of the lectures to be given later. To-day, as also in our next lecture, we shall touch upon questions which in a certain respect relate to the Christ-Problem; in fact, we shall to-day refer to the question of the connection between the human conscience and the intervention of the Christ-Impulse in the development of mankind. In so doing we also achieve another object. Next Thursday the public Lectures on ‘The Human Conscience’ will be given, and we shall speak on that same subject in our group-meeting to-day. There is a definite purpose in this—one which, as time goes on, will often be apparent to our Spiritual vision. The object is to show that the same subject can be spoken of in a different way in a study-group such as this, from the way in which it must be handled in a public lecture, intended for persons who are not members of our movement. The Anthroposophist, among many other capacities which he must acquire, must also acquire a feeling of how matters concerning the world can be approached from many standpoints and from many different sides, and that a man who has already mastered certain basic facts can both speak and hear of a subject in a different way from one who has not. When we speak in a study-group we assume that the minds of those present have to some extent become accustomed to the conceptions of a Spiritual world, that as regards their thoughts and feelings they are already in that world and are therefore able, by means of those thoughts and feelings, to form a concept of the human conscience. The answer to such questions can be drawn from much greater depths in a study-group than in a public lecture given to a non-Anthroposophical audience. Those public lectures have indeed the mission, by means of the phenomena of the soul-life,—introduced in the first place as external experience,—of giving a sort of proof that the truths known to Spiritual Science are truths indeed. That is a different task for the Spiritual Scientist, who probably brings with him certain inner convictions and perhaps even certain opinions about the Spiritual world. He must gradually learn to become acquainted with ideas and concepts from all sorts of different sources and sides which will help him to make certain things clear, and he must leave off looking at things and speaking of them in one way only, though that method, of course still prevails in external life.

The question of the human conscience is one that must stir the very depths of our souls. For centuries philosophers and thinkers the whole world over, have been more interested in this subject than in any other. With regard to the phenomenon of conscience one might easily succumb to the illusion—which has often been here described as such—of believing that everything to be found in the human soul to-day, was always to be found there. Yet, as we know, the various soul-faculties and processes which man has developed in the course of thousands of years, were very different in primeval times from what they are now. Much of what is now most prized and valued in our soul-life, we did not possess when we wandered on earth thousands of years ago, in other incarnations. There is a purpose in these many incarnations of ours, as we have often emphasised. The purpose is that the soul should in the course of its development from one incarnation to another, acquire ever-new capacities and forces; that it should have a history of its own; that its earth-existence should be a time of learning to realise that the soul was not the same when our incarnations just began as it is now, and that moreover in the distant future it will again he different. The human conscience too,—that precious possession of the human soul, which speaks like the voice of God in each individual man or woman, warning them of good or evil—even this precious gift was not always in man's inner being. Conscience, too, is something that has developed. And indeed it is not so very long ago, comparatively speaking, that the human conscience announced its presence, since when it has developed more and more. Yet precious as this possession is to us, it is not intended that it should continue to live in the human soul in all the ages yet to come, just in its present form. It will develop further, and take different forms; it will discover itself as something which man had to acquire, and which will bear fruit. And in later ages, when these fruits are his, it will be something upon which man can look back, saying: There once was a time when, in the course of my passage through the different incarnations, I was able to embody into my soul that which is now my conscience, and I am now enjoying the fruits of that! Just as we now look back at a time when our souls were in other incarnations and did not possess what we call conscience, so in later times our souls will look back at the present time and exclaim: Hail to that past! Thanks for the gifts which in the past became our human conscience! If we had not then been able to develop a human conscience in our souls, we should now lack what we need for our present life!

From this we see that conscience forms part of the treasures of the soul at the present time, and if we understand something of the nature and being of the human conscience it gives us a sort of understanding of our age, and of its psychic life. Man's conscience came into being; that is a fact we have often referred to in various connections. In the public lecture next Thursday I shall state that one can, as it were, point to the very time when conscience was first discovered in the human soul. If we go back a few centuries into ancient Greece, about five hundred years before the Christian era, we come to the great poet, Æschylos. When we let the personages depicted by the mighty genius of the old Greek dramatist work upon us, we do not find what is to-day called conscience, or at any rate not designated by that name. Five hundred years before the Christian era the greatest dramatist then existing had no words to express what we now call the human conscience. If he wanted to express that process in the human soul which corresponds to what we now call conscience, he had to do so in this way:—If a man committed the sin of murdering his mother, he was, through the might of the event made to see into the Spiritual worlds and there he perceived certain figures, which were known to the ancient Greek as the Erinyes and later to the Romans as the Furies. Thus, according to Æschylos, a man who had committed the evil deed of murdering his mother, did not, as he would to-day, hear the reproachful voice of conscience in his inner being; but something drove him to spiritual vision, and he saw around him figures, the avengers of his deed.

This is one of the remarkable proofs to be found in the historical development of man, of what has just been asserted, that in olden times the capacities of the human soul were quite different. We have repeatedly emphasised that only gradually has the soul developed to its present power of perceiving the physical-sense world through the senses, and of using reason as it is used to-day. We stated that in olden times the soul possessed a certain clairvoyance as a normal capacity. At the time of Æschylos this only appeared in special cases. For instance, it became clairvoyant when it was to see what it had brought about in the physical world by its wrong-doing. The soul of Orestes became clairvoyant after the murder of his mother. He then saw the spirits he had aroused in the spiritual world by his deed. They encompassed his soul on all sides. There was nothing of the nature of conscience in his soul; but a clairvoyant consciousness set in, enabling him to see the disorder brought about in the spiritual world by his wrong-doing. In olden times we find that when an evil deed was accomplished, no voice of conscience was heard, for in those days the soul was in a clairvoyant condition and could see what came about in the external world in consequence of a wrong.

What is it then that occurs when a wrong is done? Something is brought about by ourselves in the spiritual world. It is a purely materialistic belief that a wrong can take place without anything taking place in the spiritual world; it produces quite definite processes therein,—effects radiate from us which, though invisible to sense perception can be clearly seen by spiritual sight. These spiritual processes, radiating from one who has done wrong, provide nourishment for certain Spiritual beings who are actually present in the spiritual world. Such beings cannot approach man at all times; they can only do so when the radiations resulting from evil actions emanate from him. It is just the same as with a room—if it is quite clean no flies will enter it; there are no flies in a perfectly clean room; but if food is left about or dirt of any kind, the flies come immediately—so, the moment a man radiates certain spiritual emanations as a result of his evil action, he is surrounded by beings who feed on them. These are the beings whom Æschylos, the great Greek dramatist, depicts around Orestes. What we to-day know as the inner voice, Æschylos represented in external forms because he was so conscious of it; for he knew that in special cases, a certain clairvoyant consciousness which was formerly the common possession of all men, could still be aroused. There is always something remaining in later times of what existed previously, but it appears atavistically, and only in abnormal cases. No blame should attach to Shakespeare for representing something of the nature of an objective conscience.

We need only trace Greek Art a little further, from Æschylos to Euripides, who in his tragedies shows us that he already had the idea of conscience. In ancient Greece we can see how the idea of conscience gradually came into being during the last five hundred years before Christ. Look where you will in the old Testament for a word corresponding to what we to-day call conscience: you will not find one. Conscience, as a quality, drew into the human soul; and if, instead of contemplating short spans of time we look at great periods, we see that conscience entered the human soul at about the same time as the Christ Impulse. We might say that conscience followed close on the Christ Impulse; it entered the historical development of the world almost like the shadow of that Impulse. In order to understand this, we must call to mind much that we have learned in the course of past years and make it fruitful for our understanding of what the human conscience really is.

If we wish in a deeper sense to grasp what conscience is, we must call to mind that particular period of time during which mankind in the course of its development was approaching the Christ Impulse and in which it absorbed this Impulse, and then gradually passed into our own, when development proceeded further. We know that this includes three epochs of civilisation in the development of man, which we designate as the Egyptian-Chaldean, the Greco-Latin and our present period. (The two epochs preceding these we may for the moment leave out of consideration; for our own souls were then too far removed from the possibility of having even an inkling of what we mean to-day by the concept of conscience.) In the Egyptian-Chaldean civilisation we see a gradual preparation of everything which subsequently rose to the greatest height possible, so that in the Graeco-Latin civilisation it might be able to reach and absorb the significant impulse we know as the Christ Impulse. And in our own age we see the epoch in which this Impulse will be further developed, and this will be continued increasingly in the epoch still to come. Now, if we recollect more closely the development of man from the Egyptian-Chaldean epoch, through the Graeco-Latin, into our own, it is clear that in each of these epochs one part of the human soul was developed. Of these, what we know as the Sentient Soul was developed during the Egyptian-Chaldean epoch. That means that we had at one time to be incarnated in Egyptian-Chaldean bodies, so as to be in a position to acquire aright those qualities which serve for the special development of the Sentient Soul. We then as souls, took that quality with us into our next incarnations during the Graeco-Latin epoch, in order then to develop the intellectual or mind-soul, or soul of higher-feeling. And we live in our present incarnations with the fruits of what we gained in that Epoch, so as to be able now, gradually to bring to a higher stage of development, what we call the forces of the Spiritual- or Consciousness-soul. (Dr. Steiner has, since 1923, called this the Spiritual Soul.)

So that our souls—as human beings—have been developed throughout these three epochs; and when our own age comes to its conclusion, our souls will then rise to the development of the quality of Spirit-Self. That will come about in the sixth epoch of civilisation. Thus we see, what a profound purpose there is in our going through successive incarnations, namely, that we may gradually acquire these faculties with which we, as human souls, are acquainted,—and in a wider sense acquire those also which extend beyond the mere life of the soul.

Thus, during the Egyptian-Chaldean culture our souls acquired the forces of the Sentient Soul and brought them to their full development;—during the Graeco-Latin age we developed the intellectual soul or soul of higher feeling. Man had to develop in a normal way as far as the intellectual soul; for then only could the Christ-Impulse be exercised upon him.

Now this development took place in quite a different way in different parts of the earth. If we were to allow ourselves to believe, in an easy sort of way, that the development of mankind proceeds in the most simple way possible, we should never arrive at an understanding of that development. One must indeed learn much before one can even to some slight extent grasp the great thoughts of the guiding Cosmic Beings! When man asserts that the truth is simple, that is great arrogance on his part; it shows that he wants to twist the truth to suit his own convenience. It is simply a love of ease which leads him to assert that the truth must be simple. The truth is indeed very complicated, and the spirit of the guiding cosmic beings can only be grasped by us when we make the most intense efforts to plunge into their thoughts, into their most subtle and intimate thoughts. So we ought not to believe that we have exhausted everything, when we say that: our souls have gradually evolved through Egyptian-Chaldean, the Graeco-Roman, and our own epoch. Let us now for a moment transport ourselves to that time when there was as yet no Graeco-Latin, but only Egyptian-Chaldean civilisation.

There were also human beings living then in Greece and in the countries of the Roman Empire; they lived in the countries of the Graeco-Romans before that age began. And in our own countries, on the soil we tread to-day, there were human beings living at the time when the Egyptian-Chaldean civilisation was playing its part in Asia and Africa. While certain souls, in Asia and Africa, at the epoch of the Egyptian-Chaldean period, were more particularly going through all that was to prepare them to receive the Christ-Impulse, others living in the regions of the subsequent Graeco-Latins were preparing to bring something quite different into the collective development of mankind. In our own countries too, there were people living then who were preparing themselves for something else. Not only do our souls take up different qualities in successive ages, but during the same age they live together side by side.

In this way different influences are brought to bear on the souls and further complications thus arise in evolution. By this means more is brought into the development of humanity than if everything went along smoothly in a straight line. It is indeed a fact that preparations had to be made in the Graeco-Latin lands, as also in our own, that the right thing might be brought into the development of civilisation from various sides. The Asiatic and African peoples had one mission and the South European peoples another,—while the peoples inhabiting Northern and Central Europe had a different one again. They all had to bring quite different qualities into the collective development of humanity, and they were able to do so because both their gifts and their training were essentially different.

When we turn our gaze towards the Egyptian-Chaldean peoples, to the souls who reached their zenith in that particular age, we must say: These peoples developed certain qualities of the Sentient-Soul, qualities which can be specially developed by the study of the wonderful teachings which then flowed from the sacred centres of Egypt, or from the marvellous astrology which could be learnt in a similar centre in Chaldea. That which flows from the various centres was sent for the very purpose of aiding the soul's progress. The true meaning of what thus flows forth is not to be found in the content of the streams of civilisation, but in what they contribute to the development of the human soul. The content itself passes away! Only those who in a deeper sense have not all their wits about them can believe otherwise than that in a few centuries of time our contemporary science will just as much have sunk into oblivion, as certain things connected with the Egyptian-Chaldean civilisation have done to-day. Anyone who believes that the Copernican conception of the universe yielded eternal verities, is making a very great mistake; that will become a thing of the past later on, just as have the discoveries of old Egypt to-day. As far as the content of these things is concerned they pass away, like many another thing in the development of humanity. For instance, in that wonderful picture of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, familiar to you all, at any rate in reproduction, there are only faint outlines to be seen to-day; and we know that before long nothing will remain of the work into which Leonardo da Vinci put his best powers. Some day there will be just as little left of Raphael's works, which so move our souls to-day, when we allow ourselves to be affected by them. All these works of art will perish and there will be no memory of them on the physical plane. The content of these pictures will succumb to death, like the content of the civilizations themselves. But when we stand before these pictures we ought to remember that they flowed out of Raphael's soul, and that his soul was different after he had conjured them forth from what it was before. Thousands and thousands of people who are moved and uplifted by these pictures, are made different through having this experience. And someday, when the whole earth crumbles into dust—as it certainly will,—the external arrangements organised by the various civilisations will no longer exist. But what the souls have acquired will pass over with them into eternity. What the civilisations give us, is given for the advantage of human souls, for into human souls was poured forth what flowed from the Sanctuaries of Egypt and Chaldea and which—for that time—was exalted wisdom. The souls of men were thereby to be brought a step further; and to the extent that they did advance further, to that extent were they ripe to encounter new treasures, which then, in the Graeco-Latin Age helped the human souls a little further still. If our own souls had not absorbed what they could in the Graeco-Latin Age, they could not now be living into the spiritual soul. That constitutes progress in time.

If we recollect various things said in the public lectures, we are aware that what we call the ‘ I,’ the ego, works in the three soul-principles. Out of the chaos of soul-experiences that we encounter in the Sentient-Soul, Intellectual-Soul and Consciousness- or Spiritual-Soul, the ego gradually develops, crystallising itself there from:—but not in the same way in different parts of the earth. For instance, while the souls in Asia and Africa, during the Egyptian-Chaldean Age, had been developed by the influence so long exercised upon them by the revelations of the Chaldean and Egyptian Sanctuaries,—the peoples in Europe who were far removed from these as regards distance, had developed in such a way that they were in a sense ahead of them. In the European countries men had already in a certain sense developed the ego in the Sentient-Soul,—they had developed a strong feeling for the ego.

Here we come to an extremely important point; those men passed over to Asia and Africa who could wait with their ego until there should have developed in the Sentient-Soul that which was to be the result of the influence of the Egyptian and Chaldean sacred knowledge. Souls were incarnated in the regions subject to this culture, who, more or less without any distinct feeling of the ego-nature, absorbed the sublime teachings and lofty culture. The lofty culture of ancient Chaldea was poured into a Sentient-Soul as yet unconscious of its ego. Here in the North, no such lofty culture was sunk into the soul. It remained more or less uncultivated, but on the other hand, in this very lack, the Sentient-Soul, which had never experienced the warm glow of the revelations pouring in from the Sanctuary knowledge, developed the Consciousness of an ego. We may say that among the peoples of Egypt and Chaldea the ego-consciousness was late in coming, it waited till the Sentient-Soul had absorbed a certain culture and until the later soul-principles had developed. In Europe the ego did not linger, it developed at once in the Sentient-Soul, but on the other hand, it waited till the later soul-principles had been developed before absorbing certain qualities pertaining to the treasures of civilisation. Thus there were certain souls, incarnated in Asia, and Africa, who had hardly any consciousness of their ego but who, in their Sentient-Souls, were granted revelations of a high order; while in Europe there were souls who, without having any high degree of culture, were able to emphasise their individual ego; they could both look upon and feel themselves as men, as human individuals. The people of the Greek and Latin countries occupied a middle place between the two extremes and they had the mission of developing the qualities of the Intellectual-Soul. They developed the ego in the Intellectual-Soul,—while at the same time they were also able in that soul to absorb certain forms of civilisation. Thus then, the Egyptian-Chaldean culture waited, holding back the ego for a later time, while the European culture developed it prematurely; but the Graeco-Latin culture in a sense kept the balance, for it developed a certain civilisation at the same time as the ego.

In this way we can divine a great mystery of our human development, and without knowledge of this we can never understand why the Christ-Impulse could find so unhindered an entrance into Europe and why it gained so much influence there. Why was this? Could Christ have appeared in Europe? Might He not have incarnated there in a carnal body? No! that would not have been possible. He appeared in the Graeco-Latin Age, that in which the Intellectual-Soul was developed. That age was particularly adapted to come forward to meet Christ, as it were. But Christ could not have made his appearance in Europe, because of the strong ego-feeling prevailing there. This strong, individual feeling of self, was not adapted to produce one single person having the sole prerogative of being able to provide the vehicle for the highest. A premature ego-feeling, a too great feeling of the equality of mankind, had developed in the countries of Europe. It would have been impossible there for one person to tower so greatly above his contemporaries, as did the one who was to provide the vehicle for the Christ. If Christ was to find a body fit for Him to occupy, there must be no premature appearance of the feeling of ‘ I.’ He had, therefore, to appear on the borders of the Egyptian-Chaldean and of the Graeco-Latin culture, where it was possible for a body to be formed not having the premature ego-feeling within it, but having nevertheless the profoundest comprehension of the Spiritual world given by the Egyptian and Chaldean cultures. But if Europe had not the power of preparing a body for the Christ, yet, just because it had prematurely developed the ego in the very dawn of the new life, it had also acquired other faculties, which served—after Christ had appeared—to bring to mankind a full consciousness of the ego, to help men to a full understanding of it. This was possible because the European peoples had acquired the feeling of the ‘ I ’ too early and had as it were grown up with it.

This must be borne in mind if we wish to understand the newer civilisation. In Asia and Africa we find people who know much concerning the world-secrets, and who are skilful in the setting up of certain symbols—who have in fact cultivated their Sentient-Soul in such a way that they have a rich soul-life; but their Sense of Ego is weak. In Europe we find people who have received less culture through revelations from without; but on the other hand we find there the type of man who looks to himself, who finds the strongest support in himself. So in Asia the ground was prepared for the coming of Christ, for there a body could be found into which He could draw in,—and in Europe we find the people best prepared to understand the bringer of the ego-consciousness. He brought to the peoples of Europe what they were longing for. Hence it was in Europe that Christian Mysticism was developed, that wonderful Mysticism in which a man sought to draw Christ into his own soul, into his own ego.

Thus the wise guidance of the World prepared mankind in different parts of the earth, so that each epoch of development should find what is right for that time. It is one of the great assets acquired by studying the conception of the world presented by Spiritual Science, that we gain more and more strongly a sense of the wise way in which the development of humanity and of the whole world has been carried on. We see how for thousands of years souls were prepared on the soil of Europe, that they might develop as early as possible a firm centre in their inner being, and for this very purpose they were actually kept back from acquiring the forces so highly evolved in Asia. Therefore, the stream of culture flowed across from Asia, while the strong sense of the personal ego was being developed in Europe. Again, we can actually point out how the Adriatic almost constituted a boundary between a rather weaker sense of self in Greece, where a man did not so much feel himself to be a separate individual as an Athenian, a Spartan, a Theban, a member of his city,—and the Roman culture on the other side, where the strong ego-feeling was developed in the consciousness of the Roman citizen, who stood firmly on his own ground as an individual person. In Greece we still find the ego somewhat of a retiring nature; man still took in more from the outer world, in such a way that the ego need not be present. If we cross the Adriatic and come to Rome we find the Roman citizen standing firmly on his feet—already conscious of his ego. All this is connected with deep and significant sub-depths. These things do not occur on the physical plane without corresponding events taking place in the Spiritual world. We see that in the culture of Greece there was still a strong influence of the ego that was withheld. Much in Greece was still taken impersonally. The Greek did not feel himself to be a separate citizen, but a member of the organism of Athens, Sparta, or Thebes. This had to be done away with. The longing of man to draw things into himself from without must disappear, and as he becomes more and more a Westerner he must learn to find entrance into the inner part of his soul. What is to be formed by the masses, must be lived and experienced in advance by the Great Leaders, the Great Individualities of humanity. Let us keep before our minds the fact to which we have often referred—that the Greek still had a strong consciousness that what was given him from without, apart from his having greatly developed his inner personality, was of particular value. Once more I would remind you of the saying of a very cultured Greek, which gives us a deep insight into the longings of the Greek people. ‘Better be a beggar in the upper world than a king in the realms of shades!’ The great value of the invisible, of the super-sensible life, had not then been realised. That which could be drawn from the environment without the help of the ego, is drawn from that environment. It is profoundly moving to perceive how at this juncture, at the turning-point of the times, a great Leading Personality stands like a sign-post, to cast off the disposition towards the earlier and to put on the disposition for the new; to ring forth far and wide, speaking as it were for the spiritual-world: ‘A time is now coming when men must no longer take into themselves that which can flow into their personality apart from the ego, but rather that which enters it through the ego!’

This deed was accomplished by one of the great Sages of ancient Greece; it was in part fulfilled in Empedokles, in the island of Sicily. In many of the legends which to-day are only told as tales, great depths lie concealed. Empedokles,—the great Sage who was not only a great philosopher but an Initiate into the deep mysteries of his time, who was both one of the greatest statesmen of all times and also a sacrificial priest,—of him the legend (which in an occult sense is true) relates as follows. Having completed his task in Sicily, Empedokles threw his body into Etna, that his external sheaths might be united with the soil of Sicily, thereby to record that ‘firm faith in the ego would follow, now that the outer had disappeared!’ The sacrifice of the outer sheaths of Empedokles was accomplished when he surrendered them to Etna. There is a deep occult truth behind this. Among the Spiritual experiences in Sicily to-day is the following. If spiritually one breathes the air of Sicily one can still trace in it the after-effects of the deed of Empedokles!—His soul has continued to incarnate; but his body attained a special significance by having been consciously given over to the elements, so that it can still be found in the spiritual atmosphere of Sicily to-day. The body of Empedokles forms a considerable part of the spiritual atmosphere of Sicily. It was a very important moment to me—such things can be discussed within our groups—when a few days ago I was able to tell our Palermo friends in their actual presence, that if anyone wanders in Sicily with a spiritual consciousness, he certainly still breathes spiritually, even to-day, that which has permeated the air of Sicily ever since the death of Empedokles!

So now we see that the boundary between East and West,—which we, speaking in an external and spatial sense, have referred to as the Adriatic Sea,—was indicated by a great Leader of Humanity, who, as he was to work on further in the West, stripped off the principle by means of which man could grow in the East, desiring to preserve for the future development of man that which is exalted above all the elements of the external physical plane.

It is a very great thing to become aware of these distinctions for they show how, in regions widely separated in space, different effects are being prepared in order that in this variety the greatest may be attained. It is through the co-operative effects of differentiation that the goal of the collective development of mankind must be attained. By this we can see that Christ, after having appeared in the East, went across to the West, there to be accepted by those who were made ready for this by a strong ego-consciousness; that they might thereby understand the Bringer of that consciousness. That is the secret of Christ's entrance into the West, that He there found souls prepared for Him, and that those souls accepted Him. Thus in the East we see humanity doing everything possible to prepare a body or a corporality,—consisting of physical body, etheric body and astral body—into which could penetrate the Christ, He who, together with the ego-consciousness and by means of it, brings the impulse of Love to the earth. Love is that which, in its most psychic and spiritual form, came to the earth with Christ, appearing in its psychic and spiritual form in the East,—for thus we first see it—and then flowing on further, to the West, where it is understood. In this way do we see development progressing further.

In what way was the ego-consciousness able so to work in the West that it felt itself related to Christ? What had happened to the souls who had prematurely taken up the ego-consciousness?

The Egyptian-Chaldean people waited for the spiritual or Consciousness Soul before they developed the ego; the Graeco-Latin peoples developed it in the Intellectual-Soul or soul of higher feeling; the culture of Northern Europe had prematurely developed the ego in the Sentient-Soul. That was in the human soul early in those countries; thus the Sentient-soul and the ego-consciousness worked together there in a different way than anywhere else in the world. In Northern Europe they first made themselves felt in the development of mankind. What was the result of the Ego-consciousness being firmly established in the Sentient-Soul in the European peoples, before a Christ had entered into the development of mankind, and before the latter had taken up what had been developed in Asia?

Because of this a force had been developed in the soul of man, together with the Sentient Soul, which could only have been developed through the Sentient-Soul being permeated with the ego-feeling while still quite virginal and uninfluenced by other civilisations. This permeation of the Sentient-Soul with the sense of self (the ego-sense) has grown into man's conscience. This accounts for the wonderful innocence of conscience! How does it speak? It speaks in the same way in the simplest and most primitive of men, as it does in the most complex soul. It says quite simply: that is right! that is wrong! without any theory or dogma. When it says: that is right, or that is wrong, what it tells us works with the might of an instinct or an urge. You will only find it developed in this way in the West. Therefore it throws its first rays like a rosy dawn, towards Greece and from thence towards Rome, where indeed we find it very strongly developed. We first meet with the word conscience,—conscientia—in the works of the Roman writers. Whereas among the Greeks we only find the first sporadic hints of it in Euripides, we find the Romans quite familiar with it, it had then become a word in general use. This is because of the influence of that strain of culture which came into being through the mutual inter-permeation of the Sentient-Soul and ego-feeling; for the ego-feeling, which lifts men up from the lowest to the highest, already speaks in the Sentient-Soul,—in which hitherto nothing spoke but instincts, desires and passions,—and speaks there like a voice from God, urging man to do what is right that he may press up to the higher ego.

In this way we can trace the first rise of conscience among the peoples of Europe. From thence it spreads its rays abroad to the other peoples of the Earth. Thus through a wise world-guidance, the humanity in one part of the world was so prepared that conscience could be added as a contribution to the whole collective development of humanity. We have now mentioned everything that can throw light upon conscience. We mentioned that indefinable attribute of conscience, its pressing forth from the depths of the soul. Conscience speaks like an urging impulse; but it is not an impulse. Those philosophers who so describe it, are far from hitting the mark. It speaks with the same power as does the Spiritual-Soul itself when it appears; but yet with elemental, original forces.

So, we see: Love appears on the earth in the East; Conscience in the West. The two belong together; as Christ appears in the East, so Conscience awakens in the West, that through it Christ may be accepted. In the simultaneous occurrence of the fact of the Christ-Event and the comprehension of it, and in the preparation for these two things in different parts of the Earth, we see the ruling of an infinite Wisdom guiding our development. We have thus indicated the past history of Conscience.

If we recollect what has often been emphasised,—that now, after the conclusion of Kali-Yuga, we are going through a transition in which new forces will have to be developed,—we shall easily understand that we are now faced with important questions regarding the further development of conscience. In the last lecture we strongly and clearly emphasised the fact that we are advancing towards a new Christ-Event, in that the soul will become capable of perceiving the Christ by means of a certain etheric clairvoyance, and of re-experiencing, in itself, the Event of Damascus. We are therefore justified in asking the question: What will happen as regards the parallel experience, that of the development of conscience, in the epochs towards which we are advancing? We will go into this question next Sunday (8th May), for the best way of celebrating our White Lotus Day will be to point out the living nature of the movement of Spiritual Science, and to explain that the conscience of man is in a state of transition. We shall see that light can be thrown upon it from many different sides. The public lecture will treat the subject quite exoterically, but even in these lectures many a thing can now be mentioned, because they have been going on for a number of years. Conscience can be spoken of in a deep sense, as we have done to-day,—or quite exoterically as we shall do on Thursday,—or it may be gone into yet more profoundly. But it will be some time before we can do that.

Sechster Vortrag

In diesen Wintervorträgen hat uns von den verschiedensten Seiten her viel die Frage beschäftigt nach dem Wesen des Christus, und wir haben in der mannigfaltigsten Weise klarzulegen versucht, was wir den Christus-Impuls in der Menschheitsentwickelung nennen, als das Gewaltigste innerhalb unserer ganzen Erdenentwickelung. Daher kann es begreiflich erscheinen, daß erstens dieses Thema überhaupt nicht erschöpft werden kann, sondern daß man sozusagen Unendliches zu tun hätte, wollte man den Christus-Impuls allseitig klarlegen. Auf der anderen Seite kann aber wieder auch das klar sein, daß nach allen unseren Voraussetzungen im Grunde genommen alles, was den Menschen interessieren kann, an die Besprechung der Christus-Erscheinung anzuschließen ist. Wir haben ja gesehen, daß die Evangelien selbst von vier verschiedenen Seiten her dem Wesen des Christus nahezukommen suchen, und wir haben verschiedenes angedeutet über die Geheimnisse der einzelnen Evangelien.

Nur bis zu einem gewissen Grade konnten wir in das MatthäusEvangelium hineinleuchten. Es wird nun späteren Vorträgen überlassen bleiben müssen, im Zusammenhang wieder zurückzukommen auf die Geheimnisse des Matthäus-Evangeliums, um dann hineinzusteigen in die Tiefen des Markus-Evangeliums. Würden wir jetzt am Ende des Winters in unserem Zweige auch nur mit einigen skizzenhaften Andeutungen auf das hinweisen wollen, was uns noch übriggeblieben ist, so würde das zu sehr für die nächsten Zeiten die Geschlossenheit der Vorträge zerstören. Daher sollen heute und das nächste Mal von mir Fragen berührt werden, die in gewisser Beziehung von einer anderen Seite her an das Christus-Problem herankommen, und zwar soll heute berührt werden die Frage nach dem Zusammenhang des menschlichen Gewissens mit dem Einschlag des Christus-Impulses in die Menschheitsentwickelung. Damit wird zugleich noch etwas anderes erreicht. Am nächsten Donnerstag haben wir den öffentlichen Vortrag über das menschliche Gewissen, und auch heute soll hier im Zweige über dasselbe Thema gesprochen werden. Damit wird aber eine ganz bestimmte Absicht verfolgt, eine Absicht, die später noch öfter vor unser geistiges Auge treten soll. Es soll nämlich gezeigt werden, daß über denselben Gegenstand in einer andern Art gesprochen werden soll innerhalb einer solchen Arbeitsgruppe, in der wir uns befinden, als in einem öffentlichen Vortrage, der auch für diejenigen bestimmt ist, die der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung noch nicht angehören. Der Anthroposoph soll ja unter den mancherlei Dingen, die sich als Eigenschaften festsetzen sollen in seinem Gemüt, auch ein Gefühl dafür bekommen, daß man den Dingen der Welt von den verschiedensten Standpunkten und Seiten beikommen soll, und daß der, welcher schon gewisse Voraussetzungen hat, anders über eine Sache sprechen und hören kann als jemand, der solche Voraussetzungen nicht hat. Wenn wir in einer Arbeitsgruppe sprechen, so setzen wir voraus, daß das Gemüt sich bis zu einem gewissen Grade hineingelebt hat in die Vorstellungen einer geistigen Welt, drinnensteht in Empfindungen und Gefühlen von der geistigen Welt, und daß aus diesen Empfindungen, Gefühlen und Gedanken, die über die geistige Welt aufgenommen worden sind, sich zusammenfügen kann eine Vorstellung über eine solche Sache, wie das menschliche Gewissen es ist. Es kann also aus viel intensiveren Tiefen heraufgeholt werden die Antwort auf solche Fragen in einer Arbeitsgruppe als in einem öffentlichen Vortrag, der vor einem nicht anthroposophischen Publikum gehalten wird. Sollen ja doch diese öffentlichen Vorträge die Aufgabe haben, durch die Erscheinungen des Seelenlebens, die man zunächst wie äußere Erlebnisse heranzieht, nach und nach erst etwas wie eine Art Beweis dafür herbeizutragen, daß die Wahrheiten, die wir in der Geisteswissenschaft kennen, wirklich Wahrheiten sind. Das ist eine andere Aufgabe als für den Geisteswissenschafter selber zu sprechen, der gewisse Voraussetzungen, Überzeugungen, vielleicht auch gewisse Anschauungen über die geistige Welt schon mitbringt. Der Geisteswissenschafter soll sich eben nach und nach aneignen, die Begriffe und Vorstellungen, welche ihm dies und jenes erklären, in der verschiedensten Weise aus den verschiedensten Quellen und Seiten herholen zu lernen, und der Geisteswissenschafter soll sich abgewöhnen lernen die Unart, die aber notwendigerweise im äußeren Leben bestehen muß, als ob man nur in einer Art und Weise über eine Sache sprechen könnte.

Das menschliche Gewissen ist etwas, was uns ja im Tiefsten der Seele berühren muß. Und wo uns seit Jahrhunderten Philosophen oder sonstige Denker über die Welt entgegentreten, da ist es in der Regel auch die Frage nach dem, was man das menschliche Gewissen nennt, die sie interessierte. Man könnte nun gerade einer solchen Erscheinung wie dem Gewissen gegenüber sich leicht einer Illusion hingeben: der Illusion, die hier schon öfter eben als Illusion bezeichnet worden ist, und die darin bestehen würde, daß man glaubte, alles was in der menschlichen Seele heute gegenwärtig ist, das sei schon immer dagewesen. Wir haben aber gesehen, daß die verschiedensten Seelenfähigkeiten und Seelenvorgänge, welche sich im Menschen im Laufe der Jahrtausende entwickelt haben, in der Urzeit ganz andere waren, als sie gegenwärtig sind. Und auch mancherlei von dem, was wir heute als das Teuerste, als das Bedeutsamste besitzen in unserem Seelenleben, haben unsere Seelen nicht gehabt, als sie vor vielen Jahrtausenden in anderen Verkörperungen auf der Erde wandelten. Das Durchgehen durch verschiedene Verkörperungen hat ja einen Sinn. Wir haben das oft betont. Es hat den Sinn, daß die Seele, indem sie sich von Verkörperung zu Verkörperung entwickelt, immer neue Fähigkeiten und Kräfte sich aneignen kann, daß die Seele wirklich eine Geschichte durchmacht, daß ihr Erdendasein eine Lehrzeit ist, daß sie etwas anderes gewesen ist in der Zeit, als unsere Verkörperungen begonnen haben, und etwas anderes ist jetzt, und etwas anderes sein wird in einer fernen Zukunft.

Auch das menschliche Gewissen, dieses teure Gut der Menschenseele, welches wie eine Gottesstimme ruft gegenüber dem Guten und gegenüber dem Bösen in jedem individuellen Menschen, auch diese teure Gabe des menschlichen Innern ist nicht immer dagewesen. Auch dieses Gewissen ist etwas, was sich entwickelt hat. Und es ist sogar verhältnismäßig noch nicht lange her, seit sich dieses menschliche Gewissen ankündigte und sich seitdem immer weiter und weiter entwickelt hat. Und wenn es auch ein teures Gut ist, so ist es dennoch nicht dazu berufen, immer in derselben Weise durch alle folgenden Inkarnationen hindurch in der menschlichen Seele zu leben, so wie jetzt. Es wird sich weiter entwickeln, es wird andere Gestalten annehmen, wird sich erweisen als etwas, was sich der Mensch anzueignen hat, was ihm Früchte tragen wird, und was in späteren Zeiten, wenn er diese Früchte haben wird, etwas sein wird, auf das er zurückblickt und sagt: Es gab eine Epoche, da wurde es mir möglich, auf dem Durchgange von Inkarnation zu Inkarnation meinem Seelendasein das einzuverleiben, was das Gewissen ist, und jetzt habe ich die Früchte von dem, was ich einst meiner Seele einverleibt habe. — Wie wir heute zurückschauen auf eine Zeit, wo unsere Seelen in anderen Verkörperungen waren und das noch nicht hatten, was wir heute Gewissen nennen, so werden in späteren Zeiten unsere Seelen einstmals zurückblicken auf unsere gegenwärtigen Inkarnationen und werden sagen: Heil jener Vergangenheit! Dank jenen Gaben, die uns in der Vergangenheit geworden sind als menschliches Gewissen! Hätten wir damals nicht das menschliche Gewissen entwickeln können in unsern Seelen, so würde uns jetzt das fehlen, was wir brauchen zu dem jetzigen Leben!

Daraus schon sehen wir, daß das Gewissen zu den seelischen Gütern der Gegenwart gehört, und daß es etwas wie Verständnis unserer Gegenwart ist, wie Verständnis des Seelenlebens unserer Gegenwart, wenn wir etwas verstehen von der Natur und dem Wesen des menschlichen Gewissens. Daß es entstanden ist, darauf wurde ja in manchem Zusammenhange schon aufmerksam gemacht. Darauf wird auch am nächsten Donnerstag hingedeutet werden, daß man sozusagen mit Fingern hinweisen kann auf den Zeitpunkt, wo das Gewissen für die menschliche Seele erst entdeckt worden ist. Wenn wir einige Jahrhunderte zurückgehen in das alte Griechenland, so finden wir kaum ein halbes Jahrtausend vor dem Beginn der christlichen Zeitrechnung den großen Dichter Äschylos. Wenn wir bei ihm, bei diesem gewaltigen Genius der griechischen Urdramatik uns umsehen, wenn wir seine Gestalten auf uns wirken lassen, so finden wir in seiner Dramatik das, was wir heute mit dem Ausdruck Gewissen bezeichnen, noch nicht mit einem ähnlichen Ausdruck bezeichnet. Ein halbes Jahrtausend vor dem Beginn der christlichen Zeitrechnung gibt es für den größten Dramatiker noch keinen Ausdruck für das, was wir heute als das menschliche Gewissen bezeichnen. Wenn er ausdrücken will den menschlichen Seelenvorgang, der dem entsprechen würde, was wir heute Gewissen nennen, dann muß er es in der Weise tun, daß jemand, der zum Beispiel das Unrecht des Muttermordes begangen hat, durch die Gewalt dieses Ereignisses ins Geistige hineinschaut und Gestalten sieht im Geistigen, die das alte Griechentum die Erinnyen, das spätere Römertum die Furien genannt hat. Das heißt, wer ein Unrecht wie den Muttermord getan hat, der vernimmt bei Äschylos nicht das, was wir heute die vorwerfende Stimme des Gewissens im eigenen Innern nennen, sondern ihn drängt etwas, geistig zu schauen die Gestalten, die wie die Rächer seiner Tat ihn umgeben.

Das ist einer der besonderen Beweise, die Sie finden können in der geschichtlichen Entwickelung der Menschheit für das, was in umfassender Weise eben charakterisiert worden ist. Das menschliche Seelenvermögen war in alten Zeiten ganz anders. Wir haben immer betont, daß die menschliche Seele sich erst nach und nach entwickelt hat zu ihrer jetzigen Fähigkeit, die physisch-sinnliche Welt durch die Sinne so wahrzunehmen, wie sie es heute kann, und den Verstand so zu gebrauchen, wie sie ihn heute gebraucht. Wir haben betont, daß die Seele in alten Zeiten als normales Vermögen ein gewisses Hellsehen hatte. Dieses Hellsehen trat zur Zeit des Äschylos nur noch in besonderen Fällen ein. Hellsichtig wird die Seele zum Beispiel, um das zu schauen, was sie in der physischen Welt durch ihr Unrecht angerichtet hat. Hellsichtig wird die Seele des Orest, nachdem er den Muttermord begangen hat. Da sieht sie, welche Geister sie durch ihre Tat wachgerufen hat in der geistigen Welt. Die dringen an sie heran. Nicht im Innern der Seele sitzt so etwas wie das Gewissen, sondern hellsichtiges Bewußtsein tritt auf, um die Unordnung zu sehen, die wachgerufen ist dadurch, daß in der physischen Welt ein Unrecht begangen worden ist. Das würden wir in alten Zeiten überall finden: Wer ein Unrecht getan hat, hört noch nicht die warnende Stimme des Gewissens, denn die Seele ist in alten Zeiten im Zustande des Hellsehens und sieht da, was entstanden ist in der, Außenwelt durch das Unrecht.

Was geschieht denn, wenn ein Unrecht begangen worden ist? Da wird durch uns selber in der geistigen Welt etwas geschaffen. Es ist nur materialistisches Vorurteil, daß ein Unrecht vorübergehen kann, ohne daß dabei in der geistigen Welt etwas geschaffen wird. Das Unrecht erzeugt ganz bestimmte Vorgänge in der geistigen Welt, Wirkungen, die von uns ausstrahlen, unsichtbar für die äußere Sinnenbeobachtung, aber vorhanden für geistiges Schauen. Und solche geistigen Vorgänge, die von jemandem ausstrahlen, der ein Unrecht getan hat, bedeuten Nahrung für gewisse Wesenheiten, die in der geistigen Welt tatsächlich vorhanden sind. Solche Wesenheiten können an den Menschen nicht immer heran. Wenn er keine solche Ausstrahlungen hat, wie sie von einem unrechten Tun kommen, dann können sie nicht an ihn heran. Es geht mit ihnen gerade so wie mit einer Stube: Wenn die Stube ganz rein ist, können keine Fliegen darinnen sein. Es sind auch keine drinnen. Aber wenn die Stube alles mögliche Schmutzige hat, Speisereste und so weiter, da sind die Fliegen gleich da. In dem Augenblick, wo der Mensch ausstrahlt durch seine schlechten Taten gewisse geistige Ausstrahlungen, da sind um ihn herum Wesenheiten, die sich davon nähren. Diese Wesenheiten läßt der große griechische Tragiker Äschylos um Orest herum sein. Was wir heute als innere Stimme vernehmen, das ist dem griechischen Tragiker Äschylos noch so bewußt, daß er es in äußeren Gestalten auftreten läßt, weil er weiß, daß in besonderen Fällen immer noch das eintrat, was in älteren Zeiten ein Gemeingut aller Seelen war: ein gewisses hellsichtiges Bewußtsein. Von allem früheren bleibt etwas für spätere Zeiten zurück und tritt dann als Atavismus auf, aber nur in abnormen Fällen. Daher ist es nicht etwas, was zu tadeln wäre, wenn bei Shakespeare zum Beispiel noch etwas ähnliches auftritt, gleichsam ein objektiviertes Gewissen.

Dann aber brauchen wir nur wenige Zeit weiterzugehen in der griechischen Kunst, von Äschylos zu Euripides, und Euripides, der spätere Tragiker, zeigt uns, daß er den Begriff des Gewissens bereits hat. So sehen wir im alten Griechenland, wie in dem halben Jahrtausend vor der christlichen Zeitrechnung der Begriff des Gewissens nach und nach erst auftritt. Suchen Sie sich im Alten Testament ein Wort für das, was wir heute Gewissen nennen: Sie werden es nicht finden. Gewissen ist etwas, was als Fähigkeit erst in die Menschenseele eingezogen ist. Und wenn wir nicht kurze Spannen Zeiten betrachten, sondern große Zeiträume, dann können wir sehen, daß das Gewissen etwas ist, was in die Menschenseele seinen Einzug gehalten hat auch ungefähr in derselben Zeit, als der Christus-Impuls in der Seele Platz gegriffen hat. Man möchte sagen, fast wie ein Schatten folgt das Gewissen dem Christus-Impuls, wie er eintritt in die weltgeschichtliche Entwickelung. Um das nun zu verstehen, müssen wir heute nun mancherlei in uns lebendig machen, was wir im Laufe der Jahre uns angeeignet haben, und was wir fruchtbar machen müssen zum Begreifen dessen, was das menschliche Gewissen eigentlich ist.

Wenn wir begreifen wollen in einem tieferen Grunde, was das Gewissen ist, so müssen wir gerade jenen Zeitpunkt ins Auge fassen, in welchem die menschliche Entwickelung sich dem Christus-Impuls nähert, diesen Christus-Impuls aufgenommen hat und dann in unsere Zeit hinein weitergeschritten ist. Wir wissen, daß wir es dabei zu tun haben mit drei Kulturepochen unserer Menschheitsentwickelung, die wir bezeichnen als die ägyptisch-chaldäische Kultur, die griechisch-lateinische Kultur und als unsere gegenwärtige Kultur. Die zwei vorhergehenden Kulturen, die uralt-indische und die urpersische, können wir jetzt unberücksichtigt lassen, denn da waren unsere Seelen noch weit entfernt, dasjenige auch nur zu ahnen, was wir heute mit dem Begriff des Gewissens bezeichnen. In der ägyptischchaldäischen Kultur sehen wir allmählich, wie sich vorbereitet alles, was dann zu der höchsten Höhe emporgestiegen ist, die es erreichen konnte, um in der griechisch-lateinischen Kultur den bedeutsamen Impuls zu erlangen, der als der Christus-Impuls aufgenommen worden ist. Und wir sehen dann in unserer eigenen Zeit die Epoche, wo dieser Impuls verarbeitet wird. Und immer größer und bedeutungsvoller wird dieses Verarbeiten in dem kommenden Zeitalter werden.

Wenn wir uns nun noch etwas genauer erinnern an diese Entwikkelung, die sich vollzieht von der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Zeit durch die griechisch-lateinische Epoche bis in unsere Zeit hinein, so tritt uns da vor die Seele, daß in jeder dieser Epochen insbesondere ein Glied der menschlichen Seele entwickelt wird. Von den drei Gliedern der menschlichen Seele ist während der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Zeit entwickelt worden dasjenige, was wir die Empfindungsseele nennen, das heißt, wir mußten in ägyptisch-chaldäischen Leibern einstmals verkörpert sein, damit wir in die Lage kamen, in regelrechter Weise jene Fähigkeiten in uns aufzunehmen, die zu der besonderen Ausbildung der Empfindungsseele taugen. Dann haben wir als Seelen jene Eigenschaft mitgenommen in die nächsten Verkörperungen während der griechisch-lateinischen Epoche, um jetzt auszubilden die Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele. Und mit den Früchten, die wir aus der griechisch-lateinischen Epoche gewonnen haben, leben wir in unseren jetzigen Verkörperungen, um nun allmählich das zu immer höherer Entwickelung kommen zu lassen, was wir die Kräfte der Bewußtseinsseele nennen. So wird unsere Seele als Mensch gera‘de während diesen drei Zeitaltern ausgebildet. Und wenn unsere Zeit vorüber sein wird, dann wird unsere Seele aufsteigen zu der Entwickelung der Fähigkeit des Geistselbst. Das wird in der sechsten Kulturepoche sein. Da sehen wir, welchen tiefen Sinn es hat, daß wir aufeinanderfolgende Verkörperungen durchmachen. Es hat den Sinn, daß wir uns dadurch nach und nach aneignen diejenigen Fähigkeiten, welche wir als die der menschlichen Seele kennen, und im weiteren Umfange auch diejenigen, welche dann über das bloße Seelenleben hinausgehen.

Also während der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Kultur haben unsere Seelen sich angeeignet die Kräfte der Empfindungsseele und haben diese Kräfte zur Entfaltung gebracht, während der griechisch-lateinischen Zeit die Kräfte der Verstandesseele oder Gemütsseele. Bis zur Verstandesseele mußte der Mensch normalerweise heraufdringen, dann konnte der Christus-Impuls auf ihn ausgeübt werden.

Nun aber war in einer ganz verschiedenen Weise diese Ausbildung an den verschiedenen Punkten der Erde geschehen. Wenn wir nämlich mit einer gewissen Bequemlichkeit der Seele glauben wollten, daß sich in der Entwickelung der Menschheit alles möglichst einfach vollzieht, so werden wir niemals zum Begreifen der Menschheitsentwickelung kommen können. Vieles muß man kennenlernen, um die großen Gedanken der leitenden Weltwesen einigermaßen nachdenken zu können! Und es ist der größte Hochmut, wenn der Mensch den Satz ausspricht, daß die Wahrheit einfach sei; denn da will er die Wahrheit nach seiner Bequemlichkeit drechseln. Es ist nur eine Frucht der Bequemlichkeit, wenn gesagt wird, die Wahrheit müsse einfach sein. Aber die Wahrheit ist eine komplizierte, weil der Geist der leitenden Weltwesen von uns nur begriffen werden kann, wenn wir die höchsten Anstrengungen machen, um uns in die Gedanken der leitenden Weltengeister — auch bis in die subtilsten Gedanken hinein — zu vertiefen. So dürfen wir auch nicht glauben, daß wir schon alles erschöpft hätten, wenn wir sagen: Unsere Seelen haben sich durch die ägyptisch-chaldäische Kultur, durch die griechischlateinische Kultur und durch unsere jetzige Kulturepoche hinaufentwickelt. Versetzen wir uns für einen Augenblick in die Zeit, da es noch kein griechisch-lateinisches Wesen gab, sondern nur erst die ägyptisch-chaldäische Kultur.

In dieser Zeit lebten in den Gegenden Griechenlands und: in den Ländern des römischen Reiches auch Menschen; sie lebten sozusagen vor der griechisch-lateinischen Zeit in den Ländern der späteren griechisch-lateinischen Kultur. Und auch in unseren Gegenden, auf dem Boden, den wir heute betreten, lebten Menschen in der Zeit, als die ägyptisch-chaldäische Kultur sich in Asien und Afrika abspielte. Während in Asien und Afrika zur Zeit der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Kultur gewisse Seelen im eminentesten Sinne das durchmachten, was sie vorbereiten sollte zum Empfang des Christus-Impulses, lebten in den Gegenden der späteren griechisch-lateinischen Kultur andere Seelen, die sich vorbereiteten, etwas ganz anderes hinzuzubringen zur Gesamtentwickelung der Menschheit. Ebenso lebten in unseren Gegenden Menschen, die sich zu etwas anderem vorbereiteten. Nicht nur, daß in den aufeinanderfolgenden Zeiten unsere Seelen verschiedene Fähigkeiten aufnehmen, sondern in denselben Zeiten leben die Seelen auch nebeneinander. Dadurch wird in der verschiedensten Weise auf die Seelen gewirkt, und dadurch entsteht eine weitere Komplikation in der Entwickelung. Es wird damit der Menschheitsentwickelung mehr gebracht, als wenn alles in gerader Linie fortliefe, In der Tat mußten Vorbereitungen gemacht werden sowohl auf griechisch-lateinischem Boden als auch in unseren Gegenden, damit von den verschiedensten Seiten her in die Kulturentwikkelung das Rechte mit hineingebracht wurde. Fine ganz andere Aufgabe hatten die asiatischen und afrikanischen Völker, eine ganz andere die südeuropäischen Völker, und wiederum eine ganz andere Aufgabe hatten die Völker des mittleren und des nördlichen Europa. Sie hatten alle ganz verschiedenes hinzuzubringen zu der GesamtMenschheitsentwickelung, und sie konnten verschiedenes hinzubringen, weil ihre Anlagen und ihre ganze Ausbildung eine wesentlich andere war als die der andern.

Wenn wir nämlich unseren Blick richten auf die ägyptisch-chaldäischen Völker, auf die Seelen, welche gerade in der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Kultur ihren Höhepunkt erreichten, so müssen wir sagen: diese Völker entwickelten damals gewisse Fähigkeiten der Empfindungsseele, welche man eben ganz besonders entwickeln kann, wenn man jene wunderbaren Lehren aufnimmt, die damals aus den ägyptischen Heiligtümern flossen, oder die wunderbare Astrologie, die aus den chaldäischen Heiligtümern kommen konnte. Was aus den verschiedenen Kulturstätten fließt, ist dazu da, die Seelen vorwärtszubringen. Denn im Grunde ist die wahre Bedeutung dessen, was aus den verschiedenen Kulturstätten fließt, nicht dasjenige, was diese Kulturströmungen als Inhalt haben, sondern was sie zur Entwickelung der menschlichen Seele beitragen. Der Inhalt vergeht! Und nur die, welche im tieferen Sinne gar nicht bei Trost sind, können glauben, daß in einigen Jahrhunderten unsere heutige Wissenschaft nicht ebenso hinuntergesunken sein wird in den Schoß der Vergessenheit, wie gewisse Dinge der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Kultur in die Vergessenheit heruntergesunken sind. Wer glauben würde, daß in der kopernikanischen Weltanschauung ewige Errungenschaften gegeben sind, der irrt sich ganz gewaltig; sie wird später ebenso etwas Überwundenes sein wie die Errungenschaften der ägyptischen Kultur heute. Ihrem Inhalte nach gehen diese Dinge vorbei wie auch manches andere in der Menschheitsentwickelung. Wir treten zum Beispiel hin vor jenes wunderbare Bild, welches Ihnen allen wenigstens in Abbildungen bekannt sein wird, das «Abendmahl» von Leonardo da Vinci. Wenn wir es heute in Mailand sehen wollen, sehen wir es nur noch in ganz schwachen Umrissen, und wir wissen, es wird nicht lange dauern, dann wird nichts mehr zu sehen sein von dem, wohinein Leonardo da Vinci seine beste Kraft gelegt hart. Ebensowenig wird später einmal noch etwas zu sehen sein von den herrlichen Werken Raffaels, welche heute die Seele so tief ergreifen, wenn Sie sie auf sich wirken lassen. Alle diese Werke werden in Staub zerfallen, und eine Erinnerung daran wird auf dem physischen Plan nicht mehr da sein. Der Inhalt dieser Werke wie der Inhalt der Kulturen geht in den Tod hinunter. Aber wenn wir zum Beispiel vor diesen Bildern stehen, dann sollen wir daran denken, daß sie Raffaels Seele entflossen sind, und daß Raffaels Seele eine andere geworden ist, nachdem sie diese Bilder aus sich hervorgezaubert hatte, als sie vorher war. Und die Millionen und Millionen von Menschen, die sich daran erheben, nehmen den Inhalt der Bilder in ihre Seelen auf und werden dadurch etwas anderes. Und wenn die ganze Erde einmal in Staub zermalmt sein wird — was sie ganz gewiß sein wird -, dann wird von den äußeren Einrichtungen der Kulturen nichts mehr vorhanden sein, aber was die Seelen aufgenommen haben, das wird in die Ewigkeit mit hinübergehen. Für die Menschenseelen ist das da, was die Kulturen bieten, was aus Ägyptens und Chaldäas Heiligtümern geflossen ist an für die damalige Zeit hehrem Weisheitsinhalt. Vorwärts kommen sollten die Menschenseelen um ein entsprechendes Stück. Und um was sie vorwärts gekommen sind, um das waren sie reifer, wieder neue Güter entgegenzunehmen; jene Güter, die dann in der griechisch-lateinischen Kultur wieder die Seelen um ein Stück vorwärts brachten. Hätten unsere Seelen nicht das aufgenommen, was sie in der griechisch-lateinischen Zeit aufnehmen konnten, so könnten sie sich jetzt nicht in die Bewußtseinsseele hineinleben. Das ist der Fortgang in der Zeit.

Wenn wir uns an manches erinnern, was auch in den öffentlichen Vorträgen gesagt worden ist, so wissen wir, daß in den drei Seelengliedern dasjenige wirkt, was wir das Ich nennen. Aus dem Chaos der seelischen Erlebnisse, die uns in der Empfindungsseele, Verstandesseele und Bewußtseinsseele entgegentreten, entwickelt das Ich sich nach und nach heraus, kristallisiert sich aus all dem heraus, aber nicht in gleicher Weise an den verschiedenen Punkten der Erde. Während zum Beispiel in Asien und Afrika, als die ägyptisch-chaldäische Kultur vor sich ging, die Menschen sich so entwickelten, daß sie dort noch lange auf ihre Seele haben wirken lassen die Offenbarungen der chaldäischen und ägyptischen Heiligtümer, hatten die Völker Europas, die davon entfernt waren, sich so entwickelt, daß sie gewissermaßen schon etwas vorausgenommen hatten. In den europäischen Gegenden hatten die Menschen in der Empfindungsseele schon in gewisser Weise das Ich entwickelt, ein starkes Gefühl, eine starke Empfindung für das Ich.

Hier sind wir an einem ganz unendlich wichtigen Punkt. Nach Asien und Afrika hinüber sind die Menschen gezogen, die mit ihrem Ich warteten zu der Zeit, wo in der Empfindungsseele schon vorher das entwickelt war, was durch die ägyptischen und chaldäischen Heiligtümer entwickelt werden konnte. Da waren in der Gegend der ägyptisch-chaldäischen Kultur Seelen inkarniert, welche mehr oder weniger ohne ein deutliches Gefühl von der Ichheit zu haben, hohe Lehren, eine hohe Kultur aufnahmen. In eine sich ihres Ich noch nicht bewußte Empfindungsseele wird im alten Chaldäa die hohe Kultur, die dazumal bestanden hat, hineinversenkt. Hier im Norden wird nicht eine so hohe Kultur in die Seele versenkt. Da bleibt die Seele mehr oder weniger unkultiviert, aber sie entwickelt dafür in dieser Unkultur, in dieser nicht von irgendwelchen Offenbarungen der Heiligtümer durchglühten Empfindungsseele ein IchBewußtsein. Wir können sagen: Bei den ägyptisch-chaldäischen Völkern verspätet sich das Ich-Bewußtsein, es läßt zuerst die Empfindungsseele eine gewisse Kultur aufnehmen, bis die späteren Seelenglieder entwickelt sein werden. In Europa wartet das Ich nicht, sondern es entwickelt sich schon in der Empfindungsseele. Es wartet aber dafür mit der Aufnahme gewisser Kulturgüter, bis die späteren Seelenglieder entwickelt sein werden. So haben wir in Asien und Afrika solche Seelen verkörpert, die sich ihres Ich noch fast gar nicht bewußt sind, dagegen etwas wie Eingebungen hoher Offenbarungen haben in der Empfindungsseele. In Europa haben wir Seelen, die keine besonders hohe Kultur haben, die aber ihr individuelles Ich betonen, die in sich als Menschen hineinschauen und sich als Menschen fühlen. Zwischen beiden Extremen stehen die griechisch-lateinischen Völker drinnen, welche besonders die Aufgabe hatten, die Fähigkeiten der Verstandesseele zu entwickeln. Bei ihnen war es so, daß sie das Ich in der Verstandesseele entwickelten und auch gleichzeitig gewisse Kulturen in der Verstandesseele aufnehmen konnten. So daß also die ägyptisch-chaldäische Kultur mit dem Ich wartete bis in eine spätere Zeit, während die europäische Kultur dieses Ich frühzeitig entwickelte. In der griechisch-lateinischen Kultur hielt sich das in gewissem Sinne die Waage, da wurde gleichzeitig mit dem Ich eine gewisse Kultur entwickelt.

Damit deuten wir auf ein großes Geheimnis unserer menschlichen Entwickelung, ohne dessen Kenntnis wir niemals verstehen, warum gerade der Christus-Impuls jenen ungehinderten Einfluß und Eingang in Europa gefunden hat.

Warum das? Hätte der Christus in Europa erscheinen können, sich in Europa verkörpern können im Fleische? Nein, das hätte er nicht können. Er erschien in der griechisch-lateinischen Zeit, in welcher die Verstandesseele ausgebildet worden ist. Die war dazu geeignet, gerade den Christus sozusagen entgegenzunehmen. Aber nie hätte der Christus in Europa erscheinen dürfen, weil dort das starke Ich-Gefühl geblieben war. Dieses starke individuelle Ich-Gefühl war nicht geeignet, einen einzigen Menschen zu erzeugen, der vor allen übrigen den Vorzug hatte, daß er allein das Höchste aufnehmen konnte. Ein verfrühtes Ich-Gefühl, ein zu großes Gefühl für die Gleichheit der Menschen hatte sich in den europäischen Ländern entwickelt. Da wäre es unmöglich gewesen, daß eine Persönlichkeit über die anderen so hinausgeragt hätte, wie jene Persönlichkeit über ihre Zeitgenossen hinausragte, die in Palästina das Gefäß bilden sollte für den Christus. So intensiv wie in Europa durfte auf einer frühen Stufe das Ich-Gefühl nicht erscheinen, wenn der Christus einen Körper finden sollte, um sich zu verkörpern. Er mußte also gerade dort erscheinen, wo an der Grenze der ägyptisch-chaldäischen und der griechisch-lateinischen Kultur es möglich war, einen solchen Körper auszubilden, der noch nicht in sich das verfrühte Ich-Gefühl trug, der aber dennoch das tiefste Verständnis hatte für ein Begreifen der geistigen Welt, das aufgenommen war in der ägyptischen und chaldäischen Kultur. Wenn aber Europa nicht die Fähigkeit hatte, den Leib zu liefern für den Christus, so hatte es doch dadurch, daß es zu früh in der Morgenröte des neueren Daseins das Ich ausgebildet hatte, vor allen anderen Errungenschaften das volle Verständnis dafür, nachdem der Christus einmal da war, um den Menschen das volle Bewußtsein vom Ich zu bringen, dieses Ich-Bewußtsein zu begreifen, aus dem Grunde, weil die europäischen Völker das Ich-Gefühl zu früh aufgenommen hatten und mit ihm gleichsam zusammengewachsen waren.

Das müssen wir berücksichtigen, wenn wir den ganzen Aufgang der neueren Kultur verstehen wollen. In Asien und Afrika finden wir Menschen, die viel wissen über die Geheimnisse der Welt, die viel können in der Herstellung gewisser Symbole. Kurz, sie haben ihre Empfindungsseele so kultiviert, daß sie ein reiches Seelenleben haben, aber ihr Ich-Gefühl ist schwach. In Europa finden wir Menschen, die weniger Kultur haben durch das, was man durch Offenbarungen von außen sich aneignen kann, dafür finden wir aber dort den Typus des Menschen, der sich in sich sucht, der in sich die feste Stütze findet. So war in Asien vorbereitet der Boden für die Erscheinung des Christus, dort konnte es einen Leib geben, in den der Christus einziehen konnte; und in Europa finden wir die Menschen am besten vorbereitet zu einem Verständnis für den Bringer des Ich-Bewußtseins. Den europäischen Völkern brachte er das, wonach man gelechzt hatte. Daher entwickelt sich gerade in Europa jene wunderbare Mystik, die den Christus in die eigene Seele, in das Ich aufnehmen wollte: die christliche Mystik.

So wird an den verschiedenen Punkten der Erde die Menschheit vorbereitet durch die weise Lenkung der Welt, daß ein jedes Entwikkelungsmoment zu seinem Recht kommt. Das ist eine der großen Errungenschaften der geisteswissenschaftlichen Weltanschauung, daß man immer mehr das Gefühl erhält, wie weise alles in der Menschheitsentwickelung und in der ganzen Welt eigentlich vor sich gegangen ist, wie durch Jahrtausende auf europäischem Boden die Seelen vorbereitet sind, daß sie so früh wie möglich einen festen Punkt im eigenen Innern hatten, und daß sie, um diesen festen Punkt zu entwickeln, sogar zurückgehalten wurden in den Kräften, die in Asien so hoch ausgebildet waren. Daher nimmt der Kulturstrom von Asien herüber seinen Weg, das starke Gefühl der Ich-Persönlichkeit geht in Europa auf. Ja, wir können geradezu wieder mit Fingern hinweisen darauf, wie das Adriatische Meer fast eine festbestimmte Grenze bildet zwischen einem sogar noch etwas schwächeren Ich-Gefühl in Griechenland einerseits, wo sich der Mensch noch nicht so fühlte als einzelne individuelle Persönlichkeit, sondern mehr als Athener, als Spartaner, Thebaner, angehörig seiner Polis, und zwischen den römischen Kulturgegenden andererseits, wo das starke Ich-Gefühl ganz wesentlich ausgebildet ist im Bewußtsein des römischen Bürgers, der als Persönlichkeit fest steht auf seinem Boden. Da sehen wir in Griechenland noch das im Menschen, was man bezeichnen könnte: Das Ich ist doch noch etwas zurücktretend, es wird doch noch mehr von der Außenwelt entgegengenommen, mehr auf eine Art, wo das Ich nicht dabei zu sein braucht.

Und überschreiten wir das Adriatische Meer, so kommen wir nach Rom und sehen fest auf seinen Beinen stehen, mit dem schon gefühlten Ich, den römischen Bürger. Das alles hängt mit tieferen, mit bedeutsamen Untergründen zusammen. Diese Dinge gehen in der Welt nicht vor sich, ohne daß für die Dinge, welche sich auf dem physischen Plan abspielen, die entsprechenden Ereignisse in der geistigen Welt sich vollziehen. Wir sehen, daß in der griechischen Kultur noch ein starker Einschlag von zurückgehaltenem Ich sich finder. Viel wird dort noch unpersönlich aufgenommen. Der Grieche fühlt sich nicht als einzelner Bürger, sondern als Glied des athenischen, spartanischen oder thebanischen Organismus. Das muß abgestreift werden. Es muß die Sehnsucht des Menschen, von außen entgegenzunehmen, verschwinden, und der Mensch muß seinen Einzug halten in das Innere der Seele, wenn er immer mehr ein abendländischer Mensch wird.

Was die großen Massen bilden soll, das muß vorgelebt werden von den großen Führern, den großen Individualitäten der Menschheit. Da sehen wir, wenn wir etwas vor unsere Seele treten lassen, worauf wir wiederholt hingewiesen haben, daß der Grieche noch ein starkes Bewußtsein hatte, daß dasjenige, was ihm von außen gegeben wird, ohne das Innere seiner Persönlichkeit stark zu entwickeln, ein besonders Wertvolles ist. Noch einmal erinnere ich an den Ausspruch eines hochgebildeten Griechen, der uns tief hineinblicken läßt in das Sehnen des griechischen Volkes: Lieber ein Bettler sein in der Oberwelt als ein König im Reiche der Schatten! — Noch nicht ist begriffen der große Wert des Unsichtbaren, des übersinnlichen Lebens. Es wird aus der Umgebung herausgeholt, was ohne das Ich herausgeholt werden kann. Und es ist nun tief ergreifend, gerade an diesem Punkt zu sehen, wie an der Wende der Zeiten eine große führende Persönlichkeit wie ein Markstein dasteht, um abzulegen die Gesinnungen des Früheren und aufzunehmen die Gesinnungen des Neueren, um gleichsam weithin schallend für die Geistwelt zu sagen: Jetzt soll eine Zeit kommen, wo nicht mehr bloß aufgenommen werden soll, was ohne das Ich einfließt in die menschliche Persönlichkeit, sondern wo das aufgenommen werden soll, was durch das Ich in die menschliche Persönlichkeit kommt!

Diese Tat hat sich vollzogen in einem der großen Weisen jenes griechischen Altertums, das sich zum Teil abgespielt hat auf der Insel Sizilien, in Empedokles. In mancher Legende, die heute nur so hinerzählt wird, ruht etwas außerordentlich Tiefes. Von Empedokles, dem großen Weisen, der nicht nur ein großer Philosoph war, sondern ein Eingeweihter in die tiefen Geheimnisse der Zeit, der einer der größten Staatsmänner aller Zeiten gewesen ist und zugleich Opferpriester in Agrigent war, von ihm erzählt die Legende, berichtet aber auch die okkulte Wahrheit, daß er, nachdem er seine Aufgabe in Sizilien erfüllt hatte, seinen Leib in den Ätna versenkte, um zu vereinigen seine äußeren Hüllen mit dem Boden Siziliens, um damit gleichsam zu dokumentieren: Jetzt soll kommen der feste Glaube an das Ich, wenn das Äußere auch hinschwindet! — Das Opfer der äußeren Hülle des Empedokles wurde vollbracht damals, als er seine Hüllen hingab dem Ätna. Dahinter liegt eine tiefe okkulte Wahrheit. Für den, der nach Sizilien kommt, wird heute noch unter spirituellen Ereignissen dieses stehen: daß er in der Luft Siziliens, wenn er sie geistig atmet, heute noch die Nachwirkung der Tat des Empedokles findet. Empedokles’ Seele hat sich weiter inkarniert; sein Leib hat eine besondere Bedeutung dadurch erhalten, daß er den Elementen bewußt übergeben worden ist, so daß man ihn heute findet in der geistigen Atmosphäre Siziliens. Empedokles’ Leib bildet einen Bestandteil der geistigen Atmosphäre Siziliens.

Es war mir ein wichtiger Augenblick - und wir dürfen ja in unserem Zweige auch über solche Dinge miteinander reden -, als ich vor einigen Wochen unseren Palermoer Freunden über ihren Empedokles in der unmittelbaren Nähe jenes Ereignisses dasselbe sagen konnte, was ich Ihnen jetzt sagte: Wer mit Bewußtsein geistig betritt eure Stätte hier in Sizilien, der atmet heute noch geistig dasjenige, was in die Luft Siziliens gekommen ist durch den Opfertod des Empedokles!

So sehen wir, wie das, was wir äußerlich, räumlich mit dem Adriatischen Meer andeuten konnten — die Grenze zwischen Ost und West —, angedeutet wird durch einen großen Führer der Menschheit, der, indem er weiter wirken sollte im Westen, dasjenige bewußt abstreift, wodurch man wachsen konnte drüben im Osten, und retten will für die weitere Entwickelung das Bestehen dessen, was erhaben ist über alle Elemente des äußeren physischen Planes.

Es ist etwas Gewaltiges, in diese Unterschiede hineinzuschauen, denn sie zeigen, wie auf getrennten Gebieten auch Getrenntes vorbereitet worden ist, damit in der Mannigfaltigkeit auch das Größte erreicht werden konnte. Durch die Zusammenwirkung des Mannigfaltigsten muß das Ziel der Gesamtentwickelung für die Menschheit erreicht werden. Daraus können wir sehen, daß der Christus, nachdem er im Osten erschienen war, hinüberzog nach dem Westen und dort aufgenommen wurde von denen, die vorbereitet waren mit einem starken Ich-Bewußtsein, um verstehen zu können den Bringer des starken Ich-Bewußtseins. Das war das Geheimnis vom Eintritt des Christus in den Okzident, daß er vorbereitete Seelen fand, und daß ihn diese Seelen aufnahmen. So sehen wir im Osten die Menschheit ‘vorbereiten alles, was möglich macht, daß ein Körper oder eine Leiblichkeit entstehen kann, bestehend aus physischem Leib, Ätherleib und astralischem Leib, in welche der Christus einziehen kann, der durch das Ich-Bewußtsein und mit dem Ich-Bewußtsein den Impuls der Liebe auf die Erde bringt. Die Liebe ist das, was in ihrer seelischsten, geistigsten Form mit dem Christus der Erde gebracht wird. Die Liebe, wie wenn sie entstehen würde sozusagen in ihrer seelisch-geistigen Form im Osten, so betrachten wir sie zuerst; und wie wenn sie sich verbreiten würde nach dem Westen und hier verstanden würde, so betrachten wir die Entwickelung weiter.

Wodurch konnte gerade im Westen das Ich-Bewußtsein so wirken, daß es sich verwandt fühlte mit dem Christus? Was war mit den Seelen geschehen, die frühzeitig das Ich-Bewußtsein aufgenommen hatten?

Die ägyptisch-chaldäischen Völker warteten mit der Entwickelung des Ich bis zur Bewußtseinsseele, die griechisch-lateinischen Völker entwickelten das Ich schon in der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele, die Kultur des europäischen Nordens hat das Ich-Gefühl schon vorzeitig in der Empfindungsseele entwickelt. Da war es früh in der menschlichen Seele darinnen. Es hatte also zusammengewirkt die Empfindungsseele mit dem Ich-Bewußtsein hier in einer ganz anderen Weise als irgendwo in der Welt. In Nordeuropa haben sich zuerst in der Menschheitsentwickelung die Empfindungsseele und das Ich-Bewußtsein durchdrungen. Was war dadurch geschehen, daß sich bei den europäischen Völkern in der Empfindungsseele schon das IchBewußstsein festgesetzt hatte, bevor Christus in die Menschheitsentwickelung eingetreten war, und bevor sie aufgenommen hatten, was sich in Asien entwickelt hatte?

Dadurch war mit der Empfindungsseele eine Kraft der menschlichen Seele entwickelt worden, die sich nur dadurch hatte entwickeln können, daß die Empfindungsseele, die noch ganz jungfräulich war und unbeeinflußt von anderen Kulturen, sich durchdrungen hatte mit dem Ich-Gefühl. Und diese Seelenkraft ist das Gewissen geworden: die Durchdringung von Ich-Gefühl mit Empfindungsseele. Daher das merkwürdig Unschuldige des Gewissens! Wie redet das Gewissen? Es spricht in dem einfachsten, naivsten Menschen wie in der kompliziertesten Seele. Es sagt unmittelbar: Das ist recht! Das ist unrecht! — Ohne eine Theorie, ohne irgendeine Lehre. Mit der Gewalt eines Triebes, eines Instinktes wirkt das, was uns sagt: Das ist recht! Das ist unrecht! — Nirgends sonst finden Sie das, was sich so im Westen entwickelte, in der Art, wie wir es heute auseinandergesetzt haben. Deshalb wirft es seine ersten Strahlen wie eine Morgenröte voraus nach Griechenland und von dort nach Rom, und dort tritt es uns sogar schon sehr stark entgegen. Da finden wir bei den römischen Schriftstellern zuerst das Wort Gewissen: conscientia. Während wir es bei den Griechen nur sporadisch finden, in ersten Andeutungen bei Euripides, finden wir es bei den Römern schon sehr stark hervorgehoben, schon als allgemein gebräuchliches Wort. Das ist der Einfluß jener Kulturströmung, die dadurch entstanden ist, daßß Empfindungsseele und Ich-Gefühl sich durchdrungen haben, daß das Ich-Gefühl, das den Menschen hinaufträgt vom Niederen zum Höheren, schon in der Empfindungsseele wie eine Gottesstimme spricht, wie sonst nur Triebe, Begierden und Leidenschaften in der Empfindungsseele sprechen, und dort so spricht mit dem Drang, das Richtige zu tun, um hinaufzudringen zu dem höheren Ich.

So sehen wir in der Menschheitsentwickelung bei den europäischen Völkern zuerst das Gewissen entstehen. Von dort strahlt es aus und teilt sich dann den anderen Menschen der Erde mit. So ist durch eine weise Weltenlenkung vorbereitet worden, daß die Menschheit auf einem Punkte so präpariert wurde, daß das Gewissen als ein Beitrag zur Gesamtentwickelung der Menschheit gebracht werden konnte. Damit haben wir im Grunde schon alles gegeben, was uns auch das Gewissen erklärt. Wir haben jenes Undefinierbare des Gewissens gegeben, das Herausdringen des Gewissens aus den Tiefen der Seele. Das Gewissen redet so, wie ein Trieb redet, und es ist doch kein Trieb. Diejenigen Philosophen, die es als Trieb schildern, hauen weit daneben. Es spricht mit derselben Großartigkeit, mit der die Bewußtseinsseele selber spricht, wenn sie auftritt; aber es spricht zugleich mit den elementaren, mit den ursprünglicheren Kräften.

So sehen wir, wie auf der Erde drüben im Osten die Liebe auftaucht, hier im Westen das Gewissen. Das sind zwei Dinge, die zusammengehören: wie im Osten der Christus erscheint, wie im Westen das Gewissen erwacht, um den Christus als Gewissen entgegenzunehmen. In diesem gleichzeitigen Entstehen der Tatsache des Christus-Ereignisses und des Verständnisses des Christus-Ereignisses, und in der Vorbereitung dieser zwei Dinge an verschiedenen Punkten der Erde sehen wir walten eine unendliche Weisheit, die in der Entwickelung vorhanden ist. Damit haben wir auf die Vergangenheit des Gewissens hingedeutet.

Wenn wir uns jetzt erinnern an das, was wir oft betont haben, daß wir jetzt, nachdem das Kali Yuga abgelaufen ist, in einem Übergange sind, wo sich neue Kräfte zu entwickeln haben, dann werden wir es begreiflich finden, daß wir heute auch entgegengehen wichtigen Fragen in bezug auf die Entwickelung unseres Gewissens. Wir haben das letzte Mal betont, stark und scharf betont, daß wir entgegengehen einem neuen Christus-Freignis, indem die Seele fähig werden wird, den Christus in einem gewissen ätherischen Hellsehen wahrzunehmen und das Ereignis von Damaskus in sich wiederzuerleben. Daher dürfen wir die Frage aufwerfen: Wie wird es sein mit dem Parallelereignis, mit der Entwickelung des Gewissens in den Zeiträumen, in die wir uns hineinleben? — Diese Frage werden wir uns am nächsten Sonntag, am 8. Mai, vorlegen und dadurch auch am besten unseren Gedenktag begehen, indem wir auf das Lebendige der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung hinweisen und darstellen, wie sich die menschlichen Seelenkräfte in einem Übergang befinden. Wir werden sehen, daß das Gewissen von den verschiedensten Seiten her beleuchtet werden kann. Ganz exoterisch soll das im öffentlichen Vortrag am nächsten Donnerstag geschehen, aber auch selbst da kann schon manches vorausgesetzt werden, weil diese öffentlichen Vorträge schon durch eine Reihe von Jahren gehen. Man kann so tief sprechen über das Gewissen, wie wir heute gesprochen haben, man kann so exoterisch sprechen wie am nächsten Donnerstag, und man kann noch tiefer über das Gewissen sprechen. Das wird noch einige Zeit dauern, bis wir dazu in der Lage sein werden.

Sixth Lecture

In these winter lectures, we have been preoccupied from many different angles with the question of the nature of Christ, and we have tried in many different ways to clarify what we call the Christ impulse in human evolution, as the most powerful force within our entire earthly evolution. It is therefore understandable that, first of all, this subject cannot be exhausted at all, but that one would have to do an infinite amount of work, so to speak, if one wanted to clarify the Christ impulse in all its aspects. On the other hand, however, it can also be clear that, according to all our assumptions, everything that can be of interest to human beings is basically connected with the discussion of the Christ appearance. We have seen that the Gospels themselves seek to approach the essence of Christ from four different sides, and we have hinted at various things concerning the mysteries of the individual Gospels.

We have only been able to shed light on the Gospel of Matthew to a certain extent. It will have to be left to later lectures to return to the mysteries of the Gospel of Matthew in context, in order to then delve into the depths of the Gospel of Mark. If we were to attempt, at the end of winter in our branch, to give even a few sketchy hints about what remains for us, this would destroy the unity of the lectures for the coming months. Therefore, today and next time, I will touch on questions that approach the Christ problem from a different angle, namely the question of the connection between the human conscience and the impact of the Christ impulse on human evolution. This will achieve something else at the same time. Next Thursday we will have a public lecture on the human conscience, and today we will also speak about the same topic here in the branch. This is done with a very specific intention, an intention that will come up again and again in our spiritual mind. The intention is to show that the same subject should be discussed in a different way in a working group such as ours than in a public lecture intended for those who do not yet belong to the spiritual scientific movement. Among the many things that should become fixed qualities in the mind of an anthroposophist is the feeling that the things of the world should be approached from the most diverse points of view and sides, and that someone who already has certain prerequisites can speak and hear about a thing differently than someone who does not have such prerequisites. When we speak in a working group, we assume that the mind has, to a certain degree, lived its way into the ideas of a spiritual world, that it is immersed in the sensations and feelings of the spiritual world, and that from these sensations, feelings, and thoughts that have been taken in about the spiritual world, an idea about such a thing as the human conscience can be formed. The answer to such questions can therefore be drawn from much greater depths in a working group than in a public lecture given to a non-anthroposophical audience. After all, these public lectures are intended to gradually provide something like proof that the truths we know in spiritual science are really truths, by drawing on the phenomena of the soul life, which are initially treated as external experiences. This is a different task from speaking for the spiritual scientist himself, who already has certain prerequisites, convictions, and perhaps also certain views about the spiritual world. The spiritual scientist should gradually learn to draw the concepts and ideas that explain this or that to him from the most diverse sources and perspectives, and the spiritual scientist should learn to break the bad habit, which is nevertheless necessary in outer life, of speaking about a thing in only one way.

The human conscience is something that must touch us in the depths of our soul. And where philosophers and other thinkers have confronted us about the world for centuries, it is usually the question of what we call the human conscience that has interested them. One could easily succumb to an illusion when confronted with a phenomenon such as conscience: the illusion that has already been referred to several times as an illusion, and which consists in believing that everything that is present in the human soul today has always been there. But we have seen that the most diverse soul capacities and soul processes that have developed in human beings over the course of millennia were completely different in primeval times than they are today. And many of the things that we today consider the most precious and significant in our soul life were not possessed by our souls when they walked the earth in other incarnations many millennia ago. Passing through various incarnations does have a meaning. We have often emphasized this. The purpose is that the soul, in developing from one embodiment to another, can acquire ever new abilities and powers, that the soul truly goes through a history, that its earthly existence is a period of learning, that it was something else at the time when our embodiments began, that it is something else now, and that it will be something else in the distant future.

Even the human conscience, that precious gift of the human soul, which calls out like the voice of God to the good and evil in every individual human being, even this precious gift of the human inner being has not always been there. This conscience is also something that has developed. And it is not even that long ago that this human conscience first appeared and has since continued to develop further and further. And even though it is a precious asset, it is not destined to live in the human soul in the same way through all subsequent incarnations as it does now. It will continue to develop, it will take on other forms, it will prove to be something that man must acquire, something that will bear fruit for him, and something that in later times, when he has these fruits, will be something he can look back on and say: There was an epoch when it became possible for me, in passing from incarnation to incarnation, to incorporate into my soul existence that which is conscience, and now I have the fruits of what I once incorporated into my soul. Just as we look back today on a time when our souls were in other embodiments and did not yet have what we now call conscience, so in later times our souls will look back on our present incarnations and say: Blessed be that past! Thanks to those gifts that were given to us in the past as human conscience! Had we not been able to develop human conscience in our souls at that time, we would now lack what we need for our present life!

From this we can already see that conscience belongs to the spiritual assets of the present, and that understanding something of the nature and essence of human conscience is like understanding our present and the soul life of our present. The fact that it came into being has already been pointed out in many contexts. Next Thursday, we will also point out that one can, so to speak, point with one's finger to the moment when conscience was first discovered for the human soul. If we go back a few centuries to ancient Greece, we find the great poet Aeschylus barely half a millennium before the beginning of the Christian era. When we look at him, this powerful genius of ancient Greek drama, when we let his characters work on us, we find in his dramas what we today call conscience, but not yet with a similar expression. Half a millennium before the beginning of the Christian era, the greatest dramatist had no expression for what we today call the human conscience. If he wants to express the human soul process that would correspond to what we today call conscience, he must do so in such a way that someone who has committed the injustice of matricide, for example, looks into the spiritual realm through the violence of this event and sees figures in the spiritual realm that ancient Greece called the Erinyes and later Roman culture called the Furies. This means that someone who has committed an injustice such as matricide does not hear in Aeschylus what we today call the reproaching voice of conscience within ourselves, but is compelled to see spiritually the figures that surround him like avengers of his deed.

This is one of the special proofs that you can find in the historical development of humanity for what has just been characterized in a comprehensive way. The human soul was very different in ancient times. We have always emphasized that the human soul only gradually developed its present ability to perceive the physical-sensory world through the senses as it does today, and to use the intellect as it does today. We have emphasized that in ancient times the soul had a certain clairvoyance as a normal faculty. At the time of Aeschylus, this clairvoyance only occurred in special cases. The soul becomes clairvoyant, for example, in order to see what it has done in the physical world through its wrongdoing. The soul of Orestes becomes clairvoyant after he has committed matricide. There it sees the spirits it has awakened in the spiritual world through its deed. They press in on it. It is not something like conscience that sits within the soul, but clairvoyant consciousness arises to see the disorder that has been awakened by the wrongdoing committed in the physical world. We would find this everywhere in ancient times: someone who has done something wrong does not yet hear the warning voice of conscience, because in ancient times the soul is in a state of clairvoyance and sees what has been created in the outer world through the wrongdoing.

What happens when an injustice has been committed? Something is created by ourselves in the spiritual world. It is only a materialistic prejudice that an injustice can pass without something being created in the spiritual world. Injustice produces very specific processes in the spiritual world, effects that radiate from us, invisible to the outer senses, but present for spiritual vision. And such spiritual processes, which radiate from someone who has done something wrong, are food for certain beings that actually exist in the spiritual world. Such beings cannot always reach human beings. If a person does not have the kind of emanations that come from wrongdoing, then they cannot reach him. It is just like a room: if the room is completely clean, there can be no flies in it. There are none inside. But if the room is full of all kinds of dirt, food scraps, and so on, the flies are immediately there. The moment a person radiates certain spiritual vibrations through their bad deeds, beings that feed on them surround them. The great Greek tragedian Aeschylus had these beings surround Orestes. What we hear today as an inner voice was still so conscious to the Greek tragedian Aeschylus that he allowed it to appear in external forms, because he knew that in special cases, what was common to all souls in earlier times still occurred: a certain clairvoyant consciousness. Something of everything that came before remains for later times and then appears as atavism, but only in abnormal cases. Therefore, it is not something to be criticized when, for example, something similar appears in Shakespeare, a kind of objectified conscience.

But then we need only go a little further in Greek art, from Aeschylus to Euripides, and Euripides, the later tragedian, shows us that he already has the concept of conscience. Thus we see in ancient Greece how, in the half-millennium before the Christian era, the concept of conscience gradually emerged. Look for a word in the Old Testament for what we today call conscience: you will not find it. Conscience is something that first entered the human soul as a capacity. And if we look not at short periods of time but at long periods, we can see that conscience is something that entered the human soul at about the same time as the Christ impulse took hold in the soul. One might say that conscience follows the Christ impulse almost like a shadow as it enters into world history. In order to understand this, we must now bring to life within ourselves many things that we have acquired over the years and that we must make fruitful in order to comprehend what the human conscience actually is.

If we want to understand in a deeper sense what conscience is, we must focus our attention on the very moment when human development approached the Christ impulse, took it up, and then progressed into our time. We know that we are dealing here with three cultural epochs of human development, which we call the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, the Greek-Latin culture, and our present culture. We can leave aside the two preceding cultures, the ancient Indian and the ancient Persian, because at that time our souls were still far from even suspecting what we now call conscience. In the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, we gradually see how everything that then rose to the highest height it could reach was prepared in order to attain the significant impulse in the Greek-Latin culture that was received as the Christ impulse. And then we see in our own time the epoch in which this impulse is being processed. And this processing will become ever greater and more significant in the coming age.

If we now recall a little more precisely this development that has taken place from the Egyptian-Chaldean period through the Greek-Latin epoch to our own time, we see that in each of these epochs a particular member of the human soul has been developed. Of the three members of the human soul, the one we call the sentient soul was developed during the Egyptian-Chaldean period, that is, we had to be embodied in Egyptian-Chaldean bodies in order to be able to properly absorb those abilities that are suitable for the special development of the sentient soul. Then, as souls, we took this quality with us into our next incarnations during the Greek-Latin epoch in order to develop the intellectual or mind soul. And with the fruits we have gained from the Greek-Latin epoch, we live in our present incarnations in order to gradually bring to ever higher development what we call the powers of the consciousness soul. Thus our soul as a human being is formed during these three ages. And when our time is over, our soul will ascend to the development of the ability of the spirit itself. This will be in the sixth cultural epoch. Here we see the profound meaning of our successive incarnations. Their purpose is to enable us to gradually acquire those abilities which we know as those of the human soul, and in a wider sense also those which go beyond the mere life of the soul.

Thus, during the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, our souls acquired the powers of the sentient soul and developed these powers, while during the Greek-Latin period they acquired the powers of the intellectual soul or mind soul. Normally, human beings had to ascend to the intellectual soul before the Christ impulse could be exerted upon them.

But this development took place in a very different way at different points on the earth. For if we wanted to believe, with a certain complacency of soul, that everything in the development of humanity takes place as simply as possible, we would never be able to understand human development. One must learn a great deal in order to be able to reflect to some extent on the great thoughts of the guiding world beings! And it is the greatest arrogance when a person says that truth is simple, for then he wants to twist truth to suit his own convenience. It is only a fruit of convenience when it is said that truth must be simple. But the truth is complicated, because the spirit of the guiding world beings can only be understood by us if we make the greatest efforts to immerse ourselves in the thoughts of the guiding world spirits — even into the most subtle thoughts. So we must not believe that we have already exhausted everything when we say: Our souls have developed through the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, through the Greek-Latin culture, and through our present cultural epoch. Let us place ourselves for a moment in the time when there was no Greek-Latin being, but only the Egyptian-Chaldean culture.

At that time, people also lived in the regions of Greece and in the countries of the Roman Empire; they lived, so to speak, before the Greek-Latin era in the countries of the later Greek-Latin culture. And in our regions too, on the ground we walk on today, people lived at the time when the Egyptian-Chaldean culture was unfolding in Asia and Africa. While in Asia and Africa, at the time of the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, certain souls were undergoing, in the most eminent sense, what was to prepare them to receive the Christ impulse, other souls were living in the regions of the later Greek-Latin culture, preparing to contribute something entirely different to the overall development of humanity. Similarly, people lived in our regions who were preparing for something else. Not only do our souls take on different abilities in successive ages, but souls also live side by side in the same ages. This has a wide variety of effects on souls, and this creates a further complication in development. This brings more to human development than if everything had proceeded in a straight line. In fact, preparations had to be made both on Greek-Latin soil and in our regions so that the right elements could be brought into cultural development from the most diverse sides. The Asian and African peoples had a completely different task, the southern European peoples had a completely different one, and the peoples of central and northern Europe had yet another completely different task. They all had very different things to contribute to the overall development of humanity, and they were able to contribute different things because their predispositions and their entire education were fundamentally different from those of the others.

For if we turn our gaze to the Egyptian-Chaldean peoples, to the souls that reached their peak in the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, we must say: these peoples developed certain abilities of the sentient soul, which can be developed particularly well when one takes up the wonderful teachings that flowed from the Egyptian sanctuaries at that time, or the wonderful astrology that came from the Chaldean sanctuaries. What flows from the various cultural centers is there to advance the souls. For basically, the true meaning of what flows from the various cultural centers is not what these cultural currents contain, but what they contribute to the development of the human soul. The content passes away! And only those who are completely deluded can believe that in a few centuries our present science will not have sunk into oblivion, just as certain things of Egyptian-Chaldean culture have sunk into oblivion. Anyone who believes that the Copernican worldview represents eternal achievements is greatly mistaken; it will later be just as outdated as the achievements of Egyptian culture are today. In terms of their content, these things will pass away, just like many other things in human development. For example, we stand before that wonderful painting, which you are all familiar with at least in pictures, Leonardo da Vinci's “The Last Supper.” If we want to see it today in Milan, we see only faint outlines, and we know that it will not be long before nothing more will be visible of what Leonardo da Vinci put his best efforts into. Nor will there be anything left to see later of the magnificent works of Raphael, which today so deeply move the soul when you allow them to work on you. All these works will crumble to dust, and no memory of them will remain on the physical plane. The content of these works, like the content of cultures, will pass into death. But when we stand before these pictures, for example, we should remember that they flowed from Raphael's soul, and that Raphael's soul became different after conjuring these pictures out of itself than it was before. And the millions and millions of people who are uplifted by them take the content of the pictures into their souls and thereby become something else. And when the whole earth is once crushed to dust—which it most certainly will be—then nothing will remain of the external institutions of cultures, but what the souls have taken in will pass over into eternity. For human souls, what cultures offer, what flowed from the sanctuaries of Egypt and Chaldea in the form of wisdom that was noble for that time, is there. Human souls were to advance by a corresponding amount. And what they had advanced by made them more mature to receive new goods, those goods which then, in the Greek-Latin culture, brought the souls forward again. If our souls had not absorbed what they were able to absorb during the Greek-Latin period, they would not now be able to live their way into the consciousness soul. That is progress in time.

If we remember some of what has been said in public lectures, we know that what we call the I works in the three soul members. Out of the chaos of soul experiences that confront us in the feeling soul, the intellectual soul, and the conscious soul, the I gradually develops, crystallizes out of all this, but not in the same way at different points on the earth. For example, while the Egyptian-Chaldean culture was developing in Asia and Africa, people there developed in such a way that they allowed the revelations of the Chaldean and Egyptian sanctuaries to influence their souls for a long time. The peoples of Europe, who were far removed from this, developed in such a way that they had, in a sense, already taken a step forward. In the European regions, people had already developed the I in their sentient soul in a certain way, a strong feeling, a strong sense of the I.

Here we come to an infinitely important point. People who were waiting with their egos moved to Asia and Africa at a time when what could be developed through the Egyptian and Chaldean sanctuaries had already been developed in the sentient soul. In the region of the Egyptian-Chaldean culture, souls were incarnated which, more or less without a clear sense of self, absorbed high teachings and a high culture. In ancient Chaldea, the high culture that existed at that time was sunk into a sentient soul that was not yet conscious of its self. Here in the north, such a high culture is not immersed in the soul. The soul remains more or less uncultivated, but in this lack of culture, in this soul of feeling unilluminated by any revelations from the sanctuaries, it develops an ego consciousness. We can say that among the Egyptian-Chaldean peoples, self-consciousness is delayed; it first allows the sentient soul to absorb a certain culture until the later soul members are developed. In Europe, the ego does not wait, but develops already in the sentient soul. However, it waits with the absorption of certain cultural assets until the later soul members have developed. Thus, in Asia and Africa, we have embodied souls that are still almost completely unaware of their ego, but have something like inspirations of higher revelations in the sentient soul. In Europe, we have souls that do not have a particularly high culture, but which emphasize their individual ego, look within themselves as human beings, and feel themselves to be human beings. Between these two extremes stand the Greek-Latin peoples, who had the special task of developing the abilities of the intellectual soul. They developed the ego in the intellectual soul and were also able to absorb certain cultures in the intellectual soul at the same time. Thus, the Egyptian-Chaldean culture waited until a later time to develop the ego, while European culture developed it early on. In the Greek-Latin culture, this was balanced in a certain sense, as a certain culture was developed at the same time as the ego.

This points to a great mystery of our human development, without knowledge of which we will never understand why the Christ impulse found such unhindered influence and acceptance in Europe.

Why is that? Could Christ have appeared in Europe, could he have incarnated himself in flesh in Europe? No, he could not have done so. He appeared in the Greek-Latin period, when the intellectual soul had been developed. This was suited to receiving Christ, so to speak. But Christ should never have appeared in Europe, because the strong sense of ego remained there. This strong individual sense of ego was not suitable for producing a single human being who had the advantage over all others of being able to receive the highest alone. A premature sense of ego, an excessive feeling for the equality of human beings, had developed in the European countries. It would have been impossible for one personality to rise above the others as that personality rose above his contemporaries in Palestine, who were to form the vessel for Christ. The ego-feeling could not appear as intensely in Europe at an early stage if Christ was to find a body in which to incarnate himself. He therefore had to appear precisely where, at the border between Egyptian-Chaldean and Greek-Latin culture, it was possible to develop such a body that did not yet carry within itself the premature sense of self, but which nevertheless had the deepest understanding of the spiritual world that had been absorbed into Egyptian and Chaldean culture. But if Europe did not have the ability to provide the body for Christ, it did, however, through having developed the ego too early in the dawn of the new existence, have, above all other achievements, the full understanding, once Christ was there, to bring human beings the full consciousness of the ego, to comprehend this ego-consciousness, for the reason that the European peoples had taken up the sense of the I too early and had, as it were, grown together with it.

We must take this into account if we want to understand the whole rise of the newer culture. In Asia and Africa we find people who know a great deal about the secrets of the world, who are very skilled in the production of certain symbols. In short, they have cultivated their sentient soul to such an extent that they have a rich inner life, but their sense of self is weak. In Europe, we find people who have less culture in terms of what can be acquired through external revelations, but we find there the type of person who searches within themselves, who finds firm support within themselves. Thus, the ground was prepared in Asia for the appearance of Christ; there could be a body into which Christ could enter. And in Europe we find people best prepared to understand the bringer of ego-consciousness. He brought the European peoples what they had been longing for. That is why it is precisely in Europe that the wonderful mysticism developed which wanted to take Christ into its own soul, into the I: Christian mysticism.

Thus, at various points on earth, humanity is being prepared through the wise guidance of the world so that every moment of development comes into its own. One of the great achievements of the spiritual-scientific worldview is that we increasingly gain a sense of how wisely everything in human evolution and in the whole world has actually proceeded, how souls have been prepared over thousands of years on European soil so that they could find a firm point within themselves as early as possible, and how, in order to develop this firm point, were even held back by forces that were so highly developed in Asia. That is why the cultural stream from Asia is making its way here, and the strong sense of the I-personality is emerging in Europe. Yes, we can actually point out how the Adriatic Sea forms an almost fixed boundary between an even weaker sense of the I in Greece on the one hand, where people did not yet feel themselves as individual personalities, but rather as Athenians, Spartans, Thebans, belonging to their polis, and between the Roman cultural regions on the other hand, where the strong sense of self is very much developed in the consciousness of the Roman citizen, who stands firmly on his ground as a personality. In Greece, we still see in people what could be described as follows: the ego is still somewhat recessive, it is still more receptive to the outside world, more in a way where the ego does not need to be present.

And when we cross the Adriatic Sea, we come to Rome and see the Roman citizen standing firmly on his feet, with an already developed sense of self. All this is connected with deeper, more significant underlying factors. These things do not happen in the world without corresponding events taking place in the spiritual world for the things that happen on the physical plane. We see that in Greek culture there is still a strong influence of the restrained ego. Much is still taken in impersonally there. The Greek does not feel himself to be an individual citizen, but a member of the Athenian, Spartan, or Theban organism. This must be cast off. The human being's longing to receive from outside must disappear, and the human being must enter into the inner soul if he is to become more and more a Western human being.

What the great masses are to form must be exemplified by the great leaders, the great individualities of humanity. Here we see, if we allow something to enter our soul, what we have repeatedly pointed out, namely that the Greek still had a strong awareness that what is given to him from outside, without developing strongly within his personality, is something particularly valuable. Once again, I recall the saying of a highly educated Greek, which gives us a deep insight into the longing of the Greek people: Better to be a beggar in the upper world than a king in the realm of shadows! — The great value of the invisible, of the supersensible life, has not yet been understood. What can be extracted from the environment without the ego is extracted. And it is now deeply moving to see, precisely at this point, how a great leading personality stands at the turning point of the ages like a landmark, ready to cast off the attitudes of the past and take up the attitudes of the new, to say, as it were, resoundingly to the spiritual world: Now a time is coming when it will no longer be enough to take in what flows into the human personality without the ego, but when what comes into the human personality through the ego must also be taken in!

This deed was accomplished in one of the great sages of Greek antiquity, Empedocles, who lived partly on the island of Sicily. In many legends that are now merely retold, there lies something extraordinarily profound. Empedocles, the great sage, who was not only a great philosopher but also an initiate into the deep mysteries of the time, who was one of the greatest statesmen of all time and at the same time a sacrificial priest in Agrigento, is the subject of a legend, but also of an occult truth, which tells that after fulfilling his task in Sicily, he plunged his body into Mount Etna in order to unite his outer shell with the soil of Sicily, thereby documenting, as it were: Now let firm faith in the self come, even if the outer shell disappears! — The sacrifice of Empedocles' outer shell was accomplished when he gave his shell to Mount Etna. Behind this lies a profound occult truth. For those who come to Sicily today, this will still be one of the spiritual events: that when they breathe the air of Sicily spiritually, they will still find the after-effects of Empedocles' deed. Empedocles' soul has been reincarnated; his body has acquired a special meaning by being consciously surrendered to the elements, so that today it can be found in the spiritual atmosphere of Sicily. Empedocles' body forms part of the spiritual atmosphere of Sicily.

It was an important moment for me—and we may, of course, talk about such things with each other in our circle—when, a few weeks ago, I was able to say to our friends in Palermo about their Empedocles, in the immediate vicinity of that event, what I have just said to you: Anyone who consciously enters your place here in Sicily today still breathes spiritually what entered the air of Sicily through the sacrificial death of Empedocles!

So we see how what we could indicate externally, spatially, with the Adriatic Sea—the boundary between East and West—is indicated by a great leader of humanity who, in order to continue his work in the West, consciously casts off that which enabled growth in the East, and wants to save for further development that which that is exalted above all elements of the outer physical plane.

It is something tremendous to look into these differences, for they show how, in separate areas, separate things have been prepared so that the greatest could be achieved in diversity. Through the interaction of the most diverse, the goal of the overall development of humanity must be achieved. From this we can see that after Christ appeared in the East, he moved to the West and was received there by those who were prepared with a strong sense of self, so that they could understand the bringer of the strong sense of self. That was the secret of Christ's entry into the Occident, that he found prepared souls, and that these souls received him. Thus, in the East, we see humanity preparing everything that makes it possible for a body or physicality to arise, consisting of a physical body, an etheric body, and an astral body, into which Christ can enter, bringing the impulse of love to Earth through the ego consciousness and with the ego consciousness. Love is what is brought to the earth in its most soulful, most spiritual form with Christ. We first consider love as it arises, so to speak, in its soul-spiritual form in the East; and then we continue to consider its development as it spreads to the West and is understood there.

How was it possible that ego-consciousness could have such an effect in the West that it felt related to Christ? What had happened to the souls that had absorbed ego-consciousness at an early stage?

The Egyptian-Chaldean peoples waited with the development of the I until the consciousness soul; the Greek-Latin peoples developed the I already in the intellectual or emotional soul; the culture of northern Europe developed the sense of I prematurely in the sentient soul. There it was early in the human soul. So the sentient soul and the ego-consciousness worked together here in a completely different way than anywhere else in the world. In Northern Europe, the sentient soul and the ego-consciousness first interpenetrated in human evolution. What happened as a result of the ego-consciousness already being established in the sentient soul of the European peoples before Christ entered human evolution and before they absorbed what had developed in Asia?

This meant that a force of the human soul had developed with the sentient soul, which could only have developed because the sentient soul, which was still completely virgin and uninfluenced by other cultures, had become permeated with the sense of self. And this soul force became the conscience: the permeation of the sense of self with the sentient soul. Hence the remarkable innocence of conscience! How does conscience speak? It speaks in the simplest, most naive person as in the most complicated soul. It says immediately: That is right! That is wrong! — Without a theory, without any doctrine. With the force of an impulse, an instinct, what tells us: That is right! That is wrong! — Nowhere else will you find what developed in the West in the way we have discussed it today. That is why its first rays shine like the dawn toward Greece and from there to Rome, where it already appears very strongly. It is there that we first find the word conscience in Roman writers: conscientia. While we find it only sporadically in the Greeks, in the first hints in Euripides, we find it already very strongly emphasized in the Romans, already as a commonly used word. This is the influence of that cultural current that arose from the fact that the sentient soul and the ego-feeling have interpenetrated each other, so that the sense of self, which carries human beings upward from the lower to the higher, already speaks in the sentient soul like a voice of God, as otherwise only instincts, desires, and passions speak in the sentient soul, and there it speaks with the urge to do what is right in order to ascend to the higher self.

Thus, in the development of humanity among the European peoples, we see conscience first emerging. From there it radiates out and then communicates itself to other people on earth. In this way, through wise world guidance, humanity has been prepared at a certain point so that conscience could be brought forth as a contribution to the overall development of humanity. With this, we have basically given everything that conscience explains to us. We have given that indefinable quality of conscience, the emergence of conscience from the depths of the soul. Conscience speaks as an impulse speaks, and yet it is not an impulse. Those philosophers who describe it as an instinct are far off the mark. It speaks with the same grandeur with which the conscious soul itself speaks when it appears; but at the same time it speaks with the elemental, more primitive forces.

Thus we see how love appears on earth in the East, and conscience here in the West. These are two things that belong together: how Christ appears in the East, how conscience awakens in the West to receive Christ as conscience. In this simultaneous emergence of the fact of the Christ event and the understanding of the Christ event, and in the preparation of these two things at different points on the earth, we see at work an infinite wisdom that is present in evolution. We have thus pointed to the past of conscience.

If we now remember what we have often emphasized, that now, after the Kali Yuga has come to an end, we are in a transition where new forces have to develop, then we will find it understandable that today we are also facing important questions concerning the development of our conscience. Last time, we emphasized strongly and sharply that we are approaching a new Christ event, in which the soul will become capable of perceiving Christ in a certain etheric clairvoyance and reliving the event of Damascus within itself. We may therefore ask the question: What will happen with the parallel event, with the development of conscience in the periods in which we are living? We will address this question next Sunday, May 8, and in doing so, we will also commemorate our anniversary in the best possible way by pointing to the vitality of the spiritual scientific movement and showing how the human soul forces are in a state of transition. We will see that conscience can be illuminated from many different sides. This will be done in a very exoteric way in the public lecture next Thursday, but even there, some things can already be assumed because these public lectures have been going on for a number of years. One can speak as deeply about conscience as we have spoken today, one can speak as exoterically as we will on Thursday, and one can speak even more deeply about conscience. It will take some time before we are able to do so.