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The Search for the New Isis, Divine Sophia
GA 202

25 December 1920, Dornach

III. The Magi and the Shepherds: The New Isis

When it is a question of understanding the Event of Golgotha in the sense of the Christmas Mystery we may look in two directions: Towards the starry heavens with all their secrets on the one side and towards the inner being of man with all its secrets on the other. During these lectures I have spoken of how the Magi from the East recognised, from the starry heavens, the Coming of Christ Jesus upon the earth and of how from the visions arising out of man's inner being the simple shepherds in the field received the proclamation of this Saviour of mankind. And once again today we will turn our attention to these two directions whence, in reality, all knowledge comes to man—whence the highest knowledge of all, the knowledge of the very meaning of the earth, had to come.

In the epochs which preceded the Mystery of Golgotha the attitude of the human soul to the universe and to itself was quite different from what it was after the Mystery of Golgotha. This fact, of course, is not very vividly apparent to an external study of history because the ancient form of knowledge belongs to ages lying long, long before, thousands of years before the Mystery of Golgotha. By the time the Mystery of Golgotha was drawing near, this form of knowledge had already become feebler, and truth to tell it was only individual, very outstanding men like the three Magi from the East who possessed such far-reaching knowledge as was then manifest. And on the other side it was only possible for men particularly sensitive to inner things like the shepherds—men of the people—to bring such visions out of sleep as these shepherds brought. But in both the Magi and the shepherds it was a legacy of that ancient knowledge through which men had once been related to the universe. Even in our time we could not say, especially not in regard to the actual present, that men give very clear expression to that form of knowledge which has entered into the evolution of humanity since the Mystery of Golgotha. Speaking generally, however, what we are going to speak about this evening, holds good. The pre-Christian attitude to the starry heavens was such that men did not regard the stars in the prosaic, abstract way that is current nowadays. The fact that these men of olden times spoke of the stars as if they were living Beings was not due, as an imperfect science believes, to mere fantasy, but to a spiritual, although instinctive, atavistic perception of the starry heavens. Looking at the starry heavens in olden times men did not merely see points or surfaces of light but something spiritual, something that made them able to describe the constellations as they did, for to them the several planets of our system were ensouled by living beings. Men beheld the spiritual in the wide heaven of the stars. They saw the starry heavens as well as the mineral and plant kingdoms in their spiritual reality. It was with one and the same faculty of knowledge that men of old beheld these three regions of existence. They spoke of the stars as beings endowed with soul and also of the minerals and the plants as beings endowed with soul.

We must not think that the faculties of knowledge in olden times were similar to ours. A little while ago I spoke to you about a stage of knowledge which, although it was not so very different from our own, is nevertheless difficult for many people today to picture. I said that the Greeks, in the earliest period of their culture, did not see the colour blue, that the heavens were not blue to them. They perceived the colours that lie more towards the active side, towards the side of red-yellow. Nor did they paint in the shades of blue known to us. Blue came only later into the range of human perception.

Think of all shades of blue being absent from the world, and therefore of green looking different from what it does today, and you will realise that the world around the Greek did not appear to him as it appears to humanity today. For the men of much earlier times the surrounding world differed still more. And then from the world seen by men of old, the spiritual withdrew—withdrew from the worlds of stars, of minerals, of plants. The vivid active colours became duller and out of the depths there appeared what is experienced as blue. As the faculty for the perception of blue, of the darker colours arose, what the men of old experienced in the astrology which spoke to them in a living language, active and full of colour, changed into the grey, colourless geometry and mechanics which, drawing it as we do from our inner being, no longer enables us to read from the environment the secrets of the starry worlds. The ancient astrology was transformed into the world we picture today in the sense of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, into the world of celestial mechanics, of mathematics.

That is the one side. The other side is that in those olden times men possessed a deep, inner faculty for perceiving what was streaming around them out of the earth—the fluids of the earth. The fluids of the earth, the qualities of earth announced themselves as the counterpart of the starry heavens to certain inner faculties of perception. Man in olden times was highly sensitive to the characteristics of the climate of his country, of the soil on which he lived. A chalk or granite soil was experienced as different radiations from the Earth. But this was not a dim feeling or experience; it arose like colours or clouds inwardly felt, inwardly experienced. Thus man experienced the earth's depths; thus, too, the soul in his fellow-man and the life of animals. The experiences were more living, more intense. It was with a faculty of external knowledge that man gazed into the spirituality of the starry heavens, into the spirituality of the minerals and plants, with his atavistic, instinctive clairvoyance; and it was with instinctive inner vision that he perceived what was living spiritually in the earth's depths. He spoke not merely of chalk soil but he experienced specific elemental beings: one kind from chalk soil, other kinds from granite or gneiss. He felt what was living in other human beings as an aura but an aura bestowed upon man from the earth; particularly did he feel the animals with their aura as beings of the earth. It was as though the ground, soil and the inner warmth of the earth continued on in the whole animal world. When a man of old saw the butterflies over the plants he saw them drawing along with them what was rising from the earth; as in an auric cloud he saw animal life flowing over the earth.

All this gradually withdrew and the prosaic world remained for man's faculty of perception which now became external He began now to behold the world around him as we behold it, in its colours and so forth—without perceiving the spiritual. And what man had once seen through faculties of inner perception was transformed into our modern knowledge of nature; what he had seen spiritually through faculties of external knowledge was transformed into our modern mathematics and mechanics.

Thus out of the qualities which the simple shepherds in the field brought to their inner vision we have developed the modern view of nature; and out of what the Magi from the East brought to their faculty of perceiving the Star, we have developed our dry mathematics and mechanics. The faculties of outer and inner perception were still so rich in individual men at that time that the mystery of the birth of Jesus could announce itself from these two sides.

What really underlay this faculty of perception? During the period between death and a new birth, during the time through which we lived before entering through birth into earthly existence we have literally passed through the cosmic expanses. Our individuality was not then bound to the space enclosed by the skin; our existence was spread over cosmic expanses. And the faculty of magical vision still possessed by the wise men from the East was essentially a faculty which entered strongly into the human being from the period between death and birth—that is to say, it was a ‘pre-natal’ faculty. What the soul lived through before birth within the world of stars awakened to become a special faculty in those who were pupils of the Magi. And when the pupils of the Magi developed this particular faculty they were able to say: “Before I came down to this earth I had definite experiences with Mercury, with Sun, with Moon, with Saturn, with Jupiter.” And this cosmic memory enabled them to behold the spiritual in the whole external world as well, to see the destiny of man on earth. They saw it out of their memory of existence before birth within the world of stars.

The faculties by means of which the earth's depths, the mysteries of the souls of men and of the nature of the animals were perceived, were faculties which at first developed in germinal form in the human being and which manifested for the first time after death—but they were youthful faculties, potentially germinal. Although it is after death that these faculties become particularly creative, in earthly life they arise as potentially germinal forces during the first period of earthly life, in the child. The forces of growth in the child which bud and sprout forth from the spiritual, these forces of the child withdraw in later life from the human being. They withdraw and we are then filled more with those forces which were there before birth. But after death these child forces appear again. It was only specially gifted men who retained them on into old age. I have already said here that such faculties of genius as we have in the later years of life are due to the fact that we have remained more childlike than those who do not have these faculties or have them in a lesser degree. The maintenance of childlike faculties on into later life equips us with inventive faculties and the like. The more we can retain childlike faculties in mature years, the more creative we are. But these creative forces appear again more particularly after death.

Among individual peoples of pre-Christian times it had been possible for the after-death faculties to be fructified by those that had remained from before birth. Because such men allowed the kind of knowledge possessed by the Magi from the East to withdraw and the after-death knowledge to come more to the fore, and because the pre-birth faculties were able to fructify the after-death faculties, the gift of prophecy developed in these men, the gift of foretelling the future prophetically with the after-death faculties. Those whom we call the Jewish Prophets were men in whom the after-death faculties were particularly developed; but these faculties did not remain merely in the instinctive life as in the simple shepherds in the field to whom the annunciation was made, they were penetrated by those other faculties which had developed to greater intensity among such people as the Magi from the East, and which led to special knowledge relating to the secrets of the stars and the happenings in the heavens.

It will now be clear to you that the proclamation to the shepherds in the field and the knowledge of the Magi from the East were necessarily in agreement. The knowledge possessed by the Magi from the East was such that they were able to behold deep secrets of the starry heavens. Out of those worlds in which man lives between death and a new birth, out of those worlds whence came the faculties enabling them to penetrate the starry heavens, out of an enhancement of this knowledge this vision came to them: From that world which does not primarily belong to life between birth and death but to the life between death and a new birth—from that world a Being, the Christ, is coming down to the earth. The approach of Christ was revealed to the Magi out of their knowledge of the stars.

And what was the revelation to the shepherds in the field whose special faculty was to experience the Earth's depths?—The Earth became something different when the Christ was drawing near. The Earth felt this approach of Christ, bore in herself new forces because of Christ's approach. The pure-hearted shepherds in the field felt, from out of the depths, what the Earth was reflecting, the way in which the Earth was reacting to the approach of Christ. Thus the cosmic expanses proclaimed to the Magi from the East the same as the earth's depths proclaimed to the shepherds.

This happened at a time when remains of the old knowledge were still in existence. We are concerned here with men who were exceptional, even in those days, with men like the three. Magi from the East and these particular shepherds in the field. Both had retained, each in their own way, what had more or less disappeared from humanity in general. This was the reason why the Mystery of Golgotha, when its time was drawing near, could be proclaimed to them as it was.

In studying these things we must add to the ordinary, historical view, the knowledge that comes from Spiritual Science. We must try, as it were, to fathom the expanses of space and the depths of the life of the soul. And if we fathom the expanses of space in the right way we begin to understand how the wise men from the East experienced the approach of the Mystery of Golgotha. If we try to plumb the depths of the life of soul we begin to understand how the shepherds received the tidings of what was coming so near to the earth that the earth herself became aware of the approach of these forces. The faculties connected with existence before birth, which were manifested in the Magi, correspond more to an intellectual element—different, of course, in those times from what it is today; they correspond more to knowledge. What worked in the shepherds corresponds more to will, and it is the will that represents the forces of growth in the universe. The shepherds were united in their will with the Christ Being Who was approaching the earth. We feel, too, how the stories of the wise men from the East—although they are so inadequately recorded in the modern Bible—we feel how they express the kind of knowledge with which the wise men approached the Mystery of Golgotha; it came from their consciousness to the external universe. We feel that the story of the proclamation to the shepherds points to the will, to the heart, to the life of inner emotion. “Revelation of the God from the heavens and Peace to those men on Earth who are of good will.” We feel the streaming of the will in the proclamation to the shepherds. The light-filled knowledge possessed by the Magi is of a quite different character.

We realise the profundity and significance of the knowledge in the Magi and the proclamation to the shepherds as narrated in the New Testament when we try to fathom the nature of human knowledge and of human will—faculties connected with existence before birth and after death.

Starry heavens Earth's depths
Mineral world Human soul
Plant world Animal life
Pre-birth faculties → After-death faculties
Intellect → Will

I have said that what was a world of spirit to the men of old—the stars, the minerals, the plants—I have said that this has become for us the tapestry of the sense-world; what was formerly inner knowledge has drawn to the surface. If we picture to ourselves the knowledge in the shepherds as being inward and what manifested in the Magi as being outward, it was this outward external knowledge in the Magi which reached out into space and there perceived the spirit The inner life leads to perception of the earth's depths.

The inner kind of knowledge manifested in the shepherds (red in diagram) grows, during the further evolution of humanity, more and more outwards and becomes the external perception of today, becomes what we call empirical perception. What gave the Magi their knowledge of the world of stars draws inwards, more backwards towards the brain and becomes our mathematical, mechanistic world (green in diagram). A crossing took place; what was inner knowledge, pictorial, naive, instinctive imagination in pre-Christian times becomes our external knowledge, perception through the senses. What was once external knowledge encompassing the world of stars draws inwards and becomes the dry, geometrical-mathematical, mechanistic world which we now draw forth from within us.

Through inner enlightenment man of today experiences a mathematical, mechanistic world. It is only outstanding persons like Novalis who were able to feel and give expression to the poetry and deep imagination of this inner, mathematical world. This world of which Novalis sings the praises in such beautiful language is, for the ordinary man of today, the dry world of triangles and quadrangles, of squares and—sums and differences. The ordinary human being is prosaic enough to feel this world to be barren, dry; he has no love for it. Novalis, who was an outstanding person, sings its praises because there was still alive in him an echo of what this world was before it had drawn inwards. In those times it was the world out of which the Jupiter Spirit, the Saturn Spirit, the Spirit of Aries, of Taurus, of Gemini was perceived. It was the ancient light-filled world of stars which has withdrawn and in the first stage of its withdrawal becomes the world which seems to us to be dry, mathematical, mechanistic.

The faculty that intensified in a different form in the shepherds in the field to a perception of the voice of the Angel in the heights has become dry, barren and feeble in us—it has become our perception of the external world of sense; with it today we perceive minerals and plants, whereas with the old faculty, although it was hardly articulate, men perceived the earth's depths or the world of men and animals.

What today has faded into the mathematical-mechanistic universe, what was once astrology, contained such a power that the Christ was revealed to the Magi as a Being of the Heavens. What today is our ordinary knowledge through the senses, with which we see nothing but the green surface of grass, the brown skins of animals and the like—to this kind of knowledge when it was still inward, when it had not yet drawn outwards to the eyes, to the skin, there was revealed to the shepherds in the field the deep influence on the earth, the power with which the Christ would work in the earth, what the Christ was to be for the earth.

We, my dear friends, must find the way whereby the inner faculty that is now dry mathematics may intensify pictorially to Imagination. We must learn to grasp the Imagination given us by Initiation Science. What is contained in these Imaginations? They are in truth a continuation of the faculty with which the Magi from the East recognised the approach of Christ. The Imaginations are the budding, the offspring of what the men of old saw in the starry constellations, the star-imaginations, the mineral imaginations, in gold, silver, copper. The men of old perceived in Imaginations, and their offspring are the mathematical faculties of today. The mathematical faculties of today will become those faculties which understand the Imaginations. Thus by the development of the inner faculties men will have to seek for the understanding of the Christ Being.

But external perception must also be deepened, become more profound. External perception has itself descended from what was once the life of inner experiences, of instinct in man. The power which among the shepherds in the field was still inward, in their hearts, is today only in eyes and ears; it has shifted entirely to the external part of man and therefore perceives only the outer tapestry of the sense-world. This power must go still further outwards. To this end man must be able to leave his body and attain Inspiration. This Inspiration—a faculty of perception which can be attained today—will then, out of Initiation Science, be able to give the same as was given in the proclamation to the naive, inner knowledge of the shepherds in the field.

Astrology as it was to the Magi, heart-vision as it was in the shepherds. With the knowledge that comes from Initiation Science through Imagination and Inspiration modern man will rise to the spiritual realisation to the living Christ. Men must learn to understand how Isis, the living, divine Sophia, had to disappear when the time came for the development which has driven astrology into mathematics, into geometry, into the science of mechanics. But it will also be understood that when living Imagination resurrects from mathematics, phoronomy and geometry, this means the finding of Isis, of the new Isis, of the divine Sophia whom man must find if the Christ Power that is his since the Mystery of Golgotha is to become alive, completely alive, that is to say, filled with light within him.

We are standing before this very point of time, my dear friends. The outer earth will not provide man with those things which he has become accustomed to desire in modern times. The conflicts called into being by the terrible catastrophes of recent years have already changed a large part of the earth into a field where culture lies in ruins. Further conflicts will follow. Men are preparing for the next great world war. Culture will be wrecked in more ways. There will be nothing gained directly from what seems to modern humanity to be of most value for knowledge and the will External earth life, insofar as it is a product of earlier times, will pass away—and it is an entirely vain hope to believe that the old habits of thought and will can continue. What must arise is a new kind of knowledge, a new kind of willing in all domains. We must familiarise ourselves with the thought of the vanishing of a civilisation; but we must look into the human heart, into the spirit dwelling in man; we must have faith in the heart and the spirit of man in order that through all we are able to do within the wreckage of the old civilisation, new forms may arise, forms that are truly new.

Nor will these forms arise if we do not bear in mind with all seriousness what it is that must happen for the sake of humanity. Read in the book Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and you will find it said that a man when he desires to attain higher knowledge must understand what is there called the meeting with the Guardian of the Threshold. It is said that this meeting with the Guardian of the Threshold means that willing, feeling, thinking separate in a certain way, that a trinity must arise out of the chaotic unity in man. The understanding that must come to the pupil of Spiritual Science through his knowledge of what the Guardian of the Threshold is, must come to the whole of modern mankind in regard to the course of civilisation. In inner experience, though not in outer consciousness, humanity is passing through the region that can also be called a region of the Guardian of the Threshold.

It is so indeed, my dear friends; modern humanity is passing over a threshold at which stands a Guardian, a Guardian full of meaning, and grave. And this grave Guardian speaks: “Cling not to what has come as a transplant from olden times; look into your hearts, into your souls, that you may be capable of creating new forms. You can only create these new forms when you have faith that the powers of knowledge and of will for this spiritual creation can come out of the spiritual world.” What is an event of great intensity for the individual who enters the worlds of higher knowledge, proceeds unconsciously in present-day mankind as a whole. And those who have linked themselves together as the anthroposophical community must realise that it is one of the most needed of all things in our days to bring men to understand this passing through the region which is a threshold.

Just as man, the knower, must realise that his thinking, feeling and willing separate in a certain sense and must be held together in a higher way, so it must be made intelligible to modern humanity that the spiritual life, the life of rights, and the economic life must separate from one another and a higher form of union created than the State as it has been up to now. No programmes, ideas, ideologies can bring individuals to recognise the necessity of this threefoldness of the social organism. It is only profound knowledge of the onward development of mankind that reveals this development to have reached a threshold where a grave Guardian stands. This Guardian demands of an individual who is advancing to higher knowledge: Submit to the separation in thinking, feeling and willing. He demands of humanity as a whole: Separate what has up to now been interwoven in a chaotic unity in the State idol; separate this into a Spiritual Life, an Equity State, and an Economic State ... otherwise there is no progress possible for humanity, and the old chaos will burst asunder. If this happens it will not take the form that is necessary to humanity but an ahrimanic or luciferic form. It is only through spiritual-scientific knowledge of the passing of the threshold in our present day that can give the Christ-form to this chaos.

This, my dear friends, is something that we must say to ourselves at the time of Christmas too, if we rightly understand Anthroposophy. The little child in the crib must be the child representing the spiritual development towards man's future. Just as the shepherds in the field and the Magi from the East went after the proclamation to see how that which was to bring humanity forward appeared as a little child, so must modern man make his way to Initiation Science in order to perceive, in the form of a little child, what must be done for the future by the Threefold Social Organism based on Spiritual Science. If the old form of the state is not made threefold it will have to burst—and burst in such a way that it would develop on the one side a wholly chaotic spiritual life, completely ahrimanic and luciferic in character, and on the other side an economic life again luciferic-ahrimanic in character. And both the one and the other would drag the state in rags after them. In the Orient there will take place the development more of ahrimanic-luciferic spiritual states; in the West there will be the development more of ahrimanic-luciferic economic life—if man does not realise through the permeation of his being by Christ how he can avoid this, how out of his knowledge and out of his will he can proceed to bring about the ‘threefolding’ of what is striving to separate.

This will be human knowledge permeated by Christ; it will be human willing permeated by Christ. And it will express itself in no other way than that the idol of the unitary state will become threefold. And those who stand properly in the spiritual life will recognise, as did the shepherds in the field, what it is that the earth experiences through the Christ. And those who stand rightly within the economic life, within the economic associations will unfold, in the true sense, a will that brings a Christ-filled social order.

Fünfzehnter Vortrag

[ 1 ] Nach zwei Richtungen können wir sehen, wenn es sich darum handelt, im Sinne des Weihnachtsmysteriums das Ereignis von Golgatha zu verstehen: nach dem Sternenhimmel auf der einen Seite mit all seinen Geheimnissen und nach dem Menscheninneren auf der anderen Seite mit all seinen Geheimnissen. Ich habe ja im Laufe dieser Tage darauf hingedeutet, wie aus dem Sternenhimmel heraus die sogenannten Magier aus dem Morgenlande erkannt haben die Ankunft des Christus Jesus auf Erden, wie aus den Schauungen, die aus dem Menscheninneren heraus sich entwickeln, die armen Hirten des Feldes die Ankündigung dieses Menschenheilandes empfangen haben. Auf diese beiden Richtungen, aus denen im Grunde genommen dem Menschen alle Erkenntnis kommt, aus denen ihm also auch die höchste Erkenntnis von dem eigentlichen Erdensinn kommen mußte, wollen wir heute noch einmal unser Augenmerk richten.

[ 2 ] Wenn wir in die Zeiten zurückblicken, die dem Mysterium von Golgatha vorangegangen sind, dann finden wir eine ganz andere Stellung der Menschenseele zu dem Universum und zu sich selber als nach dem Mysterium von Golgatha. Allerdings, für die äußere Geschichtsbetrachtung zeigt sich das nicht in ganz intensivem Sinne, aus dem Grunde, weil in ausgesprochenem Maße die alte Erkenntnis ja Zeiten angehört, die Jahrtausende in der nachatlantischen Zeit dem Mysterium von Golgatha vorangegangen sind. Als das Mysterium von Golgatha herangenaht ist, war diese Art von Erkenntnissen schon schwächer geworden, und wir können sagen, daß es eben nur einzelne, besonders auserlesene Menschen waren wie die drei Magier aus dem Morgenlande, die eine so weitgehende Erkenntnis haben konnten, wie sie bei diesen zutage trat, und daß auf der anderen Seite nur ganz besonders bevorzugte, für Innerliches empfängliche Hirten, also Menschen aus dem Volke, solche Schauungen aus dem Schlafe entwickeln konnten, wie sie diese Hirten entwickelt haben. Aber es waren das eben Erbstücke alter Erkenntnisbeziehung des Menschen zum Weltenall sowohl auf der einen Seite bei den Magiern wie auf der anderen Seite bei den Hirten.

[ 3 ] Auch wir können noch nicht sagen, insbesondere nicht für unsere gegenwärtige Zeit, daß die Menschheit schon in besonders deutlicher Weise diejenige Erkenntnisart ausdrücken würde, die seit dem Mysterium von Golgatha eben in die Menschheitsentwickelung eingezogen ist, aber im allgemeinen gilt doch das, was wir uns heute abend vor die Seele führen wollen. Die vorchristliche Art, sich zum Sternenhimmel zu verhalten, war so, daß die Menschen nicht etwa die Sterne bloß in dieser prosaischen, abstrakten Art sahen, wie man sie jetzt sieht. Daß diese Menschen in älteren Zeiten von den Sternen sprachen wie von Lebewesen, das kam nicht etwa, wie eine höchst unvollkommene Wissenschaft glaubt, aus einer bloßen Erdichtung, sondern das kam aus einer geistigen, wenn auch instinktiven, atavistischen Anschauung des Sternenhimmels. Man sah den Sternenhimmel eben in älteren Zeiten so, daß man nicht bloß die Lichtpunkte oder Lichtflächen sah, sondern daß man da etwas Geistiges sah, das man in dem Sinne bezeichnen konnte, wie diese alten Menschen die Sternbilder bezeichneten, denn sie empfanden die einzelnen Planeten unseres Planetensystems von lebendigen Wesen beseelt. Man sah eben das Geistige in dem weiten Sternenhimmel. Und in diesem Zusammenhange, in dem diese alten Menschen den Sternenhimmel in seinem geistigen Elemente sahen, sahen sie auch alles das, was sich auf die mineralische und auf die pflanzliche Welt bezieht. Also den Sternenhimmel, die mineralische und die pflanzliche Welt, diese drei Gebiete des Daseins sahen diese alten Menschen mit einem Erkenntnisvermögen. Sie sprachen von den Sternen als beseelten Wesen, sie sprachen aber auch von den Mineralien und von den Pflanzen als beseelten Wesen.

[ 4 ] Wir dürfen uns eben nicht vorstellen, daß das Erkenntnisvermögen dieser alten Zeiten für die Menschen so war wie das unsere. Ich habe vor einiger Zeit Ihnen eine Stufe des Erkennens vorgeführt, die gar nicht so sehr von der unseren verschieden ist, aber die sich vorzustellen im Grunde genommen schon vielen Menschen der Gegenwart Schwierigkeiten macht. Ich habe gesagt, daß die Griechen gerade in ihrer frühesten Kultur die blaue Farbe überhaupt nicht sahen, daß sie also nicht über sich den blauen Himmel hatten. Das war etwas, was die Griechen nicht hatten. Sie empfanden die Farbe mehr nach der aktiven, nach der rotgelben Seite hin. Sie malten auch nicht mit dem, was heute unsere blauen Nuancen sind. Dieses Blau, das trat erst später auf für das menschliche Wahrnehmen.

[ 5 ] Stellen Sie sich einmal vor, daß alle blauen Nuancen wegbleiben aus der Welt, also auch alles Grün anders aussieht, als es für uns heute aussieht, dann werden Sie sich sagen müssen: Noch für den Griechen sah die Welt um ihn herum anders aus als für die gegenwärtige Menschheit. In einem noch viel größeren Maße verschieden von unserer Welt sah die Umwelt für die Menschen älterer Zeiten aus. Aus der Welt, die die Alten überschaut haben, zog sich allmählich das Geistige zurück. Aus den Sternenwelten, aus den mineralischen Welten, aus den pflanzlichen Welten zog sich das Geistige zurück, und indem sich das Geistige zurückzog, wurden matter die lebendigen, die aktiven Farben. Dagegen hob sich aus dem Untergrund heraus dasjenige, was sich als Blau empfinden ließ. Und indem immer mehr und mehr in der Menschheit heraufkam die Fähigkeit für das Blaue, für die dunkleren Farben, verwandelte sich das, was die Alten empfunden haben in ihrer lebendig ansprechenden, ich möchte sagen aktiv farbenreichen Astrologie, in die graue, farblose Geometrie, Mechanik, mit der wir heute, indem wir diese Geometrie und Mechanik aus unserem Inneren herausholen, nicht mehr in unserer Umgebung dasjenige sehen, was die Geheimnisse der Sternenwelten sind. Es verwandelte sich die alte Astrologie in diese Welt, wie wir sie uns heute vorstellen im kopernikanisch-galileischkeplerschen Sinne, in die Welt der Himmelsmechanik, in die Welt der Mathematik. Das ist die eine Seite.

[ 6 ] Die andere Seite ist, daß in jenen alten Zeiten eine intensive innere Fähigkeit des Menschen vorhanden war, wahrzunehmen, was aus der Erde heraus, gewissermaßen als die Fluida der Erde, den Menschen umströmte. Also, ich möchte sagen, wie das Gegenstück des Sternenhimmels kündigten sich an durch ein inneres Wahrnehmungsvermögen, durch gewisse innere Fähigkeiten die Fluiden der Erde, die Qualitäten der Erde. Eine feine Empfänglichkeit hatte der Mensch in alten Zeiten für all das, was die Eigentümlichkeiten des Klimas seines Landes waren, für all das, was die Eigentümlichkeiten des Bodens waren. Ob der Mensch auf einem Kalkboden lebte, ob er auf einem Granitboden lebte, das bedeutete für ihn ein anderes Aufströmen dessen, was in der Erde war. Aber was er so aufströmen fühlte, das stellte sich ihm nicht etwa wie ein bloß dunkles Gefühl dar, wie ein stumpfes, dumpfes Erlebnis, sondern es stieg in ihm auf als Farben, Wolken, die er innerlich durchempfand. Und ebenso wie er die Erdentiefen empfand, so empfand er bei seinem Mitmenschen die Menschenseele, so empfand er auch das tierische Leben. Lebhafter, intensiver war dieses Empfinden. Wie es eine Art äußeren Erkenntnisvermögens war, durch das der Mensch hineinschaute in den Sternenhimmel, durch das er die Mineralien, die Pflanzen überblickte in ihrer Geistigkeit mit atavistischem, instinktivem Hellsehen, so nahm er durch ein instinktives, innerliches Schauen wahr, was in den Erdentiefen geistig lebte. Nicht etwa bloß sprach er vom Kalkboden, sondern bestimmte elementarische Wesenheiten stiegen ihm auf, anderer Art aus dem Kalkboden, anderer Art aus dem Granit- oder Gneisboden.

[ 7 ] Er empfand auch dasjenige, was in den anderen Menschen lebte als Aurisches, das aber den Menschen gewissermaßen angekleidet war von der Erde her, und insbesondere empfand er die Tiere in ihrer Aura als Erdenwesen. Für ihn setzte sich gewissermaßen das, was in der Erde lebte als der Grund und Boden, als die innere Erdenwärme, in der ganzen Tierwelt fort. Wenn der alte Mensch die Schmetterlinge über die Pflanzen hinfliegen sah, so sah er sie immer so, daß sie hinter sich herzogen dasjenige, was sich aus der Erde heraus schuf. Wie in einer aurischen Wolke nahm er wahr, was über die Erde hin an Tierischem huschte. All das zog sich allmählich zurück, und die prosaische Welt blieb für das menschliche Wahrnehmen übrig, das sich nach außen verlegte, so daß der Mensch jetzt anfing, seine Umwelt so zu erblicken, wie wir heute die farbige Umwelt sehen, ohne das Geistige wahrzunehmen. Und dasjenige, was der Mensch so durch inneres Wahrnehmen gesehen hatte, das verwandelte sich in unsere moderne Naturerkenntnis; das, was er durch äußeres Wahrnehmen geistig gesehen hatte, verwandelte sich in unsere moderne Mathematik und Mechanik.

[ 8 ] So haben wir auf der einen Seite aus dem, was die armen Hirten auf dem Felde zu ihrem inneren Anschauen brachte, die moderne Naturanschauung entwickelt, und aus dem, was die Magier aus dem Morgenlande zur Wahrnehmung des Sterns brachte, der den Christus ankündigte, aus dem haben wir entwickelt unsere trockene Mathematik und Mechanik. So viel war in jener Zeit eben noch bei einzelnen Menschen für die äußere Wahrnehmung und die innere Wahrnehmung erhalten, daß sich das Geburtsmysterium Jesu in dieser Weise nach beiden Seiten hin ankündigen konnte.

[ 9 ] Was lag denn nun aber eigentlich diesem Wahrnehmen zugrunde? Nun, in der Zeit, die wir durchmachen zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt, also die wir durchgemacht haben, bevor wir durch die _ Geburt in das irdische Dasein eingetreten sind, in dieser Zeit durchlebten wir eigentlich Weltenräume. Da war unsere Individualität nicht so gebunden an jenen Raum, den unsere Haut umschließt, sondern es war dieses Dasein ausgedehnt über Weltenräume. Und jene alte Fähigkeit des magischen Schauens, die also die Weisen aus dem Morgen lande, die Magier aus dem Morgenlande noch zeigten, das war im ‘wesentlichen eine Fähigkeit, die besonders stark hereindrang in den Menschen aus der Zeit zwischen dem Tode und der Geburt, also eine vorgeburtliche Fähigkeit. Das, was da innerhalb der Sternenwelt die Seele vor der Geburt erlebte, das wurde auferweckt zu einer besonderen Fähigkeit bei denen, die Schüler der Magier wurden. Indem die Schüler der Magier diese besonderen Fähigkeiten entwickelten, konnten sie gewissermaßen sagen: Ich habe ja ganz Bestimmtes erlebt, bevor ich hier auf diese Erdenwelt herabgestiegen bin, mit Merkur, mit Sonne, mit Mond, mit Saturn, mit Jupiter. - Und daß gewissermaßen diese kosmische Erinnerung auftauchte, das brachte sie dazu, das Geistige nun auch in der ganzen Außenwelt zu sehen, das Schicksal des Menschen auf Erden zu sehen aus dem, was man innerhalb der Sternenwelt sah durch die Erinnerung an das vorgeburtliche Dasein.

[ 10 ] Diejenigen Fähigkeiten, mit denen man die Erdentiefen, die Menschenseelengeheimnisse, das Wesen des Tierischen wahrnahm, das waren Fähigkeiten, die aber erst keimhaft in dem Menschen entwickelt waren, und die dann erst nach dem Tode auftraten, also nachtodliche Fähigkeiten, die erst schaffend werden sollten nach dem Tode, aber junge, keimkräftige Fähigkeiten. Wenn diese Fähigkeiten auch für den Menschen erst besonders schaffend sind nach dem Tode, so treten sie doch im irdischen Leben als keimkräftige Fähigkeiten ganz besonders in der ersten Zeit des Erdenlebens bei dem Kinde auf. Die Wachstumskräfte, die besonders das heranwachsende Kind hat, die ja aus dem Geistigen heraus sprossen und sprießen, die treten dann in späteren Jahren beim Menschen mehr zurück, die ziehen sich zurück, und gerade diejenigen Kräfte, die vor der Geburt da waren, die füllen uns dann mehr aus. Aber nach dem Tode treten dafür diese kindlichen Fähigkeiten wieder auf. Nur besonders begabte Menschen erhalten sie sich bis ins späteste Alter hinein. Denn — ich habe es hier schon einmal erwähnt — was wir an genialen Fähigkeiten haben in späteren Jahren, verdanken wir dem Umstande, daß wir kindlicher geblieben sind als diejenigen, die nicht oder weniger diese Fähigkeiten haben. Das Forterhalten von kindlichen Fähigkeiten ins spätere Alter hinein stattet uns mit besonderen Erfindungsfähigkeiten und dergleichen aus. Je mehr wir, trotzdem wir reif werden, uns kindliche Fähigkeiten erhalten können, desto schaffendere, schöpferischere Menschen sind wir ja. Diese schöpferischen Kräfte aber treten dann nach dem Tode wiederum besonders auf.

[ 11 ] Es hat insbesondere bei einzelnen Völkern der vorchristlichen Zeit die Möglichkeit gegeben, mit den Fähigkeiten, die einem aus dem Vorgeburtlichen geblieben sind, die nachtodlichen Fähigkeiten zu befruchten. Dadurch, daß diese Völker weniger jene Erkenntnisse ausbildeten, die gerade bei den Magiern aus dem Morgenlande aufgetreten sind -— indem sie diese Erkenntnisse mehr zurücktreten und die nachtodlichen Fähigkeiten mehr hervortreten ließen und beide sich so durchdrangen, daß die vorgeburtlichen Fähigkeiten die nachtodlichen befruchteten, belebten -, dadurch bildete sich bei solchen Menschen dann die Gabe der Prophetie aus, die Gabe, aus den nachtodlichen Fähigkeiten prophetisch die Zukunft vorauszusagen. Was wir die jüdischen Propheten nennen, das sind Menschen, bei denen sich die Fähigkeiten besonders ausbildeten, welche die nachtodlichen waren, die aber da nicht bloß beim Instinktiven blieben wie bei den armen Hirten bei der Verkündigung auf dem Felde, sondern die durchdrungen wurden von jenen anderen Fähigkeiten, die intensiver ausgebildet wurden bei solchen Leuten wie bei den Magiern aus dem Morgenlande, und die ja zu ganz besonderen Erkenntnissen führten, Erkenntnissen, die sich auf die Geheimnisse des Sternenhimmels und seiner Vorgänge beziehen.

[ 12 ] Nun wird es Ihnen begreiflich erscheinen, wie zusammenstimmen mußte die Verkündigung der Hirten auf dem Felde und die Erkenntnis der Magier aus dem Morgenlande. Die Erkenntnis der Magier aus dem Morgenlande ist ja auf ihrem Gebiete so gewesen, daß sie besonders tiefe Geheimnisse des Sternenhimmels schauen konnten. Da konnten sie dahin kommen, daß aus jenen Welten, in denen der Mensch ist zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt, aus denen ihnen die Fähigkeiten wurden, durch welche sie den Sternenhimmel durchdrangen, daß aus einer Erhöhung dieser Erkenntnis ihnen die Anschauung wurde: Da, aus dieser Welt, der unser Leben zwischen der Geburt und dem Tod zunächst nicht angehört, der aber angehört unser Leben zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt, aus der begibt sich ein Wesen, der Christus, zur Erde herunter. — Aus den Sternenerkenntnissen ergab sich für die Magier das Herannahen des Christus.

[ 13 ] Und was ergab sich für die Hirten auf dem Felde, welche die besondere Fähigkeit entwickelten, in die Erdentiefen hinein zu empfinden? Nun, die Erde wurde eben etwas anderes, als der Christus herannahte. Die Erde verspürte dieses Herannahen des Christus. Die Erde trug in sich neue Kräfte, die eben dadurch kamen, daß der Christus herannahte. Dasjenige, was die Erde reflektierte, die Art, wie die Erde reagierte auf das Herannahen des Christus, das empfanden aus den Erdentiefen heraus die Hirten auf dem Felde in ihrem frommen Sinn. So kündigten für die Magier aus dem Morgenlande die Raumesweiten dasselbe an, was für die Hirten die Erdentiefen ankündigten.

[ 14 ] Es war das die Zeit, in der eben noch Reste vorhanden waren von jenen alten Erkenntnissen. Daher müssen wir hinschauen auf solche auch für die damalige Zeit Ausnahmemenschen, wie es die drei Magier aus dem Morgenlande waren, und wie es auch diese besonderen Hirten auf dem Felde waren. Beide in ihrer Art hatten bewahrt dasjenige, was für die allgemeine Menschheit schon mehr oder weniger dahingeschwunden war. Deshalb konnte sich ihnen das Mysterium von Golgatha, indem es herannahte, in der Weise ankündigen, wie es sich ihnen angekündigt hat.

[ 15 ] Man muß diese Dinge durchaus so betrachten, daß man zu der gewöhnlichen geschichtlichen Art der Anschauung dasjenige hinzunimmt, was geisteswissenschaftlich an Erkenntnis dem Menschen sich ergeben kann. Man muß gewissermaßen versuchen zu durchmessen die Raumesweiten und die Seelentiefen. Und durchmißt man in der richtigen Weise von einem bestimmten Gesichtspunkte aus die Raumesweiten, dann lernt man die Art und Weise verstehen, wie die Magier aus dem Morgenlande das Herannahen des Mysteriums von Golgatha erlebt haben. Versucht man zu ergründen die Seelentiefen, dann wird einem ein Verständnis davon, wie sich den Hirten angekündigt hat dasjenige, was da der Erde so nahe kam, daß die Erde selber schon in sich die Kräfte dieses Nahekommenden vernahm. Was an vorgeburtlichen Fähigkeiten bei den Magiern sich ausdrückte, das entspricht mehr einem Intellektuellen, einem Erkennen. Allerdings war das Intellektuelle dazumal noch ein anderes als heute. Was dagegen bei den Hirten wirkte, das entspricht mehr einem Wollen, und das Wollen ist es zu gleicher Zeit, welches die Wachstumskräfte im Universum darstellt. So daß, ich möchte sagen, die Hirten verbunden wurden mit ihrem Wollen dem, was da der Erde sich nahte als das Christus-Wesen. Man fühlt auch, wie die Erzählungen von den Magiern aus dem Morgenlande — wenn sie auch in den heutigen Bibeln höchst unvollkommen stehen -, wie sie wiedergeben die Erkenntnisart, in der sich die Magier dem Mysterium von Golgatha nahen: es ist das, was im äußeren Bewußtsein für sie lebt. Und wir fühlen bei der Erzählung, bei dieser innigen Erzählung, wie die Hirtenverkündigung im Evangelium steht, daß da auf den Willen der Menschen, auf das Gemüt, auf das innere Emotionelle hingewiesen wird. «Offenbarung des Gottes aus den Himmeln und Friede den Menschen auf der Erde, die eines guten Willens sind.» Man fühlt das Strömen des Willens in der Hirtenverkündigung. Und wenn Sie das Lichtvolle der Magiererkenntnis fühlen, so fühlen Sie die ganz andere Art.

[ 16 ] So kommen wir der ganzen tiefen Bedeutung dessen, was da im Neuen Testamente erzählt wird als Magiererkenntnis und Hirtenverkündigung, nahe, wenn wir versuchen, ganz tief hineinzublicken in Menschenerkenntnis und Menschenwollen, in Vorgeburtliches und Nachtodliches.

[ 17 ] Für uns, sagte ich, ist das, was für die Alten als Sternenwelt, als mineralische Welt, als pflanzliche Welt eine lebendige Geistwelt war, für uns ist es Mathematik, Mechanik geworden. Das, was früher Innenerkenntnis war, das ist an die Oberfläche gezogen. Wenn wir uns den Menschen vergegenwärtigen und uns seine Innenerkenntnis, wie sie besonders bei den Hirten aufgetreten ist, als Inneres vorstellen, und das, was bei den Magiern aufgetreten ist, als das Äußere vorstellen, so ist diese äußere Erkenntnis bei den Magiern das, was in Raumesweiten hinausreicht, um den Geist wahrzunehmen; das, was als Inneres lebt, führt zu den Schauungen, welche die Erdentiefen wahrnehmen, aber auch geistig.

[ 18 ] Und was da Innenerkenntnis ist, was bei den Hirten hervorgetreten ist (siehe Zeichnung, rot), das wächst sich in der weiteren Entwickelung der Menschheit immer mehr und mehr’nach außen und wird zu der heutigen Außenwahrnehmung. Das wird das, was wir heute die Erfahrungswahrnehmung nennen. Was dagegen bei den Magiern die Erkenntnis der belebten Sternenwelt vermittelt hat, das zieht sich nach dem Inneren, ich möchte sagen, mehr nach dem Gehirn zurück, und das wird unsere mathematische, unsere mechanische Welt (grün). Es hat also eine Kreuzung stattgefunden. Was früher, in der vorchristlichen Zeit, Innenerkenntnis war, bildhafte, naive, instinktive Imagination, das wird unsere Außenerkenntnis, wird sinnliche Wahrnehmung; was Außenerkenntnis war, womit man die Sternenwelt umfaßte, das zieht sich nach dem Inneren und wird die trockene geometrisch-mathematisch-mechanische Welt, die wir nunmehr aus dem Inneren heraus haben.

[ 19 ] Der gegenwärtige Mensch nimmt durch innere Erleuchtung ja nichts anderes wahr als Mathematisch-Mechanisches. Und nur auserlesene Geister, wie etwa Novalis, schwingen sich dazu auf, das Gedichthafte, das tief Phantasievolle von so etwas zu empfinden und auch dichterisch darzustellen, wie es eben das mathematisch-mechanische Innere ist, das Novalis in so schöner Weise, harmonisch geradezu, besungen hat. Was da Novalis besingt, ist für den gewöhnlichen Menschen heute die trokkene Welt der Dreiecke, der Vierecke, die trockene Welt der Quadrate und Summen und Differenzen, das ist für den gewöhnlichen Menschen jene Welt, wo wir etwa aussprechen, wie die Resultante aus zwei Kräften sich im Parallelogramm ausspricht. Der gewöhnliche Mensch ist prosaisch genug, um diese Welt als nüchtern, als trocken zu empfinden; er mag sie nicht. Der auserlesene Novalis besingt sie, weil in ihm noch etwas lebt von dem Nachklang dessen, was diese Welt war, als sie sich noch nicht in das Innere zurückgezogen hatte. Da war sie jene Welt, aus welcher der Jupiter-, der Saturngeist, aus der heraus der Geist des Widders, des Stiers, der Zwillinge wahrgenommen wurde. Das war die alte, lichterfüllte Sternenwelt, die sich nur zurückgezogen hat und zunächst im ersten Stadium ihres Zurückziehens die scheinbar trockene, mechanisch-mathematische Welt ist.

[ 20 ] Und dasjenige, was sich auf andere Weise verintensivierte bei den Hirten des Feldes zum Vernehmen der Stimme des Engels der Höhe, das ist in uns — trocken, nüchtern, abgeschwächt — zu der Wahrnehmung der äußeren Sinneswelt geworden. Damit nehmen wir heute Mineralien und Pflanzen und Sterne wahr, während wir mit dem anderen, kaum ausgesprochen, wahrnehmen die Erdentiefen oder die Menschen- und Tierwelt. Aber was heute abgeschwächt ist zu der mathematisch-mechanisch-phoronomischen Welt, das, was einst die Astrologie war, das hatte für die alte Erkenntnis eine solche Kraft in sich, daß sich als Himmelswesen für die Magier durch diese Erkenntnis enthüllte der Christus. Und der tiefe Einfluß auf die Erde, die ganze Gewalt, mit welcher der Christus in der Erde wirken sollte, sie verkündete — nicht für das, was heute unsere gewöhnliche Sinneserkenntnis ist, mit der wir nichts sehen als die grüne Fläche des Grases, die braunen Felle der Tiere —, für diese Erkenntnis, als sie noch im Inneren war, als sie noch nicht herausgezogen war in die bloßen Augen, in die bloße Haut, sie kündigte bei den Hirten des Feldes dasjenige an, was der Christus der Erde werden sollte.

[ 21 ] Wir müssen den Weg wiederum zurückfinden, wir müssen wiederum die Möglichkeit finden können, daß das Innere, das heute nur trockene Mathematik ist, sich bildhaft intensiviert zur Imagination. Wir müssen die Imagination, die uns die Initiationswissenschaft liefert, begreifen lernen. Was ist denn in diesen Imaginationen enthalten? Sie sind ja eine Fortsetzung dessen, durch das die Magier aus dem Morgenlande das Herannahen des Christus erkannt haben. Die Imaginationen sind die Sprossen, die Nachkommen dessen, was die Alten gesehen haben in den Sternbildern, in den Sternenimaginationen, in den mineralischen Imaginationen, dem Gold, Silber, Kupfer. So haben in entsprechenden Imaginationen die Alten gesehen, und die Nachkommen von alledem sind heute die mathematischen Fähigkeiten. Die mathematischen Fähigkeiten werden heute jene Fähigkeiten, die die Imaginationen verstehen. Und so wird man aus der Ausbildung des Inneren zu suchen haben das Verständnis der Christus-Wesenheit.

[ 22 ] Aber auch die äußere Wahrnehmung muß vertieft werden. Die äußere Wahrnehmung, sie ist selbst ein Abkömmling von dem, was einstmals die inneren Erlebnisse waren, die instinktiver Natur waren. Die Kraft, die bei den Hirten der Verkündigung noch im Inneren, in den Herzen war, sie ist heute nur in den Augen, in den Ohren. Sie hat sich ganz in die Außenseite des Menschen hineingeschoben und nimmt daher nur das Äußere wahr, den Sinnesteppich. Aber sie muß noch weiter nach außen gehen. Dazu muß aber der Mensch seinen Leib verlassen und der Inspiration fähig werden. Dann wird diese Inspiration, also die heute nach außen zu erringende Wahrnehmung, aus der Initiationswissenschaft heraus dasselbe geben können, was dem naiven Innenerkennen der Hirten auf dem Felde gegeben wurde durch die Verkündigung.

[ 23 ] Wenn so, wie einstmals Astrologie bei den Magiern und menschliche Herzensanschauung bei den Hirten des Feldes, das in dem neueren Menschen zusammenwirkt, was aus der Initiationswissenschaft durch Imagination und Inspiration kommt, dann wird der Mensch durch die Erkenntnisse der Imagination und Inspiration sich wiederum erheben zum geistigen Ergreifen des lebendigen Christus. Man muß es verstehen, wie die Isis, die lebendige, die göttliche Sophia, verlorengehen mußte gegenüber jener Entwickelung, welche die Astrologie in die Mathematik, in die Geometrie, in die Mechanik hineingetrieben hat. Man wird es aber auch verstehen, daß, wenn aus diesem Leichenfelde, aus Mathematik, Phoronomie und Geometrie, auferweckt wird die lebendige Imagination, daß dieses dann das Finden der Isis bedeutet, das Finden der neuen Isis, der göttlichen Sophia, die der Mensch finden muß, wenn die Christus-Kraft, die er seit dem Mysterium von Golgatha hat, in ihm lebendig, voll lebendig, das heißt, lichtvoll durchdrungen werden soll.

[ 24 ] Wir stehen eben vor dieser Zeitenwende. Die äußere Erde wird dem Menschen nicht diejenigen Güter geben, nach welchen er in der neueren Zeit gewohnt worden ist zu verlangen. Die großen Konflikte, welche die furchtbaren Katastrophen der letzten Jahre hervorgerufen haben, sie haben einen großen Teil der Erde schon in ein Kulturtrümmerfeld verwandelt. Weitere Konflikte werden folgen. Die Menschen bereiten sich vor zu dem nächsten großen Weltkriege. In weiterer Weise wird die Kultur zertrümmert werden. Aus dem, was gerade der neueren Menschheit sich als das Wertvollste für Erkenntnis und Wollen ergeben hat, aus dem wird unmittelbar nichts zu gewinnen sein. Das äußere Erdendasein, insoferne es ein Ergebnis früherer Zeiten ist, es wird vergehen, und ganz vergeblich hoffen diejenigen, welche glauben, die alten Denk- und Willensgewohnheiten fortsetzen zu können. Was heraufkommen muß, das ist ein neues Erkennen und ein neues Wollen auf allen Gebieten. Wir müssen uns bekanntmachen mit dem Gedanken des Hingehens einer Kultur, einer Zivilisation; aber wir müssen hineinschauen in das menschliche Herz, in den Geist, der in dem Menschen wohnt. Wir müssen Vertrauen haben zu diesem Menschenherzen und zu diesem Menschengeiste, die in uns wohnen, damit durch alles das, was wir tun können innerhalb der Zertrümmerung der alten Zivilisation, neue Gebilde entstehen, wirkliche Neugebilde entstehen.

[ 25 ] Diese Neugebilde werden nicht entstehen, wenn wir uns nicht dazu bequemen, wirklich ernsthaftig ins Auge zu fassen, was für die Menschheit notwendigerweise geschehen muß. Lesen Sie nach in meinem Buche «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?». Dort ist Ihnen geschildert, wie der Mensch, wenn er zu den höheren Erkenntnissen gelangen will, zuerst sich ein Verständnis entwickeln muß für das, was man die Begegnung mit dem Hüter der Schwelle nennt. Da ist darauf hingewiesen, wie diese Begegnung mit dem Hüter der Schwelle bedeutet, daß Wollen, Fühlen, Denken sich trennen in einer gewissen Weise, daß eine Dreiheit aus der menschlichen chaotischen Einheit entstehen muß. Dieses Verständnis, das für den Schüler der geistigen Wissenschaft sich eröffnen muß, indem ihm klar wird, was der Hüter der Schwelle ist, dieses Verständnis muß sich der ganzen neueren Menschheit in bezug auf den Zivilisationsgang eröffnen. Wenn auch nicht für das äußere Bewußtsein, für die inneren Erlebnisse geht die Menschheit durch das Gebiet durch, das man auch als ein Gebiet des Hüters der Schwelle bezeichnen kann.

[ 26 ] Die neuere Menschheit überschreitet eine Schwelle, an der ein bedeutsamer Hüter steht, ein ernster Hüter. Und dieser ernste Hüter spricht vor allen Dingen das aus: Bleibet nicht hängen an dem, was sich heraufverpflanzt hat aus den alten Zeiten. Sehet in eure Herzen, sehet in eure Seelen, daß ihr Neugebilde schaffen könnet! Diese Neugebilde könnet ihr nur schaffen, wenn ihr den Glauben habt, daß aus der geistigen Welt heraus die Erkenntniskräfte und die Willenskräfte zu diesem geistigen Neuschaffen kommen können. — Was dem einzelnen Menschen beim Betreten der höheren Erkenntniswelten ein besonders intensives Ereignis sein muß, gewissermaßen unbewußt geht es für die ganze Menschheit in der Gegenwart vor sich. Und diejenigen, die sich zusammengeschlossen haben als anthroposophische Gemeinschaft, sie sollten einsehen, daß es zum Notwendigsten in der Gegenwart gehört, die Menschen zum Verständnis dieses Durchgehens durch das Schwellengebiet zu bringen.

[ 27 ] So wie der Mensch als Erkennender begreifen muß, daß sein Denken, Fühlen und Wollen sich in einer gewissen Weise trennt, und er es im höheren Sinne zusammenhalten muß, so muß der neueren Menschheit begreiflich gemacht werden, daß sich Geistesleben, Rechts- oder Staatsleben und Wirtschaftsleben voneinander trennen müssen und ein höheres Band des Zusammenhalts geschaffen werden muß, als es der bisherige Staat war. Nicht sind es irgendwelche Programme, Ideen, nicht sind es irgendwelche Ideologien, welche einzelne dazu bringen können, anzuerkennen diese Notwendigkeit einer Dreigliederung des sozialen Organismus; sondern die tiefe Erkenntnis von der Fortentwickelung der Menschheit ist es, die uns zeigt, daß diese Entwickelung an ein Schwellengebiet gelangt, daß der ernste Hüter dasteht, daß er verlangt - so wie er für den einzelnen Menschen verlangt, der zur höheren Erkenntnis fortschreitet: Erdulde die Trennung in Vorstellen, Fühlen, Wollen -, daß er so für die ganze Menschheit verlangt: Gliedere auseinander dasjenige, was in chaotischer Einheit in dem Götzen Staat verflochten war bis heute, gliedere das auseinander in ein geistiges Gebilde, in ein Rechts-Staatsgebilde, in ein Wirtschaftsgebiet. — Sonst kommt die Menschheit nicht weiter, sonst birst auseinander, fällt auseinander das alte Chaos. Dann aber, wenn es auseinanderfällt, wird es nicht die für die Menschheit notwendige Gestalt haben, sondern eine ahrimanische oder luziferische Gestalt, während ihm die Christus gemäße Gestalt allein die aus der Geisteswissenschaft heraus erfolgende Erkenntnis von dem Schwellengang in der Gegenwart geben kann.

[ 28 ] Das ist etwas, was wir, wenn wir richtig Anthroposophie verstehen, uns auch jetzt in der Weihnachtszeit sagen müssen. Uns muß das Kindlein, das in der Krippe liegt, das Kindlein sein der geistigen Entwickelung in eine Menschenzukunft hinein. Wie die Hirten auf dem Felde ihren Gang angetreten haben nach der Verkündigung, wie die Magier des Morgenlandes ihren Gang angetreten haben nach der Verkündigung, um zu schauen, wie als kleines Kind erschien dasjenige, was die Menschenwelt vorwärtsbringen sollte, so muß die neue Menschenwelt den Gang machen zur Initiationswissenschaft, um aus der Initiationswissenschaft, ich möchte sagen in der Gestalt des kleinen Kindes, wahrzunehmen, was da werden soll für die Zukunft der von der Geisteswissenschaft getragene dreigliedrige soziale Organismus. Bersten müßte die alte Staatsform, wenn der Mensch sie nicht zur Gliederung brächte, bersten müßte sie so, daß sie von selbst, von sich aus, entwickeln würde auf der einen Seite ein Geistesgebiet - das aber dann erst recht chaotisch wäre, das vollständig ahrimanisch-luziferische Züge annähme und auf der anderen Seite ein wirtschaftliches Gebiet, wiederum mit luziferisch-ahrimanischen Zügen, und das eine wie das andere würde Fetzen des Staatsgebildes nach sich ziehen. Im Orient würden sich mehr ahrimanisch-luziferische Geiststaaten entwickeln, im Westen mehr ahrimanisch-luziferische Wirtschaftsstaaten, wenn der Mensch nicht durch die Durchchristung seines Wesens begreift, wie er das vermeiden kann, wie er aus seiner Erkenntnis, aus seinem Willen heraus die Dreigliederung dessen, was auseinander will, vornehmen kann.

[ 29 ] Das wird dann sein die durchchristete menschliche Erkenntnis, das wird sein das durchchristete menschliche Wollen, und das wird sich in keiner anderen Art ausleben, als daß es das alte Idol des Einheitsstaates in seine entsprechenden drei Glieder auseinanderzieht. Diejenigen, die dann recht im Geistesleben drinnenstehen, die werden gleich den Hirten auf dem Felde erkennen, was die Erde erfährt durch das Christus-Wesen. Und diejenigen, die recht im Wirtschaftsleben, in den wirtschaftlichen Assoziationen drinnenstehen, die werden im rechten Sinne einen Willen entwickeln, der eine durchchristete soziale Ordnung bringt.

Fifteenth Lecture

[ 1 ] When it comes to understanding the event of Golgotha in the sense of the Christmas mystery, we can see two directions: on the one hand, the starry sky with all its mysteries, and on the other hand, the inner life of human beings with all its mysteries. Over the course of these days, I have pointed out how the so-called Magi from the East recognized the arrival of Christ Jesus on earth from the starry sky, and how the poor shepherds in the fields received the announcement of this Savior of mankind from the visions that developed from within human beings. Today we want to turn our attention once again to these two directions from which, in essence, all knowledge comes to man, from which the highest knowledge of the true meaning of life on earth must also come.

[ 2 ] When we look back to the times that preceded the Mystery of Golgotha, we find a completely different position of the human soul in relation to the universe and to itself than after the Mystery of Golgotha. However, this is not apparent in a very intense sense when we look at history from the outside, because the old knowledge belongs to a time that preceded the mystery of Golgotha by thousands of years in the post-Atlantean era. As the mystery of Golgotha drew nearer, this kind of knowledge had already become weaker, and we can say that it was only a few, particularly chosen individuals, such as the three magi from the East, who were able to attain such far-reaching knowledge as was revealed in them, and that, on the other hand, only very specially favored shepherds who were receptive to inner life, that is, people from the masses, could develop such visions from sleep as these shepherds did. But these were simply legacies of ancient relationships of knowledge between human beings and the universe, both on the one hand with the Magi and on the other with the shepherds.

[ 3 ] We cannot yet say, especially not for our present time, that humanity is already expressing in a particularly clear way the kind of knowledge that has entered into human evolution since the Mystery of Golgotha, but in general what we want to bring before our souls this evening is still valid. The pre-Christian way of relating to the starry sky was such that people did not see the stars in the prosaic, abstract way we see them now. The fact that people in earlier times spoke of the stars as living beings did not come from mere fiction, as a highly imperfect science believes, but from a spiritual, albeit instinctive, atavistic view of the starry sky. In ancient times, people saw the starry sky not merely as points or areas of light, but as something spiritual that could be described in the same way that these ancient people described the constellations, for they perceived the individual planets of our planetary system as animated by living beings. They saw the spiritual in the vast starry sky. And in this context, in which these ancient people saw the starry sky in its spiritual elements, they also saw everything that relates to the mineral and plant worlds. So the starry sky, the mineral and plant worlds, these three realms of existence, were seen by these ancient people with a faculty of knowledge. They spoke of the stars as animated beings, but they also spoke of minerals and plants as animated beings.

[ 4 ] We must not imagine that the cognitive faculty of these ancient times was the same as ours. Some time ago, I presented to you a level of cognition that is not so different from ours, but which is difficult for many people today to imagine. I said that the Greeks, especially in their earliest culture, did not see the color blue at all, that they did not have the blue sky above them. That was something the Greeks did not have. They perceived color more on the active, red-yellow side. They also did not paint with what we today consider shades of blue. This blue only appeared later in human perception.

[ 5 ] Imagine for a moment that all shades of blue disappeared from the world, so that even everything green looked different from how it looks to us today. You would have to admit that even for the Greeks, the world around them looked different from how it looks to us today. The environment looked even more different from our world to the people of earlier times. The spiritual gradually withdrew from the world that the ancients saw. The spiritual withdrew from the worlds of the stars, from the mineral worlds, from the plant worlds, and as the spiritual withdrew, the living, active colors became more dull. In contrast, that which could be perceived as blue rose from the background. And as the ability to perceive blue and darker colors emerged more and more in humanity, what the ancients perceived in their vividly appealing, I would say actively colorful astrology, was transformed into the gray, colorless geometry and mechanics with which we today, by bringing this geometry and mechanics out of our inner being, we no longer see in our surroundings what are the secrets of the starry worlds. The old astrology was transformed into the world as we imagine it today in the Copernican-Galilean-Keplerian sense, into the world of celestial mechanics, into the world of mathematics. That is one side of the coin.

[ 6 ] The other side is that in those ancient times, humans possessed an intense inner ability to perceive what flowed out of the earth, as it were, as the earth's fluids, surrounding humans. So, I would say that, as the counterpart of the starry sky, the fluids of the earth, the qualities of the earth, were revealed through an inner faculty of perception, through certain inner abilities. In ancient times, human beings had a subtle sensitivity to everything that was peculiar to the climate of their country, to everything that was peculiar to the soil. Whether a person lived on calcareous soil or on granite soil, this meant a different flow of what was in the earth. But what they felt flowing up did not appear to them as a mere dark feeling, as a dull, muffled experience, but rose up in them as colors, clouds, which they felt inwardly. And just as they perceived the depths of the earth, so they perceived the human soul in their fellow human beings, and so they also perceived animal life. This perception was more vivid and intense. Just as it was a kind of external faculty of cognition through which man looked into the starry sky, through which he surveyed minerals and plants in their spirituality with atavistic, instinctive clairvoyance, so he perceived through an instinctive, inner vision what lived spiritually in the depths of the earth. He did not merely speak of the limestone soil, but rather elemental beings arose in him, some of one kind from the limestone soil, others of another kind from the granite or gneiss soil.

[ 7 ] He also perceived what lived in other human beings as an aura, which, however, was, in a sense, clothed in human beings by the earth, and he perceived animals in particular in their aura as earth beings. For him, what lived in the earth as the ground, as the inner heat of the earth, continued in the entire animal world. When ancient humans saw butterflies flying over plants, they always saw them dragging behind them what had been created from the earth. They perceived what flitted over the earth in animal form as if in an auric cloud. All this gradually receded, and the prosaic world remained for human perception, which shifted outward, so that humans now began to see their environment as we see the colorful environment today, without perceiving the spiritual. And what man had seen through inner perception was transformed into our modern knowledge of nature; what he had seen spiritually through outer perception was transformed into our modern mathematics and mechanics.

[ 8 ] Thus, on the one hand, we have developed our modern view of nature from what the poor shepherds in the fields brought to their inner perception, and from what the magi from the East brought to their perception of the star that announced Christ, we have developed our dry mathematics and mechanics. At that time, enough of the outer and inner perception was still preserved in individual human beings that the mystery of Jesus' birth could be announced in this way on both sides.

[ 9 ] But what actually lay at the basis of this perception? Well, in the time we go through between death and a new birth, that is, the time we went through before we entered earthly existence through birth, we actually lived through world spaces. There, our individuality was not so bound to the space enclosed by our skin, but rather this existence was extended over world spaces. And that ancient ability of magical vision, which the wise men from the East, the magi from the East, still possessed, was essentially an ability that penetrated particularly strongly into human beings during the time between death and birth, that is, a pre-birth ability. What the soul experienced within the starry world before birth was awakened as a special ability in those who became disciples of the magicians. By developing these special abilities, the disciples of the magicians could say, in a sense: I experienced something very specific before I descended here to the earthly world, with Mercury, with the Sun, with the Moon, with Saturn, with Jupiter. And the fact that this cosmic memory emerged, so to speak, led them to see the spiritual in the whole outer world, to see the destiny of human beings on earth from what they saw within the world of the stars through the memory of their pre-birth existence.

[ 10 ] The abilities with which one perceived the depths of the earth, the secrets of the human soul, the nature of animals, were abilities that were only germinally developed in human beings and only appeared after death, i.e., post-mortem abilities that were only to become creative after death, but young, germinative abilities. Even though these abilities are only particularly creative for humans after death, they nevertheless appear in earthly life as germinative abilities, especially in the early stages of earthly life in children. The forces of growth that the growing child has in particular, which sprout and blossom from the spiritual realm, recede in later years in human beings, they withdraw, and it is precisely those forces that were there before birth that then fill us more. But after death, these childlike abilities reappear. Only particularly gifted people retain them into old age. For — as I have already mentioned here — what we have in the way of genius in later years, we owe to the fact that we have remained more childlike than those who do not have these abilities, or have them to a lesser extent. The preservation of childlike abilities into later life equips us with special inventive abilities and the like. The more we are able to retain childlike abilities as we mature, the more creative and inventive we are. These creative forces then reappear after death.

[ 11 ] In particular, individual peoples in pre-Christian times had the opportunity to use the abilities that remained from the prenatal period to enrich their post-death abilities. Because these peoples did not develop the insights that appeared among the magi from the East — because they allowed these insights to recede and the post-death abilities to come to the fore, and because the two interpenetrated to such an extent that the pre-birth abilities fertilized and enlivened the post-death abilities — the gift of prophecy developed in such people, the gift of to predict the future prophetically from the post-death abilities. What we call the Jewish prophets are people in whom the abilities that were post-death developed particularly strongly, but who did not remain at the instinctive level, as in the case of the poor shepherds at the Annunciation in the field, but were imbued with those other abilities that were more intensively developed in people such as the magi from the East, and which led to very special insights, insights relating to the mysteries of the starry sky and its processes.

[ 12 ] Now it will seem understandable to you how the proclamation of the shepherds in the field and the knowledge of the Magi from the East must have corresponded. The knowledge of the Magi from the East was such in their field that they were able to see particularly deep secrets of the starry sky. They were able to come to the point where, from those worlds in which man is between death and a new birth, from which they gained the abilities that enabled them to penetrate the starry sky, from an elevation of this knowledge, they gained the insight: From this world, which does not initially belong to our life between birth and death, but which belongs to our life between death and a new birth, a being, the Christ, descends to earth. From their knowledge of the stars, the magi were able to discern the approach of Christ.

[ 13 ] And what did this mean for the shepherds in the fields, who had developed the special ability to feel into the depths of the earth? Well, the earth became something different as Christ approached. The earth sensed this approach of Christ. The earth carried within itself new forces that came precisely because Christ was approaching. What the earth reflected, the way the earth reacted to the approach of Christ, was sensed from the depths of the earth by the shepherds in the fields in their pious minds. Thus, for the Magi from the East, the vastness of space announced the same thing that the depths of the earth announced to the shepherds.

[ 14 ] It was a time when remnants of those ancient insights still existed. Therefore, we must look to those who were exceptional for their time, such as the three magi from the East and the special shepherds in the fields. Both, in their own way, had preserved what had already more or less disappeared for humanity in general. That is why the mystery of Golgotha, as it approached, could announce itself to them in the way it did.

[ 15 ] One must view these things in such a way that one adds to the ordinary historical view what spiritual science can reveal to human beings. One must, as it were, try to measure the expanses of space and the depths of the soul. And if one measures the expanses of space in the right way from a certain point of view, then one learns to understand how the magi from the East experienced the approach of the mystery of Golgotha. If one tries to fathom the depths of the soul, one gains an understanding of how that which came so close to the earth that the earth itself already sensed the forces of this approaching being was announced to the shepherds. What was expressed in the magicians' prenatal abilities corresponds more to an intellectual, a recognition. However, the intellectual was different then than it is today. What worked in the shepherds, on the other hand, corresponds more to a will, and this will is at the same time what represents the forces of growth in the universe. So I would say that the shepherds were connected through their will to what was approaching the earth as the Christ being. One also senses how the stories of the Magi from the East — even though they are highly imperfect in today's Bibles — reflect the kind of knowledge through which the Magi approached the mystery of Golgotha: it is what lives for them in their outer consciousness. And we feel in the narrative, in this heartfelt narrative, how the proclamation of the shepherds in the Gospel points to the will of human beings, to the mind, to the inner emotional life. “Revelation of God from heaven and peace on earth to those of good will.” One feels the flow of will in the shepherds' proclamation. And when you feel the light of the magi's knowledge, you feel the completely different nature of it.

[ 16 ] Thus, we come close to the whole deep meaning of what is told in the New Testament as the knowledge of the Magi and the proclamation of the shepherds when we try to look deeply into human knowledge and human will, into the pre-birth and post-death.

[ 17 ] For us, I said, what was a living spirit world for the ancients, as the world of the stars, the mineral world, the plant world, has become mathematics and mechanics for us. What used to be inner knowledge has been brought to the surface. If we think about people and imagine their inner knowledge, as it was especially evident in shepherds, as something internal, and what was evident in magicians as something external, then this external knowledge in magicians is what extends out into space to perceive the spirit; that which lives as the inner self leads to the visions that perceive the depths of the earth, but also spiritually.

[ 18 ] And what is inner knowledge, what emerged among the shepherds (see drawing, red), grows more and more outward in the further development of humanity and becomes today's external perception. This becomes what we today call experiential perception. What, on the other hand, conveyed the knowledge of the animated starry world to the magicians, retreats inward, I would say more toward the brain, and becomes our mathematical, mechanical world (green). So a crossover has taken place. What used to be inner knowledge in pre-Christian times, pictorial, naive, instinctive imagination, becomes our outer knowledge, our sensory perception; what used to be outer knowledge, with which we embraced the starry world, withdraws inward and becomes the dry, geometric, mathematical, mechanical world that we now have from within.

[ 19 ] Through inner enlightenment, contemporary human beings perceive nothing other than mathematical and mechanical things. And only select minds, such as Novalis, are able to rise above this and perceive the poetic, deeply imaginative nature of such things and also express it poetically, as is the mathematical-mechanical inner world that Novalis sang about in such a beautiful, harmonious way. What Novalis sings about is, for the average person today, the dry world of triangles and quadrangles, the dry world of squares, sums, and differences. For the average person, this is the world where we express, for example, how the resultant of two forces is expressed in a parallelogram. The average person is prosaic enough to perceive this world as sober, as dry; they do not like it. The exquisite Novalis sings about it because something still lives in him from the echo of what this world was like before it had withdrawn into itself. There was that world from which the spirit of Jupiter and Saturn was perceived, from which the spirit of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini was perceived. That was the old, light-filled world of the stars, which has only withdrawn and, in the first stage of its withdrawal, is the seemingly dry, mechanical-mathematical world.

[ 20 ] And that which intensified in a different way among the shepherds in the fields, enabling them to hear the voice of the angel from on high, has become in us — dry, sober, weakened — the perception of the outer sense world. Thus, today we perceive minerals, plants, and stars, while with the other, barely articulated, we perceive the depths of the earth or the human and animal world. But what has now been weakened to the mathematical-mechanical-phoronomic world, what was once astrology, had such power in ancient knowledge that Christ revealed himself to the magi as a heavenly being through this knowledge. And the profound influence on the earth, the whole power with which Christ was to work in the earth, was proclaimed — not for what what is today our ordinary sensory knowledge, with which we see nothing but the green surface of the grass, the brown skins of animals — for this knowledge, when it was still within, when it had not yet been drawn out into the bare eyes, into the bare skin, it announced to the shepherds in the fields what Christ was to become for the earth.

[ 21 ] We must find our way back again, we must again be able to find the possibility that what is today only dry mathematics may intensify pictorially into imagination. We must learn to understand the imagination that the science of initiation provides us with. What is contained in these imaginations? They are a continuation of what enabled the magi from the East to recognize the approach of Christ. The imaginations are the sprouts, the offspring of what the ancients saw in the constellations, in the star imaginations, in the mineral imaginations, in gold, silver, and copper. This is what the ancients saw in corresponding imaginations, and the descendants of all this are today's mathematical abilities. Mathematical abilities today are those abilities that understand the imaginations. And so, from the training of the inner life, we must seek to understand the Christ being.

[ 22 ] But outer perception must also be deepened. Outer perception is itself a descendant of what were once inner experiences of an instinctive nature. The power that was still within the hearts of the shepherds at the Annunciation is now only in the eyes and ears. It has moved entirely to the outside of the human being and therefore only perceives the external, the sensory world. But it must go further outward. To do this, however, the human being must leave his body and become capable of inspiration. Then this inspiration, that is, the perception to be gained outwardly today, will be able to give, through the science of initiation, the same thing that was given to the naive inner knowledge of the shepherds in the field through the Annunciation.

[ 23 ] If, as astrology once did among the magi and human heart-contemplation among the shepherds in the fields, what comes from the science of initiation through imagination and inspiration now works together in the newer human being, then human beings will in turn rise through the insights of imagination and inspiration to a spiritual grasp of the living Christ. One must understand how Isis, the living, divine Sophia, had to be lost in relation to the development that astrology drove into mathematics, geometry, and mechanics. But one will also understand that when the living imagination is resurrected from this field of corpses, from mathematics, phoronomy, and geometry, this will mean the discovery of Isis, the discovery of the new Isis, the divine Sophia, whom human beings must find if the Christ force, which they have had since the Mystery of Golgotha, is to become alive, fully alive, that is, permeated with light, within them.

[ 24 ] We are now standing at this turning point in time. The outer earth will not give human beings the goods they have become accustomed to demanding in recent times. The great conflicts that have caused the terrible catastrophes of recent years have already turned a large part of the earth into a cultural wasteland. Further conflicts will follow. People are preparing for the next great world war. Culture will be shattered in a further sense. Nothing will be gained directly from what has been most valuable to the newer humanity in terms of knowledge and will. The outer earthly existence, insofar as it is a result of earlier times, will pass away, and those who believe they can continue the old habits of thinking and willing are hoping in vain. What must emerge is a new knowledge and a new will in all areas. We must familiarize ourselves with the idea of the passing of a culture, of a civilization; but we must look into the human heart, into the spirit that dwells within human beings. We must have confidence in this human heart and in this human spirit that dwell within us, so that through everything we can do within the ruins of the old civilization, new structures may arise, real new structures.

[ 25 ] These new structures will not emerge unless we make the effort to seriously consider what must necessarily happen for humanity. Read about this in my book How to Know Higher Worlds. There you will find a description of how, if human beings want to attain higher knowledge, they must first develop an understanding of what is called the encounter with the guardian of the threshold. It is pointed out there how this encounter with the guardian of the threshold means that willing, feeling, and thinking separate in a certain way, that a trinity must arise out of the chaotic unity of the human being. This understanding, which must open up to the student of spiritual science as he realizes what the guardian of the threshold is, must open up to all of modern humanity in relation to the course of civilization. Even if not for the outer consciousness, humanity passes through the realm that can also be called the realm of the guardian of the threshold in its inner experiences.

[ 26 ] The newer humanity is crossing a threshold where a significant guardian stands, a serious guardian. And this serious guardian says above all: Do not cling to what has been transplanted from ancient times. Look into your hearts, look into your souls, that you may create new things! You can only create these new things if you have faith that the powers of knowledge and will can come from the spiritual world to this spiritual new creation. What must be a particularly intense experience for the individual human being when entering the higher worlds of knowledge is happening, in a sense unconsciously, for the whole of humanity in the present. And those who have joined together as an anthroposophical community should realize that it is one of the most necessary things in the present to bring people to an understanding of this passage through the threshold region.

[ 27 ] Just as human beings, as beings of knowledge, must understand that their thinking, feeling, and willing are separated in a certain way and must be held together in a higher sense, so must the newer humanity be made to understand that spiritual life, legal or state life and economic life must be separated from one another and that a higher bond of cohesion must be created than the state has been up to now. It is not any programs, ideas, or ideologies that can lead individuals to recognize this necessity of a threefold social organism; rather, it is the deep realization of the further development of humanity that shows us that this development has reached a threshold, that the serious guardian stands there and demands—just as he demands of the individual human being who is advancing toward higher knowledge: Endure the separation into thinking, feeling, and willing—that he demands this for all of humanity: Divide apart that which has been intertwined in chaotic unity in the idol of the state until today; divide it into a spiritual structure, into a legal-state structure, into an economic sphere. Otherwise, humanity will not progress; otherwise, the old chaos will burst apart and fall apart. But then, when it falls apart, it will not have the form necessary for humanity, but an Ahrimanic or Luciferic form, whereas only the form in accordance with Christ can give it the knowledge of the threshold passage in the present that comes from spiritual science.

[ 28 ] This is something we must tell ourselves now, during the Christmas season, if we understand anthroposophy correctly. The little child lying in the manger must be the child of spiritual development into a human future. Just as the shepherds in the fields set out after the announcement, just as the Magi from the East set out after the announcement to see how that which was to advance the human world appeared as a little child, so must the new human world set out on the path to the science of initiation in order to perceive from the science of initiation, I would say in the form of the little child, what is to become of the future of the threefold social organism supported by spiritual science. The old form of government would burst if human beings did not bring it into structure; it would burst in such a way that, of its own accord, develop on its own, on the one hand a spiritual realm—which would then be even more chaotic, taking on completely Ahrimanic-Luciferic traits—and on the other hand an economic realm, again with Luciferic-Ahrimanic traits, and both would pull at the fragments of the state structure. In the East, more Ahrimanic-Luciferic spiritual states would develop, and in the West more Ahrimanic-Luciferic economic states, if human beings did not understand, through the Christianization of their nature, how they can avoid this, how they can carry out the threefold division of what wants to fall apart out of their own knowledge and will.

[ 29 ] This will then be Christianized human knowledge, this will be Christianized human will, and it will not be expressed in any other way than by pulling the old idol of the unitary state apart into its three corresponding members. Those who are then rightly within the spiritual life will recognize, like shepherds in the field, what the earth is experiencing through the Christ being. And those who are rightly within economic life, within economic associations, will develop a will in the right sense that brings about a social order permeated by Christ.