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Old and New Methods of Initiation
GA 210

11 February 1922, Dornach

Lecture VI

Today1 Today: In his introduction to this lecture (contained in GA 255), Rudolf Steiner spoke words of appreciation for the way in which Albert Steffen had reported in the journal Das Goetheanum on a lecture denigrating Anthroposophy. I should like to discuss a theme which can perhaps lead to some points of view from which to assess present-day cultural and spiritual life in connection with what has gone before in human evolution. As I have often said, cultural life since the first third of the fifteenth century is entirely different from that of earlier times, and now we are faced with the necessity to return, but in full consciousness and with deep thought, to an understanding of the spiritual part of our life in the cosmos. The spiritual part of our life in the cosmos was understood in ancient times by an instinctive clairvoyance, and this was the case most of all in the most ancient ages of earthly civilization. Then the capacity to push through to the spirit receded more and more, until a time came when mankind needed a new impetus, whereupon the Mystery of Golgotha took place.

Today I should like to mention that, before the Mystery of Golgotha, people who were concerned with spiritual life looked to those institutions known in general human cultural life as the Mysteries. In those most ancient days of human evolution it was unthinkable that spiritual vision and spiritual knowledge could have any other source than the Mysteries. When we try to observe the consciousness of those who turned to the Mysteries in those ancient days, if knowledge was what they desired, we arrive at the following picture: All external knowledge not stemming from the Mysteries, all intellectual knowledge gained by human beings by themselves, did not come into being until the later part of the Greek era. Only then did people want to discover certain truths out of themselves, without the help of the Mysteries. That is why the course of scientific development is reckoned, by those who understand these things, to have started in the time of Thales.2 Thales of Miletus, c.640-545 B.C. I have discussed this in my book Riddles of Philosophy.3 Rudolf Steiner, Riddles of Philosophy, Anthroposophic Press, New York 1973. Before that time knowledge was sought with the help of the Mysteries. When we examine the consciousness on which this was founded, we discover that those who conducted the Mysteries, and also their pupils, saw something most important in what they called ‘the prince of this world’—they meant the earth—as opposed to the princes—that is, the spiritual beings—of other worlds.

In today's language, ‘the prince of this world’, as he lived in the consciousness of ancient times, would be called the being of Ahriman. The being of Ahriman would more or less be equivalent to this prince of earthly life. The spiritual revelations which can be derived from ‘the prince of this world’ are none other than those of intellectual knowledge. The leaders of the Mysteries would certainly have considered all that lived in the knowledge that grew up in Greece outside the Mysteries to have been inspired by ‘the prince of this world’. In contrast, they saw it as the task of the Mysteries to lead human beings towards a spiritual vision which tends away from ‘the prince of this world’, which tends to lead human souls into realms which are not ruled by ‘the prince of this world’. We cannot help but make use of such expressions in order to show properly what is meant, and no one should think that there is anything superstitious about using these expressions.

Let me give you a picture of what someone initiated in the ancient Greek, or the Egyptian, or Persian Mysteries would have thought in those old days about ‘the prince of this world’. We have to understand that these people also spoke about the Christ-being, though they used other names. Using the name of Christ is not the only way of speaking about the Christ-being. We naturally use the name of Christ when we want to speak about the Christ-being, for Christ to us actually means that Being who underwent the Mystery of Golgotha and united himself with earthly civilization. Before the Mystery of Golgotha this Being was not yet united with earthly civilization. He still lived as the great Sun-being outside the earthly world. The Mystery of Golgotha denotes the uniting with the earthly world of this Being who lived outside the earthly world. But those initiated in the Mysteries certainly knew this Being who lived outside the earthly world. And the being known as ‘the prince of this world’—that ahrimanic being—also knew him. That being—I am describing what lived in the consciousness of the initiates—felt himself to be the lord of the earth. He considered that whatever human beings possessed through the forces of the earth was something they had from him. But he knew that the Christ-being lived outside the earth and also had an influence on human life by way of the Mysteries, whose teachings were then popularized and brought amongst the peoples.

To describe more closely what lived in their consciousness, we may say that the initiates in the Mysteries thought as follows: The chief influence of ‘the prince of this world’ is on the physical bodies of human beings. These wholly do his bidding and he feels he is the lord of human physical bodies. But he could not feel himself to be the lord of the etheric and astral natures of human beings, of their life-bodies and their souls. The life-body and the soul were seen to be under the influence of a Being who lived outside the earth; the forces of the Christ-being had always been seen to flow into these. But with the forces of their own soul human beings were quite unable to receive what ought to flow into them from the Christ-being. They could only do so by turning to what the Mystery initiate received after the proper preparation. The Mysteries were seen to take hold of what came from outside the earth and pass it on to human beings. So ‘the prince of this world’ said to himself: Here on earth I am the master. From the earth the physical bodies of human beings draw their forces, and one of these forces is the human earthly intellect. Here I am the master and nothing can contest this here on earth. By way of the Mysteries, something from outside the earth flows into it. This I will tolerate.

But ‘the prince of this world’ rebelled against the Mystery of Golgotha because from then on he would have had to share his supremacy with the Christ who descended to the earth through the Mystery of Golgotha. ‘The prince of this world’ felt the Christ to be a rival in his mastery of the earth. He would have tolerated the sharing of the rulership with another being from outside the earth, but he would not tolerate a rival here within the earthly realm.

Here, then, out of the spirit of the ancient Mysteries, we have an indication of the real opposition of ‘the prince of this world’ towards the Christ. Among those with knowledge about such things this opposition was strongly felt throughout the Middle Ages until well into the fifteenth century. Any mention of ‘the prince of this world’ and of the Christ took it into account. There was a certain awareness of two dominions. One of these had rightfully ruled the bodily nature of man before the Mystery of Golgotha, but since then this sovereignty over the bodily nature of man has had to be shared with the other, with the Christ. For now Christ no longer influences only man's soul element, that is, his astral and etheric bodies; his purpose is now to influence also man's physical bodily nature, or rather whatever is expressed by this physical bodily nature, namely, everything to do with the intellect and with man's own capacities in the widest sense. Christ should live in every aspect of human nature. This is what entered into mankind through the Mystery of Golgotha.

Prior to the Mystery of Golgotha it never occurred to those who knew about such things to seek knowledge of external matters in any sphere which the human head or even the other soul or heart forces can reach on their own. Such things were left to the Mysteries. So before the Mystery of Golgotha there was certainly a strong awareness of the distinction between earthly wisdom and earthly sensing on the one hand, and a sensing of super-earthly forces on the other. The unique spiritual configuration of the early medieval centuries is only comprehensible in the light of a clear understanding of this fact.

Now this fact can be greatly clarified by something that was regarded as being of paramount importance in very many Mystery centres. The preparation and subsequent trials undergone by the Mystery pupils on the path of initiation varied, of course, in the different centres. But these variations were only really like the different paths up a mountain which, despite their different routes, all lead to one and the same summit in the end. They all led to one and the same Mystery goal. Despite the modifications, there were two measures within the Mysteries which every pupil had to undergo and which could be termed as being of paramount importance. These were, on the one hand, the draught of forgetfulness and, on the other hand, something which worked on the human being during the Mystery procedures like a powerful shock—like entering into a powerful fear. It is no longer permissible to use either of these for the purpose of achieving higher super-sensible knowledge. Today everything has to take place in the realm of soul and spirit, whereas the Mystery pupils in ancient times underwent procedures which always had to call on their physical body. What is achieved today is similar, but higher knowledge must now be striven for in the sphere of consciousness only, whereas in earlier times it took place in the sphere of instincts and dreams. Because all the Mysteries included something akin to the draught of forgetfulness and also something akin to the physical shock, the pupils’ external intellect was damped down. This intellect was less clear than it is today, but it nevertheless held sway in connection with everything relating to the external world.

So the pupil was led into a dulled consciousness both by the draught of forgetfulness and by the shock, which might be compared with the inducement of a state of fear. What was the significance of the draught of forgetfulness? The point was not the forgetting, though the pupil did forget. The effect it was to have came from its ceremonial preparation, from the special way it was mixed, to the accompaniment of certain preparations before it was drunk by the pupil. It was definitely a physical draught which, through the way it was served, brought it about that the pupil forgot the whole of his life since birth. This is something which is achieved nowadays through development in the realm of soul and spirit. Nowadays a clear consciousness of a great tableau of life encompassing everything that has occurred since birth is first conjured up. This is then suppressed and, in consequence, the human being is led into the spiritual form of his life before birth, or before conception. The same was achieved in a more physical way through the ancient draught of forgetfulness.

But the forgetting was not the essential point. Negative things are never the essential point. The positive thing achieved was that the pupil's thinking became more mobile and more intense. At the same time it became less clear. It became dreamy because the effect was achieved by influencing the physical organism. The effect of the draught of forgetfulness on the physical organism—it can be exactly described—was that the brain, if I may put it this way, became more fluid than it is in everyday life. Because the brain was made more fluid, because the pupil began to think more with his cerebral fluid than with the solid parts of the brain, his thoughts became more mobile and more intense.

Nowadays this must be achieved more directly, by means of developing soul and Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and in the second part of Occult Science. But in those days the brain was made more fluid by external influences. The goal was to make the spirit and soul element of the pupil—as it was before he made the connection with a physical body through conception: in other words, as it is in the spiritual world—capable once more of penetrating through the brain. This is the essential point.

In a drawing it would look like this. Suppose this is the mass of the brain (green). Once the human being has been born his spirit and soul element stops short before it (red). The brain is so constituted that the human being's inner spirit and soul element cannot pass through the brain. In his brain the human being is not filled with his spirit and soul element. Instead, external perceptions can enter and make themselves felt in the brain through the senses—let me draw an eye here. Put another way, the constitution of the brain is such today that the eternal aspect of the human being cannot rise up into it. Instead, external impressions can enter. By being given the draught of forgetfulness the pupil gained the possibility of receiving into his brain what was his spiritual and soul element before conception or before birth (red). That is the one side.

The other side is the shock which was administered to the pupil. Think how a shock affects human beings. They are as though paralysed. There can be shocks which bring about the paralysis of the whole human being. A paralysed person, a cataleptic person, cannot move about because his muscles are rigid. But in a human being who can go about his life in the ordinary way, his body absorbs this eternal aspect (white with red). In our blood, in our muscles down below, the element of spirit and soul, the eternal element, is absorbed. But because of this it cannot be perceived. It cannot penetrate the brain, but lower down it is absorbed. It cannot be perceived, but when the muscles go rigid it steps out freely as a matter of course.

The rigidity of the muscles was brought about by the effect of the shock. As a result, the element of spirit and soul was not absorbed by the rest of the organism—apart from the brain—but was freed. So now the spirit and soul element was in the brain because the brain had been softened by the draught of forgetfulness, while the rest of the organism was at the same time prevented from absorbing it. Thus the element of spirit and soul came to be perceived. From two sides came the possibility of perceiving the element of spirit and soul. In ordinary life the human being was incapable of perceiving it because the brain, with which everything else was perceived, was unable to take it in; it could not enter the brain. Neither could it be perceived from the rest of the organism, the will and so on, for the rest of the organism had absorbed it. But now the pupil's brain was softened—of course, only for the moment at which knowledge was to enter. So his element of spirit and soul rushed into his brain. Meanwhile, the rest of his body became rigid so that it could not absorb the spirit and soul element. There the pupil stood, with his softened brain on the one side and a rigidified organic system on the other, as though encased in a capsule. There he stood in his spirit and his soul which had been given to him from two sides.

This is the aim of these procedures which are described in such a practical manner. I must expressly point out, though, that these things cannot be imitated nowadays. People would, anyway, be at a loss as to how to imitate them and, if they tried, the result would not be agreeable. These days all such things have to be attained by working with soul and spirit. But of the past it can certainly be said: Having been enabled to perceive their element of spirit and soul by partaking of the draught of forgetfulness and by being shocked into physical rigidity, the pupils in the Mysteries became ‘Christians’. In the Mysteries they became Christians.

The early fathers of the church were certainly aware of this. But today people are not told about it, or it is even denied. But the early church fathers knew that human beings had been made Christians through the Mysteries. There are passages in the writings of the early church fathers4 For instance, St Justin Martyr, Apologia I, 46. which state that Heraclitus and Socrates, though they lived before the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, were Christians, even though they were called atheists in their own time. I have often quoted from such passages in the writings of the early church fathers. It was the view of the ancient Mystery leaders and initiates that ‘the prince of this world’ was not interested in that human being who came forth out of the other; he left this human being to Christ. But he did not want Christ to come down to the earth in order to take hold of the human being in his entirety. This is described in the gospels in the way it is said that the demons, the lower servants of ‘the prince of this world’, when they heard that Christ had come, began to rebel. They recognized him and were furious.

We have to understand, when speaking about earthly evolution, that the spiritual powers whose influence on the human physical body was perfectly legitimate before the Mystery of Golgotha had, after the Mystery of Golgotha, to share this influence with the Christ. This is an essential aspect of the Mystery of Golgotha. That is why in the Middle Ages ‘the prince of this world’ came to be called ‘the unlawful prince of this world’. This expression would not have been justified in the ancient heathen world but when it came to be used in the Middle Ages it was a correct title, befitting the circumstances.

The essential aspect of all this, with regard to the spiritual evolution of mankind, is that in more ancient times the physical body was withdrawn from the element of spirit and soul. The working of the brain was counteracted because the brain was softened by the draught of forgetfulness, and the powers of absorption of the rest of the organism were counteracted by the hardening of the rest of the organism by means of the shock. So in these older times the body was withdrawn from the element of spirit and soul.

Today, our aspiration is not to withdraw the body but to draw out the spirit, by strengthening and enhancing our forces of spirit and soul. The opposite of what used to take place must happen now; now the spirit must be drawn out. No changes must be allowed to take place in the physical, bodily aspect. Since the fifteenth century the human being has been organized in such a way that changes in the physical body, of the kind that were customary in those of Mystery pupils, would denote a condition of sickness. It would be a pathological condition, which must not be allowed to come about in normal development.

I am describing all this in order to give you an idea of what is to be understood by the concept of ‘the prince of this world’, which keeps recurring in olden times. ‘The prince of this world’, who in the Middle Ages became ‘the unlawful prince of this world’, is an Ahriman-like being. We can find such a being everywhere, in external nature and in the inner being of man. Indeed, only when we are in a position to find such a being in its manifestation both in external nature and in the inner being of man can we gradually come to an understanding of its essence.

Look at external nature. You will find there two contrasts, but what matters is to be able to sense the essence of these contrasts. Think of the blue sky. Of course in southern climes the blue sky must be seen rather differently than is the case here. When the envelope of air round the earth is filled by the effect of the sun, this is not the pure essence of the blue sky, for it is then overcast with something else. But the pure effect of the blue sky is that of coldness. The blue sky as such is cold. What you sense in the coldness of the blue sky, unmitigated by earthly sultriness—this is an all-embracing ahrimanic influence. The ahrimanic influence causes space to be petrified, congealed into blueness. Take note of this expression! It is unusual, but if you gradually come to sense what it means to say that space is petrified, congealed into blueness, you will have discovered the ahrimanic tendency in external nature.

The contrasting effect is that of the reddish, yellowish clouds sailing past. The effect is one of warmth, exactly the opposite. This, too, can be disguised by the coldness of the earth's environment but, all in all, a cloud lined with red, a yellowish cloud, has something warm about it. This is the contrasting effect, the effect of air. Between these two polar opposites something takes place, and that is what benefits the earthly life of man. We can say, then, that the effect on the earth of space petrified, congealed into blueness was seen in the Middle Ages to be the cosmic working of ‘the prince of this world’.

And when we look into human beings we find that they can be in a condition which makes them pale. You know how there is something livid, something blueish about palor in human beings. When human beings turn pale, when they feel their way into coldness, they are then sensing something ahrimanic working in them. Flushed redness, on the other hand, shows something luciferic at work in their nature. Out of all these details together we can gradually build up a full picture of what this ahrimanic being, ‘the prince of this world’, really is. People's pallid, often so clever, thoughts, running along always in straight lines—the whole intellectual aspect of man—this is the ahrimanic influence, the influence of ‘the prince of this world’, on the working of the human head.

These things must be understood from the point of view of spirit and soul. In the livid blueness, in the way human beings grow pale, in the way they devour themselves inwardly and feel their way into coldness, in the way they are filled with pale, abstract thoughts—in all this we have to feel the ahrimanic influence, the rulership of ‘the prince of this world’. And then we have to feel the warming influence of the Christ-impulse.

For the present time it is rather revealing and also necessary to recognize how different was initiation in ancient times compared with the principle of initiation today. There are certainly people today who still lack the courage to approach the Anthroposophical Movement but who have a deep longing for what, in the end, only the Anthroposophical Movement can give. They long for a transformation of their soul, after which they would find their way to the knowledge they seek. Obviously the greater part of mankind today rejects this transformation of the soul and imagines that any knowledge man is capable of reaching can be achieved through the ordinary state of soul which is brought about by our ordinary education and through our ordinary life. On my last tour I met a man who was greatly concerned to achieve some knowledge through the philosophical possibilities offered today, but not through Anthroposophy. He said that it would be interesting and important to ascertain in Anthroposophy how this higher knowledge might be achieved, for everywhere—this ‘everywhere’ is very relative, of course—the different world views were recognizing that the achievement of real knowledge was a matter not only of the intellect but also of the will. And in the ancient Mysteries, too, it was a matter of transforming the will.

In the description of the ancient Mysteries in my book Christianity as Mystical Fact5 Rudolf Steiner, Christianity as Mystical Fact, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1972. you will find that the decisive, radical difference between the ancient striving for knowledge and that of today lies in the fact that in ancient times it was necessary to prepare the will. The will had to be turned in a direction different from that of ordinary life. The will had to be purged, purified; it had to be transformed and lifted to a higher stage. The pupil had to give a new direction to his everyday will, which was dominated by ‘the prince of this world’. Through cultivation of his will, the pupil had to reach the point at which knowledge can be attained. Today, on the other hand, people imagine that we can stop at whatever point we have reached through our ordinary studies. And our intellectual life is merely the product of the ordinary configuration of our brain. If it is softened, as I have indicated, there is a strong possibility that thoughts can be willed, that everywhere thoughts can be willed. And when will becomes conscious through the rigidifying of the body, then thoughts appear in the will itself. This can also happen today when, on the path I have described, knowledge of higher worlds has become possible.

It is a very important sign today that once more there are people who know that the intellect alone is not enough and that it is necessary to cultivate the will in order to reach whatever knowledge is possible for man. So by looking at what is going on in a general way we come to see that a great many people are approaching who want to hear about spiritual matters. Also, from things which are shown to us as we go along, we see that there are people who once again realize that the will must be cultivated, if knowledge is to be achieved. All this goes to show that there is an urgent need for spiritual life today. Unfortunately, though, because people lack the courage to approach Anthroposophy, because they think Anthroposophy is something peculiar, they imagine that they can achieve what they are searching for along some other path. The world will have to come to the conviction that what is wanted can only be achieved on the anthroposophical path. Please do not misunderstand me. It is not my intention to maintain that what Anthroposophy has revealed so far is necessarily generally valid or particularly obvious. But I want to point out the importance of the direction in which Anthroposophy is going. This is what can lead to the satisfaction of the powerful longing that exists today, a longing which must be satisfied if human civilization is to move forward at all.

Alte und nene Einweihunsgmethoden I

[ 1 ] Heute möchte ich zu Ihnen über ein Thema sprechen, das vielleicht wiederum einige Gesichtspunkte abgeben kann für die Beurteilung des gegenwärtigen Geisteslebens im Zusammenhange mit dem, was in der Menschheitsentwickelung vorangegangen ist. In der Tat ist das Geistesleben der Menschheit, wie ich oftmals auseinandergesetzt habe, seit dem ersten Drittel des 15. Jahrhunderts gegenüber früheren Zeiten ein durch und durch anderes geworden, und wir stehen heute vor der Notwendigkeit, in einer gewissen Weise, aber vollbewußt und besonnen, wiederum zurückzukehren zu dem Durchschauen des geistigen Teiles unseres Weltzusammenhanges. Der geistige Teil unseres Weltzusammenhanges wurde ja von alter instinktiver Geistesschau durchdrungen, und am meisten in den ältesten Zeiten der irdischen Zivilisationsentwickelung. Es trat dann immer mehr und mehr die Fähigkeit der Menschen zurück, in dieser instinktiven Weise zum Geistigen vorzudringen, und in der Zeit, in welcher der Rückgang so stark bemerkbar war, daß die Menschheit einen neuen Einschlag brauchte, kam dann das Mysterium von Golgatha.

[ 2 ] Nun möchte ich heute erwähnen, daß vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha die Menschen, insofern sie auf das geistige Leben hingesehen haben, zu gleicher Zeit auch auf jene Institutionen hingesehen haben, die wir in der allgemeinen Menschheitszivilisation als die Mysterien kennen. Man konnte sich gewissermaßen in diesen ältesten Zeiten der Menschheit nicht denken, daß eine geistige Anschauung, daß ein geistiges Wissen sich anders ausbreiten könne, als indem es aus den Mysterien seinen Ursprung nahm. Und wenn wir das Bewußtsein untersuchen, das die Menschen gehabt haben, die in dieser Zeit, wenn sie überhaupt Wissen haben wollten, zu den Mysterien hinschauten, so ergibt sich uns etwa das folgende Bild: Alles, was äußeres, nicht aus den Mysterien stammendes, sondern von den Menschen selbst errungenes Verstandeswissen ist, das kam ja eigentlich erst in der späteren griechischen Zeit auf. Da erst geschah es, daß die Menschen aus sich selbst heraus, ohne Zuhilfenahme der Mysterien, zu gewissen Wahrheiten kommen wollten. Daher rechnet man ja auch, wenn man die Sache richtig versteht, den Gang der wissenschaftlichen Entwickelung erst von der Zeit des Thales an. Ich habe das Nötige in meinen «Rätseln der Philosophie» auseinandergesetzt. Alles, was vorher liegt, sucht Wissen durchaus mit Hilfe der Mysterien. Nun, wenn man dieses Bewußtsein, das da zugrunde lag, untersucht, so kommt man darauf, daß innerhalb der Mysterien von denjenigen, die die Mysterien leiteten und von ihren Schülern ein Wichtigstes in dem gesehen wurde, was man den «Fürsten dieser Welt» nannte — damit meinte man die Erde -, im Gegensatz zu den Fürsten, das heißt zu den Geistwesen anderer Welten.

[ 3 ] Wenn wir heute in unserer Sprache von dem «Fürsten dieser Welt» sprechen, wie er im Bewußtsein der alten Welt lebte, so würden wir etwa von der ahrimanischen Wesenheit sprechen. Wir würden also mit der ahrimanischen Wesenheit etwa diesen Fürsten des irdischen Lebens treffen. Wenn wir auf die Offenbarung im Geistigen sehen, die von der Seite des Fürsten dieser Welt hergeleitet werden kann, so müssen wir gerade auf das Intellektualistische des menschlichen Erkennens hinweisen. Die Mysterienleiter würden das, was im griechischen selbständigen, außerhalb der Mysterien entstandenen Wissen lebte, durchaus bezeichnet haben als ein Wissen, eingegeben von dem Fürsten dieser Welt. Dagegen haben sie die Aufgabe der Mysterien darin gesehen, den Menschen in eine geistige Anschauung einzuführen, die von dem Fürsten dieser Welt abbringt und die menschliche Seele zu einem Sich-Einleben in Welten führt, die nicht von dem Fürsten dieser Welt beherrscht werden. Man muß, wenn man die Dinge, um die es sich da handelt, in der richtigen Weise sehen will, sich solcher Ausdrücke bedienen, und es sollte niemand irgend etwas Abergläubisches oder dergleichen mit dem Gebrauche solcher Ausdrücke verbinden.

[ 4 ] Ich will Ihnen ein Bild entwerfen, wie etwa ein in die griechischen oder ägyptischen, in die persischen oder in andere Mysterien Eingeweihter über den Fürsten dieser Welt in älteren Zeiten gedacht hat. Da muß man sich schon klar darüber sein, daß wenn die Betreffenden auch andere Namen gehabt haben, sie dennoch durchaus von dem Christus-Wesen gesprochen haben, Man spricht ja nicht nur von dem Christus-Wesen, wenn man den Christus-Namen ausspricht. Wenn wir auch selbstverständlich den Christus-Namen aussprechen müssen, indem wir von dem Christus-Wesen sprechen, bezeichnen wir doch mit dem Christus eigentlich erst die in Betracht kommende Wesenheit, nachdem sie durch das Mysterium von Golgatha durchgegangen ist und sich mit der Erdenzivilisation verbunden hat. Sie war eben vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha nicht mit der Erdenzivilisation verbunden. Sie lebte gewissermaßen als das große Sonnenwesen außerhalb der irdischen Welt. Erst das Mysterium von Golgatha bezeichnet die Verbindung dieses außerhalb der irdischen Welt lebenden Wesens mit der Erdenwelt selber. Aber als solches außerirdisches Wesen kannten es durchaus die in die Mysterien Eingeweihten. Als solches Wesen erkannte es auch derjenige, den man den Fürsten dieser Welt nannte, das geistige Wesen ahrimanischer Natur. Er fühlte sich gewissermaßen — wie gesagt, ich schildere, was im Bewußtsein der Mysterieneingeweihten lebte — als Herr der Erde. Er konnte sich sagen: Was die Menschen durch die Kräfte der Erde haben, das haben sie von mir. — Dagegen wußte er auch, daß außerhalb der Erde der Christus lebte und auf das menschliche Leben einen Einfluß hatte, und zwar auf Umwegen durch die Mysterien, deren Lehren dann popularisiert und hinausgetragen wurden unter die Völker.

[ 5 ] Will man das, was da im Bewußtsein lebte, noch genauer beschreiben, so muß man sagen, die Eingeweihten der Mysterien dachten sich: Der Fürst dieser Welt hat seinen hauptsächlichsten Einfluß auf die physische Leiblichkeit des Menschen; diese steht ganz in seiner Botmäßigkeit, und er fühlt sich als Herr dieser physischen Leiblichkeit des Menschen. Nicht konnte er sich als Herr dessen fühlen, was die ätherische und astralische Wesenheit des Menschen, also der Lebensleib und das Seelische waren. Diesen Lebensleib und das Seelische sah man unter dem Einflusse einer außerirdischen Wesenheit stehen; da sah man schon immer die Kräfte der Christus-Wesenheit in den Menschen einfließen. Nur konnte der Mensch das, was von der Christus-Wesenheit in ihn einfließen sollte, überhaupt nicht durch die Kräfte seiner Seele erhalten, sondern nur dadurch, daß er sich an dasjenige wandte, was der Mysterieneingeweihte bekam, nachdem er in der entsprechenden Weise vorbereitet war. Man stellte sich die Mysterien eben so vor, daß durch sie das Außerirdische gewissermaßen aufgefangen und zu dem Menschen geleitet wurde. So daß sich der Fürst dieser Welt sagte: Hier auf dieser Erde bin ich Herr. Hier aus dieser Erde zieht der physische Leib des Menschen seine Kräfte, und zu diesen Kräften des physischen Leibes gehört auch der menschliche irdische Verstand. Da bin ich Herr. Hier auf dieser Erde macht mir nichts meine Herrschaft streitig. Es fließt ein auf diese Erde das Außerirdische auf dem Umwege durch die Mysterien. Das will ich dulden.

[ 6 ] Aber gerade deswegen lehnte sich der Fürst dieser Welt auf gegen das Mysterium von Golgatha, weil er nun seine Erdenherrschaft teilen sollte mit dem Christus, der durch das Mysterium von Golgatha auf die Erde heruntergestiegen war. Als einen Nebenbuhler in der Erdenherrschaft empfand der Fürst dieser Welt den Christus. Er hätte sich gut gefallen lassen gewissermaßen die Mitregierung von außerhalb der Erde herein, aber er wollte sich nicht gefallen lassen die Nebenbuhlerschaft hier innerhalb dieses Erdenbereiches selbst.

[ 7 ] Und da haben wir aus dem Geiste der alten Mysterien heraus den Hinweis auf die eigentliche Gegnerschaft des Fürsten dieser Welt gegenüber dem Christus. Diese Gegnerschaft wurde wiederum stark empfunden durch das ganze Mittelalter hindurch bis in das 15. Jahrhundert herein, bei denen, die in diese Dinge eingeweiht waren. Wenn man bis in das 15. Jahrhundert herein von dem Fürsten dieser Welt und von dem Christus sprach, so geschah es durchaus in diesem Sinne. Und man hatte ein gewisses Bewußtsein davon, daß sozusagen zwei Herrschaften da sind: Eine, die früher, vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha, in berechtigter Weise die menschliche Leiblichkeit beherrscht hat, die jetzt aber mit Bezug auf die menschliche Leiblichkeit ihr Wirken teilen muß mit der andern Herrschaft, mit dem Christus. Denn der Christus strahlt nun nicht mehr bloß auf das Seelische, das heißt auf das Astralische und das Ätherische, seine Wirkungen aus, sondern er will nunmehr auch seine Wirkungen ausstrahlen auf die physische Leiblichkeit des Menschen, das heißt auf das, was sich durch die physische Leiblichkeit des Menschen äußert, nämlich auf das Intellektualistische, auf die eigenen Fähigkeiten des Menschen im weitesten Sinne. Der Christus sollte leben in der ganzen menschlichen Natur. Das war es ja im Grunde genommen, was durch das Mysterium von Golgatha in die Menschheit gekommen ist.

[ 8 ] Vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha ist denen, die um diese Dinge wußten, gar nicht eingefallen, das Wissen von den ewigen Dingen innerhalb des Bereiches dessen zu suchen, was der menschliche Kopf ersinnen kann, oder was die andern Seelenkräfte, auch die Gemütskräfte, aus sich selbst heraus erlangen können. Das wurde den Mysterien überlassen. Es war also durchaus vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha ein starkes Bewußtsein davon vorhanden, daß irdisches Wissen, irdisches Empfinden etwas anderes ist als das Empfinden der überirdischen Mächte. Und man versteht die ersten Jahrhunderte des Mittelalters nur in ihrer besonderen geistigen Konfiguration, wenn man eben ein klares Bewußtsein von diesem Tatbestand hat.

[ 9 ] Nun kann es vielleicht über diesen Tatbestand ganz besonders aufklärend sein, wenn man hinsieht auf etwas, das ja als eine Art von Hauptsache innerhalb der verschiedensten Mysterienstätten angesehen worden ist. Gewiß, die Vorbereitungen und die späteren Prüfungen und so weiter, die der Mysterienschüler, der Einzuweihende, durchzumachen hatte, waren für die verschiedenen Mysterienstätten verschieden. Aber das Verschiedene nimmt sich auf diesen Gebieten auch nur so aus, wie etwa wenn man von verschiedenen Seiten auf einen Berg hinaufsteigt und oben doch, trotz der verschiedenen Wege, auf dem einen Gipfel ankommt. Zuletzt führte alles doch zu dem einen Mysterienziel. Nun kann man, wenn die Dinge auch modifiziert waren, dennoch zwei Maßnahmen dieser Mysterien, denen sich jeder zu unterwerfen hatte, als die Hauptsache bezeichnen. Das war der sogenannte Vergessenheitstrunk, und als zweites etwas, was innerhalb der Mysterienvorgänge so auf den Menschen wirkte wie ein starker Schreck, wie das Hineinleben in eine starke Angst. Beide Dinge dürfen heute nicht mehr in derselben Weise durchgemacht werden zum Behufe der Erlangung höherer übersinnlicher Erkenntnisse. Es muß heute alles seelisch-geistig durchgemacht werden, während die Mysterienschüler der alten Zeiten die Dinge so durchgemacht haben, daß sie dabei immer Physisches in Anspruch nehmen mußten. Aber bewirkt wird doch etwas Ähnliches, nur daß bei dem heutigen geistigen Erstreben der höheren Erkenntnis alles in die Sphäre des Bewußtseins hereinfällt, während es früher in die Sphäre des Instinktiven, des Traumhaften hineingefallen ist. Denn dadurch, daß so etwas wie der Vergessenheitstrunk in allen Mysterien gereicht worden ist und so etwas herbeigeführt wurde wie ein physischer Schreck, dadurch wurde in der Tat der Mensch abgedämpft in bezug auf seinen äußeren Intellektualismus, der zwar dumpfer war als der heutige, ihn aber doch beherrschte in bezug auf dasjenige, was sich auf die äußere Welt bezog.

[ 10 ] In ein dumpfes Leben wurde also der Mensch sowohl durch den Vergessenheitstrunk wie durch das andere, das einem Schreck, einem Angsterregen verglichen werden kann, hineingeführt. Was hatte der Vergessenheitstrunk denn für eine Bedeutung? Es kam dabei nicht darauf an, daß der Mensch irgend etwas vergaß. Er vergaß allerdings durch diesen Trunk. Aber die Wirkung, die dieser haben sollte, erhielt er dadurch, daß er in ein bestimmtes Zeremonial getaucht war, daß er in einer bestimmten Weise zubereitet war, daß gewisse Vorbereitungen gemacht wurden, bevor man den Trunk bekam. Es war aber durchaus ein physischer Trunk, der durch die Art und Weise, wie er gereicht wurde, allerdings bewirkte, was man nennen kann: Der Mensch vergaß sein Leben seit der Geburt. Es ist das etwas, was durch seelisch-geistige Entwickelung heute auch wiederum erreicht wird. Nur wird es heute dadurch erreicht, daß zuerst ein deutliches Bewußtsein von einem großen Lebenstableau hervorgerufen wird, das alles umfaßt seit der Geburt. Dann wird das unterdrückt, und dadurch wird der Mensch in die geistige Weise seines Lebens vor der Geburt oder vor der Konzeption eingeführt. Das wurde in der mehr physischen Weise erreicht im alten Vergessenheitstrunk.

[ 11 ] Aber das ist ja nicht das Wesentliche, daß der Mensch vergißt. Das Negative ist überhaupt niemals das Wesentliche. Das Positive, was dadurch erreicht wurde, das ist, daß das Denken beweglicher und intensiver wurde. Aber dumpfer wurde es auch. Es wurde traumhafter, weil eben an den physischen Organismus herangegangen wurde. Die Wirkung dieses Vergessenheitstrunkes auf den physischen Organismus war — man kann sie ganz genau beschreiben -, daß das Gehirn, wenn ich mich so ausdrücken darf, flüssiger gemacht wurde als es im gewöhnlichen Leben ist. Dadurch, daß das Gehirn flüssiger gemacht wurde, daß also der Mensch mehr mit dem Gehirnwasser statt mit den festen Bestandteilen dachte, dadurch wurde sein Denken beweglicher, intensiver.

[ 12 ] Heute muß das auf dem direkten Weg erreicht werden, nämlich durch seelisch-geistige Entwickelung, wie das beschrieben ist in «Wie erlangt man Erkenntnisse der höheren Welten?» und im zweiten Teil meiner «Geheimwissenschaft im Umriß». Dazumal wurde aber das Gehirn sozusagen durch äußere Einwirkungen flüssiger gemacht. Damit aber wurde erreicht, daß des Menschen geistig-seelische Wesenheit, so wie sie ist, bevor der Mensch durch die Konzeption sich mit einer physischen Leiblichkeit verbindet, wie sie also in der geistigen Welt ist, als Geistig-Seelisches sich wiederum durchdrängen kann durch das Gehirn. Das ist das Wesentliche.

[ 13 ] Graphisch aufgezeichnet, würde das sich so ausnehmen [Hier beginnt die Zeichnung zu Tafel 5]: Nehmen Sie an, das wäre die Konstitution des Gehirnes ( grün), dann ist das so für den Menschen, der geboren ist, daß das Geistig-Seelische (rot) halt davor macht. Das Gehirn ist so konstituiert, daß dieses innere Geistig-Seelische, das der Mensch hat, nicht durch das Gehirn durch kann. Der Mensch ist da drinnen nicht erfüllt von diesem Geistig-Seelischen. Dafür aber können die äußeren Wahrnehmungen herein und können sich durch die Sinne - ich habe hier das Auge gezeichnet - im Gehirn geltend machen. Ich möchte sagen, so geartet ist das Gehirn in der heutigen Konstitution, daß dasjenige, was im Menschen das Ewige ist, nicht herauf kann in das Gehirn. Dadurch aber können die äußeren Eindrücke hinein. Indem der Mensch den Vergessenheitstrunk bekam, erhielt er die Möglichkeit, in das Gehirn dasjenige hineinzubekommen, was geistig-seelisch vor der Konzeption oder vor der Geburt war (rot). Das ist das eine.

[ 14 ] Das andere ist das, was ich nannte: eine Art Schreck wurde auf den Menschen ausgeübt. Nun, nehmen Sie einmal, wie der Schreck auf den Menschen wirkt: man erstarrt. Und es kann einen Schreck geben, der wirklich eine Art Erstarrung des ganzen Menschen hervorruft. Beim Menschen, so wie er im gewöhnlichen Leben ist, wo er herumlaufen kann - der erstarrte, der kataleptische Mensch kann nicht herumlaufen, bei dem sind eben die Muskeln erstarrt —, bei dem nicht erstarrten Menschen also saugt der übrige Körper dieses Ewige auf (weiß mit rot). Es wird in unserem Blute, in unseren Muskeln unten, das Geistig-Seelische, das Ewige aufgesogen. Dadurch kann es wiederum nicht wahrgenommen werden. Ins Gehirn kann es nicht herauf, da unten wird es aufgesogen. Es kann also nicht wahrgenommen werden, aber es tritt frei und selbständig heraus, wenn die Muskeln erstarren.

[ 15 ] Diese Muskelstarre wurde hervorgerufen durch die Schockwirkung. Und dadurch wurde nun von dem übrigen Organismus, außer dem Gehirn, nicht aufgesogen das Geistig-Seelische, sondern es wurde frei. So daß der Mensch im Gehirn drinnen das Geistig-Seelische hatte, weil ihm sein Gehirn durch den Vergessenheitstrunk weich geworden war, und der übrige Organismus wurde gewissermaßen verhindert an dem Aufsaugen des Geistig-Seelischen. Dadurch wurde das Geistig-Seelische wahrgenommen. Der Mensch bekam also von zwei Seiten her die Möglichkeit, sein Geistig-Seelisches wahrzunehmen. Im gewöhnlichen Leben konnte er es nicht wahrnehmen, denn durch das Gehirn, durch das er sonst wahrnimmt, konnte er es nicht aufnehmen; da kommt es nicht hinein. Aus dem übrigen Organismus, durch das Wollen und so weiter, konnte es auch nicht wahrgenommen werden, denn der übrige Organismus sog es auf. Nun wurde ihm sein Gehirn verweicht, natürlich nur für die Momente der Erkenntnis. Dadurch schoß das Geistig-Seelische in das Gehirn hinein. Der übrige Körper wurde ihm erstarrt. Dadurch sog er das Geistig-Seelische nicht auf. Und der Mensch stand gewissermaßen in seinem verweichten Gehirn einerseits und in seinem erstarrten Organsystem andererseits wie in einem Gehäuse da; er stand da im Geistig-Seelischen, das ihm nach zwei Seiten gegeben war.

[ 16 ] Sie sehen also, worauf diese Dinge, die so äußerlich beschrieben werden, eigentlich hinausmünden. Ich bemerke ausdrücklich, daß heute diese Dinge nicht nachgemacht werden können. Die Menschen würden auch nicht wissen, wie sie sie nachmachen sollen. Es würde ihnen heute auch nicht gut bekommen. Heute muß eben alles auf geistig-seelische Weise erreicht werden. Aber man kann durchaus sagen: Wenn so in den Mysterien die Menschen den Vergessenheitstrunk bekommen hatten und die andere Wirkung der physischen Erstarrung ihnen das Wahrnehmen des Geistig-Seelischen in sich ermöglichte, dann waren sie «Christen». In den Mysterien wurden sie Christen.

[ 17 ] Es ist das durchaus im Bewußtsein der ersten Kirchenväter vorhanden gewesen. Das wird nur heute den Leuten nicht gesagt, oder es wird sogar geleugnet. Bei den ersten Kirchenvätern ist ein deutliches Bewußtsein vorhanden gewesen, daß die Menschen durch die Mysterien Christen geworden waren. Daher finden wir Stellen bei den ersten Kirchenvätern, daß Heraklit und Sokrates, trotzdem sie vor dem Mysterium von Golgatha lebten, Christen waren, wenn sie auch zu ihrer Zeit Atheisten genannt worden sind. Diese Stelle habe ich ja öfter zitiert, sie findet sich bei den ersten Kirchenvätern.

[ 18 ] So könnte man also sagen: Um diesen Menschen, der da herauskam aus dem andern, machte sich der Fürst dieser Welt nach der Ansicht der älteren Mysterienleiter und Eingeweihten nichts zu tun; den überließ er dem Christus. Aber er wollte nicht, daß der Christus auf die Erde herunterkommt und vom ganzen Menschen Besitz ergreift. Das ist in den Evangelien dadurch angedeutet, daß die Dämonen, das heißt die unteren Diener des Fürsten dieser Welt, vernahmen: Der Christus ist angekommen, er ist da. —- Da lehnten sie sich auf. Das ist in den Evangelien klar angedeutet. Sie erkannten ihn, und sie wurden wild.

[ 19 ] Wir müssen uns also durchaus klar sein, daß, wenn wir über irdische Entwickelungsverhältnisse sprechen, wir ein Wesentliches des Mysteriums von Golgatha darin sehen müssen, daß diejenige geistige Macht, welche bis zum Mysterium von Golgatha hin den durchaus berechtigten Einfluß auf die menschliche Leiblichkeit hatte, in der Folgezeit diesen Einfluß mit dem Christus zu teilen hatte. Daher nennt das Mittelalter den Fürsten dieser Welt den «widerrechtlichen Fürsten dieser Welt». Dieser Ausdruck ist eigentlich nicht gerechtfertigt innerhalb der alten heidnischen Anschauung, aber er trat als eine durchaus durch die Sache gerechtfertigte Bezeichnung dann innerhalb des Mittelalters ein.

[ 20 ] Das ist das Wesentliche in bezug auf die geistige Entwickelung der Menschheit, daß für die älteren Zeiten gewissermaßen der Leib von dem Geistig-Seelischen zurückgezogen worden ist. Die Gehirnwirkung wurde aufgehoben, indem das Gehirn von dem Vergessenheitstrunk weicher gemacht wurde. Die aufsaugende Kraft des übrigen Organismus wurde aufgehoben, indem der übrige Organismus verhärtet wurde durch den Schock. Also der Leib wurde zurückgezogen in diesen älteren Zeiten von dem Geistig-Seelischen.

[ 21 ] Die neuere Bestrebung besteht darin, daß nun nicht der Leib zurückgezogen wird, sondern daß der Geist herausgezogen wird, indem die geistig-seelischen Kräfte verstärkt, erkraftet werden. Es muß also durchaus das Umgekehrte in unserer Zeit stattfinden, es muß der Geist herausgezogen werden. Es darf gewissermaßen keine Veränderung eintreten innerhalb des Physisch-Leiblichen. Denn der Mensch ist, namentlich seit dem 15. Jahrhundert, so organisiert, daß eine Veränderung in seiner Leiblichkeit in der Weise, wie sie durchaus üblich war bei den alten Mysterienschülern, ein Krankhaftes bedeuten würde. Es würde pathologisch sein, und das darf bei einer normalen Entwickelung nicht eintreten.

[ 22 ] Ich charakterisiere Ihnen das alles, um Ihnen eine Vorstellung davon zu geben, was unter dem immer wiederkehrenden Begriff älterer Zeiten von dem Fürsten dieser Welt zu verstehen ist. Dieser Fürst dieser Welt, der dann im Mittelalter zu dem «widerrechtlichen Fürsten dieser Welt» geworden ist, ist eine ahrimanartige Wesenheit. Wir können eine solche Wesenheit überall verfolgen, in der äußeren Natur und im Inneren des Menschen. Und eigentlich erst dann, wenn wir in die Lage kommen, eine solche Wesenheit in ihren Wirkungen sowohl in der äußeren Natur wie im Inneren des Menschen zu verfolgen, lernen wir allmählich eine solche Wesenheit verstehen.

[ 23 ] Wenden Sie den Blick in die äußere Natur. Sie finden in der äußeren Natur zwei Kontraste. Man muß diese Kontraste nur in ihrer ganzen Eigentümlichkeit empfinden. Denken Sie einmal an den blauen Himmel. Gewiß, der blaue Himmel kann, insbesondere in südlichen Gegenden, in einer ganz andern Weise beurteilt werden als ich es hier charakterisieren muß. Das ist dann der Fall, wenn die Erde eingehüllt ist, gewissermaßen die Luftschichte der Erde durchdrungen ist von Sonnenwirkung. Dann hat man nicht die reine Wirkung des bloß blauen Himmels, dann ist diese durch etwas anderes gewissermaßen überzogen. Wenn man aber die reine Wirkung des blauen Himmels hat, dann hat man eine Kältewirkung. Der blaue Himmel als solcher wirkt kalt. Und das, was Sie empfinden können bei einem kalten blauen Himmel, der nicht gemildert ist durch Erdenschwüle, das ist im weiten Umkreise das Ahrimanische. Man möchte sagen, das Ahrimanische bewirkt, daß der Raum in die Bläue erstarrt. Beachten Sie diesen Ausdruck! Er hat allerdings etwas Ungewöhnliches, aber wenn Sie nach und nach fühlen lernen, was das heißt, «der Raum erstarrt in die Bläue», dann haben Sie für die äußere Natur den ahrimanischen Einschlag.

[ 24 ] Die Kontrastwirkung haben Sie, wenn Sie rötlich oder gelblich die ziehenden Wolken erblicken. Es ist genau die entgegengesetzte Wirkung. Es hat etwas Warmes. Das kann natürlich auch da wiederum durch die Kälte der Erdenumgebung kaschiert sein, aber im ganzen hat die rötlich umsäumte Wolke, die gelbliche Wolke etwas Warmes. Das ist die entgegengesetzte Wirkung, sie ist eine Luftwirkung. Zwischen beiden polarischen Gegensätzen spielt sich dann ab, was eigentlich dem Erdenleben des Menschen frommt. So daß man sagen kann: Der mittelalterliche Mensch dachte sich in dem Wirken des zur Bläue erstarrten Raumes auf die Erde die kosmische Wirkung des Fürsten dieser Welt.

[ 25 ] Sehen wir dann in den Menschen hinein, dann haben wir in ihm einen Zustand zu verzeichnen, durch den der Mensch blaß wird. Sie wissen, das Blasse des Menschen hat immer etwas Fahles, Bläuliches. Dieses Blaßwerden des Menschen, dieses Sich-Erfühlen in der Kälte, das ist das Erfühlen der ahrimanischen Wirkung im Menschen, während die Gerötetheit das Luziferische in der Menschennatur ausmacht. Erst wenn man aus allen diesen Einzelheiten zusammensetzt, was die ahrimanische Wesenheit, die Wesenheit des Fürsten dieser Welt eigentlich ist, bekommt man eine vollständige Vorstellung davon. Dann wiederum, wenn man die blassen, manchmal so gescheiten, aber immer linienhaften Gedanken des Menschen nimmt, wenn man das eigentlich Intellektualistische nimmt, dann hat man wiederum in bezug auf die Kopfwirkung des Menschen das Ahrimanische, das des Fürsten dieser Welt.

[ 26 ] Diese Dinge müssen heute vom Geistig-Seelischen aus durchschaut werden. Man muß fühlen in der Bläue, in dem menschlichen Blaßwerden, in dem Sich-innerlich-Verzehren, Sich-kalt-Erfühlen, in dem Durchdrungensein mit blassen abstrakten Gedanken, in all dem muß man fühlen das Ahrimanische, die Herrschaft des Fürsten dieser Welt. Und man muß die wärmende Wirkung des Christus-Impulses fühlen.

[ 27 ] Es ist für die Gegenwart dieses Erkennen der einerseits ganz andersartigen Einweihung der alten Zeiten gegenüber unserem Einweihungsprinzip in einem gewissen Sinne lehrreich und auch notwendig. Es ist ja einmal so, daß es durchaus schon Menschen in der Gegenwart gibt, die nur noch nicht den Mut haben, zur anthroposophischen Bewegung heranzukommen, die aber eine tiefe Sehnsucht haben nach demjenigen, was zuletzt doch nur die anthroposophische Bewegung geben kann, nach dem Verwandeln der Seele, um erst nach der Verwandlung zu den maßgebenden Erkenntnissen zu kommen. Natürlich lehnt der größte Teil der heutigen Menschheit dieses Verwandeln der Seele ab und glaubt, man könne zu dem, was der Mensch überhaupt an Wissen erlangen kann, durch die gewöhnliche Seelenverfassung kommen, die man durch die gewöhnliche Erziehung und durch das gewöhnliche Leben erlangt. So sagte mir während meiner letzten Reise ein Mann, der sich viel bemüht, aus den philosophischen Möglichkeiten der Gegenwart heraus, aber ohne Anthroposophie, zu einer Art Erkenntnis zu kommen: Ja, es wäre doch an der Anthroposophie vor allen Dingen interessant und wäre wichtig darzutun, wie diese höheren Erkenntnisse erlangt werden, denn überall — dieses «überall» ist natürlich sehr relativ zu nehmen - träte in den heutigen Weltanschauungen die Erkenntnis auf, daß es nicht allein vom Intellekt, sondern vom Willen abhänge, ob der Mensch wirkliche Erkenntnisse erlangen könne oder nicht. Und um die Umarbeitung des Willens handelte es sich ja auch bei den alten Mysterien.

[ 28 ] Wenn Sie nun nachsehen, was ich beschrieben habe von den alten Mysterien in meinem Buche «Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache», dann werden Sie sehen, daß der durchgreifende, der radikale Unterschied dieses alten Erkenntnisstrebens gegenüber dem heutigen darin besteht, daß beim alten Erkenntnisstreben durchaus Vorbereitungen des Willens notwendig waren. Der Wille mußte eine andere Richtung einnehmen als er sie im gewöhnlichen Leben hatte. Der Wille mußte gereinigt, geläutert werden, er mußte gewissermaßen sich umwandeln und auf eine höhere Stufe kommen. Der Mensch mußte sein weltliches Wollen, das unter der Herrschaft des Fürsten dieser Welt steht, in eine andere Richtung bringen. Er mußte also erst durch eine Willenskultur hinkommen an denjenigen Ort, wo man dann Erkenntnisse gewinnen kann, während der heutige Mensch glaubt, man könne da stehenbleiben, wo man eben durch die gewöhnliche Erziehung steht. Und das intellektuelle Leben ist ja nur vorhanden durch die gewöhnliche Konfiguration des Gehirnes. Wird diese verweicht, wie ich es angedeutet habe, dann tritt vor allen Dingen im Gehirn die starke Möglichkeit auf, die Gedanken zu wollen, überall die Gedanken zu wollen. Und wiederum wird das Wollen bewußt, indem der Leib erstarrt; das heißt, es treten im Wollen selber Gedanken auf. Das tritt auch heute auf, wenn auf den Wegen, wie sie von mir geschildert worden sind, eben Erkenntnisse höherer Welten möglich geworden sind.

[ 29 ] Das ist ein sehr bedeutsames Zeichen, daß es heute schon wiederum Menschen gibt, die davon durchdrungen sind, man reiche mit dem bloßen Intellektualismus nicht aus, es brauche eine Willenskultur, um zu den den Menschen möglichen Erkenntnissen zu kommen. Und so sieht man, wenn man auf die im Großen einem entgegentretenden Erscheinungen blickt, daß eben zahlreiche Menschen herankommen, um von geistigen Dingen zu hören. Auch aus den Dingen, die einem, ich möchte sagen in den Zwischenzeiten vor das Seelenauge treten, sieht man, daß es Menschen gibt, die nun wiederum glauben, daß eine Willenskultur notwendig ist, um zur Erkenntnis zu kommen. Alles das zeigt aber, daß heute ein starkes Bedürfnis nach geistigem Leben vorhanden ist. Die Menschen glauben freilich, weil sie nicht den Mut haben, zur Anthroposophie heranzukommen, weil sie die Anthroposophie für etwas Absonderliches halten, auf allerlei andern Wegen das erreichen zu können, was sie eigentlich erstreben. Es wird sich aber die Welt überzeugen müssen, daß es eben nur auf anthroposophischem Wege erreicht werden kann. Das heißt, mißverstehen Sie mich nicht: Was bis heute schon als Anthroposophie hervorgetreten ist, will ich durchaus nicht als ein allgemein Gültiges, als ein Selbstverständliches ansehen. Nur die Richtung, in der sich diese Anthroposophie bewegt, die möchte ich als das Bedeutsame hinstellen und als dasjenige, was eben zur Befriedigung der stark vorhandenen Sehnsuchten in der Gegenwart führen kann, Sehnsuchten, ohne deren Befriedigung einfach die Zivilisation der Menschheitsentwickelung nicht weitergehen kann.

Old and new methods of initiation I

[ 1 ] Today I would like to speak to you about a topic that may once again provide some insights for assessing the current spiritual life in connection with what has preceded it in human evolution. In fact, as I have often explained, since the first third of the 15th century, the spiritual life of humanity has become completely different from what it was in earlier times, and we are now faced with the necessity of returning, in a certain way, but fully consciously and prudently, to the insight into the spiritual part of our world connection. The spiritual part of our world connection was permeated by an ancient instinctive spiritual vision, most strongly in the earliest times of earthly civilization. Then, more and more, people's ability to penetrate to the spiritual in this instinctive way receded, and at the time when this decline was so noticeable that humanity needed a new impetus, the mystery of Golgotha came.

[ 2 ] Now I would like to mention today that before the Mystery of Golgotha, human beings, insofar as they looked toward spiritual life, also looked at the same time toward those institutions which we know in general human civilization as the mysteries. In those earliest times of humanity, it was impossible to imagine that spiritual insight, spiritual knowledge, could spread in any other way than by originating in the mysteries. And if we examine the consciousness of people who, in those days, turned to the mysteries if they wanted knowledge at all, we get the following picture: Everything that is external, not originating from the mysteries but acquired by human beings themselves through their intellect, only really came into being in the later Greek period. It was only then that people wanted to arrive at certain truths from within themselves, without the help of the mysteries. Therefore, if one understands the matter correctly, one reckons the course of scientific development to have begun only with the time of Thales. I have explained what is necessary in my “Riddles of Philosophy.” Everything that came before sought knowledge entirely with the help of the mysteries. Now, if one examines this underlying consciousness, one comes to the conclusion that within the mysteries, those who led the mysteries and their disciples saw something most important in what was called the “princes of this world” — by which they meant the earth — in contrast to the princes, that is, the spirit beings of other worlds.

[ 3 ] When we speak today in our language of the “prince of this world” as he lived in the consciousness of the ancient world, we would speak, for example, of the Ahrimanic being. We would thus encounter this prince of earthly life in the Ahrimanic being. When we look at the revelation in the spiritual realm that can be derived from the prince of this world, we must point to the intellectualism of human cognition. The mystery teachers would have described what lived in Greek independent knowledge, which arose outside the mysteries, as knowledge inspired by the prince of this world. On the other hand, they saw the task of the mysteries as introducing human beings to a spiritual view that leads them away from the prince of this world and enables the human soul to settle into worlds that are not ruled by the prince of this world. If one wants to see things in the right way, one must use such expressions, and no one should associate anything superstitious or similar with the use of such expressions.

[ 4 ] I will give you a picture of how someone initiated into the Greek, Egyptian, Persian, or other mysteries might have thought about the prince of this world in ancient times. It must be clearly understood that even though the people concerned had other names, they were nevertheless speaking of the Christ being. One does not speak only of the Christ being when one utters the name Christ. Although we must of course use the name Christ when speaking of the Christ being, we actually use Christ to refer to the being in question only after it has passed through the Mystery of Golgotha and connected itself with the Earth civilization. Before the Mystery of Golgotha, it was not connected with the Earth civilization. It lived, as it were, as the great sun being outside the earthly world. Only the mystery of Golgotha signifies the connection of this being living outside the earthly world with the earthly world itself. But as such an extraterrestrial being, it was well known to those initiated into the mysteries. It was also recognized as such by the one who was called the prince of this world, the spiritual being of an Ahrimanic nature. He felt himself, in a sense — as I said, I am describing what lived in the consciousness of those initiated into the mysteries — to be the lord of the earth. He could say to himself: What human beings have through the forces of the earth, they have from me. — On the other hand, he also knew that Christ lived outside the earth and had an influence on human life, albeit indirectly through the mysteries, whose teachings were then popularized and carried out among the peoples.

[ 5 ] If we want to describe more precisely what lived in consciousness, we must say that the initiates of the mysteries thought: The prince of this world has his main influence on the physical body of the human being; this is completely subject to him, and he feels himself to be the lord of this physical body of the human being. He could not feel himself to be the master of what constituted the etheric and astral beings of the human being, that is, the life body and the soul. This life body and the soul were seen as being under the influence of an extraterrestrial being; there one always saw the forces of the Christ being flowing into the human being. However, human beings could not receive what was to flow into them from the Christ Being through the forces of their souls, but only by turning to what the initiate of the mysteries received after being prepared in the appropriate manner. The mysteries were conceived as a means by which the extraterrestrial was, as it were, caught and guided to human beings. So the prince of this world said to himself: Here on this earth I am lord. Here on this earth the physical body of man draws its forces, and the human earthly intellect also belongs to these forces of the physical body. Here I am lord. Here on this earth nothing challenges my dominion. The extraterrestrial flows onto this earth by way of the mysteries. That I will tolerate.

[ 6 ] But it was precisely for this reason that the prince of this world rebelled against the mystery of Golgotha, because he now had to share his earthly dominion with Christ, who had descended to earth through the mystery of Golgotha. The prince of this world saw Christ as a rival in his dominion over the earth. He would have gladly accepted a co-rulership from outside the earth, but he would not tolerate a rival here within the earth itself.

[ 7 ] And here we have, from the spirit of the ancient mysteries, the indication of the actual enmity of the prince of this world toward Christ. This enmity was again strongly felt throughout the Middle Ages and into the 15th century by those who were initiated into these things. When people spoke of the prince of this world and of Christ up until the 15th century, they did so in this sense. And people had a certain awareness that there were, so to speak, two dominions: one that had previously, before the mystery of Golgotha, rightfully ruled over the human body, but now had to share its influence over the human body with the other dominion, with Christ. For Christ no longer shines merely upon the soul, that is, on the astral and etheric, but now also wants to radiate his effects on the physical body of the human being, that is, on what is expressed through the physical body of the human being, namely on the intellectual, on the human being's own abilities in the broadest sense. Christ was to live in the whole of human nature. That was, in essence, what came into humanity through the Mystery of Golgotha.

[ 8 ] Before the Mystery of Golgotha, it did not occur to those who knew about these things to seek knowledge of eternal things within the realm of what the human mind can conceive or what the other soul forces, including the forces of the soul, can attain from themselves. That was left to the mysteries. So before the mystery of Golgotha, there was a strong awareness that earthly knowledge and earthly perception are different from the perception of super-earthly powers. And one can only understand the first centuries of the Middle Ages in their special spiritual configuration if one has a clear awareness of this fact.

[ 9 ] Now, it may be particularly enlightening to look at something that has been regarded as a kind of main feature within the various mystery centers. Certainly, the preparations and the later trials and so on that the mystery student, the initiate, had to go through were different for the various mystery centers. But the differences in these areas are only apparent, as when one climbs a mountain from different sides and yet, despite the different paths, arrives at the same summit. In the end, everything led to the one mystery goal. Now, even though things were modified, one can still describe two measures of these mysteries, to which everyone had to submit, as the main thing. That was the so-called potion of forgetfulness, and secondly, something that had such an effect on people within the mystery proceedings as a strong fright, like living in intense fear. Today, neither of these things can be experienced in the same way for the purpose of attaining higher supersensible knowledge. Today, everything must be experienced spiritually, whereas the mystery students of ancient times experienced things in such a way that they always had to make use of physical means. But something similar is achieved, except that in today's spiritual striving for higher knowledge, everything falls into the sphere of consciousness, whereas in the past it fell into the sphere of the instinctive, the dreamlike. For by serving something like the potion of forgetfulness in all mysteries and bringing about something like a physical shock, human beings were indeed dampened in relation to their outer intellectualism, which was duller than today's but nevertheless dominated them in relation to the outer world.

[ 10 ] Human beings were thus led into a dull life both by the drink of forgetfulness and by the other thing, which can be compared to a fright, a panic. What was the significance of the drink of forgetfulness? It did not matter that human beings forgot anything. They did forget through this drink. But it achieved its intended effect because it was part of a specific ceremony, because it was prepared in a specific way, because certain preparations were made before it was given. It was, however, a physical drink, but the way in which it was administered had the effect of causing people to forget their lives since birth. This is something that is also achieved today through spiritual development. Only today it is achieved by first evoking a clear awareness of a great tableau of life that encompasses everything since birth. This is then suppressed, and in this way the person is introduced into the spiritual realm of their life before birth or before conception. This was achieved in a more physical way in the ancient drink of forgetfulness.

[ 11 ] But that is not the essential thing, that human beings forget. The negative is never the essential thing. The positive thing that was achieved by this is that thinking became more flexible and more intense. But it also became duller. It became more dreamlike because it was applied to the physical organism. The effect of this forgetfulness potion on the physical organism was—one can describe it quite precisely—that the brain, if I may express it this way, was made more fluid than it is in ordinary life. By making the brain more fluid, so that people thought more with the water in their brains than with the solid components, their thinking became more flexible and more intense.

[ 12 ] Today, this must be achieved by direct means, namely through spiritual development, as described in How to Know Higher Worlds and in the second part of my Outline of the Secret Science. At that time, however, the brain was made more fluid, so to speak, by external influences. This made it possible for the spiritual-soul nature of the human being, as it is before the human being connects with a physical body through conception, as it is in the spiritual world, to penetrate the brain again as spiritual-soul nature. That is the essential point.

[ 13 ] Graphically recorded, this would look like this [here begins the drawing for plate 5]: Suppose this is the constitution of the brain (green), then it is so for the human being who is born that the spiritual-soul (red) stops in front of it. The brain is constituted in such a way that this inner spiritual-soul element that human beings have cannot pass through the brain. Human beings are not filled with this spiritual-soul element inside. However, external perceptions can enter and make themselves felt in the brain through the senses—I have drawn the eye here. I would say that the brain in its present constitution is such that what is eternal in human beings cannot ascend into the brain. But this allows external impressions to enter. By receiving the drink of forgetfulness, human beings gained the ability to bring into the brain what was spiritual and soul-like before conception or before birth (red). That is one thing.

[ 14 ] The other thing is what I called a kind of shock that was inflicted on people. Now, consider how shock affects people: they freeze. And there can be a shock that really causes a kind of paralysis of the whole person. In people as they are in ordinary life, where they can run around—the frozen, cataleptic person cannot run around, their muscles are frozen—in people who are not frozen, the rest of the body absorbs this eternal element (white with red). The spiritual-soul element, the eternal, is absorbed into our blood, into our muscles below. This in turn prevents it from being perceived. It cannot rise up into the brain; it is absorbed down below. So it cannot be perceived, but it emerges freely and independently when the muscles freeze.

[ 15 ] This muscle rigidity was caused by the shock effect. And as a result, the spiritual-soul element was not absorbed by the rest of the organism, except for the brain, but became free. So that the person had the spiritual-soul element inside the brain because his brain had been softened by the drink of forgetfulness, and the rest of the organism was, as it were, prevented from absorbing the spiritual-soul element. This is how the spiritual-soul element was perceived. So, the person got the chance to perceive their spiritual-soul element from two sides. In normal life, they couldn't perceive it because they couldn't take it in through the brain, which is how they usually perceive things; it doesn't get in there. Nor could it be perceived from the rest of the organism, through the will and so on, because the rest of the organism absorbed it. Now his brain was softened, naturally only for the moments of recognition. As a result, the spiritual-soul element shot into the brain. The rest of his body was frozen. As a result, it did not absorb the spiritual-soul element. And the human being stood there, as it were, in his softened brain on the one hand and in his frozen organ system on the other, as if in a casing; he stood there in the spiritual-soul element that was given to him on two sides.

[ 16 ] You can see, then, what these things, which are described in such an external way, actually lead to. I would like to emphasize that these things cannot be imitated today. People would not know how to imitate them. Nor would it do them any good today. Today, everything must be achieved in a spiritual-soul manner. But one can certainly say that when people in the mysteries received the drink of forgetfulness and the other effect of physical numbness enabled them to perceive the spiritual-soul within themselves, then they were “Christians.” In the mysteries, they became Christians.

[ 17 ] This was very much in the consciousness of the early Church Fathers. It is just not told to people today, or it is even denied. The early Church Fathers were clearly aware that people had become Christians through the mysteries. That is why we find passages in the writings of the early Church Fathers stating that Heraclitus and Socrates, even though they lived before the mystery of Golgotha, were Christians, even though they were called atheists in their time. I have quoted this passage often; it can be found in the writings of the early Church Fathers.

[ 18 ] So one could say that, according to the older mystery teachers and initiates, the prince of this world had no interest in this man who came forth from the other; he left him to Christ. But he did not want Christ to come down to earth and take possession of the whole human being. This is indicated in the Gospels by the fact that the demons, that is, the lower servants of the prince of this world, heard: Christ has come, he is here. —- Then they rebelled. This is clearly indicated in the Gospels. They recognized him, and they became wild.

[ 19 ] We must therefore be quite clear that when we speak of earthly conditions of development, we must see an essential aspect of the mystery of Golgotha in the fact that the spiritual power which, up to the mystery of Golgotha, had a thoroughly justified influence on human physicality, had to share this influence with Christ in the period that followed. This is why the Middle Ages called the prince of this world the “unlawful prince of this world.” This expression is not really justified within the old pagan view, but it came into use in the Middle Ages as a designation that was entirely justified by the facts.

[ 20 ] This is the essence of the spiritual development of humanity, that in earlier times the body was, so to speak, withdrawn from the spiritual-soul realm. The effect of the brain was suspended by softening the brain with the drink of forgetfulness. The absorptive power of the rest of the organism was suspended by hardening the rest of the organism through shock. Thus, in those earlier times, the body was withdrawn from the spiritual-soul realm.

[ 21 ] The newer endeavor consists in withdrawing not the body, but the spirit, by strengthening and invigorating the spiritual-soul forces. So the opposite must take place in our time: the spirit must be drawn out. In a sense, no change must take place within the physical body. For since the fifteenth century, human beings have been organized in such a way that a change in their physicality, as was quite common among the ancient mystery students, would mean something pathological. It would be pathological, and that must not occur in normal development.

[ 22 ] I am describing all this to give you an idea of what is meant by the recurring term from earlier times, “the prince of this world.” This prince of this world, who then became the “unlawful prince of this world” in the Middle Ages, is an Ahrimanic being. We can trace such a being everywhere, in outer nature and within human beings. And it is only when we are able to trace such a being in its effects, both in outer nature and within human beings, that we gradually learn to understand such a being.

[ 23 ] Turn your gaze to outer nature. You will find two contrasts in outer nature. One need only perceive these contrasts in all their peculiarity. Think of the blue sky. Certainly, the blue sky can be judged in a completely different way, especially in southern regions, than I must characterize it here. This is the case when the earth is enveloped, when the air layers of the earth are, so to speak, permeated by the sun's rays. Then you do not have the pure effect of the blue sky alone; it is, as it were, covered by something else. But when you have the pure effect of the blue sky, you have a cooling effect. The blue sky as such has a cooling effect. And what you can feel in a cold blue sky, unmitigated by the earth's heat, is the Ahrimanic in the wider environment. One might say that the Ahrimanic causes space to freeze in the blue. Note this expression! It is somewhat unusual, but if you gradually learn to feel what it means for “space to freeze in the blue,” then you will have the Ahrimanic influence on outer nature.

[ 24 ] You have the contrasting effect when you see reddish or yellowish clouds passing by. It is exactly the opposite effect. There is something warm about it. Of course, this can also be concealed by the coldness of the earth's environment, but on the whole, the reddish-edged cloud, the yellowish cloud, has something warm about it. This is the opposite effect; it is an effect of the air. Between these two polar opposites, something takes place that is actually beneficial to human life on earth. So one can say that medieval people thought of the cosmic effect of the prince of this world in the action of the space frozen into blue on the earth.

[ 25 ] If we then look into human beings, we find a condition that makes them pale. You know that the pallor of human beings always has something waxy, bluish about it. This pallor of human beings, this feeling of coldness, is the feeling of the Ahrimanic influence in human beings, while the redness represents the Luciferic element in human nature. Only when we put all these details together to form a picture of what the Ahrimanic being, the being of the prince of this world, actually is, do we gain a complete understanding of it. Then again, when you take the pale, sometimes so clever, but always linear thoughts of human beings, when you take what is actually intellectual, then you have again, in relation to the head effect of human beings, the Ahrimanic, that of the prince of this world.

[ 26 ] These things must be understood today from the spiritual-soul perspective. One must feel in the blue, in the human paleness, in the inner consumption, in the feeling of coldness, in the permeation with pale abstract thoughts; in all this one must feel the Ahrimanic, the dominion of the prince of this world. And one must feel the warming effect of the Christ impulse.

[ 27 ] For the present, this recognition of the completely different nature of the initiation of ancient times compared to our principle of initiation is, in a certain sense, instructive and also necessary. For it is indeed the case that there are already people in the present who do not yet have the courage to approach the anthroposophical movement, but who have a deep longing for what ultimately only the anthroposophical movement can give, for the transformation of the soul, in order to arrive at authoritative knowledge only after this transformation. Of course, the majority of people today reject this transformation of the soul and believe that everything human beings can possibly attain in terms of knowledge can be achieved through the ordinary state of soul that is attained through ordinary education and ordinary life. During my last trip, a man who is trying hard to arrive at a kind of knowledge from the philosophical possibilities of the present, but without anthroposophy, said to me: Yes, it would be particularly interesting and important for anthroposophy to show how this higher knowledge is attained, because everywhere — and this “everywhere” must of course be taken very relatively — the realization is emerging in today's worldviews that it is not the intellect alone, but the will that determines whether human beings can attain real knowledge or not. And the transformation of the will was also the subject of the ancient mysteries.

[ 28 ] If you now look at what I have described about the ancient mysteries in my book Christianity as Mystical Fact, you will see that the radical difference between this ancient striving for knowledge and the striving for knowledge today is that in the ancient striving for knowledge, preparations of the will were absolutely necessary. The will had to take a different direction than it did in ordinary life. The will had to be purified, refined; it had to be transformed, so to speak, and raised to a higher level. Man had to turn his worldly will, which is under the dominion of the prince of this world, in a different direction. He first had to pass through a culture of the will in order to reach the place where knowledge can be gained, whereas modern man believes that one can remain where one is, at the level reached through ordinary education. And intellectual life exists only through the ordinary configuration of the brain. If this is softened, as I have indicated, then the strong possibility arises, especially in the brain, of wanting thoughts, of wanting thoughts everywhere. And in turn, the will becomes conscious as the body stiffens; that is, thoughts arise in the will itself. This also occurs today when, in the ways I have described, insights into higher worlds have become possible.

[ 29 ] This is a very significant sign that there are already people today who are convinced that mere intellectualism is not enough, that a culture of will is needed in order to attain the knowledge that is possible for human beings. And so, when we look at the phenomena that confront us on a large scale, we see that numerous people are coming forward to hear about spiritual things. Even from the things that appear before the soul's eye, I would say in the intervals, we can see that there are people who now believe once again that a culture of will is necessary in order to attain knowledge. All this shows that there is a strong need for spiritual life today. Of course, because they do not have the courage to approach anthroposophy, because they consider anthroposophy to be something strange, people believe that they can achieve what they are actually striving for in all sorts of other ways. But the world will have to convince itself that it can only be achieved through anthroposophy. Please do not misunderstand me: I do not regard what has emerged as anthroposophy to date as universally valid or self-evident. It is only the direction in which this anthroposophy is moving that I would like to present as significant and as that which can lead to the satisfaction of the strong longings that exist in the present, longings without the satisfaction of which the civilization of human development simply cannot continue.