The Individuality Of Elias, John, Raphael, Novalis
GA 238
28 September 1924, Dornach
Translated by George Adams
My dear friends:
[ 1 ] It has not been possible for me to speak to you on the last two days. But today—the day when the Michael mood of dedication must pour its light into all our hearts, I did not want to let pass without speaking to you at least a few words. [ 2 ] That I am able to do so is due entirely to the loving and devoted care of our friend Dr. Ita Wegman. And so I hope that I will still be able to say today what I desire particularly to say to you on the occasion of this festival.
[ 3 ] In recent months we have frequently spoken, my dear friends, of the instreaming of the Michael-Power into the spiritual events of man's life on earth. And it will be one of the more beautiful results that can follow from our anthroposophical understanding of times and seasons, if we are really able to add to the other festivals of the year a rightly ordered Michael Festival. That however will only be possible when the might and power of the Michael Thoughts, of which today men have no more than a dim feeling, has taken hold in a number of human souls who will then be able to create the right human starting-point for such a festival.
[ 4 ] What we can do at present is to awaken, in this Michael time, the Michael mood in our souls by giving ourselves up to thoughts that will prepare the way for a future Michael Festival. And such thoughts are especially stirred to activity within us when we turn our gaze upon all that we have seen taking place—partly on earth, partly in super-sensible worlds—through long periods of time, in preparation for all that can now be accomplished for human evolution in the course of this present century by souls who in full sincerity feel themselves drawn to the Michael stream.
[ 5 ] That you yourselves, my dear friends, in so far as you truly and honestly incline to the Anthroposophical Movement, belong to these souls—this I have endeavoured to make clear to you in the lectures of the last weeks and especially also in the lectures where I spoke to you directly of the karma of the Anthroposophical Society. We can however carry these considerations a little further, and that is what I want to do today.
[ 6 ] Let us now bring before our souls beings who are intimately connected, and will always be intimately connected, with the Michael stream, in the sense in which we have described it here. Let us direct our gaze to beings who in at least two successive incarnations made a powerful impression on great numbers of their fellow-men, beings who, however, only show themselves in their true unity when we recognize them as successive incarnations of one and the same being.
[ 7 ] When we look back into olden times, we see rise up before us within the traditions of Judaism the prophetic figure of Elijah. We know what significance the prophet Elijah had for the people of the Old Testament, and therewith for all mankind; we know how he set before them the goal and destiny of their existence. And we have shown how in the course of time the being who was present in Elijah appeared again at the very most important moment of human evolution, appeared again so that Christ Jesus Himself could give him the Initiation he was to receive for the evolution of mankind. For the being of Elijah appeared again in Lazarus-John—who are in truth one and the same figure, as you will have understood from my book “Christianity as Mystical Fact.”
[ 8 ] And further we saw that this being appears once more in that world painter who let his artistic power unfold in marvellous depths of tenderness, as it moved hovering over the Mystery of Golgotha. And we saw how the deeply Christian impulse that lives in Raphael, as it were impelling into colour and form the very nature and being of Christianity itself—we saw how this impulse rose again in the poet Novalis. In the poet Novalis stands revealed in wondrously beautiful words what Raphael had placed before mankind in colours and forms of rarest loveliness. We see, thus following one another in time, beings who are brought together into a unity when incarnation is understood.
[ 9 ] We know [for I have often spoken with you of these things] how, when man has gone through the gate of death, he enters the world of the stars. What we are accustomed to call “stars” in the external, physical sense are no more than the outer sign and symbol of spiritual worlds which look down upon us and take their share and part in all the deeds of the evolution of mankind.
[ 10 ] We know that man passes through the Moon sphere and through the spheres of Mercury and Venus, through the spheres of the Sun and of Mars, and of Jupiter and Saturn. And we know that when, together with the beings of these spheres and together too with other human souls who have also departed from the life on Earth, he has elaborated his karma, he then turns back again to earthly existence.
[ 11 ] Bearing this in mind, let us look for a moment at Raphael and see how he passes through the gate of death, and how he enters the realm of the starry worlds, the realm of spiritual evolution, taking with him the power of his art, which already on earth shone with the bright light of the stars. We behold, my dear friends, how Raphael enters the Moon sphere, and we see how he comes into association here with the Spirits who live in the Moon sphere and who are the spiritual Individualities of the great original Leaders of mankind, with whose wisdom Raphael, as Elijah, had been deeply inspired. He meets these Moon Beings, and he meets too all the souls with whom he has lived in earlier stages of Earth-evolution. We see how he unites himself spiritually with the spiritual origin of the Earth, with that World of Being which first made it possible for man to be, and for the Earthly to be impregnated with the Divine. We behold Raphael as it were completely “at home”, united with those with whom he had most loved to be in the Elijah existence, inasmuch as it was They who at the beginning of Earth existence set the goal for the life on this Earth.
[ 12 ] Then we behold him wander through the Mercury sphere where, in association with the great Cosmic Healers, he transforms for his spirituality the power that had been his to create what is so infinitely whole and healthy in colour and line. All that he has painted, whether on canvas or as a fresco on the wall, for the help and comfort as well as for the unending inspiration of such as can understand—all his work that was so radiant with light, showed itself now to him in the great cosmic connection in which it is able to stand when it passes through the Beings of the Mercury sphere.
[ 13 ] And thus was he, who on Earth had unfolded so great a love for art, whose soul had been aflame with love for colour and for line, transplanted now into the sphere of Venus, which in turn lovingly bore him across to the Sun, to that Sun existence which lived in all his incarnations so far as they are yet known to us. For it was from the Sun that he, as the prophet Elijah, brought to mankind through the medium of his own people the truths that belong to the goals of existence.
[ 14 ] We see how in the Sun sphere he is able to live through over again in a deep and intimate sense—in another way now than when he was on Earth as a companion of Christ Jesus—he is able to live over again what he underwent when, through the Initiation of Christ Jesus, he, Lazarus, became John.
[ 15 ] And all that he has painted in shining light for the followers of Christ Jesus,—he now beholds all this pour its rays into the cosmic transformation of the human heart.
[ 16 ] And we see further how what he thus had at the foundation of his life penetrates, wisdom-filled, the sphere of Jupiter. In this sphere he is able in wisdom to enter into a relation of understanding with such spirits as Goethe—the spirit, that is, that afterwards became Goethe—as well as also with spirits who had gone astray on other paths, but who nevertheless led over World Being and World Thought into the realm of the magical. The foundation is laid for his magic idealism in the experience he had of the evolution of the later Eliphas Levi. And we behold too how he partakes in all that was living there in Swedenborg.
[ 17 ] And now I must draw your attention to something in the life of Raphael that is of very great significance. A personality who was most deeply devoted to Raphael—Hermann Grimm—set to work four times to write a life of Raphael. His “Life of Michaelangelo” he brought to a beautiful completeness, but he never succeeded in drawing any picture of Raphael's earthly life that gave him satisfaction. In his own view all he wrote was unfinished and incomplete. [ 18 ] The first book he undertook was intended to be a biography. What is it? Nothing but a reproduction of old anecdotes told by Vasari! No biography of Raphael at all, but something altogether different—a description of what Raphael became on Earth after his death, in the respect and recognition of his fellow men. Hermann Grimm relates what people have thought of Raphael—what the Italians, the French, the Germans have thought of Raphael in the course of history through the centuries. What he gives us is a biography of the Raphael Thought as it has lived here on Earth since his death. He finds the way to tell what remains of Raphael in the hearts and minds of men, what lives of him still in their reverence and understanding. But he does not find the possibility to give a picture of the earthly life of Raphael.
[ 19 ] After Hermann Grimm has made the attempt four times over, he says: all that one can really do for Raphael as a personality is to write of how one picture passes over into the next, as though it had been painted by a super-sensible being who had simply not touched the Earth at all with his earthly life. The pictures are there, but one can look right away from Raphael who painted the pictures and reproduce the sequence of what is expressed in their inner content.
[ 20 ] And so, shortly before his death, Hermann Grimm began to speak once again about Raphael; yet once more he made the attempt to put pen to paper and write about him. This time however he spoke only of his pictures and not about the earthly personality of Raphael at all.
[ 21 ] The truth is, my dear friends, this earthly personality of Raphael was completely yielded up and was only present through what Lazarus-John gave to this soul to be poured out into colour and line for all mankind.
[ 22 ] Such was the life of this being. And it was so, that this Raphael life could only be, as it were, absolved in another life of thirty years—in Novalis. And so we see Raphael die young, Novalis die young—one being, who came forth from Elijah-John, appearing before mankind in two different forms, preparing through art and through poetry the true Michael mood of soul, sent down by the Michael stream as messenger to men on Earth.
[ 23 ] And now we behold the wonderful artistic power of Raphael come to life again in Novalis in poetry that stirs and enraptures the hearts of men. All that through Raphael was given to human eyes to see,—of this could human hearts drink deep, when it came again in Novalis.
[ 24 ] When we consider the life of Novalis, what an echo we find there of the Raphael life for which Hermann Grimm had so fine an understanding! His beloved dies in her youth. He is himself still young. What is he going to do with his life now that she has died? He tells us himself. He says that his life on Earth will be henceforth to “die after her”, to follow her on the way of death. He wants to pass over already now into the super-sensible, to lead again the Raphael life, not touching the Earth, but living out in poetry his magic idealism. He would fain not let himself be touched by Earth life.
[ 25 ] When we read the “Fragments” of Novalis, and give ourselves up to the life that flows so abundantly in them, we can discover the secret of the deep impression they make on us. Whatever we have before us in immediate sense-reality, whatever the eye can see and recognise as beautiful—all this, through the magic idealism that lives in the soul of Novalis, appears in his poetry with a well-nigh heavenly splendour. The meanest and simplest material thing—with the magic idealism of his poetry he can make it live again in all its spiritual light and glory.
[ 26 ] And so we see in Novalis a radiant and splendid forerunner of that Michael stream which is now to lead you all, my dear friends, while you live; and then, after you have gone through the gate of death, you will find in the spiritual super-sensible worlds all those others—among them also the being of whom I have been speaking to you today—all those with whom you are to prepare the work that shall be accomplished at the end of the century, and that shall lead mankind past the great crisis in which it is involved.
[ 27 ] This work is: to let the Michael Power and the Michael Will penetrate the whole of life. The Michael Power and the Michael Will are none other than the Christ Will and the Christ Power, going before in order to implant in the right way into the Earth the Power of the Christ. If this Michael Power is able verily to overcome all that is of the demon and the dragon [and you will know what that is], if you all, who have in this way received in the light Michael Thought, have indeed received it with true and faithful heart and with tender love, and will endeavour to go forward from the Michael mood of this year, until not only is the Michael Thought revealed in your soul, but you are able also to make the Michael Thought live in your deeds in all its strength and all its power—if this is so, then will you be true servants of the Michael Thought, worthy helpers of what has now to enter Earth-evolution through Anthroposophy, and take its place there in the meaning of Michael.
[ 28 ] If, in the near future, in four times twelve human beings, the Michael Thought becomes fully alive—four times twelve human beings, that is, who are recognised not by themselves but by the Leadership of the Goetheanum in Dornach—if in four times twelve such human beings, leaders arise having the mood of soul that belongs to the Michael festival, then we can look up to the light that through the Michael stream and the Michael activity will be shed abroad in the future among mankind.
[ 29 ] Because this is so, my dear friends, I have made the effort today to rise up and speak to you, if only in these few short words. My strength is not sufficient for more today. May the words so speak to your soul that you receive the Michael Thought in the sense of what a faithful follower of Michael may feel when, clothed in the light rays of the Sun, Michael appears and points us to that which must now take place. For it must even be so that this Michael garment, this garment of Light, shall become the Words of the Worlds, which can transform the Logos of the Worlds into the Logos of Mankind.
Therefore let my words to you today be these:
Springing from Powers of the Sun,
Radiant Spirit-powers, blessing all Worlds!
For Michael's garment of rays
Ye are predestined by Thought Divine.He, the Christ-messenger, revealeth in you—
Bearing mankind aloft—the sacred Will of Worlds.
Ye, the radiant Beings of Aether-Worlds,
Bear the Christ-Word to Man.Thus shall the Heralds of Christ appear
To the thirstily waiting souls,
To whom your Word of Light shines forth
In cosmic age of Spirit-Man.Ye, the disciples of Spirit-Knowledge,
Take Michael's Wisdom beckoning,
Take the Word of Love of the Will of Worlds
Into your soul's aspiring, ACTIVELY!
Additional Remarks
Automated Translation
It should be noted that Rudolf Steiner was unable to finish the presentation on September 28, 1924. Marie Steiner recalled this in her essay On the Eve of Michaelmas, published in the Anthroposophical Society's journal in September 1925:
“He did not get as far as he had originally intended with the lecture. He gave us the first part of the Mystery of Lazarus; at the time he not only told me, but later wrote on the cover of the first postscript: Do not pass on until I have given the second part. - It was then wrested from him anyway, like so many things. - Now he will no longer give us this second part. It will be left to our powers of understanding to distinguish the right thing between the secrets of incarnation and incorporation, the crossings of the lines of individuality. He ended with what had been a recurring theme in his revelations of wisdom: the mystery of Novalis, Raphael, John... We were led back to him again and again, from the most diverse aspects. The last, the most difficult, because it was crossed by another line of individuality, he gave to us on the eve of that Michaelmas day - and broke off...”
What Marie Steiner only hinted at as an explanation given orally by Rudolf Steiner was confirmed by Dr. Ludwig Noll, who, along with Dr. Ita Wegman, was one of Rudolf Steiner's doctors Steiner, handed down:
When Lazarus was raised from the dead, the spiritual essence of John the Baptist, who since his death had been the spirit overshadowing the disciples, penetrated from above into the former Lazarus up to the consciousness soul, and from below the essence of Lazarus, so that the two penetrated each other. After the resurrection of Lazarus, this is then John, “the disciple whom the Lord loved.” (See also Lecture 6 of “The Gospel of Mark”, where Elijah is described as the group soul of the apostles.)
According to Dr. M. Kirchner-Bockholt, Rudolf Steiner gave Dr. Ita Wegman a further explanation: “Lazarus could only develop fully from the earth's forces during this time up to the soul of mind and emotion; the Mystery of Golgotha takes place in the fourth post-Atlantic period, and during this time the soul of mind or emotion was developed. Therefore, from another cosmic being, the consciousness soul had to be developed upward to manas, buddhi and atma. Thus, before the Christ stood a human being who reached from the depths of the earth to the highest heights of heaven, who carried within him in perfection the physical body with all its members, up to the spiritual faculties of manas, buddhi, atma, which can only be developed by all people in the distant future.” (Journal 40, no. 48, December 1, 1963).
In October 1924, Ita Wegman wrote to Helene Finckh: “Dear Mrs. Finckh, Dr. Steiner says that he agrees that you give the Michael saying to those who ask for it. He also agrees that you read the lecture to the members, but then you should wait until Dr. writes something else to the Michael lecture to clarify the secret that exists about John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.”
See also Hella Wiesberger's “Zur Hiram-Johannes-Forschung Rudolf Steiners” in the appendix of the volume “Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten der erkenntniskultischen Abteilung der Esoterischen Schule 1904-1914”, page 423 ff.
Meine lieben Freunde!
[ 1 ] Es war mir unmöglich, gestern und vorgestern zu Ihnen zu sprechen. Aber die Michael-Weihestimmung für heute, die dann ja in unsere Herzen, in unsere Seelen auf morgen ausstrahlen muß, wollte ich dennoch nicht vorübergehen lassen, ohne wenigstens kurz zu Ihnen, meine lieben Freunde, gesprochen zu haben.
[ 2 ] Daß ich es kann, ist nur möglich durch die hingebungsvolle Pflege der ärztlichen Freundin Frau Ita Wegman. Und so hoffe ich, daß ich doch heute in der Lage sein werde, dasjenige zu sagen, was ich Ihnen gern gerade bei dieser oder anläßlich dieser Festessiimmung sagen möchte.
[ 3 ] Wir haben ja in der letzten Zeit, meine lieben Freunde, viel zu sprechen gehabt von dem Einströmen der Michael-Kraft in das Geschehen, in das geistige Geschehen der Menschen auf Erden. Und es wird wohl zu den schönsten Errungenschaften, ich möchte sagen, der anthroposophischen Zeit-Zeichen-Deutung gehören, wenn wir einmal in der Lage sein werden, richtig abgestimmte Michael-Feste zu den anderen Jahresfesten hinzuzufügen. Das wird aber erst dann möglich sein, wenn das Gewaltige des Michael-Gedankens, das ja heute erst gefühlt wird, geahnt wird, wenn das Gewaltige dieses Michael-Gedankens in eine Anzahl von Seelen übergegangen sein wird, die dann für eine solche Festesstimmung den richtigen menschlichen Ausgangspunkt werden bilden können.
[ 4 ] Gegenwärtig können wir sozusagen Michael-Stimmungen um die Michael-Zeit hervorrufen dadurch, daß wir uns vorbereitenden Gedanken für eine künftige Michael-Festeszeit der Menschheit hingeben. Und solche vorbereitenden Gedanken werden in uns ganz besonders rege, wenn wir den Blick hinwenden auf dasjenige, was wir durch so lange Zeiträume hindurch haben wirken gesehen zum Teil auf der Erde, zum Teil in übersinnlichen Welten, um dasjenige vorzubereiten, was im Laufe dieses Jahrhunderts von jenen Seelen, die in Wirklichkeit, in rechter Stimmung sich zu der Michael-Strömung hingezogen fühlen, was von jenen Seelen für die Menschheitsentwickelung geleistet werden kann.
[ 5 ] Und daß Sie, meine lieben Freunde, insofern Sie ehrlich hinneigen zur anthroposophischen Bewegung, zu diesen Seelen gehören, das begreiflich zu machen, war ja gerade mein Bestreben in den letzten Wochen und in denjenigen Auseinandersetzungen namentlich, in denen ich über einiges aus dem Karma der Anthrophosophischen Gesellschaft selber sprach.
[ 6 ] Wir können noch auf etwas hinweisen und wollen dies gerade heute tun, was uns Wesenheiten vor die Seele bringt, die innig zusammenhängen und zusammenhängen werden immer mehr noch mit demjenigen, was hier als die Michael-Strömung geschildert worden ist, den Blick hinwenden auf Wesenheiten, die auf einen großen Teil der Menschheit - wenigstens in zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Inkarnationen — einen großen Eindruck machen: Wesenheiten, die sich aber erst für uns, indem wir sie erkennen als die aufeinanderfolgende Inkarnation einer Wesenheit, zu einem Einheitlichen zusammenschließen.
[ 7 ] Wir sehen, wenn wir den geistigen Blick in alte Zeiten zurückwerfen, vor uns innerhalb der jüdischen Tradition auftauchen die prophetische Natur des Eras. Wir wissen, welche zielsetzende Bedeutung für das Volk des Alten Testamentes und damit für die Menschheit überhaupt diese zielsetzende Kraft des Propheten Elias hatte. Und wir haben ja darauf hingewiesen, wie im Laufe der Zeit an den wichtigsten Punkten der irdischen Menschheitsentwickelung die Wesenheit, welche in Elias da war, wiedererschienen ist, wiedererschienen ist so, daß ihr die Initiation, die sie haben sollte für die Menschheitsentwickelung, der Christus Jesus selber geben konnte, wie die Wesenheit des Eiias wiederum erschienen ist in LazarusJohannes, was ja eine und dieselbe Gestalt ist, wie Sie schon aus meinem «Christentum als mystische Tatsache» ersehen.1Siehe hierzu
[ 8 ] Wir haben aber des weiteren gesehen, wie diese Wesenheit wiedererscheint in jenem Weltenmaler, der gerade über das Mysterium von Golgatha so ungeheuer eindrucksvoll seine künstlerische Entfaltung schweben lassen konnte. Und wir haben dann geschen, wie dasjenige, was in tief christlichem Impulse wie das Wesen des Christentums selber in Farbe und Form hineindrängt, in Raffael lebte, wie das wiedererstand in dem Dichter Novalis, wie aus dem Dichter Novalis dasjenige in wunderschönen Worten sich offenbarte, was in Raffael vor die Menschheit hingestellt wurde in den schönsten Farben und Formen. Wir sehen die Aufeinanderfolge von Wesenheiten, die sich durch den Inkarnationsgedanken zu einer Einheit zusammenschließen.
[ 9 ] Wir wissen, denn ich habe des öfteren auf diese Dinge hier schon aufmerksam gemacht, wie der Mensch, wenn er durch die Pforte des Todes durchgegangen ist, die Sternenwelten betritt, wie dasjenige, was wir äußerlich im physischen Sinne als Sterne bezeichnen, ja nur das äußere Zeichen jeweils ist für geistige Welten, die da auf uns herunterschauen, die aber in den Menschheitsentwickelungstaten durchaus überall mitwirken.
[ 10 ] Wir wissen, daß der Mensch die Monden-, die Merkur-, die Venus-, die Sonnen-, die Mars-, die Jupiter-, die Saturnsphäre durchmacht, um, wenn er mit den Wesenheiten dieser Sphären und mit denjenigen Menschenseelen, die auch im abgeschiedenen Leben sind, sein Karma ausgearbeiter hat, wiederum zurückzukehren zu einem irdischen Dasein.
[ 11 ] Werfen wir von diesem Gesichtspunkte aus einmal einen Blick auf Raffael, wie er durchgegangen ist durch die Pforte des Todes, wie er mit seiner schon auf Erden sternenglänzenden, sternenleuchtenden Künstlerschaft das Gebiet der Sternenwelten, das Gebiet der geistigen Entwickelung betritt, und wir werden folgendes gewahr, meine lieben Freunde: Wir werden gewahr, wie Raffael die Mondensphäre betritt, zu denjenigen Geistern in Beziehung tritt, die in der Mondensphäre leben und die ja die geistigen Individualitäten der einstigen großen Urlehrer der Menschheit sind, von deren Weisheit Raffael als Elias noch tief inspiriert war; wir sehen, wie er in Gemeinsamkeit mit diesen Mondenwesen und mit all den Seelen, mit denen er frühere Erdenstufen durchgemacht, durchlebt hat, wir sehen, wie er da sich zusammenschließt geistig mit alle dem, was geistige Erdenursprünge sind, mit all dem Wesenhaften, das ja eine Menschheit und ein göttliches Durchtränktsein des Irdischen überhaupt erst möglich gemacht hat; wir sehen Raffael sozusagen so echt unter den Seinigen, verbunden mit denjenigen, mit denen er im Elias-Dasein am liebsten zusammen war, weil sie diejenigen waren, die am Ausgange des Erdendaseins diesem Erdenleben das Ziel gesetzt haben.
[ 12 ] Wir sehen ihn dann durchwandern die Merkursphäre, wo er mit den großen kosmischen Heilern zusammen all dasjenige für seine Geistigkeit ausgestaltet, was ihn befähigt hat, in der Anlage schon so Gesundes, so unendlich Gesundes in Farbe und Linie zu schaffen. Das alles, was er da zum großen Troste, zur unendlichen Begeisterung für verständige Menschen auf die Leinwand oder auf die Wand überhaupt gemalt hat, was so lichtglänzend, lichterstrahlend war, das zeigte sich ihm in dem ganzen kosmischen Zusammenhange, in dem es drinnenstehen kann durch den Durchgang durch die Wesenheiten der Merkursphäfre.
[ 13 ] Und so wurde er, der auf Erden eine solche Liebe zur Kunst entfaltet hatte, der ganz in der Liebe zu der Farbe und zu der Linie aufgegangen ist, so wurde er dann auf die Sphäre der Venus versetzt, die ihn auch liebend hinübertrug zu jenem Sonnendasein, das gelebt hat in seinen bisher uns bekannten Inkarnationen, zu jenem Sonnendasein, durch das er als Prophet Elias der Menschheit durch sein Volk die großen, die zielstrebenden Wahrheiten beigebracht hat.
[ 14 ] Wir sehen, wie er in der Sonnensphäre wiederum intim zu leben vermag, jetzt auf eine andere Art als damals, als er des Christus Jesus Genosse auf Erden war, dasjenige, was er durchgemacht hatte, als er von Lazarus durch die Initiation des Christus Jesus zu dem Johannes geworden ist.
[ 15 ] Und wir sehen, wie er in seinem kosmischen Widerglanz des menschlichen Herzens erstrahlen sieht in leuchtender Weltenhelle dasjenige, was er in einem so leuchtenden Lichte hingemalt hat für die Gläubigen des Christus Jesus.
[ 16 ] Und wir sehen dann, wie er weisheitsvoll durchdringt in der Jupitersphäre dasjenige, was er so auf dem Grunde seines Lebens hatte; wir sehen, wie er in Weisheit zusammenzufassen vermag, sowohl mit solchen Geistern zusammen wie Goethe, dem späteren Goethe, wie auch mit solchen Geistern zusammen, die mehr oder weniger auf Abwegen waren, aber doch hinüberführten dasjenige, was Weltenwesen ist, Weltendenken ist, ins Magische, wie er dort die Grundlegung seines magischen Idealismus hat in dem Miterleben der Evolution des späteren Eliphas Levi. Wir schen, wie er teilnimmt an alle dem, das da drüben in Swedenbotg lebte.
[ 17 ] Und es ist eines merkwürdig, meine lieben Freunde, tief bedeutsam: Eine an Raffael ganz hingegebene Persönlichkeit, Herman Grimm, ging viermal daran, Raffaels Leben zu schreiben. Niemals kam er - während er Michelangelos Leben so schön abrundete -, niemals kam er dazu, Raffaels irdisches Leben wirklich zu zeichnen, so, daß er davon befriedigt gewesen wäre. Er hat immer wiederum Unvollkommenes nach seiner eigenen Auffassung in bezug auf Raffaels Leben geleistet, Herman Grimm.
[ 18 ] Und so erschien denn sein erstes Raffael-Buch, das eine RaffaelBiographie hätte werden sollen. Was ist es? Es bringt einen Wiederabdruck der alten Anekdoten Vasaris über Raffael. Und es bringt dann nichts zur Biographie Raffaels, sondern es bringt etwas ganz anderes: es bringt eine Beschreibung desjenigen, was aus Raffael erst nach seinem Tode auf Erden hier in der Verehrung, in der Anerkennung, in dem Verständnis der Menschen geworden ist. Herman Grimm erzählt dasjenige, wie die Menschen über Raffael gedacht haben, wie die Italiener, die Franzosen, die Deutschen über Raffael gedacht haben im Fortschritt der Jahrhunderte. Er erzählt eine Biographie des nach dem Tode von Raffael hier auf Erden lebenden Raffael-Gedankens. Er findet den Zugang zu demjenigen, was geblieben ist von Raffael in der Menschen Angedenken, in der Menschen Verehrung, in der Menschen Verständnis; er findet nicht die Möglichkeit, das irdische Leben Raffaels zu schildern.
[ 19 ] Und nachdem er viermal angesetzt hatte, sagt er: Dasjenige, was man für Raffael persönlich tun kann, ist eigentlich nur dieses, daß man schreibt, wie ein Bild in das andere übergeht so, wie wenn es gemalt worden wäre von einer überirdischen Wesenheit, die eigentlich gar nicht mit ihrem irdischen Leben die Erde wirklich berührt hätte. Die Bilder sind da, und man kann ganz absehen von Raffael, der die Bilder gemalt hat, indem man die Aufeinanderfolge desjenigen, was sich im inneren Inhalte der Bilder ausspricht, indem man diese wiedergibt.
[ 20 ] Und so eigentlich hat Herman Grimm, als er kurz vor seinem Tode über Raffael nochmals gesprochen hat, nochmals den Versuch gemacht hat, die Feder dazu anzusetzen, auch nur über die Bilder Raffaels gesprochen, nicht über die irdische Persönlichkeit Raffaels.
[ 21 ] Diese irdische Persönlichkeit Raffaels, sie war ja auch ganz hingenommen und ganz nur da dutch dasjenige, meine lieben Freunde, was Lazarus-Johannes dieser Seele gegeben hatte, damit es ausfließe in Farbe und Linie für die Menschheit.
[ 22 ] Und dann lebte dieses Wesen, es lebte so, daß es gewissermaßen dieses Raffael-Leben, wiederum nur mit einer dreißigjährigen Lebenszeit, noch einmal in Novalis absolvieren konnte. Und so sehen wir Raffael jung sterben, Novalis jung sterben, eine Wesenheit, die hervorging aus Elias-Johannes, in zwei verschiedenen Formen sich der Menschheit darstellend, vorbereitend dadurch in künstlerischer, in dichterischer Weise die Michael-Stimmung, heruntergesandt als Bote von der Michael-Strömung hin zu den Menschen auf Erden.
[ 23 ] Und dann sehen wir eben auftauchen die große Künstlerschaft Raffaels in der hinreißenden, so tief zu Herzen sprechenden Dichtung des Novalis. Alles dasjenige, was durch Raffael menschliche Augen gesehen haben, von dem konnten sich durchdringen menschliche Herzen, als es in Novalis wiedererstand.
[ 24 ] Und wenn wir diesen Novalis betrachten: Wie klingt das von Herman Grimm so fein empfundene Raffael-Leben gerade in diesem Novalis nach! Ihm stirbt seine Geliebte in jungen Jahren. Er ist selber noch jung. Was will er, indem sie ihm gestorben ist, für ein Erdenleben führen? Er drückt das selber so aus, daß er sagt, sein Erdenleben soll sein, ihr nachzusterben. Schon will er übergehen ins Übersinnliche, schon will er das Leben des Raffael wieder führen, nicht eigentlich die Erde berühren, sondern ausleben möchte er in der Dichtung seinen magischen Idealismus, indem er nicht berührt sein wollte vom Erdenleben.
[ 25 ] Und wie sehen wir, wenn wir dasjenige, was er in seine Fragmente gegossen hat, wie sehen wir es, wenn wir das auf uns wirken lassen? Es wirkt deshalb so tief, weil alles dasjenige, was man in unmittelbarer sinnlicher Wirklichkeit vor sich hat, weil alles dasjenige, was Augen sehen können und was Augen auf der Erde als schön empfinden können, in Novalis’ Dichtung durch dasjenige, was in seiner Seele lebt, als magischer Idealismus, in einem fast himmlischen dichterischen Glanze erscheint. Das unbedeutendste Materielle weiß er in seinem geistigen Lichtglanz wiedererstehen zu lassen durch seinen dichterisch-magischen Idealismus.
[ 26 ] Und so sehen wir gerade in Novalis einen glänzenden Vorboten jener Michael-Strömung, meine lieben Freunde, die Euch alle führen soll jetzt, indem Ihr lebt, und dann, indem Ihr durch die Pforte des Todes gegangen sein werdet, finden werdet alle diejenigen - auch das Wesen, von dem ich heute gesprochen habe - in der geistig-übersinnlichen Welt, finden werdet alle diejenigen, mit denen Ihr vorbereiten sollt das Werk, das geschehen soll am Ende dieses Jahrhunderts und das die Menschheit über die große Krisis hinausführen soll, in die sie versetzt ist.
[ 27 ] Nur dann, wenn dieses Werk, die große, gewaltige Durchdringung mit der Michael-Kraft, mit dem Michael-Willen - der ja nichts anderes ist als dasjenige, was vor dem Christus-Willen, vor der Christus-Kraft vorausgeht, um diese Christus-Kraft in der richtigen Weise in das Erdenleben einzupflanzen -, nur dann, wenn diese Michael-Kraft wirklich siegen kann über das DämonenDrachenhafte, das Ihr ja auch gut kennt, und wenn Ihr alle, die Ihr in dem Lichte anthroposophischer Weisheit den Michael-Gedanken in Euch aufgenommen habt, wenn Ihr diesen Michael-Gedanken treuen Herzens und in inniger Liebe aufgenommen habt und bewahrt, wenn Ihr versucht, diese Michael-Weihestimmung dieses Jahres zum Ausgangspunkte desjenigen zu nehmen, was Euch in aller Stärke, in aller Kraft diesen Michael-Gedanken in der Seele nicht nur offenbaren, sondern in allen Euren Taten lebendig machen kann, - dann werdet Ihr treue Diener dieses MichaelGedankens sein, dann werdet Ihr edle Mithelfer werden können desjenigen, was im Michael-Sinne durch Anthroposophie in der Erdenentwickelung sich geltend machen soll.
[ 28 ] Wenn in vier mal zwölf Menschen wenigstens innerhalb der nächsten Zeit der Michael-Gedanke voll lebendig wird, in vier mal zwölf Menschen, die aber nicht durch sich selbst, sondern durch die Leitung des Goetheanum in Dornach als solche erkannt werden können, wenn in solchen vier mal zwölf Menschen Führer erstehen für Michael-Festesstimmung, dann können wir hinschauen auf das Licht, das durch Michael-Strömung und Michael-Taten über der Menschheit in der Zukunft sich ausbreiten wird.
[ 29 ] Daß das so ist, meine lieben Freunde, dazu habe ich versucht, mich aufzuraffen, um das wenigstens in diesen kurzen Worten Euch heute zu sagen. Für mehr würde heute noch meine Kraft nicht hinreichen. Aber das ist es, was aus den Worten heute zu Eurer Seele sprechen möge: Daß Ihr diesen Michael-Gedanken aufnehmet im Sinne desjenigen, was ein Michael-treues Herz empfinden kann, wenn, angetan mit dem Lichtesstrahlenkleide der Sonne, Michael erscheint, der zunächst weist und deutet auf dasjenige, was geschehen soll, damit dieses Michael-Kleid, dieses Lichtkleid, zu den Wellen der Worte werden kann, die die Christus-Worte sind, die die Weltenworte sind, die Welten-Logos in Menschheits-Logos wandeln können.
Deshalb seien meine Worte heute an Euch diese:
Sonnenmächten entsprossene,
Leuchtende, Weltenbegnadende
Geistesmächte; zu Michaels Strahlenkleid
Seid ihr vorbestimmt vom Götterdenken.Er, der Christusbote, weist in euch
Menschentragenden, heiligen Welten-Willen;
Ihr, die hellen Ätherwelten-Wesen
Trägt das Christuswort zum MenschenSo erscheint der Christus Künder,
In erharrenden, durstenden Seelen.
Ihnen scheinet euer Leuchte-Wort
In des Geistes-Menschen Welten-Zeit.Ihr, der Geist-Erkenntnis Schüler
Nehmt des Michaels, weises Winken,
Nehmt des Welten-Willens Liebes-Wort
In der Seelen Höhenziele Wirksam auf.
Ergänzende Bemerkungen zum Inhalt der Ansprache vom 28. September 1924 (letzte Ansprache)
Es ist zu berücksichtigen, daß Rudolf Steiner die Darstellung am 28. September 1924 nicht zuende führen konnte. Marie Steiner schrieb in Erinnerung daran in ihrem Aufsatz «Am Vorabend des Michaelitages» im Nachrichtenblatt der Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft im September 1925:
«Er brachte den Vortrag nicht so weit, wie er es ursprünglich gewollt hatte. Er gab uns den ersten Teil des Mysteriums von Lazarus; damals sagte er mir nicht nur, sondern schrieb auch später auf den Umschlag der ersten Nachschrift: Nicht weitergeben, bis ich den zweiten Teil dazu gegeben haben werde. - Man hat es ihm dann trotzdem abgerungen, wie so manches. - Jetzt wird er diesen zweiten Teil uns nicht mehr geben. Unsern Erkenntniskräften wird es vorbehalten bleiben, das Richtige zu unterscheiden zwischen den Inkarnations- und Inkorporationsgeheimnissen, den Durchkreuzungen der Individualitätslinien. Er endigte mit dem, was wie ein roter Faden durchgegangen war durch seine Weisheitsoffenbarungen: dem Mysterium von Novalis, Raffael, Johannes... Wir sind immer wieder zu ihm zurückgeführt worden, von den verschiedensten Aspekten aus. Das letzte, das schwerste, weil von einer andern Individualitätslinie durchkreuzt, gab er uns am Vorabend jenes Michaelitages - und brach ab...»
Was Marie Steiner damit als noch mündlich gegebene Erläuterung Rudolf Steiners nur angedeutet hat, wurde verbürgt von Dr. Ludwig Noll, neben Dr. Ita Wegman behandelnder Arzt Rudolf Steiners, überliefert:
Bei der Auferweckung des Lazarus sei von oben her bis zur Bewußtseinsseele die geistige Wesenheit Johannes des Täufers, der ja seit seinem Tode der die Jüngerschar überschattende Geist gewesen sei, in den vorherigen Lazarus eingedrungen und von unten her die Wesenheit des Lazarus, so daß die beiden sich durchdrangen. Das ist dann nach der Auferweckung des Lazarus Johannes, der «Jünger, den der Herr lieb hatte». (Vergleiche dazu auch den 6. Vortrag von «Das MarkusEvangelium», wo Elias als die Gruppenseele der Apostel geschildert wird.)
Nach Frau Dr. M. Kirchner-Bockholt gab Rudolf Steiner Frau Dr. Ita Wegman dazu noch die weitere Erklärung: «Lazarus konnte aus den Erdenkräften heraus sich in dieser Zeit nur voll entwickeln bis zur Gemüts- und Verstandesseele; das Mysterium von Golgatha findet statt im vierten nachatlantischen Zeitraum, und in dieser Zeit wurde entwickelt die Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele. Daher mußte ihm von einer anderen kosmischen Wesenheit von der Bewußtseinsseele aufwärts Manas, Buddhi und Atma verliehen werden. Damit stand vor dem Christus ein Mensch, der von den Erdentiefen bis in die höchsten Hiimmelshöhen reichte, der in Vollkommenheit den physischen Leib durch alle Glieder bis zu den Geistesgliedern Manas, Buddhi, Atma in sich trug, die erst in ferner Zukunft von allen Menschen entwikkelt werden können.» (Nachrichtenblatt 40. Jahrg., Nr. 48, vom 1. Dezember 1963).
Im Oktober 1924 schrieb Ita Wegman an Helene Finckh: «Liebe Frau Finckh. Dr. Steiner läßt sagen, daß er einverstanden ist, daß Sie den Michael-Spruch an diejenigen geben, die darum fragen. Auch ist er damit einverstanden, daß Sie den Vortrag den Mitgliedern vorlesen, aber dann sollten Sie warten, bis Dr. zu dem Michael-Vortrag noch einiges hinzuschreibt, um das Geheimnis, was besteht zu Johannes dem Täufer und Johannes dem Evangelisten, aufzuklären.»
Siehe hierzu auch: Hella Wiesberger «Zur Hiram-Johannes-Forschung Rudolf Steiners» im Anhang des Bandes «Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten der erkenntniskultischen Abteilung der Esoterischen Schule 1904-1914», Seite 423 ff.
My dear friends!
[ 1 ] It was impossible for me to speak to you yesterday and the day before. But I did not want to let the Michael consecration mood for today, which must then radiate into our hearts and souls tomorrow, pass without having at least spoken briefly to you, my dear friends.
[ 2 ] The fact that I am able to do so is only possible thanks to the devoted care of my medical friend, Mrs. Ita Wegman. And so I hope that today I will be able to say what I would like to say to you on the occasion of this festival.
[ 3 ] Recently, my dear friends, we have had much to say about the influx of the power of Michael into events, into the spiritual events of people on earth. And I would venture to say that it will be one of the most beautiful achievements of anthroposophical interpretation of the signs of the times when we will be in a position to add properly attuned Michael festivals to the other festivals of the year. But this will only be possible when the might of the Michael idea, which is only being sensed today, is intuitively grasped, when the might of this Michael idea has been taken up by a number of souls, who can then provide the right human starting point for such a festive mood
[ 4 ] At the present time we can evoke Michaelic moods around Michaelmas by devoting ourselves to thoughts that prepare humanity for a future Michaelic festival season. And such preparatory thoughts become particularly active in us when we turn our gaze to what we have seen working over such long periods of time, partly on earth and partly in the supersensible worlds, to prepare what can be achieved for the development of humanity in this century by those souls who, in reality, in the right mood, feel drawn to the Michael current can be achieved by those souls for the development of humanity.
[ 5 ] And to make it clear that you, my dear friends, insofar as you are honestly inclined towards the anthroposophical movement, belong to these souls, has been my particular endeavour in the last few weeks and in those discussions in which I spoke about some of the karma of the Anthrophosophical Society itself.
[ 6 ] We can still point out something and we want to do so today, which brings us to entities that are intimately connected and will become more and more connected with what has been described here as the Michael current, turning our attention to entities that make a great impression on a large part of humanity - at least in two successive incarnations: But these beings only unite into a unified whole for us when we recognize them as the successive incarnations of one being.
[ 7 ] We see, when we cast our spiritual gaze back into ancient times, the prophetic nature of Erath within Jewish tradition emerging before us. We know the significance that the power of the prophet Elijah had for setting the goals for the people of the Old Testament and thus for humanity in general. And we have pointed out how, in the course of time, at the most important points in the earthly development of humanity, the entity that was in Elijah reappeared, reappeared in such a way that the initiation that it was to undergo for the development of humanity could be given by Christ Jesus himself , how the entity of Eiiias appeared again in Lazarus-John, who is, after all, one and the same person, as you can see from my book, 'Christianity as Mystical Fact'.1See note at end of lecture
[8] But we have also seen how this essence reappears in the world painter, who was able to express his artistic development so impressively through the mystery of Golgotha. And then we saw how that which, in a deeply Christian impulse, like the essence of Christianity itself, is expressed in color and form, lived in Raphael, how that was reborn in the poet Novalis, how the poet Novalis revealed in beautiful words that which Raphael had presented to humanity in the most beautiful colors and forms. We see the succession of entities that unite into a unity through the thought of incarnation.
[ 9 ] We know, because I have often pointed out these things here before, that when a person has passed through the gate of death, he enters the starry worlds, which we outwardly and physically call stars, but which are only the outer sign for spiritual worlds that look down on us, but which humanity's developmental acts participate everywhere.
[ 10 ] We know that man passes through the lunar, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn spheres in order to, when he has worked out his karma with the beings of these spheres and with those human souls who are also in the departed life, , to return again to an earthly existence.
[ 11 ] Let us take a look at Raphael from this point of view, how he passed through the gate of death, how he entered the region of the starry worlds, the region of spiritual evolution, with his artistic work that already shone and shone with stars on earth, and we we perceive, my dear friends, how Raphael enters the sphere of the moon and enters into relationship with those spirits who live in the sphere of the moon and who are the spiritual individualities of the great teachers of the past, the original teachers of humanity, by whose wisdom Raphael was still deeply inspired as Elijah. We see how he unites spiritually with all that has spiritual origins on earth, with all the beings who are, after all, one humanity and steeped in the divine. , we see how he unites spiritually with all that has spiritual earthly origins, with all the beings that made humanity and a divine permeation of the earthly possible in the first place; we see Raphael, so to speak, so genuinely among his own, united with those with whom he most liked to be in his life as Elijah, because they were the ones who set the goal for this earthly life at the end of earthly existence.
[ 12 ] We then see him wandering through the sphere of Mercury, where he and the great cosmic healers work together to develop all that is necessary for his spirituality, which has enabled him to create something so healthy, so infinitely healthy in color and line. All that he had painted on the canvas or on the wall for the great consolation and infinite enthusiasm of understanding people, all that was so luminous and radiant, was revealed to him in its cosmic context, through the passage through the beings of the sphere of Mercury.
[ 13 ] And so he, who had developed such a love for art on earth, who had completely absorbed himself in the love of color and line, was then transferred to the sphere of Venus, which also lovingly carried him over to that solar being who had lived in his known to us incarnations, to that solar existence through which he, as the prophet Elijah, taught mankind the great, purposeful truths through his people.
[ 14 ] We see how he is able to live intimately again in the solar sphere, now in a different way than when when he was a companion of Christ Jesus on earth, that which he had gone through when he became John through the initiation of Christ Jesus through Lazarus.
[ 15 ] And we see how he sees in his cosmic reflection of the human heart, in the shining light of the world, he has painted for the believers of Christ Jesus in such a radiant light.
[ 16 ] And we then see how he penetrates with wisdom into what he had at the basis of his life in the sphere of Jupiter; we see how he summarizes, both with such spirits as Goethe, the later Goethe, as well as with such spirits who were more or less on the wrong track, but still led to what is world essence, world thinking, into the magical, as he has the foundation of his magical idealism there in the co-experience of the evolution of the later Eliphas Levi. We see how he participates in all that lived over there in Swedenborg.
[ 17 ] And there is something remarkable, my dear friends, something deeply significant: a personality completely devoted to Raphael, Herman Grimm, tried four times to write the life of Raphael. He never did so, although he rounded off Michelangelo's life so beautifully. He never managed to really describe Raphael's life on earth in such a way that he would have been satisfied with it. He always produced incomplete works based on his own view of Raphael's life, Herman Grimm.
[ 18 ] And so his first Raphael book appeared, which should have been a Raphael biography. What is it? It contains a reprint of Vasari's old anecdotes about Raphael. And then it brings nothing about Raphael's biography, but it brings something quite different: it brings a description of what has become of Raphael only after his death on earth here in the veneration, in the recognition, in the understanding of people. Herman Grimm tells how people have thought about Raphael, how the Italians, the French, the Germans have thought about Raphael over the centuries. He tells the biography of Raphael's thoughts after his death here on earth. He finds access to what remains of Raphael in people's memory, in people's veneration, in people's understanding; he does not find the opportunity to describe Raphael's earthly life.
[ 19 ] And after he had tried four times, he says: “The only thing one can do for Raphael personally is to write in such a way that one picture leads to another, as if it had been painted by a supernatural being that never really touched the earth with its earthly life. The pictures are there, and one can completely disregard Raphael, who painted the pictures, by reproducing the succession of what is expressed in the inner content of the pictures by reproducing them.
[ 20 ] And so, in fact, when Herman Grimm spoke about Raphael again shortly before his death , he made another attempt to put pen to paper, he spoke only about Raphael's pictures, not about Raphael's earthly personality.
[ 21 ] This earthly personality of Raphael's was also completely absorbed and only there, my dear friends, that Lazarus-Johannes had given to this soul, so that it would flow out in color and line for humanity.
[ 22 ] And then this being lived, lived in such a way that it could, so to speak, once again complete this Raphael life in Novalis, again with a thirty-year lifetime. And so we see Raphael dying young, Novalis dying young, an entity emerging from Elijah-John, presenting itself to humanity in two different forms, thereby preparing in an artistic, poetic way the Michael mood, sent down as a messenger from the Michael current sent to the people on earth.
[ 23 ] And then we see the great artistry of Raphael emerging in the captivating and deeply moving poetry of Novalis. Everything that Raphael had seen with human eyes, and that had penetrated human hearts, was resurrected in Novalis.
[ 24 ] And when we look at this Novalis, how Herman Grimm's finely-tuned sense of Raphael's life resonates in this Novalis! He loses his beloved at a young age. He is still young himself. What kind of life does he want to lead on earth now that she has died for him? He expresses it himself as follows: his life on earth should be to die after her. He already wants to pass over into the supersensible, he already wants to live the life of Raphael again, not really touching the earth, but living out his magical idealism in poetry, not wanting to be touched by earthly life.
[ 25 ] And how do we see what he poured into his fragments, how do we see it when we let it affect us? It has such a profound effect because everything that one has in immediate sensual reality, everything that eyes can see and what eyes can perceive as beautiful on earth, appears in Novalis' poetry through that which lives in his soul, as magical idealism, in an almost heavenly poetic splendor. He knows how to resurrect the most insignificant material thing in his spiritual radiance through his poetic-magical idealism.
[ 26 ] And so we see in Novalis, in particular, a brilliant forerunner of that Michael current, my dear friends, which is to lead you all now, while you will find all those - including the being of whom I have spoken today - in the spiritual and supersensible world, will find all those with whom you are to prepare the work that is to happen at the end of this century and that is to lead humanity beyond the great crisis in which it finds itself.
[ 27 ] Only when this work, the great, powerful penetration with the Michael force, with the Michael will - which is, after all, nothing other than that which precedes the Christ will, the Christ force, in order to implant this Christ force in the right way in earthly life -, only when this Michaelic power can truly prevail over the demonic, dragon-like, which you also know well, and when all of you who have taken up the Michaelic idea in you in the light of anthroposophical wisdom, when you have taken it up with a loyal heart and in intimate love and keep it, when you try to take this Michaelic consecration of this year as the starting point for that which can not only reveal this Michael idea in the soul to you in all its strength and power, but can also bring it to life in all your deeds. Then you will be true servants of this Michael idea, then you will be able to become noble co-workers for that which, in the Michael sense, is to assert itself through anthroposophy in the development of the earth .
[ 28 ] If the Michael impulse comes fully to life in four times twelve people, at least in the near future, and if these people can be recognized not through themselves but through the guidance of the Goetheanum in Dornach, and if in such four times twelve people a spirit of celebration for Michael arises, then we can look forward to the light that will spread over humanity in the future through the Michael current and Michael deeds.
[ 29 ] That this may be so, my dear friends, I have tried to bring myself to say this at least in these few words to you today. I do not have the strength for more today. But this is what I would like to convey to your soul today: that you take up these Michael thoughts in the sense of what a heart loyal to Michael can feel when Michael appears, clothed in the radiance of the sun, who first points to what is to happen, so that this Michael garment, this garment of light, can become the waves of words, which are the words of Christ, which are the words of the world, which can transform the world's logos into the logos of humanity.
Therefore, my words to you today are these:
Sun-powers,
Luminous powers of the spirit, bestowing the gift of the world;
you are predestined by the thinking of the gods.He, the Christ-messenger, points to
human-bearing, holy world-will in you;
you, the bright etheric beings
carry the Christ-word to man.So the Christ-messenger appears
In enduring, thirsty souls.
Your shining word shines for you
In the spiritual-human world-time.You, the students of spiritual knowledge
Take the Michael's wise beckoning,
Take the world-will's word of love
In the soul's highly effective.
Additional remarks on the content of the address of September 28, 1924 (last address)
It should be noted that Rudolf Steiner was unable to finish the presentation on September 28, 1924. Marie Steiner recalled this in her essay 'On the Eve of Michaelmas', published in the Anthroposophical Society's journal in September 1925:
'He did not get as far as he had originally intended with the lecture. He gave us the first part of the Mystery of Lazarus; at the time he not only told me, but later wrote on the cover of the first postscript: Do not pass on until I have given the second part. - It was then wrested from him anyway, like so many things. - Now he will no longer give us this second part. It will be left to our powers of understanding to distinguish the right thing between the secrets of incarnation and incorporation, the crossings of the lines of individuality. He ended with what had been a recurring theme in his revelations of wisdom: the mystery of Novalis, Raphael, John... We were led back to him again and again, from the most diverse aspects. The last, the most difficult, because it was crossed by another line of individuality, he gave to us on the eve of that Michaelmas day - and broke off..."
What Marie Steiner only hinted at as an explanation given orally by Rudolf Steiner was confirmed by Dr. Ludwig Noll, who, along with Dr. Ita Wegman, was one of Rudolf Steiner's doctors Steiner, handed down:
When Lazarus was raised from the dead, the spiritual essence of John the Baptist, who since his death had been the spirit overshadowing the disciples, penetrated from above into the former Lazarus up to the consciousness soul, and from below the essence of Lazarus, so that the two penetrated each other. After the resurrection of Lazarus, this is then John, “the disciple whom the Lord loved.” (See also Lecture 6 of “The Gospel of Mark”, where Elijah is described as the group soul of the apostles.)
According to Dr. M. Kirchner-Bockholt, Rudolf Steiner gave Dr. Ita Wegman a further explanation: “Lazarus could only develop fully from the earth's forces during this time up to the soul of mind and emotion; the Mystery of Golgotha takes place in the fourth post-Atlantic period, and during this time the soul of mind or emotion was developed. Therefore, from another cosmic being, the consciousness soul had to be developed upward to manas, buddhi and atma. Thus, before the Christ stood a human being who reached from the depths of the earth to the highest heights of heaven, who carried within him in perfection the physical body with all its members, up to the spiritual faculties of manas, buddhi, atma, which can only be developed by all people in the distant future.” (Journal 40, no. 48, December 1, 1963).
In October 1924, Ita Wegman wrote to Helene Finckh: “Dear Mrs. Finckh, Dr. Steiner says that he agrees that you give the Michael saying to those who ask for it. He also agrees that you read the lecture to the members, but then you should wait until Dr. writes something else to the Michael lecture to clarify the secret that exists about John the Baptist and John the Evangelist."
See also Hella Wiesberger's “Zur Hiram-Johannes-Forschung Rudolf Steiners” in the appendix of the volume “Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten der erkenntniskultischen Abteilung der Esoterischen Schule 1904-1914”, page 423 ff.