The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Regarding the election of Annie Besant, head of the Esoteric School, as president of the Theosophical Society, which led to the separation of the Esoteric School.

Munich, May 5, 1907

My dear Mr. Selling!

Please enclose the remaining addresses of the esotericists. Please also have these copied and sent to Miss Boes€,

and send the rest of the copies to me. Kind regards,

Dr. Rudolf Steiner

Regarding the election of Annie Besant, head of the Esoteric School, as president of the Theosophical Society, which led to the separation of the Esoteric School.

Probably May 4, 1907 from Munich

The upcoming election of the President of the Theosophical Society.

To all those members of the German Section who seek esoteric schooling from me.

In these days, when the German Section is to vote on the future President of the Theosophical Society, it is my duty to say a few words to those who belong to the esoteric current.

The esotericist has a different relationship to spiritual life than that which is required for membership of the exoteric society. The members of the exoteric Theosophical Society have nothing to do with but the statutes. And according to the statutes, Colonel Olcott has nominated Mrs. Besant as the future president. The member will have only to consider whether he regards Mrs. Besant as a suitable President or not and cast his vote accordingly. Exoterically, that is all there is to it.

The matter looks different when viewed from the esoteric standpoint. There is the fact that it was announced from Adyar that the nomination of Col. Olcott had been made by the Masters at the bidding of his Masters, who appeared at his sickbed shortly before his departure from the physical plane. And Mrs. Besant has emphasized with all possible clarity that she accepted the election because her Master told her to do so.

I now speak in this letter only to those who have confidence in me. For only such have turned to me for esoteric counsel. Had they not this confidence, they would not have turned to me. And I again expressly request here that only those who have this confidence may hear these my words. The others may simply leave them unconsidered.

Occult connections are complicated. Therefore, no one should think that it is easy to talk about them. The time will come when I will be allowed to speak more clearly than I can today about the phenomena in Adyar.

It has been my principle so far not to advance anything within the Theosophical movement that I cannot vouch for with my own knowledge. This must continue to be my principle. This is not to say that others should not teach what they accept on trust. I emphasize that they are right to do so. Only my principle must be the above. It is only on this principle that I feel justified in esoterically relating to Theosophists and to people in general as I do.

With these qualifications, I now say what I have to say about Mrs. Besant's nomination.

From all the discussions that have taken place about the Master's appearances in Adyar, one thing is clear: either they are true, in which case it would be a rebellion against the Masters not to follow them; or they are false, in which case there can be no question of taking them into account, and then everything connected with Mrs. Besant's leadership is called into question. But there is no such contradiction. Within real occultism, there should be no talk of the possible inauthenticity of the phenomena in Adyar. It would never occur to a true occultist to question their authenticity.

I myself must now have a different view of these phenomena than Mrs. Besant. But that does not change the following facts.

Mrs. Besant is part of the spiritual life. She is inhabited by that spiritual life that emanates from the spiritual powers. And anyone within the Theosophical Society who wants this spiritual life will see Mrs. Besant as the appropriate person to hold the presidency at the present time.

I have different experiences in relation to many things that are difficult for Mrs. Besant to consider. I have to assume that many difficulties in the conduct of Central European esoteric matters may arise through her. And I will never relate to those who have faith in me other than in a way that I can justify to my own knowledge, to myself, and to the individuals we call the Masters. Once more I emphasize it: Whoever does not have the trust in me in this direction, let him not listen to me. I want to give everyone the message that I am able to give; but I want no one to receive it other than from the completely free decision of his heart.

Precisely because I feel so completely independent from any belief in authority Mrs. Besant, precisely because I must find other ways prescribed by the exalted individualities whom we call the masters: precisely for that reason I may also say that I am in complete agreement with Mrs. Besant that the Theosophical Society draws its strength, its power, indeed its content from the masters, and that it must die if it were to deny the masters and thus spiritual life.

Even if I had to go in a different direction from Mrs. Besant during her presidency, I would still have to say that she seems to me to be the right president. And even if I have said that I have different experiences of the Adyar apparitions than Mrs. Besant, I must still say that esoterically Mrs. Besant is right in her appeal to the Masters.

All this is decisive for me alone, when I express just as clearly as openly to those striving esoterically that Mrs. Besant is the suitable personality for the presidency for me, as on the other hand, that for all those who have confidence in me, no “psychic tyranny” will ever be exercised by any personality.

The occultist, however, can only regard the discussion as to whether the Adyar phenomena are genuine or not as unesoteric, and must refrain from entering into it.

In view of the responsibility I am assuming in this letter towards the wise men of humanity,

I greet you

Rudolf Steiner

Notes taken by participants during two lectures by Rudolf Steiner.¹

Theosophical knowledge has only been accessible to all people for a few decades, but as long as people have been thinking and striving for the highest, asking questions about the primeval world and the purpose of life, there has been a theosophy. But theosophy has not always been presented to the world as it has been for about 30 years. In the early days, it was presented in intimate small circles. There were always small circles of initiates, occult or secret fraternities, whose members knew much more than could be communicated publicly. The nations, humanity as a whole, were to receive only the fruits of the initiates' knowledge. The world did not recognize them as such, it only recognized the effects. One only knew that such and such a man was a carpenter, another a locksmith, and yet another perhaps a high government official. Such people can perform deeds in the world that the outside world is unaware of. A word from these initiates had much more inner significance than the world could guess.

What the world calls historical figures were not the greatest of all. These lived secluded. Such an occult initiate had a fleeting acquaintance with Rousseau in the 18th century, for example. The words that the latter spoke were not taken as anything special by the initiate, but they had an occult effect. When Rousseau had a sudden insight as a result, he spread it in books; he himself was not initiated, but the initiate stood behind him.

Another example: how did Jacob Boehme, the poor shoemaker, come by such amazing knowledge? In his biography, people overlook many important things. There is the following little story. Little Jacob was an apprentice in the shop of his master, his teacher, who was absent at the moment. He had been forbidden to sell anything, he was only supposed to mind the shop. A fascinating personality, who had a powerful effect on the little boy, entered and spoke only a few words. After she left, Jacob heard his name called three times in front of the shop: “Jacob, you may be small today, but you will grow up to be great. Remember that.” This remained indelibly in Böhme's memory.

Now and then someone spoke to a statesman; the words, which seemed insignificant, had a magical power. It depends on the right words. These are the means by which the initiated have worked. They had to give the thought, the impulse. For example: someone had received a letter containing a petition. This person was specially designated to carry out something; he had to receive the impulse to do so. If he knew how to read, he could find something remarkable in the letter, which apparently contained nothing special. Four words had to be left out, the deeper meaning was hidden in the fifth. These were the words that could work.

Today we have to find other ways. The moment this was revealed, the words lost their value. These were small, elementary things of the mysteries.

One German scholar who was initiated was Tritheim of Sponheim, the teacher of Agrippa of Nettesheim. In his works, one finds theosophy when certain words are left out at the beginning and end of a sentence. This was necessary because only individuals could be initiated with sufficient preparation. Knowledge should not be curiosity, but should be put into action.

Theosophy is there to proceed practically in the world, to penetrate into the nature of the state and of society. The one to be initiated had to undergo hard tests to see if he was worthy of initiation. Only those who passed the tests were initiated in stages. This method has been abandoned in more recent times. The elementary teachings are now taught publicly. These are only the beginning of the deep wisdom. More and more of the divine wisdom will be given to the world, to the larger public. Theosophical wisdom is ancient knowledge; only the way of preparation is new.

What we will hear is the common knowledge of all those who have formed an image of what is going on in the spiritual world not through speculation and hypotheses but through facts.

All knowledge comes from the spirit. In the past, religion was the most effective means. For thousands of years, religions have been the source of wisdom and knowledge. Now, many people want to know. We want to ascend through knowledge, not through faith. Today there is a conflict between science and religion, knowledge and faith. The real reason why Theosophy became necessary is the art of printing. With the popularization of sensual knowledge, that conflict arose. This is where the initiates stepped in and bridged the gap.

• 1. No location or date given, presumably Munich 1906. Cf. lecture in Berlin, October 8, 1906.

Munich, December 12, 1906

Notes by Alice Kinkel

Every object that can be seen in the lodge has its meaning; every word that is spoken, every ritual that is practiced has its meaning, which suggests a process in the evolution of the world.

The four elementary natures that permeate space are called:

1. Gnomes, who live in the earth.
2. Undines, who embody themselves in water.
3. Sylphs, who we have to think of as living in the air, and
4. Salamanders, who we have to think of as living in fire.

The three candlesticks that stand here indicate: Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan. In occult language, the candlesticks are always called “angels” or “shining beings.” In the Apocalypse, too, the angels are described as candlesticks.

The second Master Legend tells us of Seth, the son of Adam, who is initiated as a priestly sage, allowed to enter Paradise again, from where he takes three seeds, places them in the mouth of his father Adam when he had died, and from which the fresh bush then grows. The rod with which Moses performs his miracles is made from its wood; it is the burning bush in which the Lord appears to Moses! The gate of Solomon's Temple is made from its wood, two columns with the beam above them, which were thrown into the pool of Bethesda, producing its healing power. This wood was laid over the Kidron Valley, which Christ crossed after the betrayal on the Mount of Olives. And from these beams, Christ's cross was then made.

The red blood and the blue blood represent the Pillar of Wisdom and the Pillar of Strength; a person must be able to stand on these two columns. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge were entwined in paradise to form one tree. And the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge become one tree again for the wise, for the initiate; it had to be separated into two trees for the human being. The hammer represents the primal sound of nature: Tao. Through the combustion process, through the precipitation of ash, spirit came to earth. Through the precipitation of salt, wisdom came to earth: both must be washed again by the waters of life.

The place of the Master is in the East (Jupiter - wisdom). In the South stands glory, piety, beauty - Venus. In the West is Vulcan - strength.

Let us look at the rose cross: the wood of the cross is death; the roses are the life that springs from it. The carpet you see there is the world plan; the squares are the fields of black and white rays in it. The chessboard and the chess game are the remnants of occult knowledge in secular life.

The Book of [Thot] of the Egyptians consisted of 78 cards containing the secrets of the world. This was well known in the Egyptian initiation. The cards for the card game come from this. The terms “king”, “knight”, “rook”, “general” are occult terms. The writing that appeared to Moses in the burning bush: Ejeh - Asher - Ejeh, translates as: I Am that I Am. I was that I will be! Man has bought his knowledge with birth and death. The angel Gabriel is the one who guards the threshold of paradise with the fiery sword as the guardian of the threshold of paradise. —

The Lodge itself is the Temple of the World.

With our prayer (Brothers of the Past), we show that with our work we are connecting with the Brothers of the Past, the Brothers of the Present, and the Brothers of the Future, the Mahatmas.

Notes from the estate of Günther Wagner

Form a mental image: a rock consisting of different types of stone, covered with soil, with bushes and trees sprouting up from it; the rock is surrounded by the sea, and above it is the air. At some point on the rock, a fire is blazing; at another point on the rock, which here juts out into the sea, lies a skull, with a raven sitting on it; the raven is looking at a cross with roses in front of it. – Form this mental image; if after some time you seem to have guessed the meaning, you may ask the guide if your guess is correct.

The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Fourth Degree

Self-confidence
Self-knowledge
Self-reliance
Clarity of mind
Mental purity
Strength of mind
Clarity of love (taming love)
Love purity
Love strength
Strength – intensity of will
Strength – universal will purity
Strength – supersensible will strength 1908

Notes by Günther Wagner

Feel the third-degree currents in the astral body

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Notes from Paula Hübbe-Schleiden

J: Form a mental image of the higher self; draw it to the point between the eyebrows, over the head to the center of the back.

A: Then draw it up the back, around the ear to the larynx (like the line of the hand in a salute), let it flow to the lower I, the human ego, and lead it down the chest.

B: From the forehead to the heart (O), then up to the (A), center of the back, up to the cosmic brain (S).

[Do]: Let the great cosmic I stream in through the pineal gland to A and further to the navel, then up to the frontal sinus, then down (Ben=son) to the back to A.

Notes from the estate of Günther Wagner Fourth degree

Salve Frater
Rosae et Aurae
Crucis

Benedictus Deus qui dedit nobis signum

Hand above
thumb to the forehead resurrectus
chapter mark

Notes from the estate of Elisabeth Vreede

After his death, the Christ taught in a spiritual body that had been formed for that specific purpose. This was the same body that was seen by Paul and that was drawn together for this purpose. We will be able to see this same body in the etheric world before the end of this century. The physical body that was laid in the grave dematerialized to such an extent that it spread over the whole earth, and therefore no body was found in the grave when it was sought there. The resurrection body was the etheric body, which could be so condensed by Christ that Thomas could touch it, which cannot be the case with an ordinary etheric body. The fact that it was a different body from the physical one is indicated in the Gospel by the fact that Mary Magdalene and others did not recognize it at first.

Through Mark and [Ormus], both disciples of the Christ after his resurrection, the mysteries and rituals were transformed.

Munich, January 9, 1912

Notes by Alice Kinkel

The sentient soul and the sentient body together form a supercoupling, and so do the consciousness soul and the spirit self, especially since the I is expressed in the sentient soul. This I is gradually closing the circle, which is still open now and will only close in the future with the development of spirit self, life spirit and spiritual man.

The introduction of the Copernican system to mankind is an act of Lucifer, by which he has influence over man right down to the level of the schoolchild. It is a desperate effort on Lucifer's part, whose defeat was decided at Golgotha.

The second part of the lesson dealt with star constellations, the course of the sun and the earth. A special star constellation prevails around the turn of the year: 28/12; 7/3.

It takes a person 28 years to complete one orbit around Saturn. After the age of 28, a person enters a new phase of life, namely the second orbit around Saturn. (Much has been said about this orbit around Saturn).

It is not the Earth that moves around the Sun, but the movement goes in a spiral, with the Sun leading the way and the Earth and the other planets trailing behind.

Spiral:

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The overcoupling in the essence of man, which yields this form:

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And the course of the sun and the earth in the spiral, which also yields this second form, was explained to us in detail and much more was said about the relationship:

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Saturn 7 28

Jupiter 3 12

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1. physical body
2. life body
3. sentient body

4. sentient soul
5. intellectual soul
6. consciousness soul

7. spirit self
life spirit
spirit man

Notes (excerpts) from the estate of Elisabeth Vreede

First degree

There are two poles in man. One is that of materialism, the other that of spiritual life. Great materialists, such as Haeckel, are so rabid against all spiritual movements because by strengthening one pole they simultaneously strengthen the other pole internally; they instinctively oppose this, and that makes them such fierce opponents of all spiritual movements. It is like a telegraph line: a wire goes visibly through the air, connecting the two endpoints. At these two ends, plates are set into the ground, and below the earth's surface, invisible, the current returns, so that the circuit is closed.

First degree

Lucifer and Ahriman are particularly active in modern life through new inventions such as airships and so on. As a result, the earth is becoming more and more isolated from space, turning it into an island in the cosmos. In the past, spiritual beings from other planets could still influence the mystery sites and the like on earth. When air travel becomes more widespread, even Martians will no longer be able to endure the Earth's atmosphere.

Lucifer also works through the one-sidedly conceived system of Copernicus, which also has the tendency to close off the Earth.

Ahriman works in the art of printing, in the mechanical reproduction of the written word. Only by writing books as a sacrifice can one counteract this.

Second degree

There is a threefold human being, consisting of a head, left and right halves. The head or main man is the sign we bear of Lucifer, the left man of Ahriman, the right half of man of the earthly (?) gods. So is our [Masonic] temple: the head is in the south, the left side in the west, the right in the east.

As a goal of many gods, man stands in the world; for whoever searches behind the sensual world does not find unity, but multiplicity, a multiplicity of beings. It is therefore maja to want to reduce everything higher to a unity. There is indeed a unity, but it is the goal of multiplicity, the goal of those beings, and that is man. The question of monadism (= pluralism) or monism (= unity) makes no sense outside of earthly life. There is multiplicity of origin, unity of goal. The fact that Leibniz viewed the world in monadic terms was because he was more under Ahriman's influence; Hegel adhered more to unity because he was more inspired by Lucifer.

Third degree

Man was originally destined to be a being that would attain knowledge through his breathing process. With the air, he would have simultaneously taken in and recognized the spiritual. Luciferic temptation has taken that away from him, and instead of this, knowledge had to be taken in through the brain and the sense organs. These are basically very unsuitable for this. Our whole head with the sense organs has been put over us by Lucifer.

Far better organs in this respect are the (etheric) hands (in connection with the heart) and even the feet. Just as two images are created in the brain by the crossing of the optic nerves, which together give a correct image, so in the spiritual world one can conduct research by perceiving with each of the hands individually and then bringing the two images together; in this way one gets the most accurate image.

The eyes, the brain and the other organs were originally intended, when breathing was first known, to be only a sounding board for knowledge. They would then not have taken in the outside world as it is now the case, but what would come in through inhalation would have been reflected by them on exhalation and thus brought to perception, to consciousness. As a result of the influence of Lucifer, these organs then had to change from reflecting to absorbing organs, which allow the world to flow into them from outside.

Man lives on earth in the midst of the activity of the gods. The laboratory of the gods is the earth. Man is a spectator of the work of the gods. Originally, however, it was intended that he should be a co-worker. The gods use the dust that man leaves behind after death, but it is not unimportant to them how this dust is made. Through lying and sinning, man spoils his dust, and the gods can no longer use it. Certain religious sects know this, and so, while speaking a lie outwardly, they inwardly revoke it so as not to spoil their dust. The lying world dust can no longer be used to build a new world, but is refused and eventually forms the moons in space.