The Rudolf Steiner Archive

15

To Marie von Sivers in the Baltic seaside resort of Graal
Saturday, August 27, 1904

Berlin, August 27, 1904

Darling, I don't want you to worry about me. I must be able to cope for the few days we are talking about. However, it is impossible to say at the moment when I will be able to leave. It's Saturday evening and I've just come from Potsdam, where I was only able to read the last corrections to the current Lucifer booklet today. The printer only finished at 5 o'clock today. That means the typesetting is only finished; now the printing can begin. I will therefore soon have to start believing that my trip to Austria ²⁴ in the spirit of your dear letter.

Today I have a letter from Miss Scholl ²⁵ in which she received an anxious report that Keightley ²⁶Rudolf Steiner had invited Annie Besant on a lecture tour of Germany during his stay in London in May 1904, which took place in September. She was accompanied by Bertram Keightley and Esther Bright. Rudolf Steiner and Marie v. Sivers received Annie Besant in Hamburg and accompanied her on the entire trip. Rudolf Steiner gave the lectures, which were spoken in English, in German. with Mrs. Besant writes. She seems to think that there is nothing good behind it. I immediately wrote her a few lines saying that she should be impartial and that we should not meet this diplomacy with diplomacy. I think the occultist's behavior in such matters is difficult to understand. In such a case, however, it is really a matter of not asking ourselves the question: what does this or that mean? but, relying on the spiritual powers behind us, letting the waves crash all around us. A crisis in the T.S.²⁷ [Theosophical Society], which will also affect us, must one day be believed. - I will always feel safe with you, my dear. But you must be with me. I have often spoken of this to you. Souls like yours, with the beautiful mental intention, need the present. “Stand on his feet”,²⁸ This is the teaching that we must also follow for the Theosophical movement. However much we are misunderstood: there is nothing wrong with that; but we must not be broken in the least.

I have received all your things. The sentence that you do not like I have reformulated. And if you still dislike it, it can be given a different form for the booklet.

So once again: stay, dearest, as long as it has been done. Remember that I even decided to go to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch today. And maybe I will tomorrow too.

I haven't got as far as using the key yet. Because I haven't had time yet. But if I do manage to leave, you'll receive the key at the right time.

Hubo doesn't want any of the topics listed.²⁹ Now he wants me to advise him what to do. On the 31st Mrs. Besant is coming through Hamburg.³⁰ He might ask her if she wants to talk about something else in Hamburg.

If only more could be done now for the dissemination of “Lucifer”. It is clear from various things (letters etc.) that the last issues have been very well received.

The student phil.,³¹ The man you write about certainly means well. But he will have few comrades; and whether he will still think like that when he becomes a Dr. phil. is still the question. The mountains of obstacles in German academic circles that have to be overcome for our world view cannot be guessed by anyone who does not know these circles very well. But I would like to address the young man's intentions.

Warmly united with his dear Rudolf

Greetings mother and sister.

• 24. Rudolf Steiner used to visit his relatives in Horn/Lower Austria every year: his father Johann Steiner (1829-1910), his mother Franziska, née. Blie (1834-1918), sister Leopoldine (1864-1927), brother Gustav (1866-1942).
• 25. Mathilde Scholl (1868-1941), during a longer stay in Italy she became a member of the T.G. in 1899. In October 1902 she was present at the founding meeting of the section in Berlin. From May 1903 she lived in Cologne and organized Rudolf Steiner's lectures there, which led to the founding of the Cologne branch in February 1904. She joined the board of the German Section in October 1903 and from 1905 to 1914 published the Society's internal organ, the “Mitteilungen für die Mitglieder der deutschen Sektion der T.G.”. From 1914 onwards, she lived in Dornach.
• 26. was coming with her
• 27. This crisis, foreseen by Rudolf Steiner, began with the Leadbeater scandal of 1906, intensified with the events surrounding the election of Annie Besant as president after the death of Olcott, and finally led to the expulsion of the German section by Annie Besant at the turn of the year 1912/13 due to the humbug of the “Star in the East”. For more details see “Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten ...”, GA 264, and Hella Wiesberger, “Rudolf Steiners esoterische Lehrtätigkeit”, Dornach 1998.
• 28. one of the teachings from the then very well-known booklet by the English Theosophist Mabel Collins ‘Light on the Path’, 1904 new German edition.
• 29. Hubo doesn't want any of the topics listed: Bernhard Hubo, branch manager in Hamburg. Annie Besant had suggested four topics to choose from for her lectures in various German cities, but apparently Hubo didn't like any of them.
• 30. On the 31st Mrs. Besant is coming through Hamburg: on the outward journey to a tour of the Scandinavian section, before her journey through Germany began on September 15 with a lecture back in Hamburg.
• 31. The student phil.: Ludwig Kleeberg (1880-1972), Kassel, who attempted the project of a theosophical student association. Member of the Munich branch since June 1905. - Cf. Kleeberg, “Wege und Worte. Erinnerungen an Rudolf Steiner aus Tagebüchern und aus Briefen”, Stuttgart 1961.

20

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Monday, January 9, 1905

Munich, January 9, 1905

Dearest Marie! I send you my most faithful thoughts of love and affection. I do this not only when I find time to express this to you in writing. You know and know how closely we are connected. It is certain that many opposing forces will still rise up against our spiritual bond; such things must be faced calmly.

Once you find complete peace, my darling, then the waves may crash around the rock on which we stand. If the rock is built on the ground of truth, then nothing can make it, and thus us, shake.

Thank you for your dear letters. They bring something so loving to the work. Stuttgart No. 1 and the two public lectures in Munich are over. This afternoon I still have Schewitsch, in the evening the student assembly; then tomorrow Stuttgart. — I hope that so far everything has gone well. May it continue that way. Dr. Paulus really puts you through your paces; Kalckreuth and Stinde are real models when it comes to doing favors for friends.

I have informed Kalckreuth and Stinde of your “signposting mission” ¹. Such things are quite characteristic of our age. And we can learn a lot from them. That the people of Leipzig are doing this is simply part of their karma; they can't help themselves. Such things depend on a person's inner self, and we really shouldn't be strict judges in such matters. But the outer side is precisely what we are supposed to judge. This must be the basis of our learning. Above all, we must learn from it for our own behavior. We live in an age in which people like the Leipzig Theosophists can form an opinion: something like this works in our time. Such are the instincts of our fellow human beings, and we want to take them into account. If the Leipzigers were even Theosophists, the karma of our age could not be reflected in them in this way. But they are not Theosophists. We should admit that to ourselves with all compassion. That is why the demoralizing, unholy, and ill-democratic aspects of our age are reflected in them in this way. They are the victims of these main characteristics of the present time. My dearest, take this as belonging to today's esoteric hour (it is Monday morning) what I am now telling you. All the materialism of our age will once again be most blatantly reflected in the minds of the so-called Theosophists. Because the theosophical attitude itself is so elevated, those who are not completely taken in by it will become the worst materialists. We will have to experience much worse things from the theosophists than from those who have not been touched by the theosophical doctrine. The theosophical doctrine, when taken up as dogma rather than as a way of life, can lead straight into materialistic abysses. We just have to understand that. Take a look at Keightley. He is well on his way to becoming one of the worst victims of Theosophy. Without Theosophy, he would have become a simple, untalented, but probably well-behaved scholar. Through Theosophy, he becomes a haughty, envious, nagging nerd. These are considerations that the occultist must constantly bear in mind if he is to think of spreading the great wisdom of the holy masters to the public. That is his great responsibility. This is what the brothers, who want to remain conservative in occultism and continue to cultivate the method of secrecy, always hold against us. And not a day goes by without the Masters clearly sounding the warning: “Be careful, consider the immaturity of your age. You have children before you, and it is your destiny that you must communicate the high secret teachings to children. Be aware that through your words you educate villains. ² I can only tell you that if the Master had not been able to convince me,³ that despite all this, 'Theosophy is necessary for our age: I would also have written only philosophical books in 1901 and spoken in literary and philosophical terms.

My dear, stay strong with me: as long as we are connected with the great Lodge ⁴Nothing can really happen to us, no matter what appears to happen. But only through our strength can we receive the help of the exalted masters. You know that I speak this as soberly and clearly as the most mundane things in life. “Remain strong and clear,” the masters say every day.

• 1. Theosophischer Wegweiser, Monatsschrift, Organ der Hartmann-Böhme-Gesellschaft, Leipzig; Herausgeber Arthur Weber, Leipzig.
• 2. - Cf. on this the chapter “The Splitting of the Personality during the Training of the Spirit” in “How to Know Higher Worlds”, GA 10.
• 3. This must have been in the period between the conversation with Marie v. Sivers in the fall of 1901 (see p.36) and his joining the T.G. in January 1902; for he wrote in August 1902 in the draft of a circular letter to the German branches: “I did not join earlier than I knew that the spiritual forces I had to serve were present in the T.S."
• 4. Rudolf Steiner here means the community of “teachers” or “masters of wisdom and of the harmony of feelings”; for more details see “On the history and content of the first section of the Esoteric School” (GA 264).

25

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Friday, April 7, 1905

Cannstatt, April 7, 1905

My darling! I have to set a few moments aside to write you a few lines. My thoughts are with you. I love both of your letters. But there is one thing you should not do: worry all the time. Look: the matter was really not that bad. All the people who got on the coupe in Berlin that I was sitting in got off in Leipzig, so around half past one, and then I was all alone until Nuremberg, that is, until eight o'clock. It is always better to become a little more indifferent in such matters. If you are always worried about me, I have to worry again because of your worries, and we can't get along at all. But I love you so much. And everything will surely be fine with us both. Stay safe, healthy, and fresh. I have to find you like this when I come home after all my travels.

Now for a few practical questions: In Breschen's “Vâhan” one can write something like this:

The library of the Berlin branch (German Theosophical Society) is located - - - and books can be borrowed under the following conditions.

I believe that Bresch, in his inability to keep time, is making the greatest folly, if we do not simply demand of him: the note as it is now should be left out, and this short one should be put in its place. We don't need more than that.

The program should read for May 4th:

Schiller and the Present (Theosophical Schiller Celebration).

Have you sent the program to Hayns Erben? Please write to me for Monday, or Sunday to Hamburg so that I do not send a second program manuscript there.

The book lists are quite correct. Also the part about “Lucifers”.

So once again, warmest regards. Stay fresh, healthy and safe.

Yours, Rudolf.

26

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Tuesday, April 11, 1905

On the train to Munich. April 11, 1905

My darling. It could be that I won't be able to write for a long time in Munich either, so I wanted to send you my warmest greetings from the train. It's sweet when you write often. You accompany me with your blessing. And your blessing belongs to our work.

As you know from Arenson's report, things went well in Stuttgart. The two lodges ¹⁵ For the time being, they get along with each other as well as could be the case if they were one. Stuttgart now has four branches in total. In addition to our two, there is one founded by Böhme ¹⁶ and one Tingley ¹⁷ (Blissful). The members – at least some – of the Böhme branch were very sympathetic to my lectures and the main organizer, a Mr. Bach, even gave me a gift in a box at the end. I don't yet know what it is because I haven't yet found time to 'open' it.

The train is just stopping in Ansbach.

In Hanover, the visit was mediocre, but not bad considering the circumstances. The whole sorry affair of Hübbe-Schleiden (like a cloud of haze) is overshadowed by a corrosive mind that is as far from any intuition as the brain of a German professor of Greek art is from an understanding of the Greek genius. The man speaks a language that is so un-Theosophical and is so deeply to be pitied, like a prisoner who mistakes his dungeon for the world. He puts endless effort into squeezing water out of a completely dried-up sponge. Actually, his entire wisdom consists of combining today's school wisdom with a few scraps of learned “ancient wisdom” ¹⁸ in a very schematic form. He had large models made of the so-called “primary atom”, which almost fill half a room, and yet they are nothing more than reproductions of a picture that appears on the title page of Annie Besant's “Ancient Wisdom”. During my last visit to Munich, Deinhard showed me photographic images of these models like a precious treasure.

My darling: everything is relative. And there is still a way upwards from this Hübbe-Deinhard wisdom to the smug mysticism of the “Stuttgart adept” A. Oppel. And Oppel is not entirely wrong to consider Deinhard “stupid” from his own point of view. That's what he said the other day. And yet Oppel is a “curious man”. You have to look at all these relativities very objectively. Because even if a frog is not yet an ox, it is still bigger than a fly.

In Hamburg, Hubo still hasn't overcome his inner-outer restlessness. He basically wants everyone to be happy, but criticizes everything and complains about everything. Sunday I spoke to the people of the lodge about the meaning of the days of the week and about the seven Roman kings, to vividly show the eminently practical, life-intervening meaning of Theosophy. Yesterday, at “Goethe's Gospel,” there was a basically not bad visit.

That you put my name on the title page of “Children of Lucifer” ¹⁹ seems to me to be too much, since the ten small pages are not enough to be given special attention. But for now, we will leave things as they are in line with your intentions.

This time, Deinhard will not be in Munich during my stay. He is going to the Congress of Psychologists in Rome to see if the respectable official psychologists will condescend to make some “metaphysical” (recte: spiritualistic) observations. It is so pitiful to see how these people greedily dig for treasure and are happy when they find earthworms.

The train is now stopping in Gunzenhausen. Hilly forest land and a gloomy mood can be seen outside. It has even started to rain.

Yesterday you delivered a message for me again.²⁰ I am so glad that it has come to this and that you are sitting in my place during my absence. That is how it should be. We will continue to make progress in this way.

Do your meditation as well as you can. The splendor that must fall on the intellectual grasp of the occult things does indeed come from it. Even if you don't notice it. The meditation formulas and concentration exercises that you now have are the key to much. They have been shaped by the great adepts since ancient times, and whoever brings them to life in their soul with patience draws from them the truth of seven worlds. The secrets of the knowing are laid in them. And whoever is able to apply them correctly has the opportunity to strip away the veils of the three lower world forms and gradually mature to the state of the “swan.” You need not worry about imperfections in meditation; but always strive to do everything in your power.

For now, warmest greetings from yours

Rudolf.

In a few minutes the train will be in Treuchtlingen.

• 15. The founding charter for the Stuttgart II branch, Kerning branch, is dated February 19, 1905, with Prof. Oscar Boltz as chairman. In September 1905, the Stuttgart III branch was added, which was founded specifically to study the works of Rudolf Steiner, with Hans Weißhaar as chairman and Adolf Arenson as secretary. In 1907, Stuttgart I expired and Stuttgart III took its place.
• 16. Edwin Böhme, Secretary General of the Leipzig Society.
• 17. Katherine Tingley (1852-1929), American Theosophist, “successor” to William Q. Judge in the leadership of the “Theosophical Society in America” that had become independent of Adyar.
• 18. “The Ancient Wisdom” (1897), German translation by Mathilde Scholl 1898,
• 19. Drama by Edouard Schurg; Le Theätre de l'Ame (tere serie); Les Enfants de Lucifer (Drame antique), Paris 1900; authorized translation by Marie v. Sivers, Leipzig 1905, Dornach 1955.
• 20. The meetings of the members of the Berlin branch took place every Monday.

27

To Rudolf Steiner, probably in Karlsruhe
Thursday, April 13 (or 14), 1905, from Berlin

In great haste:

I have also sent Mr. Schwab ²¹ Lucifer numbers to sell. Can't reference be made to the essay “Initiation and Mysteries” ²²? I put the three booklets together for 1 mark. It refers to “Esoteric Christianity” and “Great Initiates”. ²³

I wish you all the best and a wonderful time this first of May. Should I cancel all my appointments? Kassel is locked in, but does May 1 work? ²⁴

I intend to have the Schiller lectures ²⁵ (on Kiem's ²⁶ risk) and to submit the proofs on Friday. Today I spoke about this with M. in Potsdam, who was here. 2,000 copies like Goethe's Faust, but twice as thick. The lectures are so beautiful. May we?

Goodbye!

• 21. Friedrich Schwab in Heidelberg, where the public lecture “The Wisdom Teachings of Christianity” took place on April 17, 1905.
• 22. Essay in three parts in the magazine “Luzifer”, July/August/September 1903. Reprinted in “Luzifer-Gnosis 1903-1908”, GA 34.
• 23. Annie Besant, “Esoteric Christianity or the Little Mysteries”, translated by Mathilde Scholl, Leipzig 1903; Edouard Schuré, “Les Grands Inities”, Paris 1889. The authorized German translation by Marie v. Sivers was published in the magazine Lucifer-Gnosis from February 1904; book edition Leipzig 1907 and Munich 1955.
• 24. On May 1, 1905, the public lecture “Schiller and Theosophy” was held there.
• 25. “Schiller and our age”, notes from lectures given from January to March 1905 at the Berlin “Freie Hochschule”, edited by Marie v. Sivers, Berlin 1905, Dornach 1932. Reprinted in “On Philosophy, History and Literature”, CW 51.
• 26. Friedrich Kiem (died 1933), member since September 1903, treasurer of the Berlin branch, on the section's council since 1905. such as 'Goethe's Faust': This refers to Rudolf Steiner's small brochure “Goethe's Faust as an Image of his Esoteric World View”, Berlin 1902; expanded in 1918 to include two further essays under the title “Goethe's Spiritual Nature as Revealed by his Faust and by the Fairy Tale ‘Of the Snake and the Lily’; now GA 22.

28

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Palm Sunday, April 16, 1905

Mannheim, April 16, 1905

My darling, I send you my warmest greetings from here. My thoughts are with you, and I hope to find my dear darling quite well on Thursday. In Munich, I seemed to be quite well again. The lectures that deal with something Christian, like the one about the Apostle Paul, are even less well received, though. There are two difficulties there. On the one hand, the previous course of the theosophical movement has led people to believe that 'theosophy is essentially Indian. They therefore also believe that the theosophist has nothing to say about Christianity. And then, of course, official Christianity today presents itself in such a way that it is difficult to believe in the true form that I have presented. Much remains to be done to create clarity here. Catholicism no longer finds the words to proclaim the “Christ” because it has become estranged from modern forms of thought and can therefore really only be understood by those who, through lack of education, have not been touched by these forms of thought. Through the rationalism and factual historicism of its theologians, Protestantism is on the way to losing the “Christ” altogether and only holding on to the “Jesus of Nazareth,” whom it seeks to bring closer to modern democracy as the “simple man”.

Therefore, at the public lecture in Karlsruhe, non-theosophists were somewhat baffled by the Christianity they heard about, while the theosophists were touched in a sympathetic way but also somewhat puzzled. You could tell from their reactions: “We had no idea that there was such theosophy in Christianity.” Incidentally, Prof. Drews, the professor of philosophy at the Technical University in Karlsruhe, was present at this lecture. I know him from earlier, but had not seen him for about eight years. Yesterday I visited him. It seemed to me that this could be quite good. He is probably one of the most insightful German philosophy professors. But he cannot get past the crucial point. What separates him from theosophy also separates Eduard von Hartmann from it. Neither can believe in the possibility of experiencing the supersensible. So they can only come to deduce this supersensible. Of course, nothing can come of this but an abstraction, a caput mortuum of the speculating intellect. In a conversation lasting an hour and a half, we basically only agreed on what divides us. A personality like Drews must simply be stuck in his habitual ways of thinking, as if in a trance. It will be a long time before a German philosopher's brain grasps the simple core of Vedanta philosophy. And before that, there is nothing to be done in this area. If only people could understand Goethe, or even Schiller.

If you really think the Schiller lectures are ready to be printed, then by all means have them printed. Of course it would have to be stated on the title page that they are lectures. And tomorrow I will send you a few lines as a preface that you can use. On May 4, I hope to be able to speak even more highly of Schiller.²⁷ Since we have an audience in the architects' hall that is already somewhat familiar with the subject.

Countess Kalckreuth will send you my books, which I won't need on the last part of my journey. Keep them for me.

And please send to Baroness Gumppenberg ²⁸ a few words with the exact title of that English physics book that you once received from Mrs. Burke ²⁹ It was intended to be the group book for the Fräulein v. Gumppenberg ³⁰ von den Höhen der drei Logoi and Jiva, where she spends almost all of her time, down to earth. I canceled the May 1 lecture; ³¹. This must also be done with all the others. Because if I am at home on May 1, I also give a lecture at home on that day. I would like to speak about “Easter and Theosophy” on Good Friday and about the “Temple that was lost and is to be rebuilt” on May 1. If it were promising, I would also have nothing against a second Kassel lecture.

In Munich, they would like to have me back at the beginning of May. They will write to you about this. I would like to go again, especially since I am also supposed to speak in Freiburg im Breisgau. Mr. Manz will write to you about this ³². Then place Munich and Freiburg as you see fit. Freiburg may also be important.

Now something else. I don't know if you remember Mrs. Vacano ³³ in Munich. She needs a little help from us. And we must do what we can. The situation is as follows. She was once divorced from her husband. Now she wants to study medicine in Germany. To do so, she must first take the high school graduation exam. However, she is not allowed to do so as a Russian “subject”, so she has decided to get married in Germany in order to become a German “subject” (as she says). But now, strangely enough, a Russian “subject” needs the consent of her divorced husband if she is to obtain “permission” to marry from the Russian General Consistory. Given the way she separated from her husband, she doubts that he would give her this permission. In short, this is what needs to be done: the Petersburg General Consistory must be asked whether there is no other way to give her consent to remarriage. I now see the matter as follows: Miss Kamensky ³⁴, could go to the General Consistory. There she should inquire about a person who is as authoritative and well-informed as possible. She should ask this person whether Mr. Vacano's permission is absolutely necessary, or whether it would not also be sufficient to prove to the General Consistory, by means of letters from the time of the divorce, that Mr. Vacano was the guilty party in the divorce. I think that Miss Kamensky could do this very well. Mrs. Vacano will probably write to you about this in the next few days. But if you are not very familiar with what I have written, please wait until I am at home before writing to Miss Kamensky.

Regarding the visit of Mrs. Pissarew ³⁵ follow, my darling, your feeling. What you do in such a case is right and dear to me. Just consider this: whether it would not be better for your peace and composure, which you also need, if Mrs. Pissarew could come when she wants, but lives independently in a boarding house. She too could then perhaps get more out of us than if she were in the house all the time. But again: do as you feel you should do. I agree with it either way.

I would now like to work here until tomorrow morning, and then take a suitable train at noon to nearby Heidelberg.

With all my heart, yours, Rudolf.

• 27. Lecture “Schiller and the Present” on the 100th anniversary of his death (in GA 53).
• 28. Freiin Emmy v. Gumppenberg (1857-1934), Member in Munich I since May 1904, but also acted as chairwoman of the two branches Munich II and III, participated in the mystery plays. In 1913, she wrote an “Open Letter to Dr. Hübbe-Schleiden in Response to his ‘Message of Peace’.”
• 29. Presumably head of a group at the Esoteric School of Theosophy. Marie v. Sivers was accepted into this school in April 1902, when she was in Bologna.
• 30. Baroness Marika v. Gumppenberg (1884-1968), member since April 1907, niece of the previous.
• 31. The original lecture plan is not known. The lecture on Good Friday, April 21, 1905 in Berlin on “Easter and Theosophy” was held. The lecture on “The Lost Temple and Its Restoration” that was planned for May 1 in Berlin was given on May 15. The notes for this lecture can be found in GA 93.
• 32. Alfred Manz, a member when the Freiburg branch was founded on October 1, 1905, later went to Argentina.
• 33. Hariet v. Vacano (1862-1949), from Russia, a member in Munich since May 1904, ran the vegetarian restaurant “Fruchtkorb” there, was involved in the mystery plays 1907-13, translated works by the Russian philosopher Vladimir Solofjeff into German (author's name Harry Köhler) at Rudolf Steiner's suggestion, and later lived in Dornach.
• 34. Anna Kamensky (1867-1952), in 1908 the first General Secretary of the Russian Section of the T.S.
• 35. Helene Pissarew, a Russian acquaintance or friend of Marie v. Sivers from Kaluga. From 1905 a member of the Berlin branch, from 1908 leader of the Rudolf Steiner branch in Kaluga. She had invited Rudolf Steiner to give lectures at her estate near Kaluga. But the meeting took place in Paris in May 1906. Cf. Marie Steiner in “The Beginnings of the Spiritual Science Lecture”, in “Newsletter” No. 35, August 30, 1925.

31

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Friday, April 28, 1905

Rath near Düsseldorf, April 28, 1905

My darling! I have arrived at Dr. Peipers' and send you my warmest greetings. The house is surrounded by trees, and outside, the first rays of spring sunshine are shining on the first blossoms and tree buds that are pushing their way towards the light. I invest such life with the most beautiful greetings and assume that, my darling, these greetings-buds will have blossomed for you when they meet your loving gaze.

The few people who are in Cologne really do care about our philosophy. And the public lectures went well, although they could have been better attended. Yesterday the question and answer session even lasted until 11 o'clock. On the first day, after the lecture, I took our people to an interpellation about the note referring to Mrs. Besant. I hope that this discussion following the lectures will be the best reaction. I then publicly explained the facts of the matter to the people.

I have not yet been shown the Schiller booklet here. My darling, please do not worry about me not approving of something. What you do always arises from the right impulses.

Peipers is not very developed. Medical studies have led the poor rather into confusion than clarity. He wants the best. But he has not yet found an inner center. This is the bad thing about the current official studies, that they create thought forms in people that almost resist a higher understanding of things, even with the best of intentions. It is absolutely necessary that studies such as medical studies in particular be imbued with the spirit of theosophy. For it is essential that the theosophical view be combined with science. We cannot and must not protect amateur dabbling by laymen in natural medicine. That would be dangerous. One must see much more deeply here. The whole thing is connected with our racial cycle. Each of the sub-races of our fifth root race has so far had a Semitic influence. The last one came to Central Europe via Spain, as you know. But such influences exhaust themselves, and when a cycle has run its course, a new influence must come. We actually already have the new impact in our culture, but it has not yet fully developed. The whole thing is to be understood as the interlocking of two spiritual vortices, which have their point of convergence in Christ. I enclose a symbolic drawing for you, my darling, which you may decipher by studying it.

[IMAGE REMOVED FROM PREVIEW]

We are now where the sign ♂ is. We are not yet completely Christian, and the Semitic influences of the past are still there, but they are the ferment of decomposition. It is no mere accident that the men who have exercised the strongest influence on the European masses in recent times, through their keen, clear, but entirely materialistic thinking, were Jews: Marx and Lassalle.³³ And it is no mere accident that minds which work synthetically and constructively, without the intellectual disintegration which results from a study of the subject, such minds as Bismarck's, Haeckel's, etc., are minds of little importance, minds of laymen, and, in regard to all the higher problems of humanity, minds which are still obtuse. They are the embryos of a nascent culture. There is something about Haeckel that must be rejected as the afterbirth of culture. His positive side is embryonic and the shell is provided by the materialistic womb of the 19th century. I do see something in Haeckel's positive side that can develop. In our time, there are two forms of thought: an emerging, still embryonic one (Haeckel in zoology); Schiller-Goethe must fertilize this form – then Fechner ³⁴ in psychology; theosophy must fertilize this form - Bismarck in cultural policy, Tolstoy must fertilize this form.

Everything else is withering, corrosive: purely analytical thinking in zoology, botany and medicine; Wundt ³⁵ and his

followers in psychology; social democracy and liberalism in politics.

All of our theology, jurisprudence, and pedagogy are filled with corrosive substances. This corrosion has already become pedagogically apparent in kindergartens as a poison for children. And this corrosion is best seen in the fact that these kindergartens, on the other hand, have become a necessity in our deadly city life. Like a terrible ulcer can mean the onset of an illness. And yet there is nothing worse than when our pedagogical methods take hold of the minds of children who are not yet of school age. The training of the intellect creeps in unnoticed where it should be allowed to grow only through observation. And the most terrible thing is that our “educators” are of the opinion that training the intellect means observation. And so direct instruction is called the most dreadful intellectual preparation.

I must make an end.

With warmest thoughts of you, Rudolf.

• 33. Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-1864). the founder of Social Democracy in Germany.
• 34. Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887). German naturalist and philosopher. Founder of psychophysics, a psychology of the senses that works with measurements.
• 35. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920). Philosopher. Many similar institutes were established based on the model of the Institute for Experimental Psychology that he founded in Leipzig.

33

To Marie von Sivers in Berlin
Sunday, May 7, 1905

On the Freiburg – Karlsruhe train journey.

My darling! Tomorrow you will hold the Lotus Day ³⁷. No matter what you have said against yourself in recent times, I know that what you do is good. You will find the right thing this time too from your beautiful inner being. I have just written down the following thoughts in the railway carriage. Perhaps you can read them. I would like them to be understood as a kind of letter to the Besant Lodge. And you will also find a few words about Annie Besant, the great disciple of H.P.B., in connection with this.

Yesterday in Freiburg, everything went very well. But I was beset with questions. The people in Stuttgart didn't feel they could handle me this evening and so canceled. So I left Freiburg at 11:41 a.m. and will arrive in Munich at 10 p.m. I had a meeting with the Freiburg people starting at 9 o'clock this morning. We will talk about how to proceed regarding the connection ³⁸.

For now, my warmest regards,

Rudolf

• 37. Term for the anniversary of the death of H.P. Blavatsky (May 8, 1891).
• 38. The Freiburg branch of the T.G. was founded in October 1905, with Ferdinand Bauer as chairman and Anna Weißbrod as secretary. The actual initiator was Alfred Manz.

33a

Enclosure to No. 33

In the name of H. P. Blavatsky, the thoughts of all theosophists around the world are united today. However, only a few people today know what the spiritual progress owes to the founder of our movement. And even these few know it only partially. For the profound wisdoms contained in The Secret Doctrine reveal themselves to man only slowly and gradually. Whenever one has progressed a little further along the path, which loses itself at dizzying heights for every human gaze, one discovers new secrets in this book, for which one could not yet have the right understanding before. And so H.P.B. is one of those individuals for whom the degree of veneration becomes ever higher with one's own development. One must have experience in such an increase of esteem for her if one wants to gain the right point of view towards H.P.B. One must learn to venerate her in the right way.

In the beginning, one may still inquire into the outward details of her life in order to gain a relationship to her. But there comes a point where all outward appearances fade away in the face of the realization of the immeasurably significant spiritual mission of H.P.B. and her great task within the present spiritual movement. Those who then really perceive something of this spiritual mission will, from the knowledge, understand how they should relate to our great pioneer. He also learns to understand that a person who has such a mission must necessarily first accept misunderstanding and even defamation. Such things are among the sacrifices he must make in life. H.P.B.'s work came at a time when materialistic thinking and attitudes were expanding tremendously. Science, life, everything seemed to provide the building blocks for materialism to construct a gigantic edifice. The personality who, in such a time, brought humanity a renewed awareness of the truth of a spiritual world, had to be complicated. One has to bear in mind that it depends not only on the truth as it should be handed down to people, but also on the people themselves. It was infinitely difficult to convey the truth to a materialistic way of thinking and attitude in such a way that it could be understood. How H.P.B. had to act was dictated by the measure of understanding that the time could bring her. When a hammer strikes an object, what happens depends not only on the hammer. Glass shatters and lead is beaten into a thin plate. When the great mind gives great gifts, it must pour its gifts into the vessels that are held out to it by the recipients. — H.P.B. will gradually learn to distinguish only between the outer form and the inner value of her great gifts. - It was precisely the spirit of the time in which she had to fulfill her mission that made it so infinitely difficult. That she has taken on this mission, however, testifies to the greatness of the personality for the discerning, but also testifies to how great the willingness of this personality was to make the sacrifices associated with the mission.

Much has been objected to, especially by the learned or those who want to be, regarding the authenticity, etc., of H.P.B.'s achievements. It has been doubted that she really had her revelations from the source she indicated. But does it matter? Is it not more important to understand the work and recognize its intrinsic value? How many would have to say, upon proper study, that they can learn things at the source of H.P.B.'s writings that could not be revealed to them from anywhere else. So she is the mediator, after all. Is it wise to receive truths from the hand of a human being, truths that deal with the highest things, and then to find fault with the credibility of the same human being in much lesser things? Nothing could make H.P.B. more of a miracle than if the objections raised against her had any foundation. Just imagine the conclusion that would have to be drawn under such circumstances. Suppose someone doubts the “authenticity” of the Dzyan verses. This has been done and many still do it. So the ancient source H.P.B. refers to does not exist. Well, let us assume for the sake of argument that this is the case. We may dispute the question of authenticity, but to dispute the question of truth is absurd. For everyone can convince themselves of the truth if they follow the right paths. Those who do so recognize more and more of the deepest truths in these verses. Indeed, the matter is such that with each advance in one's own knowledge, one is more and more convinced of the abysmal depth of it, and it becomes ever clearer to one's eyes what one must still leave to one's intuitions, even with advanced understanding. —In contrast to this, what does the accusation mean to him who really knows this: H.P.B. invented the Dzyan verses ³⁹? The strangest thing would have happened: this woman finds the deepest truths and invents a foolish fairy tale about their origin. Now the conclusion is so impossible that it can only be a testimony to the illogicality of H.P.B.'s opponents, but it cannot be taken seriously by those who really understand.

All the accusers' houses of cards will gradually collapse if one has acquired an understanding, even to a moderate degree, of her spiritual power and the nature of her mission. And gradually the image of the woman will emerge from the ruins of accusations, misunderstandings, etc., a woman who at a significant turning point placed her abilities at the service of a movement, the value of which will not be recognized except by those who have not yet acquired an understanding for it.

But we Theosophists will always celebrate Lotus Day, as the day commemorating the moment when H.P.B. left the physical plane, as a day of celebration, and as a day of love and gratitude to the foundress of our movement. Among those of us who understand, H.P.B. is not an authority in the popular sense, for she does not need such authority. But the right and true authority that is due to her will be provided by the recognition of her work. A sense of authority is only to be demanded where it is not voluntarily given. We appreciate and love H.P.B. because we would be untrue to the truth we have recognized if we behaved differently. And we sense that this appreciation of ours will itself be an unfolding lotus flower. For the leaves of the flower will be all the larger and more widespread, the more we ourselves ascend in knowledge. But for this ascent, H.P.B.'s work is again the ladder that holds us. Therefore, gratitude must be the echo that flows from our hearts when the Lotus Day is a living symbol of our growing knowledge.

• 39. The reproduction and commentary on verses “From the Book of Dzyan” make up the content of the two volumes of Blavatsky's major work “The Secret Doctrine”.

33b

Marie von Sivers to Edouard Schuré
Saturday, October 7, 1905

Translation from the French

Berlin, October 7, 1905

Dear Sir,

I was delighted to receive your long letter, especially as I had often thought of you and reluctantly resisted the temptation to visit you in your solitude in Barr, even if only for a few hours. I was actually very close to you. Although I was very short of time during the whole trip, that would not have prevented me; it was rather the feeling that you did not want to be disturbed, the will to respect your solitude, and the idea that you live in Barr in a magic castle that should not be invaded.

From September 6 to 26, I went on a theosophical tour with Mr. Steiner, during which we visited several cities in Switzerland and southern Germany. We spent two days in each place. There was a public lecture on the first evening and what is called a discussion on the second. The days in the various places were filled with conversations with people interested in Theosophy and their manifold needs. I don't think you can have such a wide range of experiences of different kinds in a shorter period of time than you can during these trips with Mr. Steiner and Mrs. Besant. It is as if all the veils fall from human souls. They reveal themselves as they are, and sometimes it is like a volcanic eruption. I would never have believed that people could be so complicated, so miserable and so ignorant of themselves; so much the victim of their own feelings and the plaything of their 'illusions'. Nor would I have believed that a fairly strong dose of intelligence, as is characteristic of our time, could, as a result of self-love, go hand in hand with a complete lack of real understanding, 'insight'. This 'insight' is more likely to be found in the minds of the more simple-minded, whose eyes vanity does not close, whereas the clever can be astonishingly narrow-minded and easily fall prey to their own conceit. Souls really are like landscapes, and I now have to travel through these landscapes. So we went from St. Gallen to Zurich, Basel, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Kassel, Weimar. The different interiors opened up before us – after all, there are no barriers between the different social classes in Theosophy – and visiting souls in the diversity of their surroundings is extremely instructive. For some, work and poverty are a stumbling block and a leaden cloak; for others, prejudice and the service of any accumulated objects form insurmountable walls. But it is beautiful and comforting to see that everyone who has been touched by the teachings of Theosophy finds the strength to carry their cross and see a path opening up that leads to freedom.

This is also what comforts one beyond all the disappointments one is exposed to in the Theosophical Society. I, in particular, who have to devote myself to the organization, a task that is most repugnant to my tastes and a real Sisyphus work, need this consolation most of all. It was necessary to build a house with a variety of quite miserable materials, mixing the old with the new, the old having already proved its inadequacy. This was only possible thanks to the wisdom and superhuman strength of Mr. Steiner. In a few weeks we will know whether this work, which has been going on for three years now, will continue or whether it will have to stop in order to narrow the stream and give it a more inward direction. If the latter should be the case, I would regret it only for the sake of those who will then be excluded.

Since my return to Berlin, I have not had a moment to myself. The house is full of our best members who have come from other cities to work with Mr. Steiner every day for one to two months. Every day we have the most beautiful hours.⁴⁰ No, Mr. Steiner does not need a medium, he is a very great initiate and certainly does not read in the astral alone. His inner vision and his crystal-clear science embrace worlds so lofty that thought can only touch them with terror from afar. His knowledge has no gaps and his power is as great as his kindness. It is perhaps a disservice to him that we speak in this way. But we who live around him and see the miracle with our own eyes cannot remain completely silent about it. Perhaps the most incomprehensible thing is that someone of such a fragile humanity as I was chosen by him to be his companion in work and leisure. This irritates some people. They will look for the all-too-human in him. Well, he probably knows what he is doing. He has a will that goes beyond the personal, even here.

You ask me if the translation of “Children of Lucifer” has satisfied me. [...]

In November, Mr. Steiner will give two lectures in Colmar; Mr. Ostermann, a member of the French Section, wants to organize them. He would also like to give a lecture in Strasbourg, but it is said that people there are very reluctant to accept the new message.

May the light that you allow to shine in your work also warm your heart during these rainy autumn days.

M. Sivers

• 40. listeners' notes from this course are now reproduced in 'Fundamental Elements of Esotericism', GA 93a.