Sound Outlook for to-Day and a Genuine Hope for the Future

8/13/2019 Sound Outlook for to-Day and a Genuine Hope for the Future

1/46

A Sound Outlook for To-day and a Genuine Hope for the Future

By Rudolf Steiner

The translator is unknown

GA 181

This book is comprised of lectures 15 through 21 of 21 lectures in the lecture series entitled:Dying Earth and Living World/Cosmos.

It was published in German as:Erdensterben und Weltleben. Anthroposophische Lebensgaben. Bewustseins-notwendigeiten !uer"egenwart und #uun$t. (vol. 11 in the !ibliographic "urve#$.

This volume is presented here with the kind permission of the %udolf "teiner &achlassverwaltung' ornach' "wit)erland.

This e.Te*t edition is provided through the wonderful work of:

Various eTe!t Trans"ri#ers

Thanks to an anony$ous donation% this le"ture has #een $ade a&aila#le

'O(T)(TS

+ecture I: "tates of ,onsciousness *une +,% 118

+ecture II: The !uilding at ornach *uly ./% 118+ecture III: -ast and est *uly .% 118

+ecture I/: 0istor# and %epeated -arth+ives *uly 10% 118

+ecture /I: The !eing and -volution of an *uly +/% 118

+ecture /I: 3roblems of the Time (I$ *uly /.% 118

+ecture /II: 3roblems of the Time (II$

e"ture 2

States of 'ons"iousness

!erlin' 4une 25' 11

Toda# I should like to look back' drawing together and amplif#ing what has been said here in the past. In this wa# I

want to la# a foundation for: carr#ing certain essential themes to a conclusion in the present lectures.

In spiritualscientific in6uiries we encounter besides the two forms of consciousness known to ever#bod# 7

dreaming and ordinar# da#time life from waking to sleeping 7 a third form' best described perhaps as 8higher

perceptive consciousness9. reamconsciousness we reckon in ordinar# life as merel# a sort of interruption of ordinar#

consciousness' but that is because we recall onl# a small part of our dreams. e are reall# dreaming all the time from

falling asleep to waking' and what we commonl# describe as the content of our dreamconsciousness is merel# such

fragments of dreaming e*perience as we are able to remember when we are awake. rom the standpoint of "piritual

"cience' therefore we must sa#: e know three stages or kinds of consciousness; that of dreams' that of waking life' andthe consciousness in which the spiritual world is open to higher perception.
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180625p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180703p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180709p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180716p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180723p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180730p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180806p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180625p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180703p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180709p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180716p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180723p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180730p01.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180806p01.html


2/46


3/46

"piritual consciousness is needed to make all this clear' simpl# because the contemplation of the outer form alone is

not sufficient for the purpose. "uppose there were a person possessing a low degree of clairvo#ance' of the kind in which

there is more 8sensing9 than full perception 7 that might lead him' through the head' breast and limbs' to a dim idea of

what has Bust been said' and this would not be at all difficult even to a 6uite low grade of clairvo#ance. !ut there would be

no certaint# about it. ,onviction of its accurac# could hardl# be possible without the searching proof ac6uired through

clairvo#ance endowed with the states of consciousness connected with those three members of the human organism. or

the head not onl# shows b# its outer form that it points back to a former life; it is clearl# marked out b# its own soul

6ualities' as well as b# its inner construction' from the other parts of nanAs being. ?rdinar# consciousness is blind to this

fact. or either it dreams' or is occupied with dail# realities and fails to notice something which 8underlies9' so to speak'

the activit# of the head. !# this I mean the following. 7 e go through our dail# e*periences in waking consciousness'we fill our minds' through the medium of the head' with outer perceptions' with the pictures brought to us b# the senses'

and the mental conceptions we form about the sensepictures. or the ordinar# consciousness' all this is so vivid' so

intensel# real' that a subtle undercurrent of finer consciousness' a lowtoned background as it were' is overlooked.

The truth is that the head is dreaming all the time we are awake. This is the remarkable fact' that behind our waking:

consciousness the head has a continual flow of dreams. This we can easil# discover for ourselves; no ver# e*tensive

training is needed' onl# an endeavour to attain the stage in which consciousness is 8empt#9 7 awake' but devoid of

perceptions' even of thoughts. In ordinar# life we are in some wa# or other bus# with the world of outer perceptions' with

memories of them' or with thoughts arising from them. ?ftener than we think we are given up to a pure waking

consciousness' unknowingl#. It is dim. hen we endeavour to attain to the soulstate which can be described as 8nothing

but waking9 7 outer perceptions' memories' and thoughts all banished' so that we are tr#ing solel# to be awake 7perceptions will at once arise which are not to be clothed in ordinar# ideas. The# have' as the# emerge' something of the

nature of dim feeling 7 picturelike' #et lacking; the substantial character of pictures. ?ne fre6uentl# meets people who

are familiar with this state. The# speak of it' perhaps' as a state of soul in which the# perceive something that defies

description; the# perceive it' but it is not like a perception of the outer world. It is not unusual to find people speaking in

this wa#' and there are man# more than we suppose who' if we get' to know them well' will tell us about such things.

The source of these perceptions is the weaving of the 8underl#ing9 consciousness which I have mentioned' and this is

itself a kind of dream. !ut what is the dream aboutC It is actuall# about the former incarnation' the last earthlife. The

interpretation is the difficult#. +atent in the consciousness of the head lies this dream of a former life on earth. In this

subBective fashion it is possible to arrive at such a dream' although it ma# be hard to interpret. e shall return to this

6uestion.

0ence #ou will see that what I have described as the human head is' in terms of soullife' somewhat comple*'

inasmuch as two forms of consciousness belong to it' closel# interwoven: the ordinar# waking da#consciousness and the

underl#ing dreamconsciousness' which is a kind of reflection of the former incarnation. @nother interesting characteristic

of the life of soul concerns the other pole in man' the man of limbs' or e*tremities. This limbman' too' is e*tremel#

complicated ps#chicall# 7 that is' in terms of the corresponding part of the soul. I have often pointed out that we are

8asleep9 as regards this limbman' although 8awake9 as regards the head; and our will reall# acts as though asleep. @ll

that we are able to bring into clear consciousness is what the will accomplishes. &obod# carr#ing out the idea' 8I move

m# hand9' perceives how all the bodil# apparatus comes into it. This goes on as unconsciousl# as do the bodil# processes

during sleep. "leep continuall# pervades the da#time consciousness of this man of limbs' inasmuch as the will of man is

sunk in sleep.

The curious thing is that this 8third man9 wakes in a sense at night' when' during sleep' man is outside the ph#sical

and etheric bodies' and neither consciousness nor selfconsciousness function' or onl# ver# diml#. an at his present

stage cannot penetrate behind the scenes with his ordinar# consciousness' because this sleepdimness prevents him from

following up the activit# of the limbman in the night' when selfconsciousness is detached from the ph#sical bod#. This

activit# is also a sort of dream. The limbman actuall# 8dreams9 in the night. "o' as the head dreams b# da#' below the

clear da#consciousness' so the limbman dreams in the night' below the dim sleepconsciousness 7 parallel with it.

hat does he dreamC 0e dreams of the ne*t earthincarnation. In truth' we not onl# bear the past and future in our outer

ph#sical form' but we have within us' as soullife' in the form of usuall# unrecognised dreams' an everpresent'

underl#ing consciousness of our past and future earthlives.

Then' as to the breastman. @lthough the processes of outbreathing and inbreathing are not followed with an# '

distinctness b# the ordinar# consciousness' our organic functions are closel# bound to them. In the -ast' the processes ofoutbreathing and inbreathing are so attentivel# followed as to be lifted into consciousness. This procedure is no longer

suitable for us; we must attain spiritual consciousness in a different wa#. The -astern seeker tries to dim or suppress the

headconsciousness' and to stimulate' to clarif# the breastconsciousness. 0e reall# tries to perform the breathing

processes so as to arouse a distinctive t#pe of breathconsciousness. Tracing the inhaled air' as it pervades his organism'

D of =>


4/46

and the e*haled air as it leaves the bod#' and streams out' he raises to consciousness what would otherwise remain

unconscious. In this wa# he attains to a state in which he has a distinct consciousness of the realit# pictured in the

breathingprocess 7 that is' of the life in the spiritual world between death and birth. This clear knowledge' of which the

est has no conception at all' still 3ersists in the -ast to a much greater e*tent than is supposed' and is one reason wh#

understanding between -ast and est is so difficult. In the -ast it is no theor# that a life of spirit and soul lies before birth

and after death' but as clear a certaint# as that the road e*tends before and behind a traveler on the ph#sical plane. 4ust as

it is an obvious fact that the road in front and the road behind possess such and such features' so' for the ?riental' what

lies before birth or conception and after death is not a theor#' not a result of forming ideas about it; but something

perceptible to him through the breathing process raised to consciousness. This breastpart of man never ceases dreaming.

It does not entirel# wake with our waking' or sleep with our sleeping; but there is a difference between these two states.The breastmanAs dreamconsciousness b# da# is dimmer than in the sleepingstate' when it is rather clearer; the

difference is not so ver# great' but there is a slight variation.

This all shows us that we have not onl# a threefold man in our outer form' but complicated states of consciousness

within us. The# compose our soullife' as the# interweave and reflect each other. Through the wakingda# consciousness

of the head' what we know as the life of perception and thought is made possible; through the unbroken dream

consciousness of the breastman' what we call the life of feeling; and through the limbmanAs consciousness 7 asleep b#

da#' but awake at night 7 what we call our will.

?ne thing more. hen we consider merel# the outer aspect of man' we have to do with more than a visible ph#sical

organism' for we bear a fine etheric' supersensible organism in us 7 to which in the later issues of the maga)ine 8as%eich9' I have applied' to avoid misunderstanding' the term 8bod# of formative forces9. It is less differentiated' compared

with the ph#sical organism; approaching nearer to a unit#: onl# crude observation will ascribe unit# to manAs outer form.

anAs proper unit# lies in his etheric bod#' which can be divided into parts like the ph#sical bod#' but not into limbs side

b# side. The parts of the etheric bod# call rather for the approach that we have used in speaking of states of

consciousness. The etheric bod# also is in a constantl# var#ing state of consciousness 7 a different state between waking

and falling asleep from that which prevails between falling asleep and waking. 0ere again' with this supersensible bod#'

we carr# something ver# significant in ourselves. "ome theosophical theorists ma# think the# have accomplished

something important in dividing manAs being into ph#sical bod#' etheric bod#' astral bod#' etc.' but the# delude

themselves. That is reducing it to a kind of s#stem' and s#stematising is never an# good.

The onl# wa# to gain insight is to e*amine what is happening in the etheric bod#. If an#one merel# sa#s' 8e have an

etheric bod#'9 that is no more than a phrase' calling up a picture of the thinnest kind of mist' and to take this for the realthing is selfdeception. The point is that in the etheric bod# we have something ver# real and substantial' though it is not

perceptible in ordinar# life. +iving and weaving in the etheric bod#' ceaselessl# from waking to falling asleep' is the

karma of earlier earthlives. In truth' the etheric bod# weaves in our subconscious' and through its weaving brings to view

our karma from previous incarnations. The clairvo#ant knows something of karma because he can make use of his etheric

bod# as he does at other tires of his ph#sical bod#. @n#one who has learnt to do this cannot help seeing that karma is a

realit#. The etheric bod# as concrete realit# means this 7 from waking to falling asleep' it has the vision of karma from

earlier earthlives' and during sleep' of karma in the making. I am again describing it from a clairvo#antAs point of view.

The dreams of the breastman accordingl#' are not onl# about e*periences between the last death and birth; we look

also at what the past has laid upon our shoulders as karma 7 at what is spread out below our normal consciousness b# the

functioning of the lower bod#' and viewed b# the etheric bod#' although b# a spiritual e#e' as the karma of the past.

&either do we perceive through the consciousness of our e*tremities' as we breathe in' onl# what is bound up with the

incarnation to come; for the etheric bod# becomes the e#e of the spirit' giving us' in a fashion unknown to ordinar# life' a

vision of karma in the making. It is not eas# for presentda# man to bring the training of his soul to such a point' although

it is necessar# for ever#bod# to envisage trul# all that I have described. (There are certain difficulties' discussed in the

book 8Enowledge of 0igher orlds and its @ttainment.9$ It was far easier in b#gone ages. -ven in historical times life

has undergone more changes than we think' and one momentous point in human histor# (described in 8?ccult "cience9

and other writings of mine$ is the transition from the third to the fourth post@tlantean epoch of civilisation' the inception

of the Graeco+atin age. It was at this point that it became so intensel# difficult for civilised humanit# to penetrate into

the worlds I have Bust described. !efore this' it had been comparativel# eas#' and ?rientals still retain something of this

facilit#. The estern man doss not possess it; therefore he cannot do the same e*ercises' but must resort to those

described in8Enowledge of 0igher orlds.9 The period which began about F to > !.,. marks a deeper descent of

man into the ph#sical world. @nother period will dawn' appro*imatel# at the beginning of the third millennium after the#ster# of Golgotha' and preparation must be made for it. "omething indefinable will arise in ever# soul 7 ine*plicable

save through occult science. It is not merel# a subBective ideal or tendenc# which "piritual "cience has to prepare and

establish in readiness for the ne*t millennium; it answers to a need in mankindAs development. The middle of the third

millennium will be a critical moment in the development of civilisation' for then a point will be reached when human

= of =>
http://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/index.phphttp://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA013/English/index.phphttp://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/index.phphttp://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/index.phphttp://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA013/English/index.phphttp://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/index.php


5/46

nature will have progressed so far that it will be thrown back into deca# unless it has ac6uired the vision of repeated

earthlives and karma' lost since the seventh or eighth centur# before ,hrist. In earlier times' human nature had a health#

power of response; knowledge came naturall# to it. In future it will become diseased unless it takes this teaching into

itself. e understand our age onl# if we keep in mind that it lies between two poles. ?ne pole lies far back' be#ond the

seventh or eighth centur# before the #ster# of Golgotha. Those were the times when knowledge of the soulAs

supersensible e*perience was given b# human nature itself. The other pole will be in the third millennium' when (as

described in8Enowledge of 0igher orlds9$ man must ac6uire supersensible knowledge in spiritual wa#s' so that health'

and not sickness' ma# stream into the bod#. ?ur age can be understood in both its inner and its outer aspects onl# if we

keep this in mind. &aturall# the change will be slow and gradual. !ut an#one who does not want to dream through the

most important things of our age in a dull' sleep# wa#' but wishes to live in conscious wakefulness 7 it behooves him tomark what is seeking entr# into human life. It will not enter completel# until the middle of the third millennium; but little

b# little it will make its presence felt' and humanit# must now consciousl# be alive to and prepare for its inevitable

advent. +earn to stud# life' and even outer phenomena 7 especiall# those of human life 7 will #ield a superficial

perception of this truth. ith a brain of the coarse development normal for most people toda#' it is certainl# not eas# to

ac6uire what has to be taken intelligentl# into the mind' as "piritual "cience depicts it. !ut I would like to add this: it is

tragic to see what unknown powers (I shall speak of them in the ne*t lecture$ are tr#ing to make of mankind. @t the

present da# there are certain sick natures 7 that is wh# I use the word Htragic 7 which are abnormal for their time; #et

the# receive intimations of much that men will encounter normall# in the future. I have often mentioned a ver# well

known contemporar# whose life ran its course in alternating health and sickness: ?tto eininger' who wrote the

remarkable book' 8"e* and ,haracter9. eininger was altogether an e*traordinar# man. 3icture someone who in his ver#

earl# twenties presented the first chapter of his book as a Jniversit# thesis 7 this book which has roused as much

enthusiasm in some 6uarters as fur# in others 7 both illfounded. !ut something else might well have been noted. or he

came to live more and more into the problems raised in his book. 0e travelled in Ital#' Botted down his e*periences'

seeing ver# different things from other travellers in that countr#. I find much that is remarkable in einigerAs Italian

diar#. @s #ou know' I describe much that can be described onl# in Imaginations: concerning the @tlantean and +emurian

periods' and the appearance of things in times which toda# can no longer be followed with ordinar# consciousness or b#

historical research. ,ertain concepts and ideas are necessar# in order to present such descriptions to human

consciousness. hen I read einingerAs notes' something in then strikes me as a fine' artistic caricature of the truth. 0is

life is certainl# remarkable. 0e was onl# 2D when a thought struck him which pu))led him terribl#: that he would have to

commit suicide lest he should kill somebod# else; he thought that a murderer' a criminal' was latent in his soul 7 a

s#mptom easil# to be e*plained b# occultism. -6uall# mingled in his life were greatness' punctiliousness and affectation.

0e left his parentsA house' took a room in !eethovenAs house in /ienna' sta#ed there one night 7 and in the morning shot

himself.

The characteristic of this soul was that its union with the bod# was never 6uite complete. or e*ternal ps#cholog#'

eininger was merel# a case of h#steria; but for an#one who appreciates the facts it was obvious that an irregular union

between his spiritual ps#chic and his ph#sicalbodil# principles must have e*isted. ith normal presentda# people' the

former principles leave the latter at the moment of falling asleep' reBoining it on awaking; but with eininger it was

different. I could show #ou passages from which it is evident that at times his spiritualps#chic part was Bust a little

outside his ph#sicalbodil# part and then suddenl# dived down into it: as this occurred' a thought flashed through him'

which he wrote down often in 6uite a dr# fashion: but of course in diving down he acted imaginativel# 7 and ver#

strangel#. To an#bod# who understands the matter it is clear that an irregular union of these principles brings in a

remarkable and peculiar wa# a knowledge which humanit# will have in the future. Think 7 in a man labeled 8h#sterical9

b# a clums# ps#cholog#' there arises a knowledge which all humanit# must possess in times to come 7 onl# it is

caricatured. rom what I have said #ou can 6uite understand that through such abnormalities something like pioneers ofthe future appear amongst us' (Bust as there are 8stragglers9 from the past$: a future in which humanit# will inevitabl#

know about recurrent earthlives' about karma and the dreams of karma. @nd because such people appear as the pioneers

of the future' the knowledge makes them ill. "o' b# means of an unhealth# organism' there comes out in caricature what is

some da# to be the wisdom of humanit#. +ook for instance at a paragraph in einingerAs 8+ast Things9' (printed b# his

friend %appaport$: 83erhaps no memor# is possible of the state before birth' because we have sunk so deepl# through

birth itself; we have lost the consciousness and chosen to be born through impulse alone' without rational decision or

knowledge' and that is wh# we know nothing of such a past.9

?ne thing is clear 7 although the knowledge shining forth in this utterance is a caricature' #et someone writes as

though absolutel# convinced: 8Through m# birth I passed from a state' a spiritual life' in which I previousl# lived.9 If that

had been written ten or twelve centuries before the birth of ,hrist' or at the time of ?rigen' it would not have been

surprising' but here in our time is a man who has set such a thing down in a fashion of his own' full of passionate feeling'

as a direct illumination of consciousness' not as a theor#.

5 of =>
http://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/index.phphttp://www.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/index.php


6/46

I could adduce man# such instances. hat do the# meanC The# are presages of the supersensible knowledge which is

coming to mankind' and because it is not sought on the path of anthroposophical spiritual science' it comes convulsivel#'

shattering human nature' making it sick' as in the case of eininger. I sa# 8sick9' not in the common sense of the word'

but surel# the outer facts show that there is something reall# abnormal when a man of twent#three shoots himself

because he finds a hidden murderer concealed within him' and saves himself from becoming a murderer b# committing

suicide.

@ hundred' 7 na#' a thousand' 7 e*amples could be given; this knowledge must inevitabl# come; and it be well if as

man# souls as possible could be awakened to the fact. In the subconscious of mankind the longing for such knowledge is

e*traordinaril# widespread. -*ternal powers' which I have often described' hold it back. e must ver# carefull# keep in

mind what is implied in the close of m# article on ,hristian %osenkreut)' in 8as %eich.9 e must remember that what

became evident in the seventeenth centur# had been noticeable since the fifteenth' Growing steadil# stronger. In speaking

of it now to people of our own time' the customar# scientific formulae must be used. I described in the last number of

8as %eich9 how it was manifested in the writing of the 8,hemical arriage9 of ,hristian %osenkreu) b# 4ohann

/alentin @ndreae. 3hilologists have racked their brains about this: 4ohann /alentin @ndreae wrote down the 8,hemical

arriage9' in which reall# deep occult knowledge was hidden' but behaved afterwards in a ver# remarkable fashion' &ot

onl# was he unable to e*plain certain words he had spoken in connection with writings which he had produced at the

same time as the 8,hemical arriage9' but in spite of having transcribed this great work' he appeared to be entirel#

without understanding of it. This bigoted 3astor' who afterwards wrote all kinds of other things' does not understand

an#thing of the 8,hemical arriage9' nor of the other works composed b# him at the same period. 0e was onl# seventeen

when he wrote it. 0e never altered; he remained Bust the same person; but a totall# different power had spoken throughhim. 3hilologists cudgelled their brains' and corresponded about it. 0is hand wrote it; his bod# was present' assisting; but

through his human e6uipment a spiritual power' not then in earthl# incarnation' wished to make it known to mankind' in

the st#le of those da#s.

Then came the Thirt# 1D

the Thirt# of =>


7/46

into two groups. In one group he placed those who are entirel# restricted to a 8natural9 wa# of life; in the other' those who

pursued' as he said' a 8manganistic9 wa#. anganistic he derived from 8magic9' 7 that which endeavours to bring the

forces of the universe into connection with human living. I will briefl# go into the basis of this grouping of mankind' is a

presentda# standpoint.

In earlier tines all mankind was 8natural9; in a certain sense' and the greater part still is so. The rest' in -urope 7

especiall# in the iddle and est 7 and in @merica' are 8manganistic9 mankind. Eeep in mind that this 8naturalistic9

civilisation is still predominant in the world. It is significant that the socalled 8manganistic9 civilisation has full#

developed onl# during the last centur#. The most parado*ical result of this new civilisation one might sa#' is that it has

hurried on to the earth man# more 8hands9 than there are men on the globe. This is due to the prodigious e*pansion

during the last few decades of mechanism' machines among the minorit# of mankind. It is obvious that a large portion of

the work of toda# isdone b# machiner#; but it is rather astonishing to calculate' as can be done' how great this machine

work' replacing human toil' reall# is. ?ne can reckon how man# million tons of coal are turned annuall# into machine

power. Then' translating this coal output into terms of manpower' one can calculate how man# men would be necessar#

to carr# out the work. e find that to accomplish what the machines do would take no less than 5= million men working

twelve hours a da#. It is therefore not 6uite correct to sa# that there are onl# 15 million inhabitants on the earth' for

machines have added 5= millions to the population. Thus there are present man# more 8hands9 than those of flesh and

blood' because for a minorit# of mankind all this 8manganistic9 'work is done b# machines. Indeed' during the last

centur#' the human race has not merel# increased to the e*tent shown b# statistics' for the workingpower of 5= million

more men must be taken into account. Trul# we -uropean and @merican peoples 7 leaving out -astern -urope are

surrounded b# a form of labour which continuall# e*tends its influence over our dail# life more than we think' and takesthe place of human strength.

The people of the est are e*tremel# proud of this accomplishment' especiall# the following aspect of it. !# simpl#

comparing the output of machiner# with that of the numerous peoples who live more on a natural level and make little use

of machines' we find that -urope and @merica produce significantl# more than all the rest of mankind. 0ere we can sa#

that to do the work accomplished b# the machines' 5= million men would have to work twelve hours a da#. That means

a great deal. There we have the proud achievement of the new worldcivilisation' and it has a variet# of conse6uences.

To get an insight into the underl#ing meaning of this' we need onl# look at a case where 8natural9 civilisation proBects

deepl# into the 8magical9 7 for instance' with matches.

The oldest among us ma# still remember the time when matches were scarce' and flint and steel were used to producea spark and so to ignite tinder' when fire was wanted. That leads us back to a much older wa# of producing: fire 7 where

a great deal of human energ# was used in twisting a burning stick in another piece of wood' to produce the e6uivalent of

the fire now engendered b# a bo* of matches. If we compare this 8natural9 method with that of toda#' another aspect of it

comes into view' and we can sa#: The entire 8magical9 civilisation has another special peculiarit#: it puts out of sight'

banishes to a distance' the laws with which man was formerl# in touch. To take the e*ample of the primitive wa# of

producing fire 7 see how this labour was inwardl# connected with the man himself and his personal achievement. The

fire which resulted directl# from his work was intimatel# bound up with the personal deed. @ll this is pushed into the

background. !ecause toda# a ph#sical' mechanical or chemical process takes its place' natureAs own process' in which

the "piritual pla#s its part' has become remote from the direct human action.

e constantl# hear the statement: 8Through this new application of science' man has compelled the forces of &atureto serve him9 7 a statement which is 6uite Bustified from one point of view' but is e*tremel# onesided and incomplete.

or in ever#thing done b# machinepower (taking this in a wider sense' to include its use in the form of chemical energ#$

not onl# is natural energ# pressed into the service of man' but the natural event in its deep connections with the essential

impulses of the world is thrust out. In machiner# it is graduall# withdrawn from manAs ken 7 and this means a robber#

from man himself. Through technolog#' something deathl# spreads over natureAs living face; the living thrill which

formerl# passed directl# from nature into manAs labour is banished. hen we consider how man e*tracts death out of

nature' to incorporate is into his 8magical9 civilisation' it will not seem ver# surprising if I now bring "piritual "cience

into connection with what the purel# natural scientist sa#s.

%euleau* from his point of view rightl# asserts that manAs latest advance consists in harnessing natureAs forces to his

service; but we must' above all' keep in view the fact that machines literall# replace human strength. It is not simpl# a

6uestion of a process provoking visible results; that is ver# important from a spiritual point of view in the creation of5='' imaginar# people. 0uman energ# is cr#stallised in all this; human intellect has been poured into it and works

in it' but onl# the intellect. e are surrounded b# intellect detached from man. irectl# we set free what should be bound

up with man' the forces known to us in "piritual "cience as @hrimanic take possession of it. The 5='' imaginar#

people on the earth are Bust so man# receptacles for @hrimanic forces; and this must not be overlooked. +inked up with

F of =>


8/46

the purel# e*ternal advance of our civilisation are the @hrimanic forces 7 the sane which are found in the

ephistophelesnature' for this is closel# allied to the @hrimanic. oreover' nothing e*ists in the universe without its

opposite; never one pole without the other. The @hrimanic in the mechanical forms of industr#' etc.' on the earth' is

e*actl# balanced in the spiritual realm b# a +uciferic element. The purel# @hrimanic is never found alone; but to the same

degree as it takes visible form on earth' as Bust described' appears the +uciferic element' woven through this entire

civilisation' alread# saturated with the @hrimanic. To the same e*tent as the imaginar# 8hands9 are brought into

e*istence' and the @hrimanic civilisation hardens on earth' spiritual correlations work into the human will' human

intentions' impulses' passions and dispositions. 0ere on earth the @hrimanic machines 7 in the spiritual stream enfolding

us' for each machine a +uciferic spiritual beingK @s we produce our machines' we descend into the realm of death' which

in this @hrimanic civilisation has for the first tine become outwardl# visible. Invisible to this @hrimancivilisation arises a+uciferic one' like a reflection. This means that to the same degree as machines are made' man on earth is saturated in his

moralit#' his ethics' his social impulses' with +uciferAs mode of thought. ?ne cannot arise without the other. That is the

pattern of the world.

e can see from this that the point is not to 8flee from @hriman9 or to 8avoid +ucifer9. @ condition of which the# are

the opposite poles is necessaril# bound up with the development of modern civilisation. %egarded spirituall#' that is what

is active in our culture' and this is the point of view from which things will need to be looked at increasingl# from now

onwards.

&ow it is ver# remarkable that %euleau*' the engineer' wa*ing enthusiastic over the 8magical advance9 of mankind'

(from his standpoint a full# Bustified enthusiasm 7 for as alwa#s emphasise afresh; "piritual "cience has no reason forbeing reactionar# 7 when he has brought it into bold relief' at the same time he refers to various other things. -speciall#

he remarks on the fact that the man of toda#' especiall# in the -uropean and @merican civilisations' placed as he is in a

new world' urgentl# needs stronger forces for the cultivation of spiritual life than did the man of old' who with his

8natural9 culture' stood so much nearer in his personal workmanship to the intimacies of nature. (?f course %euleau*

does not sa# 8+uciferic9 and 8@hrimanic9; he describes onl# what I mentioned at the beginningof this lecture. It is 6uite

eas# to discriminate between what I have added and what the scientist of the presentda# materialistic world has to sa#.$

or instance' %euleau* points out how @rt' for further Growth' needs stronger aesthetic impulses than were re6uired in

times of more instinctive development. @ remarkable belief lies at the back of his mind 7 the naive belief' as he puts it'

that in face of the assault of machiner#' which destro#s art (he readil# admits that$' the soul will need to attain to a more

intensive e*perience of aesthetic laws. The naivet# consists in his having no inkling that before this can happen' stronger

artistic forces than those of the past will have to inspire the human soul. The misconception lies in supposing that

although mechanical science battles against ever#thing hitherto wrested b# man out of the spiritual' this can becompensated for purel# through an Hintensive e*perience of the spiritual forces of the past. That is impossible' 6uite

impossible. hat is reall# necessar# is that with the emergence of human civilisation on to the ph#sical plane' other'

stronger' and more spiritual forces should pla# into spiritual life; failing that' men will inevitabl# fall victim to

materialism in practice' even though in theor# the# ma# strive against it.

Thus #ou can see that if one starts from the impulses of contemporar# culture and reflects on the inner nature of

present developments' one can reach this conclusion: @rt must receive a new impetus; a new impulse must flow into it. If

we are firml# convinced that our anthroposophical "piritual "cience' rightl# directed' will bring a new impulse into the

old spiritual culture of humanit#' we are bound to conclude that art' too' will share in this stimulus.

This was the aim of the proBect' obviousl# ver# imperfect' for our !uilding at ornach. @s a matter of course its

imperfections must be admitted; it is Bust a first effort. !ut perhaps we are Bustified in believing that it is a first step along

a path which must continue. ?thers who follow us in the work' when we ourselves are no longer in the ph#sical bod#'

will perhaps do it better; but the impulse for the ornach !au had to be given at the present time. The !au will be rightl#

understood onl# b# someone who' instead of appl#ing an absolute standard to it' familiarises himself a little with its

histor#' and this I will relate toda#' because we are alwa#s being confronted with anti6uated misconceptions.


9/46

goes on inside. !ut it was to be artistic' genuinel# so 7 not a cop#ing' but an artistic e*pression of the activities within. I

have alwa#s compared' perhaps triviall# but not inappropriatel#' the architectural idea of our building with that of a cake

mould. This is made for the sake of the cake inside' and the outer shape is correct onl# if it encloses and moulds the cake

rightl#. The 8cakemould9 is in this case the free for the whole activit# of our "piritual "cience' for the art which belongs

to it' and for all that is spoken' heard' e*perienced within it. @ll that is the cake 7 ever#thing else is the mould; and this

must be e*pressed in the interior architecture. That was the first idea. 7 @fter much trouble to arrange the building on the

site alread# ac6uired in unich we discovered that we were opposed' not b# the police or local authorities' but b# the

unich "ociet# of @rts' and indeed in such a wa# that we felt these worthies obBected to our establishing ourselves in

unich' but would not tell us what the# wanted. e were thus continuall# obliged to make changes in our plan' and this

reall# night have gone on for a decade. @t last the da# came when we were driven to give up the idea of realising ourhopes in unich and to make use of a buildingsite in "olothurn' available through the kind offices of one of our friends.

"o it came to pass that in the ,anton of "olothurn' on a hill in ornach' near !asle' we set about building. The idea of the

encircling houses was given up; the building had to be visible from all sides. The impulse arose; and the )eal was there to

carr# the matter through 6uickl#. @nd without fundamentall# recasting the scheme alread# sketched out for the interior'

all I could do was to tr# to combine the e*terior with the alread# e*isting plans for the inside. rom this arose man#

defects' of which no one is so conscious as I' but that is not the chief point. The great thing is that' as I have said' a

beginning was made with such an enterprise.

I would like now to dra# attention to a few thoughts which will make clear what constitutes the peculiar characteristic

of this !uilding' so that #ou ma# see the connection between it and our entire movement 7 scientific as well as spiritual.

The first thing that will strike an unpreBudiced observer is that the partition walls are 6uite evidentl#' conceived

differentl# from those of ordinar# public buildings. alls enclosing a building' generall# speaking' have hitherto alwa#s

been considered' from an artistic point of view' as a 8shutting off9 of space. alls' boundar# walls' are alwa#s so

considered and all architectural and ornamental work on walls has been in connection with this idea' that the function of

the outer wall is to enclose. This canon is transgressed in the case of the ornach buildingK 7 not ph#sicall#' of course'

but artisticall#. The conception of the outer wall' as it appears there' is not that it shuts off space' but that it opens the

space to the universe' the macrocosm. hoever stands within this space' should have the feeling' through the ver# walls

themselves' that the building e*pands into the universe' the macrocosm. -ver#thing should represent connections with the

universe. hat is the conception in the fashioning of the wall itself; the same with the pillars' accessor# in their several

wa#s to the walls 7 so also with the entire carved work' the bases of the pillars' the architraves' capitols. The conception

is of a wall which is transparent for the soul 7 the ver# opposite of a spaceenclosing wall. @n#one standing inside

should feel that he has the freedom of the infinite universe. &aturall#' if an#thing has to be done within this space'ph#sicall# the enclosing is there; but the forms of the ph#sical enclosure can be so taken that' abrogating themselves' the#

are annulled through their artistic fashioning.

-ver#thing else is related to this. The laws of s#mmetrical proportion' usuall# followed in buildings' have to be

disregarded under the influence of this main conception. The ornach !uilding has' properl# speaking' onl# one a*is of

s#mmetr#' which goes straight from est to -ast; and ever#thing is ordered upon this single a*is. The pillars' at a certain

distance from the walls' are not all furnished with the same capitols; onl# b# twos' right and left' the capitols and

mouldings are alike. "tarting at the principal entrance' the first two pillars are the same' in capitol' base' and architrave. In

the second pair' pillar' capitol' architrave design' are different' and so through the whole length of the building. Thus in

the subBects of the capitols and bases it becomes possible to depict -volution. The capitol of each pillar alwa#s evolves

from the one before it' Bust as the organicall# complete form develops from the incomplete. The ordinar# s#mmetrical

e6ualit# is dissolved into a progressive development.

The whole !uilding consists of two principal parts; the# have an essentiall# circular groundplan' and are closed

above with domes; but the domes are so cut as to link into one another' so that the bases form incomplete circles. ?ne

circle is short of a small segment in the front' and the other' the larger circle' is Boined on Bust there.

The whole is so erected as to form two circular spaces' a larger and a smaller. The larger space is the auditorium' the

lesser is for the presentation of the #ster# 3la#s' and kindred things. here the two circles unite' are the rostrum and

curtain. It was a ver# interesting piece of work' technicall#' to make the two domes intersect and cut into one another.

The !uilding' wholl# of wood' rests on a concrete substructure which contains onl# the cloakrooms' with concrete

steps leading up to the !uilding itself.

@long each wall of the greater space' under the large dome' there are seven pillars; in the smaller' si*; so that in the

latter' which forms a kind of platform' there are twelve' as against fourteen in the former. The sculptured designs of the

pillars develop progressivel#' in a fashion which ama)ed me m#self' as I worked at them. hile I was making the model'

of =>


10/46


11/46

glassetching there arises for the soul an e*ternal work of art; while the woodcarving provides a spiritual element which

is e*perienced as a work of art within the human soul itself.

The third part consists of the paintings in the domes. The subBects of these too' are taken from our "piritual "cience.

The paintings e*press the content of our conception of the world' with regard at least to a great macrocosmic stretch of

tine. 0ere we have' so to sa#' the ph#sical 8part9 of the thing' because in painting' for certain inner reasons' (to go into

them would take us too far$ whatever one wants to present must be presented directl#. ,olour must itself e*press what it

has to e*press' and so with the lines. ?nl# through the content can the endeavour be made to go out be#ond the borders of

the dome into the macrocosm; that is how one arrives at it @ll that is painted there reall# belongs to the macrocosm' its

meaning presented directl# to the e#e 7 e tried' b# using colours derived from pure vegetable substances which have

their own lightforce' to produce the lightforce necessar# for the painting' of these designs. ?f course' we might have

succeeded better' but for the war. 0owever' it is onl# a beginning. &aturall# the whole st#le of painting had to conform to

our conception. To paint the spiritual content of the world means that we have to do' not with forms thought of as

illuminated from an outside source' but with forms that are selfluminous. Luite a different approach to painting is

necessar#. or instance' the human aura cannot be painted in the same wa# as a ph#sical shape' which is drawn with light

and shade' according to the source of light. In the aura we have to do with a selfillumined obBect' and the character of the

painting must therefore be 6uite different.

"o now I have given #ou' with a few rough strokes' as far as it can be done without a model' some idea of what the

!au is meant to be. @s a whole it is oriented from est to -ast' the a*is of s#mmetr# l#ing in that direction' between the

and it cuts into the small circular space' containing the stage' at its eastern end. @t this eastern end' between the si*thpillar on either hand' stands a group of figures carved in wood. Its intention is to present in 'artistic form something 7 I

might sa# 7 which lies at the heart of the worldconception which we hold through "piritual "cience; something which

must' b# necessit# enter into manAs spiritual outlook now and in the future. an must learn to grasp the fact that

ever#thing of importance for the shaping of worlddestin# and for human life runs its course in these three streams: the

normal spiritual stream in which his life is set' the +uciferic' and the @hrimanic. In ever#thing' as much in the foundation

of the ph#sical world as in the manifestations of spiritual events' divine evolution is interwoven with the +uciferic and the

@hrimanic evolution. This is e*pressed in our carved group' again not s#mbolicall#' but artisticall#. @ group carved in

woodK The idea of it came to me' for I believe I have grasped as thought what is not #et clear to me so far as its occult

basis is concerned: it ma# well be that future occult investigation will reveal this. "till' it seems to me certainl# right that

the ancient themes are better portra#ed in stone or metal' and all ,hristian ones 7 ours being in the most eminent sense

,hristian 7 better in wood. I cannot help confessing that I have alwa#s been obliged to think of the group in "t. 3eterAs at

%ome' the 83ieta9 of ichael @ngelo' as being made of wood: onl# so' I believe can it represent what it ought to e*press'and the same applies to other ,hristian sculpture I have seen. There is doubtless something behind this feeling; but I have

not #et arrived at the reason of it. Therefore our group has been conceived and carried out in wood.

The leading figure is a kind of representative of humanit#' a !eing e*pressing an in his divine manifestation. I am

glad when an#one' looking at this figure' has the feeling that it is a representation of ,hrist 4esus. It seemed to me

inartistic to take as the underl#ing impulse: 8I will carve a figure of ,hrist 4esus9. I wanted to produce Bust what I did.

The result ma# be a feeling in the beholder that it is ,hrist 4esus. I should be most glad if that were so; but the artistic idea

was not to produce a representation of 0im. The idea rests purel# in the artistic form' in its manner of e*pression; to set

out to carve a figure of ,hrist 4esus 7 that would have been merel# a descriptive' programmatic idea. The artistic thought

must rest in the form' at an# rate in sculpture.

The whole group is about eight and a half metres high' and the chief figure is raised' with rocks behind and below it.

rom the rocks below' which are a little hollowed' grows an @hrimanfigure. It half lies within a hole of the rock' its head

above it. ?n the slightl# hollowed rock stands the chief figure. @bove the @hrimanfigure and to the left of the beholder' a

second @hrimanfigure rears itself from the rocks' so that the @hrimanfigure is repeated. @bove the one to the left is a

+uciferfigure. @ sort of artistic connection e*ists between the +ucifer above and the @hriman below. @ short distance

awa#' over the chief figure' and on the right of the onlooker' is another +uciferfigure' so that +ucifer is also twice

represented. This other +ucifer is marred' and falls headlong owing to his inBur#. The right hand of the central figure

points downwards' the left upwards' and this upward pointing left hand indicates e*actl# the point of the fracture suffered

b# +ucifer' through which he is shattered and falls headlong. The right hand and arm point to the @hriman below and

bring him to despair. The whole group is so designed 7 I hope it will conve# this e*perience 7 'that this central figure is

in no wa# aggressive' but intended b# its gesture t e*press onl# love. 0owever' neither +ucifer nor @hriman can endure

this love. The ,hrist does not 8fight against9 @hriman' but radiates love. +ucifer and @hriman cannot endure this lovenear them. It comes near them; @hriman feels despair' the destruction of his ver# being' and +ucifer falls headlong. Their

inner nature is revealed in their gestures.

11 of =>


12/46

The figures were naturall# not eas# to create' for the reason that' in the case of the chief figure partl#' and in that of

+ucifer and @hriman wholl#' the "piritual had to be depicted' and of all things it is most difficult to e*press the "pirit in

carving. The endeavour was made' however' to achieve what is especiall# necessar# for our purpose 7 to bring out the

significance of the form (although it must remain an artisticall# conceived form$' in gesture and in mien. 0uman beings

are reall# able to make use of gesture and mien onl# in a ver# restricted sense. +ucifer and @hriman are entirel# gesture

and mien. "piritual figures have not got a limited form; there is no such thins as a complete spiritual figure. To tr# to

model the "pirit is Bust like tr#ing to model lightning. The form of a spiritual being chances from moment to moment.

That must be taken into account. Tr# to hold a "piritual shape fast even for a moment' as might be done in representing a

form at rest' and #ou will not succeed; the result will be onl# a fro)en figure. 0ence' in such a case' gesture alone must be

reproduced. This is so with +ucifer and @hriman entirel#' and it had to be partiall# attempted also in the central figure'which is of course a ph#sical form 7 ,hrist4esus.

&ow I want to show #ou a few pictures' to give #ou an idea of the principal group. M0ere some lantern slides were

shown. The description follows.N

The first is of @hrimanAs head' e*actl# as the figure first came to me; as a man (remember the threefold division of

man into head' breast' and limbbeing$ who is all head' and therefore an instrument for the most consummate cleverness'

intellectualit# and craft. The @hriman figure is meant to e*press this: his head' as #ou see it here' is true 8spirit9' to use a

parado*; but #ou know how often a parado* results from a spiritual description. 0e is actuall# like the model' faithful in

spirit' artisticall# true to nature: he had to sit for his portraitK

The ne*t is +ucifer' as seen on the left. To understand him' we must picture what appears as his form in a ver#

peculiar wa#. The most @hrimanic characteristic in man must be eliminated: the head vanishes; but the ears and ear

muscles' the outer ear' substantiall# enlarged and of course spiritualised are depicted as wings and formed into an organ

entwined round the bod# with wings at the some time spreading from the lar#n*' so that the head' wings and ears form

one organ. These wings' this headorgan' present themselves as the figure of +ucifer. +ucifer is an e*tended lar#n* 7 the

lar#n* becomes a whole figure out of which develops' through a sort of wine' a connection with the ear; so that we must

imagine +ucifer as a being who receives the music of the spheres' takes it in through this organ of ear combined with

wine. ithout an# help from the individualit#' the cosmos' the music of the spheres itself' speaks through this same

organ' of which the e*tension in front is the lar#n*; another metamorphosis of the human form' an organ composed of

lar#n*earwing. Therefore the head is onl# indicated. @s to @hriman' #ou will find' when #ou see the figure at ornach'

that it is developed out of what one imagines as form; but what appears as +uciferAs head (although #ou can hardl# picture

#our own as being like his$ is something in the highest decree 8beautiful9. The @hrimanic nature is intellectual' clever 7but appears as ugl# in the world; the +uciferic appears as beautiful in the world. !etween them the# comprise ever#thing

in the world.


13/46

the ordinar# man. e made a trial b# reversing the lanternslide' (although this was contrar# to realit#$ to see whether the

view thus obtained was 6uite different. It proved to be so. The impression made as different. The artistic intention of

the as#mmetr# will be apparent onl# when the head of the central figure is complete.

It ma# well be said that in working out such a subBect all artistic 6uestions have to be considered; the smallest has its

connection with the farreaching.' whole. or instance' the handling of surface. +ife has to be engendered speciall#

through this. The surface curved once and the curve curved again 7 this particular handling of it' the doubling of the

curve' thus drawing life out of the surface itself' is perceived onl# in fashioning these things. hat we were aiming at'

therefore' consisted not onl# in what was represented but in a certain artistic treatment of the subBect. To achieve a

representation of the @hrimanic' the +uciferic' or of human nature b# means of a cop#' in a kind of narrative st#le' was

not the intention; rather must it be sei)ed through the fingertips' in the chiselling of the surface' in the entire artistic

moulding. The e*pansion which man feels when he e*tends his view into the "piritual' widens out again on the other side

into the artistic.

This group is placed at the eastern end of the building' in the space provided for the stage. @bove it is spread the vault

of the smaller dome' decorated as I have described' in such a wa# as to continue in painting; the theme of the croup. The

,hrist' +ucifer and @hriman are all there' and we have tried to make the colours artisticall# e*pressive in themselves. The

variet# of treatment shows how all these things can be brought out purel# b# artistic means.

@ll this could be achieved onl# because a number of our friends worked on the !uilding with the greatest devotion.

ost curious things have been said about the !uilding' but some da#' perhaps' due credit will be given to tag wa# inwhich the friends in our ovement' especiall# the artists' cave themselves with selfless devotion to it' and found their

wa# wonderfull# into this clothing of a cosmic conception in artistic form.

The !uilding is of course not complete; it might ver# probabl# have been so 7 e*cept for the group 7 if these

catastrophic worldevents had not hindered it.

I wanted to bring before #ou' in these brief' disBointed sentences' an idea of what is intended' and I hope that #ou have

at least ac6uired some small notion of the !uilding which' we ma# e*pect' will one da# stand complete in ornach. The

aim of it all is this: to insert an artistic rendering of our cosmic conception into the spiritual life of the present and the

future. 3eople will see that this conception is no mere theor#' but is made up of real' living forces. If we had produced

something s#mbolical' people could have said: 8That is a theor#.9 !ut as the conception is capable of giving birth to art' it

is something different' something vital. It will give birth to #et other things; it must fructif# other domains of life. There iswidespread longing for a spiritual life suitable to the present da#' but in this realm we encounter a good deal of visionar#'

irrational and barren stuff. # hope is that people will learn to distinguish between what is born out of the demands of the

present spiritual age' and what arises from confusion and the like. e see spiritual movements' socalled' sprinting up

ever#where like mushrooms. !ut one must learn to distinguish between what springs trul# from the real forces of human

spiritual development' and mistaken talk about spiritual things. There are man# forms of this toda#. &aturall# we notice

it' for it shows that men are striving towards the spirit. If we keep our e#es open' we shall ever#where see this desire for

"piritual things. @ metaph#sical novel b# a certain 0err Eorf has Bust appeared 7 dreadful stuff; it is reall# more a

mischievous piece of propagands for the 8"tar in the -ast9. I hope that such things' which e*press in their own wa# a

perversion of manAs metaph#sical aspirations' will be distinguished from those created out of she fundamental strivings of

his being' adapted precisel# for our time.

e"ture /

)ast and 5est

!erlin' 4ul# ' 11

?ur considerations have shown once more that the soulAs life' in all its aspects' is complicated. Threads unite the soul

to numerous realms' farces' and centres in the universe. e will remind ourselves of what was said a fortnight ago' in

order to give us a link with certain truths that we shall begin to consider toda#' and which will bring a certain aspect of

worldhappenings before our souls in a wa# that is important for use I will recapitulate ver# briefl# what was said a

fortnight ago.

I said that to know man in realit#' it is useless merel# to keep to the track of the ordinar# consciousness which

predominates in him from waking to fallingasleep' for we must recognise that within it' other states of consciousness

e*ist' dim and shadow#' to be fathomed onl# b# looking at man in his threefold division of head' breast' limbs. ?f course

1D of =>


14/46

his whole being makes use of the head' on which depends the famili*e form of consciousness; but we have established the

fact that he has also' b# means of his head' a dreamlike consciousness which enables him to look back into his earlier

earthlives. In the same wa# we have found that the limbman' but in conBunction with the whole man' unfolds a continual

dreamconsciousness of his ne*t life on earth. hat we bring forward in our "piritual "cience as a theor# of 8repeated

earthlives9 alread# e*ists as a realit# in the human soul. im and shadow# it is' but nevertheless a realit#. !esides this' it

was said that through the process of outbreathing' which belongs to the breast man' a similarl# dream# consciousness

develops of the life between the last death and the present birth; and through the process of inbreathing' likewise

belonging to the breastman' a dim consciousness of the life to come after death until the ne*t birth. In short' all these

forms of consciousness interweave in man. Thus we see that in the whole an we have to do with a delicatel#woven

organisation' and that what is customaril# dubbed man' what people visualise as man' is in fact onl# a ver# limited part ofhis whole being' and the coarsest part' at that.

This complication comes about through man being embedded with his various members' in worlds which are

unknown and 8supersensible9 so far as the ordinar# consciousness is concerned. hat is embedded in this wa# in a

spiritual world' and proves to be not b# an# mans a ver# delicate' refined soullife 7 as we observe in ordinar# human

e*istence if we follow it through different earthlives 7 that is not so simple.


15/46

This living vision of himself was lost to man# during the fourth post@tlantean epoch. an became incapable of

producing a force strong enough to grasp what was present in him as dreamlike remembrance of a former earthlife 7

chiefl# because men who reincarnated later' did not' in this dream of earlier earthlives' remember the sentient soul' but

an intellectual mindsoul' destitute of this vision' vague and inward and not obBective. an could not grasp its the

consciousness of earlier earthlives entirel# ceased. In a 6uite definite wa# it will come back in the fifth post@tlantean

epoch' and no one can trul# understand human development without taking account of such truths as these.

hat arose in humanit# was to be found under varied forms in the most diverse regions of the earth. @s I have often

pointed out' we must e*pect that in the future there will again be a time 7 and it will manifest with particular

significance in the third millennium when it will be impossible for an#one not to possess a certain power of looking back

into earlier earthlives' and more especiall# also a clear realisation that there are more lives to come. This particular

consciousness will appear in varied forms in different regions' a fact which it is speciall# important to understand.

+et us consider the main regions where this will come about in various wa#s: the great oriental region' stretching

from -astern -urope' into @sia' and then the occidental region' including estern -urope and @merica. The capacit# of

the future for perceiving repeated earthlives is germinating differentl# in these two regions. In the est it is already

clearl# recognised in initiated circles' and the significant thing in the est is that occult capacities are reckoned with' and

their emplo#ment in outer life is contemplated. To omit this from consideration shows a ver# indifferent understanding of

the development of the est and its whole influence on the histor# of mankind. 3recisel# the most important things in the

est' the occurrences due principall# to the @nglo@merican race' happen under the influence of m#sterious inner

knowledge such as this. To describe the things in 6uestion is apt to land us in parado*' because the# are things of whichthe shrewd observer (he alwa#s is so shrewd and clearsightedK$ sa#s: 8ell' wh# do not the initiates know thatC9 e

need onl# recollect what I have told #ou of the activities of +ucifer and @hriman' in the past and present' what the# do

and feel and speciall# what the# have done; #et people think themselves cleverer than the#' and claim that the#

themselves would have avoided 8remaining behind9' etc. @ correct view of such things is necessar#. ,ertain things can be

done b# those who are cleverer than man.

There is apparent in the est' from certain m#sterious depths' a tendenc# to oppose the teaching of repeated earth

lives. @n opposition to it as regards the future is noticeable in certain ver# enlightened circles amongst the -nglish and

@mericas . That is the parado* to be noted. It is desired in certain spiritual centres in the est to cause the gradual

cessation of these repeated earthlives' alternating between birth and death' death and rebirth' so that in the end a 6uite

different arrangement of manAs life ma# be brought about 7 and means do e*ist for achieving such a purpose. The obBect

is this: through a certain schooling' a certain ac6uisition of forces' to transpose certain human souls into a condition inwhich' after death' the# feel themselves more and more akin to the conditions and forces of the earth' ac6uiring almost a

mania for the earthforces 7 of course those of a spiritual nature 7 6uitting the neighbourhood of the earth as little as

possible' remaining in close pro*imit# to it' and b# means of this nearness hoping to live on as 8the souls of the dead9

around the earth' e*empt from the necessit# of again entering ph#sical bodies. The @nglo@merican race is striving after

a remarkable and strange ideal: no longer to return into earthl# bodies' but through the souls of the living to have an ever

greater influence on the earth' becoming' as souls' more and more earthl#. @ll efforts are thus to be directed to the ideal of

making life here on earth and life after death similar to one another. Thus will be attained 7 in our da# onl# b# those

instructed according to this rule' which will become more and more the prevailing custom 7 as immeasurabl# greater'

stronger' attachment to the earth than the recognised 8normal9 one.

!ut for the +uciferic and @hrimanic influence on humanit# Bn +emurian and @tlantean times' the human soul would

feel itself less intimatel# connected with the ph#sical bod# than it does toda#. This would have been shown b# the fact

that numerous people' (indeed the maBorit# of mankind$' would have regarded their bodies as belonging to the earth' and

would have felt' 8I live within m# bod#9' in the same wa# as we toda# e*perience' 8I walk on the solid -arth9. Thanks to

the +uciferic influence' we feel our bodies nearer to us than the -arth. e sa# that the earth is 8outside us9' but we reckon

our bodies as part of ourselves. rom a certain loft# spiritual point of view' we are Bust as much outside our bodies' even

in waking' as we are outside the earth. In a sense our soul onl# Hstands upon the brain; the brain is the Hfloor for our

thinking. This is no longer recognised because of the effect of the +uciferic and @hrimanic influence. 0ad there been no

such influence' we should have felt ourselves as souls' more alien to the bod#; we should have regarded it as a sort of

movable hillock' on which we supported ourselves' Bust as we do on a heap of sand.

In certain @nglo@merican circles this is organised into a science. The# cultivate especiall# the powers of perception

belonging to the bod# which strengthen the subBection of man to the bod#' through the incoming of forces not belongingentirel# to the bod# but binding it to the earth. /arious practices are intended to bring home vividl# to the man of this race

that his bod# belongs to the earth. 0e is to feel not onl#' 8I am m# arm' m# leg9' but 8I am also the force of gravit#

passing through m# limbs; I am the weight which encumbers m# hand or arm9. @ strong ph#sical sense of relationship

between the human bod# and the earthl# elements is to be ac6uired. This strong feeling of relationship between the

15 of =>


16/46


17/46

members of the human soul. @s time goes on' and the soul feels the capacit# for e*periencing its repeated earthlives' it

will not feel as in ancient Greece in the da#s before ,hrist' when the sentientsoul was seen in all its vividness; no' the

Intellectual soul or mindsoul will graduall# be felt as something l#ing further awa# behind' and as the direct killer of

thoughts.

The training; will go further. These souls will seem to themselves as an inner tomb for their own being' #et a tomb

through which the wa# will be made clear for the manifestation of the spiritual world' and this is the ne*t feeling I will

describe. The# will sa#: 8It is true: when I e*perience m# immortal part which goes from life to life' it is as though m#

thoughteffort died; m# thinking will be put aside' but ivine thought streams in and spreads over the tomb of m# own

thoughts.9 Thus the "pirit"elf arises: the ,onsciousness or "piritual "oul descends into the grave. &o diagram is needed

here 7 the ,onsciousness "oul is superseded b# the "pirit "elf 7 but I want to show how it will be for the human soul

when the ego e*periences the gradual transition from the one to the other. In the -ast this e*perience will be like this:

8The -ternal has so developed on earth 7 (descending ever since the Graeco+atin epoch$ 7 that ordinar# thought'

which springs onl# from the human side' is disturbed b# it. an becomes empt#' #et not for nothing: into the void

graduall# flows the new manifestation of the spirit' in its infant form of the "pirit"elf' filling the soul of man.

ramas of the soul' tragedies of the soul' necessaril# accompan# the achievement of such a development. In the -ast

man# a man will endure deep inner traged# and suffering' because he discovers: 8# inner being kills m# thought9.

Those who seek the ideal humanit#' because the first step brings no freedom' will succumb to something akin to inner

weariness' deadening' dimness.

In order to enable these circumstances to be seen obBectivel#' so that the# can be understood with a proper sense of

whither the# are tending' the ,entral -uropean peoples are there. That is their task' but the# will accomplish it onl# if

the# recall to mind what I have spoken of in m# book' 8The %iddle of an'9as a forgotten stream of spiritual life. It is

ver#' ver# important that this stream' which toda# is mostl# forgotten but once e*isted as a force of spiritual

understanding in relation to the whole world' should be taken hold of again in iddle -urope. ho toda# realises what a

magnificent understanding of all aspects of human culture was evinced b# certain personalities' such as riedrich

"chlegel for e*ampleC ?r the deepl# significant insight into human evolution of such thinkers as "chelling' 0egel'

ichteC 3eople talk a great deal toda# about ichte' but' needless to sa#' thore who talk most about such great thinkers'

understand least. hat a revival of understanding would be possible if' in the genuine' real sense of the words' 8the

Goethespirit9 animated mankindK e are far from that at presentK To keep on sa#ing that the Goethespirit must be

revived at once' toda#' is beside the point; what does matter is that in the world we are unBustl# criticised because we

give' the impression of no longer possessing it. The connection' for instance' of our !uilding at ornach with the Goethespirit 7 I do not believe that man# people understand that. &evertheless it is not unimportant.

hat I have been telling #ou toda# from the aspect of "piritual "cience as to the characteristics of est and -ast is

declared b# the thinkers of est and -ast alike' onl# it must be correctl# understood. hat emerges from political

discussions of toda# in the est must be interpreted in the right wa#' and certain impulses which appear in connection

with manAs souldevelopment must be correctl# perceived. The impulse to con6uer the earth' as it prevails amongst the

@nglo@merican peoples' is inwardl# connected with the ideal of becoming disembodied earthl# beings in the future; and

%abindranath TagoreAs remarkable lecture on the 8"pirit of 4apan9' now published in book form' is entirel# impregnated

with what is dawning in the -ast. &ot that it contains what I have been sa#ing; but pulsing through it are the e*periences

which such an -astern thinker' at an# rate one from the ar -ast (what dawns in the ar -ast is more significant$' has to

e*press concerning the coming development in -astern -urope. It is' however' necessar# for ever#bod#' whether in the

est or -ast' to recognise the content of the spiritual substance of id-urope. ?f course what people first look at are the

outward' ph#sical surroundings. -astern writers 7 I call to mind Eu 0un ing 7 are now publishing significant works;

but supposing that the name of Goethe comes up for discussion' where can such an -astern turn but to the 8Goethe

societ#9' with its head6uarters in the town from which GoetheAs spiritual activities once ra#ed forthC There he would find

this Goethean spiritual life cared for in the most remarkable wa# 7 as never before. The opportunit# was presented of

making princel# munificence fruitful for a widel#spread spiritual life; for what the Granduchess "ophie did to

encourage the Goethecult was immeasurabl# great. That was reall# e6ual to the occasion; but other people were b# no

means e6ual to it. @ 8Goethe societ#9 was founded. +ooking at it from outside one must ask 7 who supports it' who

represents itC Is there an#one in whom the spirit of Goethe livesC It is ver# characteristic of our time that its representative

is a former inance inisterK e must take into account all the e*periences' the soule*periences' which lead to such a

thing.The onl# ra# of hope in the concern is his name' 8Ereu)wendedich'9 M&ote 1N a surname in use for generations.

Jsuall# such things are ignored' but the# ought not to be; the great need is for more understanding of what is going on inthe world.

&ow I pointed out last time that b# reason of the developments of the last centuries' 5= million e*tra hands'

machinehands' have been added to the earth population of 15million. Through this an @hrimanic element entered into

1F of =>
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA020/English/MP1990/GA020_index.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180709p01.html#Note1http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA020/English/MP1990/GA020_index.htmlhttp://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180709p01.html#Note1


18/46

human development. It is related to something which has become altogether necessar# 7 the e*ploration of the world b#

natural science' as I said before. ithin the last four centuries this e*ploration has obliged man to stud# nature in detail'

to ac6uire knowledge of natural laws and beings. This sort of observation has been carried into ever# possible field' even

that of histor#' where it is out of place. &obod# is supposed' in the realm of natural science' to talk for ever about

8&ature' nature' natureK9' as though the idea were to establish a sort of pannature' a universal nature. This conception

would do little to advance modern culture' but some outlooks are alwa#s inclined to stop short at that point. I will give

#ou an e*ample.

hen the investigator of &ineveh' +a#ard' once asked the Eadi of osul about the characters of certain of his

subBects and the previous histor# of his different states' that was a far too concrete scientific wa# of thinking for the Eadi.

0e could see no reason wh# an#one should need to stud# the characteristics of his subBects as though the# were a

landscape' or the histor# of his provinces. That' he supposed' was the foolish -uropean wa# of stud#ing nature; and he

said to the e*plorer: 8+isten' m# son; the one and onl# truth is to believe in God' and this truth should restrain a man from

wishing to en6uire into 0is deeds. +ook up; #ou see one star circling round another' also a star with atail; it has needed

man# #ears to get so far; it will need #ears to pass out of our orbit. ho would be so foolish as to en6uire into the path of

this starC The hand that created it will lead it and guide it. +isten' m# son; #ou sa# that it is not curiosit#' but that #ou

have a greater craving for knowledge than I have. &ow if #our knowledge has made #ou a better man than #ou were

before' #ou are doubl# welcome; but do not ask me to trouble about it. I trouble about no wisdom e*cept that contained in

the belief in God. I disdain all other. ?r I ask #ou another Luestion: 7 has #our wisdom' which spies into ever# corner'

gifted #ou with a second stomach' or opened #our e#es to paradiseC9 7 Thus the Eadi of osul' on the subBect of natural

science.

It ma# perhaps amuse #ou that the Eadi' a t#pical representative of this view' should give utterance to such

sentiments' but "piritual "cience' although in another realm' has to reckon with the same t#pe of thought. There are

plent# of Eadis of osul. The# are for ever sa#ing' 8It is not at all necessar# to trouble ourselves about the "piritual

world or an#thing else' e*cept trust in God.9 @s the Eadi of osul declined to know an#thing about natural science' so

plent# of people around us 7 eseciall# official representatives of spiritual life 7 reBect "piritual "cience. @ little book

has Bust been printed' written from the best of motives' in which is to be read this sentence : 8The wickedness of "piritual

"cience lies in the fact that it wishes to know about the "piritual world' whereas the true value of religious life consists in

knowing nothing about it 7 to have faith' great faith to believe in what #ou do not know.9 @ man is supposed to be

admirable if he can admit 8I know nothing' but I accept the ivine.9 3eople do not #et see that with regard to the spiritual

world this is the same view as the EadiAs 7 which make us smile 7 with regard to the ph#sical senseworld and the

knowledge of it. hat is Bust the point: man must find the transition to knowledge of the spiritual world e*actl# as hefound it to knowledge of the natural world. This needs to be clearl# and firml# recognised' for it will determine whether

in the future we shall have a view of the universe on which a social structure for humanit# can be founded. "uch a

structure cannot be founded on what nowada#s is called the science of political econom#' or something like that. @ll the

doctrines and views that make up political econom# are either an inheritance from ancient times' no longer useful' or the#

are useless' foolish encumbrances' withered rubbish. @ real political econom# will arise onl# when thought is permeated

b# ideas taken from the spiritual world. hat is taught in official schools as political econom# or as thescience of human

happiness gets into the heads of such enemies of mankind as +enin and Trotsk#; the# are the culmination of it. hat

should fill mankind with the creative force of the future must come from knowledge of the spiritual world. It ma# seem

parado*ical to speak as I have done about the est and the -ast' but spiritual realities are contained in this parado*K

@thout knowledge of these spiritual realities it will be impossible to find a sound wa# of ordering earthl# conditions'

which are inclining more and more towards future chaos. Ideas that not long ago were recognised as significant and

valuable are no longer taken seriousl#. -ver#where there will have to be a complete change of outlook. %eligions willmean nothing to humanit# unless the# are vivified b# real knowledge of the spiritual worlds. Their e*ponents will have to

learn 7 I am referring not to the content of religions but to the wa# in which the# have cr#stallised into form 7 that

these outer forms are not adapted to speak trul# to the inner being of humanit# unless the# appeal to the real forces which

come from the "piritual orld. The counterparts of the Eadi of osul can no longer be tolerated in the realm of public

life. I speak humbl#' unpretentiousl#; but I believe #ou will feel that there is much' ver# much' in what I am sa#ing.

@ distinct 6uestion now remains to be considered. 0ow is it that these metamorphoses of the human soul'

accomplished sa#' from the twelfth centur# till now' or in a wider sense between the seventh or eighth centur# !.,.and

the present time 7 are so entirel# hidden from humanit# at largeC This depends on the fact that in human nature

something still e*ists belonging to another world' and that this remaining part appertains to the ver# deepest m#steries of

humanit#. an can onl# be understood b# learning something of this other world' which has a continuous interest in notbeing known. e will speak of this ne*t time.

1 of =>


19/46

&otes:

&ote 1. +iterall#: ,ross' turn th#self aboutK

e"ture 6

History and Repeated )arth-i&es

!erlin' 1>th 4ul#' 11

I want to continue the observations I have begun concerning the progress of the human soul through its various earth

lives' and to continue them in such a wa# as to make the e*periences referred to useful as regards our Budgment of the

immediate present. Toda# I would like to dwell more on the e*ternal side of things' and in the ne*t lecture more on the

inner side.

e have traced the path of the human soul in its repeated earthlives through the three epochs most vitall# concerning

us 7 the -g#pto,haldean' the Graeco+atin' and our own' during which the human soul 7 looked upon as a self' as an

individualit# 7 e*periences sonething different in each incarnation. &ow we need onl# call up before our minds what

will happen to those souls who go through earthl# incarnation in our own time' to return after a more or less normal

period' as will happen with most people' though not with ever#one. It has often been pointed out' and last time it was

repeated' that souls incarnated at thn present time will come back knowing with certaint#' in some form or other 7 and

(this I described more closel# last time$ through their own inward e*erience 7 the fact of repeated earthlives. This

momentous step will be accomplished in the ne*t age; souls will advance from their present ignorance to knowledge of

reincarnation; but something else needs emphasis.

%emember that I laid stress on an important epoch which began with the seventh or eighth centur# before the ster#

of Golotha. In the earlier centuries of this epoch man# souls were able' in the old clairvo#ant fashion' to look back on

their earlier earthlives; but because the# looked into a time when the sentient soul was speciall# developed' what the#

saw was the connection of human beings with the outer world. The# gained a clear picture of manAs proceedings in the

outer world' and what happened to him there. To be sure' this will not be so in the ne*t epoch to ours' when the retrospect

will be more directed towards aspects of the soul. It will be less concerned with actions and e*periences in space' less like

a realistic picture' and more of a looking back into the life of the soul.

I mention this again so that #ou ma# see what ver#' ver# different e*periences souls have in their successive earth

lives. @nd of course the 6uestion must press upon each one of #ou 7 how has the outside world come to believe that

during the course of histor#' human beings have not greatl# changedC Taking the current presentations of histor# (some of

which' but not all' are wellintentioned$' we find over and over again that each goes back to a certain point of time' to

which the historical accounts and documents e*tend' but the# take for granted that the structure of the human soul has

been the same all along. The# grant a certain development' but the# do not think of it in nearl# as radical a wa# as we

must do' in the light of the conclusions of spiritual science. The 6uestion forces itself on ever# one of us: 7 0ow is it that

there is no proper awareness of 8the metamorphosis of the human soul9C

If now we consider historical events from the point of view of spiritual science' we see that for a long time man has

reall# been held back from knowledge of himself' rather than led towards it. To discover how the human soul changesfrom one incarnation to another is possible onl# when self knowledge' real selfknowledge' takes root; but this has been

driven back through events which we still have to appraise. "ignificant e*amples of this forcingback process could be

found in recent histor#. @ certain fraternit#' known to #ou all' that of the reemasons' believes 7 honestl# in the case of

man# of the brethren 7 that the# can lead members of their circle to selfknowledge. The# have various s#mbols of

which it is evident' when the# are approached with spiritual scientific knowledge' that the# are profound' fraught with

meaning; all reall# designed to lead to selfknowledge; but the# do not do so. If one reads the official records of

reemasonr#' it is remarkable to find the 8enlightened9 supposing that to understand their craft it is necessar# to go back

onl# to the eighteenth or seventeenth centur#.
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180709p01.html#Xote1http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA181/English/UNK1954/19180709p01.html#Xote1


20/46

new reemasonr# has e*tended' (as regards the 8enlightened9' not the m#stical side$' coincides wi th the greatest dread of

selfknowledge in menAs minds. There is much talk about it; man must seek 8the divine within him9' 8his higher self9'

etc.; but that is all mere talk. It all tends to block up' not to open' the wa# to real selfknowledge; and we must ask:

hence comes this aversion' this terrorC e will consider this from its outer side toda#.

It is apparent in a ver# remarkable wa#' not onl# in the limited realm of reemasonr#' but over the whole range of

modern culture. e see how modern culture 7 notabl# in the spreading of ,hristianit# 7 reall# takes the line of

concealing and suppressing selfknowledge; a line of e*traordinar# interest and significance. ew people toda# take the

trouble to compare the best available accounts of widel# separated centuries' and fewer still reflect on the real character of

what is described.


21/46

will again pla# a significant

Sound Outlook for to-Day and a Genuine Hope for the Future

Documents

Transcript of Sound Outlook for to-Day and a Genuine Hope for the Future