The Rudolf Steiner Archive

4. Man and Woman in the Light of Spiritual Science

[ 1 ] Anthroposophical spiritual science is not intended to alienate people from life through any kind of fanciful mysticism. It is by no means intended to divert people from the tasks of everyday life and the demands of the times; on the contrary, spiritual science is meant to be precisely that which gives people strength and energy, prudence, and impartiality for the tasks of life and the demands of immediate reality. That is why, even within this spiritual science, we must not only speak at times of the great questions of human wisdom—the nature of humanity, the nature of the world—but we must also seek, from the perspective of spiritual science, to shed light on questions that directly concern us. And so, in these lectures, we will be dealing with reflections that pertain entirely to what are called contemporary issues.

[ 2 ] But those who stand on the ground of spiritual science find themselves in a special position when it comes to such immediate contemporary issues, for they raise the expectation that they will weigh in on the debates of the day. And they can easily raise this expectation when the issue at hand is that of man and woman—man, woman, and child. And precisely because the spiritual scientist is compelled, by virtue of his standpoint, to view such questions from a higher vantage point, it may seem as though such a perspective leads away from the opinions, views, and so on that are put forward in the usual debates of the day. But while it is true that spiritual science must cast such questions in a higher light, it is precisely this spiritual science that is capable of intervening directly and practically in the problems of the day. For this is the distinctive feature of spiritual scientific consideration: on the one hand, it elevates such questions to the perspective of the eternal, but at the same time it also offers practical tools for everyday life, whereas all partisan perspectives lead to something that proves inapplicable in everyday life. One must bear this in mind when attempting to view the relationship between man and woman from a higher perspective. Much of what is said here will seem quite strange. But if you delve deeper into these matters and measure the facts of life against them, you will find that you can gain a much more thorough answer through spiritual science than through what is otherwise heard on the subject.

[ 3 ] Spiritual science is based on the fundamental view that behind everything that is sensually perceptible lies a soul-spiritual reality. It is precisely the questions that concern us that will only become clear to us in the right way when we look toward the spiritual essence that lies behind the physical. And so we must ask ourselves: What lies as a spiritual reality behind the two sexes? And perhaps the nature of the sexes can be revealed to us by delving into this spiritual reality that lies behind the physical differences between the sexes. There, however, we will see that spiritual science, by its very nature, leads to all manner of truths that our present age already intuits in its own way, even from within a materialistic worldview. But because only a materialistic worldview lies behind these intuitions, they prove to be deceptive.

[ 4 ] What, then, does materialism have to say about the nature of the sexes? The best way to gain insight into this is by examining what recent times have brought to light regarding this question. For quite some time now, women have been increasingly striving to move toward that stage of human development characterized by full equality between the two sexes. Since women have thus entered the struggle for their rights, we will be interested in what materialism has to say about the nature of women. In this way, we will gain a yardstick for assessing how such an important question is viewed in the present day. Now, one could cite a wide variety of opinions on the nature of womanhood, such as those compiled in the book *A Critique of Femininity* by Rosa Mayreder. It is wise to seek such judgments among leading figures of the present day. A very prominent 19th-century naturalist identifies humility as the fundamental characteristic of women. Another, who is also entitled to have a say, identifies irascibility as the fundamental female quality. Another naturalist, who caused quite a stir, concludes that the fundamental nature of women is best expressed by a sense of devotion; another by a thirst for power; another by a conservative spirit; and yet another believes that women are actually the revolutionary element in the world. Yet another says that women possess a particularly well-developed capacity for analysis, whereas another asserts that women completely lack the capacity for analysis and have developed only the ability for synthesis.

[ 5 ] One could go on adding to this anthology indefinitely; in the end, one would only conclude that a superficial examination leads intelligent people to contradictory judgments. Anyone who wishes to delve deeper into the matter would have to say: These observers may be proceeding from entirely false premises; one should not look merely at the outward appearance, but at the whole being. — Compelled by the facts, a glimmer of insight dawned on many a researcher, but it was submerged in materialistic thinking. Thus, for example, a young mind, Otto Weininger, wrote a book on “Sex and Character.” Otto Weininger was a man of great gifts, but he squandered these gifts because the full weight of our time’s materialistic worldview weighed heavily upon his soul. He believed, namely, that the nature of the human being can only be understood by not viewing the masculine and the feminine in an individual human being in isolation, but by recognizing that the feminine is intermingled with the masculine and vice versa. — Thus, a glimmer of an idea dawns in Weininger’s soul. But this glimmer is forced into materialistic thinking by the influences of the times. And so Weininger believes he sees the interplay of the masculine and the feminine in a certain material mixture, such that we should find a hidden feminine in every man and a hidden masculine in every woman. This, however, leads him to some strange conclusions. Weininger says, for example, that women lack an “I,” individuality, character, any sense of personality, all freedom, and so on. And since, according to his view, this is a purely material—so to speak, quantitative—mixture of masculine and feminine qualities, men therefore possess all of these things within themselves. But apparently, this is nullified by his masculine qualities. You see, when we get to the heart of the matter, we encounter a view that destroys itself. But, as we shall see, there is certainly a valid insight underlying it.

[ 6 ] Now, with regard to these matters, we will have to address the fundamental perspective of spiritual science. I have emphasized time and again that it is not as easy for spiritual science to examine the essence of the human being as it is for materialistically oriented science. For what one sees in the human being in physical-sensory terms is, for spiritual science, only one aspect of the whole being: the physical body. Furthermore, spiritual science distinguishes the etheric body—or the body of formative forces—which human beings share with plants and animals. As the third component of the human being, it recognizes that which is the bearer of pleasure and pain, that which lives in our sensations and feelings: the astral body—or soul body—which human beings share with animals. And as the fourth member, it identifies that which makes a human being truly human: self-consciousness, the “I.” Thus, spiritual science describes the human being as consisting of four members.

[ 7 ] First of all, the physical and etheric bodies come into contact with us. And here, too, lies the solution to the mystery concerning the relationship between the sexes. And now the spiritual researcher must say something that will lead many of his contemporaries to accuse him of folly: By its very nature, the human being is a unique organism; for the etheric body is only partially a kind of replica of the physical body. With regard to gender, the situation is different. In the male sex, the etheric body is feminine; in the female sex, it is masculine. As strange as this may seem at first, closer observation must lead one to recognize this extraordinarily significant fact: within every human being lies something of the opposite sex. However, this should not be taken to account in relation to all possible abnormal manifestations of life, but only in relation to what constitutes normal conditions.

[ 8 ] In light of this fact, however, it is no longer possible to speak of “man” and “woman” in the strict sense of the word; instead, one must speak of masculine and feminine qualities. A woman projects certain qualities outward and keeps their opposites inward. The woman possesses masculine qualities within, while the man possesses feminine ones. Thus, while the man becomes, for example, a warrior through his outward physicality—since this outward bravery is bound to the outward structure of his body—the woman possesses inner bravery: the capacity for self-sacrifice and devotion. When a man rises to the task of creation, he becomes absorbed in what is outside. A woman acts in the world through self-sacrificing passivity. Countless aspects of life will become clear to us if we conceive of the human being as a combination of two interacting poles: in a man, the masculine pole outward and the feminine pole inward; in a woman, the feminine pole outward and the masculine pole inward.

[ 9 ] Spiritual science, however, also reveals to us the deeper reasons why there is a feminine aspect within the masculine, and a masculine aspect within the feminine. Spiritual science teaches that human beings pass through many lifetimes toward ever greater perfection. The present life is always the consequence of previous ones. And as human beings pass through many lifetimes in this way, they also pass through both male and female incarnations.

[ 10 ] Thus, what emerges reflects the effect of the experiences we, as human beings on Earth, can have on both sides. Anyone who can look into the male and female natures as described knows that the more intimate experiences of the two sexes are entirely different—and must be entirely different. Our entire earthly life is a gathering of the most diverse experiences and impressions. However, these experiences and insights can only become comprehensive if a person gains them from both genders. Thus, even if we consider the human being solely in terms of his two lower limbs, it becomes clear that he is, in truth, a dual being. As long as one recognizes only the physical body, however, nothing meaningful can emerge. One must recognize the spiritual aspect that lies behind it. Through the masculine, a man’s inner femininity is revealed to us, and through the feminine, a woman’s inner masculinity. Now one also understands how so many observers who view men and women merely from the outside are led astray; it all depends entirely on whether one looks at the inner or the outer. Anyone who knows only one side of the human being is entirely at the mercy of chance. If, for example, one researcher finds humility to be the primary characteristic of women and another finds anger, then each has considered only one side of the same essence. Error is bound to arise from this way of looking at things. To recognize the full truth, we must also look at the whole human being.

[ 11 ] However, such an understanding of the full truth also requires that we take something else into account: We must consider the human being in his alternating states of wakefulness and sleep. During sleep, the astral body and the “I” are separated from the human being’s physical-etheric organization. Upon falling asleep, a person loses their ordinary waking consciousness; through sleep, they enter into a different state of consciousness—sleep consciousness. The perceptions and experiences that the “I” and the astral body have in the spiritual world during sleep remain hidden from ordinary consciousness. In their present state of development, human beings are organized in such a way that, in the waking state, the “I” and the astral body must make use of the physical sense organs in order to attain consciousness of the physical world. Today, of course, the prevailing view is that it is the physical apparatus of our sensory system that sees, hears, tastes, feels, and so on. But even a thinker like Fichte says: “It is not the ear that hears, but I who hear.” — Thus, all sensory perception originates from the “I,” the actual inner essence of the human being. And every morning, when a person gets up, the “I” and the astral body use the sense organs to gain knowledge of their physical surroundings. The situation is different during sleep: the “I” and the astral body dwell in the spiritual world. Yet a person usually has not developed the corresponding sense organs in their astral body to be able to see in astral space. Anyone who refuses to admit this would, by logical consequence, have to say: “Actually, a person dies every evening.” Thus, during the night, a person finds themselves in a spiritual world.

[ 12 ] However, the spiritual world and the physical world are connected in a unique way, for everything physical is merely a kind of condensed state of the spiritual. Just as ice is condensed water, so the physical body and the etheric body are condensations of the astral body. Today’s materialism, however, will find it very difficult to admit that the spirit is the creator of all that is material; but the tragedy of materialism lies precisely in the fact that materialism understands matter the least of all. And so one arrives at very strange conclusions when one denies that all that is material is merely condensed spirit. If, however, one remains at the level of popular concepts, most people will not immediately perceive the mockery of all reason in a statement such as this: that the physical is the foundation for what is truly spiritual, and that everything so-called spiritual is derived from the physical. — It becomes clearer, however, when one draws the ultimate conclusions, as pragmatism—which originated in America but has already spread to Europe—does, for example. From a single sentence, one can see how this theory mocks all common sense; it states, for instance: “A person does not cry because they are sad, but they are sad because they cry!” — One does not perceive that a mental state is influencing the physical; rather, one believes that some external causes force the tears out, and then the person simply becomes sad. This is the consequence of materialism taken to the point of absurdity.

[ 13 ] Spiritual science knows that the two higher aspects of the human being—the I and the astral body—are out of the body at night, having left behind the etheric body and the physical body. Thus, during sleep, a person also leaves behind their male and female constitution and dwells in a spiritual world as a being that no longer bears anything masculine or feminine within itself—as a sexually undifferentiated being. In this way, every person already divides their life here into the sexual and the asexual.

[ 14 ] Does gender have no significance in the spiritual world? Does the contrast between the physical body and the etheric body—which gives rise to the two genders in this world—have no counterpart in the higher worlds? Well, the situation is this: although we do not take gender with us into the higher worlds, we do find the origin of the two sexes in the astral world. Just as ice is formed from water, so too is what appears to us in the physical world as male and female formed from the contrast of higher principles. This opposition is best illustrated when we characterize it as the opposition between life and form. We also find this polarity expressed in nature. The tree displays sprouting life force and, at the same time, that which strives toward solid form—that which restrains growth and shapes the sprouting force into a solid trunk. Thus, in all life and existence, life and form must work together. And when we consider the nature of the sexes from this perspective, we can say: The image of life is the masculine, whereas that which gives life a certain form is expressed in the feminine. — When, for example, the artist shapes the material, the following occurs: What the artist shapes out of the marble cannot be found in the physical world; only the artist’s essence, which is rooted in the spiritual world and draws its inspiration from there, can create artistically and give artistic form. And so it is, in truth, that the forces and beings of the spiritual world are constantly flowing into the astral body and the I. And what the artist brings into the material, what he imprints upon matter, is the memory of what has been stirred within him in the spiritual world. If human beings did not constantly return to their original home in sleep—to dwell in the spiritual world—they would not bring with them into physical existence the seeds of inspiration for all great and noble activities. Nothing worse, then, can happen than for human beings to deprive themselves of sleep over the long term.

[ 15 ] What the artist has absorbed from the spiritual world and unconsciously incorporated into his work thus appears as life and form. And so one might be led to ask: Why, in fact, does the “Juno Ludovisi” seem so marvelous to us? — There is the large face, the broad forehead, the distinctive nose. If we let our feelings gently explore it, we might say: Here is a sculpture of which we cannot even imagine that anything spiritual remains behind; in this face we see soul and spirit entirely enclosed within the form. This form can endure for eternity. Here, inner life has become form entirely, frozen in form; here is soul and spirit made form. But then we turn our gaze to the head of Zeus. The actually narrow forehead is also underpinned by spirit and soul, yet one has the feeling that this form might change at any moment. Out of a deep inspiration of the artist, life and form have been captured there in all their reality.

[ 16 ] But just as the artist, in moments of great inspiration, truly creates a cast of life and form in such works, so our entire being is, in truth, life and form. This, however, demonstrates that the essence of the human being is shaped from the spiritual world, from life that is ever becoming, and from that which sustains life and gives it permanence. The human being participates in life and death as the expression of these higher polarities of existence. And in this sense, Goethe could say: “Death is nature’s artifice for having much life.” And so life finds a form—not for a one-sided life, not for a one-sided death, but for that which forms a higher, harmonious whole out of life and death. In this way, the spiritual and the physical interact through the media of the masculine and the feminine: the eternally becoming life in the masculine and the life held in form in the feminine.

[ 17 ] Thus, when seeking to fathom the nature of the sexes, we do not start from a one-sided view of physical existence, but rather find an answer in the spiritual realms of existence. Only in this way do we find the harmony that transcends the sexes, which arises to the extent that both sexes rise to it. If, therefore, by virtue of the insights provided by spiritual science, we are enabled to allow the trans-gendered to take effect in practical life, then the gender question is resolved. But this does not lead us away from life. For we can properly purify what confronts us in the two manifestations of the human being if we consciously strive for this higher harmony. In this way, the gender issue is deepened and the opposition harmonized. Everything related to gender takes on a completely different form and meaning. We cannot resolve the gender issue through dogmas, but rather by seeking common ground and finding sentiments and feelings that transcend gender. In immediate social interaction, the gender issue will thus be resolved in a manner befitting an advanced humanity. When human beings discover what transcends gender, then this contemporary issue will be resolved for them.

[ 18 ] And so, in this reflection as well, we have seen what is revealed time and time again: that we must separate essence from sensory appearance. We must consider the whole human being—the human being from the perspective of the senses and the human being from the perspective of the spirit—if we are to solve the mysteries of life. Behind the contrast of the senses, it becomes clear that man and woman are merely garments, shells that conceal the true essence of the human being. We must look beyond the garment. There we find the spirit. We must not, therefore, merely address the outer aspect of the spirit; we must address the spirit itself.

[ 19 ] But the same idea could also be expressed this way: Love imbued with wisdom, wisdom permeated by love, is the highest good. “The Eternal Feminine draws us upward.” The feminine is the element in the world that reaches outward to be fertilized by the eternal realities of life.