The Rudolf Steiner Archive

14. Man, Woman, and Child in the Light of Esoteric Science

[ 1 ] The subject we are to address today is, in a certain sense, a matter of interest at all times; in particular, however, we may [also] describe the relationship between man and woman as a question of our immediate present—a question that is being debated with great vigor today from a wide variety of perspectives and from the most diverse partisan standpoints. It is not the task, nor the mission, of the Esoteric Science to become involved in party disputes or partisan conflicts. Therefore, what will be said on this subject today may, in a certain sense, seem quite out of step with the times; for from a higher vantage point, spiritual science must consider even such questions as these with complete objectivity, with complete calm, and with the calmness of a narrative tone.

[ 2 ] However, she does not have an easy time of it. For such questions stir people’s emotions—the entire world of feelings and passions—in an extraordinary way, and more than with any other subject, it is the case with such a question that one person or another already has an answer ready, and that therefore much of what must be said from a higher vantage point, particularly in this area, runs counter to all their judgments and prejudices, causing them to rebel inwardly. But this cannot prevent the spiritual researcher, despite all partisan conflicts and despite all the turmoil of the passions, from fulfilling his present-day task in precisely such a field: to be a keen observer and to elevate such a question above all partisan views.

[ 3 ] Just how difficult this is may be illustrated by a very small selection of opinions expressed on this subject in our time. It is not only agitators—both men and women—nor only those who casually come up with this or that catchphrase who have weighed in on our topic, particularly on the nature of women, but also those who, from their own perspectives, seek to strike a more objective tone; and it will be instructive to take this brief look around. It should be emphasized from the outset that these are not just random opinions picked up here and there, but rather influential ones.

[ 4 ] Scholars and laypeople alike have weighed in on the nature of women. But it is telling how this has happened. One scholar, for example, examines the nature of human beings from an anthropological perspective, summarizing the nature of women with the phrase: “a sense of devotion.” Mind you, this is not meant to be presented as an ideal that women should strive for, but rather to say that, given the whole nature of women, their most striking characteristic is a sense of devotion. — Another figure, who sought to describe the nature of women with the same objectivity, summarized what emerged for him and expressed the nature of women with the word: “desire for domination.” — A very prominent pathologist attempted to sketch the nature of women from his own perspective. He said: Everything in a woman points to one fundamental trait, namely gentleness. — That was meant to be a scientific judgment. Another said: a hot temper. — Yet another person, who believed he could summarize women’s traits from a higher vantage point, said: a conservative mindset; and another said: Everything revolutionary springs from women’s nature. - There you have a small anthology that can illustrate the unanimity of those who seek to describe women objectively. A very famous neuropathologist wrote the little book: “On the Physiological Debility of Women.”

[ 5 ] If we consider such judgments not only from their humorous side but also from their universal spiritual perspective, they are highly instructive; for they show us what it really means when we are told: “What you spiritual scientists say is subjective belief,” but that when one enters the realm of external observation, only unanimous judgments can emerge. — Such are these unanimous judgments! It is interesting, however, that here—as in so many aspects of our contemporary judgments—we are confronted with a fact that proves how the occult science is something that must seem to us to come at just the right time in the face of the great, important questions of the present. For even though our age gropes in the dark regarding such matters in many respects, this groping in the dark often points, with a strange premonition, to how necessary it is to speak the right word.

[ 6 ] Something that must appear as an intuition spoken from the spirit of materialism—yet a caricatured intuition of the truth—is what is written in a recent book that has caused quite a stir, a book by a brilliant but immature thinker, the young Weininger: “Gender and Character.” If we are to properly appreciate this curious insight, we must first bring to mind a fact revealed to us by spiritual science. Although we have often presented the fundamental view of the nature of the human being, we must today once again delve deeply into this nature of the human being. From the standpoint of spiritual science, we summarize... [gap in the transcript]

[ 7 ] We can understand the relationship between man and woman if we first state an important fact provided by spiritual science—a fact that, admittedly, may seem grotesque to some, but that doesn’t matter. Essentially, every human being possesses both genders within themselves in a certain form. Outwardly, a man has a visible male body; his etheric or life body is of a feminine nature; and the opposite is true for a woman, so that a polar contrast exists within the human being.

[ 8 ] Anyone who tries to appreciate this fact with all the strength of their soul will understand how much of what we perceive becomes comprehensible. Who would not see how feminine qualities unite in a man to form such beautiful harmony with his masculine qualities! This raises another question: If, during sleep, the astral body and the “I” are separate from the physical and etheric bodies, what is the nature of the astral body and the “I” with regard to gender? They are absolutely neutral in terms of gender; what lives in gender is an organ directed outward, just like the senses.

[ 9 ] This leads us to the necessity of no longer speaking superficially of the masculine and feminine from the standpoint of the external world, but rather we come to realize that we must return to the invisible worlds, to the etheric body. Sensory observation is an illusion in this realm. Outwardly, a man is a man; inwardly, he possesses the qualities of his feminine etheric body, and sensory observation reveals to us only one aspect of his being. Weininger intuitively sensed this fact in a caricatured way, though he discusses it in a crude, materialistic sense. He claims that masculine and feminine elements are jumbled together in every part of the human being. But it is not possible to make any progress with such a materialistic theory. He attributes strange characteristics to women. He claims that women have no individuality, no personality, no intelligence, no freedom, no character, and no will. — The male side, too, carries this nature within itself. Thus, every man, too, lacks individuality in one part of his being, and so on.

[ 10 ] If we hold fast to the truth that in every man we must reckon with the masculine nature on the outside and the feminine nature on the inside, then we will come to understand many of the perspectives of both men and women. And we will come to understand the profound foundation of truth from which our male-centered culture speaks, for example: “The Eternal Feminine draws us upward.” This is spoken from a man’s perspective. But since our past culture was a male-dominated culture, and only now is the interplay beginning that will bear fruits of which the present age has little inkling, we come to understand that in all mysticism, that which strives upward—the neutral, genderless—is designated as the Eternal Feminine. One need only observe the active, positive qualities that women are capable of inspiring in men—whether in military service, in the service of love, or in charitable work—and the fearlessness women demonstrate in entirely different virtues; then one will be able to fully grasp this dual nature.

[ 11 ] But now the point is to view the subject from an even deeper perspective. It has become clear to us that gender—that which is expressed in the contrast between the masculine and the feminine—belongs to the physical and etheric bodies. What, then, of a contrast that is expressed here in the world—how does it appear in the higher worlds? Does every contrast cease there? At night, it no longer makes sense to speak of gender. In a world that requires the higher senses, the human astral body lives with the “I” during the night. The human astral body and “I” are united with this world of spiritual beings. Does the very possibility of speaking of a similar contrast cease in these worlds, or is there also something of such a contrast there? For those who hold fast to the fundamental truth that everything physical is the outward expression of the spiritual, this question must arise. The contrast between the sexes must surely be the physical expression of something in the spiritual world. The mystery of gender is so profound and significant that, when one comes to speak of the truth in this realm, one must assert paradox upon paradox from a superficial perspective.

[ 12 ] There is a contrast in the world into which a person enters during sleep—a contrast whose expression here is the contrast between the sexes. Since ancient times, this contrast in the spiritual world has been referred to in esoteric science as the contrast between death and life. Behind our world lies a world in which higher forces govern death and life. And here in this world, the expression of this force is the contrast between the sexes. We will be able to understand this, at least to some extent.

[ 13 ] Let us consider a being in this world, for example, the human being. We must not view him in too simplistic or straightforward a manner; if we wish to understand him, we must see how opposites are actually expressed within him. We see how a human being is born, how they grow up, how—until the age of seven—they initially develop their form in accordance with what is predetermined, how this form continues to grow and become larger for a long time, how they then remain stationary, and how, from middle age onward, consuming forces begin to take effect. Where the creative forces appear as if condensed, there is birth; where the consuming forces appear, there is death. In the middle of life, we are in balance. Throughout the entire course of life, however, these two forces are present within the human being. The consuming forces begin their activity as early as birth. At midlife, they gain the upper hand. And the human being is not possible without the constant interplay of these two forces. If only the life force were at work within a human being, then that person would blaze forth like fire in a brief existence, developing ever further, rushing headlong through life. The consuming forces, which find their culmination in death, are at the same time the forces that, as beneficent forces within the human being, provide the possibility of bringing form and shape into his or her being. Life impels us forward. Life seeks to transform every form into a new one. Death appears as something that is, in its very nature, destruction only when we consider it in its totality. It is not always what it is in its totality. The very same force that brings the human physical body to an end is the one that gives the human being its form and maintains it in a certain state of calm. You can see this when you observe the contrast in the external world, for example, in plant life. There you see how shoot after shoot is brought forth, how the forces of life produce leaf after leaf. And there you see a force that preserves the form, bringing stability and structure into the surging flow of life. If only the life force were at work, a leaf could not exist at all, for life would rush onward. Life must be continually restrained and drawn back from its ceaseless course. These two forces maintain an eternal balance with one another. These two—which, at their highest point, appear as death and life—are the builders of structured life in the outer world.

[ 14 ] If we wish to examine this contrast in a specific case, it presents itself in yet another form. The spiritual science that has been active in Europe since the fourteenth century has named this contrast: the contrast between becoming and decay—decay means: moving toward the essence. In contrast to the impetuous flow of life stands the taking-shape of form, that which is taking shape. This contrast can be sensed everywhere in life if one does not merely grasp the world with the intellect. And if we now seek this other expression, we say: That which can be expressed in the forces of decay—when the Juno Ludovisi stands before us, where all life is frozen in that wondrous form, held in a single moment—there you have the force stretched to its utmost. In reality, the form does not unfold in a single moment like that. Forms change at every moment. Condensed into a single moment, the inner essence confronts us. Beauty is the outward expression of what is brought about solely by the forces of decay—the forces that hold life back. Primordial force, will—that is the other force that seeks to overcome form at every moment. If we wish to see forces at work, then we must act within time, from one form to the next.

[ 15 ] And in yet another respect, this contrast between form and life, between destruction and eternal becoming, lives within human beings. If only the forces of life were dominant in human beings, it would be as if there were an overabundance of oxygen. Human beings would rush headlong. The force of life and the force that sustains life reach in from the astral world. And so it is with our lives. We must pass through death. If we did not pass through death, then something would be missing. We know how a human being emerges in many earthly lives with heightened consciousness and a more perfect sense of self. How does a human being come to fully grasp life? No being would be able to develop its self-awareness to ever higher levels. It could not achieve this if it could not experience its own opposite. Imagine a being that had no idea that annihilation exists, that had never even suspected the fear of death, and for whom it would be impossible to look death in the face. Such a being could not attain that strong sense of self and life that knows that life ultimately triumphs over death. It is through contrast that we come to know these powerful forces. We owe our sense of self to the fact that we are capable of passing through death. And the one who has known and overcome the fear of death possesses the true sense of self. Human beings absorb the forces of death and transform them into a higher form of life.

[ 16 ] And to whom in the physical world does humankind—a being capable of passing through death—owe this fact, so vital to its existence: the ability to overcome death? To the contrast between the masculine and the feminine.

[ 17 ] In the humanities, the feminine is seen as the shaper of form, while the masculine is seen as that which constantly seeks to transcend form. If only the feminine were able to act in the world, then everything would become frozen in form—even if that form were beautiful. A life confined to a fixed form could indeed be brought about by the feminine. That this form is overcome, that we rush from form to form—existence owes this to the interplay of the feminine with the masculine. And we humans owe our form to the feminine aspect, and to the masculine aspect we owe the life that spreads forth, the becoming. And everything in life is an interplay of these forces. Therefore, the masculine and the feminine work together in every being, and a man is merely a human being in whom one pole is expressed particularly distinctly in the physical realm, while the shaping of the inner self remains more spiritual. And in the woman, the feminine form appears on the outside, while the volitional aspect recedes inward. Hence this harmonious complementarity in the relationship between the sexes. Hence one sex finds in the other something that is of the same kind and essence; hence one sex understands the other, because one has the other within itself.

[ 18 ] Things in the world are so wonderfully interconnected that what sometimes strikes us as so wondrous—the contrast between destruction and becoming—is precisely what finds expression in the sexual dichotomy. Destruction, when halted, signifies stillness in form. Becoming, when it confronts us in external life, simultaneously signifies, from another perspective, the destruction of form. Thus, when we consider this matter in its entirety, nothing more or less appealing can ever be attached to one or the other of these terms. From a spiritual scientific perspective, our earthly life appears to us in such a way that we say: Through the interaction of the sexes, a compromise between form and the eternal becoming and destruction of form is implanted in the human being. What must arise within the human being is implanted in them. Through our conception, we take in these two forces of form and life, because we are brought into being from two sides. And thus the great laws of the cosmos work in such a way that what appears as a contrast in another world—as male and female—appears as a stronger contrast in a higher world. Only then does our contemplation of the masculine and feminine throughout all of nature encompass not merely intellectual concepts and ideas, but also will, mood, and feeling—when we perceive in every being how two forces interact, and realize that these beings can exist before us only because the balance of these forces is maintained within them. The world is complex and manifold, and we understand it only when we engage with its complexity. As wondrous as this derivation of the sexual opposition from the other opposition of a higher world may seem, it serves as such a good guide when we follow it throughout life. We then know why the opposition of the sexes occurs in the world at all. It is justified because the balance between form and becoming must prevail in the world. If, for example, a human being ascends from the physical world into higher worlds as an initiate, then the opposition between the masculine and the feminine does not confront him or her in these higher worlds. The biblical saying is profoundly true: “In heaven they do not marry.” (Mt 22:30; Mk 12:25; Lk 20:35f.) But when we gaze clairvoyantly upon the higher worlds, another contrast confronts us everywhere with great intensity. Everything is in constant motion. Here, this process of becoming and taking form is merely slowed down and condensed. It appears to us as if cast in greater stillness. This may give an idea of how something that can be perceived in the higher worlds appears in a completely different light. It might seem as if this applied only to human beings. But it applies wherever death and life and a sexual dichotomy find expression in the physical world.

[ 19 ] Thus, in art, Juno—every soul, every inner greatness, everything that progresses from one state to another in the ever-changing course of life—appears to us as if poured into a single form in an instant and held there. If this form were truth in real existence, the being would have to die at that very moment. Beauty, if it is to exist in form, requires that the being in which beauty is expressed to its fullest extent be no real being. Life must be set aside; then, if that which must be overcome in life remains in its own right, the beauty of the form remains. And if you wish to depict the inner becoming, the rushing from state to state, you will see that this can be captured in a characteristic form, but not in a beautiful one—the forms of the Laocoön group are not beautiful. No inner peace is captured there. In the realm of art, beauty and life are the same opposites that we have outlined in the realm of reality. There we look deeply into life. But we must make such a contemplation of life truly alive and practical. At every turn in life, we can look deeply into it and gain understanding if we view things from such perspectives. When we see anything captured in form, we sense hidden life; and when we see life, we yearn deeply—and this yearning gives us a relationship to the being in question—for movement. And what is a fact of spiritual science is presented to us verbatim in the great religious texts. This is what gives these texts their significance: we can only understand them once we have grasped the underlying facts from within ourselves.

[ 20 ] Let us consider the nature of the feminine. Outwardly, it is the feminine; inwardly, it is the masculine. Outwardly, it is that which gives life its form; inwardly, it is that which constantly seeks to destroy life. Outwardly, it is that which gives human beings their form, setting them firmly on the earth with their feet; inwardly, feminine nature contains that which constantly seeks to lead human beings to ever higher levels, lifting them away from the earth into ever higher spheres. Let us now take a look at this contrast between the masculine and the feminine within the woman. What can we say about this contrast? There is a force within a woman that seeks to anchor human beings to the earth, and which, if it were present alone, would crush the head’s striving for spiritual heights. And there is a force—the hidden masculine force—that strives to lift human beings away from the earth. Consider this as a metaphor. Take the image of the serpent to represent the masculine force, and take feminine nature to represent the other force. What is the woman’s role in her outward expression? To crush the head of that which seeks to lift man away from the earth. And what is the role of masculine nature? To strike man where he stands firmly on the earth—to bite his heel. — “She will crush your head, but you will strike at her heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

[ 21 ] Here, in a wonderful way, you have expressed what is a spiritual-scientific fact through a great symbol. And we can take this literally as well. This is what sends shivers down the spine when, equipped with the truths of esoteric science, one approaches religious texts and finds in their images the literal expression of great facts of life. And then the assertion that these texts have a higher origin in a spiritual world becomes for us not a hypothesis, but a necessary insight. Can what we recognize through deep contemplation of nature be the product of a child’s imagination? We must ask ourselves this question, and this question always leads us to see how, under certain circumstances, we can progress ever further in our understanding and come to understand the religious texts ever more deeply. A seemingly mundane observation, such as that concerning the relationship between the sexes, leads to an understanding of an important concept. Esoteric training must highlight the mysterious bond of attraction between the sexes, which springs from the sources of life, from the spiritual world itself. The contrast in the physical world has its counterpart in the spiritual world.

[ 22 ] The sexes must work together in all areas, including the spiritual realm. And once we have left behind an era dominated by male culture, an era of cooperation between these two forces will dawn. Esoteric science, in particular, therefore sheds light on the question central to our topic. Everything in life can be explained if we derive this life from its invisible, supersensory foundations. Yesterday we spoke in general terms about the mission of spiritual science. Today we will see how it fills everyday life with light and clarity. Everything in life is the expression of forces that lie beyond the sensory realm. We must seek the origin in the spiritual world of whatever we encounter in life. And the interplay of life and form is explained in a magnificent way. If human beings lived only in form, they would be destroyed; if they lived only in life, death would again be the consequence. True life is made possible by the interplay of opposites.

[ 23 ] Goethe also alludes to this in the words he calls the “primordial words,” implying that they are drawn from esoteric science. He says in the “Orphic Words”:

Just as on the day you were born into this world,
The sun stood in greeting to the planets,
[And so you flourished immediately and ever onward
According to the law by which you came into being.
This is how you must be; you cannot escape yourself!
So said the Sibyls and the prophets,
And no time and no power can shatter
A formed shape that develops while alive.]