The Rudolf Steiner Archive

18. Man and Woman in the Light of Spiritual Science

[ 1 ] Among the various spiritual pursuits of the present day—which anyone interested in the subject can find in literature or elsewhere in the world—is theosophy, which might also be called the science of the spirit. Its purpose is to shape human thought, feeling, and perception in a particular way. Anyone who reads about this worldview in articles and books or hears about it elsewhere may easily develop a prejudice against it. Some believe that theosophy is nothing more than a rehash of old superstitions, that it contradicts all sound scientific reasoning. Others approach theosophy with a certain apprehension because they believe that behind this school of thought lies something akin to religious proselytizing or the formation of a sect. Still others believe that Theosophy leads people away from practical life, into a dreamy, fantastical realm, alienating them from the full reality of everyday life. Yet others believe that Theosophy seeks to introduce an Eastern religion here.

[ 2 ] Today’s topic may provide an opportunity to demonstrate—by examining a question of interest to humanity in the broadest sense—how Theosophy is capable of elevating the question to a higher perspective, but also of providing the means to resolve it. This touches upon something that engages our contemporaries in the deepest sense of the heart. Theosophy cannot involve itself in all the fanaticism that so often arises, particularly when such questions are considered. Of course, when considering such questions, one might believe that theosophy leads one away from life. But those who think this way fail to take one thing into account: namely, that the perspective which stands above partisan strife is equal to every situation in life and every standpoint in life.

[ 3 ] We must briefly touch upon what Theosophy actually aims for in more detail, what it strives for. Theosophy seeks to work in a way that is quite different from other spiritual endeavors—different in its content and different in the way it approaches people. Theosophy rests on two solid pillars. One of these pillars is the belief that behind the outer physical world—which is perceptible only to the external senses—there exists a supersensible, spiritual world; and the other pillar is the belief that there are latent abilities within human beings through which, when developed, they can come to know the spiritual world. When this is stated, we often hear, on the one hand, the objection that the idea of a supersensible world belongs to a childlike mode of thinking that humanity possessed in earlier ages, because nothing was yet known about scientific laws in general. Today, however, now that humanity has come to penetrate the world of scientific laws, it is no longer fitting for people to believe in a world of supersensible realities. Yet one need only offer a simple comparison. It is so easy to say today that science has shown us that, to a certain extent, human beings do not need spiritual beings to confront them. Science may not yet be able to explain everything, but the ideal is nonetheless to penetrate this world with its methods and tools.

[ 4 ] Theosophy would have no hope of truly influencing the spiritual life of humanity if it were to take a stand against the facts of science. But even if the facts of science are true, that does not contradict the idea that spiritual processes lie behind these facts. A clock can be explained on the basis of mechanical processes, but does the fact that we can explain the clock in and of itself render the clockmaker—the spiritual power behind it—superfluous? No scientific explanation can account for the spiritual beings underlying these phenomena. No scientific explanation can render superfluous the consideration of spiritual backgrounds or the supersensible in the world.

[ 5 ] Nor can the objection that human cognitive faculties are insufficient to penetrate the supersensible world be taken seriously. Theosophy speaks of a supersensible world in exactly the same sense that the great German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte spoke to his audience in 1813 about a spiritual world. He said that this world requires an entirely different sensory instrument. He then compares the perception of the spiritual world to the world of colors and light, which is inaccessible to someone born blind because they lack the organ necessary for it.

[ 6 ] We can expand on Fichte’s example of the person born blind. Let us imagine that a person born blind were to undergo surgery in this room and suddenly regain his sight. A new world of colors and light, previously unknown to him, would open up to him. Now, theosophy says: Just as a new world appears here for the person born blind who has undergone surgery after receiving the organ necessary for sight, so too is it possible for human beings to have awakened the organs that Goethe called “spiritual eyes.”

[ 7 ] When we look around at our literature today, we encounter what one might call the “one can” perspective or the “we can” perspective. How often do we read statements such as: “One can recognize,” “We can recognize,” or “One cannot know that,” “We cannot know anything about it,” et cetera, et cetera. People do not realize the profound illogicality inherent in making such claims. Logically, everyone should only claim to be able to say something about what they know. Only perception, only experience, determines what exists.

[ 8 ] There have always been people who could glimpse into the spiritual worlds. They were called initiates or seers. There is something—an experience—that can be compared to what a person born blind experiences when, through a successful operation, their eyesight is restored, only in a far more magnificent way: when a person’s faculties for perceiving the spiritual worlds are awakened, and they then perceive these worlds for themselves. Exploring these spiritual worlds requires the gift of clairvoyance, initiation, and awakening.

[ 9 ] But when someone who knows something about the higher worlds recounts the facts, anyone who possesses a sound sense of truth can understand them. Today, there are already many who, through spiritual intuition, a sound sense of humanity, and a sense of truth, recognize the truth of this theosophical worldview. In this sense, Theosophy speaks of the spiritual worlds, saying that these spiritual worlds are all around us, just as light, color, and radiance are around the person born blind, who simply cannot see them. It is from this spiritual world that the facts are drawn which the seer communicates to the world today. The Theosophist seeks to secure here neither agitation nor any kind of teaching position. Theosophy does not approach the world in the way that some worldviews do—assuming that anyone who cannot grasp it is a foolish person. No, the theosophical researcher wishes only to be a storyteller, and he is well aware that it is best to use as little persuasion as possible. Anyone who is persuaded to accept Theosophy has no value for Theosophy. The truth must spring from the human soul itself. If Theosophy brings the truth, every soul must agree with it of its own free will.

[ 10 ] Based on these premises, let us first consider the nature of the human being in general, so that we may then recognize the nature of man and woman from the spiritual realm of reality. What the human senses perceive is only one aspect of human nature. If we apply this to men and women, we may ask ourselves: Does materialistic thinking truly grasp everything about men and women? Could there not also be something hidden within them that cannot be observed externally?

[ 11 ] It is precisely with regard to such a question that the practical application of the Theosophical worldview must come to the fore. Who would deny that, in the last century, the study of sensory phenomena reached a pinnacle that even the Theosophical worldview cannot help but admire? But let us briefly review the judgments passed in the last century by those who claim to have a scientific education regarding the relationship between men and women. Only a few of these judgments will be cited as examples of what one arrives at when one is unaware of the spiritual realm.

[ 12 ] A naturalist said: “If we take everything about women into account, then the fundamental character trait of women is gentleness.” — Another said: “If one knows everything that we encounter in women, then one must condense it into a single word—and that is irascibility.” — Another, an anthropologist, summarized his view of women in the phrase: “Women are characterized by feelings of devotion.” — Another said: “Anyone who truly understands women knows that the most striking feature of a woman’s character is her desire to dominate.” Yet another attempts to condense everything into a single word: “Women constitute the conservative element in human development.” - Another says: “Whoever truly understands history will find that everything revolutionary originates with women.” - In philosophy, this kind of thinking—which synthesizes everything and brings together individual perspectives—is called synthetic thinking. One philosopher says: “For women, everything is limited to synthetic thinking.” — An English philosopher, on the other hand, says: “Women possess only analytical thinking.”

[ 13 ] This is meant to show us how much harmony and certainty there is in the judgments of science. These contradictory judgments cannot satisfy people. But in reality, people are yearning for the answers that spiritual science offers to the great questions of existence. Some people today are already experiencing profound intuitions about what lies behind outward facts. Not long ago, a book by a young man caused quite a stir: *Sex and Character* by the unfortunate Weininger. In fact, there is already substantial scientific research available today that Weininger presented in a rather tumultuous and amateurish manner. We encounter a curious view here that contains a glimmer of truth. Weininger says: “In reality, every female character has a touch of the masculine mixed into it, and every man has a touch of the feminine.”—This is a glimmer of truth, though it has been completely corrupted by being immersed in a materialistic worldview. Weininger distinguishes between a masculine and a feminine substance, which he claims are intermingled in all human beings. He arrives at a peculiar judgment regarding the feminine. Weininger characterizes women precisely by saying: “A woman has no ‘I,’ no individuality, no freedom, no character.” However, he sees half the masculine in every woman and half the feminine in every man. These elements are thus intermingled in everyone. We see, then, that this is akin to Munchausen grabbing himself by the scruff of the neck; it is a view that dissolves into itself.

[ 14 ] Through theosophy, we see that what humans perceive through their senses is only a part of the human being; it is the physical body, which humans share with all visible beings around us. More rigorously than any science, Theosophy maintains that the substances and forces present in the human physical body are the same as those of the entire physical nature. But these substances and forces are composed within the human being in such a way that they would disintegrate if left to their own devices. A crystal sustains itself through its own substances and forces. But in human beings and in every living creature, the etheric body—or life body—exists as the second aspect of their being. What is it? It is a constant fighter against the decay of the physical body. The moment a human being passes through the gate of death, the physical body is left to the chemical and physical substances and forces. In common with all plants and animals, human beings possess the second aspect of their being, the etheric or life body.

[ 15 ] But there is a third aspect of human nature that spiritual science recognizes through its methods. Much closer to a person than the bones, muscles, and nerves enclosed within the human skin is a sum of joy and pain, drives, desires, passions, and sensations—extending all the way to the highest ideals. Spiritual science calls the vehicle of all this the astral body. This astral body is something that humans share only with the animal world.

[ 16 ] Then there is a fourth aspect of human nature, through which human beings are the crown of earthly creation. There is a word in the German language that a person can only say about themselves—no one else can say it to them. Anyone can say “chair” to a chair, “table” to a table, but there is one thing every person can say only to themselves: the little word “I.” This is something so important that the entire field of school psychology has no idea of the significance of this fact. This name cannot be spoken to me from the outside, as the name of any other thing in the world is. Each person can only utter the name themselves. That is what is special about the name designated by the little word “I.” The name “I” can never ring in our ears when it refers to ourselves. Perceptive minds have always sensed this. Jean Paul recounts how, as a child, the thought first dawned on him: “I am an ‘I.’” He says he gazed into the most hidden sanctuary of his being. All religions, all worldviews that have looked into the essence of things, have recognized the significance of this fact. That is why religions have called this name the unpronounceable name of God. God Himself comes alive in the soul when a person says “I” to themselves; shivers of awe ran through the assembly of the Hebrews when the Old Testament priest uttered this name: “I am, in the innermost soul, the I Am, Yahweh.”

[ 17 ] It is easy to accuse Theosophy of turning human beings into gods. — But anyone who claims that a drop taken from the ocean is the ocean itself is speaking nonsense. The drop is not the ocean, but it contains the substance of the ocean. We therefore do not make the human “I” into a god, but rather into a drop or spark of the divine essence.

[ 18 ] When this “I” works upon the other members of the human being—the astral body, the etheric body, and the physical body—higher aspects of the human being arise as a result. It is through what is concentrated at the center of the being—that which enables the soul to let the words “I am” resound from the human breast—that the human being becomes the crown of all other beings.

[ 19 ] Let us now consider the state in which we all find ourselves during the night: the state of sleep. Sleep is also called the brother of death. As Voltaire says, it is with all truths that are new to the world as it is with the envoys of civilized states at the courts of barbarians. They gain recognition only little by little. — Let us compare the waking state with the state of sleep, where all pleasure and all suffering sink into an indeterminate darkness. This is because, when a person falls asleep, the astral body, together with the “I,” is lifted out of the person. The four members of human nature are separated in sleep, two and two. In death it is different; there, not only does the “I” separate from the astral body, but the etheric or life body also separates from the physical body. The latter also leaves the physical body at death, which then becomes a corpse. The etheric body, or life body, is the force that combats the decay of the physical body. At night, the “I” is lifted out along with the astral body. On what does it depend that a person sees through the eyes and hears through the ears during the day? The eyes and ears are the instruments of the astral body. The moment a person awakens, the astral body and the “I” merge into the etheric body and the physical body. In the morning, when he awakens from the darkness, he perceives the world around us in form, sound, color, radiance, and light.

[ 20 ] Why does a person not perceive the world in which they live during the night? Even today, it is possible for some people to perceive this world—the true home of the soul—in which it lives at night. From this world, a person returns in the morning to the physical world.

[ 21 ] In everyday life, a human being appears in such a way that his ego and that aspect of his being which is the bearer of pleasure and suffering are immersed in the two sheaths that provide him with a set of instruments for perceiving the physical world. This is also how human beings appear to us when we consider the question of the nature of man and woman from this perspective. When we observe a human being standing before us—with their physical body, etheric body, astral body, and “I”—then, from the standpoint of spiritual science, the situation is such that the physical body possesses the specific characteristics of men and women only on the outside. The etheric body possesses polar, opposite characteristics. In men, the etheric body has feminine characteristics; in women, the etheric body has masculine characteristics.

[ 22 ] If we are keen observers, we see that in a man who displays masculine qualities to the senses, the very opposite qualities also manifest themselves. When the corresponding qualities manifest in a woman, they appear with a distinctly masculine character. Because every man possesses feminine qualities in his etheric body and every woman possesses masculine qualities, the terms “masculine” and “feminine” are not exhaustive in their sensory meaning. Anyone who believes that knowing the human physical body means knowing everything about a person will be unable to explain why a woman may exhibit anger one moment and devotion the next.

[ 23 ] If we now consider the whole human being, we see that the sexual aspect is linked only to the physical and etheric bodies; in the morning upon waking, the person takes it on as an instrument just as they do the other organs of the physical body. With the help of spiritual science, we can look into the essence of the human being and see where sexuality begins. It is present only in the physical and etheric bodies. It leaves the human being during sleep at night.

[ 24 ] The moment the “I” leaves the human being together with the astral body, the terms “male” and “female” lose all meaning. The contrast that manifests in the physical world as male and female does not exist there. In the spiritual world, this opposition is the opposition between life and form—indeed, between life and death. As we ascend into the spiritual worlds, this opposition is ever-present: the opposition between ever-advancing life and the constant hindrance to life; the sprouting tree is one, and the bark is the other.

[ 25 ] We can consider this using an example from artistic creation. Let us imagine the Juno Ludovisi, that marvelous portrait of a woman. In the wonderfully broad forehead, in the distinctive expression, in all the flatness found in the features of this Juno, something emerges that compels us to say: In this form, the spirit is fully realized. But it has become entirely form. Everything has flowed into the form. The spirit, which otherwise flows onward—life itself—had to be captured in a single moment. This is one extreme of existence, where form becomes so solid that it captures life in a single moment. The other is the sculptural work standing near this Juno Ludovisi—the Zeus, with his peculiar forehead and peculiar mouth. It is a characteristic form, not a form that is beautiful in the conventional sense. We can say to ourselves that life is still within it; the form can be different at any moment.

[ 26 ] These two opposites—life that flows forth and life that unfolds and then dies in form—are, in the higher world, the masculine and the feminine. From the feminine comes the form that strives toward sculpture; in the masculine lies the form that makes change possible. Here we see how what we encounter externally in men and women is a reflection of the supersensible. Only when this is understood can a full understanding between the two sexes—unclouded by any opposition—arise. This understanding that transcends gender is made possible only through a perspective such as the theosophical one.

[ 27 ] Our culture to date has been a male-dominated culture. Why have we ended up in today’s science, in which everything stems from external sensory perception, from a passive surrender to external experience? Today, people are forbidden to cultivate their own inner spirituality. This stems from the fact that this culture is a male culture, because science has become so feminine. This is what arose through the man’s feminine etheric body. In Theosophy, we have a worldview. We must find the powerful source of certainty in our inner capacities. Theosophy is masculine. And the curious thing is: today, it is mainly women who are interested in Theosophy. This is because women have an active, masculine etheric body. Theosophy seeks to raise humanity to a higher plane than the one on which these questions of man and woman are usually discussed. Today, these issues are usually discussed only from the lowest possible standpoint. And this will be taken to extremes the more sensual notions gain influence. Only Theosophy can bring salvation and truth to humanity in this realm. It will bring about genuine cooperation between the sexes.

[ 28 ] True insight, true knowledge can only come from rising above the mundane. Theosophy aims to be a remedy for human culture. It is proven and validated when it helps people. Theosophy must prove itself in real life. Schiller expresses this elevation of the human being above the mundane in beautiful words:

Only the body is subject to those powers,
That weave the dark fate;
But free from every power of time,
The companion of blissful beings
Wanders above in the realms of light
Divine among the gods in form.