The Rudolf Steiner Archive

41. Noun, Verb

[ 1 ] The closer one moves toward the present when considering evolution, the more one must take into account that time is an element of deception and a source of numerous errors in history. One must distinguish what is a constant feature of evolution—[what is always] present—a comprehensive process of dying or death: and that is the development of the Pitris’ levels of consciousness. Ultimately, what matters most is this development. No matter how much may have taken place on the first planet: The moment the Pitris attained their first state of consciousness, everything the Pitris contained within themselves was dissolved. Only the result remained. All the work that had been expended was condensed into a single point. Everything winds around it like a spiral around the focal point where the Pitri has contracted, like the serpent around the Caduceus. This is how we proceed in Earth’s evolution. We cast aside the details. The Pitri has thereby attained a higher state of consciousness. The stages are defined; the serpent remains subject to a certain arbitrariness, and its coils are what cause the illusions of time.

[ 2 ] We can predict the stages of consciousness of a Pitri. The paths of the serpent are manifold; the seer can perceive their outcome—but not in the future. One can therefore say of the future: “It will be this way or that way,” but not whether it will be in two hundred or three hundred years. One does not know how long the stages of evolution will take. A can be reached in five years, C in one hundred years, or vice versa. Therefore, it is possible to determine the path, but not the duration. Hence the deception, and one cannot predict with regard to time, because time belongs to macrocosmic development, whereas microcosmic development is timeless.

[ 3 ] This must be taken into account when considering matters in relation to the present and the future, because while microcosmic development follows a fixed course, macrocosmic development is subject to freedom, in that it can make use of external circumstances in various ways.

[ 4 ] This leads to an occult statement: The arbitrariness or freedom of the human microcosm is expressed in its inclination toward the serpent.

[ 5 ] The staff is himself, and hence the serpent symbol as the symbol of freedom. Thus, although the path is strictly predetermined, it would be futile to attempt to foresee what pertains to man’s serpentine freedom or to external events. While external events can indeed be foreseen, the leaders and guides use these external events at their discretion.

[ 6 ] The Pitri has not yet truly awakened to freedom, and his future actions are mostly dictated by the macrocosm.

[ 7 ] Let us bear this in mind when considering the present, the Latin races. What the Pitris do can only be perceived through inner vision; what takes place in the macrocosm can be observed from the outside.

[ 8 ] Therefore, the view of world history breaks down into events that we observe from the outside and into the essential stages of development that we must examine from the inside. We call the former “noumenon” and the latter “phenomenon.”

[ 9 ] Every phenomenon also has its inner aspect; it is a phenomenon insofar as we do not yet perceive its noumenon. Now, from a noumenal perspective, the Germanic race has the task of applying intelligence—the Manasic principle—to external processes. For this reason, over the course of centuries, all science was transferred to the external physical plane. In his poem, Dante describes the three-tiered world. Of course, he did not believe that these were lokas located in space; rather, they were taken as symbols of spiritual processes. At that time, little importance was attached to the description of external processes, but rather to the essence of spiritual matters.

[ 10 ] In the Heliand legend, Christ is portrayed as a German military leader; the poet reasoned: It does not matter whether the events described are Palestinian or Saxon; rather, they are used interchangeably to symbolize inner processes, because temporal matters are maya.

[ 11 ] The true mission of the Germanic race was to take the external and the temporal truly seriously. In the past, the world system was viewed from a different perspective. Beginning with Copernicus, the prevailing view was to describe the structure of the world independently of human beings and in terms of material processes. The external world is taken so seriously that immediate human will becomes the decisive factor. In the past, the guiding principles for human social life were still derived from above, and leaders served as intermediaries. Now, immediate personal freedom becomes the decisive factor. The individual’s reason and free will, freedom, equality, and fraternity become [gap in the transcript]

[ 12 ] Therefore, the French Revolution could only have been staged under the leadership of masters [gap in the transcript]

[ 13 ] Voltaire, Rousseau, and d’Alembert did not simply do so from an external, historical perspective [gap in the transcript], but rather, as masters, knew [gap in the transcript]—and thus accomplished it as a noumenon.

[ 14 ] Everything that is a serpent is horror ...; everything that is progress is the staff. The masters who led outwardly had to cede leadership to themselves and to the serpent. Specifically, the Rosicrucians stepped back /gap in the transcript]

[ 15 ] Materialism is at its highest in forty years; it flourishes in the will.

[ 16 ] Limitation to the external phenomenal principle of knowledge; we can only [gap in the transcript]

[ 17 ] Introduced by Kant and articulated by Spencer.

[ 18 ] Ignorabimus.

[ 19 ] The will had to be directed in such a way that it was completely forced down onto the physical plane, compressed, and concentrated into a personality. To ascertain what kind of impression this makes, what the ultimate consequence is /[gap in the transcript]

[ 20 ] Papal Infallibility One must [not] seek to fathom the decrees of God, but rather on the physical plane, [gap in the transcript]

[ 21 ] The authority seeks to be condensed into a single personality.

[ 22 ] Agnosticism on one side, infallibility on the other.

[ 23 ] Unity on the physical plane would only be possible if one were to rule over all; on higher planes, unity exists of its own accord [gap in the transcript]

[ 24 ] The task of the next race will be to create a culture out of original human nature with elemental power, while renouncing the entire culture of the fifth race.

[ 25 ] The Slavic race makes use of the blessings of Western culture and brings about a cultural renewal; it becomes the sixth subrace. It passes on its cultural heritage to the American race, which will play a role similar to that of the Mongols for the future dominant race

[Gap in the transcript].