The Rudolf Steiner Archive

12. Richard Wagner in the Light of Spiritual Science II

[ 1 ] In these lectures, we will see how Wagner has the characters in his music dramas ascend to the gods and then descend back to humanity in order to portray humanity’s liberation and redemption.

[ 2 ] Right at the beginning of The Ring of the Nibelung, we encounter the entire leitmotif of the fifth root race—the post-Atlantean era—: the birth of the “I,” of self-consciousness, from the astral element. You are, of course, familiar with water as the occult representative of the astral. If we wish to understand the mood that pervades Richard Wagner’s work, we must immerse ourselves in the Norse myths. Without being conscious of all the details, he nevertheless expressed the power and symbolism of what lives within those myths. Anyone who allows everything surrounding the Norse gods to sink in will find that there is something tragic about them; everything is building toward a single end: the twilight of the gods. What is this fundamental trait that led to such a marvelous work of art [as Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung]?

[ 3 ] Let us imagine what the Earth was like during the time of the Nordic primordial race. You would find a tropical climate, one that was in no way inferior to today’s tropical climate; human-like apes, elephant-like and giraffe-like animals lived in these regions. Nature was vastly different from what it is today. Gradually, this was replaced by the so-called glaciation, and we encounter our ancestors with their primitive culture. Our later Germanic culture emerged from the aftermath of this glaciation.

[ 4 ] There were also mysteries and mystery schools in the north. There were Drotten mysteries and, further to the west, Druidic mysteries—very profound mysteries. Behind these stood an initiate: Wotan. Remnants of the ancient Druidic mysteries have survived, especially in countries with a Celtic population. In England, traces of these can be found as late as the time of Queen Elizabeth. Then they were abolished. The ancient Drotten and Druid mysteries tell of a chela, Sig or Sigge, who renounced his individuality at a certain age and became capable of assimilating a higher individuality within himself. This is a process described in all mysteries. Thus, Jesus, too, offered his body to a higher individuality at his baptism by John. Everything connected with Sig recalls the mystery that a chela can surrender his individuality for a higher being. Wotan had entered into Sig to prepare for what was to take place in the future.

[ 5 ] Every initiate was taught that the Norse pantheon would be supplanted by Christianity. All of Wotan’s deeds serve as preparation for the coming of Christianity. Here in the north, some tribes had remained behind when the Atlanteans migrated to the Gobi Desert. While the epochs of the four subraces were unfolding in the south, something was also taking place in the north. Here, too, four phases of development unfolded, the last of which is the Twilight of the Gods itself.

[ 6 ] In Norse mythology, we learn how the course of the four preparatory epochs unfolded. During this time, Wotan undergoes four higher initiations. During the first initiation, in the first sub-race, he hangs on the cross—the World Ash—for nine days. Then Mimir came to him and taught him the runes. Here, too, hanging on the cross symbolizes redemption. In the second initiation, he obtains the potion of wisdom that Gunlöd guarded in a cave. He must enter this underground cave in the form of a serpent. He remains there for three days to obtain the potion. In the third initiation, corresponding to the third sub-race, he must sacrifice his own eye. This is the eye of wisdom from the legends, reminiscent of the one-eyed Cyclopes, who represent the people of the Lemurian race. This eye has long since receded in us. A hint of it is still visible in newborn children. This is the clairvoyant eye. Why must Wotan sacrifice it? In every root race, what has already been experienced is briefly repeated once more. Thus, in the third subrace, clairvoyance had to be sacrificed once more so that what first dawned in Wotan—intellectual wisdom, the hallmark of the European worldview—could emerge. Wotan’s fourth initiation is linked to Siegfried, the offspring of the gods, the offspring of Wotan. For the first time, human initiates take the place of the god.

[ 7 ] Siegfried undergoes his initiation. He must awaken Brünnhilde, the higher consciousness; by passing through the flames, the fire, he must purify himself of passion. Thus he undergoes purification, catharsis. He has previously slain the Lindworm, overcoming base sensuality. Through this, he has become invulnerable; only between his shoulder blades remains a spot where he can still be wounded. The vulnerability of this spot is a symbolic indication that this fourth subrace still lacks something that only Christianity could bring. Someone had to come who was invulnerable where Siegfried was still vulnerable—Christ, who bears the cross between his shoulders, right where Siegfried could be killed.

[ 8 ] Yet another assault—the onslaught of the Atlanteans—was to fail in the face of Christianity. The peoples led by Atli—Attila, Etzel—are of Atlantean descent. These Mongolian peoples retreat in the face of Christianity, which confronts them in the person of Pope Leo I. Christianity supplants the old culture.

[ 9 ] In ancient myths, development was often depicted through symbolic imagery. This is also true of the Baldur myth. We can also see Baldur as a Nordic initiate. All the conditions for initiation are fulfilled here. The riddle of Baldur conceals a profound truth. Loki’s peculiar position in Norse mythology can only be understood in this light. As you know, Baldur’s mother, terrified by evil dreams, made all creatures swear not to harm Baldur. Only one unremarkable plant, the mistletoe, is forgotten, and from this mistletoe—which did not take the oath—Loki crafts the arrow that he gives to the blind god Hödur when the gods throw for Baldur in a game. The god Baldur is killed by this shot from Hödur.

[ 10 ] You know that the Earth’s evolution was preceded by another: the Lunar Age. Lunar matter was similar to living matter. Some of the lunar plants remained at that stage of development and thus intrude disruptively into the new, later world. They cannot grow in mineral soil; they can only grow on other living beings—they are parasites. Mistletoe is one such lunar plant. Loki is a deity of the Moon. He, too, originates from the Lunar Epoch. He was perfect during the Lunar Epoch; now he represents imperfection and evil. Now we also understand why Loki appears in Wagner’s dramas as a dual nature, both male and female at the same time. As you know, the emergence of single-sexed beings coincides with the Moon’s separation from the shared planet. The sun god Baldur presides over the new creation. A clash now ensues between the old and the new creation—the lunar and solar realms—a clash in which Baldur, the representative of the solar culture, falls victim. The blind Hödur is the representative of blind natural necessity, which dwells in the mineral kingdom. He had to take the blame upon himself in order to make a certain element of progress possible. In the mysteries, Baldur had to be revived after he had been killed by Loki through Hödur.

[ 11 ] These are the feelings that wash over us as we follow Richard Wagner’s works. Let us consider the scene in Das Rheingold: The Rhine Daughters guard the treasure of gold. The dwarf Alberich is initially consumed by sensual desire for them. Then his lust for the gold awakens, and he renounces love, for whoever wishes to possess gold and power must renounce love. Thus he forges the Ring. What is associated with this Ring? Possession, selfishness; as long as a person is not self-contained, he desires nothing for himself. Selfishness begins only when a person is enveloped by the ring of sensuality. Alberich must renounce love; he, the representative of self-consciousness, surrounds himself with the physical. The physical body is built according to the same laws that govern nature, from which the gold of the Rhine maidens is extracted. Selfishness—the separate existence—is bound up with the gold. Here, the gold is the wisdom gained through perception, not creative wisdom. To attain it, a person must first make himself receptive to this creative wisdom. Let us go back to the time when humanity was not yet divided into two sexes; at that time, humans did not yet possess the ability to think or to create self-consciousness through their thinking. Everything they created was created through love. Humanity had to earn this higher spirituality by renouncing half of its productive power—by becoming unisex. Where did all this come from? It all came from earlier creative beings. The Earth had to transition into a different state so that humanity could attain this solid physical form. Wotan belonged to earlier times, the times of the surging fire mist. There, where the purest forces of fire still reigned on Earth, when the Spirit of God hovered over the waters—there Wotan was originally at home. Now Wotan had to transform his home into a solid fortress; the Earth had to solidify. The home of the gods, Valhalla, was built by the giants. These are the people of the Lemurian race, the Lemurian giants, who do not yet possess a high level of spirituality. The giants—humanity struggling to emerge from physicality—demand Freya in return—once again, a female figure. She represents consciousness, the consciousness necessary to sustain and rejuvenate oneself. And now it is Loki who can build something from the fiery element that is appropriate for the lower nature. Loki frees Wotan from the sacrifice of Freya; Loki ensures that Freya remains with the gods. What must humanity attain?—The Ring, which is physicality built up in accordance with the laws of nature. The passion necessary for the sensual nature must be relinquished in favor of higher love. Before the highest unfolding can take place, the soul, too, must be built up. The giants renounce Freya, renounce love. Love has remained with the gods. The giants have contented themselves with the Ring, the element of gold, to which a curse is attached. Love only returns through Christianity.

[ 12 ] A tragic thread runs through Norse mythology. We see how Wotan is reluctant to relinquish his rule to one born of the human race. He wants to retain power and attempts to reclaim the Ring. Then he meets Erda. From Erda, he gains wisdom. Erda is the spirit of the Earth, the consciousness of the entire human race as long as it evolves on Earth. Her daughters, the Norns, proclaim the higher consciousness of the Earth; they embody the Earth’s primal knowledge of the past, present, and future. They unravel individual perception; above individual knowledge stands the consciousness imbued with the character of eternity.

[ 13 ] Wotan leaves the Ring with the giants. This leads to a battle among them. The concept of “separateness” sparks the conflict; and thus the sword motif enters the narrative. The sword motif expresses the transition from humanity—which until now has lived more in community—to the new humanity, to separateness, to war against one another. Wotan becomes clear about his stance toward humanity, especially regarding his relationship to the fifth root race.

[ 14 ] The rainbow leads from Valhalla to Earth. The rainbow has a special significance in occult wisdom. You are familiar with the rainbow that appears after the Flood. Now we find this symbol repeatedly in Norse mythology. It signifies the transition from the Atlantean era to the post-Atlantean era. In that era, the air was much denser and the water much thinner than today; there was no such thing as precipitation as we know it today—rain. A rainbow was not possible in that era. The land from which the Nordic race emerged is not without reason called a realm of mist, a Niflheim. From this realm of mist emerged the masses of water that flooded the continent of Atlantis. It was not until the end of the Atlantean era, after the flood, that the rainbow appeared. Occult research explains what this means. In the Bible, in the rainbow of the Flood, as well as in the rainbow bridge of Norse mythology, we encounter something that represents the connection between humans and the gods. When Wotan is defeated by Siegfried, it signifies that humanity now takes the place of the old gods. The stage is being set for the task of the fifth root race: to bring forth humanity’s leaders and masters from within the human race itself. The earlier leaders of humanity descended from higher worlds. Now, the master will be one who has passed through all the stages of human development—only more quickly than other humans—and who, as one who has advanced further, leads humanity.

[ 15 ] Next time, we will speak of Siegfried once more and learn even more about this development. You will see how Wagner drew on the power of Norse mythology to portray what moved humanity most deeply. Therein lies the immensely uplifting and powerful nature of Wagner’s dramas.