The Rudolf Steiner Archive

5. The Mystery of the Rosicrucians

[ 1 ] We have already discussed various myths whose images contain esoteric truths. Such myths were given to people in the past in order to convey certain truths to them in pictorial form, as long as they were not yet ready for the esoteric truths themselves. These images took hold of the causal body and thus prepared people to understand the esoteric truths themselves in later incarnations.

[ 2 ] Today I would like to show you one such esoteric representation, which was given only a few centuries ago and still lives on in many forms. It is the following.

[ 3 ] At the beginning of the 15th century, a personality appeared in Europe who had been initiated into certain secrets in the East. This was Christian Rosenkreutz. Before the incarnation of Christian Rosenkreutz came to an end, he had initiated a number of personalities—barely more than ten—into the subject in which he had been initiated, as far as this was possible with European people at that time. This small brotherhood, which called itself the Brotherhood of the Rosicrucians — Fraternitas rosae crucis — spread a certain myth throughout the world through a larger, more outwardly visible brotherhood.

[ 4 ] Christian Rosicrucius himself had revealed certain secrets at that time in the innermost depths of the Rosicrucian mysteries, which could only be perceived by people who had undergone the necessary preparation. But, as I said, there were no more than ten in the small brotherhood; these were the truly initiated Rosicrucians. What Christian Rosenkreutz taught could not be communicated to many people, but it was then clothed in a kind of myth. Since its inception in the early 15th century, this myth has been told and interpreted many times in brotherhoods. It was told on a larger scale, but interpreted only in a smaller circle, to those who were ready for it.

[ 5 ] This myth had approximately the following content:

[ 6 ] There was a time when one of the Elohim created man; a man whom he called Eve. The Elohim himself united with Eve, and Cain was born of Eve. Then the Elohim Yahweh or Jehovah created Adam. Adam also united with Eve, and from this marriage Abel was born.

[ 7 ] So in Cain we have a direct son of God, and in Abel we have a descendant of Adam and Eve, who were created as humans. Now the myth continues.

[ 8 ] The offerings that Abel brought to the god Yahweh were pleasing to the god. But Cain's offerings were not, because Cain had not been created at the direct command of Yahweh. As a result, Cain committed fratricide. He killed Abel. Therefore, he was excluded from the community of Yahweh. He went to distant lands and became the progenitor of his own race.

[ 9 ] Adam continued to be with Eve, and Seth was born to replace Abel, who also appears in the Bible. Thus, two human races came into being: the first descended from Eve and the Elohim, the race of Cain; and the second descended from mere humans who united at the behest of Yahweh.

[ 10 ] All those who brought arts and sciences to life on earth are descended from the lineage of Cain, for example Methuselah, who invented writing, the Tau script, and Tubal-Cain, who taught the working of ores and iron. Thus, in this line, directly descended from the Elohim, arose the human race, which educated itself in the arts and sciences.

[ 11 ] Hiram also came from this lineage of Cain. He was the heir to all the knowledge, art, and technology that had been accumulated over the various generations of Cain's sons. Hiram was the most important architect imaginable.

[ 12 ] From the other line, from the lineage of Seth, came Solomon, who excelled in everything that came from Yahweh or Jehovah. He was endowed with the wisdom of the world, with everything that the calm, clear, serene wisdom of the sons of Jehovah can provide. This was a wisdom that could be expressed in words that touched people deeply in their hearts and uplifted them, but not a wisdom that could attack the immediate object and produce something real in technology, art, or science. It was a wisdom that was a direct inspired gift from God, not a wisdom that had been worked out from below, springing from human passion and human will. This was found among the sons of Cain, those who were directly descended from the other Elohim. These were the hard workers who wanted to achieve everything themselves.

[ 13 ] Now Solomon decided to build a temple. He appointed the scion of the sons of Cain, Hiram, as the master builder. It was at the time when the Queen of Sheba, Balkis, came to Jerusalem because she had heard of the wise Solomon. And when she arrived, she was indeed enchanted by the sublime, clear wisdom and beauty of Solomon. He courted her and she agreed to marry him. Then the Queen of Sheba also heard about the building of the temple. Now she also wanted to meet the master builder Hiram. When she saw him, his mere glance made a tremendous impression on her and completely captivated her.

[ 14 ] Now something like jealousy arose between Hiram and the wise Solomon. The result was that Solomon would have liked to do something against Hiram, but he had to keep him so that the temple could be completed.

[ 15 ] The following then happened. The temple had been completed to a certain stage. Only one thing was still missing, which was to be Hiram's masterpiece: the bronze sea. This masterpiece was to represent the ocean, cast in bronze, and adorn the temple. All the bronze alloys had been prepared in a wonderful way by Hiram, and everything was ready for casting. But then three journeymen whom Hiram had deemed unfit to be appointed masters during the construction of the temple set to work. They had sworn revenge on him and wanted to prevent the bronze sea from being made. A friend of Hiram's who learned of this told Solomon of the journeymen's plan so that he could thwart it. But Solomon, out of jealousy toward Hiram, let things take their course because he wanted to ruin Hiram. The result was that Hiram had to watch as the entire casting was destroyed because the three journeymen had added an inappropriate substance to the mixture. He tried to extinguish the foaming fire by pouring water on it, but this only made it worse. Just as he was about to despair of the success of the work, Tubal-Cain himself, one of his ancestors, appeared to him. He told him to calmly throw himself into the fire, for he was invulnerable to it. Hiram did so and reached the center of the earth. Tubal-Cain led him to Cain, who was there in his original divine state. Hiram was now initiated into the secret of the creation of fire, the secret of metal casting, and so on. Tubal-Cain gave him a hammer and a golden triangle to wear around his neck. Then he returned and was now able to truly create the bronze sea and repair the casting.

[ 16 ] Hiram then wins the hand of the Queen of Sheba. However, he is attacked and killed by the three journeymen. But before he dies, he manages to throw the golden triangle into a well. When no one knows where Hiram is, a search is launched. Solomon himself is anxious and wants to get to the bottom of the matter. It is feared that the three journeymen might reveal the old master word, so a new one is agreed upon. The first words spoken when Hiram is found are to be the new master word. When Hiram was found, he was still able to speak a few words. He said: Tubal-Cain promised me that I would have a son who would have many sons who would populate the earth and complete my work—the building of the temple. Then he indicated the place where the Golden Triangle could be found. It was taken to the Sea of Brazen and both were kept in a special place in the temple, in the Holy of Holies. They can only be found by those who understand the meaning of this entire temple legend about Solomon's temple and its architect Hiram.

[ 17 ] Now let us move on from the legend itself to an interpretation.

[ 18 ] This legend represents the fate of the third, fourth, and fifth sub-races of our fifth root race. The temple is the temple of the secret brotherhoods, or rather, that which the entire humanity of the fourth and fifth sub-races is building, and the Holy of Holies is the dwelling place of the secret brotherhoods. They know what the Sea of Bronze and the Golden Triangle mean.

[ 19 ] So we are dealing with two kinds of human beings: those who, represented by Solomon, possess divine wisdom, and the descendants of Cain, who understand fire and know how to handle it. This fire is not physical fire, but the fire of passions, instincts, and desires burning in the astral realm.

[ 20 ] Who, then, are the sons of Cain? The sons of Cain are — in the sense of this legend — the sons of those Elohim who lagged a little behind the class of Elohim during the lunar epoch. In the lunar epoch, we are dealing with Kama. This Kama, or fire, was imbued with wisdom at that time. Now there were two kinds of Elohim. Some Elohim did not stop at the marriage between wisdom and fire; they went beyond it. And when they formed human beings, they were no longer imbued with passions, so that they endowed them with calm, serene wisdom. This is the actual Yahweh or Jehovah religion, the wisdom that was completely passionless. The other Elohim, in whom wisdom was still connected with the fire of the lunar period, are those who created the sons of Cain.

[ 21 ] Therefore, in the sons of Seth we have religious people with serene wisdom, and in the sons of Cain we have those who have the impulsive element, who can become inflamed and develop enthusiasm for wisdom. These two genders create throughout all races and throughout all ages. From the passion of the sons of Cain arose all the arts and sciences, and from the Abel-Seth stream arose all serene piety and wisdom, without enthusiasm.

[ 22 ] These two types have always existed, and this has continued until the fourth sub-race of our root race.

[ 23 ] Then came the founding of Christianity. This transformed the earlier piety, which was only a piety from above, into a piety that was completely free of kama. It was immersed in the element that came to earth through Christ. Christ is not merely wisdom, he is love incarnate: a high divine Kama, which is at the same time Buddhi; a purely flowing Kama, which wants nothing for itself, but directs all passions outward in infinite devotion, a reversed Kama. Buddhi is reversed Kama.

[ 24 ] This prepares a higher piety within the type of people who are pious, within the sons of wisdom, which can now, however, be enthusiastic. This is Christian piety. It is first predisposed in the fourth sub-race of the fifth root race. However, this entire current is not yet able to connect with the sons of Cain. They are still opponents at first. For if Christianity were to take hold of all people quickly, it would indeed be able to fill them with love, but the individual human heart, the individual human heart, would not be involved. It would not be free piety, it would not be the birth of Christ within oneself as a brother, but merely as a lord. For this, the sons of Cain must still work throughout the entire fifth subrace. They work in their initiates and build the temple of humanity, built up from worldly art and worldly science.

[ 25 ] Thus, during the fourth and fifth sub-races, we see the worldly element developing more and more, the entire world-historical development emerging on the physical plane. With the worldly element of materialism, the personal element develops, egoism, which leads to the struggle of all against all. Even though Christianity existed, it was in a sense a secret known only to a few. But it caused people during the fourth and fifth sub-races to realize that everyone is equal before God. That is the Christian principle. But people cannot fully understand this as long as they are caught up in materialism and egoism.

[ 26 ] The French Revolution then carried out the consequences of Christian teaching in a worldly sense. The spiritual teaching of Christianity—that all people are equal before God—was translated by the French Revolution into a purely worldly teaching: that all are equal here. The new era has translated this even more into the physical realm.

[ 27 ] Before the French Revolution, a court lady of Queen Marie Antoinette, Madame d'Adhemar, was visited by a personality who predicted all the important scenes of the revolution in order to warn her. It was the Count of Saint-Germain, the same personality who in a previous incarnation had founded the Order of the Rosicrucians. At that time, he took the view that people had to be led in a peaceful manner from worldly culture to the true culture of Christianity. However, the worldly powers wanted to conquer freedom by storm, in a material way. Although he saw the revolution as a necessary consequence, he nevertheless warned against it. He, Christian Rosenkreutz, in his incarnation in the 18th century, as guardian of the innermost secret of the Iron Sea and the Holy Golden Triangle, warned that humanity should develop slowly. But he saw what was going to happen.

[ 28 ] This is the course that human development, viewed from within, is undergoing during the fourth and fifth sub-races of our root race. The human cultural edifice, the great temple of Solomon, was built. But that which is supposed to crown it must remain a secret. Only an initiate can build it. This initiate was misunderstood, betrayed, and killed. This secret cannot yet be revealed. It remains the secret of a few [initiates] of Christianity. It lies locked in the casting of the Sea of Bronze and the Holy Triangle. It is none other than the secret of Christian Rosenkreutz, who was incarnated in a very high incarnation before the birth of Christ and who made a remarkable statement at that time.

[ 29 ] Let me now paint a picture with a few words of how Christian Rosenkreutz repeated this statement before the French Revolution. He said: Those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. He had already said this before it was said and written down by Hosea. But it originates from Christian Rosenkreutz.

[ 30 ] This saying, “He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind,” is the motto of the fourth and fifth sub-races of our root race and should mean: You will set people free, the incarnated Buddhi itself will connect with this freedom of yours and make people equal before God. But the spirit (wind means spirit = Ruach) will first become a storm (everyone fighting against everyone).

[ 31 ] At first, Christianity became that of the cross, which had to develop through the purely worldly sphere, the physical plane. Christ on the cross was not the symbol of Christianity from the beginning. But as Christianity became more and more political, the symbol of the crucified Son of God, suffering on the cross of the world body, emerged. This remains outwardly throughout the rest of the fourth and fifth sub-races.

[ 32 ] At first, Christianity is bound to the purely material culture of the fourth and fifth sub-races, and only in between[?] does the actual Christianity of the future exist, which possesses the secrets of the Iron Sea and the Golden Triangle. This Christianity has a different symbol; no longer the crucified Son of God, but the cross entwined with roses. This will be the symbol of the new Christianity of the sixth sub-race. From the mystery of the Rosicrucian brotherhood, this Christianity of the sixth sub-race will develop, which will know the Iron Sea and the Golden Triangle.

[ 33 ] Hiram is the representative of the initiates of the sons of Cain of the fourth and fifth sub-races. The Queen of Sheba—every female figure in esoteric language signifies the soul—is the soul of humanity, which must decide between serene piety that does not conquer the earth and wisdom that conquers the earth, that is, wisdom connected with the overcoming of the passions of the earth. She is the representative of the true human soul, which stands between Hiram and Solomon and connects with Hiram in the fourth and fifth sub-races because he is still building the temple.

[ 34 ] The Sea of Bronze is the casting that is created when water is mixed with ore in the appropriate manner. The three journeymen do it wrong, and the casting is destroyed. But when Tubal-Cain reveals the mysteries of fire to Hiram, Hiram is able to combine water and fire in the right way. This creates the Brazen Sea. This is the secret of the Rosicrucians. It arises when the water of calm wisdom combines with the fire of the astral space, the fire of passion. This must bring about a connection that is “bronze,” that can be carried into the following ages when the secret of the sacred Golden Triangle, the secret of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, is added. This triangle, with all that it entails, will be the content of the renewed Christianity of the sixth sub-race. This is being prepared by the Rosicrucians, and then what is symbolized in the Iron Sea will be connected with the knowledge of reincarnation and karma. This is the new occult teaching that will be reintroduced into Christianity. Atma-Buddhi-Manas, the higher self, is the secret that will be revealed when the sixth sub-race is ready for it. Then Christian Rosenkreutz will no longer need to stand as a warning, but everything that has meant struggle on the outer plane will find peace through the Iron Sea, through the sacred Golden Triangle.

[ 35 ] This is the course of world history into the future. What Christian Rosenkreutz brought into the world through the brotherhoods with his temple legend is what the Rosicrucians have set themselves as their task: not merely to teach religious piety, but also to bring science to the outside world; but not only to get to know the outer world, but also the spiritual powers, and from both sides to enter into the sixth round.